Rocky's Ashes : An American Politics TL

Penelope

Banned
OOC: Allright, it's my first TL, so be a bit gentle please. ;)

Oliver Sipple walks along the sidewalk, trying to find his way through the dense crowd of people that had bunched themselves up near the building, waiting for the President of the United States to walk out. There were a couple thousand people there, if not more. He walks along the sidewalk, taking occasional glances at people in the crowd. A few stood out in particular. A young woman, named Sara Jane Moore was one of them.
Sipple figured that he had to find a place to see the President soon, before all the good spots dissapeared. He took just a few more steps, finding a small spot, where he could just barely see President Ford entering onto the street, the Secret Service surrounding him, obviously.
Cheers and applause came from the large crowd has President Ford made his way through it, walking towards the car waiting for him on the street. Then, suddenly, five shots rang out, all in quick, finite succession of eachother. President Ford fell to the ground, the secret service agents rushing towards him. The first bullet had missed entirely, while the second tore into his chest, striking through his lung. The third bullet went in his shoulder, exiting out of his back, a few inches from his spine. The fourth hit one of the secret service men near him, killing him instantly, and the fifth went right into the President’s forehead, immediately killing him..
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"It was truly horrifying… I don’t think the howls of terror will ever leave my mind." Oliver Sipple in an interview with NBC News, September 27th, 1975.

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Sara Jane Moore, the assassin, would be killed in the struggle that followed. President Ford was rushed to the hospital that day, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. At 8:58 AM, September 23rd, 1975, Nelson Rockefeller was inaugurated as the 39th President of the United States of America. Anyone who hadn’t caught the evening news that night would have missed one of the most defining moments of the century…
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ford22.jpg
Gerald R. Ford
The 38th President of the United States of America
Born: July 14th, 1913. Omaha, Nebraska
Died: September 22nd, 1975. San Francisco, California


President Gerald Ford was Richard Nixon’s second Vice President. Only about a year after his inauguration, he was assassinated by Sara Jane Moore on September 22nd, 1975. Serving only a year in total, he has one of the shortest Presidencies on record, and the shortest served in the modern day. President Gerald Ford was the 38th President of the United States of America, and one of six to be assassinated. He was automatically controversial, due to his pardoning of Nixon, and remained a universially un-liked man until his assassination. Today, President Ford is regarded in a sentimental way, due to the unfortunate event of his assassination.


While his actual body is buried in Arlington National Cementary, a momuement to the life of Gerald Ford exists in Omaha, Nebraska, the place of his birth. A Muesem about him and the assassination exists in San Francisco, California.


Representative for Michigan's 5th Congressional District
January 3rd, 1949 - December 6th, 1973
16th House Minority Leader
January 6th, 1965 - December 6th, 1973
40th Vice President of the United States
December 6th, 1973 - August 9th, 1974
38th President of the United States of America
August 9th, 1974 - September 22nd, 1975



ford22.jpg
 
Interesting start - so Rockefeller gets to serve out the rest of Ford's term...with whom as his VP ? Will he get re-elected and if so is Rockefeller gonna get effective First Aid, or are we into the era of short-term presidents ?

Who's Rocky gonna choose as his VP ? And if Rocky is re-elected and ALSO dies, who will this VP choose as his VP ?

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Solid start for a new timeline Scifiguy, we've discussed in a couple old threads about some of the ramifications of an Ford Assasination in '75 thus finally giving Rocky the Presidency ;). I think with it being late 1975, the question remains on whether or not Ronnie will seek to run against an Incumbent President, who doesn't have any ties to the Watergate era, and thrust into office via assasination. I think Reagan would have declined citing Party Unity and leaving the time for the nation to get staunchly behind their new President.

The question remains however, who will Rocky pick as his Vice President and I think electability remains extremley key here. At age 67, he's going to need a young face to balance the ticket, perferably someone from the South or Midwest. I would like to see Senator Howard Baker of Tennessee, Senator Bob Dole of Kansas, Senator John Tower of Texas or Senator Paul Laxalt of Nevada would all be strong choices. Can't wait to see how Rocky's ascension goes...Keep it comming:D
 

Penelope

Banned
OOC: Bit of a short update this time, some filler stuff. Your Vice Presdent will be here soon. :)


"When Rockefeller took office, we knew what we had to do. Win Re-election. There was no way we could do anything in the year that Ford’s Assassination had given us. Rockefeller was a vastly more liberal man than Ford ever was. Back in August of 1975, there were only a short, few months until the Primaries, and we all thought that Reagan would run against the President, well, before all the assassination nonsense occurred." - Thrashing Mad: The Seventies, by Henry Kissinger.
***

President Rockefeller was shown to have a moderate approval rating by Mid-October, which wasn’t a surprise. The man’s "grace period" had not ended yet, plus, he had just succeeded Gerald Ford, who had been shot and killed not 3 weeks earlier. Rockefeller hadn’t even considered a Vice President, so it had been decided that the Vice President would be chosen and announced at the Republican National Convention in 1976. Carter, who had picked up quite a following in the Democratic Party, was almost certainly going to be Rockefeller’s opponent in the election, was going to make the election incredibly close. Rockefeller had the sentimental vote, however. But there was one more man who had seemed to be likely to run, and that man was Ronald Reagan..
 
Very interesting timeline, Scifiguy. :)

I will be very interested in what happens in the '76 Election, and who wins the GOP nomination.
 

Penelope

Banned
"The entire nation was in a state of shock, I think. We’d had three Presidents in the space of two years, and we were coming up on an election. The Democratic Party was a shoe-in before that fateful September evening. After Ford was gone, well, it was any man’s game." - Ronald Reagan, quoted in "The Seventies, A time of Strife" by Dick Morris

*****

Ronald Reagan looked at himself in the bathroom mirror as he brushed his teeth on the morning of November 5th, 1975.

He'd been an Actor, a Sportscaster, and a Governor, among many other things. "Perhaps President isn't one of them." Reagan thought. He spat into the sink. "Perhaps there's a different future for me.." He thought silently. He washed off his toothbrush, and walked away from the bathroom mirror, still thinking. "Ford's just been killed, shot down in cold blood. I can't run now, I can't tear this nation apart more than it already is." He thought once again.

'Ronnie' and his wife Nancy climbed into the car, ready to give a big speech, but not one that anyone had expected a few months before.



 

Penelope

Banned
"Things were going pretty fast. It seemed like only yesterday we were just bringing in Rocky, and yet here we are, May 1976, trying to figure out who the Vice Presidential Nominee would be. A lot of suggestions were thrown around. I had the gall to suggest Reagan. Rockefeller looked at me sternly. "I don’t want Reagan, we need a damned moderate man on the ticket." He said. Rocky turned to one of the advisers sitting in the room. "I want you to get together a list of moderate or liberal republicans, give them to me by next week." - From the Diary of Donald Rumsfeld


***

With Rockefeller two points by Jimmy Carter in early polling for the 1976 Presidential Election, he had been recently wanting to get a good Vice President into his administration. Many suggestions were thrown around, everyone from Ronald Reagan to Howard Baker was mentioned. Bob Dole was even suggested, but Rockefeller hadn't portrayed much intrest.

But then, one adviser who had been assigned to come up with a shortlist of candidates showed up. A few of them even caught my eye. John Chafee had made it on there, but I think the one that everyone was looking at was Howard Baker. - Thrashing Mad : The Seventies, by Henry Kissinger.
 
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Penelope

Banned
The President looked around the room for a minute, taking glances at everyone in the room.

He finally turned back to the adviser.

"Get Mister Baker on the phone." He said.

-From the Diary of Donald Rumsfeld.

***

Howard_Baker_photo.jpg

"I, Howard Henry Baker, Jr., do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

-Howard Baker, reciting the Vice Presidential Oath of Office on May 24th, 1976.
 
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I'm gonna shove Norton's law 17 down your throat here since we all know the lifespan issue here will come up.

17. People Too Often Fail To Take Into Account That Health And Vitality Are Related To Lifestyle, Behavior, And Stress, And That Therefore A Person May Live Longer Or Shorter In An ATL Than They Did In The OTL.*
*IE, If Johnson is sparred Vietnam and the stress of the war and it's backlash, he could live years longer. Similarly, an Eisenhower facing WWIII in 1956 could suffer a heart attack not long after due to the massive stress.

Oh, and Rockefeller was suspected to have a mistress in Megan Marshack, and that his heart attack may have even been caused by "relations" with this women one fateful day.
 
The President looked around the room for a minute, taking glances at everyone in the room.

He finally turned back to the adviser.

"Get Mister Chafee on the phone." He said.

-From the Diary of Donald Rumsfeld.

***


"I, John Lestor Hubbard Chafee, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

-John L. H. Chafee, reciting the Vice Presidential Oath of Office on May 24th, 1976.

Ok I like how everythings go so far, but I totally disagree with the Chafee pick as he adds nothing to ticket only ticket except further polarize the Right wing of the GOP against Rocky. You have to understand how fragile the GOP was Post-Watergate and Pre-Reagan, without satisfactory nominees the party probably would have split. The likes of Thurmond, Helms and Buckley couldn't stand Rocky in th first place, and it would only add instult to injury of putting another Eastern Establishment Moderate Republican onto the ticket.

It should still be a cakewalk for Rocky, as Carter's campaign shocked alot of people in the primaries only to fizzle out by the General Election. If Rocky want's to come up with a way to weaken Carter in the South or in the industrial states. Someone like Senator Bill Brock(At age 45, he would be a solid pick) of Tennesse, or former Governor Claude Kirk of Florida would be much better picks
 
I think Rockefeller would be enough of a realist to look to the Right for his VP pick. Why not Reagan? Or even a moderate to conservative Southerner like Howard Baker? But John Chafee? That may lock up Rhode Island's 4 electoral votes but what else would it do?
 
I think Rockefeller would be enough of a realist to look to the Right for his VP pick. Why not Reagan? Or even a moderate to conservative Southerner like Howard Baker? But John Chafee? That may lock up Rhode Island's 4 electoral votes but what else would it do?
I think Reagan was to Rockefeller as Taft was to Dewey. Oil and water.
 
Chafee is a terrible pick. Rocky would be smart enough to realize that picking Chafee is a No-No. Rocky still needs Conservative support in 1976. He would probably pick Baker or Dole.
 
I think Reagan was to Rockefeller as Taft was to Dewey. Oil and water.


Yeah personal compatibility does count.

Of course, in 1944 Dewey picked one of Taft's allies to run with him ... maybe Rockefeller could pick a Reaganite without picking Reagan himself. Not someone as far out as Jesse Helms, mind you, but a solid conservative.
 

Penelope

Banned
Ok I like how everythings go so far, but I totally disagree with the Chafee pick as he adds nothing to ticket only ticket except further polarize the Right wing of the GOP against Rocky. You have to understand how fragile the GOP was Post-Watergate and Pre-Reagan, without satisfactory nominees the party probably would have split. The likes of Thurmond, Helms and Buckley couldn't stand Rocky in th first place, and it would only add instult to injury of putting another Eastern Establishment Moderate Republican onto the ticket.

It should still be a cakewalk for Rocky, as Carter's campaign shocked alot of people in the primaries only to fizzle out by the General Election. If Rocky want's to come up with a way to weaken Carter in the South or in the industrial states. Someone like Senator Bill Brock(At age 45, he would be a solid pick) of Tennesse, or former Governor Claude Kirk of Florida would be much better picks

I even admit that Chafee isn't a good candidate, but he is a fair candidate, one that helps lock-up Rhode Island and other new England States.

I think Rockefeller would be enough of a realist to look to the Right for his VP pick. Why not Reagan? Or even a moderate to conservative Southerner like Howard Baker? But John Chafee? That may lock up Rhode Island's 4 electoral votes but what else would it do?

Chafee is a terrible pick. Rocky would be smart enough to realize that picking Chafee is a No-No. Rocky still needs Conservative support in 1976. He would probably pick Baker or Dole.

I'd like to remind you at this this time that not only did Reagan refuse to run in 1976 ITTL, he is also no longer Governor of California.

Plus, Reagan is never going to be picked by Nelson Rockefeller, of all people. Rocky knows that he needs to just keep up what he is doing, give Vice President to an virtual nobody, and settle down for a while. He has the public with him at this moment, Nixon and Watergate are long off of their minds, with the sudden assassination of Ford. The 'Winds of Change', as Miss Moore once said, are beginning to take effect.
 
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