The Great Ones! (Nixon-Gleason Ticket 1968)

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"Mr. President, ADDRESS THE BALL!"

Seriously, given the number of other actors who went into politics in OTL, is there any way to have Jackie Gleason do so?
 

claybaskit

Gone Fishin'
In 1964 Gleason is elected to u.s. Senate by 68 Gleason is Nixon's v.p. by 1974 he is president of the united states.
 
I like this idea a lot. Gleason as Nixon's populist attack dog instead of Agnew? As a representative of square, Middle American pop culture, he'd be perfect for the role. He'd have some better lines than "nattering nabobs of negativity," at least.

Shamefully, I didn't know about Nixon and Jackie Gleason's friendship until I read The Secret History of Twin Peaks a few months ago (which is a trove of things that sound like AH but aren't - to the point that you start to wonder how little original thought Mark Frost put into the book in the first place).
 
On second thought, though, I don't know about a 1968 VP slot - Gleason had been separated from his wife since the 50s and was seeing other women. Might not have played so well with the conservative base at the time. There are also the optics of the candidate picking a personal friend as VP, even if Gleason had a political career already.

What about Gleason as Press Secretary or some sort of cultural spokesman?
 
Nixon was the president in office when Apollo 11 landed, and he did call the astronauts, so its totally possible for Gleason to get in on the action. And Gleason, as VP, would be in charge of NASA.

I was aware of Nixon being in office at the time of the landing :confused: but I was unaware that the VP was in charge of NASA [1]: that just makes it better.

[1] It's always a surprise when the VP turns out to be in charge of something other than waiting for the Pres to drop dead. :closedeyesmile:
 
I was aware of Nixon being in office at the time of the landing :confused: but I was unaware that the VP was in charge of NASA [1]: that just makes it better.

[1] It's always a surprise when the VP turns out to be in charge of something other than waiting for the Pres to drop dead. :closedeyesmile:

Jackie Gleason also believed in UFOs, and this Gleason is Vice President so....that's gonna be interesting.
 
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