What if polio doesn't strike Franklin Roosevelt? On August 10, 1921, Franklin Roosevelt awakens with his legs no different than the day before. He can walk. He can run. He can kick. He can jump. And over the weeks and months and years ahead, nothing changes about his legs. No massage therapy. No warm water treatments. No metal braces. No polio. So how might his life have different? … [Read more...]
What If Hitler Doesn’t Declare War on the United States?
October 2, 2012 by
On December 11, 1941 Germany’s chancellor, the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, declared war on the United States. His declaration of war against the U.S. came four days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. That’s what really happened. Here’s my what-if—what if Hitler hadn’t declared war on America? What if, say, he had waited a year, in late 1942, before formally declaring war on the U.S.? What … [Read more...]
What If United Flight 93 Doesn’t Crash In Western Pennsylvania?
September 11, 2012 by
What If: United Flight 93’s Passengers Hadn’t Crashed The Airplane On The Morning Of September 11, 2001? Islamic radical terrorists had already hijacked three other passenger airplanes on September 11, 2001 and flown them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The fourth plane—United Flight 93—was also seized as planned by the terrorists. The difference here, though, is rather than the … [Read more...]
What If: The Gettysburg Address Is Never Given
May 11, 2012 by
What If: Lincoln Hadn’t Delivered The Gettysburg Address? The ceremony at the dedication of the national military cemetery, the first of its kind in the United States, went off as planned at mid-day, Thursday, November 19, 1863. But for any number of very plausible reasons, Lincoln couldn’t attend. Maybe he declined the initial invitation to “give a few remarks.” Maybe he accepted and had … [Read more...]
What If The United States Does Not Unite?
November 28, 2011 by
Huge question, huge topic, so huge, in fact, that it’s hard to get a firm grasp on a clear response or line of thought. To better do so, let’s narrow it down a bit. Our focus will be fairly tight, say, in 1787-1789, as the moment when various States of the newly United States failed to come to an accord and unify behind the proposed constitution. The result would have been catastrophic to world … [Read more...]
What if Jeremiah Greenman’s leader had behaved differently?
September 24, 2008 by
Benedict Arnold was the leader of the Quebec march. He was Greenman’s leader. Surprised? Get ready for more surprises. Before we go to the “what-if”, permit me to provide some background. Benedict Arnold is the most infamous traitor in American history. His name has become a synonym for betrayal and has remained thus for more than 200 years. That’s a legacy. Arnold was 34 years old at the … [Read more...]
Cell Phones, YouTube, and the Constitutional Convention of 1787
September 24, 2008 by
What if one of the delegates at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 had used their cell phone to record debate and then posted it on YouTube? Wow, that takes a minute to grasp. In case you aren't aware, you can buy a cell phone that has the capability to record "moving pictures", like a camcorder. You can then post the film on the internet. For many people, especially those under thirty years … [Read more...]
What if…John Wilkes Booth had not assassinated Abraham Lincoln?
September 24, 2008 by
What if Booth had not killed Lincoln? Put another way, what if Lincoln had lived through two complete presidential terms? In my view, had Lincoln lived and died of natural causes his reputation would reach us today in lessened form. We would not have the near Christ-like admiration that most people express for Lincoln. Conversely, we would probably still have the current minority (which is … [Read more...]
