alternatehistory.com

General Dwight Eisenhower, hero of World War II and almost certain to be elected President, died of a heart attack on September 22, 1952.

His running mate, Senator Richard Nixon, was scheduled to give a nationally televised speech the next day to respond to accusations that he accepted $18,000 in illegal gifts. Instead, the speech was cancelled and the Republican party would nominate Nixon for President.

As a result, Adlai Stevenson defeated Nixon in a landslide. Nixon won only the states of Utah, Vermont and New Hampshire.

By 1956, the US economy was in a recession, Lazar Kaganovich ousted Khrushchev as leader of the USSR and conquered Manchuria, and China conquered Taiwan (Chiang Kai-Shek was brought back to Beijing and was publicly hung at Tienanmen Square). These factors resulted in Stevenson losing re-election to Thomas Dewey.

Had Eisenhower survived his heart attack and was elected President in 1952, would events in China and Russia turned out differently?

Would Richard Nixon remain on the ticket if he got to give his speech?

If Senator Joseph McCarthy was reelected, what role would he have played in an Eisenhower administration?

Discuss among yourselves.
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