How would you react if these were the next five Presidents?

[McGarnagle]

I know predicting future presidents is something of a fool's errand (few people would have predicted Obama or Trump beforehand), but it is still fun to speculate and there's still a non-zero chance this could happen.

45. Donald Trump (R-NY)
January 20, 2017 - September 18, 2018 (resigned)

Trump resigns due to especially damning revelations in the Mueller probe, but attempts to save face, saying he was a great POTUS and that Mike Pence will continue to Make America Great Again.

46. Mike Pence (R-IN)
September 18, 2018 - January 20, 2021

Pence is an unpopular lame duck as he finishes out Trump's term, his approval rating rarely reaching 40%. There is an economic downturn from 2019 to 2021 that hits the midwest especially hard due to the continued tariffs. Pence loses in a landslide to Bernie Sanders in 2020 after John Kasich mounts a third party bid.

47. Bernie Sanders (D-VT)
January 20, 2021 - January 20, 2025 (retired after one term)

Sanders is popular throughout his term, and manages to implement a single payer universal health care program and overhaul the tax system. He retires after one term due to his health, but lives until 2031.

48. Kamala Harris (D-CA)
January 20, 2025 - January 20, 2033

Harris is popular through most of her two terms and defeats Tom Cotton in 2024 and an as-yet-unnamed moderate northeastern governor in 2028. There is a recession from late 2029 through the end of her second term, and the Democrats lose the 2030 midterms, their first unequivocal loss since 2016. Harris' VP loses to Senator Brian Sandoval in 2032.

49. Brian Sandoval (R-NV)
January 20, 2033 - January 20, 2041

Sandoval moves the GOP away from Trumpism and towards the center, and declines to end the still popular single payer health care program (though he does reduce its budget). The economy is booming during his two terms, and Sandoval is the first Republican president since the 20th century to leave office with approval ratings above water, at 53%. Sandoval's slightly more conservative Vice President, Meghan McCain, loses a close election to another political scion.

50. Joe Kennedy III (D-MA)
January 20, 2041 - January 20, 2049

Kennedy expands the universal health care program and reduces tax cuts for the wealthy, though not to Harris-era levels. The 2040s mark the climax of a cyber war between world powers such as the U.S., Russia, China, India, Brazil and Nigeria, and Kennedy is commended for his decisiveness during attacks on the U.S. electric grid, which are quickly addressed. Kennedy survives a 2044 assassination attempt and wins re-election in a landslide.

[Cassandra]

Any particular reason why you have Trump resigned on September 18th? Seems oddly specific.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Outside of Brian Sandoval, whose time has passed in my opinion, this sounds fairly realistic.

[Peanut]

Wouldn't really hate living in this timeline. What was the straw that broke the camel's back that led to Trump's resignation?

[McGarnagle]

Any particular reason why you have Trump resigned on September 18th? Seems oddly specific.

I just have a feeling that if anything like this does happen, it will happen soon (next two to four months). Developments and revelations in this case seem to be happening with much more frequency and he really isn't doing himself any favors lately in that regard, he's saying a lot of things which can be viewed as self-incriminating and could come back to bite him. I could be totally wrong and he could make it to the end of his term, but even then I highly doubt he'd be re-elected.

[McGarnagle]

Wouldn't really hate living in this timeline. What was the straw that broke the camel's back that led to Trump's resignation?

Probably something along the lines of money laundering. It may not be the straw that we have been expecting.

[MillennialModerate]

Seeing the Kennedy’s return to the White House... sign me up.

Although Pence is awful and Bernie + Harris leave a lot to be desired

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

It remains to be seen how the GOP get its act together and put a winning presidency after Trump and Jeb, Cruz and Walker are done except for Rubio and Kasich

[here2view]

If Trump resigns 2 months before the midterms then Democrats might be able to take the Senate and make huge gains in the House.

[Technocracy Timmy]

Kennedy survives an assassination attempt

Well I guess there’s a first for everything.

[McGarnagle]

If Trump resigns 2 months before the midterms then Democrats might be able to take the Senate and make huge gains in the House.

In this scenario, Democrats flip Arizona, Nevada, Tennessee and Texas, although Texas is very close. They manage to avoid losing any seats due to the unpopularity of the Republicans. Big gains are made in the House, which is retaken as well.

In 2019, the Senate is 53 D (including 2 I) and 47 R.

In 2020, Democrats flip Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Montana, North Carolina and Tennessee's other seat, with Lamar Alexander deciding to retire. This gives the Democrats a 60 seat supermajority.

Further gains are made in 2022, defying the usual trend of losses for the incumbent party during the midterms. 2026 is basically a wash like 1998. 2028 is a Democratic presidential win but Republicans gain a few Senate seats, later retaking the House and Senate in 2030.

[Orser67]

I'd be very happy, but also very surprised, because it's pretty much a best case scenario for Democrats. Judging by a mix of policy and electoral successes, the Sanders-Harris years would be the most successful 12 years by a single party since at least the FDR years.

[pops]

In this situation, assuming I was offered a red or blue pill, I would ask to borrow a cyanide pill

[Sir Mohamed]

I would be fine with that. Prefer Biden to be the one-termer though. But fine that the only GOPer after 2021 is a moderate and the party learned its lesson.

[Fmr. Speaker anna0kear]

Wow, what a real surprise. I'd have expected, first of all, for the Republicans to continue trending Trump-ward for the next decade at least, before any of the three Democratic presidents you mentioned get a chance to rise. And meanwhile, the warriors follow the same path, but without the exception of Sandoval himself, of course.

[Medal506]

Joe Kennedy is like the Jeb Bush of the Democratic Party. I don't think he'll ever be president. I don't think Sanders will get the nomination in 2020 either. He has a chance but seeing as how much of a beta make he is once again he'll lose to whatever establishment pick the Democratic Party will choose which will probably be Joe Biden.

[Mister Mets]

It seems unlikely that they'll all hold elected office now.

We could see what the next five Presidents were doing in 1962 (a relatively volatile time.)
JFK was President
LBJ was Vice President (checks out)
Richard Nixon was a former Vice President running for Governor (checks out)
Gerald Ford was a Congressman prominent enough to be on the verge of holding leadership posts (checks out)
Jimmy Carter was a candidate for State Senate in Georgia
Ronald Reagan was an actor who finished his last term as President of the Screen Actors Guild, who had just got fired from General Electric for criticizing big government.

[Former Dean Phillips Supporters for Haley (I guess???!?) 👁️]

Sounds like about the best we could reasonably hope for.

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

Please not Sanders-Harris.

[😥]

Please not Sanders-Harris.

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

I would be about as surprised as I would have been at past likely future presidents, such as Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, James Blaine, William Jennings Bryan, Thomas E. Dewey, Ted Kennedy, Jessie Jackson, Dick Gephardt, Mario Cuomo, Bob Dole, Al Gore, and Hillary Clinton.

[Mister Mets]

I would be about as surprised as I would have been at past likely future presidents, such as Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, James Blaine, William Jennings Bryan, Thomas E. Dewey, Ted Kennedy, Jessie Jackson, Dick Gephardt, Mario Cuomo, Bob Dole, Al Gore, and Hillary Clinton.

It's be hard to predict presidents years in advance.

So let's look at early 1896.
McKinley was a top figure in a key swing state.
Teddy Roosevelt was a hero/ President of the New York City Board of Police Commissioners.
Taft was a judge.
Wilson was a political science professor at Princeton.
Harding had lost a race for auditor.

We're currently in a period where we've had three presidents in a row serve two full terms, so it's pretty likely that people we've never heard of, who haven't done the things that'll bring them to national prominence, will be among the first five successors to Trump, especially since the last of the bunch might not take the White House for thirty years (and that's factoring in potential resignations/ one-termers.)

[bagelman]

I'd be a happy 30 year old, but less so at age 50 to see a family name like Kennedy return to the white house. Better than Bush, I guess.

[TarHeelDem]

This is actually really fantastic and other than overshooting Trump's resignation date by about a year, pretty realistic. Personally, I don't think Bernie's going to run, but you can substitute Warren (who I think will) in his place here and it still works.

Love that we get the first female, part-Indian, and Hispanic presidents in this timeline. Curious who Pence, Sanders, Harris, and Kennedy's VPs are. Happy that the GOP moderates and the country makes substantial progress from a policy standpoint. Kennedy winning the first great cyber war and subsequently surviving an assassination attempt is an excellent touch.

Questions: a) How do global alliances evolve during this time (and who's allied for the cyber war)? b) What is the story of Putin and Russia?