WI: Acting President Hubert Humphrey

What if in late May of 1968 Lyndon Johnson has a massive stroke? The stroke leaves LBJ bed ridden for weeks, permanently physically disabled, and partially mentally disabled until the fall of 1968.

How does this effect the presidential race? Does this unite a fractured Democratic party? Do McCarthy and RFK drop out of the race? Does RFK still get assassinated? How does this effect the Paris peace talks? How does Humphrey (now the Acting President) handle Vietnam knowing what he does will effect his chances at the nomination and the winning the election? Would LBJ try to have his powers reinstated before the election (especially if Humphrey started to withdraw troops)? Would Earl Warren still plan to retire in June of 1968 (so if Nixon won he couldn't nominate his replacement)? Does this increase HHH's chances of winning in November? Who would Acting President Humphrey choose to replace Warren on the court? What else could happen with Humphrey as the acting POTUS?
 
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I wonder if HHH would work a deal with RFK? Depends on what he would really do with the war? Would HHH's Salt Lake city speech come early? or would he keep doing it the LBJ way? A very ticked off LBJ snaps out of it in the fall of 68 if there was any differences. I think he would stay the course and go the LBJ route. That means RFK would stay in the race. But that might mean HHH has to run in the primaries. That would be an ugly fight. Nixon still wins i believe. Too bad HHH or RFK is better than Tricky dick.
 
I wonder if HHH would work a deal with RFK? Depends on what he would really do with the war? Would HHH's Salt Lake city speech come early? or would he keep doing it the LBJ way? A very ticked off LBJ snaps out of it in the fall of 68 if there was any differences. I think he would stay the course and go the LBJ route. That means RFK would stay in the race. But that might mean HHH has to run in the primaries. That would be an ugly fight. Nixon still wins i believe. Too bad HHH or RFK is better than Tricky dick.

Maybe HHH, RFK, and Earl Warren would come up with a plan that would have Warren retire and Humphrey appoints RFK to be the Chief Justice. That would be something for RFK to seriously think about. If he takes the job then he'd have a lot more influence for a longer amount of time than he would as president. There was no guarantee he'd beat Humphrey at the convention or Nixon in the general. So he'd probably take the job meaning he'd likely wouldn't get assassinated. As Chief Justice he'd still have the stature to run against Nixon in 1972 if he wanted. Then if he stayed on the court in the 1970s how would a Catholic like RFK vote on Roe v. Wade?

Imagine if once LBJ got his mental capabilities back how he'd react to the news of Humphrey nominating Bobby to become Chief Justice.:eek: That might give him another stroke and kill him.
 
Two thoughts come to mind. The first is that it would have been unseemly for the active Democratic campaign to continue, which means that RFK and McCarthy each have to suspend campaigning in California and, if by late May you mean before the 28th, Oregon as well. Insofar as Humphrey had a substantial lead in delegates, this probably closes whatever narrow door there was for Humphrey to lose the nomination.

The second is that this gives Humphrey control over his own destiny and what happens with the war, something he most definitely would never have as long as LBJ was at the helm.

If he's smart, he'll act decisively to unite the party and, at the same time, reach some sort of tangible progress on Vietnam that even LBJ wouldn't have been able to undo. Whether or not the McCarthy people would have gone along on party unity is an open question, but Kennedy was a realist in knowing that whatever hope he ever had of becoming President was now dependent upon his apparent support for Humphrey and the party. Which opens the door to a compromise peace plank at the '68 Convention and perhaps an HHH/RFK ticket.

Or perhaps not. If Humphrey feels that he's bound by his role of Acting President to continue LBJ's Vietnam policies, Chicago '68 could wind up being even uglier than it was. And that scenario is very possible given that the premise was a temporarily disabling stroke rather than a permanently disabling one. And so the question boils down to how much Humphrey wants to be President versus his fear of Johnson and sense of the proper role of an Acting President.
 

katchen

Banned
RFK on the Supreme Court deserves it's own thread. So much would have been changed. Roe v Wade might have been decided differently for one thing. Frankly, LBJ missed a bet in not persuading many liberal Supreme Court justices (Douglas and Hugo Black come to mind) to retire while they could be confirmed by the Senate earlier in Johnson's career, say in 1965.
 
RFK on the Supreme Court deserves it's own thread. So much would have been changed. Roe v Wade might have been decided differently for one thing. Frankly, LBJ missed a bet in not persuading many liberal Supreme Court justices (Douglas and Hugo Black come to mind) to retire while they could be confirmed by the Senate earlier in Johnson's career, say in 1965.


It really does. He could probably still be on the bench today (John Paul Stevens served until he was 90, RFK would be 87 today). "The Kennedy Court."
 
rRFI as Chief Justice is an interesting idea. I don't think that the Republicans were going to allow any Johnson appointee to be confirmed. mMaybe Warren retires in 1967. tThis would reduce Nixon's appointees by one. I assume that Berger would replace Fortas. HHiw about Powell replaces Black and the ever loyal Berger convinces Nicon to name his friend Blackman as Harlan'd replacement
 
Without the Nixon Shock, it's hard to tell how the economy would be come 1972. If the economy goes sour, HHH is out of the game for a second term. If it doesn't, four more years! On a related note though, maybe as president he has his prostate examined earlier and avoids his early death of cancer.
 
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