Let Us Continue: After Camelot - A TLIAW

Another great update!:)

Pretty cool how Bobby became governor after he stook around a little longer.

Also, pretty cool how you're having Connally run again in 68'.

Keep it up!:D

I did have to shoot down another AH favorite's career to get Governor Kennedy, though, I'm afraid. Meanwhile, Governor Reagan is leaving his mark on California.

Great update. Shame about MLK. Wonder how well Connally got along with Hoover.

Pretty nicely. Especially after Bobby left. It's pretty much a case of two titans not looking to fight each other, so not much chaos there.

Eternal Connally Reich! :D

#Ready4Connally2016
 
Chapter IV

As the Holiday Season approached, the Peace Talks in Paris stalled, with the Soviets and North Vietnamese on different occasions threatening to walk out for different reasons. It was here, however, that it first dawned on President Connally and Secretary of State Dean Rusk that the North Vietnamese might not be directly aligned with the Soviet Union, which could play into their hand as the policy of Confinement began to take shape. However, to continue President Connally’s posturing and ability to pressure the North Vietnamese, General Westmoreland still had troops secretly in Indochina slowly strangling the North Vietnamese supply lines. In the meantime, however, Senator Eugene McCarthy (D-MN) announced his intention to seek the Democratic Presidential Nomination in 1968, drawing support from college students and the doves of the party.

On January 30th, 1968, the North Vietnamese struck hard on American positions in what would become known as the Tet Offensive. While not entirely ready for it, with only a few rumors circling about a coming attack, American forces held strong and mostly repelled the Northern attacks. President Connally, only a few days later, would hold a Solidarity Rally in New York City with the intention of showing it to American troops in North Vietnam until the whole affair went sideways.

Gathered just outside the rally, which was held in Central Park, were college students and supporters of McCarthy, shouting “No more rallies! No more war! Just move on and close the door!” Meanwhile, Malcolm X and other Civil Rights and Black Nationalist activists (whom Malcolm X was able to roughly unite in the wake of the death of Martin Luther King, Jr.) were marching down the streets of New York to protest President Connally “abandoning the Civil Rights movement” in the wake of riots, which they felt were a sign of their need more than ever before. When they finally reached the perimeter, they pushed up directly against the police guarding the rally, and all hell broke loose.

Fights between police and Civil Rights protesters quickly spread to include the college students calling for peace, with many fleeing the scene. The President was quickly rushed off the scene and called up the National Guard to go into the city and keep order. While the Central Park Riot was ended by the early evening, the National Guard would stay in New York City, at the request of Mayor Lindsay, for well over a month, marking the President’s staunch defense of maintaining order in the country in the wake of Civil Rights.

Although the precise timing of the meeting is unsure, many historians believe it was in the wake of the Central Park Riot that President Connally met with former Governor George Wallace (D-AL). All that they are sure about for certain is that somehow Wallace was given the Keynote Address at the DNC in exchange for throwing his delegates behind the President as “the best candidate to keep order in the country against the threat of dangerous and un-American riots.” At the same Convention in Chicago, Illinois, however, many delegates booed Wallace and walked out to join protesters in the streets, including Senator McCarthy, who pledged to run Independent on a Peace platform.

On the Republican side of things, many had hoped Richard Nixon would jump into the race to unite the Party, but he opted out. Instead, it appeared it was going to be a fight between three Governors: Romney (R-MI), Reagan (R-CA), and Rhodes (R-OH), with Rockefeller backing Romney, Nixon backing Rhodes, and Goldwater backing Reagan.

However, Romney’s flame very quickly went out when he declared in one of the worst gaffes in history that he was “brainwashed” into supporting the Vietnam War. He quietly withdrew in February, leaving a battle between Rhodes and Reagan.

While by all accounts Reagan was more conservative than Rhodes, the support of former Vice President Nixon and former Presidential Nominee Henry Cabot Lodge would push Rhodes onward, with superior funding and campaign infrastructure. Reagan was campaigning essentially as Goldwater had four years prior, pushing for a hawkish foreign policy and calling for a true “rollback” of Communism, as well as arguing for an end to the War on Poverty, believing it was strangling the American economy, and a strong law and order platform, promising to end the riots plaguing America.

Meanwhile, Rhodes did not really touch on President Connally’s War on Poverty, was relatively supportive of Civil Rights, but was also pushing for law and order (which he argued he had more experience in, being a governor for four years longer than Reagan). Rhodes contrasted Reagan by trying to paint himself as a more stable and sensible hand at the tiller. In the end, this message of stability is what won over the Convention and landed Governor Rhodes the nomination. Resisting pressure by some to put Reagan on the ticket with him, he instead chose another Western Governor in Mark Hatfield, who helped bring in support of the many liberals within the GOP.

The General Election would prove to be relatively boring, with the Paris Peace Talks resuming in May, many were wondering why Governor Rhodes kept talking about “winning” the war or why Senator McCarthy kept calling for “peace, now more than ever” when President Connally was working on striking a deal beneficial to the South Vietnamese that would bring American troops home by the end of the decade.

Meanwhile, Governor Rhodes and the President agreed on keeping the peace across America, and the President and Senator McCarthy both agreed that the War on Poverty ought to be expanded. In the one debate, between Governor Rhodes and President Connally, most pundits agreed Rhodes sunk his chances with his failure to answer Connally’s very pointed question of “And, Governor Rhodes, what do you intend to do to help America’s poor and disenfranchised?”

As Election Day drew nearer and nearer, though, with the Paris Peace Talks failing to reach any complete agreement, McCarthy’s numbers slowly began to tick upwards - particularly along the West Coast and in New England. When the Soviet Union walked out in mid-October, this rise in support was accelerated until they finally resumed discussions on October 30th. When the results finally rolled in, what was an expected blow-out win for the President proved to be much more subdued.

genusmap.php


John Connally/Mike Mansfield - 286 (45.07%)

Jim Rhodes/Mark Hatfield - 252 (43.87%)
Eugene McCarthy/Pete McCloskey - 0 (9.12%)
 
Sorry there's been a delay here. I haven't had access to my computer for the past few days, so I probably wont finish in a week, but I'm still working on it.

Connally really tied up Southern Democratic support with Wallace's help, but that will definitely come back to bite him in the butt. It certainly helped that all the candidates running were pro-Civil Rights (Connally just downplayed it), so there was actually rather low turnout in the South.
 
Just a question - did Strom Thurmond decide to bolt to the GOP as he did IOTL or did he stick in the Democrats ITTL?
 
Just a question - did Strom Thurmond decide to bolt to the GOP as he did IOTL or did he stick in the Democrats ITTL?

After the shit Connally pulled to get Civil Rights passed, he absolutely bolted. Voters have a shorter memory, however.
 

departue

Gone Fishin'
Will Reagan win in 72? i wonder? lodge is a good unclithe pick for 64 i like it!
 
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Even though the Republicans have nominated a pro-civil rights liberal and pro-civil rights moderate?

Let's say he has chosen the title "Independent Democrat" like Byrd did later IIRC, and he's leaving his options open.

Another fantastic update!:)

I hunger for more!:D

All in good time!

Will Reagan win in 72? i wonder? lodge is a good unclithe pick for 64 i like it!

My lips are sealed. I will say this will conclude with the results of 1972 Election, but I'm leaving the possibility of a sequel open.
 
Great work, Statesman! Quick question that I don't think has been mentioned: how has the Space Race been going? Did Connally push it off till later, or what?
 
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