Had Bobby not been killed what might have become of the USA

[greenbriar]

Truly there would be greatness



Ted took the torch and became the great strong LION he became


how life would have been different

[muntrv]

1. Better yet, had John not been killed.....

[polichick]

2. No Nixon, no Watergate, like the show just pointed out - a whole other world. nt

[Laelth]

3. This would have been a much, much better country.

Of that I am certain.

:dem:

-Laelth

[depakid]

4. No death penalty, health care and education a right, corporate money wouldn't equal free speech

People underestimate the profound effect that Nixon's 4 quick appointments had on the Supreme Court and the nature of America. Rather than becoming more advanced like Europe, Canada and Australia- the country began to regress toward what one sees in third world nations- a process that continues to this day.

[polichick]

6. Yep, we never really got back on track - and, with Dems mostly Republican lite, when will we?? nt

[Oregone]

5. The same

Bred from war, embroiled in war, worshippers or war (and private enterprise). Every now and then someone comes to puts a pretty wrapper on the package, but the same old pile of shit that started the ball in motion sits inside, ready to put anyone back who gets out of line.

[rurallib]

7. I hate to say this, but I doubt it would have been much different

Bobby was not going to get the nomination in '68 and he would have essentially gone back to the senate. He may have run in '72 but I doubt anyone could have beaten Nixon that year (which makes the whole plumbers fiasco so ludicrous).
Had John lived then it would have been a different story.

[Awsi Dooger]

8. Agreed, JFK's death was most pivotal

He could have handed off to Bobby in '68, assuming a better situation in Vietnam and ongoing popularity for JFK. Hardly certainties.

The way it unfolded, no Democrat was going to beat Nixon in '72. That incumbent/party in power one term influence is massive.

Had Ted avoided summer '69, the interesting aspect would have been whether he was astute enough to sit out '72. Post Watergate he would have had great opportunity in '76, otherwise I don't see a favorable cycle for him. By '80, after Carter's term, the conservative trend had taken over, at least at the very top.

[scheming daemons]

9. "Bobby was not going to get the nominiation in '68"....

...he had just won the Oregon and California primaries. He was leading the delegate count.

What planet were you living on in 1968?

[liberalpragmatist]

10. No Humphrey still lead the delegate count by a wide margin

There would have been a Humphrey/RFK battle at the convention. Bobby may have won, but it was no sure thing. Daley and some of the other urban machine delegations may have supported Bobby.

Here's a compilation of news coverage at the time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMr97_M7okw

[Rebubula]

11. Actually...

..He lost Oregon and Humphrey was still a very formidable opponent with alot of deep pocket business allies.

RFK was killed by big business interests in order to prevent his ascending. The Deputy Director of the FBI (Clyde Tolson) is quoted as saying, 'I hope that someone shoots and kills that son of a bitch'.

There has been and always will be a very powerful cabal that works behind the scenes in all countries. John and Bobbie learned that lesson with their lives.

[rurallib]

13. Back in '68 the vast majority of the delegates were selected in the

smoky backroom. Humphrey pretty much had the nomination tied up with the old line pols. Remember an administration in power has lots of favors to call in when it comes to nomination time.
Our process is vastly different now than it was in '68. So while Kennedy had roled up some nice wins, the old guard resisted him.

[liberalpragmatist]

14. Agree somewhat

Presidents are not all-powerful. I have no doubt that things would have been different and better, but the question is how different.

We might have had universal, single-payer health care. And we may have had different welfare policies from the time. In terms of foreign policy, we'd have withdrawn from Vietnam much sooner. Without Vietnam spending, perhaps monetary policies in the '70s would have been more sane and we'd have been spared some of the problems with stagflation. On environmental policies, we probably wouldn't have gotten anything markedly different from what Nixon pushed. A more liberal Supreme Court in the '70s would have perhaps kept Brown v. Board of Education from being made toothless, with perhaps more equal education funding and more heavily desegregated schools today.

But that being said, we would likely still have gone through the '73 oil shock and the '70s would probably still have been economically stagnant. There would likely still have been significant racial tensions, and conflicts over busing. My guess is that the property tax revolts of the late '70s would still have occurred. And RFK himself may have tacked somewhat rightward on issues like spending and welfare. Remember too that RFK would not have had the kind of influence in Congress that LBJ did in '64-'66, and he would have likely had smaller majorities and an emboldened conservative minority in Congress.

Moreover, it's unlikely that Democrats would have held the White House through all those years. RFK may have won in '68 and may have won a second term, but in 1976, the trends would probably have favored a Republican victory, and a Reagan presidency may still have occurred. There is a pendulum effect in politics, and a reaction against the liberalism of the '60s and early '70s would likely still have resulted.

So we likely still would have entered a period of Republican dominance, and America would probably not be a social-democratic paradise. But at best, we'd have universal health care (no sure thing, though), and we'd perhaps be a somewhat less unequal society, with thousands of extra people alive today who otherwise died in Vietnam. But we'd still have problems, we'd still probably have gone through a large anti-tax phase, and the Republicans would probably still have dominated the 1980s. At best, the reaction against the '60s and '70s would have been more like the '50s reaction against the New Deal - consolidating what had been done rather than dismantling what came before.

[invictus]

12. We should have made the Kennedys America's royal family. With 3 King Kennedys in a row, America

would be perfect.
:sarcasm:

[SidneyCarton]

15. We can believe hope for a better world...

but this is the one we got.

[slackmaster]

16. It's absolutely not certain that he would have beaten Nixon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ElectoralCollege1968.svg