Joseph P. Kennedy Jr survives

Now with the passing of Senator Edward Kennedy we reflect back on his life and contributions, and also on his brothers JFK and RFK. But the eldest brother seems to be forgotten.

Joseph P. Kennedy Jr's dream was to be the first Roman Catholic President of The United States, a dream fostered in him by his father. After Joe Jr was killed in WWII that dream was passed on to his brother Jack who did of course become President.

But what if Joe Jr had not been killed, what if his last mission was a success and he had come home from war a decorated hero? Following his father's plans he first is elected to The US House of Representatives, then The Senate, finally The White House.

What kind of President would Joseph P. Kennedy Jr have been? What things would he have handled the same as Jack did? What things would he have handled differently and how would he have handled them differently?

How would Joe Jr surviving and becoming President have influenced and changed the lives and political careers of his three brothers?

There is a book about Joe Jr called "The Forgotten Kennedy" which how different his personality was from Jack's and from his other two brothers as well.
 
On the Books and Media forum, there are many AH Kennedy works written. From my perspective, it would still be a toss-up in 1960. If JPK wins, he is a very conservative Democrat as RFK was until 1958 IOTL. Which means possibly no push on civil rights, and JFK might not get a position in the administration. He gets re-elected in 1964, and 1968 will see possibly JFK vs Nixon. If Vietnam goes badly, Nixon wins, and RFK '76.
 
On the Books and Media forum, there are many AH Kennedy works written. From my perspective, it would still be a toss-up in 1960. If JPK wins, he is a very conservative Democrat as RFK was until 1958 IOTL. Which means possibly no push on civil rights, and JFK might not get a position in the administration. He gets re-elected in 1964, and 1968 will see possibly JFK vs Nixon. If Vietnam goes badly, Nixon wins, and RFK '76.

If Joe lives, that butterflies away Jack's OTL career. What's Jack do with Joe holding those positions during the period he would have in OTL?

Perhaps Boston politics? City councilman to Mayor of Boston?

State politics? State House to State Senate to Governor of Mass.?

Say he's elected Governor 1956, when he's 39. He takes office in January of '57 for a four year term, putting him up for re-election in 1960. If he's well liked by the people of Mass. and seen as doing a good job as governor, would he ditch that on the hope that Joe gets elected? The reason this question has to be asked is, if he's running for Gov. a lot of people are going to be asking, "If you run and win, are you going to serve your second term, or are you going to leave if your brother gets elected PoTUS?"

It's a legit question as people would have to question whether they would vote for him for gov if he's not even going to serve the second term. In which case, he's either got to make one of to announcements:

1. He supports his brother's candidacy for the Presidency, but he will seek re-election as governor and intends to serve dutifully if re-elected to that post.

or

2. He will not seek re-election to the office of governor as he will be working in his spare time to campaign for his brother. He will dutifully discharge his duties as governor, but he can only work one campaign at a time and he's chosen to campaign for his brother.

Which way does he go?

If he's doing a good job and feels like he's accomplishing a lot as governor, or, more importantly, feels that he has a unique opprotunity to accomplish even more with a second term, I would think he'd seek re-election and even his dad would have to understand. Besides, Joe's still got Bobby and Ted to campaign for him. Jack's a governor and well liked and doing a good job and the people like him, there's no reason to make him give that up, plus a successful and popular eight years as governor of one of the most populous states in the nation only makes him a stronger candidate for a possible run at the presidency of his own at a future date.

Good chance Bobby still ends up AG if Joe wins. I don't see Joe's survival changing Bobby's credentials. All it changes is that all the things Bobby did for Jack OTL he does for Joe TTL.

Now, if Joe goes eight years as PoTUS, in 1968, Bobby's probably been AG for eight years and if Jack's riding a wave of popularity through '64, what's to stop him from going for a third term? If he's still popular and gained a national standing, that'll make '68 an interesting year.

Jack or Bobby?

Or is it a given that Bobby steps aside and Jack gets to run in 1968.

If Bobby's AG, does it look good if he quits to run Jack's campaign?

Would the idea of a "Kennedy Dynasty" turn some folks off? What if Joe did well in his first term, but not so well in his second?

More butterflies than I considered when I started this.

This one could break a whole lotta different ways.

My opinion though?

During the Bay of Pigs, Joe sends the air strikes Jack didn't.

We're talking about a guy who died OTL on a mission he volunteered for after he'd already flown his required 25 and was free to rotate back to the states.

That's a fighter and the kind of guy who, if convinced the purpose of the fight is righteous, sees it through to it's conclusion.

He certainly did OTL.
 
RFK, after being Deputy President, would not settle for the role of campaign manager in 1968. You could cause a family feud there. In the Senate, unless he attains the Minority/Majority Leadership or an important committee assignment (Rules, Appr., FR), then Bobby will eclipse him and be the candidate in 1968. Whether he wins or loses to Richard Nixon depends on CR and Vietnam. If RFK wins in 1968, there will probably be a family feud. I've outlined RFK Presidencies before, specifically "RFK Renewed" and "Resurrection City." In 1976, he'll return to the Senate or the NY Governorship until he decides to retire by 2000 latest.
 

Xen

Banned
Something about JFK, he was interested in a journalistic career so perhaps he lands a job with a major news paper or newsmagazine, perhaps even starting his own (in one of my timelines I had him save the Satuday Evening Post becoming its chief editor, and restoring the magazines success. JFK was also a very happy bachelor so he is likely to become a Playboy too, and might be a bit of a black sheep on his brothers political career.

JPK is more than likely going to be the one to marry Jacqueleine Bouvier, but here is the twist what if JPK fails to win the nomination in 1960 and gets the Vice Presidential nod from the Democratic nominee Lyndon B. Johnson? This is a timeline I can see RFK taking his brothers seat as a Senator from Mass. and eventually becoming a nominee for the Supreme Court.
 
I think that's been done somewhere... Perhaps on the old board. There've only been two "JPK Jr. Lives" TLs to my knowledge. One is "Kings of Camelot" by Maverick and I'm unsure of the other. The latter definitely has Justice RFK though. Don't have them all in "civilian" lives though. I tried, and let's just say the thread wasn't littered with comments.
 
Top