Nixon the Friend

[PBrunsel]

Event Date: 10-03-1995
Event Description: At the Los Angeles County Courthouse NFL great O.J. Simpson is found innocent of the murder of his wife Nicole Brown-Simpson and Ronald Goldman. While there is much outcry around the country, Governor Nixon comes to the quasi-defense of Mr. Simpson. “The court has spoken,” Governor Nixon tells the Los Angeles Times, “While I personally am not the fondest of Mr. Simpson, I do realize that out system of justice does work and it has found him innocent of all crimes.”

Event Date: 10-15-1995
Event Description: The House of Representatives passes the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1995. A coalition of Republicans and conservative Democrats pass the bill, which is signed by President Bush. Some, including Governor Nixon, saw this bill as a campaign resolution meant to bolster Vice-President Pressler’s campaign for the Republican nomination for president in 1996.

Event Date: 10-16-1995
Event Description: Governor Nixon and the Nixonites march in the Million Man March on Washington, D.C. While the march was supposed to be for just African-American men, an exception was made for Governor Nixon who is seen as a post-racial figure. Marching alongside Governor Nixon is attorney Barack Obama, who is now pro-bono attorney and community organizer in the Southside of Chicago.

Event Date: 10-29-1995
Event Description: In another conservative move, the House of Representatives passes the Welfare Reform Act of 1995, requiring all single mothers on welfare to have to work at least eighty-hours a week to be eligible for welfare. “This act is ridiculous,” Governor Nixon tells the National Welfare Rights Organization in Los Angeles, California, “How can a single mother raise three kids, try to keep them off drugs and out of gangs, help them with school, read to them and still work eighty-hours a week? This is an anti-single parent family’s bill which will lead to an increase in gang and drug activities in the inner cities.”

Event Date: 11-03-1995
Event Description: The first undocumented immigrants register under the Guest Worker Law of 1995. The process runs smoothly and 155 undocumented laborers begin work at a San Diego construction firm.

Event Date: 11-17-1995
Event Description: Ross Perot enters the 1996 presidential election, declaring that, “There has to be a third, better way in government.” Governor Nixon, a supporter of Ambassador Pete Wilson, tells Perot that if Vice-President Pressler is the nominee, “You have my 100% support.”

Event Date: 11-24-1995
Event Description: While pardoning the ceremonial turkey for Thanksgiving, Governor Nixon attacked by the bird’s beak! The turkey jumps on the governor, knocking Nixon to the ground. While Nixon’s guards remove the bird, it escapes and comes after Nixon again! “I guess he is one of those students who likes his beer,” quips Nixon after the scene is over.

Event Date: 12-03-1995
Event Description: Governor Nixon vetoes the Offshore Drilling Act which would have opened up miles of untapped offshore drilling land protected by state law. While he is attacked for vetoing new jobs, Governor Nixon responds, “I will trade a few temporary jobs to permanently save our coastlines from destruction.”

Event Date: 12-09-1995
Event Description: The polls show the people’s verdict on Governor Nixon’s veto of the Offshore Drilling Act, and it is not favorable. A Los Angles Times poll shows that 68% of those polled disagree with the veto, with only 30% agreeing with the decision. Furthermore, the veto and the souring economy have caused Nixon’s approval ratings to fall from 71% in October to 45% in December. “The bottom is falling out of the tub,” Nixon tells Senator Ed Zschau in a letter, “I only hope I can keep it from completely collapsing in.”   

[Psychic Octopus]

Nice Update. I like the mention of Barack.

[PBrunsel]

Event Date: 1-08-1996
Event Description: The California Senate overrides Governor Nixon’s veto of the Offshore Drilling Act, allowing the passage of the bill. “Well,” Governor Nixon tells the press, “At least a lot of baby seals still love me.”

Event Date: 1-13-1996
Event Description: The verdict is in on the Nixon Budget, and it is a good one. The strategic cuts of Governor Nixon’s budget have saved the state of California more than $160 million, cutting the deficit by more than a quarter. “There is still a great deal of work that needs to be done,” Governor Nixon tells the state in his State of the State Address, “But things are getting better all the time.”

Event Date: 1-28-1996
Event Description: Senator Al Gore (Democrat of Tennessee) states in a Democratic debate in Nashua, New Hampshire, that he believes that Governor Nixon’s “Repower California Program” should be, “Expanded to the national stage.” Gore, who is running as the environmental candidate, has made much out of the issue of America’s reliance on foreign oil and fossil fuels, applauds Nixon as, “A visionary leader.” 

Event Date: 2-03-1996
Event Description: Governor Nixon takes to the stump in New Hampshire for Ambassador Pete Wilson. This is the first time that Governor Nixon has actively campaigned for a Republican candidate for president since 1988, and, to quote CBS’s Dan Rather, “It really shows. Nixon espouses the virtues of social justice and environmentalism in the Granite State, a rock ribbed conservative primary contest.” Governor Nixon, however, is quite popular with independents and moderate Democrats, who can vote in the GOP Primary.

Event Date: 2-16-1996
Event Description: Ambassador Pete Wilson defeats Vice-President Larry Pressler in the New Hampshire Primary by a 43-36% margin, with several other GOP candidates winning the remaining votes. This big victory for Wilson is accredited partly to Governor Nixon, who led a vote getting effort for Wilson among independents. ON the Democratic side, Senator Al Gore defeats Senator Joe Biden and Governor Bill Clinton by a wide margin, winning 57% of the vote in the Granite State primary.

Event Date: 2-20-1996
Event Description: State Senator John Voorhees, a conservative Democrat from Northern California, and State Senator Evelyn Ross, a moderate Republican from Sacramento, California, introduces the California Government Energy Reform Act of 1996. The act sets tough standards for California state government over the next decade. The bill includes the state using only hybrid vehicles and using 50% less electricity by 2006, two very difficult tasks. “I think we have to waste less in government,” Governor Nixon tells the press, “Before we can lecture the people about wasting energy.”   

Event Date: 2-26-1996
Event Description: Assemblyman Cruz Bustamante, who is Chairman of the Labor Committee, announces that the first inspection of businesses participating in the guest worker program have been, “Generally positive, although several agricultural businesses are guilty of disobeying strict labor laws around last years grape harvesting season.” The main company, Imperial Grapes, is stripped of it’s tax incentives, thus showing the nation that labor laws are to obeyed in the California guest worker program.

Event Date: 3-03-1996
Event Description: Governor George W. Bush (Republican of Texas), the son of President Bush, signs the Texas Guest Worker Program Act, which is a near carbon copy of Governor Nixon’s law. This begins a trend of Southeast States embracing the Nixon immigration policy.

Event Date: 3-12-1996
Event Description: Super Tuesday comes in for Vice-President Larry Pressler and Senator Al Gore, nearly assuring the two the nominations for their respective parties. Ambassador Wilson, however, swears to, “Fight on until the last primary.”

Event Date: 3-20-1996
Event Description: Governor Nixon attends the Chicago Youth Forum, organized by his friend and student Barack Obama. “I never lived in this city,” Governor Nixon tells the group, “But I have seen big cities in California, and I know that groups like this keep kids off the streets and around positive role models, like Barack Obama.” Obama, who will run for Chicago Alderman next year, tells the group after Nixon’s speech, “The guy we should all look up to is Richard Nixon.”

[PBrunsel]

Event Date: 3-03-1996
Event Description: Governor George W. Bush (Republican of Texas), the son of President Bush, signs the Texas Guest Worker Program Act, which is a near carbon copy of Governor Nixon’s law. This begins a trend of Southeast States embracing the Nixon immigration policy.

Event Date: 3-12-1996
Event Description: Super Tuesday comes in for Vice-President Larry Pressler and Senator Al Gore, nearly assuring the two the nominations for their respective parties. Ambassador Wilson, however, swears to, “Fight on until the last primary.”

Event Date: 3-20-1996
Event Description: Governor Nixon attends the Chicago Youth Forum, organized by his friend and student Barack Obama. “I never lived in this city,” Governor Nixon tells the group, “But I have seen big cities in California, and I know that groups like this keep kids off the streets and around positive role models, like Barack Obama.” Obama, who will run for Chicago Alderman next year, tells the group after Nixon’s speech, “The guy we should all look up to is Richard Nixon.”

Event Date: 4-09-1996
Event Description: “Black Wednesday” hits Wall Street as the DOW Jones Industrial Average dips below 7,000-points for the first time since 1973, signaling a deepening economic crisis.

Event Date: 4-12-1996
Event Description: In an attempt to urge reinvestment in the California economy, Governor Nixon announces that he will support a reduction of the State Capital Gains Tax and Luxury Tax. This announcement is met with anger by Democratic legislators, some who feel betrayed by the liberal Nixon. “Governor Nixon is selling out to the corporate and wealthy elite,” State Senator Liz Figueroa declares on the floor of the State Senate. “This is typical Democratic class warfare hype,” State Senator Bruce McPherson, a Republican, replies, “The wealthiest Californians need to invest so that every Californian can benefit during this economic recession.”

Event Date: 4-20-1996
Event Description: The California AFL/CIO, already upset about Governor Nixon’s cuts to government employee pay, begin circulating a “Recall Nixon” petition in response to his proposed cuts to state Capital Gains and Luxury Taxes. “I guess being recalled wouldn’t be the worse thing,” Governor Nixon tells his secretary, “I’ve always thought of early retirement.”

Event Date: 4-24-1996
Event Description: State Assemblyman Cruz Bustamante, a favorite of big labor, defends Governor Nixon in an interview with the Sacramento Bee. “The governor is trying to save our state economy from collapse,” Assemblyman Bustamante explains, “While I don’t agree with how he’s doing it that dies not mean he is incompetent or dishonest and needs to be thrown out of office.”

Event Date: 5-03-1996
Event Description: The California State Assembly passes the California Government Energy Reform Act of 1996 by an overwhelming margin. Governor Nixon signs the bill, leading his approval amongst environmentalists to reach new highs. “The problem with Nixon,” political writer Paul Begala writes in the New York Times, “Is that he does not fit into any one camp. How can you have 70% approval ratings from both the business and the environmental communities?”

Event Date: 5-12-1996
Event Description: President Bush announces that the planned withdrawal of troops from Pakistan will, “Be indefinitely postponed due to a recent up tick in terror in that nation.” The ongoing incursion into Pakistan has become toxic for the president, whose approval ratings stand at 27% in the last Gallup Poll.

Event Date: 5-25-1996
Event Description: With massive wins in the Wyoming, South Dakota, Oregon and Montana Primaries, Vice-President Larry Pressler cements the Republican nomination for President. Ambassador Pete Wilson’s campaign for the nomination was spirited, but he was too easy painted as a “liberal Republican” by the very conservative Pressler.

Event Date: 5-30-1996
Event Description: The Gallup Poll releases its first poll between Vice-President Pressler, Senator Gore and Mr. Perot, and it is not good news for the Grand Old Party. The poll puts Gore ay 55%, Pressler at 37% and Perot at 8%. Perot, who has made several off the wall statements, will do now where near as well as in 1992, but the maverick Texan is expected to pull out a win in a few states, but such victories would be a mere echo of his 1992 successes.

[PBrunsel]

Event Date: 6-04-1996
Event Description: At a rally in San Diego, California, Governor Nixon endorses Ross Perot for president. “This country still needs a better choice than the same old major party talking points,” Governor Nixon tells the rally, “And once again, Mr. Perot represents the voice we need.” Nixon, however, turns down calls for him to once again run for vice-president.

Event Date: 6-18-1996
Event Description: The “Recall Nixon” drive fails as the ringleaders of the operation fail to garner enough signatures to warrant a vote in the legislature.

Event Date: 6-20-1996
Event Description: Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is assassinated while touring the city of Sibi, a town heavily occupied by American soldiers. She is hot three times by a lone gunman who kills himself soon after the vile deed. The military blames the assassination on radical Islamic isolationists in the city, but in truth General Pervez Musharraf ordered and orchestrated the assassination. General Musharraf, an increasingly anti-American Islamic Fundamentalist, saw Bhutto as an American puppet and took advantage of anger over the halting of American troop removals to take the prime minister’s life. The next three days are anarchy in Pakistan as the city of Islamabad, the capital, burns as rioters take control of the streets.

Event Date: 6-23-1996
Event Description: In an interview with Al-Jazeera Television, Governor Nixon states that the United States is, “Responsible for igniting a hornet’s nest in the Middle East through trigger happy and gung ho diplomacy.” Nixon states that, “If we had never went to Pakistan then that nation, a nuclear power, would not be in the lap of anarchy today.”

Event Date: 6-25-1996
Event Description: Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh calls Governor Nixon, “The leader of the ‘Blame America First’ crowd.” “Nixon,” Limbaugh declares on his show, “Had the gall to tell Al Jazeera, an Islamic news network, that the reason the Middle Eats in crisis is not because of murdering Islamic extremists who would rather behead than talk, it is the fault of our men and women in uniform. Nixon is, friends, a disgrace.”

Event Date: 6-29-1996
Event Description: Following an outcry, Governor Nixon apologizes for, “The way my comments may have sounded, but I do not apologize for the comments.”

Event Date: 7-04-1996
Event description: General Pervez Musharraf takes power in Pakistan through a coup. The coup was in no way bloodless, as General Musharraf has 225 members of the left-winged Pakistan Peoples Party, the party of the late Prime Minister Bhutto.

Event Date: 7-05-1996
Event Description: Ross Perot names retired Admiral Michael Colley as his running-mate. “We need a humble foreign policy,” Admiral Colley states in his acceptance speech, “How many dictators do we need in nation’s we claim to have ‘liberated’?”

Event Date: 7-11-1996
Event Description: Long time Nixonite Ralph Nader, the famed consumer advocate and peace activist, is nominated for the presidency by the Green Party at their national convention in Portland, Oregon.

Event Date: 7-29-1996
Event Description: Governor Nixon signs the Solar Power Act of 1996, which signs government contract with three solar power companies to build solar power plates to give energy to the suburbs of San Diego and Los Angeles. “This experiment will take time,” Governor Nixon tells the press, “But once it succeeds our state will revolutionize power in the United States.”

Event Date: 8-17-1996
Event Description: Senator Albert Arnold Gore, Junior (Democrat of Tennessee) is nominated for president at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. While former Governor Neil Goldschmidt (Democrat of Oregon) is nominated for Vice-President, Governor Nixon receives 85 delegate votes for the second position on the ticket. “The Earth stands in the balance,” Senator Gore tells the nation in his acceptance address, “It is time that America becomes the leader in energy independence, job security and a foreign policy that works with, and does not alienate, our allies.”

Event Date: 8-19-1996
Event Description: “I like the Democratic Ticket,” Governor Nixon tells the Los Angeles Times, “I know Governor Goldschmidt very well. We worked together in saving forests in Northern California and Oregon from logging interests. Senator Gore is just impressive. He’s smart, inventive and would make a much better president than Larry Pressler; I can assure you of that.”

Event Date: 8-21-1996
Event Description: The Republican National Convention opens in Tampa, Florida. While the city of San Diego, California, was all but assured the spot in 1995, the election of the controversial Governor Nixon stopped the city from receiving the honor. The convention, however, attacks Governor Nixon as he becomes the poster child for the GOP’s new strategy to claim that the Democrats “Blame America First” in the War on Terror.

Event Date: 8-22-1996
Event Description: Congressman Robert “B1 Bob” Dornan (Republican of California) gives a speech to the Republican Convention ripping Governor Nixon as, “Governor Moonbeam.” “Dick Nixon is not a governor who lives in the real world,” Dornan states, “He would rather save a beaver than create a job. He would rather protect a terrorist than save a soldier’s life. Nixon is the real face of the liberal movement, and it is one hell of an ugly one!” The speech, which is pure red meat for rock-ribbed right wingers, greatly hurts Governor Nixon. “I’ve never been so maligned in my life,” Governor Nixon, who was a Republican for seventy years, “By a man who has said things that are so racist and bigoted that if they came from my own mouth I would have to cut out my tongue.”

Event Date: 8-25-1996
Event Description: Vice-President Larry Pressler selects Senator Orrin Hatch (Republican of Utah) for Vice-President. “Senator Hatch and I represent a part of America which is being forgotten,” Vice-President Pressler tells the nation in his acceptance address, “The part of America that flies the flag, prays to God, takes care of our kids, pays our taxes and salutes the troops. We are real Americans, not bums.”

Event Date: 8-26-1996
Event Description: The bombastic Republican National Convention shows no bump for Vice-President Pressler. The Gallup Poll shows that Senator Gore leads Pressler by a 57-39% margin, with Perot taking just 4%. “I guess ‘real America’ wasn’t polled,” Governor Nixon quips on Late Night with Jay Leno that night.

[PBrunsel]

Event Date: 9-04-1996
Event Description: In a campaign speech in Sacramento, California, Senator Gore calls Governor Nixon, “One of the most transformative leaders in modern America.” He goes on to say that as president, “I will strive to show the independence of Richard Nixon.”
This type of talk is generally to appeal to independent voters, but Senator Gore truly does admire Nixon for his fight to protect the environment.

Event Date: 9-11-1996
Event Description: The Luxury Tax Repeal Act is voted down by the California State Senate, with not a single Democrat voting for the controversial bill. “I expected this,” Governor Nixon tells his secretary, “I was just a fool to put the date for defeat on my wedding anniversary.”

Event Date: 9-16-1996
Event Description: Ross Perot, polling at less than 5% in most polls, announces his withdrawal from the presidential race. The appeal of Perot in 1992 had lost most of its luster after four years, leading to the poor performance by the colorful Texan.”

Event Date: 9-29-1996
Event Description: In an interview with Time Magazine, Governor Nixon endorses Senator Gore for president. “My old Republican Party is long gone,” Nixon tells the magazine, “It probably will not come back. It has been replaced with a theocratic militaristic party. It might as well rename itself the First Crusade Party and be done with it, already.”

Event Date: 10-05-1996
Event Description: In an interview with CNN White House correspondent Wolf Blitzer, President Bush states that the United States will not recognize the, “Illegal Musharraf regime in Pakistan.” In addition, President Bush states that troop withdrawals from Pakistan will begin again. This causes a slight increase in the president’s approval ratings.

Event Date: 10-07-1996
Event Description: The Pressler Campaign releases a television advertisement attacking Senator Gore for, “Extreme views on the environment that threaten American jobs.” At one part of the sixty second ad the announcer states, “Gore even sided with radical Richard Nixon in opposing drilling in California that has created 50,000 jobs to save a rare type of mudfish.”

Event Date: 10-09-1996
Event Description: Senator Orrin Hatch, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, comments to reporters in Cleveland, Ohio, that the Republican Party’s, “Strategy of smearing Richard Nixon is not very productive.” While Hatch takes back what he says, Governor Nixon comments to Bill Moyers on PBS, “I wish Hatch hadn’t had taken back what he said, it was one of the few intelligent things to come out of his camp this year.”

Event Date: 10-16-1996
Event Description: The second presidential debate is held in San Diego, California, with Governor Nixon attending the event. This makes it all but impossible for Vice-President Pressler to attack Nixon personally at the debate because the governor is in the audience. “Mr. Pressler talks about ‘real America’ a lot,” Senator Gore states in his closing address, “He states that as a ‘real American’ he will never pull punches when it comes to attacking those ‘fake Americans.’ Well, tonight one of his favorite punching bags was in the audience, and we didn’t hear so much as a whisper of his name from the vice-president. Yes, he’ll stand up to anyone.” The closing line is powerful, and Pressler is unable to respond to it.

Event Date: 10-29-1996
Event Description: Governor Neil Goldschmidt and Governor Nixon appear together at a campaign rally in Reno, Nevada, the first time that Nixon traveled outside of California to campaign for the Democratic Ticket. “Well I’ve finally come to Nevada,” Nixon jokes with the crowd, “And God hasn’t struck me down for sinning.”

[PBrunsel]

Event Date: 11-05-1996
Event Description: Senator Al Gore wins a landslide election victory over Vice-President Larry Pressler. The collapsing economy, fatigue over the endless intervention in the Middle East and the angry far-right wing tone of the Pressler Campaign led to the perfect storm that led to the massive electoral victory for the Democrats.

Albert Gore/Neil Goldschmidt (D): 429; 57.3% of the PV
Larry Pressler/Orrin Hatch (R): 109 EV; 41.8% of the PV
Others (Green, Libertarian, etc.): 0 EV; 0.9% of the PV

In California, Congressmen Robert Dornan, Brian Bilbray, Chris Cox, Ron Packard and David Dreier are defeated for reelection in an anti-Republican wave which overtakes the state of California. In the State Legislature, the Democrats win enough seats to dominate State Assembly and the State Senate.

Event Date: 11-22-1996
Event Description: President-elect Gore meets with Governor Nixon, asking him if he would like the job of Secretary of Energy. “Senator,” Nixon responds, “I would accept if I was ten years younger. I feel my body failing more and more everyday. I fear that I will be joining my wife soon, and I simply can not take up a new job.” Congressman Bill Richardson (Democrat of New Mexico) will receive the job. Richardson was a Nixonite in college.

Event Date: 12-03-1996
Event Description: On the urging of Nixon and community groups around in California and Illinois, President-elect Gore names attorney and community organizer Barack Obama as his choice for secretary of Housing and Urban Development. While Obama is unknown to the Washington beltway, he is well known to community activist groups around the nation.

Event Date: 12-21-1996
Event Description: Governor Nixon lights the State Christmas Tree in Sacramento, California. The tree is completely powered by wind power, and idea that the governor had while discussing solar power contracts last month. “If wind power can keep Christmas going,” Governor Nixon tells the state as he lights the tree, “It can keep a state going.”   

[Psychic Octopus]

Excellent Update.

[Captain Chaos]

Looking forward to the Gore administration and Obama as HUD Secretary.

[PBrunsel]

Event Date: 1-03-1997
Event Description: Vice-President-elect Neil Goldschmidt and Secretary of Energy-designate Bill Richardson announce that they will be spearheading a new program for the incoming Gore Administration which will aim to cut carbon emissions in the United States by half over the next decade. “This will be one of the most important goals of the Gore Administration,” Goldschmidt tells the press.

Event Date: 1-05-1997
Event Description: “I am glad that we now have a president who’ll give a darn about the environment,” Governor Nixon tells the Sierra Club in Washington, D.C., “I only hope that the state governors will try and help incoming President Gore and not try to be grandstanders with their eyes on the Oval Office.” With such Republican governors as George W. Bush (Republican of Texas), Carol Campbell (Republican of South Carolina), Frank Keating (Republican of Oklahoma) and John Engler (Republican of Michigan) already voicing opposition to the carbon emissions reduction plan, Nixon’s comment about “governors eyeing the Oval Office” is seen as a slap in the face to these state GOP leaders.

Event Date: 1-20-1997
Event description: Governor Nixon braves the cold winds and terrible weather to attend the inauguration of President Albert Arnold Gore, Junior. “A president who breaks the law is a threat to the very structure of our government,” President Gore tells the nation in his Inaugural Address; “A president who follows the Constitution is a credit to our nation of laws.”

Event Date: 1-22-1997
Event Description: State Assemblyman Antonio Villaraigosa is elected the new Speaker of the California House, replacing Willie Brown. “I want to meet Mr. Nixon as a friend,” Speaker Villaraigosa tells the press, “But not capitulate to him.” “He’s going to be difficult to deal with,” Governor Nixon comments to his secretary while coughing.

Event Date: 2-09-1997
Event Description: Governor Nixon’s budget for the 1998-1999 Fiscal Year is introduced to the State Legislature. The budget includes increased spending for public education, but also has steep cuts in state scientific research (especially for the infant study of embryonic stem cell research began in California laboratories) and, most controversially, in the state free lunch program available in every major urban center. Additionally, major business and property ax cuts are included, which benefit the wealthiest Californians the most. “Governor Nixon’s budget takes away from some programs to give to others,” Former Congressman Chris Cox, now State Budget Chairman, tells the press, “No one gets shortchanged.”

Event Date: 2-11-1997
Event Description: Speaker Villaraigosa and the Democrats in the Assembly announce that they will not support Nixon’s budget for 1998-1999. “This budget robs from the poor to give to the rich,” Speaker Villaraigosa tells the press, “Now; the governor has brought out a millionaire like Chris Cox to talk up his budget. That alone shows that this budget favors the very wealthy over the regular Californian.”

Event Date: 2-12-1997
Event Description: Responding to accusations of class warfare in his budget, Governor Nixon accuses Speaker Villaraigosa of, “Starting an early campaign for Mayor of Los Angeles.”

Event Date: 2-17-1997
Event Description: President Gore issues an executive order withdrawing all remaining troops from Pakistan and Lebanon. The move is attacked by Rush Limbaugh as, “Retreating in the face of terrorists.” Secretary of Defense Wesley Clark responds to these accusations by telling the Washington Post, “Our presence in those nations was exactly what the terrorists wanted. It gave them very good propaganda.”

Event Date: 2-21-1997
Event Description: State Senate Minority Leader Richard Mountjoy, a conservative Republican, states that Republican legislators from both Houses are, “United for the Nixon Budget.” However, the Republicans are the overwhelming minority in both chambers, so this support means little in passing the 1998-1999 budget.

Event Date: 2-25-1997
Event Description: Due to unusually warm temperatures in winter, California mudslides begin to ravage Northern California due to melting snow and increased rain. In response to this, Governor Nixon declares a state of emergency.

Event Date: 2-26-1997
Event Description: President Gore and Governor Nixon meet in Wilsonia, California, where massive mudslides have knocked out the cities power and killed a dozen people. The visit from the popular president and his quick action of the mudslides helps increase Governor Nixon’s popularity, leading another three Democratic assemblymen to endorse his budget.

Event Date: 2-29-1997
Event Description: Despite the recent popularity surge of Governor Nixon, Speaker Villaraigosa still voices, “Complete opposition to the Nixon Budget.” The State Assembly despite some Democratic defections seems poised to reject the budget next month. “I can’t even use a disaster to move this guy,” Nixon comments to Senator Ed Zschau.

[PBrunsel]

Event Date: 3-01-1997
Event Description: Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Barack Obama announces the beginning of “Operation Push”, a new, aggressive plan to ensure a clean and safe residence for every American. “This plan will include massive urban renewal projects,” Secretary Obama tells the press, “It will focus on increased funding for federal home building plans and jobs training programs.” Obama ends his address with the memorable line, “We need to make sure our cities are castles.”

Event Date: 3-03-1997
Event Description: Governor Nixon endorses Secretary Obama’s “Operation Push” initiative, stating, “I hope that such a program is passed as I have learned that a happy life begins with a safe and happy home during my work in the slums of Los Angeles and Sacramento.” Additionally, in somewhat of a combative tone, Nixon adds, “Such a plan would shift a lot of weight for such housing programs from cash strapped states.” This, of course, is a play for his budget and a shot at the Democrats in the Assembly.

Event Date: 3-11-1997
Event Description: The California State Assembly votes down the California Budget for 1998-1999 by a wide margin. Only twelve Democrats vote for the budget, leading Governor Nixon to comment to the press, “It will be easier for a rich man to get into Heaven then for this budget to get through the assembly.”

Event Date: 3-12-1997
Event Description: Speaker Villaraigosa and Governor Nixon meet to discuss the budget. After seeing the Democrats’ demands, Governor Nixon shoots back, “Well I see you’ve found a way to make money grow on trees.” “You could simply raise taxes on the wealthiest Californians,” Villaraigosa responds, “You know, those who have a lot of money. The people you seem hell bent on defending.” “I will not do such a silly thing,” Nixon retorts, and the meeting goes on this way for several hours. At the end of the discussion nothing is accomplished except the governor going to bed early due to a massive headache.

Event Date: 3-15-1997
Event Description: The United States Senate passes the Carbon Emissions Limits Act of 1997, the first step in the Gore Administration’s goal to cut U.S. carbon emissions in half by 2009.

Event Date: 3-19-1997
Event Description: The assembly votes on the budget for a second time, with more spending on housing and job training programs included, yet the budget still fails. “The problem with the Democrats in the assembly,” Governor Nixon tells the press, “Is that they can’t decide to spend like drunken sailors or drunken millionaires.”

Event Date: 3-20-1997
Event Description: Speaker Villaraigosa, in an interview with the Sacramento Bee, accuses Governor Nixon of, “Being so stubborn on spending that he is willing to let his state, which is in a recession, see a state shutdown of government that will effect the lives of millions.” This interview begins “Pass the Budget, Dick!” protests around the state, led by Democratic leaders like Villaraigosa and Senator Dianne Feinstein (Democrat of California).

Event Date: 3-23-1997
Event Description: With millions of calls and letters flooding his office demanding that he relent to Democratic demands, Governor Nixon announces he will address the California State Assembly to, “Tell them why I will not relent on the budget issue.” When asked by a reporter why he is acting so stubborn on the budget, the governor responds, “I do not want my contribution as governor to be the bankruptcy of the state.”

Event Date: 3-25-1997
Event Description: U.S. House Minority Leader Newt Gingrich (Republican of Georgia) applauds Governor Nixon on Meet the Press for, “Standing up to the typical big spending antics of the Democratic Party.” Gingrich goes as far as to call Nixon, “A conservative leader in a time of conservative exile.” “Me, a conservative?” Governor Nixon responds, “I don’t know whether to send Gingrich flowers or sewage. I guess I’ll go with the flowers because God knows I need friends.” 

Event Date: 3-29-1997
Event Description: In a close vote, the United State Senate passes the Urban Renewal Act of 1997, introduced by Senator Carol Mosley-Braun (Democrat of Illinois) and Senator Alphonse D’Amato (Republican of New York). The law will give Secretary Barack Obama the funds and tools necessary to begin Operation Push in America’s major urban zones.

Event Date: 3-30-1997
Event Description: The Gallup Poll shows that the state of California has grown more polarized than ever over the budget dispute. While Governor Nixon has a 52% approval rating, which is good but not stellar, the internals of that approval show much more. While 93% of Republicans approve of Nixon (the highest approval from that group of his governorship), only 28% of Democrats support Nixon, a new low amongst the group. Most revealing is that only 63% of independents approve of Nixon, compared to 88% just two months earlier. “California is a state divided,” writes an editorial for the Los Angeles Times, “As Governor Richard Milhous Nixon addresses the State Legislature 

[PBrunsel]

Event Date: 4-01-1997
Event Description: Governor Nixon addresses a joint session of the California State Legislature, determined to stop the passage of, “A billion dollar waste budget.” When the governor enters the Assembly Chamber the divided feelings on Nixon are seen clearly as the left side of the chamber, the Democrats, sits as he enters rather than stand. “I see that my friends on the left aisle are excited to see me,” jokes Nixon as he begins the speech. Nixon begins by outlining the national and state financial crisis that he is dealing with, stating, “There are so many problems facing our nation’s economy, which our state economy is becoming bogged down in.” Nixon explains that he can not support any fee or tax increases, “Due to the fact that the last thing our cash strapped state needs is another reason for people not to spend money.” “Do not think I am heartless or cold towards the plight of the poorest in our state,” Governor Nixon states as he discusses cuts made to some social spending, “I have worked with and for the most needy my entire life. However, as a chief executive dealing with an economic crisis I have had to make difficult decisions to keep our economy afloat and keep debt to a minimum. That’s the problem with being governor, and since Speaker Villaraigosa has been auditioning for the job for the last three months I think I’ll share this with him, is that you sometimes have to make someone mad. I am not used to making people mad, but the sad truth is that you have to do it once in life if you believe hard enough in something.” As the chamber applauds the speech, including several more Democrats then at the beginning of the speech, Governor Nixon, sweating and breathing heavily, collapses on the stage. Immediately he is rushed to the Sacramento Memorial Hospital.

Event Date: 4-03-1997
Event Description: After two days in a coma, Governor Nixon comes to. “So,” Nixon asks when he awakens, “How did the speech go?”

Event Date: 4-04-1997
Event Description: Nixon’s doctors refuse to let the governor return to work. “The governor is very ill,” doctors tell the press, stating that the governor’s heart continues to slow. “He really needs to retire,” is how the doctors choose to end their press statement.

Event Date: 4-12-1997
Event Description: The Nixon Budget, with several small amendments, finally is passed in the State Assembly. Speaker Villaraigosa, aiming for a higher office, decided that it would be bad politics to still fight a man who seems near to death. “Had I known all I had to do was have a heart attack to get the budget passed,” Governor Nixon tells the press from his hospital bed, “I would have had one two months ago.”

Event Date: 4-15-1997
Event Description: Governor Richard Milhous Nixon dies at 8:15 a.m. at the age of seventy-four. The governor suffered a second heart attack on the 13th, which lead to a fatal stroke. “The dove is gone,” Nixon’s personal secretary tells Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi on the telephone.

Event Date: 4-16-1997
Event Description: From around the world, messages of condolence and grief flood the Nixon homestead in Whittier, California. From Vietnam to Bolivia, world leaders send condolences to the family of Richard Nixon, whom Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom states, “Did more than any other man in the twentieth century to ensure that peace reined on the globe.”

Event Date: 4-19-1997
Event Description: Richard Nixon is laid to rest at the Friends Cemetery in Whittier, California. His funeral is attended by President Gore, Vice-President Goldschmidt, former Presidents Bush and Carey, former First Lady Nancy Reagan (in her husband’s stead) as well as former Russian leaders Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin, Vietnamese President Hoang Minh Chinh and thirty-two other foreign dignitaries. “I have had the honor of knowing Richard Nixon much of my life,” Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Barack Obama says in Nixon’s eulogy, “To a fatherless and penniless boy like me, Mr. Nixon gave me direction and a purpose in life. He looked out for me, and treated me like the son he never had. I am where I am today because of Richard Nixon. Wherever I go in the future will be because of Richard Nixon.” The funeral ends with all attending singing the old Quaker hymn, “Simple Gifts.” When Nixon is laid to rest, he lies under a headstone with the inscription:

“Richard Nixon, 1913-1997. A battle for peace can never be lost.”

[PBrunsel]

Epilogue

The life of Richard Nixon would be immortalized in the 1999 film, “The Peacemaker.” The gifted Anthony Hopkins portrayed Richard Nixon as a Congressman, Attorney General, Ambassador, Governor and, as always, peacemaker to the end. Hopkins wins the 1999 Best Actor award at the Academy Awards, declaring in his acceptance address, “When you play Richard Nixon, Hollywood is obviously going to love it.”

Speaker of the House Antonio Villaraigosa never moves farther than the California State Assembly. His two runs for Mayor of Los Angeles in 2001 and 2005, as well as a run for governor in 2002, all end in defeat. His confrontation with Nixon leaves Villaraigosa with many political enemies and the dark, and untrue, whisper campaign that he led to the death of the governor.

President Albert Gore leads the country through the recession and for eight years oversees an expanding economy and a nation which leads the way in climate control. In 2000 Gore is reelected over Governor George W. Bush of Texas, the son of the former president. In 2004, Senator John McCain is elected to the White House as a “Nixon Republican.”

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Barack H. Obama meets great success in Operation Push and in a literacy campaign for illiterate adults in the inner cities. In 2002, Obama resigned his post to run for Governor of Illinois, a job he wins by a wide margin. In 2008, Governor Obama turned down running against popular President McCain, but in 2012 he is slated to be the Democratic nominee for president.

As for the Nixonites, every year they travel to Whittier College to celebrate the life of the man they follow so strongly. In 2009, Jane Fonda stepped down as head of the Nixonites, handing the honor to fellow stage actor Sean Penn, a man who claims to have read “The War for Peace” when he was in fourth grade.

“My life has taken many turns,” Richard Milhous Nixon wrote in a letter to his daughter Patricia in 1997, “I never expected to do everything I have done. I never thought I would ever make a difference in as many lives as I have. The funny thing is that I never planned on any of this. I never woke up and said, ‘I think I’ll dedicate my life to service,’ it sort of just happened. I guess one thing is for sure, in life, the only thing you can be sure of is that you will make a difference. The question is, what kind of a difference will you make?

With love,

Richard Nixon.” 

[Captain Chaos]

(round of applause)

[Psychic Octopus]

One of the best! and an excelent Epilogue. I was thinking McCain would win the White House!

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Yet another absolutely fantastic timeline, PBrunsel.  If I may ask, what happened to Mark Warner?  Was anything different?

[RI]

My all-time favorite.

[Captain Chaos]

Whatever happened to
1. George McGovern
2. Jimmy Carter
3. Bill & Hillary Clinton
4. Rod Blagojevich

[PBrunsel]

I will answer some questions.

Here are the major party presidential tickets from 2000-2008:

2000:
Albert Gore/Neil Goldschmidt (D)*
George W. Bush/Kit Bond (R)

2004:
Howard Dean/Tom Harkin (D)
John McCain/Bill Owens (R)

2008:
John McCain/Bill Owens(R)*
Evan Bayh/John Garamendi (D)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Warner (D-VA): Warner was elected to the United States Senate in the Democratic landslide year of 1996, ousting Republican incumbent John Warner by a 55-45% margin. In 2002, Warner was reelected by a 66-32% margin over former Governor Jim Gilmore. Senator Warner, an incredibly popular figure in his home state, became Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee in 2001 and in 2004 made a failed run for president. His loss to progressive Howard Dean in the Democratic Primary was tied to the fact that popular President Gore had referred to Warner as, "Almost Republican" in several interviews, a fact used strongly by the Dean Campaign. In 2008, Warner turned down running against President McCain (who's approval rating was 61%) to run for reelection. He defeated former Governor Mark Earley by a 59-41% margin. In 2012, Senator Warner is expected to make a second bid for president, facing off against progressive Democratic Governor Barack Obama.

George McGovern (D-SD) After the defeat of the Askew-McGovern Ticket in 1976, Senator McGovern was reelected in 1980 due to the unpopularity of the outgoing Reagan Administration. His reelection over Republican Congressman James Abdnor was by a mere 63-votes, leading to three protracted recalls and the election not being called until May 1981. In the Senate, Senator McGovern became President Carey's go-to man on health care and poverty. In 1986, Congressman Abdnor (who returned to the House in 1982) defeated Senator McGovern in a rematch by a 57-43% margin. Former Senator McGovern then became active in Nixonite circles in the heartland, leading him to form the McGovern Center for Families in Crisis, located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Jimmy Carter (D-GA): State Senator Jimmy Carter is elected to the governorship of Georgia in 1966, defeating Lester Maddox, a conservative running on an anti-bussing platform. With Civil Rights legislation passed in 1962, Maddox’s platform fails to catch traction. Governor Carter is a progressive governor, focusing on federal housing for the homeless and increased funding for homeless shelters. In 1970, Carter is elected to the Lieutenant Governor post and in 1974 he is returned to the governorship of Georgia. When President Carey signs legislation creating the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1982, he appoints former Governor Carter to be the first secretary of the new office.

Bill Clinton (D-AR) Governor Clinton is defeated in the 1996 Democratic Primary, but is elected to the United States Senate in 1998. Senator Clinton never runs for president again after his failure to attain the nomination in 1996. In the Senate, Senator Clinton rises to Chair the Senate Ethics Committee. 

Hillary Clinton (D-AR) The wife of Governor Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton teaches law at Colombia Law School from 1995-1998. In 1998, she runs for Attorney General of Arkansas, winning by a narrow margin. Attorney General Clinton establishes herself as a moderate-to-conservative Democrat in the position. In 2002 she is nominated by the Democrats to run for governor, but is defeated by incumbent Republican Governor Mike Huckabee by a 52-48% margin.

Rod Blagojevich (D-IL) As a young man Rod Blagojevich looks up to J. Edgar Hoover, the cutthroat director of the FBI. This leads Blagojevich to receive degrees in law and criminal justice. In 1981 he is accepted into the FBI, where his bare knuckle style is applauded and approved of by the higher ups. In 1991 he is named Chief Aide to FBI Director William S. Sessions, a job he excels at. Agent Blagojevich is remembered by Director Sessions as, “A kid who really, really liked the cloak and dagger antics of his job. Perhaps he liked them a little too much.” In 1997 Blagojevich is named by President Gore as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, a job he holds until 2002, when he is tied to the assassination of Libyan Leader Muammar al-Gaddafi. Director Blagojevich loses his position and serves five years in prison. However, in 2008 he reappears to the public as host of his own radio show “Pay for Play with Rod,” a Chicago based political talk show.

[Historico]

Bravo, PB, Bravo...This is definatley one of, if not the best Timeline on this board...It's unique style about how a counterfactual timeline of man so infamous as in OTL. Very Unique indeed...I am wonder however, what of these individuals ITTL'? And could we get a list of Presidents and VPs? Also did the scandal about Goldscmidt's and the underage affair doom his chance of succeeding Gore? Is that why Dean got the nomination?

Bobby and Teddy Kennedy? Hubert H. Humphrey, LBJ, Scoop Jackson, Ross Perot, Ann Richards, Mike Dukakis, John Kerry, Jesse Jackson, Ron Paul, Colin Powell, Walter Mondale, Andrew Young, Tom Bradley, and John Edwards?

[PBrunsel]

Historico,

Presidents of the United States (1949 to 2009)

Harry Truman/Alben Barkley (D): 1949-1953
Dwight Eisenhower/George Mickelson (R): 1953-1961
Nelson Rockefeller/Goodwin Knight (R): 1961-1965
John F. Kennedy/Henry Jackson (D): 1965-1973
Ronald Reagan/Gerald Ford (R): 1973-1981
Hugh Carey/Ernest Hollings (D): 1981-1989
George Bush/Warren Rudman, Larry Pressler (R): 1989-1997
Albert Gore/Neil Goldschmidt (D): 1997-2005
John McCain/Bill Owens (R): 2005-2013

Vice-President Goldschmidt does not run for president in 2004, as Governor Howard Dean (Democrat of Vermont) is seen as the heir of the Progressive Movement following an endorsement by Senator Russ Feingold (Democrat of Wisconsin) and President Gore in January 2004.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Robert F. Kennedy (D-MA): After serving in the United States Senate from 1965 to 1985, Robert Kennedy served as the head of an organization that helped poor Bostonians pay for their heating and medical bills, which Kennedy named Camelot Care, a play on the press’ name for his brother’s administration.

Edward Kennedy (D-MA): Ted Kennedy served as Boston District Attorney from 1971-1979, before being elected to Congress in 1978. Congressman Kennedy serves in Congress to the present day, in 2009. He is the Ranking Democratic Member of the House Finance Committee, with Pete Sessions of Texas as the Republican Chairman.

Hubert H. Humphrey (D-MN): Senator Humphrey serves as a United States Senator from Minnesota from 1949-1978, running an abortive campaign for president in 1976. In 1972, Senator Humphrey was one of Vice-President Henry Jackson’s strongest backers, and Governor Reagan’s harshest critics. During the 1972 campaign, Humphrey told a Jackson-Mills Rally in Peoria, Illinois, “Governor Reagan’s speeches are long patriotic doldrums looking for a point.” In 1975, Senator Humphrey is elected Senate Majority Leader following twenty-year Senate leader Johnson retiring from that heady post due to failing health. Senator Humphrey holds the post until his death in 1978.

Lyndon B. Johnson (D-TX): Known as “The Dictator of Texas” by his friends and enemies, Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson failed in both of his bids for president in 1960 and 1964. However, he stays Senate Majority Leader from 1955-1975, helping to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1962 by using his famous “Johnson Treatment” to convince several Southern Senators to back the law. In 1966 and 1972, Johnson faces serious competition in the Democratic Primary for Senate and in the general election, but narrowly holds on both times. Senator Johnson retires from the Senate in 1979, dying of a heart attack a year later.

Henry “Scoop” Jackson (D-WA): After serving as Vice-President from 1965-1973 and failing to be elected president in 1972, Jackson returns to his law practice in Seattle, Washington. In 1976, Jackson is elected to his old senate seat, serving one term until leaving the Senate in 1983.

Ross Perot (I-TX): Perot, following his aborted bid for president in 1996, retires from politics. However, he does not retire from public service as he and Warren Buffet, “The Oracle of Omaha”, begin a company that gives low interest loans to struggling small businesses.

Ann Richards (D-TX): As in RL, she serves as Governor of Texas from 1991-1995 before being defeated for reelection by George W. Bush in 1994. However, unlike the RL 1994 Texas Gubernatorial election, Bush wins by only a 51-49% margin.

Michael Dukakis (D-MA): Governor Dukakis makes a failed bid for president in 1988, losing to Vice-President Hollings. However, Dukakis is instrumental in placing one of his most vocal supporters, Rhode Island Senator Claiborne Pell, on the Democratic Ticket.

John Kerry (D-MA): In 1990, former Lieutenant Governor John Kerry is elected to the United States Senate. In 2005, President McCain surprises the nation by naming Senator Kerry as his Secretary of Defense.

Jesse Jackson (D-IL): A Nixonite, the Reverend Jesse Jackson becomes heavily involved in social work in urban Chicago. In 1975, Jackson founds the Rainbow Coalition, which is comparable to a union for social workers and community organizers. Jackson never runs for president as he did in RL, but he does make three unsuccessful bids for Congress in 1978, 1982 and 1994. His son, Jesse Jackson, Junior, is elected to Congress in 2000, and Barack Obama, a protégé of Jackson, is elected Governor of Illinois in 2002.

Ron Paul (R-TX): Congressman Paul follows the same path as in our own timeline.

Colin Powell (R-VA): General Powell, who becomes a Nixonite in the 1990s, leads American troops in the invasion of Syria and serves under General Schwarzkopf in Pakistan. In 1996 he is appointed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by President Bush. President Gore keeps Powell in the post until the general retires from the job in 2004.

Walter Mondale (D-MN): In 1982, Congressman Walter Mondale defeats Republican Senator David Durenberger and serves as a Senator from Minnesota from 1983-2007. In 1992, Senator Mondale makes an abortive campaign for president, not making it to the Iowa Caucus.

Andrew Young (D-GA): Young, a Nixonite, serves in Congress from 1973-1977. In 1982 he is elected the first African-American governor of Georgia with Professor Nixon making several campaign swings for Young.

Tom Bradley (D-CA): Mayor Bradley is defeated in the 1990 California gubernatorial race and retires from public life. He is honored by Governor Nixon in 1995 by being awarded the California Citizen’s Achievement Award.

John Edwards (D-NC): Senator Edwards, a Nixonite from a young age, works as a pro bono attorney in urban Raleigh, North Carolina, defending the very poor from a justice system which he felt just did not give them a chance to be innocent. After releasing his book, “Mending a Broken Justice”, Edwards is elected Mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1999. He served in the position until 2007. In 2008, Edwards was defeated in the Democratic Primary for North Carolina Lieutenant Governor by State Representative Walter Dalton. Following this defeat, Edwards began work as Public Defender for Durham County, North Carolina.   

 

[Captain Chaos]

John Conally, William Weld, Spiro Agnew, Mario Cuomo?

[CCA]

Epic. Congratulations in creating one of the boards best TL's

ARe you taking questions about the butterflies this might cause overseas? I'd just like to find out about what might've happened to these following foreign politicians:

1. Helen Clark
2. Gordon Brown
3. Tony Blair

[Landslide Lyndon]

My most sincere congratulations. This was THE best timeline I've read. You deserve every accolade in the book.

Allow me to also add some more ''What hapened to them?'': Joe Biden, Mike Huckabee, Jeb Bush, Harry Reid, Ed Rendell and Paul Wellstone.

[HappyWarrior]

Loved it PBrunsel.  I am already anxiously awaiting your next one.    If you have the time between all the other questions can you please give me an update on Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Frank Kratovil, Michael Steele, Barara Mikulski, Bob Ehrlich, and Charles Mathias as well as just the basic politics of Maryland?   Thank you