Famous People of an Alternate World

[Æsir]

I know I've personally tried and failed to start like a half dozen of these, and I don't even know if technically they belong here or in Shared Worlds these days. But dammit, this concept is an AH.com classic in my humble opinion, and we haven't had one in a while.

The concept and rules are simple; write short biographies (a few paragraphs) of people who are public figures in our timeline who had different careers in this alternate timeline. As more biographies are added, a world forms. To keep to the spirit of the concept, no fictional people, no PODs before 1 January 1900, and keep everything consistent and coherent; the entries form a single timeline. Other than that, have fun!

Guille Romney (1947-)

Mexican businessman and politician. Born Willard Mitt Romney to a Anglophone Mormon family in Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, the youngest son of a prosperous farmer, George W. Romney. After two years of missionary work in the Mariana Islands, Nanyou-chou, Romney graduated from the elite National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1971, becoming a manager at Grupo Maseca, a manufacturer of corn flour, the next year. By 1988 he became CEO of the firm, a post he held until resigning in 1997, and again between 1999 and 2002. As CEO, he helped build the company into a major global food processing firm with operations around the world, concentrated most heavily in Japan, the Philippines, Mexico, and the United States.

In 1997, Romney resigned as CEO to run unsuccessfully for Governor of Nuevo León on the ticket of the liberal-conservative Progressive Constitutionalist Party. He returned to Maseca two years later, but resigned a second time in 2002 to focus on a second gubernatorial run. In the 2003 election, Romney was elected Governor. Romney implemented an aggressive, fiscally conservative budget which succeeded in balancing the state's finances, which had been mismanaged by previous administrations and burdened by heavy debt loads incurred building huge infrastructure projects such as the Monterrey Metro and a new international airport capable of accommodating flights to Asia and Europe.

Term limited, Romney left office in 2009 after one term as Governor. Afterwards, he joined the committee leading Monterrey's bid for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Romney was his party's unsuccessful Presidential nominee in 2012, and after his loss he retired from politics and returned to his position as chair of Monterrey's olympic bid. In September 2013, Monterrey was selected by the IOC as the host city for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

 

[Turquoise Blue]

OOC: Maybe we can post photos with our entries? And did I mention far too much people?

The Right Honourable Siân Berry MP (July 9, 1974-present)

The United Kingdom's present Prime Minister, she led the Red-Green Alliance (coalition of Labour and Greens) to its first victory over the Conservatives in 2010, campaigning on the themes of income inequality and environmentalism.

Born in Gloucester in the turbulent era of Prime Minister Enoch Powell, she went to Trinity College, where she studied the Science of Materials. When she graduated in 1997 and immediately landed into politics, as the center-right government coalition was ineffective and highly unpopular. The Green Party accepted her as a list MP, and she got in Parliament in the election of 1998.

In Parliament, she was a vocal critic of the Social-liberal coalition regarding the environment and their negligence of youth issues. Tony Blair once called her the "left's worst enemy" in the notorious voice-records that would later be revealed in late 2004 and lead to his downfall from once possible greatness.

The Greens knew they had a popular speaker on their hands, and she rose in the ranks. When Caroline Lucas resigned due to illness in 2006, the leadership election saw her win easily against blue-green David Cameron.

The 2005 election proved to be a watershed. The recent scandal regarding Deputy PM Tony Blair led to the Social-liberal coalition losing a majority, but the opposition center-right coalition failed to win enough. The rise of the Freedom Party, under Nigel Farage, was responsible for that. A Grand Coalition of Labour and the Conservatives was initially set up, but the Tories secretly made an agreement with the Freedomites and shocked Labour with the announcement.

While in Opposition, new leader Ed Miliband and Berry managed to establish cordial relations between Labour and the Greens, eventually coming to an electoral alliance. A "leadership" election by members of both Labour and the Greens was agreed on, and Berry won narrowly, thus becoming the PM-candidate of the Alliance.

The election of 2010 saw the unpopular Conservative-Freedom coalition get replaced with the new Red-Green Alliance, and Berry became the first Green Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, even though Labour got more seats.

Her time in office has been fairly good, with plenty of laws passed and a popularity of 56%. The Progressive Liberals has even hinted that if the Red-Greens lose their majority, they'll back the Alliance.

 

[Æsir]

OOC: Maybe we can post photos with our entries? And did I mention far too much people?

Well, I can't follow your outline of British politics one bit. How many parties is that?

 

[zert]

ooc- Interesting detail on Mitt and makes you wonder how well he might do as a Patriarch if his sons followed Daddy's footsteps.

 

[mcdo]

I'm really glad to see another one of these. I have quite fond memories of the first one of these that I participated in.

I do feel a bit self-conscious about posting this early on in the thread, though. I will only post a short-ish entry tonight, so as not to lock in too much too fast.

Wang Ching-wei: (4 May 1883 – 26 April 1928) born as Wang Zhaoming (Wang Chao-ming), but widely known by his pen name "Jingwei" ("Ching-wei")).

Wang was born in Chekiang, China, but raised in Shanghai. In his youth, he received a quality education in a British school in the International Zone of the city, leading him to become fluent in British and French, in addition to Mandarin and Cantonese (the language his parents spoke at home). Although Wang was familiar with Western culture and customs, he was a staunch Chinese patriot, and his experience growing up in China left him with a burning desire to end foreign influence in China. He first rose to prominence in Shanghai while still in high school by leading a Chinese student protest against laws banning Chinese people from parks in the international settlement .

During his college days, Wang's patriotic leanings were strengthened. He became a known figure in many of the innumerable patriotic student secret societies, known for his speeches in which he stressed the need to strengthen Chinese armies by adopting foreign technology, while simultaneously keeping Chinese culture pure. He became convinced that such reforms could never happen under Manchu rule. In 1910, he was convicted by the courts for his participation in a plot to assassinate Crown Prince Chun. Although he was sent to jail, his attempted "patriotic deed" lead him to fame throughout the nation, and he was freed in 1912 after the Manchu court had fallen.

The first decade after the fall of the Manchu Empire was a confusing time in China, as various regional leaders jockeyed for control in what would become known as the "Divided Decades". Wang lead one of the most powerful of these groups from his power base in Shanghai. During this time period, communism was exploding in popularity among Chinese intellectuals, many of whom saw in the ideology a chance for China to "leapfrog" the capitalist West and Japan, and restore Chinese strength. Wang would remain implacably opposed to communism in all its forms. His firery speeches, in which he declared that no person could be a communist and a Chinese patriot, were widely printed. Landlords, as well as the quite small but still influential body of Chinese industrialists, flocked to his flag, greatly increasing his power.

At this time the most powerful of the competiting factions in China was that of Chiang Kai-Shek, based in the south of China. After he had secured his own power base (involving, among other things, the mass arrest of ideological enemies in the city), he turned his oratorical fury on Chiang. He condemned Chiang for his willingness to work with communists in China, as well as foreign powers. (Ironically, Wang himself had signed over various economic rights to Japan and Western powers in his region in return for military aid, but this remained largely unknown during his time in power). The tactic worked better than Wang could have dreamed--in 1924, Captain Lee Zhilong, another anti-communist hardliner, kidnapped Chiang, took him aboard his warship, and sent him on a "study mission" to Europe. With Chiang out of the way, most of the remaining Chinese regional leaders pledged their loyalty to Wang, making him the de facto leader of China.

On May 13th, 1927, Wang engineered a incident in which Chinese troops were apparently seen to be fired upon by Russian garrison troops of the (Russian-leased) Beiping–Tianjin Railroad. Based on this pretext, he began a full-scale war against Russia. To this day, scholars debate the exact reasons behind Wang's decisions. Some scholars argue that it was meant as the initial stage in a series of wars to force the various Powers to give up their rights and concessions in China, as Russia had more concessions than any other single power, but was largely seen as militarially the weakest following their recent defeat in Europe. Other scholars stress internal Chinese politics, and see the war as a way for Wang to secure his power by focusing China on an external enemy, while simultaneously putting the regional armies to use, because those armies remained a threat to his power so long as they were outside his control.

Whatever the reasons for the war, the initial stages went well, as Wang's new Western-trained armies overwhelmed the surprised and unprepared Russian soldiers. However, Russia was able to move new troops to Manchuria within a few short months, and eventually the few elite divisions at Wang's disposal were ground down. The remaining Chinese armies were not well-armed or well-trained, and were quickly proved not to be up to the task, losing ground after taking heavy losses. When the Spring Campaign of 1928 started, Russian troops quickly pushed down to Beiping, and Wang was forced to sue for peace. The new peace terms were a disaster for China: instead of returning some concessions to China, Russian demanded (and received) extensive mining rights throughout Manchuria, as well as a host of new railroad rights-of-way, etc.

Russian troops with captured Chinese battle banners​

When the terms of the treaty became publicly known, a wave of new anti-Russian sentiment spread throughout China. (This would have repercussions down the road, as communists in China were forced to shift from ideas based on Russian communist exiles to those based on French communist agrarians). Thirty-seven days after the peace treaty was signed, Wang was assassinated by Chang Hsüeh-liang, a general who had lost his privileged position in Manchuria to Russian interests following the treaty. With the death of China's leader, China was forced to endure another, longer period of division and disunity.

Wang remains a controversial figure in China today. In the first decades after his death, he was widely seen as a fool, a figure who lead China into a disastrous war for which it was unprepared. However, in recent years, his figure has been somewhat rehabilitated. He remains a popular figure on the far right for his uncompromising anti-communism. (However, on the communist left, Chang is seen as a popular figure and a leftist martyr, despite the fact that he was not himself a communism.) For the majority of Chinese, in the middle of the political spectrum, he is seen as a well-meaning autocrat, who wanted a strong China, but underestimated its weaknesses.

 

[Turquoise Blue]

Well, I can't follow your outline of British politics one bit. How many parties is that?

The Left: Democratic socialism
Greens: Environmentalists
Labour: Social democrac
Progressive Liberals: Social liberalism
Democrats: Conservative-liberalism
Conservatives: Conservatism
Freedom: Right-wing populism

That's generally it.

 

[Æsir]

Youhei Kouno (1937–)
Japanese politician of the Minseitou (Constitutional Democratic) Party, best known as the last Japanese Governor of the Kwantung Leased Territory. Kouno was born in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, the scion of a prominent political family, and graduated from the elite Waseda University, where he became involved in student politics, such as the Out of Korea protest movement against continued Japanese colonial rule in Korea.

After graduation, Kouno began working for the Mitsubishi Corporation zaibatsu, one of the largest corporations in the world and closely associated with the the moderate-liberal Minseitou. Kouno joined the party in the 1960s due to the influence of colleagues at Mitsubishi and his views on colonial policy and relations with China, but was careful to remain out of the public eye despite his family's political influence, largely out of respect for his father who was a long-time member of the rival conservative Seiyuukai (Constitutional Government) Party. He entered politics only after his father's death in 1965, being elected to the Diet in 1970 as part of a wave election which unseated the Seiyuukai government and replaced it with an uneasy coalition between the Minseitou and the Shakai Minshuutou (Social People's) Party.

Kanou narrowly survived the coalition's landslide defeat in the 1978 election, but ironically lost his seat in 1991 when a Minseitou government was reelected. Instead, he was appointed to a six-year term as Governor of the Kwantung Territory, replacing Hitoshi Motoshima. The appointment was made with the understanding that Kanou would be the final Japanese Governor, as the end of his term would coincide with the conclusion of the 99-year Japanese lease on the territory. He continued the policies of Governor Motoshima, expanding democratic government and social welfare in Kwantung, and became well respected by the territory's population and by the Chinese foreign service. Just past midnight on 1 June 1997, he left Dairen after handing over administration to China, having presided over the symbolic "end" of the Japanese colonial empire. He has since served as the President of Waseda University and as a member of the Board of Governors of Nippon Housou Kyoukai (the Japan Broadcasting Corporation).

 

[zert]

I have no talent for detailed biographies but will saybthatbthisbis building up to something interesting. I shall follow cothers creations.

 

[theman from the ministery]

OOC: Maybe we can post photos with our entries? And did I mention far too much people?

personally I think these things work best when you don't go into too much detail in each post to leave room for others.

 

[Æsir]

James Richard Perry (1950–2007)

American Strategic Forces Major and airline pilot. Perry was born in Paint Creek, Texas, to a long time Texas rancher family and attended Texas A&M University, where he was a member of the Corps of Cadets, which he credited for giving him the discipline he needed to complete his degree and get into the United States Strategic Forces. He was commissioned in the USSF in 1972 and completed training as a pilot in 1974, flying the Douglas KC-134 Globetanker aerial refueling aircraft in support of strategic nuclear bombers, based for most of his career at Young Air Force Base near Redding, California. He was honorably discharged from the USSF in 1982 as a Major and was hired by Southern Airlines the next year as a first officer, flying the Avro Canada C-300, becoming a captain in 1992.

Perry received national attention on 12 February 1994, when Southern Airlines flight 628, a routine flight from New Orleans to Havana, the Avro C-300 Perry was commanding suffered an uncontained engine failure over the Gulf of Mexico, destroying the airliner's hydraulic system and killing two passengers when a fan blade entered the cabin. Perry and his first officer flew the 60 ton plane to a safe landing at St. Petersburg, Florida, more than 100 miles, in "manual reversion mode", using only physical strength via backup mechanical controls to steer the aircraft, with no further fatalities among the 117 passengers and crew aboard, for which he was recognized with the airline industry's highest honors and invited to the White House by President Douglas Wilder. His colorful, straight-talking attitude also won the attention of the media; when a reporter asked him how he'd landed the stricken plane, Perry simply deadpanned "It took a heckuva lot of muscle".

The remainder of Perry's career proved uneventful. He retired early in 2005, by which time he was a captain on the larger long-distance Mitsubishi MC-30 airliner, due to health reasons. Perry passed away on 24 May 2007 in his Mandeville, Louisiana home after a stroke.

 

[ramones1986]

Khaled Abu Toameh (born 1963)

Syrian journalist, well-known as the news director of Syrian Television, the public television network in the Hashemite Kingdom of Syria.

Born in the town of New Tulkarm in the Palmyra Governorate, he grew up in Damascus. He studied journalism in the Arab University of Damascus and received a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature in Jersualem's Hebrew University.

He started his career as reporter in Damascus Times, the Syrian capital's oldest English-language newspaper, assigned in the Parliament. Later on, he became one of the resident columnist in the said newspaper, well-known for his articulate opinion on both national and international issues, especially in the Middle East.

His relationship with STV began in 2000 when he was hired as Jerusalem correspondent, reporting about the latest news in the State of Israel. Later on, he was assigned to El-Arish, and his reports on the resignation of Prime Minister Nasser Hassan Barghouti over allegations of corruption and favoritism earned him the Best Foreign Correspondent in 2006 Syrian Television Awards. He became the news director of STV in 2011. Under his leadership, STV earned more awards for its newscasts and related programs. He recently resigned last 30th of November to concentrate on his career as a columnist in Damascus Times and Jerusalem Post (he's been the regular columnist there since 2004), although he stated that he'll remain in STV as member of the Administration Council.

He's married and have two children. He divided his time between Palermo and Damascus. He's fluent in Arabic, English, French, Hebrew and Aramaic

 

[mcdo]

Genrikh Lyushkov (1900-1987)

Lyushkov was born to a Jewish mother an a Russian Orthodox father in the old Jewish Pale of Settlement. In 1921, he joined the Russian Imperial Army Flying Service, where he quickly developed a reputation as something of a daredevil. During the global economic downturn of the 1930s, Russia (as well as most other great powers) cut military spending. This included drastic cuts to the RIAFS, which lead to the forced early retirement of many military men. It is a testment to his reputation in the army that he was able to stay on active duty, and even continue advancing through the ranks. In 1935, he became a test pilot for the new advanced fighters then coming into service.

By 1939, the combination of a return of economic growth and the increasingly uneasy international situation lead to a rapid expansion of the Russian armed forces. This should have been a golden age for young, experienced officers such as Lyushkov. However, Lyushkov was worried about his position in Russia. The first issue was that he had been an outspoken liberal in his younger years, authorizing tracts in favor of political reform. Russia had long been the most authoritarian of the Great Powers, but in the late 1930s the government was taking an increasingly strident and even paranoid nationalistic tone. All men who had supported "anti-government" reform rhetoric were viewed with suspicion, doubly so if they were a military man. Secondly, Lyushkov was Jewish. Although he himself was secular by personality, his name gave away his heritage, and he had also married a devout Jewish wife. As Russia turned more towards ethnic and religious nationalism, Jews were suspect--indeed, many if not most prominent Jewish military or government officials had stories about receiving terse questions from the state security police in regards to their ties to Russian Jewish emigres.

During this time period, Lyushkov first lost faith in his chances to advance in the ranks, and later, began even to doubt whether or not he would be able to keep his career given the worsening political climate in his nation. After the death of his wife in 1940, Lyushkov wrote in his diary that he "no longer felt he had any ties to Russia". Therefore, in 1941 he took an extraordinary, even a drastic, step.

In October of that year, he was stationed in an airfield near Vladivostok in order to field-test the new Yak-7 fighter, with its experimental turboprop engine. Shortly after takeoff, he flew out over the ocean, and reported over the radio that he had experienced engine trouble. This was, of course, a lie. Lyushkov took his experimental fighter and landed on an airfield in Sagaren (薩哈嗹), in the north of the island known as Sahkalin to the Russians.

To say that the Japanese Army officials at the airfield were shocked by his arrival would be quite an understatement. However, after they realized what had happened, it proved to be a great boon for Japan. Firstly, the aircraft itself--the Japanese were shocked by the advanced technology the new engine represented. Secondly, Lyushkov was able to provide Japan with a sketch of Russian military assets in the Far East, the size of which again shocked the Japanese. Finally, Lyushkov had somehow managed to take with him a complete codebook for the current Russian military command-level codes (the Russians would not learn of this last fact for many years).

At first, Japan declared Lyushkov's arrival a state secret, hoping to fool the Russian Empire into believing that he and his crafted had been lost in the sea. However, within a month, word of the event had leaked out to the wider world. The Tsar's government angrily demanded that Japan turn over both the aircraft and its pilot to them. Japan did return the aircraft to Russia, but only after it had been disassembled and exhaustively cataloged, and it was shipped back to Russia in over thirty crates. (A copy of the blueprints of this engine was also surreptitiously provided to Great Britain). Lyushkov, however, was given asylum.

Lyushkov was debriefed by the Japanese government for just over six months. Following that, he was given a generous yearly stipend, and allowed to live as he would. He surprised many people with the rapidity with which he learned to speak Japanese, and later that year he began what was to become a multi-year speaking tour of Japan. He lectured on many topics, from Russian history and culture to the current political situation in his homeland. In 1943, Lyushkov met Minori Nomura, the only daughter of Baron Nomura, while on his speaking tour, and the two quickly fell in love. Lyushkov and the Countess were wed (with the Emperor's permission) later that year. Belenko was adopted into his father-in-law's family, allowing him to quickly obtain Japanese citizenship. Lyushkov is survived by his son Baron Takashi Nomura. Baron Nomura and his close friend, Count Ian Mutsu, are the only two half-Japanese noblemen currently sitting in the House of Peers (Count Mutsu is half-English through his mother).

OoC: The half-English Ian Mutsu, however, is real. He's a neat guy, you should look him up if you are interested.

 

[Æsir]

Richard and Donald Nixon (1913–1990, 1914–1999)

American entrepreneurs who turned the grocery store and coffee shop their father, Francis A. Nixon, founded in Whittier, California into "The World's Local Drive-Thru". Born in Yorba Linda, California to a poor, conservative Quaker farming family, the Nixons and their three other brothers experienced hardship growing up, and in 1922, the family gave up farming and moved to Whittier, establishing a grocery store.

Richard attended Whittier College and Duke University School of Law. Unable to get into the FBI, he returned to California to practice law. At the same time, Donald was helping manage the family store, which had branched out into serving coffee. In 1945, Donald opened Nixon's Family Restaurant, selling ice cream and hamburgers, which he soon dubbed the "Nixon Burger" (a brand which has survived to this day). His older brother Richard helped fund the establishment, thanks to the proceeds of his law practice, and soon joined the restaurant in 1947.

While it was Donald who was more enthusiastic about the restaurant business, the growth of the business can be more directly credited to Richard, who proved a ruthless businessman. Richard soon pursued rapid expansion, first with directly owned locations and later with franchise agreements, and quickly established a chain of Nixon's locations across California. Richard also pushed to adopt an assembly line like system to prepare the burgers to make the operation more efficient and meet increasing demand. Through the 1950s and 1960s, expansion was rapid and soon the chain existed throughout the western United States, western Canada, and northern Mexico, and was increasingly popular in other parts of North America as well. In 1962, the billionth Nixon Burger was sold, and in 1970 the chain went global with the opening of it's location in the international terminal of Paris International Airport, Orly. That year, Nixon's locations existed in six countries; Canada, Cuba, France, Mexico, the Philippines, and the United States.

The elder Nixon brother's ruthless practices would catch up to him, however; in 1973, Richard was indicted on federal tax fraud charges, and on 9 August 1974 he was sentenced to six years in federal prison. After his 1980 release, he did not return to the business and died in 1990. Donald passed away in 1999. Nixon's is today the largest restaurant chain in the world and one of the best known symbols of American culture and enterprise worldwide. The Nixon brothers were also active in politics, donating heavily to Republican Party candidates and supporting both anti-communist causes and the civil rights movement.

 

[LeX]

Genrikh Lyushkov (1900-1987)

That's a pretty interesting idea - I like it!

 

[1940LaSalle]

William Claude Dukinfield, Ph. D. (1880-1962)
Born in Philadelphia in 1880, Dukinfield left home in his teens to pursue a career in vaudeville as a juggler. Having quit school to do so, he later became acutely aware of a lack of education, and pursued learning on his own. Various British authors quickly captured his attention-in particular, Charles Dickens and George Eliot. In idle moments while touring, he could often be found (if not in a saloon) in the reading rooms of a public library, studying and making extensive notes on his favorite authors.

Tiring of constant travel and varying creature comforts, Fields acted on the suggestion of fellow vaudevillian Al Jolson in 1910: after hearing Dukinfield deliver a discourse on nineteenth century British literature, Jolson in jest suggested Fields should leave show business and take up teaching. At the earliest opportunity, Dukinfield approached the chair of the English department of the University of Pennsylvania about earning a degree. The chair, knowing something of vaudeville and Dukinfield's reputation, made a few inquiries on his behalf and put forth a direct proposition: if Dukinfield could pass the entrance examination, he would be admitted as a student. Further, if he could pass oral examinations by the department of English, he would receive credit for work done on his own.

Dukinfield agreed readily. The arts and literature portions of the entrance examination proved easy, whereas the science and mathematics portions proved, as the Duke of Wellington said, "a bit of a near thing". Still, the overall verdict was a passing grade, and Dukinfield was duly admitted as a freshman. His subsequent examinations by the English department changed that quickly: his grasp of British literature in particular and literature in English in general gained him status as a first semester senior. Dukinfield threw himself into his studies (meanwhile, supporting himself with occasional on-stage appearances) and was graduated with the class of 1911.

Life on campus proved appealing-so much so that Dukinfield applied immediately for an opening as a lecturer in the English department. He won the job, and joined the faculty in the fall of 1911, at which time he began work-again, on his own-on what would become a dissertation. He submitted this body of work to his superiors in the fall of 1914. The senior faculty was taken aback at the depth of the scholarship, and quickly agreed to award Dukinfield a doctorate, pending oral examination. This came to fruition in the spring of 1915.

Dukinfield took his newly minted doctorate to Columbia University, where he joined the faculty as an associate professor. While he enjoyed his time on that campus, he continued to recall fondly his days at Penn. Thus, when he learned of an opening in his old department, he applied quickly and was selected, beginning with the 1918-1919 academic year.

Dukinfield rose readily in his new position, quickly establishing himself as one of the most popular professors on campus. In many instances, the classroom would be crowded with students not taking his courses but eager to hear his wry quips and asides: one described it as theater and lecture all in one. That popularity, combined with continuing scholarship, earned Dukinfield a full professorship in 1924, and tenure in 1927.

He was named department chair in 1935, delegating much of the day-to-day administrative duties to assistant chairs while he continued teaching--his first love. Even in the depths of the Depression, an English degree from the University of Pennsylvania was held in high prestige, given the rigor and depth of scholarship Dukinfield established. Dukinfield continued in the post of chair until his retirement in 1948. Never one to give up a good thing, he moved into the position of emeritus professor, continuing to teach several courses until physically unable to do so in 1960.

Arthritis took an increasing toll as Dukinfield aged, forcing him to retire altogether in 1960. He died peacefully in his Germantown home in 1962, and is today memorialized with a statue at the main entrance to the English building. An endowed chair bearing his name was established in 1980.

 

[tiggerfan]

John F. Kennedy (1917-1989)

US President from 1961-1969 his term in office was marked by a period of major change in society. While he succeeded in passing landmark Civil Rights legislation and began the US Space program his 2nd term was marred by US involvement in Vietnam.

After leaving the White House he became an advocate for technological innovation and was a key supporter of the Mars project which led to the landing of a man on Mars shortly before his death in 1989.

He surprised many by working with his Republican successor Charles Percy in promoting civil rights and disengaging from Vietnam. The two began to become friends when Percy offered support to Kennedy following the death of his brother Edward in 1969.

Percy joined with Kennedy in promoting detente with the Russia and reconciliation with China during the early 70's. They jointly celebrated the return of democracy to both Russia and China during the 1980's.

After Percy left the White House in 1976 he and Kennedy joined together in several charitable efforts, establishing a tradition for former Presidents.

The two also helped the country heal from the scars of the 1979 scandals which led to the resignation of President Muskie.The two also worked on the merger of the moderate wings of their respective parties into the Moderate Union Party in 1982. Their party has dominated US politics since with the Conservative and Southern Democratic parties dividing the rest of the vote.

Observers credit the MUP with helping to keep the US on an even keel with the passage of National Health Insurance in 1991 and the Entitlement Reform Act of 1993.

Kennedy died in 1989 due to complications from a chronic illness. His brother Robert spent many years as the head of the Kennedy foundation, an international charity dedicated to aiding the poor.

 

[glenn67]

He surprised many by working with his Republican successor Richard Nixon in promoting civil rights and disengaging from Vietnam. Nixon and Kennedy, who had been friends prior to the 1960 campaign, grew close again once they both shared the burdens of the Presidency. This began when Nixon helped Kennedy following the death of his brother Edward in 1969.

If you had read the entire thread, you would have noticed that Nixon never became President in this universe. Can you edit it to have a different POTUS?

 

[tiggerfan]

If you had read the entire thread, you would have noticed that Nixon never became President in this universe. Can you edit it to have a different POTUS?

Sorry I was unaware the entire thread was linked, I thought each thread was individual universe. Will edit if needed.

 

[Æsir]

Sorry I was unaware the entire thread was linked, I thought each thread was individual universe. Will edit if needed.

You could've read the rules in the first post.

 

[mcdo]

Also, my post gives evidence of a militaristic, authoritarian, but non-communist Russia as late as the 1940's. That doesn't mean there couldn't be a Soviet Union by the 1960's, but it's something to keep in mind.