President Cheney

In 2002 President Bush had to go into surgery, he used his constitutional power to give the presidential power to Cheney during his surgery, a 20 minute endevour. What if the surgery had gone bad? What if George W. Bush had died in that surgery? Cheney would have been sworn in, but what next? I am looking for answers to the following questions
1). Who would Cheney choose to be his Vice President?
2). How would this effect the War on Terror?
3). What about Iraq, would we still go to war there, or mabey go somewhere else, or perhaps not at all?
4). What about the 2004 election, would Cheney run, and if he did, could he win?
5). What effect does his early death have on the legacy of President George W. Bush

I ask you all not to view this without your pre-concieved notions of whether you thought he was a good president or not. Try to put this in the same feeling of him when he was in his first term.
 
1.) Either John McCain or Colin Powell.
2.) It wouldn't change it much. By 2002, the policies for prosecuting the War on Terror would already be in place.
3.) The Iraq War wasn't Bush's unilateral decision, so there's still a possibility that it could happen. (I won't touch the issue of whether or not it was about oil, an attempt to get an upper hand in Middle East policies, or both.) However, Cheney doesn't have the charisma that Bush had, so they might shy away from it because it would be difficult for him to sell it to the American people.
4.) I doubt he'd run. The Republicans would want someone with more charisma (maybe to go for a post-2004 Iraq War). He'd probably just bow out due to "health concerns". You might see a victorious John McCain in 2004.
5.) He won't be seen as one of the greatest presidents ever, and his legacy will always be marred over concerns about the legitimacy of the 2000 election. However, there will at least be some sort of sentimentality towards him because of 9/11, since ("My Pet Goat" aside) he dealt with it well publicly.
 
1). Who would Cheney choose to be his Vice President?
I agree with Sergio: it'd be McCain, Powell, or someone like that. Remember that at this point the Democrats had a majority in the Senate (including Jim Jeffords) so the Republicans would have to go for a moderate -- and military connections are an added bonus.
2). How would this effect the War on Terror?
Not at all -- until 21st January 2005, at least. Cheney was basically the Acting President anyway during the Bush Administration.
3). What about Iraq, would we still go to war there, or mabey go somewhere else, or perhaps not at all?
Again, Iraq would definitely still happen.
4). What about the 2004 election, would Cheney run, and if he did, could he win?
Cheney couldn't win: if we assume that President Cheney did pretty much exactly what President Bush did in OTL, then the only difference is in personality, and there Cheney loses big time. He also comes equipped with a whole bunch of controversies of his own, like supporting apartheid in the 1980s. Most likely, Cheney's vice-president would be the Republican nominee instead (hmm, imagine that: Kerry vs McCain, or Kerry vs Powell...) Come 2005 Cheney's time in the White House would be over (I really doubt he'd take the position of Vice-President again), but if the Republicans win in 2004 then the new Vice-President would most likely be another PNAC type - Rumsfeld, perhaps.
5). What effect does his early death have on the legacy of President George W. Bush
Somewhat whitewashed, but not overly positive. "Charming but ineffectual" rather than "fucking incompetent evil idiot".
 
..1). Who would Cheney choose to be his Vice President?


This is before the Powell/Cheney split so Powell is a real possiblity. Jeb Bush would be funny, though...:D


2). How would this effect the War on Terror?

Never heard of any policy differances with Bush, so I'm thinking not much.
NOthing comes to mind anyway.


3). What about Iraq, would we still go to war there, or mabey go somewhere else, or perhaps not at all?

THe various conflicting interests of the U.S., Iraq, the European countries, ect. are all the same. Probably in my guess...

4). What about the 2004 election, would Cheney run, and if he did, could he win?

I can't see someone walking away from the kind of power, but maybe that's just me;).

Assume he runs. Interesting differance in the campaign, less religious and accepted gay daughter. THe liberals would have to demonize him differantly, less anti-religious and homophobic talk.

MOre old money, class rhetoric?



5). What effect does his early death have on the legacy of President George W. Bush

Well it would basically be limited to 9-11 and the invasion of Afganistan, so it would be far more postive. Although personally I don't think there were really many other options for him to follow.


Mary Cheney becomes more interesting here. Daughter of the President, instead of Vice-President...

I bet if the Democratic Congress put a Civil Union Bill on President Cheney's desk, he'd sign it, especially if he's not planning of reelection.

Even if not, a President Cheney would certainly be softer on this issue, NOt that Bush spent much time on it, but still, could have interesting effects on the rank and file republicans...

Mary Cheney seems to be doing the baby thing right now, curious what the furture holds for her, OTL and ATL.
 
Bumping this 'cos I thought it was an interesting scenario. Especially the post-2004 possibilities...


You know thinking about it, two things come to mind.

1. Less sure of Cheney signing off on civil unions. Maybe 55/45 at a guess of the odds.

2. With a positive rememberance of G.W., Jeb becomes a natural down the line. If Cheney picks Powell, I could definetly see Powell picking Jeb.
 
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