DBWI: President Johnson
- Thread starter Israel
- Start date
Why would Johnson become president later?
Before his second heart attack, "LBJ" had a pretty important role in getting Kennedy's civil rights legislation through the Senate. Kicking him upstairs would have meant a less successful Kennedy administration.
Before his second heart attack, "LBJ" had a pretty important role in getting Kennedy's civil rights legislation through the Senate. Kicking him upstairs would have meant a less successful Kennedy administration.
It's worth considering that, given butterflies, Kennedy might have survived all the way through January 1969 ITTL, so VP Johnson might not have necessarily become president. Nevertheless, Johnson and Symington don't look that different on paper: both southern center-left Senators who didn't sign the Southern Manifesto. One big difference: Johnson's health wasn't too good in 1968 IOTL, so I imagine he wouldn't have run for a full term in 1968 like Symington did.
You think Johnson could have beat Westmoreland in 1968? I don't know. Symington sure couldn't.
Johnson would've secured Texas and some other Southern states, but yeah they probably would still lose with 300+ E.V.'s
Yeah. Just goes to show how much of a route '72 was for the Republicans.
Good ol' Gaylord Nelson, right?
Yep! One would have thought Nelson/McGovern too left for America, but Westmoreland stunk.
It was the Kennedy administration which set the groundwork for the problems Westmorland was trying to fix: Vietnam, Pakistan, etc.
Sure, but Symington at least pursued Vietnam rationally. He didn't order what the Soviets thought to be nukes into Asia!
Indeed, but they weren't nukes. I agree, Westmoreland should've been more responsive to the "hotline," but he wasn't so stupid as to actually threaten war by bringing warheads into that country!