So many possibilities, though it would take a special kind of ambitious and crazy to seek more than 8 years in a pressure cooker.

One of the questions around TR in 1912 was whether his first term counted as a term for purposes of the two-term tradition or if only two elected terms counted. Let’s say that it went the other way and that only two elected terms counted, and the GOP threw its support behind TR in 1912 - and he wins.

That butterflies away Wilson, who likely isn’t heard from in 1916 or after, and it also likely means the US enters WWI by the end of TR’s “second” term. Realistically, TR supports a massive effort to win the war, and it ends sooner - let’s say November 11, 1917 to keep the significant date (and also because November 11 is my birthday and I like having my birthday as a minor federal holiday, thank you very much.)

I have to think that segregation on a national level is toned way the hell down, though there’s a massive backlash in the 1920s. For 1916, I don’t see the nation changing parties midway through a war, and I see Charles Evans Hughes winning over Champ Clark. If he gets re-elected, 1924 becomes interesting, as a peacetime President would likely be expected to step aside after eight years and would likely do so.

The Republicans would probably dominate again, and the likely front-runner is Leonard Wood of New Hampshire. Whoever he picks as VP ends up taking the fall for the crash of 1929, since Wood probably still does in 1927. Then here comes FDR.

I assume that TR would punish Germany postwar, so the Nazis are still a possibility, meaning here we are again with FDR and four elected terms. We would have to assume there isn’t enough support for an amendment banning third terms, since two wars convinced everyone otherwise.

So Ike runs again in 1960 and cites the Cold War as the reason, and he wins a close one. However, this likely averts the assassination, since I doubt he would run again in 1964 and wouldn’t be in Dallas campaigning.

One possibility is that this puts Nixon-Kennedy in 1964, and Kennedy wins but dies in 1967 of Addison’s. Eisenhower would be less inclined to escalate Vietnam, so it’s more Korea-like and all-volunteer. This means Johnson in 1968, but there’s more of a backlash against Great Society and he’s forced to tone it down. And due to his health, he declines to run in 1972, opening it up to Nixon, who wins a tight one just because America is sick of the Democrats.

Nixon declines to run in 1980 after stagflation and the Iran situation come crashing down on him. The public still wants tax cuts and the War on Drugs, so say hello to a moderate Democrat in 1980. Jerry Brown may fit the bill as a fiscal conservative; however, as a social liberal, expect a better response to the AIDS epidemic. And if Brown still gets shot, he likely wins a second term, and he’s still young enough that a third term isn’t out of the question. So he runs until the public gets sick of him.
 
So many possibilities, though it would take a special kind of ambitious and crazy to seek more than 8 years in a pressure cooker.

One of the questions around TR in 1912 was whether his first term counted as a term for purposes of the two-term tradition or if only two elected terms counted. Let’s say that it went the other way and that only two elected terms counted, and the GOP threw its support behind TR in 1912 - and he wins.

That butterflies away Wilson, who likely isn’t heard from in 1916 or after, and it also likely means the US enters WWI by the end of TR’s “second” term. Realistically, TR supports a massive effort to win the war, and it ends sooner - let’s say November 11, 1917 to keep the significant date (and also because November 11 is my birthday and I like having my birthday as a minor federal holiday, thank you very much.)

I have to think that segregation on a national level is toned way the hell down, though there’s a massive backlash in the 1920s. For 1916, I don’t see the nation changing parties midway through a war, and I see Charles Evans Hughes winning over Champ Clark. If he gets re-elected, 1924 becomes interesting, as a peacetime President would likely be expected to step aside after eight years and would likely do so.

The Republicans would probably dominate again, and the likely front-runner is Leonard Wood of New Hampshire. Whoever he picks as VP ends up taking the fall for the crash of 1929, since Wood probably still does in 1927. Then here comes FDR.

I assume that TR would punish Germany postwar, so the Nazis are still a possibility, meaning here we are again with FDR and four elected terms. We would have to assume there isn’t enough support for an amendment banning third terms, since two wars convinced everyone otherwise.

So Ike runs again in 1960 and cites the Cold War as the reason, and he wins a close one. However, this likely averts the assassination, since I doubt he would run again in 1964 and wouldn’t be in Dallas campaigning.

One possibility is that this puts Nixon-Kennedy in 1964, and Kennedy wins but dies in 1967 of Addison’s. Eisenhower would be less inclined to escalate Vietnam, so it’s more Korea-like and all-volunteer. This means Johnson in 1968, but there’s more of a backlash against Great Society and he’s forced to tone it down. And due to his health, he declines to run in 1972, opening it up to Nixon, who wins a tight one just because America is sick of the Democrats.

Nixon declines to run in 1980 after stagflation and the Iran situation come crashing down on him. The public still wants tax cuts and the War on Drugs, so say hello to a moderate Democrat in 1980. Jerry Brown may fit the bill as a fiscal conservative; however, as a social liberal, expect a better response to the AIDS epidemic. And if Brown still gets shot, he likely wins a second term, and he’s still young enough that a third term isn’t out of the question. So he runs until the public gets sick of him.

Perfect for 1960-1964 Eisenhower and 1976-1989 Nixon (was just writing something similar about Nixon, that the last 1979s were so turbulent and difficult to manage that any President would be simply washed away by the events)...just would comment about Brown’s “endless journey”:

Agree that Brown is a powerful name for a post Nixon 1980 elections and also would bet that a centrist Democrat is the best shot for such elections
The only question is that the general rise of conservatism and the appearance of a more right-wing society during the 1980s wouldn’t be stopped or diminished, so, by mid or late 1980s the field would be reopen for a Republican President, maybe someone like George H Bush. In such scenario, would guess that Brown is stopped in 1988...
 
Top