What if ___________ Never Met ____________?

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
 
What if His Royal Highness Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales never met Camilla Parker Bowles, today Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall.
.

He might have been a better husband to Diana and she might have had a slightly happier Life and not divorced. If William and Harry have their mother around and dont have to witness first hand a messy divorce i Think William would have a much different Life. His entire engagement and proposal to Kate was in honor of his mom.
 
Good thread.

Hmmm...
If Walt Disney never met Ub Iwerks?

If Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, John Cleese and Terry Gilliam (Monty Python) all never met?
 
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What if Bill Walsh never met Dwight Clark over the phone in 1979?

Walsh called the room of Steve Fuller and Dwight Clark (QB and WR at Clemson) looking for Fuller (for a pre-draft workout). Clark (who had his golf clubs over his shoulder) answered the phone. Walsh asked Dwight if he wanted to participate as well. The rest, as they say, is history.
 
wi John M. Browning never met Thomas G. Bennett

Browning might still go into arms design at some later date, or turn his talents to some other field such as electrical engineering. We can be sure that whatever he designed would work and work well; many of the weapons he designed are still in use today, a century later. He might not achieve the same recognition in another field, but would still be successful.
 
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).
Why does she have to marry some other politician to get notoriety? Why can't Hillary Rodham just rise up the ranks on her own?
 
What if Hitler and a certain Anton Drexeler never met?
A Nazi Party forever in obscurity, perhaps a Gregor Strasser dominated Nazi party, but it's doubtful as Hitler was the driving force of the party...Maybe there's a Stronger DNVP ittl with some otl nazis within it.
 
Britain has a King who is capable of eloquent speeches and The King's Speech is never made.

Certainly Edward did not have any kind of speech impediment nor any extreme shyness like his younger brother but he was also a Nazi sympathizer and a racist.

From Wikipedia:

Wikipedia said:
Though widely travelled, Edward was racially prejudiced against foreigners and many of the Empire's subjects, believing that whites were inherently superior. In 1920, on a visit to Australia, he wrote of Indigenous Australians: "they are the most revolting form of living creatures I've ever seen !! They are the lowest known form of human beings & are the nearest thing to monkeys."

And that's before he even met Wallis Simpson. I don't think her power over him was so great that without it, he would be opposed to the Nazis. I assume they had many opinions and prejudices in common.

Those around him didn't seem to think he would be a good king:

Wikipedia said:
Edward's womanising and reckless behaviour during the 1920s and 1930s worried Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, King George V, and those close to the prince. Alan Lascelles, the prince's private secretary for eight years during this period, believed that "for some hereditary or physiological reason his normal mental development stopped dead when he reached adolescence". George V was disappointed by his son's failure to settle down in life, disgusted by his affairs with married women, and was reluctant to see him inherit the Crown. "After I am dead," George said, "the boy will ruin himself in twelve months."

Second-in-line to the throne was the prince's younger brother Albert ("Bertie"). Albert and his wife, Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother), had two children, including Princess Elizabeth ("Lilibet"), the future Queen Elizabeth II. George V favoured Albert and his granddaughter Elizabeth and told a courtier, "I pray to God that my eldest son will never marry and have children, and that nothing will come between Bertie and Lilibet and the throne." In 1929, Time magazine reported that the Prince of Wales teased his sister-in-law, by calling her "Queen Elizabeth". The magazine asked if "she did not sometimes wonder how much truth there is in the story that he once said he would renounce his rights upon the death of George V – which would make her nickname come true".

Edward's affair with an American divorcée led to such grave concern that the couple were followed by members of the Metropolitan Police Special Branch, who examined in secret the nature of their relationship. An undated report detailed a visit by the couple to an antique shop, where the proprietor later noted "that the lady seemed to have POW [Prince of Wales] completely under her thumb." The prospect of having an American divorcée with a questionable past having such sway over the heir apparent led to anxiety among government and establishment figures.

Obviously the concern about Wallis being an American and a divorcée is really just the prudishness and prejudice of the time. Those for me are not personally knocks against her but rather her sympathies and I do understand the concern that Edward be led by such a partner is worrying.

I don't think Edward would have been a good king. I think the best we could hope for is that he fell in love with someone of appropriate rank and status who also managed to have him "completely under her thumb" yet would have molded Edward into being a passable king. I think that might be a pretty unlikely hope.

Even without Wallis, I wouldn't be surprised if Edward did end up abdicating in favor of George VI for similar reasons as OTL.

What if Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth, today Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II never met his Royal Highness Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, today His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

What if His Royal Highness Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales never met Camilla Parker Bowles, today Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall.

And as a pre 1900 example: What if King Edward IV never met Elizabeth Woodville.

1) No idea who Elizabeth II might have married instead. It seems she fell in love with him at age 13 so avoiding that somehow might be easier than them never meeting (they're second cousins I think).

2) My understanding re: Charles and Camilla was that they knew each other and were involved romantically before the proposed Charles-Diana match. Even without Camilla in the picture, I don't think Charles would have been faithful to Diana but he might have been less cruel? I think a match with someone closer to his age probably also would have helped.

3) A lot could happen there. It seems likely though that Edward IV would have ended up marrying either Anne of France (1461 – 1522) or Bona of Savoy (1449 – 1503) as Warwick was negotiating for one of those matches with Louis XI when Edward went and secretly married Elizabeth. However, the negotiations could fall through for any other reason and you could get someone else married to Edward. I wonder what the effects on England with a powerful foreign bride as Edward's queen would have. Would Richard III still make a grab for the throne? Would Henry Tudor still be as successful? Lots of butterflies!
 
2) My understanding re: Charles and Camilla was that they knew each other and were involved romantically before the proposed Charles-Diana match. Even without Camilla in the picture, I don't think Charles would have been faithful to Diana but he might have been less cruel? I think a match with someone closer to his age probably also would have helped.

Supposedly she asked him early in their marriage why he needed to have a mistress and his reply was that he was not going to be the first Prince of Wales to not have one.
 
Supposedly she asked him early in their marriage why he needed to have a mistress and his reply was that he was not going to be the first Prince of Wales to not have one.

W E O W. That's extremely shitty. Wouldn't surprise me, unfortunately.
 
Some music ones...

* What-if Crosby, Stills & Nash hadn't crossed paths at a party & discovered how well they harmonised together?

* What-if Chris Hillman had never met Gram Parsons? (Parsons never joins The Byrds.. maybe they don't "go country")

* What-if Lou Reed had never met John Cale?

* what if David Bowie had never met Iggy Pop? (No "Raw Power" album.. no escaping together to Berlin later in the 1970s maybe.. )
 
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