Spiro Agnew Resigns in Late 1971, Brooke Replaces him, Nixon dies in early '72, What happens next?

TheDoofusUser

TheDoofusUser

Alright, so I did do some research and lurking on this site and on Wikipedia and I found out that in 1974, Richard Nixon briefly considered replacing then Vice President Spiro Agnew with Massachusetts Senator Ed Brooke, who would lose re-election to the Senate in 1978. The only times i've seen this idea discussed to at length is the general what if discussion before nothing of note really emerges AFAIK. So here's a big question that might eventually lead to a Timeline down the road if I feel like I'm creatively blocked on my pre-1900 ones if this topic does well enough. In Late 1971, Spiro Agnew's demons force his early resignation from the position of Vice Presidency. Richard Nixon, feeling rather bold despite a rather lackluster party performance for his party in the 1970 midterms decide to push for and gets the Massachusetts Senator Edward Brooke as Spiro's replacement, meant to be a placeholder until the 1972 Convention so Nixon can replace him with someone he believes is better suited for the job. In Early 1972, however, Nixon is killed by an Assassin (maybe have Samuel Byck snap two years early or have it be a random person) and in late February/Early March 1972, Edward Brooke is sworn in as the United States' 38th President and the Nation's first African American president.

So, with the scenario detailed and laid out, is it possible to reach a point where the idea is plausible and from there, what would happen? How would the 1972 Primaries go for both major parties? Who might the major parties nominees be? What would be the policy Brooke pushes during his administration and what might his cabinet look like? How would the 1972 Presidential Election play out as well as the downballot results? What would happen abroad in the 1970s? I apologize if this seems to be too many questions being asked about this singular topic.
 
Chapman

Chapman

Donor
With Brooke being thrust into the Vice Presidency and then the Presidency so suddenly and dramatically, and especially with his being a placeholder, he's in deep trouble if he decides to actively campaign. Especially should his intended placeholder status become public knowledge, which it almost certainly would if it wasn't already. There would be elements within the Administration who immediately resist President Brooke, and while he might be smart enough to try and court some of them, I imagine an emboldened President Brooke wouldn't bow to the most extreme elements.

Most realistically, though? I think Brooke just serves out the term as quietly and non-controversially as possible; a possible VP choice, George Romney maybe? He may also leave the office vacant, given the closeness of the election. There would already be uproar about a black President as it was and while Brooke was very much a moderate, that wouldn't matter too much to the electorate. I don't think he has a chance at winning the Republican nomination, let alone the Presidency in 1972 (unfortunately). Even with the sympathy vote, I just don't envision Brooke being able or willing to embrace the kind of tactics that worked so well for Nixon. Reagan may make an early run, and in this sort of environment I think he'd have a decent chance at the nomination if not the Presidency. Ironically enough...I wonder if this could be a scenario that leads to George Wallace winning the Democratic nomination. With Brooke in the Oval Office, and especially if it is Bremer who shoots Nixon instead of Wallace, that gives him something of a boost. He might fill the void left by Nixon's death.
 

frustrated progressive

I think, with liberals and moderates lining up behind him and the "sympathy vote" on his side, Brooke could withstand a Reagan primary challenge in 1972. The general election is another matter.
 

David T

Brooke himself wrote: " In mid-March 1970, on the radio program Capital Cloakroom, I broke with the president over his “southern strategy.” I said that Nixon, who had run for president vowing to unify our country, was now playing off black against white, North against South, class against class, the kind of cynically divisive politics I loathed. Nixon had made a calculated decision to stir up white resentment of blacks in the South and in the suburbs. I believe he knew those policies were immoral, but he was compulsively political, and he thought they would help him win reelection in 1972. In September 1971, Senator Edward Muskie, then the leading Democratic candidate for president, said that if nominated he would not choose a black running mate because doing so would guarantee the defeat of the ticket. Muskie’s unfortunate remark again started a flurry of talk about me as a Republican vice presidential nominee. I did not believe Muskie was correct in suggesting that a black candidate would doom a national ticket. I felt that we will never know until we try. Columnists Evans and Novak ran a poll showing a NixonBrooke ticket in 1972 topped either a Nixon-Agnew or a Nixon–John Connally ticket. But I did not take it seriously. It was difficult to see how I would square with a southern strategy..." https://epdf.pub/bridging-the-divide-my-life.html

If Nixon briefly considered choosing Brooke after Agnew's resignation in 1973, it was because he was in extreme political trouble as a result of Watergate. It is hard for me to see the Nixon of 1971, who was in a much stronger position, choosing someone like Brooke who had criticized Nixon severely on several issues, and who would be poison among the 1968 Wallace voters Nixon wanted to attract.
 
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TheDoofusUser

TheDoofusUser

David T said:
Brooke himself wrote: " In mid-March 1970, on the radio program Capital Cloakroom, I broke with the president over his “southern strategy.” I said that Nixon, who had run for president vowing to unify our country, was now playing off black against white, North against South, class against class, the kind of cynically divisive politics I loathed. Nixon had made a calculated decision to stir up white resentment of blacks in the South and in the suburbs. I believe he knew those policies were immoral, but he was compulsively political, and he thought they would help him win reelection in 1972. In September 1971, Senator Edward Muskie, then the leading Democratic candidate for president, said that if nominated he would not choose a black running mate because doing so would guarantee the defeat of the ticket. Muskie’s unfortunate remark again started a flurry of talk about me as a Republican vice presidential nominee. I did not believe Muskie was correct in suggesting that a black candidate would doom a national ticket. I felt that we will never know until we try. Columnists Evans and Novak ran a poll showing a NixonBrooke ticket in 1972 topped either a Nixon-Agnew or a Nixon–John Connally ticket. But I did not take it seriously. It was difficult to see how I would square with a southern strategy..." https://epdf.pub/bridging-the-divide-my-life.html

If Nixon briefly considered choosing Brooke after Agnew's resignation in 1973, it was because he was in extreme political trouble as a result of Watergate. It is hard for me to see the Nixon of 1971, who was in a much stronger position, choosing someone like Brooke who would be poison among the 1968 Wallace voters Nixon wanted to attract, and who had criticized Nixon severely on several issues.
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Didn't Agnew's resignation in 1973 practically bleed into Watergate? If Agnew resigns in 1971, then it's reasonable to assume that some people might look into his interference into the original Paris Peace Talks. Granted, I don't know how many people knew about that at the time and whether or not it was a big deal. AFAIK, Nixon's favorite Strategy was to have people focus on one thing while doing something else. If he chose Brooke to be his VP after Agnew's resignation, some pressure would be taken off him as the media and people focused on how interesting a choice for Vice President Nixon made as he works behind the scenes to attempt to dismantle any investigation against him. And for those saying that the Conservative Wing of the Republican Party might rise up sooner, Ronald Reagan's national profile wasn't nearly as strong at this point as it was in 1976, Barry Goldwater had been disgraced in 1964, and John Connally turned Republican in 1973 I believe. I could be wrong on any of these facts, so feel free to correct me. Also, if Brooke is the R Nominee, I could see a viable third party rise up in the South against him though the rest of the nation doesn't have that person on the ballot. What would happen to people like Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond in this scenario? Would the become politically independent, remain Republican, or become Democrats?
 
TheDoofusUser

TheDoofusUser

Bump

Would it be possible to see a President Brooke place Reagan as Sec of State or would Reagan be a firm opponent to the Brooke Administration, even if he wouldn't run for President in 1976?
 
Luke_Starkiller

Luke_Starkiller

I've had the inkling of a TL idea like this for a while, except Nixon uses Brooke as "Impeachment Insurance" during Watergate. His plan backfires, and Brooke's shunted into the presidency. He opts not to run for a term of his own in 1976, and Reagan gets the nomination.
 
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