DBWI: I Am not a crook

JoeMulk

Banned
Has anybody read the new Harry Turtledove book I am not a crook? Basically it depicts an alternate world where Sirhan Sirhan had successfully killed RFK and as a result Nixon managed to get elected in 68. Nixon allows Vietnam to continue into the mid-70s and is eventually forced to resign due to a massive scandal.

On the whole I liked it but the one thing that I found the most implausible was the ASB notion of Richard Nixon of all people negotiating with China. Completely ridiculous.
 
I didn't think it was that plausible. I mean, Spiro Agnew for Vice President? You've got to be kidding me! The man was a crook. And then he resigns, only to be replaced by the lackluster Gerry Ford?

Come one.
 
I didn't think it was that plausible. I mean, Spiro Agnew for Vice President? You've got to be kidding me! The man was a crook. And then he resigns, only to be replaced by the lackluster Gerry Ford?

Come one.

I'll grant you Agnew for VP, but Ford in a situation like that seemed entirely plausible to me. You have a VP resigning in disgrace, a President embroiled in a scandal like that... the last thing Nixon could afford was another dangerous choice for VP. Say what you will about Ford, but the worst scandal the man could possibly have managed is if he forgot to zip up after leaving the restroom. That's the kind of bland, whitebread personality that couldn't possibly cause a stir, at a time when Nixon needed to seem rational.

Not that it helped him much here, of course, but at least there's a logic. There isn't one for so many other decisions in this book.
 
Top