FDR lives until 1964.
1948: Franklin Roosevelt/Harry Truman[1]
1952: Earl Warren/Wayne Morse [2]
1956: Earl Warren/Wayne Morse [3]
1960: Barry Goldwater/Alfred Gruenther [4]
1964: Barry Goldwater/Alfred Gruenther [5]
1967: Alfred Gruenther/Vacant [5]
1968: Allard K. Lowenstein/Paul C. Fisher (Democratic)
1972: Allard K. Lowenstein/Paul C. Fisher (Democratic)[8]
1976: Allard K. Lowenstein/Paul C. Fisher (Democratic)[9]
1980: Barry Goldwater Jr./Larry Pressler (Republican)[10]
1984: Barry Goldwater Jr./Larry Pressler (Republican)[10]
[1] With the war won, a united Germany Finlandized, and the post-war economic boom starting, a healthy Roosevelt starts his unprecedented 5th term. His victory against Dewey is his smallest so far, but still comfortable. The Democrats do well enough in congress to retain a small majority.
[2] Roosevelt continues on through his fifth term, although a conflict in Korea causes the US and USSR to supply opposing sides by proxy and Roosevelt commits US troops. In addition, the arms race continues fully and the economic boom does not last as the US economy readjusts from the strains of World War 2 and the pressures of the new conflicts. The Democrats nominate Harry Truman for President after Roosevelt announces he will retire after 20 years as President, however Truman loses to California Governor Earl Warren, who campaigns on a platform of economic reform and distinct hawkishness of security, which enables him to win.
[3] President Warren proves to be popular with the American people and enacts moderate civil rights reforms, much to the chagrin of southern conservatives in both parties. He also brings the war in Korea to a close, with Pyongyang a divided city much like Berlin, and a crippled North Korea more or less a part of China. The economy continues to hum strongly along as the world rebuilds from the Second World War, and the Republican Party, once maligned and pushed to the side, seems ascendant.
[4] President Warren remains popular, despite a 1957-1958 recession and some skirmishes with Congress over civil rights and government reforms. However, the conservative wing of the Republican Party is unhappy with Warren's reforms and moderate views and this results in Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater launching a renegade primary campaign against Vice President Wayne Morse, resulting in Goldwater taking the nomination after a divided convention. He picks retired Army General and former Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, Alfred Gruenther as his running mate for popularity. The Republicans are split, but so are the Democrats who nominated Senator Lyndon Johnson after an equally divided convention. The general election is divisive and close, with Goldwater scoring a very narrow victory after a scandal about Johnson's finances is released two weeks before the election. While the Republicans have held on for another term, the party is divided and President-elect Goldwater has foreign policy troubles and social tensions to deal with.
[5] The Goldwater administration proved to be much more hawkish than its predecessor, invading Cuba in 1962, and sending American military advisors to South Vietnam to combat the rise of communism there. Goldwater also effectively destroys detente through blustery speeches in which he insinuates that nuclear warfare is a perfectly acceptable tactic in ending the Cold War.
Domestically, improved security and wiretapping laws lead to a calmer nation, even if calm was implemented via disappearances and no shortage of additional police funding. Civil rights remains an issue, but Goldwater's insistence towards state's rights frustrates leaders such as Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.
Goldwater is reelected in 1964 after a disastrous Democratic primary season leads to George C. Wallace being nominated over a hapless Pat Brown and an ailing John F. Kennedy. Goldwater crushes Wallace easily, and looks ahead to his second term, where escalation in Vietnam and possible warfare with the Chinese and the Soviets seem like the only alternatives.
[6] The 1966 revelations (and subsequent investigation) of the true scale of the mass surveilence programs (especially of the very large anti-Vietnam movement) was followed by the double Nuclear near-miss year of 1967. Goldwater is impeached by the sizable and leftist Democratic Congress elected in '66 (supported by a number of Republicans). Vice President Gruenther takes the oath of office to great trepidation. He was a military man and a still in many ways a political unknown. The American public is looking to the government to deescalate the potential conflicts in South East Asia and along the Iron Curtain, and Gruenther turns out to be the perfect man to do it. The political winds are strongly against the Republicans, but Gruenther himself became rather respected.
[7] The situation in South East Asia remained highly-volatile, but Gruenther managed to methodically deescalate the situation. Gruenther very controversially flew to China to reopen relations with China, something that many at the time found was only possible because he did not plan on running in 1968, seeing himself as a crisis manager and caretaker. Tensions with the Soviets remained high, but the clear headed and sober Gruenther Administration brought about (and allowed) an uneasy detente. The ailing Republicans saw some light at the end of the tunnel in regards to 1968, the bottom fell out. With China turning on Russia and Europe struggling to federalize, America was hit by the largest economic crisis since the Depression. Devastated, the public chose the Democrats in 1968 (who had deliberately run a provocative and controversial campaign with the intent of radically-destabilizing Republican backing). Sure enough, Lowenstein - with his neo-isolationist anti-war stance - provoked a backlash amongst Southern voters but secured a large majority in the Electoral College. His radical social and economic agendas was backed by the larger majority in Congress than in the mid-1930s. The discontented Southern Democrats did not find a new home in the ailing and demoralized GOP, and continued on either as extremely unhappy Democrats or in the arms of a small but potent regional (for now) Conservative party.
[8] The Lowenstein administration is returned for a second term in 1972, but trouble quickly begins to brew. The Democratic stranglehold on Congress was severely weakened as Americans grew weary with the rapid pace of reform. Furthermore, a scandal and possible coverup regarding Lowensteins campaign donations (which later was revealed to be false) severely hampered his ability to govern throughout much of 1973. An attempt at healthcare reform brought about expanded Medicare that was designed to later be adapted as single payer healthcare was the signature legislation of his second term. Despite the upheavals, the President remained popular throughout and he was looking at a third time come 1975.
[9] Lowenstein again gains a mandate largely because the election was fought on healthcare and the GOP and Conservative opposition cling to anti-Single Payer ideologies. Single Payer medicare is implemented.
[10] Lowensteins efforts for a fourth term are derailed by the economic collapse in 1977. Energy shortages and leftist economic policy combined with a general decline in confidence pushed by the Iran hostage crisis set the condition for Barry Goldwater Jr, California's freshly elected Senator, to sweep the White House. Campaigning on a generally libertarian platform while also promising to keep Lowensteins popular healthcare reforms allow him to paint a stark contrast to the aging and unpopular Lowenstein, which lead to a 42 state landslide victory for Goldwater.
[10]Goldwater Jrs foreign policy was not all that unlike Lowenstein's, so the long-standing drawback from the world continued. This was not necessarily an entirely good thing. Learning from his father's mistakes, he attempts to maintain a truly libertarian ideology, within the context of this new more leftist America. Thus, the mass privatizations do not occur at the pace many worried about.
