Draft TL: RFK Renewed

Road to RFK's Retirement- 1988-9

Note- only Democratic primaries.

March 15- Illinois primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 63%
JESSE JACKSON: 37%

Mar 25- NIXON ENDORSES BUSH

Mar 29: Can't say it was unexpected. Bush is Nixon's protege.

Mar 29- Connecticut primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 70%
ALBERT GORE: 20%
JESSE JACKSON: 10%

Apr 4- MECHAM IMPEACHED, REMOVED FROM OFFICE.

Apr 4: Barry Goldwater had opposed him and told me it was "a long time coming."

Apr 5- Wisconsin primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 61%
ALBERT GORE: 35%
JESSE JACKSON: 4%

Apr 20: I will meet with Dukakis at the White House if he is the nominee. Some more conservative Democrats have asked if I could reverse my decision and run for a fourth term. I would be vilified in the media and lose the election to Bush. After twelve years of Democratic rule, it's unlikely that anything but the margins will change.

Second round, French presidential election:

Valery Giscard D'Estaing (UDR, inc): 58.2%
Lionel Jospin (PS): 41.8%

Incumbent President: Valery Giscard D'Estaing
President-elect: Valery Giscard D'Estaing

Apr 26- Pennsylvania primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 62%
ALBERT GORE: 30%
JESSE JACKSON: 8%

Apr 28- ALOHA 243 LANDS SAFELY AFTER LOSING PART OF CABIN ROOF

Apr 29: Should give those pilots a medal for bravery. At this rate, the next Pres. will do that.

May 3- DC primary (D)

JESSE JACKSON: 79%
MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 21%

Indiana primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 62%
ALBERT GORE: 30%
JESSE JACKSON: 8%

Ohio primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 58%
ALBERT GORE: 42%

May 10- Nebraska primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 54%
ALBERT GORE: 46%

West Virginia primary (D)

ALBERT GORE: 53%
MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 47%

May 15: Like me, Dukakis has a Southern problem, without my black or blue-collar appeal. He acts and talks like a blueblood latte liberal. Bush is a Republican blueblood, even if he's a Texan now.

May 17- Oregon primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 65%
ALBERT GORE: 35%

May 20: Well, at least he has suburban appeal. I can't claim that honor, but Bush can.

May 24- Idaho primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 57%
ALBERT GORE: 43%

June 4: Met with Dukakis in the Oval Office today. We discussed the campaign and the convention. He asked if the rumored approaches were true. I said they were, but that was "completely out of the question". I advised him to take a Southern running mate to moderate his image. Also reminded him that most Democrats are far more conservative than Northeastern ones, and to keep that in mind in the platform. He promised me to keep most of the 1984 platform, with minor tweaks on social issues.

June 7- California primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 74%
JESSE JACKSON: 26%

Montana primary (D)

ALBERT GORE: 52%
MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 48%

New Jersey primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 64%
ALBERT GORE: 30%
JESSE JACKSON: 6%

New Mexico primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 57%
ALBERT GORE: 43%

June 14- North Dakota primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 59%
ALBERT GORE: 41%

DUKAKIS PRESUMPTIVE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE

June 19: My last G8 meeting and my last foreign trip as Pres. After discussing business, had long private sessions with Margaret and Brian. Said I was looking forward to retirement come Jan. 20.

July 5: Last Fourth of July in the White House, quite emotional for everyone.

July 20, Democratic National Convention, Atlanta

1st ballot:

Mass. Gov. Michael Dukakis- 2450
Tenn. Sen. Albert Gore: 800
Jesse Jackson: 450

After conferring with his staff, Gov. Dukakis chooses Al Gore as his running mate.

President Robert Kennedy bids an emotional farewell to the party he has led for twenty years in his convention address. Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton gives an overly long keynote speech.

July 25: Well it's nearly over. I told them I wanted a good keynote speech for the first time in my life. Clinton's young, but he has a future in the party and could very well be President someday. We would've had a much better chance if Mario had run, but he didn't want to.

Aug 7- RIOT IN TOMPKINS SQUARE PARK, 75 INJURED

Aug 9: Spoke to Mario and Ed Koch about this. George Bush will now lambast us for being soft on crime, and in addition there's allegations of police brutality. This is where the GOP always hammers, and something tells me it won't be different this fall.

Aug 17- PRES ZIA, RAPHAEL DEAD IN PAK C-130 CRASH

Aug 18- Emergency NSC meeting on Pakistan. Now it looks like Bhutto has a chance in November...

Aug 19- Republican National Convention, New Orleans

Texas Sen. George Bush is unanimously nominated. As his running mate he chooses Kansas Sen. Nancy Kassebaum. In his address, Bush attacks the Democrats for being soft on crime, as evidenced by the Stonewall riot. Finally, he attacks the Kennedy Administration's economic policies "which have included two recessions."

Aug 29: Bush has launched a negative campaign, based on Dukakis' admittedly mixed record as Governor, but mostly on social values, where they've portrayed him as out of touch with mainstream voters. The attack ads are getting nastier, but they haven't touched bottom yet. Never knew Bush, in the Senate anyways, as a "rock-em, sock-em" type, as Nixon would put it.

Sept 10: First Willie Horton ad today. This will cook us for good. It's a mixture of truth and outright lies, but seeing as most voters don't live in Mass. very few know the exact details of the furlough program. It seemed a bit lenient when Ted first told me about it, but never imagined this.

Sept 20: Now Dukakis has been attacked as a Mass. liberal and "a proud member of the ACLU".

Oct 8: Polls show Bush leading by 6-7. The internal electoral projections aren't pretty, but we can swing a few Southern states. The next nominee must be a Southerner, and I will try my best to do that.

Oct 13: Dukakis was asked if he'd support the death penalty if his wife was a victim. Responded with stats. We're (expletive deleted) done now.

Oct 24: Polls show Bush leading by 5. He'll probably win between 310-340 ECV.

Nov 1- Israeli legislative election

Likud: 47 seats
Labor: 49 seats

Incumbent PM: Yitzhak Shamir
PM-designate: Yitzhak Shamir

Nov 8: Election Day. What will the margin be?

genusmap.php


(R) George H.W. Bush/Nancy L. Kassebaum: 362 ECV, 54.7% PV

(D) Michael Dukakis/ Albert Gore Jr.: 176 ECV, 43.3% PV

Incumbent President: Robert F. Kennedy (D)
President-elect: George H.W. Bush (R)

Nov 16- Pakistani legislative election

PM-designate: Benazir Bhutto (PPP)

Nov 21- Canadian federal election

Progressive Conservatives: 175 seats
Liberal: 83 seats
NDP: 37 seats

Incumbent PM: Brian Mulroney (PC)
PM-designate: Brian Mulroney (PC)

Nov 28: Called Bush to discuss the transition. Agreed to a meeting on Dec. 14 and Jan. 10

Dec 14: Had a national security briefing with the Bush team. We discussed Pakistan as a possible issue, as well as the Soviet Union, which appears to be tottering.

Dec 28: Last Xmas in the White House and in DC. We've decided to move back to Mass.


Jan 10: Final meeting with George Bush today. It looks like he'll do a good job here, especially in foreign policy.

Jan 20- President Bush is inaugurated, Robert Kennedy leaves Washington after nearly forty years for Hyannis.




 
Epilogue

"After Robert Kennedy left Washington in January 1989, foreign affairs became the primary focus of the Bush Presidency. The Tiananmen Square massacre, followed by the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and German reunification in 1990, ended the Cold War once and for all. The death of Ferdinand Marcos and the elevation of Benigno Aquino in 1991 returned the Philippines to democracy. Margaret Thatcher narrowly survived a party coup, won the 1991 election in a post-Gulf state of patriotism and handed over to John Major in 1993. The UK is now governed by PM Tony Blair. While President George W. Bush (2001- )governs the country, Robert Kennedy remains in retirement, occasionally speaking out on issues. He backs the Afghan war but calls Iraq another Vietnam in-waiting. In 2004, President Bush asked his father and Robert Kennedy to lead the American effort for tsunami relief in Indonesia. After JFK Jr's near-fatal plane accident in 1999 and a hard fought, victorious, and bitter campaign by his son, Robert Kennedy Jr. against Andrew Cuomo for the post of NY Attorney General in 2002, the family remains in the spotlight, especially now that his son succeeded George Pataki as Governor in 2006."


Excerpted from "Robert Kennedy: Defender of the Downtrodden" by Doris Kearns Goodwin

This is the conclusion of this timeline. I'd like to thank all who helped me, and I will be starting Can-Ken shortly.
 
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I will start "Can-Ken: The Kennedys in Canada" later in the week. RFK Renewed will be redone later this year, with a different POD and much better format, and a new title.
 
July 15, Democratic Convention, Madison Square Garden, New York. Backstage, Sen. Robert Kennedy prepares to accept his party's nomination for the second time. He is going over a list of vice-presidential nominees, and the dilemma is again, that a Southern VP is needed to win, given Reagan's Dixie popularity. Or he can go with a conservative Northerner.

1st ballot:
N.Y. Sen. Robert Kennedy- 2375
Ala. Gov. George Wallace- 250
Wash. Sen. Scoop Jackson- 175
Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown- 35

The choice is a surprising one, fellow Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV). Byrd, the favourite to succeed retiring Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, is the most pragmatic of the Southern conservatives. Privately, Kennedy offers Jackson the Defense post, which he accepts.

In his convention address, Robert Kennedy stresses the need for energy independence, a pragmatic foreign policy, and says "Tax cuts, while beneficial and an effective method of economic stimulus, are not ends in themselves towards economic prosperity."

Vice Presidential tally:

W.V. Sen. Robert Byrd-2750
Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown- 200

July 25- Harold Wilson resigns, he is succeeded as Prime Minister by Jim Callaghan.

Aug 19, Republican National Convention, Kansas City, MO

Ronald Reagan is assured of a first-ballot victory, however he is undecided on a running mate. Senator Bush has declined the VP position, and President Nixon has suggested Senators Dole and Baker. Reagan and his staff agree that Dole is out, because he endorsed Bush early on. Therefore he selects Senator Baker as his running mate, and Baker accepts.

1st ballot.

Fmr. Calif. Gov. Ronald Reagan: 1775
Texas Sen. George H.W. Bush: 481

Vice Presidential tally:

TN Sen. Howard Baker: 2040
TX Sen. George Bush: 157.

President Nixon addresses the convention, endorsing Ronald Reagan and calling the Democratic ticket "an unholy alliance."

RFK's choice of Senator Robert Byrd as VP would have been deemed controversal even in 1976. Senator Byrd of West Virginia was once a member of the KKK and he voted against the Civil Rights Act of 57, 60, 64 and the Voting Rights Act of 65. He was clearly on the wrong side of history. IMO there's no way in hell he would chosen hm as running mate, surely there are other southern Democrats he could have chosen that are not tainted or carry the baggage that Senator Byrd did.
 
Note- only Democratic primaries.

March 15- Illinois primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 63%
JESSE JACKSON: 37%

Mar 25- NIXON ENDORSES BUSH

Mar 29: Can't say it was unexpected. Bush is Nixon's protege.

Mar 29- Connecticut primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 70%
ALBERT GORE: 20%
JESSE JACKSON: 10%

Apr 4- MECHAM IMPEACHED, REMOVED FROM OFFICE.

Apr 4: Barry Goldwater had opposed him and told me it was "a long time coming."

Apr 5- Wisconsin primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 61%
ALBERT GORE: 35%
JESSE JACKSON: 4%

Apr 20: I will meet with Dukakis at the White House if he is the nominee. Some more conservative Democrats have asked if I could reverse my decision and run for a fourth term. I would be vilified in the media and lose the election to Bush. After twelve years of Democratic rule, it's unlikely that anything but the margins will change.

Second round, French presidential election:

Valery Giscard D'Estaing (UDR, inc): 58.2%
Lionel Jospin (PS): 41.8%

Incumbent President: Valery Giscard D'Estaing
President-elect: Valery Giscard D'Estaing

Apr 26- Pennsylvania primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 62%
ALBERT GORE: 30%
JESSE JACKSON: 8%

Apr 28- ALOHA 243 LANDS SAFELY AFTER LOSING PART OF CABIN ROOF

Apr 29: Should give those pilots a medal for bravery. At this rate, the next Pres. will do that.

May 3- DC primary (D)

JESSE JACKSON: 79%
MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 21%

Indiana primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 62%
ALBERT GORE: 30%
JESSE JACKSON: 8%

Ohio primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 58%
ALBERT GORE: 42%

May 10- Nebraska primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 54%
ALBERT GORE: 46%

West Virginia primary (D)

ALBERT GORE: 53%
MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 47%

May 15: Like me, Dukakis has a Southern problem, without my black or blue-collar appeal. He acts and talks like a blueblood latte liberal. Bush is a Republican blueblood, even if he's a Texan now.

May 17- Oregon primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 65%
ALBERT GORE: 35%

May 20: Well, at least he has suburban appeal. I can't claim that honor, but Bush can.

May 24- Idaho primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 57%
ALBERT GORE: 43%

June 4: Met with Dukakis in the Oval Office today. We discussed the campaign and the convention. He asked if the rumored approaches were true. I said they were, but that was "completely out of the question". I advised him to take a Southern running mate to moderate his image. Also reminded him that most Democrats are far more conservative than Northeastern ones, and to keep that in mind in the platform. He promised me to keep most of the 1984 platform, with minor tweaks on social issues.

June 7- California primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 74%
JESSE JACKSON: 26%

Montana primary (D)

ALBERT GORE: 52%
MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 48%

New Jersey primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 64%
ALBERT GORE: 30%
JESSE JACKSON: 6%

New Mexico primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 57%
ALBERT GORE: 43%

June 14- North Dakota primary (D)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS: 59%
ALBERT GORE: 41%

DUKAKIS PRESUMPTIVE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE

June 19: My last G8 meeting and my last foreign trip as Pres. After discussing business, had long private sessions with Margaret and Brian. Said I was looking forward to retirement come Jan. 20.

July 5: Last Fourth of July in the White House, quite emotional for everyone.

July 20, Democratic National Convention, Atlanta

1st ballot:

Mass. Gov. Michael Dukakis- 2450
Tenn. Sen. Albert Gore: 800
Jesse Jackson: 450

After conferring with his staff, Gov. Dukakis chooses Al Gore as his running mate.

President Robert Kennedy bids an emotional farewell to the party he has led for twenty years in his convention address. Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton gives an overly long keynote speech.

July 25: Well it's nearly over. I told them I wanted a good keynote speech for the first time in my life. Clinton's young, but he has a future in the party and could very well be President someday. We would've had a much better chance if Mario had run, but he didn't want to.

Aug 7- RIOT IN TOMPKINS SQUARE PARK, 75 INJURED

Aug 9: Spoke to Mario and Ed Koch about this. George Bush will now lambast us for being soft on crime, and in addition there's allegations of police brutality. This is where the GOP always hammers, and something tells me it won't be different this fall.

Aug 17- PRES ZIA, RAPHAEL DEAD IN PAK C-130 CRASH

Aug 18- Emergency NSC meeting on Pakistan. Now it looks like Bhutto has a chance in November...

Aug 19- Republican National Convention, New Orleans

Texas Sen. George Bush is unanimously nominated. As his running mate he chooses Kansas Sen. Nancy Kassebaum. In his address, Bush attacks the Democrats for being soft on crime, as evidenced by the Stonewall riot. Finally, he attacks the Kennedy Administration's economic policies "which have included two recessions."

Aug 29: Bush has launched a negative campaign, based on Dukakis' admittedly mixed record as Governor, but mostly on social values, where they've portrayed him as out of touch with mainstream voters. The attack ads are getting nastier, but they haven't touched bottom yet. Never knew Bush, in the Senate anyways, as a "rock-em, sock-em" type, as Nixon would put it.

Sept 10: First Willie Horton ad today. This will cook us for good. It's a mixture of truth and outright lies, but seeing as most voters don't live in Mass. very few know the exact details of the furlough program. It seemed a bit lenient when Ted first told me about it, but never imagined this.

Sept 20: Now Dukakis has been attacked as a Mass. liberal and "a proud member of the ACLU".

Oct 8: Polls show Bush leading by 6-7. The internal electoral projections aren't pretty, but we can swing a few Southern states. The next nominee must be a Southerner, and I will try my best to do that.

Oct 13: Dukakis was asked if he'd support the death penalty if his wife was a victim. Responded with stats. We're (expletive deleted) done now.

Oct 24: Polls show Bush leading by 5. He'll probably win between 310-340 ECV.

Nov 1- Israeli legislative election

Likud: 47 seats
Labor: 49 seats

Incumbent PM: Yitzhak Shamir
PM-designate: Yitzhak Shamir

Nov 8: Election Day. What will the margin be?

genusmap.php


(R) George H.W. Bush/Nancy L. Kassebaum: 362 ECV, 54.7% PV

(D) Michael Dukakis/ Albert Gore Jr.: 176 ECV, 43.3% PV

Incumbent President: Robert F. Kennedy (D)
President-elect: George H.W. Bush (R)

Nov 16- Pakistani legislative election

PM-designate: Benazir Bhutto (PPP)

Nov 21- Canadian federal election

Progressive Conservatives: 175 seats
Liberal: 83 seats
NDP: 37 seats

Incumbent PM: Brian Mulroney (PC)
PM-designate: Brian Mulroney (PC)

Nov 28: Called Bush to discuss the transition. Agreed to a meeting on Dec. 14 and Jan. 10

Dec 14: Had a national security briefing with the Bush team. We discussed Pakistan as a possible issue, as well as the Soviet Union, which appears to be tottering.

Dec 28: Last Xmas in the White House and in DC. We've decided to move back to Mass.


Jan 10: Final meeting with George Bush today. It looks like he'll do a good job here, especially in foreign policy.

Jan 20- President Bush is inaugurated, Robert Kennedy leaves Washington after nearly forty years for Hyannis.
I think you might have made a mistake somewhwhere in your posts. In a previous post you stated that Senator Nanacy Kassebaum of Kansas was the Republican VP candidate in 1984 and now 4 four years later she's the VP candidate with George Bush Sr. If she was the unsucessful VP candidate in 84 there's no way in hell the Republican nominee is going to chose her for mate 4 years later, it simply doesn't happen! So I think you're going need to make some corrections here.
One more thing, whatever happened to Jimmy Carter? Did he go back to being state senator? Mayor of Plains? or did he beat Lester Maddox in the 74 primary and went on to be elected Governor of Georgia?
 
Jimmy Carter was defeated by ex-Governor Sanders in the 1970 primary and lost to Maddox in 1974. He is now Mayor of Plains. I'll fix Kassebaum in the new TL after I finish Can-Ken. Thanks for the input.
 
Jimmy Carter was defeated by ex-Governor Sanders in the 1970 primary and lost to Maddox in 1974. He is now Mayor of Plains. I'll fix Kassebaum in the new TL after I finish Can-Ken. Thanks for the input.
He's almost 85 and still Mayor of Plains? Wow! He must have been serving in that job, more or less, for over 30 years:rolleyes: But seriously I think it's more likely that Carter would have beaten Maddox in the 74 primary by a margin of about 53%-47%, give or take, because by the mid 70's, even in Georgia, segragationists were becoming a thing of past.
There's still the issue of RFK choosing Byrd as his running mate in 76. :eek:
 
Mar 8: Marcos told an NBC interviewer that "of course" the presidential election will be held in June, and that Aquino was more than welcome to be a candidate. I hope he doesn't do a complete farce.

Mar 19: Another televangelist caught in bed with another woman. So much for the "values-oriented" GOP.

Apr 7: Harold Washington was re-elected. The Daley machine is still intact. It's a shame that such things still exist, even if they're occasionally helpful.

WALDHEIM DECLARED PNG

Apr 9: The man's a former Nazi concentration camp guard. It would be shameful and immoral to do anything but.

Apr 20: Another Cabinet meeting at 9:30 and NSC at 1 pm. Nothing of consequence, except finding out that Margaret will be calling an election soon. Hope she wins.

May 5: Had a 30 min conversation with Rajiv about the Bofors business. Along with the recent state and local losses, his govt is becoming quite politically vulnerable. He's up to his knees in it. I told him to appoint a commission, ally with some senior mandarins, re-establish caucus discipline and tough it out. Also to be prepared for a comeback if he loses the next election. The situation is like if the media took a picture of a rave party, and he was the only one not on drugs or doing anything illegal. Guilt by association.

May 15- UK PARLIAMENT DISSOLVED, ELECTION JUNE 11

May 23: Margaret's on her way to another smashing victory. What's going to be interesting is the story in Manila...

June 11- TORIES 379, LAB 229, THATCHER'S TRIPLE CROWN

June 25- Voting Day in Manila.

Philippine presidential election, 1987

Ferdinand Marcos (KBL, inc) 54.4%
Benigno Aquino (UNIDO) 45.4%

Incumbent President: Ferdinand Marcos (KBL)
President-elect: Ferdinand Marcos (KBL)

Incumbent Vice President: none (position created)
Vice President-elect: Salvador Laurel (UNIDO)

June 27: Reports from Manila indicate that Marcos let Laurel win. I doubt he'll leave the line of succession untouched...

One major problem here: Benigno Aquino would have automatically declared fraud and the people would have went to the streets to protest and riot. This result would have been virtually unavoidable. I take it you never hear of Col. Gregorio "gringo" Honasan and the Reform of the Armed Forces Movement (RAM)? He and his and his officers were plotting to overthrow Marcos since 1982. By 1987 they would have been more than prepared to carry out the coup, and with the backing of General Fidel Ramos and Defense Minister Juna Ponce Enrile they would have succeded in bringing about the People's Power Revolution. And finally, President Kennedy would have put all the blame on Marcos for the election fraud.
 
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