Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-10975360-20140320190600/@comment-32656-20140331143956

The VP slot, realistically, mattered rather little until Nixon otl. While you're right about it being more important and powerful by 1953, it wasn't by all that much.

It's a lot easier to convince someone who doesn't really want to run to run for the top role than a lower role. They'd not be able to manage it.

Given that Eisenhower was a moderate, and actually debated which party he'd run for, I doubt policies would change much from otl.

Ike's role in the Red Scare tends to be exaggerated a great deal. Far more, it was McCarthy biting off far more than he could chew that failed him, combined with pissing everyone off. Nothing like publicly going after your fellow senators and the army to kill your reputation.

A Democrat in the white house would not change much of anything with regards to McCarthy.