Another People from an Alternate Universe Thread (With a twist!)

[anon_user]

Eric Blair (June 25, 1903-June 25, 1948): A British novelist, Eric Blair wrote under the pen-name George Orwell. His most notable works were 1933's Down and Out in Paris and London, 1938's Homage to Catalonia, and 1945's Animal Farm. Orwell died of tuberculosis, still in the midst of writing his last work, The Last Man in Europe, a dystopian tale of a totalitarian regime in London; the novel was later published posthumously, in its incomplete form.

OOC: 59% seems a bit high... though FDR got that against Landon and Nixon against McGovern in OTL. Probably lots of blank ballots (at least in the President section), Dems staying home, etc.

Incomplete 1984 ITTL; I'm not sure what's left out (or in). Haven't decided on an alternate publication date, either.

We could have a first Catholic between Dole and Giuliani.

 

[Penelope]

How about Taft dies in 1953, and we have Nixon from 1953 to 1961? I already mentioned Rockefeller as having lost twice to Heinlein in 1968 and 1972 after all.

Perhaps just have them renominate Rocky in '68, just edit your post to say someone else in '72. I was hoping we could do something apolitical for Nixon.

 

[RogueBeaver]

Richard M. Nixon (January 9, 1913- September 25, 1993) served as Director of the FBI from 1965 to 1983, the second-longest serving Director after its founder J. Edgar Hoover. He entered the FBI as a Special Agent in the Los Angeles Division in 1937 and was promoted to SAC in 1945. Working primarily in the Organized Crime and Intelligence Divisions, in 1955 Nixon was recalled to HQ as head of the Counterintelligence Division. His loyalty to Hoover in uncovering espionage, despite, as Nixon wrote in his memoirs "CPUSA being roughly 80% double agents or undercover operatives" and much funding being spent on it. It is alleged that Nixon ghostwrote Hoover's final books with Deputy Director William Sullivan, though both heatedly denied it. Upon Hoover's retirement in 1965 Nixon was appointed Director by President Stevenson, and served until his mandatory retirement in 1983. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Dole in 1991.

Mohandas K. Gandhi (2 October 1869-4 June 1897)

Indian lawyer representing South African Indians who was shot upon being attacked by a white mob in the Transvaal in 1897.


Vallabhai Patel (31 October 1875- 1 January 1953): First Prime Minister of independent India upon independence in 1948. Though he only served a single term before dying in office of a massive stroke at age 77, he is revered for being the "Father of the Nation" and establishing the pro-Western, liberal democratic tradition of modern India. In the interwar era he drove a hard bargain with the British Raj, but his dragging out of independence negotiations until the death of Mohammed Ali Jinnah in 1946 is credited for maintaining a united India to this day. Presided over independence and sent an Indian contingent to the Korean War, setting the pace for India's large contributions to UN peacekeeping efforts over the past 63 years.

 

[anon_user]

Enrique Líster (April 21, 1907-July 31, 1938): Soldier in the army of the Spanish Republic, his skills and politics led to a rapid rise in the Republican ranks during the Spanish Civil War; by 1938, he was a Lieutenant Colonel, and was placed in command of the Fifth Army Corps for the Battle of the Ebro, the last major Republican offensive of the war. Líster died six days into the battle, killed in a bombing raid.

OOC: Technically, we're not supposed to have divergences before 1938. So here's another minor one in 1938 - Lister dies, rather than escaping.
I seem to specialize in smallish PoDs.

 

[theReturner]

We could have a first Catholic between Dole and Giuliani.

Fair enough, I didn't think of that.

Cpl. Pierre Trudeau (October 18th, 1919-November 6th,1944)-Son of Quebec-Canadian Businessman and Lawyer Charles-Emile Trudeau. At school, he was known as a bright student, albeit one with certain marxist ideas. He was conscripted into the Canadian Army during the Second World War, and was one of many Canadian to fight on Juno Beach during D-Day in the summer of 1944. He rose to the rank of corporal, but was killed in a bombing raid on France by the remainder of the Luftwaffe, just a few months later.

 

[historybuff]

Yuri Andropov. 1914-1987: Soviet Foreign minister under First Secretary Kulakov, until illness forced his retirement in 1982, his post being taken over by Anatoly Dobrynin.

Fyodor Kulakov.

Soviet Leader from 1980 until his death in 1985. Agricultural secretary under Alexei Kosygin until 1978 before becoming First Deputy Premier under Chairman of the Council of Ministers (insert reformers name here.)

Continued Kosygin's policies of reform until his death in a plane crash during a snow storm.

 

[Xen]

Mohandas K. Gandhi (2 October 1869-4 June 1897)

Indian lawyer representing South African Indians who was shot upon being attacked by a white mob in the Transvaal in 1897.

The POD is 1938, Gandhi dying before then would upset the butterflies.

 

[Penelope]

Robert Taft (September 8th, 1889 - March 29th, 1955): United States Senator from Ohio, 1939-1953, and 34th President of the United States from January 20th, 1953 to January 18th, 1955. A leader of the conservative coalition in the Republican Party, he ran for President in 1952. The battle between him and New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey would be one of the most memorable political races in Americans' minds for some time, and is now regarded alongside such political battles as Nelson Rockefeller vs. Robert Heinlein in 1968, and Nancy L. Kassebaum vs. Al Gore in 1992. His Presidency, despite his initial popularity and idolization, is not very notable. Historians often criticize his Presidency for lack of action in the Mongolian Communist Revolution in 1953. In February 1954, a test by White House doctors revealed that his body was full of cancer. Despite excellent treatment, and Taft's own confidence about the situation, by November 1954, Vice President Rockefeller was handling nearly all Presidential duties. Of course, his cancer was not revealed to the public until January of 1955, when it was determined that Nelson Rockefeller would officially assume the office of President. Robert Taft would resign the day after his cancer was announced publicly, and undergo three more surgeries before finally succumbing to his cancer on March 29th, 1955.

I'll let someone else handle Rockefeller's description.

 

[RogueBeaver]

Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd (8 September 1901- 25 April 1984)

A South African by birth, Verweord was the Chair of Psychology at Balliol College, Oxford, from 1948 to 1955. He emigrated to Britain in 1938 and served in the Army as a medical officer during World War II before being discharged with the rank of captain in 1945. Upon the war's end he returned to his professorship at Oxford and attained the Chair in 1948 at Balliol. Consistently voted one of the most popular professors for his charismatic style by his students, in 1955 Verweord left academia to run for the safe Tory seat of Oxford when Eden entered No 10. Verwoerd was appointed Minister of Health by Eden in 1958, a position he would hold until his promotion to Home Secretary in 1963. In 1965 he backed his fellow ex-academic Enoch Powell for the Tory leadership, eventually won by Reginald Maudling. The two men never got along, and by 1970 Maudling appointed Verwoerd to the Lords as a means of removing him from the political frontlines. Verwoerd died in 1984 of natural causes, but in retirement he would lead the Conservative Monday club until 1977.


Tony Blair (b. 6 May 1953) is the incumbent Conservative British Prime Minister. Blair was first elected in 1983 and successively shadowed the DHSS, DTI and the Home Office before winning the Tory leadership in 1996 over Ken Clarke and Michael Howard. The Tories won the 2000 election, with Blair presiding over a period of high economic growth and increasingly close links to Europe.

John F. Kennedy Jr. (b. Nov. 25, 1960)

Award-winning American actor, son of press baron John F. "Jack" Kennedy. Throughout a career that has so far lasted nearly three decades, he is best-known for his performance in numerous award-winning films, most notably for his role as Private James Ryan in Saving Private Ryan, a role for which he won Best Actor at the 1998 Academy Awards. Most recently he won Best Actor at the 2010 Golden Globes for his role as Dr. James Watson in Sherlock Holmes. Heavily involved in charitable activities for underprivileged youth in his home state of New York, Kennedy is also a prolific Democratic fundraiser, though he broke with tradition in endorsing President Giuliani in the 2008 general election. Kennedy has announced that he will retire in 2013 after 30 years of acting to focus on directing and his work outside of Hollywood, with his final role yet to be revealed.


Bobby Jindal (b. June 10, 1971) is the incumbent U.S. Attorney General, the youngest in nearly two centuries. A graduate of Brown University and Yale Law School, Jindal served as U.S. District Attorney for the Southern District of Louisiana from 1996 to 2002. Known in legal circles as "the Rajin' Cajun" or latterly "Bobby the Broker", he sent former Democratic Gov. Edwin Edwards to prison on bribery charges in 1997 and Rep. Bill "Cold Cash" Jefferson in 2001. In 2002 he left the DA's office to pursue a lucrative legal practice in Washington, D.C., where he arranged book deals for numerous prominenti, including Donald Trump, Martha Stewart and John F. Kennedy Jr. Litigating on behalf of BlueShield against President Edwards' healthcare plan, the individual mandate was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2006. An aggressive exponent of conservative causes and lifelong Republican, he was appointed by Rudy Giuliani as Attorney General on Nov. 24, 2008 and confirmed by a 96-3 Senate vote on Jan. 22, 2009.

 

[Penelope]

Albert "Al" Gore, Jr. (b. March 31st, 1948):

The 39th President of the United States, serving from January 20th, 1993 to January 20th, 2001. A Senator from Tennessee, Al Gore was originally a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, before moving further into the left during the late '80s and early '90s. After winning the Democratic Nomination in 1992, he would win by a single state, the state of Florida, after a tough race against President Nancy L. Kassebaum. Serving two full terms, President Gore would come to influence the direction of the United States greatly. It was largely due to his efforts that the United States Energy Independence Act was passed, one of the most controversial bills in history at the time, which would eventually become one of the most celebrated laws of the Gore Presidency. Passed in 1993, it mandated that the United States would be off of foreign oil by the year 2001, and also helped to ensure the rise of the electronic car by 2007. However, his administration is most celebrated for it's quick victory in the 1st Mongolian War (1995-1997)*.

*I'd like to hear someone else come up with a description for this.

 

[Penelope]

List of Presidents, 1933-Present:
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt (D-NY) 1933-1949
33. George C. Marshall (D) 1949-1953
34. Robert Taft (R-OH) 1953-1955
35. Nelson A. Rockefeller (R-NY) 1955-1961
37. Adlai Stevenson (D-IL) 1961-1969
36. Robert A. Heinlein (D-CA) 1969-1981
37. Robert "Bob" Dole (R-KS) 1981-1989
38. Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-KS) 1989-1993
39. Al Gore (D-TN) 1993-2001
40. ??
41. ??
41/42. Rudolph "Rudy" Guliani (R-NY) 2009-Present

 

[historybuff]

John McCain: Current Secretary of Defence, former Navy Vice Admiral, former Senator from Arazona. 1934-present. Naval officer from 1969 to 1989.

John Lewis.

Former Congressmen from Georgia, current Speaker of the House of Representatives. 1940-present.

 

[theReturner]

Ronald Reagan (February 6th, 1911-June 4th,2004)-Famous American in both politics and acting. Most notably, he served as Vice-President under Bob Dole from 1981-1989. Born in Illinois he eventually found his way into Hollywood, and featured in several award-winning films, most notably the role of George Bailey in the Christmas Classic It's a Wonderful Life. Though he always mainted his love for acting, he eventually found his way into politics, becoming a staunch critic of California Governor and later President, Robert A. Heinlein. Throughout the 60's, Reagan threw in his support for many Republican candidates, and his notable skills as an orator got many in the Republican Party talking.He ran for and won the Governorship of California in the early 70's, and became very popular. Despite this, Reagan never ran for President, for unkown reason. In 1980, Republican nominee Bod Dole asked Reagan to be his running mate, whihc he agreed to, no doubt giving Dole a boost in the election, as well as the one to fallow.

Reagan would become a popular Vice-President, and Dole would often use him to rally support for his causes, knowing Reagan was a much better speaker than he was. Shortly after Reagan left the Vice-Presidency in the 90's, it was revealed he was suffering from Alzhiemer's Disease. As a result, Reagan was seen less and less in public life, though the American people still remained a foundness for the old Vice-President. When he died in 2004, the nation mourned his passing.


Feel free to edit parts of this, if someone thinks they can have it make more sense.

 

[Noravea]

Leonard Nimoy (1931- ) An American-Jewish actor and politican known mostly for his roles on Star Trek, he entered politics as a Congressman in Massachusetts in the early 1990s and a Democrat, occasionally still guest starring in Star Trek. He became the Senator from Massachusetts in the mid 1990s, and ran successfully for POTUS in 2000.

Serving from 2001-2009, Leonard Nimoy led the United States through 9/11, and during this time, became close friends with Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who became POTUS after he left office. President Nimoy returned to acting in 2 new Star Trek films after his Presidency ended.

 

[Noravea]

List of Presidents, 1933-Present:
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt (D-NY) 1933-1949
33. George C. Marshall (D) 1949-1953
34. Robert Taft (R-OH) 1953-1955
35. Nelson A. Rockefeller (R-NY) 1955-1961
37. Adlai Stevenson (D-IL) 1961-1969
36. Robert A. Heinlein (D-CA) 1969-1981
37. Robert "Bob" Dole (R-KS) 1981-1989
38. Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-KS) 1989-1993
39. Al Gore (D-TN) 1993-2001
40. Leonard Nimoy (D-MA) 2001-2009
41. Rudolph "Rudy" Guliani (R-NY) 2009-Present

 

[Zacoftheaxes]

Michael Bay (Born February 17, 1965)
War Hero and Secretary of Defense under President Nimoy. Elected Governor of California in 2010 as a Republican.

Chris Hansen (Born March 26, 1959)
Junior US Senator from Michigan, Democrat.

Alex Trebek (Born July 22, 1940)
Former CEO and Prime Minister of Canada (2003-Present)

Kerry King (Born June 3, 1964)
Jeopardy host from 1990-Present.