What If? How History Is Made

One of the most fascinating discussions among questioning minds is focused on a single question, ‘what if?’ Many events in recorded history offered two or more situations that would have altered the world radically, although they appeared only mildly significant at the time.

It could be a small or large decision, a foiled action or intentional change in plans, the birth or death of a single person, or a simple mechanical failure, history is the result of events and situations unknown to most Americans.

Here are a few times in our past which would likely have changed the present.

When Adolf Hitler was a child of only six, he experienced horrible, terrifying nightmares. The family doctor believed he should be sent to a mental health facility. However, his father was abusive and fears of this discovery could result in criminal prosecution. He remained at home.

When Ronald Reagan was beginning his career in show business in the 1930s, he applied for membership in the American Communist Party. His application was rejected, citing the fact that he was politically naïve. In the Joseph McCarthy era of the 1950s, Reagan might have been blackballed by the film industry.

In 1947 Fidel Castro came to the United States and tried out for the Washington Senators professional baseball team. He failed to make the cut, and returned to Cuba, eventually focusing on politics instead of baseball.

Just before the Titanic sailed, one crew member had to be replaced. The new man was not given the key to the cabinet which contained binoculars. The watchmen were not given the tools to see what was ahead at a great distance. They never saw the iceberg until it was too late to alter the course of the huge vessel.

The burglary at the Watergate Hotel may not have been discovered if a piece of masking tape had not been left behind. A night watchman making his rounds noticed that a door leading to the Democratic headquarters had a piece of masking tape over one of the locks. Initially, he assumed workers had done this to obtain easy access during the day and not be forced to unlock the door each time. However, only one of the locks was taped, and the other was not. He became suspicious, and the rest is history.

In the most controversial general election in history, the 2000 election was given to George W. Bush by the Supreme Court which halted the Florida recount. If the Court had been dominated by Democratically leaning justices, and the same situation occurred, Al Gore would have become our president. It is highly likely that Mr. Gore would have taken the warnings from our security agencies seriously about a major event, a plan to attack our nation, was highly probable, remained in the Oval Office, and not taken a vacation — 9/11 might never have happened.

In October of 2016, there was a very serious meeting held in the Oval Office, just three weeks before the election. In attendance were the President, Vice-President, the four leaders of our two major political parties, and the heads of our nation’s security agencies. An investigation had been completed and confirmed that Russian agents had been interfering in our election process in an effort to secure a victory for Donald Trump. After threats from Moscow Mitch McConnell, which have never been fully explained, President Obama acquiesced and refused to offer this information to the voting public. Trump barely won the Electoral College in the closest election ever, with a total of fewer than 80,000 votes in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin deciding the outcome.

Finally, If Trump had been given a fair trial in the Senate after his first impeachment on December 18, 2019, in the House, he would likely have been convicted or forced to resign, and the failed coup on January 6, 2021, would never have happened.

Republicans are removing many historical facts from our children’s education. Books containing information about the Holocaust, slavery in America, and the fight for equal rights by the LGBTQ community have been removed from thousands of libraries, and classrooms.

If we do not learn from the mistakes and events of our past, we are destined to repeat them.

By James Turnage, Novelist

Edited by Sheena Robertson

Sources:

Medium: What if Things Had Been Different? How to Avoid Getting Stuck Focusing on Past Decisions

Intellectual: 10 Small Events that Changed the Course of History

Top and Featured Image Courtesy of U.S. Embassy Jerusalem‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Nan Fry‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License