So, suppose Barry Goldwater somehow accomplishes the herculean task of defeating LBJ in 1964 (I don’t care how), what would his presidency look like?
How would the Arizonan approach civil rights? He had a solid track record on the issue until he voted against the CRA ‘64, which leaves the question of how he would handle the issue in office. I could still see him pushing a voting rights bill, since that doesn’t conflict with his small-government conservative beliefs.
How would a President Goldwater get along with a likely Democratic Congress? Since the president would sing to a much different tune ideologically than Congress or the rest of the country, I could see some conflict between the executive and the legislature. Who knows.
On foreign policy, Goldwater was a noted hawk, pioneering the idea of “rollback” that Reagon found success with two decades later. Vietnam would probably be the largest issue on that front, and I could see him aggressively expanding the war with the hope of ending it quickly. Or it could attract the unwanted attention of Beijing, which would be a crisis not dissimilar in stakes to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The Space Race could get interesting. I don’t know how Goldwater felt about NASA OTL, but I imagine it could be a target for budget cuts (how well that would go with Congress is up for debate). Or, he may opt to keep it in place, for prestige and national security reasons.
Overall, I don’t see Goldwater winning re-election in 1968 even if things go relatively well. At worst, I think moderates and liberals in the GOP might try to oust him from the ticket, which may or may not work. If Vietnam becomes a problem like OTL, Democrats will have the advantage of being much more united on the issue, which is great for them.
How would the Arizonan approach civil rights? He had a solid track record on the issue until he voted against the CRA ‘64, which leaves the question of how he would handle the issue in office. I could still see him pushing a voting rights bill, since that doesn’t conflict with his small-government conservative beliefs.
How would a President Goldwater get along with a likely Democratic Congress? Since the president would sing to a much different tune ideologically than Congress or the rest of the country, I could see some conflict between the executive and the legislature. Who knows.
On foreign policy, Goldwater was a noted hawk, pioneering the idea of “rollback” that Reagon found success with two decades later. Vietnam would probably be the largest issue on that front, and I could see him aggressively expanding the war with the hope of ending it quickly. Or it could attract the unwanted attention of Beijing, which would be a crisis not dissimilar in stakes to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The Space Race could get interesting. I don’t know how Goldwater felt about NASA OTL, but I imagine it could be a target for budget cuts (how well that would go with Congress is up for debate). Or, he may opt to keep it in place, for prestige and national security reasons.
Overall, I don’t see Goldwater winning re-election in 1968 even if things go relatively well. At worst, I think moderates and liberals in the GOP might try to oust him from the ticket, which may or may not work. If Vietnam becomes a problem like OTL, Democrats will have the advantage of being much more united on the issue, which is great for them.