WI: Alternate 1960 election...

What if JFK was passed over for inexperience in favor of Johnson?

Would LBJ run with JFK as VP?
Would Nixon win?
How would this affect Vietnam?
Would JFK run in subsequent years? Who would be his running mate?
 

Zeus

Banned
What if JFK was passed over for inexperience in favor of Johnson?

1. Would LBJ run with JFK as VP?
2. Would Nixon win?
3. How would this affect Vietnam?
4. Would JFK run in subsequent years? Who would be his running mate?

1. Perhaps. LBJ might view JFK as a good strategic choice for VP and pick him. It would depend on how much tensions there would be between them, though.

2. Yes, Nixon wins. LBJ wasn't as charismatic as JFK and didn't have as much national support.

3. I doubt Nixon would have escalated the Vietnam War. He was a pretty cautious politician and avoided taking big risks. That's not to say that the Communists wouldn't have taken over all of Vietnam, though.

4. JFK could certainly run later on, but he might also step aside for RFK and Teddy, since he might feel that it is their time. As for the VP, I'm not sure, but it would probably be a Southerner or a Westerner.
 
Nixon would likely not approve the coup of Ngo Dinh Diem. Without Ngo's murder and overthrow, you have an entirely different Vietnam War.

If Nixon does decide on some kind of escalation, he might pick a more capable officer than Westmoreland to lead the US effort in Vietnam. Nixon may make entirely new mistakes than JFK/LBJ, but he will probably not make the most egregious ones they did.
 
Top