Flipped Election: World Leaders
As always, this was done durirng my downtime from other stuff so some things may be wrong but i can say i have flipped as many *world leader* elections as i think i am able to.
What did happen to Germany?
Alternate Wikipedia Infoboxes VII (Do Not Post Current Politics or Political Figures Here)
- Thread starter BigVic
- Start date
What did happen to Germany?
Stretch
Donor
84's result is just the epitome of the flaws in the American election system. A full state sweep with only 63% on the PV!
One small step for the patriots, one giant leap to reelection
I'm actually making working on that rn, expect to see some more stuff later
PART 1
.....Sukarno (1945)
The 1960s was a time of great material development for the oppressed peoples of the world. Once languishing under the chains of capitalist-imperialism, the awakening of the Soviet Union and China in the late-1950s opened the hearts and minds of those toiling masses, and with a single voice they shattered empires. Perhaps the world power most impacted by this great awakening was the British Empire; the largest and one of the most barbaric in history, the Empire had attempted to transition into a looser confederacy by the 1960s - a so-called 'Commonwealth of Nations'. Ostensibly a 'free association of states' tied by history and culture to London, the Commonwealth was in reality a newer, more perfidious tool of imperialism which meant to keep nations enslaved and socialism at bay. Whilst some former colonies - dominated by their reactionary feudal classes - were amenable to this new structure, many more were awakening to the dream of communism and a free, democratic world. Amidst this rising sea of revolutionary change, the British ruling classes found themselves mired in their most morally devastating conflicts since WW2.
Much like the other leading imperial states after 1945, the political power of the United Kingdom (as it was then known) had been swiftly monopolized by the capitalist and landowning classes. Like the United States, political power was divided between 'leading parties' which acted as representatives for the bourgeoisie; the Conservative Party¹, the Labour Party², and the Liberal Party³. Unlike the United States, however, the Communist Party of Great Britain had garnered such a wide following amongst the proletariat that the British secret police were unable to crush it as mercilessly as their American counterparts in the 1950s. As such - despite the strength of it's capitalist and reactionary rulers - Britain was well primed for the latter revolution which brought the island peace and democracy. The movement towards that momentous occasion would have to wait many decades. All it needed now was a nudge in that direction.
This 'nudge' might have come with the 1964 British elections. Despite the outbreak of several anticolonial liberation struggles and the loss of major colonies in the early-1960s, the incumbent Conservative Party was riding high on the prosperity and wealth it brought to its upper classes. By utilizing the Commonwealth of Nations as an economic mechanism to maintain private control of former-colonies industries, the British ruling classes had managed to enrich themselves with ill-gotten gains whilst buying-off the purported leaders of the labour movement (the so-called 'labour aristocrats'). Their position was so dominant that even after the brutal catastrophes of the Korean War and Malayan Emergency⁴, they retained a major plurality of the popular vote in the show elections of 1955, 1959, and 1964. The latter vote has been of particular interest to historians, as those experts in British politics during the late-capitalist era postulate that a Labour Government in that year (as degenerative as it might have been) could have prevented the escalation of its imperialist wars in the late-60s. Others claim that the sheer grip of the bourgeoisie over the United Kingdom would have led to those bloodlettings regardless of Labour's potential 'victory'. Whatever the case may have been, it's clear that in late-1964, the British were forced into voting for one of the chief representatives of the landed gentry; Lord Alec Douglas-Home.
Whilst the Conservative Party held onto control of the state apparatus since 1951, mass opposition (excluding the CPGB) did not exist prior to 1964. Indeed, whilst there had been a plethora of minor anti-war, anti-imperialist, and pro-democracy actions during the Korean and Malay Wars, these movements were dwarfed into insignificance by those of the 1960s. The first block towards the building of the mass anti-capitalist movement came in 1962 when (after the Nixon Regime authorized armed intervention in Vietnam), the CPGB, the working-class, and its allies amongst the intelligentsia formed 'Young Britons for Democracy'. An anti-colonialist, anti-war organization, YBD organized some of the earliest actions against American aggression in Indochina, with boycotts, sit-ins, and public protests rocking the two leading capitalist states. The ruling classes launched many an assault on this group during these early years - imprisoning many leaders and lay members - but were unable to crush the growing tide of democracy in their country. YBD grew further over the following years alongside the British Communists, and would experience an early halcyon era after the United Kingdom launched its own East Asian war.
Indonesia was one of the emerging world powers in the early-1960s. Liberated from the Dutch Empire by the historic leadership of Sukarno and his communist allies, the Southeast Asian state would grow to new, lofty heights by the end of the 1950s, and it was during this period the country entered the lower stages of socialist development. After an American-backed insurgency attempt in 1958-61, President Sukarno opted to dissolve the remaining reactionary parties (Masyumi and Socialist Parties) and formed a coalition between his anti-capitalist National Party and the progressive Communist Party (the largest in Indonesia). Difficulties arose in 1960-62 when the United Kingdom sought to revive its imperial outpost in the region by unifying the Malay colonies under its Commonwealth banner. Despite the valiant efforts of local democratic forces in opposing the merger, the British were successful in violently crushing all opposition to their colonial goals, and by 1963 were closing in on their goal. Indonesia attempted to mediate a cessation on merger talks, but diplomacy broke down when the capitalist powers conspired to have the UN recognize the fully-federated colonial state. In response, several progressive armies rose-up against the continuation of British control.
The Borneo War⁵ erupted in earnest in early-1963, and over the following two years remained a minor sideshow to the growing horrors of the Second Indochina War. Despite Indonesia (with Chinese and Soviet support) attempting to formulate a neutral peace during this period, the Commonwealth states remained steadfast in their refusal to negotiate. Indeed, rather than mediate with one of the few legitimate democracies in the region, the British and American secret services plotted with reactionary elements in the Indonesian Military to overthrow the people's government of Sukarno. This loose congregation of schemers would come together in mid-1965 as the 'Generals' Council', and with substantial CIA and MI6 backing planned to seize the capital and massacre all those that belonged to the National and Communist Parties. What these plotters didn't count on was their conspiracy being discovered; and on October 1st, a group of patriot officers in the Army and Air Force launched a revolutionary counter-coup alongside the proletariat.
Together with the Communist Party, Sukarno's loyal soldiers foiled the existential plot to erase Indonesia's independence. With the smoke cleared and the progressive elements of the country victorious over those of the capitalist reaction, the Communists were raised to high office by will of Sukarno and the people. The President of Indonesia vowed not to forget this treacherous betrayal of trust, and after 1965 the Borneo War took on a far more hostile character. Dipa Aidit (General Secretary of the PKI) would be tasked will assembling a vast volunteer force to support the ongoing struggle against colonialist Malaysia, and in early-1966 the 'Peoples' Volunteer Army' (PVA) would enter the conflict directly against the Commonwealth forces. In response, the British Government would reintroduce the 'National Service' the same year; contributing to the rising disenchantment with the capitalist status quo.
Over the next three years, the low-level violence in North Kalimantan⁶ erupted into an orgy of violence, largely perpetrated by the imperialist forces in Borneo. Marching alongside their brothers in the PLFNK and PRB, the PVA would strike fear into the hearts of the colonialists and place the pro-British armies on the back foot. Alongside the War in South Arabia and the Second Indochina War, the Borneo War would cause support for the anti-war movement to balloon in the imperial core of Europe, with organizations like YBD reaching 268,000 members by 1969 (the CPGB would have 50,000 members by 1968). Sukarno's policy of 'living dangerous' and 'direct confrontation' would cause imperialist casualties to rise higher by the day, and despite the ruling classes' acceptance of these deaths (as payment for greater wealth), the working-class of Britain was unwilling to bear the burden of their masters' war.
This stream of opposition (already suppressed by the secret police) would be met with overwhelming violence in the aftermath of the NATO Invasion of France in June 1968. It was clear however that the anti-war movement could not be suppressed by force of arms, and the brutalizing 'civil war' in the United Kingdom could continue until the rise of the pro-peace Labour Premier, Harold Wilson. Despite his credentials as a spokesperson for the moderate anti-war workers, Wilson should not be mistaken for a true representative of the proletariat; nevertheless, his party would be the ones to finally bring the Bornean bloodletting to an end. After an internal review into the state of the conflict, a temporary armistice was reached in early-1970, with Sukarno and Dipa Aidit agreeing to the formation of a UN-administered ceasefire line. However, after the Commonwealth forces of Britain, Australia, and New Zealand retreated, violence against the PLFNK and PRB began in earnest, and in June 1970 a final offensive was launched to prevent the further breakdown of order on Borneo.
By July 1970, the imperialist adventure in North Kalimantan had been thwarted. After several years of struggle, the people's organizations in Sarawak, Brunei, and Sabah came to power at the behest of their beleaguered citizens, and shortly-thereafter they voluntarily united with their southern neighbor. With the last vestiges of old imperialism swept from Southeast Asia, the Indonesian Government felt safe to proclaim a new, socialist constitution in 1971, before Sukarno finally fell to the ages the following year. In the aftermath, Indonesia began to construct a true, democratic, socialist government fit for the modern world; and to this day they celebrate their final liberation from colonial oppression.
–––––
¹ The foremost state party of post-war Britain; was dominated by a clique of reactionary generals, landowners, and industrialists
² Described as a 'false workers front', the Labour Party in the mid-20th century was a bourgeois-led organization which rallied workers to capitalist policies; it's program paled in comparison to its later revolutionary works
³ The Liberal Party existed for most of its post-WW1 history as an organization led by the petite bourgeoisie who opposed the liberal democracy of Labour and the reactionary, imperialist policies of the Conservatives
⁴ Known in common parlance as the 'Anti-Imperialist War in Korea' and the 'First Malayan People's War'
⁵ Known also as the 'Konfrontasi' or 'Anti-Imperialist Struggle in North Kalimantan'
⁶ 'North Kalimantan' being the designation for the colonies of Brunei, Sarawak, and Sabah
THE RED PLENTY
A SOVIET COLD WAR VICTORY
PART 2:
EAST OF SUEZ (1/2)
"Spank the Yank and hit the Brit!"A SOVIET COLD WAR VICTORY
PART 2:
EAST OF SUEZ (1/2)
.....Sukarno (1945)
The 1960s was a time of great material development for the oppressed peoples of the world. Once languishing under the chains of capitalist-imperialism, the awakening of the Soviet Union and China in the late-1950s opened the hearts and minds of those toiling masses, and with a single voice they shattered empires. Perhaps the world power most impacted by this great awakening was the British Empire; the largest and one of the most barbaric in history, the Empire had attempted to transition into a looser confederacy by the 1960s - a so-called 'Commonwealth of Nations'. Ostensibly a 'free association of states' tied by history and culture to London, the Commonwealth was in reality a newer, more perfidious tool of imperialism which meant to keep nations enslaved and socialism at bay. Whilst some former colonies - dominated by their reactionary feudal classes - were amenable to this new structure, many more were awakening to the dream of communism and a free, democratic world. Amidst this rising sea of revolutionary change, the British ruling classes found themselves mired in their most morally devastating conflicts since WW2.
Much like the other leading imperial states after 1945, the political power of the United Kingdom (as it was then known) had been swiftly monopolized by the capitalist and landowning classes. Like the United States, political power was divided between 'leading parties' which acted as representatives for the bourgeoisie; the Conservative Party¹, the Labour Party², and the Liberal Party³. Unlike the United States, however, the Communist Party of Great Britain had garnered such a wide following amongst the proletariat that the British secret police were unable to crush it as mercilessly as their American counterparts in the 1950s. As such - despite the strength of it's capitalist and reactionary rulers - Britain was well primed for the latter revolution which brought the island peace and democracy. The movement towards that momentous occasion would have to wait many decades. All it needed now was a nudge in that direction.
This 'nudge' might have come with the 1964 British elections. Despite the outbreak of several anticolonial liberation struggles and the loss of major colonies in the early-1960s, the incumbent Conservative Party was riding high on the prosperity and wealth it brought to its upper classes. By utilizing the Commonwealth of Nations as an economic mechanism to maintain private control of former-colonies industries, the British ruling classes had managed to enrich themselves with ill-gotten gains whilst buying-off the purported leaders of the labour movement (the so-called 'labour aristocrats'). Their position was so dominant that even after the brutal catastrophes of the Korean War and Malayan Emergency⁴, they retained a major plurality of the popular vote in the show elections of 1955, 1959, and 1964. The latter vote has been of particular interest to historians, as those experts in British politics during the late-capitalist era postulate that a Labour Government in that year (as degenerative as it might have been) could have prevented the escalation of its imperialist wars in the late-60s. Others claim that the sheer grip of the bourgeoisie over the United Kingdom would have led to those bloodlettings regardless of Labour's potential 'victory'. Whatever the case may have been, it's clear that in late-1964, the British were forced into voting for one of the chief representatives of the landed gentry; Lord Alec Douglas-Home.
Whilst the Conservative Party held onto control of the state apparatus since 1951, mass opposition (excluding the CPGB) did not exist prior to 1964. Indeed, whilst there had been a plethora of minor anti-war, anti-imperialist, and pro-democracy actions during the Korean and Malay Wars, these movements were dwarfed into insignificance by those of the 1960s. The first block towards the building of the mass anti-capitalist movement came in 1962 when (after the Nixon Regime authorized armed intervention in Vietnam), the CPGB, the working-class, and its allies amongst the intelligentsia formed 'Young Britons for Democracy'. An anti-colonialist, anti-war organization, YBD organized some of the earliest actions against American aggression in Indochina, with boycotts, sit-ins, and public protests rocking the two leading capitalist states. The ruling classes launched many an assault on this group during these early years - imprisoning many leaders and lay members - but were unable to crush the growing tide of democracy in their country. YBD grew further over the following years alongside the British Communists, and would experience an early halcyon era after the United Kingdom launched its own East Asian war.
Indonesia was one of the emerging world powers in the early-1960s. Liberated from the Dutch Empire by the historic leadership of Sukarno and his communist allies, the Southeast Asian state would grow to new, lofty heights by the end of the 1950s, and it was during this period the country entered the lower stages of socialist development. After an American-backed insurgency attempt in 1958-61, President Sukarno opted to dissolve the remaining reactionary parties (Masyumi and Socialist Parties) and formed a coalition between his anti-capitalist National Party and the progressive Communist Party (the largest in Indonesia). Difficulties arose in 1960-62 when the United Kingdom sought to revive its imperial outpost in the region by unifying the Malay colonies under its Commonwealth banner. Despite the valiant efforts of local democratic forces in opposing the merger, the British were successful in violently crushing all opposition to their colonial goals, and by 1963 were closing in on their goal. Indonesia attempted to mediate a cessation on merger talks, but diplomacy broke down when the capitalist powers conspired to have the UN recognize the fully-federated colonial state. In response, several progressive armies rose-up against the continuation of British control.
The Borneo War⁵ erupted in earnest in early-1963, and over the following two years remained a minor sideshow to the growing horrors of the Second Indochina War. Despite Indonesia (with Chinese and Soviet support) attempting to formulate a neutral peace during this period, the Commonwealth states remained steadfast in their refusal to negotiate. Indeed, rather than mediate with one of the few legitimate democracies in the region, the British and American secret services plotted with reactionary elements in the Indonesian Military to overthrow the people's government of Sukarno. This loose congregation of schemers would come together in mid-1965 as the 'Generals' Council', and with substantial CIA and MI6 backing planned to seize the capital and massacre all those that belonged to the National and Communist Parties. What these plotters didn't count on was their conspiracy being discovered; and on October 1st, a group of patriot officers in the Army and Air Force launched a revolutionary counter-coup alongside the proletariat.
Together with the Communist Party, Sukarno's loyal soldiers foiled the existential plot to erase Indonesia's independence. With the smoke cleared and the progressive elements of the country victorious over those of the capitalist reaction, the Communists were raised to high office by will of Sukarno and the people. The President of Indonesia vowed not to forget this treacherous betrayal of trust, and after 1965 the Borneo War took on a far more hostile character. Dipa Aidit (General Secretary of the PKI) would be tasked will assembling a vast volunteer force to support the ongoing struggle against colonialist Malaysia, and in early-1966 the 'Peoples' Volunteer Army' (PVA) would enter the conflict directly against the Commonwealth forces. In response, the British Government would reintroduce the 'National Service' the same year; contributing to the rising disenchantment with the capitalist status quo.
Over the next three years, the low-level violence in North Kalimantan⁶ erupted into an orgy of violence, largely perpetrated by the imperialist forces in Borneo. Marching alongside their brothers in the PLFNK and PRB, the PVA would strike fear into the hearts of the colonialists and place the pro-British armies on the back foot. Alongside the War in South Arabia and the Second Indochina War, the Borneo War would cause support for the anti-war movement to balloon in the imperial core of Europe, with organizations like YBD reaching 268,000 members by 1969 (the CPGB would have 50,000 members by 1968). Sukarno's policy of 'living dangerous' and 'direct confrontation' would cause imperialist casualties to rise higher by the day, and despite the ruling classes' acceptance of these deaths (as payment for greater wealth), the working-class of Britain was unwilling to bear the burden of their masters' war.
This stream of opposition (already suppressed by the secret police) would be met with overwhelming violence in the aftermath of the NATO Invasion of France in June 1968. It was clear however that the anti-war movement could not be suppressed by force of arms, and the brutalizing 'civil war' in the United Kingdom could continue until the rise of the pro-peace Labour Premier, Harold Wilson. Despite his credentials as a spokesperson for the moderate anti-war workers, Wilson should not be mistaken for a true representative of the proletariat; nevertheless, his party would be the ones to finally bring the Bornean bloodletting to an end. After an internal review into the state of the conflict, a temporary armistice was reached in early-1970, with Sukarno and Dipa Aidit agreeing to the formation of a UN-administered ceasefire line. However, after the Commonwealth forces of Britain, Australia, and New Zealand retreated, violence against the PLFNK and PRB began in earnest, and in June 1970 a final offensive was launched to prevent the further breakdown of order on Borneo.
By July 1970, the imperialist adventure in North Kalimantan had been thwarted. After several years of struggle, the people's organizations in Sarawak, Brunei, and Sabah came to power at the behest of their beleaguered citizens, and shortly-thereafter they voluntarily united with their southern neighbor. With the last vestiges of old imperialism swept from Southeast Asia, the Indonesian Government felt safe to proclaim a new, socialist constitution in 1971, before Sukarno finally fell to the ages the following year. In the aftermath, Indonesia began to construct a true, democratic, socialist government fit for the modern world; and to this day they celebrate their final liberation from colonial oppression.
–––––
¹ The foremost state party of post-war Britain; was dominated by a clique of reactionary generals, landowners, and industrialists
² Described as a 'false workers front', the Labour Party in the mid-20th century was a bourgeois-led organization which rallied workers to capitalist policies; it's program paled in comparison to its later revolutionary works
³ The Liberal Party existed for most of its post-WW1 history as an organization led by the petite bourgeoisie who opposed the liberal democracy of Labour and the reactionary, imperialist policies of the Conservatives
⁴ Known in common parlance as the 'Anti-Imperialist War in Korea' and the 'First Malayan People's War'
⁵ Known also as the 'Konfrontasi' or 'Anti-Imperialist Struggle in North Kalimantan'
⁶ 'North Kalimantan' being the designation for the colonies of Brunei, Sarawak, and Sabah
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The 1904 United Statespresidential election was held on November 8, 1904. Incumbent Democratic President J. Hamilton Lewis of Washington was reelected over Republican Senator Oscar Straus of New York.
The resolution of the 1900 election meant the beginning of peace negotiations with the Allied Powers. This threatened to be a potential poisoned chalice for whichever administration chose to attempt to take on this challenge, and in many cases would have. But President-elect Robert Pattison had taken a role, alongside the outgoing President Allison, when the many parties came to the table in late November of 1900. The negotiations, which took place in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, extended over months. The goals of the United States were to minimize losses, while the Allies wanted to constrain the power of the United States; both parties, additionally, did not desire an invasion of the continental United States, which would be costly and damaging for both sides. Quickly the United States established a relative willingness to let go of more imperialist ambitions, which were a divisive topic at home anyway. The United States consequently promised to never annex Hawaii (whose peace treaty with the Allies would then remove American influence more directly), promised to annul its unequal treaties with Asian countries, gave the islands claimed in the Guano Islands Act to Germany (whose Pacific gains were intended by Britain as a way to satisfy Germany to prevent larger German gains in Europe, the Middle East, or Africa), and gave Britain (who would also have the still-occupied Bahamas returned to it) carte blanche over Liberia. Then came the more painful clauses: the Franco-American canal project in Panama was to be ceded to Britain and Germany, who would jointly operate it (neither trusted the other with it, which would become a key sticking point in the leadup to the Second World War), Alaska was to be ceded to the UK, large indemnities were to be paid to all members of the Allies (the United States, thus far, had generally been the Entente Power to be the least fiscally ruined by the war), and, most painfully, the Monroe Doctrine was to be declared null and void. European powers would be allowed to do as they pleased in the Americas, with no interference by the United States. The clause was disliked by the negotiators, but accepted because the treaty did not contain one crucial thing: the cession of any territory in the mainland United States. While all territories save the Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Indian Territories (which were part of the mainland) were lost, the parts of the country considered the United States were not lost. There was also a severe debate over disarmament clauses; the United States, in the end, agreed to limit its army size (which they had been doing anyway) in exchange for looser restrictions on naval matters. This severely annoyed the Allies, who obviously were more afraid the the US's navy than its army, but some restrictions had been achieved and this was thought good enough among negotiators who just wanted the war ended. Nonetheless, the losses suffered in the Treaty of Ottawa were not popular.
This should have, in theory, been a problem for President Pattison, whose signature was on the document. But Republicans had little way of attacking him over it; much of the negotiations had taken place during President Allison's lame duck period, so the document itself was a bipartisan sin, compared the war itself, which Democrats, despite largely voting for it in July of 1897, were easily able to wash their hands of. President Pattison's problem were others: in particular, the demobilization effort. Inflation had run high during the war due to high demand and President Allison's Silver Purchase Act of 1897. Pattison thus became very focused on fighting this inflation, repealing like President Bayard the new Silver Purchase Act and focusing on the buildup of the nation's gold supplies (fiscal prudence would be necessary to pay off the debts accrued and indemnities levied by the war and treaty). While this succeeding in reducing inflation, its simultaneous implementation to the end of the war led to a major recession throughout the first half of Pattison's term. Unemployed veterans soon lined the streets. If the Treaty of Ottawa had dampened Pattison's popularity, the Depression of 1901 cratered, and though the worst had passed by then, contributed to Republicans' successful takeover of the House in the 1902 midterms, returning William McKinley to the speakership.
Another dominant theme of Pattison's economic policy was one of fiscal prudence. In short, the war and the treaty meant the country needed money to reduce its large debts, pay troops, and another assorted responsibilities. During the Civil War, an income tax had been levied in order to fund the government, but it had been repealed afterward. It had become a progressive proposal to implement a permanent peacetime income tax in order to fund the government, especially among free-traders who wished to reduce tariffs. An attempt to do so during the Olney administration, the Wilson-Gorman Tariff, had died, opposed resolutely by the president who did not feel the reduction in the tariff was worth the levying of an income tax [1], but then during the war the Allison administration had levied an income tax. As Pattison had entered the presidency, the question remained of what wartime measures were to be maintained and which ones were to be undone. The press regulations had been among the first to go; the railroads, despite a strong movement by the Populists, Bryan, and other progressives to keep them in the hands of the state, were reprivatized. The repeal of rationing and the draft went without saying. The income tax became the biggest debate regarding wartime measures; despite President Pattison's reticence at keeping it, it was judged that the fiscal needs of the nation were too great, and the first peacetime income tax in the history of the United States was to be levied. A lawsuit was launched against, ending up at the Supreme Court, that argued such a tax to be unconstitutional; the court, in a 5-4 decision, declared the income tax constitutional.
As 1904 approached, the economy had begun to improve. Rebuilding in Europe provided a boon for American industry, as though many among the Allies remained distrustful, the lack of any action in the mainland US proper meant that American industry had suffered comparatively little to Canadian or European industry; while German and British industries offered much competition, the demand was great enough that the United States still made strong economic gains, as they particularly became very popular among French and Italian contractors. Thus as 1904 approached President Pattison was gaining in popularity, while the Republicans were still held down by their incumbency in 1897. President Pattison and Vice-President Lewis were both renominated with little difficulty.
The Republican National Convention, meanwhile, was still fairly organized, but the factionalism in the party had not abided very much. The gold-silver division was increasingly irrelevant and exceeded by the division of "progressive" and "conservative" elements in both parties. The latter, under President Pattison, firmly controlled the Democratic Party, and were also associated with President Allison and his faction in the Republican Party, which weakened them going into the convention. Thus it was the progressives running the Republicans' show in 1904, as they wanted to draw a contrast with the Democrats and Allison's faction was hideously unpopular. Oscar Straus, a diplomat-turned-senator from New York [2], was eventually the nominee; the initial frontrunner, Straus's home state governor Theodore Roosevelt, had been hurt by Southern progressives' resolute opposition to him due to his tendency to call them corrupt (often accurately) [3], and Straus had been the candidate both had agreed on. Joseph Gurney Cannon, a resolute conservative from Illinois and the House's no. 2 Republican, was named the vice-presidential candidate, as much an olive branch to the conservative wing as it was an attempt to get him out of a position many progressives hated him being in.
Both parties were prepared to have a race in which no major third-parties would arise, as the Populists fully collapsed into irrelevance. However, there was one last major development to occur: a death. Specifically, that of President Pattison, who had been relatively young (just 53 years old), yet appeared to have been done in by the stress of the presidency and died on August 1, 1904. This left a major issue for the Democrats, for their candidate had just died mid-election season and leaving J. Hamilton Lewis the youngest president in the history of the nation. An emergency meeting of the Democratic National Committee made President Lewis the new Democratic candidate, and selected, at his urging, Alton B. Parker, a respected conservative judge from New York, as his vice-president candidate. This greatly changed the race; Republican attacks had previously been aimed at the conservative Pattison, not the progressive Lewis. Now the Republicans had little way of contrasting themselves against the Democrats. For all the panic that had gripped the Democrats early in the race, when they were unsure of Lewis, by the time Election Day had rolled around the newly-minted president had proven his campaigning mettle, while Straus came off as one might expect a career diplomate to come off. To the surprise of many, it was Republicans who struggled to adapt to the change in candidate. Lewis promised the bold progressive agenda Pattison had never even looked at, in particular promising a more active enforcement of anti-trust laws. Straus's promises to do similar programs did not convince the electorate.
In the end the Republicans avoided disaster, as the previous term had enough difficulties that Lewis could only win by so much, but it still was a Democratic victory. Lewis won most of the Mid-Atlantic, carried Illinois and Indiana in the Midwest, had the best performance of any Democrat in the West until 1932, and carried most of the South's swing states. Straus carried a few states in the Midwest, where Lewis's support among German-Americans and progressives kept the race close in most of Straus's wins, along with five New England states and the four most Republican-leaning southern states, but won just 179 electoral votes to the 297 of Lewis.
[1] IOTL Cleveland allowed the Wilson-Gorman tariff (and the associated income tax) to become law despite his opposition to it just to get rid of the McKinley tariff. ITTL the McKinley tariff was never a thing and so, with tariffs already not being quite so high, Bayard and Olney don't consider the tradeoff worth it.
[2] The seat Chauncey Depew was elected to IOTL, for which the GOP found an alternative due to Depew being busy being vice-president.
[3] A thing that was absolutely not a factor IOTL due to southern Republicans not really being relevant but which hurts TR ITTL, where his general tendency to annoy Black Southern Republicans (but not northern ones) with their connections to corruption leading to a rather important section of TTL's progressive Republicans to absolutely hate him (which, it isn't TR if he isn't getting even his ideological allies to hate his guts over this kind of stuff, now is it).
Part 2 of my list of Presidents from the above
Note that President Wallace died on October 25 1924, leading to Speaker Gifford Pinchot serving as president during this lame duck period. Pinchot will still run for re-election as a congressman, and would be re-seated in Congress upon the expiration of his presidential term.
I got inspired to make these three infoboxes after seeing @CarlosTheAltHistoryGuy and @Luxembourgish Jane 's infoboxes of 'The End of History/Perpetual 1990s.
If society and culture is going to be stuck in the 1990s, might as well keep a couple of channels that were around back then, specifically The WB and UPN.
Likewise, WPIX Channel 11 in New York City remains the charter affiliate of The WB.
If society and culture is going to be stuck in the 1990s, might as well keep a couple of channels that were around back then, specifically The WB and UPN.
Likewise, WPIX Channel 11 in New York City remains the charter affiliate of The WB.
John L. Lewis was a popular two-term president. Indeed, by having won two terms, Lewis had legitimised the Laborites, so why not run for another? While it hadn't been done before, Lincoln aside, Lewis didn't care much for convention. But the Laborites were a fractious coalition, Eugene Debs, a moderate Marxist-Lincolnist, had done a good job at bringing together the disparate elements of the American Labor movement, the more conservative Lewis was more interested in centralising power, and had frozen out much of the Marxist-Lincolnist caucus throughout his presidency. While the Marxist-Lincolnists were rather uneasy with this arrangement, despite some rantings from the radicals, there was a general acceptance to take the wins and run a more inclusive candidate in 1932. Lewis' belated announcement of his seeking a third term put paid to this. The Marxist-Lincolnists would storm off and nominate their own nominee for the first time in decades in the form of populist Minnesota governor Floyd Olson, whose excellent retail politicking could only do so much to overcome the, at times, shambolic organisation of the Marxist-Lincolnists. Lewis decried the splitters, but secretly welcomed the opportunity to purge some of the more radical elements of his coalition.
But for as much as Lewis was popular, and Americans weren't overly willing to embrace Olson, they also were uneasy at the idea of a three-term president. Enter the Unitarian candidate Winston Churchill, famed for his transatlantic accent, the son of an American industrialist, and British aristocracy, expressed some sympathy for the Labor movements and Lewis' reforms but otherwise ran an unsubstantive campaign. Seeming uncontroversial enough, he would win, and despite fears of vote-splitting, with a narrow majority - Winston Churchill, the Second Republic's thirteenth president - unlucky, perhaps. But to be sure, it wouldn't be the last time the world heard of Marxism-Lincolnism.
But for as much as Lewis was popular, and Americans weren't overly willing to embrace Olson, they also were uneasy at the idea of a three-term president. Enter the Unitarian candidate Winston Churchill, famed for his transatlantic accent, the son of an American industrialist, and British aristocracy, expressed some sympathy for the Labor movements and Lewis' reforms but otherwise ran an unsubstantive campaign. Seeming uncontroversial enough, he would win, and despite fears of vote-splitting, with a narrow majority - Winston Churchill, the Second Republic's thirteenth president - unlucky, perhaps. But to be sure, it wouldn't be the last time the world heard of Marxism-Lincolnism.
What's the significance of a local wavelength/frequency?the densest place in the universe!
I’ll admit I added some of stuff just to make the box sound more futuristic, but I was imagining it as a means of quick identification of communications between stars. Like, you pick up a specific frequency from a star and can automatically know it’s exact location within the system. I think the frequencies I chose are all gamma waves and I have no idea if that’s possible lol
