World War Three 1976-1984

Robert

Banned
This thread is loosely based on the classic SPI board game.

Pre-War

1972 - President Richard Nixon's attempt to open negotiations with the People's Republic of China are exposed in a front page story by Bob Woodward. Mao is overthrown by a young, hardline faction that demands expansion of Communism worldwide. The "Next Wave" movement finds simular minded individuals in the Soviet Union, and new expansion minded leaders come to power. Nixon defeats George McGovern in November.

1973 - China makes an overt attempt to invade South Vietnam, triggering a U.S. response. A massive escalation on both sides takes place, and eventually a ceasefire is declared. Under intense political pressure Nixon negotiates a withdrawl of all U.S. ground forces from South Vietnam in exchange for a pullback of Chinese Army forces and a demobilization of the North Vietnamese Army. Vice President Agnew resigns, and is replaced by John Connally.

1974 -The Soviet Union begins to mobilize on a massive scale. The KGB begins to "influence" the PRC internal politics by "retiring" those who attempt to reassert a non-unified version of expansionist communism. The expansion of the Vietnam War results in massive Democrat gains in congress.

1975 - President Nixon assassinated on Sept 5. by Lynette Fromme in Sacramento, California. John Connally sworn in as 39th President of the United States. Democrates demand cut in military funding. Soviet Union and China continue mobilization. Messures to ensure logistical support of armed forces ironically result in more economic freedom, political confusion in both countries.

1976 - President Connally runs for election. Senator Edward Kennedy runs for the Democratic Nomination.

More to come
 
... exposed in a front page story by Bob Woodward.


I'll start with the first major problem in this time line and leave the rest to the other posters.

First, in 1972 Woodward is less than two years out of the Navy, is taking graduate courses at George Washington University, has less than a year of reporting experience in Alabama, and has been working for the Post about three months.

Suffice it to say, as a rookie reporter covering sewer commission hearings Woodward isn't going to expose shit.

Woodward, and to a lesser extent the more experienced Bernstein, was handpicked by Mark Felt as easily controlled conduits for Felt to leak COINTELPRO information through. They didn't develop Felt as a contact, instead Felt developed them as his covers.

The 1972 Woodward doesn't have the experience or rolodex of contacts the 2011 Woodward does. The 1972 Woodward isn't plugged into the Washington leak game like the 2011 Woodward is either. The 1972 Woodward is neither going to uncover Nixon's trip or have news of the trip leaked to him.

Second, the fact that diplomatic relations between the US and the PRC were to be normalized wasn't in any way a secret in either the US or the world at large. Every major presidential candidate in 1968 for instance had stated they would approach the PRC if they won.

So, there's no "scoop" here and, unless Felt somehow chooses to spoon feed the information to him, a 1972 Woodward isn't going to uncover any "scoop" either.
 
I'll start with the first major problem in this time line and leave the rest to the other posters.

First, in 1972 Woodward is less than two years out of the Navy, is taking graduate courses at George Washington University, has less than a year of reporting experience in Alabama, and has been working for the Post about three months.

Suffice it to say, as a rookie reporter covering sewer commission hearings Woodward isn't going to expose shit.

Woodward, and to a lesser extent the more experienced Bernstein, was handpicked by Mark Felt as easily controlled conduits for Felt to leak COINTELPRO information through. They didn't develop Felt as a contact, instead Felt developed them as his covers.

The 1972 Woodward doesn't have the experience or rolodex of contacts the 2011 Woodward does. The 1972 Woodward isn't plugged into the Washington leak game like the 2011 Woodward is either. The 1972 Woodward is neither going to uncover Nixon's trip or have news of the trip leaked to him.

Second, the fact that diplomatic relations between the US and the PRC were to be normalized wasn't in any way a secret in either the US or the world at large. Every major presidential candidate in 1968 for instance had stated they would approach the PRC if they won.

So, there's no "scoop" here and, unless Felt somehow chooses to spoon feed the information to him, a 1972 Woodward isn't going to uncover any "scoop" either.

That's an extraordinary list of claims about Woodward. I'll point out that he never worked in Alabama. The Montgomery Sentinel newspaper where he started his career is a weekly newspaper in Montgomery County, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. When he met Mark Felt, he was a Navy officer who made regular visits -- and cultivated regular contacts -- among the White House staff, including Felt. Felt had no way of knowing that Woodward would become a journalist. Woodward's first inclination was to attend law school.

To say that "as a rookie reporter covering sewer commission hearings Woodward isn't going to expose shit" only tells me you've never covered a sewer commission hearing, especially in the D.C. area. The fact that, as a rookie reporter, Woodward had enough savvy to dig into the Watergate burglary and work his previously developed WH contacts for information says much about native ability and, likely, a very good editor. Of course the 1972 Woodward doesn't have the Rolodex of the 2011 Woodward, but his 1972 Rolodex was already pretty damn good.

Woodward was no wet-behind-the-ears recent college grad -- he'd moved in the highest levels of the Navy, a rare accomplishment for a very junior officer, for five years before he joined the Post. (There have been persistent rumors that he did some unspecified intelligence work.) The Felt-Woodward relationship can best be described as mutually beneficial and mutually exploitive. They used each other, with each other's knowledge.

All in all, it's entirely possible that Woodward would be the reporter to break important news at the 1972 Post, which at the time was hardly the hotbed of hotshot reporters it became in post-Watergate.
 
That's an extraordinary list of claims about Woodward.

I'll stick by their general thrust.

I'll point out that he never worked in Alabama.

It's been a while since I read Woodward's book so when I remembered the pre-Post Montgomery job I mistakenly placed it in Alabama.

When he met Mark Felt, he was a Navy officer who made regular visits -- and cultivated regular contacts -- among the White House staff, including Felt. Felt had no way of knowing that Woodward would become a journalist. Woodward's first inclination was to attend law school.

Naturally Felt could not have known Woodward would become a reporter because Woodward himself didn't know he was going to become a reporter. However, when Felt needed to select his conduit for the COINTELPRO information he leaked to minutely guide the Watergate investigation, he remembered that young naval officer who had begun working for the Post only a few months earlier. He chose Woodward because he already knew him and not because Woodward was some hotshot reporter.

We should also note that Felt developed Woodward as his cover more than Woodward developed Felt as a source.

The fact that, as a rookie reporter, Woodward had enough savvy to dig into the Watergate burglary and work his previously developed WH contacts for information says much about native ability and, likely, a very good editor.

That was Bernstein. He'd been on the paper since '66 and both men agree he did most of the heavy investigatory lifting. Bradlee also played a role with his rolodex. And all three of them kept the other half the Watergate story under wraps for over three decades: That the number three man at the FBI and acting operational head used information produced by long term illegal domestic surveillance of the White House and other organizations to bring down a sitting president.

Don't misunderstand me. Nixon had violated the Constitution and needed to be brought down. However Felt didn't pass along his information to his superiors at Justice or the congressional committees. Instead, Felt passed along carefully selected pieces of his illegally acquired information to a rookie reporter he had a nodding acquaintance with in order to guide an investigation where he wanted while also covering his ass. That reporter, his partner, and his editor knowingly accepted Felt's Faustian bargain, used the information Felt gave them, and then covered Felt's ass for over three decades.

The Felt-Woodward relationship can best be described as mutually beneficial and mutually exploitive. They used each other, with each other's knowledge.

That's quite true. However, without Felt's leaks Woodward, Bernstein, Bradlee, and the Post would not have broke the Watergate story as quickly or as wide open as they did.

All in all, it's entirely possible that Woodward would be the reporter to break important news at the 1972 Post, which at the time was hardly the hotbed of hotshot reporters it became in post-Watergate.

Woodward was chosen by Felt because of his earlier acquaintance with Felt and not because of any journalistic excellence he'd shown since joining the paper in September of '71.

What Woodward did with Felt's leaks and Woodward's superb subsequent career amply illustrates his abilities as an investigative reporter, he wasn't that reporter yet in in 1972.

Of course all this also ignores my other point. The fact that Nixon was going to open diplomatic relations with China wasn't a "scoop". All of the major presidential candidates in 1968 had stated they'd approach China so there is no actual secret for this alt-Woodward to break.
 

Robert

Banned
My point in picking Woodward is that instead of breaking Watergate he gets a tip about the secret negotiations with the PRC. Many others might have gotten the tip, but he ran with it and got the story run. The backstory is that the source of the leak was Aldrich Ames.
 
My point in picking Woodward is that instead of breaking Watergate he gets a tip about the secret negotiations with the PRC.


You don't understand and, in the side discussion about Wooward and Felt, you have missed my second point.

There are no "secret" negotiations with the PRC. Every one of the mainstream presidential candidates in 1968 stated openly that they'd normalize relations with the PRC. There is no story here for Woodward to break and no story to shock the world.
 
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