There have been many threads on this site about RFK's last campaign (some of them by me), and whether or not he would have been nominated and/or elected President in 1968. But one thing that's sometimes glossed over is 1972: if (narrowly) elected in 1968, would RFK have been re-elected in 1972?
 
I think this would probably come down to how Vietnam turns out. While RFK was popular, Democratic fatigue would become a factor as soon as he wins the 1968 Election.
 
I think this would probably come down to how Vietnam turns out. While RFK was popular, Democratic fatigue would become a factor as soon as he wins the 1968 Election.
The whole notion of "party fatigue" is rather recent and unknown in 1968 and 1972. So, if RFK wins in 1968, his viability in 1972 depends solely on whether or not his shutdown of the Vietnam War is well received. If so, he is re-elected. But then inflation kicks in after 1974. GOP in 1976.
 
RFK is likely to get a peace agreement along the lines of what Johnson was negotiating pre-election passed in 1969 or 1970. However, if the North Vietnamese violate the agreement with the same intensity as IOTL, Kennedy will come under fire from both right-wingers who see the ceasefire violations as evidence that the negotiations were naive in the first place and New Left types who feel that Kennedy has betrayed them. If Saigon has fallen or there are still large numbers of American troops deployed in Vietnam by November 7, 1972, then the Reagan administration starts eight years early. Otherwise, Kennedy is reelected in 1972 on the strength of his (apparently) successful peace negotiation and the legislative agenda he's managed to pass (potentially a health care bill and additional civil rights bills) but struggles in his second term due to inflation and Vietnam.
 
I can’t see Bobby Kennedy fulfill any of his promises or policy goals while winning re-election in 1972. Peace in Vietnam would have to be hard fought. War hawks won’t like that an explicitly anti-war candidate got elected during a war and everybody from the South Vietnamese regime to the conservatives in Congress would have an issue with RFK calling for a swift end to the war. Either he gets bogged down trying to bend over backwards to make a treaty that would please hawks and S. Vietnam (which would be tough under any circumstance) and risk a surge in unpopularity with the public thinking the US is abandoning the war. Or he could get bogged down in the fighting, looking for one big win to claim a victory and lock down right wing support for a negotiated peace, which would take a long time and cost him the support of the anti-war left that is his base. It would take a genuine miracle for him to please everybody, end the war, and be popular enough to win re-election. That would be a miracle too far for Robert Kennedy after having survived a bullet, won the nomination, and then the presidency.

I think he’d lose re-election to just about any Republican they could run outside of a hardcore ideologue like Reagan (who he might be able to narrowly beat) or extremely corrupt and bad at hiding it types like Spiro Agnew. I think somebody like Charles Percy or Howard Baker or John Volpe would be the one to win it that year, projecting a clean, moderate image untainted by having just had to negotiate the end to a war that many are definitely unhappy with.
 
I think he’d lose re-election to just about any Republican they could run outside of a hardcore ideologue like Reagan (who he might be able to narrowly beat) or extremely corrupt and bad at hiding it types like Spiro Agnew.

I think Reagan is a likely 1972 GOP nominee (though Rockefeller is also a possibility), and I could see him narrowly losing to RFK. But he should be able to make a comeback in 1976.

What would America be like after 8 years of RFK and 4 (or 8) years of Reagan from 1969-1985?
 
Would RFK take silver out of the half dollar like Nixon did at the end of 1970? Would he agree to put silver in the one-dollar coin for circulation?
 
Would RFK take silver out of the half dollar like Nixon did at the end of 1970? Would he agree to put silver in the one-dollar coin for circulation?

Possibly, if he felt it was the best choice economically. But Jack's face was on the half dollar, so that would impact what he does with it.

Generally, under RFK you might see a stronger economic recovery in 1971 and this would help him in 1972.
 
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