Alternate History 🇺🇸 November 2, 1976: President Nelson Rockefeller wins election to full 4-year term and the aftermath

[Sergeant Foley]

NSFW INSTALLMENT DISCLAIMER: The following installment will be NSFW gruesome and graphic. Viewer discretion is advised.

......"The opening sequence of the locker-room scene in the Portuguese Sci-Fi movie "Secret Life of the Female Gymnast" was considered very gruesome to say the least as Molly began shedding her entire human skin from head to toe, revealing her naked, barefoot and also skinless.

Then she got inside some weird invisible stretcher and calmly got inside one of those secretive walls, which teleported her to a sound-proof underground tunnel which was extremely large. Molly calmly walked toward an extra-large glass container pool that contained Victoria's naked body inside. Molly made several latex mask body skins of Victoria's resemblance.

Across the secret lab were clear boxes which had contained all of the organs, which Molly removed out of Victoria's body from head to toe. Molly had a habit of skinning and removing organs out of bodies before thoroughly massaging the naked bodies for her own secret escapades."
-Excerpts from the Portuguese Sci-Fi fictional movie "Secret Life of the Female Gymnast"
Summer 1983

 

[Sergeant Foley]

HOWE ELECTED TO FULL TERM AS BRITISH PRIME MINISTER IN LANDSLIDE VICTORY
*Thursday, June 9, 1983: Having ascended to the Prime Ministership following the shocking assassination of then-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1982 during the height of the Falklands War of 1982 (which the British won following months of a long hard-fought battle against the Argentinians) including leading the country during the shocking mysterious death of Queen Elizabeth II, British Prime Minister Geoffrey Howe led the Conservative Party to its largest majority in the British Parliament gaining 58 seats totaling 13,012,316 votes nationwide with 42.99 percent of the vote while the Labour Party led by Michael Foot lost 60 seats and the SDP/Liberal Alliance Party led by Roy Jenkins and David Steel, managed to gain 12 seats of the British Parliament.

PIONEER 10 PASSES ORBIT OF NEPTUNE.
*Monday, June 13, 1983: Pioneer 10 made history, becoming the first human-made object to leave the vicinity of planets of the Solar System by passing through the orbit of Neptune.

SPORTS: TEAM OF SCHUPPAN, HOLBERT AND HAYWOOD WIN 24 HOURS OF LE MANS
*Saturday, June 18-Sunday, June 19, 1983: In the 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans sports race, the team of Vern Schuppan, Al Holbert and Hurley Haywood won the FIA World Endurance Championship, which was held in Le Mans, France.

VATICAN GIRL MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARS
*Wednesday, June 22, 1983: Emanuela Orlandi, the 15-year-old girl from Vatican City, mysteriously disappeared in Rome, Italy while she was returning home from attending a music lesson. The mysterious disappearance leads to explosive allegations and theories such as Italian organized crime, international terrorism, kidnapping of young teenagers, even allegations of the Vatican covering up sex scandals.

LOSS OF COOLANT OCCURS AT ARGENTINIAN NUCLEAR POWER STATION
*Thursday, June 30, 1983: The Embalse Nuclear Power Station near Embalse, Cordoba, Argentine Republic suffered a total loss of coolant; It is being classified as an "Accident with Local Consequences" level 4 on the International Nuclear Event Scale.

"READING RAINBOW" DEBUTS ON PBS NATIONWIDE
*July 11, 1983: Public Broadcasting Station debuts the new television show, "Reading Rainbow".

FAMICOM GOES ON SALE IN JAPAN
*July 15, 1983: Nintendo's Family Computer, known as Famicon, goes on sale in Japan.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

BREAKING NEWS ALERT: FORMER US SUPREME COURT ASSOCIATE JUSTICE SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 93.

I'll have more to say later in the timeline and leaning towards making a special Wiki-infobox on Justice O'Connor.

Deepest condolences to the O'Connor family.

RIP Justice O'Connor: Gone, but will never be forgotten!
26 March 1930-1 December 2023

​

 

[Sergeant Foley]

Sandra Day O'Connor (26 March 1930-1 December 2023), was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1981 until her retirement in 2006. She was also the first woman to serve on the nation's highest judiciary branch; known as a Moderate-to-Conservative, O'Connor was well-known for her precisely researched opinions. Nominated by President Ronald Reagan (1911-1983), O'Connor was considered as a major swing vote for the Rehnquist Court and the first few months of the Roberts Court. Before serving on the nation's highest judiciary branch, O'Connor served as Judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals for Division 1 (1979-1981) and Judge for the Maricopa County Superior Court for Division 31 (1975-1979) including winning election to the Arizona State Senate representing Districts 8-E, 20 and 24 (1969-1975) for two full two-year terms. Following her nomination to the United States Supreme Court, O'Connor was overwhelmingly confirmed by the United States Senate in a 100-0 vote and was sworn into office by US Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Burger on 25 September 1981. Among her opinions on the Supreme Court included the following: Bush vs Davis in the hotly-contested 2000 US Presidential election; Hamdi vs. Rumsfeld; Grutter vs. Bollinger and countless others. O'Connor served under the following Presidents during her 24 years on the nation's highest judiciary branch: Reagan (1981-1983), George HW Bush (1983-1993), Bill Clinton (1993-1996), Al Gore (1996-1997), Mark W. White, Jr., (1997-2001) and George W. Bush (2001-2009), retiring during Bush's second term.

Having announced her retirement on 1 July 2005, President George W. Bush nominated Samuel Alito as her successor, which the United States Senate voted to confirm him, joining the Supreme Court on 31 January 2006 following O'Connor's retirement. She also served as Chancellor for the College of William & Mary, serving from 1 October 2005 until her retirement on 3 February 2012 and was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama on 12 August 2009.

Following long illness and a battle with dementia, O'Connor passed away at her home in Phoenix, Arizona at the age of 93.

Sandra Day O'Connor

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
of the United States
In office
25 September 1981-31 January 2006
Nominated by Ronald Reagan
Preceded by Potter Stewart
Succeeded by Samuel Alito

Judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals
for Division One
In office
14 December 1979-25 September 1981
Nominated by Bruce Babbitt
Preceded by Mary Schroeder
Succeeded by Sarah D. Grant

Judge of the Maricopa County Suprerior
Court for Division 31
In office
9 January 1975-14 December 1979
Preceded by David Perry
Succeeded by Cecil Patterson

Member of the Arizona State Senate
from Districts 8-E, 20 and 24
In office
8 January 1973-13 January 1975
Preceded by Howard S. Baldwin
Succeeded by John Pritzlaf
Constituency 24th District

In office
11 January 1971-8 January 1973
Preceded by Constituency established
Succeeded by Bess Stinson
Constituency 20th District

In office
30 October 1969-11 January 1971
Preceded by Isabel Burgess
Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Constituency 8-E District

23rd Chancellor of the College of
William & Mary
In office
1 October 2005-3 February 2012
President Gene Nichol
Taylor Revely
Preceded by Juan H. Cinton Garcia
Succeeded by Robert Gates
******Personal Details******
Born Sandra Day
26 March 1930
El Paso, Texas, US
Died 1 December 2023 (aged 93)
Phoenix, Arizona, US
Political party Republican
Spouse John Jay O'Connor (m. 1952-2009; his death)
Children 3
Relatives Ann Day (sister)
Education Stanford University (BA, LLB)
Awards Presidential Medal of Freedom (2009)
​

 

[Sergeant Foley]

Zelyukeza Celestine Pereira Gonsalves (11 February 1948-12 June 1983), better known as Catalina Gonsalves was a Portuguese politician, activist, actress, beauty pageant titleholder and philanthropist, who served as First Lady of Portugal from July 1976 until her death in June 1983, as the wife of Portuguese President General Winfield Pierre Frederick Gonsalves (1923-2004). She was born in a ranching farming rural village in Vila Nova de Cerveira, as one of 13 children. Following graduating from Vila Nova High School, she enlisted in the Portuguese Air Force for three years from 1966 to 1969, where she was stationed at the AT1-Transit Airfield #1, Lisbon. Following her military service, she participated in several beauty pageants which culminated in holding the title of Miss Portugal 1970 and participated in the Miss World 1970 pageant, where she placed 4th Runner-Up including participating in the 20th Miss Universe pageant of 1971, where she was 1st Runner-Up. Afterwards, she began a career as a film actress. Besides her native Portuguese, she was excellently fluent in English and Spanish.

She met Major General Winfield Gonsalves on 21 June 1970 during a professional football sporting event for the CD Tondela professional football club including during her time as Miss Portugal 1970. The two married a year later. Winfield Gonsalves was elected President of Portugal in June 1976 and took office on 14 July 1976; during the next seven years, Catalina Gonsalves became powerful and influential within the pro-Gonsalvesita Trade Unions, primarily speaking on behalf of labor rights. She also ran the Ministries of Health and Labor including championing women's suffrage as well as the abolishment of abortions in Portugal; she also founded the nation's first large-scale female political party in Portugal: the Female Gonsalvesista Party. There was also controversy along the way which was legendary: Catalina Gonsalves in the Summer of 1977, posed naked for Playboy Portugal and Playboy Magazine, these incidents caused backlash amongst some quarters of the country, but overall: her popularity remained an all-time high with 81 percent of Portugueseans approving her job performance as First Lady of the Portuguese Republic.

Upon her death from an undisclosed form of cancer at the age of 35, Catalina Gonsalves was given a full State Funeral which was generally reserved for Heads of State and Heads of Government. She was entombed at the Catalina Gonsalves Liberty Mausoleum in the outskirts of Vila Nova de Cervieria, which over 73 million continue an international pilgrimage to her elaborate tomb: it is still amongst one of the many tourist attractions as of this day.

Catalina Gonsalves has gone on to become part of international culture such with films and special documentaries.

Catalina Gonsalves

First Lady of Portugal
In office
13 July 1976-12 June 1983
President Winfield Gonsalves
Preceded by Estela Costa Gomes
Succeeded by Maria Barroso

President of the Female Gonsalvesista Party
In office
16 March 1980-12 June 1983
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Olivia Meluzacez
*************************************Personal Details************************
Born Zelyukeza Celestine Pereria
11 February 1948
Vila Nova de Cerveira, Portgual
Died 12 June 1983 (aged 35)
Belem Palace
Lisbon, Portugal
Cause of death Cervical cancer
Resting place Catalina Gonsalves Liberty Mausoleum
Vila Nova de Cerveira, Portugal
Political party Independent
Female Gonsalvesista Party
Spouse Winfield Gonsalves (m. 1971-1983: her death)
Children 7 daughters (including Patricia)
12 Stepchildren
Parents Jorge Antonio Pereira
Susana Mendez de Sousa
Military Service
Allegiance Portugal
Branch/Service Portuguese Air Force
Years of service 1966-1969
Rank Second Sergeant
Unit Reserves ​

 

[Sergeant Foley]

......."This is what we love about Queen Margrethe II and Prince Consort Henrik of the Kingdom of Denmark. They're like us: chain-smoking when ever they feel like it, upholding certain traditions in Denmark and making the country more modern."
-Excerpt from Monarchs of the World
Summer 1983​

 

[Sergeant Foley]

......"As millions watched on Belgian State Television and across parts of the world, Crown Prince Hubert, heir to the Belgian Throne, married Luciana Paleta, a commoner from a small farming town, in what many would refer to as "The Royal Wedding of the Year".

Following the wedding festivities at the Cathedral of Brussels, Prince Hubert and now Princess Luciana were ridden in an open horse-drawn carriage all the way towards the Royal Palace, where they were greeted by throngs of well-wishers.

And some Belgians began to think of a future Belgium with Hubert and Luciana as the future King and Queen of the Belgians decades down the road."
-Excerpt from the Brussels Gazette
Royal Wedding of the Year: Belgium's Newest Royal Couple
16 July 1983

 

[Sergeant Foley]

......"Mitterrand was determined by having France becoming an independent player on foreign policy especially particular international events and incidents. It became apparent that the French were skillfully in playing both sides of the spectrum internationally and the way some in the French government was behaving, it annoyed most of us, particular London and Washington.

Shultz's toughest job as US Secretary of State was balancing delicately on US/France diplomatic relations between the NATO allies: respecting France's self-determination on foreign policy matters but being aggressive in lobbying France over to our side over difficult international events.

We didn't have any idea if Shultz could pull this off and we were about to find out."
-Excerpt from "The Diplomat: George Shultz and American Diplomacy in a chaotic world from the 80s"
Summer 2011

 

[Sergeant Foley]

BRITISH AIRWAYS SIKORSKY S-61 CRASHES IN THE SOUTHERN CELTIC SEA, KILLING 20 PEOPLE ABOARD; 6 SURVIVE HORRIFIC PLANE CRASH
*July 16, 1983: The British Airways Sikorsky S-61 helicopter crashed into the Southern Celtic Sea while the helicopter was en-route to Saint Mary's, Isles of Sicily. Out of the 23 passengers in the helicopter, only 6 people survived the devastating and horrific plane crash.

MARTIAL LAW ENDS IN POLAND
*July 20, 1983: The Polish military government announced the end of Martial Law in the Republic of Poland and also announced amnesty for political prisoners.

LOWEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED IN EARTH
*July 21, 1983: In the Vostok Station in Antartica, scientific measurements and experiments revealed the lowest natural temperature on Earth via ground level: -89.2 oC.

SMITH COMPLETES SOLO CIRCUMNAVIGATION VIA HELICOPTER
*July 22, 1983: Australian aviator Dick Smith made history by completing a solo helicopter flight around the world. His flight first began in Fort Worth, Texas on 2 August 1982 and ended on 22 July 1983.

FOUR-FOUR-BRAVO AMBUSH ESCALATES INTO THE SRI LANKAN CIVIL WAR
*July 23, 1983: 13 Sri Lankan Army soldiers were ambushed and shot to death by the militant LTTE terrorist group while the soldiers were deployed in the Jaffna Peninsula. As a result of the Four-Four-Bravo ambush, the ramifications of this ambush resulted in vicious retaliatory responses by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces with incidents such as the Thirunelveli Massacre on 24 July and the six-day Black July riots (more on this later in the timeline).

 

[Sergeant Foley]

......"the lagging oil boom bust pretty much was game, set, match and in all likelihood, the beginning of the end for Treen. All that chaos, indecision, micromanaging and escalating economic collapse of the Pelican State's economy and coupled with a massive depleted budget surplus he had inherited three years earlier, was exploding in his face. You can say that was probably the clincher, right after Reagan's political hachet henchemen were basically telling most Louisianans to FUCK OFF with the infamous headline, "Reagan to Louisiana: FUCK OFF!", but still. It crystalized for the entire Pelican State, whose electoral votes Reagan badly needed in 1984 if he wanted to win reelection with his lagging approval ratings due to the disastrous Economic Recession of 1982 which killed Republicans in the 1982 Midterm elections. Edwards skillfully exploited the chaos for his own benefit with the "Government-in-Waiting" campaign in his campaign for a historic third term as Governor and he took advantage of the aftermath of the explosive chaos and was leading by double digits in polling surveys ranging from 15 to 27 percentage points. He kept up the relentless attacks on Governor Treen's administration and the four years of "failed leadership" presiding over an economic crisis and massive unemployment hampering the Pelican State. Some Treen insiders knew it was over, they just didn't anticipate of what the massive landslide margin of defeat was going to look like...."
-Former United States Senator J. Bennett Johnston (D-LA)
Democratic Party nominee for Vice President 1988
Exclusive interview for "Louisiana: The State We're In" LPB TV
Spring 2003

....."The so-called Reagan Tax Cuts aren't working Mr. President. Your policies have resulted in massive job loss for many Americans, who are struggling. He needs to come down here and see the empty buildings in downtown Houston while he proposes over-the-top budget deficit hike increases for his multimillionare buddies while ignoring the American people on Main Street; let President Reagan go to the struggling stores owned by families here in Texas, who paid a heavy price in trusting him back in 1980 and were sold a whole bill of goods, which went unfufilled. Maybe if he understood how many Texans, who are suffering from the horrific and disastrous Reaganomics ponzi schemes, he would change his tune."
-Texas Governor Mark Wells White, Jr.,
Texans for Economic Prosperity Rally
16 July 1983

....."the whole ordeal of dealing with the ongoing ramifications from the Economic Recession of 1982 and the horrific results of the budget shortfall during the 68th Legislative Session sparked something inside of Mark. Having previously worked with the Rockefeller and Holton administrations and somewhat with the Reagan administration durng his time in the United States Senate, really thought Reagan was an honest broker, was working really hard to prevent Texas from going into economic default and collapse....and then Reagan's political henchmen go out and gives him the biggest political middle finger, basically a fuck you to the Governor of the largest State in the Union. Mark took it very personally. I'd never ever, seen him enraged like that before."
-United States Senator Lloyd Bentsen (D-TX)
Exclusive Interview with NBC 36 KTVV-TV Austin
23 June 1983
"Aftermath of the 1982 Midterms"

 

[Sergeant Foley]

....."the allegations of former Senator Allain's bachelorhood status caused some Mississippians to become suspicious about his personal life. The controversial FBI raid and arrest which resulted in his resignation from the United States Senate in 1981. Allain explained he was married to Doris Burns for six years, 1964-1970 and had three step-children during that time. However, some opponents weren't impressed and decided to dig up dirt on Allain's personal life and expose it to the public. It was in the middle of his campaign for Mississippi State Attorney General."
-Southern Politics and Cuttthroat Hardball Tactics

 

[Sergeant Foley]

JOB APPROVAL RATINGS FOR PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN (22-25 JULY 1983) GALLUP:
APPROVE: 37%
DISAPPROVE: 49%
UNDECIDED: 11%

FIRST LADY NANCY REAGAN JOB APPROVAL RATING:
APPROVE: 58%
DISAPPROVE: 25%
UNDECIDED: 13%

VICE PRESIDENT GEORGE HW BUSH JOB APPROVAL RATING:
APPROVE: 42%
DISAPPROVE: 47%
UNDECIDED: 11%

SECOND LADY BARBARA BUSH JOB APPROVAL RATING:
APPROVE: 62%
DISAPPROVE: 19%
UNDECIDED: 18%

US SECRETARY OF STATE GEORGE P. SHULTZ JOB APPROVAL RATING:
APPROVE: 51%
DISAPPROVE: 37%
UNDECIDED: 12%

US SECRETARY OF DEFENSE HENRY M. JACKSON JOB APPROVAL RATING:
APPROVE: 73%
DISAPPROVE: 13%
UNDECIDED: 13%

US SENATE MAJORITY LEADER HOWARD BAKER (R-TN) JOB APPROVAL RATING:
APPROVE: 58%
DISAPPROVE: 38%

US SENATE MINORITY LEADER ROBERT BYRD (D-WV) JOB APPROVAL RATING:
APPROVE: 61%
DISAPPROVE: 25%

1984 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION HEAD-TO-HEAD MATCHUPS:
President Ronald Reagan: 73%
Former US Ambassador to Canada Walter Mondale: 23%

President Ronald Reagan: 62%
United States Senator John Glenn (D-OH): 36%

President Ronald Reagan: 59%
United States Senator Gary Hart (D-CO): 37%

President Ronald Reagan: 57%
New York State Governor Mario Cuomo: 31%

COMING UP IN THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC: More Personal PoV's.

 

[Red_Tornado]

A 1984 election with former actor and astronauts would be interesting.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

A 1984 election with former actor and astronauts would be interesting.

I've got some bad news for you..... Reagan will NOT finish out his term and most likely won't make it alive in the Fall of 1983.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

......"I am announcing my campaign for the Presidency of the United States in 1984. America is at a crossroads with an economy not working for all Americans in all 51 States; a disastrous Reaganomics economic policy; chaotic foreign policy with explosive hotspots escalating and what the 1980s can show us and the world.

It is important that we get this election right in 1984. I pledge to be a President for all Americans in the next four years with new policies and new initiatives for the American people. The entire world is watching and we need to take back America!"
-Excerpt from United States Senator John Glenn (D-OH) presidential campaign announcement speech
John Glenn High School Auditorium
Summer 1983
"Campaign 84: The Path Forward in a chaotic decade"

 

[Sergeant Foley]

......"We're here to lift the weak and to build the peace, and most important, we're here as Dr. Warren said, to act today for the happiness and liberty of millions yet unborn, to seize the future so that every new child of this beloved Republic can dream heroic dreams. If we do less, we betray the memory of those who have given so much.

This historic room and the Presidency belong to you. It is your right and responsibility every four years to give someone temporary custody of this office and of the institution of the Presidency. You so honored me, and I'm grateful------grateful and proud of what, together, we have accomplished.

We have made a new beginning. Vice President Bush and I would like to have your continued support and cooperation in continuing what we've began two years ago. I am therefore, announcing, that I am a candidate and will be seeking reelection to the office I presently hold.

Thank you for the trust you've placed in me. God bless you and good night."

-Excerpt from nationwide address of President Ronald Wilson Reagan announcing his reelection campaign for the 1984 Presidential election.
Oval Office
White House
Washington, DC
13 June 1983​

 

[Sergeant Foley]

Instigating the Super Chaos inside the Middle East
Summer 1983
​

The Middle East was and will always be a region of authoritarian regimes and military dictatorships. It always has been and forever will be. Just the way it is.

Though Iran had brief moments of total mayhem during 1978-79, things calmed down once the chaos died down; Iran seemingly and shockingly climbed its way back to seeing their potential of greatness and now sat on pathways to massive reforms under the reign of Empress Farah Pahlavi, who successfully defeated the Iraqis in the Iran/Iraq War.

Egypt and Bangladesh saw their autocratic leaders violently gunned down in shocking assassinations, which led to their successors quickly consolidating their positions respectively through violent, deadly, controversial and aggressive purges and rotated their foreign policy as Western-aligned in their respective regions. Israel had not only signed its historic Rose Garden Camp David Peace Accords with Egypt, which caused the return of the Sinai Peninsula to the Egyptians and secured the western borders for good, but at the same time, continued improving diplomatic relations with neighboring Kingdom of Jordan secretly behind the scenes under the Premiership of Menachem Begin. Even the Gulf Monarchies such as Kuwait with massive new amounts of oil supplies turned up in Norway, Alaska and the United Kingdom began aggressively hitting the markets.

All of these developments and circumstances easily benefited the United States, which helped broker the Camp David Peace Accords between Israel and Egypt that began under Rockefeller and continued under Holton, then accelerated under Reagan; Assisted Iran's transition into a functional and calm country. The Middle East was a mixture of strongly pro-Western and pro-Washington-friendly polities in the super extra-large belt stretching from Egypt through the Arabian Peninsula to including various Gulf Monarchies across the Gulf of Iran and also including Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Saudi Arabia was the scene of total chaos and mayhem in the Summer of 1980 when General Jamal Al-Fayheed successfully led a bloodless military coup d'etat against the Saudi Royal Family, which pretty much all but ended the Monarchy for good, had quickly raised alarms. Al-Fayheed managed to turn Saudi Arabia around economically and also militarily leading the country during some chaotic times, despite his authoritarian military dictatorship.

Watching these developments across the Middle East caused Soviet policymakers to become nervous for good reasons. As 1983 moved into mid-Summer, the Soviet Union saw themselves in their weakest positions ever geopolitically since the late 1960s. Despite their massive defense spending and boasting of one of the largest militaries in the world, it had gotten embarrassed by scruffy, little Sweden over the course of five months in May/October 1981, being humiliated for everyone in the entire world to see when it was assumed Sweden should've just rolled over like a good little kid and this quickly called into question the entire security arrangement and appartus of the Eastern Bloc, especially in Poland, which was facing full-scale massive protests and demonstrations over Martial Law. Emerging parts in the Warsaw Pact, which argued the Yugoslavization of much of the communist East as if the Red Bear was turning out to be an overrated paper tiger on the international stage, which threatened to put the Soviet's international superpower prestige into pasture during the height of the Cold War.

With the unstable, unreliable and bipolar Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi facing international damnation over his regime's financing of the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris, the Soviets looked elsewhere in the Middle East and found two strategic partners, who could benefit politically, economically and militarily: Iraq and Syria, both run by the Ba'ath Party respectively under ruthless military dictatorships in Saddam Hussein and Hafez al-Assad. There was obviously no love lost between Baghdad and Damascus and according to whom you've asked, it's commom knowledge Hussein and Assad openly despised each other.

Saddam deeply resented the Iranians for pressuring and bullying him back in 1975 into accepting new border on the Shatt al-Arab and blamed Washington and Jerusalem for giving them unqualified support; He also believed the Iranians and Turkish, both of whom steering to avoid instability of their own Kurdish populations, tacitly encouraged Kurdish demonstrations and instability inside Iraq. Syria, however, had their own set of heavy problems, partly because by 1981, Syria had been deeply entrenched in Lebanon's six-year Civil War between the Sunni and Maronite populations within the country and the conflict became mixed with Assad's own imperialist ambitions to dominating Lebanon physically, economically and politically.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

......"Assad was hesitant to name his brother, Rifaat as Vice President for obvious reasons: allegations of plotting a countercoup against him back in 1981 including attempts at lobbying the Syrian Armed Forces to back him. Following the 1982 Hama Massacre which made the Saudi Arabian National Reorganization Process of 1981 look like schoolgirls, Assad skillfully tapped his brother as Ambassador to Belgium, which all but permanently exiled his own brother forever.

Hafez al-Assad continued running Syria like a defacto Monarchy and made sure nobody would undermine or questioning his leadership anytime soon."
-Excerpt from The Assad's: The Family Dictatorship Business in Syria.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

......"Senator Kennedy pushed for the Americans for Healthcare Reform Act knowing it was bound to get open hostile treatment from the usual suspects: Conservative Republicans and Southern Democrats including an obviously resistant Reagan White House, who wasn't thrilled with the AHRA from the very beginning.

Despite the US House of Representatives remaining in Democratic control due to the 37-seat increase cushion from the 1982 Midterms, they managed to get the legislation passed by a vote of 403-37 because half of the opponents of the legislation didn't bother to show up to vote on the AHRA on 31 January 1983.

The Republican-controlled United States Senate, however, was going to be a tough and strongly uphill battle for the AHRA to get passed. Majority Leader Baker knew that the legislation would neee to have obvious amendments in removing the outrageous stuff in the AHRA. Baker straight up told Kennedy "You do realize even if the Americans for Healthcare Protections Act was to pass the Senate, President Reagan will veto it so fast, it'll never get overriden at all in the House and Senate."

Kennedy had been pushing the legislation since 1981 and had been facing strong resistance including from members of his own political party: the Democrats, several of whom sympathized with Teddy, but told him the legislation has zero chance of passing or signed into law.

Knowing the uphill battle ahead of him, Kennedy was determined by never giving up on getting the Americans for Healthcare Protections Act passed one way or another, no matter how long it will take."
-Excerpt from "The Senior United States Senator from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts"
Summer 2002

 

[Sergeant Foley]

......"And this is such a historic moment in the Kingdom of Jordan as King Hussein and Queen Noor hosted King Charles III and Queen Diana of the United Kingdom as the British Monarchs made their grand red carpet State Visit to Jordan on the first of their week-long visit to the Middle Eastern country which will include a special State Banquet later this evening.

King Charles III is expected to deliver an address to a Joint Session of the Jordanian Parliament in Amman tomorrow, while Queen Diana will accompany Queen Noor in visiting Jordanian schoolchildren and also visiting hospitals."
-BBC News Special:
King Charles III and Queen Diana's State Visit to the Kingdom of Jordan
30 June 1983