Fear and Loathing in Five Decades (1971-2021)

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

My laptop is not turning on AGAIN, so updates might be sparse through Wednesday. I'll do what I can from my work computer though.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Borrowing Pyro's book quotation style a bit for now on.

December 1974.

Tip O'Neill, the likely successor to Carl Albert as Speaker of the House.
[1]

The midterm election's results were widely celebrated in Democratic dominated Washington, DC, but within Congress itself, there was growing uncertainty about the stability of the new caucus. The retirement of Carl Albert as Speaker set the stage for the first major knife fight of the incoming Congress, with the most likely successor appearing to be Congressman Tip O'Neill (D-MA), though his Whip John McFall (D-CA) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Peter Rodino (D-NJ) were also speculated about. The divide between the progressive and establishment wings of the party had been brewing since McKeithen and McGovern duked it out on the floor of the 1972 Democratic National Convention, and the fissure was more apparent than ever. Only Senator Kennedy was seen as a unifying figure, and many of his progressive allies were tired of waiting in the wings.

As Senator Walter Mondale later wrote:

The results of the midterm elections were a stunning rebuke of the Republican record of corruption and lies, and were watched by nearly half of the Democratic caucus in both chambers of Congress with some degree of ambition. While everyone knew that Ted wanted to be President, it was unknown by everyone - including Ted himself - just when exactly that would be. Birch in particular was critical of Kennedy, angered that Kennedy's shadow over the 1972 race had left the field listless and leaderless for much of 1971. Birch, like Lloyd, Scoop, Bob Byrd, Hubert, and a few others - including myself - was being pushed and persuaded to run at every turn by constituents and activists alike. But Ted, true to himself, took no notice, and continued to carefully consider his options. He knew he was a big fish, one which could swallow up the smaller ones quickly. But after 1974, Ted had become a big fish in a growing pond. If he had known this would be the outcome in 1971, I have no doubt that he would have chosen to run and that he would have won.

         Walter Mondale, The Good Fight, A Life in Liberal Politics., 2010

The early stages of the 1976 presidential election get underway as the Holiday season and post-midterm malaise keeps most Americans uninterested or unknowing of these events. At the Kennedy compound in West Palm Beach, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) tasks longtime aide Paul Kirk with the duty of traveling to New Hampshire for talks with top Democrats; Kennedy feared that going to New Hampshire himself would keep other potential contenders out of the race, weakening the liberal wing of the party should he choose not to run. Seeking to keep his options open, Kennedy denied any plans for 1976 one way or the other, insisting that as of Christmas Eve 1974, he was only interested in seeking reelection to his Senate seat.

Governor Reagan was also busy piecing together a potential candidacy, though he had the luxury of cover. The gubernatorial recount in California had devolved into a long, drawn out recount. Both Brown and Goldwater's campaigns hired a slew of lawyers who kept judges busy with endless lawsuits over the counting of certain ballots, each claiming the other was manipulating the recount in order to achieve victory. While Reagan's real influence (and interest) in the situation was less than what he let on, he used the opportunity to solidify the California GOP behind him as he debated whether seeking the Presidency was viable.

In Montgomery, Alabama, it was no secret that Governor Wallace - fresh off his reelection victory - was putting another team together to manage his 1976 campaign. After his third party bid in 1968 and his strong showing in the subsequent 1972 primaries, Wallace was convinced that his populist message needed fine tuning. He had slowly dropped the racial resentment politics in favor of a new, modernized message in favor of law and order and bread and butter economics. Hiring Tom Turnipseed as his campaign manager, Wallace hoped to build on his success in the midwest during the previous primary season.

Other potential contenders included Senator Birch Bayh (D-IN), who put together a sharp campaign team headed by Anne Wexler, a 46 year old lawyer and activist with an extensive history in ground organizing. But Bayh was viewed as too weak and willing to compromise by many hardcore progressives, and Hubert Humphrey was aware of this. Citing health problems, the Senator and former Vice President took his name out of consideration early on, but this was merely a smokescreen. In Washington, he was as actively running for President as anyone else, arranging meetings with labor leaders and Democratic Party functionaries in the hopes that he could parachute into the nomination at another (expectedly) divided convention. He encouraged his fellow Minnesotan Senator Walter Mondale to run as a stalking horse in his place,

Another candidate interested in making a gander for the Presidency was Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson (D-WA), a leading hawk within the Senate and one of the most pro-war Democrats to run in the 1972 primary. Jackson could compete with Humphrey and Bayh for the support of organized labor, and could also cut into the more moderate elements of the base of Governor Wallace. Senator Lloyd Bentsen (D-TX) was also interested, and could cut into the McKeithen lane of southern centrism. Though he lacked widescale name recognition and had a low profile in Washington, Bentsen hoped that he too could rise from relative obscurity to soar the heights of power.

One candidate who was definitely not interested in running was Senator George McGovern (D-SD); though he was freshly reelected, his 1972 bid as the nominee of the Peace & Freedom nominee burned many bridges with his colleagues, and left him politically isolated for much of the Agnew presidency (which he was blamed for). With McGovern making it clear to the press just days after being reelected that he would not pursue another bid for the White House as a Democrat or as a third party candidate, other progressive Democrats began eying their own campaigns.

One of these potential candidates was Congressman Ron Dellums, now in his third term. The firebrand progressive civil rights advocate was viewed as the political heir to Shirley Chisholm, and was an increasingly popular figure on the left. With wide support ranging from Hollywood icons like Warren Beatty and Paul Newman to Washington powerhouses like Congresswoman Bella Abzug (D-NY) and Tom Hayden (D-CA), Dellums was the most radical candidate looking at a presidential bid.

Reagan aside, the Republican race was less clear cut:

It was a pleasant surprise to me that I was sought out by NBC to contribute to their coverage of the 1974 midterm elections, and my appearance on NBC's election night broadcast was the first time in ten years that I was on the outside looking in. I confess that it was, after a whirlwind decade working with the Old Man and Agnew, a refreshing experience, but to tell the full truth, I also must confess that I missed the action politics provided.

The 1974 Democratic midterm wave - nicknamed, appropriately so - the "Tuesday Night Massacre," the Democratic primary was off for what would prove to be as divisive a cycle as the two that had preceded it. But for all the chaos and fluidity of the impending Democratic contest, it was the Republican primary that was more uncertain. Though he was reviled by many conservatives, including myself, as a usurper, President Gavin had largely governed as a right-of-center, slightly conservative figure that was not too far from Nixon's own ideological inclinations. This led many Republican establishment figures to begin eying the President as a potential recruit for 1976, particularly after many moderate Republicans, including Senator Dole and Governor Rockefeller, went down in defeat. Gavin found himself slowly evolving into the Ted Kennedy of the right, looming over a party of which he was not as popular in as the media would suggest. Only Reagan offered a clear alternative to the President, a contrast that was stark and apparent to all.

         Patrick Buchanan, Right from the Beginning., 1988

In Northern Ireland, the situation was deteriorating into a sectarian conflict on par with that raging in Cyprus. The British government, under Northern Ireland Secretary Margaret Thatcher's influence, continued to implement heavy handed tactics against the Irish Republican Army and other violent paramilitary groups. Though martial law and a curfew in Northern Ireland curbed some clashes on the streets, it did little to stop the increasing instances of terrorism in Britain proper. The bombing of Harrods Department Store in London killed twelve, with the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) later admitting that their usual effort to warn civilians of an impending attack was not taken seriously, resulting in the high amount of deaths and injuries killed in the blast. The private residence of Prime Minister Edward Heath in London was also bombed, causing extensive damage but no injuries. Further bombings in Manchester, targeting pubs frequented by British soldiers and military personnel, left dozens dead.

The creeping tide of communism had brought leftist regimes about in a number of new countries, most notably Portugal, but on the right, there was growing talk in intellectual circles of a "new axis." In Guatemala, elections bring General Efrain Rios Montt to power. Though he ran as a moderate, centrist candidate, Mont will quickly join the ranks of Chile, Greece, Paraguay, South Vietnam, Spain, and South Africa in forming an informal network of cooperation against communism. Though this does not officially extend beyond weapons sales between one another, there is extensive intelligence sharing and cooperation behind the scenes. Israel, South Korea, and America itself are also partners in this shadowy network to a lesser extent.

On New Years Eve, Supreme Court Justice Alexander Bickel dies of cancer just under five years into his tenure on the federal bench. The death of the archconservative jurist and former professor puts President Gavin in the position of being able to name his first Supreme Court Justice, and he goes to work immediately trying to fill the vacancy. Much to the dismay of conservative Attorney General J. Clifford Wallace, Gavin charges White House Counsel Nicholas Katzenbach - LBJ's former liberal Attorney General - with the task of seeking out a replacement for Bickel, resulting in the Attorney General privately weighing resignation once the seat is filled. There is pressure from many in the administration, including from Chief of Staff Caspar Weinberger, to appoint a woman to Bickel's seat.
[1] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Public Domain).

[NewYorkExpress]

I'm not sure if she'd win Senate confirmation at this point, but Ruth Bader Ginsburg would be an excellent choice for the vacant Supreme Court seat...

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

January 1975.

The new Congress convened on January 3rd, with senior Democrats giving way to Majority Leader Tip O'Neill to take over as Speaker of the House. A traditional Democrat in many ways with a sharp wit and a northeastern liberal bent, O'Neill is expected to be more forceful with President Gavin than his retired predecessor Carl Albert. Replacing O'Neill as Majority Leader is Congressman John McFall (D-CA), while John Brademas (D-IN) suceeds McFall as Majority Whip. On the Republican side, Congressman Gerald Ford (R-MI) - the House Minority Leader - confirms he will seek reelection to his seat in the House in 1976, despite a smattering of grassroots support for him among midwestern Republicans who view him as a viable presidential contender.

The California gubernatorial election - the closest election in all of American history, before or since - is resolved when the Supreme Court rules 4-4 in Brown vs. Goldwater, thus automatically upholding a lower court ruling which threw out a number of ballots marked in favor of both candidates, resulting in Goldwater beating Brown by merely ten votes (eight more than the original count, which had him up only by two votes). With his appeals exhausted, Brown leaves office as Secretary of State of California, becoming a progressive icon in the process. He'd quickly find work as the host of a nationally syndicated radio show, where he mixed politics and rock music on a show broadcast to young listeners across the country.

President Gavin announced not long after the new Congress convened that he would name Judge John Paul Stevens of Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to replace the late Alexander Bickel on the Supreme Court. Though many had hoped Gavin would name a woman to the bench, Gavin's selection of Stevens is primarily due to the partisan makeup of the new Congress. Though Stevens was a Nixon appointee, the Judge's moderate record made him a natural pick for the nation's 39th president, who remained a registered independent with no clear intention about his political future. As a result, the Senate Judiciary Committee began hearings, which Stevens sailed through with ease. Just nineteen days after his nomination to the Supreme Court, he was approved by a margin of 90-10, with the handful of dissenters ranging from liberals like Senator Ramsey Clark (D-NY) to archconservatives like Jesse Helms (R-NC).

Associate Justice John Paul Stevens.
[1]

Stevens nomination, though easily pushed through the Senate, was not without controversy. A long list of potential appointees, most of them liberal, had been compiled by Katzenbach. A number of women, including Judge Cornelia Kennedy and professor Ruth Bader Ginsburg, were presented to the President, but he remained convinced that he would likely only see one, maybe two, chances to fill seats on the court. Stevens offered the safest confirmation prospect, and thus, was chosen. To many liberals in the bipartisan administration, this was a betrayal, as Gavin had already adhered to a Nixonian economic agenda and had largely favored Republicans for the most part.

After months of low scale insurgent activity, the allied mission in Syria has (mostly) succeeded in pacifying the country. Though small militia and rebel groups remain active across the country, they are smaller in number and are often put on the run before they can impart any casualties on the American, Iraqi, Soviet, Turkish, or other NATO and Warsaw Pact forces in the country. With the country largely stabilized, the work on reconstructing the Syrian Army and central government begins, though Israel is none too pleased about this and continues to pressure the Gavin administration to keep their northern Arab neighbor disarmed. The war in Vietnam remains similarly quiet, though concerns that the Arab-Israeli conflict or the expansion of the war in Cyprus continue to weigh heavily on the minds of the top brass at the State Department, Pentagon, and White House.

President Richard Nixon's trial continues in Washington, with Judge Sirica ordering the release of a number of administration figures already convicted for their role in the Watergate scandal from prison in order for their testimony as part of the prosecutions efforts to convict Nixon. In Maryland, an attempt by the state's Attorney General to prosecute former President Agnew on bribery charges is squashed when a court ruled that his self-pardon was sufficient to prevent him from going to trial. As a result, Agnew's last legal hurdle is cleared, and the disgraced former President moves forward knowing that he got away it.

The economic indicators for the new year are not grim; the Second Great Depression continues with no end in sight. The automobile industry is hit hard by the oil embargo, with representatives of the big three auto companies appealing to Washington for a bailout. Foreign competition grows worse, with Volkswagen introducing the "Golf" - a fuel efficient competitor to American vehicles - to the market in the United States and Canada. But even this new competition to Detroit fails to turn a profit, as Americans simply do not have the funds available to purchase a new automobile. Major Fortune 500 companies, including Idle Wilde Food and General Telephone and Electronics, are among the many companies filing for bankruptcy. Over a hundred banks have failed since the impeachment of Spiro Agnew - a total not matched since the 1930s. In Detroit, foreign made cars are vandalized in the city. In southern California, there are violent clashes between the increasing numbers of American born agricultural workers and their migrant worker counterparts.

The economic situation in Europe is little better, with Britain's Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath announcing that work on the Channel Tunnel that was set to link Britain and France has been paused. The American Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Walter Annenberg, is assassinated in London, apparently by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in London, after an RPG is fired into his motorcade. The daring attack on the American ambassador in central London is an embarrassment to the Prime Minister, and sends stocks in both New York and London plummeting as western governments seem increasingly unable to put a lid on terrorism. President Gavin names Nicholas Katzenbach, the current White House Counsel, to replace Annenberg as Ambassador in order to appease Attorney General J. Clifford Wallace. A later investigation reveals that the PIRA was not responsible for Annenberg's assassination, and five Syrian nationals associated with the militant group Black September are later tried and convicted for the crime which Heath's government intentionally (and errenously) tried to pin on Irish republicans.

The 1976 elections begin in earnest as 1975 gets underway; in Massachusetts, outgoing Lt. Governor Donald Dwight announces he will challenge Senator Kennedy for his Senate seat. While Dwight faces a very steep uphill climb, the possibility that Kennedy could forgo reelection to seek the Presidency means the race could become competitive in the right circumstances. This is met with mixed reaction by Democrats; while some potential rivals, including Senator Humphrey, privately are pleased that Kennedy could be tied down back home by a strong challenger, other Senate Democrats - including outgoing Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (D-MT), who has himself announced his intention to retire in 1976 - are concerned that the seat could swing to Republican hands.

On January 5th, Congressman Ron Dellums (D-CA) announces he will seek the Presidency in 1976. His entry into the race makes him the first candidate to officially take the plunge, annoauncing his campaign in a hastily arranged speech in Oakland. With no funding, minimal name recognition, and a tiny but devoted staff of activists, grassroots organizers, and loyal volunteers, Dellums campaign initally relies on the loaned support of prominent celebrities and public intellectuals in order to build the coalition needed to make an impact on the race.

When I announced my candidacy for President in January of 1975, I was the first candidate to enter the race. The odds were long; I was a black man from Oakland, a socialist who spoke out against the excesses of power under Nixon, Agnew, and Gavin. But in the midsts of the Second Great Depression, with so many going hungry, homeless, broke, and busted, I sensed there was at last the oppurtunity to at least discuss the possibility of serious structural and institutional reforms. I expected viceral opposition from the Republicans, and received it. What I did not expect was the viceral opposition of many Democrats. This was supposed to be the party of Jack Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Franklin Roosevelt. What I was increasingly finding as the 1970s wore on was that the Democratic Party was also the party of Andrew Jackson, Jefferson Davis, and George Wallace.

From my arrival in Washington in 1971, I was exiled politically. Though I had desired a seat on the Education and Labor Committee, where I believed my expertise would be most effectively utilized. It was not. When I, along with Shirley Chisholm, John Conyers, and others founded the Congressional Black Caucus, I believed we would make our community's voice heard. Instead we were stiffled. What I learned in Washington was that power flowed from the top down, rather than from the bottom up, as our founders had intended. I was determined to change that, but to do so would require the mobilization of the masses. In a nation in which our labor movement was crippled by both Washington and it's own leadership, strikes were impossible. In a nation where protests were met with brute, and all to often lethal force (as Kent State had seen first hand), mass demonstrations were no longer effective. To change the country from the bottom up, we'd first have to soar the heights of power. To save democracy, we'd have to first seize it.

Though I had no desire to be the movement, but rather just a mere part of it, I had no choice. Just two days after the 94th Congress convened, I was back in Oakland, where I announced my candidacy for the Presidency. In preparing a presidential campaign, there are many months of planning, fundraising, traveling, staffing, and backroom wheeling and dealing. I did none of those things. I just dove in. The announcement would be sufficient to get the ball rolling; the rest would follow, or fall into place.

          Ron Dellums, Lying Down with the Lions., 2000

Congressman Ron Dellums (D-CA), the first candidate to enter the race.
[2]

On the Republican side, Congressman Phil Crane (R-IL) announces his own candidacy for the Presidency. The Illinois Republican is dimissed as a longshot candidate, and many in the GOP suspect he is merely a stalking horse for Governor Reagan. Yet Crane insists that he is in the race to win, and vows to continue his campaign for the Republican nomination even in Reagan enters the fray. Former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen also announces his campaign; the aging former Governor had previously sought the Presidency in 1944, 1948, 1952, 1964, and 1968. Though his perennial campaigns had become something of a joke, Stassen maintained in full sincerity that he was a serious candidate.

Gallup releases their first polling for the 1976 primaries, with a number of respondents suggesting candidates not listed on the poll. The fluid nature of the impending presidential election is commented upon widely within the media.

1976 Democratic Presidential Primary (Gallup - Nationwide)
Ted Kennedy: 30%
Birch Bayh: 18%
George Wallace: 15%
Hubert Humphrey: 10%
Morris Udall: 7%
Ron Dellums: 4%
Fred Harris: 3%
Reuben Askew: 3%
Henry Jackson: 2%
George McGovern: 2%
Walter Mondale: 1%
Frank Church: 1%
Lloyd Bentsen: 1%
Julian Bond: 1%
Robert Byrd: 1%
Eugene McCarthy: 1%

1976 Republican Primaries (Gallup - Nationwide)
Ronald Reagan: 33%
James Gavin: 23%
George Bush: 11%
Howard Baker: 8%
Bill Scranton: 5%
Charles Percy: 4%
Gerald Ford: 4%
James Buckley: 3%
Jack Kemp: 2%
Robert Dole: 2%
Phil Crane: 2%
Nelson Rockefeller: 1%
John Ashbrook: 1%
Spiro Agnew: 1%*
*Constitutionally ineligible.
[1] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Public Domain).
[2] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Public Domain).

[Lord Byron]

Good update.

BTW, I expect Bernie Sanders will work in the Dellums campaign in some fashion--he and Dellums had a lot in common (I call Dellums the African-American Bernie Sanders, because he had many of the same beliefs as Sanders does (1))...

(1) Though Sanders and Dellums are still moderates compared to Eugene Debs, IMO...

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Good update.

BTW, I expect Bernie Sanders will work in the Dellums campaign in some fashion--he and Dellums had a lot in common (I call Dellums the African-American Bernie Sanders, because he had many of the same beliefs as Sanders does (1))...

(1) Though Sanders and Dellums are still moderates compared to Eugene Debs, IMO...

Probably. Bernie at this point was a perennial candidate in Vermont working for the Liberty Union Party. He won't be making any appearances in this timeline until much, much, much later, but as of now, he is a frequent candidate for Senate, Congress, and Governor of Vermont.

I'd imagine, due to the Second Great Depression envisioned by Drew in the timeline, that Bernie could pull up to 5-10% of the vote in 1976, but he won't be breaking through anytime soon. I do have plans for Bernie though.

This timeline will avoid Rumsfeld all together, so don't worry about America becoming an objectivist hell state in which Jimmy Carter literally changes his skin pigments to go underground as a black man or anything riveting like that

[Lumine]

This timeline will avoid Rumsfeld all together, so don't worry about America becoming an objectivist hell state in which Jimmy Carter literally changes his skin pigments to go underground as a black man or anything riveting like that

No Cheney-monkeys, Jeb trying to get Rummy addicted to heroin and no Christ House? What a disappointment.

(In all seriousness, glad to see this will avoid the Rumsfeldia insanity while still retaining Drew's chilling 70's scenario, the story is truly brilliant up to 1980 at least)

[Lord Byron]

Yeah, after Rumsfeld got elected, it jumped right over the shark.  Big time--so I'm glad to see a relatively realistic take on Drew's scenario...

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

February 1975.

Senator Frank Church (D-ID) with Senator Jimmy Carter (D-GA) - two opponents of the CCTE Act of 1975.
[1]

The House of Representatives votes 300-133 to pass the Combined Counter Terrorism Enforcement Act of 1975 in response to the New York Stock Exchange massacre. The law would modify the Posse Comitatus Act, allowing for greater cooperation between the FBI and CIA, allowing the agencies to work alongside local/state law enforcement agencies to halt potential threats originating from outside the country. The act also creates the Federal Counter-Terrorism Bureau, which would be in charge of discovering and disrupting domestic terrorism within the United States. The bill moves on to the Senate, where many prominent liberal Senators, including Senator Frank Church (D-ID), voice concerns about the sweeping provisions of the legislation. Despite the opposition of Senators Church and McGovern, the bill cleared the Senate by a 61-39 margin only two weeks later, with Majority Leader Mansfield and his Republican counterpart Hugh Scott ramming the legislation through with ease.

Senator Church's profile increases when he teams up with Congressman Otis Pike (D-NY) to launch an investigation into the activities of the CIA. Inspired by a report outlining "the family jewels" by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, the investigation quickly hones in on allegations that the CIA was involved in a number of assassination plots and other illicit activities in a number of countries. It did not take long for the hearings to uncover a number of indiscretions on the part of the intelligence community, which inflamed an already existing culture of cynicism.

The war in Vietnam meanwhile had devolved into a stalemate, and the continued conflict was putting a severe strain on the North's economy. The Soviet Union was also increasingly unable to support their comrades in Hanoi, with their resources tied down in Syria and their border with China. After an official Soviet delegation, led by the rising Mikhail Suslov made a visit to North Vietnam, the USSR agreed to back a potential ceasefire. Days later, Hanoi announced their willingness to engage in peace talks once more, though the South initially refused. President Gavin made a successful state visit to Saigon in mid February to counter the Soviets, where he persuaded President Thieu to be more open to the possibility of talks with their northern neighbor.

Next came the Vladivostok summit, in which President Gavin traveled to Russia's most easternmost port in order to further discuss the possibility of negotiating a peace treaty between the two Vietnams. Greeted on the tarmac by Kosygin and Suslov, Gavin and the Soviet leadership manage to hammer out a preliminary agreement on a possible future arms control agreement. Likewise, Gavin also manages to get the Soviet Union to commit to pushing for a ceasefire in Vietnam, though the disagreements between the two superpowers surrounding the terms for such a proposal remained a major obstacle.

In the Middle East, there was yet another new storm brewing, this time in the squalor of the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. As the 1960s gave way to the 1970s, the ideology of Arab nationalism had grown increasingly out of fashion in the region. A new generation of disaffected youth, scarred by the wars, left destitute by the global depression, and angered by the continued failure of their governments to eject the Israelis from Palestine turned to a new ideology of Islamism. The jihadist cause spread like wildfire among the displaced Palestinian diaspora, and international terror groups like Black September take on new life as thousands of Syrians and Palestinians flock to their banner. Just weeks after Ambassador Annenberg was killed in London, Black September uses an anti-aircraft missile to shoot down an Olympic Air flight minutes after it took off from Rome's international airport. 109 people on board and a further seven people on the ground are killed when the plane crashes into a residential neighborhood on the outskirts of Rome. The newly created Federal Counter-Terrorism Bureau (FCTB), led by newly appointed Director, General Bruce Palmer, offers to cooperate with the Italians in order to track the source of the advanced weaponry used in the shoot-down, and it is quickly determined that the weapons likely originated from Libya.

King Faisal of Saudi Arabia.
[2]

In the city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, King Faisal hosts a conference of Arab leaders to discuss the turmoil in the region. In attendance are Iraqi Vice President Saddam Hussein, Arafat, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, a number of Kings and Sheikhs from the Gulf States, King Hussein of Jordan, and representatives of the various factions in Syria. The King of Saudi Arabia is under growing pressure at home from Wahhabi clerics who demand the country cease all oil sales to the west in order to force the NATO and Warsaw Pact "crusaders" to leave Syria, but the King is resistant to these calls. As a result, the Saudi government comes under increasing criticism from the clerics. The King's position is further weakened when President Gavin announces the United States will cease all further arms sales to the Saudi kingdom until the oil embargo is lifted. Though National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft and Gavin believe this will twist the King's arm to use his influence over OPEC, Bush Kissinger (correctly) warns that it will only weaken his position domestically instead.

The situation in Saudi Arabia by early 1975 was more tenuous and fluid than President Gavin or the Secretary of State cared to admit; in pulling our military support and demanding the payment of outstanding debts in currency, the reality was that the White House had put too much pressure on King Faisal. With the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's economic health dependent on petrol dollars, of which they had a massive reserve, the plan was to scare the Saudis into submission. Yet the Saudi King was famously paranoid about Baathist and Arab nationalist influences, and had built an impressive security apparatus to protect the ruling family's regime. By putting an economic chokehold on the country, the United States was in effect forcing the King, who was known to be a reform minded modernizer, to embrace draconian crackdowns on dissenters. This only inflamed the Wahhabi cause in the country, and a number of prominent militants and mullahs raised their voices with further invective, all of which was damaging, and all of which was effective.

The Jeddah Conference failed in every manner; not only were the talks utterly useless in fermenting a unity government in Syria, but it also exposed deep rivalries between the personalities that participated and brought to light the clash of ambitions that was taking place under the umbrella of the pan-Arabist cause. Like Yasser Arafat in Palestine, the King was under greater pressure than the west could conceive, and this would soon play out in the most spectacular and chaotic manner.

          Henry Kissinger, Years of Upheaval., 1982

Civil war breaks out in Lebanon after the local chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood bands together with Palestinian Islamists and assassinates the country's President, resulting in the Lebanese army rolling into the refugee camps to break up armed militias. Their attack not only targets the jihadists but also PLO militias, destabilizing the country in the process. As the Middle East burst into chaos, old enemies became friends, and friends became foes. Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi ordered the raising of an "Arab Volunteer Force" to intervene in Syria, while Egyptian President Anwar Sadat began liberalizing the country and releasing political prisoners in order to appease his former western enemies. One casualty, politically speaking, of the growing rise of radical Islamism in the Middle East is Yasser Arafat. The Palestinian Liberation Organization's leader finds his support among his own people dwindling as a new generation of Palestinian nationalists sour on him, claiming he was simply ineffective in driving out the Israelis from the Middle East. Inside the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and parts of Syria, fighting broke out between jihadists and PLO aligned militias. It became, in the words of President Gavin, "a civil war within a civil war."

Until this point, Shia majority Iran and their iron-fisted ruler, Shah Pahlavi, had largely been left unscathed. While the Iranians had lost territory to Iraq during the 1974 war (which was still ongoing, though a ceasefire had been in effect for a while), the country continued to remain on the outside of the ongoing oil embargo, and thus retained strong ties to the west. But this alienated Shia clerics, particularly those who adhered to the anti-government message of Ayatollah Khomeini. After the Shah's Prime Minister and closest adviser was killed by a grenade hurling student, the Shah ordered his secret police to engage in a massive crack down on dissent within the country. This backfired when the feared SAVAK began rounding up and torturing dissidents, only further alienating an already jaded public.

The 1976 campaign continues to grow, with Congressman Morris Udall (D-AZ) - a strong contender from the Democratic Party's progressive wing, announcing he will not pursue the Presidency and will instead challenge Senator Paul Fannin for his seat. Udall's announcement is a disappointment to many western liberals and progressives, but his entry into the race gives him the opportunity to pick up and expand the Democratic Party's already sizable supermajority in the Senate. Former President Spiro Agnew also announces he will seek the Presidency at a rally in Baltimore attended by less than a hundred people, an embarrassing start to an embarrassing campaign for a joke that he was not eligible to hold. Though Agnew argued otherwise, his impeachment was enough for Secretaries of State in nearly every state in the union to deny him access on the primary ballot, and the former President was unable to raise the money needed to even travel to the early primary states like New Hampshire.

Other candidates confirm they will not run in 1976; among them, aside from Udall, include Senators McGovern and Mondale, House Minority Leader Gerald Ford, Senator James Buckley (who will seek reelection as a Republican instead as a conservative), and former Senator Bob Dole and former Governor Nelson Rockefeller. As the field begins to contract, increased attention for Governor Reuben Askew - whom many in Tallahassee believe to be the heir to John McKeithen - sees his polling numbers rise. As a result, the Governor begins to weigh a presidential bid more seriously, and employs a young pollster by the name of Patrick Caddell to begin researching whether an Askew candidacy is viable.

1976 Democratic Presidential Primary (Gallup - Nationwide)
Ted Kennedy: 27%
Birch Bayh: 20%
George Wallace: 16%
Hubert Humphrey: 10%
Reuben Askew: 9%
Ron Dellums: 6%
Fred Harris: 3%
Henry Jackson: 3%
Walter Mondale: 1%
Frank Church: 1%
Lloyd Bentsen: 1%
Julian Bond: 1%
Robert Byrd: 1%
Eugene McCarthy: 1%

1976 Republican Primaries (Gallup - Nationwide)
Ronald Reagan: 36%
James Gavin: 26%
George Bush: 15%
Howard Baker: 11%
Charles Percy: 8%
Phil Crane: 2%
John Ashbrook: 1%
Spiro Agnew: 1%*
*Constitutionally ineligible.
[1] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Public Domain).
[2] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Public Domain).

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Gotta remember to check up on this.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

March 1975.

Secretary of State George HW. Bush.
[1]

By the spring of 1975, George Bush had finally had enough. Though he and Ambassador Kissinger often found themselves in agreement, Bush's influence waned as Kissinger reasserted himself (this time as Gavin's "Ambassador-at-Large") as the dominant foreign policy figure of the administration. By March, Bush had largely been relegated to ceremonial functions, and he was increasingly resentful of the Ambassador's influence over the President. On March 10th, Secretary of State Bush submitted his resignation the President, who in turn announced his intention to nominate Ambassador Kissinger to replace the outgoing Secretary. Bush and his wife Barbara returned to Texas, where he immediately began weighing a potential presidential campaign in 1976 regardless of the President's intentions.

The confirmation battle over Kissinger was an unexpectedly brutal affair, with Senators Church, Carter, McGovern, Bayh, Hart, Kennedy, and most surprisingly, Senators Edward Brooke (R-MA) and Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) all voice opposition to his nomination. The Kissinger hearings are tense, with Senator Church leading the charge, questioning the Secretary-designee over the CIA and State Department's role in fomenting the 1973 Chilean coup which brought General Pinochet to power. The Senate debate between the body's members was equally fierce, as members of both parties broke with their respective parties to argue in favor or opposition to the Ambassador-at-Large's nomination.

It was not an easy choice to resign as Secretary of State, but it was the best one. Henry's reach had grown so deep that it rendered the State Department effectively useless, which Jim Baker and I both lamented in numerous warnings to the President that went unheeded; we had and have reason to this day to believe that these memos were intercepted and held from the President by Cap Weinberger. It was no secret that Cap, the White House Chief of Staff, was a hawk. It seemed as if Cap had constructed an invincibility complex around the President, convinced that his character and past as a wartime commander immunized the General from criticism. To Cap, we were all soldiers in the general's army, and we had to obey our marching orders.

Having been an airman in the war, I had no intolerance to this arrangement. But I was concerned about Henry Kissinger's unlimited access to the President, formulating policy from his office in the White House and sending it down to the State Department to be bureaucratically implemented. This was a threat, from the very beginning, to the autonomy and functions of the oldest executive department.  It was important on an institutional basis that this order be reversed to restore the proper functionality to our diplomatic branch, but for this to happen, someone would have to sacrifice their pride.

The result was a Mexican standoff between Henry and I; my arguments to the President, typed out repeatedly on State Department stationary in the form of official memoranda, went unanswered, and my access to the President was limited physically to short periods after the weekly cabinet meeting. Our only contact was in the form of brief telephone conversations, in which he - almost always on Kissinger's advice - would dispatch me on international junkets, including a rather unnecessary visit to Zambia in December 1974 or repeated trips to Saigon, for example. I had become convinced that Henry was intentionally influencing the President to keep me well traveled abroad in order to keep me out of Washington until he could claim my job.

I blinked first and resigned. It was for the better, and most importantly, for the country, regardless of whatever disagreements I may have had with Henry before. But it also opened up a whirlwind of new opportunity for me, personally and politically, and there was a deep reservoir of support for me back in Texas. I earnestly and seriously considered running for Senate against Lloyd Bentsen.

The Senator, who had bested me in 1970, had moved his focus onto bigger and greener pasture - that of the Presidency. The seat was open, and according to many Republicans, it was mine for the picking. But as I examined my options for the race, I found that the pasture Bentsen was eying had plenty of grass to go around. In my private pitches to the top Texas Republicans, including former Governor and Treasury Secretary John Connally (who was then facing trial for an alleged price fixing scheme), I argued that Bentsen was thinking too big, that he was too ambitious, and that he was too focused on Washington to help the folks back in Midland or Denton or Palestine or Galveston or wherever.

But what I discovered was that Bentsen wasn't thinking too big; perhaps I was the one who was thinking small.

          George HW. Bush, The Diplomatic Years., 1982

Bush's resignation comes during the United Nations Conference on Syria and Cyprus, which would become an almost farcical display of the UN's ineptness and a source of tension and embarrassment for some world leaders. A photograph purporting to show Saudi King Faisal greeting an Israeli diplomat is widely proliferated in Saudi Arabia by Islamists, even though the photo was in reality a doctored image showing the King pass by the Israeli while speaking with Tanzanian President Julius Nyere. The phony photo was part of an increasingly effective propaganda campaign by Wahhabi radicals in the country, succeeding in further alienating the poorest citizens of the country away from the ruling family.

Prime Minister Edward Heath, one attendee at the UN Conference, makes waves back home in Britain when he returns to announce his governments opposition to a potential referendum on the UK's membership in the European Economic Community; with British cooperation with the EEC on an economic and military level more entangled than ever due to the economic crisis and the situation in the Middle East, Heath was privately concerned that British withdrawal could cast Britain adrift from world affairs. Dennis Healey, the pro-European leader of the Labour Party, was equally adamant that a referendum on British membership in the EEC was unnecessary at the moment, angering many of the left-wing Eurosceptics within his party. As a result, Labour Party MPs like Tony Benn, Barbara Castle, Michael Foot, and Peter Shore begin to buckle against Healey, causing a fissure in the Labour Party that Heath would like to one day exploit.

Leonid Breznhev, late General Secretary of the Communist Party of the USSR (1906-1975).
[2]

On March 11th, 1975, Soviet leader Leonid Breznhev dies suddenly at the age of 68 following a heart attack at his dacha outside of Moscow. The Central Committee of the Communist Party, which had slowly broken free of Breznhev's once undeniable will, was well-prepared for this eventuality as the General Secretary's health declined. He is succeeded as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union by Mikhail Suslov, while Andrei Gromyko is named Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (head of government) and Alexei Kosygin retains the post of Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister). The influence of KGB chief Yuri Andropov makes Suslov's power grab an easy task, as Andropov had led a successful anti-corruption campaign within the party that erased much of Breznhev's power base.

Days later, Brezhnev is buried in the Kremlin wall as the world watched an aged Mikhail Suslov take the helm of the Soviet Union publically. Suslov, the chief ideologue of the Communist Party, was a firm opponent of detente and warned that peaceful coexistence with the capitalist west was not a sustainable possibility. An ardent Stalinist, Suslov's rise to power leads many American foreign policy figures, including National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft, to warn the President that the USSR could become even more inflexible on the world stage in the coming months.

Like his deceased predecessor, Suslov was able to sense and exploit opportunity on the world stage. Though he had initially pressed Brezhnev to intervene in Syria against the late General Secretary's instincts, Suslov had soured on the Syrian leadership due to their inability to cobble together an army and government of their own in spite of the allied military intervention. The growing chasm between Greece and Turkey within NATO gave Suslov all the opportunity he needed to ditch the Syrian War. In Suslovs eye, Syria could be traded to Turkey's orbit in exchange for material support against Greece, in effect luring it out of NATO while giving the USSR an out in Syria.

The situation in Turkey was ripe for Soviet interference; after the latest rounds of reports detailing Greek Cypriot conducted atrocities against ethnic Turks, a mob of enraged Turkish Muslims in Istanbul ransacked the home of Greek Orthodox Patriarch Demetrios I, savagely beating him to the point of near death and killing two of his aides in the process. The injured Patriarch is rescued by the Turkish military, which intervened to save his life at the last minute. He is rushed to an American military hospital in West Germany in critical condition, while President Koruturk tries to calm the situation from Ankara. In response to the attack on Demetrios I, Greek President Phaedon Gizikos reiterates Greece's support for President Sampson in Cyprus and mobilizes the Greek military.

The next day, thousands of nationalistic youth march on the Presidential Palace in Ankara, breaking down the gate and occupying the grounds. A humiliated President Koruturk is evacuated from the palace by helicopter, while General Kenan Evren and the Turkish military watch nervously from the sides. After hours of negotiations, the demonstrators, led by arch-reactionary politician Alparslan Turkes (the leader of the Nationalist Movement Part) wrangled immunity from prosecution for the protesters and himself. In exchange for their immunity, they agree to withdraw from the palace. The occupation weakens Koruturk's prestige at home, and propels the far-right Turkes to new heights politically.

In Vietnam, there is newfound hope when preliminary peace talks between the North and South Vietnamese states begin in The Hague. With the US, USSR, Laos, and Cambodia also being represented, the talks are aimed at bringing together a common agreement between the warring parties to effect a ceasefire, and perhaps even a permament peace treaty. Initially scheduled to resume in Paris (the site of the last peace talks), rioting in the city led to The Hague being chosen as the venue instead. Though the talks are not anticipated to be immediately successful, both sides are surprised by the candor and willingness of the other to put aside their differences and end the war. This is largely due to exhaustion more than any lofty notions of peace, with all nations involved depleting their military, funds, resources, blood, and treasure over the course of the last decade.

Lyndon LaRouche represented the growing fringe of American politics.
[3]

Back home in America, a sense of cynicism was permeating itself in American life. Battered by the oil embargo and the Second Great Depression, the corruption and uselessness of Washington, and anf the wars overseas, the growth and increased proliferation of conspiracy theories were broadly noted in the press. One growing movement was Lyndon LaRouche's National Caucus of Labor Committees; the fiercely anti-semitic former Socialist Workers Party activist had announced his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. The climate of distrust was compounded by Geraldo Rivera, who aired the Zapruder film detailing the Kennedy assassination on his late night ABC show.

1976 Democratic Presidential Primary (Gallup - Nationwide)
Ted Kennedy: 25%
Birch Bayh: 20%
George Wallace: 16%
Hubert Humphrey: 10%
Reuben Askew: 10%
Ron Dellums: 7%
Fred Harris: 3%
Henry Jackson: 3%
Frank Church: 1%
Lloyd Bentsen: 1%
Julian Bond: 1%
Robert Byrd: 1%
Eugene McCarthy: 1%
Lyndon LaRouche: 1%

1976 Republican Primaries (Gallup - Nationwide)
Ronald Reagan: 35%
James Gavin: 27%
George Bush: 16%
Howard Baker: 10%
Charles Percy: 7%
Phil Crane: 3%
John Ashbrook: 1%
Spiro Agnew: 1%*
*Constitutionally ineligible.
[1] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Public Domain).
[2] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Public Domain)
[3] Taken from YouTube (LaRouche PAC)

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

April 1975.

King Khalid of Saudi Arabia.
[1]

Saudi Arabian King Faisal is shot in the face and killed by his nephew Prince Faisal bin Musa'id bin Abdul Aziz on April 2nd, 1975. The prince, who was later deemed to have been motivated by personal grudges,  is publicly beheaded in the days following the assassination. Rising to the throne in the wake of his Crown Prince Khalid, who immediately calls together the princes of the House of Saud to assert his authority as King. Yet the new King faces some resistance within the ruling family, with several high ranking princes concerned that their positions of profit and political pull could be threatened. There were a few in the family who had thrown their sympathies behind the Wahhabi cause, and warn the new monarch that the Saudi Kingdom should continue to embrace the influence of clerics and the implementation of Sharia law.

In a bizarre coincidence, a member of the Saudi National Guard shoots and kills Prince Fahd bin Abdulazziz al-Saud, the Second Deputy Prime Minister. Fahd, a high ranking prince in the line of succession, was killed by an officer who believed mistakenly the assassination of King Faisal was the outbreak of a revolution inspired by the Islamist cause. The officer in question for the assassination of Prince Fahd is quickly executed, having been radicalized by an increasingly vocal and influential radical Wahhabist named Jahayman al-Otaybi. The new Saudi King takes the throne at the most tenuous time in Arab history, with Saudi Arabia's rich oil reserves and immense regional influence placing Khalid at the center of the ongoing Middle East crisis.

Across the world in Washington, Henry Kissinger was facing a challenge of his own. The Senate confirmation battle for his nomination to serve as Secretary of State had grown ugly, and his chances of being confirmed looked increasingly slim. Another round of hearings resulted in tense exchanges with Senator James Carter of Georgia, which further damaged his image as Carter listed a litany of alleged crimes committed internationally on Kissinger's orders. But the conservatives and Cold War hawks came to the embattled Ambassador's defense, arguing that the Senate liberals were endangering national security to score political points. The hearings would dominate much of the month, and Acting Secretary of State Robert Ingersoll would preside over the State Department in the interim. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee would vote 10-7 to reject Kissinger's nomination, though Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (D-MT) brings his nomination before the body for a full Senate vote on the nomination, to take place in early May.

There were changes in the far-east relating to the two Chinese states, where major internal developments would transpire that would shake Asia to the core. The first is the death of Chiang Kai-Shek, the long time leader of the Republic of China and one of the last major leaders of the Second World War still remaining in power. President Gavin becomes the first American President to visit Taiwan in fifteen years in order to address the country's legislature and attend the funeral of the Chinese Marshall, who famously led nationalist forces against Japan and the Maoist Red Army for decades.

The second is the rise of Mao Yuanxin in Red China; with Mao Zedong's health failing, his nephew Mao Yuanxin, a former Red Guard who rose to prominence in assisting his aunt (Madame Mao) root out Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping in 1973 following the Mongolian War. Having already taken the title of "First Secretary" of the Communist Party of China, Mao Yuanxin's control of the day to day function of the party had given him a powerbase of his own. The morning after the death of Chiang Kai-Shek, Mao Zedong suddenly announced (through a single line report in People's Daily) his resignation as Chairman of the Central Military Commission. He was replaced as Chair of the Committee which controlled the People's Liberation Army by Wang Hongwenl, while Wang Dongxing remained as Premier while Jiang Qiang, Mao's wife, continued to hold the position of head of state.

Wang Hongwen became a powerful figure in the People's Republic of China.
[2]

In Peking, the government of communist China was now completely in the hands of the radical wing of the Communist Party. With Madame Mao leading the propaganda effort, and with Mao Yuanxin and his allies at the heart of power, there was talk in western capitals of a "red dynasty" taking shape in the People's Republic of China. The closure of the PRC to the west following the downfall of Zhou Enlai made it hard for western intelligence agencies, spare for aerial and satellite surveillance, to gather information on events inside the nation nicknamed "the hermit's republic of China" by British Prime Minister Edward Heath. Inside China, collective farms had been ordered to raise massive bumper crops of poppy, which was not initially picked up by the west. This crop was used to manufacture heroin and opiates on a massive industrial scale, as part of a massive effort by the regime to gather badly needed hard currency through the black market. Mao Yuanxin hoped that the opium would create social chaos in the west while funding a massive reconstruction and expansion of the People's Liberation Army.

In The Hague, direct talks between the warring parties of the Vietnam conflict concludes with an agreement to end the armed phase of the war. While a final peace agreement remains far from being reached, the agreement to cease combat operations is signed on April 30th, bringing the Vietnam War to a close. While President Gavin does not signal the end of an American military presence, the developments do promise an end, if only temporarily, to continued combat operations and rising casualties. The ceasefire is announced by President Gavin in a televised Oval Office address to the nation, and sees an immediate boost in support for him within the polls. The President used his hard-earned political capital to announce his registration as a Republican, though he makes no official announcement about his plans to seek reelection.

The situation in Rhodesia begins to deteriorate in March, with the oil embargo and western sanctions on the white minority-ruled regime taking a toll on the economy. The government of Prime Minister Ian Smith continued to be harassed by fighters associated with the Zimbabwean African National Union (led by Robert Mugabe) and the Zimbabwean African People's Union going to war with the government and one another. While the low intensity scale of the conflict made it a low priority, the growing support for the rebel groups active in the country alarms the Rhodesian Prime Minister, who orders more draconian methods be employed.

1976 Democratic Presidential Primary (Gallup - Nationwide)
Ted Kennedy: 20%
Birch Bayh: 20%
George Wallace: 15%
Hubert Humphrey: 11%
Reuben Askew: 10%
Ron Dellums: 8%
Henry Jackson: 5%
Fred Harris: 3%
Frank Church: 2%
Lloyd Bentsen: 2%
Julian Bond: 1%
Robert Byrd: 1%
Eugene McCarthy: 1%
Lyndon LaRouche: 1%

1976 Republican Primaries (Gallup - Nationwide)
Ronald Reagan: 32%
James Gavin: 30%
George Bush: 17%
Howard Baker: 7%
Charles Percy: 6%
John Connally: 4%
Phil Crane: 3%
Spiro Agnew: 1%*
*Constitutionally ineligible.
[1] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Public Domain).
[2] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Public Domain)

[Lord Byron]

Now that we know that the US is not going to have Donald Rumsfeld (shudder) as president, I wonder who will become president in 1976 and 1980...

BTW, when, in a timeline, The Soviet Union is among the few countries that is doing well...yeah, you know it's a dystopia...

I don't like Donald Rumsfeld IOTL--that being said, OTL's Rumsfeld would probably be horrified at what his Rumsfeldia counterpart did as president...

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

May 1975.

Kenneth Rush, the President's second choice for Secretary of State.
[1]

May is marked by a critical defeat in the Senate for the Gavin administration when Ambassador Kissinger is rejected by the Senate for the position of Secretary of State by a 52-48 vote. Resigning from his post as Ambassador-at-Large in response to the defeat, Kissinger finds himself relegated back to the private sector as his lengthy tenure in Washington comes to what for now felt like a permanent close. The President is disappointed in the defeat and departure of Kissinger from the administration, privately lamenting the loss as his most damaging political defeat since assuming office. To replace Bush now that Kissinger was struck down by the Senate, the President nominates Kenneth Rush, the acting Secretary of State since Bush's resignation. Rush is expected to have an easier time within the Senate; having lost control of the State Department to Kissinger over the course of the Gavin Presidency, Bush privately warns Rush, his Deputy, to be a strong and assertive figure within the administration less history repeat itself. 

Down south in Texas, former Treasury Secretary and Governor John Connally is acquitted on charges of bribery relating to a scandal involving milk price fixing. With prominent figures including Congresswoman Barbara Jordan (D-TX), the Reverend Billy Graham, and former First Ladies Jackie Kennedy and Lady Bird Johnson as character witnesses, the jury looks past potential perjury on Governor Connally's part to render a verdict of not guilty. Connally's acquittal leads to speculation that the man Nixon once desired as his political heir could make a political comeback running for President. Though his poll numbers had placed him behind other strong contenders, including Reagan, Gavin, and Bush, Connally's deep ties to Washington and diverse political experiences could make him a force to be reckoned with.

The Hague Accords go into effect in Vietnam, with American troops pulling out of Dong Hoi for the first time since the launch of Operation Bold Eagle. The withdrawal of American troops is matched with the temporary suspension of Viet Cong activity in South Vietnam, as well as a total halt to all activity along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. In Laos, the long-running civil war in the country comes to a close when the royalist government is forced by the terms of the agreement to enter into peace talks with the communist Pathet Lao. The agreement effectively cedes Laos to the influence of North Vietnam and the Soviet Union, while the communist world effectively abandons the Khmer Rouge and Viet Cong in Cambodia and South Vietnam. The release of POWs results in a number of prominent American war heroes, including Jeremiah Denton and John McCain, returning home, a triumphant symbol of the war's end.

In Southern Africa, the Rhodesian Bush War intensifies. The regime of Ian Smith nearly succeeds in weakening the opposition after Rhodesian agents assassinate Robert Mugabe, leader of the Soviet backed Zimbabwean African National Union (ZANU). Killed by a bomb attached to his car, the death of Mugabe in Mozambique has unintended consequences that would come back to haunt Smith. The Rhodesians further muddy the waters with the chaos they've created by leaving doubt whether it was Rhodesia, or potentially Cuban and Soviet agents, who went after Mugabe. Capitalizing on the situation, Rhodesian Special Forces also destroy large portions of the unfinished TAZARA rail line that was designed to connect Tanzania and Zambia. The motivation in destroying the line is to weaken potential supply lines towards the ZANU and ZAPU camps in Zambia, as well as ensuring the country's economic dependence on the white minority regime in Salisbury, Rhodesia's capital.

Ironically, the withdrawal of China from the world stage had left a power vacuum for their Maoist clients across the globe, many of whom turned to the Soviets for support in their absence. With his bitter rival Mugabe dead, Josua Nkomo of the ZAPU allows his organization to merge with the leaderless rump of ZANU to form the Zimbabwean People's Liberation Front. The now united, outwardly Marxist-Leninist group will become the chief opposition to the Rhodesian government in the wake of Mugabe's assassination.

Alsparlan Turkes, Prime Minister of Turkey and the leader of the "Grey Wolves."
[2]

Back in the Middle East, however, peace seemed like an alien concept. Since the presidential palace occupation in Ankara, Alparslan Turkes had soared to new political heights. The nationalist leader of Turkey's far-right movement followed this event by organizing a crippling general strike that lasted into the early weeks of May. So damaging was the strike and the accompanying demonstrations that elements of the Turkish military, which dominated the country's politics, began weighing stepping in to resolve the situation. Facing pressure from officers sympathetic to Turkes's cause, President Koruturk is forced to dismiss his Prime Minister and replace him with Turkes, who forms a government composing of smaller nationalist and far right parties with the backing of the army.  His power is compounded on the ground by the Grey Wolves, the paramilitary wing of his Nationalist Movement Party.

The Soviets were delighted by the ascent of Turkes to the position of Prime Minister, knowing he'd surely cause a hemorrhage in NATO and potentially drag Turkey into the Soviet orbit. Though many of Suslov's colleagues in the Politburo are horrified by Turkes, whom they consider a fascist, they also are supportive of Suslov's pragmatic streak, and see the strategic value of such a disruptive figure within NATO. This comes at a time when Portugal's left-wing military regime begins halting their military operations against colonial liberation movements in Africa and in East Timor, with the government of Prime Minister Goncalves promising decolonization and withdrawal of Portuguese troops in the near future. These developments come after the Prime Minister hosts Fidel Castro, the Cuban revolutionary leader, in Lisbon as part of an effort to endear the new government to the Soviet Union and her Warsaw Pact allies.

A young Egyptian army doctor by the name of Ayman al-Zawahiri is dispatched to Yugoslavia for training, where the Islamist is put into contact with an unknown Albanian smuggler who was a top member of Enver Hoxha's ruling party. Though his identity was never discovered, it was widely speculated that a top figure within Albania's government sold small quantities of Sarin gas in exchange for badly needed hard currency. Coming into possession of these chemical weapons, al-Zawahiri managed to send the Sarin back to Egypt, where fellow sympathizers of the jihadist cause held on to the canisters in the meanwhile.

The threat posed by al-Zawahiri's plot is unknown by the FBI, as al-Zawahiri's activities were only confined to Egypt until that point. Though the rising tide of Islamic extremism was increasingly on the radar of the Federal Counter-Terrorism Bureau, the chief threat was presented by the far-left and Black September. Terrorism in America had dramatically increased in the 1970s, with groups like the Black Liberation Army, the American Indian Movement, and the Weather Underground representing the biggest threat. With the memory of the 1974 New York Stock Exchange Massacre still fresh in the minds of many New Yorkers, many Americans were wary of the threat posed by terrorism, but none knew how close to home it could hit. Then came the Indy 500 bombing.

On the 220th lap of the Indy 500 in Indianapolis, a bomb hidden under the stands exploded, killing seven people and injuring twenty-two others. The blast, which the Federal Counter-Terrorism Bureau later pins on a previously unknown militant group calling itself the People's Liberation Army of America, is a departure from typical left-wing terrorism due to the targeting of civilians at a sporting event. Though no suspects are immediately named, it is widely believed that the People's Liberation Army of America is an offshoot of the former People's Armed Resistance, the group responsible for the 1974 Stock Exchange Massacre. Both the People's Armed Resistance and the People's Liberation Army of America are suspected to be umbrella groups composing of members of other known militant leftist groups, as at least two of the suspects involved in the planning and execution of the Stock Exchange are believed to be members of the Black Liberation Army associated with some people involved in the failed kidnapping of Pamela Agnew in 1973 in particular.

1976 Democratic Presidential Primary (Gallup - Nationwide)
Ted Kennedy: 21%
Birch Bayh: 20%
George Wallace: 16%
Hubert Humphrey: 12%
Reuben Askew: 10%
Ron Dellums: 10%
Henry Jackson: 4%
Fred Harris: 1%
Frank Church: 1%
Lloyd Bentsen: 1%
Julian Bond: 1%
Robert Byrd: 1%
Eugene McCarthy: 1%
Lyndon LaRouche: 1%

1976 Republican Primaries (Gallup - Nationwide)
Ronald Reagan: 35%
James Gavin: 30%
George Bush: 16%
John Connally: 7%
Charles Percy: 5%
Howard Baker: 3%
Phil Crane: 3%
Spiro Agnew: 1%*
*Constitutionally ineligible.
[1] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Public Domain)
[2] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Public Domain)

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

June 1975.

Prime Minister Vasco Goncalves of Portugal.
[1]

The Castro visit to Portugal is followed by Yugoslavia's leader, Marshall Tito, who arrives in Lisbon to warn the new leftist government of Prime Minister Goncalves to not become too entangled with the Soviet Union, as the Kremlin would surely push him out in favor of General Secretary Cunhal, though Goncalves does not take Tito's fateful warning seriously. Though he does pay lip service to Tito by naming Mario Soares, the anti-communist leader of the Socialist Party to the powerless position of President, Goncalves insists that a coalition between the Socialist and Communist parties is necessary to prevent a return to fascism. The Portuguese military begins training with Cuban, Czech, East German, and Yugoslav troops over the summer of 1975 while more seriously considering decolonization, granting Mozambique independence in the process. Goncalves transmits this desire publicly when he announces that Portugal is willing to cede Macau to Red China, though the isolationist regime in Peking, which has closed off all official communication with the western world, does not respond one way or the other to the offer for the time being.

In Lebanon, the Palestinian Jihad Organization (PJO) forms as a rival to the nationalistic and secular Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO); the adherents to the PJO's banner are mostly former members of the Muslim Brotherhood from Syria, all of whom were part of the broader Palestinian diaspora. Having cut their teeth fighting against the crusaders in Syria, these militias fled to the relative safety and anonymity of Beirut, where they reorganized and expanded. Having taken control of many refugee camps within the country, the PJO goes on the offensive, attacking the American University in a run-and-gun style attack that left fifty-eight people dead and hundreds more injured. They also form a loose, informal alliance with Shia groups that are equally alienated from the PLO and the Lebanese government. The CIA watches these events carefully, and discovers that an unknown Saudi national named Zehdi Al-Sulaim has been responsible for bringing in a considerable amount of financial support for the Palestinian Jihad Organization from Saudi Arabia.

While King Khalid of Saudi Arabia is willing to look the other way on Saudi support for foreign Islamists, the King had no patience for Islamism at home. He began an immediate crack down on all  radical jihadist infiltration into the Saudi National Guard or the Royal Family, going so far as to remove Prince Bandar bin Adul Aziz from the line of succession after the reclusive and radical Wahhabi Prince criticized the King for accepting the "lax morality" of his court. The King briefly jails the Prince and a number of other jihad sympathizers with the Royal Family at the Makkah Hilton Towers in Mecca, where they are held in luxurious house arrest for a short period while the new King figured out what to do with them.

Egypt sees a worrying rise in support for the Muslim Brotherhood and other jihadist organizations, even after President Sadat liberalized the economy and released political prisoners. This was largely due to the Egyptian President's support for signing a peace treaty with Israel in the future and for opening diplomatic ties with the United States. Egyptian radical Muslims flock to the Suez Canal where they attempt to scuttle their own boats in a protest aimed at disrupting or even shutting down the canal. They are dislodged and forced back by the Egyptian navy, prompting radicalized clerics in the country to condemn Sadat for using the military against his own people.

The defection of Major Yu Zhenwu from Red China to Hong Kong captivates the world; the pilot in the People's Liberation Air Force flies a MiG 17 over the border to Hong Kong in a daring escape from the communist regime in Peking, which has closed itself off from the outside world. Describing mass forced marches from the cities, tens of thousands of people deemed "class enemies" are marched to the countryside, where they slave away on a starvation diet growing poppy. Major Yu identifies the poppy as the source for the worlds mysteriously growing supply of heroin and opiates.

Another captivating controversy is the attempted assassination of Sam Giancana, a famed mobster from Chicago who was shot three times in the lower back while frying sausages in his kitchen. Giancana hurls a frying pan filled with hot bacon grease into his assailants fate, injuring his unknown attacker who flees the house before finishing the hit. Giancana is left paralyzed by the shooting, but otherwise survives the assassination attempt, his life ironically saved by two FBI agents staking out his home who intervened after the shooting to rescue him.

The month ends with the announcement by Senator Birch Bayh (D-IN) that he will be seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976, making him the immediate front-runner of the declared candidates. Bayh briefly ran for President in 1971, before withdrawing from the race due to his wife's cancer diagnosis. Months later, he was named to the ticket by John McKeithen, and sought the Vice Presidency along with the late Louisianan Governor, before finally losing the Senate contingency election to Spiro Agnew by one vote. Since Agnew's rise and fall, Bayh had acted as the defacto leader of the Senates liberal wing and had been preparing a second presidential campaign for some time. In announcing his candidacy, Bayh now challenges Kennedy (whom Bayh nicknamed "Hamlet of Hyannisport") for control of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.

Senator Birch Bayh (D-IN)
[2]

1976 Democratic Presidential Primary (Gallup - Nationwide)
Ted Kennedy: 23%
Birch Bayh: 22%
George Wallace: 17%
Reuben Askew: 11%
Ron Dellums: 10%
Hubert Humphrey: 7%
Henry Jackson: 3%
Fred Harris: 1%
Frank Church: 1%
Lloyd Bentsen: 1%
Julian Bond: 1%
Robert Byrd: 1%
Eugene McCarthy: 1%
Lyndon LaRouche: 1%

1976 Republican Primaries (Gallup - Nationwide)
Ronald Reagan: 35%
James Gavin: 30%
George Bush: 16%
John Connally: 7%
Charles Percy: 5%
Howard Baker: 3%
Phil Crane: 3%
Spiro Agnew: 1%*
*Constitutionally ineligible.
[1] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Public Domain)
[2] Taken from Wikipedia Commons[/img] (Public Domain)

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

July 1975.

The FBI and FCTB, working in coordination, bust a major heroin smuggling ring based out of San Francisco. The investigation began when the FCTB busted two members of the newly formed Revolutionary Communist Party for plotting to bomb the Taiwanese embassy in Washington in support of Mao Yuanxin and Wang Hongweng's regime in China, and their source of funding was quickly traced back to a know (but publicly unidentified) criminal underworld figure in Hong Kong known to be associated with Chinese intelligence officials. The attack results in left-wing militant and Revolutionary Communist Party activist Bob Avakian being arrested on money laundering charges, which would expose China's involvement in the global opium trade. The President uses these revelations to call for a global crackdown on drug trafficking in order to put an economic squeeze on China.

As the nation marked it's 199th birthday on July 4th, Florida Governor Reuben Askew announced his candidacy for President on the step's of Florida's historic capital building in Tallahassee. Considered the leading political voice of "the new south," Askew's announcement positions him as a leading regional contender for the Democratic nomination, though he could face competition from George Wallace should he choose to enter the Presidential race. Though Wallace indeed had political aspirations far higher than just Governor of Alabama, he knew that an early entry into the race could make him vulnerable to months of attacks on his increasingly unfashionable (and recent) past as an outspoken segregationist. The Askew campaign benefits from the endorsement of Louisiana State Senator Fox McKeithen, the son of the former presidential candidate.

Reubin Askew announces his candidacy for President in 1976.
[1]

Speaking of segregationists, Senator Orval Faubus (ID-AR) announces his candidacy for the Democratic nomination as well. Though he polls near the bottom of the Democratic primary field at near LaRouche levels, his support among the fringe right of the Dixiecrat wing of the party is enough to make his vocal candidacy noteworthy. Another entry into the race is Utah Governor Calvin Rampton, a three term Governor and a longshot candidate. Basing his chances on McKeithen's breakout campaign in 1972, Rampton's odds are slim but he is undeterred. He immediately travels to New Hampshire after launching his campaign, hoping for an early breakout rather than waiting for regional primaries where'd he fare better.

I knew the Democrats had learned nothing when Governor Askew entered the race to great acclaim from his party cohorts. Unlike John McKeithen, who had genuine charisma, sincere compassion, and that classic but respectable brand of corruption that made him a riverboat gambler style wheeler-dealer, Askew was polished and transparently phony as a $3 dollar bill. But he wasn't the only candidate oozing with that fake southern charm, that molasses mouthed style of speaking that distracts and disarms the poor unsuspecting son of a bitch about to be stabbed in the back. Other, much darker forces were lurking in the midsts.

Senator Orval Faubus, an independent Democratic Senator from Arkansas who ran a write-in campaign in 1972 and won, also launched a longshot presidential bid. The unreconstructed arch-racist was dismissed by northern airheads in their elite bubbles as a stalking horse for Governor Wallace, but I saw something much different play out. The new south was very much new in the sense that a new generation of southerners was rising, but it was still in every sense of the term the same old south. Sure, the times of segregation were officially over, but the lingering shadow of hate haunted the south like a phantom, and though segregation today had ended, there were still commonly held, openly and often expressed hopes for it's return tomorrow and then forever. Governor Wallace may have pretended to have changed, but the only people he was fooling lived in the south. They saw his change as genuine, and they were f**king livid. Orval Faubus was their man.

Utah Governor Calvin Rampton entered the race as well. But nobody knew who the hell he was, and even fewer cared.

          Hunter S. Thompson, Fear, Loathing, and Fireworks on the Campaign Trail '76., 1977


Elections in Turkey return a solid nationalist majority in the national legislature, with Alsparlan Turkes forming a government based around a coalition of right-wing parties. The newly minted Prime Minister now begins solidifying his power as his party's paramilitary Grey Wolves begin violently clashing with leftists and acting as an informal secret police of sorts. His new defense minister is General Kenan Evren, who secretly meets with his Soviet counterparts in Tbilisi for a quiet summit on potential cooperation within Syria. Turkes turns his attention towards driving out the country's head of state President Koruturk in the hopes of completely taking control of the Turkish government. Within a months time, he succeeds in this mission by using the impeachment process, and installs Omar Faruk Gurler, a retired general, as his successor after Koruturk resigns under pressure.

In Portugal, the governing Socialist-Communist coalition becomes increasingly fraught. President Soares demonstrates his independence from Prince Minister Goncalves and Alvaro Cunhal by inviting French President Mitterrand to Lisbon, where the French President gives an impassioned speech in favor of social democracy. Goncalves responds by pushing the legislature to pass a law renaming the country as "the Progressive Democratic Republic of Portugal," which was enough to spark a second failed coup attempt by right-wing elements of the military. Following the coup attempt, Prime Minister Goncalves accuses the United States and the United Kingdom of assisting the plotters of the coup attempt, resulting in the socialist regime in Lisbon severing diplomatic ties with both nations.

Kenneth Rush, the new Secretary of State, is confirmed by a vote of 80-20 in the Senate. He must deal with Turkes and Goncalves, both of whom are the latest two troublemakers for the United States, in the long shadow cast by Henry Kissinger. Also waiting to test his diplomatic prowess is the Soviet Union, North Vietnam, North Korea, Iraq, China, and Cuba, all of whom are international or regional rivals of the United States eager to meddle against American interests in all corners of the globe. Though President Gavin found Rush to be a decent administrator who would be more forceful on the worldstage than George Bush, he was also concerned that the new Secretary would not command the same respect that Kissinger was subject to. The Senate confirms Cyrus Vance as Deputy Secretary of State by a vote of 81-19.

Rush faced his first test on July 28th, when the People's Liberation Army moves into Macao without warning, seizing and annexing the Portuguese enclave just weeks after Goncalves offered to hand over the city to China. Portuguese nationals are forcibly ejected from their homes, their property and bank accounts seized, while ethnic Chinese who were Portuguese citizens are rounded up and taken inland to the increasingly large reeducation camps. Macao becomes a burning ghost town overnight as the PLA begins moving hundreds of thousands of people out of the city, with all sorts of atrocities being reported as resistance to the occupation is crushed. The British and American navies are mobilized in preparation for a possible attack on Hong Kong, with the annexation of Macao causing panic in the British held city.

The fall and evacuation of Maccao frightened the world (Hong Kong in particular).
[2]

1976 Democratic Presidential Primary (Gallup - Nationwide)
Ted Kennedy: 25%
Birch Bayh: 21%
George Wallace: 15%
Reuben Askew: 12%
Ron Dellums: 10%
Hubert Humphrey: 5%
Henry Jackson: 3%
Fred Harris: 1%
Frank Church: 1%
Calvin Rampton: 1%
Lloyd Bentsen: 1%
Julian Bond: 1%
Robert Byrd: 1%
Orval Faubus: 1%
Eugene McCarthy: 1%
Lyndon LaRouche: 1%

1976 Republican Primaries (Gallup - Nationwide)
Ronald Reagan: 36%
James Gavin: 28%
George Bush: 18%
John Connally: 8%
Charles Percy: 5%
Howard Baker: 3%
Phil Crane: 1%
Spiro Agnew: 1%*
*Constitutionally ineligible.
[1] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Public Domain)
[2] Taken from Pinterest (No Copyright)

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

August 1975.

On August 1st, Senator Charles Percy (R-IL) called a press conference in Washington to announce his candidacy for President. He joins Bush and Crane as the third candidate to enter the race (not counting former President Agnew, who was ineligible) on the Republican side to announce his campaign. That same day, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) announces he will not seek the Democratic nomination in 1976. His announcement sparks a wave of candidates entering the race, with Senator Henry Jackson (D-WA), Governor Milton Shapp of Pennsylvania, former Senator Fred Harris (D-OK), and Kennedy's own brother-in-law Sargent Shriver all announce their campaigns.

But it was Ronald Reagan who made the biggest wave when he announced he would seek the Presidency in 1976, announcing his candidacy in a speech in New York City to a large audience of enthused supporters.

The announcement capped off years of studious, laborious, deliberate, and disciplined work, the final scene of the great unfurling drama. The script had been written with an audience in mind - the forgotten Americans, those whose lives played out with a determined dignity in the midst of the Second Great Depression. Reagan's speech interwove his humble beginnings and relayed his small town charm with a broader philosophy, an ideal that cast a long shadow and was as untamed as the American wilderness. With the Statue of Liberty behind him, he warned of the looming danger of communism and authoritarianism, entangling both the rise of communism in Portugal and more aggressive moves on the part of the Soviet Union and China. The times necessitated that the speech give off an accelerated sense of urgency that underpinned his remarks, and though his optimistic rhetoric gave Americans a renewed sense of hope, it also served to highlight the seriousness of the moment. The Governor began the last and greatest audition of his career.
  

         Lou Cannon, Ronald Reagan: Role of a Lifetime, 1977

Ronald Reagan announces his 1976 presidential campaign in New York City.
[1]

Tensions remain high in the South China Sea and in Hong Kong in the wake of China's annexation of Macau; the situation grows even more bizarre when British soldiers along the border in Hong Kong spot two men and a woman carrying an infirm man on a stretcher towards them. While China's military shot potential defectors or escapees on the spot, the lack of resistance to their departure intrigues the British, who discover the defectors identities. They are Zhou Enlai, China's ailing former Premier, his wife, and captured American POW John McCain. Zhou, dying of terminal cancer, was released from a labor camp alongside his wife and allowed to go into exile by the radical regime after Madame Mao reportedly decided it would be better to have Zhou alive in exile as a boogeyman rather than dead as a martyr.

McCain's surprise appearance propels him into the international spotlight; the son of an American admiral, the Navy pilot had been shot down over North Vietnam and had been taken as a prisoner of war. He was reported to have been killed when American planes bombed the "Hanoi Hilton" prison by mistake as part of Operation Bold Eagle, though in reality he had been purchased by Chinese agents who saw the use of a high value American hostage. Ultimately, after years in captivity, the government of China released him, claiming that he had escaped the prison and had wandered into the People's Republic. McCain disputes China's claim that they merely mistook him for a spy and names the handlers who had taken him into Vietnam's northern neighbor, but China continues to deny this.

The long feared Greek-Turkish conflict finally broke out in August thanks in part to a freak accident; on August 8th, a Bulgarian MiG fighter plane flown by a pilot desiring to defect is severely damaged by Bulgarian anti-air missiles trying to shoot it down, resulting in it crashing near the Turkish city of Uzunkopru. Believing the downed aircraft to be a Greek attack on the city, the Turkish military opens fire on Greek units near the border, sparking a series of incidents. Though a brief ceasefire is implemented after a few hours, it does not hold - the following day, the Greek military junta's leaders attempted to organize a nationalist rally in Athens, but it devolved into chaos and rioting after communist agitators arrived. Turkey mobilizes their military in response to the harsh rhetoric coming from the Greek military regime.

Four days later, with the USS Enterprise carrier group steaming towards the Balkans, anti-ship missiles fired from Turkey hit the USS Enterprise, causing the nuclear power aircraft carrier to begin leaking coolant water. While the immediate response is critical to preventing a nuclear meltdown at sea, the incident alienates many Americans from the Turkish side, and leads to the House and Senate voting to adopt an arms embargo against both nations; they later overrule President Gavin's endorsement. Turkish planes bombed Athens the day after the Enterprise incident as a full scale war erupted in the Dardanelles; the latest foreign crisis gave President Gavin yet another test, and after two years, he was ready for it.

Reagan's announcement put the final bit of political pressure needed to lure President Gavin onto the battlefield; though the California Governor and his former Secretary of State both presented strong challenges, the President was confident that his record stood on its own merits. The President and his team prepared for a September campaign announcement, hoping to catch Reagan shortly after takeoff. Whether Caspar Weinberger's plan would succeed remained in the air, but Gavin was as much of an optimist as his chief challenger.

1976 Democratic Presidential Primary (Gallup - Nationwide)
Birch Bayh: 28%
George Wallace: 15%
Ron Dellums: 13%
Reuben Askew: 12%
Hubert Humphrey: 5%
Henry Jackson: 3%
Milton Shapp: 3%
Fred Harris: 3%
Frank Church: 3%
Calvin Rampton: 2%
Lloyd Bentsen: 2%
Sargent Shriver: 2%
Robert Byrd: 1%
Orval Faubus: 1%
Eugene McCarthy: 1%
Lyndon LaRouche: 1%

1976 Republican Primaries (Gallup - Nationwide)
Ronald Reagan: 33%
James Gavin: 25%
George Bush: 18%
John Connally: 8%
Jack Williams: 6%
Charles Percy: 5%
Howard Baker: 3%
Phil Crane: 1%
Spiro Agnew: 1%*
*Constitutionally ineligible.
Italics indicate undeclared candidate.
[1] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Public Domain).

[blackentheborg]

I sincerely hope Bayh kicks Reagan's ass

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

September 1975.

President Mario Soares of Portugal.
[1]

The month kicks off with demonstrations in Portugal between the moderate Socialists and the Communists devolving into rioting as President Soares and Prime Minister Goncalves appear set on a collision course with one another. The root of the crisis was a disagreement between Goncalves and the President over the Prime Minister's proposed alliance with Cuba. In response to the rioting, the legislature of Portugal voted to abolish the presidency and establish a Soviet style presidium to replace it, forcing Soares to flee into exile in the Azores, where officers loyal to him controlled the islands. Thus, a second Portuguese government was set up in exile in the Azores, earning it the nickname "the Taiwan of the Atlantic." The British Navy sent a flotilla alongside a detachment of American marines to shore up the NATO recognized government of Soares on the islands. Governor Reagan highlighted the fall of Portugal into the communist orbit as the latest example of President Gavin's foreign policy, which would have been at the center of any potential reelection campaign by the President.

President Gavin, who was indeed preparing to launch his candidacy for a full term as President, faced a crisis. Portugal aside, the growing war in the Dardanelles between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus had fractured NATO, pushing the President to prepare for a Syria-style intervention on the island to quell the conflict. But after the trauma of the Vietnam War and the uncertainty about the success of the Syria mission, there simply is no more appetite for further military interventions across the globe. While President Gavin does redeploy some soldiers stationed formerly in South Vietnam to Italy in preparation for such a mission, the War Powers Act greatly curtailed his abilities to put together an allied peacekeeping force. Gavin only had so much political capital to expend, being a Washington outsider, but must choose between leading a campaign to intervene in Cyprus or seeking the Presidency. After weeks of careful deliberation with his wife Jean Gavin, who had been a relatively low-key First Lady who did not enjoy the public spotlight, Gavin ultimately decided that he could best serve his country by staying on as President, even if it meant short term compromises to his efforts to restore the post-World War II world order.

The Gavin for President Committee had been formed unofficially weeks in advance, and the President was able to use his corporate experience to think out of the box and look for potential hires from the private sector. Choosing Procter & Gamble CEO Howard Morgens as his campaign chairman, Gavin immediately went into a fundraising overdrive with the intention of blanketing the airwaves with advertising highlighting Gavin's leadership abilities. Considered to be an apolitical, non-partisan independent, the President's airwave campaign was crafted to convince more moderately conservative voters that James Gavin was, and always has been, one of them. The Reagan campaign was prepared for this however the Governor became increasingly and openly critical of the President even before he announced his decision to run as a Republican. This was done to ward off Gavin from running all together, but now that the General was on the battlefield, the objective had changed to engaging the enemy on their terms rather than his.

Political consultant Stuart Spencer, who previously managed Nelson Rockefeller's 1964 presidential campaign, was hired to manage the well funded Gavin campaign. With Morgens providing the money, and the General providing the military-style discipline, it was up Spencer to draw up the battle plans. Spencer looked to Franklin Roosevelt for inspiration, and found it. Declaring the world to be at its darkest moment since the 1930s, Gavin's campaign argued that only the President being reelected to keep the fragile post-war order from completely unraveling. The tone of Gavin's rhetoric always remained cheery if not also realistic, his campaign attuned to Reagan's optimistic vision of "a shining city on a hill" and its captivating effect on voters. Gavin also receives a boost when Senator Paul Fannin (R-AZ), up for reelection in 1976, resigned as Chairman of the Republican National Committee, resulting in Nixon and Gavin ally Bob Finch being elected in his place.

To describe the President's reelection campaign outside military terms would simply be a lie; it was inherently rooted in the General's military and corporate career, patterned around strategies that he knew worked practically. If this blend of public and private service was unique, it was also balanced. Gavin combined military discipline with corporate organization, telling his top campaign staffers (led by Stu Spencer) that their duty was to sell a product, and that the product was a president.
 

          Rick Pearlstein, The General At War, 2014

Senators Lloyd Bentsen (D-TX) and Frank Church (D-ID) as well as former Treasury Secretary John Connally (R-TX) enter the presidential race. Another entry into the race is housewife and pro-life activist Ellen McCormack, who entered the primaries as a literal unknown running on a solidly anti-abortion platform. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), the one time front-runner, hits the campaign trail in support of his brother-in-law, former Ambassador Sargent Shriver, and uses the opportunity to overshadow Senator Bayh, much to the Indiana Senator's dismay and annoyance. Sensing weakness in the president, Congressman John Anderson (R-IL) announces a longshot presidential campaign for the Republican nomination, despite being a senior Republican in the House of Representatives. When pressed why he was putting his career on the line against President Gavin, Anderson highlights his own disagreements with what he perceived to be the dangerous positions held by Gavin and Reagan regarding foreign policy.

The conflict between Greece and Turkey in the Dardanelles plays out on the air and sea as the two warring nation's navies clash at sea near Santorini. While the Greek navy is able to hold off the small Turkish fleet's attack, the battle signals that conflict on the high seas could impact international trade and shipping in the Mediterranean, which could draw the Soviet Union into the mix due to the restricted access to the Black Sea. President Gavin continues to insist upon the necessity for a UN led peacekeeping mission in Cyprus, though he has a harder than expected time selling the plan to a war weary public. A number of islands in the region are occupied by Turkish forces, who begin detaining and threatening to deport the native Greek populations back to Greece as Prime Minister Turkes confirms Turkey's intent to seize long disputed territories.

A new force emerges in the media when the Hughes Network is launched; owned by eccentric businessman Howard Hughes, who bought up a number of small local television stations that went bankrupt in the economic depression, the network becomes the fourth major national broadcast network. Conceived by Nixon allies initially as a means to potentially get rid of Agnew as early as 1971, the project took on new life when former Agnew Deputy Chief of Staff revived the idea along with Paul Weyrich. Republican advertising guru Roger Ailes is also brought onboard, quickly taking the lead in organizing the network. Ailes argued that the network would need a breakout star to draw attention to the network if it were to survive, with Cheney suggesting former White House Press Secretary Buchanan hosting the show's anchoring nightly broadcast. But Ailes responded by telling Cheney to "think bigger."

Thus, Agnew On Point was born. The disgraced former President immediately suspended his pointless presidential campaign to take up the offer, moving to New York City where he could host the show live from the new network's headquarters and studio. Agnew's alliterative tirades become a popular sensation among the right-wing, and though the mainstream press dismiss Agnew's show, they can not dismiss the increasing size of his audience. Governor Reagan would be Agnew's first guest on the inaugural episode of the show, which aired nightly at 8:00 PM EST, and played the good cop to Agnew's bad cop as they listed a litany of failures on Gavin's part.

But conservatives weren't the only ones attacking the President; Secretary Bush worked hard on the campaign trail to highlight the disconnect between him and then Ambassador-at-Large Henry Kissinger, and criticized the President for being "dependent" on Kissinger's advice. Bush noted that the Turks and Portuguese entering the Soviet sphere of influence would result in the Soviet Navy being able to establish a foothold and presence in the Mediterranean and Atlantic oceans. Former Treasury Secretary John Connally and Arizona Governor Jack Williams warned that Soviet encroachment in South and Central America remained a larger threat than the various Islamist groups active in Syria or the war in the Dardenelles.

These moments came to a head when the President's primary challengers (spare the President, Senator Percy, and Governor Williams) debated each other in New Hampshire at a forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters that was televised nationally. Turning their fire on the President, who declined to attend the event, the candidates lashed out at Gavin's and in Crane and Reagan's case, even spoke of him as something of an interloper within the Grand Old Party.

The 1976 GOP Primary Debate.
[2]

1976 Democratic Presidential Primary (Gallup - Nationwide)
Birch Bayh: 25%
George Wallace: 18%
Ron Dellums: 13%
Reuben Askew: 10%
Hubert Humphrey: 6%
Henry Jackson: 3%
Milton Shapp: 3%
Fred Harris: 3%
Frank Church: 3%
Calvin Rampton: 2%
Lloyd Bentsen: 2%
Sargent Shriver: 2%
Lyndon LaRouche: 2%
Robert Byrd: 1%
Orval Faubus: 1%
Eugene McCarthy: 1%


1976 Republican Primaries (Gallup - Nationwide)
Ronald Reagan: 31%
James Gavin: 23%
George Bush: 19%
John Connally: 10%
Jack Williams: 7%
Charles Percy: 4%
Howard Baker: 3%
John Anderson: 2%
Phil Crane: 1%
Italics indicate undeclared candidate.
[1] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Dutch National Archives)
[2] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Public Domain)

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

This is on a temporary hiatus. I'm organizing another project for AH.com, so my time's been occupied by that, but this is still on my mind and I'm working on the next update a bit each day. Sorry for the delay.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

October 1975.

Takeo Miki - Prime Minister of Japan.
[1]

Taking advantage of the distractions posed by Portugal and the Cyprus War, as well as the chronic instability in the Middle East, the Chinese government decided to add fuel by to the fire by abruptly shutting off the flow of water to Hong Kong. The crisis in Hong Kong creates near hysteria as fears of an invasion similar to what transpired in Macao grow, and tens of thousands of citizens, particularly those of Chinese ancestry, flee the city for Singapore or Taiwan. As a result of the drought imposed upon Hong Kong, a boat lift bringing fresh water to the city is launched, though the ongoing situation's fluid nature is enough to drive most international businesses from the city. As a result, Singapore will assert itself as the primary financial capital of Southeast Asia, and will become the central hub of Asian trade and commerce. The ripple effect also reaches Japan, where the country's parliament finds itself divided between those who wish to expand Japan's military (which is limited by their post-war era constitution) and those who seek to end the alliance with the United States in order to assert their neutrality. Takeo Miki, the Prime Minister of Japan, is caught up in the middle between this divide, threatening his government's stability at a time of grave tension in the region.

Portugal renounced their membership with NATO after aligning themselves with Cuba, with Premier Goncalves granting independence to Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, and Angola as well after having already liberated Mozambique and East Timor earlier in the year. This created a new bloc of Africa states still financially dependent and ideologically aligned to Lisbon. Reagan warned that "the new red empire" of Portugal could stir the pot in Africa and South America, while also giving the Soviets access to the Atlantic through their ports. While the right seethed at the fall of Portugal into the USSR's sphere of influence, others were elated. Congressman Ron Dellums (D-CA), the leading left-winger in the Democratic primary, used the opportunity to declare that "containment wasn't working" and called for a new approach to foreign policy in the frostiest phase of the Cold War.

Watergate comes to a conclusion when the jury reaches their verdict in the trial of former President Richard Nixon. Though he was acquitted on seven of the nine charges against him, he was found guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice. The conviction is a devastating and embarrassing blow to Nixon, who earned the dubious distinction of being the first American president to be convicted of a felony offense in a court of law. The reality that the former President may soon be behind bars will dominate news coverage for days as Nixon awaited sentencing.

The presidential campaign continues, with President Gavin going on the warpath against Governor Reagan. Describing the Governor privately to aides as "a national security threat," and "an intellectual lightweight," Gavin was boosted by Reagan's own tendency towards ideological dogma. While campaigning in New Hampshire for the Republican nomination, Reagan had answered a question at a town hall event in which he endorsed the partial privatization of Social Security while attempting to highlight his economic agenda. Though Reagan meant that he envisioned federal programs being devolved into state administered programs, his blundered answer put him in the crosshairs of his rival candidates.

President Gavin also comes under fire while on the campaign trail - literally. While leaving a fundraiser in San Francisco at the Saint Francis Hotel, Sara Janes Moore withdrew a revolver and fired two shots off at President Gavin as he entered an awaiting motorcade. The assassination attempt, captured by news cameras, is a jarring event for a nation still traumatized by the killings of JFK and Martin Luther King Jr. The President's life being saved is partially credited to former Marine Oliver Sipple, who saw Moore pull the gun, shouted "the bitch has a gun," and attempted to disarm her as she pulled the trigger. Sipple, a closeted homosexual, is outed as a result of the media attention he generates, and his life is thrown into turmoil as a result. Despite his heroism, he is not officially recognized by the government, though President Gavin does reach out to him by letter shortly thereafter.

Aftermath of the assassination attempt on James Gavin.
[2]

The assassination attempt does not phase Gavin, who continues to balance the presidential campaign with the duties of the Presidency with precision and ease. The crisis in Cyprus continues to dominate the White House's foreign policy team, and with all military options off the table, it was up to Secretary of State Rush to negotiate a peace deal. This would be no easy task; the hyper-nationalistic regimes in Ankara and Athens would surely reject any offer to negotiate, and the war between the two nations had outpaced the original conflict in Cyprus which had sparked it. But the President knew that he could pacify the situation on the island itself, in the hopes that it could isolate and delegitimize the conflict in the eyes of both the Turkish and Greek people.

At first, Secretary Rush practiced the Kissinger strategy of shuttle diplomacy, making a junket to numerous European capitals in a failed effort to cobble together support for a naval blockade of Cyprus, but there was little support for such a measure. Instead, Rush found that he would have to lure Nikos Sampson to the table, which necessitated the ugly and awkward possibility of having to recognize his government. Gavin was skeptical; in recognizing the Sampson regime, the United States would be seen as giving tacit support for the Greek regime that would alienate Turkey and the Arab world, pushing the former into the Soviet Union's sphere of influence while further inflaming anti-American sentiments in the latter. National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft had his own idea, arguing that the United States should simply extract itself from the situation while continuing to enforce the existing arms embargo in the hopes that the two nations tire themselves out and a ceasefire can be implemented.

The Chicago Federal Building, which housed offices of the IRS and other key federal agencies, was bombed in mid-October by the People's Liberation Army of America, resulting in seven deaths and twenty injuries. The attack is followed by a massive march of unemployed New Yorkers, in which 100,000 people demonstrated in Central Park against the administration's economic policies at a rally organized by the Socialist Workers Party in New York City. The event is headlined by Ron Dellums, who is positioning himself as a top tier candidate, though other more mainstream progressives like Birch Bayh decline an invitation to address the crowds. The rise of leftist and socialist rhetoric in American discourse largely is due to public dissatisfaction with the Second Great Depression and the wars in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

The Senate passes the Tunney-Carter Act, which President Gavin subsequently signs into law. The bill creates tax breaks for corporations which enact four-day work weeks, in the hope of generating more jobs. Though some progressives fear that further tax cuts would erode federal income and result in a potential austerity budget being implemented as a result, most praise the plan as an original and necessary program to stimulate the economy, and the bill receives mixed support from the establishment wings of both parties.

1976 Democratic Presidential Primary (Gallup - Nationwide)
Birch Bayh: 25%
George Wallace: 20%
Ron Dellums: 15%
Reuben Askew: 10%
Henry Jackson: 6%
Hubert Humphrey: 5%
Milton Shapp: 2%
Fred Harris: 2%
Frank Church: 2%
Calvin Rampton: 2%
Lloyd Bentsen: 2%
Sargent Shriver: 2%
Lyndon LaRouche: 2%
Robert Byrd: 1%
Orval Faubus: 1%
Eugene McCarthy: 1%

1976 Republican Primaries (Gallup - Nationwide)
Ronald Reagan: 30%
James Gavin: 27%
George Bush: 20%
John Connally: 10%
Jack Williams: 7%
Charles Percy: 3%
Howard Baker: 1%
John Anderson: 1%
Phil Crane: 1%
Italics indicate undeclared candidate.
[1] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Public Domain).
[2] Taken from the Gay and Lesbian Review (Copyright status unknown)