What if Monroe had lived longer and decided to get into politics and run for president? Could she have won with her popularity? How would America react to a female president at the time?
President Marilyn Monroe
- Thread starter Bullmoose713
- Start date
Doubt it that America would be ready for a female president especially at that time due to the sexism of the time. Doubtful that even with her popularity, she would have won. Future historians might have been annoyed or intrigued that there was a Monroe over 150 years separated from the previous (James) Monroe, though.
Possible, but Johnson is really common. Monroe, not so much. That might spur weird theories. But I digress. It's really not likely that Marilyn Monroe would have enough support due to underlying sexism of that time.
For a time i hadn't read the title properly and thought we were talking about Marilyn Manson as president. Now that'd be cool.
If Joe Kennedy had managed to swing Jack a movie career, would he be the one singing Happy Birthday?
I think Monroe's problem would be the very thing that made her a star - her dumb blonde persona.
By all accounts Norma Jeane, the real woman was very clever but that public persona, which she had put a lot of effort into crafting, would work against her.
By all accounts Norma Jeane, the real woman was very clever but that public persona, which she had put a lot of effort into crafting, would work against her.
Someone went through Reagan's library after he died and checked out all the books and their annotations. Up until the dementia kicked in, the dumb cowboy actor was a whole lot smarter and more intellectual than he revealed in his public persona.
Most of Reagan's roles did not actually see him play dumb guys, and even his public persona was more carefree and likable, a jokester rather than a dunce.
Monroe's films usually had her play an airhead. Sometimes one with a streak of cunning but normally still naive, greedy and boy crazy.
Again I know the real Monroe was very clever, but her screen/public image would be considerably more of a handicap than Reagan's 'one of the guys' appeal.
Even ignoring the rampant sexism of 1960s America, her multiple marriages and divorces would be a huge problem, especially to Arthur Miller. She had converted to Judaism for him (which is probably a nomination-killer in and of itself). He was jailed and blacklisted by HUAC for refusing to name names, so her opponents can freely smear her as a promiscuous Communist-sympathizing Jewess.
Simple, don’t have her elected president at first. After a long political career in her senior years, she ends up Speaker of the House or designated survivor just in time for some tragedy to scythe down everyone ahead of her. With time as president she’s then able to run on her own merits, and win.
I agree with everyone else re the difficulty of getting her elected without radically altering her career. I do wonder what she'd have done with the rest of her life though-maybe she'd gravitate towards more involvement in political campaigning-and there's also the chance her political views could become more mainstream in time. Imho Sherley Temple is the more likely prospect for an actress to become President, though even then it's still probably a massive longshot.
Failing that, in the UK, Labour Prime Minister Angela Lansbury (following in the footsteps of her Grandfather George) is doable as long as she doesn't follow George's example in terms of her views on foreign affairs. Or, maybe, at a stretch, Glenda Jackson could do it (she was transport secretary in the early Blair years OTL, after all).
Failing that, in the UK, Labour Prime Minister Angela Lansbury (following in the footsteps of her Grandfather George) is doable as long as she doesn't follow George's example in terms of her views on foreign affairs. Or, maybe, at a stretch, Glenda Jackson could do it (she was transport secretary in the early Blair years OTL, after all).
Arthur Miller did suggest her as *vice* president, though obviously not seriously:
"The HUAC investigation put intense and unremitting pressure on both Miller and Marilyn just before and during the first two years of their difficult marriage. Always sympathetic to the underdog, the was naturally influenced by his left-wing political views. When questioned, later on, about the communists, the relied on her instincts and said, "They're for the people, aren't they?". Realizing perhaps that she'd unintentionally aroused HUAC's interest in Miller, and identifying with him as a victim, she was absolutely determined to use all her considerable power to defend him.
"Coached and encouraged by his lawyer, she told the press, "I'm fully confident that in the end my husband will win his case." She also confirmed, while alluding to Skouras, that when "Miller was on trial for contempt of Congress, a certain corporation executive said either he named names and I got him to name names, or I was finished. I said,Tm proud of my husband's position, and I stand behind his all the way.'" Marilyn's loyalty during this crisis was their finest hour, and they would never be as close and as happy again. Impressed by Marilyn's performance, *Miller jokingly told Rauh that she would make a fine vice president, though the senators would not be able to concentrate on their work* [my emphasis--DT]....
https://books.google.com/books?id=SUvr7QceBzYC&pg=PA148
This is one of the problems with her as a candidate for high office; apart from the fact that most Americans still didn't take the prospect of a woman president seriously in those days, to the extent she had any serious politics, they would probably be too left-wing for America at the time. (I once suggested that if she hadn't killed herself, she might become a Jane Fonda style radical activist in the 1960's and 1970's; I don' t actually think that's very likely but more likely than her becoming POTUS.)
"The HUAC investigation put intense and unremitting pressure on both Miller and Marilyn just before and during the first two years of their difficult marriage. Always sympathetic to the underdog, the was naturally influenced by his left-wing political views. When questioned, later on, about the communists, the relied on her instincts and said, "They're for the people, aren't they?". Realizing perhaps that she'd unintentionally aroused HUAC's interest in Miller, and identifying with him as a victim, she was absolutely determined to use all her considerable power to defend him.
"Coached and encouraged by his lawyer, she told the press, "I'm fully confident that in the end my husband will win his case." She also confirmed, while alluding to Skouras, that when "Miller was on trial for contempt of Congress, a certain corporation executive said either he named names and I got him to name names, or I was finished. I said,Tm proud of my husband's position, and I stand behind his all the way.'" Marilyn's loyalty during this crisis was their finest hour, and they would never be as close and as happy again. Impressed by Marilyn's performance, *Miller jokingly told Rauh that she would make a fine vice president, though the senators would not be able to concentrate on their work* [my emphasis--DT]....
https://books.google.com/books?id=SUvr7QceBzYC&pg=PA148
This is one of the problems with her as a candidate for high office; apart from the fact that most Americans still didn't take the prospect of a woman president seriously in those days, to the extent she had any serious politics, they would probably be too left-wing for America at the time. (I once suggested that if she hadn't killed herself, she might become a Jane Fonda style radical activist in the 1960's and 1970's; I don' t actually think that's very likely but more likely than her becoming POTUS.)
Last edited: