What if Bill Clinton never met JFK? Let's say, perhaps, he isn't selected as part of the Boys' Nation delegation and never meets the President, which leads to him never realizing that his true calling was in elected office. In 1992, the Democrats probably lose (the only chance at winning other than Clinton would likely be Cuomo, if he even runs). If the Democrats can't run a compelling candidate, Perot could very well become the man to beat, given the economy, but it's more likely that Bush wins re-election.
So, we either end up in a world with no NAFTA under President Perot (I guess "A Giant Sucking Sound" would be the closest approximation we have), or four more years of Bush.
In the Bush scenario, things likely go the same as they did under Clinton (welfare reform, the crime bill, etc.) with the exception of intervention in Rwanda. The next Democrat would be a Clintonesque moderate, such as Evan Bayh or Al Gore, and they're likely re-elected. The Bush Tax Cuts never happen, and though the deregulation that causes the '08 crash still happens, its effects are thus considerably less awful.
Furthermore, there's the very real possibility that 9/11 never happens. Osama Bin Laden could be killed as a result of continuing the manhunt following the attack on the USS Cole (which the Bush II admin. backed off from) causing Al Qaeda to go into disarray and thus stopping 9/11, or the Democratic admin. acts on the intel Bush II had regarding the 9/11 attacks that the admin. ignored OTL. There's also a very small chance that the Iraq War would happen in this scenario as well, which would also dampen the effects of the Great Recession.
Without the Great Recession being on the scale it was in OTL, the recovery is much shorter and doesn't lead to the economic anxieties that cause Donald Trump to win the Republican nomination and become President. Without a President Bill Clinton, there's also not going to be a Hillary Clinton candidacy, either, unless she marries another man (such as Al Gore, who she could have met in Washington while she was interning there or on some McGovern '72 stop in Tennessee. If Gore were to win in '96 while married to Hillary, then Hillary in 2016 becomes viable once again).
In short, Bill Clinton never meeting JFK leads to a world where the casualties of Rwandan Genocide are lower, 9/11 never happens, the Iraq War never turns the Middle East into the war-torn clusterfuck it is today, the Great Recession is far less great, and neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Rodham Whatever are likely President. All in all, it's a better place.
List of probable Presidents
1989-1997: George Bush
1997-2005: Moderate Democrat
2005-2009: Unlucky Democrat VP or Some Unlucky Republican
2009-2017: A Much Luckier Republican or A Much Luckier Democrat
2017-present: Not Donald, Thank God
So, we either end up in a world with no NAFTA under President Perot (I guess "A Giant Sucking Sound" would be the closest approximation we have), or four more years of Bush.
In the Bush scenario, things likely go the same as they did under Clinton (welfare reform, the crime bill, etc.) with the exception of intervention in Rwanda. The next Democrat would be a Clintonesque moderate, such as Evan Bayh or Al Gore, and they're likely re-elected. The Bush Tax Cuts never happen, and though the deregulation that causes the '08 crash still happens, its effects are thus considerably less awful.
Furthermore, there's the very real possibility that 9/11 never happens. Osama Bin Laden could be killed as a result of continuing the manhunt following the attack on the USS Cole (which the Bush II admin. backed off from) causing Al Qaeda to go into disarray and thus stopping 9/11, or the Democratic admin. acts on the intel Bush II had regarding the 9/11 attacks that the admin. ignored OTL. There's also a very small chance that the Iraq War would happen in this scenario as well, which would also dampen the effects of the Great Recession.
Without the Great Recession being on the scale it was in OTL, the recovery is much shorter and doesn't lead to the economic anxieties that cause Donald Trump to win the Republican nomination and become President. Without a President Bill Clinton, there's also not going to be a Hillary Clinton candidacy, either, unless she marries another man (such as Al Gore, who she could have met in Washington while she was interning there or on some McGovern '72 stop in Tennessee. If Gore were to win in '96 while married to Hillary, then Hillary in 2016 becomes viable once again).
In short, Bill Clinton never meeting JFK leads to a world where the casualties of Rwandan Genocide are lower, 9/11 never happens, the Iraq War never turns the Middle East into the war-torn clusterfuck it is today, the Great Recession is far less great, and neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Rodham Whatever are likely President. All in all, it's a better place.
List of probable Presidents
1989-1997: George Bush
1997-2005: Moderate Democrat
2005-2009: Unlucky Democrat VP or Some Unlucky Republican
2009-2017: A Much Luckier Republican or A Much Luckier Democrat
2017-present: Not Donald, Thank God