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Lists of Heads of Government and Heads of State

Might update this when I can with expanded ideas or added countries. The original gist was "May '68 on steroids," but kind of went all over in response to various books and academic readings relating to the upheaval of the late 60's in a global context.

United States of America
1969 - 1973: Richard Nixon / Spiro Agnew (Republican)
defeated, 1968: Hubert Humphrey / Ed Muskie (Democratic), George Wallace / Curtis LeMay (AIP)
December, 1968: I had a whole long write-up here that got lost, so I'll provide the gist and see if I can update later. Basically Humphrey decisively breaks with Johnson earlier in the campaign with regards to Vietnam, and the backchannels between Nixon and Johnson open up earlier in response. Wallace absolutely takes it to Humphrey and then later Nixon, and his ballooning "nihilist vote" (as described by Garry Wills) threatens to send the election to Congress - which he partially succeeds in. Wallace overperforms and forces a hung Electoral College, but Nixon's victory in the popular vote and his continued communications with the White House secure his and Agnew's election before Wallace can even get on the phone with Tricky Dick, further inflaming Wallace and large sections of the American protesting public.

1973 - 1977: Richard Nixon / John Anderson (Republican)
defeated, 1972: Hubert Humphrey / Reubin Askew (Democratic), Gene McCarthy / various (Independent)

1977 - present: John Connally / Cap Weinberger (Republican)
defeated, 1976: Fred Harris / Cyrus Vance (Democratic)

January, 1977: Former President Richard Nixon sworn in as Secretary of State

French Republic
1959 - 1968: Charles de Gaulle (UDR)
1968: Pierre Mendès France (Le Front Unique, serving as Prime Minister)
May, 1968: During de Gaulle's flight from Paris during the '68 protests, stating privately "I do not want to give them a chance to attack the Élysée. It would be regrettable if blood were shed in my personal defense. I have decided to leave: nobody attacks an empty palace," and is unable to be convinced by Jacques Massu to immediately return. PM Pompidou, his hand forced by Valery Giscard d'Estaing, announces the resignation of the government in response. Reporters manage to learn that de Gaulle is still conferring with Generals in Baden, Germany. Georges Séguy, who had been previously terrified of a mass crackdown if they attempted a violent seizure of power, seizes the opportunity with the Government and Army stunned and de Gaulle out of the country and occupy the Élysée, and declare a "popular government." The police prefecture put up a half-hearted fight and a handful of students are wounded, but Pompidou is able to negotiate Séguy down to a referendum set for July the 16th on drafting a convention constitutionnelle, fresh Presidential elections on August the 5th, and a temporary government helmed by Pierre Mendès France, with Gaullist ministers allowed to continue as a sign of good faith. The reaction is mixed, and Séguy maintains the occupations of the factories by the CGT until the date of the referendum. While talk of a violent reaction helmed by Massu, de Gaulle or even American intervention persists, de Gaulle accedes to Pompidou, formally resigns the Presidency and remains in Germany (he would later go on to decry the events as 'a coup' after the elections).
Referendum on the Approval of a Proposed Constitutional Convention
52.3% OUI, 46.6% NON: Turnout for the referendum is shockingly low, and even then the Left manages only to squeak out a meager victory over the conservative forces opposed to constitutional reform. Mendès France jams the Convention full of veteran left-wingers, radicals (both in the literal sense and from the Radical Party) and strike leaders (students were remarkably underrepresented), further inflaming tensions in response to the perceived cronyism of the Prime Minister.
1968 - 1972: Georges Pompidou (UDR)
1972 - present: André Lalande (Independent)

People's Republic of China
1943 - 1967: Mao Zedong (CPC)
December, 1966: Marshal He Long attempts to remove Mao from power in response to increasing pressures related to the proposed Cultural Revolution, namely the May 16 Circular drafted by a committee helmed by Chen Boda and personally overseen by Jiang Qiang and the persecution of Luo Ruiqing; fighting is centered around Peking University and the Renmin University of China. While the coup is repelled by Mao's bodyguards, He Long successfully leads a military takeover of Beijing and proclaims a new government despite lack of political support, with the exception of the Mayor of
Shanghai. Mao, who was wounded in the fighting, is forced to flee and takes up residence in Henan. Lin Biao fills the vacuum left by the recovering Helmsman and takes over the immediate governance in conjunction with Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping, while Mao nominally remains in control.
March, 1967: In the midst of mass social upheaval caused by the now on-going Cultural Revolution and the 'December Revolution,' Mao dies as a result of a lingering infection from a grazed wound in the ankle and complications from lifelong smoking.

1966 - 1969: Lin Biao (CPC)
1969 - 1975: Chen Boda / Kang Sheng (CPC)
1975 - 1975: Li Xuefeng (CPC)
1975 - present: Tan Zhenlin (CPC)

Revolution of the Second Front Army
1966 - 1971:
He Long / Cao Diqiu (Party of the December Revolution)
July, 1971: He Long captured and executed attempting to cross border into Burma.
 
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Might update this when I can with expanded ideas or added countries. The original gist was "May '68 on steroids," but kind of went all over in response to various books and academic readings relating to the upheaval of the late 60's in a global context.
Ooooh, I do always find the air of 1968 to be rather fascinating. The Cultural Revolution turning into Civil War, Wallace nearly breaking America and France experiencing chaos are fascinating to see.

The British version would probably be the Civil Rights movement in Northern Ireland leading to a more chaotic and fearsome conflict early and more ‘Free Cities’ popping up and a crisis in the Wilson Government or something.
 
real dumb idea this

Fully Automated Luxury Cabinet Democracy

Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

1997-1997: John Smith (Labour)
1997 (Coalition with Liberal Democrats) def. John Major (Conservative), Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrat), David Trimble (Ulster Unionist), Alex Salmond (Scottish National)
1997-1997: Margaret Beckett (Labour), Acting
1997-2003: Tony Blair (Labour)
1998 (Majority) def. William Hague (Conservative), Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrat), David Trimble (Ulster Unionist), Alex Salmond (Scottish National)
2002 (Majority) def. Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative), Charles Kennedy (Liberal Democrat), David Trimble (Ulster Unionist), Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist), Alex Neil (Scottish National)

2003-2011: Alan Milburn (Labour)
2006 (Majority) def. Ken Clarke (Conservative), Peter Hain (Liberal Democrat), Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist), Gerry Adams (Sinn Fein), Alex Neil (Scottish National)
2011-2013: David Davis (Conservative)
2011 (Coalition with Liberal Democrats) def. Alan Milburn (Labour), Peter Hain (Liberal Democrat), Peter Robinson / Andrew Hunter (Democratic Unionist), Gerry Adams (Sinn Fein)

Co-Chairs of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

2013-2015: David Davis / Peter Hain (Conservative / Liberal Democrat)
2015-2016: Crispin Blunt / Keith Vaz (Conservative / Labour)
2015 GE; Conservative 298, Labour 216, Liberal Democrat 103, Democratic Unionist 13, Sinn Fein 6, Others 14
2016-2017: Crispin Blunt / John Leech (Conservative / Liberal Democrat)
2017-2019: Nicky Morgan / Frank Field (Conservative / Labour)
2019-0000: Louise Harris / Tom Tugendhat (Liberal Democrat / Conservative)
2019 GE; Liberal Democrat 245, Conservative 223, Labour 143, Democratic Unionist 24, Sinn Fein 7, Others 8
 
real dumb idea this

Fully Automated Luxury Cabinet Democracy

Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

1997-1997: John Smith (Labour)
1997 (Coalition with Liberal Democrats) def. John Major (Conservative), Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrat), David Trimble (Ulster Unionist), Alex Salmond (Scottish National)
1997-1997: Margaret Beckett (Labour), Acting
1997-2003: Tony Blair (Labour)
1998 (Majority) def. William Hague (Conservative), Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrat), David Trimble (Ulster Unionist), Alex Salmond (Scottish National)
2002 (Majority) def. Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative), Charles Kennedy (Liberal Democrat), David Trimble (Ulster Unionist), Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist), Alex Neil (Scottish National)

2003-2011: Alan Milburn (Labour)
2006 (Majority) def. Ken Clarke (Conservative), Peter Hain (Liberal Democrat), Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist), Gerry Adams (Sinn Fein), Alex Neil (Scottish National)
2011-2013: David Davis (Conservative)
2011 (Coalition with Liberal Democrats) def. Alan Milburn (Labour), Peter Hain (Liberal Democrat), Peter Robinson / Andrew Hunter (Democratic Unionist), Gerry Adams (Sinn Fein)

Co-Chairs of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

2013-2015: David Davis / Peter Hain (Conservative / Liberal Democrat)
2015-2016: Crispin Blunt / Keith Vaz (Conservative / Labour)
2015 GE; Conservative 298, Labour 216, Liberal Democrat 103, Democratic Unionist 13, Sinn Fein 6, Others 14
2016-2017: Crispin Blunt / John Leech (Conservative / Liberal Democrat)
2017-2019: Nicky Morgan / Frank Field (Conservative / Labour)
2019-0000: Louise Harris / Tom Tugendhat (Liberal Democrat / Conservative)
2019 GE; Liberal Democrat 245, Conservative 223, Labour 143, Democratic Unionist 24, Sinn Fein 7, Others 8
I love the color scheme
 
This was inspired by a discussion where we talked about the 1990s Albania financial crisis where multiple pyramids schemes destroyed the Albania economy, I decided to put this into a fun US context:

2001-2009 George W. Bush (R-TX)/Dick Cheney (R-WY)
2000 def. Al Gore (D-TN)/Joe Lieberman (D-CT)
2004 def. John Kerry (D-MA)/John Edwards (D-NC)

2009-2017 Russ Feingold (D-WI)/Barack Obama (D-IL)
2008 def. John McCain (R-AZ)/Tim Pawlenty (R-MN)
2012 def. Ron Paul (R-TX)/Rick Santorum (R-PA)

2017-present Barack Obama (D-IL)/Xavier Becerra (D-CA)
2016 def. Mike Huckabee (R-AR)/Karen Handel (R-GA)
2020 def. Marco Rubio (R-FL)/Rob Portman (R-OH)


Bernie Madoff’s legacy is one of hatred. He has constantly been polled as one of the most hated people in US History after his ponzi scheme was revealed. His role in the largest ponzi scheme in history was only exacerbated in the late 2000s when George Bush helped pass a law to “reform” social security and put it into the market. The U.S. government trusted Madoff, the one-time chairman of the NASDAQ with this transaction which was a gigantic mistake.

Even before the bottom fell out, 2006 was a massacre for Republicans destroying social security. This got worse as the 2008 financial crisis led to a run on the bank to pull out the now teetering social security stocks. It was then revealed that they had been caught in Madoff’s scheme and the destruction of social security was guaranteed as millions lost their retirement funds. This created the Second Great Depression around the world. Madoff ironically destroyed the Republican Party for over a generation, with only the Republicans in 2022 finally getting the House of Representatives back after over 16 years out of power, they hope to gain the presidency or the Senate next, which they feel are finally in reach.
 
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"So there's these siblings, right?"

"Yeah."

"And they're from a wealthy, Irish family..."

"Yeah?"

"And their politics are, you know, fairly left-leaning..."

"George, I've heard of the Kennedys before."

"No, Jerry! Not the Kennedys."

Career of Kate Mara (D-NY)
Actress: 1997-2011
President of the Ann Mara Foundation for Women: 2011-2022
United Nations Women's' Goodwill Ambassador for International Women's Rights: 2017-2021
U.S. Representative for New York's 12th District: 2023-2025
U.S. Senator from New York: 2025-2032
48th President of the United States: 2033-0000

Career of Rooney Mara (D-PA)
Actress: 2005-2020
Vice President and Board Member of the Ann Mara Foundation for Women: 2011-2022
President of the Rooney United Social Trust (R.U.S.T.): 2019-2026
President of the Ann Mara Foundation for Women: 2022-2026
U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania's 18th District: 2027-2035
U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania: 2035-0000

(later...)

"I gotta tell ya Jerry, those folks on the internet are right, they really do control everything!"

"Who are 'they', Kramer?!"

"Why, the Hibernians of course! the Irish Catholics!"
 
Dubya was pretty cozy with Ken Lay of Enron fame. It's not hard to imagine a world where they survive into the 2008 recession before dragging down the global energy market.
It kind of is, considering how many different fuses had been lit by the late 90s. Frankly, it’s truly astounding that Enron got as far as it did - and considering how much everything depended on Enron continuing to grow endlessly, any Enron which could avert that collapse, or even delay it more than a year or two, would not be the company we all know and presumably love.
 
real dumb idea this

Fully Automated Luxury Cabinet Democracy

Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

1997-1997: John Smith (Labour)
1997 (Coalition with Liberal Democrats) def. John Major (Conservative), Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrat), David Trimble (Ulster Unionist), Alex Salmond (Scottish National)
1997-1997: Margaret Beckett (Labour), Acting
1997-2003: Tony Blair (Labour)
1998 (Majority) def. William Hague (Conservative), Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrat), David Trimble (Ulster Unionist), Alex Salmond (Scottish National)
2002 (Majority) def. Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative), Charles Kennedy (Liberal Democrat), David Trimble (Ulster Unionist), Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist), Alex Neil (Scottish National)

2003-2011: Alan Milburn (Labour)
2006 (Majority) def. Ken Clarke (Conservative), Peter Hain (Liberal Democrat), Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist), Gerry Adams (Sinn Fein), Alex Neil (Scottish National)
2011-2013: David Davis (Conservative)
2011 (Coalition with Liberal Democrats) def. Alan Milburn (Labour), Peter Hain (Liberal Democrat), Peter Robinson / Andrew Hunter (Democratic Unionist), Gerry Adams (Sinn Fein)

Co-Chairs of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

2013-2015: David Davis / Peter Hain (Conservative / Liberal Democrat)
2015-2016: Crispin Blunt / Keith Vaz (Conservative / Labour)
2015 GE; Conservative 298, Labour 216, Liberal Democrat 103, Democratic Unionist 13, Sinn Fein 6, Others 14
2016-2017: Crispin Blunt / John Leech (Conservative / Liberal Democrat)
2017-2019: Nicky Morgan / Frank Field (Conservative / Labour)
2019-0000: Louise Harris / Tom Tugendhat (Liberal Democrat / Conservative)
2019 GE; Liberal Democrat 245, Conservative 223, Labour 143, Democratic Unionist 24, Sinn Fein 7, Others 8

so the aim here was to get britain to a point where the chairs of parliamentary select committees on foreign affairs. home affairs, etc etc are the relevant minister for that governmental department

To get there, my idea was to have a New Labour project that goes much further in the centralisation of power, authoritarian overreach etc. The root of that is Smith's survival to a narrower 97 victory. There is no Granita Pact to shore up Blair's position in the party and overshadowed by Smith, he feels much more insecure. Factional bloodletting leads to no compromise with the incipient Brownite faction and while Blair wins a majority of his own in 1998, he is far more susceptible and simultaneously less accountable to his most authoritarian instincts.

This reaches new heights in the spring 2002 election, delivering a landslide victory to Labour on the back of 9/11, engorging the PLP's ranks with Blairite sycophants. He doesn't have long to enjoy that however, as in 2003 the truth of Iraq's WMDs are revealed and butterflies lead to an impeachment attempt on Bush with teeth. Blair's meteroric appeal collapses and in a few short months he is forced out of office. Turns out that staffing the halls of power with people who want power simply for it's own sake isn't a good idea for your own longevity.

Milburn is the manifestation of the modern Labour Party, leading the way on extending private finance initiatives, the backdoor privatisation of the NHS, the vast expansion of the powers of the security state... the list goes on. He wins a majority of his own in 2006, always afraid of moving out of his predecessor's shadow. It's on a shockingly small percentage of the popular vote however, barely breaking 30% and enabled by the split vote between Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and the small halting mainland campaign of the DUP. Importantly, many of those dissatisfied with the authoritarian direction of Labour have defected to the Lib Dems, most prominently their new leader Peter Hain who establishes libertarian socialism as a coherent strand of Lib Dem thought.

The global financial crisis breaks in 2007, and the parlous state of British finances, wormridden by PFI, is finally revealed. As the economy collapses, civil unrest breaks out and a police force that has been bestowed with sweeping authority in the name of counter-terrorism gets to work criminalising the poor and disenfranchised. Strikes break out and work on the London Olympics is delayed and balloons in cost while the neighbourhoods that surround the half-mothballed project go to ruin. In 2011, Labour is the definitive loser coming third in the popular vote while the Lib Dems come first.

The Conservatives have been on a journey since 1997 and at the 2011 election two very different kinds of libertarian come together to form a coalition the promises to undo the excesses of authoritarian overreach and unaccountable majoritarian government. The era of Parliamentary Dictatorship is to come to a close as a new consensual system is adopted. Since the 2011 election, Labour has continued to decline unable to escape the legacy of Blair and Milburn, while the Tories and Lib Dems have emerged as roughly the two largest parties. Leaders of the parties essentially serve as Convenors or Spokespersons leading debate in the Commons, rather than as prospective heads of government in their own right.

As of 2022, the Labour Party has gone bankrupt and much of the PLP has formed the New Britain Group, now totally shorn of a trade union link. A small group of Socialist Labour MPs persist on the backbenches, but increasingly caucus alongside the Lib Dems.
 
"So there's these siblings, right?"

"Yeah."

"And they're from a wealthy, Irish family..."

"Yeah?"

"And their politics are, you know, fairly left-leaning..."

"George, I've heard of the Kennedys before."

"No, Jerry! Not the Kennedys."

Career of Kate Mara (D-NY)
Actress: 1997-2011
President of the Ann Mara Foundation for Women: 2011-2022
United Nations Women's' Goodwill Ambassador for International Women's Rights: 2017-2021
U.S. Representative for New York's 12th District: 2023-2025
U.S. Senator from New York: 2025-2032
48th President of the United States: 2033-0000

Career of Rooney Mara (D-PA)
Actress: 2005-2020
Vice President and Board Member of the Ann Mara Foundation for Women: 2011-2022
President of the Rooney United Social Trust (R.U.S.T.): 2019-2026
President of the Ann Mara Foundation for Women: 2022-2026
U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania's 18th District: 2027-2035
U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania: 2035-0000

(later...)

"I gotta tell ya Jerry, those folks on the internet are right, they really do control everything!"

"Who are 'they', Kramer?!"

"Why, the Hibernians of course! the Irish Catholics!"

The Laugh Factory skit but he won't stop saying Mick.
 
Shuffling the Deck in the Country Manor's Drawing Room (Reboot)

1721-27: Robert Walpole (Whig)
1727-39: Thomas Pelham-Holles (Whig)
1739-43: Spencer Compton (Whig)
1743-45: Henry Pelham (Whig)
1745: John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (Tory)
1745-56: William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire (Military caretaker, later Whig)
1756-62: William Pitt the Elder (Patriot)
1762-63: George Grenville (Patriot)
1763- : Charles Watson Wentworth (Whig)
 
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