Chapman
Donor
The Enemy within Camelot.
Prologue
(A working title)
Prologue
The men responsible for this shooting, which killed four others, were never identified by the authorities. Their motives remained uncertain, with some claiming it was an act of Communist terrorism. Others decried it as senseless violence on part of local gangs, perhaps retribution for an earlier offense. Despite all the fearmongering surrounding the event, all the calls for increased police presence, and suppression of Civil Rights in the name of safety, if any of the loudest voices knew truly the motivation for this shooting, they would have been rendered speechless. In fact, only one person outside of the organization behind this attack would ever know its purpose. Only one person, clad in black, and armed with an intellect as sharp and vicious as her fists, driven by a need for justice, would ever know the full extent of the conspiracy that engulfed the world for nearly 20 years. That person, as you probably already guessed, is Saranyu Amowie Moore; or, as known to the world, The Dawn.
The conspiracy unearthed by The Dawn goes far beyond her wildest expectations and reaches not only far beyond the suburb of Greenwood, but to the very seat of power in all the free world. The bully pulpit that was the Presidency of the United States becomes little more than a tool to be used for the furthering of a criminal agenda; one headed by a mysterious, prophetic madman by name of Don Apolloni. Having united the entirety of the Italian-American crime syndicate (through means that I may explore in a later timeline) into a single family, the Don conceals the very nature of the mafia from the public. Organized crime, as an institution, never enters the public consciousness, and remains something of an urban legend. Our beloved mafioso utilizes this continued obscurity, and quietly steps into the role of a political patron. First assuming control of labor unions, the Don would later build the careers of countless leaders throughout the country, as protection for his secret empire. Of such leaders, one would later become of particular importance; none other than James R. Hoffa. This story, rather than focusing on Don Apolloni, or the story of The Dawn, will serve to explain the rise and fall of President Hoffa through a larger historical lens. No mention of Saranyu or the Don will be found here, beyond this prologue, and only one fictional character will make an appearance (at the “end” – though I may go beyond that point).
It’s also worth mentioning – this is by no means a finished project. This is kind of the barebones version of the historical backdrop for the comic, so any notes, comments, criticisms, etc. are welcomed and appreciated. This is also my first attempt at something that somewhat resembles a timeline, so be gentle! I had considered posting this in another thread, List of Alternate Presidents and PMs, but I didn't want to take up the space there to do it, since this'll probably be pretty lengthy by the end. But without further rambling, I offer you “The Enemy within Camelot.”
Presidents of the United States of America:
1961-1963: John F. Kennedy (D-MA)/Lyndon B. Johnson (D-TX) [1]
Def. 1960 Richard M. Nixon (R-CA)/Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (R-MA)
1963-1965: Lyndon B. Johnson (D-TX)/Vacant
1965-1971: Lyndon B. Johnson (D-TX)/James R. Hoffa (D-MI) [2]
Def. 1964 Barry Goldwater (R-AZ)/William E. Miller (R-NY)
Def. 1968 Richard M. Nixon (R-NY)/Howard Baker (R-TN)
1971-1978: James R. Hoffa (D-MI)/Robert F. Kennedy (D-NY) [3]
Def. 1972 Ronald Reagan (R-CA)/Bob Dole (R-KS)
Def. 1976 Bob Dole (R-KS)/Donald Rumsfeld (R-IL)
1978-1979: James R. Hoffa (D-MI)/Vacant
1979-1981: Tip O'Neil (D-MA)/Daniel Inouye (D-HI) [4]
1981-1985: Richard M. Nixon (R-FL)/Jack Kemp (R-NY) [5]
Def. 1980 John Glenn (D-OH)/Pat Schroeder (D-CO)
1985-1993: Jack Kemp (R-NY)/John McCain (R-AZ) [6]
Def. 1984 Edwin Edwards (D-LA)/Joe Biden (D-DE)
Def. 1988 Bill Bradley (D-NJ)/Dick Gephardt (D-MO)
1993-1994: John McCain (R-AZ)/Donald J. Trump (R-NY) [7]
Def. 1992 Gary Hart (D-CO)/Bill Clinton (D-AR), Ross Perot (I-TX)/James Stockdale (I-CA)
1994-1997: Donald J. Trump (R-NY)/Oliver North (R-VA) [8]
1997-2001: Bill Clinton (D-AR)/Geraldine Ferraro (D-NY) [9]
Def. 1996 Donald J. Trump (R-NY)/Oliver North (R-VA), Ross Perot (Reform-TX)/Jerry Brown (Reform-CA)
2001-2000: John P. Wolff (I-NY)/Colin Powell (I-VA) [10]
Def. 2000 Bill Clinton (D-AR)/Bob Graham (D-FL), Newt Gingrich (R-GA)/J.C. Watts (R-OK), Ron Paul (Reform-TX)/David Koch (Reform-NY)
Part 1:
[1] The election of John F. Kennedy, the Irish-Catholic Senator from Massachusetts was marked as a historic occasion for the United States. A young, fresh face with bold ideas and a vision for the future, Kennedy brought hope to millions throughout the nation. As an outspoken defender of Democracy, Kennedy would seek to deter the rise of global Communism, champion the rights of millions of disenfranchised African-Americans, and lead the working class through the Cold War, into a new era of peace and prosperity. Although, as any historian can tell you, what Kennedy sought to do, and what he would actually himself achieve, were two vastly different things. Largely, Kennedy's legacy today - for better, and for worse, - rests upon the events not set in motion by his life, but by his death.
To say, however, that President John F. Kennedy accomplished nothing on his own would be hugely inaccurate. His tactful handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis averted nuclear war between the US and Soviet Union, and would lead to further negotiations between the two powers. He established the US Peace Corps, sending Americans across the globe not as soldiers in a war against other men and women, but as agents of peace and progress. And, with the assistance of a galvanized labor movement in Congress, Kennedy passed the Equal Pay Act of 1963, and the first Medicare program in the United States' history. His New Frontier program would serve as the bedrock for nearly 20 years of Democratic policy and have a profound impact on the direction of the US in decades to come. President Kennedy also inspired the nation to look boldly into the future, into not only new frontiers here on Earth, but into the final frontier as well. Though Kennedy would not live to see the culmination of his vision, he would forever serve as the inspiration for countless Americans to do things never done before, to go places no man nor woman had ever gone.
Among Kennedy's largest failures, on the other hand, one most immediately comes to mind; not for the event itself, but much like his own legacy, instead for the events to follow. The failed "Bay of Pigs" invasion, though today considered minimal in and of itself, would cost him more than a stain on his legacy. The operation, conducted by the CIA, was an attempt to organize Cuban-exiles into militias capable of invading Cuba and overthrowing Fidel Castro. However, due both to prior Cuban knowledge of the impending invasion, and a refusal by Kennedy to authorize overt military support by the US, the would-be freedom fighters floundered. Despite the US initially denying involvement, the world saw this for what it was, and reacted accordingly. The Cubans, predictably, used it as a massive piece of anti-American propaganda, proof that the United States was an enduring threat to their freedom, and their revolution. Che Guevara would, after the operation, send a note to President Kennedy saying "Thanks for Playa Girón [Spanish for Bay of Pigs]. Before the invasion, the revolution was weak. Now it's stronger than ever." The fire growing in the hearts of Cuban revolutionaries was intense, and burning more fiercely each day; unfortunately for them, this only hastened the need to smother it. Before that could happen, though, the fire would need to thaw, and crack, the center of the Cold War.
November 22nd, 1963. The day the world was nearly ripped apart at its seams. Or, perhaps more aptly put, the day the world was damn near engulfed in a full scale nuclear war. Not since the Cuban Missile Crisis had the end looked so near, until the day Kennedy was shot, and no fancy metaphor I could imagine could put it quite so clearly. The President of the United Streets, gunned down in the streets of Dallas, Texas, by a radical Communist terrorist. Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who killed President Kennedy, was determined by the FBI to be in league with not only other like-minded Americans, but Cuban agents directed by Castro himself. Upon the scene of the crime, the Texas Schoolbook Depository from which Oswald shot Kennedy using a high-powered, Cuban-provided rifle, authorities discovered a hand-written manifesto for a domestic terror cell. Describing, without too many specifics, the nature of the organization, the motivation for assassinating Kennedy, and threats of future attacks. They called for a radical upheaval of American society, a revolution in the US akin to the one in Cuba. And, like the Cuban Revolution, it would come by the actions of those bold enough to act as they had. President Kennedy being the man who would intend to invade Cuba and suppress their revolution, the people’s revolution, was an agent of imperialism, and therefore he, and all those like him, must die.