DBWI: JFK KIlled in Dallas instead of Jackie?

[Mysterion]

I know this is a perennial for speculative history buffs, but with the 50th anniversery coming up in a few months, I thought it might be a good time to ponder this once again.

What would have been the effect on history if President Kennedy had been killed by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas on 22 November 1963, instead of his wife? If LHO hadn't been caught and jostled by a co-worker at the last second, he would have been fully capable of aiming for, and killing JFK, even though LHO claimed all through his trial that the First Lady had been his indeded target.

Would an LBJ presidency have been better or worse than JFK's two terms, for example?

 

[SLCer]

I think Johnson would have received a similar mandate as Kennedy in the '64 election and because of that, would've been able to push through medicare, the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act. The outpouring of support for the President after losing his wife was immense and directly linked to his reelection and popularity early into his second term. Johnson surely would have received a similar level of support if the President had lost his life.

The big difference, of course, comes through Vietnam policy. I'm skeptical Johnson would have double-downed in Vietnam like Kennedy did, and later reports indicated the Vice President was not on board with the increased presence in Southeast Asia. But as is, Kennedy, after initial second-term success, was left impotent by the war and it undid so much of the support he received in the wake of Jackie's death that even today, he's considered one of the most divisive presidents in American history.

I think Johnson avoids that mess. He uses the sympathy of the President's death to push through some major domestic legislation, but also focuses on fixing poverty and other issues that inflicted the 60s. I suspect he would have run for reelection in '68 and easily won - sparing us the corrupt Nixon administration.

 

[freivolk]

I think at least there would be no Kennedy-ordered-Jackies-death-conspiration-theories.

 

[Nofix]

I think at least there would be no Kennedy-ordered-Jackies-death-conspiration-theories.

Instead it'd be Johnson ordered Kennedy's death.

 

[CaliBoy1990]

I know this is a perennial for speculative history buffs, but with the 50th anniversery coming up in a few months, I thought it might be a good time to ponder this once again.

What would have been the effect on history if President Kennedy had been killed by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas on 22 November 1963, instead of his wife? If LHO hadn't been caught and jostled by a co-worker at the last second, he would have been fully capable of aiming for, and killing JFK, even though LHO claimed all through his trial that the First Lady had been his indeded target.

Would an LBJ presidency have been better or worse than JFK's two terms, for example?

Poor Jack.....he never did quite recover from losing his wife so tragically. My mother remembers watching his funeral on TV back in August, 1976: nearly every dignitary there had their own version of "how sad that he died of a broken heart!", as well as many commentators, including Black Panther turned politico Fred Hampton expressing their general sympathies and respect for the guy. As for LHO, you wonder why Jack Ruby ended up taking him out just a couple days later.....everybody loved Jackie.

As for the people pushing "JFK ordered the killing" bullshit CTs, anybody wonder why so many of them just happen to be far-right nutjobs? And this is even somewhat true for CTs in general(well, okay, except for Mae Brussell, she was lefty, but at least she wasn't insane, though, unlike, say, Texe Marrs and company).

OOC: Yes, btw, Texe Marrs & Mae Brussell are in fact, real-life conspiracy theorists....Hopefully nobody minds the name-dropping, but I thought it would make things interesting.

 

[jakewilson]

At least we'd be spared the maudlin marriage-divorce-remarriage-widowhood saga of Christina in the 70s. I suspect that the experience of Miss Onassis is what really sainted Jackie Kennedy in the American collective unconscious.

 

[Archibald]

No Jacqueline B. Kennedy space center, obviously (I highly recommend that novel, by the way)

 

[Mysterion]

As for LHO, you wonder why Jack Ruby ended up taking him out just a couple days later.....everybody loved Jackie.

OOC: In the OP, LHO survives and goes to trial. For whatever reason, in this timeline Ruby either didn't get the chance to take his short, or just didn't.

The big difference, of course, comes through Vietnam policy. I'm skeptical Johnson would have double-downed in Vietnam like Kennedy did, and later reports indicated the Vice President was not on board with the increased presence in Southeast Asia.

Agreed. I agree that LBJ was way too politically savvy to ever maneuver himself into the kind of quagmire that JFK did in Southeast Asia. And I have no doubt that LBJ went to his grave eternally bitter that JFK had cost him a shot at the White House in '68.

 

[thekingsguard]

Here's another question - with John dead, where does that leave Bobby and Teddy? Or his kids?

RFK spent a few decades in the Senate, and ignored all calls for him to run for President, having seen what happened to JFK's legacy thanks to his second term.

Teddy, on the other hand, tried running for President twice, not even getting the nomination either time, little surprise. Between Chappaquiddick Creek and his DUI when he was campaigning in 1980, it's amazing he even held on to his Senate Seat until the 80s.

Another thing to consider is how might JFK junior shape up had his father died in 1963, when he was just a boy, as opposed to 1976, when he was finishing up college? Would he have still gotten involved in politics after his work in business and the media? As it stands, there seems to be a contest between him and VP Bush to see who will succeed President Reagan come 2016 - ironic considering Maureen herself is the daughter of a President.

Anyone remember the good ol' days when being related to a President wasn't a qualifier for getting elected?

 

[PoorBoy]

Here's another question - with John dead, where does that leave Bobby and Teddy? Or his kids?

RFK spent a few decades in the Senate, and ignored all calls for him to run for President, having seen what happened to JFK's legacy thanks to his second term.

Teddy, on the other hand, tried running for President twice, not even getting the nomination either time, little surprise. Between Chappaquiddick Creek and his DUI when he was campaigning in 1980, it's amazing he even held on to his Senate Seat until the 80s.

Another thing to consider is how might JFK junior shape up had his father died in 1963, when he was just a boy, as opposed to 1976, when he was finishing up college? Would he have still gotten involved in politics after his work in business and the media? As it stands, there seems to be a contest between him and VP Bush to see who will succeed President Reagan come 2016 - ironic considering Maureen herself is the daughter of a President.

Anyone remember the good ol' days when being related to a President wasn't a qualifier for getting elected?

Yeah, the Democratic Party seemed to have fallen in a rut of nominating relatives of past Presidents to run for the big office, relying too much on the Kennedys, Bushs, and Reagans.

I've hear rumors coming from the GOP that they're planning on asking Admiral David Robinson to run and contest the Presidency for 2016. I'm not sure if it's just a gimmick for them to elect the first Republican president since Baker 1996, but a lot of people think that a black president is long overdue by now.

Anyways, back to topic...without this pity for Kennedy, we might see less of the political dynasties that has persisted in the country since the 1980s.