Charles Evans Hughes was an US politician noteworthy for being Woodrow Wilson's opponent as Republican nominee during the 1916 elections. He ran on a belligerent campaign in favor of US involvement in WWI (which would prove itself redundant as Wilson joined the war on the Entente's side anyway). In the OTL aftermath of the war, Hughes gained a reputation as peace-broker due to his role in the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 which limited the naval prowess of most of the world's empires. He grew older but managed to become a member of the US Supreme Court in the 1930's. He retired just as his country was about to enter WWII and died in 1948.
So, what if Hughes had managed to beat Wilson in the 1916 presidential election by a margin? From what i've heard, the race was a close affair, especially in California's electorate.
What i can predict is the late period of WWI developing more or less as OTL, unless Hughes manages to eke out a DoW a few weeks earlier, which i doubt would make much of a difference in, say, the outcome of the Spring Offensive. Germany is still defeated, and her efforts at empire collapse.
What i'm interested in discussing would be Hughes' role in the aftermath of WWI. Wilson, IOTL, seems to have made quite a few brash decisions, supporting the imposition of harsh economic restrictions on the newfound German Republic, prohibiting the union of rump Austria with Germany, refusing to join the League of Nations he helped build the base for, issuing an ambiguous and ultimately void "Fourteen Points" declaration on national sovereignty, etc. How would Hughes, as POTUS, use his position to influence the outcome of the Treaty of Versailles? In what points did Wilson and Hughes agree on, and in which were they opposite to each other? Could Hughes negotiate his way to a more lenient set of terms on Germany, maintaining the reduction of the Heer but lifting the trade sanctions, for example? Any other areas he might have an effect on, such as Turkey? What else?
Additionally, how might Hughes' decisions affect the nascent Soviet Union?
So, what if Hughes had managed to beat Wilson in the 1916 presidential election by a margin? From what i've heard, the race was a close affair, especially in California's electorate.
What i can predict is the late period of WWI developing more or less as OTL, unless Hughes manages to eke out a DoW a few weeks earlier, which i doubt would make much of a difference in, say, the outcome of the Spring Offensive. Germany is still defeated, and her efforts at empire collapse.
What i'm interested in discussing would be Hughes' role in the aftermath of WWI. Wilson, IOTL, seems to have made quite a few brash decisions, supporting the imposition of harsh economic restrictions on the newfound German Republic, prohibiting the union of rump Austria with Germany, refusing to join the League of Nations he helped build the base for, issuing an ambiguous and ultimately void "Fourteen Points" declaration on national sovereignty, etc. How would Hughes, as POTUS, use his position to influence the outcome of the Treaty of Versailles? In what points did Wilson and Hughes agree on, and in which were they opposite to each other? Could Hughes negotiate his way to a more lenient set of terms on Germany, maintaining the reduction of the Heer but lifting the trade sanctions, for example? Any other areas he might have an effect on, such as Turkey? What else?
Additionally, how might Hughes' decisions affect the nascent Soviet Union?