President Johnson (D-TX) / Vice President McNamara (R-CA)

I had known for some time that President Lyndon Baines Johnson had thought of giving the Vice Presidential spot to Robert McNamara, including an audio recording of him bouncing the idea off of Richard Russell; however, I never thought it progressed beyond an idea. Apparently, to my suprise, Lyndon Johnson DID in fact offer the Vice Presidency to McNamara, who then declined.

Now (this may have been done before actually) what if he had accepted the offer, and Johnson annouces McNamara as his running mate in Atlantic City (The DNC). Would he have been able to get McNamara's nomination through?

Also, there is the matter of Vietnam. Who would replace McNamara as Secretary of Defense, and how would the War then proceed?
 
McNamara would never have accepted. First of all, McNamara was a Republican, second he himself says in his memoirs that he never seriously considered it, because "I was not a politician", which he wasn't. Big Labor would never accept it, nor would the South due to his enthusiasm for integrating the military. A modern-day equivalent would be like McCain trying to shove through Lieberman in 2008 or Kerry shoving through McCain in 2004. Johnson's ideal candidate, actually, was a Northeastern youthful Catholic: Gene McCarthy's name was floated, as was Ted Kennedy's. The purpose of that, as you can probably guess, was a giant middle finger to RFK.
 
McNamara would never have accepted. First of all, McNamara was a Republican, second he himself says in his memoirs that he never seriously considered it, because "I was not a politician", which he wasn't. Big Labor would never accept it, nor would the South due to his enthusiasm for integrating the military. A modern-day equivalent would be like McCain trying to shove through Lieberman in 2008 or Kerry shoving through McCain in 2004. Johnson's ideal candidate, actually, was a Northeastern youthful Catholic: Gene McCarthy's name was floated, as was Ted Kennedy's. The purpose of that, as you can probably guess, was a giant middle finger to RFK.


So basically, one of those fun "What if" moments in history that is impossible to make possible.
 
So basically, one of those fun "What if" moments in history that is impossible to make possible.

Not impossible. I've always liked to think that anything is possible in alternate history with the right POD and set up.
 
Not impossible. I've always liked to think that anything is possible in alternate history with the right POD and set up.

I do as well. But the problem is that you would have to create butterflies small enough that they do not significantly alter the timeline, but at the same time make it believable, which is no easy task.
 
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