WI: Nixon commits suicide during Watergate

[MorphyVSFischer]

(Yes I got this idea from recent posts at the fantastic Richard Nixon twitter account.)

During Watergate Nixon was heavily depressed and frequently drunk and many around him feared that the President may take his own life. Indeed in August of '74 Alexander Haig heard him mutter "You fellows, in your business, you have a way of handling problems like this. Somebody leaves a pistol in a drawer. I don’t have a pistol."

So lets say somehow the Secret Service screws up, leaves Nixon alone a little to long and he commits suicide. What will the political fallout be?

 

[overoceans]

It might depend on what happens to the hearings. If there's no point in Hamlet without the Prince, the hearings(at whatever stage they would be at) could wrap up entirely, or at least lose their hold on public attention.

Nixon is thus remembered by his admirers as a good man martyred by the nattering nabobs, and by his enemies as a jerk, but not one worth worrying too much about.

Growing up in Alberta Canada, even among the kind of people who woulda liked his politics, Nixon post-Watergate was generally viewed as a bad guy. That probably changes if he leaves office in a coffin, especially via suicide. Respectable opinon avoids defaming his memory, and "Nixon jokes" are probably confined to publications like National Lampoon and other purveyors of dark iconoclasm.

 

[Gukpard]

Nixon would be forever tied to the Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas, since Vargas also committed suicide during a political crisis.

That being said, I cannot comment on the rest. Maybe the same thing happens as it did in Brazil, his suicide could save his imagine and turn the hatred towards his enemies, some conspiracy theories could pop up claiming that he was really innocent and that the CIA killed him to blame him for the Watergate scandal,

Or

Or the two other scenarios I can get is that this makes him get the image of a coward, that instead of facing justice, decided to take his own life, like the common feeling about Hitler suicide. As a final possibility, you could have pity towards him, he could end being seen not as a victim resisting against his opressors, and not as the coward who didn't wanted to be punished, but as a president who, at the brink of collapsing, was unable to deal with his failure, and so took his life and died still a president, it could be a sad end to a political history, and be seen as a drama, maybe even enter in American culture as Vargas did in Brazil, with movies and series showing the last week's and days of Nixon, and his ultimate demise by his own hands for failling.

Who knows?

 

[oberdada]

"Nixon did not kill himself" conspiracy theories by the dozens

 

[Don Corleone]

I can see him being viewed with more sympathy. He did something he shouldn't have done and it spiraled out of control.

 

[kholieken]

Soviet become much more hostile, now believing Americans political elites to be not much different than their own and willing to pressure leaders to suicide.

 

[Derek Jackson]

Does this help Ford. Does he then win in 76?

 

[MorphyVSFischer]

Does this help Ford. Does he then win in 76?

I'd bet on yes, there's no way Reagan is going to run against Ford while he carries the mantle of a dead president, this would unite the GOP to him and despite Watergate, Nixon would still attract enough of a sympathy vote for Ford to win.

 

[CountDVB]

I'd bet on yes, there's no way Reagan is going to run against Ford while he carries the mantle of a dead president, this would unite the GOP to him and despite Watergate, Nixon would still attract enough of a sympathy vote for Ford to win.

Yeah, I could see that though the GOP winning in 1976 would be their undoing given everything that would happen between there and 1980 and after 12 years of the GOP, they’d want someone new and it’s be a swing to the Democrats who could play hardball on policy

 

[Rosa Luxemburg]

I'm wondering how this may affect 1980 and the '76 Democratic primaries

 

[JanWellem]

Does this help Ford. Does he then win in 76?

I'd bet on yes, there's no way Reagan is going to run against Ford while he carries the mantle of a dead president, this would unite the GOP to him and despite Watergate, Nixon would still attract enough of a sympathy vote for Ford to win.

Not only that, Ford would also not have been tainted by pardoning Nixon, the way he was IOTL. That might of course lead to conspiracy theories later on, that he was behind Nixon's "suicide", the way there are conspiracy theories IOTL, that LBJ was the one who orchestrated JFK's assassination to become president.

 

[CountDVB]

I'm wondering how this may affect 1980 and the '76 Democratic primaries

Carter may still win the primary given how the reason he won IOTL was because he took advantage of a new system or something.

1980 would see the Dems utterly crushing the GOP since sympathy or not, 1976 - 1980 are rough years and by that point, sick of 12 years of GOP.

Additionally, given Carter’s defeat, they may swing toward a more leftist Democrat who would put in reform policies and dominate the 80s

 

[Conster]

Carter may still win the primary given how the reason he won IOTL was because he took advantage of a new system or something.

1980 would see the Dems utterly crushing the GOP since sympathy or not, 1976 - 1980 are rough years and by that point, sick of 12 years of GOP.

Additionally, given Carter’s defeat, they may swing toward a more leftist Democrat who would put in reform policies and dominate the 80s

So in 1980 we get a lefty Reagan Revolution with someone like Ted Kennedy, Frank Church or Jerry Brown.

Would Reagan possibly get the nom in 1984?

 

[CountDVB]

So in 1980 we get a lefty Reagan Revolution with someone like Ted Kennedy, Frank Church or Jerry Brown.

Would Reagan possibly get the nom in 1984?

I'd say Ted Kennedy if the scandal wears off or maybe Mo Udall if he's not hampered by the stuff on his sickness though maybe Church too. Them pushing for healthcare would definitely be something they would do and they could succeed here quite well.

As for Reagan, maybe though I am not sure.

 

[Unkown00]

The question I'm wondering is how?
Does he shoot himself?
Did he hang himself?
Did he backflip on a high building?
Did he commit creeper touch?

 

[Whiteshore]

How would the wider world see Nixon's suicide?

 

[MorphyVSFischer]

I'd say Ted Kennedy if the scandal wears off or maybe Mo Udall if he's not hampered by the stuff on his sickness though maybe Church too. Them pushing for healthcare would definitely be something they would do and they could succeed here quite well.

As for Reagan, maybe though I am not sure.

Reagan would be to old by 84

 

[CountDVB]

Reagan would be to old by 84

Then not sure... honestly, if the Neocons fail to gain traction in the 1980s (which I suspect would happen since the Dems popularity would be pretty overwhelmingly), then I have no clue. Probably someone like George HW Bush.

 

[Coiler]

That might of course lead to conspiracy theories later on, that he was behind Nixon's "suicide", the way there are conspiracy theories IOTL, that LBJ was the one who orchestrated JFK's assassination to become president.

While they'd exist, I think they'd be less common. LBJ had a (justified) reputation as a shark of a political operator, while Ford's was the (less justified) one of being a clumsy, out-of-his depth figure.

 

[InfernoMole]

How would the wider world see Nixon's suicide?

I suppose much of the wider world would be quite stunned by the leader of (what is arguably) the most powerful state on the planet committing suicide after getting caught up in a political scandal, and - presumably - likelihood of mental illness in politicians and allegations regarding it would be treated very seriously for the next five decades or so.