Since I have now completed my TR Wins in 1912 timeline, I shall be moving on to write a timeline on what would happen if President John F. Kennedy survived his 1963 assassination attempt. I hope to have the first update ready by Monday.

AWESOME!!!!!!!That being said, if you need any help on anything (in particular senate and congressional issues) i would love to help, as my grandpa was quite active at the time as an advisor to Kennedy and later Johnson on veterans issues.

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"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America."-President William Jefferson Clinton"There is not a liberal America and a conservative America — there is the United States of America."-Senator Barack Obama

A dream day had turned into a nightmare. In two separate hotel rooms in Dallas, the President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and the Governor of Texas, John Bowden Connally fight for their lives following a shooting while the President, Governor, Vice President Johnson, Senator Yarborough and their families ride through Dallas.

In the late hours of the evening, word leaks out that Governor Connally, despite the best efforts of his doctors, had died from bullet wounds to the arms, chest, and legs. A distraught Vice President Johnson openly weeps at the loss of one of his closest and oldest friends. No word is sent about the President, other than that he is in critical condition, and hovering between life and death.

All across the country, business grinds to a halt as people await news on their fallen leader. In the late afternoon of the next day, it is reported that the President, although alive, was in weak condition, and would return to the White House to rest.

On November 26, the President is seen returning to the White House, appearing worn and haggard. In a statement to the press, the President jokes about the assassination attempt, attributing his wounds to his forgetting to duck. He announces that he will spend the next several weeks recovering, and will most likely return for his State of the Union address.

I have trouble believing Kennedy would be joking after John Connally's death. Besides that this seems like a good start.

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"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America."-President William Jefferson Clinton"There is not a liberal America and a conservative America — there is the United States of America."-Senator Barack Obama

On January 8, 1964, President Kennedy, for the first time since the assassination attempt, appears before Congress. He starts off by paying tribute to the late Governor Connally, calling him “A truly great American.” He asks the Congress to pass his Civil Rights Act, which had been bottled up in the Rules Committee by Chairman Howard Smith (D-VA), since before the assassination attempt. “It is an unholy calumny that some Americans, because of the accident of birth, are not able to seek the fullest opportunities that the good Lord has offered to them.”

The day following the speech, the President gathers a meeting of top Congressional leaders in the House and Senate, as well as Vice President Johnson, to discuss how to get the Act out of Smith’s committee. At the suggestion of Congressman Emmanuel Celler (D-NY), the House would be presented with a petition to discharge the bill from the Committee. Only if a majority of members signed the discharge petition would the bill move directly to the House floor without consideration by Smith's committee. Despite reservations about the effectiveness of the petition, Kennedy tells Celler to introduce it.

For several weeks, the petition languishes in Congress, with some members refusing to go against typical procedure and sign the petition. However, after an intense lobbying campaign by Vice President Johnson, as well as massive letter writing campaign by constituents, Congressman begin signing on. In order to avoid the embarrassment of the petition, Smith agrees to discharge the Act on February 19. On March 1, by a vote of 290-130, the Act passes, and is sent to the Senate.

Following the Senate vote, Kennedy meets with Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (D-MT), to try and find a way to avoid the Act being bottled up in the Judiciary Committee. After several days, Senator Hubert H. Humphrey (D-MN), comes up with a novel solution. Instead of initially waiving a second reading of the bill, which would have led sent it immediately to Judiciary, Mansfield would give the Act a second reading, which he did on March 27.

Mansfield proposed that, in the absence of precedent for instances when a second reading did not immediately follow the first, that the bill bypass the Judiciary Committee and immediately be sent to the Senate floor for debate. Despite several Southerners wanting to filibuster the motion, Senator Richard Russell (D-GA), decides to let the Act come to the floor, which it does on April 8.

As long expected, the South filibusters, with Senator Russell declaring, “We will resist to the bitter end any measure or any movement which would have a tendency to bring about social equality and intermingling and amalgamation of the races in our states.” The longest speech of the filibuster is given by Senator A. Willis Robertson (D-VA), who speaks for 19 hours and 28 minutes.

On the June 25, Senators Everett Dirksen (R-IL), Thomas Kuchel (R-CA), Humphrey, and Mansfield introduce a substitute bill, hoping to attract enough Republican votes to end the filibuster. The strategy works, and on July 8, after a 13 hour speech by Senator John McClellan (D-AR), the Senate agrees to grant cloture, by a vote of 70-30, the first time cloture had ever been imposed on a civil rights bill. Three days later, by a vote of 72-28, the Senate passes the Civil Rights Act of 1964; it is passed by the House on July 9, and the next day, in a grand ceremony, President Kennedy signs the legislation. During the ceremony, though, Vice President Johnson remarks to an aide that, “We have lost the South for a generation.”

With the legislation finally passed, President Kennedy begins, in earnest, his campaign for reelection.

Good timeline so far. I'm just wondering what you are going to do as far as LBJ being VP? A lot of folks think that he would have dropped him, and the popularity boost from the assassination attempt would have given him the leverage to drop him. His closest aides said that he was thinking Terry Sanford, governor of NC and a symbol of the new south.

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"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America."-President William Jefferson Clinton"There is not a liberal America and a conservative America — there is the United States of America."-Senator Barack Obama

Interesting and well detailed installment on the ATL Passage of the Civil Rights Act for TTL. It does sound like more of a backlash might develop in favor of Goldwater in the election(He'll still probably loose but not as bad as in OTL). Assuming that Goldwater is the GOP Nominee, do him an JFK make good on there series of town hall debates that is rumored they had planned in OTL? This, added with information being released about JFK's other women and the medical issues might tip the election in Goldwater's favor. Keep it comming

Ben has attacked me in the past for saying that Johnson would be dropped from the ticket. So, I do not think that Ben will have Johnson dropped. Though, now that I have said that, he might drop him to prove me wrong. But, that is another matter.

On another note, I think that Johnson might have wanted off of the ticket. Many books and documentaries on Johnson say that he was miserable as vice president.

"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America."-President William Jefferson Clinton"There is not a liberal America and a conservative America — there is the United States of America."-Senator Barack Obama

On March 17th, President Kennedy announces that he will seek a second term in 1964. He says that he hopes to have the Vice President run again, but that he will let Johnson make his own plans. Three days later, Vice President Johnson addresses the press, “On November 21, 1963, I was resolved to seek a second term as Vice President. However, following the death of my good friend, Governor Connally, I have decided to not seek a second term as Vice President. I will, however, campaign very hard for the President, and I hope he is reelected.”

Following Johnson’s announcement, Kennedy begins searching for a new Vice President. With the conventional wisdom being that Kennedy would need a Southerner, the Kennedy short list includes only members from Confederate and border states. By early July, the President’s shortlist has been narrowed down to three people: Senators Ralph Yarborough of Texas and George Smathers of Florida, and Governor Terry Sanford of North Carolina. After conferring with Vice President Johnson, Kennedy decides to select Senator Smathers, making the decision public on July 24, one month before the Democratic Convention begins in Atlantic City.

The Convention opens with a moving tribute to Governor Connally, delivered by a very emotional Vice President Johnson. The convention nominates Kennedy and Smathers by acclamation, and Kennedy, in a rousing address, promises a victory in November.

The Republican Nomination

As the election season opened, the Republicans faced a looming civil war between the liberal and conservative factions of their party. Following the announcement of former Vice President Nixon that he would not seek the nomination, several candidates from both sides declare for the nomination, with the frontrunners seemingly being Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York, representing the liberals, and Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona standing for the conservatives.

The first primary, in New Hampshire, goes to Governor Rockefeller by a substantial margin, as expected. The next primary, on April 7 in Wisconsin, goes to Senator Goldwater by a narrow margin. On April 14, Goldwater scores a major victory in Illinois, and then rolls off consecutive wins in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas, Indiana, Ohio, Nebraska, and West Virginia, before finally losing in Oregon. The defeat comes too late, and Goldwater has the nomination wrapped up by that point. On May 19, after losing in the Maryland primary, Rockefeller ends the active stage of his campaign, and focuses on securing delegates at the convention in San Francisco.

At the convention, Rockefeller insists on a roll call vote, despite Goldwater having more than enough delegates to win the nomination. Midway through the vote, however, Rockefeller concedes, and Goldwater is nominated by acclamation. He selects Governor William Scranton of Pennsylvania, a Rockefeller supporter, as his running mate.

The General Election

Throughout the campaign, both candidates maintain a very positive attitude. The two friends debate each other in numerous televised, town hall debates, which are evenly split between the two candidates. The final debate, held on October 25, is held on Air Force 1, in one of the most watched broadcasts of the year.

During the campaign, Kennedy appeared to have maintained a solid lead, and on election night, he is reelected by a comfortable margin.