WI: Nucky Johnson & Rose Fitzgerald (Mafia Kennedys)

There was an interesting idea in a timeline that sadly did not continue. In it, Enoch "Nucky" Johnson married Rose Fitzgerald, rather than Joseph Kennedy marrying her. Enoch Johnson was the inspiration for the television series Boardwalk Empire. He was a boss in Atlantic city who was heavily involved in Republican politics, as well as the various illicit activities and underground connections of the city. Rose Fitzgerald was the daughter of the Fitzgerald family, which was very powerful in Boston and Massachusetts politics and with the Irish community in that city.

The union of the two is essentially a novel way to get a political clan (despite it not being a Kennedy family) which is actually involved in organized crime and corruption. As well as having a John Kennedy analogue who is a Republican rather than a Democrat.

So what if this came to fruition?
 
Assuming similar brothers (and there's not necessarily a reason to):

Enoch Johnson, Jr: The father's favorite son and the eldest. Charming, charismatic, and athletic. At the same time, he lacks emotional depth and intelligence, and is a parrot for his father's every opinion and thought.

John "Jack" Johnson
: The second son of the family. Competitive with the eldest. Frequently ill and bed ridden in childhood, leading him to read books and develop a great emotional intelligence and depth. Very much the pragmatist before partisan.

Robert Johnson
: The third son of the family. He has an inner kindness, and is his mother's son. And he is the most religious of the family. However, competing for his father's attention has lead him to grow up to be capable of hardness and relentlessness.

Edward Johnson: The most natural politician of the family. He is very much in the tradition of John "Honeyfitz" Fitzgerald, like the local handshaker and arm twister of a Boston ward.


In Godfather terms, Junior could be Sonny, John could be Michael, Robert could be Fredo, and Teddy could be Tom Hagen. Assuming similar things to the OTL, Enoch Jr gets killed in the war trying to win a medal to soothe his ego, Jack Johnson then assumes the mantle of becoming president. This could end of having to be quite different from the OTL, given the Republicans were incumbents and where would his place be in running? Then again, there are over 40 years of butterflies before 1960, so it could end up being quite different by then. Regardless, it could make for the most corrupt administration since Warren Harding.
 
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Japhy

Banned
Yeah, this, add a mustache to them and now they're entirely different people sort of thing is an absolute joke.
 
No way a rich Irish family like the Fitzgeralds is going to let their daughter marry an Italian mob boss, not in the early 1900s. To them Italians were only one step above blacks, and think about how badly white people thought of black people at this time.

Also, why are all of the "Kennedy" brothers the same? They have completely different genetics, different circumstances growing up, and completely different lives.
 
No way a rich Irish family like the Fitzgeralds is going to let their daughter marry an Italian mob boss, not in the early 1900s. To them Italians were only one step above blacks, and think about how badly white people thought of black people at this time.

Enoch Johnson was Scots-Irish.

Also, why are all of the "Kennedy" brothers the same? They have completely different genetics, different circumstances growing up, and completely different lives.
Because there's joy and wonder in the world. And because the person who would write this as a timeline premise would do that. As the person who began this as a timeline eons ago did do that.
 
The interesting thing, and the fun of it from a TL perspective, is taking the character archetypes, and placing them in a new situation and seeing what they do. It's also interesting from the perspective that as a story, you're creating a political dynasty that is actually in bed with organized crime and the underground. I'm fascinated by things where it is a myth, but asking what would actually happen if it were the case. Such is the thing with the mafia and the Kennedy's. This isn't actually the Kennedy's, but it's the macguffin for a version. And you're possibly creating an administration of corruption for the 1960s, not seen since Warren Harding.

Here's the timeline that had this idea, which I liked. It didn't continue.

Sour Imperium: The Life and Presidency of Jack Johnson.
 
Could Jack being a war hero get the VP slot for "IKE" or who ever is this time line's big general ??

It would be a prospect. Sour Imperium had Jack Johnson as a war hero with every medal of value you could think of, propelling himself to the presidency. (It also had him as an actor and singer; the description being JFK crossed with a legitimate Michael Corleone). That could get him to be vice president in an alternate 1952, or potentially 1956.
 
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