Oh!
Ah....
Naturally, naturally.. Man I was freaked for a second there, fair play for the subversion!
North By Northwoods: A TLIAW
- Thread starter King of the Uzbeks
- Start date
John Lindsay
John Lindsay (D-NY)
John Lindsay was first elected to the House in 1958, and so gets a front-row seat to the unfolding collapse of the Nixon Administration. Lindsay is an early, and often, critic of Nixon. This is somewhat surprising as Lindsay is a Republican.
A liberal one, to be sure, and one who bucks the party on more than just the Northwood scandal. On most of the issues of the day, Lindsay stands to the left of his party.
But not for long. In June 1963, as news emerges that the Miami District Attorney considers events in Washington 'of interest' to the Black Thursday situation, Lindsay gives a speech on the House Floor. He lambasts Nixon and announces his defection to the Democrats. A few others will follow later on, but Lindsay is easily the most prominent as the first.
His announcement that he will seek the Democratic nomination for New York's Senate seat in 1964 comes as a surprise. Many dismiss him, he's too new, an ex-republican! No connections. And indeed the convention fight is difficult, but he manages to secure the Democratic line, and the Liberal one. His successful campaign against incumbent Republican Kenneth Keating rests on the simple fact that Keating is a Cold Warrior Republican in a year that is the worst time to be a Cold Warrior Republican. Wide margins in New York City propel him to the Senate.
Lindsay is mostly a party line Democrat in the Senate, as if trying to prove himself a worthy member. But he earns a reputation as a supporter of anti-poverty initiatives, as well as investment in the cities to combat racial injustice. His striking support of the Unions back home during Transit and Teachers strikes earns him some credit, although he remains a Silk Stocking District man to many. In 1970 he wins a comfortable reelection, although few tap him to be a Presidential contender.
But Lindsay is one of the few who have been following the primary reforms of late. The Republicans reform theirs after the 1968 fiasco. The Democratic ones hold less power, but they are now expanding rapidly, now a fully national affair.
Lindsay hits the ground early and often. New Hampshire. Wisconsin. Even Alaska. He runs on a continuation of the Just Deal, with an emphasis on justice and finishing the War on Poverty.
The only real competition he faces on the trail is Al Gore of Tennessee, a respectable Southerner. The heavy hitters, the Humphreys and the Kennedys and the like are more focused on conserving energy for the convention. But soon it becomes apparent that the energy from the primaries is becoming too loud to ignore. And Johnson is blocking the Kennedys and soon its Gore v Lindsay. And while Gore may be a respectable liberal Southerner, liberal northerners and the unions abandoning Humphrey's sinking campaign decide they like Lindsay.
Lindsay goes for party unity, and Gore graciously accepts the Vice Presidential nomination.
The ramshackle Lindsay Campaign managed to trundle through the primaries, but in truth it is woefully unprepared for the General election. Especially as the shiny Ronald Reagan Express rallies Goldwaterites and Independent Conservatives into the party, while keeping Moderates mostly in line.
Reagan smiles and waves and says all the right things at first. Stop the Disorder. Cut Taxes. America First. He opens up a firm lead.
But Lindsay keeps fighting and fighting. And he begins to gain ground. His honest yet appealing ads make waves, and he's able to land blows on Reagan for his opposition to a whole host of programs that are really quite popular.
And then comes the debate. The first since 1960. The former actor is obviously well polished, but Lindsay holds his own. And then Reagan slips up. He says more should have been done in the Congo. Lindsay asks if he means boots on the ground like Cuba. Reagan says yes, but only the good parts like stopping Communism, and not the bad parts like false flag attacks.
In truth, this opinion is not entirely outside the mainstream. But praising Cuba so openly is the third rail. And a New Yorker like Lindsay is familiar with third rails. Americans are asked to remember the last time a Conservative Californian was President.
It's a close-run thing, but Linsday does what many once thought to be impossible, and wins as a Democrat without the South. Even Florida falls narrowly.
And so Lindsay enters into the White House and gets to open with the funeral of Johnson, which proves a popularity-boosting affair.
He will learn to treasure those.
Many of his issues emerge from the Johnson era. The spike in inflation keeps up, and more and more Americans see it as a problem every passing day. Taxes that were raised during the Johnson years stay there, and many in middle America wonder why they need to be paid in the first place.
Some of the issues, however, are of his own making. Lindsay has never served in an executive office before and compared to the sleek Johnson machine his White House is haphazard and poorly organized. Nor is Lindsay a patient man, all things considered. He has an unfortunate tendency to ram his head into the wall when dealing with Congress
No man embodies this more than his fellow John, John Kennedy, who emerges as the leader of the moderate Democrats. Not Conservative Southerners of course, but those who place compromise at a premium. This is a time for consolidation, not further expansion. Commentators call it the Yankees-Red Sox feud with great mirth.
Lindsay is not entirely helpless, however. He successfully flanks Kennedy by producing a healthcare plan produced by Kennedy’s brother Edward. And they do manage to hammer out a deal on an income floor proposal. However, expanded environmental legislation largely falls through on account of the White House’s inability to talk shop with Congress effectively. Similar fates befall education and energy bills.
Abroad Americans begin to remember that they really really really do not like Communism. In Portuguese Africa and South America, Marxists seem to be advancing. South Vietnam falls to the reds, although amusingly Saigon and Hanoi seem unable to agree on which side of the Sino-Soviet Split. But Americans do not find it amusing.
The news is a little better in the Middle East. With Jordan embroiled in a Civil War between Palestinians and the Monarchy and Syria poking the nest, Egypt proves willing to come to the table. No recognition of course, but a swap back for the Sinai is in the cards. However, this is brokered more by the Soviet Union. The sight of world leaders shaking hands at Kuntsevo without Americans is disconcerting to many.
The midterms of 1974 are not historically disastrous, Democrats retain both houses. But they are a firm rebuke as Republicans and Conservative Democrats make gains. Lindsay’s domestic agenda stalls.
And at home, the question of Civil Rights lurks. The Just Deal has done good, but it has not cured evil. Bussing becomes the chosen method of the courts to desegregate schools. The white backlash is furious. Columbus and, embarrassingly for the President, New York see major rioting. Police brutality provokes backlash in Detroit and Newark as well. All against the backdrop of a rising crime rate. Lindsay points to continued racism and poverty and police failings, but Conservatives intone about law and order and supporting the working man by keeping him safe.
Lindsay’s personal touch in the face of adversity is frustratingly inconsistent. When Hurricane Alice hits New Orleans in 1974 he is praised for his response, helping to distribute supplies and providing a calm face to Louisiana. But his response to Edna slamming Pensacola in 1975 comes across as cool and aloof and uncaring to a devastated city. There is a sense that, a New Yorker through and through, he only cares about people and places with a certain value of “importantness.”
As the 1976 campaign heats up, however, attention turns back to foreign policy in a big way. Sukarno is dead and his three pillars of Indonesia turn on each other with a vengeance. The People’s Army of Indonesia battles the National Emergency Government battles the Muslim League, to say nothing of nationalist groups poking their heads up. The disruptions to international trade are significant, driving prices upward at the wost possible time. The Australians are especially concerned. It seems another domino may fall.
Something needs to be done, and Lindsay slips. A conference in Sri Lanka with the Chinese Premier to try and calm tensions seems like a good idea. But the snubbed USSR is furious and Conservatives talk of kowtowing in the most offensive, but politically effective, way possible. And the talks amount to nothing anyway.
The economy still rough, the streets uncalmed, and humiliated abroad, Lindsay runs the best he can. But it is not enough. After 12 years the Republicans are back, with an outsider candidate of heroic stature.
HHH's fate seems to be to be passed over in favor of a pretty face who doesn't actually accomplish anything because of an adversarial relationship with Congress no matter the timeline. At least he passed a good healthcare bill, and conservatism has been electorally discredited for a while.
I'm holding out hope for Edward Brooke as the first African-American US President. Most likely would be a one-termer though due to his scandals in the late '70s IOTL and other geopolitical and economic factors that led to Carter losing re-election IOTL.