Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to create a timeline in which Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. becomes President of the United States.
AHC: President King
- Thread starter Pokemon Master
- Start date
I think it would have been possible if he were not assassinated and it took place in the 1970's when candidate such as Carter and Ford were weak. Watergate would still have to taken place and Vietnam had the same outcome. Martin Luther King had wide respect among both parties. He was good friends with Billy Graham, who if he endorsed him, could help deliver states in the south.
if he doesnt die in 68...
Moves to Massachusetts (he went to Boston U for divinity school), gets elected to the Senate in the early 70's and beats papa bush in 88?
Tough one
J. Edgar Hoover died in 1972, so he won't be too much of a problem. If King doesn't get killed, I could see him making a possible run in 1976 or 1980 in either party. As far as I know, he was a registered Republican in the 1950s, so I could see him running as a Republican in 1976 or 1980 against Ford (He might pull a Reagan Primary Challenge) or take on Carter in 1980.
But, I could easily see King try to pull an Eisenhower and have him try to be courted by both parties.
But, I could easily see King try to pull an Eisenhower and have him try to be courted by both parties.
King was a Rockefeller Republican. The GOP of today tries to claim him, but he has nothing to do with the modern GOP since the modern GOP are unreformed Southern Democrats who changed their name and are the exact same people that were the reason Southern Blacks voted for Republicans and why they vote for Democrats now. King was absolutely appalled by Barry Goldwater's nomination, his anti-Civil Rights stance, and his buddying up to right wingers to get their votes. Martin Luther King already moved from the GOP when it went for Goldwater. He is certainly not going to be a Republican while the Republicans gleefully take in disaffected and pissed Dixiecrats and Conservative Democrats and exploits working class white fears and bigotries to move them from the Democrats and bring them into the Republican party, which the GOP did through the 70s and onward and willingly and happily threw away its black voter base and Liberal wing and even Moderate wing by a certain point to achieve that. Absolutely no way King will go along with that. Southern Blacks voted Republican because Conservative whites in the South voted and were Democrats. Said Southern Democrats became the base of the Republican party. The African American community that did vote Republican no longer voted Republican for the very most part (save for perhaps the most affluent families since the GOP is also White Collar), and King would be and already was part of that same movement away from the GOP.
That being said, Martin Luther King would never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever run for the Presidency of the United States.
That being said, Martin Luther King would never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever run for the Presidency of the United States.
That wouldn't remove the Doctor from his name. That'll only happen when they discover that his doctoral thesis was largely plagiarized.
He has a pretty sordid past that would make any run for the Presidency post-1980 very tough to handle, as any opponent will be digging into his past for anything to take him down.
It's really, really, tough if we have a 1968 Memphis POD. He was a national figure, but he was starting to suffer from dwindling popularity as the Civil Rights movement marched on and his Poor People's Campaign was arguably doomed from the start. Assuming butterflies are delayed with effect to the 1968 election (Kennedy dies, then Humphrey v. Nixon), and King doesn't support Humphrey, then Nixon wins and aside from a few meetings, will probably either work to discredit King (as an "enemy" who probably speaks out against Nixon) or completely ignore King amidst his dwindling popularity.
In 1972, King wouldn't or couldn't run, and if for some reason he did, he'd be squashed both legally and illegally by the CREEPers. Another thing to note, King's view on abortion is a very much confusing and contradictory issue, and I'll try to stay out of the weeds on that. If he comes out against Roe v. Wade, that'd put him in the minority of people in 1973, and a very low minority in 1976. If he comes out for Roe v. Wade, that has the ability to splinter his support amongst religious conservatives. He's better off Nixonizing his opinion, but it's going to come out sooner or later in the 1970s (definitely in any presidential election).
1976 seems to be the only real election that a '68 surviving King could stand a chance in. He'd be a dark horse in the Democratic primaries, and it'd have to be real close for him to win. *If* Ford doesn't run or loses to Reagan in the primary, King would have a much better chance, as Reagan wouldn't be able to muster a conservative backlash movement in the '76 election.
They're both great communicators, and the 1976 debates between Reagan and King (if we get any) would be something to behold.
King is young enough (born 1929) to legitimately run in any election from 1964 (35) to 2000 (71) and maybe even 2004 (75). Jesse Jackson ran very legitimately in 1984 and 1988 while almost being seen by many as a King-analogue. I imagine King would do better than Jackson. As stated above, his faults (more than Jackson's) would be exposed in any post-1980 campaign and make it a tough road to the nomination.
That ambition has always struck me as being a life-long thing. I think you need a POD much further back for him to establish such an intense political career which inevitably ends up with us dealing with a different person.