With a POD of 1960, get George Wallace to be the democratic nominee and win the election. What does it take? What year is most likely? What circumstances have to occur for a disaster like this to happen? How disastrous would he be? Bonus points if JFK and LBJ are still presidents.
AHC: President George Wallace
- Thread starter The_Russian
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Get that George Amberson guy out of the picture - maybe he doesn’t recover as well from his bookie beatings earlier that year.
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...s-katarn-edition.421710/page-16#post-15294666
(POD was that Nixon won in 1960, got us into an unpopular Cuban war, then LBJ lost 1964 nomination due to earlier "Chicken Ranch" scandal)
(POD was that Nixon won in 1960, got us into an unpopular Cuban war, then LBJ lost 1964 nomination due to earlier "Chicken Ranch" scandal)
How about Wallace becoming president via the vice-presidency? You might be interested in a discussion we had about a Humphrey-Wallace ticket in 1972. https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/ahc-wi-humphrey-wins-in-1972.304239/ As I stated in that thread, "Undoubtedly, John T. Amos, Humphrey's envoy, did give Wallace the impression that Humphrey was favorable to a Humphrey-Wallace ticket. For the very skeptical views of Norman Sherman and other former Humphrey aides that Humphrey was indeed planning on putting Wallace on the ticket (or had actually offered him that position), see http://books.google.com/books?id=uzJ7-p31HRwC&pg=PA489 [Unfortunately, that link seems to be dead--DT] I think Amos would have promised Wallace the moon; whether Humphrey had actually authorized his promises in anything more than general terms ("well, see what you can do with George, John") is another matter." https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...phrey-wins-in-1972.304239/page-4#post-8647563
Despite my skepticism, a Humphrey-Wallace ticket actually happening in 1972 (though Humphrey would face a furious revoklt on the convention floor over the choice) and actually winning the election--with Humphrey dying in office--is the relatively best chance of Wallace becoming president. (I emphasize relatively; I don't think it's at all likely.) I don't think it's possible for Wallace to be nominated for president in 1972, because he just did not do well enough in the big northern and western states (except Michigan, where a busing order in the Detroit metro area helped him a lot).
Despite my skepticism, a Humphrey-Wallace ticket actually happening in 1972 (though Humphrey would face a furious revoklt on the convention floor over the choice) and actually winning the election--with Humphrey dying in office--is the relatively best chance of Wallace becoming president. (I emphasize relatively; I don't think it's at all likely.) I don't think it's possible for Wallace to be nominated for president in 1972, because he just did not do well enough in the big northern and western states (except Michigan, where a busing order in the Detroit metro area helped him a lot).
Well, we know so little about him that it’s pretty hard to figure out a good way to bump him off. I think I read somewhere that the bus he was on to get to Dealey Plaza got into an accident that killed the driver. Maybe have that kill him?
Maybe this is ASB, but one idea I had would be is if the Civil Rights Act fails to pass. This leads to massive levels of unrest in Black-majority cities in both the north and the south led by black radical groups during the mid-1960s. This creates an equally massive white backlash, which turns America into a bloodbath resembling Northern Ireland in the 70s or Bosnia in the 90s. As a result, Wallace gains much more support than OTL among white voters in the northern states that have substantial black minorities. Wallace runs on an openly pro-segregationist platform, advocating segregation in the north as well as the south, to play on racist sentiments of Northern whites (if you think this is farfetched, consider how much geographic segregation exists in Chicago, Milwaukee and Detroit even to the present day).
If Wallace won a plurality, the election would go to the House, which has a majority of state delegations that would favor the Democratic candidate (if my understanding of the 12th Amendment is correct). Thus, I think Wallace would have to receieve more than 270 electoral votes. In order for Wallace to win the electoral vote outright, he'd not only have to win the entire South (155 electoral votes), he'd need to win every state where he received more than 9% of the vote in OTL (most of the Midwest and West). For that to happen, both the Democrats and Republicans would have to nominate candidates that would be unappealing to white working and middle class voters in both parties (say Eugene McCarthy for the Democrats and maybe Nelson Rockefeller for the Republicans). By my rough calculations, Wallace could win with roughly double the number of votes he received in OTL, concentrated mostly in the Midwest and the Southern states he didn't win in OTL.
If Wallace won a plurality, the election would go to the House, which has a majority of state delegations that would favor the Democratic candidate (if my understanding of the 12th Amendment is correct). Thus, I think Wallace would have to receieve more than 270 electoral votes. In order for Wallace to win the electoral vote outright, he'd not only have to win the entire South (155 electoral votes), he'd need to win every state where he received more than 9% of the vote in OTL (most of the Midwest and West). For that to happen, both the Democrats and Republicans would have to nominate candidates that would be unappealing to white working and middle class voters in both parties (say Eugene McCarthy for the Democrats and maybe Nelson Rockefeller for the Republicans). By my rough calculations, Wallace could win with roughly double the number of votes he received in OTL, concentrated mostly in the Midwest and the Southern states he didn't win in OTL.
What if Arthur Bremer just wounds Wallace enough in 72 to give him a permanent limp or something. Wallace still won't win in 72 just because the numbers are against him but come 76 somehow get Carter out of the picture and Wallace may have an opening, albeit a small one.