John Heinz – mentioned in Chapter 49 as besting former Second Lady of the US Mary Scranton for the GOP nomination for a US Senate seat in 1976. Lost that November’s race in a narrow upset, and later elected back to the Senate (I think I wrote down his name instead of Bud Shuster’s for Chapter 55’s description of potential impeachment votes, sorry about that, I’ve been meaning to fix that…). Anyway, he later supported his son, the typically shy H. John Heinz III, running for US Senate in 2006; the son served from 2007 to 2019, as noted in the US Senators index chapter.So, just curious about something. Since guys like Wellstone and Litton avoided plane crashes that killed them IOTL here, what happened to some other politicians that ended up dying in accidents like that.
John Heinz, John Tower, George Speaker Mickelson, Ted Stevens, Mel Carnahan, and Larkin Smith all come to mind.
John Tower – Also mentioned in the US Senators index chapter.
George Mickelson – Mentioned in the US Governors index chapter.
Ted Stevens – Mentioned in the US Senators index chapter as well.
Mel Carnahan – Mentioned in the US Governors index chapter (he didn’t die in a plane crash because he wasn’t running for the US Senate because he couldn’t because the popular incumbent Democrat, Alan Wheat, was running for a second term that year). He ultimately lost a bid for his party’s nomination for a US Senate seat in 2004 to Wayne Cryts.
Larkin Smith – Mentioned in the “Alternate White Houses” index chapter as serving as the US Secretary of Labor from 1995 to 2001, under President Larry Miles Dinger, where he “expanded minimum wage and federal unemployment benefits to cover more workers.” Due to this action being criticized by his fellow conservatives, he later lost a bid for the GOP nomination for Governor and for a US House seat (twice), then retired from politics.
The Colonel “abandoning” Taiwan soured Taiwan-US relations for many years, with relations only cooling in the 1980s, after the end of the Cold War led to US businessmen becoming more willing to invest in Taiwanese companies. The country adopted Universal Healthcare, joined the WTO, and signed onto the United Nations Framework Convention on Global Climate Disruption during the 1990s. It was also at the forefront of efforts to combat the spreading of SARS in 2001 and 2002. Tapei 101 is currently the 11th tallest building in the world. Taiwan’s Presidents are listed in the World leaders index chapters:This timeline has commanded my undivided attention for many entertaining and educational weeks. As a lifelong and avid consumer of KFC, seeing the Colonel flourish as statesman and humanitarian has been nothing short of delightful.
Something I have to wonder about, though, and which does not appear to have been given much attention (if at all), is how Taiwan ended up faring politically, economically and socially in this scenario after the Colonel was forced to favour China over it in the name of pragmatism. How things unfolded domestically for the nation, along with what alliances it might have made absent American support. Would be much obliged if these blanks were filled in for someone eager to know; thank you so much in advance.
1948-1975: 1) Chiang Kai-shek (Kuomintang) – died in office amid the PRC’s Civil War between rival factions within the country’s reigning communist party; his reign was similar to OTL's
1975-1978: 2) Yen Chia-kan (Kuomintang) – considered invading the PRC during its Civil War of 1975; retired; his reign was also similar to OTL's
1978-1988: 3) Chiang Ching-kuo (Kuomintang) – sought to "quietly" strengthen diplomatic relations with western European nations after the economy went belly-up in the late 1970s but also strengthened ties to Japan and Vietnam, which upset the PRC; died in office like in OTL
1988-2000: 4) Lee Teng-hui (Kuomintang) – implemented free elections in 1995; supported the US ahead of the Second Korean War breaking out; won the 1996 election in a landslide as it occurred two days after the Second Korean War officially ended; retired at the age of 77 due to declining health; left office with high approval ratings
2000-2008: 5) Peng Ming-min (Democratic Progressive) – entered office at the age of 76; allied nation with Australia and Indonesia; was praised for his handling of the SARS pandemic; term-limited
2008-2012: 6) You Ching (Democratic Progressive) – entered office at the age of 66 after serving as VP from 2000 to 2008; supported many of his predecessor's policies; expanded government services; his brother You Hung served in the national legislature from 1993 to 2013; lost re-election and was praised for not attempting a self-coup, as many Fung supporters had been expecting due to Fung painting him as an "extremist."
2012-2020: 7) Elmer Fung (Kuomintang) – expanded the country's military and scaled back government services; term-limited; left office with poor approval ratings amid sexual pestering accusations, which are still being investigated.
2020-present: 8) Lin Ting-chun (Democratic Progressive) – first female President; daughter of former Presidential candidate Lin Yi-hsiung; her twin sister Liang-chun serves in the national legislature; maintains strong diplomatic and economical relations with many nations, but especially Australia, Japan, Korea, and Canada; incumbent