Out of the Shadow

[Cold War Liberal]

Thankfully it looks like the only text Dave deleted from my timelines were Goldwater's farewell speech and half of the post on Humphrey's inauguration. I've fixed it.

In the future, I'll make sure not to post any more copyrighted images.

[Cold War Liberal]

March 2, 1976

Congressman Lowenstein wins the Vermont Democratic primary with 52% of the vote and the Massachusetts Democratic primary with 50.3% of the vote. Vice President Jackson wins his home state of Washington’s primary with 81% of the vote.

John Lindsay wins both Vermont and Massachusetts in the Republican primary. Attention now turns to Florida and Illinois, the next states to hold primaries.

March 5, 1976

United Nations General Secretary Max Jakobson gives a speech expressing concern about the growing humanitarian crisis in Southeast Asia, especially Indochina. Following the United States dropping multiple 25 Mt nuclear bombs on or around Hanoi on June 1, 1971 - which had been called the “Hanoi Incident” by the U.S. government ever since, which would almost be laughably diminutive if it wasn’t describing an event that took the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocents - the fallout from the bombings had spread across the region. “Radiation has been detected as far west as Afghanistan, as far north as Mongolia, as far east as Guam, and as far south as Australia,” the obviously concerned General Secretary said. “Fertility rates in both humans and livestock have dropped precipitously in the Southeast Asian region since 1971. Those who can have children find many have birth defects and abnormalities. And there is a growing food shortage from Vietnam to Indonesia to southern China and all the way to parts of India. This is a crisis of the United States’s making, but it is a crisis we must all tackle.”

The World Food Programme has determined that the radiation has decreased crop yields by as much as 35% in certain parts of the Indochina region. As such, the WFP warns that the situation will be upgraded from a Level 2 to a Level 3 emergency in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, from Level 1 to Level 2 in Burma and Thailand, and Level 1 emergencies may arrive in the Philippines, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, and Bangladesh, with India also facing reduced crop yields (though not to the point of emergency at this time).

Chairwoman Jiang announces shortly thereafter that her regime will begin to provide food assistance to the affected areas (except, of course, Taiwan, the seat of the Republic of China), though crop yields have decreased in the PRC as well.

March 9, 1976

Vice President Jackson beats Congressman Lowenstein in a landslide in the Florida primary. While Jackson declares victory, Lowenstein, who got barely 20% of the vote, vows to continue on.

Richard Nixon wins the Republican Florida primary with 39% of the vote, but Bob Dole wins 30%, spelling trouble for Nixon’s campaign. Dole is seen as a dull empty suit to some and a needlessly divisive hatchetman by others, but he is the most conservative candidate in the race, which is playing well in the South, where Dole is focusing some of his efforts. In his speech, Dole calls Nixon a “paper tiger” who is beginning to fold under pressure.

A. Linwood Holton, having only won 3% of the Florida primary vote, ends his campaign for the Presidency and endorses John Lindsay.

March 12, 1976

President Humphrey signs the Metric Conversion Act of 1976 into law. This mandates that the US gradually move to a fully metric system by 1990. Public opinion on the bill is split.

March 15, 1976

British Prime Minister Harold Wilson announces his retirement, effective April 5. Prime Minister since 1964, Wilson, of the Labour Party, cited “exhaustion” and a desire to retire at age 60.

The Labour party will hold leadership elections to replace Wilson; the two major candidates are expected to be Michael Foot, Secretary of State for Employment, and James Callaghan, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

March 16, 1976

Vice President Jackson wins the Illinois primary with 72% of the vote, which is seen as further proof that Allard Lowenstein’s chances of being a serious challenger is dwindling. Still, he pledges to “fight on for peace.”

In the Republican primaries, John Lindsay wins 30% of the vote in Illinois to Richard Nixon’s 27%, William Ruckelshaus’s 25%, and Bob Dole’s 18%. The Nixon campaign blames Sens. Dole and Ruckelshaus for splitting the moderate vote and letting Lindsay win.

March 19, 1976

Mayor Lindsay secretly meets with Senators Dole and Ruckelshaus in New York City. Nothing about what is discussed at this meeting is made public.

March 20, 1976

Senator William Ruckelshaus announces he is abruptly pulling out of the North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania primaries, and announces he will throw his efforts into Texas and his home state of Indiana.

On the same day, Senator Dole announces he will throw resources into North Carolina, Texas, and Georgia in an attempt to win conservative Republicans there.

March 21, 1976

Mayor Lindsay has another secret meeting at his New York residence, this time with former Vice President Ronald Reagan.

March 22, 1976
Bob Dole

“...ladies and gentlemen, I have a very special guest who came here to North Carolina with me today. He’s here because he thinks Bob Dole is the future of America. Welcome to the stage, Vice President Reagan!”

The crowd went crazy as Senator Dole stepped away from the podium and embraced the hugely popular former VP. He’d blanched when he’d picked up the phone yesterday and heard the news that Reagan wanted to endorse him ASAP.

“Thank you, Asheville!” Ronnie Reagan waited for the crowd to stop cheering. “Thank you! Thank you… I’m here today to announce who I think will be the best choice to carry our Republican banner in 1976. We need a leader of tomorrow to lead our party into our nation’s third century, not a two-time loser, a has-been and never-will-be. And I believe that man is Senator Bob Dole!”

Excellent, thought the Senator, clearly enjoying himself. This is a game changer.

“Our nominee must be able to reign in the government which has grown even bigger and more unruly under the current Administration. We need the policies of true conservatives in the White House. If you want four more years of Barry Goldwater, vote for Bob Dole tomorrow and in November!”

Senator Dole’s face went white.

“...like President Goldwater, Senator Dole won’t be afraid to show Communists who’s boss. Like President Goldwater, Senator Dole won’t take funny business from elites in Congress. Like President Goldwater, Senator Dole will appoint only the best people to his Cabinet and to the courts. And like President Goldwater, Senator Dole will fight for farmers across the plains and midwest. A vote for Senator Dole is a vote for Barry Goldwater! Thank you, and goodnight Asheville!”

The crowd, still excited, was somewhat more subdued. Mild confusion, perhaps. Senator Dole was quietly raging as he once again embraced the man who compared him to the man whose incompetent Cabinet picks lead to a nuclear first strike which killed (and continues to kill) untold millions. The man whose relationship with Congress was… tenuous once the Vietnam War spoiled in opinion polls. The man who’d cost hundreds of farmers their jobs and livelihoods in the name of “small government.”

The man who went lost every single state in the last election. Who lost by 25 percentage points.

The man who was still pretty popular among Southern Republicans, sure. But the association, if it stuck, to the least popular President since Herbert Hoover would kill Bob just about everywhere else.

March 23, 1976

Vice President Jackson wins North Carolina with 92% of the vote.

Bob Dole wins North Carolina in an upset, likely due to Ronald Reagan’s endorsement the day before. Senator Dole wins 43% of the vote; Richard Nixon wins 37%; John Lindsay wins 20%.

March 27, 1976

Four men are caught breaking into John Lindsay’s presidential campaign headquarters, located in the Flatiron Building in New York City. They are arrested and subsequently questioned, though they remain mum on who they, the “Flatiron Four,” as they become known, work for.

March 29, 1976

In John Ashbrook, et. al v. Federal Elections Agency, the Supreme Court rules 7-2 that the Federal Campaign Act of 1975 is constitutional. The FCA created the FEA and set restrictions on the amount of money people, corporations, and PACs could contribute to political campaigns. Senator John M. Ashbrook (R-OH) filed a lawsuit against the FEA, claiming it violated people’s rights to free speech and due process.

All Justices besides Bork and Carswell disagreed. In his minority opinion, Justice Bork argues that “money is speech, and restricting how much money people and corporations can donate is therefore equivalent to limiting how much speech they can make.” In his majority opinion, Chief Justice Thurgood Marshall tosses this point aside, writing that “large amounts of money poured into a campaign by the rich and powerful has a corrupting influence that effectively drowns out the ‘free speech’ of the everyday Americans who can only afford to contribute small amounts to campaigns,” and reminds the public that they are free to express their support up to the limits and then contribute as much time and energy to the campaign as they choose.

Senator Ashbrook and Congresswoman Phyllis Schalfly decry this decision as a misstep made by a "court of judicial and Constitutional activists."

March 31, 1976

Vice President Jackson wins South Carolina with 95% of the vote.

Gallup Poll
April 1, 1976
Do you approve of the job President Humphrey is doing as President?
Yes: 63%
No: 33%
No opinion: 2%
Not sure: 2%
Who would you vote for in the 1976 primary?
(Democrats only)
Henry M. Jackson: 78%
Allard K. Lowenstein: 15%
Someone else: 5%
Not sure: 2%
Who would you vote for in the 1976 primary?
(Republicans only)
John V. Lindsay: 31%
Richard M. Nixon: 28%
Robert J. Dole: 22%
William D. Ruckelshaus: 10%
A. Linwood Holton: 0%
Charleton Heston: 0%
Someone else: 2%
Not sure: 7%
General Election Matchups
Jackson: 54%
Nixon: 41%
Not sure: 5%
Jackson: 54%
Lindsay: 42%
Not sure: 4%
Jackson: 57%
Dole: 39%
Not sure: 4%
Jackson: 55%
Ruckelshaus: 40%
Not sure: 5%
Nixon: 47%
Lowenstein: 47%
Not sure: 6%
Lindsay: 49%
Lowenstein: 46%
Not sure: 5%
Dole: 46%
Lowenstein: 46%
Not sure: 8%
Lowenstein: 46%
Ruckelshaus: 46%
Not sure: 8%

[Cold War Liberal]

April 2, 1976

President Humphrey signs an executive order nationalizing the freight rail industry. The passenger rail industry had been similarly nationalized by Humphrey shortly after he entered office in 1973, after President Goldwater had let the industry nearly collapse. “Amtrak Freight,” as the newly-government-owned industry will be called, will attempt to spend money improving railways to eventually turn a profit; since it is now owned by the government rather than the private sector, it has more time in which to improve, as the government can afford to keep it in its unprofitability while a corporation cannot.

Since Amtrak’s creation in 1973, first in an “emergency” executive order in early 1973, then officially created by an act of Congress later in the year,  the passenger rail system, while still unprofitable, is better off due to new investment from the government. Humphrey states that he hopes “Congress will authorize Amtrak Freight later in 1976, so the entire rail industry can begin to recover.”

April 3, 1976

Vice President Jackson easily wins the Kansas and Virginia primaries.

April 4, 1976

Secretary of State George Ball visits Panama to begin talks regarding who would continue to own the Panama Canal in the future. Some would like to see the US give the Canal back to Panama; President Humphrey and Secretary Ball are two of these people, while, notably, Vice President Jackson is not.

April 5, 1976

Michael Foot defeats James Callaghan in the third ballot (a runoff) of the Labour Party leadership election. 162 Labour MPs voted for Foot, while the remaining 157 voted for Callaghan. Foot is officially pronounced the new Prime Minister shortly after the runoff is concluded.

April 6, 1976

Vice President Jackson wins 80% of the vote in the Wisconsin primary, while he wins 67% of the vote in the New York primary (the home state of his only opponent, Allard Lowenstein). This victory eliminates Lowenstein’s chances at the nomination.

Richard Nixon wins the Wisconsin primary with 37% of the vote, while John Lindsay takes 35% and Bob Dole does surprisingly well and takes 28%. Despite this victory, many question how viable Richard Nixon’s campaign actually is if he’s polling (nationally) behind a former mayor of New York City (and not a fantastic one at that) and just a few points ahead of a formerly unknown Senator from Kansas.

April 7, 1976

Allard Lowenstein gives a speech congratulating Vice President Jackson on running a good campaign, and announces that he will drop out of the race following a landslide loss in his home state of New York the previous day. “I hope and pray that we elect someone in 1976 who is as dedicated to peace as I am. Honestly, while I respect Vice President Jackson, I do not think he is that man.”

When asked if he would instead endorse John Lindsay, whose foreign policy views are more aligned with Lowenstein, the Congressman simply had “no comment.”

Vice President Jackson, having locked up the nomination, begins thinking about who specifically will be his running mate, and resumes his listening tour.

April 17, 1976

Idaho becomes the 38th state to ratify the Nuclear Amendment, making it the 28th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

April 23, 1976

The investigation into the break-in at the Lindsay campaign headquarters in New York’s Flatiron building continues. It is discovered that the four men who broke into the office (known as the “Flatiron Four” in the press) were paid by someone to break in and wiretap the campaign headquarters. Who paid the men is still unknown, but the New York Times has dedicated a large portion of its time, money, and personnel to getting to the bottom of the break-in.

April 27, 1976

Mayor Lindsay wins the Pennsylvania primary with 52% of the vote, a wider-than-expected margin of victory over Richard Nixon, who won 35% of the vote, and Bob Dole, who won 13%. Many credit Lindsay recently gaining an endorsement from William Scranton with his expanded margin of victory.

Nixon has been meeting with RNC officials recently to try to organize a “Stop Lindsay” movement, to little success. Nixon’s campaign has been floundering as of late, and many in the Republican party don’t want to overturn the popular will to nominate a man who hasn’t held office in 16 years.

Former President Goldwater reminds Nixon that “there are millions of voters today who were in diapers the last time you held public office.”

Regarding the “Stop Lindsay” “movement,” Nelson Rockefeller reportedly tells a friend that “if you ever hear of a group getting together to stop X, be sure to put your money on X.”

Nixon reportedly becomes more and more agitated as his chances of winning the nomination continue to slip. Still, he throws himself into the upcoming Texas primary, to be held on May 1.

April 29, 1976

A bomb explodes outside the Soviet embassy in Beijing, killing 17 Soviet diplomats and wounding 43 others. 7 Chinese diplomats are killed as well. Tensions between the USSR and the PRC reignite after dying down somewhat over the past few months.

April 30, 1976

The New York Times
ONE OF THE “FLATIRON FOUR” WAS NIXON AIDE;
        MONEY TRAIL POINTS TOWARDS HALDEMAN;
          NIXON CAMPAIGN IN STATE OF DISARRAY

New York, NY - The New York Times has exclusive reporting on the investigation into the break-in at the Flatiron Building, the headquarters of Former Mayor John V. Lindsay’s (R-NYC) campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination. The Times has obtained evidence that one of the men who broke into the office of Mr. Lindsay’s campaign was, in fact, an aide for the campaign of former Vice President Richard M. Nixon (R-CA).

   The Times’s investigation into the break-in found that the aide’s bank account recently had a check for $25,000 deposited into it from a Mexican bank account. Inquiry into the ownership of the account showed what was perhaps intentionally a complex web of accounts designed to hide their true owner, but after extensive investigation, our journalists believe there are potentially links back to the manager of Mr. Nixon’s campaign, H. R. Haldeman.

   If there is any evidence that Mr. Nixon directed Mr. Haldeman to pay for a break-in, there could be criminal ramifications for the former Vice President. The Nixon campaign refrained from commenting.
   
   Governor Robert Kennedy (D) stated that the investigations are “troubling,” but did not comment on what it should mean for Nixon’s campaign.

   Mr. Lindsay said that if the news “paints a harrowing portrait of a dirty politician of a bygone age attempting to claw his way back to relevancy by any means necessary.” The former mayor called on his rival to drop out and let Senator William Ruckelshaus of Indiana and Senator Bob Dole of Kansas take up the anti-Lindsay mantle.

   Congressman G. Gordon Liddy (R-NY-25) commented on the break-in this morning, saying that if it was indeed orchestrated by Mr. Haldeman, he should be fired immediately, and that if Mr. Nixon himself directed it, he is “a disgrace to the Republican party and should drop out.” Mr. Liddy has endorsed Mr. Lindsay for the GOP nomination.

Gallup Poll
May 1, 1976
Do you approve of the job President Humphrey is doing as President?
Yes: 61%
No: 33%
No opinion: 4%
Not sure: 2%
Who would you vote for in the 1976 primary?
(Republicans only)
John V. Lindsay: 34%
Richard M. Nixon: 25%
Robert J. Dole: 24%
William D. Ruckelshaus: 8%
Someone else: 4%
Not sure: 5%
General Election Matchups
Jackson: 55%
Nixon: 38%
Not sure: 7%
Jackson: 55%
Lindsay: 42%
Not sure: 3%
Jackson: 58%
Dole: 39%
Not sure: 3%
Jackson: 56%
Ruckelshaus: 40%
Not sure: 4%

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Prime Minister Foot! Also, could you remind us what the Nuclear Amendment does again?

[Cold War Liberal]

Prime Minister Foot! Also, could you remind us what the Nuclear Amendment does again?

Gladly! The 28th Amendment:

August 5, 1975

The House debates a sweeping new Constitutional Amendment, dubbed the “Nuclear Amendment,” which would clearly outline who has control of the nuclear weapons arsenal in times of crisis, and under what circumstances nuclear weapons are legally allowed to be used. This Amendment, a response to the Hanoi Incident of 1971, has been in the works for almost four years; legislators wanted an Amendment that was both effective in preventing another crisis like that of 1971, while also not limiting nuclear weapons to the point that the US could not retaliate in time should a nuclear attack be imminent. The Amendment reads as follows:

Section 1: In the case of incapacitation of the President of the United States, control of the nuclear arsenal of the United States shall pass to the Acting President.

Section 2: Neither the President of the United States, the Acting President, nor any principal officer of the executive branch may use the Armed Forces of the United States to conduct a first-use nuclear strike unless such strike is conducted pursuant to a declaration of war by Congress that expressly authorizes such strike.

Section 3: The penalty for violating Section 2 of this Amendment shall be immediate removal from office and prohibition of such an individual from ever occupying an office, elected, appointed, or otherwise, in the future. Additional criminal charges may be brought against such an individual after their removal from office.

[YE]

Firmly in the Jackson camp in the GE.

[America Needs R'hllor]

Firmly in the Jackson camp in the GE.

[Orwell]

Firmly in the Jackson camp in the GE.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Looks like Dole’s The One. Damn shame for Ronnie to throw him under the bus.

Can we see primary maps?

[Cold War Liberal]

While UK politics isn’t a focus of this TL, this is still a fun little thing I added in:

February 11, 1975

Edward Heath wins re-election as the UK Conservative Party's leader with the support of 152 MPs. This is closer than expected; Margaret Thatcher, called "the UK's Goldwater" by some, got the support of 112 MPs.

[Tron1993]

While UK politics isn’t a focus of this TL, this is still a fun little thing I added in:

February 11, 1975

Harold Wilson wins the UK Conservative Party's leadership election with the support of 152 MPs. This is closer than expected; Margaret Thatcher, called "the UK's Goldwater" by some, got the support of 112 MPs.

Don't you mean Ted Heath.  Wilson was famously Labour

[Cold War Liberal]

While UK politics isn’t a focus of this TL, this is still a fun little thing I added in:

February 11, 1975

Harold Wilson wins the UK Conservative Party's leadership election with the support of 152 MPs. This is closer than expected; Margaret Thatcher, called "the UK's Goldwater" by some, got the support of 112 MPs.

Don't you mean Ted Heath.  Wilson was famously Labour

You’re right! I had just done a lot of reading about Heath and Wilson and got them confused. Wilson was the leader of Labour since 1963 and Prime Minister from October 1964 until April 1976.

[Cold War Liberal]

May 1, 1976

Senator Bob Dole wins an upset victory in Texas, taking 35% of the vote. Vice President Nixon takes 33% of the vote, Senator Ruckelshaus takes 22% of the vote, and Mayor Lindsay wins 10% of the vote.

May 2, 1976

Vice President Nixon fires campaign manager H. R. Haldeman, replacing him with Patrick Buchanan. Nixon is furious that he is losing conservatives to Bob Dole and hemorrhaging moderates to Lindsay and Ruckelshaus, a process that may have been accelerated by the recent New York Times story painting Nixon as, potentially, a criminal. Nixon is becoming increasingly agitated, and bringing Buchanan - known in GOP circles as an arch-conservative - in to manage the campaign may well feed his erratic tendencies rather than keep them under control.

May 4, 1976

Richard Nixon narrowly wins Georgia 47% to Bob Dole’s 44%, with John Lindsay taking 9% of the vote.

William Ruckelshaus wins his home state of Indiana by a narrower than expected margin; he won 38% of the vote, while Bob Dole won 31%, John Lindsay took 16%, and Richard Nixon came in last, at 15%.

Mayor Lindsay barnstorms the state of West Virginia, hoping a divided opposition and extensive campaigning can deliver the state to him in the primary.

May 8, 1976

Mayor Lindsay gets a call from a soon-to-be-former rival.

“Is our deal still valid?” The two-term Senator from Indiana was on the other end of the line.

“Yes, of course,” Mayor Lindsay assured him.

“Alright. After Nebraska and West Virginia vote in a few days, you’ll be getting another call from me…”

May 11, 1976

Bob Dole carries Nebraska easily, being from a neighboring state; Ruckelshaus comes in second, Nixon is on the hoosier’s heels, and Lindsay is a distant fourth.

Shockingly, John Lindsay wins West Virginia in a squeaker. Lindsay carries the state with 29% of the vote. Dole and Nixon both win 28% each, while Ruckelshaus wins 15%.

May 13, 1976

William Ruckelshaus drops out of the race for President and endorses John Lindsay, stating that “Nixon’s a crook and Dole’s a dime-store Goldwater.” Lindsay sees his polling numbers improve among moderates, who see Lindsay as the only palatable alternative to Nixon.

May 15, 1976

Congress passes the Freight Train Nationalization Act of 1976, officially creating Amtrak Freight. The FTA enshrines Humphrey’s previous executive order into American law.

May 17, 1976

In an interesting turn of events, Bob Dole refers to Vietnam as a "Democrat war," even though operations in Vietnam were begun in the 1950s by President Ike Eisenhower, and war was declared under President Barry Goldwater, both Republicans. "I figured it up the other day: If we added up the killed and wounded in Democrat wars in this century, it would be about 1.4 million Americans — enough to fill the city of Detroit - and over a million innocent Vietnamese." Many were confused by this statement, and it did nothing to assuage fears that Senator Dole is extreme and a follower of Goldwater.

May 18, 1976

John Lindsay easily wins Maryland, and takes Michigan by 9 points.

May 20, 1976

Campaigning in Tennessee ahead of that state’s primary, former Vice President Nixon accidentally falls off of the stage, breaking his left leg and fracturing his left arm. He is unable to campaign for two weeks, but vows to “stay in ‘til the very end.” He is furious at this misfortune, but cannot do anything about it.

May 24, 1976

Vice President Jackson selects his running mate, but doesn’t make the announcement public yet.

May 25, 1976

On what the media is dubbing “Super Tuesday,” six states hold their primaries. Nixon narrowly wins the Arkansas primary, edging out Bob Dole; Senator Dole wins Idaho; Mayor Lindsay wins Kentucky in an upset; Dole wins Nevada; Lindsay wins Oregon after being endorsed by Senator McCall; and Nixon narrowly wins Tennessee.

May 27, 1976

The Children’s Health Insurance Program Act passes and is signed into law by President Humphrey. CHIP will provide several million children who are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid but whose families are not wealthy enough to have decent health insurance with government-guaranteed healthcare.

June 1, 1976

Bob Dole wins Montana and South Dakota, while John Lindsay wins Rhode Island in a bigger-than-expected landslide.

June 3, 1976

Chairwoman Jiang and Secretary Kulakov meet in Mongolia for a three day summit to attempt to de-escalate tensions between the PRC and USSR.

June 4, 1976

Talks break down between the PRC and USSR; Chairwoman Jiang angrily storms out of the room and tells the press that the talks are over; she is quoted as saying something to the effect of “sometimes, you just have to walk away.”

June 6, 1976

Vice President Nixon, with the assistance of crutches and the occasional wheelchair, begins campaigning again. Obviously in a state of intense discomfort, Nixon nevertheless returns to his original home state of California to attempt to win the primary there. This weakened Nixon, however, looks just that: weak. Compared to the energetic, young, fit, healthy, and vitriolic campaigner in John Lindsay, Nixon is a frail old man. Nixon hopes he can lock down this final primary, and is counting on his deep roots in the state to carry it for its supposed favorite son.

June 8, 1976

Nixon’s injury seems to take a serious toll on his campaign, as Lindsay easily sweeps the June 8th primaries. Lindsay wins Ohio by 12 points, New Jersey by 14, and even takes Nixon’s home state of California by 7 points. This is not the first time a leg injury may have ruined Nixon’s chances at the Presidency.

Activist Harvey Milk wins the primary for the 16th District of California’s State Assembly, beating Art Agnos by 2,000 votes. As he has no serious general election opponents, Milk looks set to become one of the first openly gay men to be elected to a public office in the United States.

June 11, 1976
John

John Lindsay smiled to himself as he looked at the cover of LIFE commemorating his successes in the Republican primaries. Nixon looked as unbeatable six months ago as the rest of the field looked weak; however, John had recognized that the old former VP’s time was more than past, and had done the unexpected: become the frontrunner heading into the convention. Nixon had been a paper tiger; he had finished well behind an unemployed former mayor and just ahead of a nobody Senator from Kansas.

John had spent the last four years since his better-than-expected run against Goldwater studying how the primary system worked. Additionally, he had taken notice of how Nixon seemed to have been gearing up for another run ever since his 1972 RNC speech endorsing the embattled President; so, John studied the former VP’s handbook of dirty tricks and campaign tactics he’d used in ‘60 and ‘68.

And so John went out and campaigned among actual people, not party elites; he got them registered to vote, and ensured that they came out for caucuses and primaries. He let Ruckelshaus and Dole attack Nixon for him so John could paint them all as different sides of the same coin, while making himself the change candidate, the candidate of the new GOP. And then, after it became apparent that the only two real competitors for the nomination were John and Nixon, the former mayor had made sure to strike a deal with the other competitors. He’d offered one the Vice Presidential slot and the other Attorney General, should John win; they had taken the deal and agreed to help stop Nixon.

Better yet, he’d gotten Ronald Reagan to also agree to help stop Nixon. John saw that most of those in the South who didn’t want to vote for Nixon were voting for Dole, and feared that Dole could be an insurgent dark horse; so he’d gotten the most trusted, well-liked politician in America to unwittingly associate Dole with the most unpopular President in the past half-century. His plan had worked flawlessly.

Of course, Nixon had shot himself in the foot several times as well. John hadn’t planned on a break-in at his offices, though he wasn’t surprised when it happened. He was surprised at how fast investigators were able to link the break-in to the Nixon campaign, and also by how silent the campaign stayed on the issue. And of course, John hadn’t pushed Nixon off that stage in Tennessee, but it couldn’t have been better timing even if he had. Dole's "Democrat wars" comment was bizarre and also not planned, but helped further minimize his chances.

John fully realized the struggle that was coming up. He was the most liberal nominee since Rockefeller, and he knew the South wouldn’t like that. Lowenstein had proven that the Northeast didn’t love Jackson, however, so that was where John planned to focus his time. He would pick someone to his right as VP - he was going to honor his commitment to his primary opponents - and try to win some of the same states that almost delivered Rockefeller the White House in ‘64.

His youth and ability to connect with voters was constantly underestimated by his opponents. He was facing an introverted politician who was almost a decade his senior. John had the leg up on Jackson when it came to foreign policy; the mayor’s positions were more diplomatic and dovish (though not as dovish as Lowenstein) than Jackson’s, and were much more popular to boot. Conservatives in this election had no candidate - and no time to orchestrate a third-party bid with serious ballot access.

Polls showed Lindsay was definitely the underdog. While John would not play dirty to win, he would play hardball to as much an extent that the law - and his conscious - would allow him to.

June 18, 1976

In Williams v. Clark, et al., the Supreme Court rules 7-2 to uphold US v. Miller (1939) and the recent Hubert H. Humphrey Sensible Gun Control Act of 1975. The Court decides that the 2nd Amendment allows some cases of, but does not necessarily guarantee, the individual right to firearm ownership, and allows Congress to regulate certain weapons which do not fall into the category of necessary to maintain “a well regulated Militia” or “the security of a free State.”

Chief Justice Marshall writes the majority opinion, while Justices Bork and Carswell dissent.

June 24, 1976

Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is first identified in Zaire, where there is currently an outbreak of the heretofore unknown pathogen.

June 30, 1976

The Southern District of New York subpoenas all communications between H.R. Haldeman and Richard Nixon.

47% of the country thinks it is at least “somewhat likely” Nixon ordered Haldeman to commit crimes to win him the nomination.

July 2, 1976

In a series of judicial opinions on the death penalty, referred to by the lead case Gregg v. Georgia, the Supreme court rules 5-4 to uphold the US’s ban on the death penalty. Chief Justice Thurgood Marshall was joined by Associate Justices Brennan, Blackmun, Goldberg, and Hufstedler, while Justices Bork, Carswell, Stewart, and White dissented. Blackmun was allegedly the swing vote, and took a great deal of convincing to come to the side of Chief Justice Marshall.

July 4, 1976

President Humphrey presides over the celebration of the bicentennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

July 8, 1976

Secretary Fyodor Kulakov of the USSR announces he wants a peace deal with Chairwoman Jiang and the People’s Republic of China. Many in the Soviet Union don’t actually want peace; after the bombing of their embassy and the slaughter of their diplomats, many view the PRC as a mortal enemy.

July 11, 1976

USSR Second Secretary Mikhail Suslov suddenly appears on state TV to announce that, regrettably, Secretary Kulakov has suffered a nervous breakdown, and so Suslov will become the de facto leader of the Soviet Union.

Secretary Suslov is a hardliner, and as such will likely not take a conciliatory tone towards the PRC or the West. He will also likely not push for economic reforms some have called for in the USSR over the past year or so.

Kulakov beat out Suslov for leadership of the Soviet Union following the death of Brezhnev two years ago.

Final Democratic Primary & Caucus Map, 1976

Henry M. Jackson ✓
Allard K. Lowenstein
Final Republican Primary Map, 1976

John V. Lindsay
Richard M. Nixon
Robert J. Dole
William D. Ruckelshaus
Gallup Poll
July 12, 1976
Do you approve of the job President Humphrey is doing as President?
Yes: 60%
No: 33%
No opinion: 5%
Not sure: 2%
On the eve of the RNC, who should be the GOP nominee for President?
(Republicans only)
John V. Lindsay: 45%
Robert J. Dole: 26%
Richard M. Nixon: 14%
William D. Ruckelshaus: 7%
Someone else: 5%
Not sure: 3%
General Election Matchups
Jackson: 61%
Nixon: 34%
Not sure: 5%
Jackson: 56%
Lindsay: 41%
Not sure: 3%
Jackson: 60%
Dole: 37%
Not sure: 3%
Jackson: 58%
Ruckelshaus: 37%
Not sure: 5%

[America Needs R'hllor]

This is absolutely fascinating. Best TL here imo.

[YE]

How does CHIP get passed so soon when the framework for CHIP IRL was created by Casey Sr when he was governor of PA?

[Cold War Liberal]

How does CHIP get passed so soon when the framework for CHIP IRL was created by Casey Sr when he was governor of PA?

Interesting question.

The U.S. Bipartisan Commission on Comprehensive Health Care, in the late 1980's, proposed achieving universal health insurance by expanding health insurance to children and pregnant women first and then moving on to everyone else later. Casey Sr. implemented the framework in PA, sure, but he didn't have a monopoly on the idea.

Rep. Claude Pepper was the first chair of that commission (which sometimes bore his name). Guess who's Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under President Humphrey, and has been spearheading healthcare reform in Congress? Claude Pepper!

I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility that Secretary Pepper has spent at least part of the period from 1973-1975 developing a system that works similar to IRL CHIP, with the same (pretty generic IMO) name. If that is too far out of the realm of possibility, then I think New York Governor Robert Kennedy definitely would have pushed healthcare reform (including something like CHIP) through in his first term (1971-1975), and the federal government could use that as the framework, but I think just having Pepper in a place of higher power sooner could do the trick just the same.

[Cold War Liberal]

July 12 - 15, 1976
Republican National Convention

After a tumultuous primary season, the Republicans finally went to Kansas City, Missouri to determine their nominee for President of the United States.

Richard Nixon was, at this point, unpopular both among the party elites and the general public for the possible crimes he may have committed in connection to the Flatiron Four. Once assumed to be the nominee by default, now three full quarters of the party would rather someone else be the party’s standard-bearer in 1976. Nixon went from being the only candidate (other than Reagan) who could give Jackson a run for his money to being the only candidate to seemingly assure him election with over 60% of the vote. Temporarily crippled and with a ruined reputation, Nixon did not seem likely to be the nominee.

John Lindsay, on the other hand, had the support of all the party’s liberals and most of the moderates. More importantly, he had the most delegates. While not a majority, Lindsay had won about double the number Nixon had, and, combined with Ruckelshaus’s delegates and some of Dole’s (in exchange for being made Attorney General should Lindsay win), Lindsay was certain he would be nominated.

Many had qualms about Lindsay; he was inexperienced, hadn’t been the best Mayor New York had ever had, and was notably more liberal than a decent chunk of the party (particularly the fledgling Southern GOP, the ones who still supported Goldwater) was willing to accept. Lindsay knew this, and so did his team, including one key player: Roger Stone.

Roger Stone’s first political experience was rooting for Nelson Rockefeller in 1964. His narrow loss had impressed upon the young Stone that the victory was stolen from him by the Kennedys; he had been driven towards politics ever since, working to elect those with views similar to the former New York Governor’s. His devotion to Rockefeller was so great that he would later get a tattoo of Nelson’s face across his back. After working for Lindsay’s 1972 primary challenge to President Goldwater (who Stone despised, as the president had almost “stolen” the nomination from Rockefeller in 1964), he had caught the Mayor’s attention for his innovative (to put it one way) campaign tactics. The only thing Lindsay required of him is that he not commit any crimes in pursuit of victory. At just 24, he became one of Lindsay’s chief strategists and was made floor manager at the convention, tasked with nominating the man Stone saw as Rockefeller’s second coming.

First was the platform. Lindsay’s team struck a conciliatory tone when crafting it so as to hopefully unite some factions together. It included such Lindsay policies like expanded access to health insurance, using the government to fight urban poverty, and expanded civil rights protections, but also included more conservative positions like fewer activist judges and keeping public education funding and management at the state level.

Before balloting begun, former Vice President Reagan, still immensely popular among Republicans, gave a speech in which he dropped his endorsement of Bob Dole and gave a… lukewarm endorsement to Lindsay. “While we disagree on policy, I will vote for John Lindsay in November not because I love the mayor but because Henry Jackson will be four more years of disastrous big-government domestic policy.” That line got scattered applause, but the speech mostly took the wind out of Dole’s sails rather than adding any momentum to Lindsay’s campaign. After Reagan got off stage, Minority Leader Gerald Ford gave a speech in full support of Lindsay, and then balloting begun.

First Ballot, Republican National Convention, 1976
(total = 2,258, majority = 1,130)
John V. Lindsay: 1,372 (60.76%) ✓
Bob Dole: 470 (20.82%)
Richard Nixon: 414 (18.34%)
William Ruckelshaus: 2 (0.09%)

After the voting was done, Lindsay took the stage to accept the nomination. He gave a rousing speech; “this is the year we redefine what it means to be Republicans. We must abandon the politics of the past and look ahead, look ahead to the bright future of our party and our country. The future where everyone’s civil liberties are protected, children have the freedom of never knowing poverty, our boys know they never have to fight pointless foreign wars, and where working families have the safety of affordable health insurance. This is the future we must stand for as Republicans!”

Next, Lindsay introduced his pick for the Vice Presidential nomination: his former rival, Indiana Senator William Ruckelshaus. Many had hoped he would pick Dole to reach out to conservatives; however, Lindsay viewed Dole as too far right, and so picked Ruckelshaus (who was still more conservative than the mayor). Still, some wanted Dole, but they did not prevail.

Republican Vice Presidential Ballot, 1976
(total = 2,258, majority = 1,130)
William Ruckelshaus: 1,990 (88.13%) ✓
Bob Dole: 237 (10.50%)
Other candidates: 31 (1.37%)

The ticket was set. The odds looked long. But the Republicans were a far cry from the landslide loss of 1972. Lindsay had succeeded in pulling at least part of the GOP away from Goldwater conservatism, and he was intent upon bringing the rest of the nation with him.

LINDSAY/RUCKELSHAUS 1976
Fresh Faces. Bold Ideas.

[Trans Rights Are Human Rights]

Currently leaning Lindsay, but I'll be happy with Jackson too.

[Fetterman my beloved]

GO LINDSAY

[Neo-Malthusian Misanthrope]

Roger Stone as a Rockefeller Republican! This TL just keeps getting better and better. Leaning Lindsay but somehow I feel like you have a twist in store for him.

[Cold War Liberal]

July 16, 1976

Roger Ailes, chief media strategist for the former Nixon campaign, leaves the Republican Convention disgruntled with politics in general and Nixon in particular. He is eventually hired as a programming consultant for CBS, and decides to stay with that company creating family-oriented television programming, a job he would go on to call “gloriously apolitical.”

July 24, 1976

President Humphrey travels to Panama to meet Maximum Leader Omar Torrijos. Together with Secretary of State George Ball, they make strides towards treaties to sign over control of the Panama Canal.

July 27, 1976

New York City Mayor Herman Badillo (D) announces in a televised address that the city is facing a larger-than-expected budget deficit. Mayor Badillo blames the movement of a large number of middle-income families from the city to the suburbs, which has decreased the tax base, and the overall middling US economy for the shortfall. Badillo promises to fix the situation by the October 31st deadline.

Congressman Ed Koch (D-NY-18) has criticized Mayor Badillo for his extensive “New Day for New York” programs, which Badillo designed to clean up the streets and make New York City great again. Badillo has added thousands more police officers to the streets and launched new urban revitalization projects - and increased taxes to pay for the programs, which Koch blames for the flight of middle earners to areas outside the city.

August 1, 1976

Congressman Allard Lowenstein (D-NY-04), the only candidate to challenge Vice President Jackson, announces he will not attend the Democratic convention, and will instead endorse the Republican ticket. “I worked with John Lindsay while he was mayor of our great city, and he did a fantastic job. He will stand up for peace on the global stage when he is elected President this November.

Lowenstein categorically denied that he would run for President as a third party in 1976, but was… more ambiguous as to whether he would seek a rematch against Mayor Badillo in the 1977 New York mayoral race. Lowenstein is not the nominee for his House seat, and as such will be unemployed come January 1977. His political future is uncertain, but some consider it to be bright nonetheless.

August 4, 1976

Former Vice President and unsuccessful 1976 Presidential candidate Richard Nixon is subpoenaed by the Southern District of New York in relation to the “Flatiron 4” case.

August 13, 1976

The Vice President’s listening tour wraps up in Brooklyn, and he heads to Manhattan to prepare his acceptance speech.

Gallup Poll
August 15, 1976
Do you approve of the job President Humphrey is doing as President?
Yes: 61%
No: 33%
No opinion: 4%
Not sure: 2%
General Election Polling

Vice President Henry M. Jackson: 50%, 283 Electoral Votes
Mayor John Lindsay/Senator William Ruckelshaus: 41%, 111 Electoral Votes
Others: 1%, 0 Electoral Votes
Undecided/Tossup: 8%, 144 Electoral Votes
Safe D - Likely D - Lean D - Tossup - Lean R - Likely R - Safe R

[LoneStarDem]

I'm assuming that segregation is dismantled forever in the South under the HHH Presidency ?

[Cold War Liberal]

I'm assuming that segregation is dismantled forever in the South under the HHH Presidency ?

The CRA of 1964 (well, 1965 ITTL) was watered down, but still an important landmark civil rights bill. The VRA and CRA of 1968 (i.e. the Fair Housing Act) both failed under Kennedy. Goldwater wasn't keen on federal civil rights legislation, so nothing happened on that front from 1969-1973. President Humphrey made civil rights a top issue, and got the Voting Rights Act of 1973, the Housing Rights Act of 1974, the American Education Act (which, among many, many other things, helps desegregate schools and enforce Brown), the American Housing Act of 1975, the Urban Revitalization Act, and the Equal Rights Amendment all passed and made into law. House and Senate supermajorities and a clear mandate by the scale of the 1972 victory over Goldwater allowed for this super productive Presidency, which wasn't just limited to civil rights. I mean, Humphrey's America has universal Pre-K and a federal childcare program!

However, not all is well in the South. Many southern whites don't like this legislation, and some state governments are still engaging in voter suppression. President Humphrey has signed an executive order to mandate election observers for 1976 after evidence of suppression in the '74 midterms, but how much resistance this will be met with remains to be seen...

[LoneStarDem]

YIKES. The Southern states just don't get it: I hope we don't see some of these states not pulling a Trujillo in exterminating minorities in terms of other extreme methods of suppression.

I'm going to assume Briscoe runs for the TX Governor's Mansion in 1974 for the first 4-year term ? I feel bad for the guy.

[New Jersey Moderate]

GO LINDSAY