What if...(part two)

*This subject is broken up into two entries.* First entry is here.

Robert Kennedy is one of those 'what could have been' in politics. Granted he had a start on his career, but it could have been so much more. The greatest things that he did was as his brother's attorney general. From taking on Jimmy Hoffa and the teamsters to working with civil rights leaders and activists he was an active AG. More so than the AGs now. Who can name Obama's attorney general? I can't, but I'm not a big fan of politics.

He was on his way to being another Kennedy president and he would have been great. He held his ground on issues that he felt strongly about. His outspoken anti-Vietnam War view may have stopped the conflict four or five years before it actually did. By the time he was running for president, the war was unpopular and he could have had enough support from congress and senate and help from the overall populous to withdraw. On the opposite side of that, it may not have happened because it would have been seen as buckling to Communism. It's not like the Commies won that war. Besides, Communism didn't work out for anyone except Cuba and China, and who cares about them.

Let's assume (for the sake of argument) that he won the presidency in 1968 and got the United States out of Vietnam in 1971. The year is just one that I threw out there, it would be have been two years into his term, a good benchmark. That is four years before the fall of Saigon. Four years of fighting. Four years of lives not lost. That is one big what if. Looking up statistics, it is close to three thousand American lives between the years of 1971 to 1973. Three thousand! It was past the height of casualty rate (1967-1969), but still three thousand. That is a small town in Anywhere U.S.A. If he does that, he wins a second term for getting the country out of Southeast Asia and an unpopular unwinnable war (thanks Mr. Cronkite) and becomes more popular than his brother.

Not only is there an entire new outlook on the Vietnam War but if he was not assassinated, think of the political landscape. If he wins in 1968, you know who is never elected? Richard Nixon. Richard. Freakin'. Nixon. No Watergate, no resignation, nothing like that.

I just like to think about stuff like this and you can think of so many different people and what could have happened if they had never been born, or if someone died, or if they never invented what they invented. So many options and so many people to think about. Try not to stay up too late thinking about it.