Deep Thoughts After 4 Beers: What if Powell Would Have Been President?

Interesting documentary on the History Channel about the Eisenhower administration, and something I just learned for the first time was that Ike didn't even want to run for Prez initially. From his bio:

Although he had previously rejected numerous overtures from members of both parties to run for the presidency, Eisenhower yielded to the appeal of liberal Republicans in 1952.

This sounds a lot like Gen. Powell in 1996, which Helium has a good bio on:

In 1993 Conservative America issued a genuine call to duty to Colin Powell, one-time Reagan National Security Adviser and George H. W. Bush's Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was, after all, the first military leader in forty years to be seriously considered by both Republicans and Democrats as a candidate for President of the United States. Favorably compared to President Eisenhower, Powell's personal popularity transcended all political and cultural bounds.

The article goes on to hypothesize that Powell didn't run because he feared the scrutiny of being not white, but Obama's huge win shows that race isn't necessarily a barrier to the executive branch in America. Imagine what America would be like today if we had a moderate with proven leadership to make decisions in a world of post-Cold War threats? Obviously, Powell sealed his political fate with his famous speech to the U.N. about WMDs in Iraq, which he later called "the lowest point in my life", so don't expect him to come back to power anytime soon.

I imagine that America would be much stronger nowadays, but I guess I just like to dream up weird scenarios. That's probably why Philip K. Dick's book The Man in the High Castle is one of my faves, because it's about an alternate world where the Nazis and Japanese won the war and occupy America. It's odd how small events can have huge ramifications on the future. I suppose why you shouldn't step on a butterfly if you travel back in time.