I wonder how somebody could find a way to attack the man who was literally the most decorated American soldier in WWII.
Blue Skies in Camelot (Continued): An Alternate 80s and Beyond
- Thread starter President_Lincoln
- Start date
Good suggestion. Completely forgot John Kennedy was mentioned in Back to the Future 😂
Though I still think Marty saying the line about Audie Murphy being a war hero is still badass and I reckon Marty would say something like that ITTL
Also I was thinking Bobby Kennedy could still end up on the Supreme Court just maybe in the late 90s? He could be the first to hold the trifecta of offices: Attorney General, President and Supreme Court justice.
Although if you've served as President you wouldn't really want to be on the Supreme Court. I guess it depends
Although if you've served as President you wouldn't really want to be on the Supreme Court. I guess it depends
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Should ask William Howard Taft about that, he was waiting for the Chief Justice spot his whole life. I could definitely see RFK serve two terms and get appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1992 after the death of Chief Justice Freund.
Eh, I mean there's Taft
Though tbf he always did want to be on the SC, but ended up convinced by Teddy to run for President... only for the latter to be dissatisfied with the former's record and split the party come the next election, allowing Wilson to win
If you mean trifecta as having been present in all three branches of government, then one could instead count him being still the senior Senator from New York atm ITTL
Also, both him and Ramsey Clark (should be his junior as Senator IIRC) both served as Attorney General OTL
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Yeah I mean let's not forget Murphy was an actor plus a war hero so he was well known for multiple things by 1955
When I said trifecta I was referring to the idea that RFK could end up having held three different main branches of government in his lifetime which to my knowledge has only happened once IOTL
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Doesn't the position of Attorney General belong to the Executive branch as well? Hence why I noted that he's still serving as senator from NY instead for legislative to complete the hat trick
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That's all right genius, the author will handle and surprised us everything in the next chapter updates. Good Day Genius!
That's certainly possible, I just see Doc as being more pre-occupied with his inventing then with politics....despite "who's President" being the first question he asked....
Ah, see, I didn't know that; so it's possible that if he does keep himself informed about politics that he would have known that.
Also a possibility.
Same, though we'll see
if that's the match-up he decides to use or not.
Narratively it’s the most fulfilling and has had the most set up throughout the story. Plus it’s more interesting than Bentsen or Carter Vs. Reagan. also happy birthday to President Carter!
Exactly no offense to Bentsen and Carter but RFK vs Reagan screams the most consequential election in history whereas Bentsen vs Nixon and RFK vs Nxion doesn't
There is an old piece of graffiti that states: "Northern Ireland has a problem for every solution" which your piece nicely summarised.
Lord Mountbatten surviving has interesting butterflies for the Royals, esp Prince Charles and his marriage.
PM Healey being the one in charge and 'sorting' a peace process in NI is going to be a good political legacy.
Lord Mountbatten surviving has interesting butterflies for the Royals, esp Prince Charles and his marriage.
PM Healey being the one in charge and 'sorting' a peace process in NI is going to be a good political legacy.
Chapter 127
Chapter 127: I’ve Got to Be Free - (Some) Foreign Affairs at the Turn of the 1980s
Above: One of the infamous “Mischkaffe” (Mixed Coffee) packets, produced in East Germany during the “Coffee Crisis” of the 1970s (left); A bustling street corner in Hamburg, West Germany in the 1970s (right).
“Hey, hey, hey don't you wanna see
I'm not your stepping stone
Hey, hey, hey I've got to be free
So leave my life alone
You're in love with success
You're spilling my wine
Don't follow my tracks, babe
You ways are not mine
Your main god is money
You're wasting my life
I'm not your Bugs Bunny
And you're not my wife” - “I’ve Got to Be Free” by the Scorpions
“The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement.” - West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt
Perhaps nowhere in the world did the Cold War creep into the everyday reality of life quite so much and so often as it did in the divided nation of Germany. Originally split by the Allies after World War II, the country had, since 1949, been divided into two separate nations, a capitalist West Germany and a communist East. Indeed, Germany had since come to be considered, in a sense, the epicenter of the great Twilight Struggle of the 20th century. Split along ideological lines by outside powers, the “Two Germanys” both shaped and were shaped by the times.
In the East, the “German Democratic Republic” originally tried to establish its own unique, separate identity, crawling out of the shadow cast by Nazism. Because of Karl Marx's dislike of Prussia, the ruling Socialist Party (SED) repudiated continuity between Prussia and the GDR. The SED destroyed the manor houses of the “Junkers” (the Prussian nobility), wrecked the Berlin city palace, and removed the equestrian statue of Frederick the Great from East Berlin. In their place, the SED chose to focus on the progressive heritage of German history, including Thomas Müntzer's role in the German Peasants' War and the role played by the heroes of the “class struggle” during Prussia's industrialization.
As a result of the Ninth Party Congress in May of 1976, however, East Germany after 1976–77 considered its own history to be the “essence” of German history, in which West Germany was only an episode, soon to be a footnote. Its new cultural history laid claim to reformers such as Karl Freiherr vom Stein, Karl August von Hardenberg, and Wilhelm von Humboldt. The statue of Frederick the Great was, meanwhile, restored to prominence in East Berlin. East German General Secretary and de facto dictator Erich Honecker began to make references to the former Prussian King in his speeches. These references reflected East Germany's new official policy of “revisionism” toward Prussia, which also included Bismarck and the resistance group, Red Band. East Germany also laid claim to the formerly maligned Martin Luther and to the organizers of the Spartacus League, Karl Liebknecht, and Rosa Luxemburg.
Despite the ongoing détente between the Superpowers, Honecker’s regime remained committed to Soviet-style socialism, continued a strict policy of containing dissent and harshly punishing dissidents, and rebuked any attempt, or even hint, at German reunification. Against the East German government’s wishes, many East German poets, academics, and other members of the intelligentsia took to smuggling their attacks on the government into West Germany, so that they could be published via Der Spiegel and other outlets. Though Honecker was able to maintain his iron grip on power, the economy of East Germany began to severely lag behind its capitalist counterpart.
Nothing more vividly illustrated the structural economic and financial problems of East Germany better than the so-called “Coffee Crisis” of 1976-79. Germans have a long, well-documented, and powerful tradition for drinking coffee. Thus, coffee was and remains, one of the country’s most critical imports. Consumers often considered it second in importance, only to fuel. Unfortunately, in the mid 1970s, a temporary global shortage in coffee beans led to a sharp increase in prices. By 1976, the price of importing coffee beans had nearly quadrupled from prices in 1972. This posed a massive problem for East Germany, whose government was known for a near permanent shortage in hard currency, with which to pay for imports.
As a result, by 1977, the Politburo withdrew most affordable coffee brands from sale. They also set strict limits on coffee’s use in restaurants, and, in effect, banned its use in public offices and state-run enterprises. In a country where the state controlled a large swath of industries, this made coffee very difficult for the average East German citizen to obtain. When complaints started streaming into East Berlin, Honecker’s government tried a different tact. They introduced so-called Mischkaffee (“Mixed Coffee”), which was, in fact, 51% coffee, and about 49% fillers. (A mixture of fillers were employed for this purpose, including: chicory; rye; and even sugar beet). In a turn of events that shocked approximately no one, the coffee tasted awful. East German citizens despised it, and began to clamor for a return to their old coffee. Though a solution to the crisis was eventually reached in 1978, with East Germany working out a trade deal with the Republic of Vietnam to purchase coffee from them in the future, the entire episode shook the SED’s confidence in Honecker’s rule. Reformers, such as Chairman of the State Planning Commission Gerhard Schürer, slowly began to rise in influence. They kept quiet, but began to scheme for the right moment to bring about change in East Berlin.
…
Thanks to the Brandt/Schmidt years and the “West German economic miracle”, West Germany enjoyed comparatively low rates of inflation throughout the 1970s. As manufacturing recovered from its demolition during the Second World War, it built a solid foundation for the West German economy moving forward. Nuclear reactors were built and maintained, providing an alternative to the coal plants which presently provided much of West Germany's electrical output. West Germany also continued the great German tradition of being a center for learning and the arts, as well. New art movements, called Neo-expressionism and conceptualism flourished. West German cities produced films, tv dramas (especially the beloved “Tatort”, a procedural Police drama), and increasingly internationally recognized music. As the 1970s pushed into the 1980s, West Germany was forming, without the need for planned directives from Bonn, a rich culture for itself. The nation was building a case for itself to be the true standard bearer for the German nation in the future.
Eventually, Schmidt’s coalition did fall apart. He was succeeded in 1982 by Helmut Kohl and his Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
…
The Third Republic of the Philippines had undergone a tremendous transformation since achieving its true independence from the United States of America in 1946, following the Second World War. Though plagued at times by corruption and other domestic issues, as well as its uncertain place in the Cold War world, the nation had undergone modernization and was beginning to find its place in the world throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s.
Especially transformative was the Presidency of Diosdado Macapagal.
Born on September 28, 1910, in Lubao, Pampanga, Macapagal was the third of five children in a poor family. His father was Urbano Macapagal y Romero (c. 1887 – 1946), a poet who wrote in the local Pampangan language, and his mother was Romana Pangan Macapagal, daughter of Atanacio Miguel Pangan (a former cabeza de barangay of Gutad, Floridablanca, Pampanga) and Lorenza Suing Antiveros. Urbano's mother, Escolástica Romero Macapagal, was a midwife and schoolteacher who taught catechism. Diosdado's family earned extra income by raising pigs and taking in boarders to their house. Due to his roots in poverty, Macapagal would later become affectionately known as the "Poor Boy from Lubao" to his supporters. Diosdado was also a reputed poet in the Spanish language although his poetic work was eclipsed by his political career.
An excellent student, Macapagal graduated as valedictorian from his elementary school, and salutatorian of his high school. At the University of the Philippines, he completed the school’s pre-law program, then immediately entered law school, working part-time as an accountant to finance his studies. In addition to his Master of Laws degree, he would later earn his PhD in economics. His dissertation was entitled, “Imperatives of Economic Development in the Philippines”, and his work on it would shape his policies as President.
After passing the bar exam, Macapagal was invited to work at an American law firm, a unique honor for a Filipino man at that time. He would later serve as legal assistant to President Manuel L. Quezon, and even found time to star in Tagalog operettas that he and his childhood friend wrote and performed.
Eventually, he married and started a family. He also began his career in politics. On the urging of local political leaders of Pampanga province, President of the Philippines Elpidio Quirino recalled Macapagal from his position in Washington to run for a seat in the House of Representatives representing the 1st district of Pampanga. He won his race. For the next seven years, he served in that position, consistently being voted “Most Outstanding Lawmaker” for his sharp mind and personal integrity.
In May of 1957, the Liberal Party, a generally centrist to center-left party, drafted Macapagal to serve as their Vice Presidential candidate, and the running mate of Jose Y. Yulo. While Yulo would go on to be defeated by the Nacionalista candidate, Carlos P. Garcia, Macapagal was elected Vice President in an upset victory. As the first ever Philippine vice president to be elected from a different party than the president, Macapagal served out his four-year vice presidential term as a leader of the opposition. Simultaneously elected leader of the Liberal Party, Macapagal bided his time, and waited for his chance to make a real difference in office.
He got his chance four years later, when he defeated Garcia in his bid for re-election, winning the 1961 presidential election. Promising an end to corruption, and appealing to the electorate as a common man from humble beginnings, Macapagal set out at once upon taking office on an ambitious platform.
The new president began with a sweep of economic liberalization. Under his predecessors, the central government had instituted exchange and import controls. Macapagal did away with these and returned the Philippine economy to a free-enterprise system. Though further attempts at economic reform were blocked by the Nacionalistas, who controlled the Senate and House of Representatives at the time, President Macapagal was nonetheless able to achieve steady economic progress. Annual GDP growth in the Philippines averaged at just under 6% from 1962-1965, roughly contiguous with Macapagal’s first term.
Macapagal’s end goal for adopting liberalization was, first and foremost, to help the common man. Though he supported free-enterprise, Macapagal was by no means a laissez faire economist. He believed that the government had three jobs in developing the Philippines’ economy: first, to provide infrastructure (what he called “social overhead”) such as roads, ports, airports, etc.; second, to adopt fiscal and monetary policy that was supportive of domestic and foreign investment; and third (and most important), to promote and support basic and key industries, particularly those that require too much startup capital for businessmen and capitalists to put up themselves. The key industries he chose to develop as the “foundation” for the Philippines’ modern economy included: integrated steel manufacturing; fertilizers; wood pulp and paper; meat canning; and tourism. He also attempted to implement sweeping land reform (though this was also stymied by lack of support in the Senate), and moved the Philippines’ Independence Day holiday from July 4th to June 12th, celebrating the day that the Philippines gained its independence from Spain.
In Foreign Affairs, Macapagal forged a close alliance with the United States under President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy appreciated the kind of ethical, responsible governance that Macapagal represented. He also wanted the Philippines to act as a bulwark of liberal democracy against communist encroachment in Southeast Asia. Macapagal was happy to oblige this, encouraging American tourism and investment into his own nation. That said, he knew his nation also had other ambitions. Macapagal held on to Philippine claims in Northeast Borneo, much to the consternation of the then recently formed Federation of Malaysia. Continued tensions throughout Southeast Asia would plague Macapagal’s presidency, and continued for years afterward.
Following gains for his Liberal Party in the 1963 midterms, Macapagal was narrowly re-elected to the presidency in the November 1965 election, becoming the first Philippine president to win a second term. He did this, defeating former ally Ferdinand E. Marcos, who had switched to the Nacionalista Party to oppose the president. Emmanuel Pelaez was elected vice president.
Despite his re-election, Macapagal still had a myriad of issues to fight.
National political will for his proposed land reforms was anemic at best. Though his Liberal Party had gained more seats, there were entrenched interests opposed to policies like a bill of economic rights for farmers, including a minimum wage.
Both Macapagal and succeeding administrations would continue to develop the nation’s cities, following the outline of the “Master Plan of Manila” by architect Daniel Burnham. Paid for with reparations from the United States, and managed by the Department of Public Works and Highways, the plan provided for infrastructure development to create a better transportation network of roads and waterways. Other public works by the Macapagal administration (and its successors) included: creating numerous parks and recreational sites; building a new government center in Rizal Park (which was originally designed and proposed in the early 20th century); building new schools and universities; reviving the Philippine National railway system, adding stops in Antipolo, Batangas, Cavite, Cagayan, and Cordillera; constructing a better pier system in Manila Bay and throughout the country; and creating the National Capital Development Authority (NCDA), an agency tasked with developing the nation’s capital - Quezon City.
Many of the landmarks and famous buildings of the Philippines’ cities which were destroyed during World War II were rebuilt and restored during the 1970s as well. Some examples of this included Intramuros and Escolta. Due to its unique mix of Spanish and American architecture, Manila during the American period was known as “the Paris of Asia”, a title that the government in Quezon City hoped to recapture. The beauty of Filipino cities became and would remain a point of national pride. It was preserved throughout the 1970s and into the 80s via the development of the Metro Manila Subway System. Together with infrastructure designed to accommodate mass public transit - trains, trams, busses, jeepneys, and taxis - traffic congestion was reduced, along with the country’s carbon footprint, as such things came to be known. Over time, cities like Manila and Quezon City would become popular tourist destinations the world over.
Perhaps the most significant legacy of Macapagal’s second term was that it represented a strengthening of liberal, democratic norms within the country, and saw continued, strong economic growth throughout the 1960s. The Philippines saw the development of a strong democratic tradition over the next several decades, with the center-left Liberals and center-right Nacionalistas holding successive governments in balance between them. This party system, operating under the Constitution of 1935, remains largely unchanged to the present.
Above: Diosdado Macapagal (left) and his successor, President Jovito Salonga (right)
In 1969, frustrated with the Senate’s failure to fully enact his land reform, and term-limited by the constitution, President Macapagal quietly retired from public life, supporting his chosen successor, Senator Jovito Salonga, in the presidential election of 1969. Salonga, also called “Ka Jovy”, would win that election and go on to finally complete Macapagal’s reforms, as well as become a fine, popular president in his own right. Like his predecessor, Salonga won re-election in 1973, and retired following his second term’s end in 1977. Below is a list of presidents (and vice presidents) of the Philippines from the beginning of Macapagal’s term in 1961, through to the year 2001:
9. Diosdado Macapagal (LP) - 1961 - 1969
VP: Emmanuel Pelaez
10. Jovito Salonga (LP) - 1969 - 1977
VP: Lorenzo Tañada
11. Jose Diokno (NP) - 1977 - 1985
VP: Salvador Laurel
12. Benigno Aquino, Jr. (LP) - 1985 - 1993
VP: Geraldo Roxas
13. Miriam Defensor-Santiago (NP) - 1993 - 2001
VP: Ramon Magsaysay, Jr.
The Philippines’ economy would go on to become one of the strongest in Asia, adding specializations in soft-drink bottling, and later, more service-based industries like education, healthcare, and tourism. This economy became the engine that powered a robust social safety net for the country, as well as a truly free, truly protected press, and a flourishing scene for arts, letters, and culture. The Manila Film Festival, founded in the mid 1980s, would become a point of national pride for the Philippines alongside its architecture, literature, visual arts, theater, and fashion.
Next Time on Blue Skies in Camelot: (More) Foreign Affairs - Korea, the Vatican
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