The High and the Mighty (President John Wayne)
- Thread starter maverick
- Start date
Japhy
Banned
Based on some recent comments Maverick went back to look over this timeline, one of the few he left on the site and as he had me pass on in The Shadow of Montreux intended to see what was left to be done. Well for those fans of this timeline, I have good news and bad news... - Japhy
Epilogue
I tried writing the last few updates for this work, but having re-read it and reconsidered, I came to the conclusion that this timeline doesn’t do justice to its subject and could have been better. I still like it, but that is mostly because I used it as a dumping ground for old ideas I wanted to try (the movies and music bits, the Islamic Republic of Iraq, the failed state of Iran, Vietnam), which is why I dedicated so much time to areas such as the Middle East and Indochina in a TL that should be about John Wayne being President.
The problem is that a proper “John Wayne as President” TL should have probably followed the plot of one of my early drafts: John Wayne gives the 1964 speech, is elected as Governor of California in 1966 and drafted as the “Stop Nixon” candidate in 1968, narrowly winning over Humphrey. Then we might have had a proper President John Wayne TL in which we see him foolishly trying to win in Vietnam while also dealing with college students and civil rights, which of course brings us to the question of what he’d have done about it. We all know of the Cowboy stereotype and his rather outdated views, which I’ve more or less covered in the story. Wayne was racist, but then again so was Nixon, who was also anti-Semitic to boot, so it’s hard to say what Wayne would have done. Within this TL, this was easier as all he does is continue with Nixon’s policies out of respect and loyalty to his former President. But had he became President on January of 1969 rather than 1972? That’s somewhat harder to answer.
There is also the issue of the butterflies, as the 1964 POD could have meant John Wayne facing Robert Kennedy in 1968 or Ted in 1972, but I didn’t want to write that kind of TL.
Killing Nixon wasn’t part of the original plan, but was an easy way to both figure some parts of the Wayne Administration, as he inherits many of Nixon’s programs and ideas and eventually his own administration evolves from them. I also wanted to explore the possibilities of a world in which Nixon dies relatively young and is remembered as a Republican JFK, as opposed to his IOTL reputation.
Now, had John Wayne been elected in 1968 rather than inheriting the Presidency in 1972 would have meant a variety of things. Many of Nixon’s Civil Rights Programs might not have been implemented, although then again they might have, if Wayne is surrounded by the right people. The Pine Ridge issue, on the other hand, I think was handed more or less well. (That is, it’d be a disaster)
Opening China and détente with the Soviet Union, on the other hand, I see as less likely, realpolitik and the progression of the Cold War and international relations aside. Great Man of History theory or not, I can’t see John Wayne shaking hands with Mao or Brezhnev.
The improved relations with Latin America might be reading too much into his marriages and his stance on the Panama Canal issue in 1978 IOTL, but I think this is how it would have gone, more or less, although putting pressure into Peru so it can become democratic again 5 years earlier than IOTL might have been a tad much.
The War on Crime bit as opposed to the War on Drugs I think works given the context of the TL, and it strikes me as likely as John Wayne would have been elected in 1968 on a Law and Order platform.
Now, whether he would have been able to win reelection in 1972 over Ted Kennedy, Scoop Jackson or Ed Muskie after four years of protests, little work on civil rights and the never-ending War in Vietnam is another question altogether, although I’m not very optimistic about Wayne’s prospects.
And of course, figuring out the Wayne Cabinet and how it evolves from the Nixon Cabinet was a fun task, especially as I like digging out obscure characters or moving up people and finding them weird/fun jobs (Reagan as Chief of Staff and John McCain II as Vice President come to mind), although sometimes I do wonder if some choices could have been better if I had gone with strict realism rather than fun. Knowing how the John Wayne Cabinet of 1968, as well as things such as Supreme Court Appointments and the like, is probably a little beyond my reach.
All in all, had John Wayne actually become President, he probably would have been remembered rather less fondly than IOTL or in the world created in this Timeline.
How would “The High and the Mighty” ended? The story was only three to four chapters away from completion, including some of the last peeks into the future of the world, mostly involving Latin America and Europe, although as you can imagine if you’ve actually read the Timeline, most of my attention was divided between Asia and US Domestic Policy.
What would have happened in those last chapters? The very next chapter (“John Wayne and Ideology”) would have taken a look into the legacy of John Wayne within the Republican Party, as well as that of the slain Richard Nixon, struck in his prime –so to speak- in 1972 and of John McCain III. This line of Republican Presidents would have formed the backbone of the Republican mythology of the 1980s and 1990s as opposed to the Legend of Reagan of the Real Life 1980s. Nixon’s assassination and his more ambitious policies (Opening China, Civil Rights, the Commitment to “win” in Vietnam, etc.) would have mean he’d be lionized IOTL and play the part of a Republican Kennedy with dashes of Reagan. John Wayne, in contrast, would be remembered as a flawed but principled President who managed to keep the nation together in the wake of the Nixon assassination and throughout the turbulent 1970s. As opposed to the idealized depictions of Reagan IOTL and Nixon ITTL, President Wayne would have been remembered as a fundamentally human president who did his best in the circumstances and rather than being thought of as a straight-up Saint (although some would definitively go there), he’d be thought of as the strong, steady hand that guided America through very difficult times. In a way, he’s stuck between Richard the Lionheart and King John.
This brings us to the next chapters after that: ultimately, the crisis in Iran just continues and the country devolves into a failed state as the world economy continues to worsen and the Wayne Administration has troubles keeping a tight ship. John Wayne’s health deteriorates and he eventually dies on March of 1980, a date which is rather counterintuitive as the stress of having to lead the United States through the 1970s should probably kill him sooner rather than later, but I like counter-intuitiveness. One plot thread that I had intended to include but ultimately decided to skip over regarding the installation of Pershing Missiles in Western Europe and the Soviets doing the same in Poland would have turned the Euro-Missiles Crisis into John Wayne’s own October of 1962, his shining moment as President, but ultimately I had already decided to cut it down even before I was banned.
Instead, the last few chapters would have been dedicated to cleaning up loose ends and John Wayne’s famous (in universe) last speech, regarding his health (or the Missile Crisis in the first draft) and possible resignation, an event that had been foreshadowed early on when discussing his other speeches. The very last chapter would have taken place on March of 1980, with the death of John Wayne and the victory of William Rehnquist (his campaign managed by John Sears) and Mo Udall in the New Hampshire Primaries the previous February. It wouldn’t have covered the election itself, although the result was more or less obvious and foreshadowed in previous installments. A brief overview of Admiral John McCain II and his short-lived Presidency in contrast to Saint Dick and John (Wayne) The Baptist would have also been included.
So Mo Udall would have been President during the Reagan Years, replaced in 1988 by one of my old time regulars, California Governor and Olympic Medalist Bob Matthias. Ronald Reagan, a Congressman and Chief of Staff ITTL, would have left the White House in 1980 to seek a seat in the Senate, losing that as well as his run for Governor in 1986. Paul Newman wouldn’t have become President, sorry. John Kerry, who won the Governorship of Massachusetts in 1978, would have been the Democratic nominee to lose to Matthias in 1988. I don’t exactly remember what was supposed to happen with Michael Foot’s government in the United Kingdom, besides some vague ideas about Scottish Devolution. As Argentina is mostly democratic throughout the 1980s, defense cuts and eventual talks about transferring responsibilities to avoid wasting more money in the last colonies would have ensued, especially as the deadline on Hong Kong approaches, but nothing would come besides maybe selling some Caribbean Islands to the United States for bases in their War against Drugs in the Caribbean. Events in Asia were covered in the last posted update, and in a rather odd turn for me, I didn’t plan much for either Argentina or Japan or Brazil, concentrating instead on the Middle East and Indochina, which was thankfully justified since John Wayne is President in the 1970s.
Epilogue
I tried writing the last few updates for this work, but having re-read it and reconsidered, I came to the conclusion that this timeline doesn’t do justice to its subject and could have been better. I still like it, but that is mostly because I used it as a dumping ground for old ideas I wanted to try (the movies and music bits, the Islamic Republic of Iraq, the failed state of Iran, Vietnam), which is why I dedicated so much time to areas such as the Middle East and Indochina in a TL that should be about John Wayne being President.
The problem is that a proper “John Wayne as President” TL should have probably followed the plot of one of my early drafts: John Wayne gives the 1964 speech, is elected as Governor of California in 1966 and drafted as the “Stop Nixon” candidate in 1968, narrowly winning over Humphrey. Then we might have had a proper President John Wayne TL in which we see him foolishly trying to win in Vietnam while also dealing with college students and civil rights, which of course brings us to the question of what he’d have done about it. We all know of the Cowboy stereotype and his rather outdated views, which I’ve more or less covered in the story. Wayne was racist, but then again so was Nixon, who was also anti-Semitic to boot, so it’s hard to say what Wayne would have done. Within this TL, this was easier as all he does is continue with Nixon’s policies out of respect and loyalty to his former President. But had he became President on January of 1969 rather than 1972? That’s somewhat harder to answer.
There is also the issue of the butterflies, as the 1964 POD could have meant John Wayne facing Robert Kennedy in 1968 or Ted in 1972, but I didn’t want to write that kind of TL.
Killing Nixon wasn’t part of the original plan, but was an easy way to both figure some parts of the Wayne Administration, as he inherits many of Nixon’s programs and ideas and eventually his own administration evolves from them. I also wanted to explore the possibilities of a world in which Nixon dies relatively young and is remembered as a Republican JFK, as opposed to his IOTL reputation.
Now, had John Wayne been elected in 1968 rather than inheriting the Presidency in 1972 would have meant a variety of things. Many of Nixon’s Civil Rights Programs might not have been implemented, although then again they might have, if Wayne is surrounded by the right people. The Pine Ridge issue, on the other hand, I think was handed more or less well. (That is, it’d be a disaster)
Opening China and détente with the Soviet Union, on the other hand, I see as less likely, realpolitik and the progression of the Cold War and international relations aside. Great Man of History theory or not, I can’t see John Wayne shaking hands with Mao or Brezhnev.
The improved relations with Latin America might be reading too much into his marriages and his stance on the Panama Canal issue in 1978 IOTL, but I think this is how it would have gone, more or less, although putting pressure into Peru so it can become democratic again 5 years earlier than IOTL might have been a tad much.
The War on Crime bit as opposed to the War on Drugs I think works given the context of the TL, and it strikes me as likely as John Wayne would have been elected in 1968 on a Law and Order platform.
Now, whether he would have been able to win reelection in 1972 over Ted Kennedy, Scoop Jackson or Ed Muskie after four years of protests, little work on civil rights and the never-ending War in Vietnam is another question altogether, although I’m not very optimistic about Wayne’s prospects.
And of course, figuring out the Wayne Cabinet and how it evolves from the Nixon Cabinet was a fun task, especially as I like digging out obscure characters or moving up people and finding them weird/fun jobs (Reagan as Chief of Staff and John McCain II as Vice President come to mind), although sometimes I do wonder if some choices could have been better if I had gone with strict realism rather than fun. Knowing how the John Wayne Cabinet of 1968, as well as things such as Supreme Court Appointments and the like, is probably a little beyond my reach.
All in all, had John Wayne actually become President, he probably would have been remembered rather less fondly than IOTL or in the world created in this Timeline.
How would “The High and the Mighty” ended? The story was only three to four chapters away from completion, including some of the last peeks into the future of the world, mostly involving Latin America and Europe, although as you can imagine if you’ve actually read the Timeline, most of my attention was divided between Asia and US Domestic Policy.
What would have happened in those last chapters? The very next chapter (“John Wayne and Ideology”) would have taken a look into the legacy of John Wayne within the Republican Party, as well as that of the slain Richard Nixon, struck in his prime –so to speak- in 1972 and of John McCain III. This line of Republican Presidents would have formed the backbone of the Republican mythology of the 1980s and 1990s as opposed to the Legend of Reagan of the Real Life 1980s. Nixon’s assassination and his more ambitious policies (Opening China, Civil Rights, the Commitment to “win” in Vietnam, etc.) would have mean he’d be lionized IOTL and play the part of a Republican Kennedy with dashes of Reagan. John Wayne, in contrast, would be remembered as a flawed but principled President who managed to keep the nation together in the wake of the Nixon assassination and throughout the turbulent 1970s. As opposed to the idealized depictions of Reagan IOTL and Nixon ITTL, President Wayne would have been remembered as a fundamentally human president who did his best in the circumstances and rather than being thought of as a straight-up Saint (although some would definitively go there), he’d be thought of as the strong, steady hand that guided America through very difficult times. In a way, he’s stuck between Richard the Lionheart and King John.
This brings us to the next chapters after that: ultimately, the crisis in Iran just continues and the country devolves into a failed state as the world economy continues to worsen and the Wayne Administration has troubles keeping a tight ship. John Wayne’s health deteriorates and he eventually dies on March of 1980, a date which is rather counterintuitive as the stress of having to lead the United States through the 1970s should probably kill him sooner rather than later, but I like counter-intuitiveness. One plot thread that I had intended to include but ultimately decided to skip over regarding the installation of Pershing Missiles in Western Europe and the Soviets doing the same in Poland would have turned the Euro-Missiles Crisis into John Wayne’s own October of 1962, his shining moment as President, but ultimately I had already decided to cut it down even before I was banned.
Instead, the last few chapters would have been dedicated to cleaning up loose ends and John Wayne’s famous (in universe) last speech, regarding his health (or the Missile Crisis in the first draft) and possible resignation, an event that had been foreshadowed early on when discussing his other speeches. The very last chapter would have taken place on March of 1980, with the death of John Wayne and the victory of William Rehnquist (his campaign managed by John Sears) and Mo Udall in the New Hampshire Primaries the previous February. It wouldn’t have covered the election itself, although the result was more or less obvious and foreshadowed in previous installments. A brief overview of Admiral John McCain II and his short-lived Presidency in contrast to Saint Dick and John (Wayne) The Baptist would have also been included.
So Mo Udall would have been President during the Reagan Years, replaced in 1988 by one of my old time regulars, California Governor and Olympic Medalist Bob Matthias. Ronald Reagan, a Congressman and Chief of Staff ITTL, would have left the White House in 1980 to seek a seat in the Senate, losing that as well as his run for Governor in 1986. Paul Newman wouldn’t have become President, sorry. John Kerry, who won the Governorship of Massachusetts in 1978, would have been the Democratic nominee to lose to Matthias in 1988. I don’t exactly remember what was supposed to happen with Michael Foot’s government in the United Kingdom, besides some vague ideas about Scottish Devolution. As Argentina is mostly democratic throughout the 1980s, defense cuts and eventual talks about transferring responsibilities to avoid wasting more money in the last colonies would have ensued, especially as the deadline on Hong Kong approaches, but nothing would come besides maybe selling some Caribbean Islands to the United States for bases in their War against Drugs in the Caribbean. Events in Asia were covered in the last posted update, and in a rather odd turn for me, I didn’t plan much for either Argentina or Japan or Brazil, concentrating instead on the Middle East and Indochina, which was thankfully justified since John Wayne is President in the 1970s.
Wasn't around in September. So glad to see maverick's official reply via Japhy. Love his plans, and would love to see him actually finishing his TL, but I do agree that Wayne 1968 seems more plausible. A great pleasure to have read through this TL. It was actually one of the two TLs that brought me onto this site,