Bush 43 presidency without Cheney, Rummy and Wolfowitz

[President Johnson]

I don't want to excuse Dubya for his disastrous foreign policy, but I think that is largely owned by Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz.

What do you think, is there a chance his presidency would have been better with other Republicans in his administration? Powell was sadly the only sane voice of high rank in his administration. Imagine someone like Dick Lugar for example had been vice president and Arlen Specter head of the Pentagon while Powell remains at State. I don't see them pushing for an invasion of Iraq. Thoughts on that?

[Kingpoleon]

Vice President: George Pataki

State: Colin Powell
Defense: Robert Gates
National Security Advisor: Condoleezza Rice

Powell, Gates, and Rice agree to withdraw from Iraq by 2006 in 2003, appointing Zalmay Khalilzad as “Special Envoy to Iraq”. Maysoon Al-Damluji becomes Prime Minister of Iraq, and Ayad Allawi is elected President of Iraq in the 2007 elections.

I assume Rice still succeeds Powell, and Lloyd Newton or Susan Livingstone probably succeeds Gates. Rice might be succeeded by Khalilzad in this timeline, though.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I believe Bush's non-Cheney-influenced choice for Defense was the head of FedEx at the time, though I believe Tom Ridge was also a contender; they are both likely picks in this scenario. Vice President I think would be John Danforth; I doubt the base would accept a pro-choice pick, but Tom Ridge is the only one I can imagine. Judd Gregg helped out Bush in debate prep for both 2000 and 2004, so he's a Northeasterner who might be relatively friendly with the campaign. I don't remember if Bush had a shortlist or who was on it, so my imagination ends there with the Vice Presidency. State is probably still Powell and NSA is probably still Rice.

[Frozen Sky Ever Why]

Bush was always a warmongering scumbag pig. He only pretended to be non interventionist in 2000 to prevent Buchanan from chiseling off votes, remember the Reform party under Perot received 8% in 1996, so it was a concern at that time.

[Mr. Morden]

Yeah, if Bush had decided to pick Danforth as his running mate instead of Cheney, then conceivably he brings in someone else for SecDec rather than Cheney pal Rumsfeld.  In which case, with no Cheney and no Rumsfeld, who knows if the Iraq War would have even happened.

[Mr. Morden]

I don't remember if Bush had a shortlist or who was on it, so my imagination ends there with the Vice Presidency.

All of the speculation in the final days before Bush announced his pick centered on Cheney and Danforth:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=123349&page=1

EDIT: Though here were some other names being floated:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_vice_presidential_candidate_selection,_2000