DBWI: James Dean killed in 1955

President James Dean, a Democrat who served two terms between 1969 and 1977, is regarded as the most popular and charismatic President of the last 50 years. He oversaw key liberal reforms such as the expansion of medicare to all Americans and an end to the war in Vietnam.

But as we all know, he was a prominent actor before he entered the political scene, and holds the record for the most Best Actor in a Leading Role wins (three) at the Oscars. What if he had been tragically killed in a car accident in, let's say, 1955, shortly before the release of one of his most famous movies, Rebel Without a Cause.
 
Politically, you probably would have seen Robert Kennedy run in '68 (he is supposed to have hated Johnson) and win on Camelot nostalgia. However, he was more hawkish than he seemed in the late '60s and might have dragged the Vietnam War out to 1972-1973. He would also have likely given more support to the Israelis in the Yom Kippur War, potentially damaging our relations with the Arab states. If there was no end to the war by the 1972 elections, Nelson Rockefeller or George Romney would probably unseat Kennedy, leading to a much slower expansion of the welfare state, but you likely would have still seen much of the Civil Rights legislation of the mid-1970s.

As far as movies go, Dean's roles in Death of a Salesman and A Face in the Crowd would likely go to Rock Hudson, his co-star in Giant, who would likely have been a much bigger star. Of course, without his marriage to Grace Kelly, she would have remained in movies longer, and probably would have starred in more Hitchcock films, maybe Vertigo or Psycho.
 
Would this have any significance? President James Dean and some actor.

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Well, if you butterfly away Dean, Ralph Nader almost certainly goes away as well. I'm assuming the OP references the fact that, in addition to his acting, Dean was an amateur racer. It was almost an obsession until his friend, stunt driver Bill Hickman, was almost killed when they were driving to a race in Salinas. Dean wrote later that something shifted when he saw the crash. He kept his interest in cars, of course, and that led to him meeting with Nader and fostering Nader's eventual political career. So, kill Dean and President Nader fades to obscurity as well.

I also think you would see much slower change on gay and women's rights. Dean's support of both causes in his retirement was vital to the eventual passage of the ERA.
 
Would this have any significance? President James Dean and some actor.

Isn't that Ron Reagan? He was a pretty well-known B-movie actor and two-term centrist Republican senator for California 1969-81, but I don't know what else he could have done?

@bobby: That reminds me: he did, in fact, have a really bad auto accident in September, 1955: the other victim, a young college student by the name of Donald Turnupseed, died in April 1956 due to complications from the crash.....whose name inspired a road safety bill in that state two years later. I recall that pop culture guru and AH writer Harry Turtledove wrote a book on this back in 1990......it was called "For Want of a Turn: If Jamie Dean had Died in Cholame". It was one of the best works I've ever read. :D
 

Stolengood

Banned
What would've happened to Francois Truffaut? Dean hiring him to direct him in his Jean Vigo passion project helped him get a big foothold in the U.S., leading to his much more famous later work; if Dean was killed, what does Truffaut do in 1960? A gangster picture? :p
 
What would've happened to Francois Truffaut? Dean hiring him to direct him in his Jean Vigo passion project helped him get a big foothold in the U.S., leading to his much more famous later work; if Dean was killed, what does Truffaut do in 1960? A gangster picture? :p

Its likely that Truffaut would have stayed in France, meaning the American New Wave would have taken off much later. On a related note, Ray Estevez has said that Dean was an important influence on his decision to pursue acting as a career. Without his roles in Bonnie and Clyde or The Boys in the Band, would the social changes of the late 1960s still have taken place?
 
(I'm glad I'm not the only one who wants to see James Dean as President, though I had him as a member of the Progressive Party -think conservative Democrats- rather than a liberal.)
 

Stolengood

Banned
(I'm glad I'm not the only one who wants to see James Dean as President, though I had him as a member of the Progressive Party -think conservative Democrats- rather than a liberal.)
(Personally, I only seeing him being involved with politics in the late '80s, after the "Reagan Revolution" becomes too much to bear; I think he would only become a Senator, though...)
 
If something like that had happened, it is possible that we would never have learned what a Giant he truly was, as opposed to a mere Rebel Without A Cause. :cool:
 
Hey, I know:

The tragically alcoholic drug-abusing son of an ultra-WASP moderate Republican finds religion, leaps into politics, and somehow within five years of his entry into politics becomes president and launches us into Another Vietnam, but this time with less jungle.

Or, no not really?
 
Hey, I know:

The tragically alcoholic drug-abusing son of an ultra-WASP moderate Republican finds religion, leaps into politics, and somehow within five years of his entry into politics becomes president and launches us into Another Vietnam, but this time with less jungle.

Or, no not really?

I guess you've been reading too much Turtledove lately. :p
 
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