http://cache.io9.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png http://io9.com/tag/richard nixon http://io9.com/tag/richard nixon

The 1969 moon landing was one of humanity's most impressive achievements, but there was always a chance that things could go terribly wrong. But if the worst happened, and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were commended to the void of space, Nixon had a stirring speech prepared, one that celebrated the spirit of exploration and the nobility of our lunar dreams. More »
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In honor of Election Night 2010, let's remember the bizarre historical minutiae comic books have taught us about the ol' U.S. of A. You know, like the time Henry Kissinger met Doctor Doom.

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In 1971, the National Emergency Warning Center accidentally told US radio stations to suspend all broadcasts, presumably because the world was ending in a nuclear fireball. It took them 40 minutes to correct this apocalyptic gaffe. More »
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If 24 has taught us anything, it's that the presidential succession can be the stuff of riveting, wildly implausible drama. Here are five presidential might-have-beens that would make for some fascinating alternate history stories. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5276306&view=rss&microfeed=true Watchmen takes place in an alternate America of 1985, complete with Cold War references like the Doomsday plot and nuclear paranoia, along with more subtle changes. The history of Watchmen's world mirrors our own until the 1940s, when "costumed adventurers" - the book's name for superheroes - started to appear (This timeline follows our world's timeline for the emergence of superheroes in comics). In 1959, an accident transformed scientist Jon Osterman into Dr. Manhattan, a being with godlike power, permanently shifting the global power structure in the US' favor, leading to (amongst other things) Vietnam becoming the 51st state of the USA following a significantly different war in the 1960s. In Watchmen's 1985, Richard Nixon is still president, having used the Comedian to cover up Watergate successfully and repealed the 22nd Amendment to remain in power for five terms; the result, perhaps, of Alan Moore's own political pessimism about then-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's successful third election. More »
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The latest Futurama movie, The Beast with a Billion Backs, found Richard Nixon’s head still president of an increasingly crappy Earth, and Nixon will again take the highest office in next year’s Watchmen. In fact, if there’s a vaguely dystopian alternate history or future, chances are there’s a Nixon to run it. But as our nation gets more presidents under its belt, another politician may challenge Nixon’s supremacy as head of unhappy states. But our 37th president will not relinquish his title so easily. After the jump, read Nixon’s track record and see why you should reelect him president of your dystopian America. More »
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