OOC: Here goes.
IC:
You view history through biased glasses. Sanford brought about a peace between the South Vietnamese and North Vietnamese which Lodge would have replaced only with a continued war and rising death tole. The fact that the North violated that later is due mainly to the fact that Lodge had allowed the South to become unstable and reliant on the US.
Reagan did not win in 1972, he won in 1976 (and that has a lot to do with VP RFK not running in 1976 because he had to deal with family matters). And not against Sanford, but Jimmy Cart. And his term was a time of economic stagflation if you recall.
IC:
Sanford was a very weak President, however. He totally botched the war in Indochina with his unconditional, unilateral cease-fires and retreats. The infamous photos of US helicopters lifting off from Saigon in 1970 just confirmed the Republican charge that the Democrats allowed countries to fall to Communism.
You view history through biased glasses. Sanford brought about a peace between the South Vietnamese and North Vietnamese which Lodge would have replaced only with a continued war and rising death tole. The fact that the North violated that later is due mainly to the fact that Lodge had allowed the South to become unstable and reliant on the US.
If Nixon was there, there may not have been a Vietnam to begin with.If only Nixon could have been there he'd have prevented it!
Me-thinks you do not understand US history. Sanford had every idea what he was doing. Inflation and unemployment increases were hold overs from Lodge's term and the price and wage controls did not provoke a revolt. It only PO'd the conservatives. Likewise, he managed to reverse that inflation and unemployment trend. The Democrats also did not fracture down the middle. Wallace only had a small percentage of overall supporters compared to Sanford and RFK gave Sanford his endorsement (which is why Sanford named him VP for his 1972 term, but that's another matter). And that did not hinder Sanford's reelection.Sanford also had no idea of what he was doing economically. Inflation and unemployment rose dramatically and his imposition of wage and price controls nearly provoked a revolt. And when he came out in favor of school busing he destroyed himself politically. So that's how we ended up with a fractured Democratic Party that split nearly down the middle, with Wallace on one side and Sanford on the other. RFK, opportunistic SOB that he was, tried to run up the middle but few trusted him.
JFK never lied because no one ever asked. And that information only came out decades later.The revelation of JFK's reckless lifestyle didn't help. I know America would never tolerate a President who would lie under oath about sexual encounters. How tawdry!
Again, you misunderstand US history (and in this case massively.)It's still amazing how an actor could get elected President, but Ronald Reagan was the man for the hour. In 1972 he swept the West and Midwest and split the South with Wallace. His unexpected choice of Senator George Bush for VP helped him nail down Texas.
So poor old Sanford loses his home state to Wallace and ends up with just DC, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. A pathetic end to a once promising career.
Reagan did not win in 1972, he won in 1976 (and that has a lot to do with VP RFK not running in 1976 because he had to deal with family matters). And not against Sanford, but Jimmy Cart. And his term was a time of economic stagflation if you recall.