Democrats/left-leaning voters only: Which of these elections would you reverse the results of?

[darklordoftech]

If you had to pick one.

[Mr. Smith]

I prefer Humphrey, but the ramifications of '72 ring louder and Nixon just committed Watergate att.

[KaiserDave]

The Election of 1968 and its consequences have been a disaster for the United States.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

The one that led directly to the two that followed it, naturally.

[dw93]

Humphrey. We'd have had a liberal Supreme Court into the 1980's, if not the 1990's, we'd have been on the path to becoming a Social Democracy, even if Humphrey ended up a one term President, and most importantly politics of right wing grievance would've been prevented or at least very limited, and distrust in the institutions that came as a result of Watergate would've been prevented or again, prevented.

After that would be Ford in 1976. The religious right would've been smothered in its rib if Carter loses and Reagan's win in 1980 is prevented and politics would likely remain more civil.

As bad as Nixon was, I don't think I'd reverse 1972. McGovern winning only to get saddled with the mid 70s recession only to lose in 1976, and even if the Democrats won it back in 1980 (likely), you'd be looking at a Democratic party  that's legitimately right of center as a result of McGovern's failures, more so than the Democratic party that emerged after 12 years of Reagan/Bush.

[Rat]

Not a Democrat, but of the three, I think I would change 1968. Nixon is a fascinating president and did some great things, but the damage caused by Watergate was incredibly harmful to our nation and we are still dealing with the impacts of it on our culture, media and political environment. We would be better off if Romney/Reagan/Rockefeller had been the nominee/president instead of Nixon, and honestly, despite politically lining up with Nixon more than HHH, a Humphrey presidency might be worth it if we end up avoiding Watergate.

[President Johnson]

Tough one between 1968 and 1976. Probably 1968.

[Dani Rose]

Humphrey winning would have had the biggest positive effect. Even if he immediately proceeded to lose in 1972, no Watergate means America doesn't collectively give up trusting the government, which was the direct catalyst of Reagan's election and the hard rightward turn of the country in general.

[Agonized-Statism]

Not a Democrat, but the fall of the New Deal Coalition seen in 1968 would happen regardless because of the inevitable long-term structural problems with the Democrats' humungous tent in the confines of a two-party system, a McGovern win just means Reagan comes four years early, and a Ford win in 1976 probably just means Democrats embrace the already globally coalescing neoliberal consensus sooner. The last option is best if you're a party hack.

[Ferguson97]

I'm tempted to pick Ford since that would probably butterfly Reagan away, but I think I'm going to just nip the entire modern conservative movement in the bud and prevent Nixon.

[OSR stands with Israel]

I'm tempted to pick Ford since that would probably butterfly Reagan away, but I think I'm going to just nip the entire modern conservative movement in the bud and prevent Nixon.

Eh the Nixon Vision for the GOP was very different from Reagan's though. Nixon's vision was actually more similar to Trump and Watergate pretty much nipped his vision in the bud and flung open the window for Reagan to implement his vision which was far more economically conservative and based on the interests of suburbanites than Nixon's was.

To stop Reagan you basically have to stop two things from geographically happening ;

1. Stop Suburban Flight

2. Find a way for the Democrats to keep a hold of the south which btw was not happening. Nixon did not create the southern strategy as Republicans had started to make substantial gains in the 1950s and would be ripe for some Republican to build on it.


Also you have to stop two things from happening overall:

1. Stagflation which pretty much disproved a tenant of the Keynesian Consensus which was that unemployment and inflation are inversely correlated

2. The US was embarrassed on a global stage throughout the 1970s and our military was in terrible shape. Keep in mind the key to Reagan's rise actually had to do with his position on foreign policy which was that the US should end Detente and massively buildup the military.

Its not really hard to get someone like Reagan in place. That figure may not have been exactly Reagan but some conservative like Reagan would take over. Remember the UK Got Thatcher so what Reagan did was just not limited to the US either.

[Sir Mohamed]

1968, Humphrey wins.

If Nixon never becomes prez, the Vietnam war would have ended sooner, there's no Watergate and all other illegal activities by his admin. Especially Watergate permanently destroyed trust and confidence in institutions which still haunts us today (sure, there are more factors, but Watergate had a lasting impact on political culture). Another underrated point about Nixon is that he helped to pave the way for "alternate" right-wing news outlets (remember Roger Ailes worked for Nixon).

[Orser67]

I can see the argument for 1968, I think there's a plausible scenario where a 1976 loss turns out great for the country. Ford winning likely leads to a Democratic victory in 1980, which in turn lets us get the credit for the economic recovery that contributed to Reagan's landslide in 1984. Meanwhile, Carter losing in 1976 likely clears the path for a mainstream, and hopefully more effective, Democratic president who wouldn't e.g. oppose Ted Kennedy's healthcare reform proposals.

I think with the combination of a better president, a better national environment, and also possibly further Democratic congressional gains in '78/'80, we would have been in a good position to implement a domestic program along the lines of the New Deal and the Great Society. Meanwhile, Reagan not taking office, and not passing a huge tax cut and then winning a landslide re-election, hopefully prevents conservativism from taking hold as much as it did IRL even after Republicans probably win the presidency in '88 or '92.