In the 1960s, Hillary Clinton (who at the time went by her maiden name Rodham) was a Republican who supported Barry Goldwater and Nelson Rockefeller. But by the end of the decade she switched parties over her opposition to Richard Nixon. What if Rodham had decided to stay a Republican? Would she still marry Bill Clinton? Would she start her own political career as a Republican?
 
She probably wouldn't marry Bill Clinton. She might start her career with a staff position in the Nixon White House or with Illinois Senator Charles H. Percy and then run for a congressional seat in Illinois or pursue a legal career and be appointed to a district court position under George HW Bush.
 

Ian_W

Banned
I think the way to butterfly this is to have Rockefeller win against Nixon, and I think the best way to do that is to have him win against Goldwater in 1964.

In a lot of ways, HRC's defection to the Democratic party reflects the way the whole liberal wing of the Republican party swapped sides with the Dixiecrats.
 
I think the way to butterfly this is to have Rockefeller win against Nixon, and I think the best way to do that is to have him win against Goldwater in 1964.

In a lot of ways, HRC's defection to the Democratic party reflects the way the whole liberal wing of the Republican party swapped sides with the Dixiecrats.
The problem here is that Hillary circa 64 was a Goldwaterite.
 

Marc

Donor
The problem here is that Hillary circa 64 was a Goldwaterite.
Quite true, but to quote the person herself:
“By the time I was a college junior, I had gone from being a Goldwater Girl to supporting the [1968] anti-war campaign of Eugene McCarthy.”
And that falls neatly into the the start of the era when the white south started deserting the Democratic party in numbers, and when the progressive wing of the Republicans started fading away.
We can benchmark that transition by two telling events: Strom Thurmond switching parties in 1964, and Jacob Javits, long time incumbent senator from NY, losing the GOP nomination in 1980 (Javits stayed on the ballet as the Liberal Party candidate, and won the general election*).
Correction, Javits lost in the 3 way race.
 
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Quite true, but to quote the person herself:
“By the time I was a college junior, I had gone from being a Goldwater Girl to supporting the [1968] anti-war campaign of Eugene McCarthy.”
And that falls neatly into the the start of the era when the white south started deserting the Democratic party in numbers, and when the progressive wing of the Republicans started fading away.
We can benchmark that transition by two telling events: Strom Thurmond switching parties in 1964, and Jacob Javits, long time incumbent senator from NY, losing the GOP nomination in 1980 (Javits stayed on the ballet as the Liberal Party candidate, and won the general election).

I agree with everything here except that Javits actually lost the general election to the Republican who beat him in the primary.
 
ATL's Hillary Rodham wouldn't necessarily be confined to running in Illinois. She could, for example, stay in Massachusetts or Connecticut after college or law school and run as a moderate Republican there.

Anyhow, I don't think ATL's Hillary Rodham would ever have been nominated for Secretary of State or President. She would probably make it as far as Elizabeth Dole/Michele Bachmann/Carly Fiorina during their respective primary seasons.
 
ATL's Hillary Rodham wouldn't necessarily be confined to running in Illinois. She could, for example, stay in Massachusetts or Connecticut after college or law school and run as a moderate Republican there.

Anyhow, I don't think ATL's Hillary Rodham would ever have been nominated for Secretary of State or President. She would probably make it as far as Elizabeth Dole/Michele Bachmann/Carly Fiorina during their respective primary seasons.
Think she would still go far wheter in law or politics or whatever she does. How would Republican Hillary do with Bill Clinton if she by happenstance meet him?
 
Think she would still go far wheter in law or politics or whatever she does. How would Republican Hillary do with Bill Clinton if she by happenstance meet him?
If she uses her legal career as a launch pad for her political career and then runs for President but does not attack the eventual nominee, I could see the future Republican President nominating her to serve as Attorney General.

If she did meet Bill Clinton by happenstance (probably in the 1970s), either she dislikes him or they work well together crossing party lines. Perhaps Bill Clinton wins his 1974 House race, while she wins a House race of her own in Illinois, Massachusetts, or Connecticut and they subsequently work together as Members of Congress.
 
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“By the time I was a college junior, I had gone from being a Goldwater Girl to supporting the [1968] anti-war campaign of Eugene McCarthy.”

How about butterfly away Vietnam, or at least how it happened in @? Maybe if fewer corpses vote in Chicago and Nixon wins in 1960?
 

Kaze

Banned
What is wrong with her staying a Republican as Bill's Wife? I know a family like that in my neighborhood where the wife is a Republican and the husband is a Democrat - and they stayed married despite their political differences.
 
Congressman Henry Hyde (R-Park Ridge) admits extramarital affair with campaign worker and fellow northwest-suburbanite Hillary Rodham...

("The 6th Congressional District of Illinois is a classic suburban district, the most Republican in the state. It’s not Bill Clinton country. He has never carried the district. But Henry Hyde has, 13 times. A Republican family named Rodham once lived there, in Park Ridge; it’s where the first lady grew up..." http://www.aei.org/publication/its-a-values-thing-or-not/)
 
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What is wrong with her staying a Republican as Bill's Wife? I know a family like that in my neighborhood where the wife is a Republican and the husband is a Democrat - and they stayed married despite their political differences.

An elected official with a spouse in the opposite party is going to raise some eyebrows. On the other hand, they could end up the equivalent of OTL's James Carville and Mary Matalin.
 

Marc

Donor
I seriously doubt that Clinton would stay with the GOP once the evangelical right starts taking over on social issues, around the late 70's say...
 
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