Private First Class Jacob Gregory "Jake" Meyer - Fireteam Alpha, Second Squad, First Platoon, C/Charlie Company, Second Raider Battalion "Carlson's Raiders", Second Raider Regiment, Second Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, United States Marine Corps
Fort Duqua Dar - Quadrant G-19, Coruscant, Coruscant System, Core Worlds, Republic Space, "The Galaxy"
03:08:16 ATC / March 8th, 1969 - 23:57 / 11:57 PM
Meyer was trying to sleep but no matter what he did whenever he shut his eyes to rest, all he observed was demonic flying goat creatures with wings of bats pouring out of a castle which appeared to be infested with them.
"Crossbowmen! Kneel! FÜER!"
Jake heard one of the crossbowmen shouting frantically and 'turned' to 'his' side to see what was occurring.
"Ne, ne! NE!"
He watched as the hapless foot soldier was swooped up in the razor-sharp talons by a pair of the hellish creatures and brought upward into the sky, immediately dispatching the poor soul, going as far as to feast on him with the forked frog-like tongues tasting the entrails and it was unbearable to witness.
Trying to ignore the gory display, Jake then discerned a sense of backing away warily from the inbound threat before spotting a sword on the ground and picked it up, wielding the sword and slashed it against the torso of the incoming hellspawn, watching as the creature instantaneously disintegrated to ash upon getting struck by the steel blade before noticing a downed Knight about to be mauled and swung the edged weapon at the approaching creature.
"Dank." The Ritterbruder appreciated it. "Keep it for now, my friend, as we must not allow this heresy to continue. We'll find the proper owner after we deal with these demons and the cowardly devil worshippers held up inside openly collaborating with Satan. I'm Jörg von Giesbrecht by the way. You?"
"Christopher Meyer of Minden." Jake was incredulous about what he just overheard being uttered, becoming aware of possibly the name of his progenitor, assuming that this was in fact a literal revelation based on the unmistakable adversary, but at this point he woke up, sweating and the Leatherneck without second thought decided to head to the nearest bathroom across the hall to wash his face.
"Am I going crazy?" The Marine asked himself as he stared in the mirror, reflecting. "First dreaming about the Teutonic Order going after Sith because of a fortuitous mistaken identity and now this?"
Gunnery Sergeant Stephen Yeager "Steve" Meyer - C/Charlie Company, Second Raider Battalion "Carlson's Raiders", Second Raider Regiment, Second Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, United States Marine Corps
Fort Duqua Dar - Quadrant G-19, Coruscant, Coruscant System, Core Worlds, Republic Space, "The Galaxy"
03:09:16 ATC / March 9th, 1969 - 6:45 / 6:45 AM
"Trouble sleeping?"
"I'm sure I'm fine, Uncle Steve."
"You know, Jacob, Guadalcanal was a bitch when the Japs continually shelled our positions and to be honest I think I know what you're going through."
"You do?"
"Sure, it took time to repress the memories of the shelling of our line but by the time we shipped out for the New Georgia Campaign, it was no longer any concern." Stephen declared encouragingly with a pat on his nephew's back.
Jake, however, still stared down at his coffee awkwardly but he seemed to change the subject. "Well, if the pundits are right, the GOP will be retaking the House and possibly even the Senate in 1972 in a landslide."
"I'm sure they're right. After all, the gains made in both houses of congress, not to mention Goldwater winning, indicates it." The Uncle chuckled. "Enjoy your breakfast."
"I'm sure Grandpa Doug is enjoying his grits in peace." Jake muttered before cutting into his goetta breakfast sausage. "Dankeschöön för dat Diskuschoon, Uncle Steve."
The uncle snorted at the nonchalant usage of Plattdeutsch but shrugged it off. "Geern daan, Jacob. (You're welcome, Jacob.)"
Roy Marcus Cohn - 65th Attorney-General of the United States
Office of the Attorney-General - Department of Justice Building, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America, North America, Earth, Sol System, Milky Way Galaxy
03:09:16 ATC / March 9th, 1969 - 10:26 / 10:26 AM
"It appears that our success rate for the apprehension of potential spies is better than estimated, Roy." The Director of the FBI himself, John Edgar Hoover, stated matter of factly.
"Good to know, John." Cohn smiled.
"Even so and while I don't think I really need to ask this, Roy, but do you really trust Saresh?"
Roy stared at John blankly, disbelieving that he would even ask such a question yet the famed counsel to none other than Joseph Raymond McCarthy himself back in the day responded. "As the old saying goes 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer'. No, I don't trust that Chancellor in the slightest and as a matter of fact, she reminds me of myself, but she's unwittingly being useful as she helped make this happen and even believes us to be more trustworthy with regards to her agenda than Barry, ruthless but counterable."
"Which is why she also unnerves me and I wouldn't dismiss her from becoming suspicious quite yet." Hoover confided. "We have known each other for years, Roy, and while trust is an absolute luxury, it's no secret that there're Republic soldiers creating instances of subversion and undoubtedly the trail can be traced to the Chancellor as some of my agents learned before disposing of them and declared them as Imperial spies to Republic authorities."
'Smart. Learn about who ordered them to do subversion and use the system of dealing with Imperial Agents to avoid suspicion.'"If you need to ramp up COINTELPRO, feel free and I'll keep my eye out of it."
"Glad we have an understanding unlike our mutual adversary Robert." Hoover growled as he thought about Cohn's predecessor in this very office: Robert Francis Kennedy.
"That little snot really should consider disappearing." Cohn snarled, the mere mention of Bobby ticked him off exactly just like how the mentioning of the same individual enraged Hoover.
"Well, I'm sure being unelectable due to his brother's dismal second term should take care of it."
"You're right, John. What is there to worry about?"
Kennedy Compound - 50 Marchant Avenue, Village of Hyannis Port, Barnstable, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States of America, North America, Earth, Sol System, Milky Way Galaxy
03:09:16 ATC / March 9th, 1969 - 10:26 / 10:26 AM
"Jack? You're in there?"
"Go away."
"Jack, it's Bobby and Ted." Robert announced outside the bedroom door. "Jackie wanted us to check on you."
"I said go away!" The two brothers heard glass shattered which caused them to open the door and burst in, only to notice that it was an empty beer bottle that was thrown at the door and there were at least fourteen empty bottles of liquor from Brandy and Cognac to Schnapps and Champagne scattered across the floor near their depressed sibling lying on the floor absolutely shitfaced.
"Jesus Christ!" Edward cursed. "Get some coffee Bobby while I put him in the shower."
Robert left while shaking his head out of belief and Edward began manhandling the former President to the shower, turning on the faucet to 'cold' before holding him inside to be blasted with the ice chill water.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Jack!? You were President of the United States and now you're drinking yourself worse than our friend Joe McCarthy ever did before he went cold turkey!"
"Those damn rotten, ungrateful brats whom I believed were the nation's future, those Viet Cong guerrillas raising hell in California ambushing National Guardsmen, Law Enforcement, and even everyday Americans going about their daily lives…" The former President of the United States muttered slurrily as he felt the cold water being blasted on him. "I shouldn't have deluded myself with preaching 'ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country' to the youth, as matter of fact, Ted, the more I think about it, the more I realize that perhaps I should've actually died in Dallas that day, Oswald should have ended me as it was my fate - my literal destiny - maybe having my brains splattered across the limousine and across Jackie's coat would have prevented the Hippies from coming into existence at all."
"Don't talk like that, you hear. Don't you dare ever mention that day again!"
"Ted, winning Vietnam might've made things worse because no matter what, nothing would appease them unless they had their way."
"But the Hippies are no more, Jack, they self-destructed themselves by trashing streets and caused every American to turn against them." Edward reminded him as soon there would be none in sight. "They're no longer problematic, even Jerry Rubin's Yippies and Valerie Solanas's group of absolute nutcases are no longer of any concern, Jack, with Phyllis Schlafly nationally commended for her excoriating, a majority of what the Hippies advocated for became discredited overnight and they petered out, or they certainly have by now, don't you remember?"
"True but it would have been nice if none of it happened, if flower children never came to be at all. And while America would've been screwed to shit if any of them got their way, I'm still getting blamed for sparking the turmoil." John grumbled, incensed by how a scant minority decided to cause chaos nationally while wearing beads and sandals. "God, I'm the catalyst for it, maybe Nixon should have been elected in 1960."
"Don't beat yourself too much on the what-ifs. Just remember the accomplishments and move on. Besides, Barry still has faith in you as otherwise he wouldn't invite you back to the White House."
"He might see the good but the Oval Office still holds memories I want to leave behind." John groaned.
Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Senior - Patriarch of the Kennedy family
Kennedy Compound - 50 Marchant Avenue, Village of Hyannis Port, Barnstable, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States of America, North America, Earth, Sol System, Milky Way Galaxy
03:09:16 ATC / March 9th, 1969 - 11:00 / 11:00 AM
"I want a divorce."
"What!?" The patriarch, described as being to the right of Herbert Hoover politically by his son, John, despite being a registered Democrat, was admonished.
With the effects of the stroke he suffered back in 1961 gradually withering away courtesy of treatment received at one of just a handful of Republic medical centers set up on Earth due to security reasons with the stringent Quarantine Policy in mind - with two of them being located on Fishers Island, New York and Angel Island, California for the United States specifically and all selected locations being easily supervised such as the Orkney Islands - Joseph was not only able to respond to his daughter-in-law's stunning declaration but as simple as setting the newspaper down in order to do so. "Jackie, even if that was simple and wouldn't cause another scandal, that honestly would be the worst thing you can do right now to your husband and children."
"I'm just at the breaking point Joe. Jack's eight years at the White House was bringing in sluts and whores to bed and now he's becoming a drunkard because of the past two years! Two years of drugged bums banging on bongos irritably and chanting incessantly, two years of rioting and instances of bombings, then there's the fact we're currently at war with aliens, aliens, aliens for crying out loud! I mean this is not what I asked for when I married your son and I thought he loved me… I thought he loved me!"
Joseph allowed the woman on the verge of tears to collect herself after the outburst before responding. "Then be there for him, Jacqueline, then show him that he needs to get his ass in order or I'll bust him myself."
"You really think there's even a chance he'll turn around?"
"These past two years were hell for everyone you know. Goddamn hippies aside, remember how there was a bombing attempt on me and Rose courtesy of Hanoi? Reagan wasn't the only one."
"Yes, I remember. And there was a Vietnamese sniper in a tree just outside here as well."
"My butler had to grab my Elephant Rifle in self-defense because of that persistent gook." The patriarch scoffed, the backer of Joseph McCarthy's crusade still denying the two incidents of first a car bomb with four gunmen jumping out in case he survived followed by the sniping attempt three months later both orchestrated by the Viet Cong. "Those fucking Communists were more stubborn than anyone believed but that's not the point. The point is there's always a bright light at the end of the tunnel, give him one last shot and I'll pay for his therapy like McCarthy in order to do it or I'll pay for your divorce, no questions asked."
Rebecca Davis (nèe Cameron) Meyer
Meyer Farmhouse - Acton, Franklin Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States of America, North America, Earth, Sol System, Milky Way Galaxy
03:09:16 ATC / March 9th, 1969 - 16:20 / 4:20 PM
"You know, Becky, I have to say I didn't expect you to offer to host the next meeting here."
"It's no trouble at all, Nancy." The life member of both Minute Women of the U.S.A. and its affiliated sister organization for Catholic women, the American Public Relations Forum, smiled. "I don't have much to do except for the harvest and thankfully the 4-H Club and neighbors have been obliging."
"Heard anything from Paul or Jacob?"
"Well, nothing of significance, Susan." Rebecca informed her son's godmother. "Though Jacob did mention that he and some of his fellow Marines chucked some captured carbontight, carbonlite-whatever into the nearest lake after discovering that they were full of tea."
"Of course they did." The transplant from Hampshire scoffed before taking a bite of her finger sandwich. "I shouldn't be surprised by the Imposters' fondness for tea to be quite honest. There are too many mind boggling coincidences."
The other guests attending the quilting bee laughed as it was funnily enough the literal truth in regards to the neighboring galaxy adjacent to the Milky Way.
"Thank goodness that Hippies are no longer problematic as otherwise I'm sure we would be, well we'll still speak English of course, but if the peaceniks had their way we would all be writing this aurebesh script right now."
"Well, what do you think about the statement in the newsletter?"
"Which one?"
"The one on subversive actions by a negligible number of Republic personnel so far but to be on watch for any more activity, especially by these Zeltrons, whatever they are."
"Zeltrons? You mean that alien species which are solely seductive sybarites and beyond indecently immoral?"
"That's right! There was an incident of them trying to sneak in to cause havoc exactly like the filthy Hippies
only for their transport craft to be destroyed before they were able to even reach the planetary gate after refusing the hails to be boarded followed by warnings to turn back and depart our space immediately or be fired upon."
"Are we going to war against them as well?" Susan wondered half-jokingly. "It would be less confusing obviously."
"No, no, but diplomatically speaking it's tense. Phyllis Schafly and Anita Bryant are actually having a national petition drive to ban any traveling to the planet in the future, not just the current prohibition for military personnel."
"I'll be sure to sign it." Rebecca acknowledged without hesitation as preventing depravity in the name of public decency was a good thing in her eyes even if in reality the 'ban' would be more of a symbolic gesture than something that could be realistically enforced.
"By the way, while on topic…Becky? Didn't your son unwittingly date an Imperial spy?"
The chestnut brown-haired homemaker sighed, not expecting it to be brought up this late long after the exposè. "Yes, I did but Sara was the last person I would have ever expected of being a spy, her curiosity aside."
"Curiosity?"
"You know, as in wondering why we're still relying on paper instead of these datapads, inquiring on how to appear presentable in a dress indistinguishable from any resident, questions that are more relevant to someone considering emigrating more than military matters. The girl literally came across as naturally intrigued by character and innately sweet."
"Oh. That is really surprising as I thought it would be more toward finding out where the best invasion routes were to land."
"The funny thing is, and this has been bothering me ever since, is that I believe she sincerely was besotted with my son and was going to leave everything behind for him, even going so far to acculturate and overly so, perhaps literally going native but circumstances threw it off..." Rebecca then sorrowed which resulted in the ladies committee to unspokenly decide on moving on as it was still a sensitive subject.
"I have to say that the lemonade is delicious. New recipe?"
"It's still the same word-for-word but the lemons were ripe."
Lana Beniko - Minister of Sith Intelligence
"Safehouse" - Raider's Cove, Horizon Island, Rishi, Rishi System, Abrion Sector, Outer Rim Territories, "The Galaxy"
03:09:16 ATC / March 9th, 1969 - 16:20 / 4:20 PM
Lana was attempting to keep her mind occupied with the task at hand, reviewing transactions the Nova Blades had on her datapad but out of curiosity glimpsed at the pan Sara sat down, befuddled by the contents or why she decided now was the time for dessert.
"What's this?"
"Cheesecake." The redhead replied candidly as she unwrapped the foil.
"And where in all places did you get this 'cheesecake', Kells?" Beniko pressed, unsure what to think of the desert with a yellowish tint which seemed to be more like a pie by appearance, not a cake.
"Oh, one of the booths happened to either import goods or steal the cargo shipments en route from Earth and were offering them for sale. By the way, there's a fork for you."
Lana rolled her eyes and reached for the fork to try a bite only to savor the flavor. "You know, Kells, this is really good." She commented before having another bite. "There's nothing else quite like it."
"Not as delicious as Misses Meyer's but it's better than nothing."
"Theron?" The blonde piped up. "Would you care for a slice?"
"Umm, no thanks, I'm good actually…" Shan sputtered nervously, scratching his head. "In fact, I already had lunch."
The towheaded Sith didn't believe the curse and sensing the fib only confirmed her suspicions."Alright. Do not complain if you find the tray empty then."
"Trust me, it's all yours." The SIS agent on the run due to being framed insisted. "I don't want to be addicted to whatever ingredient is causing it."
"More like close-minded and picky with food." Jakarro countered, clutching a pan of his own in his arm.
"Not you too!" Theron groaned.
"Oh, give it a break, Theron and ease up."
"I'm the one who needs to ease up, Lana?" The spy scoffed with his eyes trying to avoid the dessert that had the side-effect of cravings for it. "Ah, you know what, nevermind, if you need me I'll be in my room."
Thomas Edward Lawrence - Former Archeologist, Diplomat, Writer, and Marshal of the Royal Air Force
Alexandra Palace - Alexandra Park, London, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Europe, Earth, Sol System, Milky Way Galaxy
03:09:16 ATC / March 9th, 1969 - 16:20 / 4:20 PM
"...I do believe that Peter O'Toole nailed it down in the film about my exploits during the Arab Revolt but I still loathe the Sykes-Picot Agreement and the Suez debacle was just as appalling."
The interviewer, Richard Douglas James Baker, nodded as he remembered Lawrence speaking out against the whole Suez scheme back in 1956, he even broke the news of it."And while I realize it is tiresome for you, is there anything you wish to share about Singapore to the viewers?"
"Percival certainly wasn't up to par and while ungentlemanly, the circumstances in Singapore forced my hand, especially as our aircraft were obsolete and other matters such as attempting to have our man trained to no avail. I didn't want to take up banditry again yet I hold no regrets on what was necessary."
"The Japanese undeniably did not anticipate your presence." Baker commented.
"No, they did not." 'Lawrence of Arabia' and the 'Lion of Singapore' smirked. "And when they learnt that I was present, it terrified them to no end."
"I would wager not." The interviewer concurred. "It's no wonder the Japanese garrison couldn't have been deployed elsewhere given your activities and the Yanks actions at Wake Island, Midway, the Solomons, and the Relief of the Philippines certainly made it additionally impractical."
"Perhaps they were fated to be stranded with yours truly." Lawrence shrugged. "Oh well."
Daniel Joseph Hendricks - Veteran of World War I
Indiana Veterans' Home - 3851 North River Road, West Lafayette, Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States of America, North America, Earth, Sol System, Milky Way Galaxy
03:09:16 ATC / March 9th, 1969 - 16:20 / 4:20 PM
Daniel was in denial, not believing what he was hearing from the eccentric who became a boarder a year ago after attempting to pull the same stunt that he's considering doing again but at the same time, he shouldn't be surprised that the individual forcibly retired from the United States Army in the 1920s after fifty years of service including initially underage and as an volunteer trooper of the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry who charged up San Juan Hill with Theodore Roosevelt still desired one last go. Afterall, he attempted to get back in during the Second World War, Korea, and even had hope of being permitted to fight in Vietnam with his experience against Apaches, Moros, Pancho Villa's bandits, and Sandinistas being arguably useful but to no avail.
"Douglas, I'm going to be blunt about this but you are too old for this."
"Nonsense, I never felt better but since I keep getting turned away, I say I shall hitch myself on a train like the hobos did frequently back during the Depression - say one heading to Newport offloading grain and - stowaway on a spaceship heading to the front, that way they can't send me back due to impacting logistics."
The man who fought at Chateau-Thierry and the Meuse-Argonne glared at the Rough Rider and fellow Doughboy, still denying that he just wanted to get himself killed.
"You are going to regret it, Douglas, that's all I can say." Daniel grouched.
Rebecca Davis (nèe Cameron) Meyer
Meyer Farmhouse - Acton, Franklin Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States of America, North America, Earth, Sol System, Milky Way Galaxy
03:09:16 ATC / March 9th, 1969 - 18:00 / 6:00 PM
"Thanks again, Becky."
"You're welcome here anytime, Nancy." Rebbeca mentioned to the departing guest before turning to Susan. "Remember how you asked if I received any letters from Jacob?"
"Yes?"
"Your godson really needs to write more." The mother grumbled. "Sometimes I wonder if he just wants me to be concerned."
"I can imagine that the current war may preclude writing at times in all fairness, notwithstanding the destruction of transports possibly carrying mail." The Hampshire transplant reasoned. "Lawrence of Arabia was occupied with derailing trains, what's not to say it's similar with Jacob? It's not as if he's being held against his will for late payments like Capone would have done in Chicago back in the day."
"Or my son is just lazy for some reason unlike his father." Rebecca jested, pretending to ignore the ironic statement of late payments. "Maybe I should send in a priority one care package Pfefferpotthast or Stippgrütze, pumpernickel, kartöffelsalat, and coffee cake like how my mother-in-law made it as an incentive, even whipped up his boyhood favorite ice cream: homemade strawberry."
"Bribery with family recipes baked by mum?" Susan chuckled. "That might work."
The ringing of the phone however interrupted any further scheming of bribery and the mother immediately went to answer the call. "Hello?" Rebecca immediately began groaning as she was informed that her father was currently being returned to the two hundred acre state veterans home that opened up back in 1896 after somehow getting to the train station and attempting to do freighthopping only to be caught by the Railroad Police in the act. "I see. I'll be there." She hung up and began massaging her temples out of frustration."Not again."
"Let me guess? Family?" Susan guessed.
"Of course but why can't he just accept reality and stay put?"
"He's probably just being stubborn, Becky." The war bride surmised."It can come with age."
"More like an insane Döösbaddel who cannot accept he's too oolt för war." The patriarch who fought at Rowlett's Station and survived the second deadliest engagement of the American Civil War at Chickamauga declared in broken English intermixed with Low German, leaning on his cane as he arrived at the front porch.
"Here, Wilhelm, let me get you a chair."
"Ik fine, Becky." The German-American dismissed. "Ik walk fine, du know. Ik will manage to get to de Stohl."
Susan was forced to admit to herself that it was astonishing that he managed to maneuver at all with his age in mind and his handlebar mustache was well kept, almost comically and stereotypically so.
"That may be so but I don't want to risk a fall." Rebecca countered as she grabbed the rocking chair.
"Would you like any coffee or lemonade?"
"Kaffee, bidd. Ham un Kees on pumpernickel un quarkspeise as well."
First off, for, well, the obvious significant twist, you have to enjoy foreshadowing at times and I'm sure you are all now especially anticipating the appearance of Indiana Jones.
And while undoubtedly having Roy Cohn be the United States Attorney-General in the story is, well, nightmarish to put it lightly and dystopian is only understating it, I also have a legitimate reason why he is holding that position and I, therefore, urge everyone to please remain calm as Barry Goldwater will remind him that he serves at the President pleasure and therefore can be dismissed/fired from the position at any time. Trust me on this, okay?
And in this tale, not even the homefront was safe during the Vietnam War. Poor Kennedy.
Which brings me to why on Earth did I decide on portraying JFK this way?
To quote both George Santayana and Voltaire:
"If you fail to learn from history, you are doomed to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
And
"I may disagree with what you say yet I will defend your right to say it to my dying breath." ~ Voltaire
It's an open secret that in this tale even though Kennedy survived his assassination attempt and unlike the vast majority of alternate history tales with the 35th President surviving which paints everything optimistically, not everything in this story background wise turned out rosy as a result of him returning from Dallas unscathed to say the least.
Of course, you don't have to agree with the portrayal even if it's doing something different but this may come as a surprise here: Just barely a few months before he was assassinated, national polls listed that John Fitzgerald Kennedy's approval rating was declining in the Fall of 1963, hovering barely above fifty percent and his record highest depending on the poll was anywhere from seventy to seventy-five percent in February of 1963, just four months after the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Think about it for a moment. Would JFK have been in Dallas that November day if he was immensely popular, in a city that literally was filled with voters who despised him politically and caused investigators to initially believe he was assassinated by some quote-unquote 'right-wing nut' before it was discovered that the shooter was actually, in fact, an openly vocal Communist?
Based on what I have read, the answer is a definite NO.
Kennedy was in Dallas not only to resolve a dispute between fellow Democrats but red hot on the campaign trail as the 1964 reelection season was imminent.
In fact, the Presidential motorcade on November 22nd of 1963 was heading to none other than a luncheon where he was expected to speak and this gathering had the sponsorship of the powerful Dallas Citizens Council - a group of local business leaders - and two other organizations affiliated with it: the Dallas Assembly and the Science Research Center, who could have been pivotal for the 1964 Re-Election Campaign but when he was en route to give his anticipated speech John Fitzgerald Kennedy was gunned down by Lee Harvey Oswald from the sixth-floor window of the Texas School Book Depository.
And I decided to do something different as most of the portrayals painted the '60s being rosy and peaceful if Kennedy somehow had lived.
The ugly, blunt truth is that:
1)There is credible evidence that Kennedy would have intervened in Vietnam just like his Vice President turned successor, Lyndon Baine Johnson, even if it's still being debated among historians.
2) It is generally agreed that the counterculture / Hippies coming into existence was inevitable.
And
3) The polls didn't look good for the 35th President (he's 36th in this tale due to Dewey winning 1948 per the timeline FYI but JFK in actual history was the 35th President just to clarify) to be re-elected as public approval of his administration was starting to decline.
Hell, there's even validation and reasonable argument that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would have been watered down or not even passed the chambers of Congress at all if Kennedy lived due to a so-called 'Martyr Effect' and the fact that one Lyndon Baines Johnson knew exactly where and when to apply political pressure, unlike his assassinated predecessor.
I prefer to be completely open and bluntly honest about my research here than hold it back as, mournfully, honesty is becoming a luxury nowadays yet the more you know as historical misconceptions should be disproven even if the truth is ugly.
Oh and he also might have not survived past his second term and even if he did, JFK would have in all likelihood been confined to a wheelchair due to Addison's Disease, his back pain, and the numerous narcotics including but not limiting to amphetamine and methamphetamine prescribed to him a certain infamous Doctor who later in 1973 was charged with fraud and two years later in 1975 lost his medical license as well: Doctor Max Jacobson, also known infamously as 'Doctor Feelgood'.
JFK was unfortunately not as healthy as he appeared in popular culture and I was stunned, I mean absolutely taken aback and blown away by the estimates of career medical professionals who in their opinion believe that the President was going to die in office or, if lucky, die sometime in the 1970s if he lived that long.
I know I'm quite beyond a killjoy here that in all likelihood just ruined the mythos of The Kennedy's Camelot internationally but again I prefer to be sincere and open about everything I have researched than hide it from you.
With the health reports in mind, I already have something planned for the President in the First Contact and resulting diplomacy prequel as he truly deserved better but even so, regardless of your thoughts at the revelation, even with the above out of the way, I now hold an even deeper respect for JFK.
He averted nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis, a terrifying thirteen-day period during October of 1962, I respect his pressure on congress even if not always successful, hell I even have a much deeper respect for his actions after his PT boat was cut in half and despite his poor health, swam with injured crewmen clutched before heading back out to retrieve more.
I perfectly understand if you don't take my word for it and/or disbelieve me as it is hard to take in so feel free to research and 'fact-check' the information for yourselves.
Again, I prefer to be open and honest about my research, show the reasonings for the portrayal with justification, and I even go so far as to list sources from time to time in extreme cases such as with the inclusion of Joseph McCarthy as the very man synonymous with McCarthyism and the Second Red Scare is to this very day a contentious matter but you have my absolute word that I will be candid and forthright about the actual history and why in this story it either remained the same or took an alternate course.
By the way, I also have a few ideas of a comeback for Jack Kennedy as I'm perfectly well aware that he's portrayed as tainted much to my regret even if the evidence completely vindicates the reasoning for the portrayal one hundred percent but even so you have my word that JFK will go from a borderline pariah with a mixed and divisive legacy to approaching someone whose portrait would be displayed proudly in a majority of households.
As the old saying goes: You learn something new every day.
But to move on as I'm sure you understandably need to wrap your heads around it:
On another, hopefully, more lighthearted instead of dismal note, Lawrence of Arabia never had his fatal motorcycle accident.
And you could say that Jake's family is one complicated mess but it only got started and I'm not understating it! :D
P.S. In case anyone is wondering, the title of this chapter was taken from the vintage record 'What About God and Country?' by Larry Heaberlin and the song is available on YouTube.