DBWI: George W., Not Jeb Bush, is Elected President in 2000

In 1976 Reagan defeated Ford at the GOP convention only to be trounced by Jimmy Carter in the general, but four years later George Bush beat Carter and served two relatively successful terms as President. Meanwhile his eldest son, George W., gave up alcohol in 1986 and started an acclaimed baseball career - never to return to politics after his 1978 loss to Congressman Kent Hance. His second youngest son Jeb was elected Governor of Florida in 1994 and became the 43rd US President in 2001. But let's say that Reagan narrowly fails to primary Ford in 1976 and a Reagan/Bush ticket wins in 1980. Instead of Dole, it's Bush running in 1988 and he hires his son George W. - who's now cleaned up his act, unlike in 1980 and 1984 when he was refused a position in his father's campaigns - to help out and as a result "Dubya" has a renewed interest in politics. He runs for Governor of Texas in 1994 and is elected President in 2000. What would he have done differently from Jeb?
 
He would've taken us into war against Iraq based on fake intelligence. At least Jeb, with help from PM Blaire was able to figure out the intelligence was part of some plot to take out Saddam Hussein.
 
Sounds like an awfully specific and possibly dystopian TL, especially if you’re a baseball fan or traveler to Cuba. Without Dubya’s “uniting” work as Commissioner, baseball probably goes on strike sometime in 1994, and it looked like an ugly one - we may even lose the World Series and ahuge chunk of the 1995 season. And don’t even hint at any of that to Expos or Indians fans.

As for George W as President, he’s just the wrong man for the job. Just like Don Shula’s kid wasn’t it out to coach football but does a fine job running a chain of steakhouses, W isn’t cut out to be President and does a better job in baseball. Jeb was a good, not great, president; his economic policies were faulty but his foreign policy was pretty solid. Plus he backed off Saddam when he figured out that he didn’t have WMDs and that Iraq was a powder keg, as evidenced by Saddam being publicly executed during Arab Spring.
 
I agree with others here that George W. really wasn't cut out to be President. He is a nice guy and was a terrific Baseball Commissioner, but from what I know he has this goofy, cavalier personality and that got him in a lot of trouble back when he was still on booze. I once saw Dubya in a 1994 interview where he accidentally called himself the, "Commissioner of Football," not the Commissioner of Baseball. And given how he blew a conservative House seat in a Republican year when he lost to Kent Hance, it doesn't seem like he's a good politician - unlike the more intelligent and articulate Jeb who many at the time hailed as a Republican JFK. (Of course we now know that comparison was just overblown fanboyism, although most of us would agree that Jeb did a reasonably good job under the circumstances. In particular, his decision to listen to the intelligence community and pursue the Al-Qaeda conspirators before they could attack the U.S. has since earned widespread praise from scholars).
 
At least Jeb, with help from PM Blaire was able to figure out the intelligence was part of some plot to take out Saddam Hussein.

Jeb Bush and Tony Blair worked surprisingly well together despite their ideological differences. I really don't see George W. having the same cooperative relationship with Blair, who I'm sure would be willing to challenge the swaggering Bush on foreign policy should the need ever arise.
 
Agreed on that.
OOC: Who would you have in mind for Jeb's VP and the leader of Russia, Putin or not, also, what's DBWI stand for?
 
Agreed on that.
OOC: Who would you have in mind for Jeb's VP and the leader of Russia, Putin or not, also, what's DBWI stand for?

OOC: Double Blind What If. In this universe, where Bush wins in 1980 the GOP is more moderate and being pro-choice is an acceptable GOP position. (The religious right probably runs a third party candidate at some point in the 1980s to protest both the the GOP and the Dems). George W. Bush originally wanted to pick Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge as VP, but his pro-choice position made him impossible to sell. After him Bush wanted the moderate conservative John Danforth. So Jeb in this universe would probably pick either Ridge or Danforth.

As for Russia, the USSR collapses right around the time it did in OTL. But given Bush Sr's experience and skill in foreign policy, I think he could get more accomplished than Reagan did vis a vis the Soviets. Butterflies could mean that Putin doesn't come to power, or if he does he comes to power later.
 
OOC: Thanks for clearing up a few things about this universe.

IC.

Bush worked well together with Russian President Primikov. I also admire Vice President Danforth as well.
 

Dolan

Banned
But at the same time, there will be earlier normalization of relations with Cuba. The biggest point of contention between W and Jeb is how W is basically best buddy of Fidel Castro while promoting Baseball World Cup, while Jeb always loathe the Cuban Communists.

Imagine if the historical photos of Castro posing with W carrying Baseball Bats and mittens happened with W as President
 
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