If you could, where in history or the future would you like to be?

[watcher1]

I would love to have been part of the Lewis and Clark expedition, observing parts of the United States rarely seen. All the new animal, tree and flower species to see. Interacting with  Native Americans from varying tribes. The wealth of knowledge learned.

[ChirpingGirl]

I would love to have been part of the Lewis and Clark expedition, observing parts of the United States rarely seen. All the new animal, tree and flower species to see. Interacting with  Native Americans from varying tribes. The wealth of knowledge learned.

The 80s. My moms seemed to like it as much as I would have. Their home videos are the stuff of legend in this house. 

I still wear her Ghostbusters shirt and the leather jacket she wore when she was a kid. 

[Papa Gulf]

1943. ETO. In the cockpit of a P-38.
Papa Gulf

[ladylibido]

While I'm perfectly content in being right where I am, I do long for existing in a time with trivial faster than light travel, were that ever possible, as I want to learn about and experience life beyond that of what I know.

[_priapism]

I am too concerned about the “Butterfly Effect” to travel back in time.  I’m pretty content in the present, but wish we’d get this novel coronavirus under control.

[MintJulie]

There was a show on a few years ago and I was fascinated by it.   I love time travel and the imagination and fantasy of being able to be there during history making events.

Just looked it up.     TIMELESS. (link)

I wish it hadn't ended.

[_priapism]

There was a show on a few years ago and I was fascinated by it.   I love time travel and the imagination and fantasy of being able to be there during history making events.

Just looked it up.     TIMELESS. (link)

I wish it hadn't ended.

I loved The Time Machine (2002 film).  Steampunk Victorian time traveler, trying to change history so his fiancée doesn’t die.  Intersects repeated historic moments that changed history.

[msslave]

I'd go back to mid 1800s, when the fast, sleek China Clippers flew across the seas. I'd of course be an important passenger, catered to in the highest fashion.

The Clippers ruled the waves... fastest ships ever...until the smelly, smoking steam ships took over.

There's only one left, on display in England. The Cutty Sark, nearly destroyed by fire as they were building the display building where she's housed.

[_priapism]

There's only one left, on display in England. The Cutty Sark, nearly destroyed by fire as they were building the display building where she's housed.

There’s a blended Scotch whiskey called Cutty Sark that made me sick as a dog when I was still a teen.  Worst hangover of my life.

[msslave]

There's only one left, on display in England. The Cutty Sark, nearly destroyed by fire as they were building the display building where she's housed.

There’s a blended Scotch whiskey called Cutty Sark that made me sick as a dog when I was still a teen.  Worst hangover of my life.

When in the army, I'd be take a bottle of Cutty Sark with me when we went out into the field. A good slug warmed me up before climbing out of the sleeping bag on cold mornings.

[_priapism]

There's only one left, on display in England. The Cutty Sark, nearly destroyed by fire as they were building the display building where she's housed.

There’s a blended Scotch whiskey called Cutty Sark that made me sick as a dog when I was still a teen.  Worst hangover of my life.

When in the army, I'd be take a bottle of Cutty Sark with me when we went out into the field. A good slug warmed me up before climbing out of the sleeping bag on cold mornings.

When your cousin mixes a very old open bottle, with an open bottle of red wine that has long since turned to vinegar, then tells you to “hold your nose and chug it,” just say NO.
 

[MissBarbara]

I'd hop into my time machine and set it for Washington DC at 9:00 pm on Friday, April 14, 1865.

I'd wait in the little passageway between the corridor and the presidential box at Ford's Theater, and the second I saw John Wilkes Booth round the corner, I'd give him a hearty wack with the aluminum baseball bat I brought with me.

American history would be changed forever.







mod edit:  I actually didn't edit.  I accidentally clicked the 'modify' button instead of replying by hitting the 'quote' button. One of these days they're going to say 'enough is enough' and take my moderator powers away.   
Sorryyyyyy

[purpleshoes]

I'd hop into my time machine and set it for Washington DC at 9:00 pm on Friday, April 14, 1865.

I'd wait in the little passageway between the corridor and the presidential box at Ford's Theater, and the second I saw John Wilkes Booth round the corner, I'd give him a hearty wack with the aluminum baseball bat I brought with me.

American history would be changed forever.

No question that history would have changed, but we have no way of knowing whether it would have changed for the better or the worse. Speculation either way could only be wishful thinking--or fodder for fiction.

Would your next stop have been Dallas in November 1963? Memphis in April 1968? Los Angeles in June 1968?

[MintJulie]

I'd hop into my time machine and set it for Washington DC at 9:00 pm on Friday, April 14, 1865.

I'd wait in the little passageway between the corridor and the presidential box at Ford's Theater, and the second I saw John Wilkes Booth round the corner, I'd give him a hearty wack with the aluminum baseball bat I brought with me.

American history would be changed forever.

I loved this response and read it to Dan.

He asked, "Why would history be changed forever....OHHHH, because aluminum bats were not invented until the 1970's??"    

I gave him an eyeroll and didn't respond.

[MissBarbara]

I'd hop into my time machine and set it for Washington DC at 9:00 pm on Friday, April 14, 1865.

I'd wait in the little passageway between the corridor and the presidential box at Ford's Theater, and the second I saw John Wilkes Booth round the corner, I'd give him a hearty wack with the aluminum baseball bat I brought with me.

American history would be changed forever.

No question that history would have changed, but we have no way of knowing whether it would have changed for the better or the worse. Speculation either way could only be wishful thinking--or fodder for fiction.

Would your next stop have been Dallas in November 1963? Memphis in April 1968? Los Angeles in June 1968?

It's my understanding that you only get one round-trip in the time machine. Given that, my choice would be Ford's Theater on the night of April 14, 1865. I suppose it might be cool to go back to Judea around 33 A.D. to hang out with Jesus for a while, but while I love Middle Eastern food, without air-conditioning, I don't think I could have stood the heat. Besides, women were held in very low esteem at the time, and I would like be forced to work in the kitchen making pita bread.

As an historian, I should take great umbrage and be outraged by your referring to professional historical analysis as "wishful thinking--or fodder for fiction." But I don't, and I'm not.

If nothing else, Lincoln was an absolute master at managing strong wills and disparate points of view. Just look at his cabinet, which included members of both wings of the Republican Party, and some of the strongest-willed men in the nation (Seward, Bates, Chase, Wells, and especially Stanton).

On Match 4, 1865, Lincoln delivered his Second Inaugural Address, which ends with the famous words:

"With malice toward none with charity for all with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right let us strive on to finish the work we are in to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan -- to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

That's a capsule summary of Lincoln's philosophical guidelines for the process of Reconstruction: Charity, bind the nation's wounds, establishing a just and lasting peace. But make no mistake: While Lincoln firmly believed that charity -- in both the religious and human sense -- should be the guiding principle, he had clearly demonstrated many times in the past that he was unafraid to put his foot down, and exercise his full presidential powers. In that light -- and using much more than "wishful thinking" -- one can intelligently trace a path of how Reconstruction likely would have proceeded had Lincoln not been assassinated.

But we'll never know for sure, chiefly because I wasn't there to stop his assassin...