The Art of the Possible: America Elects Hubert Humphrey

One bad thing that will result from this is no McGovern-Fraser Commission meaning people don't actually really pick their party's candidates...
 
Here's how I believe the House would have voted. The House chooses between the top two candidates, thus, Wallace would not be considered.

Alabama


Alaska


Arizona


Arkansas


California


Colorado


Connecticut


Delaware


Florida


Georgia


Hawaiihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/91st_United_States_Congress#cite_note-0


Idaho


Illinois


Indiana


Iowa


Kansas


Kentucky


Louisiana


Maine


Maryland


Massachusetts


Michigan


Minnesota


Mississippi


Missouri


Montana


Nebraska


Nevada


New Hampshire


New Jersey


New Mexico


New York


North Carolina


North Dakota


Ohio


Oklahoma


Oregon


Pennsylvania


Rhode Island


South Carolina


South Dakota


Tennessee


Texas


Utah


Vermont


Virginia


Washington


West Virginia


Wisconsin


Wyoming



HUMPHREY VOTES: 249
NIXON VOTES: 186

(Results were not 100% down party lines due to whips being lifted for the occasion, allowing members to vote their conscience. Most of the Republicans who voted for Humphrey were either the most liberal, or had felt that the people's vote should not be subverted. Nixon's Democratic voters were mostly conservatives who disliked Humphrey. However, most maintained their party's viewpoint)
 
First off, I admire Humphrey and I'm happy to see timelines about it. But oh man, stay away from the minefield of noting who gets every Cabinet position.



Lawrence O'Brien wouldn't get Treasury.

Harris was happy in the Senate. Interior matters for Western states. Oklahoma might not be West enough for a Senator to go for Interior. You'd want a purely Western politician.

Udall was happy in Congress, I doubt Agriculture would get him on board. Also, Agriculture isn't huge for Arizona. He might take Interior, though.

No way in hell. Rockefeller was Governor of New York! In 1968 that's one of the half dozen or so most powerful elected positions in the country. Not to mention that he might be a liberal Republican, but he was a Republican.

Maybe for a year or two, but not for long. Clement liked being Governor.

Udall cared a great deal for agriculture and he has eyes on a future Senate run. Harris was going to be in the cabinet somewhere, and that seemed a fit for him.

Humphrey's cabinet was going to include Republicans. I only included one for purposes of simplicity. It likely wouldn't be a long arrangement. The Time article I used to do the cabinet researching mentioned that there would likely be at least three Republicans in a HHH cabinet. Of course, Rockefeller was just an easy pick.

Treasury was actually a terribly hard choice for me to make. O'Brien managed Humphrey's campaign and stretched out the funds about as well as anyone could have. It seemed like a fit to me, but perhaps I'm incorrect in that assumption.
 
One bad thing that will result from this is no McGovern-Fraser Commission meaning people don't actually really pick their party's candidates...

Humphrey had actually been a supporter of direct primaries and used to run in them until it was unnecessary for him. I think we will still get that reform as Humphrey had no problem with primaries. It just didn't make sense for him to run them strategically in 1968.
 
Although I think Nixon's flaws overshadow the fact his 1st term was pretty good, I would be intrigued to see where this goes.

I hope it follows the pattern of some of the better TL's where good and bad happens rather than the "<insert party here> never makes a mistake and <insert party here> is evil" pattern some have taken

He'll have his problems.
 
Udall cared a great deal for agriculture and he has eyes on a future Senate run. Harris was going to be in the cabinet somewhere, and that seemed a fit for him.

I never heard Udall wanted a cabinet seat. Staying in Congress is a better set-up than cabinet for Senate.

Fred Harris might be in cabinet, but he'd need something better.

Humphrey's cabinet was going to include Republicans.

Sure. I don't disagree. Nelson Rockefeller is one of the least likely Republicans in the country though. (I'd say Goldwater and Nixon would be less likely, but Nixon is actually a reasonable choice for Ambassador to the USSR or China.)

Treasury was actually a terribly hard choice for me to make. O'Brien managed Humphrey's campaign and stretched out the funds about as well as anyone could have. It seemed like a fit to me, but perhaps I'm incorrect in that assumption.

O'Brien was a campaigner. He only got Postmaster General because he wanted a break (IIRC).

David M. Kennedy from OTL seems reasonable. Both LBJ & Nixon liked him. John Connally is even better, if only so Humphrey can help out Ralph Yarborough in Texas.


ETA: you know you can compose quote replies to multiple people in the same post, right? Either multi-quote or just copy/paste the responses into one post. It makes it easier to follow, if you don't drop three posts in a row. (And, if you want to link your timeline, highlight the text and then click on the URL button. So This is an example, the click will lead you to EXAMPLE.com)
 
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I never heard Udall wanted a cabinet seat. Staying in Congress is a better set-up than cabinet for Senate.

Fred Harris might be in cabinet, but he'd need something better.



Sure. I don't disagree. Nelson Rockefeller is one of the least likely Republicans in the country though. (I'd say Goldwater and Nixon would be less likely, but Nixon is actually a reasonable choice for Ambassador to the USSR or China.)



O'Brien was a campaigner. He only got Postmaster General because he wanted a break (IIRC).

David M. Kennedy from OTL seems reasonable. Both LBJ & Nixon liked him. John Connally is even better, if only so Humphrey can help out Ralph Yarborough in Texas.


ETA: you know you can compose quote replies to multiple people in the same post, right? Either multi-quote or just copy/paste the responses into one post. It makes it easier to follow, if you don't drop three posts in a row. (And, if you want to link your timeline, highlight the text and then click on the URL button. So This is an example, the click will lead you to EXAMPLE.com)

I actually had no real clue how to do that...

Udall probably would have stayed in Congress if he hadn't been asked. It wouldn't necessarily set up a Senate run, but since he's still a relatively young man and has quite a bit of time ahead of him. So it couldn't hurt to give him a job in an area he's passionate about.

I actually wanted originally to give Harris the Labor department. Maybe switch him for that?

Possibly correct about O'Brien, but again, it's hard to turn the President down (I considered David Kennedy and he'd probably be in the next cabinet)

Rockefeller accepts to spite the Republican Party, but will eventually get sick of the job? Or I can just replace him with the backup McGeorge Bundy.
 
drcynic said:
Here's how I believe the House would have voted. The House chooses between the top two candidates, thus, Wallace would not be considered

I think that method of election may be incorrect. Doesn't each state delegation count as a single vote? E.G. 3 out of 4 of Arkansas' representatives would vote for Humphrey according to your reckoning, therefore Humphrey would get one vote, and needs 26 to win (a majority of the 50 states).

Using your votes as a basis, Humphrey would beat Nixon by 27 votes to 19, with 4 states being deadlocked (Minnesota, Montana, Oregon and Virginia).
 
Udall probably would have stayed in Congress if he hadn't been asked. It wouldn't necessarily set up a Senate run, but since he's still a relatively young man and has quite a bit of time ahead of him. So it couldn't hurt to give him a job in an area he's passionate about.

Fair enough. I just don't think Mo Udall would have given up a promising Congressional career for a cabinet post. Not least because he's young & western: both qualities lend someone less funny to a leadership position. However as he was funny in exactly the way that wouldn't get him moved up, I could see Udall accepting a cabinet position. Like I said earlier, I feel he'd want something better though.

I actually wanted originally to give Harris the Labor department. Maybe switch him for that?

Would he accept it? Sure, Labor was a huge portfolio in the '60s (even if Americans don't know how to spell :). Would he be offered it? Eh. I dunno. Depends on HHH. Especially because Southern states hated labour unions. If HHH wanted to get serious on the issue it'd be someone from a non-labour heavy state that was in the north (political positioning) but had ties elsewhere… Indiana?

I just wish your POD was earlier so that Walmart would face the hammer of god :). So very close, IOTL.

Possibly correct about O'Brien, but again, it's hard to turn the President down (I considered David Kennedy and he'd probably be in the next cabinet)

O'Brien would probably turn it down. More to the point, no one would ever offer him the job. It simply doesn't fall in his wheelhosue even if he did a good job (I disagree strongly) in managing HHH's finances IOTL.

Find some Wall Street tool if HHH needs to compromise, or find some actual economist if HHH can get away with it.

Rockefeller accepts to spite the Republican Party, but will eventually get sick of the job? Or I can just replace him with the backup McGeorge Bundy.

Replace him (although HHH wouldn't accept McGeorge Bundy for anything, if he's trying to settle the Viet Nam war). Look no matter how much Rockefeller is out of step with OTLs Republican Party (and by the time he lost once again in '68, quite a lot) Rocky remained a Republican through and through. His brand of Republican was basically dead on the national level when Goldwater beat him in '64 OTL but that doesn't switch him to serving in a Democratic cabinet.

For Commerce? Argh. I dunno. Nobody important filled that role IOTL, find some party apparatchik.
 
Here's how I believe the House would have voted. The House chooses between the top two candidates, thus, Wallace would not be considered.

If the election is thrown to Congress, the House chooses between the top three candidates for President. And the Senate chooses between the top two candidates for Vice President.
 
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