Politicians that could have lived longer

[mial42]

Longer-lived FDR could be interesting. Say he doesn't smoke, lives to 83 instead of 63 and is in much better health 1944-45. I don't think he'd be president for life or anything (even his popularity was slipping by 1944, his closest election yet, and he spoke about resigning after the war in 1945, although that was partly due to poor health), but it'd be fascinating to see what happens with his successors.

 

[josephcaillaux1]

To my understanding, LBJ died when he did because he sank into depression after Vietnam forced him from office and he spent the last four years of his life drinking and smoking like there was no tomorrow. If in 1965 LBJ decides not to directly intervene in Vietnam, Saigon falls but he remains popular enough to win again in 1968 and he maybe lives another 5-10 years.

I think if LBJ is re-elected it would only hasten his death to around 1970/1971 due to the stress of the job. The men in his family tended to die young, so Johnson ordered a study in the last years of his presidency to determine his life expectancy giving them the health records of himself and his family, and the prediction was that he would die at 64, which he eventually did. Interesting article about his post-presidency https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1973/07/the-last-days-of-the-president/376281/

 

[Amadeus]

I think if LBJ is re-elected it would only hasten his death to around 1970/1971 due to the stress of the job. The men in his family tended to die young, so Johnson ordered a study in the last years of his presidency to determine his life expectancy giving them the health records of himself and his family, and the prediction was that he would die at 64, which he eventually did. Interesting article about his post-presidency https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1973/07/the-last-days-of-the-president/376281/

That's interesting. Had Vietnam not been escalated to direct U.S. involvement in 1965, might Johnson have continued running in the primaries until making a surprise announcement before the convention that he is taking himself out of the race? Otherwise, he is probably re-elected with a decent chance of dying in office. In that case, Humphrey becomes President and probably wins in 1972.

 

[Gancio The Ranter]

An interesting scenario would involve Camillo Benso Count of Cavour surviving, he was basically an italian Bismack and was the main mind behind italian unification, along with Garibaldi. He died shortly after the unification and had great reforms in mind, like reforming the italian kingdom along a federal model

 

[Vinization]

Harold Washington - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

This guy served as the first black mayor of Chicago from 1983 to 1987. His first term was marred by disputes with the machine-controlled City Council, a dispute that was called the 'Council Wars', and although he defeated them in the end, he suffered a heart attack and died just months into his second term.

I doubt Washington could've lived that much longer considering how severely overweight he was, but assuming he manages to serve his four years (so until 1991) and enact most of his proposals, maybe Richard M. Daley's 22 year long mayoralty could be butteflied away, which is probably good news for Chicago's finances.

EDIT: Calling in @New Potomac since this might be interesting for him.

 

[schai]

Gustav Stresemann

• The lion of Weimar Republic diplomacy and probably someone who could have prevented Hitler, enough said.

Can you provide some details on this?

 

[redjirachi]

This is some supreme irony, but Adolf Hitler. Had he not killed himself, had he instead lived long enough to be captured and brought to Nuremburg, he would finally have the karma he so utterly deserved and could be used to devalue any Neo-Nazis by showing how pathetic their symbol really is

 

[ChadMachine999]

Lenin, Stalin, and Brezhnev, if they lived longer history would be extremely different. I don't need to explain why.

 

[JDGiant]

Tony Crosland, senior Labour cabinet minister in the 1970s and one of the party's towering intellects. Would have been interesting to see how he would have dealt with the civil wars in Labour after 1979, and whether he (like his friend and former romantic partner Roy Jenkins) would have left the party.

 

[Vidal]

Longer-lived FDR could be interesting. Say he doesn't smoke, lives to 83 instead of 63 and is in much better health 1944-45. I don't think he'd be president for life or anything (even his popularity was slipping by 1944, his closest election yet, and he spoke about resigning after the war in 1945, although that was partly due to poor health), but it'd be fascinating to see what happens with his successors.

83 is a stretch. LBJ predicted his own death at 64 based on when all the other men in his family died (I think the oldest one had lived to was 68 or something...) The men in his family were prone to deadly heart attacks at a young age.

My nomination is Philip Willkie — Wendell’s son. He was in the Indiana House in the 50’s and reportedly considered for Veep by Nixon (there’s a NYT article that mentions him). He lost a 1960 campaign for State Superintendent by less than 1% and left politics.

He died by suicide in 1974 after an investigation into his business practices. I think it’s conceivable that if he’d won the 60 race for Superintendent and been re-elected in 64, and the run for Governor in 68, he could’ve had a shot at national politics.

All of this hinges on a POD different than his death but if it happened he probably wouldn’t have died in 74.

 

[marktaha]

Paul Doumer, President of France from June 13th, 1931 until his assassination on May 7th, 1932. Though I have to admit that I honestly am not familiar enough with Third Republic politics to predict what could have changed had he lived out his term.

French President basically figurehead then.

 

[marktaha]

Suspect Crosland would have been squeezed between Foot and Healey although could have beaten either of them in straight fight.

 

[Vinization]

This is some supreme irony, but Adolf Hitler. Had he not killed himself, had he instead lived long enough to be captured and brought to Nuremburg, he would finally have the karma he so utterly deserved and could be used to devalue any Neo-Nazis by showing how pathetic their symbol really is

I'm afraid him getting to Nuremberg might've resulted in some of his underlings turning on him in exchange for easier sentences - and western denazification was spotty enough as it was.

 

[Byzantion]

Which politicians that died in the 20th and 21st century could have lived longer? How would their survival affect Historical events?
I want to limit the discussion to politicians whose death was caused by Murder, accident or disease.
Authority figures in dictatorships should be counted as politicians in this context.

Patrice Lumumba, DR Congo. Which direction would he have Congo lead ?

Mohammed Nadschibullah could have fled Afghanistan. Probably would have stayed in Moscow afterwards, maybe would have returned later after 2001.

Jimmy Hoffa, Teamster Union Boss with shady connections. Strictly speaking no politican. What if he hadn´t been disappeared ?

Zia al-Huq, Pakistan

Zulfikar Bhutto, Pakistan

Matthias Erzberger, Weimar Germany

Al-Sadat, Egypt

Adnan Menderes, Turkey

 

[Vinization]

Patrice Lumumba, DR Congo. Which direction would he have Congo lead ?

I'm afraid he would have to become a dictator, albeit one backed by the Soviets rather than the US, if only to ensure his own survival. Still, I don't think he would regularly travel to Paris in a Concorde like Mobutu did.

 

[brunohusker]

Longer-lived FDR could be interesting. Say he doesn't smoke, lives to 83 instead of 63 and is in much better health 1944-45. I don't think he'd be president for life or anything (even his popularity was slipping by 1944, his closest election yet, and he spoke about resigning after the war in 1945, although that was partly due to poor health), but it'd be fascinating to see what happens with his successors.

I feel like he retires in 48 , endorses Truman, Truman is president until 52 when Eisenhower beats him. Things would still go otl but Roosevelt is still a power broker. Maybe he also speaks out some on Civil Rights

 

[Peg Leg Pom]

Lenin, Stalin, and Brezhnev, if they lived longer history would be extremely different. I don't need to explain why.

How about Trotsky? Him still running around during the war would stir things up.

 

[Lalli]

How about Trotsky? Him still running around during the war would stir things up.

I don't think that surviving Trotsky would change anything. There just would be new attempts of his life. And Trotsky begun to be quiet irrelevant whom only Stalin was afraid.

 

[HelloThere]

Jürgen Möllemann:
Prominent FDP-politician who after his resignation as a federal minister started a comeback based on right-wing populism and antisemitism. Killed himself by not opening the parachute after jumping.
Yakov Sverdlov:
First Chairman of the Bolshevik secretariat. Died in 1919 due to the Spanish flu. Him staying the secretary of the party would probably have prevented Stalin's rise.
Hugo Haase:
Along with Friedrich Ebert leader of the SPD in the Reichstag during the 1. World War. Broke with the party on the war budgets and founded the USPD. Murdered in 1919 by an assassin.

 

[Byzantion]

Jürgen Möllemann:
Prominent FDP-politician who after his resignation as a federal minister started a comeback based on right-wing populism and antisemitism. Killed himself by not opening the parachute after jumping.
Yakov Sverdlov:
First Chairman of the Bolshevik secretariat. Died in 1919 due to the Spanish flu. Him staying the secretary of the party would probably have prevented Stalin's rise.
Hugo Haase:
Along with Friedrich Ebert leader of the SPD in the Reichstag during the 1. World War. Broke with the party on the war budgets and founded the USPD. Murdered in 1919 by an assassin.

That was actually not Ebert but Karl Liebknecht. He was murdered by Stahlhelm-paramilitaries alongside Rosa Luxemburg. Friedrich Ebert (SPD) actually had been opposing the USPD and became the first Reichspresident of Weimar Germany. He died of natural causes in 1925.