Chapter I: January - March, 1971
Nazi Space Spy
Banned
A few years back, @Drew allowed me to write a spinoff for FLaG '72 which I've at last decided to launch. Much of the events of this version of the timeline between 1970-1975 will follow Drew's established arch, with a number of small PODs scattered throughout. The story will closely resemble the timeline in a condensed format, so if you haven't yet read Fear, Loathing, and Gumbo, I encourage you to stop reading here and check this link for Drew's timeline first. This timeline will set out to explain and expand upon the Gumboverse, and will be largely independent of the story arch by the end of the 1970s, meaning that Rumsfeldia (also a fantastic timeline worth reading) will be avoided by and large. I tested it out on another forum and got a good response, so I figured I'd try it here after reediting some of it.
January - March, 1971.
Governor John McKeithen.
The 1972 presidential campaign begins in earnest when liberal Democratic Senators Birch Bayh (D-IN) and George McGovern (D-SD) announce their candidacies. However, both Senators are beaten in the race for the earliest announcement by little known Louisiana Governor John McKeithen. A moderate in comparison to his other potential challengers with a questionable history on organized crime and race relations, McKeithen none the less runs as a center-left populist, the kind of Governor emblematic of what political scientists have dubbed “the new south.” Taking advantage of the rules laid out by the McGovern-Fraiser Committee which democratized the nominating process of the Democratic Party, McKeithen traveled throughout Iowa and New Hampshire with his two sons and a traveling aide. Starting his stump speech with the folksy introduction “I’m John McKeithen, and you don’t know me from Adam!” and ending with an earnest appeal, “won’t ‘cha ‘hep ‘me?,” the little known Governor of Louisiana played the long game under the radar.
As the month neared its end, former Vice President and Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey announces he too will enter the presidential primaries, though he once again does not actively campaign for the nomination. February saw Congressman Wilbur Mills of Arkansas, the Chair of the influential House Ways and Means Committee, enter the arena. The Arkansas Congressman polled low but was optimistic that his patronage network in his home state could propel his favorite-son candidacy. McKeithen was not the only unknown to announce their presidential ambitions; Ken Hechler, a populist West Virginia Congressman with strong progressive credentials entered the race in early March. He was not known widely even within Washington, however, and many believed his candidacy was to boost his prospects for a potential Senate or gubernatorial campaign. While Bayh, Hechler, McKeithen, McGovern, and Mills hit the campaign trail, other prominent Democrats like Scoop Jackson and George Wallace waited in the wings.
But most importantly was the lingering shadow of Ted Kennedy, who despite facing serious scandal after the Chappaquiddick incident was still the obvious frontrunner. While Kennedy dithered about running, Terry Sanford made his choice clear – the former North Carolina Governor would not be running for President in 1972 and endorses McKeithen for the nomination instead. But Terry Sanford, however influential he may have been in his North Carolina, was but a grain of sand in comparison to the heir of Camelot. His scandal plagued history and the tragic fates of his elder brothers would suggest that such a candidate would be far, far, far away from the position of frontrunner. Yet by virtue of his name and the nostalgia it surrounding it, he remained a viable candidate and had the support of a major swathe of the party. Perhaps the most politically progressive of the Kennedy brothers, Ted knew that he was born to run. The only question he couldn't quite answer was "when?"
Meanwhile, the situation across the globe seemed to get only increasingly more chaotic. In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge makes major breakthroughs and launches a ground offensive that advances quickly on the capital city of Phnom Penh. Forces loyal to President Lon Nol are able to repel the attack, though a raid on an airfield near the city leaves much of the Khmer Republic’s air force destroyed. The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot (referred to by the party as Brother #1) and Iang Sary, initially formed in the hinterlands as a small armed wing of the communist party, but had quickly grown into a powerful force within the destabilized nation. Having formed an alliance of convenience with exiled monarch Prince Sihanouk, the Khmer Rouge blended hyper nationalism with a radically Maoist doctrine of leftism that vowed to take "Kampuchea" back to what they called "Year Zero."
Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
But Indochina was not the only hotspot in Southeast Asia. In neighboring Vietnam, the war still raged much to the horror of American anti-war activists, and the Viet Cong insurgency continued bedeviling the American aligned government in Saigon for the duration of the year. In East Pakistan, an uprising by the region’s Bengali population throws India and Pakistan into a brief military conflict, which Nixon and Kissinger exploited masterfully. Having maintained close ties with both the United States and the People’s Republic of China, Pakistan used the Nixon administration’s desired rapprochement with China to trade access to Peking for military support. In violation of arms sanctions placed on Pakistan due to their heavy-handed tactics against Bengali independence activists in the leadup to the revolt, Nixon routed weapons to Pakistan through backchannels like Jordan and Iran. The USSR on the other hand provided support for India and the leftist inspired liberation movement in East Pakistan, which declared their independence as Bangladesh. Ultimately, Indian military intervention led to the surrender of all Pakistani forces remaining in the country, while the war on Pakistan and India’s eastern border remained a tense series of skirmishes. With the United States recognizing Bangladesh after the Indian intervention, the war ended quickly and without further bloodshed. Though relations on the Indian subcontinent would remain bitter, the prospect of nuclear conflict had been once again avoided.
At home, radicals were just as prolific. The capital building itself was bombed by the Weather Underground in April, though the blast only damaged an empty restroom and failed to injure or kill anyone. Weeks later, a group called the “Citizens Committee to Investigate the FBI” successfully burgled an FBI field office in Pennsylvania while the security guards were distracted watching the Muhammed Ali vs. Joe Frazier fight. Though the radical left seemed increasingly active, the President enjoyed relative popularity and kept the “Silent Majority” coalition largely intact. Nixon had no trouble whatsoever getting former Democratic Governor of Texas John Connally to join his administration as Secretary of the Treasury, who was confirmed by a vote of 59-41. Nixon also surprised liberals when he lent his support to the successful effort to ratify the 26th amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18 just in time for the elections, in addition to his signing legislation that created the Environmental Protection Agency the year before.
Treasury Secretary John Connally of Texas.
As winter gave way to spring, the 1972 election was already fully underway. Yet the field, small but growing, was far from set. Worst yet, all four candidates remained under Kennedy’s shadow, nervously awaiting the frontrunner’s decision. Several prominent potential candidates like Ed Muskie, Fred Harris, and George Wallace remained noncommittal about the race as a result, knowing that challenging Ted Kennedy would surely become a fruitless endeavor.
Gallup: 1,000 Democratic Voters (Nationwide).
Edward Kennedy: 31%
Hubert Humphrey: 14%*
George McGovern: 13%*
Edmund Muskie: 11%
George Wallace: 10%
Henry Jackson: 5%
Birch Bayh: 5%*
John McKeithen: 4%*
Eugene McCarthy: 3%
Harold Hughes: 2%
Wilbur Mills: 1%
Ken Helcher: 1%
January - March, 1971.
Governor John McKeithen.
The 1972 presidential campaign begins in earnest when liberal Democratic Senators Birch Bayh (D-IN) and George McGovern (D-SD) announce their candidacies. However, both Senators are beaten in the race for the earliest announcement by little known Louisiana Governor John McKeithen. A moderate in comparison to his other potential challengers with a questionable history on organized crime and race relations, McKeithen none the less runs as a center-left populist, the kind of Governor emblematic of what political scientists have dubbed “the new south.” Taking advantage of the rules laid out by the McGovern-Fraiser Committee which democratized the nominating process of the Democratic Party, McKeithen traveled throughout Iowa and New Hampshire with his two sons and a traveling aide. Starting his stump speech with the folksy introduction “I’m John McKeithen, and you don’t know me from Adam!” and ending with an earnest appeal, “won’t ‘cha ‘hep ‘me?,” the little known Governor of Louisiana played the long game under the radar.
As the month neared its end, former Vice President and Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey announces he too will enter the presidential primaries, though he once again does not actively campaign for the nomination. February saw Congressman Wilbur Mills of Arkansas, the Chair of the influential House Ways and Means Committee, enter the arena. The Arkansas Congressman polled low but was optimistic that his patronage network in his home state could propel his favorite-son candidacy. McKeithen was not the only unknown to announce their presidential ambitions; Ken Hechler, a populist West Virginia Congressman with strong progressive credentials entered the race in early March. He was not known widely even within Washington, however, and many believed his candidacy was to boost his prospects for a potential Senate or gubernatorial campaign. While Bayh, Hechler, McKeithen, McGovern, and Mills hit the campaign trail, other prominent Democrats like Scoop Jackson and George Wallace waited in the wings.
But most importantly was the lingering shadow of Ted Kennedy, who despite facing serious scandal after the Chappaquiddick incident was still the obvious frontrunner. While Kennedy dithered about running, Terry Sanford made his choice clear – the former North Carolina Governor would not be running for President in 1972 and endorses McKeithen for the nomination instead. But Terry Sanford, however influential he may have been in his North Carolina, was but a grain of sand in comparison to the heir of Camelot. His scandal plagued history and the tragic fates of his elder brothers would suggest that such a candidate would be far, far, far away from the position of frontrunner. Yet by virtue of his name and the nostalgia it surrounding it, he remained a viable candidate and had the support of a major swathe of the party. Perhaps the most politically progressive of the Kennedy brothers, Ted knew that he was born to run. The only question he couldn't quite answer was "when?"
Meanwhile, the situation across the globe seemed to get only increasingly more chaotic. In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge makes major breakthroughs and launches a ground offensive that advances quickly on the capital city of Phnom Penh. Forces loyal to President Lon Nol are able to repel the attack, though a raid on an airfield near the city leaves much of the Khmer Republic’s air force destroyed. The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot (referred to by the party as Brother #1) and Iang Sary, initially formed in the hinterlands as a small armed wing of the communist party, but had quickly grown into a powerful force within the destabilized nation. Having formed an alliance of convenience with exiled monarch Prince Sihanouk, the Khmer Rouge blended hyper nationalism with a radically Maoist doctrine of leftism that vowed to take "Kampuchea" back to what they called "Year Zero."
Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
At home, radicals were just as prolific. The capital building itself was bombed by the Weather Underground in April, though the blast only damaged an empty restroom and failed to injure or kill anyone. Weeks later, a group called the “Citizens Committee to Investigate the FBI” successfully burgled an FBI field office in Pennsylvania while the security guards were distracted watching the Muhammed Ali vs. Joe Frazier fight. Though the radical left seemed increasingly active, the President enjoyed relative popularity and kept the “Silent Majority” coalition largely intact. Nixon had no trouble whatsoever getting former Democratic Governor of Texas John Connally to join his administration as Secretary of the Treasury, who was confirmed by a vote of 59-41. Nixon also surprised liberals when he lent his support to the successful effort to ratify the 26th amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18 just in time for the elections, in addition to his signing legislation that created the Environmental Protection Agency the year before.
Treasury Secretary John Connally of Texas.
Gallup: 1,000 Democratic Voters (Nationwide).
Edward Kennedy: 31%
Hubert Humphrey: 14%*
George McGovern: 13%*
Edmund Muskie: 11%
George Wallace: 10%
Henry Jackson: 5%
Birch Bayh: 5%*
John McKeithen: 4%*
Eugene McCarthy: 3%
Harold Hughes: 2%
Wilbur Mills: 1%
Ken Helcher: 1%
- No major PODs here aside from the obvious entry of McKeithen and Helcher into the race.