Alternate People
- Thread starter MrHuman
- Start date
If you're doing some sports figures, have Matt Smith become a professional footballer.
You gotta remember, the Republicans just got thru a very nasty primary fight, even more so in OTL since Reagan knocks out Ford and is running in the shadows of Nixon, coupled with Humphrey's personal character, oration, and the right mis-speak on Reagan's part (even an actor can flub his lines, get a clip of him saying something very awkward to a group of white southerners and let the news media take if from there) and you can get Humphrey's redemption.
He was a fairly awesome campaigner to be fair, like 2008 Obama levels.
Nice idea, will be following.
John Claggett Danforth
46th Vice President of the United States (2001-2009)
Timeline: A Different VP For Bush 43
46th Vice President of the United States (2001-2009)
Timeline: A Different VP For Bush 43
In the summer of 2000, George W. Bush was looking for a running mate. To help him, Dick Cheney led the search committee. Bush looked over Cheney's findings and, after much consideration, chose former Missouri Senator John Danforth. Danforth was a moderate Republican, but one with some conservative credentials - he was and always had been pro-life, and had been probably the single most important person in getting Clarence Thomas confirmed to the Supreme Court. Along with this, Danforth was an ordained minister, something which could help the campaign. On election day, the race was extraordinarily close, especially in Florida. The ballots were counted and recounted. Finally, the Supreme Court ordered a stop to the recount, giving Bush the win in Florida and therefore in the electoral college. Jack Danforth was going to be Vice President.
In 2002, pressure mounted within the administration to invade Iraq. Bush was convinced, and hawks like Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Perle were enthusiastic about the invasion. The only question was one of the justification. Many in the administration wanted to claim that Saddam Hussein had links to al-Qaeda and was in the process of building nuclear weapons. But the evidence wasn't there, and the administration did not have, in Jack Danforth, someone highly experienced in national security matters to help sell an invasion on these grounds to the public. Instead of making the war one about 9/11, the administration made it a humanitarian intervention, using bipartisan support for regime change in Iraq to sell the war. This also was something Danforth, guided strongly by moral principles, could get behind. Many remained concerned about, and in some cases very opposed to the invasion, but the public was in favor, and that was how Congress voted as well.
In 2004, Danforth was in the news when he appeared on Meet the Press. In response to a question about his, and the administration's, thoughts on the Federal Marriage Amendment, Danforth answered, "I honestly am not sure about what President Bush thinks, but regardless of his view, I'm strongly opposed. I don't think there's been a sillier attempt to amend the constitution in our nation's history. It does not sit well with me at all that there are those - so many, in fact - in my party, who seem to think that they have a direct line to God himself, and they can legislate on His behalf. That's what leads to things like this, and it is simply arrogant."
Following this, there was pressure on President Bush from many social conservatives in his party to drop Danforth from the ticket in the upcoming election. Bush, however, would not agree to do it, saying, "While I disagree with John Danforth on some issues, he's a good man, he brings a lot to the table, and I trust him to be a good Vice President." Bush and Danforth won reelection over John Kerry of Massachusetts - the social conservative vote had nowhere else to go, and the Bush campaign realized that.
The defining characteristic of Danforth's term in office was being kept out of the loop. Many in the administration, including, in some cases, President Bush himself, were hesitant to tell the man who'd been known as "Saint Jack" their plans. Danforth could and would have opposed many administration initiatives, especially those that he saw as pandering to the Christian right. This led to Danforth being a powerless Vice President, as was normal - though some thought, and still think, that it was and is time for the Vice President to have real influence over policy, instead of just being someone useful for carrying a key state or constituency every four years.
However, there was one time when Danforth was anything but powerless. This was in 2005, on the issues of "enhanced interrogation techniques" and extraordinary rendition. Both programs had been kept secret from the Vice President, but when they were mentioned to him by a CIA official, Danforth strongly objected. He spent a week learning everything he could about the programs, and then met with President Bush. He got straight to the point, threatening to not just speak out against the programs, but resign from the administration entirely if torture didn't stop. The President knew his only option was to end the program - Danforth's career was over anyway, and it would be an absolute disaster if the Vice President resigned and revealed the existence of such surely controversial things. The Bush administration's torture program stopped.
It was perhaps because of his general powerlessness that even while the Iraq War became a quagmire, and even while the Bush administration became very unpopular, and even while Hillary Clinton won the Presidency by calling John McCain's potential election "a third term for Bush", John Danforth stayed well-respected. He would later be considered one of the last moderate Republicans, and stayed involved in politics, especially in his home state of Missouri, until his death.
Also, I think I'm probably not the only one who gets random ideas for one-off things like this, so if anyone else wants to contribute to this thread, that would be really cool. Just PM me. It doesn't have to be hugely plausible - I know (at least the premise of) my next one is not really at all.
Great work on the President Humphrey entry - one of my favourite should-of-been-Presidents, and I wasn't disappointed by how you painted him and his time in office Nice one!
Vice-President Danforth was more subtle - giving a conscience to the Bush administration. I could that being used in satire ITTL a great deal, with Bush as Pinocchio and Danforth as Jiminy Cricket.
I'm liking these one-offs as a tool for person entries rather than having to create entire timelines sometimes, just as a taster, so to speak.
Nice one!Vice-President Danforth was more subtle - giving a conscience to the Bush administration. I could that being used in satire ITTL a great deal, with Bush as Pinocchio and Danforth as Jiminy Cricket.
I'm liking these one-offs as a tool for person entries rather than having to create entire timelines sometimes, just as a taster, so to speak.
Great work on the President Humphrey entry - one of my favourite should-of-been-Presidents, and I wasn't disappointed by how you painted him and his time in office
Vice-President Danforth was more subtle - giving a conscience to the Bush administration. I could that being used in satire ITTL a great deal, with Bush as Pinocchio and Danforth as Jiminy Cricket.
I'm liking these one-offs as a tool for person entries rather than having to create entire timelines sometimes, just as a taster, so to speak.
Thank you!
Do you understand how similar one thing you put in that bio is to my future plans for Liberty's Century?
I'll read Danforth later, but I love how you handled Humphrey, but I notice you didn't really cover his retirement or death, which does feel like a big miss for a biography. Otherwise though, it was pretty much perfect IMO
You've got balls having anyone beat Reagan though. I've pretty much committed myself at this point to never use Reagan in a Democrat-centric TL.
You've got balls having anyone beat Reagan though. I've pretty much committed myself at this point to never use Reagan in a Democrat-centric TL.
I'm betting it's the FMA.
I really think he could have lost. I think Reagan was far from invincible, and he could have lost in '80 or '84 as well. I still am glad there hasn't been a serious flamewar over it though - I also have yet to see a real reason why Reagan simply couldn't have lost.
Well, I'm back from a week without a laptop. I have a week, then I go off to camp for three weeks without computer access (I'll be on my phone though). So I'm hoping to get one or two up in the next week. The next one may focus on baseball, in which case I'll have Andrew T to thank for the idea.
Can you please do another Democrat president from the late 20th Century? Like RFK?
If I have an idea I like and can write in a fair amount of detail about, I'll do it.