DBWI: President Kennedy and Vice-President Johnson

So, IOTL Johnson (very narrowly) won the democratic primaries and chose Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy as his running mate. The Johnson-Kennedy ticket would eventually win a narrow victory (closest ever in American history) against Vice-President Richard Nixon in the 1960 election. But what if the roles were reversed? What if JFK was the democratic nominee with LBJ as his running mate? Would Kennedy win a wider victory against Nixon? What would he do about Vietnam? And how would the Civil Rights movement be under his presidency?

OOC: No, Johnson did not get assassinated in Dallas on the 11/22/63 by Lee Harvey Oswald. This DBWI shall explictly avoid that cliche.
 
For one thing, the nation would have been spared the convulsions of the near-run impeachment of Johnson in late 1962 / early 1963 when the extent of his involvement with Billie Sol Estes came to light: corruption that massive in the White House made Teapot Dome (in which Harding was not, repeat not involved) look like a stubbed toe by comparison. Remember that when it came to trial in the Senate, Johnson survived by just a single vote on the leading article, and no more than four on any of the others: that is, each vote fell just short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction. Johnson was under a cloud for the remainder of his term, and Kennedy was damaged goods, seeing as he never committed publicly to either side during the storm (on the other hand, Hubert Humphrey and Scoop Jackson took strong stands, but the results of those are stories for other times and places).

As we all know, Johnson was voted out in 1964 and was succeeded by Bill Scranton (with Thruston Morton as his running mate). Scranton installed former VP Richard Nixon as SecState. Many historians credit the appointment of a no-nonsense cold warrior as SecState as giving China pause about supporting the North Vietnamese regime, and helping wind down the conflict in Vietnam between 1965 and 1969. That in turn allowed Scranton to effectively walk home with a re-election bid in 1968, defeating former VP John Kennedy handily, winning all states in the northeast except Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and the border / upper south (Virginia; West Virginia; Kentucky; Tennessee). During Scranton's second term, he went on (under the guidance of Secretary Nixon and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger) to open both China and Cuba, normalizing relations. Today, both nations are nominally communist, with hefty free market economies. Indeed, the Castro brothers decided to retire in the early 21st century, and their successors have been remarkably tolerant of dissent to the point where Cuba is rapidly rising toward a quasi-authoritarian government (some credit the heavy influence of US television beamed across the straits as having no small hand in that, for what it may be worth).

Meanwhile, the fall from grace that Lyndon Johnson endured guaranteed the rise of Ralph Yarborough, especially after he shifted to the GOP, citing that he wanted no more parts of a party that backed Lyndon Johnson. That brought Texas squarely into the GOP column, where it has remained for more than a half century. Johnson, meanwhile, retired to his ranch and has played some shadowy roles in Texas Dem politics, but nothing like he once did. He passed away in 1980, not quite persona non grata but few politicians cared to be photographed with him. John Kennedy tried again for the presidency in 1972 but fell short of the nomination, which went to Hubert Humphrey instead. Kennedy used a portion of the family fortune to buy the Boston Globe, hoping that might serve as a springboard for a comeback. However, his difficulties with Addison's disease progressed rapidly during the 1970s and early 1980s. He died in 1987, just short of his 70th birthday. Many today wonder how he might have been as president; the consensus seems to be that he would have been an average / acceptable chief executive, but nothing more.
 
For one thing, the nation would have been spared the convulsions of the near-run impeachment of Johnson in late 1962 / early 1963 when the extent of his involvement with Billie Sol Estes came to light: corruption that massive in the White House made Teapot Dome (in which Harding was not, repeat not involved) look like a stubbed toe by comparison. Remember that when it came to trial in the Senate, Johnson survived by just a single vote on the leading article, and no more than four on any of the others: that is, each vote fell just short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction. Johnson was under a cloud for the remainder of his term, and Kennedy was damaged goods, seeing as he never committed publicly to either side during the storm (on the other hand, Hubert Humphrey and Scoop Jackson took strong stands, but the results of those are stories for other times and places).

As we all know, Johnson was voted out in 1964 and was succeeded by Bill Scranton (with Thruston Morton as his running mate). Scranton installed former VP Richard Nixon as SecState. Many historians credit the appointment of a no-nonsense cold warrior as SecState as giving China pause about supporting the North Vietnamese regime, and helping wind down the conflict in Vietnam between 1965 and 1969. That in turn allowed Scranton to effectively walk home with a re-election bid in 1968, defeating former VP John Kennedy handily, winning all states in the northeast except Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and the border / upper south (Virginia; West Virginia; Kentucky; Tennessee). During Scranton's second term, he went on (under the guidance of Secretary Nixon and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger) to open both China and Cuba, normalizing relations. Today, both nations are nominally communist, with hefty free market economies. Indeed, the Castro brothers decided to retire in the early 21st century, and their successors have been remarkably tolerant of dissent to the point where Cuba is rapidly rising toward a quasi-authoritarian government (some credit the heavy influence of US television beamed across the straits as having no small hand in that, for what it may be worth).

Meanwhile, the fall from grace that Lyndon Johnson endured guaranteed the rise of Ralph Yarborough, especially after he shifted to the GOP, citing that he wanted no more parts of a party that backed Lyndon Johnson. That brought Texas squarely into the GOP column, where it has remained for more than a half century. Johnson, meanwhile, retired to his ranch and has played some shadowy roles in Texas Dem politics, but nothing like he once did. He passed away in 1980, not quite persona non grata but few politicians cared to be photographed with him. John Kennedy tried again for the presidency in 1972 but fell short of the nomination, which went to Hubert Humphrey instead. Kennedy used a portion of the family fortune to buy the Boston Globe, hoping that might serve as a springboard for a comeback. However, his difficulties with Addison's disease progressed rapidly during the 1970s and early 1980s. He died in 1987, just short of his 70th birthday. Many today wonder how he might have been as president; the consensus seems to be that he would have been an average / acceptable chief executive, but nothing more.

Well, the Estes Scandal being averted is a given, but was the history lesson really necessary? Pretty sure half the board here knows most of this.

OOC: Well, in-universe still would be seen as an odd over-explaination. Still, I have to say I'm impressed with the amount of work and detail put to this post.
 
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