What if: President J. William Fulbright (1963-???)

[Inki]

For this scenario, let's say that in order to win over the South in 1960, John F. Kennedy gets a Southern running mate. However, instead of choosing Lyndon B. Johnson, he chooses J. William Fulbright due to his experience and expertise in foreign policy. Kennedy then goes on to win the 1960 election, and then get assassinated in spite of a nail, putting Fulbright in the White House. Now what? What happens regarding civil rights? The conflict in Vietnam? Does Barry Goldwater still end up being the Republican nominee in 1964, and who wins that election?

 

[Nivek]

For this scenario, let's say that in order to win over the South in 1960, John F. Kennedy gets a Southern running mate. However, instead of choosing Lyndon B. Johnson, he chooses J. William Fulbright due to his experience and expertise in foreign policy. Kennedy then goes on to win the 1960 election, and then get assassinated in spite of a nail, putting Fulbright in the White House. Now what? What happens regarding civil rights? The conflict in Vietnam? Does Barry Goldwater still end up being the Republican nominee in 1964, and who wins that election?

More fullbright scholarships? Or less ones?

 

[peeter]

For this scenario, let's say that in order to win over the South in 1960, John F. Kennedy gets a Southern running mate. However, instead of choosing Lyndon B. Johnson, he chooses J. William Fulbright due to his experience and expertise in foreign policy. Kennedy then goes on to win the 1960 election, and then get assassinated in spite of a nail, putting Fulbright in the White House. Now what? What happens regarding civil rights? The conflict in Vietnam? Does Barry Goldwater still end up being the Republican nominee in 1964, and who wins that election?

Lyndon B Johnson being the senate majority leader while JFK is president butterflies A LOT. The whole reason that JFK was in Dallas was because John Connally the governor of Texas and Ralph Yarborough a senator were beefing with each other. With LBJ still running the senate and still having a tight grip on the texas democratic party JFK probably doesn’t end up having to go to Texas. A lot more of JFK’s agenda would have been passed compared to real life by the time he was killed if LBJ was senste majority leader.

 

[AlexanderDragon]

No civil rights act would be passed until at least the 70's, partial desegregation might be accomplished at the local level but Fulbright would turn a blind eye to Southern Resistance, although perhaps symbolically critical.

Fulbright would be unwilling to manufacture a pretext for intervening in Vietnam. Fulbright had always been opposed to the war. After proposing the Gulf of Tonkin Johnson brought Fulbright to office and in a six hour marathon meeting after guaranteeing 1, the incident happened, 2 he didn't actually intend to intervene in Vietnam, it was just political posturing, 3 he would consider Fulbright as secretary of state. Let's just say none of this was true. Johnson would later see Fulbright as his main enemy on the war.

Fulbright was an early supporter of Detente, and would have tried to negotiate a diplomatic situation. I have no clue if this would have led anywhere.