WI:LBJ has heart failure in office.

So what if LBJ has heart failure in office. Let's say early Jan. 1968 Humphrey becomes POTUS.

What effects (if any) does this have on the election cycle of the that year?

Given the "no 3 presidents in the same year" thing, does Nixon still run?

Does RFK?

Whom is HHH likely to choose as Vice?

How is Nixon's and RFK's futures shaped by this? Is Nixon done if he chooses to stay out of '68?
 

shiftygiant

Gone Fishin'
Johnson shorts out before the end of office? Firstly, the Democrat Candidates will be more respectful during the Primaries and avoid calling out Johnson. Humphrey will likely get nomination, and given how it's an election year, his VP will be the man who goes on the ballot with him. Nixon will still run, the election closer thanks to sympathy voting, but Nixon will still likely win. No three presidents doesn't apply as Nixon's term would start in '69. Johnson goes down as a flawed by well meaning individual who strove for social equality but struggled abroad. RFK would run, but his personal vendetta against Johnson would destroy his campaign in the primaries, McCarthy likely to take lead. HHH would still go Muskie.

LBJ's death is possible, you just need a big enough shock. The shock of JFK's assassination nearly killed him in Parkland Hospital, so something equal in an emotional capacity should do the trick. To be fair though, the most likely President to short out in office was Nixon, who nearly had a heart attack during the many, many panic attacks he suffered in the Yom Kippur War. It got so bad Kissinger pretty much took over all of Nixon's responsibilities. Shortly after leaving office, he discovered he had a pulmonary embolism that would have killed him if not treated.

If you want to look at the health of LBJ, I suggest Doc Zebra, his stuff's interesting and paints a picture of what was wrong with certain Presidents.
 
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