History Literature / FearLoathingAndGumboOnTheCampaignTrailSeventyTwo

** [[spoiler:Rumsfeld]] is supported at first by American corporations who are attracted to his economic agenda. As time goes on, however, they eventually begin to realize that a completely unregulated economy is far more chaotic and hard to navigate than they initially realized.

* MoralityPet: [[spoiler UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter becomes this for Jack Edwards, and is able to make the man see how horrific Rumsfeld's policies are.]]
* MortalityPhobia: Agnew invokes this trope to justify his belligerent stance toward the Soviet Union, claiming that the Soviets being atheist and rejecting the idea of an afterlife means they're afraid of dying and therefore won't respond to his provocations by going to war with America.

** President [[spoiler:Rumsfeld]] is the king of this trope however as he has no qualms about calling any Republican going against his anarcho-capitalist stances a communist and going so far as to have them removed from office and committed to Gulag-esque BedlamHouse.

* ANaziByAnyOtherName: South Africa under the dictatorship of General Malan is rapidly sliding into this, practically becoming Literature/TheDraka. Not only is it using weapons of mass destruction, up to and including dirty bombs, against its enemies in the rest of southern Africa, but under the influence of Afrikaner nationalists like [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic Eugene Terre'Blanche]], it's starting to discriminate against non-Afrikaner whites (particularly the Rhodesian refugees) on top of the existing apartheid system. It's been stated, in updates written from the perspective of the future, that they will [[NukeEm break out the nukes]] before it's all over.
** President [[spoiler: Rumsfeld]]. If there was any doubt, [[spoiler: by the late 1980's he's started organizing "Liberty Battalions", which are basically an American SS/SA - up to staging book burnings of "anti-American"/"[[{{Hypocrite}} anti-free market]]" material]].
** [[spoiler: President Robertson as well, as he starts to open up concentration camps, where various "heretics" - like homosexuals, drug addicts, prostitutes and so on - are sent to forced labour, while also being brainwashed into accepting the CV's version of christianity.]]
** [[spoiler: Israel. See {{Irony}} below.]]

** The World Trade Center [[spoiler: is hit by an airplane. Except it's an accident: Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 342, a Boeing 707, crashes into the North Tower on February 20, 1981 while approaching JFK Airport; the plane was flying too low, and it was nighttime with thick fog. The tower burns, but does not collapse.]] [[https://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/27/nyregion/jet-crew-to-be-asked-about-near-miss.html This incident nearly happened in Real Life]].
* AlternateHistory: It's the ''Soviet Union'' that wins the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, having successfully reformed its system in the '70s and '80s. It pulls Western Europe into its economic orbit (and makes scads of cash) by selling them natural gas and petroleum at cut-rate prices, and domestically, it engages in a form of "MBA communism" reminiscent of UsefulNotes/DengXiaoping's [[UsefulNotes/ToGetRichIsGlorious reforms of OTL's China]], cutting back excessive military spending, allowing more free enterprise and trade, and requiring more accountability from state-owned businesses. Meanwhile, the US under [[spoiler:Rumsfeld]] experiences much the same economic, domestic, and military pressures that ultimately did in OTL's USSR, with foreign adventurism and various wonder weapons bloating the defense budget, an aggressive ideological pursuit of the free market at all costs doing severe structural damage to the economy and standards of living, and the two-party system under increasing strain from both sides. The parallels get even stronger in [[spoiler:Rumsfeld's]] second term, with [[spoiler:California and Hawaii seceding from the Union]], several other state governments openly defying the will of Washington, and NATO dissolving as Western Europe, unable to trust an America that's increasingly becoming a rogue state, goes it alone and establishes a ''detente'' with the USSR.
* AmoralAfrikaner: [[spoiler: Magnus Malan.]]

* ArmorIsUseless: The body armor given during [[spoiler: an invasion of Cuba]] is incredibly useless against enemy bullets, to the point that one soldier just throws it off.
* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: [[spoiler:The Rumsfeld administration's]] economic policy is built on this trope, thanks to their fanatical devotion to capitalism. At one point they quite literally [[spoiler: ''slash wages in half across the board'' and replace the missing 1/2 with "investment certificates".]] [[spoiler:Surely enough, by the time Rumsfeld is removed from office, living standards in the United States have collapsed to the point where the average lifespan has gone down by 12 years.]]

** [[spoiler:The [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain "Democrat]] [[KnightTemplar Killer"]]]] claims that Abraham Lincoln was a Democratic mole in the Republican Party because he was responsible for the end of slavery in America, ignoring the fact that the Democrats of the time were largely pro-slavery. But considering [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain who]] [[SerialKiller this is]], that’s probably intentional.

* BalkanizeMe: Happens to mainland China after the fall of the Lesser Mao. [[spoiler:It's also implied that this will happen to India sometime before 2000, but the timeline has not reached that point yet.]]
** In 1985 [[spoiler: ''California'' has decided to secede in response to Rumsfeld's tyranny, to which a furious Cheney is advocating a Cuban style blockade coupled with a Berlin style wall.]] [[ThisIsGonnaSuck This. Will not. End well.]]

* BenevolentConspiracy: [[spoiler: When it's clear Rumsfeld's policies are destroying America, Haig and other military officers plot to overthrow Rumsfeld and place the more moderate Vice President Edwards. It fails with horrible consequences for the U.S.]]
* BigBad: [[spoiler: Rumsfeld is the closest thing the series has to one.]]
** [[spoiler: Following the Christian Values coup, Douglas Coe takes the role of a theocratic dictator of the Christian States of America]].
* TheBigRottenApple: Thanks to the worse economy, UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity goes bankrupt in 1975 and has its finances taken over by the federal government, on top of all the other problems that it faced in TheSeventies. In the SequelSeries, it has [[spoiler:Spiro Agnew]] as its mayor. Sleep tight, New York.[[note]]and later he becomes the 54th governor of the state of New York.[[/note]]
* BlackAndGreyMorality: The conflict between the USA and the Soviet Union becomes increasingly this throughout 80s.
** On the one hand we have US President [[spoiler: Rumsfeld]], whose insane Anarcho-Capitalist policies result in widespread economic disparity, combined with resorting to blatant electoral fraud to be elected twice, rampant abuses of presidential authority, turning Hollywood into a right-wing propaganda machine that vilifies historical figures like FDR and his New Deal as communist plots. Not to mention creating Nazi-esque Liberty Battalions which stage frequent book burnings of any literature that could be seen as critical of his policies, disappearing celebrities and political enemies and alienating all of the USA's allies (resulting in NATO's destruction) with the exception of a very much dictatorial South Africa under the apartheid system. '''And''' attempting to make himself president for life by destroying any legislative blocks to him having unlimited terms and preventing anyone else from becoming the Republican presidential candidate creating a de facto dictatorship. Things get so bad that [[spoiler: California and Hawaii secede from the Union and people within the US Army attempt a coup]].
** On the other hand we have the USSR Premier [[spoiler: Nikolai Ryzhkov]], who despite being very much an authoritarian dictator showing no signs of turning the Soviet Union into a democracy, leads the Soviet Union in attempts to end the Cold War by offering Western Europe new trade opportunities as well as ending all support for non-peaceful Soviet revolutions and political movements as well as brokering a peace treaty between ROC and South Korea which earns him tons of good publicity. However [[spoiler: it is hinted that he's only doing this to advance his political agenda and attempts to remove what he deems to be potential political enemies within the party, as well as using Nukes in open warfare in Asia which undoes a lot of the aforementioned good publicity, and is increasingly revealing his true colors as a Stalin 2.0]].

** The Christian Values leaders Tim [=LaHaye=], Douglas Coe and (to a lesser extent) Pat Robertson, consider themselves to be absolutely righteous and everyone opposing or disagreeing with them to be immoral, including [[NoTrueScotsman other Christians]] like [[spoiler: the Catholic Jeremiah Denton]]. It gets upped to eleven once [[spoiler: they turn the USA into a theocracy following Rumsfeld's impeachment, with everyone and anyone resisting their oppressive rule being branded a satanist, and have no qualms against using [=WMDs=] against them, including [[NukeEm nukes]]]].
** The members of We The People, also act this way to a certain extent. One of the reasons [[spoiler: Rumsfeld]] was able stay for another term is that they refused to form a coalition with the Democrats, believing them to be just a collection of sham politicians, with Ralph Nader thinking [[spoiler: the Democrats are also aligned with Rumsfeldia's corporate network]], dividing the liberal vote in the process.

* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: A variation. [[spoiler: James Gavin]] initially balked at the idea of being thrown into the White House through procedural means, but after [[spoiler: being paraded before SmugSnake Agnew, as well the deteriorating foreign situation, Gavin agrees to become the president after Agnew is impeached]].
* ChekhovsGun: Briefly mentioned in the timeline and recently brought up in the discussion was a piece of legislation introduced with the intent to criminalise homosexuality. The author has suggested that it might be important in the future.

* CocaPepsiInc: Creator/MarvelComics, having gone bankrupt at the end of TheSeventies, has been bought by Creator/DCComics and the two are to merge their universes. Also an example of ForWantOfANail, as in OTL Marvel was kept afloat by its ''Franchise/StarWars'' comics--in ''Gumbo'', ''Franchise/StarWars'' only exists as an obscure animated film, and though Marvel still produces comics based on it, they're not popular enough to save it.

** [[spoiler: The [=USSR=] downplays this under Ryzkhov's reign, still being a one-party state with purges, but with some free enterprise to spruce up the economy]].

* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: In an interview with a witness to [[spoiler: the destruction of the Capitol Building]], he muses that the people the United States should have risen up, but after the horrific realities of [[spoiler: Rumsfeld]]'s terms in office, most were simply too jaded and desensitized to care anymore. [[spoiler: Only in the libertarian west and northeast did the rebellions take place.]]

** China is the worst hit, with the Lesser Mao turning the country into a giant Pol Pot style killing field in the worst mass murder in history, including [[spoiler: launching nuclear attacks on his own people.]] Since then it has crumbled into utter anarchy with no sign of recovery.
** South Africa under Apartheid is a fully fledged Neo Nazi state in all but name, and wields an arsenal of [=WMDs=] including dirty bombs which it hurls at its neighbours with wild abandon [[spoiler: and is fully protected by President Rumsfeld as a "bastion of freedom" due to the increasing insanity of his anti-communist paranoia.]]
** India [[spoiler: is quickly deteriorating under the authoritarian rule of Sanjay Gandhi, launching a brutal war with Pakistan (with both sides using chemical weapons) and persecuting several of India's religious and ethnic minorities, leading to increasingly large numbers of revolts and terrorist attacks.]]
** The Middle East has slowly crumbled into a war-torn badland, [[spoiler: with Saudi Arabia's monarchy getting overthrown and temporarily getting replaced by religious fundamentalists before getting invaded by Iraq. After the Iraqi pullout, Saudi Arabia descends into a civil war between Iraqi-backed secularists and jihadists. Qatar is taken over by jihadists. The remaining Gulf States and Jordan are desperately trying to hold back fundamentalist insurgents. Israel is increasing its power and territory using military force and ethnic cleansing, and is implied to be a dictatorship. Egypt has fallen into a civil war between secularists and fundamentalists. Iraq and Iran (the latter of which is a military dictatorship) are competing for power in the region by backing their preferred faction.]] Safe to say the region is ruined for the next several decades, at the least.
** Britain is even worse hit by UsefulNotes/TheTroubles with many more deaths, including [[spoiler: the assassination of Queen Elizabeth]], and while it momentarily dies down it flares up even worse in the 80s due to a new "Loyalist" terrorist group launching attacks on the British mainland to punish any attempt to end the bloodshed [[spoiler: and again this is directly aided by Rumsfeld in order to "punish" Britain for voting in a Labour Government.]]
** America's economy is brutalized by an even worse inflation and oil crisis, and Lesser Mao's heroin makes the War on Drugs even more brutal, with whole cities becoming war zones. [[spoiler: Then in the 1980s, it is dragged further and further towards fully fledged authoritarian police state under Rumsfeld, complete with the murder and internment of any and all critics, mass production of propaganda movies to smear the president's enemies, and all kinds of far right and christian fundamentalist fanatics employed and positions adopted by the administration. All while its economy steadily falls apart. Rumsfeld and Cheney even privately admit they plan to remove each constitutional right save the right to bear arms (in order to keep the right wing happy).]]
*** [[spoiler: By 1990, much of the country has been taken over by a theocracy ruled by Douglas Coe. Many cities have been nuked by Coe, and whole states have broken off]].

*** The Soviet Union is steadily adopting OTL China-style reforms and is drawing Western Europe into its orbit with ease given [[spoiler: the increasingly psychotic and vindictive Rumsfeld]]. While it is still an authoritarian regime, it does seem to have a good chance of emerging from the 80s as a freer and more prosperous country than America does.
*** While still under strong military control, most of East Asia has remained stable. Japan has built up a much stronger military presence of their own, [[spoiler: while Taiwan has retaken a good portion of mainland China. Both countries have also been working on a joint nuclear program, while Vietnam, due to an American victory, has become a stable and prosperous country]].
*** [[spoiler: Mexico under Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas manages to reform itself to the point that it becomes a prosperous nation and major power in its own right]].
* CyberPunk: The sequel is increasingly this politically, if not technologically.

** The idea of winning the Vietnam War. While South Vietnam does manage to become a prosperous democracy, [[spoiler: the victory leads to America, confident in the success of armed intervention, to become increasingly interventionist and bellicose on the world stage]].
* DefectorFromDecadence: [[spoiler: Jack Edwards and Dick Cheney. The former got tired of Rumsfeld's anarcho-capitalist and authoritarian policies. The latter was horrified he was recruiting Christian fundamentalists]].
* [[DifferentWorldDifferentMovies Different World, Different Movies and Shows]]: The Academy Awards are periodically referred to, with movies gradually becoming more and more different as the years go by, often reflective of the political climate at the time. Especially since [[spoiler: a good portion of the movies being churned out by Hollywood are simply propaganda pieces created by the Rumsfeld administration.]]

** ''Film/BackToTheFuture1'', aside from a few minor differences (Doc's time machine is made from a Chevrolet Camaro, the terrorists who attack him and Marty are South African rather than Libyan, Biff and George both work at a local phone company), things are pretty much the same, but with a ''very'' different ending. [[spoiler: George gets his hands on a DynaTAC 8000x mobile phone from the time machine and the timeline's communication industry advances rapidly. By the time Marty returns to 1985, the [=McFlys=] are rich and happy, while Biff is serving time in federal prison. However, while George and Loraine both remember Marty from 1955, they state that they only have two children and Marty is not one of them. This ending is meant as a dig at the Rumsfeld administration's historical revisionism.]]
** The film adaptation of ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', while still directed by Michael Radford, is rather different. Instead of the quasi-Stalinist society it was in the book, Oceania is an openly fascist totalitarian corporatocracy, with big brother serving as a symbol of the enforcers. Winston Smith still has his job at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history for the regime. The ArcWords "[=D4H1R=]" are also scattered throughout the film, usually associated with the regime. [[spoiler: It's easy to decode it was [=DHR-41=]: Donald Henry Rumsfeld, the 41st president of the United States.]]

** According to ''Creator/RogerEbert'', the fourth ''Film/DirtyHarry'' movie starred "A washed up old quarterback who couldn't act," because Creator/ClintEastwood was sick and tired of [[spoiler: creating racist propaganda]].

* DirtyCommunists: [[spoiler: Rumsfeld]] and to a lesser extant, Agnew, believe wholeheartedly in this trope. [[spoiler: Played straight and turned up to eleven with the Lesser Mao. Zig-zagged with Premier Ryzhkov, who is a strict authoritarian but also brokered a peace treaty between the Republic of China and South Korea, and has made efforts to improve life in the Soviet Union and end the Cold War.]]

** [[spoiler:Incoming as of the April 13th update, with California passing an instrument of secession, complete with Declaration of Independence-style condemnations of Rumsfeldia's crimes. All that remains is a referendum. Which as of the first 2015 updates has passed.]]

* TheDragon: [[spoiler: Cheney was this for Rumsfeld. After Cheney defects to the resistance, Timothy [=LaHaye=] replaces him.]]
** TheStarscream: [[spoiler: Tim [=LaHaye=] plots to get rid of Rumsfeld and get the Christian Values Party in charge]].
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: [[spoiler: The Israelis committing ethnic cleansing in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories is reminiscent of Serbian war crimes during the Bosnian War.]]
** [[spoiler: The "Liberty Batalions". See the main page under "ANaziByAnyOtherName" and "RightWingMilitiaFanatic" for specifics.]]

** [[spoiler: President Rumsfeld managed to send the recovering American economy into total freefall through his oppressive and ideological policies in only a few years. By the time he's removed from office, the vast majority of Americans have fallen into poverty.]]
* DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans[=/=]DespotismJustifiesTheMeans [[spoiler: Rumsfeldia and the Christian States of America were both political forces that ripped apart constitutional rights and constitutional checks on their power, so they could create a corporate-authoritarian state and a violent theocracy respectively]].
--> '''William F. Buckley''': I don’t know what you call [[spoiler: Rumsfeldism]] – other than its own name: [[YouKeepUsingThatWord I resist the “f” word as it is used too broadly on the left]], so that a real fascist regime such as the South African one is somehow cleansed of its true, dark evil by the abuse of the word to the extent that it has a bland lack of meaning. But I will say that [[spoiler: Rumsfeldism]] is the road to Hell itself, minus any of the good intentions.”

* {{Eagleland}}: [[spoiler: Rumsfeld's America is one of the harshest versions of a type 2 in literature.]]
* ElvisLives: Elvis survives the heart attack that killed him in 1977, and claiming to have seen God, becomes a Born Again Christian.
* EnemyMine: Despite continuing Cold War brinksmanship, the USA and the Soviet Union join forces to defeat the Bayanouni Islamist regime in Syria, and later [[spoiler:collaborate on a nuclear attack on the Lesser Mao's own nuclear programme]].

** As of the [[WhamEpisode "Rummyhorror" update]] the totalitarian nightmare of [[spoiler: the Christian Values theocracy]] has caused a desperate alliance between [[spoiler: the Ku Klux Klan, the Black Panther Movement, the Jewish Defence Militia, and possibly other extremist/hate groups]] as a united resistance.

** Many right wingers from Nixon to Reagan to Tom Clancy are utterly disgusted and horrified by [[spoiler:Rumsfeld's America.]]
** Scarily enough, despite almost being a CardCarryingVillain far past the MoralEventHorizon, even President [[spoiler:Rumsfeld]] is creeped out by the far right Christian fanatic he has employed in his administration [[spoiler: Tim [=LaHaye=], the author of the ''Literature/LeftBehind'' series. But eventually he warms up to [=LaHaye=] and has him replace Cheney as Chief of Staff.]]
** [[spoiler:Premier]] Nikolai Ryzhkov is, despite his own authoritarian positions, deeply disturbed by the madness of [[spoiler: Rumsfeld, especially when he informs Ryzhkov in so many words that he knows the USSR kidnapped Richard Nixon, and that he sees it acceptable for them to execute a former US President if they want to, because it will ''help Rumsfeld garner domestic political support'' in the wake of his death.]] Ryzhkov, who was ignorant of and afterwards opposed to the kidnapping for obvious reasons, sees this as beyond the pale and [[spoiler: has Nixon released unharmed.]]

** [[spoiler: Many Republican governors were outraged when Rumsfeld impeached the Supreme Court for refusing to unseat Pete [=McCloskey=] in favor of his handpicked stooge. It even prompted Spiro Agnew to sign a nullification clause with other northeastern governors]].
** In the "Rummyhorror" update it is shown that even the [[spoiler: ''Ku Klux Klan'']] is horrified by the nightmarish repression and savagery of the [[spoiler: Christian Values theocracy]]. So much so that it is willing to join forces with [[spoiler: the Black Panthers and the Jewish Defence Militia]] against it.

** [[spoiler: When Western Europe agrees to a detente with the Soviet Union, Rumsfeld thinks that they've just sold out to communism]].

* EvilIsNotAToy: [[spoiler: After being warned that the CV can't be trusted, Gerardo Rivera insists that TRW and the other corporations are able to protect themselves. He's proven wrong when the leaders of TRW end up arrested and executed with the rest of Rumsfeld's supports]]
* EvilIsPetty: [[spoiler: Donald Rumsfeld, ''good lord''. At one point, Rumsfeld conspires to turn space into a junkyard, just so the Russians can't travel there]].
* ExpandedStatesOfAmerica: Under [[spoiler: Rumsfeld]], California is to be partitioned into two states, with the northernmost regions becoming the state of Jefferson. No doubt this is to [[spoiler: secure more republican votes for himself. Unfortunately for him, the plan seems to fall apart once California declares independence in 1985.]]
* ExplainExplainOhCrap: [[spoiler:George H. W. Bush has this internally when he has a conversation with President Spiro Agnew about the latter's belligerent foreign policy. Not only does Agnew show a complete lack of understanding of how the office of President is supposed to work, thinking that he can simply be an executive bully to get what he wants, regardless of the consequences both domestic and abroad, but that [[InsaneTrollLogic Agnew believes the Soviets would never resort to using their nuclear weapons, because they're atheists, and therefore afraid to die]]. Bush then goes to rally together what Republicans he can to support articles for impeachment, because the ensuing damage to the Republican party would be a far better alternative to [[WorldWarIII World War III]].]]
* FallenStatesOfAmerica: [[spoiler:America has become a corporate-fascist state under Rumsfeld, with widespread poverty, terrible working conditions for Americans, a deteriorating environment and economy, the elimination of almost all forms of social services, [[DividedStatesOfAmerica several states seceding or going against the government]], [[OppressiveStatesOfAmerica an authoritarian police state with its own]] BlackShirts, and a return to racial discrimination in some parts of the country.]]
** Then things get even worse [[spoiler: after Rumsfeld's impeachment, with the Christian Values party assuming complete control over the country, destroying the congress, and imposing their fundamentalist rhetoric onto society, going so far as to place the 10 commandments into a new article of the constitution. The resulting civil war goes horribly, with [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge a bouncing-back Cuba invading Florida]] only to be repelled with nuclear weapons which turn central Florida into a nuclear wasteland as well as several other hot spots of resistance such as Philadelphia. Furthermore Alaska, Texas, Oregon and Washington secede from the Union with Oregon joining with California to form the Pacific Free Republic while Washington opts to join with Canada, while Alaska and Texas choose independence. Both PFR and Canada in turn providing weapons and support to various rebel factions across the Midwest and in the Libertarian dominated Mountain West against the CV's theocratic rule, which has re-branded the USA into the Christian States of America, while the secessionist New England and New York states continue to call themselves "[[VestigialEmpire United States of America]]" and resist the CSA's rule under Richard Nixon's leadership. Here's [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/attachments/christianstatesofamericamap2-png.269432/ a map]] if you're curious]].
* FascistButInefficient: [[spoiler: Rumsfeld's dictatorial and corporatist regime, from driving away innovators by violating patent rights and giving them to TRW, to the complete failure of the Cuba invasion]].
* ForegoneConclusion: [[spoiler: When the CV takes power, Alabama under Wallace refuses to follow their policies, causing the federal government to place the state under siege. The flash-forward map in "Rummyhorror" shows Alabama firmly under the control of the Christian States of America, so it's safe to say that Wallace lost.]]
* ForWantOfANail: This whole, crazy TL all started when John Julian [=McKeithen=] got the Democratic nomination instead of [=McGovern=]. [[ShaggyDogStory And it was all, ultimately, for nothing]], as [[spoiler: [=McKeithen=] dies in a plane crash in 1973, and right after Nixon conceded to him so he could take the Presidency away from the increasingly-unhinged Agnew, no less.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Some posters think the economic, military, and social breakdown of China under Lesser Mao foreshadowed[[spoiler: what would happen to America under Donald Rumsfeld. It turns out to be half-right: while America does follow China's example, including the government using nukes on its own people, this is only after Rumsfeld is impeached, superseded by the even ''more'' insane Douglas Coe]].
** At one point, Spiro Agnew questions Wally Herger concerning the option of breaking Northern California off to form the State of Jefferson to the ballot, questioning if he's promoting secession. Herger assures him that it's nothing of the sort, that it'll be for the benefit for the people of California and Jefferson. [[spoiler: During the Rumsfeld Administration, California is the first state to declare secession.]]
* FourEyesZeroSoul: [[spoiler: Rumsfeld.]]
* {{Fragging}}: [[spoiler: Quite a few soldiers in the invasion of Cuba decide to shoot their Liberty Battalion officers and defect after the latter execute wounded soldiers as a cost-cutting measure.]]
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Some of the worst villains in the series are people who are relatively unknown in OTL. Standout examples are [[spoiler:The Lesser Mao, Douglass Coe, and Magnus Malan.]]
* TheFundamentalist: The Christian Values Party in America, [[spoiler: which Rumsfeld is increasingly relying on for support,]] and the PJO/Muslim Brotherhood.

** [[spoiler: In his zeal to create a truly free market, Rumsfeld removes almost every environmental regulation, and ''actively encourages'' coal pollution and climate change. He even pushes for environmentalism to become recognised as a mental illness]].

** [[spoiler: The Christian Values Party uses nukes with reckless abandon. Their attempts to stop Cuba from taking Florida and crush pockets of resistance have left large areas of the country severely irradiated.]]
* GambitPileup: Towards the tail end of [[spoiler: Rumsfeld's]] second term as POTUS, there are several different parties attempting to take him down: [[spoiler: [[LaResistance The Carter/Dellums/Clinton resistance]], the US Army General Dorman and The Christian Values Party/TRW alliance]]. [[spoiler:The last one ultimately comes out on top.]]
%% * GettingCrap PastTheRadar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* GranolaGuy: Pete [=McCloskey=] is a downplayed version: he believes in the environment, even becoming a proponent of the Jefferson State project to create an environmentally friendly state, but he's otherwise politically moderate, [[spoiler: becoming California's governor on a ticket of moderation between Barry Goldwater Jr. and John Tunney]]. [[spoiler: Rumsfeld's anti-environmental policies are a factor in his decision to have California secede from the union]].
* TheGulag: The Lesser Mao has ''loads'' of them, [[spoiler: some of which are assigned to farm opium and make heroin from it.]]
** BedlamHouse: [[spoiler: These are Rumsfeld's version of TheGulag, using bogus mental illness diagnoses to have dissidents committed to mental hospitals -- similar to what Stalin did.]]
* HandicappedBadass: George Wallace. His is able to shake off his segregationist past and use his paralysis as a symbol that he understands human suffering. [[spoiler: He even becomes president of the United States in 1976. This becomes deconstructed later on, as Wallace is unable to use his brand of politics to create a meaningful national agenda, to the point of losing support among liberal Democrats, and the stress of public life takes a toll on Wallace's already fragile health. It is reconstructed later on, however. After a period of physical training, he returns to his old turf as Governor of Alabama to resist the actual federal tyranny of Donald Rumsfeld.]]
* HeelRealization: [[spoiler: Jeremiah Denton suffers from this after he learns about the Liberty Battalions' murder of wounded American soldiers, and moves to have Rumsfeld removed from office. He has a bigger one after learning about Rumsfeld's treatment of political dissidents, and how he purposely ignored it for political gain.]]

** [[spoiler: Jack Edwards and Jeremiah Denton both. It ends badly for both of them.]]
** [[spoiler: Kelsey Grammer starts out as Rumsfeld's hammer against dissident Democratic politicians. However, he drifts away from Rumsfeld and later the Christian Values when he learns that the government is funneling drug money into the treasury]].

** President [[spoiler: Rumsfeld]] and [[spoiler:Dick Cheney]] are way, '''way''' worse than their OTL counterparts.

** After months of wrangling, Nixon decides to withdraw for the good of the country and allow [=McKeithen=] to become President. [[spoiler:Then [=McKeithen=] dies in a plane crash]].

** A retroactive one in the form of the modern day political retrospectives, which all but confirm the [[spoiler: partial recovery of China and India's successor states and the fall of Rumsfeldia, with only Newt Gingrich's having any sympathy for what Rumsfeld and Cheney did.]] The rub is that back in the active flow of the timeline, things just keep getting worse, and ''worse, and '''worse''''', to the point that these eventual victories may be rendered impotent by unaddressed context.
** The coup attempt against [[spoiler:Rumsfeld]] is proceeding smoothly to execution, only for [[spoiler:[[UsefulNotes/SarahPalin Sarah Heath]] to betray them all at the last moment, having been a devoted Christian Values mole from the beginning.]]
** [[spoiler: Rumsfeld is finally deposed, and Denton decides to serve out the remainder of his term and work with the remaining moderate political forces to restore confidence. However, the Christian Values party is able to win the 1988 election thanks to the support they provided to Americans hurt by Rumsfeld's policies. Once they're in power, they create an oppressive theocracy which all but destroys the USA by 1990]].

** George Wallace claims to have turned over a new leaf on race relations [[spoiler: but as president, continued to send covert arms to apartheid South Africa]].
** [[spoiler: For all of Rumsfeld's talk of freedom, he creates the most repressive regime in American history, and allies himself with Magnus Malan. Not to mention imprisoning Ted Turner for violating business regulations ''that are in the process of being dismantled'' on behalf of Rumsfeld's corporate supporters]].

* InvadedStatesOfAmerica: [[spoiler: After Rumsfeld is deposed, Canada occupies Buffalo; Sault Saint-Marie, Michigan; the Columbia River basin and parts of northern Maine as part of a security buffer. Of course, given what the country's devolved into, the people welcome them as liberators. Likewise, Cuba invades Southern Florida, but their advance is stopped once the CSA turns most of the state into a nuclear wasteland.]]

* {{Irony}}: [[spoiler: Israel becomes a fascist, expansionist, and genocidal state.]]
** George Wallace, who once passionately defended segregation, [[spoiler: returns to political office in Alabama in the 1980s (first as Attorney General, then as Governor again) as a defender of civil rights and with the support of African Americans.]]
* JapanTakesOverTheWorld: Japan appears to be coming closer to this than in OTL. The worse 1970s economy means that Japan avoids the economic bubble of the 1980s. And increasingly nationalistic political forces take control of Japan which encourage the creation of a strong military [[spoiler: including a nuclear bomb]].
* KangarooCourt: [[spoiler: Under Rumsfeld, the justice system becomes his means of imprisoning any Democrats who would oppose him]].
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: After Rumsfeld is thrown out of office, the corporations abandon the Republicans and throw their support behind the Christian Values to avoid even the most lenient prosecution for their crimes. When the CV launches their purge, they all end up executed anyway.]]
* KnightTemplar: [[spoiler:The "Democrat Killer"]]. Claims that his actions are guided by God. Eventually [[spoiler:shoots and injures the Democratic nominee for Vice-President in 1976]] and turns out to be [[spoiler: Mark David Chapman]].
* LaResistance: [[spoiler: One shows up against President Rumsfeld, led by Jimmy Carter, Ron Dellums, and Bill Clinton. With other members including Bill Gates, the mastermind behind [[CantStopTheSignal Liberty Spark]] ]].
** [[spoiler: California Governor Pete [=McCloskey=] resists Rumsfeldia by getting California to succeed from the Union]].
** [[spoiler: Ted Turner and Gene Roddenberry also join the stand against Rumsfeld.]]

** The Lesser Mao's horrible mismanagement and frequent purges eventually [[spoiler: drives many of his deprived soldiers to rebel against him. When the Lesser Mao puts down that rebellion with a nuclear bomb, this leads to the whole world rallying against him. When his excesses trigger an invasion by outside powers, his armies, government, and authority completely disintegrate]].
--> '''Kiang Liu''': You may threaten a man all you want, but when he begins to eat grass and sees his children dying, he has not much to lose in act of rebellion.
** [[spoiler: The crimes of the Christian Values Party triggers rebellion by the Northeastern states and the Libertarian West, secession by states like Texas, and even drives other extremists like the Ku Klux Klan into opposing the Christian Values]].

* MarkOfShame: [[spoiler: For anyone the CV doesn't execute, they brand them with what they call the Mark of Cain before throwing them in labor camps. If future interviews are anything to go by, the psychological effects of these persist for decades later.]]
* MegaCorp: [[spoiler: [=TRW=], while a far milder and more realistic example than most examples of this trope, is becoming something like a MegaCorp, and one closely affiliated with the Rumsfeld Administration at that. By the mid-80's, they feel comfortable with threatening Dick Cheney to his face, and he backs down.]]
** [[spoiler:Deconstructed in the late 80's, when Rumsfeld has more-or-less abolished every legal standard for private businesses. TRW ends up having to deal with all the tin tyrants and outright criminals that run rampant in the newly "free" market, hurting both their efficacy and their international reputation. This becomes such a problem they end up trying to sway Rumsfeld towards a more (if minimally) regulated economy.]]
** Another realistic variation of this trope is the Hughes Network, a massive media network that is a mix of this and StrawmanNewsMedia. With a worse 1970s economy bankrupting many media networks, Howard Hughes buys them to create an earlier version of Fox News. [[spoiler: One of their programs is a TalkShow hosted by Spiro Agnew. Under Rumsfeldia, they become a PropagandaMachine for the Rumsfeld regime, and are able to take over ABC, NBC, and CNN]].
* MonumentalDamage: [[spoiler: The Capitol Building, along with the Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson monuments, have all been destroyed by the Christian Values Party. [[MonumentOfHumiliationAndDefeat Statues of Christ the Warrior and Douglas Coe have taken their place]].]]
* MoralityPet: [[spoiler: UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter becomes this for Jack Edwards, and is able to make the man see how horrific Rumsfeld's policies are]].
* MortalityPhobia: Agnew invokes this trope to justify his belligerent stance toward the Soviet Union, claiming that the Soviets being atheist and rejecting the idea of an afterlife means they're afraid of dying and therefore won't repsond to his provocations by going to war with America.

** Ryzhkov uses the [[spoiler: US invasion of Cuba]] in order to identify and eliminate not his open political opponents, but those who remain silent and intend to only join the side that wins. He explains to Putin that those who name themselves your enemy can be dealt with at leisure, but opportunists are the real danger.

** Both We the People and the Christian Values party employ this trope against anyone within their corner of the political spectrum not agreeing with their views. The former going as far as to call the Democrats [[spoiler: part of Rumsfeld's corporate network]] while the latter use it against any christian that refuses to subscribe to their fundamentalist rhetoric.

** [[spoiler: Ron Dellums wonders about this in regards to George Wallace]].
** [[spoiler: Rumsfeld has been derisively called "America's Lesser Mao" due to the parallels between both men. Additionally, Rumsfeld adopts some of Joseph Stalin's tactics and language, namely putting political dissidents in mental institutions and stating "The Pope? How many divisions does he have anyway?", respectively.]]

** [[spoiler: Once the Christian Values party turns the USA into a theocracy, they have absolutely no reservations about breaking out the nukes, especially since they're the only thing standing between them and certain defeat at the hands of the rebels and/or an intervention from Europe]].

* OhCrap: [[spoiler: Ryzhkov after learning about the military disaster at Cuba. He recognizes that Rumsfeld's regime is on the verge of collapse, but he's probably very afraid of the fall out]].

** [[spoiler: Hua Guofeng, one of the opponents of the Cultural Revolution, is beheaded ''in front of the Great Hall'', as a form of intimidation by the Lesser Mao]].
** [[spoiler: Mobutu loses his head after being overthrown by generals backed by the French]].

* ThePlague: After AIDS is first discovered in June 1981, much earlier than OTL, the CDC gets to work researching it, [[spoiler: only to have Congress cut their funding and transfer the research over to the army's Infectious Disease Research unit. They're ordered by President Rumsfeld to research the disease for ''potential weaponization''.]]
* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: President [[spoiler:Agnew]] is an alloy of President Jerkass and President Lunatic. President [[spoiler:Gavin]] is closest to President Personable, while President [[spoiler:Wallace]] is a President Schemer.
** PresidentEvil: President [[spoiler:Rumsfeld]] has become this.
*** [[spoiler:President Robertson is also this-until he dies in a highly suspicious helicopter crash, turning him into President Target. His successor Steven Symms is President Puppet, being a figurehead while Douglas Coe wields the real power.]]
** [[spoiler: President Denton, who was expected to be President Lunatic because of his fundamentalist ties, chooses to be President Personable, and tries to rebuild the political system and restore confidence]].

* PragmaticVillainy: [[spoiler: Rumsfeld's corporate backers didn't push for his impeachment because of his tyranny, but because his planned policies would have completely trashed the economy, and are happy to keep his other pro-business policies. Ron Dellums calls them out for this.]]
* PrivateMilitaryContractors: President [[spoiler:Rumsfeld]]'s free-market rhetoric goes so far as a desire to privatize [[UsefulNotes/YanksWithTanks the US military]] and replace it with these.
** [[spoiler: The increasing privatization of the Armed forces causes one of the worst military disasters in US history, with the US barely able to get a beachhead on Cuba.]]
* PropagandaMachine: [[spoiler: The TRW corporation churns out low quality propaganda films and advertisements that are pro-Rumsfeld.]]
* RealityIsUnrealistic: A rare InUniverse example: [[spoiler: The US invasion of Cuba was such a disaster, that Nikolai Ryzhkov initially assumed the KGB report in which he learned about was spewing propaganda. He confirms the story with President Mitterand, to his horror]].

** President [[spoiler: James Gavin]], who tries to walk a moderate line, and is willing to solve the foreign policy crises caused largely by [[spoiler: Spiro Agnew]].
** Ngo Quang Troung, a competent ARVN general who becomes [[spoiler: South Vietnam's first democratically elected President]].
** Pham Van Dong, the Prime Minister of North Vietnam, who despite being an Communist dictator, is far less ideological than his Soviet backers, [[spoiler: and is willing to team up with South Vietnam and, by extension, America to fight back against the Lesser Mao]].
** [[spoiler: Nikolai Ryzhkov, who despite being an authoritarian, is trying to bring prosperity to the Soviet Union and end the Cold War, and tries to shut up the hardline generals who want to fight a war with the West]].
** Pete [=McCloksey=], a former Republican congressman, who rejects the increasing polarization of both parties, becoming the Governor of California on an independent ticket, [[spoiler: and becomes one of the most powerful resistors of Rumsfeldia and later the Christian States of America]].
** [[spoiler: Jeremiah Denton who once, he gains the Presidency, tries to rebuild America from the years of Rumsfeld's rule. Unfortunately, his own CV allies resist his attempts at reform.]].

* RedScare: President [[spoiler:Agnew]]'s policies are predicated on the idea that the world still works like it did in the [=McCarthyite=] [[TheFifties 1950s]].
** President [[spoiler:Rumsfeld]]'s foreign policy operates on the same principle, except ''much'' more extreme, so far as to consider democratically elected leftist governments such as François Mitterrand's Socialists in France and Enrico Berlinguer's Communists in Italy as fellow travelers of Moscow. In fact, it's so extreme that [[spoiler: Western Europe by 1984 has broken from NATO entirely and created a third bloc, loosely affiliated with the Eastern bloc.]]

** [[spoiler: During the Cuban Invasion]], there's a mention of an [[ComicBook/TheBoys incredibly useless M-20 assault rifle.]]

** The rise of [[spoiler:the Christian States of America]] takes several cues from [[Literature/TheHandmaidsTale The Republic of Gilead]].

* ShutUpHannibal: Given by [[spoiler: George Wallace]], of all people, to [[spoiler: Spiro Agnew]] on the latter's show.
* SleazyPolitician: Trent Lott, the Mississippi representative who becomes Speaker of the House, is described repeatedly as being a self-serving opportunist. It's all but stated he blocked [[spoiler: Governor Richard Lamm's]] nomination as a caretaker Vice President [[spoiler: just so he could ascend to the presidency if the ailing Wallace either died or was impeached over illegal arms dealing in Central America]]. When [[spoiler:Rumsfeld]] is elected, he goes along with his insane policies, [[spoiler: and supports the nomination of the fundamentalist Jeremiah Denton as Vice President, just so the Christian Values party doesn't threaten the Republican majority in the House]]. [[spoiler:[[LaserGuidedKarma When the CV launches a purge of Rumsfeld's supporters, he narrowly avoids getting executed and is sentenced to hard labor]].]]

** [[spoiler:Agnew shows signs of supreme overconfidence from the very moment he gains prominence by "electing" himself. When he meets with Nixon just before taking office as acting President, he inappropriately calls him "Dick" (a nickname Nixon reserved for only close friends), announces that he's taking only ''one'' advisor in Donald Rumsfeld (despite Nixon's warnings that his administration will be dominated by Rumsfeld's agenda), and says that if Russia and China are duking it out, America'll have no trouble focusing on the NVA -- maybe, he hopes, China will even have an uprising and go democratic if they lose. Nixon, a {{Realpolitik}} man to the core, is shaken and terrified. (This is TruthInTelevision; despite Agnew's public overtures of intellectualism, fostered by William Safire's flowery speechwriting, [[KnowNothingKnowItAll he was privately considered very inept in both domestic and -- especially -- foreign matters]], and Nixon had frozen him out from almost all direct decision-making by 1970.)]]
*** [[spoiler:During a later conversation with George H.W. Bush where Agnew discusses his ambitions in greater detail, a horrified Bush realizes just how out of his depth he is; his entire frame of reference for governing is the shady, sometimes outright crooked backroom deals that happen at the local or state level -- in other words, [[CorruptBureaucrat one man runs everything, never backs down or compromises, and throws his weight around until the other guy breaks]]. Combined with his embrace of "Great Man" ideology and enthusiasm for Teddy Roosevelt-style imperialist policing, it makes nuclear war almost inevitable.]]

** [[spoiler: Rumsfeld grows into this by the late 80s. He even thinks that he can rip apart the federal government, not realizing that the Christian Values people he's employed are secretly plotting against him]].

* TheSociopath
** The Lesser Mao. He does anything to maintain power, including massive purges that kill millions, and [[spoiler: even ''dropping an atomic bomb on a rebelling city'']]. He cares about [[ItsAllAboutMe nobody except himself]], believes himself to be smarter than everyone around him, regularly uses drugs near the end of his rule, turns his country into a Khmer Rouge-style hellhole, and turns China into a massive producer of heroin largely to spite the West and [[{{Greed}} for his own monetary gain]].
** [[spoiler:Donald Rumsfeld. He obviously doesn't care about ruining the environment, and forcing working people to work for starvation wages if he can create a "free" economy. Or locking up his own allies if they don't agree with his whim. And he doesn't care about giving soldiers substandard equipment and killing them if he can save money]].
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The real name of Mao Zedong's nephew (the Lesser Mao) in [[UsefulNotes/WhyMaoChangedHisName pinyin]] is Mao Yuanxin. Due to switching around between Wade-Giles, Pinyin, and other weird romanizations (often from in-universe characters), the name was often corrupted, leading to names like "Mao Yang-jin", "Mao Yang-chin", or "Mao Yang-gin".

** Some British voters in 1977 are disgusted with the UsefulNotes/EdwardHeath government's catalogue of catastrophe but are unconvinced about Denis Healey's Labour Party. The result is that the Liberal Party has a massive surge from just nine seats to over fifty. Later on, the more left-wing members of Labour resign from the party to protest [[spoiler: the UK's complicity in the nuking of Lop Nor]], forming True Labour (later renamed to the Social Democratic Party).

* TalkShow: [[spoiler:Spiro Agnew]] gets one after [[spoiler:his impeachment.]] He gets high ratings, even though he seems to spend most of the time ranting about "[[StrawmanPolitical the ludicrous liberals]]"; he's compared on the boards to Radio/GlennBeck without a capacity for SelfDeprecation. (This could've actually happened; in 1971, [[spoiler:Nixon and Haldeman were exploring the possibility of getting Agnew his very own conservative-funded TV network, just to get him out of their way]]).
* TheAtoner: George Wallace invokes this during his presidential campaign, claiming to have abandoned his segregationist ways. [[note]]The Wallace of OTL did in fact abandon his segregationist past.[[/note]][[spoiler: As president, he goes further, choosing his old nemesis Nicholas Katzenbach as his vice president, appointing Ron Dellums to his cabinet, and giving MLK a posthumous Medal of Honor. After seeing Rumsfeld destroy the nation, he realizes his own mediocrity opened the door, and returns to his old job as governor of Alabama to save it from Rumsfeldia]].
* TokenGoodTeammate: [[spoiler: Vice President Jack Edwards, with Jimmy Carter's help, is the only member of Rumsfeld's administration to see how wrong his policies are. He eventually joins the coup, only to land in jail once it falls apart]].
* TragicMistake: [[spoiler: Jesse Jackson's 1984 WTP run for office is considered to be this InUniverse, since it divided the liberal vote, allowing Rumsfeld to stay in for a second term]].
* VerbThis: "Arrest this, assholes,” [[spoiler: said by Nicholas Cage to some Liberty Legion officers, after fragging them.]]

* WhamEpisode: When the Lesser Mao [[spoiler:nukes his own rebelling troops, and then Wallace nukes with the consent of the USSR his main nuclear facility in response]].
** As of the April 13 update "Let's all go to the cinema", ''[[spoiler: California has seceded from the Union.]]''
** As of the "Saturday, July 4, 1987" update, [[spoiler: The long awaited invasion of Cuba has begun, and is a complete fiasco.]]
** As of the "Rummyhorror" update, [[spoiler: It's been two years since Rumsfeld's impeachment and the USA is under the control of the theocratic Christian Values party, and their oppressive policies have resulted in a civil war and at least a dozen more states seceding from the union]].
* WhoShotJFK: Chicago gangster Sam Giancana survives the attempt on his life in 1975 (which killed him in RealLife) and writes a tell-all book with journalist Dan Moldea, in which he dishes on (among other things) the subject of the JFK assassination. As it turns out, [[spoiler:Oswald was just a lone nut. A conspiracy between TheMafia and anti-Castro Cuban exiles tried three times to kill him, but all of them failed, and Oswald's attempt, which ultimately ''did'' get him, had nothing to do with their conspiracy. However, Giancana does speculate that another conspiracy wanted JFK dead, and that they had deliberately foiled the Mafia's efforts in order to kill him themselves. He also says that the Mafia wanted to kill Bobby Kennedy as well, but Sirhan Sirhan beat them to it.]]

** UsefulNotes/BarackObama has not featured in person, but he is the author of some of the books quoted in the timeline and is apparently a history professor, as is Creator/NewtGingrich, whose own works obviously offer the opposing slant on certain topics. [[spoiler: In the sequel, he serves as a young political dissident, and helps smuggle UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter out of Washington after the coup against Rumsfeld fails]].

** UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin is present as the political student of Premier Suslov during his time as an officer, and is the one to council and release [[spoiler: Richard Nixon from captivity]] later on.
** UsefulNotes/SarahPalin [[spoiler: is apparently involved in a coup against Rumsfeld. Until she betrays them all to Rumsfeld, having been a Christian Values infiltrator all along.]]
** 1st Lieutenant [[Creator/NicolasCage Nick Coppola]] and Lance Corporal [[Music/LLCoolJ James Todd "LJ" Smith]] are seen [[spoiler: fighting in the Cuban invasion, with Coppola and LJ's odds being against them]].

* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: [[spoiler:The Rumsfeld administration's]] economic policy is built on this. At one point they quite literally [[spoiler: ''slashes wages in half across the board'' and replace the missing 1/2 with "investment certificates".]] [[spoiler:Surely enough, by the time Rumsfeld is removed from office, living standards in the United States have collapsed to the point where the average lifespan has gone down by 12 years.]]

* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: [[The Rumsfeld administration's]] economic policy is built on this. At one point they quite literally [[spoiler: ''slashes wages in half across the board'' and replace the missing 1/2 with "investment certificates".]] [[spoiler:Surely enough, by the time Rumsfeld is removed from office, living standards in the United States have collapsed to the point where the average lifespan has gone down by 12 years.]]

*** [[spoiler:President Robertson is also this-until he dies in a highly suspicious helicopter crash, turning him into President Target. His successor Steven Symms is President Puppet, being a figurehead while Douglas Coe does the actual ruling.]]

* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: It must be addressed, unfortunately. [[spoiler: The Rumsfeld administration]] quite literally [[spoiler: ''slashes wages in half across the board''.]] Yes, really. (The HandWave is that [[spoiler: the missing 1/2]] is put into "investment certificates", but still.) Somehow the United States doesn't instantly collapse into a depression after [[spoiler: half of its citizenry's purchasing power]] goes up in smoke. [[spoiler: Though when Rumsfeld is finally removed from office, it's confirmed that the majority of US citizens are now living in poverty, meaning that the country didn't escape economic collapse after all]].

** A large theme of the timeline is the fall of the two-party system in the US, desired by many people in real life, which causes almost all of the timeline's suffering in one way or another. [[spoiler: Also, WordOfGod specifically invokes this in regards to the hinted military coup being planned against Rumsfeld.]]
** The corporations get this with [[spoiler:Rumsfeld's]] extreme deregulation of the economy, as they find a totally unrestrained free market to be far more chaotic than they anticipated.

** [[spoiler: President Rumsfeld managed to send the recovering American economy into total freefall through his oppressive and ideological policies in only a few years. His crazed anarcho-capitalist plan to try to salvage the situation by destroying all social services and most government agencies is guaranteed to make the situation worse.]]

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: The Christian Values party as a whole. [[spoiler:When Rumsfeld ends welfare and eliminates workers' rights, they offer food and money to the tired masses yearning to breathe free. They are able to use this goodwill to win the 1988 presidential election. However, they eventually reveal their true colors and create an oppressive theocracy once they're in power]].

** President [[spoiler: Rumsfeld]]. If there was any doubt, [[spoiler: by the late 1980's he's started organizing "Liberty Battalions", which are basically an American SS/SA - up to staging book burnings of "anti-American"/"anti-free market" material]].

** ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', aside from a few minor differences (Doc's time machine is made from a Chevrolet Camaro, the terrorists who attack him and Marty are South African rather than Libyan, Biff and George both work at a local phone company), things are pretty much the same, but with a ''very'' different ending. [[spoiler: George gets his hands on a DynaTAC 8000x mobile phone from the time machine and the timeline's communication industry advances rapidly. By the time Marty returns to 1985, the [=McFlys=] are rich and happy, while Biff is serving time in federal prison. However, while George and Loraine both remember Marty from 1955, they state that they only have two children and Marty is not one of them. This ending is meant as a dig at the Rumsfeld administration's historical revisionism.]]

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: In-universe variation. The Ayatollah Khomeini has LSD slipped into his food, causing him to give sermons which generate this effect.

* NeutralityBacklash: Ryzhkov uses the [[spoiler: US invasion of Cuba]] in order to identify and eliminate not his open political opponents, but those who remain silent and intend to only join the side that wins. He explains to Putin that those who name themselves your enemy can be dealt with at leisure, but opportunists are the real danger.
* NoTrueScotsman: Both We the People and the Christian Values party employ this trope against anyone within their corner of the political spectrum not agreeing with their views. The former going as far as to call the Democrats [[spoiler: part of Rumsfeld's corporate network]] while the latter use it against any christian that refuses to subscribe to their fundamentalist rhetoric.

* MortalityPhobia: Agnew believes the Soviets suffer from this due to being atheists and not believing in an afterlife, and uses it to justify his provocations of the Soviet Union.

* DirtyCommunists: [[spoiler: Rumsfeld]] and to a lesser extant, Agnew, believe wholeheartedly in this trope. [[spoiler: Played straight and turned UpToEleven with the Lesser Mao. Zig-zagged with Premier Ryzhkov, who is a strict authoritarian but also brokered a peace treaty between the Republic of China and South Korea, and has made efforts to improve life in the Soviet Union and end the Cold War.]]

** Taken UpToEleven when the [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic Liberty Legions]] burn books by ''Adam Smith'' for being "anti-capitalist".

* RightWingMilitiaFanatic: [[spoiler:[[ANaziByAnyOtherName The Liberty]] [[UpToEleven Battalions]]]] are a good example of what happens when such groups are actually sanctioned by the government.

The full story will not be given here due to the timeline turning on shocking twists, but thanks to [=McGovern=] refusing to step down and standing as a "Peace" candidate, as well as George Wallace staying in the race, the result is that no one wins the Electoral College vote. And then it gets worse. And worse. ''And worse''... The story ends in 1981, followed by a SequelSeries [[note]]which we will not mention by name as the title is a massive spoiler[[/note]], bringing the woes to TheEighties. And it ''very'' much lives up to its title. It can be read [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=261579 here]]. Sadly, a DeadFic, as of March 2021.

*** [[spoiler: Mexico under Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas manages to reform Mexico to the point that it becomes a prosperous nation and major power in its own right]].

* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: It must be addressed, unfortunately. [[spoiler: The Rumsfeld administration]] quite literally [[spoiler: ''slashes wages in half across the board''.]] Yes, really. (The HandWave is that [[spoiler: the missing 1/2]] is put into "investment certificates", but still.) Somehow the United States doesn't instantly collapse into a depression after [[spoiler: half of its citizenry's purchasing power]] goes up in smoke. [[spoiler: Though when Rumsfeld is finally removed from office, it's confirmed that his idea really did critically wound the American economy]].

The full story will not be given here due to the timeline turning on shocking twists, but thanks to [=McGovern=] refusing to step down and standing as a "Peace" candidate, as well as George Wallace staying in the race, the result is that no one wins the Electoral College vote. And then it gets worse. And worse. ''And worse''... The story ends in 1981, followed by a SequelSeries [[note]]which we will not mention by name as the title is a massive spoiler[[/note]], bringing the woes to TheEighties. And it ''very'' much lives up to its title. It can be read [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=261579 here]].

** President [[spoiler:Rumsfeld]] compares homosexuals to pedophiles in his speeches.

* AlternativeHistory: It's the ''Soviet Union'' that wins the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, having successfully reformed its system in the '70s and '80s. It pulls Western Europe into its economic orbit (and makes scads of cash) by selling them natural gas and petroleum at cut-rate prices, and domestically, it engages in a form of "MBA communism" reminiscent of UsefulNotes/DengXiaoping's [[UsefulNotes/ToGetRichIsGlorious reforms of OTL's China]], cutting back excessive military spending, allowing more free enterprise and trade, and requiring more accountability from state-owned businesses. Meanwhile, the US under [[spoiler:Rumsfeld]] experiences much the same economic, domestic, and military pressures that ultimately did in OTL's USSR, with foreign adventurism and various wonder weapons bloating the defense budget, an aggressive ideological pursuit of the free market at all costs doing severe structural damage to the economy and standards of living, and the two-party system under increasing strain from both sides. The parallels get even stronger in [[spoiler:Rumsfeld's]] second term, with [[spoiler:California and Hawaii seceding from the Union]], several other state governments openly defying the will of Washington, and NATO dissolving as Western Europe, unable to trust an America that's increasingly becoming a rogue state, goes it alone and establishes a ''detente'' with the USSR.

*** The next film, originally meant to be ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'', fell into DevelopmentHell for six years due to the disintegration of NATO; the UK and Western Europe's thawing relations with the USSR and very cold relations with the US effectively [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp rendered the plot obsolete]]. This film, released in 1987 as ''[=DeadEye=]'', saw the role of Bond recast with [[Series/TheSandbaggers Ray Lonnen]] while Creator/ClintEastwood (who, like many other American celebrities and political figures, had been essentially exiled to Britain due to his politics) played the villain, the American general Morgan Buckner. Buckner's EvilPlan, explicitly stated to have the approval of the US President (who Eastwood played the role as a deliberate parody of), is to use microwave pulse satellites to launch [[FalseFlagOperation false-flag attacks]] on the UK and the USSR, starting a war between the two nations that would end with the US swooping in to rebuild Europe in its image. The film is a hit in Europe and Asia, and while it's never officially released in the US, it still becomes an underground CultClassic there.

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: Inverted. It's the ''Soviet Union'' that wins the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, having successfully reformed its system in the '70s and '80s. It pulls Western Europe into its economic orbit (and makes scads of cash) by selling them natural gas and petroleum at cut-rate prices, and domestically, it engages in a form of "MBA communism" reminiscent of UsefulNotes/DengXiaoping's [[UsefulNotes/ToGetRichIsGlorious reforms of OTL's China]], cutting back excessive military spending, allowing more free enterprise and trade, and requiring more accountability from state-owned businesses. Meanwhile, the US under [[spoiler:Rumsfeld]] experiences much the same economic, domestic, and military pressures that ultimately did in OTL's USSR, with foreign adventurism and various wonder weapons bloating the defense budget, an aggressive ideological pursuit of the free market at all costs doing severe structural damage to the economy and standards of living, and the two-party system under increasing strain from both sides. The parallels get even stronger in [[spoiler:Rumsfeld's]] second term, with [[spoiler:California and Hawaii seceding from the Union]], several other state governments openly defying the will of Washington, and NATO dissolving as Western Europe, unable to trust an America that's increasingly becoming a rogue state, goes it alone and establishes a ''detente'' with the USSR.

* NuclearWeaponsTaboo: Officially broken as of the [[spoiler:Kwangzi incident, in which the Lesser Mao nuked his own troops in order to put down a mutiny. (The fact that this doesn't even come ''close'' to the Lesser Mao's MoralEventHorizon speaks volumes about his rule over China.) This leads the US, in an effort to take down the Lesser Mao, to nuke the Chinese atomic research facility at Lop Nur with the Soviets' blessing.]] It's also been stated that South Africa will eventually resort to nuclear weapons in order to stave off collapse (they're already using dirty bombs and other [=WMDs=]), and that Japan and Taiwan are working on a joint nuclear weapons project out of fear of China. (It's top secret, of course; many Japanese still remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki.)

%% * GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

** [[spoiler: Rumsfeld is finally deposed, and Denton decides to serve out the remainder of his term and work with the remaining moderate political forces to restore confidence. But the Christian Values Party decides not to give up their power, and they don't, forming an oppressive theocracy which all but destroys the USA by 1990]].

* SleazyPolitician: Trent Lott, the Mississippi representative who becomes Speaker of the House, is described repeatedly as being a self-serving opportunist. It's all but stated he blocked [[spoiler: Governor Richard Lamm's]] nomination as a caretaker Vice President [[spoiler: just so he could ascend to the presidency if the ailing Wallace either died or was impeached over illegal arms dealing in Central America]]. When [[spoiler:Rumsfeld]] is elected, he goes along with his insane policies, [[spoiler: and supports the nomination of the fundamentalist Jeremiah Denton as Vice President, just so the Christian Values party doesn't threaten the Republican majority in the House]]. [[spoiler:[[LaserGuidedKarma When the CV launches a purge of Rumsfeld's supporters, he gets sentenced to hard labor]].]]

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: The Christian Values party as a whole. [[spoiler:When Rumsfeld ends welfare and eliminates workers' rights, they offer food and money to the tired masses yearning to breathe free. However, they eventually reveal their true colors and create an oppressive theocracy]].

* IAmTheNoun: The Iranian Shah, in a closed discussion with President [[spoiler:Wallace]], declares "I am Iran!" when the latter says he has to go.

* CocaPepsiInc: Creator/MarvelComics, having gone bankrupt at the end of TheSeventies, has been bought by Creator/DCComics and the two are to merge their universes. Also an example of ForWantOfANail, as in OTL Marvel was kept afloat by its ''StarWars'' comics--in ''Gumbo'', ''StarWars'' only exists as an obscure animated film, and though Marvel still produces comics based on it, they're not popular enough to save it.

** Creator/GeorgeLucas dies in a car accident, so ''[[Franchise/StarWars Stars Wars]]'' is instead an animated film directed by Creator/RalphBakshi.

** BedlamHouse: [[spoiler: These are Rumsfeld's version of TheGulag, using bogus mental illness diagnoses to have dissidents committed to mental hospitals -- [[NotSoDifferent similar to what Stalin did]].]]

* NotSoDifferent: [[spoiler: Ron Dellums wonders about this in regards to George Wallace]].

*** The Soviet Union is steadily adopting Real-world China style reforms and is drawing Western Europe into its orbit with ease given [[spoiler: the increasingly psychotic and vindictive Rumsfeld]]. While it is still an authoritarian regime, it does seem to have a good chance of emerging from the 80s as a freer and more prosperous country than America does.

*** [[spoiler: Mexico under Cuacthemoc Cardenas manages to reform Mexico to the point that he becomes a prosperous nation and major power in its own right]].

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: Inverted. It's the ''Soviet Union'' that wins the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, having successfully reformed its system in the '70s and '80s. It pulls Western Europe into its economic orbit (and makes scads of cash) by selling them natural gas and petroleum at cut-rate prices, and domestically, it engages in a form of "MBA communism" reminiscent of Deng Xiaoping's reforms of OTL's China, cutting back excessive military spending, allowing more free enterprise and trade, and requiring more accountability from state-owned businesses. Meanwhile, the US under [[spoiler:Rumsfeld]] experiences much the same economic, domestic, and military pressures that ultimately did in OTL's USSR, with foreign adventurism and various wonder weapons bloating the defense budget, an aggressive ideological pursuit of the free market at all costs doing severe structural damage to the economy and standards of living, and the two-party system under increasing strain from both sides. The parallels get even stronger in [[spoiler:Rumsfeld's]] second term, with [[spoiler:California and Hawaii seceding from the Union]], several other state governments openly defying the will of Washington, and NATO dissolving as Western Europe, unable to trust an America that's increasingly becoming a rogue state, goes it alone and establishes a ''detente'' with the USSR.

--> '''Kiang Liu''': You may threaten a man all you want, but when he begins to eat grass and sees his children dying, he has not much to loose in act of rebellion.

** UsefulNotes/BarackObama has not featured in person, but he is the author of some of the books quoted in the timeline and is apparently a history professor, as is UsefulNotes/NewtGingrich, whose own works obviously offer the opposing slant on certain topics. [[spoiler: In the sequel, he serves as a young political dissident, and helps smuggle UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter out of Washington after the coup against Rumsfeld fails]].