The Presidents: The Vietnam War Edition

Viden: Duh. o

Sorry about that. My fault. Sometimes I don't know where my mind is.

c0d5579: Thanks for the explanation.

The reason the Rocket Test Site is in Las Cruces is because that's the default location for it at the start of the Cold War scenario.

I will keep that MacArthur book in mind.

Hap Arnold...dead.

Maxwell Taylor...officer pool.

Matthew Ridgway...officer pool.

Victor Krulak...not sure where he is gamewise.

Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller...not sure where he is gamewise.

Alexander Vandegrift...stationed in France.

Andreios II: Thank you very much.

Correct. The events of this AAR have nothing to do with the end-of-story summaries of the previous AAR. The epilogue is more of an idea I had at the time rather than a blueprint.

That's the thing: I am always coming up with new ideas. That's why I did the revision for "Hoover to Dewey". After writing that AAR, I developed new ideas that I decided to implement in it.

I have so many ideas for this Vietnam War AAR that I really don't know where I am going. I have a vague plan, but one that is constantly changing as ideas go in-and-out of my mind. Stevenson could be a one-termer, he could be a two-termer...I don't know yet.

As for MacArthur, he will be sitting around in Tokyo for a bit longer.

Now, for something completely different...
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Goldwater’s America

Howdy! I’m Barry Goldwater! You may know me as the Republican Presidential candidate who got crushed in 1964. You may also know me as Mr. Conservative, the man who helped establish the modern Conservative movement (although I would kick some Conservatives’ rear-ends if given the chance). Anyhow, you may know me as these things but what you may not know is how much I love this nation. The United States of America is, without question, the greatest force of freedom and liberty in the entire world. We have both the power and the obligation to make the world safe for Democracy and to teach the Soviet Union that there is no place in this world for them. I remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice, and that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. But I am losing the point. Although I have no idea how this author is going to handle my political career, I have agreed to accept his offer of showing you personally how great this nation is. Once the tour is completed, you will walk away with the awe of American might circa 1951. Or you might be indifferent. However you feel…you know what? Why am I still talking? Let’s get this show on the road!

There she is! The United States of America: the most powerful nation in the world. We have resources that other nations would probably choke on, along with fourteen atomic bombs in reserve in case those evil Soviets try something funny. Look at how beautiful the Capitol Building is. This is Democracy shining brightly in the sunlight of prosperity and freedom. May that light never dimmer.

I am glad to report that Director Lodge is hard at work keeping America safe from our enemies. At the same time, our great tech teams are busy improving our armed forces, which is necessary to keep the forces of freedom in tip-top shape. Kelly Johnson’s Skunk Works in particular is in the middle of developing helicopters for our cavalry divisions.

As you can see, we are busy modernizing our single-purpose army divisions. I graduated from a military academy, by the way.

As you can also see, our artillery is pretty much up-to-date. The British may have introduced the tank way back when, but leave it to us Americans to make the tank the most fearsome weapon on the battlefield. I know we can hold our own against whatever tanks the Soviets can field.

Of course we have the United States Navy. Seriously, do the enemies of freedom really think they can stand up against our almighty ships? I don’t think so.

My favorite branch of the military: the United States Air Force. As a pilot myself who has flown many planes, nothing brings me more joy than to climb into the cockpit of these majestic aircrafts. Thanks to our turbojet expertise, almost every kind of plane in our Air Force can fly faster than anything you will ever find in any other country. I have the urge to fly right now, in fact.

If you love numbers, then this overview is for you. What I want to know is why the text is green. Who came up with that idea? Probably some lowly Commie sitting in a room somewhere. Before I move on, I want to point out that we possess the Thor Ballistic Missile and have the ability to tip Thor with nukes. I wouldn’t mind lobbing a nuclear Thor into the bathroom of the Kremlin if push came to shove.

As to be expected from the Arsenal of Democracy, our industrial power is top-notch. Only by pushing ahead in the fields of manufacturing and cryptography can we make the Soviets the second-rate superpower. They must never, ever overtake us!

To be honest, land doctrines bore me a bit. Yes, they are important, but I don’t feel like saying any more about them. Let’s move on, shall we?

Secret weapons…not really a good name for them since you, the reader, know about them. I do want to proudly point out that the United States is the only nation in the world who has nuclear weapons. Sure, the Soviets can think about acquiring weapons of mass destruction, but with their pitiful technological growth, I doubt we will lose the upper hand any time soon.

Navy doctrines…whoever came up with these should be given a medal for outstanding work in the defense of freedom.

Air doctrines are something else I can spend all day with and never get enough of them. I expect only the best here.

This, of course, is what America is producing at the moment. Actually, we would be producing these army divisions for the home front if it wasn’t for the fact that most of our IC is going into upgrading our Air Force with the latest in turbojet technology. As the leader of freedom, we are naturally doing business with other nations who share our values. The people of Korea and FRG, in particular, owe their freedom to the blood and sweat of our brave men who fought fearlessly to liberate those folks from the tyranny of oppression.

We conclude the tour with a look at the present Administration. Even though the Grand Old Party has been in charge of the White House since 1941, the conscious of Conservatives sadly hasn’t been much of a presence. Instead, we have those lousy Eastern liberals who insist on continuing the liberal philosophy of FDR and his New Deal bureaucracy. You know, this country would be better off if we could just saw off the East Coast and let it drift out to sea. Anyhow, that’s the end of our tour. As you have seen, the United States is a great nation that is only getting better everyday. It has to be that way, for people all over the world look to us for guidance and protection. We mustn’t let them down. Goodbye and God bless America.
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So that’s my overview for 1951. Since I am showcasing the mod for the first time, I wanted this update to be special. Future yearly updates will be much more straightforward. Those who have read my previous AAR will probably notice that I have done away with the military figures. I have decided to redo my yearly updates, as you will see in 1952. One of the new features I am adding to them is a brief look at notable events that took place during that particular year. They are stuff that I might otherwise not mention in the main story. So here we go…the first “Highlights of ____”:
Highlights of 1951
-“Dennis the Menace”, a daily syndicated newspaper comic strip created by Hank Ketcham, debuts in sixteen newspapers
-“The King and I”, a musical co-created by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, opens on Broadway
-“All About Eve”, starring Bette Davis and Anne Baxter, wins Best Picture at the 23rd Academy Awards
-“Alice in Wonderland”, Walt Disney’s thirteenth animated film, is released by RKO Radio Pictures
-J.D. Salinger publishes “The Catcher in the Rye”
-During the National League baseball pennant playoff, New York Giants outfielder Bobby Thomson hits a game-winning home run in the bottom of the Ninth inning off of Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca to win the pennant after being down fourteen games

Kurt_Steiner: I hope so.

FlyingDutchie: You can probably see why Goldwater never got elected President. I mean, with that attitude...

Funny you should mention Mao...

In the summer of 1937, Japan declared war on Nationalist China. Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Communist Party of China, was called upon by Kai-shek to help him fight off the Japanese invaders. Mao refused, unwilling to support his archrival – whom he was battling for control over the future of China. As a result, Communist China was neutral when the Japanese defeated Nationalist China in July 1939 and established hegemony over much of Asia. Having won the Second Sino-Japanese War and banished Kai-shek and his wife to the United States, Tokyo had to decide what to do about the two countries remaining outside their control: Communist China and Tibet. The Japanese government determined that Tibet would not only be harmless but would also make a good barrier against the British in India; Tibet would therefore be ignored. As for Communist China, although the Japanese were opposed to Communism in principle, they had no desire to waste manpower and resources squashing a small, isolated enclave. They were willing to look the other way…for a price. If Yan’an agreed to mind its own business and not interfere with Japan’s plans for Asia, Tokyo would agree to leave Communist China alone. The “live and let live” accommodation proposal was accepted by Mao, who saw it as the only way he and his faithful followers could live in peace without the fear of a Japanese attack hanging over them.

All was well until the day Stalin declared war on Japan. Fears gripped Mao as the Red Army moved into Manchukuo. He became afraid that the quid pro quo might be lost and the Japanese might turn against him for one reason or another. Within days of the opening of Operation Mayflower, Communist China declared war on the Soviet Union in a calculated move aimed at maintaining the unofficial non-aggression pact between Yan’an and Tokyo. Moscow wasn’t amused by this and would soon teach the Communist Chinese a harsh lesson about going to war with the Soviet Union

After the war was over, Stalin demostrated that he was not a forgiving man when he quietly had Mao Zedong and others executed for having foolishly declared war on him in May 1945. Lin Bojiu, who had been in charge of armaments and had openly opposed going to war with the Soviets, was spared and instead was installed as the new leader of Communist China. In reality, he would be nothing more than the puppet ruler of a buffer state protecting the rest of Red China from Democratic forces to the east.

Click to expand...

Asalto: You could be right about the Communists being an even more dangerous foe than IOTL.

Thank you very much.

c0d5579: Once American troops are on the ground in Vietnam and getting killed, they will be calling Kai-shek even worse things.

hoi2geek: Right now Malay is still in British hands.

El Pip: You're right, El Pip. Nothing good is going to happen in this region.

hoi2geek: Here's a map of the Malay Archipelago in January 1952:

Ciryandor: Can I ask why giving Northern Sabah to the Philippines is popular here? I never even heard of Sabah until I started this AAR.

hoi2geek: Yes, Sabah is still in British hands.

Why?

FlyingDutchie: Yup, Mao is dead (and you have nomonhan to thank for it).

nomonhan said:

Your map showing the division the Soviet-occupied portion of China is very credible. Most people don't know this but in reality the USSR was skeptical of Mao's ability to win the Chinese Civil war and had contingency plans. I recommend this website for reading:
http://www.oxuscom.com/sovinxj.htm
Likely they would have released a Xinjiang and Xibei puppet just as you said, and allowed Mongolia to claim its national territory.
Although most of the Ma clan hated communists in general, there was nonetheless a group of families related to them in the Soviet Union (they fled to Russia the previous century) and so the USSR could have pulled strings and put in a puppet regime, though I have no idea who they might be.
The only thing wrong is the leadership of Xinjiang and Communist China. That is not your fault but Paradox's. Sheng Shicai was persona non grata to the Soviets by then and IMO leaders would be:
Head of State;Alihan Tore
Head of Government;Exmetjan Qasimi
Foreign Minister;Exmetjan Qasimi
Minister of Armament;Dalilkhan Sugurbayef
Minister of Security;Abdukerim Abbasof
Head of Military Intelligence;Ishaqbek Mononof
They were associated with the historical Second East Turkestan Republic which actually controlled the western part on Xinjiang between 1944 and 1949.
Stalin would also have executed Mao Zedong as a traitor. Paradox has two other leaders for Communist China, and the only one who is credible is Lin Bojiu. I think he was more of the pro-Soviet puppet type. IRL Zhang Guotao actually defected to the Nationalists, and died in exile in Canada. There are a few other credible HOS/HOG people for the Chinese Communists if you put them in yourself.

Anyway, thank goodness that:
1) Korea is free and united
2) Tibet is free
3) The Mongolian people are united
4) The Uighurs have their independence.
True--in #3 and #4 they have communism but at least they have their country. They will lose communism with time and eventually have both freedom and nationhood.
5) The Soviet Union will advance more slowly technologically after the war. They for one thing won't get the Roll Royce engine blueprints for the Mig-15 with Churchill in power. Also they won't get much German technology, since they did not get into Germany at all (no Peenemunde complex in Soviet hands, no Junkers team, etc)

Click to expand...

Don't worry about it. Good luck on the coding.
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A Reluctant Candidate
On April 30th, 1789, George Washington was sworn-in as the first President of the United States. As America’s first Chief Executive, he was keenly aware that everything he did in office would be precedent-setting...including how long he would serve as President. Near the end of his second term, Washington had an announcement to make that would be arguably his defining moment:
“The period for a new election [1796] of a citizen to administer the Executive Government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made.”
In other words, he would be stepping down voluntarily when his current term expired in March 1797. Rather than try to hold onto power for another four years, Washington believed that eight years was enough. He therefore handed the Presidency over to Vice President John Adams and returned home to his farm in Virginia. From 1797 on, every President who served two terms were expected to retire at the end of their second. After all, if the eight-year limit was good enough for the Father of the Country, how could anyone argue with it?

As it turns out, Theodore Roosevelt had an argument to make against it. After serving two terms, TR handed the office over to his friend William Howard Taft in March 1909. When his successor proved to be a disappointment, Roosevelt decided to break with tradition and seek a third term in 1912. Although he ran an energetic campaign as the Progressive candidate, and survived an assassination attempt in the process, voters were unwilling to break with tradition and gave victory to Woodrow Wilson instead. Twenty-eight years later, the voluntary term-limit found itself under assault by another Roosevelt.

In 1940, World War Two was in full swing. Nazi Germany overran Western Europe, putting the United Kingdom under tremendous pressure. Surveying the situation, President Franklin D. Roosevelt believed he was the best man to lead America through this dangerous period. Ignoring the two-term tradition, FDR maneuvered that summer to win his Party’s nomination for the third time. Opposing FDR’s message of “stay the course” was Wendell Willkie, a peace-through-strength candidate who argued that no man was indispensible. It was a closely-fought campaign, with Roosevelt being a stone-throw-away from winning his third term.

Willkie/McNary (Republican/Red) – 283 Electoral Votes – 25 States Carried – 25,340,292 Popular Votes – 50.78% of Total Votes
Roosevelt/Wallace (Democratic/Blue) – 248 Electoral Votes – 23 States Carried – 24,322,289 Popular Votes – 48.74% of Total Votes
This brings us to Thomas E. Dewey. A supporter of term limits, Dewey wanted to rid American politics of the arrogant notion that people could serve in office however long they pleased. His proposal of making the two-term tradition permanent by adding it to the Constitution was well received by his fellow Americans – who were equally worried that future Presidents would try to remain in power longer than those who abided by tradition. With public support behind the President’s proposal, Congress passed the Twenty-Second Amendment of the United States Constitution on March 21st, 1947. After being ratified by the requisite number of states, the Presidential term limit became the law of the land on February 27th, 1951. According to the Twenty-Second Amendment:
“No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.”
Even without the Amendment, Dewey had no intention of running for a third term in 1952. Approaching age fifty, he was increasingly looking forward to leaving office in January 1953. He wanted to return to his law career and spend his post-Presidency as the head of a great legal firm. As for the White House, Dewey wanted a handpicked successor who would carry on his policies. He only had one man in mind: Dwight D. Eisenhower.

While playing golf together in April 1951 (before the fateful Asian trip), Dewey casually asked Ike if he wanted the Republican Presidential nomination next year. Flabbergasted at the question, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shook his head and declared that he had no intention of running for President. “Ike,” Dewey replied, “I am worried about this country’s future. If the Democrats win the next election, this country will go to Hell in the hand basket of paternalism-socialism-dictatorship. You are the only Republican who can stop them.”
Ike was reminded that he was highly popular among the American people, regardless of their political viewpoints. He could easily gain Democratic votes, as well as Republican and Independent votes. After all, many people considered Ike to be a military hero who wasn’t a politician. Eisenhower listened to his boss and countered that he had a lack of interest (not to mention the fact that the law forbade those in active military service from seeking office):
“I shall never willingly seek a vote. I shall always try to do my duty to America, but I do not believe that anything can ever convince me that I have a duty to seek political office.”
Dewey didn’t take “No” for an answer, of course. Throughout 1951, his belief that only his favorite General could keep the White House in G.O.P. hands hardened. That summer, he gained another reason for pressuring Ike to run: the collapse of America’s six-year monopoly on nuclear weapons. In early June, a United States Air Force weather reconnaissance airplane flying over the North Pacific near the Soviet Union detected signs of intense radioactivity. It took several days for scientists to analyze the data and figure out why there was such radioactivity coming from Soviet territory. On June 19th, they reached a stunning conclusion: the Soviet Union had detonated her first atomic bomb (in fact, the first Soviet detonation yielded twenty-two kilotons of TNT). A few days later, the President gave the world the horrifying news that Stalin was now armed with nuclear weapons – making the Americans fearful that the Soviets could nuke them at any time.

In reaction to the Soviet nuclear test (codenamed First Lightning), Dewey ordered the acceleration of the development of the hydrogen bomb (the next step up in nuclear weaponry). The reason was simple: America should always be one step ahead of the Soviet Union. While the Soviets were busy building their own atomic bomb, the Americans were already secretly at work on the Super Project (the codename for the hydrogen bomb). Hungarian-born theoretical physicist Edward Teller vigorously led the effort to create a bomb whose destructive power would be over ten times the destructive power of the atomic bombs dropped on Nagoya and Hainan. In the aftermath of First Lightning, Teller was instructed to complete the Super Project as soon as possible. Teller complied, pushing his team even harder. On November 28th, almost six months after First Lightning, a massive explosion rocked the Marshall Islands in the Central Pacific Ocean. A fireball over three miles wide and a mushroom cloud 136,000 feet high appeared over the Eniwetok atoll. It was Ivy Mike, the United States’ first hydrogen bomb. The sixty-two ton device, designed by physicist Richard Garwin, yielded 10.4 megatons of TNT and proved to be over 450 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Nagoya.

The Soviet acquisition of the atomic bomb – and America’s ante-upping response with the hydrogen bomb – became a factor in getting Eisenhower to run. With nuclear annihilation a very real possibility, Dewey believed Ike’s levelheadedness, coolness under pressure, and steady hand would go far in minimizing the frightening prospect of nuclear warfare. Indeed, many people were pressuring Eisenhower – people like Democratic Governor James F. Byrnes of South Carolina and former Republican Representative Clare Booth Luce of Connecticut. Although Eisenhower consistently stated that he didn’t want to run for President, he never completely ruled it out either. That being said, his attitude to all this persistent urging was a combination of bemusement and wariness.

What would it take to snap Eisenhower out of his dithering? The answer: another man’s ambition.