In My Time As Speaker: A Speaker of the House Dick Cheney Collaborative TL (Abandoned)

dw93

November 8th, 1988: Vice President George HW Bush defeats Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis in the 1988 Presidential election with 426 electoral votes and 53.4% of the popular vote to Dukakis' 111 electoral votes and 45.6% of the popular vote.

March 21st, 1989: After bitter primary hearings and a narrow 51-49 vote by the Senate to confirm him, John Tower of Texas was sworn in as Secretary of Defense.

November 3rd, 1992: Democratic Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas defeats President George Bush and Billionaire H. Ross Perot for the Presidency. Clinton won 370 electoral votes and 43.1% of the Popular vote to Bush's 168 electoral votes and 37.5% of the popular vote. Perot won 18.9% of the popular vote and no electoral votes. The election of Bill Clinton would end 12 years of Republican control of the White House.

November 8th, 1994: After two politically rocky years for President Bill Clinton, The 1994 midterm elections saw the Republicans gain 8 seats in the Senate, retaking the majority and making Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole the Senate Majority Leader. Republicans also picked up 54 seats in the House of Representatives, retaking the house majority for the first time in 40 years. With the retirement of Republican Minority Leader Bob Michel, Republican Minority Whip Dick Cheney was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives. Newt Gingrich of Georgia would become the second ranking Republican as House Majority leader.

*Rules the same as "A Kinder Gentler Nation Continued." Stay out of ASB territory and if you don't agree with something someone else posted or it conflicts with TL in any way, talk to the original poster or myself.
 

dw93

January 3rd, 1995: The 104th Congress is sworn in. After taking his oath, Speaker of the House Dick Cheney spoke to Congress. He thank former Speaker Tom Foley for his service and thanked him for a smooth transfer of power. He then pledged to do the work the American people sent the new Congress to Washington to do.
 

dw93

What does everyone think? Does everyone think this is a plausible TL? How do you think Cheney would do as Speaker?
 
TwisterAce

TwisterAce

I think this is a cool idea to explore. I've been planning to have Dick Cheney become Speaker of the House in one of the timelines I'm working on. One thing to consider is the possibility that there might not be a "Contract with America" if Gingrich doesn't rise into the House Republican leadership. Cheney also has a different political style than Gingrich. Whereas Gingrich is brash and hyper-partisan, Cheney comes off as more cold and calculating.

It will be interesting to see how Cheney gets along with President Clinton.

Assuming he doesn't leave office due to scandal or health problems, Cheney could remain Speaker well into the 2000s.
 

dw93

January 5th, 1995: Just two days after the new Congress was sworn in President Clinton held a Press Conference at the White House. The President's approval ratings, which have been low for most of his Presidency thus far, stood at 42%. With low approval ratings and after facing such backlash in the midterms, many believed that the President was now seen to be a lame duck by many throughout the Country. When asked about what he hopes to achieve with the new congress, the President responded by saying that "I hope to find common ground with them so that we can continue to move forward as a country. As you know, after the midterms, I pledged to Speaker Cheney and Senator Dole that I would work with them to do the work the American people want from us. They pledged the same to me. However, as I have said before, I will veto any legislation that undermines our economy and hurts working and middle class Americans."
 

Don Corleone

TwisterAce said:
I think this is a cool idea to explore. I've been planning to have Dick Cheney become Speaker of the House in one of the timelines I'm working on. One thing to consider is the possibility that there might not be a "Contract with America" if Gingrich doesn't rise into the House Republican leadership. Cheney also has a different political style than Gingrich. Whereas Gingrich is brash and hyper-partisan, Cheney comes off as more cold and calculating.

It will be interesting to see how Cheney gets along with President Clinton.

Assuming he doesn't leave office due to scandal or health problems, Cheney could remain Speaker well into the 2000s.
Click to expand...

If they push impeachment like they did in OTL, they lose seats in the 1998 midterms and Cheney goes down as a result. If Newt doesn't win the GOP nomination and keeps his leadership spot, he's not a viable replacement for the same reason as Bob Livingston.
 

Prince Daemon Targaryen

July 20th, 1995: In a press conference with Vice President Gore, Speaker Cheney announced his gratitude at a bipartisan budget deal that reconciles the House GOP budget with the Clinton Administration spending priorities, exempting Medicare funding. "While we may not have obtained the cuts that we wanted, this deal honors our pledge in the Contract With America to slow the growth of runaway government."
 
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