4. If The Shah Stayed

President Nixon had a sweeping plan to overhaul the federal government by streamlining departments, cutting bureaucracy, and centralizing power. But Watergate brought those ambitions to a halt. In this episode, we imagine a world where Nixon implemented his bold executive reorganization, reshaping how Washington functions to this day. Could a "Super Cabinet" have redefined American governance?

Though best known for foreign policy, Nixon’s domestic agenda was just as ambitious, and surprisingly progressive. From universal basic income to national healthcare, this episode explores the transformative policies that never came to pass. If Nixon had served two full terms, America’s social safety net, energy infrastructure, and healthcare system might look very different. We ask: what if the “last liberal Republican” had finished what he started?

What if President Nixon had seen the Vietnam War through to the end? This episode rewrites the chaotic fall of Saigon into a scenario where Nixon remained in power and recommitted U.S. support to South Vietnam. Through imagined speeches, press conferences, and alternate news reports, we hear how Nixon might have altered the course of history in Southeast Asia. It's a world where the Paris Peace Accords held… and America won the peace.

August 8th, 1974 marked the end of Richard Nixon’s presidency, but what if it didn’t? In this series premiere, we revisit the emotional final hours of Nixon’s administration and imagine what might’ve happened if he had fought to stay in office. Featuring archival audio and expert interviews, the episode blends history and fiction to ask: how different would America be if Watergate never happened? Before the hypotheticals begin, we confront the moment everything changed.

The fall of the Shah in 1979 ushered in a new era of global unrest, but what if it never happened? In this episode, we explore how Nixon’s close relationship with Iran's monarchy might have preserved stability in the region and prevented decades of hostility. From the revolution to the Iraq War, we trace the cascading consequences of Nixon’s absence. Could a stable U.S.–Iran alliance have reshaped the modern Middle East?

Hear the first 2 minutes of the show, ahead of the series launch on April 10.

What if August 8, 1974 was just another hot, humid DC summer day? What if Watergate wasn’t a word synonymous with scandal? What if Nixon stayed? Coming April 10th, If Nixon Stayed reimagines the course of history. Using newly-released archival materials, expert interviews and historical analysis, this podcast takes a deep-dive to explore what could have been if President Nixon continued the success of his 1972 landslide election victory to complete his second term and fulfill his bold vision of peace and prosperity for a new American century. “Therefore, I should resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow.” When President Richard Nixon somberly delivered those words on August 8, 1974, as millions of Americans watched on primetime tv, he made history. For many, that’s one of the few things they know about the 37th president. But that same president less than two years earlier won one of the biggest landslide victories in the history of US presidential elections.  In his second inaugural address, President Nixon laid out a bold vision for his second term stating, “Let us pledge together to make these next four years the best four years in America’s history, so that on its 200th birthday American will be as young and as vital as when it began, and as bright a beacon of hope for all the world.”  This six-part series envisions how world history could have been altered with a completed second-term of Nixon’s presidency including: a different outcome in Vietnam, a reshaping of Middle East alliances, the creation of a big tent Republican party, an ambitious reduction of the federal bureaucracy and an expansion of visionary domestic programs in areas including healthcare and energy. Fifty years after President Nixon’s historical resignation, it’s time to challenge assumptions about the past, explore what could have been, and contemplate how the ripples of history shape the future.