LBJ accidentally shot hours after JRK killed

So let us say that McCormak and Hayden pass it up. According to this new site I found, its called Wikipedia, I think,

Shortly after Kennedy was assassinated, Rusk offered his resignation to the new president, Lyndon B. Johnson. However, Johnson refused Rusk's resignation and retained him as the Secretary of State throughout his administration.
So with Johnson dead, McCormak and Hayden passing it up. Rusk resigning (without really knowing what was happening), we'd have Republican President C. Douglas Dillon!

BOOM! How about that?
 
Nothing changes from my scenario, except that his close personal friend Bobby reappoints Dillon SecTreas on 1/21/65.

I know. I just figured a crazy death of Johnson would lead to crazy succession hijinks choreographed to "Yakety Sax."

Maybe we take it a step further and have Bobby's good friends Dillon and McNamara step down so AG Kennedy can become Pres Kennedy, who then reappoints all of them.

Sorry to be crazy. I will be going to bed now.
 
What was that old timeline called, A sad day in Camelot? You know the one where everyone in the line of succession drops dead before Bobby? Because your ideas remind me of it.
 
Umm... no, just no. If you knew Bobby's emotional state, aka defacto clinical depression (he shared Nixon's views on shrinks and spilling his deepest emotions generally) at the time I would very strongly recommend against taking the reins until au moins the summer of '64.
 
Ooh, succession crisis:

  1. President John F. Kennedy - assassinated by Oswald
  2. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson - accidentally killed by Blaine
  3. Speaker John W. McCormack - refuses due to age and position
  4. President pro tempore Carl Hayden - refuses due to age
  5. Secretary of State Dean Rusk - sends his resignation letter to apparently nobody for no good reason
  6. Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon - resigns because the "people elected a Democrat"
  7. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara - resigns alongside Dillon
  8. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy - refuses due to his clinical depression
  9. Postmaster General (yes, Postmaster General) John A. Grounouski - the inventor of the ZIP Code becomes our 36th or whatever President.

Don't know why Grounouski would refuse/resign, but if we're going to go more crazy, we have Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall (one of the many Udalls), Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman, Secretary of Commerce Arthur Hodges, and Secretary of Labor Willard Wirtz, and Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Anthony Celebrezze down the line.
 
Sorry to say it, but, the ghost of William Henry Harrison was still around in the 1960's. McCormack, if he runs and wins in 1964 serves only 1 term.
 
Ooh, succession crisis:

  1. President John F. Kennedy - assassinated by Oswald
  2. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson - accidentally killed by Blaine
  3. Speaker John W. McCormack - refuses due to age and position
  4. President pro tempore Carl Hayden - refuses due to age
  5. Secretary of State Dean Rusk - sends his resignation letter to apparently nobody for no good reason
  6. Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon - resigns because the "people elected a Democrat"
  7. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara - resigns alongside Dillon
  8. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy - refuses due to his clinical depression
  9. Postmaster General (yes, Postmaster General) John A. Grounouski - the inventor of the ZIP Code becomes our 36th or whatever President.
Don't know why Grounouski would refuse/resign, but if we're going to go more crazy, we have Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall (one of the many Udalls), Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman, Secretary of Commerce Arthur Hodges, and Secretary of Labor Willard Wirtz, and Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Anthony Celebrezze down the line.

The only way this could get worse was if LBJ or someone else in the line was put into a coma.
 
I should say that RFK would not refuse for that reason, because even though it was obvious to anyone who knew him reasonably well he refused to admit it. That's his character as most of you know. So he would become POTUS, just even moodier than usual and hardly ever in a good mood. But yes, he'll still be able to function, just not at the top of his game.
 

Geon

Donor
Bad Day in Camelot

What was that old timeline called, A sad day in Camelot? You know the one where everyone in the line of succession drops dead before Bobby? Because your ideas remind me of it.

The name of the timeline was A Bad Day in Camelot. I would love to reread that timeline again but it was taken off the web as far as I know some time back.



Here are the highlights.
  • President Kennedy is shot and killed in Dallas just as in OTL.
  • President Johnson and his entourage, including Jackie are killed when Air Force 1 develops engine trouble and crashed near Nashiville, Tennessee.
  • McCormack upon hearing of the double disaster has a fatal heart attack.
  • President Pro Tempore, Carl Hayden refuses due to age.
  • Secretary of State, Dean Rusk on board a plane returning from Tokyo is sworn in as President over the radio in what then becomes designated as Air Force One. He orders the plane to fly to the nearest U.S. base in Alaska.
  • With the death of two presidents under unusual circumstances tensions and tempers are high as the nation's defense system is put on a high state of alert. When Air Force One (Rusk) attempts to approach an airbase in Alaska and is unable to give the recognition code for the day (Rusk was just sworn in and presumably didn't have time to get the codes from D.C.) the plane is shot down by an overzealous pilot.
  • Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy becomes President of the United States.
  • Walter Cronkite ends up reporting on the funerals for not one but three Presidents, all of which died in the same 24 hour period.
  • Conspiracy theorists will have a field day for the next several decades over this tragic comedy of errors.
Geon
 
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The name of the timeline was A Bad Day in Camelot. I would love to reread that timeline again but it was taken off the web as far as I know some time back.



Here are the highlights.
  • President Kennedy is shot and killed in Dallas just as in OTL.
  • President Johnson and his entourage, including Jackie are killed when Air Force 1 develops engine trouble and crashed near Nashiville, Tennessee.
  • McCormack upon hearing of the double disaster has a fatal heart attack.
  • President Pro Tempore, Carl Hayden refuses due to age.
  • Secretary of State, Dean Rusk on board a plane returning from Tokyo is sworn in as President over the radio in what then becomes designated as Air Force One. He orders the plane to fly to the nearest U.S. base in Alaska.
  • With the death of two presidents under unusual circumstances tensions and tempers are high as the nation's defense system is put on a high state of alert. When Air Force One (Rusk) attempts to approach an airbase in Alaska and is unable to give the recognition code for the day (Rusk was just sworn in and presumably didn't have time to get the codes from D.C.) the plane is shot down by an overzealous pilot.
  • Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy becomes President of the United States.
  • Walter Cronkite ends up reporting on the funerals for not one but three Presidents, all of which died in the same 24 hour period.
  • Conspiracy theorists will have a field day for the next several decades over this tragic comedy of errors.
Geon

But why was Dillon and McNamara skipped over? Were they on the LBJ plane or something? I was just joking around above, but I don't think they'd seriously pass over the position purely on partisan reasons. If that was the case, they'd surely accept as a "caretaker" President until the soon-to-occur '64 election.

Realistically, Harrison's ghost or not, McCormack'll take the job for the good of the country. If not, then Hayden will. And definitely Rusk. McCormack could probably easily win reelection in '64, although I don't think Hayden would try and Rusk, per above, probably won't either (but who knows?).
 
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