POTUS Edward Brooke

Englighten Me...How could Sen. Edward Brooke become the first Black President of the United States...Is it possible that Nixon picks Brooke instead of Ford for VP or is any other plausible POD in which this can occur?
 
Nixon never considered him, and never would have considered him.


Hmm. Let's say Rockefeller runs/wins in 1960 and the Republican Party maintains black support by leaving the South in Democratic hands. Rockefeller gets two terms, but his VP is defeated by some Democrat in '68 who appeals to the black community.

In 1972 therefore the Republicans nominates Brooke as the VP and black turnout gives them a victory. Whoever the President is, he dies and Brooke becomes President.
 
Nixon never considered him, and never would have considered him.


Hmm. Let's say Rockefeller runs/wins in 1960 and the Republican Party maintains black support by leaving the South in Democratic hands. Rockefeller gets two terms, but his VP is defeated by some Democrat in '68 who appeals to the black community.

In 1972 therefore the Republicans nominates Brooke as the VP and black turnout gives them a victory. Whoever the President is, he dies and Brooke becomes President.

Intresting...I definatley like where your head is at...But don't you think we need a much earlier POD than the 1960 elections...I was thinking for Rockerfeller to get the Presidency in 60, we would definatley have to get Nixon totally out of the picture...So What If Ike dropped him from the '52 ticket due to the Slush Fund scandal, but then what happens?
 
Intresting...I definitely like where your head is at...But don't you think we need a much earlier POD than the 1960 elections...I was thinking for Rockerfeller to get the Presidency in 60, we would definatley have to get Nixon totally out of the picture...So What If Ike dropped him from the '52 ticket due to the Slush Fund scandal, but then what happens?

We don't need to. Rockefeller considered running in 1960, his crowds were actually bigger than Kennedy's crowds (exploratory trips outside NY), and one imagines a scenario where Rockefeller trounces the disliked Nixon in the primaries leading to the party throwing support behind him. Basically what happened with Kennedy on the Democratic side—parties like winners.

Given the closeness of Nixon-Kennedy, I think that Rockefeller would have a fairly easy time of it—especially if Eisenhower threw his full support behind Rockefeller, as he didn't with Nixon IOTL.
 
Ok...So If he manages to win enough GOP to overturn Nixon's nomination in '60...who would he choose as his running mate...If Oswald still has his way in TTL, and Rockerfeller is assasinated,,,Ford maybe as VP? And with Brooke could we have him in Reagan both reach an agreement in 76 to run in 80 with Reagan at the top of the ticket and Brooke as VP...Let's just say John Hinckley is a lil more successfull in his attempt in 81 and we have the first Black President:D
 
Ok...So If he manages to win enough GOP to overturn Nixon's nomination in '60...who would he choose as his running mate...If Oswald still has his way in TTL, and Rockerfeller is assasinated,,,Ford maybe as VP? And with Brooke could we have him in Reagan both reach an agreement in 76 to run in 80 with Reagan at the top of the ticket and Brooke as VP...Let's just say John Hinckley is a lil more successfull in his attempt in 81 and we have the first Black President:D

Rockefeller means no Goldwater means no Reagan speech means no Governor Reagan… etc.

I think Oswald is butterflied. He got lucky as is, and there's no certainty he would even have wanted to kill Rockefeller.

Rockefeller's VP… he needs a solid conservative, preferably from the Midwest, West or Border South. At the time it would have been traditional to go with a Senator, one not up for re-election. I'm sure that list is only a couple names long.

Rockefeller probably has two terms, barring a Cuban Missile Crisis starting WWIII, and may or may not get involved in Viet Nam (Henry Kissinger was a long-time advisor of Rockefeller before joining the Nixon administration).

So he leaves in '68 and his VP is defeated by a Democrat with appeal to northern blacks which, coupled with the South, is enough to win. ATL 1968 is probably not as crazy as OTL '68—I can see the whole Civil Rights / Viet Nam War blowing up in the public's conscious being delayed a couple years.

That leaves the Republican Party in a teetering position. Rockefeller won on the Northern black/urban vote, but the Democratic South is falling apart as liberal and conservative Dems go at it. IOTL of course the Republicans choose the Southern Strategy. In the ATL they choose to sacrifice the South and put Brooke on the '72 ticket as the VP.

I'm not sure who the '72 Republican President is… a successful Mayor Lindsay? Probably a little too much combined with a black VP. Hmm. Whoever the Governor of California is? Perhaps Reagan, perhaps somebody else. A major Senator or Governor from the West or Midwest is probably required.

Anyway the Republicans take back the Presidency in '72, Civil Rights explodes and the President is killed for some reason or other, Brooke becomes President.

That's my stab at it, anyway.
 
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