Fermi stays in Italy in 1938

You know, Horny, what might have been very interesting indeed, is if, rather than taking off to New York, Fermi had simply returned to Rome following his trip to Stockholm to accept the Nobel Prize in Physics, in 1938. Because, as you know, the Nobel Prizes are always awarded with political intent. And, I very much doubt it was the intent of the Swedes, at that time, for Fermi to defect to the U.S. Because Sweden was rather pro-fascist in the 1930's, seeing the Soviets, right on their border, as much more of a direct threat than the Nazis. So, I suspect, the award to Fermi, whose wife was a Jew, might have been made with some very specific objectives in mind. It is conceivable that the Swedes were actually attempting to get Mussolini, and possibly Hitler, to modify their antisemitic policies. After all, Italians were traditionally very tolerant of Jews, and had been for many centuries. And, given Italian "philosemitism", and an Italian Nobel Prize winner in Physics with a Jewish wife, Mussolini might, actually, have found it convenient to reverse his newfound antisemitism, if Enrico Fermi had chosen to stick around in Italy, rather than defecting to the U.S. Who knows? Maybe Fermi might have become Mussolini's new Minister of Science and Technology? While Mussolini was not permanently, and existentially under Hitler's thumb until after he belatedly and unsuccessfully invaded France, in 1940, Hitler's influence on Mussolini was immense, by 1938. Thus, the "currying of favor" you describe. But, with Fermi as Minister of Science and Technology, a very clear message would be sent to Hitler. And, Mussolini would have a voice in his cabinet that would not tolerate Hitler's eccentricities. That might have changed Mussolini's attitude, and, that might have changed history a great deal indeed.