The Long National Nightmare.
- Thread starter Nazi Space Spy
- Start date
Comments like this are often not very helpful for a writer or other creator, and can actually be stressful and guilt-inducing. Unless OP says otherwise, it’d probably be kindest to just wait patiently.
Nazi Space Spy
Banned
I'm actually going to return to this project now that 49'ers is banned. He kept sending me repeated messages via PM annoying me about the next update. Thanks Gepetto! Hope you'll enjoy the next update, which will be up once I correct some formatting changes and lost pictures caused by the forum software update. I'm glad I got the spark back!
Oh geeze, that’s got to be annoying. I checked out one of his other threads and it seems that relentlessly PMing people was 49’s modus operandi. Eek.
Got banned, AND his team lost SBLIV last night
Looking forward to seeing how well Reagan does 4 years early, and whether we will see a Democratic 80s.
Chapter XXVIII: Role of a Lifetime.
Nazi Space Spy
Banned
**********
Bush
Wednesday, December 1st, 1976:
6:30 PM.
**********
It shouldn't have surprised anybody when George HW. Bush reached the position of Vice President; after all, he was the son of a Senator, the youngest war hero of World War II, briefly a Congressman, Chairman of the Republican National Committee during Watergate, and a skilled diplomat who represented the United States navigated the murky waters of Mao's China only to be passed over by President Rockefeller for the Central Intelligence Agency. Arguably one of the most experienced Vice Presidents ever to come into office, Bush was familiar with John Nance Garner's assessment that the Vice Presidency wasn't "worth a bucket of warm piss." But the mild mannered former Ambassador was determined to change that. Bush
Wednesday, December 1st, 1976:
6:30 PM.
**********
Though President-elect Reagan's top loyalists were largely in control of the transition process, Bush had already made headway by asserting his presence into the day to day logistical problems of the day. Reagan was impressed by his efforts, and found Bush's international connections to be useful. Bush also impressed Reagan by introducing him to James Baker, a longtime Bush loyalist who had served as Deputy Secretary of Commerce under Ford (who was assassinated by Sarah Jane Moore during his first week on the job) and Nelson Rockefeller. Privately, Baker had encouraged Bush to run against Rockefeller in 1976, but Bush feared that he would only split the anti-Rocky vote with Reagan, who had the conservative wing of the party sewed up tight. Reagan's own loyalists (Deaver, Nofzinger, Meese) as well as leading conservative voices like Pat Buchanan and Howard Phillips, both of whom had informally advised Reagan in the past, were weary of Bush and Baker. The incoming First Lady, who held considerable sway over her husband, also cautioned the President-elect about Baker, whom she felt was an interloper seeking to promote the interests of the Vice President. Though Nancy Reagan supported her husband's selection of Bush for the Vice Presidency for pragmatic reasons, she never fully trusted the Vice President-elect and had a similarly fractious relationship with the soon to be Second Lady, Barbara Bush.
Though he was a CIA man, Bush was able to quickly detect that the incoming First Lady did not particularly like him. He did not need to bug any phones, intercept any mail, or interrogate any staffers. Nancy's coldness in their social interactions was all he needed to know. The Vice President-elect would know that he'd have to ingratiate himself into the orbit of the Reagan inner-circle, which was easier said than done. Bush was accustomed to being on the peripherals of power, and enjoyed the relative anonymity he had known. Truth be told, Bush only accepted the position after he was denied the CIA post by Rockefeller, and as a result, the incoming Vice President looked ahead to a boring tenure compared to his previous assignments. The Vice President-elect was sitting at his desk in an unassuming office building loaned to the transition by the General Services Administration, carefully reviewing a list of potential cabinet appointees passed along to him by the President-elect. Behind his shoulder, James Baker sat in an easy chair, writing down the Vice President-elect's commentary as they worked through the list.
"I get why they don't want Kissinger around" Bush noted, "he dominated three policies and we have nothing to show for it."
'Worse yet" warned Baker, "is Rumsfeld. I can't for the life of me why he'd want to retain him."
"Even Rocky has no use for him" replied Bush with a slight chuckle, "at least Schultz is a steady, experienced hand. He might make waves with us, but I don't doubt his sincerity."
"Worse case scenario, we get Rumsfeld for a few months until Ron tires of him or if Schultz forces him out."
"What if we get Haig instead of Schultz though?" asked Bush, "how would he handle both in the same administration? They'd won't stop until Russia radiates the whole eastern seaboard."
"We have friends in the State Department" Baker noted, "I guess the real worst case scenario is a prolonged game of tug of war."
*****
Wednesday, December 1st, 1976: President-elect Reagan announces he will appoint George P. Schultz to the position of Secretary of State; Schultz, currently working as a corporate executive for Bechtel, had previously served as Secretary of Commerce, Director of OMB, and then lastly Treasury Secretary under Nixon. Though Reagan had desired to name Alexander Haig to the position, the Democratic majority in the Senate made such an appointment impossible. Schultz still faces significant opposition from some progressive Democrats in the Senate who view his association with Richard Nixon as a disqualifying factor. The President-elect and Schultz headline a press conference in Washington DC, where Reagan asserts the United States will take "a more tactical approach" to the foreign policy of detente. Thursday, December 2nd, 1976: President Rockefeller confirms he has signed a deal with Harper Collins to publish his autobiography, "On My Own Terms" in the coming year.
Friday, December 3rd, 1976: Reggae legend Bob Marley is assassinated with his manager while sitting in a parked car in Kingston, Jamaica. Both sustain multiple gunshot wounds as the gunman escaped on foot. The identity of the gunman remains unknown for decades.
Saturday, December 4th, 1976: The Viet Cong is officially dissolved and merged with the NVA to form the Vietnam People's Army as the now united Vietnam continues to integrate the former south..
Monday, December 6th, 1976: The Reagan transition team announces economist and presidential adviser Alan Greenspan will head the Treasury Department; a former acolyte of Ayn Rand, congressional Democrats warn against deregulating the economy. Despite opposition from most progressive Democrats, a number of conservative southern Democrats - including 1976 VP nominee Fritz Hollings - express interest in some of Greenspan's ideas to loosen the federal government's spending in order to combat inflation.
Tuesday, December 7th, 1976: President Rockefeller and President-elect Reagan mark the 35th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks at a wreath laying ceremony in commemoration of those killed in the Japanese attack.
Wednesday, December 8th, 1976: Back in Washington, President-elect Reagan confirms he had asked Deputy Defense Secretary Bill Clements to serve as the next Secretary of Defense; it is reported in the Washington Post that the President-elect had passed over Secretary Rumsfeld at the insistence of Vice President Bush, who pushed for his fellow Texan's appointment instead.
Friday, December 10th, 1976: The Reagan transition announces that lawyer William French Smith will join the new administration as Attorney General, while former Senator Bob Dole will take up the position of Secretary of Agriculture and James Watt for Secretary of the Interior. President-elect Reagan notes that several more positions will be filled in the following days.
Sunday, December 12th, 1976: Reagan transition team leader Mike Deaver releases a statement which confirms the President-elect has nominated businessman Malcolm Baldrige as Secretary of Commerce, union leader Raymond Donovan as Secretary of Labor, former Federal Trade Commissioner Elizabeth Dole for Health, Education, and Welfare, and former US Attorney Samuel Pierce to head the Department of Human Services. Lastly, former Federal Aviation Agency head and one time Nixon aide Alexander Butterfield is nominated to head the Department of Transportation.
Tuesday, December 13th, 1976: Soviet leader Mikhail Suslov extends an invitation for President-elect Reagan to meet with him to discuss a potential arms control agreement. While Reagan publicly uses the invitation to demand concessions from the USSR on human rights, the President privately expresses interest in meeting with General Secretary Suslov in a neutral city, most like Geneva or Vienna.
Monday, December 19th, 1976: As Congress prepares to convene on January 3rd, the Reagan transition team begins putting out feelers to incoming Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd (D-WV) to find areas of commonality as the Rockefeller Presidency comes near it's end.
Tuesday, December 20th, 1976: Longtime Chicago Mayor and Democratic powerbroker Richard Daley dies from a heart attack after two decades as Chicago's Mayor.
Sunday, December 25th, 1976: Christmas Day is observed across the globe.
Friday, December 31st, 1976: America marks the end of the bicentennial year.
Attachments
Nazi Space Spy
Banned
Bernie Sanders: Currently a leftist perrenial candidate, though his profile in Vermont is growing and some in the Liberty Union Party are encouraging him to run for Mayor of Burlington.
John Kasich: A young Republican aide to a State Representative, the recent graduate is flirting with running for State Senate in 1978.
John Kerry: Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts 8th district, elected in the 1974 wave. Kerry has been encouraging Senator Kennedy to run for President and has been eyeing Ed Brooke's Senate seat in 1978.
Don King: Probably the same of OTL.
Dick Cheney: Former Deputy White House Chief of Staff, considering running for office from Wyoming in either 1978 or 1980.
Mike Gravel: Still in the Senate as of 1976, facing reelection in 1980.