Inspired by a conversation with
@cikka
JANUARY 1976: Former Oklahoma Senator Fred Harris wins the Iowa caucus. While receiving fewer votes than for uncommitted delegates, Harris has outpolled Mo Udall and Birch Bayh in his quest for the Democratic nomination. Harris' victory can be attributed to his substantial ground game in the state, which involved him travelling in an RV and asking to stay at supporters' homes. Harris' staunchly progressive platform includes support for employee ownership and the abolishment of the CIA.
Fred Harris, the Oklahoma Senator who has been conducting a grass-roots campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination, touring small towns, campuses, and big cities in an ordinary camper, has been characterized by some observers as a "folksy Ted Kennedy," by others as an "intellectual George Wallace."
JUNE 1976: In a shock upset, the Communist Party of Enrico Berlinguer wins the Italian general election. While Berlinguer's PCI has distanced themselves from Moscow, his victory has scared NATO and the Vatican. While Berlinguer's chances of forming a government were slim, an attempted Anglo-American coup inspired DC statesman Aldo Moro to support a Communist government in the interest of national stability.
Foreign Office planners wrote in May 1976 that "a clean surgical coup" to remove the Communists from power "would be attractive in many ways", according to documents obtained from the British national archives and published yesterday by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
AUGUST 1976: The Republican convention nominates a ticket of Ronald Reagan and Jim Rhodes. With neither Reagan or Ford securing a majority before the convention, both candidates played for uncommitted delegates. In the end, the "fall of Italy" to communism was enough to convince Republicans that four more years of Ford could not be trusted.
NOVEMBER 1976: The ticket of Fred Harris and John Glenn wins the general election, ending eight years of Republican rule over the White House.
FEBRUARY 1977: The Harris administration expresses its desire to remove US troops from South Korea. While the plan would save $3 billion and not alter the military balance in the Korean peninsula, it was strongly opposed by the military establishment.
FEBRUARY 1978: A bill to abolish the CIA pushed by the Harris administration fails to make it past a Senate filibuster. Harris' investment of a large amount of political capital on the issue puzzled political observers and certainly ruffled feathers with the intelligence community.
MARCH 1978: Italian Prime Minister Enrico Berlinguer is kidnapped by the far-left Red Brigades ahead of a vote of no confidence in his government. While the Red Bridges had ramped up their attacks on the Eurocommunist PCI, many suspected that certain forces in Italy wished to push Berlinguer aside. Sure enough, an all-party government of national unity was formed, with Ugo La Malfa (a centrist known as The Needle) taking the helm. While the Red Brigades initially intended to release him, Berlinguer was found dead outside of PCI headquarters.
INTERVIEWER. What about Euro-Communism? Do you accept the claims by some of the Communist parties that they believe in democracy and are not controlled by the Soviet Union?
THATCHER: All Communism worries me. Fundamentally, it's not very different wherever it occurs, because it is a creed which allows only one political view.
NOVEMBER 1978: The Labour Party of Prime Minister Jim Callaghan wins reelection against the Conservatives of Margaret Thatcher. While initial polls projected a hung parliament, a strong Labour campaign gave the party a continued majority.
MARCH 1979: Leader of the Opposition Margaret Thatcher is killed by the Irish National Liberation Army in a car bomb attack. Airey Neave is subsequently named as her successor over the more moderate Francis Pym.
Italian Prime Minister Ugo La Malfa dies of a cerebral haemorrhage. His all-party government is replaced by Foreign Minister Aldo Moro, who heads a Christian Democracy government with Communist support.
MAY 1979: President Fred Harris is assassinated by a drifter named Raymond Lee Harvey, who implicated himself in a conspiracy with three Latino men. John Glenn takes the oath of office, becoming the 40th president.
JULY 1979: President Glenn abandons his predecessor's plan to withdraw troops from Korea, citing an increasing change in the military situation in favour of the North.
AUGUST 1980: The Italian general election signifies a clear return to Christian Democracy rule, with Gulio Andreotti leading a centre-right government. Support for the Communist Party significantly decreased after the Bologna massacre, with the Moro government being seen as incapable of putting an end to the Years of Lead.
"It was a political massacre, or more accurately a State massacre," said the Assize Court judges in their written explanation.
NOVEMBER 1980: The young, Italian-American and charismatic Senator Buddy Cianci of Rhode Island defeats President Glenn. Cianci's success comes from an ability to capitalize on an economic downturn and his ability to brand himself as a new, modern Republican.
MARCH 1981: President Cianci is shot and killed by a man named John Hinckley, a stalker of actress Jodi Foster. Alexander Haig is sworn in as the 42nd president.
Ledeen's right-wing Italian connections—including alleged ties to the P2 masonic lodge that rocked Italy in the early 1980s—have long been a source of speculation and intrigue, but he returned to Washington in 1981 as 'anti-terrorism' advisor to the new secretary of state, Al Haig
JUNE 1981: A referendum approves major changes to the Italian constitution. Pushed by the majority of Christian Democracy, the Democratic Revival Plan called for a strengthening of the Prime Minister, consolidation of the media, judicial reform, and the abolition of provinces.
SEPTEMBER 1981: The fears of the British political establishment come true as Tony Benn defeats Denis Healey for the leadership of the Labour Party. Immediately, a number of Labour MPs formed the Democratic Party, resulting in a loss of confidence for the Benn ministry.
Airey Neave, MP - one of Mrs Thatcher's closest allies - discussed with former security-service agents plans for an undercover 'army of resistance' in case of a Labour victory...Tracey was asked to consider whether he would join a team, consisting of various intelligence and security specialists, which would 'make sure Benn was stopped'
DECEMBER 1981: Despite the defections of key figures to the Democratic and Liberal parties, the Labour Party wins the most seats in the 1981 election. While Tony Benn is expected to continue his service as Prime Minister, he is severely wounded in an assassination attempt. While Benn is recovering from his wounds, Airey Neave's Conservatives agree to an agreement with the Democratic and Liberal parties to keep their socialist adversary out of power. Benn is eventually forced to resign as leader of the Labour Party, with Peter Shore taking his place.
Benn, however, discounted the validity of the story, writing in his diary: "No one will believe for a moment that Airey Neave would have done such a thing."
APRIL 1982: The Argentinean military junta invades the Falkland Islands. While the government of Airey Neave is pleased with this well-timed moment to rally around the flag, he is rather displeased with President Haig's desire to side with Argentina. Only a select few would know just how close Haig's ties to the Argentinean junta were...
1974 - 1977:
Gerald Ford / Nelson Rockefeller (Republican)
1977 - 1979:
Fred Harris / John Glenn (Democratic)
1976 def. Ronald Reagan / Jim Rhodes (Republican)
1979 - 1979:
John Glenn / Vacant (Democratic)
1979 - 1981:
John Glenn / L. Richardson Preyer (Democratic)
1981 - 1981:
Buddy Cianci / Alexander Haig (Republican)
1980 def. John Glenn / L. Richardson Preyer (Democratic)
1981 - 1981:
Alexander Haig / Vacant (Republican)
1981 - 0000:
Alexander Haig / Guy Vander Jagt (Republican)
1984 def. Mo Udall / Bob Graham (Democratic)
1974 - 1976:
Aldo Moro (Christian Democracy coalition with Republicans)
1976 - 1978:
Enrico Berlinguer (Communist)
1976 (Minority) def. Benigno Zaccagnini (Christian Democracy), Francesco De Martino (Socialist)
1978 - 1979:
Ugo La Malfa (Republican leading Unity Government)
1979 - 1980:
Aldo Moro (Christian Democracy coalition with Communists)
1980 - 0000:
Giulio Andreotti (Christian Democracy)
1980 (Minority) def. Giancarlo Pajetta (Communist), Giorgio Almirante (MSI), Enrico Manca (Socialist)
1985 (Centre-Right Alliance) def. Aldo Moro (Centre-Left Alliance), Armando Cossutta (Communist)
1974 - 1976:
Harold Wilson (Labour)
Feb. 1974 (Minority) def. Edward Heath (Conservative), Jeremy Thorpe (Liberal), William Wolfe (SNP)
Oct. 1974 (Majority) def. Edward Heath (Conservative), Jeremy Thorpe (Liberal), William Wolfe (SNP)
1976 - 1981:
James Callaghan (Labour)
1978 (Majority) def. Margaret Thatcher (Conservative), David Steel (Liberal)
1981 - 1981:
Tony Benn (Labour)
1981 (Minority) def. Airey Neave (Conservative), David Owen (SDP), David Steel (Liberal)
1981 - 0000:
Airey Neave (Conservative)
1982 (Majority) def. Peter Shore (Labour), David Steel (Liberal), David Owen (SDP)