America after the nuclear war: The John Glenn administration

[Reaganfan]

It's 1996. It's been 13 years since the war.

The United States has new major cities. Indianapolis, which was spared, has now become a swarm of activity with many from the area around Chicago inhabiting. Many Americans live in RV-type set-ups provided by the COG Recovery Forces since the 1980s. Des Moines, Iowa is also a much larger city, with more buildings being constructed as many from hard-hit Missouri who managed to survive made their way to Iowa. Kentucky, Mississippi, and West Virginia were spared during the war, thus those residents and those who flocked there are living a semi-normal life following the war. Television and radio is back up, national news networks are mostly stationed out of New Jersey, where Atlantic City has become a major hub after the destruction of Newark and New York City.

No doubt the most challenging time was between 1983 and 1989, when the COG Government officials and division leaders tried to regroup Congress and the Governorships across the country. Those who were killed during the war and it's aftermath were succeeded and local and state Governments are now working in all 50 states. Indeed, many of the Capitols were moved as some were destroyed in the attack. Others, in Texas for example, where Austin was spared, remain the same. By 1994, residents in the nation lived normally, avoiding quarantined areas throughout their respective states.

George Bush, who served as President from 1989 to 1997, kept his 1988 pledge to restore America at the fastest pace possible. By 1996, politics stirred up a heated debate. Indeed, world affairs once again became an issue. In 1996, Russia still lies in ruins. There is no Governmental system of any kind. Many areas are patrolled by local enforcement, and there is anarchy, but remaining residents live within it and don't seem to question or long for a Government system.

Vying for the Presidency in 1996, Vice President Donald Rumsfeld made the pledge to continue the progress of the Bush years, while strengthening ties abroad. Division Leader and Senator John Glenn of Ohio, ran a campaign completely giving a fresh vision for America.

"America has seen war, and America has recovered. We're not living in a post-apocalyptic world. We are living in a world recovering from war. Times are difficult. But America is still working. We have all three functioning branches of Government, local, state and Federal elections, we have hospitals and police stations, and we even have television and radio. Yes, we have regions of the country that were destroyed that are uninhabited, and yes we must have patience and persevere when the time comes to rebuild those areas, but for now, we can hold our head high and declare ourselves survivors."

Unlike the write-in campaigns of 1984, 1988 and 1992, the 1996 election was the first national vote between two major party candidates. Vice President Rumsfeld announced that New York Senator Al D'Amato would be his running mate. Senator Glenn announces that his running mate would be Senator John Warner of Virginia, who was also Secretary of the Navy during the Nixon administration. Adding a Republican to the ticket helps to seal the deal for John Glenn, but using the electoral college for the first time since 1980 (The districts remain the same as in 1980 with lack of redistricting despite some areas destruction and re-habitation since 1983, redistricting is on the future agenda), the electorate is anxious to see the results.

John Glenn: 271
Donald Rumsfeld: 267

John Glenn - 47,560,311
Donald Rumsfeld - 44,300,245

John Glenn is elected America's 42nd President in 1996. He receives 47 million votes to Donald Rumsfeld's 44 million, making it a magnificent turnout election, a far cry from George Bush's 33 million four years earlier. At 75, John Glenn is America's oldest elected President.

On January 20, 1997, in front of television cameras for the first time since 1981, a Presidential inauguration is covered live on television, and is held in Norfolk, Virginia.

Coming soon...

America's Revival: The Presidency of John Glenn

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Awesome stuff.

[BritishDixie]

Good Timeline

[Jerseyrules]

I love it! However, I don't see Detroit on that list...

There is no more Detroit.

Dang. Well that probably wipes out my mom (daughter of an auto engineer), though I think my dad only moved into the state in 1984...

He erased my parents as well.

What'll happen to the political message boards of the future if all the posters are being killed before they're even born?

Atlasia ceases to exist

[Jerseyrules]

Awesome stuff.

[Reaganfan]

January 20, 1997 - Norfolk, Virginia

"We've seen war. War made the 20th century a time of heartache and sorrow. War has also made the future in the 21st century a future of uncertainty."

President John Glenn, the 42nd President of the United States, and the first elected through the electoral college since 1980, took the oath of office from Norfolk, Virginia that sunny January morning. President Glenn ran a campaign that had promised honesty to the American public from the government in the years following the war.

The Reagan Years from 1981 to 1989 were the hardest on the American public, and it wasn't until 1986 that America finally began the revitalization projects to build back cities destroyed in the war.

The Bush era of 1989 to 1997 was also one of continued COG rebuilding efforts, and analysis of the damage on America's infrastructure.

One thing was sure, the Glenn administration was going to be as transparent as possible. Within the first year of President Glenn's tenure, the administration, in coordination with the COG revitalization project, began declassifying materials and information not known to the public about the damage inflicted, the human toll, and even the actual events of the war itself.

On June 1, 1998, the Glenn/Warner administration released "The
Official Report on the U.S.-Soviet War". The report went into significant and controversial detail about how the war was carried out, and what the global implications were. The information, details, and evidence was gathered for 15 years by the United States Government between the time of the war until 1997.


TIMELINE OF EVENTS - All Times are Eastern Standard Time, all casualty and fatality reports are estimates

September 25, 1983

4:35pm
- President Ronald Reagan, in New York City with Javier Perez de Cuellar de la Guerra, the Secretary General of the United Nations. Chief of Staff James Baker informs President Reagan of incoming communications from Moscow. is informed by Soviet Premier Andropov that the Soviet tracking system incorrectly identified a nuclear missile attack against the Soviet Union.

6:00pm
- President Reagan, Secretary of State George Shultz, Vice President George Bush and the cabinet meet at the White House to discuss the Soviet situation.

6:45pm
- The U.S. Military moves to DEFCON 2 Alert

7:25pm
- Soviet Premier Andropov meets with Soviet Military and discusses their forces in Eastern Europe and the "provocative" moves by the United States.

8:00pm
- President Reagan speaks with Prime Minister Thatcher of Great Britain

8:30pm
- Warsaw Pact forces begin moving towards the West Berlin checkpoint.

8:40pm
- NATO forces begin a resistance

9:00pm
- President Ronald Reagan addresses the nation.

10:40pm
- Vice President George Bush leaves for Mount Weather

September 26, 1983

5:25am
- President Reagan receives word that Soviet forces are advancing towards West Germany

7:20am
- The Soviet and Warsaw Pact Forces mobilize at three strategic locations near the Fulda Gap, North German Plain, and the Danube River Valley in Austria.

3:25pm
- President Reagan meets with Congressional Leaders from both parties at the White House

September 27, 1983

3:25am
- The Soviet Union commences an invasion of West Germany near the Danube River Valley

3:30am
- President Reagan is notified of the Soviet invasion of West Germany

3:45am
- Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces begin a simultaneous invasion of the Fulda Gap and North German Plain, and an invasion of Turkey

4:00am
- Soviet Forces begin shooting air to ground missiles at U.S and NATO installations in West Germany.

4:15am
- The Soviet Union invades West Berlin

4:25am
- Fulda, Germany is heavily damaged, resulting in hundreds of casualties.

4:30am
- The U.S. Military moves to DEFCON 1

5:00am
- President Reagan addresses country from White House Press Briefing Room

5:25am
- President Reagan speaks with French President Mitterrand

5:40am
- President Reagan speaks with Italian Prime Minister Craxi

7:20am
- The Security Council and Joint Chiefs of Staff meet with President Reagan to discuss the Soviet invasion of West Germany.

8:00am
- Soviet forces reach the Rhine in Dusseldorf, Wiesbaden, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, and Duisburg and begin inflicting attacks on NATO defense forces.

9:15am
- Soviet forces begin a rapid movement of artillery towards Yugoslavia and Northern Italy.

12:30pm
- President Reagan addresses the nation

September 28, 1983

12:35am
- Soviet forces begin heavy NATO attacks in Belgium

4:50am
- Soviet forces receive heavy casualties in Milan, Italy.

8:00am
- Warsaw Pact troops begin three-pronged invasion of the Netherlands.

12:30pm
- President Reagan speaks on the telephone to Vice President George Bush

3:30pm
- A low-kiloton Soviet tactical nuclear weapon detonates six miles southwest of Brussels near the city of Gaasbeek, killing 5,000 people.

3:45pm
- Soviet troops advance through Strasbourg

4:00pm
- A low-kiloton tactical nuclear weapon air bursts over advancing Soviet troops near the Moselle River outside the city of Nancy, France. Fatalities unknown.

8:00pm
- Warsaw Pact troops and NATO forces both receive heavy losses in Northern Italy.

[Reaganfan]

September 29, 1983

1:15am
- Soviet forces invade Denmark

3:00am
- The Soviet Union takes Milan

3:15am
- President Ronald Reagan speaks with Italian Prime Minister Craxi

5:00am
- President Reagan meets with the Security Council

8:00am
- The Soviet Union detonates a low-kiloton tactical nuclear weapon over the city of Copenhagen, Denmark killing 900,000.

8:15am
- President Reagan speaks from the White House Briefing Room and declares the conflict, "World War III".

9:00am
- Naval Warfare begins slowly erupting in the Persian Gulf

11:00am
- Reports of horrific burn victims streaming out of the outskirts of Copenhagen

5:45pm
- Soviet submarine spotted in the English Channel

6:15pm
- President Reagan speaks with Prime Minister Thatcher

6:30pm
- Soviet submarines spotted in North Sea and Strait of Dover

6:45pm
- President Reagan speaks with French President Mitterrand

7:10pm
- Three Soviet tank divisions enter Orleans and Dijon

7:30pm
- A low-yield nuclear weapon is airburst over advancing Soviet troops near Nogent-sur-Seine, France. An estimated 5,000 French citizens are killed.

7:45pm
- A low-yield nuclear weapon is ground burst over the town of Lorris, 20 miles east of Orleans, eliminating the Soviet advance towards Paris. An estimated 1,500 are killed.

7:50pm
- The Soviet military launches a nuclear-tipped missile directly at Orleans.

7:52pm
- The U.K. activates their National Attack Warning System. France also activates their warnings.

7:53pm
- President Ronald Reagan activates the Emergency Broadcast System throughout the United States

7:54pm
- A Soviet low-yield nuclear bomb airbursts over the city of Orleans, France. An estimated 5,600 are killed.

8:05pm
- President Reagan addresses the nation

8:10pm
- French President Mitterrand address his nation

8:30pm
- Prime Minister Thatcher makes public statements

8:45pm
- Soviet troops are held off near Florence, Italy by allied forces with two small divisions headed for Rome and Southern Italy.

9:00pm
- Soviets have occupied Sardegna and Corse, maintaining a strong advance through Italian and French regions of Europe.

9:15pm
- Prime Minister Craxi addresses the Italian people

10:35pm
- Heavy fighting reported in Paris

10:50pm
- Large NATO causalities reported in the outskirts of Paris

11:15pm
- The Soviets take Paris

September 30, 1983

8:00am
- No major fighting occurring in the occupied regions between NATO and Warsaw Pact forces. Words of the potential for a cease-fire dominate the news.

10:00am
- President Ronald Reagan speaks with Prime Minister Schlüter of Denmark.

11:20am
- President Reagan holds a White House Press Conference

3:00pm
- President Reagan speaks on the phone with Vice President George Bush

9:00pm
- Ronald Reagan addresses the nation from the Oval Office

October 1, 1983

7:00am
- President Reagan has a working breakfast with his National Security Council. Reagan learns Soviet leader Andropov has been in direct communications with a leader from a Western nation.

9:00am
- Soviet ships and submarines flood into the English Channel, positioning themselves for a three-pronged attack at Britain.

10:30am
- Soviets advance at Dover and meet heavy allied resistance

10:45am
- Soviets invade Southampton

10:50am
- The Soviets invade Liverpool after a 16-hour journey up St. George's Channel into the Irish Sea.

12:00pm
- Soviet troops begin resisting NATO forces near Manchester, Southampton, and Canterbury.

3:15pm
- Ronald Reagan is informed of suspicious Soviet submarine maneuvers off the coastline of the United States

3:30pm
- The Emergency Broadcast System is activated in the United States

3:50pm
- President Reagan addresses the nation on radio and television

9:00pm
- Ronald Reagan meets with the Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill.

10:00pm
- President Reagan speaks on a teleconference with Vice President George Bush.

[Jerseyrules]

Very interesting....

[Reaganfan]

October 2, 1983

4:45am
- President Reagan is notified that radio messages picked up by listening stations in the far East indicate that Soviet Premier Yuri Andropov has been in direct communications with Cuban Leader Fidel Castro.

5:35am
- Ronald Reagan meets with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and confirms that Soviet ships are accelerating towards the island of Cuba.

6:30am
- Ronald Reagan authorizes the Navy to begin a full scale "blockade" of Cuba, the first authorization since 1962.

8:00am
- Soviet troops are pushed back on the French front by NATO forces and the line is held just outside of Paris

9:00am
- Reports that Warsaw Pact troops have been decimated outside Florence in Italy are confirmed by NATO force

1:00pm
- The island of Sardegna is retaken by NATO alliances

3:00pm
- Light fighting continuing throughout Liverpool and Manchester between NATO and Warsaw troops

4:00pm
- Northern Ireland, and Norway all tighten their alert readiness for possible Soviet aggression

5:00pm
- Reports are that the Soviets have a stronghold on the city of Istanbul, Turkey.

6:00pm
- Reports of heavy fallout just outside of Brussels, Belgium and Copenhagen, Denmark from the nuclear detonations a few days earlier.

9:00pm
- President Reagan addresses the nation from the Oval Office

October 3, 1983

- First full day without any battle between NATO and Warsaw Pact forces

October 4, 1983

8:00am
- President Reagan learns that the Soviet ships have turned away from the island of Cuba and communications between Andropov and Castro have ceased.

October 7, 1983

7:00am
- NATO forces reclaim the cities of Plymouth, Southampton, Liverpool and Manchester.

10:30am
- The remaining Soviet armored divisions and Soviet ships begin pulling away from Great Britain.

12:00pm
- Reports are that the Soviet Union now occupies all of Germany, and that in France, the lines extend as far west as Amiens, France.

1:00pm
- New reports show that the radioactive fallout due to nuclear detonations in France has scaled back Soviet occupation in the region between Saint-Quentin to Haguenau back down to Bourges. Soviet occupied territory in the north is dubbed "Paris" and in the south is dubbed "Lyon".

2:15pm
- A map on Soviet television shows the two "states" in France as "Poka" to the north, and "Poka vsyo" to the south.

3:00pm
- Soviet forces claim the occupied northern territory of Italy down to the city of L'Aquila as "Stalin".

5:00pm
- President Ronald Reagan meets with his National Security Council.

October 12, 1983

- There has been no further chatter between Cuba and the Soviet Union for nine days straight

November 10, 1983

10:00am
- President Ronald Reagan arrives in London and meets with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

1:15pm
- ABC News obtains and airs a photograph taken by an unidentified 54 year old man outside of Brussels as a nuclear explosion occurs over the city of Gaasbeek.

November 13, 1983

6:00pm
- NBC News reports that Soviet Television has aired images of the ruins of the city of Copenhagen, Denmark.

November 20, 1983

8:00pm
- ABC airs the made-for-TV film, "The Day After", a provocative drama featuring the effects of an all-out nuclear war with the Soviet Union and the effects on Kansas City, MO and Lawrence, KS. The film is viewed by over 100 million people across America.

December 1, 1983

6:30pm
- NBC News reports that fallout shelter preparedness and air raid drills at schools across America is at an all-time high.

December 15, 1983

1:00pm
- President Reagan is briefed about the Soviet stranglehold on Paris and Soviet positions in Italy

December 21, 1983

5:00pm
- President Reagan discusses the SIOP (Single Integrated Operations Plan) with top Pentagon officials.

December 22, 1983

12:00am
- President Reagan speaks with Prime Minister Thatcher

1:00am
- Soviet troops are hit hard by NATO advances into the occupied Soviet territory near L'Aquila in Italy

2:25am
- Reports of "hundreds" of Soviet deaths in The Battle of L'Aguila.

6:00am
- Widespread rebellion among Warsaw Pact forces is reported in the Soviet-held city of Paris, France.

10:30am
- Soviet MIGs destroy two NATO stations near Luxembourg and Strasbourg.

4:15pm
- Three Soviet artillery divisions are destroyed near Reims, Stuttgart and Wiesbaden

8:30pm
- President Reagan, under the advice of the U.S. Secret Service, is moved to Mount Weather.

9:00pm
- Reports come in that Yuri Andropov and high-level Soviet officers are being evacuated to underground Soviet facilities

11:30pm
- President Reagan and Vice President Bush hold a private meeting at Mount Weather

December 23, 1983

12:55am
- President Reagan boards Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base to fly to Colorado Springs

4:00am
- Air Force One arrives at NORAD command bunker in Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Springs.

5:00am
- President Reagan contacts Prime Minister Thatcher

10:42am
- The Soviet Union airbursts two low-yield nuclear weapons over NATO troops in Northern Italy and two more in Western Germany.

10:50am
- NATO losses from nuclear explosions said to be "horrendous".

11:00am
- President Reagan is notified by the Strategic Air Command that Soviet fighters are nearing U.S. Air Space in Alaska and are nearing the United Kingdom over Central France.

11:02am
- Former President Richard Nixon is evacuated

11:05am
- The United States enacts it's "Launch on Warning" policy.

11:06am
- Former President Jimmy Carter is evacuated

11:07am
- The Emergency Broadcast System is activated in the United States

11:08am
- Former President Gerald Ford is evacuated

11:10am
- The U.S.-Soviet hotline between Reagan and Andropov is connected and both leaders begin a translated conversation.

11:12am
- The Soviet Union disconnects from the hotline call

11:15am
- All U.S. forces move to DEFCON 1

11:20am
- President Reagan tells his advisers to prepare statements for a 12:00pm address to the nation

11:25am
- Strategic Air Command reports an incoming Soviet missile attack with thirteen missile launches

11:27am
- The Strategic Air Command confirms over fifty missile launches from the Soviet Union

11:30am
- The Strategic Air Command confirms over 500 missile launches from the Soviet Union

11:32am
- General Bennie L. Davis, head of the Strategic Air Command, receives the order from President Ronald Reagan to launch a full scale nuclear attack on the Soviet Union.

11:33am
- The now declassified launch codes sent to the American silos from Ronald Reagan were: "Victor-3-8-November-Foxtrot-7-4-3-3" with an authentication of "Echo-Zulu".

11:40am
- All NATO and U.S. nuclear missiles are now in flight towards Soviet targets

11:41am
- President Reagan speaks on the telephone to Vice President George Bush

11:43am
- President Reagan speaks on the telephone to Prime Minister Thatcher and the line is disconnected

11:55am
- The first Soviet bomb strikes Los Angeles, CA
- Huge explosion reported from Nevada desert facing Las Vegas, Nevada
- Soviet ICBMs strike Seattle, silos in Montana and Minot, North Dakota.

12:03pm
- President Reagan feels the shockwave from a detonation four miles away from the underground NORAD facility.

12:08pm
- General James V. Hartinger, Commander of NORAD reports to Reagan that communications are gone between NORAD and the Early Ballistic Missile Warning System in England, as well as  the reported destruction of Thule Air Base in Greenland. Reagan is also made aware that Paris, London, and Manchester have lost their down-links, implying that Soviet warheads have destroyed those cities as well.

12:17pm
- The Soviet attack ceases with the final warhead airbursting over New Orleans, Louisiana

12:30pm
- Reports come in that Berlin, Warsaw, Moscow, Minsk, and much of the Warsaw Pact has been impacted.

12:35pm
- All fighting ceases worldwide

[Joe Biden is your president. Deal with it.]

Bump! this timeline is crazy!

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Not what I would call a plausible timeline. First use of tactical nukes would have almost certainly been done by NATO.  If the Soviets had used nukes first, it would have been as a full scale strategic use.

[Paul Kemp]

Not what I would call a plausible timeline. First use of tactical nukes would have almost certainly been done by NATO.  If the Soviets had used nukes first, it would have been as a full scale strategic use.

You're talking about a timeline written by someone whose idea of a USSR-US war is based off of Red Dawn.

[Indy Prez]

As bad as I made it, realistically, it'd be a lot worse. For example, I show...what...like... 100 Soviet missile strikes on targets. Realistically, the Soviets had atleast double what the United States had in 1983 and I know that we had atleast 1000 ICBMs in our Minuteman silos in the Midwest.

Blatant falsehood. Kennedy got elected in 1960 saying the same thing. When he attained the office, he was shocked to see how greatly the Defence Department reached and we all know what happened when he put the CIA under State Department control. The missile gap between the USA and USSR was wide but favoured the former not the latter. What you are propagating is a myth spawned by Neoconservatives Imperialists.

[Person Man]

Actually...

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

As bad as I made it, realistically, it'd be a lot worse. For example, I show...what...like... 100 Soviet missile strikes on targets. Realistically, the Soviets had atleast double what the United States had in 1983 and I know that we had atleast 1000 ICBMs in our Minuteman silos in the Midwest.

Blatant falsehood. Kennedy got elected in 1960 saying the same thing. When he attained the office, he was shocked to see how greatly the Defence Department reached and we all know what happened when he put the CIA under State Department control. The missile gap between the USA and USSR was wide but favoured the former not the latter. What you are propagating is a myth spawned by Neoconservatives Imperialists.

What Mr. Weasel says is correct. That data is backed up by quite a few different sources. By the late 70's, the Soviets had surpassed us in total amount of ICBM's. I did a paper on it, to be found here, though you probably wouldn't approve of my sources. I highly doubt such a "myth" would be backed up by a wide array of sources, including the National Resources Defense Council.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

As bad as I made it, realistically, it'd be a lot worse. For example, I show...what...like... 100 Soviet missile strikes on targets. Realistically, the Soviets had atleast double what the United States had in 1983 and I know that we had atleast 1000 ICBMs in our Minuteman silos in the Midwest.

Blatant falsehood. Kennedy got elected in 1960 saying the same thing. When he attained the office, he was shocked to see how greatly the Defence Department reached and we all know what happened when he put the CIA under State Department control. The missile gap between the USA and USSR was wide but favoured the former not the latter. What you are propagating is a myth spawned by Neoconservatives Imperialists.

Also, you are falsely equating the 1950's Kennedy "missile gap" with the one that actually existed from the late 70's onward. And even if you were right, which you are far from, (CIA analysts were of course trained to go with worst case scenarios, and numbers on US vs. USSR stockpiles were not public at the time), the term "neoconservative" did not exist back in the freakin' 50's, and I think the term "imperialism" hardly applies in this era and context. I'd recommend "hawks" if you're gonna try to make this argument again.

I'm sorry, I still can't get over that last sentence. Just hilarious.

[Person Man]

Do you the massive buildup they did in the late 70s and 80s was because they thought they could under Carter then thought they must under Reagan and ultimately the build-up helped lead to the Malthusian catastrophe that lead to the dissolution of the Soviet Union?

Though in the defense of those who are not super-hawks, at the point that they were in the 70s and 80s, the amount became inconsequential. I wonder how many armed and ready to deploy weapons each side had.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Do you the massive buildup they did in the late 70s and 80s was because they thought they could under Carter then thought they must under Reagan and ultimately the build-up helped lead to the Malthusian catastrophe that lead to the dissolution of the Soviet Union?

Though in the defense of those who are not super-hawks, at the point that they were in the 70s and 80s, the amount became inconsequential. I wonder how many armed and ready to deploy weapons each side had.

Just for clarification, whom are you addressing?

[badgate]

If this TL is resurrected you should think about revising the EC numbers for states based on how the country is populated post-war

[Person Man]

Do you the massive buildup they did in the late 70s and 80s was because they thought they could under Carter then thought they must under Reagan and ultimately the build-up helped lead to the Malthusian catastrophe that lead to the dissolution of the Soviet Union?

Though in the defense of those who are not super-hawks, at the point that they were in the 70s and 80s, the amount became inconsequential. I wonder how many armed and ready to deploy weapons each side had.

Just for clarification, whom are you addressing?

I am agreeing with you yet disagreeing in part and then asking a general question.