We all know that on June 5, 1968 RFK was nearly assassinated by a man named Sirhan Sirhan. Luckily RFK had gone in the opposite direction of the kitchen where Sirhan was and avoided death. Eventually the wannabe assassin left the hotel and was arrested two days later, but what if Kennedy had gone to the kitchen and met his fate? Would Humphrey been able to defeat Nixon like Robert? How would our world be like if there were no RFK Presidency?
 
We all know that on June 5, 1968 RFK was nearly assassinated by a man named Sirhan Sirhan. Luckily RFK had gone in the opposite direction of the kitchen where Sirhan was and avoided death. Eventually the wannabe assassin left the hotel and was arrested two days later, but what if Kennedy had gone to the kitchen and met his fate? Would Humphrey been able to defeat Nixon like Robert? How would our world be like if there were no RFK Presidency?

As a Minnesotan myself, I've always been interested in the prospects of a Humphrey presidency. While I have to admit that electorally he'd run into problems with Nixon, should he manage to win I can certainly see him operating a highly effective administration and help keep the granger/farmer into the " Coalition" rather than alienating them like Kennedy ended up doing with his strong pro-creditor policies. Just look at the success his "Food for Peace"initiative had in kicking off agricultural and land reforms in South Vietnam and sub-Saharan Africa that allowed for the winning of the hearts and minds of the peasantry for capitalism, thus allowing for Robert's team to handle the statecraft and training of local militaries needed to end the Communist insurgency.

Granted, we probably don't see the same level of investment in the national road infastructure or the passage of the National Medicinal Security Act which established the Federal Health Fund without the influence of the Kennedys and Robert's personal charisma and dedication. Instead, that money probably goes into university system in Humphrey's case or the military under Nixon. We'd also see higher inflation in general.
 
One important thing about RFK's run for the Presidency is that even with all his charisma and inherent goodness, he wasn't afraid of playing dirty. He's almost commonly today accepted that the Kennedy campaign publicly leaked the information on the Peace Talk Scandal, that Nixon was trying to delay the peace talks which led to end of the Vietnam War for political gain, a leak which ultimately destroyed Nixon's campaign in 68' and even got him in trouble legally leading to the investigation that eventually led to his arrest in 1970. Humphrey on the other hand is a person who I'm not entirely certain would have been so willing to leak said info, even for political gain. So a Nixon victory in 1968 is actually very possible, if not I think likely.

That itself is going to have various effects on the ending of the Vietnam War. Rather than us starting to pull back in 69' like we did in our timeline, we might end up staying in Vietnam a lot longer, as there are a lot of sources which indicate that Nixon might have chosen to stay in Vietnam even if he had won.
 
Nixon ultimately got himself in legal trouble as head of Pepsico, when he sent burglars to Coke headquarters. Can you imagine a President doing that to the opposition? It would destroy public confidence in the government.

I think Nixon might have beaten HHH, who was too associated with the unpopular Johnson administration. RFK won partly as a stand-in for his martyred brother. Humphrey wouldn't have been able to claim that mantle.
 
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