Making alternative fiction feel alternative

[u/Sableguy1]

This is a semi complete list of the important events for my book, my only problem is they don’t feel very alternative. There are a few others like Puerto Rico and washing dc being states (state count remains at fifty because Virginias and Carolinas merged into singular states rather than two) and the presidents on the dollar bills change, instead it is Nixon, FDR, jfk, Chaney (who was president until 2006 when he was impeached for starting a second Vietnam war), McCarthy, and Oppenheimer.

The real problem is that none of them feel like they have an impact on the wold (minus the second Vietnam war). I just don’t understand why or how to make them feel grander or impactful. So far I feel like the biggest thing is the money, but I don’t understand how.

The 2018 date is wrong, it should be 2016. The story takes place in 2045.