Vote Nixon in '56

Hey guys. Long time reader, first time poster. I've always loved alternate history, particularly when it pertains to ancient Roman history (especially scenarios that involve Hannibal winning the Second Punic War) and American history.

Anyway, enough about my background. Here's a scenario that I'd like to expand upon. Thing is, this is my first alternate history project and I'm not too sure how to proceed. Any help as to what would happen or where I can find information that will lead me to form my own ideas or just generally any comments (constructive, not spam) would help immensely.

My AP Government teacher told me to go home this weekend and watch some presidential election commercials on www.livingroomcandidate.org.

I was particularly struck by the commercials from the election years 1952 and 1956. As I'm sure some of you history buffs know, those were the years where Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, the great American hero of World War II, ran against Democrat Adlai Stevenson. In both election years, Eisenhower beat Stevenson in a landslide victory.

Eisenhower's vice president throughout his presidency was Richard Nixon, who would later become president in 1968 and would resign from office, disgraced, in 1974.

Now, what most history buffs don't know is that Eisenhower had a devastating heart attack in 1955, just a year before he was up for reelection. In our timeline (OTL), he survived and spent a few weeks in recovery. During those few weeks, Nixon took over and ran the country. However, as we all know, Eisenhower soon resumed his duties and president and became one of the greatest presidents in American history.

However, what if Eisenhower did not survive his heart attack? In this alternate timeline (ATL), Eisenhower dies on September 25, 1955. Nixon, as per the U.S. Constitution, is sworn in as president not long after.

As such, Nixon would be up for election to his first full term in office in 1956. I'm of the opinion that, just like in OTL, the Democratic party of the ATL will nominate Adlai Stevenson as their candidate.

I am also of the opinion that Nixon would become president in 1956 in a landslide. The public would still be mourning over Eisenhower's death and would vote overwhelmingly to put his vice president in the White House (a similar phenomenon occurred in OTL after John F. Kennedy was assassinated, putting Lyndon B. Johnson in the White House).

Now, what would happen from this point on? What would happen if Nixon became president of the United States in 1956 rather than 1968? How would the Cold War have progressed? How would Nixon have dealt with the Suez Crisis and the Hungarian Revolution of 1956? Would the United States have opened up relations with China sooner?

More importantly, what would have happened with the Vietnam conflict? Would we have even entered into a war in Vietnam if Nixon was president when it had started or would we have entered it sooner or at the same time as in OTL? Would the war, assuming it happens at all, have gone on as long as it did in OTL or would it have ended a lot sooner? And tied to this issue, would the hippie movement have happened?

I guess what I'm really trying to ask here is "If Nixon was president in 1956 (and possibly 1960, assuming he got reelected), what would his legacy be?" In OTL, Nixon's legacy, while he was great with foreign policy, was a mistrust in our government. What would his legacy be in the ATL and what would happen after he leaves office?

What would the world look like today if America voted Nixon in '56?

P.S. I can guarantee you one thing. Nixon is not going to use Ike's slogan with his nickname inserted. "I Like Dick" just has way too many connotation. XD
 
Dear Dr. Sheldon Farnsworth,

I am pleased to inform you that my recent trip to timeline 8233 was a smashing success. Whether this timeline will yield anything useful in terms of research potential has yet to be seen. Further trips are required to determine whether this timeline is worth further exploration, but it does seem remarkable at first glance.

As you well know, since this was our first trip into this timeline, I only stayed for a little over an hour, as per regulation. This was enough time for me to walk into a bookstore and attempt to purchase an American history textbook. However, my attempts to purchase this book, which cost a little over 80 dollars, were futile..

I attempted to pay for the book with five twenties, since they were the only bills I carried, but the cashier would not accept them. She said that I had fabricated the bills and was trying to get away without paying.

I asked the woman what was wrong with the bills and she responded, “Do you take me for a fool? Everyone knows that Jackson ain’t on the twenty!”

“Ma’am, of course he is. It says so right there!” I said, pointing to the name, clearly written below Jackson’s portrait.

“I’ve never even heard of Andrew Jackson! Who is he? The leader of your anarchist cult?”

Suddenly I began to realize what was going on. This timeline had a different currency than our timeline. I asked the woman if I could look at a twenty dollar bill. She obliged, but kept a close eye on me. I laid the two bills out on the counter and, sure enough, she was right. Where Andrew Jackson’s face is printed on twenty dollar bills from OTL, Dwight D. Eisenhower’s face was printed in this ATL.

Realizing that all my bills were deemed fake in this ATL, I ran out of the store with the history book and promptly returned to OTL. As per regulation, I did not tell her that I was from another timeline. I just hope that, when I return, the police won’t be chasing after a textbook thief.

Anyway, I skimmed through the history book I had just recently stolen and compared it to one from our timeline. Andrew Jackson still existed in the ATL. In fact, our two timelines were identical, up until September 24, 1955.

Enclosed in this letter is a series of pages from this textbook. I have only copied the pages concerning the POD and events following it. Enjoy reading it Dr. Farnsworth and I hope that you will allow me to continue to explore Timeline 8233.


Sincerely,​

Gary Stevens​

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I'm still working on writing up the parts of the textbook, but I hope to have the first section posted soon.
 
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The Colorado Heartbreak

In September of 1955, President Eisenhower and his wife Mamie packed their luggage and headed out west to Denver, Colorado for a vacation. The president felt that he deserved some vacation time due to his high-stress job. He thus decided to stay in the mile-high city for at least a week or two.

Midway into his trip, Eisenhower was stricken by a serious heart attack. He had been a heavy smoker throughout his life and, until a few years prior, had smoked up to four packs a day. This was, without a doubt, a major contributor to Eisenhower’s heart attack.

He was rushed to Fitzsimons Army Hospital where he was cared for by renowned cardiologist Dr. Paul Dudley White. White, a pioneer in the use of the electrocardiogram and co-discoverer of Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, worked diligently to save Eisenhower’s life.

However, all of White’s efforts were unsuccessful. On September 25, 1955, just one day after his heart attack, President Dwight D. Eisenhower passed away.

Eisenhower’s funeral was held a week later in Washington D.C. where he was given a traditional Episcopalian funeral. Eulogists included his son John, retired General of the Army Omar Bradley, and Richard Nixon.

Nixon had previously been Eisenhower’s vice-president but, shortly after Eisenhower’s death, was sworn in as president. In Nixon’s eulogy, he thanked Dr. White, who was in attendance, for all that he tried to do for Eisenhower.

In addition, Nixon said, “I know Ike, and I know he wouldn’t want us to prolong his mourning. He would want us to take the time to remember his accomplishments and what he did to bring our boys home from Korea. He would want us to lay his body to rest and continue making this country great. He worked far too hard for us to stop now.”

Eisenhower’s body was laid to rest in Abilene, Kansas. Nixon, after the burial, told reporters, “Some men are considered great because they lead great armies or they lead powerful nations. Some are considered great for their moral values. Ike was great in every sense of the word. He remained through his final days the world's most admired and respected man, truly the first citizen of the world.”

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I’m going to head off to bed. Hope you enjoy this section. Next section will detail Nixon’s first year as president and who he picks as his vice-president.
 
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Nixon and Lodge: The Formative Years

With Nixon occupying the Oval Office, there was no one to take his place as vice president of the United States. At the time, the 23rd Amendment (1) had yet to pass, so the Constitution had yet to dictate whether Nixon himself was allowed to be president, let alone dictate who his vice president would be!
However, under the Tyler Precedent, Nixon was granted the power of the presidency. The debate over who the vice president would be was more of a struggle. Even under the informal Tyler Precedent there was nothing about how the vice president that became the president would select his vice president.

Nixon know that he could wait until the 1956 presidential election to select his vice president, who would join the incumbent president (if he was reelected) in 1957. However, Nixon wanted to exercise the full power of the office of president and codify the Tyler Precedent, which would outline the presidential line of succession. He also wished to provide a way for to fill the now-vacant office of vice president.

This had not been a huge problem in the past. In fact, the vice presidential seat had been left vacant countless times, such as during the presidencies of James Tyler and Andrew Johnson. Nixon wanted to change this.

He soon ran the idea by his cabinet, who were enthusiastic about the idea. With Eisenhower’s death still fresh in Congress’s mind, the proposed amendment was sent to the states for ratification rather quickly. The same speed and diligence was employed by the states when ratifying the amendment.

The 23rd Amendment was ratified on December 21, 1955 and was enacted on April 7, 1956. The amendment stated that, should the president die or become incapacitated in some way, the vice president would take over as the new president. In addition, the new president would have the ability to choose his new vice president, though that choice would have to be reviewed by the Senate. In addition, should the vice president be unable to perform his duties as president, the Speaker of the House (2) would be selected to replace the vice president until he could return to office.

Nixon soon executed the new power he attained under the 23rd Amendment. He selected Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. as his running mate. There was a considerable uproar about this choice since Lodge had only been an ambassador to the United Nations for approximately three years. Nevertheless, the Democratic majority granted Nixon his request, making Lodge the first vice president chosen when the 23rd Amendment was in effect.

Nixon’s first two years in office were not all sunshine and rainbows though. The Suez Crisis was heating up in Egypt. Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser had already purchased weapons from Communist Czechoslovakia (3), angering the United States.

Eisenhower, throughout his three years as president, had often said that the best strategy to adopt with Egypt was one of neutrality. The United States had just left the Korean War and could not affored to enter another one. However, all hope of neutrality and pacifism on the Egyptian issue died with Eisenhower.

Nixon, ever the Communist-hater since he joined the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947, was eager to win over Egypt to prevent a Communist country from springing up too close to Israel. However, if Nixon could not convince Nasser to swing his allegiance from Nikita Khrushchev and Soviet Russia back to the United States, the crisis, in his mind, would have to be solved by military means.

Initially, Nixon, in part because of the urging of Vice President Lodge, decided to stay out of Egypt and keep up the policy of neutrality and pacifism. Britain’s petition to the United States for military aid in Egypt helped to sway Nixon’s opinion of a viable solution closer to that of military action. However, Nixon still felt that pacifism was the best policy.

The straw that broke the camel’s back fell on May 16, 1956. It was on this day that Nasser officially recognized the People’s Republic of China, which angered many Americans, including secretary of state John Dulles, who was a huge supporter of Taiwan.

Dulles, as well as many other cabinet members, urged Nixon to do something about the Suez crisis. Nixon promptly pulled all the funding for still-to-be-constructed Aswan High Dam, forcing Nasser to earn funding for the dam from Soviet Russia which, Nixon reasoned, wouldn’t be able to pay off the majority of the funds.

In addition, Nixon answered Britain’s petition for military force and ordered a few battleships to the region of the Suez Canal, blocking the transport of goods up and down the canal.

Khrushchev was furious with the United States for supporting the military actions of Britain, France, and Israel, who had already invaded Egypt. Khrushchev ordered battleships of his own to the opening of the Suez Canal and sent troops into the Egyptian desert to fight off the invading forces.

This led to a war that pitted the British, French, Israelis, and Americans against the Egyptians, Soviets, and the Chinese (who only helped out by sending money and weapons to their allies). The war only lasted seven days, leading to its nickname as “The Seven Days War.”

The war (officially called the Suez War) would have probably gone on longer had the United Nations not put a stop to it. Many countries feared that, if the war lasted any longer, the United States and Russia would exchange nuclear warheads, destroying much of the world. This was the first, but certainly not the last, time that many people felt that nuclear war was a very near and very real threat.

The Suez War would become a major hot-button issue in the coming presidential election. Only two Americans died as a direct result of the war, due to Russian battleships firing on an American plane which was flying supplies to its allies.

To Adlai Stevenson (Nixon’s opponent in the upcoming election), these deaths were unnecessary and represented a man’s desire to “exercise his newfound political power in the most absurd way possible.”

Nixon, as we will soon see, painted the two dead pilots as martyrs, fighting against Communist oppression in the third world.

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Notes from OTL:

1. In this ATL, the 23rd Amendment is, for the most part, the same as OTL's
25th Amendment. In OTL, this amendment was passed during Lyndon B. Johnson's administration in response to John F. Kennedy's death. I anticipate a similar thing happening in this ATL, except taking place in Richard Nixon's administration in response to Dwight D. Eisenhower's death. In this ATL, the 23rd and the 25th Amendments switch times that they were passed, thus their amendment number changes.

2. In OTL, it is the President Pro Tempore of the Senate who would become the vice president rather than the Speaker of the House.

3. Just an interesting sidenote. In OTL, Czechoslovakia splits into the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic in 1993. In this ATL, it never does that, mostly because the Soviet Union still persists due to a prolonged Cold War. The Suez War is just one of the many reasons why U.S. and Soviet relations are still quite cold.
 
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