Japhy
Banned
One of them is what I was doing instead of working on my new upcoming project, so you can blame me for that but the Dead Nixon one was just to try and tell McNutt he was wrong about convergence.
List alternate PMs or Presidents
- Thread starter Razors are for Fish
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One of them is what I was doing instead of working on my new upcoming project, so you can blame me for that but the Dead Nixon one was just to try and tell McNutt he was wrong about convergence.
I am unspeakably pleased to see your high calibre high octane lists once more.
Japhy
Banned
Well I can't do flawed attempts at timelines all the time.
I was trying to think of a suitably Turtledoveian pick, while a bit crazier than Sinclair who did have a political career, I figured an out of context writer was the best pick, it was either him or Kurt Vonnegut and I flipped a coin.
That was a little joke of mine, the whole "Glenn was the Astronaut, Mondale was the guy who wanted to shut down the Space Race after Apollo One" thing taken to "I can't work with you" extremes. I admit I didn't have a legitimate solution for that. Just a private joke for myself, I do those a lot.
Sketch of a timeline I'd been considering in the Infobox thread following the initial POD.
A True October Surprise
1969-1975: Hubert Humphrey / Edmund Muskie (Democratic)
1968: Richard Nixon/Spiro Agnew (Republican) [1], George Wallace/Curtis LeMay (American Independent)
1972: Ronald Reagan/Rogers Morton (Republican) [2]
1975: Edmund Muskie (Democratic) / (none) [3]
1975-1977: Edmund Muskie / Robert Byrd (Democratic) [4]
1977-: George Bush / Bob Dole (Republican) [5]
1976: Edmund Muskie/Robert Byrd (Democratic)
Notes:
[1]- The Nixon presidential campaign had a lead throughout the 1968 campaign until the very end of October, when President Lyndon Johnson's "October Surprise" announcing peace was imminent in Vietnam and calling a halt to the bombing campaign saw Democratic nominee Humphrey's numbers pass Nixon's for the first time in the campaign.
Nixon's campaign had an inside man (or woman) in Anna Chennault at the Vietnam peace talks and could have influenced the South Vietnamese leadership to walk away from the talks. For whatever reason, however, Nixon didn't- historians say either that he believed the South Vietnamese would leave of their own accord or that President Johnson had phoned him and informed him that Johnson would publicize Nixon's interference if Nixon advised Chennault to lean on the South Vietnamese.
[2]- Humphrey's administration saw American withdrawal from Vietnam in 1970 and detente with the Soviet Union in the foreign sphere. Domestically, Humphrey oversaw the passage of environmental laws, near-universal health care and income-based affirmative action programs and a strengthening of the Great Society following the end of the late 1960s-early 1970s recession.
California Governor Ronald Reagan's victory over the other Republican front-runners such as New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Illinois Senator Charles Percy and Washington Governor Daniel Evans saw an entrenchment of Nixon's strategy (fouled up by George Wallace's third-party bid) to reach out to southern whites who had grown disenchanted with the Democrats since the party's move to the cultural left and Johnson's successful push to end segregation and Jim Crow.
Reagan won every southern state as part of the backlash, but became "a second Goldwater", viewed as too extreme to be elected and lost to Humphrey in the Republican's fourth straight loss since 1960.
[3]- Humphrey was viewed as one of the few men able to keep the increasingly fractured New Deal coalition formed under Franklin Roosevelt together, and the stresses of office and dealing with a difficult Congress resulted in the president taking increasingly long departures from the public eye in his second term. Finally, late in October 1975, Humphrey announced that he had terminal bladder cancer. He died in office only two weeks later, making Edmund Muskie the 38th President of the United States.
[4]- With Humphrey dead, Muskie got only a small grace period before being thrust into the position as face of the fractured and unpopular incumbent party and de facto nominee for the aforementioned party in the 1976 race. Inflation, which had been manageable until early 1976, took off despite price controls. Petroleum also began a steady creep in price following the lead of several Arab nations in shifting trade over to the Soviet sphere following the Humphrey administration's steadfast support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War.
By 1976, the Democrats were in disarray. Southern whites had begun deserting the party in increasingly larger numbers despite Muskie's attempts at keeping them inside the coalition by appointing Senate Majority Whip Robert Byrd of West Virginia to be his vice president as well as making other public attempt to please them. Voters in general were ready for a change after 16 years of Democratic presidents. And to make matters worse, the Republicans had quickly found a candidate who could lead them back to the White House.
[5]- Congressman George Bush of Texas had gained himself a reputation as a moderate with a strong interest in foreign affairs. Unlike Goldwater or Reagan, Bush could not be painted as an extremist and unlike Nixon, had not become a polarizing figure. Bush's choice of Kansas Senator Bob Dole as his running mate sated the Reaganite conservative wing of the party, with the united GOP presenting a mirror image to the divided Democrats. Running on a theme of "Responsible Society", Bush campaigned on reining in federal spending on the entitlement programs created by Johnson and Humphrey, easing environmental legislation to allow for more domestic oil drilling, and a temporary moratorium on new spending initiatives.
The Republican ticket won with 410 electoral votes and an end to the New Deal coalition that had lasted 40 years. Bush became the first southern Republican (albeit one born and raised in Connecticut) to be elected to the presidency while the Democrats, out of the White House for the first time since 1960, were left wondering how to rebuild their party....[To be continued?]
A True October Surprise
1969-1975: Hubert Humphrey / Edmund Muskie (Democratic)
1968: Richard Nixon/Spiro Agnew (Republican) [1], George Wallace/Curtis LeMay (American Independent)
1972: Ronald Reagan/Rogers Morton (Republican) [2]
1975: Edmund Muskie (Democratic) / (none) [3]
1975-1977: Edmund Muskie / Robert Byrd (Democratic) [4]
1977-: George Bush / Bob Dole (Republican) [5]
1976: Edmund Muskie/Robert Byrd (Democratic)
Notes:
[1]- The Nixon presidential campaign had a lead throughout the 1968 campaign until the very end of October, when President Lyndon Johnson's "October Surprise" announcing peace was imminent in Vietnam and calling a halt to the bombing campaign saw Democratic nominee Humphrey's numbers pass Nixon's for the first time in the campaign.
Nixon's campaign had an inside man (or woman) in Anna Chennault at the Vietnam peace talks and could have influenced the South Vietnamese leadership to walk away from the talks. For whatever reason, however, Nixon didn't- historians say either that he believed the South Vietnamese would leave of their own accord or that President Johnson had phoned him and informed him that Johnson would publicize Nixon's interference if Nixon advised Chennault to lean on the South Vietnamese.
[2]- Humphrey's administration saw American withdrawal from Vietnam in 1970 and detente with the Soviet Union in the foreign sphere. Domestically, Humphrey oversaw the passage of environmental laws, near-universal health care and income-based affirmative action programs and a strengthening of the Great Society following the end of the late 1960s-early 1970s recession.
California Governor Ronald Reagan's victory over the other Republican front-runners such as New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Illinois Senator Charles Percy and Washington Governor Daniel Evans saw an entrenchment of Nixon's strategy (fouled up by George Wallace's third-party bid) to reach out to southern whites who had grown disenchanted with the Democrats since the party's move to the cultural left and Johnson's successful push to end segregation and Jim Crow.
Reagan won every southern state as part of the backlash, but became "a second Goldwater", viewed as too extreme to be elected and lost to Humphrey in the Republican's fourth straight loss since 1960.
[3]- Humphrey was viewed as one of the few men able to keep the increasingly fractured New Deal coalition formed under Franklin Roosevelt together, and the stresses of office and dealing with a difficult Congress resulted in the president taking increasingly long departures from the public eye in his second term. Finally, late in October 1975, Humphrey announced that he had terminal bladder cancer. He died in office only two weeks later, making Edmund Muskie the 38th President of the United States.
[4]- With Humphrey dead, Muskie got only a small grace period before being thrust into the position as face of the fractured and unpopular incumbent party and de facto nominee for the aforementioned party in the 1976 race. Inflation, which had been manageable until early 1976, took off despite price controls. Petroleum also began a steady creep in price following the lead of several Arab nations in shifting trade over to the Soviet sphere following the Humphrey administration's steadfast support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War.
By 1976, the Democrats were in disarray. Southern whites had begun deserting the party in increasingly larger numbers despite Muskie's attempts at keeping them inside the coalition by appointing Senate Majority Whip Robert Byrd of West Virginia to be his vice president as well as making other public attempt to please them. Voters in general were ready for a change after 16 years of Democratic presidents. And to make matters worse, the Republicans had quickly found a candidate who could lead them back to the White House.
[5]- Congressman George Bush of Texas had gained himself a reputation as a moderate with a strong interest in foreign affairs. Unlike Goldwater or Reagan, Bush could not be painted as an extremist and unlike Nixon, had not become a polarizing figure. Bush's choice of Kansas Senator Bob Dole as his running mate sated the Reaganite conservative wing of the party, with the united GOP presenting a mirror image to the divided Democrats. Running on a theme of "Responsible Society", Bush campaigned on reining in federal spending on the entitlement programs created by Johnson and Humphrey, easing environmental legislation to allow for more domestic oil drilling, and a temporary moratorium on new spending initiatives.
The Republican ticket won with 410 electoral votes and an end to the New Deal coalition that had lasted 40 years. Bush became the first southern Republican (albeit one born and raised in Connecticut) to be elected to the presidency while the Democrats, out of the White House for the first time since 1960, were left wondering how to rebuild their party....[To be continued?]
Two and Done
(reworking of this)
1933-1941: Franklin D. Roosevelt / John N. Garner (Democratic)
1932: Herbert C. Hoover / Charles Curtis (Republican)
1936: Alfred M. Landon / W. Frank Knox (Republican)
1941-1945: Cordell Hull / Paul V. McNutt (Democratic) [1]
1940: Robert A. Taft / Charles L. McNary (Republican)
1945-1946: Cordell Hull / James F. Byrnes (Democratic) [1]
1944: Thomas E. Dewey (replacing Charles L. McNary [2]) / John W. Bricker (Republican)
1946-1949: James F. Byrnes / vacant (Democratic) [3]
1949-1953: Douglas MacArthur / Harold E. Stassen (Republican) [4]
1948: James F. Byrnes / Henry Morgenthau Junior (Democratic), Henry A. Wallace / Glen Taylor (Progressive)
1953-1957: Harold E. Stassen / L. Sherman Adams (Republican) [5]
1952: Carey E. Kefauver / William O. Douglas (Democratic)
1957-1965: Edmund G. "Pat" Brown / A.B. "Happy" Chandler (Democratic) [6]
1956: Harold E. Stassen / L. Sherman Adams (Republican), Edwin A. Walker / J.B Stoner (Nationalist American) [7]
1960: Richard M. Nixon / Prescott S. Bush (Republican), J. Strom Thurmond / John M. Patterson (Nationalist American) [8]
1965-1971: Prescott S. Bush / George Christopher (Republican) [9a]
1964: Edmund G. "Pat" Brown / A.B "Happy" Chandler (Democratic), James O. Eastland / George A. Smathers (Nationalist American)
1968: Roman C. Pucinski / Carl E. Sanders (Democratic), William G. Hargis / Lester G. Maddox (Nationalist American)
1971-1971: George Christopher / vacant (Republican) [9b]
1971-1977: George Christopher / William F. Graham (Republican) [10]
1972: James E. Folsom Sr / Hubert H. Humphrey (Democratic)
1977-1981: William F. Graham / Joseph R. Biden (Republican) [11]
1976: Jennings Randolph / Nile C. Kinnick (Democratic), Elliot L. Richardson / W. Ramsay Clark (Independent) [12]
1981-1993: Nick Galifinakis / George S. McGovern (Democratic) [13]
1980: William F. Graham / John G. Tower (Republican), John V. Lindsey / Anne L. Armstrong (Independent)
1984: Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown / A. Lamar Alexander (Independence) [14], William F. Buckley / Jesse A. Helms (Republican)
1988: Benjamin Fernandez / Robert J. Dole (Republican), William G. Milliken / John B. Anderson (Independence)
1993-2001: Joseph R. Biden / Newton L. Gingrich (Republican) [15]
1992: Adlai E. Stevenson III / Lloyd M. Bentsen (Democratic), William S. Cohen / Michael S. Dukakis (Independence)
1996: Hamilton Fish V / David H. Pryor (Democratic), Sheila S. Frahm / Warren B. Rudman (Independence)
[1]: President Roosevelt declares only weeks before the DNC that he will not run for a third term. Secretary Hull is convinced by the President to enter the Convention. He quickly knocks off quixotic bids by VP Garner and Ambassador Kennedy to become the nominee. In order to placate Southern Democrats, he begrudgingly picks Senator Byrnes of South Carolina. Hull easily defeats the isolationist Taft in the general election.
Hull would oversee a period of economic expansion in the next few months. He lowered tarrifs, established national parks, expanded some New Deal Programs and increased Lend Lease aid to Europe.
Everything changed on the 25th of November, 1941. On the day, Japanese Planes would attack the Pearl Habor naval base in Hawaii (and numerous other european and american positions in asia and the pacific), killing thousands and sinking several ships. This event caused a huge increase in public support for intervention, and gave Hull the ability to declare war a week later.
The war goes well, with Japan being blown out of the water at Midway, American troops helping to push back Italian forces in Africa and mass production of weapons being commissioned boosting the economy. By 1944, the Axis are in a tougher position than OTL. The July 20 plot nearly succeeds, pretty much crippling the already frail Hitler. By January of 1945, Allied forces reach Berlin, and by June, the A-BOMB (constructed in Allons, TN at the request of President Hull) explodes near the waters of Tokyo.
A year later, during the beginning of the Cold War, Hull suffers a fatal heart attack in his office while meeting with Vice President Byrnes.
[2]: Senator and 1940 VP Candidate McNary is nominated by the Republican Convention, but decides to resign from the ticket following a near fatal heart attack.
[3]: President Byrnes was the stuff of nightmares for some liberals in the party. While he was a supporter of the New Deal, he was hardline southron on things like Segregation and a moderate-conservative on labor matters. Many expected him to fail.
However, Byrnes had a surprising victory in foreign policy when he quickly routs the Soviets during the Iran crisis. This results in a small boost in his approval rating. Fighting the Soviets would become a common theme during Byrnes' presidency, as he would send hundreds of millions of dollars to anti communist groups inside and outside the Warsaw Pact. These yielded some results, as countries like Albania and Serbia finally liberated themselves from Communist rule by the 50s. He hires George Marshall to help with rebulding Europe.
The President draws ire from Democrats when he reluctantly signs Taft-Hartley. This (and his refusal to ban segregation in the military), provokes a primary challenge from Senator Claude Pepper. Byrnes narrowly escapes the surprisingly large challenge. He loses by a decent margin in November to General MacArthur. The Progressive Party, headed by former secretary of Commerce Henry Wallace, draws in an impressive 7%, but fails to make any waves downballot.
[4]: President MacArthur's term would be quite wild. With Democrats holding Congress, it was thought that MacArthur would try some compromise. But that wasn't the way Douglas MacArthur worked. In the first five months, he vetoed at least twenty bills. In early 1950, he signs an expanded version of the McCarran act and sides with Joseph McCarthy. A few months later he draws extreme ire from the world community when he goes all out in China and Korea, using Nuclear Weapons to help the anti communist side in both wars. The Soviets felt that MacArthur and Byrnes were signs of hostility from the US. Their presidencies would result in a big freeze in US-Soviet relations.
The President decided to step down in 1952 following a meeting with Chairman Hugh Scott. VP Stassen was easily nominated and easily defeated the Democrats. As his last act as president, he commits a hundred million dollars in aid to Fulgencio Batista.
[5]: The Stassen Presidency would be considerably more moderate than the MacArthur one. He issued an executive order banning segregation in the military. He appointed Earl Warren and Tom Dewey to the supreme court, decisions that would have ramifications later following the Meridith v. Board of Education case in 1956, that would outlaw public segregation. This would result in huge riots by whites in cities like Birmingham, Newark, Detroit and Jacksonville. There were even reports of hardliner segregationists threatening to secede over the issue (these never materialized as anything real though). Thousands were dead or injured by 1957.
On the foreign policy front, Stassen maintained MacArthur's interventionist approach but toned it down a bit. He provided assistance to anti monarchist groups in Iran with the hope of setting up a US backed Government, but this never got anywhere. In 1955, he would organize a meeting in Geneva, where it was agreed that Vietnam would be split into two countries. Finally, he announces the creation of the "Stassen Plan", which continues the Marshall Plan, but expands it to include funding countries in Africa and Asia.
Despite the troubles with Civil Rights, President Stassen was favoured to win by at least ten against Governor Brown (who runs four years earlier). However, on election night, Brown pulled ahead to a 50-48 win. There's a famous picture of President-Elect Brown holding up the New York Times headline "STASSEN STOMPS BROWN".
[6]: President Brown taking office was seen as a "return to normalcy" from the hectic MacArthur and Stassen years. His presidency was anything but. He enacted UHC, created the Department of Housing and Urban Development, signed the Highway Reform Act of 1959, reformed education and raised the minimum wage among other things. He was also surprisingly strong on Segregation, despite having a fairly moderate southerner as his VP. He increased national guard presence in the southern states to enforce busing legislation. This caused pro segregation Democrats to ally with ultra Conservative Republicans against Brown. Known as the "no way, no how" caucus, which was dedicated to blocking all anti-segregation legislation, including an utterly futile attempt at blocking the Voting Rights Act of 1960.
On Foreign Policy, Brown would advocate for a change from MacArthur and Stassen. He would reduce aid from Batista unless he relaxed restrictions on trade and civil liberties, provide key support for the peasents in the Hungarian Revolution (giving them enough support to break free), open up trade with several countries in Africa and Asia, and ease embargoes on the PRC ("only brown could go to china, after all"). He would find trouble after Republicans took narrow control of the Senate in 1962, forcing him to tone down the rest of his agenda. He agreed to a budget in 1963 (which would cut taxes in some areas and increase spending in others), and signed a compromise PTO bill.
In 1964, Brown announced that he would run for another term, shocking most Americans. He ran far ahead of his opponent, Senator Prescott Bush, who he derided as a "corrupt old aristocrat". However, the rioting, added in with growing inflation, was getting too much for the American people, and they decided to send Bush to the White House.
[7]: The Nationalist American Party was formed as a direct response to the "pro negro" policies of Stassen. It was mainly made up of fringe segregationists (many prominent segregationists didn't want to taint their reputation by entering). They ran General Edwin Walker in 1956, who got 5% off the back of angry whites.
[8]: Their 1960 run would be much more rewarding. Popular Senator Thurmond took the dive and managed a good 15%, winning SC, TN, AL, MS and AR in the process.
[9a]: Bush - a business minded man, but also a good friend of Nelson Rockefeller - would run a mixed ship. He slashed spending and taxes in an attempt to get inflation down, started a war on drugs, but also spent money on large scale housing programs for poor families, built up infrastructure and expanded abortion rights at the protests of Conservative Republicans. He would continue the anti-communist policies of previous administrations, but would try to open up more with the Soviets. Unfortunately, the Soviets were fed up with America, and certainly wouldn't be dealing with some capitalist businessman. He instead tried reconciliation with North China, which was much more successful. Trading would begin by the start of 1968, this news (coupled with the all time high relations between the US and Cuba) would lead voters to trust Bush on foreign policy more, something that would result in his crushing re-election victory in 1968.
The rest of his term was well enough, though he had squabbles with Congress on how to fix the unemployment rate without creating too much inflation. He decided to visit Berkley, California to campaign for Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Kuchel. As he was shaking hands with donors at a meeting, a bullet was fired straight through his heart, killing him instantly.*
*The killer was found to be the granddaughter of Publishing Magnate Wlliam Hearst, Patty Hearst. Hearst was allegedly brainwashed by far left groups to kill the president.
[9b]: The Vice President suddenly found himself with a promotion. The 23rd Amendment allowed for the acting president to appoint a new president that would be nominated by Congress. The President originally considered nominating inoffensive Governor Charles Mathias of Maryland, but balked at the last minute to nominate friendly evangelical congressman Billy Graham, who was confirmed fairly quickly.
[10]: By all means, the Christopher Presidency was fairly unimportant. Sure, there were a bunch of important events, such as the final night of rioting, the retirement of Batista (and replacement by Pro US Fidel Castro), China's market based reforms, and the first women appointed to the Supreme Court (Sandra Day O'Conner). Yes, these were all important, but Christopher felt little involvement in them (bar the last one). He had little idea what to do with his huge mandate, and Congressional leaders squabbled so much they only passed legislation semi-regularly. Nontheless, without much trouble brewing, the voters decided to give another term to the Republicans.
[11]: History has viewed Graham as a bit of a disaster unfit for the Presidency. Originally an evangelical pastor, he ran for congress in 1952 off the back of his success, calling for "a renewal to our moral majority". His ascension to the Presidency was a surprising one, as many expected him to turn down the Presidential run and run for the Senate.
His term would be marked by an attempt at a "moral presidency". He rolled back the policy on Abortion, tried to push through pro prayer in schools legislation, amped up the drug war, and intervened on behalf of christian soldiers in Africa. But he also continued the housing programs, expanded Medicare, and implemented new funds for social security. His clashes with the Orthodox religion made relations with the Soviets and those in the Balkans go to an all time low and likely caused the election of the Greek Socialists in June 1978.
His fights with the Arab States caused the Oil Crisis to occur at a much worse rate than OTL. At the behest of top military advisers and against the advise of several others, the US launches a Coup against Iran following an attempt by the country to start trading with the Warsaw Pact. This decision was met with huge criticism from both the right and left and resulted in a counter coup in 1990.
By 1980 his approvals were in the 30's. Things were so bad that VP Biden decided to retire from the ticket. He was soundly defeated by Senator Galifanakis.
[12]: The Moderate Richardson was personally disillusioned by the Republicans at this point and had no time for the moral politics of Graham. He ran on an independent ticket with Lawyer Ramsay Clark, picking up ~8% of the vote.
[13]: President Galifinakis would be one of the most divisive figures of the post WW2 era. He was a "jamalade politician", meaning you either loved him or hated him (the name came from a controversial foodstuff produced in Iowa).
He began his term with a reform in social security. He lowered the age of eligibility to 63, increased the benefits of needier beneficiaries, and removed the cap on payroll taxes. He then continued the expansion of Medicare.
The President's biggest accomplishment was the Immigration Act of 1983. Galifinakis, himself a son of immigrants, was always a big supporter of immigration reform, and would accomplish it with this act. It would protect millions of illegal immigrants from deportation, allowed for certain immigrants to receive driving licenses and required businesses that knowingly hired immigrants to pay minimum wage. It passed the Democratic Senate easily, despite quite a few southerners (the few that were left) sticking their heels in.
The minimum wage was raised by $2 and a gutting of Taft-Hartley was initiated by early 1984. He was re-elected by a massive margin against fractured opposition, giving him an even bigger mandate.
A nationalization of public transport and a massive restructuring and improving of the rail system took place by 1985. There was an attempt at implementing a guaranteed basic income, but the senate rejected it after a long debate.
The epitome of the "era of good feelings" came during the Hartford Olympics of 1988, where the US won 85 Gold Medals. A month before those, President Galifinakis announced his try for a third term. While he was favoured, many thought that it would turn out like Brown in 1964. They were wrong, as Galifinakis won yet another landslide, albiet a smaller one (only 10 points). In his final term, Galifinakis would work on restoring abortion rights, banning discrimination based on sexuality and increasing gun regulations.
On foreign policy, Galifinakis would try what Bush failed with and reach out to the Soviets. The new reformist leadership of Boris Yeltsin was more open this time, and the US extended an olive branch in the form of nuclear disarmament. Galifinakis, Yeltsin, and heads of NATO agreed to it, and signed STOP 1. There was a lot of trouble in Vietnam as the south was headed by incredibly fascistic leadership which decided to invade the north. In one of the Administration's big mistakes, Galifinakis decided to stay neutral instead of trying to intervene and negotiate. Another big mistake was to not pay enough attention to the China meeting, where leaders from North and South China met in 1990 to discuss reunification. The US decided to stand by and the negotiations broke down. It would take another 9 years for China to reunify.
Even though his approvals were sky high, the country was suffering fatigue. They turned to an unexpected figure to take back the White House for the Republicans.
[14]: Senator Brown and Governor Alexander ran a good campaign, managing to beat out the GOP for second place in the EC and the PV. However, the party would reach its peak there, and would dip down again in 1988.
[15]: Following his return to Delaware, former VP Biden decided to go back to his old job as Governor. He won by a big margin in 1984 and ran unopposed in 1992. Despite his links to the Graham administration, Biden was quite popular with voters, who elected him President in a tight race against Governor Stevenson.
Biden took office with 52 Republicans in the Senate and 230 in the House, a narrow majority. He governed as a "compassionate conservative". His first act was to sign the Fiscal Renewal Bill, which would lend tax credits to small businesses and cut spending on different parts of the Government. Another Biden plan was to audit and review every single part of the Pentagon, in the process entirely restructuring the Department of Defense to be more efficient. Biden would also expand the Brown-era Paid Time Off bill, force states to set up their own banks, institute a national light rail system, reform the health care system to be more market based, and create hundreds of public schools through his education plan. By the end of his term, he was noted as the Republican equivalent to Galifinakis.
Biden was also renowned in foreign policy. He oversaw the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1995, the reunification of China in 1999, the fall of the Soviets in 1996, and a victory in the 1997 Kazakh war.
The extremely popular Biden forgoed a third run in 2000.
---
[1] Biden
[2] Galifinakis
[3] Bush
[4] Brown
[5] Stassen
[6] Christopher
[7] Byrnes
[8] Graham
[8] MacArthur
- Average results from a Gallup poll asking Americans to "Rate Every President since World War 2"
(reworking of this)
1933-1941: Franklin D. Roosevelt / John N. Garner (Democratic)
1932: Herbert C. Hoover / Charles Curtis (Republican)
1936: Alfred M. Landon / W. Frank Knox (Republican)
1941-1945: Cordell Hull / Paul V. McNutt (Democratic) [1]
1940: Robert A. Taft / Charles L. McNary (Republican)
1945-1946: Cordell Hull / James F. Byrnes (Democratic) [1]
1944: Thomas E. Dewey (replacing Charles L. McNary [2]) / John W. Bricker (Republican)
1946-1949: James F. Byrnes / vacant (Democratic) [3]
1949-1953: Douglas MacArthur / Harold E. Stassen (Republican) [4]
1948: James F. Byrnes / Henry Morgenthau Junior (Democratic), Henry A. Wallace / Glen Taylor (Progressive)
1953-1957: Harold E. Stassen / L. Sherman Adams (Republican) [5]
1952: Carey E. Kefauver / William O. Douglas (Democratic)
1957-1965: Edmund G. "Pat" Brown / A.B. "Happy" Chandler (Democratic) [6]
1956: Harold E. Stassen / L. Sherman Adams (Republican), Edwin A. Walker / J.B Stoner (Nationalist American) [7]
1960: Richard M. Nixon / Prescott S. Bush (Republican), J. Strom Thurmond / John M. Patterson (Nationalist American) [8]
1965-1971: Prescott S. Bush / George Christopher (Republican) [9a]
1964: Edmund G. "Pat" Brown / A.B "Happy" Chandler (Democratic), James O. Eastland / George A. Smathers (Nationalist American)
1968: Roman C. Pucinski / Carl E. Sanders (Democratic), William G. Hargis / Lester G. Maddox (Nationalist American)
1971-1971: George Christopher / vacant (Republican) [9b]
1971-1977: George Christopher / William F. Graham (Republican) [10]
1972: James E. Folsom Sr / Hubert H. Humphrey (Democratic)
1977-1981: William F. Graham / Joseph R. Biden (Republican) [11]
1976: Jennings Randolph / Nile C. Kinnick (Democratic), Elliot L. Richardson / W. Ramsay Clark (Independent) [12]
1981-1993: Nick Galifinakis / George S. McGovern (Democratic) [13]
1980: William F. Graham / John G. Tower (Republican), John V. Lindsey / Anne L. Armstrong (Independent)
1984: Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown / A. Lamar Alexander (Independence) [14], William F. Buckley / Jesse A. Helms (Republican)
1988: Benjamin Fernandez / Robert J. Dole (Republican), William G. Milliken / John B. Anderson (Independence)
1993-2001: Joseph R. Biden / Newton L. Gingrich (Republican) [15]
1992: Adlai E. Stevenson III / Lloyd M. Bentsen (Democratic), William S. Cohen / Michael S. Dukakis (Independence)
1996: Hamilton Fish V / David H. Pryor (Democratic), Sheila S. Frahm / Warren B. Rudman (Independence)
[1]: President Roosevelt declares only weeks before the DNC that he will not run for a third term. Secretary Hull is convinced by the President to enter the Convention. He quickly knocks off quixotic bids by VP Garner and Ambassador Kennedy to become the nominee. In order to placate Southern Democrats, he begrudgingly picks Senator Byrnes of South Carolina. Hull easily defeats the isolationist Taft in the general election.
Hull would oversee a period of economic expansion in the next few months. He lowered tarrifs, established national parks, expanded some New Deal Programs and increased Lend Lease aid to Europe.
Everything changed on the 25th of November, 1941. On the day, Japanese Planes would attack the Pearl Habor naval base in Hawaii (and numerous other european and american positions in asia and the pacific), killing thousands and sinking several ships. This event caused a huge increase in public support for intervention, and gave Hull the ability to declare war a week later.
The war goes well, with Japan being blown out of the water at Midway, American troops helping to push back Italian forces in Africa and mass production of weapons being commissioned boosting the economy. By 1944, the Axis are in a tougher position than OTL. The July 20 plot nearly succeeds, pretty much crippling the already frail Hitler. By January of 1945, Allied forces reach Berlin, and by June, the A-BOMB (constructed in Allons, TN at the request of President Hull) explodes near the waters of Tokyo.
A year later, during the beginning of the Cold War, Hull suffers a fatal heart attack in his office while meeting with Vice President Byrnes.
[2]: Senator and 1940 VP Candidate McNary is nominated by the Republican Convention, but decides to resign from the ticket following a near fatal heart attack.
[3]: President Byrnes was the stuff of nightmares for some liberals in the party. While he was a supporter of the New Deal, he was hardline southron on things like Segregation and a moderate-conservative on labor matters. Many expected him to fail.
However, Byrnes had a surprising victory in foreign policy when he quickly routs the Soviets during the Iran crisis. This results in a small boost in his approval rating. Fighting the Soviets would become a common theme during Byrnes' presidency, as he would send hundreds of millions of dollars to anti communist groups inside and outside the Warsaw Pact. These yielded some results, as countries like Albania and Serbia finally liberated themselves from Communist rule by the 50s. He hires George Marshall to help with rebulding Europe.
The President draws ire from Democrats when he reluctantly signs Taft-Hartley. This (and his refusal to ban segregation in the military), provokes a primary challenge from Senator Claude Pepper. Byrnes narrowly escapes the surprisingly large challenge. He loses by a decent margin in November to General MacArthur. The Progressive Party, headed by former secretary of Commerce Henry Wallace, draws in an impressive 7%, but fails to make any waves downballot.
[4]: President MacArthur's term would be quite wild. With Democrats holding Congress, it was thought that MacArthur would try some compromise. But that wasn't the way Douglas MacArthur worked. In the first five months, he vetoed at least twenty bills. In early 1950, he signs an expanded version of the McCarran act and sides with Joseph McCarthy. A few months later he draws extreme ire from the world community when he goes all out in China and Korea, using Nuclear Weapons to help the anti communist side in both wars. The Soviets felt that MacArthur and Byrnes were signs of hostility from the US. Their presidencies would result in a big freeze in US-Soviet relations.
The President decided to step down in 1952 following a meeting with Chairman Hugh Scott. VP Stassen was easily nominated and easily defeated the Democrats. As his last act as president, he commits a hundred million dollars in aid to Fulgencio Batista.
[5]: The Stassen Presidency would be considerably more moderate than the MacArthur one. He issued an executive order banning segregation in the military. He appointed Earl Warren and Tom Dewey to the supreme court, decisions that would have ramifications later following the Meridith v. Board of Education case in 1956, that would outlaw public segregation. This would result in huge riots by whites in cities like Birmingham, Newark, Detroit and Jacksonville. There were even reports of hardliner segregationists threatening to secede over the issue (these never materialized as anything real though). Thousands were dead or injured by 1957.
On the foreign policy front, Stassen maintained MacArthur's interventionist approach but toned it down a bit. He provided assistance to anti monarchist groups in Iran with the hope of setting up a US backed Government, but this never got anywhere. In 1955, he would organize a meeting in Geneva, where it was agreed that Vietnam would be split into two countries. Finally, he announces the creation of the "Stassen Plan", which continues the Marshall Plan, but expands it to include funding countries in Africa and Asia.
Despite the troubles with Civil Rights, President Stassen was favoured to win by at least ten against Governor Brown (who runs four years earlier). However, on election night, Brown pulled ahead to a 50-48 win. There's a famous picture of President-Elect Brown holding up the New York Times headline "STASSEN STOMPS BROWN".
[6]: President Brown taking office was seen as a "return to normalcy" from the hectic MacArthur and Stassen years. His presidency was anything but. He enacted UHC, created the Department of Housing and Urban Development, signed the Highway Reform Act of 1959, reformed education and raised the minimum wage among other things. He was also surprisingly strong on Segregation, despite having a fairly moderate southerner as his VP. He increased national guard presence in the southern states to enforce busing legislation. This caused pro segregation Democrats to ally with ultra Conservative Republicans against Brown. Known as the "no way, no how" caucus, which was dedicated to blocking all anti-segregation legislation, including an utterly futile attempt at blocking the Voting Rights Act of 1960.
On Foreign Policy, Brown would advocate for a change from MacArthur and Stassen. He would reduce aid from Batista unless he relaxed restrictions on trade and civil liberties, provide key support for the peasents in the Hungarian Revolution (giving them enough support to break free), open up trade with several countries in Africa and Asia, and ease embargoes on the PRC ("only brown could go to china, after all"). He would find trouble after Republicans took narrow control of the Senate in 1962, forcing him to tone down the rest of his agenda. He agreed to a budget in 1963 (which would cut taxes in some areas and increase spending in others), and signed a compromise PTO bill.
In 1964, Brown announced that he would run for another term, shocking most Americans. He ran far ahead of his opponent, Senator Prescott Bush, who he derided as a "corrupt old aristocrat". However, the rioting, added in with growing inflation, was getting too much for the American people, and they decided to send Bush to the White House.
[7]: The Nationalist American Party was formed as a direct response to the "pro negro" policies of Stassen. It was mainly made up of fringe segregationists (many prominent segregationists didn't want to taint their reputation by entering). They ran General Edwin Walker in 1956, who got 5% off the back of angry whites.
[8]: Their 1960 run would be much more rewarding. Popular Senator Thurmond took the dive and managed a good 15%, winning SC, TN, AL, MS and AR in the process.
[9a]: Bush - a business minded man, but also a good friend of Nelson Rockefeller - would run a mixed ship. He slashed spending and taxes in an attempt to get inflation down, started a war on drugs, but also spent money on large scale housing programs for poor families, built up infrastructure and expanded abortion rights at the protests of Conservative Republicans. He would continue the anti-communist policies of previous administrations, but would try to open up more with the Soviets. Unfortunately, the Soviets were fed up with America, and certainly wouldn't be dealing with some capitalist businessman. He instead tried reconciliation with North China, which was much more successful. Trading would begin by the start of 1968, this news (coupled with the all time high relations between the US and Cuba) would lead voters to trust Bush on foreign policy more, something that would result in his crushing re-election victory in 1968.
The rest of his term was well enough, though he had squabbles with Congress on how to fix the unemployment rate without creating too much inflation. He decided to visit Berkley, California to campaign for Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Kuchel. As he was shaking hands with donors at a meeting, a bullet was fired straight through his heart, killing him instantly.*
*The killer was found to be the granddaughter of Publishing Magnate Wlliam Hearst, Patty Hearst. Hearst was allegedly brainwashed by far left groups to kill the president.
[9b]: The Vice President suddenly found himself with a promotion. The 23rd Amendment allowed for the acting president to appoint a new president that would be nominated by Congress. The President originally considered nominating inoffensive Governor Charles Mathias of Maryland, but balked at the last minute to nominate friendly evangelical congressman Billy Graham, who was confirmed fairly quickly.
[10]: By all means, the Christopher Presidency was fairly unimportant. Sure, there were a bunch of important events, such as the final night of rioting, the retirement of Batista (and replacement by Pro US Fidel Castro), China's market based reforms, and the first women appointed to the Supreme Court (Sandra Day O'Conner). Yes, these were all important, but Christopher felt little involvement in them (bar the last one). He had little idea what to do with his huge mandate, and Congressional leaders squabbled so much they only passed legislation semi-regularly. Nontheless, without much trouble brewing, the voters decided to give another term to the Republicans.
[11]: History has viewed Graham as a bit of a disaster unfit for the Presidency. Originally an evangelical pastor, he ran for congress in 1952 off the back of his success, calling for "a renewal to our moral majority". His ascension to the Presidency was a surprising one, as many expected him to turn down the Presidential run and run for the Senate.
His term would be marked by an attempt at a "moral presidency". He rolled back the policy on Abortion, tried to push through pro prayer in schools legislation, amped up the drug war, and intervened on behalf of christian soldiers in Africa. But he also continued the housing programs, expanded Medicare, and implemented new funds for social security. His clashes with the Orthodox religion made relations with the Soviets and those in the Balkans go to an all time low and likely caused the election of the Greek Socialists in June 1978.
His fights with the Arab States caused the Oil Crisis to occur at a much worse rate than OTL. At the behest of top military advisers and against the advise of several others, the US launches a Coup against Iran following an attempt by the country to start trading with the Warsaw Pact. This decision was met with huge criticism from both the right and left and resulted in a counter coup in 1990.
By 1980 his approvals were in the 30's. Things were so bad that VP Biden decided to retire from the ticket. He was soundly defeated by Senator Galifanakis.
[12]: The Moderate Richardson was personally disillusioned by the Republicans at this point and had no time for the moral politics of Graham. He ran on an independent ticket with Lawyer Ramsay Clark, picking up ~8% of the vote.
[13]: President Galifinakis would be one of the most divisive figures of the post WW2 era. He was a "jamalade politician", meaning you either loved him or hated him (the name came from a controversial foodstuff produced in Iowa).
He began his term with a reform in social security. He lowered the age of eligibility to 63, increased the benefits of needier beneficiaries, and removed the cap on payroll taxes. He then continued the expansion of Medicare.
The President's biggest accomplishment was the Immigration Act of 1983. Galifinakis, himself a son of immigrants, was always a big supporter of immigration reform, and would accomplish it with this act. It would protect millions of illegal immigrants from deportation, allowed for certain immigrants to receive driving licenses and required businesses that knowingly hired immigrants to pay minimum wage. It passed the Democratic Senate easily, despite quite a few southerners (the few that were left) sticking their heels in.
The minimum wage was raised by $2 and a gutting of Taft-Hartley was initiated by early 1984. He was re-elected by a massive margin against fractured opposition, giving him an even bigger mandate.
A nationalization of public transport and a massive restructuring and improving of the rail system took place by 1985. There was an attempt at implementing a guaranteed basic income, but the senate rejected it after a long debate.
The epitome of the "era of good feelings" came during the Hartford Olympics of 1988, where the US won 85 Gold Medals. A month before those, President Galifinakis announced his try for a third term. While he was favoured, many thought that it would turn out like Brown in 1964. They were wrong, as Galifinakis won yet another landslide, albiet a smaller one (only 10 points). In his final term, Galifinakis would work on restoring abortion rights, banning discrimination based on sexuality and increasing gun regulations.
On foreign policy, Galifinakis would try what Bush failed with and reach out to the Soviets. The new reformist leadership of Boris Yeltsin was more open this time, and the US extended an olive branch in the form of nuclear disarmament. Galifinakis, Yeltsin, and heads of NATO agreed to it, and signed STOP 1. There was a lot of trouble in Vietnam as the south was headed by incredibly fascistic leadership which decided to invade the north. In one of the Administration's big mistakes, Galifinakis decided to stay neutral instead of trying to intervene and negotiate. Another big mistake was to not pay enough attention to the China meeting, where leaders from North and South China met in 1990 to discuss reunification. The US decided to stand by and the negotiations broke down. It would take another 9 years for China to reunify.
Even though his approvals were sky high, the country was suffering fatigue. They turned to an unexpected figure to take back the White House for the Republicans.
[14]: Senator Brown and Governor Alexander ran a good campaign, managing to beat out the GOP for second place in the EC and the PV. However, the party would reach its peak there, and would dip down again in 1988.
[15]: Following his return to Delaware, former VP Biden decided to go back to his old job as Governor. He won by a big margin in 1984 and ran unopposed in 1992. Despite his links to the Graham administration, Biden was quite popular with voters, who elected him President in a tight race against Governor Stevenson.
Biden took office with 52 Republicans in the Senate and 230 in the House, a narrow majority. He governed as a "compassionate conservative". His first act was to sign the Fiscal Renewal Bill, which would lend tax credits to small businesses and cut spending on different parts of the Government. Another Biden plan was to audit and review every single part of the Pentagon, in the process entirely restructuring the Department of Defense to be more efficient. Biden would also expand the Brown-era Paid Time Off bill, force states to set up their own banks, institute a national light rail system, reform the health care system to be more market based, and create hundreds of public schools through his education plan. By the end of his term, he was noted as the Republican equivalent to Galifinakis.
Biden was also renowned in foreign policy. He oversaw the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1995, the reunification of China in 1999, the fall of the Soviets in 1996, and a victory in the 1997 Kazakh war.
The extremely popular Biden forgoed a third run in 2000.
---
[1] Biden
[2] Galifinakis
[3] Bush
[4] Brown
[5] Stassen
[6] Christopher
[7] Byrnes
[8] Graham
[8] MacArthur
- Average results from a Gallup poll asking Americans to "Rate Every President since World War 2"
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Japhy
Banned
I liked this little project quite a bit, on one hand I have to admit I doubt that the Thieu would have accepted the Peace Agreement in 1968 even without the Nixon/Kissinger/Chenault angle. That said, always good to see someone try to figure out a popular "What If"
I'll admit I'm surprised that there's not some three-thirds crazy New Left split in '72 or '76 from the Democrats dreaming of repeating Wallace's 1948 run. Beyond that, a fun little list, hope to see more.
A few thoughts on that:
The American people are not going to embrace an All-South ticket in 1940, either Byrnes or Hull should be replaced.
Wilkie without being the Dark Horse of 1940 is a political nobody, no chance he'd be nominated in a time of war, he got the nomination in 1940 as a "We need to do MORE to help the Brits" candidate before turning against that, there's no ground for a political amateur when the war is actually on though.
And lastly Pat Brown wouldn't run as a "Return to Normalcy" candidate.
Beyond that, all in all, I liked the world you've built with that one Spooky.
I'm kind of in a rut on this one, since both of them are important to the story.
I see you're point. It wasn't really important anyway.
Eh, you're right. I'll change it so that it's just regular political observers viewing the hectic MacArthur and Stassen years, and then predicting Brown to be a doting liberal or something.
Thanks.
Japhy
Banned
Well keeping a VP isn't a particularly common thing in American History at that point. Only five Vice Presidents had ever served two terms at that point, and one of them had to do it under two separate presidents. VP dumping was incredibly common before WWII. So you can have someone else serve in Hull's first term, and then either you can use the war to force Byrnes onto the ticket which is still rather unlikely but theoretically doable if Hull is 100% clear on how he needs the man, and FDR is able to force things down the party's throat at the convention, but even then Dewey's going to do a hell of a lot better.
The other option would be to go for a different reactionary, like my personal favorite James V. Forestall.
I don't see Congressman Bush getting the nomination in this '76; and I don't see him picking Dole either. Bush getting his desire of running against Ralph Yarborough in '70, rather than Bentsen, would be a good modification. (Though I suppose the question of whether he would even run without Nixon is an open question)
Alright, here is a TL I've been working on for the last few weeks; as I don't want to give away too much yet, I'll only post the PoD for now.
1993-1996: Bill Clinton / Al Gore (Democratic Party)
1992: George H. W. Bush / Dan Quayle (Republican Party), Ross Perot / James Stockdale (Independent)
1996-1997: Newt Gingrich / vacant (Republican Party)
1997-2001: Richard Cheney / George W. Bush (Republican Party)
1996: Robert Casey / Mario Cuomo (Democratic Party)
2001-2005: Richard Cheney / Donald Rumsfeld (Republican Party)
2000: Howard Dean / Hillary Clinton (Democratic Party)
2005-2005: Richard Cheney / Sarah Palin (Republican Party)
2004: Wesley Clark / Al Sharpton (Democratic Party), Ralph Nader / Jill Stein (Restoration Party)
2005-2009: Sarah Palin / vacant (Republican Party)
2009-????: Sarah Palin / Karl Rove (Republican Party)
2008: Hillary Clinton / Tom Daschle (Democratic Party), David Cobb / Pat LaMarche (Restoration Party), Ron Paul / Michael Badnarik (Libertarian Party)
[POINT OF DIVERGENCE] Following the devastating attack on the World Trade Center by Ramzi Yousef in February 1993 that cost the lives of 42,000 people, the Clinton administration begins a bombing campaign against targets in Pakistan, hoping to kill the escaped Ramzi Yousef and wipe out his terrorist supporters. With the civilian death toll from this air raid campaign rising, the Yousef Network uses the chaos to carry out a series of assassinations against public figures and politicians in Pakistan, causing the country to descend into a chaos and civil war. Fearing the Pakistani nuclear arsenal could fall into the hands of terrorist groups, the United States launch a massive invasion of the country after allying with and recognising one of the factions (National Transition Council) as the legitimate Pakistani government. Following months of fierce fighting with thousands of military casualties, the US-led coalition finally overwhelms the last defensive positions of the anti-NTC forces; with widespread insurgencies still ravaging the country, the long period of occupation begins. Ramzi Yousef avoids detection and flees to Afghanistan; while the US believes he is still in Pakistan, the manhunt for him continues. Aided by both Al-Qaeda and Taliban, he begins recruiting fighters and building his own terror network in Afghanistan; eventually, in a concerted terrorist attack in September 1996, the Yousef Network abducts various airplanes and uses them to attack important targets in the United States; the first plane destroys the Empire State Building, leading to 14,000 casualties, the second plane destroys the Statue of Liberty, the third plane crashes into the Pentagon, leading to 300 casualties, the fourth and last plane crashes into the West Wing of the White House, killing both US President Bill Clinton and US Vice President Al Gore; Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich assumes the presidency.
1993-1996: Bill Clinton / Al Gore (Democratic Party)
1992: George H. W. Bush / Dan Quayle (Republican Party), Ross Perot / James Stockdale (Independent)
1996-1997: Newt Gingrich / vacant (Republican Party)
1997-2001: Richard Cheney / George W. Bush (Republican Party)
1996: Robert Casey / Mario Cuomo (Democratic Party)
2001-2005: Richard Cheney / Donald Rumsfeld (Republican Party)
2000: Howard Dean / Hillary Clinton (Democratic Party)
2005-2005: Richard Cheney / Sarah Palin (Republican Party)
2004: Wesley Clark / Al Sharpton (Democratic Party), Ralph Nader / Jill Stein (Restoration Party)
2005-2009: Sarah Palin / vacant (Republican Party)
2009-????: Sarah Palin / Karl Rove (Republican Party)
2008: Hillary Clinton / Tom Daschle (Democratic Party), David Cobb / Pat LaMarche (Restoration Party), Ron Paul / Michael Badnarik (Libertarian Party)
[POINT OF DIVERGENCE] Following the devastating attack on the World Trade Center by Ramzi Yousef in February 1993 that cost the lives of 42,000 people, the Clinton administration begins a bombing campaign against targets in Pakistan, hoping to kill the escaped Ramzi Yousef and wipe out his terrorist supporters. With the civilian death toll from this air raid campaign rising, the Yousef Network uses the chaos to carry out a series of assassinations against public figures and politicians in Pakistan, causing the country to descend into a chaos and civil war. Fearing the Pakistani nuclear arsenal could fall into the hands of terrorist groups, the United States launch a massive invasion of the country after allying with and recognising one of the factions (National Transition Council) as the legitimate Pakistani government. Following months of fierce fighting with thousands of military casualties, the US-led coalition finally overwhelms the last defensive positions of the anti-NTC forces; with widespread insurgencies still ravaging the country, the long period of occupation begins. Ramzi Yousef avoids detection and flees to Afghanistan; while the US believes he is still in Pakistan, the manhunt for him continues. Aided by both Al-Qaeda and Taliban, he begins recruiting fighters and building his own terror network in Afghanistan; eventually, in a concerted terrorist attack in September 1996, the Yousef Network abducts various airplanes and uses them to attack important targets in the United States; the first plane destroys the Empire State Building, leading to 14,000 casualties, the second plane destroys the Statue of Liberty, the third plane crashes into the Pentagon, leading to 300 casualties, the fourth and last plane crashes into the West Wing of the White House, killing both US President Bill Clinton and US Vice President Al Gore; Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich assumes the presidency.
Japhy
Banned
I hate to sound rude about it, but thats not going to happen. Dick Cheney is not a viable candidate in 1996. I'm not saying he couldn't but Newt would have really have had to bungle things in a time of national crisis to get dumped. And he certainly wouldn't get dumped for Cheney who was generally viewed as a wonk. George W. Bush certainly wouldn't make it onto the bottom of that ticket either.
After that, three Vice Presidents? Palin 2004? Hillary as the Democratic VP nominee in 2000? Vice President Karl Rove?
Nope.
After that, three Vice Presidents? Palin 2004? Hillary as the Democratic VP nominee in 2000? Vice President Karl Rove?
Nope.
1) There are three and a half years of divergence before Gingrich even assumes the caretaker presidency for a few months. In this scenario, Cheney rises to fame through hawkish rhetorics, attacking Clinton over his presumed idleness to deal with the constant, latent threat of further terrorist attacks in the United States. Feeling vindicated when the 1996 attacks eventually kill both Clinton and Gore, the hardliner Cheney becomes the Republican candidate for the presidential election, rather than Gingrich. And Bush in this scenario is merely the moderate component of that ticket.
2) Yes, and it is the consequence of constitutional tweaking.
3) That, admittedly, is rather far-fetched. It's obviously a dystopian TL, and that seemed like a terribly nice twist. But yes, I may decide to change that.
4) The idea behind this was that she was running on sympathy over her husband's demise; following a rather troubled first term for Cheney (including various military conflicts and a dramatic dismantling of civil rights), the popular support he had during the early days of his presidency quickly dwindles, with Clinton being the most polarising election rival available.
5) How so? IOTL, he held the same position that Cheney held during the Ford administration. Of course, Rove later went into the private sector; but considering the changes ITTL, he might decide otherwise here.
Thanks. From my (definitely non-exhaustive) reading, you're probably correct that Thieu sans Nixon connection would not agree to a peace agreement, but at the very least he would probably not have walked away from talks in the five days between LBJ's announcement and the election without prodding from Tricky Dick.
I never even considered the New Left when figuring out 1972, but now that you mention it, I realize I really should have, especially considering how much they hated Humphrey at least in 1968. I'd wonder just how much enthusiasm the New Left could gin up for a splinter bid with the issue of Vietnam (a major driving force at least for Boomer members) going away by 1972 ITTL, though.
For 1976, I had considered a third-party split and an even more crushing Bush landslide as a result, but changed my mind and made it a solely two-man race just to show just how exhausted the Democratic brand was ITTL's 1976 without the possibility of a poor showing being blamed on the spoiler effect.
Turquoise Blue's idea of making the [year of election last digit]th candidate the winner, applied to Brazil.
President Eymael is the only one who managed to be reelected (since the election was in 2010)
1989-1994 Aureliano Chaves (Liberal Front Party)
1995-1998 Orestes Quércia (Brazilian Democratic Movement Party)
1999-2002 João de Deus Barbosa de Jesus (Labour Party of Brazil)
2003-2006 José Serra (Brazilian Social Democracy Party)
2007-2014 José Maria Eymael (Christian Social Democratic Party)
2015-incumbent Luciana Genro (Socialism and Freedom Party)
President Eymael is the only one who managed to be reelected (since the election was in 2010)
1989-1994 Aureliano Chaves (Liberal Front Party)
1995-1998 Orestes Quércia (Brazilian Democratic Movement Party)
1999-2002 João de Deus Barbosa de Jesus (Labour Party of Brazil)
2003-2006 José Serra (Brazilian Social Democracy Party)
2007-2014 José Maria Eymael (Christian Social Democratic Party)
2015-incumbent Luciana Genro (Socialism and Freedom Party)
Japhy
Banned
1993 is not 2001, there is no Fox News to turn a talking head into a viable candidate. Cheney was never Presidential material, and he knew it. The VP slot in 2000 was the best thing he was going to get. Attack on Clinton or not, the best Cheney can do for himself is the Vice Presidency or a return to the Cabinet, to his old post or maybe State. Hardliner-proven-right is no basis for the Republican Party in 1996 or 2016 to dump an incumbent, which Gingrich would now be.
SECRETLY EVIL Mustache Twirling is a weak basis for a story. And also, that'd be rapidly passed "tweak".
Mayors of second-rate-cities in a third-tier state is definitely not electorally viable. No mayor of New York City ever went on to higher elected office, Wasila doesn't stand a chance.
She still could only at most have been holding a major office for two years, which isn't particularly qualified. Especially in a dystopic War on Terror setting.
Rove isn't Cheney. Rove's entire career as an operative was about being a man-in-the-iron-mask and disreputable. Cheney wanted to go to Congress. Rove never aimed higher than being better then Lee Altwater.
Yeah, there's no frigging way Great Helmsman of Destiny Newton Gingrich is giving way to Dick Cheney if he's already fallen into the White House. Not going to happen. Nope. Especially not if it's a suspension of normal politics, crisis situation. (Second devastating terrorist attack in few years... okay, suspension of disbelief)
Cheney as Gingrich's VP, now that's much more realistic.
Cheney as Gingrich's VP, now that's much more realistic.
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