pericles
Warrant Officer
Posts: 266 
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Post by pericles on Jan 24, 2017 0:29:54 GMT
What if John Hinckley Jr succeeded in killing Ronald Reagan in 1981? President Reagan has been assassinated barely into his term, and the Curse of Tippecanoe continues. George Bush Sr is President. How would George HW Bush handle the 1980s? I think he would be more moderate than Reagan, but many of the forces that set in motion the Reagan Revolution are already deeply in place. How would Bush handle the Cold War? Would he build up the military like Reagan did? If not, does the USSR still collapse (I think so as too many other factors also caused the collapse, though it might be delayed somewhat)? How does Bush handle the economy? He was never much for domestic policy, and likely does not push the radical conservative agenda Reagan did(maybe the budget is balanced by 1984 instead with higher taxes and less military spending). How are US politics effected? Bush presumably wins in 1984 because the economy was good, but maybe by less, and 1988 would be different. How would this alter the US in the long-term? What if?
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baloo
Petty Officer 1st Class
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Post by baloo on Jan 24, 2017 2:11:48 GMT
Well, I think that Bush, upon assuming the presidency, would have looked for a substantial VP, and Jim Thompson of Illinois would have been a contender. With him, Bush would have won in 1984, especially against Mondale/Ferraro. Then Thompson would have been an obvious nominee in 1988. And I rather think he might have picked Paul Laxalt to run with him, to emphasize a Reagan connection. (Reagan would have attained JFK martyr status in this timeline.) And Thompson/Laxalt would have beaten the Dem ticket, probably Dukakis/Bentsen as in OTL. But in 1992, they would have to run against Jerry Brown/Bob Kerrey, and they would have pulled it off, but very narrowly. That would have led to the nomination in 1996 of Bob Kerrey/Paul Tsongas by the Democrats to run against Jack Kemp/Colin Powell, and the Democrats would have won. Tsongas would have died in office in 1997, and Kerrey would have picked Doug Wilder of Virginia as his VP. Reelected in 2000 against Phil Gramm/Bob Dornan. When the Two Towers are brought down the following year, Kerry is held responsible by the electorate, and they respond by soundly defeating the Kerrey/Wilder ticket and instead electing Rudy Giulani/Oliver North in 2004. The same team wins handily in 2008 against Christopher Dodd/Evan Bayh. In 2012, Oliver North loses the nomination to Jon Huntsman, who picks Rick Perry for his running mate, and this ticket loses narrowly to Jim Webb/Tom udall, and this same ticket wins again in 2016, against Phil Bryant/Jeff Flake. Please pick this apart  |
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lordroel
Administrator
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Post by lordroel on Jan 27, 2017 9:30:15 GMT
What if John Hinckley Jr succeeded in killing Ronald Reagan One effect would be that John Hinckley Jr will most likely get the death penalty and would not like OTL be free as he is now. |
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