Nixon’s Triumph

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Richard M. Nixon wins the White House!

Vice President Richard Nixon out did Senator Jack Kennedy at the polls yesterday. The Senator has conceded the race after talking with his family, meanwhile Senator Johnson has yet to be heard from. Nixon will be inaugurated as the 35th President of the United States the coming January 20.
 

thorr97

Banned
Hmm.... No Bay of Pigs, perhaps? Or, if Nixon does go through with the plan Ike started then perhaps he follows through with it and ensures it's properly supported. Thus, Communist Cuba remains but a fictional thing. Thus, no Cuban Missile Crisis with it's World War Three brinksmanship. And perhaps no escalation of US presence in South Vietnam either. Plenty of "advisors" but no conventional forces deployments. And perhaps a much better Civil Rights response from the Fed under Nixon. JFK had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into giving even lukewarm support to the movement. As a Republican, Nixon's supporting the movement was already in his party's best interest. A Nixon presidency would mean no Great Society programs either. That would avoid the government enforced impoverishment and dependency of black America which would be yet another boon to the Civil Rights movement.

Lots of intriguing possibilities here.
 

thorr97

Banned
Much less ambitious.

I dunno. Nixon was lots of things but he was also both an ardent nationalist and a staunch anti-Communist. He might not have had the same gifted speech writers as did JFK but the opportunity to gain political advantage through a project of national prestige against the Communists would be too good to pass up.

And given the mechanics of the situation, setting the Moon at the goal would make as much sense to a Republican president as it would a Democrat.

Also, in OTL, the "space race" was a Democratic thing since it was JFK who declared the race was on. In this ATL, Kennedy can't be the guy to issue that challenge to the Russians. So, for Nixon, there'd be no having to share the glory of winning that race with any Democrat - alive or dead.

Thus the race could very much still be on.
 
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April 5, 1961-

With the new Nixon administration, the anti-communist sentiment in the executive office has increased. Nixon wants to “preserve democracy” and stated that communism is “its direct threat”. Although communism may be on the rise overall worldwide, in Cuba it has been attacked. Cuban revolutionaries attacked Trinidad and took over the town last month. At first they were stopped by the Communists. After this stop, the rebels retreated to the mountains. They had also stopped shipments of Soviet supplies and after weeks they finally took over Trinidad. Now, the ANTI-CASTRO rebels, led by Pepe San Roman are embarking on a larger fight to the rest of Cuba.

Meanwhile, in the US, President Nixon has advocated for tax cuts for the American People.
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Sen. Jack Kennedy met with President Nixon to talk about the formation of a new government organization called the Peace Corps. Congress passed it as a new organization, the meeting between the two enemies was to try to convince Nixon not to veto its formation. Nixon decided not to sign nor veto, making it an established organization. Nixon later announced his pick as Peace Corps Director: his former rival Jack Kennedy.
Nixon made the decision, because he thought that the Peace Corps wouldn’t be taken seriously and by getting Mr. Kennedy out of the Senate, Governor John Volpe of Massachusetts could appoint someone who favors the Nixon administration.
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John F. Kennedy-
Director of the Peace Corps

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Appointed Senator George C. Lodge (R)
 
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