List of Alternate Presidents

[MatthewZD]

Joe Jr.'s plane isn't shot down in WWII

Joe Kennedy Jr. 1953-1961
Nelson Rockefeller 1961-1965
Scoop Jackson 1965-1969
George Romney 1969-1977
Gerald Ford 1977-1981
Ted Kennedy 1981-1985
George Bush 1985-1993
Dick Gephardt 1993-2001
Al Gore 2001-2005
Jay Rockefeller 2005-Present

Joe Jr. wins the Democratic Nomination at the convention as the young choice of the bosses and defeats Dwight Eisenhower in the closest election of the century (So far). He expands the Cold War and enacts large tax cuts to stimulate growth, generally following Military Keynesianism. He is slow to move on civil rights, and no major reforms are made until Nelly shows up.

Like someone else, I don't see Eisenhower being defeated in 1952.  Plus, Joe Jr. would have been 37 on election day 1952, even younger than JFK when he was elected.

Here's how I see it going down --

Dwight Eisenhower  1953-1961
Joe Kennedy Jr  1961-1964 ¹
Lyndon Johnson  1964-1972 ²
John F. Kennedy  1972-1973 ³
Richard Nixon 1973-1975 ⁴
Gerald Ford  1975-1977 ⁵
John F. Kennedy  1977-1985 ⁶
George H. W. Bush  1985-1993 ⁷
Dan Quayle  1993-1997 ⁸
Richard Lamm  1997-2005 ⁹
John Kerry  2005-2009 ¹⁰
Hillary Rodham  2009-  <sup>11

1</sup> - assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan while campaigning for his brother running for re-election to the US Senate from California
² - succeeded upon JPK's death, nominated President in his place, re-elected but died year earlier than OTL
³ - veeerrrrrrrry close defeat in 1972, but pendulum was swinging toward GOP after 12 years of Democrats
⁴ - scandal from Watergate break-in in 1972 (some things never change) force Nixon to be only POTUS to resign
⁵ - almost re-elected thanks to George Wallace 3rd party run
⁶ - Iran hostage rescue successful, re-elected despite economic slump that turned around in early 80s
⁷ - close election and landslide re-election thanks to end of cold war
⁸ - hey, at least I'm limiting him to one term, okay?
⁹ - elected as a fusion Democrat/Reform candidate to draw support from the Perotistas
¹⁰ - defeated thanks to the economic meltdown of 2008
¹¹ - onetime first lady of Arkansas who left her womanizing husband (and his party) and returned home to Chicago to become Governor

[MatthewZD]

Richard M. Nixon (R-NY) (1969-1989)

Lol

Actually that's how it turned out in Watchmen.  Read the book if you ever have the chance (avoid the movie, though; the book is much much better).

[MatthewZD]

Watchmen Timeline

POD: The USA is victorious in Vietnam.

Richard M. Nixon (R-NY) (1969-1989)
Robert Redford (D-CA) (1989-2001)
John McCain (R-AZ) (2001-2009)
Barack Obama (D-IL) (2009-present)

I don't know that Redford would have served that long.  After having one person be President for 20 years people in the US in Watchmen may have been wary of another long-serving president.

Things may also depend on whether or not Rorschach's journal was published, and if so was it believed or dismissed as a hoax. 

Let's assume Rorschach's journal is published and verified.  Ozymandias' plan to trick the world into peace surprisingly does not completely unravel.  The closeness between east and west cools but not to the point of nuclear war. 

Richard M. Nixon (R-CA)  (1969-1987)  ¹
Gerald Ford (R-MI)  (1987-1989)
Robert Redford (D-CA)  (1989-1995)  ²
Hillary Clinton (D-AR)  (1995-2001) ³
Sam Hollis (R-CO)  (2001-2007)  ⁴
Jon Stewart (D-NY)  (2007-present)  ⁵

1 - dies in the middle of a heart operation
2 - the first president to serve under the new term limits of one single 6-year term
3 - the first female president; once the first lady of Arkansas, she ran for and won the Senate while her husband was still in office
4 - once the costumed hero known as Nite Owl, Dan Dreiberg went into hiding and was elected Governor of Colorado.  Unknown to all, his election was orchestrated by Dr. Manhattan, who remained hidden so his presence would not influence the decisions of mankind.  However, in his desire to make up for the influence he did have during the cold war years, he subtly does what he can to make the world a better place.  In essence, the puppet who can see the strings has become a benevolent puppet master.  Following the prevention of the mass hijackings on September 11, President Hollis decided to take the fight to those who masterminded the plan.  Al Qaeda was broken and Osama Bin Laden killed in the process. 
5 - a one-time actor and comedian who briefly turned serious journalist before becoming a senator and eventually president.