The inflation of the early Seventies would probably have happened later. There still would probably have been an energy crisis in the mid-Seventies which would have affected Johnson's successor (Humphrey or Muskie, assuming the Republicans lost in '72). On the plus side there might have been more money for the space program and a lot of NASA's ideas (like Dynasoar or the Manned Orbital Laboratory) might have gotten funding.
I have to disagree on this. I don't think the economics would be changed as much as you think. The whole reason the Great Society never happened was because all the money that would've gone into it was sucked into Vietnam. Without Vietnam, the Great Society has a chance at happening (whether it succeeds is another thing) although I think for the purpose of alternate history (or until someone does the research and the numbers) I think we should assume that the Great Society costs the same but with more positive domestic effects.
I do like the ideas about the space program. Maybe part of the Great Society?
Foreign policy probably wouldn't be an issue until at least the Yom Kippur War and then the Middle East might see a Vietnam-type situation-a proxy war over oil?
I like this idea.
The Great Society would eventually be challenged by the Republicans over its cost to the taxpayers. A conservative revival still would have taken place in the late Seventies.
Which gives me confidence that even a two term Johnson would give way to Tricky Dick in 1972. Unless we go with a scenario that the Great Society is a HUGE success. In which case, Kennedy, Humphrey, or Muskie would be elected in 1972. Although, given the ambitions of the GS, I'd say a Nixon victory in '72.
This is very interesting.
How this can change the United States and the world in a long period?
And what about at the economy in a timeline without Vietnam war?
The world would be a different place... but not too different. What would be the most interesting would be the Civil Right's movement. With a lot of southern whites and blacks still in the states who would otherwise be drafted, could more pro- and anti- segregation leaders rise up and swing the movement to more or less violence?
I like WVR's idea about the counterculture. Still, given the enormity of it, I doubt it'd burn out so fast. I think it'd smaller at first, but it'd grow at a slow pace so it's barely noticeable until the '70s. Vietnam made it burn long, hard, and strong. It also made the counterculture burn out.
The economy, assuming the GS goes through, roughly the same. But Johnson's war on Poverty might change all that with an increase in jobs or welfare. Either or.