redlightning
Banned
Kennedy will win the 1964 election. Lyndon Johnson probably will decline to run as Vice-President because of the investigation he embroiled himself in in Texas. He will pass the 1965 Civil Rights Act by a thin margin.
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident will still cause confusion in the way it did OTL. Kennedy will order airstrikes to retaliate against North Vietnam. He will get the Tonkin Resolution because of fear of a war with China. After the Vietcong begin to storm American airbases in South Vietnam in 1965, he will have no choice, but to send in the marines to defend them. This will escalate into larger battles and more troops sent there. I see fewer than 100,000 troops going into Vietnam though, he does not send nearly as many as Johnson would nor would he micromanage the war. There will still be plenty of race riots and demonstrations against the war. The country will still seem like it's falling apart.
The only other significant piece of legislation Kennedy will pass after 1965 will be Medicaid and probably the Disabilities Act of 1966. The Vietnam War will become a quagmire and peace negotiations will fail until after Kennedy's second term ends. Before the 1960s are out, all of the numerous affairs Kennedy had in the White House will be published in the press and the Republicans will win the 1968 election because of the fallout from it.
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident will still cause confusion in the way it did OTL. Kennedy will order airstrikes to retaliate against North Vietnam. He will get the Tonkin Resolution because of fear of a war with China. After the Vietcong begin to storm American airbases in South Vietnam in 1965, he will have no choice, but to send in the marines to defend them. This will escalate into larger battles and more troops sent there. I see fewer than 100,000 troops going into Vietnam though, he does not send nearly as many as Johnson would nor would he micromanage the war. There will still be plenty of race riots and demonstrations against the war. The country will still seem like it's falling apart.
The only other significant piece of legislation Kennedy will pass after 1965 will be Medicaid and probably the Disabilities Act of 1966. The Vietnam War will become a quagmire and peace negotiations will fail until after Kennedy's second term ends. Before the 1960s are out, all of the numerous affairs Kennedy had in the White House will be published in the press and the Republicans will win the 1968 election because of the fallout from it.