What if Kennedy was assassinated in December 1960?

What if JFK had been killed earlier, in December 1960 before he took office, in this attempt? What would be the effects? how would LBJ handle the challenges of JFK's first 3 years and what would be the effects of him serving a full 8 years as President? How would this alter history? Would the Kennedy mythology still exist, or would Kennedy be a forgotten President like Garfield? I think he might be remembered a bit more than Garfield, he's more charismatic and memorable but the whole Camelot mythology wouldn't develop. What if?
 
Might Nixon contest the election results if this were to happen? He didn't otl because he viewed it as the people havin more faith in Kennedy than him, and was overall gracious about the defeat even though credible reports of voter fraud were made.

If it will now be lbj being inaugurated, would he contest? Could he contest?
 
Might Nixon contest the election results if this were to happen? He didn't otl because he viewed it as the people havin more faith in Kennedy than him, and was overall gracious about the defeat even though credible reports of voter fraud were made.

If it will now be lbj being inaugurated, would he contest? Could he contest?

The attempt was on December 16, 1960 so it's probably too late and jumping in, contesting and causing more turmoil would probably hurt his 1962 bid for Governor of California. LBJ would probably be President from January 20, 1961 to at least January 20, 1965 and probably until January 20, 1969.
 
The attempt was on December 16, 1960 so it's probably too late and jumping in, contesting and causing more turmoil would probably hurt his 1962 bid for Governor of California. LBJ would probably be President from January 20, 1961 to at least January 20, 1965 and probably until January 20, 1969.

Nixon may skip '62 and shoot straight for Johnson in '64?
 
There's a certain magic to Kennedy in the primaries. There'd be a mythology and nostalgia, but it would be different, and would focus on those tentative months of his campaign, what he offered, and the potential for the future we would have seen going forward from 1959 to 1960.

The important distinction between Johnson and Kennedy is lack of nuance. Distinct personalities would govern the White House. Kennedy was more nuanced, and was a balanced intellectual who would refer to his cabinet and advisers, and if he didn't agree, he would debate them into submission. Johnson was cruder, and had a governing view that you took a switch and whipped things into going your way. We could have had direct troop intervention in Vietnam in 1961; the cabinet thought that we had to send in the troops then and there to fight the Communists, and there was no avoiding it. Kennedy said no, and increased advisers. Johnson may have said yes. Johnson may have sent troops into Laos, which is another war Kennedy avoided. Johnson may have let the troops go right up to the border with East Berlin; when that happened in the OTL, Kennedy was furious that the general had made that decision on his own because he thought the president would have wanted it, and forced them to back off. Johnson may have wanted it -- eye to eye with the Soviets to show them strength and resolve. I do feel it is in Johnson's personality to take one of those incidences, and turn it into a war: whether it be Laos, Vietnam, Cuba, and lord help us if it's Berlin. I think Johnson would be forced to have a cooler head because of the potential for WW3 there, but it could evolve into a bigger crisis.

From a legislative perspective, I would not assume mcguffin LBJ who passes the Civil Rights Act of 1961 and starts the Great Society 4 years earlier. The legislation took an agreeable Congress to pass, and a lion's share of the fighting for the Liberalism of the 1960s was done by Senators. One can't forget that when Kennedy died, Johnson did try to pass the Civil Rights Act earlier, and it failed. It took the Liberal congressional gains after the 1964 election to put in place a legislature that moved in that direction. Once Republicans made major gains in 1966, Johnson ran into difficulty getting things passed and got caught in gridlock, because as he admitted himself, he needed a legislature that would work with him. Johnson here would be dealing with a 1960 Congress -- the same one that deadlocked Kennedy.
 
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So LBJ President earlier, if there is a Cuban Missile Crisis does it go hot?

If it does then what does the world look like? How bad is Johnson remembered by history?
 
So LBJ President earlier, if there is a Cuban Missile Crisis does it go hot?

If it does then what does the world look like? How bad is Johnson remembered by history?

http://www.cubanmissilecrisis.org/dp-excomm/vice-president-lyndon-johnson/

Vice President Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded to the presidency after President Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, was also consulted during the Cuban Missile Crisis and sat in most key ExComm meetings. On October 16 he sided with those in favor of a strike and advised the president unsuccessfully against conferring with congressmen and U.S. allies on ways to resolve the crisis, as Johnson believed they would provide little help.
 
Might LBJ handle Bay of Pigs differently? Maybe it's more successful so there's no missile crisis.

The problem, and why Kennedy cancelled US direct intervention is that direct US intervention in an invasion of Cuba opens a can of worms. It says to our Latin American allies that we do not care about their sovereignty and will be playing by Banana Wars rules again, and alienates them. It sends a negative message to our European and global allies for the same reason, and threatens to make the US look very bad, and in violation of international law. Cuba happened to be Communist, but the US did not have a casus belli beyond simply the unhappiness of its existence. And that threatens to make us look very bad to the developing world, which can point to it as an example of American Imperialism, thus driving a push towards the Communist bloc rather than the West as an ally for the third world.
 
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