Today In Alternate History

'Gerald Ford Killed' by Guest Historian Eric Lipps
Guest Historian Eric Lipps says, in this thread we examine a late seventies Republic administration led by Nelson Rockefeller with many of the historical events of that period unchanged(partial archive, Eric's work is still being threaded). If you're interested in viewing samples of my other work why not visit My AOL site.

December 21

	In 1979, U.S. President Nelson Rockefeller severs diplomatic relations with Iran after negotiations to free the Tehran embassy hostages fail. Although he remains concerned about the workability of a rescue attempt, he now believes he may be forced to go ahead with one despite the risks. He has concluded that the Khomeini regime is not serious about finding a peaceful solution to the crisis.

December 12

In 1979, CIA Director George H. W. Bush presents a preliminary hostage rescue plan to President Rockefeller. It involves taking advantage of Iranian CIA assets who would impersonate agents of the regime and inform the student militants holding the Tehran embassy that a U.S. military strike and that they were going to 'transfer' the captives to an undisclosed safe location. Once the hostages had been handed over, these pro-U.S. Iranians would then smuggle them to a pickup point on the outskirts of the city, where they would be picked up by U.S. helicopters and flown to safety.

The President is interested, but questions whether any Iranians can really be trusted to carry out their end of such a plan and whether American choppers can penetrate to the edge of Iran's capital, pick up the hostages and escape successfully. Director Bush assures him that the plan can be made to work, but says he will need several weeks at least to flesh it out fully and put the necessary resources in place.

Lacking any better options, President Rockefeller gives Bush the go-ahead.

November 6

	In 1979, after initial efforts to persuade the Khomeini regime to order the release of the captive personnel of America's Tehran embassy fail, President Rockefeller confers with the National Security Council regarding his next options. Defense Secretary Haig recommends a tough stance, beginning with the immediate freezing of all Iranian government assets within the United States and a warning to Tehran that unless the hostages are quickly released, the U.S. will take military action.


The President is reluctant to use force, fearing that such a move will result in the killing of the hostages, but agrees to order a freeze on Iran's US holdings. CIA Director George H. W. Bush suggests that a covert operation to 'extract' the hostages may be possible. The President directs him to draw up an action plan for consideration as soon as possible.

November 4

In 1979, Islamic militants overrun the U.S. embassy compound in the Iranian capital of Teheran. Critics of the Carter administration lose no time in suggesting that Carter's "retreat" from Southeast Asia, his withdrawal of U.S. forces from Cuba - occupied since the successful 1961 Bay of Pigs intervention - and his refusal to intervene to prevent the overthrow of Iran's autocratic but pro-American ruler Shah Reza Pahlevi in January have signaled American weakness and thus invited the embassy seizure.	US President

	Jimmy Carter

November 2

	In 1976, President Nelson A. Rockefeller, who had succeeded to the office following the assassination of Gerald R. Ford by Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme in 1975, is elected to a full presidential term in his own right, narrowly defeating Democratic challenger James Earl Carter. Afterward, pundits speculate that if Gerald Ford had survived and been the GOP nominee, Carter might possibly have won. Ford's propensity for verbal blunders and his ties to the disgraced Nixon administration, they argue, would have given his presidential campaign added burdens which Rockefeller had not had.

October 11

In 1979, after conferring with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Ambassador to Iran Richard Helms and several other top advisers, President Nelson Rockefeller decides to allow the exiled Shah of Iran to come to the United States for medical treatment. The President's decision is sharply criticized by many people, both as an affront to the new regime in Tehran and because the Shah himself, a notorious autocrat, is deeply unpopular. Among the sharpest voices raised against Rockefeller's decision is that of Massachusetts Senator Edward M. 'Ted' Kennedy, who is widely expected to run for president himself in 1980.

October 8

	In 1979, President Nelson Rockefeller, in a telephone conversation with the exiled Iranian Shah Pahlevi, offers to send top medical experts to Mexico to assist in treating him for his recently diagnosed malignant lymphoma in a hospital there. The Shah, however, is adamant, insisting that he believes he will die unless he is treated in a U.S. hospital and claiming that America 'owes' him as a longtime ally. Rockefeller does not care for the Shah's tone, which seems more that of a superior to a subordinate than that a supplicant. Nevertheless, the Shah's appeal to American political obligations strikes a chord with him.

October 6

In 1976, in the second debate between the two parties' nominees, Carter takes Rockefeller to task for having retained Henry Kissinger, a Nixon appointee, as Secretary of State and chief national security adviser. 'The American people are entitled,' the Georgian says, 'to a fresh start, a government whose leadership owes nothing to a disgraced administration. As long as Dr. Kissinger remains, that is out of reach.'

Rockefeller responds that as a chief executive both in public and private life, he has learned to evaluate people based on their own merits rather than by their associations. 'Dr. Kissinger remains in his position because he is, in my opinion, the best man for the job. I will not jettison a valuable subordinate simply because another man, who turned out to be flawed himself, was first to recognize his ability.'

In questioning about policy toward the Soviet Union, Rockefeller acknowledges that the U.S. must avoid military conflict with the USSR 'because the consequences of a superpower war would be catastrophic for the world,' but insists this does not mean the United States will 'accept indefinitely Soviet domination of the nations of Eastern Europe.'

October 1

	In 1975, Nevada Governor Mike O'Callaghan, a Democrat, appoints his former lieutenant governor Harry M. Reid to fill out the unexpired Senate term of Paul D. Laxalt, who has been tapped by President Nelson Rockefeller for the vice-presidency following Rockefeller's succession to the presidency in the wake of President Ford's assassination. The Governor's action angers many Republicans, who had demanded that Laxalt's replacement, like him, be from the GOP. Some conservatives charge that Governor 'Callaghan is exploiting Laxalt's departure to overturn the will pf the voters. Reid, considerably more liberal than Laxalt, had challenged the departing Senator for his seat in 1974 and lost by fewer than 600 votes.

September 18

In 1975, President Rockefeller offers the vice-presidency to Senator Paul D. Laxalt of Nevada. Laxalt accepts, and Rockefeller presents his name to the Senate for confirmation. Senator Paul Laxalt is quickly confirmed as vice-president by the Senate. Conservatives hail the choice, as they consider the Senator one of their own. There is open speculation about a Laxalt run for the presidency itself in 1980, if Rockefeller chooses not to run again that year - or perhaps even if he does.	Senator

	Paul D. Laxalt

September 8

Squeaky	In 1975, as President Ford lies in state following his assassination by ex-Manson Family member Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme, newly-inaugurated President Nelson Rockefeller delivers a speech in which he promises to 'subdue those forces of disorder which have roiled this nation in recent years, and which have now claimed the life of a president'.

Lynette Fromme

Four days later. President Rockefeller calls FBI Director Clarence M. Kelley into a meeting to lay out a directive for a new 'law and order' campaign. Rockefeller makes it clear that his first priority is the suppression of crime, with civil liberties only a secondary concern. Director Kelley approves, but points out that in the post-Watergate, post-Vietnam political climate a tough program such as the President wants will have to be carefully sold to the public and Congress.

September 5

In 1975, U.S. President Gerald Ford is assassinated at Sacramento, California by Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller thus becomes the 39th President of the United States.	Squeaky

	Lynette Fromme

August 16

	In 1976, the Republican national convention opens in the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. The GOP nomination is hotly contested between President Nelson Rockefeller and insurgent candidate Ronald Reagan, who has mounted a powerful challenge to the incumbent. A former governor of California, Reagan is the favorite of the party's right wing, and especially of conservative Southerners and Westerners, who loathe the 'Eastern establishment' represented by the President.

Rockefeller's strong pro-defense and anti-crime stances have done nothing to win them over; they had even tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade Vice President Paul Laxalt to run against him. On Aug. 19, President Nelson Rockefeller secures the Republican nomination. He will be running against former Georgia governor James Earl Carter, nominated at a bitterly divided Democratic convention in mid-July.

August 12

In 1974, at noon on this date, President Richard M. Nixon officially resigns from office, making Vice-President Gerald R. Ford the thirty-eighth president of the United States. Ford is sworn in by Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger, a Nixon appointee.

Nixon's puppet by Eric LippsAlthough by this time there is general relief that the scandal-scarred Nixon is leaving office, few people expect much change. In a syndicated cartoon published shortly after Nixon's departure, the newly-installed President Ford will be depicted as a puppet on the hand of Richard Nixon.

"until victory for the forces of democracy is achieved in both nations".The impression of continuity will be strengthened be Ford's retention of key Nixon administration personnel not directly involved in Watergate, including Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and by Ford's public assurances that he intends to continue the wars in Cuba and Southeast Asia "until victory for the forces of democracy is achieved in both nations".

Ford will have his work cut out for him. By the time he is inaugurated as President, both conflicts are increasingly unpopular. More than 60,000 Americans have died in both wars, some 15,000 in Vietnam since President Nixon?s declaration of the 'end of major conflict operations' there following the fall of Hanoi to U.S. and ARVN forces in December 1973.

July 14

In 1980, the Republican National Convention opens at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena. It is expected to be a contentious affair. Supporters of insurgent candidate Ronald Reagan back their man with almost (and in some cases genuinely) religious zeal, and the former California governor has enough delegates pledged to him to deny Laxalt the necessary two-thirds majority to win on the first ballot.	Pres. Candidate

	Paul Laxalt

The Republican primary contest has been in turmoil since the announcement of President Nelson Rockefeller, following his near-fatal heart attack of April 25, that he was withdrawing from the race. Former California governor Ronald W. Reagan, considered a long-shot candidate at the beginning of the primary season, has managed to draw off enough of what should have been Vice-President Paul Laxalt's conservative base to split the delegates almost evenly with him. Those pledged to Rockefeller himself before his withdrawal are a wild card, since they represent a wing of the party not comfortable with either remaining contender.

The GOP split represents just about the only hope for the Democrats to retake the White House. The dramatic April rescue of twenty-seven of the 52 diplomat-hostages held in the U.S. embassy in Tehran since the previous November, codenamed 'Operation Eagle Talon,' has made the Republicans almost sure winners in November. Even the twenty-five who were killed have not detracted from the national sense of triumph and relief; they are seen as casualties of war, and there is already talk of a monument in their honor. However, the Reagan campaign has insinuated that the hostage crisis was the result of Rockefeller Administration weakness in the first place, and has suggested that if Laxalt is elected that weakness will continue. This thread of the campaign has placed a strain on the relationship between Laxalt and Reagan, who had been personal friends as well as ideological soulmates for years.

June 1

In 1980, faced with a mounting drumbeat of calls that he suspend his re-election campaign, President Rockefeller delivers a nationally-televised address.The Rockefeller Bombshell by Eric Lipps
"My fellow Americans," he informs viewers, "in recent weeks there have been calls for me to withdraw from the presidential race, due to issues regarding to my health.

I had been reluctant to heed such calls, many of which came from supporters of my opponent in the Republican Party primaries, Gov. Ronald Reagan. However, I considered it my duty to consult with my physicians to seek their opinion as to my wisest course of action.

I must now state with regret that based on those discussions, I have decided that I will no longer be a candidate for re-election to the office I am proud to hold. Although my doctors tell me that barring any unforeseen developments I should be able to serve the remainder of my present term, they warn that the cardiac condition for which I have been undergoing treatment is likely to worsen over time. In my opinion, this presents an unacceptable risk to this nation in years to come.

I therefore announce that effective this evening, I am suspending my presidential campaign. I wish to thank all those who have supported me up until now, and to express my hope that they will support in my place the Vice-President, Paul Laxalt. I am confident that if nominated and elected, he will serve this nation as capably in the White House as he has done in other positions. "

Rockefeller's address is a bombshell. Many people are shocked that he has chosen to bow out; many more are amazed that in doing so he has explicitly endorsed the much more conservative Laxalt. There will be speculations that such an endorsement had been extorted from him as a condition of Laxalt's endorsing his letter stating his readiness to return to office under the reinstatement provisions of the Twenty-fifth Amendment. The truth, however, is less sinister: after four years of serving with him, Rockefeller has grown personally comfortable with Laxalt despite their political differences, while he dislikes Reagan.

May 15

	In 1980, President Nelson A. Rockefeller returns to the Oval Office following presentation of a formal letter to Congress asserting that he is now fit to carry out the duties of the presidency. The letter is accompanied by medical documentation from the physicians who treated him at Walter Reed Hospital following his near-fatal heart attack a month earlier.

Although he has returned to work, a number of Republican Party insiders, among them supporters of insurgent candidate Ronald Reagan, are suggesting that Rockefeller should abandon his re-election campaign. They point out that his April hospitalization is just the latest and most serious of a series of recent health crises, and suggest that if he were re-elected he might die or be incapacitated during a time of national crisis.

May 9

In 1975, US President Gerald Ford is assassinated at Sacramento, California by Lynette Squeaky Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller thus becomes the 39th President of the United States.

April 25

In 1980, President Nelson Rockefeller suffers a severe heart attack. He is rushed to Walter Reed Hospital, where he will remain in intensive care for the next eight days. On the 27th, with the President under sedation in the hospital and expected to remain so for several days, Vice-President Paul Laxalt meets with the Cabinet to draft a letter invoking the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution transferring the powers of the presidency to the Vice-President on grounds of the President's medical condition. The letter is delivered to the president pro tem of the Senate the following morning.	US President

	Nelson Rockefeller

March 24

	In 1980, a CIA Twin Otter helicopter flies into Iran to the site of the initial planned landing in Operation Eagle Talon, the Rockefeller administration's top-secret effort to rescue the American hostages being held at the U.S. embassy in Tehran. An Air Force combat commander plants landing lights intended to guide the aircraft in the assault force itself. There is no contact with the Iranian military.

March 15

In 1979, President Rockefeller checks into Walter Reed Hospital for a follow-up cardiological examination. Cardiologists decide that in his current condition, surgery would be riskier than outpatient treatment, and prescribe several medications. The President will be released the next day. Publicly, the administration insists that Rockefeller has received a seal of medical approval from his doctors. Privately, the President's advisers are concerned that his health may become an issue in the 1980 election.

	In 1976, in a nationally televised speech, President Rockefeller announces his 'National Safe Streets Initiative,' a big-budget tough-on-crime package of new money for police and the FBI and proposed legislation aimed at increasing criminal penalties, especially for drug offenses, and limiting appeals in felony cases.

February 11

In 1979, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (pictured) was captured by agents of Iran's feared secret police, SAVAK.

Ayatollah Captured by Eric LippsKhomeini had been the leader of a revolutionary movement grounded in fundamentalist Shiite Islam which had sought to overthrow the secular, modernizing Shah Reza Pahlevi.

In January 1979, they had briefly forced the Shah to flee the country, but infighting between the fundamentalists and more moderate factions had led to the collapse of the coup. The Shah had returned to Teheran on February 1 as Iranian military and SAVAK forces asserted control, hunting down the would-be revolutionaries. Those not killed immediately will be placed on trial and either sentenced to death or imprisoned for indeterminate periods.

The Shah's survival and the subsequent crackdown were applauded by U.S. conservatives but greeted with distinct ambivalence on the left; liberals tended to see Iran's ruler as a despot, however little they cared for Khomeini's religious zealotry.

Entry posted by Guest Historian

Eric Lipps

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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Ford Killed Source: Wikipedia Labels: Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran, 1979, Revolution, America.

Readers Comment Chris Oakley commented on 2009-02-11 23:22:45 ~
I think we've got the makings of a nice little political thriller here...

Readers Comment David Atwell commented on 2009-02-11 23:26:18 ~
Very interesting twist on the OTL events. It would have certainly & drastically changed US involvement in the region, not to mention Carter may have had a second term, whilst Regean could have missed out entirely. I wonder what that may have done for the ending of the Cold War? Other than that... I'm to do a "cheesy quaver"

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2009-02-12 01:14:31 ~
This would have been an interesting turn of events, if nothing else. My learned friend Mr. Atwell is correct that Carter might have had a second term, but there had been enough other bad stuff during his presidency that it's by no means a lead-pipe certainty.

Readers Comment H. Torrance Griffin commented on 2009-02-12 12:31:27 ~
A major factor is that the Shah was in fact dying. The question is if his son was a reformist or even competent. That being said, this will help Carter a great deal. Enough for a second term? I am not sure, but we are looking at less of a landslide for good or ill.

Readers Comment Eric Lipps commented on 2009-02-12 23:15:57 ~
I'm not sure the failure of Khomeini's takeover would have been enough to save Carter's presidency. It might, however, have narrowed the gaop between Reagan and him, perhaps at the expense of third-party caandidate John Anderson. Alternatively, if the gap were narrowed but at Reagan's expense, it's just possible Anderson could have played the role Nader did in 2000.

February 1

In 1980, President Rockefeller is admitted into Walter Reed Hospital for what is described as a 'routine follow-up examination.' He will be discharged four days later. Reporters inquiring as to the outcome of his examination are put off with the statement that the President prefers to wait until 'all the test results are in' before commenting. This is widely seen as an evasion, fueling rumors that Rockefeller's doctors have found something seriously wrong with him.

January 26

	In 1979, suffering from what the White House press office describes as 'gastrointestinal distress,' President Rockefeller checks into Walter Reed Hospital for a thorough examination. The press release's bland assurances mask a potentially serious problem. In reality, the President had been suffering from acute chest pains, weakness and shortness of breath, and Walter Reed's physicians soon confirm that he has a coronary artery blockage which may require surgery.

January 18

In 1980, Ronald W. Reagan, former governor of California, announces he will seek the Republican nomination for president, challenging President Nelson A. Rockefeller. It is Reagan's third try for the White House, following a 'dry run' effort in 1968 which ended after two months and his much stronger challenge to Rockefeller in the 1976 GOP primaries. At the press conference he calls to announce his candidacy, Reagan asserts that the Iran crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which has resulted in the overthrow of its government and the installation in Kabul of a puppet regime under Babrak Karmal, indicates the need for 'a stronger hand at the helm of the ship of state.'

January 7

	In 1980, CIA Director George H. W. Bush presents President Rockefeller with an updated plan for the rescue of the Tehran embassy hostages. The operation is dubbed Operation Eagle Talon. The President remains apprehensive about the scheme. However, as the hostage situation has dragged on, the national mood has begun to turn ugly as the public increasingly wonders why superpower America seems powerless to act against third-world Iran.

Rockefeller signs off on the Bush plan, but warns that if it fails, the U.S. may have no choice but to go to war. 'Even the Nazis didn?t dare kidnap our diplomats as the Iranians have done,' he observes. 'If we allow the Iranians to do it, we risk losing face all over the world.'

Bush assures him such fears are groundless. 'We have the means to make this work,' he insists. 'All we need is the will.'

January 2

In 1980, at a meeting of the National Security Council, President Nelson A. Rockefeller, Vice-President Paul D. Laxalt, Secretary of State Kenneth Adelman and Secretary of Defense Alexander Haig concur that the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan must be countered. CIA Director George H. W. Bush suggests that money be funneled to Afghan resistance groups; questioned as to which groups should be favored, Bush recommends that hard-line Islamists be approached, as they are likely to be particularly opposed to the 'godless' Soviets.	US President

	Nelson Rockefeller


Rockefeller agrees to Bush's suggestion. It will prove to be a fateful choice.

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•	500 visitor 28th Jan 08 for Streak
•	400 visitor 27th Jan 08 for Cut-off
•	400 visitor 25th Jan 08 for Vendetta
•	400 visitor 24th Jan 08 for Daddy
•	400 visitor 23rd Jan 08 for Rescued
•	500 visitor 22nd Jan 08 for Fair Trade
•	550 visitor 21st Jan 08 for Hollow
•	400 visitor 20th Jan 08 for God of War
•	Jo comments on Changes
•	Kwame Dallas guest posts in Time
•	John comments on Cannons
•	Spartan Phalanx guest posts in Time
•	Kwame Dallas guest posts in Raven
•	Luke S guest posts in Raven
•	400,000th visit on January 16, 2008.
•	400 Visitor for Raven.
•	450 Visitor 15/01/2008 for MLK
•	Kwame Dallas' Cannons
•	Ryan Hackel guest posts in Cannons
•	Plans for new Web site announced.
•	450 Visitor 14/01/2008 for Abandoned
•	Third Foundation starts in Percentages
•	Chris Lee guest posts in Percentages
•	400 Visitor 10/01/2008 for Masses
•	400 Visitor 09/01/2008 for Desperate
•	400 Visitor 08/01/2008 for Plotters
•	400 Visitor 07/01/2008 for Rejection
•	PJY guest posts in Not the Potter
•	Eagle guest posts in Monstrous
•	400 Visitor 02/01/2008 for Monstrous
•	Christmas Carol - Redemption
•	Anon comments on Le Jour De La Bastille
•	400 Visitor 17/12/07 for Outcomes
•	Amina Arraf in Peace
•	Haggis guest posts in Peace
•	400 Visitor 13/12/07 for Surpluses
•	Auto Digg Summary added in Traumas
•	John Faerseth guest posts in Traumas
•	400 Visitor 5/12/07 for Terminated
•	TIAH '08 collection job done.
•	Reverend Robbie Lets Rip
•	Radical Royalist comments on Ruins
•	Social bookmarks modified in Ruins
•	Ratty goes solo Ratmanifesto launched.
•	Reverend Robbie comment on Winners
•	Ratty concludes Hallowe'en Story
•	Jake Dominquez guest posts in Footprint
•	Hiroshima bomb pilot dies aged 92
•	Ratty comments on Hallowe'en
•	TIAH 2008 design complete in Kids Stuff
•	Zarln Hapsiscott comments on TT TIAH
•	Kwame Dallas - Wickedness
•	Hyperlinked metadata tags demo'ed
•	Brian Brackney guest posts in Fables
•	Social bookmarks added in Precedents
•	Kwame Dallas in Return of the Fish
•	First solo post in Anarchy in the UK
•	Ratty-So long and thanks for all the Fish

A Daily Updating Blog of Important Events In History That Never Occurred Today.
Imagine what would be, if history had occurred a bit differently. Who says it didn't, somewhere? These fictional news items explore that possibility.

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