John McCain as President in the 2000's

samcster94

Banned
In honor of the man's death, I want to write about how he would have been President that decade(even if just one term). I am assuming a 9/11 like disaster early in his Presidency. How would he have handled Bush's main issues and how would he differ??? I am imaging him with nominating someone competent to be a running mate.
 
He may have put greater pressure on the FBI and CIA to get Bin Laden and done more to prepare for an attack. If 9/11 still happens, he invades Afghanistan and focuses like a laser beam on getting Bin Laden. That said, the Iraq War unfortunately still happens. McCain advocated for war even earlier than Bush and he wanted Hussein gone. However, I feel that McCain would have liberated Iraq instead of occupying it as was the original plan. So the Iraqi army would still be intact and Iraq's basic social structures remain in place so the country is left relatively stable at least compared to OTL. He also would never have allowed the CIA to implement torture, for obvious reasons.

No Bush tax cuts, and we could see a cap-and-trade bill that Bush wanted before this was blocked by Cheney. I don't think McCain would have handled Katrina or the economic crisis very differently from Bush based on what I've read. In both cases he was reluctant to take action as it would have required high levels of federal spending and in the latter case interference in the economy. However he would show strong political leadership in both crises, whereas Bush looked like a deer in headlights much of the time.

IMO, it is better for McCain's legacy that he never became President. In OTL he is remembered for his wartime heroics and leadership as a US Senator. Had he been President during this time he would have taken the blame for Iraq, Katrina, and the Great Recession.
 
On a legislative front, more focus on campaign finance reform and environmentalism than an average Republican. Though the passing bills might not be effective for a variety of reasons out of McCain's hands. Maybe we get Secretary of State Joseph Lieberman and/or Attorney General Rudy Giuliani.

As for a running mate... Fred Thompson was a good friend to him and an early supporter of his 2000 run.
 

samcster94

Banned
On a legislative front, more focus on campaign finance reform and environmentalism than an average Republican. Though the passing bills might not be effective for a variety of reasons out of McCain's hands. Maybe we get Secretary of State Joseph Lieberman and/or Attorney General Rudy Giuliani.

As for a running mate... Fred Thompson was a good friend to him and an early supporter of his 2000 run.
He'd avoid picking a Palin analog.
 
My guess is we get into a war with North Korea in 2006 over Nuclear Testing. McCain criticized Bush for allowing them to test without serious consequences, and put rogue state rollback in his 2004 Senate and 2008 Presidential Campaigns.

The 2001 tax cuts probably happen, with different focuses (I would imagine asset capitalization reform and capital gains are less of a focus). The 2003 tax cuts probably don't happen. My guess is also there is no Medicare Part D (McCain wasn't sold on compassionate conservatism), which makes his 2004 reelection a lot harder. Saddam would be deposed in 2003 as OTL.

9/11 happens; there is no reason to believe otherwise, or that McCain would interpret the August 6 memo any differently than Bush did.

I think he'd also repeat Bush's decision to try for social security reform, which would be politically disastrous.
 

@John Fredrick Parker I gave that McCain TL a read, it was pretty decent. I like how you mixed world history with domestic politics and popular culture. Good attention to detail too. Would've loved to have seen McCain's second term.
 
Is he winning as a Republican or did he lose to Bush in the GOP Primaries and then get selected as the Reform candidate in 2000?
 
Given we're talking a PoD in 1999/2000 at the earliest, assuming a Hurricane Katrina still happens or even that the Housing Bubble goes down as it did historically is a slaughter of butterflies.
 
Given we're talking a PoD in 1999/2000 at the earliest, assuming a Hurricane Katrina still happens or even that the Housing Bubble goes down as it did historically is a slaughter of butterflies.
Technically yes, but discussing any ATL more than 3-4 months after the POD is pointless if you take butterflies to that extent.
 
Technically yes, but discussing any ATL more than 3-4 months after the POD is pointless if you take butterflies to that extent.

I think there's a happy medium. Generally speaking we know for certain Iraq, for example, will be an issue during the McCain Presidency but weather related events, however, are extremely fickle.
 
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