Did Edward Brooke Have a Realistic Shot at the Presidency?

Did Edward Brooke (R-Massachusetts), the first popularly elected black Senator in American history, have a realistic shot at the Presidency. He seems to check a lot of boxes: WWII veteran, moderate New England Republican, well-respected, had good working relationships in Washington. However, it seems that just as the country became liberal enough to theoretically accept a black President, his party became too economically conservative for him to win the GOP nomination. Thoughts?
 
Gerald Ford appoints Ed Brooke as his vice-president. (Not too likely, but not wildly implausible--an attempt to do something "historic" to offset the impact of Watergate, to woo a large group that had been hostile to the GOP, etc.; also, notice that he was one of Dole's suggestions to Ford at https://twitter.com/BeschlossDC/status/391990962580238336/ ) Squeaky Fromme or Sara Jane Moore succeeds in killing Ford, making Brooke president....

BTW, there was also talk in 1971 (when Nixon seemed to be in serious political trouble, with Agnew a drag on the ticket) of a Nixon-Brooke ticket for 1972. Brooke himself would later write in *Bridging the Divide: My Life,* p. 201: "Columnists Evans and Novak ran a poll showing a Nixon-Brooke ticket in 1972 topped either a Nixon-Agnew or a Nixon-John Connally ticket. But I did not take it seriously. *It was difficult to see how I would square with a southern strategy.* [my emphasis--DT]

Finally, consider William Rusher's remarks on a running mate for Reagan if the latter were to win the GOP presidential nomination in 1968: "If Percy wouldn't take the vice-presidency, they would look for another moderate. 'If I could be convinced that Ed Brooke could deliver a portion of the Negro vote, we would take him.''' https://groups.google.com/d/msg/soc.history.what-if/tnx5RWPGyP8/Aso8Lavlx3cJ

Really I don't see any way for Brooke to become president other than being VP first and having the president die or resign. Even leaving aside race--which realistically you can't do--remember that even Gerald Ford was too liberal for almost half the Republican primary voters in 1976...
 
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Icarus Falls had him be president for an update or two before the author stopped updating it. It took about six presidents dying for him to get there, though.
 
He just didn't seem to have the ambition to do so, and assessed fairly accurately that it would be a difficult fight which he would be almost guaranteed to lose. And even though politician's affairs didn't really make the news in those days, his relationship with Barbara Walters certainly would have for reasons you could easily guess.
 
Maybe if Rockefeller had won and theven GOP stayed liberal Brooke might have a chance. If Brooke kept his seat in q993 he might have a shot at Reagan VP and then there's John Hinckley. ..

Ford VP is probably more plausible though.
 
Have him serve as VP under Nixon, Ford or Reagan.

Nixon was racist and Reagan was all like "states' rights". Neither of them would accept a black VP. I'd say Ford may choose him as his placeholder VP, and then Ford dies. Boom, we get a Brooke presidency.
 
Ford picks him. He picked Rocky IOTL so it's plausible. Ford killed September 1975. Brooke becomes POTUS. Brooke runs in primaries, Reagan runs also. With sympathy vote Brooke sweeps early states and Reagan drops out. Brooke wins narrow victory over Carter and is President. Crushed in 1980 landslide, regarded by making your historians as last hurrah of liberal GOP(though GOP more moderate than IOTL but not liberal) and historic for being first black president. Inspires more backs to run, shown by President Wilder in 92, then President JC Watts (VP first became POTUS after assassination like Brooke ) and now Democrat nominee Deval patrick.
 
Nixon was racist and Reagan was all like "states' rights". Neither of them would accept a black VP. I'd say Ford may choose him as his placeholder VP, and then Ford dies. Boom, we get a Brooke presidency.

Reagan may have been for states rights, but he was NOT a bigot. He absolutely would have been open to a black VP.
 
Reagan may have been for states rights, but he was NOT a bigot. He absolutely would have been open to a black VP.

If he selected a black running mate, expect racists within the Republican Party to bolt. He was no Nixon in terms of racism, but he would decline because he would want to avoid a far-right third party led by the likes of Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond ruining his chances of election, or re-election. Ford, on the other hand, could have him as his placeholder VP (but not as his running mate so as to avoid the far-right third party). If Ford dies, boom. President Brooke.
 
Ford picks Brooke then Ford dying is the easiest. Brooke could then ride the sympathy to help him get elected in his own right.
 
Brooke could then ride the sympathy to help him get elected in his own right.

No way. The US just wasn't ready for a black president. Expect riots if Brooke becomes president in any way. He'd fail to win the nomination of his party, much less the presidency.
 
No way. The US just wasn't ready for a black president. Expect riots if Brooke becomes president in any way. He'd fail to win the nomination of his party, much less the presidency.

I don't see any riots. But Reagan would probably challenge him for the nomination and could do so successfully without anything explicitly racial--he could *truthfully* say Brooke was much too liberal for most Republicans.

FWIW, by 1978, 76 percent of Gallup's respondents said they would be willing to vote for a black president (compared to only 38 percent as late as 1958). http://www.gallup.com/poll/3427/most-important-events-century-from-viewpoint-people.aspx Of course I would not take such statements at face value in all cases, but a black president, though unlikely, was not *unthinkable* by the 1970's.
 
I think what I did in The Onward March of Progress is pretty much the only way to get him nominated in his own right. Have Nixon, Agnew, and Reagan be disgracefully removed from the scene in the context of domestic calming, peace in Vietnam, and triumphant liberalism, removing conservative candidates and shifting the entire political discourse leftwards. Have 1976 (it basically has to be 1976, to provide enough electoral cycles to cull the conservatives, and to give Brooke time to create connections and a national presence) be considered such a bad election for the Republican party, either due to intraparty infighting, a strong Democratic candidacy, or both, that the A-grade candidates stay out. Have there be just enough contenders so that the race doesn't coalesce into one with a clear frontrunner. Get the other candidates to focus their fire on each other, enabling Brooke to stroll to the nomination through the wreckage. Prevent decisive endorsement deals by having one of the strongest candidates be a hardline conservative in a race that would (given the aforementioned conditions) be dominated by liberals and moderates. And still, it took the left-wing AH.com electorate to get Brooke a mere plurality.
 

Bulldoggus

Banned
I think what I did in The Onward March of Progress is pretty much the only way to get him nominated in his own right. Have Nixon, Agnew, and Reagan be disgracefully removed from the scene in the context of domestic calming, peace in Vietnam, and triumphant liberalism, removing conservative candidates and shifting the entire political discourse leftwards. Have 1976 (it basically has to be 1976, to provide enough electoral cycles to cull the conservatives, and to give Brooke time to create connections and a national presence) be considered such a bad election for the Republican party, either due to intraparty infighting, a strong Democratic candidacy, or both, that the A-grade candidates stay out. Have there be just enough contenders so that the race doesn't coalesce into one with a clear frontrunner. Get the other candidates to focus their fire on each other, enabling Brooke to stroll to the nomination through the wreckage. Prevent decisive endorsement deals by having one of the strongest candidates be a hardline conservative in a race that would (given the aforementioned conditions) be dominated by liberals and moderates. And still, it took the left-wing AH.com electorate to get Brooke a mere plurality.
Very true. It could have easily happened had the race been Reagan vs. Someone much more competent at campaigning than Jimmy Carter (I mean, "I have lusted in my heart," come on...). Then the Rockefeller Republicans could have used the opportunity to purge the conservative hardliners. They might then have used a centrist Republican for POTUS, Brooke for Veep (as an apology for the southern strategy) and the president dies.
 
Very true. It could have easily happened had the race been Reagan vs. Someone much more competent at campaigning than Jimmy Carter (I mean, "I have lusted in my heart," come on...). Then the Rockefeller Republicans could have used the opportunity to purge the conservative hardliners. They might then have used a centrist Republican for POTUS, Brooke for Veep (as an apology for the southern strategy) and the president dies.
Yes, this is probably the best way.
 
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