So, this is the revised version of my timeline, The Ruins of an American Party System, with Part One being now subtitled “Implosion”. This thread is for the revisions, please DO NOT COMMENT HERE, all comments about the original timeline or about the revisions can be posted in the the original thread, located here: https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=301759

There is a Part II, still in progress, subtitled “Collision”.


1920

The world was weary. The Great War had just ended; millions of bodies rotted in Europe after one of the world’s deadliest conflicts. Blood had been spilt upon the streets of Germany, as a failed revolution clashed with the new Republic which had arisen upon the Kaiser’s fall. Versailles produced a treaty, although its effectiveness was questioned. The mighty Empire of Russia was over; Communist Revolutionaries killed the Tsar and were winning the civil war, while Poland and the Baltics wrested their freedom from long years of oppression. Austria-Hungary’s empire lay shattered into numerous smaller countries. The threat of Communism was in the air, but the Hungarian Soviet Republic was crushed. The Ottoman Empire had lost much of their Arab territory, and political instability made it clear that the long-lasting Ottoman dynasty was on its last legs. Even the victors were weak after the war. France and Belgium’s once-fair countryside was covered in the remains of trenches. So many lives had been lost from the British, French, and the other Allies. Their industry and economy had been pushed close to the breaking point, their victory merely occurring because Germany was pushed slightly closer. Political instability and questions shrouded their futures. Italy in particular seemed unstable, with radicalism on the right and left running rampant.

Yet in the midst of this grim world, one nation stood unbroken and powerful. The United States of America had not joined the League of Nations, but it felt it did not need to. They were the greatest industrial power the world had ever seen. Their economy was one of the few modern economies not significantly damaged by the war. They’d lost some men, but could have easily continued fighting years after Europe totally collapsed. America was victorious, despite their late victory. Even with an unpopular administration, no one doubted the strength of the United States. In these last years, huge social changes had occurred. Two Amendments to the United States Constitution had been passed: the Eighteenth, banning the sale of “intoxicating beverages”, and the Nineteenth, allowing women to vote in every election in the country. Now, the United States, one of the oldest republics in the world, prepared to hold a presidential election. All was stable and safe in America; their institutions were strong, their democracy stable. The stress of the war was there, but the American people were confident that they would be able to return everything to the way it was. On that promise the Republican Party had nominated Ohio Senator Warren G. Harding for President in their convention from June 8 to June 12. They were confident that victory would come and the long-lost normalcy would follow.


The 1920 Democratic National Convention

The Democratic Convention was beginning. It was June 28, and a small crowd gathered outside of the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. They were listening to a man who had just left the hall, to tell them the results of the 1920 Democratic Convention. "The first ballot has been counted,” the man announced, “and the results are 266 votes for Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo, 256 for Attorney General Mitchell Palmer, 134 for former Ohio Governor James Cox, 109 for New York Governor Al Smith, and more than two hundred cast for a scattering of other candidates."

The crowd assumed that in a few ballots, the nominee would be chosen, and they returned to their homes, expecting to be informed of the results in several hours. However, whenever they returned over the next several days, the man had little fresh news for them.

"The seventh ballot is in, and the results are 384 for McAdoo, 295 for Cox, and 267 for Palmer...

....The twelfth ballot has been counted, McAdoo is leading with 320 votes, Palmer has 299, and Cox just barely behind Palmer with 294...

...The seventeenth ballot, with McAdoo at 357 votes, Palmer at 288, and Cox at 301. Al Smith's lost his last vote....”


Rumors apparently were circulating about McAdoo’s performance, that he was not as clean and incorruptible as previously assumed. Threats of a possible scandal revelation spooked many delegates into voting against him. Very few people knew the source of these rumors.

The crowd listened to the man announce the results once more, “The delegates have voted for the twenty-third time. Palmer now is in the lead, with 333 votes, closely followed by Cox who has 329, and McAdoo with 328. Al Smith has begun to show a small resurgence, now having the votes of 43 delegates....

....Vote 38: McAdoo 301, Palmer 222, Cox 201, Smith at 17....

....For the Forty-Fourth time, the votes have been counted, Cox has rebounded to 340 votes, with McAdoo at 240 and Palmer at 195 votes. This convention shows no signs of ending any time soon."

The San Franciscans were quite amazed at the length of the convention, and they assumed a compromise candidate would come soon and save the Democratic Party from its long quarrel. All of the leading candidates seemed to collapse as soon as they rose, with rumors and concerns suddenly sweeping the convention. The next day brought no relief to the Democratic Party.

"I cannot tell the thoughts of the leaders of the back-room deals in this convention, but it is clear that they are aiming for Vice President Marshall as a compromise candidate, as on the fifty-third ballot he has gained 468 delegate votes, with McAdoo behind at 284, followed by Palmer at 220, Cox at 117, and Smith at 99 votes, with the ever-present scattering of extras...

Now on the sixtieth ballot, the Vice President is just shy of gaining the nomination, with 575 votes, with a divided opposition. This may not be over yet, as no one has shown any indication of dropping out."

So Vice President Marshall would succeed President Wilson. It made sense, and the convention watchers went to bed that night expecting Marshall to win the nomination.

"Now on the Sixty-eighth ballot, Marshall's lead has begun to slip, with only 401 delegates voting for him now, with Al Smith having the votes of 192, Cox of 191, McAdoo of 175, and Palmer of 103. I don’t know why he’s slipping, apparently some Democrats believe that he’s mostly spent his Vice Presidency being useless and failing to aid the Administration. Various other names have been touted as alternative compromise candidates, but no one has begun to pick up momentum yet."

Listening to the tired worlds of the man from the convention, the San Franciscans were shocked at the disarray of the Convention. Surely the Convention would make some desperate compromise soon?

"Now at the 79th ballot, a 'draft Bryan' movement has begun, with the former Secretary of State receiving 124 votes, only three less than former frontrunner Thomas Marshall, but a substantial number lower than McAdoo, who's currently at 329 votes."

Bryan? thought the populace. Surely the Democrats can do better than drag him up again.

Or do worse some thought, but they couldn't imagine how they reasonably could.

"It appears that the Democrats aren't willing to nominate Bryan. After peaking on the eighty-second ballot with 299 votes, he crashed down in support by the eighty fifth, receiving a mere 104 votes. By the last ballot, the eighty-eighth, some of his supporters tried to get his brother Charles nominated instead, but that didn't go anywhere, only 56 votes. McAdoo's on the rise once again, he's got 388 votes, maybe he'll pull off a victory yet. His opposition is scrambling for an opposing compromise candidate"

McAdoo was a solid candidate. Surely the Democrats will nominate him, thought the San Franciscans.

"The anti-McAdoo delegates started rallying around former Ambassador John W. Davis in the early ninties ballots. No sir, I don’t know who suggested him. As of the 102nd ballot, he's gotten 480 delegates to vote for him, and he might be the Democrats' man this year....

...We're on the 109th ballot, and Davis's decline is continuing. He's only got 238 now, and McAdoo's gotten 513 or 514, I can't remember which. I think McAdoo will win after all...

...Now they've started to rally behind Al Smith, to stop McAdoo. Yes, he's a Catholic, I'm as surprised as you. But it's the 112th ballot, so the party is starting the get desperate..."

A Catholic?! The crowd could not believe their ears. A few cast dark looks and left, to telegraph their fellows. By nightfall, telegraphs came pouring in, with angry Democrats proclaiming that they would never vote for a Catholic. The Ku Klux Klan travelled around the South with signs and petitions, urging people to contact the convention. More moderate Protestant groups were also organizing protests against Smith, and there were fears that the pro-Prohibition Harding could gain the support of massive amounts of dry Democratic defectors in opposition to Smith. The tired anti-Smith delegates finally began to rally around McAdoo.

However, reports of the extreme anti-Catholicism campaign began filtering into the convention, and they Catholic delegates were enraged that their candidate would be rejected due to bigotry. Many expected McAdoo to give a vague unity speech and convince them that he was not the bigot many of his supporters were. However, McAdoo was advised to remain firm and shore up his support by giving a speech in favor of Protestantism. The Treasury Secretary alienated far too many delegates, and his support plummeted. Even Protestants began to turn against him, afraid of a revolt among Northeastern Catholics which would spell certain electoral doom for the Democratic Party. He lost nearly a hundred and eighty delegates by the 123rd ballot.

The Democratic convention by this time was a scattered mess. Every compromise candidate (but one) had been tried, and failed. McAdoo could not gain the nomination, but almost no one else could gain his loyal support. Faced with the prospect of failing to nominate anyone, the Democratic leaders quietly consulted with McAdoo, Cox, and Palmer, and convinced them to openly endorse the last option. The very man whose agents had been sabotaging the convention from the beginning in hopes of this result. He was weak, half-dead and paralyzed, but he still was powerful. The Northeastern Urban progressives and the racist southerners and the Klansmen elsewhere all were willing to back him after all else failed. The San Fransiscans listening outside were shocked when it was announced that the Democratic Party had nominated, for an unprecedented third term, the President of the United States, Thomas Woodrow Wilson.



The 1920 Presidential Election

The Germans hated Wilson, who they felt lied to them about the war and had helped shame Germany. The Irish hated Wilson, because they hated the British and Wilson was the UK's best friend in their eyes. The blacks in the North, who could vote, hated Wilson, whose supposed words had helped the Klan, and who had championed discrimination. The Italians disliked Wilson, thinking that he had sold out Italy at the peace conference. The Conservatives despised Wilson, and were eager for a return to normalcy. The Progressives had tired of Wilson, and did not trust the country in the hands of a man who was, by many accounts, nearly incapable of governing. Across America, people disliked his League of Nations idea, and rejected it. Every single demographic and political group except for Southerners had turned against him. His running mate, Attorney General Mitchell Palmer, won precious few votes for the Democratic ticket.

Harding and Coolidge were wildly popular. From across America, people came to see Harding in his Ohio home. From before the chaos of war and Progressivism and Prohibition and the 19th Amendment and all of the recent developments came a man who could and would restore the America of nostalgic, by-gone days. The sun was setting over a decade of confusion, loss, and bitterness. It was rising over a new decade, of prosperity and conservatism. Conservatives loved him. Even progressives backed him. Harding could not lose. With Wilson's health so bad, wouldn't it be a mercy to the President to spare him another term?

People who had voted Democratic in every election in their lives were voting for Harding. And if the Republican leader was not so bad, what about giving the Republican congressional candidates a second look? Traditional Democrats were sitting at home, refusing to vote for Wilson. Who cared that there were other, lesser Democrats on the ballot? They probably were just Wilson-backers anyways. And some Democrats, the most radical and anti-Republican of all, began to consider the perennial Eugene Debs, running from within prison for protesting Wilson's pointless war, or Parley Christensen, the Farmer-Labor candidate, or in Texas Pa Ferguson and the American Party, or even Prohibition. Why vote third party for the presidency but a straight Democratic ticket elsewhere?

Almost no one predicted that Wilson would win, except for the dying President himself. Barely able to campaign due to his declining health, he seemed mired in a delusion caused by the stress, both physical and mental, of his attempt to campaign. Mitchell was a vigorous campaigner himself, but he knew he could not win. Even the most die-hard Democrats expected to lose, and in their wildest fantasies the loss was respectably close.

The wild Democratic fantasies were not realized.



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Other Candidates:
Parley Christensen/Max Hayes (Farmer-Labor): 786,896 votes (2.94%)
Aaron Watkins/Leigh Colvin (Prohibition): 347,947 votes (1.3%)
James "Pa" Ferguson/William Hough (American): 112,413 votes (0.42%)
William Cox/August Gillhaus (Socialist Labor): 37,471 votes (0.14%)
Robert McAuley/Richard Barnum (Single Tax): 8,029 votes (0.03%)


The White House was quiet for an election night (Mrs. Wilson fearing that too much stress would be bad for her husband's health). The President was sitting in his bed, trying to read a news article about Poland. Alas, his eyes were failing him. Edith came into the room, to quietly inform her husband that no results had come in yet. He gave her the best smile he could and thanked her for the news (or lack thereof). He anticipated the news of state after state falling into the Democratic column. The American people would not abandon the man who won the war, who brought peace to the world. They would accept the League of Nations, and Wilson's third term. A third term! Wilson felt he had accomplished enough to break Washington's precedent. Unlike that buffoon Roosevelt. Imagine trying to go and fight in Europe only a couple years from your death! Although Roosevelt probably had not thought he was going to die. Who did?

Edith came back in the room. "You've won South Carolina," she says gently. Of course, that was no real victory for a Democrat, if Wilson had lost South Carolina pigs would be flying about. But South Carolina would not stand alone. The Democratic wave would sweep the nation, like the League would sweep the world. The biased, Republican-controlled newspapers were all predicting his defeat. Their predictions had failed before, he would laugh as they failed again. They did not understand him. They could not see his strength. Imagine, the rumors they were spreading, that the stress of the campaign was too much for him, that the President's health was failing, that only a miracle could get him to see the end of his third term, if that. He would prove them all wrong.

"So begins the third term," replied the President. Edith returned to see if any other states' results had come in yet. Wilson tried to smile, thinking about his plans for the future. The crushing of the radicals, the creation of a permanent, strong Democratic coalition, the restoration of the correct racial balance, the economic recovery... When America was in the league, what it would accomplish! Speaking of foreign affairs... Wilson lifted up the newspaper to try and read a little more, but it was far too dark to read. Why had Ellen forgotten to turn on the lights? No, wait, Ellen was dead, wasn't she?

The newspaper fell out of the President's limp hands. His glasses sat crooked over unseeing eyes.

Distribution of Democratic Electoral Votes:

Virginia: 12 votes for Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo for President, 7 votes for Attorney Mitchell Palmer for Vice President, 5 votes for Senator Claude Swanson for Vice President

South Carolina: 9 votes for McAdoo for President, 9 votes for Senator Ellison Smith for Vice President

Georgia: 13 votes for Palmer for President, 1 vote for Senator Thomas Watson for President, 10 votes for Watson for Vice President, three votes for McAdoo for Vice President, one vote for William Joseph Simmons for Vice President.

Alabama: 12 votes for President Thomas Marshall for President, 11 votes for Senator Oscar Underwood for Vice President, 1 vote for McAdoo for Vice President

Mississippi: 10 votes for McAdoo for President, 10 votes for Palmer for Vice President

Louisiana: 8 votes for Palmer for President, 1 vote for Marshall for President, 1 vote for McAdoo for President. 9 votes for Ruffin Pleasant for Vice President, 1 vote for Palmer for Vice President

Arkansas: 9 votes for Marshall for President, 9 votes for Palmer for Vice President

Texas: 16 votes for Marshall for President, 2 votes for Palmer for President, 1 vote for Governor James Ferguson for President, 1 vote for Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan for President. 19 votes for Senator Morris Sheppard for Vice President, one vote for William Hough for Vice President

Florida: 6 votes for Palmer for President, 6 votes for Senator Park Trammell for Vice President



The 1920 Congressional Elections:

Wilson's disastrous campaign hurt the Democrats in the House, as many Democratic voters stayed home, while Harding's coattails gained the Republicans many seats. The stronger Socialist and Farmer-Labor third party campaigns by many candidates split the traditionally Democratic vote and allowed the Republicans to make major gains. The victory for Socialist Meyer London in New York compensated for the Republican ouster of Socialist Victor Berger in their total sweep of Wisconsin. With the Republicans taking half of North Carolina's seats, and winning districts in Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, the Democratic "Solid South" was broken. The Republicans also defeated the one Prohibition Party Congressman, Charles Randall of California. In the state of Pennsylvania, the Republican Party was so dominant that it turned against itself. In one Congressional district, former Republican Milton Shreve was elected as an independent as the main opposition to the Republican nominee, while in another Republican incumbent Willis Hulings lost renomination and then lost the general election on the Prohibition Party ticket. With more than a 3/4 majority, the Republicans presided over their largest majority since Reconstruction.


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The Republicans gained 10 Senate seats from the Democrats as OTL. The only victories for the Democratic Party came from the South. North Carolina Senator Lee Slater Overman was the only close win for the Democrats. Had he polled as badly as Wilson in his state, Overman would have lost, but the Senator, by virtue of being entirely alive and able to really campaign, polled several points higher and won reelection.
 
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The Harding Presidency, 1921-1925

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President Warren Gamaliel Harding​

The Return of Normalcy
Warren Harding said:
Our most dangerous tendency is to expect too much from the government and at the same time do too little for it.

A quiet inauguration heralded the end of the brief Marshall Presidency and the beginning of the Harding Administration. The dark loneliness of the end of the Wilson years was lifted from the White House as tours and Easter Egg hunts once more came to the Executive Mansion. The press and the people adored the handsome, strong-looking president. He ended the Red Scare and commuted the sentence of socialist activist Eugene Debs, the man who got over a million votes for President from prison, to time served. Twenty-two other left-wing people who were jailed under the Wilson Administration during the Red Scare were released by order of the new President. The horrors of the Great War were over; peace treaties with Germany and Austria were signed, and the last American troops came home, including those that had been stationed in Russia. The post-war Depression ended as a massive economic boom began. Expectations for Harding were high. The Ohio Senator was popular, even among political rivals, who he reached out to rather than attack. Many praised his cabinet, considering them an “all-star” cabinet, believing Harding to be serious and truthful when he stated that he had searched for the “best minds” to put into his cabinet.

Harding Cabinet:

President: Warren G. Harding (Ohio)
Vice President: Calvin Coolidge (Massachusetts)
Secretary of State: Charles Evans Hughes (New York)
Secretary of Treasury: Andrew Mellon (Pennsylvania)
Secretary of War: John W. Weeks (Massachusetts)
Attorney General: Harry M. Daugherty (Ohio)
Postmaster General: Will H. Hays (Indiana)
Secretary of the Navy: Edwin Denby (Michigan)
Secretary of the Interior: Albert B. Fall (New Mexico)
Secretary of Agriculture: Henry C. Wallace (Iowa)
Secretary of Commerce: Herbert Hoover (Iowa)
Secretary of Labor: James J. Davis (Pennsylvania)

Of particular note in his cabinet were Hughes, Hoover, and Mellon. Hughes, former governor, Supreme Court Justice, and the 1916 Republican nominee who lost against Wilson, was a prominent Republican figure. Many had suggested that he be renominated for president in 1920, but Hughes declined, preventing a rematch with Wilson. As Secretary of State, he oversaw Harding’s foreign policy of “Conference and Cooperation”, leading the US into naval disarmament treaties with other world powers and ending the US occupation of the Dominican Republic begun under Wilson. However, the United States still was too isolationist to join the League of Nations. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover was a surprise appointee with many believing that the incredibly wealthy and famous humanitarian deserved a higher position than Secretary of Commerce. However, Hoover chose his position and aimed to turn the Commerce Secretary from a rather unimportant position to one of the key figures in securing economic prosperity for the United States. Soon, Hoover had become involved in almost every aspect of US government policy, becoming one of the most public and popular figures in the Harding Administration. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon was an incredibly successful businessman and philanthropist prior to being appointed Secretary of the Treasury, with a net worth of around 300 million and paying the third-largest income tax in the United States. Mellon believed that tax decreases could actually help the government repay its finances. “The history of taxation shows that taxes which are inherently excessive are not paid,” stated the Secretary of the Treasury. “The high rates inevitably put pressure upon the taxpayer to withdraw his capital from productive business.”

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Harding and his Cabinet​

Hearing the advice of Mellon on economic matters, Harding called a special session of Congress on April 12, 1921 to pass the Republican economic program. Congressional leadership, especially in the House under Frederick Gillett, was rather weak. Harding, despite a widely-praised speech at the beginning of the special session, was unwilling to take charge of Congressional affairs like Roosevelt or Wilson before him. Poor farmers, urban laborers, and progressives protested the conservatism of the Treasury Secretary’s proposal, hoping to stop it in Congress. They appealed to the broken and weak Democratic Party, which was unable to to stand up for them. They also appealed to Progressive Republicans, but most were either unwilling to challenge the popular president, or, in the case of Robert M. La Follette Sr. of Wisconsin, too unpopular and marginalized to stop him. Despite their leaders' weakness, the Republican majority was large enough to sideline the progressive Republican and Democratic opposition and pass the most conservative economic program in decades. Acting under Mellon’s advice, the massive Republican majority in Congress enacted massive reforms to stimulate the economy. These tax cuts, spending cuts, and government efficiency programs successfully helped the US Government cut down on its massive deficit. In order to prevent any future spending and revenue troubles, Harding signed the Budget and Accounting Act, establishing the Bureau of the Budget. The President’s spending reforms slashed the federal spending levels in half. The national debt, high during the war, started dropping. “Less government in business and more business in government” was Harding’s slogan, and he did not lie. Conservatism triumphed in the economic sphere.

Violent Racism

All was not well, however. The Ku Klux Klan was more organized than ever, and on the rise, not only in the South, but across the entire nation. Inspired by xenophobic anti-Catholicism and anti-immigrant attitudes born from the war, along with older anti-black racism and Confederate apologism which had been rising throughout the Wilson Presidency, the Klan became a powerful political force, influencing politicians of both parties. Rumors abounded that Harding was a secret member of the Klan, clashing oddly with other rumors that he secretly had black ancestry (both of these rumors are believed to be unfounded). With the rise of the KKK, lynchings in the South continued. Overall, the number of lynchings was slowly decreasing since its peak in the 1890s, but it remained a huge problem. A small public outcry occurred over the lynchings, with northern blacks and some pro-civil rights Republicans protesting against the issue. Harding spoke out against the practice and called for an anti-lynching law, but given his weak leadership over Congress, the president did not force a bill through. The Republican leaders feared that if they were seen as the party for the black man, all of their progress in winning seats in the South would be instantly undone. Many Republicans, especially from the Midwest, were beginning to fall under the influence of the Klan. Despite these factors, the anti-lynching bill, proposed by Congressman Leonidas Dyer, passed the House by a decent margin, with the overwhelming Republican majority overcoming the bipartisan opposition to the bill. However, the bill failed to overcome a filibuster in the Senate. Many civil rights advocates hoped that a progressive Republican Senator such as William Borah, Hiram Johnson, or George Norris would support the bill, but the Senators, as progressive as they were on some issues, did not support the bill. Prominent progressive Senator Robert M. La Follette supported the bill due to the influence of his civil rights advocate wife, but already marginalized by the Republican leadership due to his opposition to WWI and in fear of an upcoming tough renomination battle, he did not back the bill. Republican majority leader Henry Cabot Lodge, who introduced the failed Force Act in 1890 to try and secure voting rights for blacks, was called upon to introduce the anti-lynching bill, but he decided to reassign it. Supporters of the bill were forced to watch it be introduced by the inexperienced Samuel Shortridge, who was easily outmaneuvered by the Democratic minority which filibustered the bill for the entire session.

Tensions reached their worst point in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There, a black man was accused and arrested for assaulting a white woman in an elevator, despite there being weak evidence for the conviction. Despite the fact that his conviction in the racially biased court system was almost certain, enraged racist white citizens prepared to lynch the accused man before he even stood trial. However, this time, unwilling to stand aside and allow the lynching to occur, a group of blacks attempting to protect the prisoner. Several black men brought guns in an attempt to stop the lynch mob. The fighting between the two groups sparked a massive riot, in which white citizens attacked not only the blacks defending the jail, but attacked black citizens not even involved in the incident. They burned down Tulsa’s Greenwood District, one of the wealthiest black communities in the nation, often called the “Black Wall Street”. The National Guard was called in, and crushed the last elements of black resistance to the violence. Tens of thousands of black citizens were left homeless, while hundreds of black people were arrested or killed during the conflict.

”W. E. B. DuBois" said:
White Tulsa and all the countryside armed for war. They came down to black Tulsa with machine guns and airplanes. It was real war: murder, fire, rape, theft. The same sort of thing that gained the Croix de Guerre in the World War. They killed unarmed men, women, children. They left sobbing despair and black ruin.
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Tulsa Burning​

Numerous prominent Republicans condemned the racial violence, but took no action to stop it.

The 1922 Midterm Elections

As the 1922 Midterm Elections approached, the Republicans were in a state of worry. In general, no redistricting or reapportionment had been done to avoid the many rural representatives being swept out of office. However, the Republicans were afraid that most of their recent gains in the South would be undone instantly by Democratic intimidation. They gave up on the five Deep Southern Representatives that were swept in 1920 as a lost cause even if the elections were fair (and promised them appointments after they lost), but they were not willing to let go of the Upper South. Afraid that any overt action to block Democratic fraud would spark a racial scare which would damage the Republicans even more, the Republican leaders quietly met with the governments in the Southern States. The Southerners were informed that if there was any sign of irregularities regarding white Republican voters, the Republican supermajority would ram through a resurrected Force Bill. Unlike the ill-fated anti-Lynching Bill, Henry Cabot Lodge himself threatened to be the one to introduce this bill, and he would not be so easily overcome by procedural moves. The South agreed, and this deal probably saved the Republicans from losing all of their seats in Virginia and North Carolina, and a few more seats in Tennessee.

The 1922 Midterm Congressional Elections were generally successful for the Republican Party. Although they lost some seats, they managed to retain a supermajority in the House of Representatives. Part of this was due to their strength and the Democrats weakness after the 1920 landslide. Another factor was the large quantity of Farmer-Labor, Progressive, and Socialist third party candidates running, inspired by the strong third party performances of 1920, who split the anti-Republican vote. The Democrats did manage to win back a fair number of seats in the South, and a scattering of urban seats in the Northeast. Meanwhile, various third parties gained limited numbers of success. The Farmer-Labor Party won two seats in Minnesota, one in Washington, and one in Illinois, where 1920 Presidential candidate Parley Christensen won a seat. Meanwhile, in Idaho the collapse of the state Democratic Party allowed two Progressive candidates to defeat the Republican representatives, and in Wisconsin, Socialist Victor Berger won his seat back.

In many states in the midwest, the Democratic Party was so beaten that they could not even oppose the Republicans, and the Republican Party fractured. In the Dakotas, the Republican Party became divided between the Republicans backed by the left-wing Non-Partisan League and the right-wing Independent Voters Association. The battle between these two associations became the real struggle in those states. Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, Robert M. La Follette managed to get renominated despite the national opposition to him. La Follette easily won reelection, due to the sorry state of the Democrats. However, his party was divided, and many third-party Progressives and Conservatives challenged Representatives of the rival Republican faction. One of these independents, Progressive Henry Graass, was elected to an open seat.

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Scandal

Almost everyone expected Warren G. Harding's presidency to be a massive success. Even his staunchest partisan critics expected him at least to be the great leader of the conservatives. How could someone elected so overwhelmingly, with such huge margins in Congress, fail? It seemed impossible. And indeed, through his tariff policy, taxation policy, budget and spending policies, and isolationism, Harding's presidency was a solid victory for the Republican Party's right wing. Meanwhile, just looking at statistics, it was clear that he fixed the economy. Most of his campaign promises had been fulfilled. Other than his civil rights failure, Harding's presidency was, by most standards, a strong success.

Or at least that is how it looked like in 1922.

As the year went on, a massive scandal began to hit the news. It was revealed that Warren Harding's Secretary for the Interior, Albert B. Fall, had accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from his oil tycoon friends in return for Fall giving them bidding-free leases to drill in various oil reserves, such as the Teapot Dome reserve. Most Republicans were disgusted by these actions, and joined their opposition in impeaching Fall and removing him from office. Fall, and his oil friends Harry Sinclair and Edward Doheny, were all arrested, convicted, and jailed for a brief period of time for bribery and conspiracy. Harding denied any knowledge or involvement, but his approval took a massive hit, as the clean image for his administration was shaken.

Had the scandal stopped there, Harding's reputation might have recovered. Being a former newspaper owner, Harding knew how to court the press, and required his entire cabinet to work with the press well. Harding’s wife Florence, who had played a key role in his campaign, also helped control his public image. If their relationship was strained due to alleged extramarital affairs, Mrs. Harding did not show it, and continued to work to protect her husband’s public image. The powerful First Lady, nicknamed “The Duchess”, and the press would definitely have been able to save the once overwhelmingly Harding’s reputation from a single scandal. True, Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin began attacking the Harding Presidency for corruption. However, few other Senators joined in, as they feared that such viscous attacks without further scandal were doomed to failure.

But within a year, allegations that Attorney General Harry Daugherty accepted bribes from bootleggers in return for allowing them to purchase "medical alcohol" from his crony Jess Smith. Daugherty and his department soon came under investigation, where rampant abuse was revealed, including the smuggling of whiskey into the White House, unlawful searches and seizures against enemies of the administration, and manipulation of files. Daugherty soon came under congressional investigation. When Jess Smith was severely wounded in a murder attempt by another member of the Justice Department, Daugherty resigned from his position. He was later arrested and convicted on charges of corruption. The President denied knowledge of everything save for the confiscated alcohol being brought to the White House, which he dismissed as his own private concerns which the press should not cover.

Meanwhile, it was revealed that Charles Forbes, the director of the Veterans' Bureau, turned out to have used the executive orders by Warren Harding to seize control of the Veterans hospitals. He then used these hospital contracts to amass massive funds for himself, at the expense of the veterans. These funds were used, in part, to buy bootleg liquor. Harding fired Forbes, but the damage was already done, and no sooner had the Veterans' Bureau been cleaned than another scandal erupted in the United States Shipping Board, where Harding appointee Albert Lasker resigned due to a Congressional Investigation revealing that he illegally sold US ships without an appraisal board. Numerous other appointees were convicted of accepting bribes as well.

Harding went on a long tour around the United States in an attempt to revive his fading popularity, but it was not enough to stop the once-beloved president's reputation. The Press, which had once loved the President, turned against him. He was attacked from all political angles for his heinously corrupt administration. The political career of Robert M. La Follette was revived, as Americans across the country praised him as the first Senator to stand up to Harding. When a massive railroad strike occurred in early 1924 which the president failed to negotiate and Harding's veto of the Veterans' Bonus Bill was overridden by the massive Republican majority, it became apparent that the President's political power had been destroyed.

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The disgraced President.​
 
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The 1924 Elections

1924 Republican Primaries and Convention

Harding’s popularity plummeted as scandal after scandal hit the news. However, he was still the President of the United States. He was a formidable opponent, and no one dared to openly challenge him for fear that it would destroy their political career if they failed. No one that is, except for Hiram Johnson. The Senator and Former Governor of California, Teddy Roosevelt’s running mate in 1912, felt secure enough to take on the president. Johnson was so incredibly popular by Californians of all affiliations that he probably could have switched parties to the Communist Party USA and still gotten reelected in California, so he did not fear being driven out of office by vengeful Republicans.

Johnson easily won most of the actual primary elections, railing against Harding’s corruption, poor relations with labor, and failed veto of the Veterans’ Bonus Bill. However, with most delegates not being bound by the primaries, the fight was far from over, and the Conservatives would rather have nominated anyone than Hiram Johnson. Due to numerous otherwise conservative delegates backing Johnson at the convention or backing a favorite son candidate over the President, Harding failed to win a majority by the first ballot. Immediately, his support began to collapse as conservative Republicans saw his weakness and jumped into the presidential fray. Within a few ballots, only Ohio stayed loyal to its former Senator.

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Vice President Calvin Coolidge, considered by many the likely successor to Harding.

Even with favorite son Robert M. La Follette instructing the Wisconsin delegates to back Johnson, the progressive Senator from California simply was too far left for the Grand Old Party. Initially, it seemed as if the conservatives were going to rally around Vice President Calvin Coolidge. However, as the ballots continued, many delegates began to question if the Vice President would get tied in with the administration of which he was part. Coolidge hadn’t been that public of a Vice President, and many doubted his ability to win an election. Many delegates began to search for an outsider, someone who could not be connected to the Harding Administration. As the ballots continued, many began to rally around the two-term incumbent governor of New York Nathan Lewis Miller, who had been introduced as a favorite son candidate, but soon began to attract a wide spread of support from Northeastern Republicans. Some charged that Miller, with a Catholic wife and pro-Catholic policies, was a secret Catholic, but he assured the convention that he was a staunch protestant, but committed to religious freedom. When Coolidge, seeing Miller’s rise, withdrew his name from consideration, Governor Miller won the nomination. Hoping to capitalize upon the recent gains in the South, he chose Governor Edwin P. Morrow of Kentucky as his running mate, in hopes of putting the Upper South into play, as well as appeasing progressives with a moderate Republican.


1924 Democratic Convention
The Democratic National Convention was poised to be a nightmare. The Democratic Party was divided on the issue of Prohibition and the KKK. On one side stood former treasury secretary and son in law to former President Woodrow Wilson, William Gibbs McAdoo. Endorsed by the Klan and drier than chalk, McAdoo was popular among many Southern and Western delegates, who liked his economic progressivism and his social authoritarianism. He was opposed by the Democrats of the Northeast, who were pro-Catholic, anti-Klan, and generally wet. The party was bitterly divided, and many of McAdoo's supporters thought that he was too associated with one side to win, especially due to the two-thirds rule which prevented a candidate from gaining the nomination by a simple majority of the delegates. They expected that they would be forced to settle for a moderate compromise candidate, who would appeal to both sides of the party. They simply hoped that compromise could be reached much sooner than it had in 1920, as that disastrous convention's damage to the Democratic Party could still be felt four years later as they struggle to pull themselves out of their electoral hole.

However, McAdoo's opposition lacked any strong candidate to rally around. Many, especially the Catholics, liked former New York Governor Al Smith, who had been a force at the crazy 1920 convention. But four years ago Smith was defeated by Miller, and his attempt to return to the governor’s office in 1922 was a failure due to Farmer-Labor and Socialist vote-splitting. Many considered the former Governor to be past his prime, a faded star. Plus, his Catholicism would deter many voters who otherwise might be willing to vote Democratic due to Miller. Senator Oscar Underwood of Alabama was anti-national Prohibition and anti-Klan, but as a man from the Deep South, many northern delegates feared he would fail to gain much support from the North, and would further the Democrats' decline into a regional party. Attempts to find moderate compromise candidates also failed. Former Governor James Cox, another major contender in the 1920 convention, was also out of office, defeated in the 1920 landslide, and only ran a half-hearted campaign for the nomination. John W. Davis of West Virginia was relatively unknown and inexperienced. Many thought the country could rally around New York Congressman Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but Roosevelt, sensing that McAdoo would prevail in the end, endorsed the former Treasury Secretary. Former President Thomas Marshall's name was entered at the last minute, under the premise that he deserved a full term as POTUS instead of his few months, but he declined to contest. Charles Bryan, brother to William Jennings Bryan, also declined to contest, declaring that he had come to view the Democrats as drifting too far to the right.

Eventually, McAdoo's unity prevailed over his disorganized, infighting opposition. The rest of the Democrats gave up and backed McAdoo, resigning themselves to his faction. Many Catholics were outraged, but McAdoo's supporters felt he could perform well enough in the protestant, Klan-heavy Midwest to at least revive the Democrats as a major political force, even if he could not win. After initially considering Franklin Roosevelt to be his running mate, McAdoo chose Governor Albert Ritchie of Maryland, one of the few prominent state office holders of the Democratic Party outside of the South to be his running mate. Due to the division and scandals in the Republican Party, McAdoo was sure to do better than his father-in-law four years before.


A Third Candidate
Robert M. La Follette, disgusted by the nomination of yet another conservative by the Republicans, announced a third-party run, to give a non-Conservative, non-Democratic option. La Follette hoped to give the Progressives within the Republican Party a voice, and, like Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, was hoping to enter the presidency on a third-party ticket, but then use his presence to take control of the Republican Party. He created a third party, the Progressive Party, to serve as the structure for his campaign. Hoping to get dissident Democrats on board, he chose Charles Bryan, brother of the famous populist Democrat William Jennings Bryan and Governor of Nebraska as his running mate. La Follette was endorsed by the American Federation of Labor, the Non-Partisan League, and the Committee for Progressive Political Action, which had, with participation from the Farmer-Laborites and Socialists, started to call for an independent political party after their conference in 1922 after the midterm elections. Many expected a broad left-wing coalition to form around La Follette's campaign. In the end, even the Socialists endorsed La Follette, although a large faction of their members disagreed with this decision.

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However, the Farmer-Labor Party found itself bitterly divided divided. A convention to form the Federated Farmer-Labor Party was bitterly divided on the "Communist Question". Wishing to convince La Follette to run for President on their ticket, the old guard of the Farmer-Labor Party, along with moderate socialists, attempted to purge the party of communists. They presented a proposal for the FF-LP to adopt the 1920 Farmer-Labor Platform without any changes and to exclude the entirety of the communist Workers' Party from the new political party. The Farmer-Laborites, led by Chicago Federation of Labor leader John Fitzpatrick, declared that "it would be suicide" to join "with any organization which advocated other than lawful means to bring about a political change". However, the Workers' Party was too strong, and managed to capture a narrow majority of the delegates at the conference (299-241), and voted down Fitzpatrick's resolution. The overwhelming majority of the old, moderate Farmer-Laborites stormed out of the convention. Their goal of creating a larger platform for their views had failed. However, the Communists would not be successful in their takeover. The FF-LP's sudden shift to the left drove away all of their moderate labor support, reducing the FF-LP to merely another vehicle for the communists. Their goal ruined, the Workers' Party withdrew their FF-LP ticket and just nominated a single communist ticket of William Zebulon Foster and Benjamin Gitlow. The remains of the Farmer-Labor Party, consisting merely of the state-level parties in Minnesota, Colorado, Utah, Illinois, Kentucky, Montana, New York, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Washington, was not strong enough to reform a national party, so they did not nominate any candidate, officially supporting La Follette's run (although he only appeared on the Farmer-Labor line in the fusion tickets of New York).

The three major candidates were now in the running. All campaigned vigorously. If there had been accurate national polling on August 31, 1924, it would have shown Miller with 44% of the vote, McAdoo with 36%, and La Follette with 19%.


1924 Presidential Election
Mary Thompson was an unremarkable woman. She was born in 1905 to a Protestant Indianan family of a good reputation and solid English descent. Her father was a lawyer of moderate success, and a long-time supporter of the Indiana Democratic Party. She was 19 and looking for a good man to marry on August 18, 1924. If her life proceeded how she imagined, her name would become totally lost in history. Tragically for her, it did not.

Thompson and her father attended a Democratic state Party Fourth of July Celebration (as a nice young man, a son of another lawyer, was going to be in attendance). The party was in good spirits; the nomination of the Catholic-sympathizing Miller by the Republicans the month before resulted in the Indiana Klan, which previously backed the GOP, to switch to the Democratic Party. They had a good shot at winning the state electoral votes, and several congressional seats. The event was attended by the Democrats' newest ally, the leader of the Indiana KKK, D.C. Stephenson, one of the most powerful men in the state. Thompson spoke to Stephenson throughout the meeting, and he developed an interest in her, although she rebuked him. Under the guise of working with her father on some Democratic function, Stephenson visited the Thompson household several times over the next several weeks. Mr. Thompson even permitted his daughter to visit the mansion of the esteemed Stephenson, where the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan supposedly hosted a Klan womens' etiquette class.

On her third visit to the mansion, however, Ms. Thompson discovered that the class had been cancelled. Stephenson informed her that he would call her house and inform her family that they needed to pick her up. However, he did no such thing. He instructed his bodyguards to get Thompson drunk, and they intimidated her into drinking copious quantities of whiskey. Stephenson then took her up to his room and raped her repeatedly over the next several hours, biting her savagely and beating and whipping her mercilessly. A scared and battered Mary Thompson shouted that his actions were against the law.

Stephenson laughed, and replied, "I am the law in Indiana!"

After a couple days of rape and physical abuse (Stephenson misinforming the Thompson family that their daughter never reached his mansion), Stephenson decided to force Thompson into marrying him. However, his assumption that she was too weak to resist resulted in lax security, and she escaped the mansion, running into the public. The police noticed her and brought the girl to a hospital, where she gave an account of everything that Stephenson had done to her. Reunited with her family, Thompson died on September 1, 1924 of a severe infection caused by Stephenson's abuse. That day, the Grand Dragon was arrested and charged with rape, kidnapping, and murder. Allegations soon began to surface that he had raped other women, and even molested children.

What also surfaced was a picture that Stephenson had taken with William Gibbs McAdoo during a presidential campaign stop in Indiana. The Indiana Klan, and indeed all others, proudly supported McAdoo from the beginning, with McAdoo accepting their endorsement and quite publicly defending them in the Democratic Convention and on the campaign trail. When the charges were first filed against Stephenson, McAdoo, afraid of a loss of support, at first stated that he would wait to see more evidence and the result of the trial to judge. It was a reasonable proposition, but as the populace was riled into bloodlust against Stephenson and the once-respected Ku Klux Klan, McAdoo was attacked as a "defender and sympathizer of rape and murder".

During the midst of the sensational case, Governor Nathan Miller gave a short speech. He did not mention McAdoo, or the Klan. He only spoke about Stephenson, and the poor case of Mary Thompson. Miller mentioned how he was always a strong supporter of the death penalty while governor, and vowed that under his presidency, monsters like Stephenson would be executed. The crowd cheered wildly, as mobs of former Klan members gathered outside of the courthouse, chanting for the death of Stephenson.

The candidate of the Klan watched all of his party's dreams die.


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1924 Congressional Elections
The 1924 Congressional elections went well for the Republicans and poorly for the Democrats. The Democrats lost badly enough that their numbers were reduced to their post-1920 low. Catholics, alienated by the Klan's influence, left the Democratic Party en masse, with most of them going to the Republican Party due to Miller's sympathies. Most of their losses were to Republicans, but they also lost two New York City seats to socialists. In addition, the Democrats lost three seats to the anti-KKK American Party in Texas. Formed by James "Pa" Ferguson after he decided to run for president in 1920, the party was kept alive by Ferguson since he sensed the weakness of the Democrats. He used it for his unsuccessful 1922 Senate run, but with the Klan's popularity imploding in 1924, Miriam "Ma" Ferguson, James' wife, won the Texas governor race on the American ticket in 1924, and three Klan Democrats were defeated by Ferguson allies. The Democrats lost every single seat they held outside of the old Confederacy except for their narrow majority in Kentucky, a couple seats in Oklahoma, their two northern California representatives, and Carl Hayden in Arizona. The Republicans did net a gain due to their crushing victory against the Democrats, but their gain was not as great as the Democrats' loss, due to their losses to various left-wing parties. The remains of the Farmer-Labor Party, still strong in Minnesota and Washington, made major gains, while a man running on Progressive ticket (without La Follette's endorsement) in California, and the party-switching Fiorello La Guardia ran as a Progressive in New York.

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The Miller Presidency

The Peak of Republicanism: 1925-1926

The New President
Born the son of a farmer in Upstate New York in 1868, Nathan Miller rose to prominence via his position as a lawyer. He married a Catholic woman, Elizabeth Davern, in 1896, and the couple had seven daughters. Miller got his start in politics while working for prominent steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, a famous and well-connected individual. Carnegie’s connections reinforced Miller’s firm support for the free market and private industry. After serving a couple years as New York State Comptroller, Miller was appointed to the Supreme Court of New York, serving from 1903 to 1915. He publicly supported the failed draft effort of Herbert Hoover to be Republican nominee in 1920, earning the Commerce Secretary’s gratitude. To everyone’s surprise, he managed to defeat the popular Governor of New York Al Smith in the 1920 Republican landslide election, as the Republicans swept every single statewide office in New York.

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Nathan Miller​

As governor of New York, Miller decided to put his fiscal conservative views into practice. With large majorities in the state legislature, he passed massive tax cuts, saving the New York taxpayers 20 million dollars in his first term. He covered for these tax cuts by slashing public spending. These actions soon earned Governor Miller the enmity of the Democrats and their political machine, Tammany Hall. New York City Mayor John F. Hylan was particularly angry at Miller for creating the New York City Transit Commission. The Democrats recruited ousted governor Al Smith to challenge Miller in 1922, and hoped they could make his governorship a short one. However, thanks to a strong third-party campaign by Socialist/Farmer-Labor candidate Edward Cassidy, Miller managed to narrowly win reelection. Determined to prevent the Democratic Party from obstructing his agenda again, he passed a series of reforms, severely weakening Tammany Hall’s power. With a reputation as a reformer, he became the surprise victor of the contentious 1924 Republican Convention.

Now, Nathan Miller was in the White House. He cleared out most of the Harding Cabinet, save for Treasury Secretary Mellon and Commerce Secretary Hoover. He was determined to reform the government, eliminate waste, help the American taxpayer, and uphold the Constitution.

The Congressional Agenda

With their new supermajority in the senate, the Republicans were unstoppable. They passed a series of reforms to fight corruption, to prove that Harding’s scandals were not supported by the Republican Party. The Mellon tax plan remained in effect, with the US federal government shrinking even more. In the midst of the economic boom, an overwhelming majority of Americans were convinced that fiscal conservatism was the way to go. “Big government” became associated with inefficiency and waste. Progressive Republicans resisted these laws, but they were too outnumbered to stop them.

One of the many items proposed was, as usual for the past several congresses, the Dyer anti-lynching bill. However, for months the Republican leadership, hoping to make gains in the South against the collapsing Democratic Party, delayed the bill, focusing on more mundane matters such as deregulation, tax cuts, and spending decreases. Even President Miller's staunch endorsement of the Anti-Lynching Bill did not bring it to the forefront of the debate. However, by June, the pressure began to mount, with Senator Samuel Shortridge of California, who had been relegated the bill in 1921 due to his inexperience, adopting it as his chief proposition. It was not enthusiastically supported by Republicans, even progressives. Progressive Republican Senators Hiram Johnson and George Norris were only apathetically in favor, and Senator William Borah even doubted the bill's constitutionality. Robert M. La Follette argued in favor, but he collapsed on the Senate floor in the middle of debate, and died the next day. Despite the opposition within his party to bringing it to a vote, in the end Senator Shortridge and President Miller managed to convince Majority Leader Charles Curtis to get the bill brought up to a vote. Although many Republicans were unsure about the bill, it got the 65 votes needed for cloture, and passed the Senate. With the massive Republican majority in the House, it was easily passed there. President Miller signed it with enthusiasm, while southern Republicans assumed that their days in office were numbered.


A New Political Party

Robert M. La Follette Sr. never intended to create a permanent third party. He hoped to use his candidacy as a means to take control of the Republican Party from the inside. He stayed with the GOP after the election, and encouraged progressive primary challenges to conservative Republicans. La Follette wanted his movement to grow within the only party capable of winning elections anymore, not get sidelined as Roosevelt's had post 1912. Unfortunately for La Follette, what he wanted did not matter, since he died in June of 1925, before his plans could take full effect.



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Robert M. La Follette, Sr. and Jr.​

Everyone expected the just barely old enough Robert La Follette Jr. to run for his father's seat and presumably win. Most expected him to run as a Republican. However, young Robert began to consider the idea of running on a third party ticket, like his father did for president. The younger La Follette felt much less party loyalty than his father had, and was not involved in politics during the 1910s to witness the sidelining of the progressives then. All he saw was an increasingly conservative Republican Party, large enough to ignore its Progressive wing, and a solidly southern Democratic Party, as well as numerous more left wing parties. Afraid of both eternal conservative dominance or the rise of uncontrolled radical groups, La Follette, his younger brother Philip, and independent progressive Representative Henry Graass proclaimed the formation of the Wisconsin Progressive Party, a combination of the Progressive Republicans of Wisconsin and the further left farmer and labor groups also in the state. Running off of his father's legacy, La Follette easily won election to the United States Senate as a progressive.

After his success in the Senate election, La Follette began to entertain the idea of creating a national third party, out of the same coalition which backed his father in the previous election. Sympathetic to his ideas were California Senator Hiram Johnson, who controlled both California's Republican and Progressive parties, Senator Burton K. Wheeler of Montana, a progressive who was growing dissatisfied with the increasingly southern and conservative Democratic Party, progressive Republican senators George Norris of Nebraska and William Borah of Idaho, as well as the Non-partisan League, the various state-wide progressive third parties, and the moderate Farmer-Labor state parties which rejected the communist controlled Federate Farmer-Labor Party. In late October of 1925, these various politicians and groups endorsed the proposal by the Committee for Progressive Political Action to separate from the National Republican Party and to form an independent third party. They all did, mostly due to the spending, tax cuts and deregulation carried out by the Miller administration (although critics would alledge, not baselessly, that William Borah changed parties due to his opposition to the anti-Lynching bill which he deemed unconstitutional). The new national party voted to simply call itself the Progressive Party, since most of its members identified with that label. However, many independent state parties named themselves the Progressive-Farmer-Labor Party (PFL) or the Progressive Non-Partisan League (PNPL).

The Senator from California

California Senator Samuel Shortridge's support for the anti-lynching bill catapulted him to instant fame, if not instant popularity among everyone. Shortridge had only been assigned that bill during his first congress due to Henry Cabot Lodge not wanting to start a fight, and by giving it to the inexperienced senator he doomed the bill. But now Shortridge had achieved where many others had previously failed: getting anti-lynching legislation passed by Congress. True, the Klan was not yet destroyed, and other white supremacist groups were forming, and true, the bill was having to be enforced quite vigorously due to an increase of white on black violence in the South due to crazed fears amongst many that the bill would lead to some sort of black uprising. Many in the rest of the nation began to buy into the propaganda that the anti-lynching bill was a failure, and all it achieved was destabilizing the delicate racial balance in the South.

In Shortridge's own California, Representative John E. Raker, one of the three lonely non-Southern Democratic representatives left in Congress, died in the winter of 1925, leaving an empty seat. While Raker had been personally popular enough to be deemed invincible by many, his district was heavily Republican, and many expected that it could be an easy pickup for a joint Progressive-Republican ticket (Hiram Johnson's absolute control of the California Republican Party had led to the two organizations being practically the same). However, the Republican candidate, Harry Lane Englebright, was a proud supporter of anti-lynching efforts, and there was a Democratic challenger who charged that the law had only led to more violence and destruction. The Democrat's campaign was a crazy longshot, but Shortridge felt obligated to speak for his fellow Republican, since it was his law which was the issue.

Speaking at a small convention hall in Redding California on February 4 1926, with his wife and Englebright's family standing with him, among other California dignitaries, Shortridge defended his law. "There are those who look at the cost of enforcing justice, and ask, 'why bother?' and say 'It is not worth it'. There are those who attack both the lynching law and prohibition, as laws devoted toward maintaining a civil society, yet failing. While I fear that the debate over the eighteenth amendment to this constitution shall continue for many years, I do not believe it should be compared to the lynching bill. For too long has justice been ignored in the South of this nation. For too long have murderers escaped justice simply because their victims were Negroes. The anti-lynching law does not create a new law, but rather enforces an old one, in truth the oldest law of all: 'Thou shalt not kill'. I say, let justice be done to murderers; let no man feel that he is the law."

A reference to Stephenson was sure to help incense the population in favor of the law. Even though the former Klan leader had been murdered in prison a couple months ago (without any charges filed against his killer due to "lack of evidence". When said killer was released in several years, he was given many generous gifts), his crime still hung over the nation. Perhaps the murder of Mary Thompson would go down as the murder of the decade; as February 4 began, it certainly was.

Shortridge did not stop there, however. "And for too long have the Southern States been as such that only a Democrat may win. For too long have they imposed tests and fines unfairly against the Negro population, to prevent them from voting. I do not call for an end to the established constitutional practice of separate but equal; in fact I call for it to be truly realized. The situation as it stands is separate and unequal. Many men and women in the south are denied their right to vote, a constitutional right, solely due to their race. I do not speak out against the practice of literacy tests or poll taxes, but I believe that they should be applied fairly across the entire population, regardless of race. I say, that if you believe in justice and equality, vote for Henry Englebright. I say, if you wish for the constitution of this nation to be upheld, vote for Henry Englebright. I say, if you wish for..."

A commotion in the back cut the Senator off. He stopped talking, trying to see what was going on. Shortridge heard a man's voice, shouting, "Nigger lover!" Then he heard the sound of gunfire, and nothing else.


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Senator Samuel Shortridge, 1861-1926
 
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The Miller Presidency
The Bleeding 20's: 1926-1927

The President of the United States

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President Miller was gazed out a window at the White House. On the table behind him were several newspapers. Over the last three days, information came pouring in as to what happened in Redding, California. Senator Shortridge was assassinated. When the final reports came in, the tommy guns that the assassins fired wildly at the stage over the crowd turned out to have claimed 16 more lives, including candidate Englebright, both his wife and Shortridge's, a couple local Republican politicians, and numerous members of the audience, including a child. In the gunfight showdown between the assassins and the police, four police officers and all three assassins were killed. There were even more injuries among both the police and the civilians. When the police raided the assassins' hotel room, they discovered that the three men all hailed from the Mississippi-Tennessee border area, and were avowed members of the Ku Klux Klan and the Democratic Party. Their manifesto stated that they planned to kill Shortridge or die trying in order to "defend our Aryan birthright" against the "Negroid hordes" which were encouraged by Shortridge's law, which provided them "immunity for their atrocities". They claimed that the Republicans planned to use miscegenation to destroy the white race.

What could cause such reckless hate? Why would men kill and die for these racial ideas? President Miller could not fathom it. But then again, how could he fathom the Klan? He was married to a Catholic. Weekly the White House received mail from across the nation, calling him a papist and demanding his resignation. There were times that he indeed wondered if his wife's faith was correct. Miller feared death, and the threat of assassination hung over him. The racists demonstrated their willingness to kill with the Shortridge assassination. If he were killed, what if the Catholics were right the whole time. Could he face God and be wrong?

Why would God create some men in His image, and some men not? Or did He craft any man in a perfect image, or were all men of all races equally similar in appearance to Him? If all people could be saved, why would some be better than others? True, the biologists provided evolutionary evidence. The memory of the Scopes trial was still in the President's mind. Yet was not America founded upon the idea that rights came from God? If all men would sit equal regardless of race on judgement day, why should they sit unequally beneath the law today?

Five years before, Warren G. Harding became president with three-fifths of Americans calling for a return to normalcy. Nathan Miller was elected by a majority of Americans on the promise to correct Harding's errors but continue his successes. Who was he to disrupt the so recently recovered normalcy? But Miller knew that it would not be he who broke the normalcy. No, the too recently returned normalcy died with Senator Shortridge. There was no going back now.

One failure of the Republicans under Harding, the passage of the anti-lynching act, was already accomplished. Was that not enough for the negroes? Did they in truth need any more action in their favor? They already loved Miller, as they had loved no previous president since Grant. History would remember him as progressive on race for that action alone. He did not need to fight for more. Many would say that he should not fight for more. Let things develop slowly, by increments.

Yet how could the president face God, whether Catholic or Protestant, if he did not try to correct another one of the great wrongs of this nation, when he had a unique opportunity, perhaps the only one in a generation? What if the Democrats won their way back, as they had from their tiny minority after the Civil War? What if they once again rolled back all the progress that had been achieved? They should not have recovered after their treason. Their party should have been broken, to the extent that no one in America would dare call their party "Democratic" for ten generations. Yet they did recover. Was this the fate of progress then? To reveal the promised land in the distance, yet have it be snatched away by those committed against it? Was their no hope for victory? Could the Ku Klux Klan be the victors in this long game?

Miller knew not how God would judge him for his choice of church. How would God judge him for his policy on race? Staring at the stars over Washington D.C., Miller asked the Almighty, "Do I believe in justice and equality? Do I wish for the Constitution of this nation to be upheld?"​

Legislative Glory...
On February 8, 1926, President Miller called a special session of Congress, for the express purpose of creating legislation to break the Ku Klux Klan, which was being blamed for the massacre in Redding, and to make the most significant push for rights of black Americans in a generation. He gave a stirring speech in favor of a resurrection of the Lodge Force Bill of 1890, which was written to ensure the rights of black would-be-voters in the South, as well as a federal law banning the Ku Klux Klan and condemning them as an outlawed criminal organization. Speaker Longworth and Majority Leader Curtis were both committed to ramming the bill through Congress in the memory of Senator Shortridge and the others who died, no matter how dirty the fight had to get and how badly it hurt the Republican Party among Southern whites. They expected a tough fight from the Democrats, but were confident that the huge majority of Republicans, combined with the large Progressive faction, would be able to get the bill passed over Democratic and Southern Republican opposition. The Democrats then launched the most obstructionist campaign ever in the history of Congress, including failed attempts to filibuster the bill in the House which required several congressmen to be dragged out of the chamber shouting. Threats of violence were high, and several men were arrested for plotting the assassination of President Miller. In disgust of their party's actions, Democratic Congressmen Clarence Lea and Carl Hayden, of California and Arizona respectively, announced they were switching to the Progressive Party.
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Clarence Lea's Congressional District was very close to Redding, California
In the end, the Democratic obstructionism totally failed. In an overwhelming vote, the bill passed both houses of Congress in mid May. The majority of Democrats refused to even be present for the vote, opting to remain absent instead. Almost all Republicans and Progressives voted for the bill, as did the socialists. On May 21, President Miller signed it into law, and vowed to use the powers given to the federal government in the bill to ensure that true Democracy would exist in the south, for all races.
And Reality
Although the Voting Force Bill was passed, it did not signal the end to white rule in the South. While it outlawed flat-out discrimination, and applying different tests to whites and blacks, it relied primarily upon local enforcement, and voter intimidation, gerrymandering of electoral districts, various other tricks, and in some cases outright violation of the law by local officials. Generally, victories of black voters and/or candidates were limited to small local offices and the occasional state legislature seat, preventing any major upheaval. In the north, this was generally seen as more than enough, with many believing that the President and Congress had overstepped their bounds (although few cared that much in the North for that to affect their vote). Meanwhile, the anti-Lynching Bill certainly was successful, with many high-profile lynchers being prosecuted, and a general decline of the practice occurred.

The US federal marshals were too few to enforce the bill well. No one was willing to deploy the US Army to thoroughly enforce it. Black civil rights groups such as the NAACP praised Miller for his actions, but the reality was that the bill was barely less symbolic than the Fifteenth Amendment.
Madness
"Sixty-odd years ago, our ancestors rose up when the winds of Republican oppression swept over the South. Under the burning cross, they fought for their home, their faith, and their race. They were victorious, and the radical reconstructionists were beaten, and returned to their homes. The negroes were put back in their place, beneath the white man, and peace and order was restored to Dixie. But now the Republican regime once more moves to raise the negro from servant to master, and destroy the Christian Anglo-Saxon heritage of the South. Are we true heirs to our ancestors? Or are we merely a mockery of their bravery and sacrifice? Will we allow the Republican Negro dominion to be restored?

Eleven years ago, William Joseph Simmons and fourteen other men climbed this mountain at a temperature far below freezing, and there they burned a cross and dedicated themselves to defending the white, Anglo-Saxon race from the papist, the Jew, the communist, and all others who sought to destroy our culture. We wear their same robes. We burn their same cross. Will we carry out that noble defense? Or do we shirk the challenge, and allow the papist in the White House to destroy the South? For indeed, he has given the negro the vote, and with that vote they shall allow miscegenation, and use it to sully our blood and destroy the Aryan race. Then there shall be no one, no one, who shall defend our constitution against the Jewish and Papist hordes from the east, who will bring communism to this nation. We are the last defense.

What is our cause? Our cause is the protection of the white race, the repeal of this unconstitutional force bill, the subjugation of the negro, and the prevention of papist or Jewish immigration into this nation. What are our weapons? I pray that it shall be the protest march and the ballot box, the letters and the petitions. But let it be known that we shall use the gun and the noose and all other weapons at our disposal, if necessary to defend our home and our people. What is the penalty of our failure? If we fail, there will be no one to stop the nigger hordes from coming to our homes and raping our mothers, wives, and daughters. If we fail, the Pope shall reign supreme over the United States, the constitution trampled beneath his feet. If we fail, our race will be exterminated from this earth. We will not fail! We shall drive out the Republicans like we did once before!

To this cause, we pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

-Imperial Wizard Hiram Wesley Evans of the Ku Klux Klan, speaking on Stone Mountain on May 21, 1926.
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Hiram Evans
"My fellow Georgians, I speak to you in a dark time. Last night, the treasonous organization known as the Ku Klux Klan attempted to overthrow the Georgia State Government. This organization, well known for it's former leader D.C. Stephenson the convicted rapist and murderer, is committed to overthrowing the government of the United States of America and installing their own dictatorship. I have always stood against this organization.

Yesterday they gathered their forces on Stone Mountain. Their leader, Hiram Wesley Evans, gave a speech in which he stated that the KKK would 'use the gun and the noose and and all other weapons' they own to overthrow law and order. Several hours later, they began burning the cross, the symbol of the Christian faith, and proceeded to march down the mountain. Luckily for America, there was one member of the Klan who regretted his membership in that treasonous organization.

Warned by this member, I dispatched the Georgia State Militia to apprehend this criminal organization. The State militia was victorious, with Evans arrested and twenty other members of his organization arrested, with thirty-two members of that organization dead. Sadly, this skirmish cost the lives of nine members of the Georgia State Militia. May they rest and peace. And may their sacrifice not be in vain. The Constitution will be preserved at any cost!"
-Governor Thomas W. Hardwick of Georgia
~~~
Senator Oscar Underwood was tired, He'd fought battle after battle in the US Senate and in Alabama state politics. He'd fought against the Anti-Lynching Bill and Voting Act. But he'd also fought against the Klan. Luckily after the assassination of Shortridge and the "Battle of Stone Mountain" the KKK had ended up thoroughly condemned and crushed across the Nation. In many states, partisanship had broken down. In Colorado, after defeating Klan Republican candidate Clarence Morley, Democrat William Ellery Sweet had created a new coalition in the State Legislature, of anti-Klan Republicans and Democrats against the Klan members. Between the Stephenson scandal and the Battle of Stone Mountain, every Klan-backed government had turned against them.

Yet while the Klan was destroyed, the outrage over the weak civil rights attempts of the Miller Administration outraged people across the South. Some populist racists had reformed the Reconstruction-Era paramilitary group known as the "White League". Meanwhile, some upper-class Southerners reformed the "Knights of the White Camelia". As he was driven home, Underwood pondered what to do regarding the "Red Shirts" who were organizing in Alabama. With racial tensions so high, Underwood lost the primary election to former Klan member Hugo Black.

But Underwood, convinced by the criminal violence that Prohibition was failing, and convinced that the extremist white paramilitary groups were a threat to Democracy, refused to back down. Anti Red Shirt candidates across the state organized into the "Opposition Party". Underwood knew he was in for a tough electoral battle, but he thought his chances were fairly good. He thanked his driver and strode into his house. The old senator was tired. But he was not yet beat. He turned on the light in his office and began reading his letters. The battle for the nation's soul was about the begin.

The bombs planted by Red Shirt extremists underneath Senator Oscar Underwood's house exploded. The Senator and his entire house were destroyed in the explosion.
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Oscar Underwood

The 1926 Elections
The 1926 elections varied dramatically from region to region, and although they were remarkable, they did not change the balance of power. The Progressives made a scattering of gains in the North, but not enough to shake Republican rule. There was an anti-Republican backlash in the South, but as many Southern Republicans voted against both bills, and campaigned heavily on their votes, they managed to keep their poll numbers up. Furthermore, with the Democratic Party being divided between White League/KWC supporting Democrats, more moderate Democrats opposed to the paramilitary groups, and even the occasional never-surrendering Klan member. Numerous independent and write-in candidates challenged Democrats of rival factions, and many congressmen lost their primaries. The general disorganization and in-fighting of the Democratic Party prevented them from capitalizing on their gains, with the Republicans even defeating a few Democrats in the upper south when races descended into 3-way, 4-way, or even 5-way elections in the chaos. Outside of the South, the Democratic Party dissolved, with its members bolting to the Progressives or the Republicans.
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Meanwhile, the Senate elections mirrored the House elections, with the Republicans losing seats to the Progressives, and the Democrats falling into infighting in the South, with three independent ex-Democrats winning seats, as well as the Opposition Party winning Underwood's seat in a wave of sympathy after his assassination. Meanwhile, the western Democrats switched parties en masse, with Key Pittman of Nevada and Henry Ashurst of Arizona joining the Progressives, and John Kendrick of Wyoming and Andrieus Jones of New Mexico joining the Republicans. Democrat-turned-Progressive Carl Hayden won the Senate Seat in Arizona, and across the west (as well as in La Follette's Wisconsin) the Progressives defended their few seats and made major gains. Despite their losses, the Republicans kept a firm majority in the chamber.
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In the aftermath of the horrifying assassination of Oscar Underwood, the state of Alabama crushed the Red Shirt organization, killing many of its members in a brutal backlash so intense some claimed it violated the anti-lynching bill. Every single Democratic Congressional candidate endorsed by the Red Shirts in Alabama was defeated. Klan member Hugo Black was defeated in a landslide by Underwood's Opposition replacement.​
Disaster after Disaster
The 1920s began as a period of relief, a return to normalcy, a time of economic boom and new peace. But by 1927, this era was over. After the Harding scandals, the rise of the Klan, the murder of Mary Thompson, the assassination of Senators Shortridge and Underwood, and the issues in the South, the feelings of optimism and hope had begun to fade. Violence committed by bootleggers and other organized criminals involved with the illegal liquor business helped people get around prohibition. The ban on alcohol became less popular every month, as new atrocities came out. However, it still had strong support, and the eighteenth amendment was in no danger of being repealed by the current congress, or any congressional makeup predicted at that time.

On May 18 in Bath, Michigan, a disgruntled former school board treasurer, Andrew Kehoe, murdered his wife. Kehoe was defeated in the elections the previous year due to his attempts to fight tax increases, and combined with his own personal financial issues led to him becoming suicidally depressed. After the murder of his wife, Kehoe then firebombed his farm, killing many of his animals and destroying the buildings. Later that day, many of the bombs he had hidden in the elementary school over the previous months detonated on a timer. The explosions destroyed half the school, and if not for some of the bombs malfunctioning, it would have destroyed the entire building. Citizens from across the area, hearing the explosion rushed to the school to aid in the rescue efforts.

Monty Elsworth said:
There was a pile of children of about five or six under the roof and some of them had arms sticking out, some had legs, and some just their heads sticking out. They were unrecognizable because they were covered with dust, plaster, and blood. There were not enough of us to move the roof.

Meanwhile, Kehoe, grinning all the while, drove his truck next to the remains of the school and detonated it. He suicide killed several other people, including the school superintendent. In total, 35 children, 3 teachers, the superintendent, and three others were killed in the bombings.
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The remains of the school
The bombings, assassinations, murders, and alcohol-related killings led to many calling the decade "The Bloody Twenties". The national mood became grimmer every day.

Even more grim was the news from the South, this time not regarding race, but regarding the Mississippi River. The winter of 1926 proved to be a wet year in the Mississippi Valley, and by December water levels had risen dangerously high. The waters burst the levees and flooded all of the states bordering the lower Mississippi river. The river soon reached a width of nearly 60 miles south of Memphis. Over 99,000 acres of land were covered in up to thirty feet water. 931,000 people were displayed by the waters, with hundreds of people drowning. The spring brought only more rain, and the floods continued well into the summer. New Orleans was one of the cities in the greatest danger, with a foot and a half of rain falling on the city in a single day. Fearing that the resulting floods would destroy the city, the business leaders destroyed several levees up river, flooding numerous other counties. However, the levees even further up the river miraculously held, making the floodings unnecessary to the protection of New Orleans.

Out of the chaos came Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover. Already famous for his handling of relief for the Europeans in the aftermath of the Great War, the lone member of the Harding Cabinet retained by President Miller was requested to be in charge of relief operations by the governors of six states. Hoover, believing that the private sector was superior to the public sector, did not call upon the army for help, and instead relied on voluntary aid from the American people. He was successful, and soon numerous health stations were set up, combating various diseases among the refugee camps caused by the enormous amount of water. Due to Hoover's superb administration, and the generosity of America, the aid programs were mostly successful, and grateful Americans soon began returning to rebuilt homes as newspapers across the nation praised Hoover's response to the crisis.

However, rumors began circulating in the press about horrific mistreatment of blacks in the flood recovery efforts, with many black flood victims not receiving the aid which should have gone to them, and being forced at gunpoint to work for no pay to help set up the camps. As investigations continued, it turned out that these rumors were true, shocking the black community and many white Americans. Hoover himself was not responsible for these events; rather the racists working under him. However, the Commerce Secretary was aware of what had occurred, and he was afraid of what would occur to his presidential ambitions if news of these events got out. He went to Robert Russa Moton, president of the Tuskeegee Institute, and attempted to strike a deal, for the prominent black leader to keep the news of the mistreatment out of the press in return for unprecedented influence in the Hoover Administration. However, afraid that Hoover was going to challenge the beloved Miller in 1928, and with Hoover refusing to explicitly agree to do anything more than Miller already had done, the attempts at deal making broke down. Blacks and sympathetic whites became even angrier at Hoover, while many Southern whites began to distrust a man who was willing to give blacks unspecific "unprecedented influence" in his administration. The scandal tarnished Hoover's flood recovery efforts, and led to a rift with President Miller, who greatly reduced the Commerce Secretary's visibility and power and ended all of his projects not strictly related to his position.​
 
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The 1928 Presidential Election

The Republican Convention
The Republican Party, despite the controversy around Miller's actions in the South, was pretty confident going into 1928. The fact was, racial issues aside, they still were presiding over the best economy in years. The Progressives were still seen as radical to many Americans, and no other strong opposition existed to the Republican Party outside of the South. The Republicans had taken significant losses to the Progressives in 1926, but that was mostly due to schisms within the Republican Party, such as the defections of entire state parties to the Progressives. Now, they were organized, not as overstretched, and confident to keep their majority. The Republican Congressmen were bound to outperform Miller everywhere except in urban Catholic communities in the Northeast. Even if Miller's personal unpopularity led him to not be able to win a majority of the vote, his opposition was too fragmented for anyone to flat-out beat him, and with a majority of all state delegations, the Republicans were confident that he could be reelected.

The President was sure to be renominated. The only Republicans truly willing to challenge him were the Southern White Republicans. However, in the Deep South, as a way to demonstrate that they did indeed care for the fifteenth amendment, the Democratic Party and its various opposition parties allowed black voters unlimited access to Republican Party events, and when they stopped Republican attempts to exclude them, why they were only obeying federal law. By putting the Deep Southern Republican Parties in control of black voters, they managed to alienate almost all Deep Southern whites from voting Republican, while the much stricter voting rules in the general elections prevented the black candidates from actually winning anything. Despite this, it guaranteed Miller one region which would be steadfastly loyal to his renomination attempt.

That is, a theoretical Miller renomination attempt. The President was tired after a rough four years in office. He presided over a period of peace for most of the country and economic prosperity for all, but still received death threats and assassination attempts on himself and his family. Regularly, hate mail was thrown out by his secretaries aimed at his racial policies or his wife's religion. Miller's crisis of faith, and the rigors of the presidency, gave him a lot of stress and harmed his health. He knew that if he dropped out of the running, it could save the Republican Party in the Upper South. Furthermore, there were whispers going around that this great economy could not possibly last... In the end, Miller announced in early 1928 that he did not plan to run for reelection.

Herbert Hoover wanted to be president, but after the flood recovery fiasco, his support was greatly weakened. With the black-dominated Deep Southern Delegations, and many northern delegations, being opposed to Hoover for trying to cover up the mistreatment of blacks, with the Upper South white Republicans opposed to Hoover for offering greater influence to blacks in his administration, and with conservative Republicans wary of a man who supported Roosevelt in 1912 due to all of the recent defections to the Progressives. Former Governor Frank Orren Lowden of Illinois was a strong candidate in many peoples' eyes, but he left office seven and a half years before, and had not achieved much in the meantime. Senate Majority Leader Charles Curtis was interested in the Presidency, but Republicans were afraid without the popular Curtis that the Progressives would take his Senate Seat. Curtis was also busy as Majority Leader, and unwilling to resign from his position to run for President. Many would have rejected Charles G. Dawes, the First Director of the Bureau of the Budget, as being too tied to Harding, but following his Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, and subsequent appointment as ambassador to the UK, he stood a chance. However, Dawes, as an ambassador, had difficulties organizing his supporters, and having never run for elected office himself he was not a particularly good campaigner.

Many people predicted that Miller's successor in the New York governor's mansion, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., would be his successor in the White House. Despite concerns over his connections to the Harding Administration, Roosevelt won in 1924, a bad year for Democrats, and won reelection in 1926 against an opposition divided between the remnant Democrats and the new Progressives. He promised reform, and he did crush rival Democratic political machine Tammany Hall, ending that corrupt organization once and for all. As a two-term governor with a famous last name, and a record as a war hero in WWI who also supported efforts to fight the communists in the Russian Civil War, he seemed like a strong candidate. However, it soon came to light that several members of his administration had accepted bribes. Roosevelt fired these men, and was never connected himself, but his image was tarnished. Many accused him of only enforcing anti-corruption reforms against political opponents, not against allies. Roosevelt was forced to drop out of the presidential race, although he did get reelected as governor.

Vice President Edwin Morrow was a strong candidate. He amazingly had the support of the Upper South Republicans, being a man of Kentucky, and the Lower South Republicans, for his defense of blacks against lynchings while he was governor. He was a staunch conservative, but had been relatively progressive on some social issues in Kentucky, so he pulled in the moderates as well Morrow had not done much as Vice President but go around and give speeches, but this allowed him to appeal to everyone. His main opposition was the Senator from Massachusetts who had succeeded the sadly departed Henry Cabot Lodge, who a few months before served as Vice President, and before that as governor: Calvin Coolidge. Coolidge was not particularly desirous of the presidency, but was bitter that he had been unfairly considered part of Harding's corrupt administration in 1924 and lost the nomination to Miller. He managed to get talked into giving it a final run, if just to vindicate his name from 1924. While Coolidge swept the northeast, he failed to get wider geographic support. In the end, the former Vice President was satisfied by the current Vice President's offer, and the Republican Ticket was announced as Vice President and Former Governor Edwin Morrow of Kentucky for President and Senator and Former Vice President and Governor of Massachusetts Calvin Coolidge for Vice President. To try to satisfy as many former contenders, they promised to give Hoover a cabinet position (bored of Commerce, he requested the Interior) and Dawes the position of Secretary of State.

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Vice President Edwin Morrow

The Opposition

The opposition to the Republicans was divided into several parties The largest opposition was the newly organized Progressive Party was the Progressive Party (AKA the Non-Partisan League or Farmer Labor Party in certain states). The aging Progressive Old Guard dominated the party, and was bound to select the nominee. However, in light of recent events, the party was divided on the subject of race. Most Progressives conceded that they would not win the black vote in 1928 after Miller's accomplishments. However, most were unwilling to fully denounce Miller's actions, since many Progressives were at least nominally pro-civil rights. Senator William Borah of Idaho had the support of Southern Progressives who hoped that nominating someone willing to question the constitutionality of Miller’s actions would help their party in the South. However, Borah, as perhaps the staunchest foe of the recent racial acts who was not a Democrat, was opposed by many Progressives from outside of the South. His support for Prohibition also cost him among many Northeastern delegations.

Senator Hiram Johnson was silent on the Prohibition issue, winning him tepid support from both sides. Johnson personally was not particularly progressive on racial issues, but in the wake of his fellow Senator Shortridge’s assassination, Californians were infuriated and Johnson fought for the voting rights bill. Now seen as one of the major sponsors of that bill, the Southern Progressives refused to switch from Borah to Johnson, dividing the convention. The rest of the delegates mostly backed various favorite sons, with a large chunk of the northeastern delegates lined up behind Fiorello La Guardia, despite the fact that they knew he would never be able to win the nomination with such an Italian surname.

After several inconclusive ballots, Johnson, Borah, La Guardia, and various other Progressive leaders all gathered together to try and find a compromise candidate. The compromise for the Prohibition issue was the old solution of states’ rights. The Progressives declared that they favored repealing the 18th Amendment and allowing individual states to decide whether they wanted Prohibition or not. In order to appease prohibitionists, they nominated Senator George Norris of Nebraska for President of the United States. Norris was a strong supporter of Prohibition, and he vowed that if the issue became statewide, he would certainly fight for Nebraska to keep Prohibition, and do everything in his presidential power to help dry states enforce their laws. While he had voted for the Voting Rights Bill, Norris was not seen as a strong advocate such as Johnson, and his strong pro-Prohibition stance and rural roots compensated with Southern voters. Norris planned to choose a northeastern Vice Presidential candidate, Fiorello La Guardia, to add geographic diversity to the New Bull Moose ticket. (Both Theodore Roosevelt and Robert La Follette Sr. would have been horrified that the symbol of the former’s party was being used by the party created by the latter’s supporters. But political cartoonists latched onto the “Return of the Bull Moose” meme when the Progressive Party was founded, and Roosevelt and La Follette were too dead to protest)

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party was a complete mess. Splits had occurred in every statewide party left (primarily just in the South) between moderates and extremists. The convention was a nightmare, as delegations battled over who was the true representative. In the end, as several moderate Democratic factions had already severed all ties with the main party (such as the Americans in Texas, Oppositionists in Alabama, and newly the Conservatives in North Carolina and Constitutionalists of Tennessee, the radicals generally won out. With the massive exodus of the moderates to create their own party, the extremists won a two-thirds majority of the convention and nominated former Governor of Mississippi Theodore Bilbo for President. To try and hold onto some moderates, they chose Morris Sheppard of Texas to be Bilbo’s running mate (Sheppard stuck with the Democrats because the opposition in his state, the American Party, was strongly anti-Prohibition). The Democrats struck an even stronger pro-Prohibition stance than the Republican Party, with near unanimous support for the measure. The Democrats hoped to keep control of the South, and eventually rebuild support among northern whites opposed to the “Papist-communist mongrelization” programs they were sure the Republicans would start forcing on the nation.

The disorganized Southern opposition to the Democrats was often called the Conservative Coalition due to holding conservative, not reactionary or radical racist, views on race in the South. Formed by the Americans, Oppositionists, and other statewide parties, the coalition soon grew to include every Democratic breakaway faction in the South except for the left-leaning Commonwealth Party of Louisiana, formed by a certain public service commissioner running for governor. With some of the state-wide parties being strong supporters of Prohibition, but others being foes, it adopted a near-identical platform the Progressives, with state rights as their position. The Conservative Coalition Parties’ candidate for President was Thomas Hardwick. First elected to the governor’s mansion in 1920, Hardwick was driven out of office in 1922 after he stood up to the Ku Klux Klan. However, he won the 1924 gubernatorial election as an independent Democrat, after the anti-Klan fallout of the Stephenson scandal. Hardwick was well known for crushing the last remnant of the Klan in the Battle of Stone Mountain. Like Bilbo, Hardwick also chose a Texan running mate, in his case US Representative from the American Party George Peddy.

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Thomas Hardwick

Summaries of the Political Parties

The Republican Party is currently the home of almost all non-Southern economic conservatives. It also has most backers of Prohibition in the Northeast. The Republican Party is starting to absorb moderate ex-Democratic Progressives who felt that the Progressive Party was too far to the left, such as Franklin Roosevelt, Wendell Willkie, and Al Smith. Thanks to Nathan Miller, it has successfully won the support of the wealthier Catholics, such as Joseph Kennedy. Middle class Catholics have mostly migrated to the Republicans as well, but the working class Catholic vote remains divided between Progressives and Socialists, with only a few poor Catholic Republicans. Thanks to the migration of moderate internationalist Democrats to the GOP and the defection of western isolationist Progressives, the Republican Party currently is more internationalist than the Progressive Party, albeit still fairly isolationist during this era. The Republican Party also has the support of blacks everywhere they can vote.
Southern Republicans are a bit hard to classify currently. Generally, they are still segregationists or at least neutral on civil rights issues. They are all generally economically conservative. Their support is based in Appalachia, which allows some to avoid the civil rights issue because their districts are monoracial. They also have support among many Catholics in Louisiana. The difference between Republican and Conservatives in the South is a bit blurry, with the main differentiating factor being whether or not the inhabitants of the district are willing to vote for a candidate who is Republican.

The Progressive Party is currently rather diverse. It is dominated by the predominately western traditional Progressives such as Johnson, Borah, and Norris. Generally the western Progressives tend to be the most isolationist, prohibitionist, rural, and moderate on social issues. As one moves east, the Progressive Party becomes more urban-centered and socially liberal (anti-Prohibition, stronger stance for civil rights). It has deals with the Socialists in Milwaukee and New York City, to avoid battles within the left (and, some say, to create a specter of socialism to convince people to vote for Progressive Reforms).
The Southern Progressives aren't that numerous, and tend to be relatively socially conservative. Economically they are all over the place, basically everyone to the economic left the Republicans in the South who isn't a hardcore racist or part of the Commonwealth Party in Louisiana.
Economically speaking, most Progressives back about as much government intervention as the New Deal, or just a bit less. The Wisconsin Progressives are a bit more to the left, but not that much. However, in Minnesota, Illinois, New York, Washington, Montana, and the Dakotas, the remnants of the Farmer-Labor Party and the Non-Partisan League are in control of the Progressive Party, resulting in a full on Social Democratic Platform. The radicals are a minority elsewhere, but present in every state party.

The Conservative Coalition is a bit more economically diverse than the Southern Republicans, but they are all to the right of the Progressives. The unifying feature of the Conservatives is that they are moderate racist segregationists opposed to all paramilitary action. The different state parties that are members of the coalition vary in their attitudes towards Prohibition, and the coalition has thus adopted a states' rights view on the issue.

The only breakaway party in the South that has not joined the Conservative Coalition is the Commonwealth Party in Louisiana, which adopted old Populist rhetoric against the Democrats there. Not much is known about them currently, as they just formed and their only office holders are a member of the Public Service Commission and a few county officials and state legislators. Although they are fairly left-wing, they have not openly affiliated with the Progressive Party, thus leaving the Presidential election in Louisiana the last pure Republican versus Democratic election in the United States.

The Democratic Party has now lost almost all of their moderates, and are dominated by paramilitary groups such as the Knights of the White Camelia and the White Leagues. The remaining Democrats are hardcore extremist racists, alienating even many racists with their rhetoric. They are all in strong support of the Eighteenth Amendment and the current definition of intoxicating substance as anything with the potential to make someone drunk. Economically they are more diverse than the Conservatives, with some Democrats using racist Populism in the vein of the deceased Pitchfork Ben Tillman, while others are equally reactionary in their economic views to their racial views.

Both the Democrats and Conservatives hope to establish their control of the South, and then slowly begin to build up their strength elsewhere.

The Socialist Party is pretty much the same as ever. They have lost their most extreme members to the Communist Workers' Party, but they have also lost their more moderate members to the Progressives, compensating. Despite their membership losses, they are still around thanks to various deals they've made with the Progressive Party in Milwaukee and New York City.

The Communist Workers' Party, which has absorbed the sad remains of the aborted Federated Farmer-Labor Party, is slowly being drawn under Moscow's influence.

The 1928 Presidential Election

The 1928 Presidential Election was always going to be a Republican victory. There was simply no way for the Progressives to win nationwide, and with a Republican majority in the House, a hung electoral college would also result in a Republican victory. When Edwin Morrow was proclaimed the winner, it surprised absolutely no one. It turned out that Republican fears of a hung electoral college were groundless, as Morrow won comfortably electorally and a narrow majority of the popular vote. Republican domination in the Northeast and a majority in the Midwest carried the day, while three or even four-way vote splitting delivered several upper Southern states to the Republicans, despite all of the recent controversy over race President Miller proclaimed his joy at the results, and pledge to make his Vice President's transition into office as smooth as possible.

Although they lost, the Progressives were pleased by the results, as Norris performed very well, winning as many votes as could be reasonably be expected. Progressive Parties were now active in 47 out of 48 states (Louisiana being the only exception), and the new party gained a lot of respect for their second place win. Many Progressives believed that a narrow Progressive victory might be achievable in two or three cycles. The Progressive old guard managed to assert their tight control of the party, with the radicals restricted and weak. Barring a major crisis, there was no way the radical Progressives could possibly take control of the party.

The real drama was in the South. After the last four years, the Democratic brand was connected to terrorism, murder, rape, extreme racism, and other horrible events. Thanks to the Conservative Coalition, an alternative existed for many Southerners who simply could not bring themselves to vote Republican. During the campaign, it was revealed that Theodore Bilbo had formerly been a member of the now reviled Ku Klux Klan, hurting his numbers severely. The Democratic Party only beat Walker in Bilbo's Mississippi and South Carolina (Louisiana only had Morrow on the ballot against Bilbo). Conservatives were swept into office across the South, proving the Coalition Parties' strength.

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1928 Congressional Elections
Despite the remarkably good showing for Norris, the Progressives were still rather disorganized in many states; Norris won votes from many Congressional districts where there was not even a Progressive candidate running. House Republicans overperformed the Vice President as well. The Republicans retained their majority in the House despite some losses, and while the Progressives dominated the opposition, they were still far from a majority. The most interesting Congressional result was the rapid rise of the Conservative coalition, as part of the complete collapse of the Democratic Party. Few could imagine now that the Democrats won a two-thirds majority of the house just 16 years ago. Meanwhile, the disorganized Progressives failed to field anyone in Maryland, and instead unofficially through their support behind a Socialist candidate who managed to win with divided opposition. Whether it was due to legitimate agreement with the Socialists, or just the desire to have a further-left party to make them seem more moderate, the Progressives did not officially run anyone against any incumbent socialist congressman. Meanwhile, in conjunction with Huey Long's landslide gubernatorial victory, the Commonwealth Party won 4 House seats in Louisiana.

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The 1928 Senate Elections mirrored the House elections. The Progressives made minor gains, the Democrats were overtaken by the Conservatives, and the Republicans retained a majority. The most interesting race was Rhode Island, where incumbent Senator Robert Livingstone Beeckman declined to run for reelection after being promised the position of Secretary of Commerce and allowed the Progressives to win their first senate seat in the Northeast.

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The Beginning of the Morrow Presidency

The opening days of the administration of Edwin Morrow were fairly calm, especially compared to the previous four years. He vigorously enforced the civil rights advances made by President Miller, but did not make any sort of push, public or private, for further rights. He spoke of a new racial status-quo that must be enforced, and stated that he felt that all significant racial progress had been made. The Moderate Morrow failed to satisfy either white southerners or blacks, but it also did not outrage either group. However, there were a few Progressives who began to wonder if northern urban black voters might be tempted to stray from their traditional party.

Morrow's primary goals were to reform the federal government, and his policies during the first few months were intended to reflect this reform sense. He extended several measures instituted by Miller after the disastrous Harding Presidency, and signed into law harsher punishments for officials caught in corrupt acts involving alcohol. Prohibition was becoming less popular by the day, but Morrow was confident that with vigorous enforcement and some reforms, he could break the Mob and restore confidence in the public Prohibition policies. Morrow's reform was not only to deal with corruption; a staunch fiscal conservative, the President shrunk the bureaucracy and made cuts to government programs he deemed unnecessarily large. With a Republican Congress, Morrow's policies were easily passed.

Morrow was the second president sworn into office by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and former President William Howard Taft; he would also be the last. In early April Taft's health sharply declined, and he announced his retirement on May 2. Morrow decided to repay the man responsible for his nomination, and nominated former President Nathan Miller, who had judicial experience from the New York Supreme Court. The Republicans, grateful that Miller had stepped aside and allowed the less controversial Morrow to run in 1928, all rallied behind their former President. Many Progressives dislike Miller, but they figured that he was less conservative than Taft at least, so there was no serious opposition from there. The Conservatives and Democrats were angry, but they were not numerous enough to stop Miller from being confirmed by the Senate and becoming the second former president in a row to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

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Nathan Miller, 31st President of the United States, 1925-1929, Appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1930​
 
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The Great Depression
1929-1931

The Crash

Industrial Production was at an all-time high as Morrow took office. It was not a horrible shock for it to decline somewhat over the summer. Due to the unprecedented economic growth of the United States over the 1920s, the GDP was the largest it had ever been -112.7 billion dollars- so it was no surprise that the growth could not go on forever. When the slight recession began in the beginning of fall, few felt it. The farmers, in the US, Canada, and Australia, felt the sudden drop in the price of wheat that occurred in the early fall, but to most Americans, that was just a slight annoyance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average peaked in early September at 404 dollars per average share, and over the next several weeks it tumbled; by September 28 it was 390 dollars. But that was nothing to worry about.

For most people, the economic downturn was nothing more than numbers printed in the financial section of a newspaper. Most people did not care. So when Interior Secretary Herbert Hoover predicted that the economy would keep growing indefinitely, most people believed him. When Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon dismissed all claims that the economy was about to enter a severe recession as ridiculous, everyone trusted him. When, on September 27, President Morrow boldly predicted that the United States was barely more than a decade away from the final triumph of conservative economics and "the end to all poverty", people celebrated.

Two days after Morrow's prediction, the US stock market collapsed.

The stock market was a giant bubble; people bought stocks enormously over value and sold them for even higher. Worthless companies such as Joseph Kennedy's Yellow Cab Company were being supported simply due to the artificially high stocks. It became a get rich quick scheme for the upper class. Thanks to the deregulation of the Harding and Miller Administrations, the stock market bubble had grown enormously fast, and grew the entire world economy. But on September 30, the Dow Jones opened up at an average value of $290. Numerous companies' shareholders finally had to face the fact that their shares were not worth the majority of their value.

On October 4, the English financier Clarence Hatry and his cohorts, whose shares were worth nearly £25 million, were suspended by the London Stock Exchange after being revealed to have been selling and buying fraudulent stocks, and arrested. The London Stock Exchange crashed once the news came out. With the fall of the two largest economies in the world, the entire global economy began to recess, in one of the worst financial panics of all time. Hoping to create a brighter mood, US Interior Secretary Hoover promoted the word “Depression” as an alternative to “Panic”, in hopes that it would sound less severe. However, people still panicked and rushed toward the banks to withdraw all of their money in cash.

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A run on the bank​

President Morrow was a good man who wanted to help the economy; he was also a staunch fiscal conservative who believed that cutting government spending was the way to do so. The problem was that the US government was already as lean as it could be; the huge Republican majorities over the previous decade had slashed spending repeatedly. Morrow would have vetoed any expensive recovery program, if the Republican Congressional Majority had actually passed one. Morrow believed in the laissez-faire approach supported by his Treasury Secretary and Vice President, termed by Mellon the "Leave it alone" approach. He refused to grant more subsidies for ship construction, he let the Federal Farm Board run out of money to continue its policies, and he vetoed a public works bill with such ridiculous goals like damming the Colorado River. Morrow's rejection of this public works program infuriated Herbert Hoover, who resigned from his position in protest.

By the summer of 1930, the President could tell that the classic liberal approach was failing. His earnest cuts on the government side were not successful in stimulating the economy. He knew the government had to do something. But Morrow simply could not bear to increase government spending. Instead, he signed the Sproul Tariff Act, hoping that the gigantic increase in Tariffs would stop imports into America and stimulate American business. Thousands of economists begged Morrow to veto the act. But the poor farmers of Kentucky, among other states, begged Morrow to do so; trusting in his traditional constituents, he agreed. This action infuriated Canada, which began to close American factories and rose its own tariffs; soon Europe joined in on the tariff war.

Oh, Morrow blew the whistle, boys,
And Mellon rang the bell,
Wall Street gave the signal,
And the country went to Hell!

Prohibition
The economy was certainly the main issue on voters' minds going into 1930, but it wasn't the only one. The other central issue was that of Prohibition, which had become increasingly unpopular over the years. Gang violence between Alfonse "Scarface Al" Capone and George "Bugs" Moran in Chicago shocked the nation in its brutality. Meanwhile, the US Coast Guard's deadly attempts to enforce the laws against rumrunners caused great controversy across the Eastern Seaboard. These violent incidents cemented the 1920s' reputation as the "Bloody Twenties".

In protest of Prohibition, the state legislatures of New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Jersey all called for a Constitutional Convention to do away with the 18th Amendment. Many Congressmen had started to agree; even supporters of Prohibition began to argue that it should be decided by the states, not decided by the federal government. However, most politicians were still in favor of Prohibition, even though public opinion had swung strongly against. Attempts to merely repeal the Volstead Act failed narrowly. Even if they had passed, President Morrow, a staunch Prohibitionist, threatened to veto attempts to undermine the 18th Amendment. While western and southern Progressives, based in rural areas, still supported Prohibition, in the urban Northeast and Midwest, the Progressives used its unpopularity as one more weapon to fight the Republicans.

The 1930 Congressional Elections
The Republicans knew they were going to get hit in the 1930 Midterms. By November, it was clear that the economy had not just gone into a bad recession, but had entered full-on depression. The negative effects of Smoot-Sproul were already being seen, and the bill had become phenomenally unpopular. Almost as unpopular was the Eighteenth Amendment, which was tied to the Republican Party at this time. The most outraged were the Progressives' Western rural base, hurt badly by the complete collapse in the grain prices over the last year. They rallied behind the Progressive Party and drove the Republicans out of the plains. The bad state of affairs energized the Progressives, and gave the Radicals control of many nominations, although the Old Guard retained control of the party at large.

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The Republican Party knew that 1930 was going to be bad, but they didn't really anticipate how badly it would go. Suffering losses in the South to the Conservative Coalition, and losses everywhere else to the Progressives or occasionally socialists, the Republicans lost their firm majorities in both houses of Congress. Unwilling to align with the increasingly radicalized Progressive Party, they entered a coalition with the Conservative Coalition. The Republicans were relieved that this was all they had lost. However, they did not anticipate the fact that 1930 was needed by the Progressives to actually give them a presence in many states, with numerous local and state elections going Progressive. The South seemed safe from the Progressives, as did much of the rest of the nation, but the Progressive bench was now established.

President Morrow, seeing the results, realized it was a referendum on his handling of the Depression, and decided that he could no longer hope to end the Depression through his standard conservative means.

The Thoughts of President Morrow
Mandate. Referendum. These words came to the mind of President Morrow following the midterm elections. The Republican Party had suffered their second-greatest loss in history, behind only the disaster of 1874. The overwhelming gains had gone to the left, calling for a larger, more active government. Morrow was a fiscal conservative; Morrow was opposed to expanding government and wasteful spending; but who was he to deny so strong a message? And Morrow himself was having doubts over his old philosophy; it was quite obvious that the economy was not righting itself, but was sliding into an even deeper Depression. The small government days of the 1920s had not prevented the collapse, and it was clear that the federal government could not be realistically shrunk any more. The Smoot-Sproul Tariff was very unpopular, and the resulting tariff war had only hurt the economy more.

As he lead a suffering nation, as he celebrated Christmas with his family and prayed in the Presbyterian Church, as he breathed a sigh of relief with the rest of America that the awful year 1930 had finally passed on January 1, President Morrow knew that he had to take action. Looking over the finances of the nation, Morrow decided that a series of public works projects, similar to those advocated by former Interior Secretary Herbert Hoover, needed to be implemented. He was confident that he would be able to get a coalition of Progressives and Republicans together who would back these public spending expenditures, and they could relieve unemployment and help the economy, but without going into the radicalism of the Progressive Party. Morrow also concluded that there was no way Smoot-Sproul could remain in place, and a cooperative, international tariff-lowering had to take place.

On January 14, Edwin Morrow met with Herbert Hoover, and apologized to the former Secretary. Morrow acknowledged that Hoover's economic plan was superior, and offered him a place back on the Cabinet to help facilitate the new recovery plan. Hoover graciously accepted the apology and agreed to return to the Cabinet and help save America. When Morrow asked Hoover what position he wanted, Hoover replied, "The Treasury".

Morrow knew that Hoover would request the end to long-term Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon's reign. Since 1921 the man had served as the Secretary of the Treasury, and no man was more associated with the conservative economic plans than Mellon. Hoover and Mellon had fought in 1929 when the Depression started, and at the time, Morrow chose to follow Mellon's lead. But not he was turning to Hoover, and it was clear both could not coexist in the same cabinet.

Morrow calmly went to Mellon on the 16th, and explained his new economic plan. He hoped that Mellon, realizing his plans were being rejected, would calmly resign his position. However, Mellon angrily accused Morrow of "turning to radicalism" and "betraying the fundamental principals of good government". He declared that if Morrow wanted to replace him with Hoover, he would have to straight-out, publicly fire him. Morrow angrily declared "You have no place in my administration!" and resolved to fill out the paperwork to remove the Treasury Secretary from his position the next day.

That paperwork was never filled out.

Morrow presided over one of the most stressful periods of American history. He had stayed up late into the night and adopted a rigorous travel schedule to try to communicate to everyone important who contacted him. He had tirelessly worked, only to see his work fail to resolve the problems. The angry shouting match between him and Mellon was just the latest stressful event in Morrow's life. As Morrow returned to the White House, he felt a pain in his chest. He thought nothing of it as he worked diligently for the next couple hours, until he collapsed when trying to rise to go to dinner. The President was rushed to the hospital, but it was too late and the heart attack was too severe.

President Morrow was dead.

President Coolidge


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Calvin Coolidge was only the third man to ever serve as Vice President under two different Presidents, and he was the first Vice President to ever serve non-consecutive terms. He had been a placeholder for both of the terms, not taken seriously by the political elite. While Coolidge had privately advised President Morrow to back Mellon's plans and support conservative economic policies, he publicly had taken no stance on the issues other than vague support for Morrow's agenda. But now Morrow was dead, and Coolidge was president.

Coolidge, unlike Morrow, had not received that much blame for the Depression, and did not feel that the midterm elections were a strong popular mandate against conservatism. After all, conservatives still controlled both houses of Congress. Furthermore, Coolidge had not been informed by Morrow of the latter's plans to fire Mellon and give Hoover a new job. He even thought it seemed a bit like betraying the late president's memory to attempt any reversal of his policies so soon. Therefore, while he did call a special emergency session of Congress in the summer to deal with the Depression, Coolidge actually didn't do anything. He couldn't cut spending any more, and other than some fine-tuning of the minimal financial regulations and a small reduction in tariffs which failed to end the tariff war, he didn't sign any economic legislation during the special session. His veto of Hoover's proposed Colorado Dam bill was only narrowly prevented from being overturned in the Senate. Coolidge declared the attempt to undo one of Morrow's actions an insult to the dead President's legacy.

While Coolidge's economic policies were more inaction than action, he was the first president to begin to scale back Prohibition. When the new Congress, with large Progressive gains and more desperate Republicans, repealed the Volstead Act and restricted federal Prohibition to hard liquor, Coolidge signed the bill into law. Beer, wine, and other lower-alcohol content drinks could once again be sold. This action helped the economy of many places, although nationally it only slowed the collapse. A blow had been struck against the bootleggers, but the hard liquor smuggling business still propped up their criminal empires. Coolidge even quietly expressed disdain for the Eighteenth Amendment in its entirety, saying that the federal government should have no say in the state liquor laws. When Coolidge's quiet anti-Prohibition declaration became public, numerous Republicans, previously too scared to publicly oppose Prohibition, began to announce their opposition. Attempts to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment failed to achieve a two-thirds majority in either House of Congress.

President Calvin Coolidge's foreign policy was much the same as President Morrow, and he kept Charles G. Dawes on as Secretary of State during after the death of Morrow. Like Morrow, Coolidge was fairly isolationist, and continued the long-held Republican opposition to Woodrow Wilson's League of Nations. However, like Morrow, Coolidge was not a total isolationist. As Morrow had gotten the United States Senate to ratify the Kellogg-Briand Pact in 1929 and renounce war, Coolidge tried to get the Senate to ratify the treaty to join the World Court. Unfortunately, in the divided Senate, it was nearly impossible to get a simply majority on anything, and a two thirds majority seemed out of reach. The withdrawal of American troops from Latin America, begun under President Miller, was almost complete by the time Coolidge took office, and he did not prevent the last American troops from returning home. Secretary of State Dawes spent much of 1931 traveling around Latin America, promoting pan-American cooperation and negotiating treaties.

Private citizen Herbert Hoover also spent much of his time traveling the world, advocating for a decrease in naval size and international cooperation. Hoover was an advocate of pan-American cooperation as well, and did his best to unofficially help Dawes' programs. Hoover could not openly work with the Secretary of State, as his short stint in the Morrow Administration had served to create create enmity between Hoover and at the time Vice President Coolidge. Secretly, Dawes and Hoover were meeting, both to formulate their plans to promote international cooperation, and think of how best to ensure the defeat of the President that they both disliked, and the removal of Treasury Secretary Mellon. Hoover and Dawes agreed that the former would be the stronger candidate to primary Coolidge and save the Republican Party and the nation. Dawes was promised the position of Vice President under Hoover for his final step in a long and successful government career. With their plans being made in September of 1931, Hoover knew that there was a long time until the election, so to help the nation in the meantime, he hired some political agents to try and find some scandals on Treasury Secretary Mellon that they could dig up to remove him from office and save the American economy.

Things Get Worse
The Depression had worsened to the extent that it was now labelled the Great Depression, having exceeded the Panic of 1873. By December of 1931, unemployment had reached nearly 25%, the worst in history. The US GDP had fallen to a mere 60 billion dollars, more than 40 billion less than it was in the summer of 1929. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had plummeted to a mere 75 dollars, and kept dropping almost every single day. After the emergency session of Congress ended in late August, almost nothing had been done to help the economy. Across the world, other economies were suffering badly as well, although few as bad as the United States. Political instability was common, as seen in Britain where the Labour and Liberal Parties split apart in the Depression's stress and even worse in Germany, which was becoming polarized between various far-right fascist parties and the Communist Party. Only the Soviet Union was spared the Depression, due to its very isolated command economy. World leaders tried to put on an optimistic face, but the Great Depression showed no signs of slowing or ending any time soon.

Large communities of homeless were found across America, commonly calling their gatherings "Coolidgevilles" or "Mellonvilles" after the hapless President and his Treasury Secretary. More and more people were losing their jobs, and crime rates shot up. Even with beer and wine once again legalized, organized crime was still making a lot of money on the sale of hard liquor, as depressed men and women spent the last of their money to drink in misery. It was common for stores to be closing down, and not a single week passed by in which Americans did not hear of someone they knew losing their job. A feeling of hopelessness gripped many Americans, while for others, it was a feeling of anger.

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A Coolidgeville​

The 1931 off-year state and local elections were a beating for the Republican Party. Across the Northeast, Midwest, and West, Progressives beat Republicans even in traditionally strong Republican areas. The Socialist Party racked up high numbers as well, and even won some scattered local and state legislature elections in areas where the Progressives had not yet organized to field a candidate. Even though they didn't actually win anything beyond a couple town council seats, the Communist Party USA, and the white supremacist cult/party known as the Christian Party led by William Dudley Pelley, both gained disturbingly high numbers of votes in many elections, showing the people's anger. In the South, the Conservative Coalition took minor hits, generally to Progressives or the remnants of the Democrats. Meanwhile in Louisiana, Huey Long's Commonwealth Party continued to consolidate its control. It was clear that any popular support that Coolidge had received when he unexpectedly was elevated to the Presidency had evaporated.

By the late of 1931, the United Kingdom had already abandoned the Gold Standard. However, President Coolidge and Treasury Secretary Mellon refused to accept such a move. The Gold Standard had stood strong since the 1890s, and been a cornerstone of the Republican Party since McKinley. The country could not abandon it now. Therefore deflation continued, and people began to stop purchasing items with the expectation that it would be cheaper due to deflation, as well as refusing to borrow loans on nominal interest. The Federal Reserve, desperate to stabilize the dollar but unwilling to discard the Gold Standard, increased interest rates. However, this only made the Depression worse. More bank failures occurred, both in America and overseas, especially in Germany. The country was suffering, with even non-Depression-related facts, such as the death of thirty thousand Americans in car crashes*, contributing to the national feelings of despair. Perhaps the one silver lining to the recession was a decline in drop-out rates for school children; there was no longer any point in dropping out of school to get a job, because there were no jobs.

To many, it might seem plausible that the labor movement in the United States would flourish as desperate workers organized. However, membership in unions had dropped from 5 million to 4 million by the end of 1931. The labor unions had failed to organize the workers in the mass production industries, and were restricted primarily to skilled worker unions that were part of the AFL. One reason that the unions lost members were that to be part of the union, you have to actually work in the industry, and so many people in all industries had lost their jobs. Furthermore, the unions seemed weak and useless against the tide of the Depression. So many people were looking for work, those workers who were employed were afraid of striking. The next chapter of the labor movement in the United States did not begin in the employed workers; it began in the unemployed. Socialists and communists in the city of Seattle recruited the large masses of the unemployed to form an "Unemployed Citizens League"; this league soon spread from Seattle throughout Washington and then nationwide. Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, a Catholic Priest named James Renshaw Cox began to organize the unemployed with a populist message, calling his group the "Jobless Party".

Above all of the nation's troubles, President Coolidge stood silent. In earlier times, there were those who found his silence to be a strength, a sign of a formal and serious character. However, there were others who were annoyed by his quiet demeanor. By late 1931, Coolidge had become fantastically unpopular, and his silence was interpreted as complete apathy for the people of the United States. Herbert Hoover and Charles Dawes realized that for their plan to run on the Republican ticket together in 1932 to work, Dawes had to publicly break with the highly unpopular administration like Hoover did under Morrow. Therefore, when the Secretary of State returned to the US on November 31 after negotiating in Europe, he publicly announced that he supported a more active federal government in the economy to deal with the Depression, and an increase in government spending. Coolidge was outraged at the betrayal of Dawes, and, having never particularly liked the Secretary of State, fired him to great controversy.

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Ex-Secretary of State Charles Dawes​

Coolidge and the Senate were unable to agree on a replacement for Dawes, and the Secretary of State position was left vacant. It was still vacant when Coolidge died of coronary thrombosis on December 11. The Vice Presidency had been vacant since Coolidge was moved up to President, and with no Secretary of State, the presidency was therefore conferred to the Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon.

*comparatively much higher than the present
 
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Disaster
The Mellon Presidency: 1931-1932​


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Starvation and Violence

The Mellon Administration was off to a bad start. Immediately following Mellon's ascension, the US House and Senate set out to modify the succession law for the President of the United States. They decided that leaving a vacancy for Vice President was no longer acceptable, and a Constitutional Amendment passed both houses of Congress, enabling the President to appoint a new Vice President if the office were vacant. A new succession law was also drawn up, to reinstate the Congressional Officers between the Vice President and the Cabinet in the succession law. By mutual agreement between Speaker Bertrand Snell and President Pro-Tempore of the Senate George Moses, the President Pro-Tempore was placed third in line, with the Speaker coming first. President Mellon vetoed the new succession act, officially on the basis that it violated the separation of powers (although many said the real reason he vetoed it was because he thought it was a retroactive attempt to make him seem like an illegitimate president). However, Congress overturned his veto.

To make matters worse, on December 15 a group of sixteen hundred communists began to march through Washington DC in what they called a "Hunger March" to protest the starvation of many Americans. Although they called out for revolution and sang the Internationale, they were not particularly threatening or violent. On the orders of President Mellon, 1000 police officers and 1000 marines arrived at the scene to attempt to disperse the rally. Unlike the protestors, the police were heavily armed. When the communists shouted insults to the police, the police began to shove and beat them out of the way. One communist, an 18 year old black man named Angelo Herndon, stepped forward towards one of the officers. The police officer pulled out his firearm and shot Herndon, who fell to the ground bleeding. The officer then shot him again, despite his helplessness. The murder of Herndon provoked outrage among the protestors, many of whom tried to attack the officer responsible, but the communists had come unarmed, and were beaten back with severe injuries. Angelo Herndon was pronounced dead at the scene along with three other protestors; nearly 80 protestors received serious injuries, four of which resulted in deaths later. However, since all witnesses, even the communists who had been arrested at the protest, admitted that the casualties other than Herndon had been attacking the officers in retaliation, it was deemed self defense. While it was debatable whether Herndon was actually attacking or even threatening the officer, since he was a black man and a communist, no official investigation was ever done. None of the officers or their commanders involved in the crushing of the protest received any form of disciplinary action.

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Angelo Herndon​

While it was easy to dismiss the protest and resulting actions as "evil communists seeking to destabilize the government and attacking police officers", it was a bit harder to dismiss their complaint. The truth was, both in the United States and overseas, numerous people were simply unable to afford food. Hunger marches had been occurring for months across the nation, and many of them had descended into full-out food riots as desperate people looted stores to feed themselves and their families. The media had not reported on these food riots, for fear that they would inspire new riots in other cities previously untouched. As a consequence, many Americans in better-off areas were simply unaware of just how bad the situation had become. The DC Hunger March changed all of that. Even though the mainstream press universally condemned the communist marchers, they could not hide the reason for complaint: people were starving. Now, as Hunger Marches occurred throughout the nation, they all hit the news. The American people started to realize that starvation was real in the United States.

Political Struggle​

If there was one thing Andrew Mellon did not want to do, it was to help the economy improve. Oh, he wanted the economy to improve. He hoped and prayed every night that the next day would be the end of the Depression and the beginning of the recovery. But the President was totally and utterly convinced that any government attempts to prop up the economy were doomed to failure. The American economy was like a building whose frame was rotted; the only way to save it was the let it burn to the ground and to build anew. In fact, he believed the best way to help the recovery come sooner was to remove what government action there was propping the economy up. He believed that the banking system had to be liquidated in order to clean it up, and sat by and watched as another round of bank failures, and the subsequent crash in the stock market, began. The president calmly waited for the economy to hit rock bottom.

Never since the end of the Johnson Presidency had any President been as despised by Congress as Andrew Mellon. Congress passed Hoover's Colorado Dam project over Mellon's veto. They also refused to confirm his replacements for Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of State, and those two positions remained vacant for his entire presidency. In January of 1932, half of Mellon's cabinet resigned in protest against his attempts to veto the Colorado Dam Project. The senate confirmed no replacements. Mellon therefore judged that the Colorado Dam could not be built because he had no Interior Secretary to command the project, and declined to enforce the will of a Congress which he viewed to be dangerously unconstitutional and trying to bring socialism to the United States. Congress wasn't able to pass much else in January, as the Republican-Conservative coalition fought amongst themselves over the scale of the recovery bills. The economic collapse continued.

If Mellon was hated by Congress, he was hated far more by the American people. Mellon's laissez-faire attitude was visible to the American people. They knew that Mellon was a billionaire who had been working for the government for 12 years; he had no way of knowing what normal people felt. They knew that he ate good meals while they ate none at all; they knew he owned several houses as they crouched in tents in the Mellonvilles. They knew that he owned stock in the businesses which were laying off workers by the thousands to cut costs. Mellon was already hated for being Secretary of the Treasury; now he was hated as president. He was perhaps the most despised Chief Executive of all time; Woodrow Wilson of 1920 could even have crushed him in an election. 1932 marked a sharp decline in the number of newborn American boys named Andrew. Mellon's security stopped several assassination attempts against him; the President assumed that it was ignorant people thinking government aid would save them, or worse communists seeking to destroy the government.

Across the nation, the people were moving to extreme politics. Thousands attended Communist rallies in many large cities. These rallies were often crushed by police, but that could not discourage them. The much less radical Socialist Party attracted less attention, but it too received an upswing in membership. Radicals triumphed in the struggle to control the Progressive Party in almost every state that wasn't controlled by an old-school political machine like Hiram Johnson's California or William Borah's Idaho. But the far-left was not the only side receiving new membership. In the South, the Knights of the White Camelia and the Red Shirts, who had been on the decline since the end of the Miller Presidency, experienced new surges in membership. Nationwide, the psychotic Silver Legion attracted thousands of members, who were desperate to believe in William Dudley Pelley's crazed white supremacist visions and mysticism. In response to these far-right groups, many black men in the South joined the Communist Party, which vowed to fight the fascists on the streets if they ever attempted to gain power.

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Pelley and the Silver Legion​

Cox's Army​

In contrast to the radicalism of the Communists, the Socialist Unemployed Citizens League seemed quite moderate. It now was nationwide with more than a million members, almost all of them without real employment. Meanwhile, Catholic Priest James Renshaw Cox of Pittsburgh looked on in success as tens of thousands joined his Jobless Party. He was planning to emulate Coxey's Army and march on Washington to protest the conditions. He decided to wait until February, hoping that the alarm after the Communist Hunger March would die down. It was time to send a message to Washington.

Father Cox was popular in Pittsburgh, among Catholics and non-Catholics alike. He saved his Church, St. Patrick Church, from shrinking membership levels, starting a revival in his parish. The unemployed flocked to Cox's church. He provided hope. He fed the homeless people who lost their jobs during the Depression, and provided shelter. He was a leader in the National Unemployed Citizens Movement, the public face of the movement. He was a Catholic priest, and everyone who wasn't some fanatic Silver Legionnaire knew that he could not be Communist. Already the Jobless Party was attracting tens of thousands of members across America, generally people who were not sure whether the Progressives would take the radical plunge. When he announced a march of the unemployed to Washington D.C., to proclaim the discontent among the population, almost all Americans who heard sympathized. Cox's Army was not another Communist Hunger March, driven by a tiny minority of radicals; it represented the 34% of Americans without a real job. It attracted support from across the political spectrum, from Socialists to Republicans.

Cox's supporters did not wear the Red or Silver of the Extremists; in fact they were called the Blue Shirts, wearing the color of conservatism. Their platform, however, was far from conservative:
• Nationalization of banks, to eliminate interest "Interest is a modern conception. If you read history you know that interest used to be despised, called usury." When the question of what would happen to bankers after the Nationalization, Cox responded "What did they do with the saloon? They weren't compensated. Money is only a medium of exchange. It was never intended to be power."
• A 5 billion dollar public works project (an idea proposed by William Randolph Hearst
• The Veterans' Bonus movement "The world war made more millionaires than the world had ever known, while soldiers fought for $1.25 a day."
• Cancellation of war German War Debts
• Elimination of foreign loans
• Abolishing Smoot-Sproul and implementing free trade
• Old age pensions
• Unemployment insurance
• Five day week, six hour day.
• Higher military spending to make a stronger military and to employ people
• Relief for Farmers
• Nationalization of public utilities.​
When the march began on February 13, twenty-five thousand Pennsylvanians gathered to join Cox's Army. The Blue Shirts attracted more members as they traveled to Washington. Thousands of members of the Jobless Party and the Unemployed Citizen Leagues in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Northern Virginia joined in the march. By the time they reached Washington, they numbered thirty-two thousand. Free gasoline was provided at service stations. Governor Pinchot of Pennsylvania ordered the police to ignore the traffic violations of the Army and to allow them to pass toll-roads for free. The state governors and the US Army at Fort Myer provided food and shelter to the marchers. The Blue Shirts waved American flags, and Cox's co-leader, E.R. Franc, was dressed as Uncle Sam. The marchers were instructed to "Fall in line, men; eight abreast and ready to move. Act like gentlemen!"

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Throughout the day, the protestors were calm, peaceful, and respectful of Washington DC. They were patriotic, and nothing like the Communists at the Hunger March. Many people deduced that the thousands of police officers and nearby army units, stationed as a precaution after the Hunger March fiasco, were going to be unnecessary. Cox met with President Mellon in the White House, while the Blue Shirts waited outside. The Priest emerged to give a speech. His speech was respectful towards someone as despised as Mellon; he was hopeful of America's future. Nearly thirty-two thousand Blue Shirts calmly and orderly listened to Cox's speech.

About twenty Blue Shirts near the back of the army, so enthused by the Priest, attempted to rush forward to be able to hear the speech better. They pushed out of the army and tried to squeeze past the lines of police officers. There was not enough space; several men collided with officers. In most of these cases, nothing more came out of the collision than an apology. In one case, a nervous officer pulled out a loaded gun, and shouted for the men to stay back. The crowd was cheering as Cox's speech ended; they did not hear the warning, and collided with the officer in their enthusiasm. He was knocked to the ground, and his gun crashed down beside him. The gun fired as it struck the ground, and the bullet hit another one of the police officers. The officers, fearing that one of the Blue Shirts had smuggled a weapon in and was shooting at them, attempted to break through the crowd to find the shooter.

General Douglass MacArthur, supervising the cautionary measures around the Army, was notified that there was a disturbance, and a search for a potentially armed Blue Shirt. He relayed this information to President Mellon. The President ordered MacArthur to command the troops and police to stand down; no more people needed to get hurt that day. Unfortunately, General MacArthur "lost" the President's order.

The troops were ordered to disperse most of Cox's Army, with those nearest to the site of the shooting to be contained and searched thoroughly. Fears ran rampant among the marchers; were they going to be arrested? Beaten? Shot? Some, driven by desperation and panic, began to move menacingly towards the soldiers, who rose their weapons. For a moment, it seemed like the march would turn to blood. Then Father Cox himself ran out between his army and MacArthur's, waving his arms and shouting for there to be peace. "Do not turn to violence!" he shouted "These men in uniform are Americans too!" Most of the Blue Shirts stopped moving forward, the soldiers began to lower their guns. But a few of the unemployed marchers did not hear Cox, or perhaps were too panicked to understand, and in their hysteria perhaps they could get through the lines of troops and escape without being arrested. They kept running forward, despite the pleas of Cox, and the shouted warnings of the officers. The soldiers opened fire on the men running towards them, and by ill luck a stray bullet flew past those men and struck James Renshaw Cox in the chest.

As the enraged Blue Shirts charged forward against the men who shot their beloved leader, the 18 Communists who had infiltrated Cox's Army and smuggled in weapons shouted "For Angelo!" and opened fire upon the United States Army.

The Precipice of Revolution​
Huey Long said:
A mob is coming here to hang you damned scoundrels, and I'm undecided whether to stick here with you or go out and lead them.

F. Scott Fitzgerald said:
Bring on the Revolution!

Strikes were called across the nation. Angry business owners fired all of the striking workers, confident that they could easily hire replacements from the unemployed masses, but the Unemployed Citizens' Leagues had joined the strikes, and intimidated any potential workers. The Communists called a new round of Hunger Marches, which shut down the major cities of the nation. The police did their best to clear the roads of protestors, but it resulted in a series of brutal clashes and only led to more chaos. Why did so many people suffer unemployment and the beatings of police on those cold February days? Because thirty-eight members of Cox's Army were dead in Washington D.C., along with Cox himself, killed by the US Army and the police. Seven police officers and three soldiers were also killed by the Communists' attack. Another two people had been killed when MacArthur ordered the destruction of the Mellonvilles in the Capital, fearing that they would be hideouts for escaped Communists. Fourteen of the Communists who infiltrated Cox's Army were killed; two were captured by the U.S. government, and another two managed to escape without serious harm. The captures Communists revealed their plot to infiltrate Cox's Army, and, in case it started to clash with the government forces, to try to turn it into a revolution. The martyred Cox was now a symbol for workers nationwide; the U.S. government, dreadfully afraid of an insurrection, loudly proclaimed his innocence and the innocence of most of the marchers, putting the blame for all of the deaths squarely on the shoulders of the Communists.

President Andrew Mellon might have been able to use this event to save his presidency. Indeed, the Socialists and Radical Progressives were calling for his impeachment, denouncing him as a mass murderer. But the Republicans, Conservatives, and Democrats knew that impeaching Mellon over the Blue Shirt Massacre would make it seem like they were siding with Communists over the US government. The most reactionary of the Congressmen even suggested that maybe Cox did know about the Communist infiltration, and deserved what he got. By framing the attempts to impeach him as an effort by the Radicals to overthrow the government, Mellon very well could have aborted any chance of Republicans joining in on the impeachment. He did not want to give up power; the President thought that a resignation would weaken the overall government. He was afraid of revolution; J. Edgar Hoover had reported to the President that his spies in the labor movements reported men going around, asking people whether, in case of Revolution, they would side with a Communist uprising, or one led instead by Senator Long of Louisiana.

All chances of Mellon's presidency being salvaged evaporated when it was revealed that he had been the one to fund Cox's Army, and that he had ordered his gas stations to provide the Blue Shirts with free gasoline to reach the Capital. Why did Mellon do it? His supporters over the years have all said that even if he disagreed with the radicals, he still wanted to meet with them, and believed they deserved the right to be heard. The Radicals at the time claimed that he did so as an attempt to discredit the left-wing movement, with some, such as Huey Long, even suggesting that he intentionally turned the march into a massacre in order to gain an excuse to crush the workers. The super-reactionaries, such as Pelley's Silver Shirts, claimed that Mellon himself was a secret Radical, trying to destroy the government. The majority of Congressmen, however, believed he was trying to use the protest to intimidate Congress, in hopes of ending their obstruction of his agenda. It did not matter; on February 21, an anonymous source leaked news that Mellon had secretly been conducting business deals while Secretary of Treasury, despite the conflict of interest. Furthermore, more anonymous leaks revealed that there were inconsistencies in his tax returns, which at the time led to to charges that Mellon was committing tax fraud.

The House Judiciary Committee approved a scattering of impeachment articles the next day, even contradictory charges such as "Crushing Peaceable Assembly" and "Instigating Rebellion". Mellon himself resigned immediately, and was arrested trying to flee the country. While no criminal charges were ever proven against the ex-President, his short but disastrous presidency would live on in infamy forever.

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Andrew Mellon, the first US President to resign from office
 
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New Leadership In the United States and Abroad
Or Lack Thereof...

The New US President

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President Bertrand Snell inherited the worst crisis in the history of the United States since the end of the Civil War. While the news about the arrest of Mellon and the new president calmed most citizens down, things were still bad. If public opinion polls were better then, they would have shown a collapse in support of the Communist Party, from the crazy 14% in the immediate aftermath of the Cox's Army massacre to a mere 4% after the ascension of Snell. Seeing their support dwindling, Communist leader Earl Browder ordered another round of Hunger Marches in hopes that it would rally the populace behind their cause. However, with Mellon gone, many Americans turned their blame for the Cox's Army Massacre to the Communist agitators who were known to have infiltrated the march, and began to think of the Communists as dangerous and violent agitators. As Communist Hunger Marchers clashed with the police across the nation, support for the Communist Party continued to drop. President Snell ordered a complete investigation into the conduct of the Washington D.C. police force and the U.S. Army forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur who were present during the massacre. Many theorized that the President hoped that the investigation would drag out long enough to sweep MacArthur's conduct under the rug.

Snell's first task was to rebuild the cabinet. He appointed former US Representative and former New York State Comptroller Ogden L. Mills for the position of Secretary of the Treasury. He returned Charles Francis Adams III to the Cabinet, but this time as Secretary of War, with former Congressman Franklin Delano Roosevelt taking Adams' position as Secretary of the Navy. However, Snell was unable to get many of his first-choice picks for Cabinet positions, thanks to Hoover and Charles Dawes both deciding to run for office in 1932 rather than serve in a brief and probably doomed Cabinet. Instead of Hoover and Dawes, Snell nominated former Senator Joseph France for Secretary of State and Frank Knox for Secretary of Commerce. The rest of his cabinet was assembled from defeated Republicans from 1930, or Republicans who knew they were doomed come 1932. While his cabinet was far from an all-star Cabinet, it at least ended the confusion of the Mellon months. With a functional executive branch, the Colorado Dam project finally commenced, employing tens of thousands of Arizonans and helping a poor, increasingly radicalized state.

While reorganizing the Executive Branch was successful, Congress remained troublesome. The newly elected Speaker of the House by the Republican-Conservative Coalition was Albert Henry Vestal of Indiana. Vestal enacted several small public works projects at the behest of President Snell, including a St. Lawrence River Seaway Project. Vestal also helped legalize Snell's Bank Holiday plan and to pass an emergency banking act to end the chaos of the financial sector following Mellon's attempts to liquidate all finances in the country. However, Vestal died on April 4, throwing Snell's plans into jeopardy. John Q. Tilson of Connecticut, a powerful Republican who had competed with Snell to become Speaker, was seen by many as the heir apparent, but his conservatism and enmity with the President ruined any chance of getting a majority of Congress to support his speakership. Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee William R. Green was doomed by his former political alliance with Andrew Mellon. Finally, the Republicans selected William R. Wood of Indiana as their leader. However, anger at a non-discrimination policy in the Republican public works projects regarding race, anger at black appointees of Snell, and anger at the Republicans in general, among the Conservative Coalition led to a revolt amongst the Conservatives, who claimed they were tricked into coalitioning with the Republicans. They demanded their own leader, George Huddleston of Alabama, to become Speaker if the coalition was to last. The Republicans refused to back Huddleston, breaking the coalition in the House. Attempts by the Republicans to push their new leader, Wood, as Speaker of the House were rejected. With deadlock in the House preventing anything from getting done, public approval for the US government, on the rise since the fall of Mellon, collapsed. After weeks of deadlock, the Conservatives finally agreed to return to the coalition when the Republicans nominated a Southern Republican, J. Will Taylor of Tennessee, for Speaker of the House. However, by then the attempts to deflect all the blame from the Depression on Mellon had failed, and both the Republicans and Conservatives saw their popularity trashed.


Meanwhile in the Netherlands


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The Dutch first built the Huis Doorn, or Doorn Manor, in the Ninth Century in what is now the province of Utrecht of the Netherlands. It was rebuilt several times, the most recent rebuilding being in the late 18th Century. The House is exquisite, full of fine furniture, paintings, and silver. It is surrounded by a 35 hectare English-style garden. It is a great manor, one worthy of an exiled Emperor. By 1932, the English garden was a lot more barren than it used to be, for the last Emperor of Germany, Wilhelm II of the House Hohenzollern, regularly chopped down trees and splits the logs into firewood for exercise. He abandoned his ridiculous mustache and grew a beard during his exile. The former Kaiser was legally forbidden to travel more than 14 miles from the Huis Doorn without permission from the local officials.


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Wilhelm Hohenzollern awoke on the morning of June 18, and checked the results of the German Parliamentary Election. He hoped they would be as good as the Presidential Elections earlier that year. With Hindenburg's health collapsing, Wilhelm had a legitimate fear that that crazed Austrian corporal, or worse, the Communists, would win the presidency. But Von Papen had won the second round, 39% to Hitler's 38% (with most of the rest going to Thalmann). The Center Left, Center Right, and Far-Right had triumphed over the far-Left and the Far-Crazy. As Wilhelm lifted up the newspaper, he wondered if the rumors about the collapse of the German political center due to the extremely bad economy would prove to be true. He was happy to see that all of the predictions of a massive Nazi or Communist sweep had proven to be false. They had barely a fourth of the seats, and the non-Nazi, non Communist parties held a bare majority. Von Papen appointed a general, Kurt von Schleicher, as Chancellor, a good choice in Wilhelm's view. He knew that Schleicher was a friend of his eldest son. Surely he could steer Germany between the crazed extremes and save the nation.

Wilhelm was distracted by these results as he walked down to get his breakfast, down the magnificent staircase in Huis Doorn. As he daydreamed about a restoration of German glory, he absentmindedly put his foot down a little too far forward. His daydreams were interrupted as he suddenly tripped and fell, smashing his head on a lower step. His servants ran upstairs upon hearing the crash, and found the former Kaiser lying dazed on the stairs. He returned to full conciousness within the hour, but with a horrible, pounding headache that would not go away. By the next day, the increasing head pain led to Wilhelm being hospitalized. He was in too much agony to care that the Communist and National Socialist Parties proclaimed that von Schleicher had rigged the election results against them. His pain was so great he could not even understand the words as people told him of Stahlhelm defending the Von Schleicher government against Communist rioters and the Sturmabteilung. He was unconscious when Von Papen declared a state of national emergency and banned the NSDAP and KPD. While the Kaiser finally died on June 22, former President Paul von Hindenburg personally addressed the Reichswehr and urged the German military to support the government.

Wilhelm did not live to see the Social Democrats boycott the meeting of parliament due to the autocratic powers that von Schleicher had assumed due to the National Emergency. He did not live to see the Social Democrats' absence fail to be enough to prevent a 2/3rds quorum. He did not live to see the Center Party split in two between pro-Schleicher and anti-Schleicher groups. He did not live to see the anti-Schliecher Centrists stand as the lone group in parliament opposed to the Constitutional Amendment which ended the Weimar Republic. Wilhelm II had willed that his body not be returned to Germany unless the monarchy was restored. On July 14, his body was disinterred from its resting place on the grounds of the Huis Doorn, and brought to Berlin for a full state funeral. Chancellor Schleicher knew the importance of ceremony and the allure of past glory to rally the people behind his embattled government. He watched as Wilhelm was buried in the country he once ruled, standing alongside his friend, the grand result of his legally dubious Constitutional Amendment, Wilhelm III, Emperor of the Germans.


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Wilhelm III

The German Civil War

Former President Franz von Papen of Germany was not very happy. His short presidency, to which he had barely been elected as the compromise between the center, center left, and center right, was now over, cut short by the coronation of Wilhelm III. Papen did not mind that, as he was a monarchist, but he had expected to serve a key role in the first government under Wilhelm. However, Schleicher had no great love for Papen, and did not invite the man who saved Germany from a Hitler Presidency into his cabinet. Schleicher was building his support among the German National People's Party led by Alfred Hugenberg, as he correctly assessed that the huge numbers of Stahlhelm troops would be more useful than the support of the right-wing Papen Centrists. The addition of numerous anti-Catholic Stahlhem members to the government further alienated the Catholic Papen.

By July 30, the Nazi forces had seized control of East Prussia, and were waging an insurgency in Pomerania and Silesia. Schleicher was confident that, with the very well trained and well equipped Reichwehr, or German Army, and the huge forces under Stahlhelm, that he would crush the Nazi insurgency within weeks. What complicated matters was the sudden uprising of the Communists at the same time, primarily in Merseburg and Dusseldorf. The restored German Empire was struggling to control all of its territory against these insurgents. Meanwhile, the Social Democrats and the Bavarians had ordered a mobilization of their own paramilitary groups, officially to "protect themselves from the Communists and the National Socialists", but unofficially to prepare to resist the government if necessary.


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A graph showing the division of the forces actually willing to fight, and their loyalty as of June 30. Shades of blue are loyal to Von Schleicher, shades of brown are Nazi, red is Communist (obviously), green is Bavarian, and pink is Social Democratic. Note that both the Social Democrats and the Nazis have a lot more official members of their paramilitary groups, but they are not all willing to risk their lives in war.
Von Papen was a practical man, willing to accept a decrease in power and work with groups he was otherwise opposed to if it allowed him to accomplish his goals. Planning to sabotage Schleicher and hopefully convince the new Kaiser to appoint him as Chancellor instead, Papen started rumors among the Social Democrats, who were still denying the validity of the restoration, as well as the rest of the Center Party that Schleicher was planning to ban all opposition to the German National Peoples' Party. He told them that they needed a vote of no confidence against Schleicher now to convince the Kaiser to fire him. However, when they tried to hold the vote, Schleicher declared that as the Social Democrats were not in support of the Kaiser, they were not valid members of the Reichstag, and thus their votes would not be counted. The Social Democrats refused to recognize the new constitution, and proclaimed that Papen was still president.

Now, von Papen was trapped. If he repudiated the Social Democratic resolution, he would be admitting that Schleicher was the legal ruler and be powerless to stop him. However, if he joined the Social Democrats, he would be challenging the Kaiser himself. When Papen heard that Hindenburg gave a vague comment to the press stating that he felt that Schleicher was too hard on Papen, the former president decided to take his chances and proclaim himself the rightful head of state of Germany on August 5. He ordered the German military to move into Berlin and arrest Wilhelm III, Schleicher, and Hugenberg. Unfortunately, Papen had overestimated Hindenburg's support. The old general immediately denounced Papen's move as a coup, and support collapsed. Papen was arrested, and those troops who tried to back his plan were forced to flee for their lives. The next act of the Chancellor was to ban both the Social Democratic and Center Parties, as well as the Bavarian People's Party, leaving the German National Peoples' Party as the only large legal party left.

Papen had failed to unseat the new regime. However, in the aftermath of the failed coup, enormous defections occurred in the army to all sides. Catholics started forming their own militia groups, while Bavaria announced its secession from Germany. What Papen had succeeded in doing was destabilizing Germany even further.
 
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The 1932 Elections

The Republican Nominee

Herbert Hoover was disturbed by the news coming out of Germany. How could a nation that just a few years ago seemed to be rising and returning to prosperity now be faced with a stark choice between tyranny and chaos? If only the European countries had listened to him and stopped demanding the war debts from Germany. But there was only so much that a former Commerce and Interior Secretary could accomplish. Soon he would be president, and then he could sort out this mess, saving the United States, Germany, and the rest of the world.

Hoover was confident in his coming victory. The very few states which held Republican primaries all were easy victories. After the horrid Mellon presidency, the right of the Republican Party was in chaos and unable to rally behind a single leader to stop Hoover. The largest group of trouble makers were the blacks. Hoover was affronted that after all of the speeches he'd given in favor of equal rights and against discrimination in the last several years, that they still brought up his attempts to prevent a pointless controversy five years before. He was not responsible for any discrimination against blacks during the Flood Recovery program, he had just wanted to stop escalating racial tensions. If only the NAACP and the Tuskegee Institute and the other trouble makers had been willing to deal with Hoover, he could have been president instead of Morrow and helped them and the economy. However, Hoover knew they did not have enough support. Sure, the Southern whites had allowed the Deep Southern Republican parties to be taken over by the blacks in order to kill any of their appeal to the whites. But with former President and Chief Justice Miller publicly refusing to run for President again, they had no strong candidate to rally around, and that senator-turned Secretary of State from Maryland they now rallied around, Joseph France, had no chance of beating Hoover. The dangerous agitators couldn't stop the Great Humanitarian.

Hoover knew that most predicted that the Republicans would lose in the general election even if they nominated Jesus Christ for president. However, Hoover had been watching the Progressive Primaries (he personally thought it was foolish to have half the delegates chosen by a popular primary vote) and, predictably, these low-turnout partisan primaries were all victories for radical delegates. Hoover hoped that the Radicals would force through one of their own men, like the old Farmer-Laborite Christensen or maybe that crazy young firebrand from Minnesota, or at least influence the nomination to make it ridiculously radical. Surely the American people would then see Hoover's solid plan to save the economy, and dismiss the radicals. He would get elected, fix the economy, win reelection in a landslide, and save the world. Hoover happily accepted the nomination, believing that in 100 years, his name would go down next to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as one of the greatest presidents of all time.

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Republican National Convention Presidential Vote
Herbert Hoover: 927
Joseph France: 95
John Tilson: 46
Charles Curtis: 42
J. Will Taylor: 15
James Wadsworth Jr.: 10
Charles Dawes: 6
Douglas MacArthur: 3
Bertrand Snell: 2
Nathan Miller: 2
Oscar Stanton De Priest: 1
Abstain: 1

Republican National Convention Vice Presidential Vote
Charles Dawes: 1095
Joseph France: 35
Charles Curtis: 18
Oscar Stanton De Priest: 2


The Progressive Convention
Representative Melville Clyde Kelly finally managed to get past the press and into the general floor of the convention. They were still snapping pictures, but now at least he could walk without running into annoying reporters. As the Progressive Party Whip, and therefore officially second in command behind Fiorello La Guardia, he was entitled to get good seating at the 1932 Progressive Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He walked up to the seats reserved for prominent progressives. He was in a box seat with the old founders, William Borah and Hiram Johnson, as well as the brothers La Follette.

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Representative Melville Clyde Kelly
Governor Phillip La Follette looked at the four men in the box with him. "Four out of us five voted for the Veterans' Bonus Bill. One did not. Can anyone guess?" he joked.

"I only voted for that Bill to stave off Revolution," grumbled Kelly. "Tens of thousands of men were part of the Bonus Army, and we, as a nation, cannot risk another Cox's Army."

"In our fear, we gave into the mob," said Borah. "Perhaps we deserve to lose our party to them as well."

"It isn't that bad of a bill," reasoned Robert La Follette. "And it would have passed whether we approved or not, once the President announced his support." Robert La Follette was not running for President. He said that he would have plenty of opportunities in the future, and one of the older men, either Johnson or Borah, should be the nominee.

The conversation passed from the Bonus Bill to America in general, to the world in general and then Germany in particular. Borah asserted that the new monarchy was a good thing, and that the royal government would crush the extremist madmen. "I think Von Schleicher one of the greatest men, not alone of this time, but of all time. He shall go down in history as the man to save Germany from anarchy and tyranny."

The delegates continued to enter the convention hall, as did the famous politicians. Another Senator, Burton K. Wheeler, walked passed the box to go sit in his own seat. He glanced over, and at a signal from Johnson, came forward. Kelly noted that Wheeler seemed nervous as he approached.

"Well?" asked the Progressive Senate Leader.

Wheeler stammered something out which amounted to a more respectful way of saying "Well what?"

"The Non-Partisan League," hissed Borah. "Where does Norris and "Wild Bill" and Bryan and Brookheart stand?"

Wheeler licked his lips. "Norris... has agreed to back the Radical Platform... as long as certain Constitutional Amendments he has proposed are added."

"He's betrayed us!" said Robert La Follette. Borah was silent, staring furiously at Wheeler.

"With Norris stands the rest of the Non-Partisan League. They want me to tell you that they are not part of this party, and if you nominate a man too moderate, they will endorse either Norman Thomas, Huey Long, or William Harvey." That was the ultimate fear of the Progressives. The Socialists had nominated Norman Thomas, who promised to drop out and endorse the Progressives, as long as they nominated someone radical enough. Huey Long was threatening to enter the race if they did not nominate a Radical. William Hope Harvey was running an old-fashioned populist campaign as the "Liberty Party" that featured the giant pyramid he built due to the impeding apocalypse. The Jobless Party, formed by the deceased Father Cox, planned to endorse either Harvey or the Progressive nominee, whoever was more radical. Many otherwise moderate Progressives were joining the radical side in fear of vote splitting giving Hoover the presidency.

"And you?" asked Johnson.

Wheeler stood silent for a few seconds. "If I do not endorse the Radical Candidate and the Radical Platform, the Non-Partisan League will launch a primary challenge against me in two years, and run a third party nominee against me if I survive that. They are powerful in Montana..."

"Name your cabinet position," said Johnson. "Or failing that, name your running mate, if you can get the NPL to back us."

"Even if I did endorse you in return for a position," replied Wheeler. "Or even if the moderates rallied around myself, what if I lost? Endorsing Moderation gains me a chance at cabinet position, and a chance of losing my senate seat. Endorsing Radicalism assures my reelection." He looked around sadly. "I am sorry." Wheeler walked away.

Phillip La Follette looked at the Senators and Representative, all of whom were dismayed. "Well?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter," replied Kelly. "We can win without them." God won't let the Radicals hijack our party, he thought.

The next visitor gave them better news. Minority Leader Fiorello La Guardia walked up to the box. Everyone knew he was aiming for Vice President again, convinced that no one with such an Italian name could win the Presidency. He was, by his own admission, tired of shepherding around Representatives and wanted to try Senators instead.

"So," began Borah. "Do you stand with the Moderates, or are you planning to throw away the Party to the Radicals?"

"If you believe," responded the Representative from New York, "that I would throw away this election to a Radical candidate who has no chance of winning, due to an irrational fear from tiny fringe parties vote-splitting, then you must believe me insane or idiotic."

"Of course not," replied Borah. "Thank you for having the best interests of America at heart, instead of a Senate seat. Go rally the northern delegates behind the right candidate."

"I swear I will," replied La Guardia.

Kelly looked over the convention hall. He spied old Parley Christensen, his Radical rival in the House, and Minnesota governor Floyd Olson on the other side. Surely they had the same deal that Borah and Johnson did, that whoever got more support on the first ballot would receive all of the delegates of the other.

The Convention began, and speech after speech, sometimes involving a member of the box having to walk down to the stage, all revolved around the same topic. Radicalism or Moderation? Finally, before the votes on the Platform and Nominee, a list of four speakers was chosen. Minnesotan Congressman Elmer Austin Benson, a young ally of Olson's, came to the podium and gave a speech in favor of the Radical platform, calling for a more active government, and socialism in all but name. Then Phillip La Follette spoke, bringing up his father's legacy, and how his father would have wanted them to win by recruiting moderate Republicans, not losing by driving away all of the moderates. Kelly personally doubted whether Fighting Bob would moderate to win votes, but it did not matter. Senate Candidate Leroy Tillman of Georgia then spoke, warning of dividing the left and giving Hoover victory. The final speech was from Fiorello La Guardia.

"I cannot, will not, shall not believe" he proclaimed in the conclusion of an anti-Republican speech. "That the American People will waste their votes for radical minor candidates during the greatest crisis since the Civil War. No, this November, Progress shall triumph!" Kelly and the other moderates nodded in satisfaction. "However, I can no more believe that, than I can believe that they would vote for the party of Coolidge and Mellon if we nominated a Radical Candidate. No man who can win a majority of delegates at this Convention will lose to Hoover. This November, Progress shall triumph!"

"This is troubling," said Kelly during the applause.

Borah gave a dismissive wave. "La Guardia knows what he is doing. He will give us the nomination, he will not fail."

"No, when we decide whether to embrace radicalism or moderation, we shall do so on their own merits. We shall decide which is better for the nation, not which will gain us more votes."

"Let us now answer the cry of many of the protestors outside. Let us answer the question of 'What has moderation done for us?' I shall tell you what moderation has achieved. Moderation has achieved an unemployment rate of 32%. Moderation has achieved a stock market at its lowest levels in ten years. Moderation has achieved the worst Depression in the history of the United States. Moderation has achieved starvation."

Robert La Follette's glass of water had fallen out of his hand and shattered on the floor. He was still frozen in horror, staring at La Guardia on the stage.

"It was once radical to believe that workers should form unions. It was once radical to believe women should vote. It was once radical to believe that slavery was wrong. It was once radical to call for 'Government By the People, For the People, of the People', and it was once radical to say 'All men are created equal'."

"As I walked the streets of my city, the city that I love, I see the suffering endured by million, men and women, white and colored, native and immigrant. And as I stared into the tearful eyes of a young boy, homeless and parentless, as he cried over the dead body of his twin brother, I knew what God intended. I knew that I could never face God on Judgement day, if I did not now call for all of my delegates to vote for the Radical Platform and the Radical Candidate!"

The convention hall exploded in an uproar. Most of the delegates were cheering, some were screaming. The audience and reporters cheered and screamed with them. William Borah leaped to his feet with surprising agility for a 67 year old man, screaming "That treacherous son of a bitch!!" but his screams were lost in the noise. Behind him, Kelly heard Hiram Johnson laughing hysterically. Is this the end? Kelly thought. Have we lost?

Progressive Convention Presidential Vote, First Ballot
Floyd Olson: 646 delegates
William Borah: 445 delegates
Fiorello La Guardia: 439 delegates
Parley Christensen: 302 delegates
Hiram Johnson: 130 delegates
Robert M. La Follette Jr. : 11 delegates
Huey Long: 8 delegates
Max Hayes: 4 delegates
Frank Webb: 3 delegates
Jacob Coxey: 3 delegates

Uncounted: 10 delegate votes for the deceased James Renshaw Cox

Progressive Convention Presidential Vote, Second Ballot
Floyd Olson: 1413 delegates
William Borah: 588 delegates

Progressive Convention Vice Presidential Vote
Fiorello La Guardia: 1899 delegates
Robert M. La Follette Jr. : 102 delegates

Progressive Convention Platform Vote
Radical Platform: 1415 votes
Moderate Platform: 571 votes
Abstentions: 15 votes


Platform of the Progressive Party and Progressive-Farmer-Labor Movement, Endorsed By the Non-Partisan League:

To Recover from the Depression
• Abolishment of the Gold Standard and implementation of a fiat currency, to allow a massive flood of currency into the economy and end deflation
• Unemployment Insurance
• 20 billion dollar public works program, with an emphasis on road building and improving infrastructure
• Nationalizing the financial system
• Price regulation
• More business regulation
• 5 billion dollar aid to poor farmers and homeowners to prevent foreclosure
• Martial law and the nationalization of key industries if the economic crisis is not resolved
• End to high tariffs

To Ensure Civil Rights
• An end to all forms of discrimination, public and private, in regards to race, sex, and status as an immigrant citizen
• The crushing of the right-wing paramilitary organizations
• Stopping persecution of left-wing organizations.
• Mandate equal pay for equal work for women
• Outlawing child labor

To Aid the Worker
• Massive tax increase on rich
• Protecting labor in disputes
• Establishing a right to collective bargaining, closed shop, and all other union activity
• A national minimum wage of 50 cents an hour (more than 8 dollars adjusted for inflation)
• A legally mandated 40 hour work week

To Help Those Who Cannot Work
• Social Security for the old
• Universal health and maternity insurance
• Workmen’s compensation and accident insurance

To Create a Better Nation
• More conservation of natural areas
• Massive federal subsidies to education, especially to poor rural areas.
• End to Prohibition

To Create a Better Constitution
• Making the Electoral College votes of a state be roughly proportional to the popular vote of the state
• Making state legislatures unicameral
• Anti-gerrymandering amendment
• Nationwide electoral fusion allowed

Rejected Moderate Platform:

To Recover from the Depression
• Abolishment of the Gold Standard and implementation of a fiat currency, to allow an increase in money supply to combat deflation
• Unemployment Insurance
• 5 billion dollar public works program, with an emphasis on road building and improving infrastructure
• Financial regulation
• Price regulation
• More business regulation
• 5 billion dollar aid to poor farmers and homeowners to prevent foreclosure
• End to high tariffs

To Ensure Civil Rights
• An end unconstitutional discrimination in regards to race, sex, and status as an immigrant citizen
• The crushing of the right-wing paramilitary organizations
• Stopping persecution of non-dangerous left-wing organizations
• Outlawing child labor

To Aid the Worker
• Tax increase on rich
• Establishing fair negotiations between labor and business in disputes
• Establishing a right to collective bargaining, closed shop, and all other union activity
• A national minimum wage of 25 cents an hour (more than 4 dollars adjusted for inflation)
• A legally mandated 40 hour work week

To Help Those Who Cannot Work
• Social Security for the old
• Maternity insurance
• Health insurance for the old and those too poor to afford healthcare
• Workmen’s compensation and accident insurance

To Create a Better Nation
• More conservation of natural areas
• Massive federal subsidies to education, especially to poor rural areas.
• End to Prohibition

To Create a Better Constitution
• Anti-gerrymandering amendment
• Nationwide electoral fusion allowed

Significant Third Parties

The Christian Party led by William Dudley Pelley has absorbed many Democrats in the South, and former Klansmen and other far-right extremists nationwide. It basically calls for fascism and Christian fundamentalism. (noting that the Christian fundamentalism it calls for is the bizarre mystic version created by Pelley, in which he claims Jesus Christ came down and gave him the magic ability to see through walls and levitate). Their nominee is William Dudley Pelley and Willard Kemp.

The Constitutional Democratic Party is controlled by the paramilitary Knights of the White Camellia, and is led by wealthy and upper-middle-class Southerners. It is far-right both economically and socially, and is openly white supremacist. It's nominees are Senator Ellison "Cotton Ed" Smith of South Carolina and former Lieutenant Governor Paul Cyr of Louisiana.

The Popular Democratic Party is controlled by the paramilitary White League. It is socially far-right and white supremacist. However, it is vaguely populist in economic matters, with some vague proposals for taxing the wealthy and creating jobs for the poor. It's nominees are former Senator James Thomas "Cotton Tom" Heflin of Alabama and Representative Charles Gordon Edwards of Georiga.

The Communist Party is, well, communist. Specifically Marxist-Leninist. Under the influence of Moscow, like most Communist parties worldwide. They have nominated William Zebulon Foster and James Ford for President, but want it to be known that they plan on destroying the Presidency along with the rest of the US government.

The Socialist Labor Party is made up of hardcore DeLeonists and other non-Communist revolutionary socialists who are opposed to the democratic socialism of the Socialist Party which has practically become extreme social democracy at this point. They have nominated, for the third time in a row, Frank Johns (who managed to successfully rescue the 10 year old Jack Rhodes from drowning in 1928 and is thus still alive), along with John W. Reynolds. They too want to abolish the presidency.

The Liberty Party is made up of followers of William Hope "Coin" Harvey. The only ones who still care about the bimetallism issue, they support free silver. They are mostly standard-old school populists. However, part of their proposed public works program includes building a bunch of giant monuments, in the shapes of pyramids and obelisks, which will serve as giant time capsules that will hopefully survive the coming apocalypse and tell people in thousands of years what civilization was like before it was destroyed. They've nominated William Harvey and Frank Hemenway.

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The "Pyramid"
The Prohibition Party has nominated former Representative William David Upshaw of Georgia and Frank S. Regan of Illinois. They stand for the 18th Amendment and the return of the Volstead Act... and that's pretty much all they stand for.

The Conservative Coalition tried to select a nominee, but it is so divided and factionalized by now that it could not after 50 ballots. They decided to endorse someone outside the party instead, and have chosen to back Herbert Hoover. The Commonwealth Party, Socialist Party, and Jobless Party all have endorsed Floyd Olson.

The 1932 Presidential Election

Most of the Progressive Party united behind Floyd Olson. Hiram Johnson, eying the position of President Pro-Tempore, endorsed Olson. The brothers La Follette praised him (with Phillip La Follette giving a confusing speech about how his speech at the convention applied to all radicals except Olson), and swore that their father would have been overjoyed to see Olson nominated. Melville Kelly, realizing he would not be able to replace La Guardia as Progressive Leader, announced how strongly he supported old Parley Christensen, and got to remain the Progressive Whip. Only Borah refused to endorse Olson, proclaiming him dangerously radical. At the time, most people claimed that Borah was just angry that he did not get the nomination, but most of Borah's biographers have concluded that he was honest in his claim that he would have refused to endorse Olson even if he were not the runner-up.

Many presidential candidates at this point would have done their best to look moderate and tone down the radicalism. Not so with Floyd Olson. He seemed to be aiming to provoke fear among the right, with his goal being to mobilize poor voters who usually did not vote. Olson went down to the Mellonvilles and held the hands of the homeless, vowing them justice. He met with the (often communist-infiltrated) Jobless Leagues and swore to employ them. He kneeled down and placed his hand upon the grave of James Renshaw Cox, and he declared that his first action as President would be to arrest Douglas MacArthur and order him tried for murder, with the hope being that the general would get sent to the firing squad. Among the destitute, he was a celebrity. Olson was young, and he was animated with a fey energy during his speeches, an energy that infected the crowds, leading them to scream his name in near hysteria. In the South, the audience halls filled up, even though Olson refused to speak to any segregated audience. In one hand he grasped the hand of a poor white man, in the other he grasped the hand of a black man. He united the crowds in race-blind classism.

While Hoover did not tap into the feverish desperation that plagued the populace, he did run a popular campaign. Outside of racist white southerners and black voters, Hoover was still a popular figure. He had enormous funds to support his campaign, and he easily outspent Olson. Hoover touted his opposition towards Coolidge and Mellon, who he blamed entirely for the Depression. He had a positive image of "The New Birth of Prosperity", and while Olson's angry classism attracted the desperate, Hoover's optimism attracted the hopeful. It also attracted the fearful middle and upper classes who were scared of Olson's anti-wealth talks and open radicalism.

This election could have been the revival of the Democrats. With the Republicans as unpopular in the South as ever, with the Conservative Coalition branded as the Republican's incompetent stooges, and with the strong pro-civil rights stance of Olson and the radical Progressives, they should have been able to rally a large portion of the white southern vote behind them. However, the inability of the party to unite on economics led to a series of violent conflicts known as the "Cotton War" as the supporters of Cotton Tom and Cotton Ed clashed. Each candidate tried to get the other Democrat excluded from the ballot, but Ed only managed to get Tom off of the South Carolina ballot, and Tom only could get Ed removed from the Mississippi ballot. Meanwhile, Huey Long took the conflict as an excuse to declare the Democratic Party a terrorist organization, and removed both candidates from the Louisiana ballot (infuriating Cotton Ed's running mate, Huey Long's former Lieutenant Governor and sworn enemy).

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Minor Candidates:
William Z. Foster/James Ford (Communist): 836,594 votes (1.6%)
Thomas Heflin/Charles Edwards (Popular Democratic): 533,329 votes (1.02%), 9 Electoral Votes (Mississippi)
Ellison Smith/Paul Cyr (Constitutional Democratic): 491,499 votes (0.94%), 8 Electoral Votes (South Carolina)
William Pelley/Willard Kemp (Christian): 418,297 votes (0.8%)
Frank Johns/John Reynolds (Socialist Labor): 298,036 votes (0.57%)
]William Harvey/Frank Hemenway (Liberty): 214,377 (0.41%)
William Upshaw/Frank Regan (Prohibition): 125,489 (0.24%)


Turnout was remarkably high, at more than 69%.

In the end, Hoover's strong campaign and all of the deaths in the Cotton War came to nothing. Each Democratic candidate managed to win the state where they were the only Democrat on the ballot. Herbert Hoover won Alabama in the 4-way contest with 31% of the vote, he won the Chesapeake states, and he won most of New England, all due to Progressive weakness there. But no one could stop the Progressive tide that swept Floyd Olson to office. The Republicans were merely happy that Hoover managed to prevent them from going down like Wilson in 1920, and disappointed by how the Congressional elections went worse for them. Olson. held his victory rally in New York City. Standing in front of the New York stock exchange on Wall Street, he proclaimed that the era of big business capitalist dominance was over in America.


1932 Congressional Elections

Herbert Hoover was amazingly popular. He was a well known opponent to the Coolidge and Mellon Administrations. People knew him for his diplomatic efforts and humanitarian actions. He was by far the best man the Republicans could have nominated. Hoover was also soundly defeated in the Presidential Election, winning a mere 38% of the vote.

Down-ticket, the other Republicans envied Hoover.


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The Progressives swept the House, while their Commonwealth and Socialist allies also made gains (with the Commonwealth Party, which dominated Louisiana as the Democrats had a decade earlier, now moving into the surrounding states). The Republicans were crushed, driven beneath 25% of the US House for the first time in their history. Things went just as bad for the Conservatives, who were harmed by their coalition with the Republicans. While some Conservatives voted Progressive out of anger, many simply did not vote, allowing the Progressives to make gigantic gains in the South. To add insult to injury, all three opposition leaders lost their own seats in the election.

This election marked the end of the Democratic Party. While most Democrats were reelected, that was only due to most Democrats in the House having a strong local party machine and paramilitary divisions that managed to secure their area in the Cotton War. Outside of their secure districts, the Democrats were destroyed. The Camellia Knights' Constitutional Democrats who dominated South Carolina grudgingly joined the Conservatives, while the Popular Democrats sat as independents. The White Leagues generally dissolved, with their moderate members either joining the "Share Our Wealth" movement led by Huey Long, and their extremes joining the Silver Legion.

Letter distributed by Silver Shirts across America in the week after the Election:
Evidence that Floyd Bjørnstjerne Olson is a Jew
  • Olson declared in a speech, "Jewish-Americans have enriched this country. Numerous Americans today can count themselves as friends of Jews, and list how this has improved their lives. I know this because I am one of those Americans." Does he mean one of those Americans who is a friend to Jews, or who is a Jew himself? Olson admits that Jews secretly help those who befriend them!
  • Olson has said that "Judaism is the root of modern Christian morality in the United States."
  • [FONT="]Olson can speak the Jewish language, Yiddish, fluently. Jews have said he speaks so well it is as if he were raised a Jew!
  • Olson was born and raised in a Jewish neighborhood, and many of his childhood friends were Jews.
  • Olson served a special function in the Jewish community, known in the Jew language as a Shabbos Goy. Why would the Jews trust a non-Jew with a special position?
  • Olson has radical left-wing views - commonly associated with Jewish Bolshevism!
  • Olson has spoken against the Christian Party and other Christian organizations as "Brutal extremists, trying to force their views upon all Americans."
  • Olson has been seen visiting synagogues, and meeting with prominent Jewish religious leaders.
  • Olson has proclaimed that under his administration "Jews will be safer than ever before".
  • Olson recited a modified version of a poem, originally composed by radical English socialists, that says "I will not cease from Mental Fight, Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand: Till we have built Jerusalem, In America's green & pleasant Land." Olson wishes to recreate the Jewish kingdom from Christian American territory!
Evidence that Floyd Bjørnstjerne Olson is a Communist

  • Olson has received the endorsement of the Socialist Party - the original party of the founders of the American Communist movement!
  • Olson was a member of the Industrial Workers of the World - an organization founded by Bill Haywood - a known Communist! The IWW is and was openly Communist!
  • Olson was an original member of the Farmer-Labor Party - which in the early 1920s was absorbed into the Communist Workers Party by an overwhelming vote of members! Olson fought to keep the "Farmer-Labor" as part of the Minnesota Progressive Party's name - a way to show that his true loyalties were not with Progressivism, but with Communism!
  • Olson condemned the crushing of a Communist uprising by General Douglas MacArthur, swore to avenge the communist and Papist James Renshaw Cox, and wanted to kill General MacArthur for defending America!
  • [Olson was endorsed by Cox's Jobless Party - a party infiltrated by Communists![
  • Olson has met and associated with numerous "Jobless Leagues" - leagues founded and run by Communists!
  • Olson, in his victory speech, promised an "end to the era of capitalist dominance", and quoted the Communist anthem, the Internationale, saying "'justice thunders condemnation' against Wall Street".
Floyd Bjørnstjerne Olson is not Constitutionally eligible to be President!

  • Floyd Olson's parents were not American - his mother was a Swede and his father a Norweigan.
  • To be a natural born citizen, as the Constitution dictates, your parents must also be natural born citizens.
  • Olson has refused to change his obviously ethnic middle name to a more acceptable American name - proving his loyalty to his Scandinavian heritage!
During these trying times, we need a Commander-in-Chief in the White House - not a Rabbi-in-Chief at the White Temple! We must protest, and convince the Electoral College to vote against the Scandinavian Jew and stop him from bringing Communism to America! Otherwise, there will be no recourse but our arms and our courage.
 
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The Balance of Power
The Winter of 1932-1933

A Plot?

The events of January, 1933 are disputed to the present. What is known is that President Bertrand Snell was investigating the issue of Prohibition, to see if the repeal of the Volstead Act had been sufficient to stop the rising tide of violence. Even if the bootlegging of hard liquor continued, there would be one gangster not involved: Al Capone had been gunned down by assassins, who in turn were killed by Capone's body guards. The killers were revealed to have been members of the Silver Legion, devoted to saving America from the "Italian Papist criminal menace". In the world of crime and the rising tide of extremism, it is no wonder that Snell was meeting frequently with the director of the Bureau of Investigation, J. Edgar Hoover, and frequently being sent files of unmarked evidence collected by Hoover's agents.

Neither is it surprising the Snell, in this dark period of American history, met often with his friend and fellow New Yorker, Chief Justice and former President Nathan Miller. No special crisis would be necessary to inspire meetings between these two men. Troubled by the problems of America, Snell no doubt had trouble sleeping, which provoked the late-night meetings between the two men. If Snell was asking moral and constitutional questions, it was probably just about what to do with the increasingly restless Knights of the White Camellia. The Knights were often demonstrating and even assassinating a few public progressives in the South. They were massing in Northern Virginia, but they were crushed by the US Army under Snell's command, and quickly dispersed. Chances are Miller just advised Snell to crush them to prevent more chaos, and nothing more.

Meanwhile, there was nothing suspicious in several Wall Street giants, Irenee Du Pont, Grayson Murphy, Robert Clarke, and several of their employees holding meetings. Business was uncertain of what Olson would actually do as President, and the economy was still bad. There is no evidence to suggest that they were discussing anything other than business at the home of Clarke's employee Gerald MacGuire when they were all killed in a horrible fire. Furthermore, J. Edgar Hoover, at the request of President Snell, personally oversaw the investigation, and confirmed that there was no evidence that the fire was anything but an accident. To claim that Hoover was involved in the fire is nothing more than a conspiracy theory.

Hoover also produced clear evidence to prove the assertion that Douglas MacArthur was part of the illegal liquor smuggling operation within the United States Armed Forces. The fear of the disgrace of being arrested for this charge alone would provide motivation for MacArthur's suicide, with any additional motivation probably coming from Olson's vows to have the general executed for crushing Cox's Army. There exists no valid reason to believe that MacArthur had committed any other crimes, or engaged in any other plots against the government.

However, like always, there are those who dispute the clear facts. There are those who point to Snell's later remarks that the last few months of his presidency were the most stressful and challenging. They say that in his claims of saving America from the left and right, while the left clearly refers to the Communists' marches after the incident with Cox's Army, that the right does not refer to Mellon, but refers to a more severe threat to American democracy. When asked in 1950 who was the best President in his lifetime, Nathan Miller immediately answered "Bertrand Snell" with no hesitation. Perhaps saving America from Mellonism and Communist rioters was enough to grant him this status in Miller's mind. Or perhaps Snell saved America in some other way, in which the public will never know...


The War in Germany Continues

The uprising of the Social Democrats and Center Party, officially entitled the Republican Revolution, failed to overthrow the monarchy, or even unseat Von Schleicher. Despite numerous defections from the German Army, the majority of the Reichsrehr remained loyal to the Empire of Germany. The Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold, the Social Democratic paramilitary organization, was simply unable to fight the much more numerous Stahlhelm fighters or the better trained and equipped army. The Social Democrats were crushed across Germany, and soon support for the Republic of Germany collapsed to the predominantly Catholic areas where the Center Party dominated. While the RSRG and most prominent Social Democrats moved to support the Center Party, it no longer had strong support outside of Catholic areas. Meanwhile, many of the rank-and-file SDP members defected to the Communist Party, swelling their numbers.

Although the Republicans failed to defeat Schleicher, they did manage to destabilize his regime enough to allow a come back from the more extreme elements. The Nazis had nearly been driven out of the main part of Germany and restricted to East Prussia during the early weeks of the war, but by December the National Socialist German Workers' Republic managed to retake much of Eastern Germany. Bolstered by the new ex-SDP recruits, the Communists managed to hold onto their core areas and make gains in the surrounding countryside. The Bavarian secessionists, generally ignored by Schleicher, who considered them the least threat, seized much of their country from the government. Many talked of an alliance with the Catholic dominated Republic of Germany, but the Bavarians by this point refused to acknowledge any government that did not recognize Bavarian independence, which the Center Party was simply unable to do.

Schleicher knew that the Empire controlled the largest portion of Germany, and the center of the country. However, they were also in the awkward position that all factions had to fight them, while they generally separated the other warring groups. He had the largest and strongest military force, but he could not fight all of the rebels at once. Therefore, the Chancellor made the decision to concentrate Imperial forces on the east, against the Nazis. Still shocked by their comeback, he deemed them the greatest threat to his regime. The Bavarians had limited appeal, the Republicans were collapsing, and the Communists were still organizing themselves and their newly acquired territory. Schleicher was confident that he could crush the Nazi threat, and then crush the other rebellious groups as well.

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An Unstable Coalition

The British government, like most governments, was having issues. In 1931, the Conservative Party, the main faction in the National Government, won a gigantic landslide, with over 75% of the seats in Parliament. However, National Labour PM MacDonald stayed in power with support from the Conservatives and National Liberals. Perhaps MacDonald did the best he could. But the UK economy was too tied to the American economy, and as the US economy crashed and burned during the Mellon presidency, the British economy was dragged down as well. With the populace of the country in an uproar, with the MPs nearly in revolt, and with an increasingly concerned King afraid of a popular revolt, Conservative Leader Stanley Baldwin panicked. Deciding that MacDonald's ministry was doomed, he led the Commons in declaring a vote of no confidence against the Prime Minister and his national government. Baldwin hoped that the King would then ask him to form a new government.

To the annoyance of the Conservative Leader, the vengeful Prime Minister MacDonald advised the King to call for new elections. The election served merely as a delay and annoyance. The Conservatives took significant losses in the election of February, 1932, but still maintained a huge majority. The National Liberal Party remained intact, making a handful of gains. Labour and the mainstream Liberals made gains at the Conservatives' expense. MacDonald's attempt to vex Baldwin by calling for elections only served to bring about his own ruin: MacDonald and most of the National Labour Party lost their seats, with the remainder of the party being taken over by Oswald Mosley. Following the election, Baldwin formed a new Conservative Majority government, and hoped to lead the nation out of the Depression.

Alas for Baldwin, it was not so.

For even as the US economy stabilized under the Snell Administration, the German Civil War sent shockwaves throughout the world economy. Baldwin promised economic recovery, but the Depression only got worse. By January of 1933, Conservative infighting led to the fall of Baldwin's government, and new elections. With Labour and the Liberals making significant gains, the National Coalition had to be reformed to keep a majority government. King George, having seen how the Conservatives and National Labour both led governments in the past year which fell, appointed John Simon as the leader of the new government.

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PM John Simon
 
The Dawn of Progress
The Beginning of the Olson Administration


Floyd Olson said:
We are assembled during the most critical period in the history of the Nation. An army of unemployed; some 5 million homeless and wandering boys; millions of abandoned farms; an ever-increasing number of mortgage foreclosures; and tens of million of people in want and poverty are evidences not only of an economic depression but of the failure of government and our social system to function in the interests of the common happiness of the people. Just beyond the horizon of this scene is rampant lawlessness and possible revolution. Only remedial social legislation, national and state, can prevent its appearance.

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Floyd Olson walked the entire length of the inaugural parade. His advisers recommended that he not due so due to the risk of assassination; indeed, two members of the Silver Legion were arrested during the inauguration for plotting to assassinate the President-elect. However, Olson wanted to be with the people and wanted to send a message that he was not an elite like the previous presidents. He gave his radical speech, to the cheers of the crowd below and the horror of Wall Street, and set about creating his administration. Most of Olson's left-wing cabinet nominations were approved by the Senate; Max Hayes as the nominee for Secretary of Labor provoked a fight, but in the end, once it became clear that Olson would not compromise, the moderate Progressives fell in line and nominated him. Even more controversial was the nomination of Huey Long as Attorney General; the Republicans filibustered that nomination for more than a month. Eventually, they relented simply to get their least-favorite Senator out of the Senate. Olson even gave the Socialists a few low-level, not cabinet appointments as a show of support for the coalition (Olson declined to give any position to the opposition).

The first decision of the Olson Administration was where to draw the "Red line". While it was clear that the House majority was large enough that they would have no trouble there, the Senate majority was narrow enough that a few moderate Progressives could block the whole agenda. Some on the far left counseled that Olson declare that his mandate dictated that the entire Radical Platform be implemented immediately, and any obstruction would be met with martial law. However, Vice President La Guardia convinced Olson that abusing martial law would ultimately fail. He reasoned that there were two parts of the Radical Agenda: the immediate economic relief, and the more radical long-term improvements to American society. The Vice President convinced Olson that martial law should not be used to implement the radical long-term agenda, and that it should only be used to ram through immediate economic relief.

Most of the immediate economic relief was not that controversial. The Republicans agreed that a massive public works project was necessary; they thought that the 20 billion dollar budget of the American Employment Agency was too high. Most of the most vicious opposition came due to Olson's refusal to allow any government jobs project to segregate its workers, but possessing a large enough majority to ignore the South, Olson did so, much to the displeasure of the Southern Progressives. The GOP wanted a dramatically more limited Agricultural Relief Act, but decided not to block the Progressives' plan to bail out farmers, and buy the surplus crops (which were distributed to the poor, stored, or burned). The Republicans had already given up on the Gold Standard, and let Olson's treasury department move the United States to a fiat currency. They allowed a massive reduction to tariffs The Republicans had in fact adopted a matching plan to the Progressives: they figured that obstructing everything would just provoke martial law, so they decided to give the Progressives the issues which would result in the greatest public support for martial law, and fight them on the more radical, less popular issues.

There was one issue in the immediate economic recovery that the Republicans and Moderate Progressives refused to compromise on: the financial recovery. Olson called for the nationalization of the entire financial system by the United States government, a move that barely gained a majority of the Progressive Senators in support. The President was infuriated, and threatened to declare martial law. Huey Long, standing in front of a huge gathering of poor people, waved a meat axe in the air and cursed obstructionism. Afraid either of Olson or the people, Congress did pass a series of wide-ranging banking regulations. This satisfied the President enough to not nationalize the financial system yet (he was confident that after the midterms, he would be able to get a Radical majority in the Senate and get it through with the rest of the Radical agenda)

Many Republicans hoped that cooperation could allow them to influence Olson; they suggested that they would back his tax increases if he also cut government spending by slashing the pay of government workers and pensions. However, Olson refused to do so. He publicly declared that he did not care about deficits or the rising national debt, and he in fact endorse Keynesian levels of spending, meeting with the famous British economist. He rammed through even higher tax increases on the rich, over Republican opposition. The Republicans were infuriated by these actions. They had not filibustered the immediate economic relief, they had compromised on banking regulations and taxes and public works programs, they had allowed Olson to appoint avowed Socialists to his cabinet, and they were met with a purely partisan, non-compromising response. The Republicans met, and decided that they had compromised enough. The American people would see the Republicans efforts, and they would see Olson's stubborn radicalism. From May 9th, the Republican Party decided to go scorched-earth and obstruct the entire Radical agenda to the best of their ability.

The Olson Cabinet
President: Floyd Olson (Minnesota)
Vice President: Fiorello La Guardia (New York)
Secretary of State: William Bullitt (Pennsylvania)
Secretary of the Treasury: Alvin Hansen (from South Dakota, moves about to professor at different institutions, last from Minnesota it appears)
Secretary of War: C. C. Young (California)
Secretary of the Navy: Smedley Butler (Pennsylvania)
Attorney General: Huey Long (Louisiana)
Postmaster General: Frances Perkins (New York)
Secretary of the Interior: H. F. Samuels (Idaho)
Secretary of Agriculture: Henry Wallace (Iowa)
Secretary of Commerce: Joseph Davies (Wisconsin)
Secretary of Labor: Max Hayes (Ohio)
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Olson's Cabinet (Secretaries arranged in order of list, left to right)


"To Create a Better Constitution"
After the rise of Republican obstruction, little to nothing was accomplished by the US Congress in the next several months in terms of actual US policies, other than the authorization of several billion more dollars to be sent to the American Employment Agency. However, while the Republicans obstructed Olson's agenda, they did not obstruct the implementation of several new Constitutional Amendments.

The Twentieth Amendment, allowing the US President to appoint a Vice President if that office were to become vacant, had already taken effect. Meanwhile, the Twenty-first Amendment, passed during Snell's lame duck period, was also enacted, removing the Federal Government's jurisdiction over the sale and use of alcohol, ending Prohibition. Among the opponents of this repeal was Majority Leader George Norris, Senator from Nebraska and 1928 Progressive nominee. But although Norris would fail to block one Amendment he opposed, he soon became known as the "Godfather of the Constitution" as he would go down in history as having authored the most Constitutional Amendments by anyone who was not a Founding Father.

Norris's first amendment was the Twenty-Second Amendment, which reduced the length of the lame-duck period by more than a month and a half, beginning the next presidential term on January 15 instead of March 4. It also required Congress to meet more often, starting on the fourth of January. This Amendment was widely seen as a solid update to the Constitution due to easier transportation in the modern age, and passed with little controversy. Meanwhile, with the old Populist Party and its shenanigans dying off, and with de facto ballot fusion already occurring in the last several elections, no one really objected to the amendment to allow fusion balloting in all states. However, no one really cared that much about it, so the Amendment was left to wallow in the back of the line, and would not get passed until December of 1934 and ratified until 1937.

Attempts to revoke gerrymandering failed, as the Progressives over-reached and attempted to enact proportional representation. PR to decide legislators proved to be too radical for most Americans, and was met with a landslide defeat in the House of Representatives. Norris's Amendment to make all states appoint their electors roughly proportional to that state's popular vote passed both Houses of Congress, but got tied up in the state legislatures and was never ratified. Attempts by more radical progressives to flat-out abolish the electoral college and make a two-round popular vote system failed to pass the Senate. While George Norris's unicameral movement had swept through the plain states, his attempt to pass an amendment to require all state legislatures to be unicameral failed, as many Representatives and Senators deemed in an unnecessary intrusion into state affairs.
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George Norris
 
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The Darkest Hour

Extremist militarism in the United States had been on the rise since 1915. Groups rose and fell. No longer did anyone claim membership to the KKK. Snell had crushed the Knights of the White Camellia, arresting their leadership and dispersing their members. Olson finished the job, banning the last parts of the organization. The White Leagues had dissolved, as class tensions overwhelmed racial tensions in the minds of most white Southerners. The Silver Legion was left as the largest and most extreme right-wing paramilitary organization in the United States. While Pelley did not personally order any violent actions for the first several months of Olson's presidency, numerous crazed Silver Shirts attempted to assassinate various public figures and incite uprisings against the Federal government. Meanwhile, especially after Peley declared Adolf Hitler to be the "messiah of the Germans", many extreme racist Americans traveled overseas, to help the National Socialist German Workers' Republic in the German civil war.

Not all paramilitarism was associated with the far-right. The Communist Party of the United States had been growing for the past two years due to the horrible Depression and the Cox's Army Massacre. They certainly were not causing as much trouble; Moscow sent stern orders for them to not try and topple Olson after the President and the Secretary of State recognized and began to establish diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. However, a few extremist communist groups proclaimed Olson a "hopeless reactionary" and attempted to organize strikes against him. The President was a friend to labor, speaking in favor of strikes for better labor conditions. However, he proclaimed that the communists' attempts to organize to challenge the government and law and order to be a "corruption of the concept and abuse of the practice of striking", and he ordered the communist-controlled strikes to be crushed. The National Guard aided the state forces in crushing these protests, and the justice department of Huey Long and J. Edgar Hoover arrested all of the key communist leaders who openly opposed Olson. This served as an external purge of the CPUSA; after Olson's crackdown, only those firmly loyal to Earl Browder and Moscow were left.

However, it was the right which hated Olson the most, and it was the right which seized the news. After a Silver Shirt successfully assassinated one of the Founding Fathers of the Progressive Party, Henry Graass of Wisconsin, on June 18, Olson declared the entire Silver Legion, as well as the Christian Party and Galahad College to be outlawed criminal organizations.


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William Dudley Pelley

418,297 people voted for William Pelley to be president. Of those people, only about 25,000 were actually members of the Silver Legion. Of those 25,000, 23,500 or so dispersed immediately after the organization was outlawed, with a couple hundred of those traveling to Germany. Of the 1,500 who stood defiant, 600 were arrested, most peacefully, a few trying desperate last stands. However, about 900 Silver Shirts, the most hardcore true believers, were gathered at Galahad College in Asheville, North Carolina on July 19.

Galahad College was called a college, but it was really closer to a cult. The courses taught there were "Ethical History", "Spiritual Eugenics", and "Cosmic Mathematics", all three of which consisted of various portions of Pelley's deluded rants. Upon hearing that his organization was outlawed, Pelley gathered his hardcore followers in front of the recently constructed "Galahad Hall". There he proclaimed Floyd Olson the Anti-Christ, and declared that the End Times had come. He announced that the "last true Christians" would not die without a fight, and ordered a preemptive strike against the state of North Carolina. A few Silver Shirts protested, but those were quickly killed by the enraged mob of the rest. A couple hundred attacked the Asheville police station, resulting in a bloodbath that left around a hundred Silver Shirts dead and about as many injured, and killed nearly 50 police men and 20 civilians, injuring hundreds more. Most of the Silver Shirts did not attempt to directly attack the police, but instead began seizing hostages from around the city, killing 80 people and kidnapping 250. They also raided several gas stations and stole large quantities of gasoline. As the National Guard rolled in, with the US Army soon behind, Pelley and his 700 remaining followers bunkered down in Galahad Hall with their hostages, preparing for the end of the world. So began the largest hostage situation in US history, the worst incident of domestic insurrection since the Civil War, and one of the darkest points in American history.

Buncombe County, North Carolina, was placed under martial law. The US Army set up refugee camps, where the entire population of Asheville, more than 50,000, had been evacuated. Tanks rolled into the city, and thousands of soldiers surrounded Galahad College. Military planes circled overhead. The hostage situation had lasted for more than 30 hours. Across the nation, people listened to their radios, trying to hear the latest updates on the situations. Some businesses had even declared days off, since the managers, customers, and employees all were too concerned with the story to work. In the new age of the radio, for the first time in history people could hear about a gripping news story as it occured.

As gripped as people were, not much had actually happened. The Silver Shirts hid inside Galahad hall for the most part. In the past several hours, they had cracked open some windows and poured some liquid down the side on the building, and they had poured some liquid onto the balcony on the front, but otherwise, nothing much was known. A few calls had been made from the building, to confirm that the hostages were still alive, and that any attempt to storm the building would lead to their deaths. They were surrounded, and no one had any idea how they expected to get out.

The soldiers in the front of the building were surprised when, of all things, a paper airplane flew out of the building. The commander had the paper brought to him. Scribbled in a deranged hand, it read "HE WHO SEES FAR, William Dudley Pelley, does Demand to speak to the heathens assembled outside of HIS hall. HE shall Come to the Balconee, and there thou shall Speak to HIM. if you are treasonous swine in action as well as heart, and if thou shoots HIM while HE speaks to thee, thy action shall cause the death of All of thine fellow Heathens who WE hold within."

A few minutes later, William Dudley Pelley emerged from the hall, standing upon the balcony. He wore a long coat, even though it was July, and he held a lit lamp in his hand, even though it was the middle of the day. His coat was silver, with a red "L" emblazoned upon his chest. Pelley stared at the soldiers, and began to speak,

"In the elder days, Jesus Christ was born unto the Jews of Israel, born of a woman of the line of David, and he was to be their messiah, their Son of God. Yet the Jews did not accept their Savior, and they crucified him in their prejudice. Since then, that wretched race has been damned across the earth, wallowing in their sin and their schemes, hellbound from now until all eternity. Now I am come unto thou, oh America. Shall thou crucify me as the Jews crucified their savior, and reap thy foul reward in Hell? Or shall thou listen to the Holy Message, and save thine souls from the Pits of Damnation?" Pelley waved his hands about as he spoke. Some of the soldiers wondered if he was hallucinating the whole time.

"Sir," responded the commander calmly. "We just want everything here to be settled without anyone else getting hurt. I ask you to please..."

"LIAR!" Pelley interrupted the commander. "Thou wanteth to see the Christian boys snatched from their homes, circumcised as babes, forced into Judaism, and then subjected to communism!" Pelley's face was contorted by rage as he shouted. "The Jews rule America! Why else do we circumcise our youth? Why else to we read their damned testament as part of our holy text? Why do we elect them to power and prestige? Jews in the White House! Jews in Congress! Jews on the Supreme Court!!"

"Sir," replied the commander, his calm unbroken, "I understand you have difficulties with the Jewish people. But we need to end this situation, so those people in there can get home. Jesus wouldn't want you to kidnap..."

"Jesus?!" shouted Pelley. "Jesus was a Jew! Jesus was sent by God to them, not to us Americans. Thou wouldst call in the name of Jesus Christ, for thou hast been deceived, and indoctrinated by the Jews in their most secret and dark power! I am sent by God unto America! It is MY will, and MY desires, which shall be fulfilled here."

"If we give you what you want," responded the Commander. "Will you let those people go?" Pelley nodded. "So, sir, what is it that you demand? Why are you keeping these people?"

"What do I want?" asked Pelley. "Here is what thou shalt give me, to end our stand-off. I want this worthless, Godless paper money burned, every last damned note. I want every God damn banker executed. I want the Jews segregated from the rest of the population, and purged from every level of government. I want these giant metropolis monstrosities, these Sodoms and Gomorrahs, to be smote from the earth. I want our laws based on the Will of God, not in the God damned secular Constitution conceived by atheists and Jews."

"Sir," replied the commander, amazingly still calm, "These are unrealistic demands." The soldiers tried their best not to laugh. What kind of madman wanted the abolition of all cities?

"Of course they are," cackled Pelley. "Thou doest not mean to fulfill anything. If mine sole demand was a penny, thou wouldst poison it before thou give me anything. The Anti-Christ is in the White House. There is no hope here in America." The Commander was about to respond, but Pelley continued. "Dost thou see this lamp? If I drop this lamp, if I am dead and fall, if thou shoot me, then this lamp shall shatter upon the ground. And the the burning oil within shall ignite the oil poured upon this balcony and across the building, and that oil shall ignite the gasoline also poured, and the gasoline and gunpowder within shall ignite, and we all shall burn!"

Cries of shock emerged from the men around the building. At this, even the commander was momentarily shocked. But he quickly composed himself. "Sir, I am quite sure none of them men with you wants to die in a fire. Please be reasonable..."

"They think not that they shall die," replied Pelley. "For I hath told them that the Lord shall save them from the flames, and they believe, for they were taught of my powers at Galahad College. Yet I know the truth. This is the end of the world! We shall perish as martyrs! Our rapture shall be one of fire!!"

Laughing madly, Pelley pulled a gun out from his coat and began firing upon the soldiers. Within seconds the soldiers returned fire to save themselves. Pelley fell, his manic laugh still upon his face, and the lamp shattered and the oil ignited.


The Reaction
"Is this my fault?"

"How can it be? You didn' kidnap those people. You didn' pour gas down the sides of a buildin' and light it on fire. It was that bigoted madman, and his freakish cult. You know that."

"I sometimes wonder... If only my rhetoric were less severe... or if it was a moderate like Borah in office... maybe they would not have been driven to such extremes. Maybe..."

"Madness ain't going to be swayed by rhetoric or policy. They'd've found some conspiracy theory 'round Borah as sure as Hell as they cooked up around you. They'd've struck against him, and forced him to respond jus' like you did. It would all have gone the same. If either of us is to blame, it's me. I could've crushed them bastards earlier, but I didn't. I should've. I want to make it up to you and the nation. Please, let me."

"People are rallying against the South, even though Pelley was from Massachusetts. I don't know if putting a Southerner, even one as left-wing as you, as the front man for the anti-extremism efforts, will go down well."

"Y'all up North have always stared down at us, callin' us racist hicks. Well, I ain't racist - Lord knows how much I despise having to call for 'separate but equal' to avoid bein' lynched - but I am a hick. I was born in rural Louisiana. I am one of them. If you send some yankee down to deal justice, they'll call it Reconstruction number two and rally against you. You will fail like Miller. Send me. They can't stand up to another Southern man. The nation will see, not the enlightened North teachin' the Southern hicks a lesson, but a good old Southern boy cleanin' his home. And I'll clean it as sure as the sun'll rise. You gotta fight fire with fire. I'll burn those bastards out of the South, the North, the West. I'll drag them to the gates of Hell."

"So be it."

~~~~~

The American psyche had been slowly collapsing for around a decade. Violence, racism, and depression plagued the nation. And right as things seemed to be looking up, right as the economy started recovering and the jobs began to return, Galahad happened. In future years, historians would claim that late July, 1933, marked the second lowest point in the American consciousness, behind February of 1932 alone.

Galahad would go down in history as the most significant single event of the 1930s in America. Within days, almost everyone in America had heard about it. Asheville went from being a relatively unknown city, to being more famous than any American city other than New York. Nearly everyone could name William Dudley Pelley. Polls in the following weeks identified him as America's most hated person of all time. Numerous sensationalist publications proclaimed him "The Most Evil Man In All History". Effigies were burned across the nation of Pelley and the red "L" which symbolized his movement. Lynch mobs arose, targeting suspected members of the Silver Legion in what became known as the "Silver Scare". Anyone who was suspected of having supported the Christian Party was fired from their jobs. Not even the American Employment Agency would hire them.

In the days following Galahad, all opposition to Floyd Olson on matters of internal security melted away. Both Houses of Congress quickly passed the Internal Security Act, which proclaimed that any crime done in an attempt to promote a political or social cause was deemed "rebellion", and therefore under Article I Section 9 of the Constitution grounds for the suspension of Habeas Corpus. The ISA expanded the Bureau of Investigation and renamed in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, granting it more power. It stated that individuals suspected of participating in domestic rebellion could be held without bail, and, if the Attorney General determined that they were a threat to National Security, they could be tried by a military tribunal instead of a regular court. The ISA created a system of secret courts designed solely to issue secret search warrants on suspected members or supporters of extremist paramilitary groups. Furthermore, it established that based on provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3, that anyone who was arrested under suspicion for being involved in extremist paramilitary activity was to be removed from the ballot, and all write-in votes for them were to be discounted.


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Huey Long giving his speech


Attorney General Huey Long addressed the nation, vowing to crush all extremist forces that sought to topple the US government. Within weeks, he had destroyed the remnants of the far-right militias, aided by lynch mobs (who were pardoned by the President if it could be proven "with a preponderance of evidence" that their victim was a member of the Silver Legion). He also crushed various far-left anarchist groups. Huey Long went further than that, and proclaimed that anyone who had ever funded or supported known members of any far-right paramilitary group, including the old Ku Klux Klan, were henceforth also suspects. While shrewd enough to decline to purge any of the sitting members of Congress of the Democratic or Conservative Parties who had been former supporters of these groups, he used his power to arrest numerous lower officials of those parties across the South, seizing their partisan assets, and searching their records and party lists. While allowing the Representatives to stay in Congress and complain, Long damaged their party apparatus. He did not act against the Republicans in the North, for he knew that while Northern conservatives would accept his actions to crush "Southern racist hicks", they would stand against him if he attempted to crush them.

In following years, the term "Galahad Graduate" came to mean anyone who accepted a belief unquestionably. A memorial was constructed at the sight of Galahad Hall, to the 249 innocent victims killed there, as well as the 144 killed elsewhere in the city and the US by the Silver Shirts. No one knew how many Silver Shirts were killed in Asheville in general and in Galahad Hall in particular, but the number was believed to be close to a thousand. They were unmourned; those few "Galahad graduates" who survived the battle in Asheville were all executed. Anyone who spread crazed conspiracy theories that the whole operation was a false flag attack by Olson to gains support for the ISA was deemed to be spreading slander and/or libel, a crime, for the political cause of supporting an extremist paramilitary group, and thus under the ISA was deemed to be in unlawful insurrection and therefore arrested.
 
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A Divided World
The Rise of Communism and Fascism in 1934
Secretary of State Bullitt returned to America on October 24, 1933, exhausted but victorious. The French Prime Minister, Leon Blum, the leader of the new coalition called the Popular Front, Bullitt, and representatives of the USSR had met with the leaders of various factions in the German Civil War. The United States had been invited because they were a powerful nation, but one not involved in the conflict as of yet, unlike the Soviets and French, who were funding the Communists and Social Democrats respectively. President Olson was glad the US was invited; he was publicly opposed the Nazi Party, which accepted support from Silver Legion refugees from America, as well as the would-be-fascist-dictatorship of Schleicher. The three governments, all controlled by their country's left, determined that with the Nazis currently restricted to East Prussia, where Schleicher's counter-offensive had not reached as it would either require an amphibious landing or war with Poland, that Schleicher was the main threat to the global center-left.

Almost all of the French did support some degree of support for the anti-Schleicher forces in the civil war. The far left backed the Communists, the rest of the left backed the Social Democrats, and the right backed the Center Party. Even the far-right of France was opposed to the Imperials, due to their connections to the Kaiser and old hatred of Germany from the Great War. Already, the Social Democrats and Centrist forces were working together, but with the focus of the Empire swinging to the west and the left, it was clear that they wouldn't last long. Already, both of the Centrist parties were losing support to the Communists, whose radical rhetoric attracted a desperate people in the middle of a civil war. The Communist "Alliance of Red Front-Fighters", or Rotfrontkämpferbund, had grown to be far larger than the other two anti-right forces.

Thus, Moscow, which already supported the French Communists joining in the Popular Front to end the right-wing rule in France, felt confident that a Popular Front in Germany would work in their favor. Their suggestion was also approved by Olson and Bullitt, who were working to create diplomatic relations with the USSR, and hoped to eventually become allies against imperialism and the Right. Perhaps idealistically, they assumed that the Communists would keep their word to participate in the new republic after the war, and only try to gain power via free elections. The French government, realizing that a Communist-Social Democrat-Center Alliance would be a force with wide support throughout the country, backed the idea. As part of the Popular Front, they were used to working with the Communists, and concluded that they could indeed participate in civil democracy.

The German Communists hated the Social Democrats, still remembering how they had betrayed the Spartacus League in 1918. If given the choice, they would have refused to join with them in any league, even against Schleicher. But by now, the choice was not in Germany. Moscow made it clear that they wanted the alliance, and that if the German Communists refused to join in, they would be ejected from the Comintern and cut off from all support from any Communist Party in the world. The German Social Democrats hated the Communists, but, realizing that they were weak and would be crushed alone, and that joining the alliance was the only way to keep receiving aid from the French and maybe start receiving aid from the United States, they bitterly agreed. The Center Party now was isolated and alone. Most Centrists flat-out refused to join the alliance, and defected to various South German secessionist leagues, with Baden-Wurtemburg joining Bavaria in their attempt to leave the German Empire. Only a tiny rump Centrist Party remained. Completely surrounded by the Social Democrats and the Communists, they were forced to become the third arrow in the new "Iron Front". Formed on October 22, the Iron Front was officially an equal alliance between the Centrists, Social Democrats, and Communists. Within a few months, it was clear that the Communists dominated the alliance, which was merely kept around for show and to gain wider support from Europe.
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The Symbol of the Iron Front

The Troika
On November 13, in the heart of Moscow, Red Army troops marched through the Red Square, in a tight, organized formation overseen by Marshal of the USSR Tukhachevsky. These were the men who had brought down the Tsar. These were the men who impressed the people of the Soviet Union, and who were the focus of propaganda as the noble protectors of the revolution from reactionary forces. Their performance was impressive, and this one was merely a practice for later extravaganzas. Yet for all of the glory of the Red Army, for the might and fame of Tukhachevsky, they did not hold the power in the Soviet Union.

There were millions of members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Thousands were part of the Congress of the Soviet Union. Many men were part of the Central Committee, and the Politburo, and the numerous other governing bodies. Officially, all of the people of the Soviet Union had a say in its governance. They claimed that their system was democratic, as "democratic centralism", in which there was "freedom of discussion [and] unity of action". However, the reality in the halls of the Kremlin was quite different. In truth, real power was held in the hands of three men.

The most public and famous of these men was Nikolai Bukharin, the Premier of the USSR. He was young, and popular among the Communist Party, managing to appeal to both the left and the right, and among the people, as the public face of their government. The second leader was Lev Kamenev, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. A diplomatic and personable man, who was popular among the moderates, Kamenev was quite different from his exiled brother-in-law, the dangerous radical and traitor to the revolution, Leon Trotsky. How could such a great leader of the Revolution fall so far? The people of the Soviet Union did not know. The last member was Grigory Zinoviev, the Chairman of the Congress of the Soviets. Zinoviev was an old ally of the deceased Vladimir Lenin, whose preserved body rested on public display in a building nearby the Kremlin. Lenin had died too soon, so shortly after his triumph.

While officially these three men held specific offices with specific powers (offices they rotated around), in practice the nation was a dictatorship, merely with three dictators, as a triumvirate. There was some degree of democracy, especially in the lower levels. There was dissent and disagreement even in the Central Committee. But the Troika, in addition to their great official powers, also controlled a large degree of "soft power", and in the one-party state, they held too much influence for any real democratic movement among the lower-level Soviets to gain a majority against them. Their policies were rather popular. Industrialization and the collectivization of agriculture were both running fairly smoothly. At least, more smooth than it could have been...

This was the second Troika. The first, formed after Lenin's death had contained Joseph Stalin instead of Bukharin, and was responsible for crushing Trotsky and his crazed schemes. But soon the Troika disintegrated, and if not for Bukharin deciding to go with the moderates instead of Stalin, the careers of Zinoviev and Kamenev might very well have ended there. However, the Central Committee was turned against Stalin, Bukharin took his place as part of the Troika, and the very noble and patriotic Comrade Stalin had chosen to accept lower office to help his country. Quite sadly, Comrade Stalin had died in a tragic accident a couple years later. After these initial power struggles, things had settled down. The Troika wondered if the Communist Party would remain united, or if would soon fracture into multiple factions, a de-facto multi-party system. But that was a question for the future. For now, with Trotsky exiled and Stalin dead, the Troika dominated the USSR.

Now, the Troika was considering what to do with their newest ally in the German situation, President Floyd Olson of the United States. The President was clearly conservative in his proposed policies, and he demonstrated an unwillingness to remove the reactionaries who were preventing needed relief for the American people. However, at the same time he was one of the few national leaders willing to work with the Soviet Union, one of the few who was friendly to them, who did not treat Communism as a great evil, but merely as an ideology whose goals were a bit too extreme, and whose methods were distasteful. And unlike the French, his government appeared strong, and it was a majority, not a coalition, united behind the President. Furthermore, unlike the Communists' supposed allies in France, Olson was actually against imperialism, and already using what authority he had to give the people of the Philippines and Hawaii and the other territories that the past reactionaries in power in the US government had forcibly taken. The Popular Front was slowly becoming increasingly unstable; many doubted that the French government would last until the end of 1934. But the French Empire, next to the even greater British Empire and the fascist Italian Empire, among the other right-wing regimes of Europe, would remain. The USSR needed a powerful ally in this world. It could not stand alone against the Empires. If President Olson was willing to make the United States that ally, so be it.
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Bukharin, Kamenev, Zinoviev


Fascism Victorious
The Nazis were not a particularly logical group. They were restricted to East Prussia, but they were still convinced that victory was possible. Rather than negotiating with Schleicher or attempting to secure themselves an independent East Prussia, the Nazis, led by Adolf Hitler, ordered the SS forces still hiding in mainland Germany to begin to carry out terrorist attacks against the German government. Furthermore, they began recruiting ethnic Germans living within Poland, both to join the fight in Germany, and to try and rally the Germans within Poland to revolt and reclaim the lost German territory. A series of assassination attempts on major Polish figures, and murders and bombings of random civilians, served to make the Nazis rather unpopular among the Poles. On February 13 of 1934, Ignacy Moscicki, the official President of Poland, following the "recommendation" of the unofficial leadership of General Józef Piłsudski, announced that the Republic of Poland officially recognized the restoration of the German Empire under Wilhelm III, and would intervene against the "dangerous extremists" who were attempting to overthrow the rightful government of the German people.

The Nazi forces were bled dry due to the long war. Hitler's war plan already wasted most of the resources of East Prussia, and the troops were disorganized and suffering from low morale. The fresh Polish army crushed the SA easily in a series of battles, killing numerous high profile Nazis such as Hermann Goering. The fact that half of his remaining territory was under occupation by Poland did not phase Hitler, who ordered the leader of the SA, Ernst Röhm, to send his men once more into battle. Hitler might have been delusional enough to think that the Nazis could still triumph, but Röhm knew that it was only suicide. The SA's commander shot Hitler several times in the chest, and had his troops arrest all Nazi leaders still loyal to the now-deceased Hitler. Röhm, along with Gregor Strasser, officially surrendered to the Polish forces on March 31. The new Nazi leadership's only condition of the surrender was that their own lives be spared. Piłsudski agreed to this condition, as the trial and public execution of Heinrich Himmler, who organized the terrorist attacks and assassinations, and the other imprisoned Hitlerite Nazis would satisfy the Polish peoples' revenge, and Schleicher was content with victory. Röhm and Strasser were placed under house arrest for the rest of their lives, and East Prussia became part of the Empire of Germany.

The German Empire allowing Polish troops into German territory to crush Germans enraged many on the far-right across Germany. A wave of pro-Nazi terrorism erupted in the Spring of 1934, aiming to gain retribution on Schleicher for his betrayal of the German people. This wave of terrorism distracted the Imperial forces, and allowed the Iron front to hold its ground in an increasingly grim war. The most high-profile assassination was that of Alfre Hugenberg, the second-in-command of the Imperial government, and leader of the German National Peoples' Party. With Hugenberg dead, Schleicher officially joined and seized control of the German National Peoples' Party (abbreviated DNVP in German). Even though the Empire had been a one-party state before, with all opposition to the DNVP banned, now the DNVP became constitutionally enshrined as the legal party of Germany. Schleicher was looking toward the south, towards Mussolini's Italy, as his model for his dictatorship.

The German Empire, along with Poland, officially formed the Anti-Communist Alliance shortly thereafter. Italy soon joined as well, and many suspected that Austria would follow as soon as the German Empire could negotiate a peace with the Bavarian separatists. However, it was not only in Europe where fascism rose.

Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro lost three fingers on his left hand, which were shot off as he seized a machine gun as he helped overthrow President Guillermo Billinghurst of Peru in 1914. After being exiled for supporting another (failed) coup in 1921, he fought alongside groups such as the Spanish monarchy and the fascist Italians. Sánchez first came to power in Lima via a military coup in 1931, but due to only having weak control over the military, he resigned from his control of the junta, and ran for office in the democratic elections. His victory in the election began the dominance of the Revolutionary Union Party. Despite protests from the opposition, and numerous assassination attempts, Sánchez became the newest President of Peru, and began working to consolidate his power.

By 1934, after three years in control, the entire political system had been bent under Sánchez's will. He had purged the military of all disloyalty, seized control of the media, which was now pro-regime and anti-immigrant propaganda, and won great popular support due to his huge public works projects and military buildups helping the economy. Having set up a paramilitary organization modeled after the Black Shirts of Mussolini, Sánchez felt confident enough to officially ban the Apristas and other opposition to the Revolutionary Union Party. After a week of violence, Sánchez managed to monopolize all legal political activity in Peru, and immediately began strengthening control on his new, totalitarian fascist regime.

In Argentina, a military coup in 1930 placed José Félix Uriburu in power as the President. After a brief bout of stomach cancer in 1932, which he survived, Uriburu continued to rule Argentina as military dictatorship. After a riot carried out by communists, Uriburu began to look favorably upon the anti-Communist Alliance. Both Argentina and Peru would join in 1935. After them joined Brazil, led by the Integralist dictator Getúlio Vargas. The fascist alliance had become global.
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Sánchez, Uriburu, and Vargas
 
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Domestic Affairs
1934 Under President Olson


By the end of 1933, Floyd Olson was quite frustrated. True, the basis of his economic program was successfully implemented. True, the American economy was definitely beginning to improve. But many of the dramatic, permanent, long-lasting changes desired by Olson had not been realized. The GOP, and the moderate Progressives, blocked much of the radical Progressive Agenda. Even the Civil Rights bills, which Olson hoped would draw Republican support, were blocked, due to larger-than-expected Progressive opposition, and many Republicans voting against cloture, claiming that, while they supported the bill in general, they felt it had to have more discussion to be perfected. Most of his political advisers told Olson that he would have a successful first two years in office by saving the economy. However, Olson was convinced that if he died on the two-year anniversary of his presidency, he would be forgotten for not accomplishing anything permanent. Furthermore, the people were still suffering; there was still inequality. After much consideration, Olson decided that he needed to push for something big in 1934. Something to cross out a couple points of the Progressive platform all at once. Therefore, he proposed the Fair Wage Act to implement a national minimum wage and require equal pay regardless of race or sex.

Needless to say, there was a major uproar.

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Floyd Olson announcing the FWA

Already, Olson had instituted equal pay in the American Employment Agency. Through Executive Order, he instituted equal pay and desegregation, in all public agencies (the latter to the official disagreement of Attorney General Huey Long, who claimed it was causing discord in his agency and hindering his efforts to combat far-right terrorism. Luckily, Olson was a reasonable leader who allowed even public discord in his cabinet, and it just so happened that Huey Long was the only cabinet official brave enough to do so). That caused enough controversy, with Olson being denounced across the South and even in the North. However, now Olson would be reaching from the Federal government into every individual small business. Across the nation, people reacted as if Olson was mandating integration everywhere.

At first, the Republicans were overjoyed at the pairing with the minimum wage. They could praise the idea of racial equality while denouncing the minimum wage as destroying jobs and defying the constitution. However, Parley Christensen, seeing this obstacle, split the Equal Wage Act from the Fair Wage Act. This action allowed Southern Progressives and the Commonwealthers to vote against racial equality, but for the minimum wage and, in theory, allowed Republicans to vote for racial equality without voting for a minimum wage. Olson at first refused to compromise, but when more than 40 Progressive House members and 10 Senators openly defied him, he had Christensen lower the proposed minimum wage from 50 cents to 30 cents.

The Republicans turned to their last resort: the US Constitution. They were aided by numerous Progressives, as well as independent William Borah. The Senator from Idaho was quite dramatic, holding up a copy of the US Constitution in the Senate chamber and proclaiming that the Equal Wage Act would destroy the Constitution. The Republicans managed to find various prominent black individuals (all of them among the few wealthy blacks) to come out and announce their opposition to the bill. Furthermore, to prove that their opposition was only Constitutional, several Republican governors signed racial pay equality bills in their states (Progressives noted that Alf Landon of Kansas had to deal with both houses of his state's legislature being dominated by Progressives, while the northern New England states didn't have a whole lot of black people anyways). While Christensen's cleverness got both bills pass the House, they were both filibustered by the Republicans in the Senate.

The debate was the most heated in the recent history of the Senate. It was marred by the first act of legislative violence since 1902. Coleman Blease, a Democrat who was now sitting with the Conservatives since his party dissolved, decided to give a speech against the act. However, Blease's speech soon devolved into a stream of personal attacks upon the President. After he wrathfully proclaimed that he prayed "that no God-damned Scandinigger from that God-damned icebox of Minnesota would ever see the White House again", an infuriated Henrik Shipstead stormed up to the ex-Democrat and, in a fit of rage, demanded to know how many black children Blease's wife had illegitimately mothered. At that point the two senators started trading blows, and had to be separated by their fellow senators.

Incensed, President Olson made a public announcement on April 23, where he called upon the US Senate to abolish the filibuster, using the "Rule of Last Resort" which only required a majority to do so. However, several older Progressive Senators, led by President Pro-Tempore Hiram Johnson, defected and voted against the rule change, in an embarrassment to the President and to majority leader George Norris. So ended the last chance for any major, permanent reforms in the first two years of Floyd Olson's presidency.

The next week, the President began to secretly encourage California Progressives to defect to the rising Socialist campaign of Upton Sinclair.

The Constitution and Security
On June 21, 1934, Floyd Olson, Fiorello La Guardia, Huey Long, and numerous other public figures, all gave speeches about the events which occurred in Asheville, North Carolina, a year before. Under the direction of Olson, all Progressives and allies who gave speeches did so without any reference to ISA, which was in the Supreme Court, or any partisanship. He swore to personally endorse a future primary challenger to any politician who attempted to use the anniversary of the tragedy for anything other than commemorating the victims. Olson's speech that day was considered politically moving; even some of his staunchest conservative enemies were stirred, as they remembered the events that occurred at Galahad College.

Seven days later, large portions of the Internal Security Act were struck down by the Supreme Court in the cases of Buchanan vs. Long, Williams vs. Long, and MacDonald vs. Long, barely less than a year after it was passed. Chief Justice Miller, writing the opinion of the majority of the court, wrote that calling any crime committed to advance a political cause to be a too broad interpretation of "unlawful insurrection" (specifically, the case where Huey Long arrested someone for unlawful insurrection due to bribery to get a tax lowered). They ruled that only if a crime was violent, and if the political goal was the toppling of the existing US government or of the structure of US society, could it be considered unlawful insurrection. Furthermore, they banned the use of military tribunals to try alleged rebels. A minority of the justices wanted to totally strike down the entire act, but were unsuccessful.

Many Americans expected Long and Olson to be very upset over the damage done to ISA. However, the Attorney General gave a speech shortly after, deeply regretting any "mistakes committed by lower-level members of the FBI in their honest desire to see the United States rid of dangerous madmen", and saying that he believed that ISA had accomplished its purpose and broken the far-right paramilitaries (some might say that it also accomplished its secondary purpose of breaking the Conservative Party).

A couple days later, Huey Long gave a speech in Mississippi. There, he confronted southern racists who demanded to know why he stayed in the administration of someone opposed to segregation like Olson. Huey Long responded by saying that while he was outraged by some of the things that Olson desired, that his job was to enforce the law of the land, not to challenge the President on political matters. Long said that all disputes should go to Congress and pointed to the fact that the Commonwealth Party voted against the Equal Wage Act, and that all of its representatives supported "Separate But Equal" as a sign of their commitment. He remarked that those Southern Progressives loyal to "true Southern values" had already defected to the Commonwealth Party, and that he hoped that the voters would vote Commonwealth and drive the Progressives out of the South. Then, his tone shifted. He said that no matter what Olson did, as Attorney General, he was the man in charge of crushing the Christian Party and other extremist organizations. He proclaimed that "if it be a sin to want to be the man to personally destroy those Silver bastards, then I call every true American man a sinner!" The crowd got wrapped up in anti-Pelley bloodlust, and cheered for the man to crush the remnants of Pelley's gang.
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Huey Long giving a speech


The 1934 Congressional Elections

Some conservatives in the United States were happy to hear that the French government fell on September 13, 1934. The numerous left-wing parties could not cooperate, and enough moderate socialists quit the Popular Front for it to lose a vote of no confidence. The French Right swept the election, and ended all support for the slowly collapsing Iron Front. Both the US and USSR realized that the Empire of Germany would win the war, especially after it negotiated a return to a separate "sub-monarchy" for Bavaria, along with more autonomy.

However, while the Left in France was defeated, the Progressives in the United States was not so weak. True, they failed to accomplish much of their agenda. True, they were wracked with infighting. True, many moderates had been alienated, and were going to the Republican Party. However, Floyd Olson had anticipated this. Deciding not to waste the person of his Vice President, he made Fiorello La Guardia's primary mission in the first two years of the Olson presidency to be the setting up of a massive Progressive Party apparatus. In 1932, they had been barely organized in many states in the Northeast and Midwest. After La Guardia's efforts, well-organized Progressive parties existed in every state outside of the South. Coupled with dramatically improved party organization was the economic improvement. The massive public works projects, the banking regulations, the lowering of tariffs, and the end of the gold standard had worked. The US economy had clearly turned around, and was at its highest point since the middle of Calvin Coolidge's brief presidency. More than half of the formerly unemployed were now employed, with the unemployment rate dropping to "only" 15%. People had more money to give to charities, and the lives of the unemployed were improved. It was clear to most Americans that the Depression was over, and the recovery was well under way.
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The Progressives suffered a minor net loss of seats in the House to the Republicans in the North, not enough to shake things up, but enough to show that the Republican Party was not about to collapse. 20 Progressives switched to the Commonwealth Party for their reelection bid, and numerous Progressives and Conservatives were defeated across the South in a massive Commonwealth sweep. Meanwhile, while the Socialist Party lost a couple seats in the Northeast and Midwest to more moderate Progressives or to Republicans via vote-splitting, they gained 6 seats in California. While Olson knew that Hiram Johnson was unbeatable, he had made it his goal to break Johnson's machine's dominance over California politics, and with the successful election of Upton Sinclair as governor of California, he was successful.

Upton Sinclair (Socialist): 40.8%
H. L. Carnahan (Progressive, Incumbent): 40.1%
James Rolph (Republican): 18.2%

Essentially, a massive revolt occurred in the Progressive ranks, with the support of the Olson Administration. Meanwhile, while a bunch of Republicans abandoned Rolph to back Carnahan to try to, stop Sinclair, the incumbent governor (since C.C. Young resigned to become Secretary of War) had already alienated too many conservatives with his progressive policies. Plus, conservative Republicans were under the delusion that with the moderate Rolph would be able to win with Sinclair and Carnahan splitting the left-wing vote, and voted for Rolph. They soon came to regret that mistake.

Some things to note about the infobox/map:
  1. It may look like the Commonwealth Party really swept the Upper South in comparison to the Lower South, but that is because a lot more Lower South Progressives switched parties, while in the Upper South they stayed loyal and were defeated.
  2. There is one ex-Progressive independent in Missouri still, so that is why the numbers do not line up.
  3. The Socialists lost a single seat in Connecticut, Illinois, and New York
  4. When the at-large Progressive for Illinois decided to run for governor instead, Parley Christensen switched to his seat and allowed another Progressive to fill the 10th district
1934 Senate Elections
The Republicans were expecting to take some defeats. After all, 1928 was a pretty strong victory, and back then they won numerous seats. They knew there was no way they had any hope of winning in Washington, Nebraska, West Virginia, or New York. The Republican Senator from Tennessee, J.A. Fowler, knew there was no hope of winning, so he went as far as to drop out of the race in hope that the Conservatives would win. However, the Republicans were confident that they would retain the Senate seats from the Midwest and most of the Northeast, and that enough Conservatives would hold in the South, to prevent the combined votes of the Progressives and Commonwealthers from winning a filibuster-proof majority of 64 votes.
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The GOP's plan worked for the most part. They did hold most of the seats in the Midwest and the Northeast. But over confident candidates in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, and an amazing come-from-behind win in Utah dealt the GOP more severe losses than they were anticipating. They also failed to anticipate the scale of the collapse of the Conservative Party in the Upper South due to the Silver Scare, and the defeat of Claude Swanson and every other Conservative other than party founder James "Pa" Ferguson in Texas. With 56 Progressives, and 8 Commonwealthers, the left coalition just barely managed to get to that magic number of 64. If the Progressive Party could work in unison, they now had the ability to pass any legislation they wanted.

Of course, they could only pass any legislation they wanted if the Progressive Party worked in unison....

Furthermore, just because the legislation was signed into law, did not mean that nine old men would find that legislation constitutional...
 
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After the Midterms

The Equal Wage Act

A series of meetings were occurring in the Oval Office. "You must abolish the filibuster," ordered President Floyd Olson.
"It cannot be done," replied Senate Majority Leader George Norris. "Even if we use the rule of last resort. We have ten of our own Progressives sworn to uphold it, probably between 2-6 more who are privately opposed, and the Commonwealthers know that if they try to abolish it, then segregation will be in danger. We can't get a majority."
Olson lit a cigarette, considering the words of Norris. He glanced over to Vice President Fiorello La Guardia, who gave a resigned look indicating he agreed with Norris. "We cannot tolerate obstruction from within our own party any longer," he declared. "We have to drive them out."
"That can be accomplished after your reelection," responded Norris. "But the election is two years away, and we simply do not have the strength now." When Olson simply continued smoking silently, Norris continued speaking, "I'll get passed what the moderates will allow. It's all I can do."
"Very well then," sighed the President. "We need the Fair Wage Act to pass, or we will look weak. Get that at least through, then we can think about everything else." Promising to work on the FWA, Norris left the room.
"We can't let Christensen continue to pass all of the radical bills with no hope of getting through the Senate," spoke up La Guardia. "It only increases animosity, and makes us look weak."
"Maybe some animosity is what this country needs," replied the President. "However, you're right, we'll look ineffectual if our bills keep failing. Go tell Christensen." La Guardia left the room, letting Attorney General Huey Long in.
"You were asking to speak to me?" asked the Attorney General.
"Yes," replied Olson. "I have reports that numerous companies are threatening to leave California thanks to the election of Sinclair. Surely, no honest company would try to flee economic justice. They must have illegal practices. Find them."
"I will," replied Long. "But, what if my men can't find anything substantial on all the companies?"
Olson was still smoking, now staring out of the window. "You can find a scandal on anyone, if you work hard enough. Understood?"
"Understood," answered Long, a faint smile on his face. He turned to leave the room."
"Oh, and Huey," interrupted Olson, "Remember that one project I had you working on? To get the Equal Wage Act passed?"
Huey Long's smile grew wider. "Oh, that's all taken care of. No filibuster will survive."

~~~~~

The new session of Congress began on the fourth of January, the first time since the ratification of the 24th Amendment. The new, larger, and more radical Progressive majority in Congress passed the Fair Wage and Equal Wage Acts. Once again, the Fair Wage Act, establishing a minimum wage of 40 cents an hour, was passed by a purely Progressive/Socialist/Commonwealth Coalition in both Houses. No Progressive voted against cloture, and the minimum wage soon became the law of the land. Afraid of threats by American businesses to lay off more people due to having to pay higher wages, Olson also had a massive, three billion dollar expansion of the American Employment Agency to hire anyone who lost their job.
The Equal Wage Act, which mandated equal pay for women and non-whites employed in the same job as a white man, passed the House with almost solely Progressive and Socialist support, with only a couple token Republicans and Commonwealthers voting for it. However, in the Senate, with the Commonwealth Party and Republican Party both committed to "working out the small problems" with the bill, it soon ran into repeated filibusters as the two parties raised various minute objections to delay it.

~~~~~

"Senator Watson!" exclaimed Huey Long, in mock surprise. "To what do I owe this unexpected visitation?" he asked in false formality.
"I believe that the Attorney General's office requested this meeting," responded Watson. The skilled politician spoke entirely respectfully.
"Well, I don't know what a respectable fella' like yourself could possibly need here," Long replied. "Unless, no, it can't be..." Long kept of the charade of ignorance. He pulled out a folder. "Why, you couldn' possibly be the James Watson who was a member of the Ku Klux Klan?"
"What?!" shouted Watson. "You must be mistaken, I would never..."
"No sir," responded Long. "This here file says 'James Eli Watson' of Indiana. We have testimony from members of the Klan that claim you as a fellow Klansman. And of the Indiana Klan too! Y'all were the ones lead by convicted rapist an' murderer D.C. Stephenson! Lord have mercy on your political career now!"
"Any court of law will prove that story to be lies!" shouted Watson.
"That might be true," replied the Attorney General. "But you know what would help convince the Justice Department to not investigate any further? A nice, official end to the filibuster of the EWA. Surely no Klansman would ever vote for such a bill..."
"Damn you and your blackmail to Hell," said Watson.
"And you know, if we don't see any reason to investigate further, we might just lose this here file. Why, one vote could secure your reputation forever..."
Watson stood up and stormed for the door. At the last second, he turned around to face Long. "This one vote, Long," he said. "This one vote. I trust you to keep your end of the bargain. Try to threaten me again, and I'll expose your schemes before the nation, no matter what happens to me. This one vote!"

~~~~~

The Republican Senate Leadership announced that its disputes with the EWA were concluded, and that they felt it was now time for a vote. The bill passed with the support of 49 Progressives, as well as three Republicans, one of whom was the Republican minority leader, James Watson. Watson would later receive a folder on his doorstep, filled with papers that he would subsequently burn.



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Another successful negotiation for the Attorney General

The New Super-Majority
On the issues in which the Radical and Moderate Progressives were united, nothing could stop them now that the filibuster-proof majority had been attained. The Workers' Rights Act established the right for unions to engage in collective bargaining and closed shop, and led to a massive increase in union power and membership. It also mandated a legally-required 40 hour maximum workweek, with anyone working over that having to voluntarily agree to do so with no threat to their job, and being paid extra. The Progressives did not only increase the rights of workers, they also altered the laws to decide who could work. Throughout the state legislatures, the Child Labor Amendment, which passed Congress in 1924, was finally ratified:

23rd Amendment to the United States Constitution said:
Section 1. The Congress shall have power to limit, regulate, and prohibit the labor of persons under eighteen years of age.

Section 2. The power of the several States is unimpaired by this article except that the operation of State laws shall be suspended to the extent necessary to give effect to legislation enacted by the Congress.

Congress immediately passed a law outlawing labor by individuals under the age of 16 except at their own parent's company, farm, or shop. Tacked onto the Child Labor Act was an expansion of the American Employment Agency, and a raise to the salary of the employees thereof, in hopes of offsetting any economic trouble by families who depended on children working.

Perhaps the crowning glory of the 74th United States Congress's laws passed in 1935 was the Social Security Act. Many questioned the scale and feasibility of the act, with moderate Progressives balking at first. However, Vice President La Guardia convinced all of the moderate Progressive Senators to at least vote for cloture, and the bill passed and was signed into law by Floyd Olson. Post-master General Frances Perkins was made the first Secretary of Welfare, which included the Social Security Administration, as well as the newly established Maternity Insurance Administration and Unemployment Insurance Commission. Perkins would go down in history, not only as the first female cabinet secretary, but as the woman responsible for establishing the American Welfare State.

However, not all was well in Congress. The Moderate Progressives were fine with establishing a government-subsidized health system for the retired and the poor. However, they balked at the idea of establishing universal health insurance. The Republicans railed against the idea as "Socialist medicine" and pointed to similarities with the German system (with it being even more expansive), claiming it was also a "fascist health service". The moderates, already concerned with the dramatically rising national debt and deficit, and concerned about the effect of massive tax increases, grew upset over the idea of implementing another massive, expansive program, especially in the same year as the Social Security Administration. Some, in their attempts to appease the Progressive voters, criticized the system as "giving money to those who can afford to pay on their own" and said that it should be restricted to those who could not afford it. Olson refused to back down, telling the Radical Progressives that if they passed a limited Health system, it would break the inertia and ruin any chance for universal healthcare.

However, even if the Progressives in the Senate were willing to end the filibuster (they weren't), they still did not have a bill to pass. Even the Radicals were divided as to what sort of health system should be created. Some advocated for a system similar to the German one, but expanded. Others, perhaps Germanphobic due to the Great War and the Civil War which so recently was concluded with an Imperial victory, refused to back such a system. Some wanted National Health Insurance to simply provide costs, the most Radical along with the Socialists wanted a completely nationalized Healthcare system with private Healthcare outlawed. The inability of the Progressives to unite on a single healthcare model doomed hope of anything getting passed in the Spring of 1935. Olson was infuriated by it, and planned to make it his chief issue for the next two years, and failing that, his reelection campaign.

The Dust Bowl
In the summer of 1935, an even greater issue eclipsed the Healthcare debate. For a drought unlike any ever experienced hit the American plains. The farmers had failed to use the techniques necessary to prevent massive dryland erosion. So began the series of dust storms known as the Dust Bowl.

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President Olson immediately leaped into action regarding the Dust Bowl. Many people fled to California, and there Olson established an enormous expansion of the American Employment Agency, and had federal funding given to California's own public works projects, which were operating on a lower than expected budget due to big businesses and wealthy people fleeing California. The AEA set up new public works projects to employ the refugees, and also used part of its budget to buy food to feed its workers. Olson ordered all of the food to be bought from Californian farms, and used the AEA to build up Californian infrastructure in hopes of starting an economic boom there to prove left-wing economics right.
However, there were many who could not flee and were trapped in the Dust Bowl, and as the situation in Northern Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and bits of the surrounding states deteriorated further, Olson proclaimed a state of emergency and declared martial law in the areas affected by the dust storms. The President sent in the US Army, to help evacuate those who were trying to flee but too weak or poor to manage. He also ordered the seizure of all surplus food, with adequate compensation (as judged by the Department of Agriculture) to feed the hungry. He also proclaimed the debt of the farmers in affected areas to be canceled, and promised that the US government would compensate any debt-holders who actually needed the money.
He got Congress to establish a new federal executive department to regulate soil erosion and a new federal department to deal with potential droughts, and to pass new regulations on farming, to make it fairer to the workers and to prevent another catastrophe from occurring again. He ordered the AEA to set up public works projects to plant trees across the Great Plains in hopes of preventing any subsequent catastrophes of this nature. In addition, he ordered the Theatrical Production Division of the AEA (part of the General Artist Employment Division) to begin showing educational shows across the Great Plains to teach people about how to farm better and cause less erosion.
Many of Olson's actions regarding the Dust Bowl were unpopular, especially his basically dictatorial take over of Dust Bowl affected areas. However, as the months passed by, almost everyone who had lost their livelihood had been given a job and food. Compensation for confiscated surplus crops and canceled debts was rolling in, and most people saw how quickly Olson had reacted. While a minority denounced him, the majority of the population in the affected areas and without approved of Olson's policies. The statewide officials had differing reactions. Some became very unpopular and were deemed failures. Others, in particular Kansan Governor Alf Landon, were judged to have handled the crisis remarkably well, and saw a skyrocketing approval rating. Landon became famous overnight with a picture of him shaking hands with Olson in the middle of the emergency becoming a symbol for bipartisanship. While he became unpopular among the far-right of the GOP, among the moderates, independents, and Progressives, he was suddenly the most popular Republican in the country.


A News Reporter

Newswriter Walter William Liggett was a long-time supporter of the Farmer-Labor Movement and of the Progressive Party. He had been an activist in both his home state of Minnesota and in North Dakota. His career had taken him from Alaska to New York City. His articles gained nationwide fame. He helped turn public opinion against Prohibition. He viciously attacked Andrew Mellon He had written scathing attacks on Herbert Hoover, and had openly supported Floyd Olson in 1932. In the early days of the Olson Administration, Liggett had helped expose the right-wing enemies of Olson. He was a progressive to the core.

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Walter Liggett

But starting in 1933 with the implementation of the Internal Security Act, Liggett had begun to criticize the authoritarianism of the Olson Administration. He railed against the abuses of ISA. His reputation as a progressive was so secure that he could not be portrayed as a dangerous right-wing rebel, and he soon became one of the leading faces of the anti-ISA movement. Some people credited his articles with disillusioning enough Progressives to prevent the Progressives from sweeping 1934 like they should have. Liggett was overjoyed when the Supreme Court weakened ISA, and continued to champion for a full repeal.
In 1934, after ISA was weakened, Liggett gained a new target in the Olson Administration: corruption. More money was bouncing around the Olson Administration than any other administration in history, creating new opportunities for corruption. Liggett was particularly critical of Attorney General Huey Long, who he alleged was behind most of the corruption and abuses of power. Stating that he still believe Olson to be good at heart, he called upon the President to fire the Attorney General. When Olson ignored the request, Liggett began to write articles, showing how numerous projects by the American Employment Agency, and large amounts of federal dollars, had ended up helping numerous organized crime groups, such as the notorious gangster Kid Cann in Minnesota. Liggett alleged that Cann, with connections to notorious gangsters such as Meyer Lansky, had supported Floyd Olson since the latter was governor.
~~~~
"There is no nationwide organized crime," pronounced FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to the Joint Congressional Committee. "Local gangs run by men like the deceased Al Capone? Yes. But some sort of nationwide conspiracy, stretching from Florida to New York to Minnesota, involving the bribery of high-level politicians? It is simply a ridiculous notion."
"Can you be sure?" asked Progressive Representative Frederick Harold Dubord of Maine. "Perhaps the FBI should devote some of its resources to investigating these allegations."
"The era of bootlegging is gone with Prohbition," declared Hoover. "My men have much more important things to do than arrest bookmakers and gamblers. For instance, there are still far-right groups similar to the Silver Legion. We have evidence that many bank robberies and other crimes blamed upon so-called 'organized crime' are actually carried out by these political extremists."
"You use the far-right as your shield," proclaimed Republican Senator Arthur Vandenburg of Michigan. "You have abused the authority of the government. You have trampled upon the Constitution. The Olson Administration is corrupt, and dictatorial, and uses the phantom of a revived Silver Legion to seize power and crush its foes. I have no doubt that Olson wishes he could establish a Troika with Mr. Long and Vice President La Guardia here and end democracy in America, but we will not let democracy die!"
There was scattered applause from the conservatives in the committee. But talking points aside, very little was gained. Hoover was adamant that corruption and organized crime were both exaggerated.
~~~~
In the early morning of August 25, 1935, Walter Liggett placed his half-finished article upon his desk. It was another attack upon the US Department of Justice, claiming that Huey Long was basically setting up his own criminal syndicate across the nation, and that J. Edgar Hoover was complicit in his crimes for the promise of more power to the FBI. He hoped that people would listen, and that Floyd Olson could be brought down. Liggett had suspected Olson was using the governorship of Minnesota as a mere stepping stone for greater power since Olson was elected governor in 1924. However, he could not bring himself to sabotage Olson's progressive administration. He had been caught up in the anti-Mellon sentiment of 1932, and cheered on Olson with the rest of the radicals. But things had gone to far. He couldn't let the administration betray the trust of the American people like this any more.
Liggett knew he was a target for Kid Cann. He'd first gotten bribes from the gangster, but he refused to accept them. Then Cann's men had jumped him in an alley one day, and brutally beaten Liggett. But the writer managed to escape with his life, and recovered from his injuries. Horrible crimes had been alleged about him, including that he had kidnapped and raped boys. But these crimes had no evidence, and as corrupt as the police and judiciary were, they could not convict Liggett. He'd received death threats every day, mostly anonymous from mobsters, some from fanatical progressives. He felt sad that his family might lose him some day. But they knew that he could not stay silent and watch his nation suffer.
Liggett walked over to the kitchen, where his wife, Edith, was cooking breakfast. He kissed her, and complimented her cooking. She was happy that the legal trouble had been resolved; she loved her husband more than her reputation, and she knew that he would not be the man she loved if he did not stand up for what was right. Liggett walked to his daughter Marda's room, and looked down at the sleeping ten year old. She would have to wake up soon, to go to church. He shook her gently, and she woke up happy, telling her father how much she loved him. She was still ignorant and sheltered. He wondered what would happen to her in school, whether his enemies had created a toxic enough atmosphere that she would get bullied because of her father. He hoped he would be there to help her. Liggett wondered how many times he would be able to tell his daughter than he loved her.
After breakfast, Liggett told his family that he was going to go check the mail before they went to church. He opened the door and walked down to the mailbox, and found letters within.
"Is there anything for me?" called out Marda. She and her mother were standing in the doorway, staring down the walkway at her father.
"I don't think so," replied Liggett with a smile. He began walking back toward his house.
Suddenly, a car pulled up by the mailbox. Liggett turned around to see who it was. Before he was even fully turned, there was the blast of a machine gun and Liggett was blown down to the ground covered in blood. Edith and Marda screamed, but they could do nothing. The car had sped away. The writer's wife and daughter ran up to him, sobbing. He was already dead.
 
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Love and Hatred

The Olson Presidency and the Miller Court


The Conservative Court
The state of New Hampshire refused to implement either the EWA or the FWA, proclaiming the acts to be unconstitutional to the extreme. Governor Henry Styles Bridges condemned the act and vowed to oppose it with all of his might. As soon as the acts were implemented and the first federal officials came to begin informing people of the new laws, Bridges organized an opposition to them. As part of the dispute, he soon became engaged in a legal dispute with the US government. Citing a "Constitutional Crisis", Bridges managed to get an expedited court process, with his case being heard before the Supreme Court in October. On October 14, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Bridges v. United States that parts of the FWA was unconstitutional and 5-4 that parts of the EWA were unconstitutional.
The majority opinion, authored by James Clark McReynolds, held that while the Constitution allowed the US government to regulate interstate commerce, and while it allowed it to regulate the labor of people under the age of 18, it did not allow the federal government to regulate how much small companies that were owned, operated, and sold only in one state paid their adult employees, severely restricting the FWA and the EWA. Immediately throughout the country, wages dropped, especially for women and minorities. President Olson was outraged, condemning the "reactionary court" for its "obstruction of the peoples' will".

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Justice James Clark McReynolds
Meanwhile, in a court case appealed from the California Supreme Court, the US Supreme Court unanimously upheld the ruling that the mandated state ownership of certain industries Governor Upton Sinclair had attempted to implement were unconstitutional. While the decision was officially just regarding California, Chief Justice Nathan Miller's opinion of the Court made it clear that any attempts by the Progressive national government to nationalize any industry would also be blocked. Another series of rulings followed shortly thereafter, relating to the 1933 banking regulations. While the regulations were mostly intact, some of the most severe regulations were removed.
These court losses were a severe blow to the Olson Administration. Conservatives across America cheered the Supreme Court. Senator Arthur Vandenburg of Michigan proclaimed that this was a message that Olson was an abusive tyrant who had overstepped his bounds, and stated that impeachment was what Olson deserved (even if it was obviously not going to happen). Vandenburg called for a repeal of the remains of the FWA and for even further weakening of the banking administration, becoming the leader of the reactionary Republicans in Washington DC. Meanwhile, Governor Bridges was another hero to the right for his role in weakening the FWA and EWA. From New England to the Deep South, crowds cheered the governor for his actions, and advocated that he run for President (although some said that the 37 year old Styles Bridges was planning to run for the Senate first). The Progressives generally condemned the Court for overstepping its bounds, and started drawing up various Amendments to the Constitution to fix the issues. However, moderate Progressives generally resisted this effort and confirmed that they would not impeach any Justices just for these rulings.

Behind the Scenes

"Those reactionary bastards," said the President.
"Well, what's the plan now?" asked the only other man in the room, Attorney General Huey Long.
"Break them," responded the President angrily. "I want enough destroyed by scandal to scare the rest into submission."
"I'll rustle them out," said Long, smiling. "Ought to be somethin' good 'nough to get 'em impeached?"
"At least."
"Which one of them black-robed right-wingers do you want me to go at first?" asked Long. "Their leader, old Miller?"
Olson shook his head. "No. Miller did vote the right way on the EWA, even if he was in the minority. And as president he was the first to do anything to help the cause of liberty for all races since Grant. He does not deserve to have his political career end in scandal." Olson paused, thinking. "McReynolds. That bigoted fool has done nothing good, and he wrote the opinions. He can be the message."
"What should I do to take him down?"
"Anything. I want him off the court, as soon as possible."
The Attorney General smiled. "He'll be gone, don't worry. He'll be gone, sure as the sun'll set."

Beloved
“The darkness is behind you!” Floyd Olson was speaking to a group of Jewish refugees in New York City. The President was speaking in Yiddish, as most of the Jews in the crowd did not understand English. Anti-Semitism was on the rise across Europe. Many Jewish communities in Eastern Germany had been destroyed during the German Civil War by the Nazis in a series of haphazard pogroms; more than a hundred thousand Jews had been killed by those madmen. While the Nazis were defeated, the right-wing shift of the governments of Central and Eastern Europe were increasingly anti-Semitic.

“Here in America you have freedom!” Olson proclaimed. “Here you will be safe.” People were crying as the President took their hands. They had lived their entire lives as part of a persecuted minority, and now the president of one of the most powerful countries in the world, taking them in, speaking in their language, holding their hand? The Silver Shirts’ crazy conspiracy that Olson was Jewish might as well have been true for these people; no demographic had backed Olson stronger in 1932, and indeed no demographic would back the Progressive Party stronger in subsequent years, than Jewish-Americans.

“I only wish I could have done more.” Olson had fought tooth and nail to relax the immigration act to allow more Jewish refugees into America. He’d wanted to throw open the gates, and allow all those fleeing persecution in Europe to come. But Congress had dramatically restricted the numbers allowed, until only a small fraction of European Jews fleeing persecution who wanted to go to America were allowed. There were rumors among the Jewish-American community and the far-right anti-Semitic American Community that Olson had secretly convinced the Soviet leaders to allow free flow of Jewish refugees into the USSR. No one knew for sure, but what people did know was that no national leader in the world was as pro-Semitic as Floyd Olson.

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Jewish Refugees​

The Atlanta Speech
"We will withstand against the lies and fear spread by the reactionaries!" shouted President Floyd Olson to great applause. He was speaking in Atlanta on October 30, to a desegregated audience. To his dissatisfaction, most of the audience, save for a few left-wing white radicals, had self-segregated into two halves. Perhaps one day, this would start changing. But the struggle for economic recovery was still underway, once America was prosperous again, it could conquer racial prejudice.
"They seek to undermine the state, to destroy the government, so that there will be no institution capable of protecting the workers from exploitation." Angry shouts burst from the crowd. "They spread heinous lies, with the sole intention of destroying my presidency. They have done so because the American people have broken them at the ballot box repeatedly, and they have realized that they will never triumph through democracy!" Any connection between the Olson Administration and Kid Cann's gangster regime was dismissed by the administration as ridiculous lies. Walter Liggett had plenty of enemies in the criminal underworld, it was ludicrous to suggest that Long or Olson would deign to strike against him. Even the leading reactionary senators, men like Arthur Vandenburg, did not go as far as to accuse the administration of murder. They merely spoke of a need to 'investigate alleged corruption' in honor of the 'late Walter Liggett' and allow their right-wing audiences to draw their own conclusions.
"The Supreme Court has repeatedly sided with reaction over progress. They have sided with prejudice over tolerance. They have sided with the elite over the people. We will not tolerate this any longer! I believe that the ideals I was elected to uphold are indeed upheld by all good people. Those on the court, especially the ones most prejudiced and reactionary, cannot be as moral as we believe. If they have committed crimes, if they have broken the law, they will be revealed." Olson privately anticipated the fall of McReynolds, and wondered how Huey Long would accomplish it. Soon, there would be no one who could stand in his way.
"Yet our mission is not merely to break our enemies. We come to make sure that the ideals of our founding fathers are realized. That all people have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Olson had riled up the people, but he knew the speech would be published in the newspapers. He needed some positive words in here. "All people have the right to life. In order to live, one must have adequate healthcare. For too long, good medicine has been treated as merely one more luxury for the wealthy. It is not so! Healthcare is a right, to be enjoyed by all people, regardless of their class or race." Olson considered whether to exclude race from his sentence and focus on class to appeal to the whites, or to put extra emphasis on race to challenge the racists. In the end, he decided to put equal emphasis on both words.
"My Vice President, Fiorello La Guardia, perhaps the most active Vice President in history, has been hard at work coming up with a model for the healthcare system of the United States. He has looked across the world for inspiration, and he has consulted with numerous experts, to create a model for the first universal healthcare system the world will ever see!" This would be his great reveal. True, La Guardia had already revealed it to Congress, but many of the people here would not have read that in the papers yet. Plus, the more the system could be explained, the more its advantages could be simply laid out, the less likely the American people would be to fooled by reactionaries into thinking the proposed healthcare system was evil.
"We will set up a social insurance program, similar to the Social Security system which was created earlier this year. Every American citizen with a job will pay a proportional amount of their income into a National Health Insurance. This system will provide health insurance to all people in America who require it, and will pay for all hospital bills and medicine required by American citizens. Wealthy Americans who wish to buy their own private health insurance may do so if they wish. Per the recent Supreme Court ruling [there were some boos in the audience against the court at this point] we will not be nationalizing the health system. We will however be adding some regulations that healthcare providers will have to follow, in order to make sure that they do not overcharge the National Health Insurance, and to make sure that all people receive adequate care. The Federal government will pay additional money, collected via fairly distributed taxes, to make sure that there are enough healthcare providers and that they are receiving enough funds to operate on a high-quality level. Under this system, everyone, regardless of how old or poor you might be, will be sure to have all of your medical costs paid for."
The audience erupted into applause. Healthcare for everyone? Paid for by taxes, not out of one's pocket? Many of the people cheering had never had any form of healthcare insurance before; a good portion of the audience, disproportionately black, had never even had proper healthcare before.
"I swear to you," continued Olson, "That under my administration, we will always use the government to combat the evils of unemployment, poverty, want, hunger, and untreated sickness. God-willing, we will be able to use government action to end these horrors once and..."
"God-damned Communist murderer!" someone shouted from the audience.
There was a gunshot.
The secret service agents surrounded the President, who was unharmed. Olson was dragged against his will to a side-room as the agents and police figured out what had happened. Waiting impatiently, he wondered who had tried to kill him. Eventually, a group of several policemen, secret service agents, and a well-dressed black man entered the room. They brought two dead bodies with them.
"This fella," said the policeman, pointing to the beaten and bloody remains of what appeared to have once been a white man, "Tried to shoot you. This negro here-" at this point the policeman pointed to the body of a black man, with a gunshot wound "-jumped in front of th' gun and took the bullet. The crowd then beat the white fella to death before we could get to him. They're mad as all Hell that someone tried to kill you sir."
Olson looked over to the well-dressed black man in the room. "Who are you? Why are you in here?"
"My name is Reverend Mich... I mean Reverend Martin Luther King, sir. I am the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. Your guards brought me in here because I knew this man." King pointed at man who gave his life to save Olson's. "His name's Henry Greene. A member of my congregation."
"Did he have a family?" asked Olson.
"A wife and two children, Mr. President."
Olson stared silently down at the man who saved him. "I'll see to it that they never want in anything ever again," he declared. "I am going back out there," he said over the protests of the secret service agents. "I must speak to the people about what has just happened."
The crowd was scared and confused, and cheered when Olson walked back onto the stage. Silencing them, Olson spoke. "Do not cheer for me. Cheer for Henry Greene. He is the hero of this day. He gave his life to save me. He took the bullet that a reactionary madman fired. But he did more than save a man. He proved that right-wing violence will not topple government. He proved that the American people are not scared of guns and will stand up to protect America. But while we may remember his greatness, we must also remember his loss. A good man has died today, an innocent slaughtered by evil. A moment of silence for Mr. Greene." There was a moment of silence. "Whenever you see his children, tell them what a hero their father was. Let his name not be forgotten. And let the reactionaries beware! The American People will not submit. We do not fear their guns and shields. We were the first nation to stand for the Enlightened Liberal ideals of a Democratic Republic and of natural rights for all men. Now, we will be the first nation to provide for the poor, and the sick, and the weak. We will be the first nation which will force the state to grant the people their economic rights as well as political rights, not through violence or revolution, but through the ballot box. We will strike and protest and boycott and force the elites to respect the American people. America will conquer hatred and fear, because Americans like Henry Greene are not scared of doing what is right. We will be the model nation that all others will emulate. We shall be the beacon of progress for the entire world, now and forever!" The crowd burst into cheers. Many began chanting Henry Greene's name.

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Olson giving the speech

~~~~​

"Fifteen thousand, no, twenty thousand a year," said Olson to one of his aides. It was November 1, and the President was back in the Oval Office. "For the wife and both of the children. Adjusted for inflation. And an additional two thousand per year, for each of them, until we can get healthcare up and a fair minimum wage for everyone." The president lit another cigar. He had been smoking a lot recently, stressed by the challenges of the world.
The President stared out of the window as the aides rushed off to do their business. How could he have inspired such reckless hate? Why would people kill to stop him? How could people be driven by greed and bigotry to do such things? Perhaps they were angry due to the measures Olson had used to advance progress. But those were for the greater good. More people would benefit than suffer. Did people expect him to sit back and do nothing as people languished in poverty? He could not bear it. He just wished that he did not have to practically go to war to secure peoples' basic wants.
Olson was interrupted from his thoughts by Vice President La Guardia barging into the room. Before he could ask how the negotiations with Congress over healthcare were going, La Guardia interrupted him. "Floyd, I just got the news, it's happened less than an hour ago, they just found out." La Guardia had been running, and not being in perfect shape, he was out of breath and had to pause to take some deep breaths.
"What happened?" asked Olson, alarmed by his Vice President's actions.
"Justice McReynolds," replied La Guardia. "He's committed suicide. Shot himself through the mouth."

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Justice James Clark McReynolds, 1862-1935​

Power

There was no suicide note left by Justice McReynolds. There was no known cause. Rumors flew around that McReynolds was assassinated by someone, but those rumors were all unconfirmed. FBI director J. Edgard Hoover personally oversaw the investigation himself, which eventually announced that they found no reason to suggest that McReynolds had been murdered, officially ruling the death a suicide. No prominent figures publicly expressed conspiracy theories that the death of McReynolds was murder; Senator Vandenburg among others suggested that he committed suicide due to the personal attacks numerous Progressives had been making against the justice for his rulings.

~~~~​

Huey Long walked into the Oval Office. On the President's orders, the Secret Service Agents inside walked out, walking down the hall to make sure no one was in the area, and then walked down stairs. The Attorney General sat down in a chair, looking over to the window which the President was staring out of.

"So, Floyd," said Long. "How're you doin'?"

"Don't act sociable towards me," responded the President. "You know what I want."

"I'm afraid I don't, sir," responded Long. "I was just told that my boss wanted a private meeting.."

"Did you kill Justice McReyolds?" asked Olson.

"My God!" exclaimed Long. "You think I am a murderous thug who goes out and shoots people?"

Olson finally turned around and stared at his Attorney General, hatred on his face. "Maybe not you personally, but on your orders."

"A president really ought to trust his cabinet," responded Long.

"Enough!" shouted Olson, walking around his desk up to Long. "Did you order the death of Justice McReynolds?"

"I plead the Fifth."

Olson grabbed the Long's shoulders and threw him out of the chair. "STOP DODGING THE GODDAMN QUESTION!!" he screamed, kicking over the small coffee table in the Oval Office on top of Long. "I do not give a damn about the Constitution! You aren't in a trial, your rights do not apply."

Huey Long began to laugh. He stood up, in evident pain but laughing too hard to show it. "No, I didn't order his death. I had the blackmail material, I told him to resign or we'd reveal it to the world. He obviously chose a third option."

Olson did not respond.

Long continued, "Maybe you believe me. Maybe you don't. But it doesn't matter." Long walked up to the President. "Because you know that even if I'd ordered his death, even if I'd walked into his office and shot him myself, it would have been for the best. Because he was standing in the way of progress, because his death will benefit millions of lives, because his death is for the greater good!" Long was jabbing his finger into the President's chest.

"You can't do things like this without telling me!" shouted Olson. He suddenly started coughing and wheezing. When he recovered, he continued, "I can crush you! You think your influence gives your greater strength? I will crush you if you do this again. I am the president of the United States, damn it!"

"You're right," replied Long. He tried setting the chair back up, but one of the legs was broken. "If we clashed, you would destroy me. But what then? You are powerful enough to break me, but not powerful enough to do it quietly. Then before the world this administration will be revealed as corrupt and unable to control itself. You will be humiliated, and the Right will seize power. Everything you worked for will be destroyed. No healthcare will ever get passed."

Olson collapsed into the desk at his chair, silent.

"You can't destroy me," continued Long, "Because in the end, the Greater Good is more important to you than the life of one man. You will not move against me, because you know that I'm right." Long began gathering his stuff, and walked toward the door. "Once you return to reason, call me back, and we can plan our next stage in improving the life of the common man."

Tears were in Olson's eyes as he collapsed into his chair. He was clutching his head, not even seeing the Attorney General. "Oh God," he said. "What have I created?"

"You've created the greatest Administration in the history of this nation," responded Long. "You've improved the lives of tens of millions. You will go down as the man to permanently move American politics to the left. It's too late, there's no going back now."

The most powerful man in America left the room.
 
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An Era Concludes

The President’s Actions in the Winter of 1935-1936

President Floyd Olson quickly nominated New York Senator and former New York Supreme Court Judge Robert F. Wagner to replace McReynolds on the Supreme Court. The most conservative senators staged a filibuster attempt, but despite Michigan Senator Arthur Vandenburg's impressive 19 hour filibuster, eventually enough Republican Senators went along with the nomination and Wagner was confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice. Most Progressives hoped that the much more progressive Supreme Court would not stand in their way. Meanwhile, Conservatives feared that Olson would now be unstoppable.

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Robert F. Wagner​

Already, the leading Republicans were gearing up for 1936. Almost everyone could tell that Hoover had never really stopped running even after his defeat in 1932. With many Republicans knowing that Hoover did better than anyone else, he still had a lot of support from the traditional GOP establishment. However, not every Republican was ready to settle around Hoover yet. Legions of right-wing Republicans angry at the extreme Progressivism had begun to rally around Vandenburg, whose arch-conservative campaign was attracting steam, although it was crippled by many people connecting his proposed policies to the even more extreme economic views of Andrew Mellon. Meanwhile, moderate Republicans, generally calling themselves liberals, were rallying around Kansas Governor Alf Landon. Landon attracted a mixture of Republicans who liked the majority of the Progressive Recovery, black Republicans who were loyal to the party of Lincoln, Grant, and Miller but distrustful for Hoover, and ex-Democrats turned Republican such as Joseph Kennedy.

In addition to the Republicans, independent US Senator William Borah of Idaho began to lay the groundwork for his own Presidential campaign, denouncing the GOP as too right-wing and the Progressives as too left-wing. He received support from centrists, as well as from Republicans thinking he would split the Progressive vote and Progressives thinking he would split the anti-Olson vote. Polls were far from accurate in 1935, but they suggested that Borah would be able to take between 10% and 20% of the electorate if the election were held that week.

The President did not seem to be concerned about reelection. His official main goal at this point was getting the healthcare insurance system created. However, many people had noticed that his main focus since his assassination attempt had been civil rights. He'd spoken before a convention organized by the NAACP, he'd encouraged the US House to pass a Voting Rights Bill (which failed to overcome a filibuster in the US Senate), and he had spoken out nationally about the "National Shame" of Jim Crow. Perhaps in his most dramatic statements were those given to black leaders, such as church officials, in the South, urging them to encourage the people to protest segregation and oppression, even going as far as to encourage boycotts and strikes. The winter of 1935-1936 saw a series of large-scale attempts at civil disobedience in the South, most of which were crushed by the state governments. The unrest contributed to the Commonwealth Party being criticized in many parts of the South as "a tool for Olson" to use to desegregate the races. While Attorney General Long managed to use ISA to crush the Conservatives to prevent them from taking advantage of this unrest, many noted that he seemed to be unhappy by the current state of affairs.

The State of the Union

Vice President Fiorello La Guardia sat in his chair, listening to the President's State of the Union Address. Olson was very emotional tonight; his address was much more like a moving speech than a usual state of the union. The speech was being broadcast over the radios, which would take it to the majority of Americans. They'd distributed radios to all of the areas where AEA workers were living, to have as many people be connected as possible. Olson's words would travel far. Much of the address concerned the issue of Healthcare. La Guardia was proud of his National Health Insurance proposal, and knew that it would improve the lives of many Americans. Glancing over Congress, he thought about how the bill's passage was going.

The far-left, which wanted a complete nationalization of the American Healthcare system, had been brought over easy enough. Olson convinced them that if this attempt at left-wing health reform failed, that no politician would dare touch the issue for a generation. So the Socialists and Radical Progressives announced their support for the bill. That was enough to get it past the House; now the problem was overcoming the 64 Senator barrier for the filibuster. Forty-eight Progressives were already committed to the bill. La Guardia had spent most of his recent time trying to convince the moderates to back the reform as well. Slowly but surely, they were beginning to come over. Hiram Johnson had privately told La Guardia that he expected the bill would eventually get passed, and moderate rhetoric opposing the bill had been toned down significantly in recent months.

However, La Guardia's plans had all relied on the entire Commonwealth Party backing the bill, which was easy in theory because they did whatever Huey Long told them to do. However, the Commonwealthers had launched a nit-picking campaign aimed at delaying the bill from getting to the vote by arguing about minute details for extravagant periods of time. The Vice President wondered if part of this opposition was caused by the President's recent civil rights pushes. Privately, La Guardia thought that those pushes could have waited until after the very important healthcare bill was through. But he respected the President's push for equality. La Guardia was surprised that Huey Long was willing to delay the Progressive agenda as revenge for the unrest in the South. Previously, he had assumed the Attorney General was absolutely loyal to the Administration.

Olson clearly explained the Healthcare Bill in his speech. Across the nation, people would understand what the bill was. The wealthy minority didn't like what they heard, but most Americans were exited and happy as they heard about the Progressive Plan. The President then made an emotional appeal to the audience. La Guardia noted how real the agony in his voice was as he described the suffering of people too poor to afford healthcare. It almost seemed as if Olson was actually in pain. By the time of the closing remarks, Olson had completely lost his calm, condemning the obstruction in the Congress and proclaiming:
Floyd Olson said:
I am making a last appeal to the Legislature. If the Senate does not make provision for the sufferers in the State and the Federal Government refuses to aid, I shall invoke the powers I hold and shall declare martial law. A lot of people who are now fighting healthcare reform because they happen to possess considerable wealth will be brought in by National Guard and be obliged to give up more than they would now. There is not going to be misery in this country if I can humanly prevent it. Unless the Federal government acts to protect the people's basic right to life, I hope the present system of government goes right down to Hell.
There was an uproar across the nation. In Congress, the Republicans and moderate Progressives stood up in outrage, shouting at the President as if he were a madman. Across the country, numerous wealthy people were angry with them. But in the AEA camps by the radios, in the houses of the millions too poor to ever see a doctor, the millions who were loyal to the very end to the man who had saved them from the Depression, cheers broke out. People marched down the streets in impromptu parades, chanting "President Olson! Down with Congress! Healthcare Reform!"

In the capitol, Olson left the room, his speech done. La Guardia was by his side, deeply concerned that those closing remarks might have frightened many moderates away from supporting the bill. He'd noted with satisfaction that a shadow of alarm had crossed even Huey Long's face when Olson spoke. Perhaps the Commonwealth Party would be scared into supporting the bill.

La Guardia was broken out of his thoughts as soon as they were out of sight down a side corridor. Olson nearly collapsed, and the Vice President and a Secret service agent had to support him and get him into a side room to sit down. Olson fell into a chair, a grimace on his face, looking extremely pale. With one hand he clutched his stomach. With the other, he tried to pull out a cigarette, but his hand was shaking too much and he dropped it to the floor before he could light it.

"Are you alright Floyd?" asked La Guardia.

"Yes, just a stomach ache," responded Olson. "It will pass. I will be alright." The president closed his eyes, taking deep breaths. Eventually, some color returned to Olson's face, and after he was brought a glass of water, he stood up. "I have to be alright, I have far too much to do..."

The Deathbed of Floyd Olson

January 7, 1936. Floyd Olson stared at the ceiling. Had his presidency really been so brief? It felt like ages. He remembered when he held all the power in the world, when he was more powerful than anyone in the history of America. And now where was he? Unable to even rise out of bed due to pain. Unable to control the abuses by his own administration. He hoped that the racial issue would break Long. But at this point, Olson was finding it hard to care about anything. Even all of the projects he had wanted to see completed.

So he ended like Woodrow Wilson. Weak, powerless, unable to rise from his bed. How ironic. The President laughed, laughing even as he cried due to the pain, laughing until eventually his laughs turned into horrible coughs, and unable to breathe, he fell silent. The nurses must think he was going mad in his final moments. Perhaps the President was. He didn't care what anyone thought. It was all over now.

~~~~

The Vice President walked in the room to speak to the President. He would be the last public official to communicate with Floyd Olson; only the family would be allowed to talk to him after this. La Guardia had come to count Olson as a good friend. It pained him to see his friend in such agony. He bent down a clutched Olson's hand. The President was so pale.

"Floyd," said La Guardia, his voice shaking. "I swear to you, I will get the Healthcare Bill Passed, whatever it takes. If there's one thing I'll do in office, it will be to sign that bill."

"It's... important," gasped Olson. "But... not most." The president grimaced, clutching his stomach. "Fiorello," he whispered. "You can't... can't allow Long... to be president. Gone too far."

"What?" responded La Guardia softly. "Long's seemed to be a loyal member of the administration..."

"Too far," responded Olson weakly. "Murdered McReynolds, who knows who else. Spies... everywhere. Don't trust Hoover." Olson pulled out a small folded piece of paper from his pocket. "List of people you can trust," he explained. "Trust no one else."

"I'll stop him Floyd," promised La Guardia. "I'll stop him some how, I swear."

~~~~

Chief Justice Nathan Miller entered the lobby, seeing the Vice President sitting in a chair, a grim look on his face. Miller sat next to him. There were no words he could bring himself to say at this time. The Chief Justice had never liked Olson, he'd voted against him in 1932 and had been planning to do so again. But he was still the President, and it was still sad to see him like this.

A doctor walked into the lobby, tearfully informing everyone there (government officials and the press, as only the family was in the room with Olson) that the President had died. There were cries of grief from around the room. But Miller was silent. He pulled out his Bible, and looked at La Guardia.

Coolidge, Mellon, Snell, Olson, and now La Guardia. And his own inauguration too, years ago. I've done this too often thought Miller as he lifted the Bible and watched La Guardia put his hand upon it.

"I, Fiorello Henry La Guardia, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God."

Miller could see the stress in La Guardia's eyes. He knew most people could only imagine what the new President was going through. But Miller understood, as only a former President can. Reaching out and grasping La Guardia's shoulders, the Chief Justice said, "May God be with you Mr. President."

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Floyd Bjørnstjerne Olson, 1891-1936

Reactions

The death of Floyd Olson shocked the nation. He was the first popular president to die in 35 years; Morrow and Coolidge died in the Depression, and Wilson died after his landslide defeat. The series of deaths and resignations of the Republican presidents of the early 30s had created a sense that the country was out of control, that there was no one in command in the midst of Depression. The deaths of Morrow and Coolidge, while both unpopular due to presiding over a bad economy, made a dark chapter of American history darker still.

But from the grim and bloody 20s, from the horrors of the early 30s, from the near-revolution of February 1932, the rumored near-coup of the winter 1932-1933, and the Galahad Massacre in that summer, the national mood had finally shifted. For the first time, things were improving. Even the Dust Bowl failed to shift the national mood. By 1936, nearly every American would say that they were better off than they were four years ago. Now, they were led by a young, attractive president, not some old man nearing death. He was dynamic, and beloved by at least half of the US population. His sudden death shocked the nation. Many businesses were forced to close early as the news spread, as the workers were too bound in grief to continue. Flags were flown at half-mast across America.

~~~~

“Praise God!” Former Senator Ellison “Cotton Ed” Smith of South Carolina, the Constitutional Democratic nominee from 1932, was having a grand time. He’d organized a quick party at his house, calling it “A Constitution Party”. He and his friends were drinking champagne and dancing to music. After a lull in the festivities, a somewhat drunk Cotton Ed stood up to give a brief speech. “Up yonder in heaven, ol’ John C. Calhoun must’ve convinced God to save this great nation and strike down that damned tyrant. His Great Recovery is over 'n done! I’ll reckon in the future, the Olson presidency will be known as ‘The Jackass Age’!” His audience cheered. Smith shouted, “Floyd Olson, may you burn in Hell!”

~~~~

“Some of you might be thinking that Henry Greene died in vain,” Reverent Martin Luther King was speaking in his church, before his congregation. Was it a sermon or a speech? He wasn’t quite sure. “Some might say ‘Floyd Olson was doomed in any case’.” Surveying the desperation and sorrow in the eyes of the crowd, King knew that he had to speak before hopelessness set in. “Well, I’ll say no! Henry made sure that Olson left this earth when God took him, not the bullet of an assassin. Henry showed the world that a colored man can stand up against evil, and be victorious. Floyd Olson has inspired people across America to stand up for their rights. Let all colored men and women who honor his legacy stand up to Jim Crow and say ‘NO MORE!’ We can’t honor Olson by submitting to the Silver Shirt monsters who tried to kill him.” A change was coming over the crowd. They were still in mourning – no white man’s death since Abraham Lincoln himself had affected the black community like Olson’s- but the hopelessness was being replaced by determination. “Now, may we thank the Lord for giving Floyd Olson life, and for letting him help so many Americans. May we thank the Lord for giving us hope in the darkness. And may the Lord bless President La Guardia, and inspire him to stand up for what is right. Amen.” The crowd repeated “Amen”, many with tears still running down their cheeks.

~~~~

As Olson’s funeral train travelled from Washington to Minneapolis, people crowded on the sides of the tracks when it passed by, just to see it. Most people waved American flags and praised Olson. Many held signs supporting healthcare reform. There were a few anti-Olson protestors, but public opinion was so against them that they were forced to leave many locations out of fear.

~~~~

“I deeply disagreed with Floyd Olson’s policies. I believe that his administration was destructive to this country. However, I wanted to see Floyd Olson defeated for reelection, and hoped that he would one day see reason. I feel sorry for his widow and daughter, and pray for them. I wish that Floyd Olson were still alive, and pray that he understands that however much I opposed his administration, I did not bear him any ill will.”
-Senator Arthur Vandenburg

~~~~

Everyone else in Minneapolis was gathered for Floyd Olson’s funeral parade. Everyone else was wearing black for the occasion. She was wearing black, but not for Olson. Tears were running down her face, but not for Olson. Staring at the president’s picture in the newspaper, Marda Liggett whispered, “Floyd Olson, may you burn in Hell.”
 
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Beginning of a New Presidency

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The Healthcare Bill

Fiorello La Guardia was staring at the list of Progressive Senators. Some moderates had switched support when confronted with La Guardia as President instead of Olson. With his huge surge in popular support, especially from the Progressive base (who were acting like Olson was martyred), La Guardia tried to rally the Progressive voters into a frenzy to support the bill. Publicly proclaiming that it was Olson's last request, and that the former President would have died in vain if it was not passed, he got thousands of letters mailed to the offices of moderate Senators by their constituents urging them to pass the bill (and threatening to stay home or even vote Socialist if they didn't). La Guardia even arranged for a massive protest with nearly sixty thousand participants, the largest in the history of Washington DC, to come and march on the anniversary of Cox's Army's massacre. Officially just "The Floyd Olson Memorial March", La Guardia knew that the moderate Progressives would understand that it was an attempt to pressure them into voting for the bill. The President was also helped by the fact that the debate managed to become "National Health Insurance system or nothing" The polarization of the debate killed the moderate proposal of Alf Landon for a NHI that only covered the poor and elderly.

However, the President knew that he could not rely on fear and brute force alone to get the reform passed. La Guardia convinced the House to send a slightly moderated version of the Bill, loosening up some of the regulations that would accompany the National Health Insurance system. He also added some "incentives", such as a massive funding increase for the Colorado Valley Authority to convince moderate Progressive Carl Hayden to back the bill. He was also helped by the sudden increase of support from the Commonwealth Senators, who dropped their nitpicking. La Guardia had heard Long hinting that perhaps it was time to back off of Civil Rights, and knew that this was an attempt to control him. La Guardia had declined to publicly support civil rights publicly so far; he knew he would have to clash with Long eventually, but if he could just hold out for a couple months, it would be enough to get the healthcare bill passed.

Now, only Senator Hiram Johnson of California stood between the United States and Universal Healthcare. He had enough influence to push the last few straggling moderates over the edge if he could be convinced to announce support for and vote for the bill. The Senator walked into La Guardia's office, summoned by the President.

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Hiram Johnson​

After the necessary formalities, La Guardia cut to the chase, "Senator Johnson," he said politely. "The country needs this healthcare reform passed. What would you have me do to get your vote and public support."

Johnson replied, "What would I have you do? Nothing that Olson was not doing already." La Guardia was briefly confused. Was Johnson supporting the radical Olson agenda? However, it became clearer as Johnson continued, "In fact, rather than anything additional, I would have you do even less. The insane Socialist policies of Upton Sinclair are ruining my state, and they are only kept afloat by federal money sent first sent by Olson. Cancel the subsidization of the Sinclair Agenda, and I will back your bill."

La Guardia was surprised. "That would hurt your state's economy, costing countless jobs. You would do that to stop Sinclair?"

"Sinclair is the worst thing to ever happen to California," said Johnson. "I would rather see my state suffer in the short term than be forced to endure the long-term consequences of his extreme leftism. Eventually, the funding will be cut, and I would rather that happen now than later."

La Guardia thought for a minute, and then responded, "I need this healthcare bill passed before the election. But I also cannot afford the Socialists to challenge me from the left while Borah is attacking from the right. We don't want the Republicans to repeat their 1860 victory."

"I will settle for nothing less," replied Johnson.

La Guardia sighed. "Very well," he said. "After the election, then we can cut the funding. In addition, I will publicly endorse the Progressive nominee for governor of California in 1938. Is this acceptable?"

Johnson thought, and then spoke, "Your party is hanging by a thread. Many are already looking at Borah enviously, and wishing he won in '32. The only thing preventing a massive exodus from the Progressive Party is old men like me, too tired to try to switch parties another time, who don't want to see the party we founded conquered by the radicals just yet. Even then, if Olson lived, I would not be surprised to see many younger, more ambitious moderates publicly backing Borah." Johnson paused, and then continued, "I will vote for your Healthcare plan. I will announce my support, and urge all of my fellow Senators to do so as well. In return, this winter, you will stop funding the Sinclair policies. You will oppose him in 1938." The Senator from California stood up to leave the room. "And if you back out of the deal, if you continue the funding, then I will announce my return to the Republican Party, and urge every single moderate Progressive to follow me."

"Understood," replied the President. He watched as Johnson left the room.

By the end of February, the final Senate vote on the Healthcare Bill was held. With 65 votes, every Progressive and Commonwealther in favor, cloture was reached and the vote was held. Shortly thereafter, to much acclaim, President La Guardia signed into law the world's first universal healthcare system.


Domestic and Foreign Affairs

President La Guardia chose to meet with each section of his government alone, to clarify the exact global situation. The first was his Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Commerce and various other officials on the subject of the economy.

"Unemployment is barely at 6%, counting those employed by the AEA as fully employed, and at the current rates of employment, we should be looking at rates at 4% by the end of this year," stated Labor Secretary Max Hayes. The elderly secretary was considering retirement; La Guardia imagined that, assuming he won a second term, Hayes would not stay on.

"And if we do not count those employed by the AEA?" asked La Guardia.

"Nearly 8% of the country is employed by the AEA at the present," replied Hayes. "Down from nearly 19% a year and a half ago. Private industry, and the public sector, have added numerous jobs, at an unprecedented rate. Keynesian economics and inflationary policy are unquestionably successful."

Next spoke Treasury Secretary Alvin Hansen, "The chief concern of many economists is the high rate of inflation. We will probably have to increase the minimum wage in the next session of Congress, it has grown so bad."

"That is concerning," replied President La Guardia. "Is there any reasonable suggestion as to how we can increase the value?" The president idly wondered whether any of the men he was speaking to were under the influence of Huey Long.

"As the economy grows and emergency inflationary tactics can be cut, the rate of inflation will slow dramatically, and might even slightly reverse," responded Hansen. "Under our current theories, an inflated currency will not cause any actual real world harm to the people, especially since the rest of the world has devalued their currencies as well."

After speaking with the economists, La Guardia turned to his foreign policy team.

"The Soviet Union is hesitant, Mr. President, because they do not know you," stated Secretary Bullitt. "They knew Olson, and liked him, but they don't know if you will continue to maintain good relations."

"I admit I dislike the Soviets," responded La Guardia. "Their authoritarianism, their lack of democracy, their atheism... But I dislike the imperialists of Europe nearly as much, and I despise the fascists of Germany and Italy far more."

"The Anti-Communist Alliance is growing in power," replied Bullitt. "Austria has elected a reactionary government allied with the fascists. Poland, Italy, Austria, Hungary, and the others in this new alliance are pouring as much excess funds as they can into Germany, trying to help them rebuild after their civil war."

"How can so many fascist governments next to each other possibly ally?" asked La Guardia. "Do they not fear each other's nationalist goals?"

"To an extent," replied Bullitt. "However, they appear to be uniting against common foes. Germany and Poland set aside their differences; the extremist Germans who did not accept the new alliance were proclaimed collaborators of that insane National Socialist group and were purged. Hungary and Italy have their eyes set on parts of Yugoslavia, and Hungary might add Romania to its list of targets if they fail to ally correctly. The Czech government is under pressure from its surroundings; it may be forced into the ACA as a puppet."

"And their long term goals?" asked the President. "Am I to assume that they eventually plan to move against the USSR?"

"We do not know that for sure," replied Bullitt. "But rumors abound that Germany hopes to restore its economy enough by 1940 to be able to, quote, 'Wage Offensive War'."

For a moment, La Guardia's primary concern was not Huey Long.

"The French and the British," he asked. "Where do they stand?"

"The British government is neutral, probably leaning towards us over the fascists, totally neutral between the fascists and soviets. The Labour Party is undoubtedly pro-America and probably leans pro-Soviet, but the Liberals would break the coalition if neutrality is broken. Samuel announced it publicly; Greenwood won't dare openly side with us. France's government is increasingly reactionary under Laval, but they hate the Germans and refuse to join the Alliance with them."

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Arthur Greenwood, PM of the UK​

"What is the situation in Latin America?" the President asked his Secretary of State.

"Peru, Brazil, and Argentina are inarguably allied with the Alliance. Brazil and Argentina have basically forced Paraguay to become their puppet, and Bolivia will probably be forced to submit next Chile's controlled by a left-wing popular front, after that failed coup by fascists several months ago, and Uruguay is allying with us out of necessity. We could probably make great progress courting the northern South American countries afraid of Brazil and Peru; the Soviets have already done so."

They talked for a little while longer, planning how to best set up an Anti-Fascist Coalition. After he was done speaking to Bullitt, he reviewed the situation in the Philippines, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. These three large territories were going to have referendums, to either remain a territory, become a state, or become an independent country. All three, if they opted to become independent, would have a treaty with the United States for protection: anyone who attacked any of the independent countries would go to war with America. From the reports on the ground and the very unscientific polling, it looked almost certain that the Philippines would vote for independence. Hawaii and Puerto Rico seemed more ambiguous; La Guardia thought that Hawaii would vote to become a state, but he was not sure. Alaska had been considered, but they were so small (in population) that they had been deemed unsuited to become an independent country or a state, and would remain a territory.

President La Guardia sat back, thinking of the troubles of the world. He liked Secretary Bullitt, and hoped that he wasn't secretly loyal to Huey Long.

The Attorney General

"I stand here today defying every expectation. Throughout our nation's history, the wealthy citizens have looked out from their cities, into the dark countryside, and believed they would always rule over us “backwards hicks”. The northerners have always stared down south and mocked the rednecks here. And I was no great exception among the rural masses. I was the son of a farmer. I never graduated high school. I couldn’t afford to attend university. All the rich fools assumed some uneducated hick would never get far. But I studied, and passed the Louisiana State Bar exam, without a college degree. The rich fools assumed that some backwoods lawyer challenging the big oil companies would fail. But I took the oilmongers to the Supreme Court, and won. When I lost the 1924 gubernatorial election, the rich fools assumed my career was done for. But I came back in ’28, and won. And when the rich fools tried to impeach me, I broke them.

The wealthy have always ruled over the poor. They have given us no voice, and enriched themselves at our detriment. And until the Depression began, we were too bound in our prejudices, white and black in the South, native and immigrant in the North, to unite against the wealthy. But then the Depression came.

In the Depression, we saw Republican Presidents Morrow, Coolidge, and Mellon allow the economy to collapse. We saw President Mellon allow the US Army to massacre peaceful protestors. We saw President Coolidge deport millions of American citizens to Mexico. And we saw Republican nominee Herbert Hoover lose the election, when the American people rejected the Republicans and turned to the Progressives instead. Amid our misery the working folk of America awoke. In the factories of the Northeast, in the fields of the South, in the mines of the West, we rose! Black or white or Indian, immigrant or native, we rose! Finally, the American people saw that whether the policy was Republican or Democratic, it wa still the policy of Wall Street. Finally, the American people rallied around a third option. Floyd Olson showed us that the government could work for the American people. Floyd Olson showed us that real progress could be made. Olson fought against the rich, and they saw that, for once, the government was not on their side. We accomplished change, the sort of change radicals overseas talk about, without needing to revolt or stage a coup. We showed the world that progress could be made via Democratic action.

We stand upon the edge of ruin. In Europe, democracies are falling to fascism, communism, and anarchy. Will America join them? Will we forsake freedom? No! We will keep voting for change. We will never again bow down to Wall Street. We will never again allow a small minority to rule our economy. “Every Man a King!” I say! If those rich fools try to roll back the Great Recovery, we will break them.

I swear to you, I will bring justice for the working man, by any means necessary. I will not allow any man or law or Constitution to stand in the way of the true law of the land, the people’s will."

-Speech by Attorney General Huey Long, March 30, 1936

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The Political Struggle

Secretary of Labor Max Hayes was 70 years old. Hayes and his progressive newspapers back in Ohio had fought for the labor movement for decades now. Having been the vice presidential nominee of the Farmer-Labor Party in 1920, and having remained a major figure among the anti-Communist factions of that party, he was considered one of the founding fathers of the modern Progressive Party. His role as Secretary of Labor was transformative, as he oversaw the rise of labor unions across the United States, with now almost 30% of American workers being involved in union activity, and that number was rising. President La Guardia thought that the successful Secretary needed a rest.

"Secretary Hayes," said the President, "I've heard that you intend to retire later this year."

"That's right Mr. President," responded Hayes. "I'm old and tired, and ready to see someone from the next generation."

"When were you planning on retiring?" asked La Guardia.

"I was planning to do so after the election," replied Hayes. "I didn't think you would want to have to name a replacement..."

"Oh no," replied La Guardia. "Feel free to retire as soon as you want. Naming a new replacement could actually help me in November. How about a retirement by the end of June?"

Hayes agreed, and then left the room, wondering exactly what the President was planning.

Shortly thereafter, the Attorney General entered the room.

"Mr. President!" he exclaimed, in an obviously false deference. "What need have you for me today?" La Guardia did not respond; he had not invited Long here. "Could it be that the Socialists are troubling you, for your refusal to speak in favor of Governor Upton Sinclair? Could it be that the moderates are abandoning you, because they do not fear you like they feared Olson? Could it be that you regret encouraging those dangerous agitators down in the South, whose greed for too much racial progress, too fast, risks destroying everything?"

"What do you want?" asked La Guardia.

"I want every man to be a King," replied Long. "I want peace on earth and goodwill toward mankind. And what I think would help with these efforts, would be telling the Negroes down here to calm down. Ever since Olson died, they;ve been acting like he was martyred for their cause or something, and there's been protests and riots and all sorts of other trouble."

"Interesting that news of this is not widespread outside of the South."

"Well," responded 'the Kingfish', "If I didn't stop news from getting out, it would spread anti-Negro sentiment throughout the country."

"Or sympathy for their movement."

"You want to take a gamble, I want to play it safe."

"That's not what your recent speeches sound like," replied the President.

"I need something to run on in November," answered Long.

La Guardia laughed. "You think you can take the nomination away from me? I'm the sitting President who reformed healthcare. I'm the one in charge of protecting Olson's legacy. The Progressives will never nominate you over me."

"Don't be so sure," replied the Attorney General. "I've... secured the loyalty of more Nationwide Progressives than you would think. The 'Progressive' delegations from the South work for my party, you know that. Many in the west are a bit distrustful of a person of your heritage, and afraid that you could lose votes to Borah in their region." Long studied La Guardia's face; the President was still passive. "And they know that the Socialists are restless; they can see that you're acting cool towards Sinclair, and they can guess the deal I know you made with Johnson. A three way split between Borah, the Socialists, and you? The Republicans will win. I can stop the Socialist split, and weaken Borah in ways no Italian can."

Voice dripping with hatred, La Guardia replied, "You will never be President of the United States. I'll throw the election to the Republicans if I have to stop you. Olson knew about your schemes, he told me to stop you."

Long smiled. "I have no doubt he did. But I have no doubt that you, like him, care too much about the poor to hurt them by allowing a reactionary victory. It doesn't matter; if I lose this year, I'll come back and win in 1940. I'm young, I still have time for enough terms to accomplish the people's will." Long began walking out of the room, then turned back. "To show you how confident I am of my nomination victory, I've ordered the Commonwealth Party to publicly declare that they will nominate the Progressive nominee, whoever he is. They will not nominate you."

After Long left, La Guardia stared at the door for a minute. Then he pulled out a small, folded up piece of paper. Reading the names written there by Floyd Olson, he picked up his phone and dialed a call.

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La Guardia needed to overcome the greatest challenge of his political career yet.​
 
The President, the Kingfish, A First Lady, and an old man

An old man was staring into the fire. 65 years old, and things kept getting worse. He remembered 1932, back when he lived in Los Angeles. When his son James was alive, at 15 years of age. He remembered James, such a bright spot on his life. Then Mellon crashed the economy and MacArthur crushed Cox's army, and suddenly there were riots and strikes across the nation and huge Communist activity. The old man gave a great sigh as he remembered his son getting caught in one of the riots, and murdered by Communists due to the success of his family. And Floyd Olson and Parley Christensen and Fiorello La Guardia and all those other Progressives and Socialists sympathized with the Communists, and condemned the police fighting the rioters, and condemned MacArthur for crushing the radicals trying to overthrow the government. And people wondered why more than 400,000 people voted for the Christian Party and William Pelley for President that year.

His wife Frances had never recovered from her son's death. The poor woman was heartbroken. She got sick and died two years later, within months of the old man's sister. Then the old man's brother died the next year, and he was left alone in the world, no nephews or nieces or children. How depressing and lonely the last few months had been! The old man sighed and poured himself some liquor. Thank God Prohibition was over; he'd never drank before 1934, but now...

La Guardia in command

"And I am pleased to announce Senator Burton K. Wheeler as my appointee for Vice President!" said La Guardia, to the applause of the assembled Senators and reporters. Wheeler was a sound choice. He would undoubtedly get through the Senate, having served there for fourteen years. He was a westerner from a rural state, which would counteract the immigrant from a big city with a foreign-sounding name who was President. He was fairly moderate, but had joined the Non-Partisan League in endorsing the Radicals before the 1932 Convention, ensuring loyalty for the radicals. He was an isolationist, to counter the interventionist leanings of the President. Overall, La Guardia thought Wheeler to be the strongest possible VP to try to hold down Borah's percentages.

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Vice President Wheeler​

After the applause and mandatory meetings with important people, La Guardia finally returned to the Oval Office, to review some notes and to write some important letters. To his surprise, waiting there for him was Ada Krejci Olson, the widow of the recent president.

"The Secret Service let me in," she said. "They trusted me, knowing that I lived here for the past several years." She had a sad look on her face.

"Hello Ada," said La Guardia, softly. "Do you need something?"

"Floyd... gave me this package when he was... getting sick," she tearfully replied. "It had a letter, it said to wait a few months, and I did... He wanted me to ask you a question."

"Yes?" responded La Guardia.

"Do you think you will get renominated? Over Mr. Long."

"Well, yes I do, I hope to be..." responded the President.

"But are you sure?" the former First Lady asked concernedly. "Are you sure beyond any doubt that Long will not be President? Answer honestly; don't you dare lie."

"I can't say that," said the President. "It is not yet certain..."

Ada nodded. She then stood up. "I must go," she said. "Thank you, Mr. President." She hurriedly walked out of the room. As La Guardia wondered what Olson could have been planning, his informant walked into the room and placed a folder on the desk. La Guardia quickly opened it, hoping he could call Ada Olson back in and tell her he was certain. To his disappointment, the contents of the folder were not that substantial. But they gave him something to work with. Thanking the informant, La Guardia picked up the telephone and began dialing in a number. If everything worked all right, he just might be able to stop Long for good.

The Southern Problem

The Attorney General was in a meeting with numerous Commonwealth Governors. "Now y'all listen here," said the Kingfish, his Southern accent on, "I intend to run for President this coming election, and I can't be having Negro troubles interferin' with my national image."

"It ain’t our fault," replied Georgian governor Eugene Talmadge. "Them Niggers are gettin' mighty uppity, and if we don' put them in their place soon, they'll tear the Hell up and start a..."

"I don' give a damn what the Negros are doin' down here!" shouted Long. "Anyone who dares to challenge the Commonwealth Party on matters of race will get destroyed by the Internal Security Act. And as for the uppitiness, after the election, y'all can feel free to crush the 'Colored Rights' movement with all due force. But I need peace until then." Long looked around the room, at skeptical faces. "I saved y'all's careers," he declared. "Most of y'all were in the White Leagues, and before that, the Ku Klux Klan! Y'all could have been lynched after Galahad if I didn' cover it all up. You owe it to me to take some short-term popularity hits. And when I am elected President, I'll make it up to you and your states. Trust me."

The governors nodded, and relented. They agreed to let the Negroes have their demonstrations as long as it took to get Long elected POTUS. And then, there would be Hell to pay...

A First Lady

Ada Olson nervously walked to the post office. Everyone respectfully nodded at her. The workers there all blessed her late husband when they saw her. Smiling sadly, she put the envelope without a return address into the box, and then walked back to her car.

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Ada Olson

In the old man's house

The old man walked down to his mailbox, as he did every day. He so rarely received mail, but he needed to get out of his house and get at least a little bit of exercise. He hated this house, his brother had bought it for him after his wife Frances died, feeling that he needed to be closer to the last of his family. Closer for less than a year. The old man was pleasantly surprised to find a very large and thick letter in the mailbox, without a return address stating who it was from. But he did not care. Returning to his house, he sat down and opened the letter. There were several sheets of paper in there, including some photographs. The paper on top was a letter, so the old man decided to read it first.

After the introductions, revealing that it was written by former President Floyd Olson of all people, it read

Floyd Olson said:
I hoped that the contents of this letter would never be released to the public, because if they are, my legacy will be forever tarnished. However, if you have received it, then things have gone too far. You are one of the few who deserve to make the decision of whether or not to release the enclosed evidence.

The old man continued reading. As he read, he grew angrier and angrier, until eventually he threw down the letter, cursing the world. Tears rolled down his face, for the first time since his wife's death two years before. He screamed in fury, crumpling the letter up and throwing it to the ground.

After the old man calmed down, he looked in the envelope at the pictures and documents, finding that they proved the allegations of the letter. He was still angry, consumed by hatred, but now his hate had become a calming emotion. He would have to think, yes, about what to do. He bent down and picked up the battered letter. "Release the enclosed evidence,” it read. But should he release the evidence? Floyd Olson had given him truth; he did not deserve to be the one punished now. The old man threw the letter and the pictures and documents and envelope into the fire, watching the flames consume them.

The Meeting at the Theater

A new theater was being built in Washington D.C., as a project for the American Employment Agency. On July 7th, in one of the small offices in the back of the theater, President La Guardia and Attorney General Long met. An obscure and out-of-the-way location should prevent anyone from spying on them. The Secret Service agents and Long's two bodyguards waited outside. They engaged in false pleasantries for a minute.

Then Long began, "I was surprised by what occurred in New York. Such a masterstroke. Getting Hayes to resign, appointin' Joseph O'Leary as Secretary of Labor. Without O'Leary, there is no strong candidate for the Progressive nomination for Senator to finish Wagner's term. Norman Thomas should win the nomination, and via ballot fusion, the general election. The Socialists will be ecstatic; you've won them over to you despite Sinclair's doubts."

"Indeed," replied the President. "In fact, you'll find that there are numerous other ways in which I have taken a stronger position than the last time we met in private."

"Stronger does not mean strong," stated the Attorney General.

"That is true," responded La Guardia. He suddenly smiled. "So, Huey, may I asked why you thought it a good idea to have an affair with the wife of the head of the IRS?"

Long did not respond, save by the look of surprise on his face.

"Whatever loyalties Commissioner Helvering had beforehand," continue La Guardia, "when I presented him the evidence of the affair that my associates had collected, he quite readily joined my camp once your deeds were exposed."

"It doesn't matter," replied Long angrily. "I don't need the head of the IRS loyal to me."

Ah," said La Guardia. "But when he is disloyal to you, he may neglect to disclose certain events. Namely, that as we speak, a raid by the IRS on Minnesota gangster Kid Cann for not paying his income taxes is underway. Were you aware?" Long's face betrayed his knowledge (or lack thereof). "I didn't think so. How convenient, the Internal Security Act, in accelerating the ability to get search warrants of Cann's house Just imagine what they could find there, or learn from him about topics such as Walter Liggett, for example..."

"So you can find some blackmail on me," retorted the Attorney General. "So what? I have blackmail on half of Washington, I can destroy your administration as sure as I can..."

"But I don't think you will," replied the President. "Because in truth, I think you, just like myself, and just like Olson, hate the idea of seeing all of the progress of the last three and a half years turned back. Furthermore, with this blackmail, I can fire you, but as long as I retain the evidence, you will still have something to lose."

"And so does half of your administration, and the Progressive leadership in Congress, and..."

"You release anything, on any prominent Progressive, to try and destroy me, I'll release what I have to destroy you. Mutual destruction, as it were. Or, we can both pretend that we have nothing on each other, and neither of use will use blackmail. You can still politically oppose me in Congress, and you can run against me. But no dirty tricks."

Huey Long stood up, angrily. "This meeting is done."

"Tell the Progressive leaders you've been threatening that they can vote in the Convention as they will," called out La Guardia as Long stormed out of the room. The president smugly lit a cigar as Long left.

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The President Victorious​

The Attorney General was furious as he walked down the steps, flanked by his two bodyguards. But he wasn't desperate. So Long had neutralized his blackmail. He could probably win the convention without needing to intimidate anyone. And he could still run for president and split the vote. Landon or Hoover or Vandenburg could still become President and do a horrible job. Come 1937 or 1941, Huey Long would be president of the United States. His plan was far from ruined.

The Kingfish and his men had walked outside of the theater by now. Scanning the sidewalk and road, Long noticed several couples on walks, some children playing across the street, and an old man feeding pigeons bread crumbs out of a brown paper bag. But his driver must have left.
"Call a driver here!" Long ordered one of his bodyguards, who quickly walked over to a nearby payphone. Yes, yes, Long thought, everything can still go according to plan.

Except then the plan went very wrong.

There was a flurry of motion. The old man feeding pigeons stood up suddenly, lifting up his arm, brown paper bag still covering his right hand. The bodyguard next to Long sudden moved, throwing himself in front of the Attorney General. There was a gunshot, and pigeons were flying everywhere, and the bodyguard was on the ground, and people were screaming. Long turned to flee, but there were several more gunshots, and his back and his knee were in agony, and he screamed and collapsed to the ground.

"What the Hell?" gasped Long, lying in a pool of his blood and that of one of his bodyguards. The other bodyguard, gun still smoking ran over to the Attorney General.

"Hold still sir," he said, putting pressure on Long's wounds. "You've been shot."

Long was in pain, he was feeling faint. "Who, why?"

"That old man," answered the bodyguard. "I shot and killed him, you're safe now, they'll get you an ambulance, don't worry."

"The Hell he'd have to go and do that for?" asked the Attorney General. Shortly thereafter, he collapsed, unconscious due to blood loss. An ambulance arrived soon, as did the police. They took away the critically injured Huey Long to bring him to the hospital to try to save his life. They also removed the dead bodies of the slain bodyguard, as well as the shooter, Robert P. McReynolds

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Huey Long and his bodyguards, before the shooting​
 
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