Camelot Anew

[MAINEiac4434]

I really think you should slow down. You didn't cover the midterm campaign, which I would have really liked to see.

I'm honestly running out of ideas for Kennedy. His successor is so damn interesting. I can't wait to get to him.

Speaking of the 1976 campaign, since the format of this TL is a documentary which interviews RFK associates, how will you cover politics after RFK retires? Are you gonna interview the associates of each different President, or keep interviewing the RFK associates?

Associates of each succeeding President, but with more outsiders, particularly for the next President.

[MAINEiac4434]

Is the next president Roy Cohn or Roger McBride?

Nope! But I never said it wasn’t Reagan...

[MAINEiac4434]

Part XII: The Kennedy Shock

"There had been pressure on many sides to end the Bretton Woods system in the United States. President Kennedy had resisted because he'd wanted to get these huge reforms to our health system and everything, and was afraid that a major change to our fiscal system may have created an environment that wasn't great for those reforms."

[MAINEiac4434]

"He told Sirhan 'I forgive you.' Sirhan didn't even look at him. Sirhan said nothing. I think he was embarrassed, on some level, that he tried to kill Bobby. He was deeply, deeply ashamed."

[MAINEiac4434]

It might just be my memory, but... what's up with that single-payer bill RFK and Teddy were plotting to get through?

Yes. It's been a huge success thus far.

[MAINEiac4434]

President Kennedy and Secretary Brezhnev signing an arms reduction treaty in Moscow, October 14, 1975

[MAINEiac4434]

The Sirhan update actually moved me a little. Call me a sap.

This is one of the best timelines I’ve read. Great job!

Thank you both!

[MAINEiac4434]

Part XIII: Denoument

Admired by young and old. The President in Los Angeles, March 27, 1976.

[MAINEiac4434]

"You know...I often think about what would've happened if Sirhan's bullet was two inches to the right. What if Bobby had died on that kitchen floor that night? How different would our country be? How different would our world be? How much worse off would we be?"

[MAINEiac4434]

The following is an excerpt from President Kennedy's farewell address, January 12, 1977

"We have achieved great things over the last four years. And I know many of my supporters were disheartened by the campaign the President-elect ran, and are afraid that the progress we've made will be rolled back.

"My friends, ten years ago, we were mired in a war with no conceivable ending. We had rampant gun violence, we had people going bankrupt to try to pay for their medical bills, we had good schools in rich white neighborhoods and bad schools in poor and black neighborhoods.

President Kennedy watches the White House fade away from distance as he takes Marine One to Dulles Airport, January 20, 1977

"And look where we are today. Look at the progress we've made. Progress is not done in the ivory towers of Washington. It is not enacted with the stroke of the pen. It is made in the streets by everyday Americans willing to fight for themselves and fight for their neighbors. It is made on college campuses, where young people find their voice. It is made in churches, where the neighborhood comes together.

President Kennedy visiting a Detroit neighborhood in one of his first public appearances following the conclusion of his Presidency, February 27, 1977

"A great man once said that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. It will always bend towards justice, no matter who occupies the Oval Office, who controls Congress, who the Supreme Court justices are. It will always bend towards justice because of you. Each and every one of you has the power to change the world. Whether you're black or white. Male or female. Homosexual or not homosexual. You have the power. And as long as you don't forget the values that make our country great, I like our chances.

"It has been my privilege to serve as your President over the last eight years. I've met so many people who've changed my life in such a positive way. And I've met so many people who say that I've changed their lives. I'm glad to have made a positive impact on someone, however small. Now, I stand with you, a citizen, looking forthrightly and walking onward..."

"...toward the future."

End Chapter One

[MAINEiac4434]

Truly one of the most amazing timelines I've ever read. I truly wish this was our reality. I cant wait to see chapter two. I don't care who the next president is. I wish it was real.

That was one of the greatest timelines I have ever seen.

Truly one of the most amazing timelines I've ever read. I truly wish this was our reality. I cant wait to see chapter two. I don't care who the next president is. I wish it was real.

Going forward I'm gonna pretend like this is what actually happened and the reality we're living is just wrong

Thank you all!

The Reagan administration should be interesting.

I certainly hope so. He will be dealing with the energy crisis, a slowing of the economy, and Iran, but the first part of the next chapter will be on the 1976 election.

Would love to read more about the legislation passed. Wonder what was done regarding welfare and inner cities. Would also like to see a cabinet list. Great job!

President: Robert Francis Kennedy (D-NY)
Vice President: Birch Bayh (D-IN)
Secretary of State: Vance Hartke (D-IN) (1969-1973), Edmund Muskie (D-ME), (1973-1977)
Secretary of the Treasury: Edward Brooke (R-MA)
Secretary of Defense: John Glenn (D-OH) (1969-1971) Averill Harriman (1971-1977)
Attorney General: Ralph W. Yarborough (D-TX)
Secretary of Labor: Jesse Unruh (D-CA)
Secretary of the Interior: Ben Reifel (R-SD)
Secretary of Agriculture: Cesar Chavez (D-CA)
Secretary of Commerce: Bill Steiger (R-WI)
Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare: Henry B. Gonzalez (D-TX)
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Charles Diggs (D-MI) (1969-1973), Richard M. Nixon (R-CA), (1973-1977)
Secretary of Transportation: Endicott Peabody (D-MA)
National Health Administrator: Julia Butler Hansen (D-WA) (1970-1977)
Secretary of Education: Shirley Chisholm (D-NY) (1974-1977)
Chief of Staff: Fred Dutton
Press Secretary: Pierre Salinger
Senior Advisors: Ted Sorensen, Harris Wofford

I didn't change the cabinet that much because I honestly hate building cabinets.

Major legislation passed:

The Health Security Act of 1969, which established a universal single-payer healthcare system in the United States, administered under the cabinet-level National Health Administration.

The Hong Kong Accords, the template for peace in the Indochinese region

The Gun Control Act (I'm also not good with names), which placed weapons into four tiers and limited the access of weapons in the higher tiers

SALT I and SALT II

Taking the US off the gold standard

Beginning of normalization of relations with Red China

Formation of education department that put considerable power into the federal government for primary education.

[MAINEiac4434]

This was absolutely amazing! Also, what happened to John Glenn? Having met him irl, I have a special interest in him

He was nominated to the United States Senate following the vacancy caused by Senator Gilligan becoming governor.

[MAINEiac4434]

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=276890.0

Chapter Two starts here