Illustrious Men - The Presidents of the United States

[Lyly]

Al Gore
43th President of the United States (2001-2009)
timeline 2000AGP-IAP1

After an election to close to call, with a bitter battle over votes in Florida, the Supreme Court stepped in, allowing manual recounts in that state to proceed, giving incumbent Vice President Al Gore the state, and the nation, by a margin of 107 votes. Only the 1960 race, in which Kennedy squeaked out a victory over Nixon by 0.1%, was closer.

The controversy dominated political talk for the few months before and after Gore's inauguration as the 43rd President. The incumbent Vice President who couldn't carry his own state, or any other southern state for that matter, said conservative pundits, surely did not deserve victory in an election that could have delivered Bush to the White House in any number of ways.

Following a President who retired from the White House with a 65% approval rating, these early signs did not bode well for Gore and the circumstances of his victory and the political realities in Congress forced the new President to practically realign himself for any hope of political victory in the White House. Within the first days of Gore's presidency, it was made very clear that the Republican-controlled House and the evenly-split Senate would not play ball with a partisan President.

​

On the morning of September 11th, 2001, Gore's sickly political support was given the catalyst for a dramatic positive shift. The President, on tour of a new solar panel factory in California when he received the news, was whisked from public view for several hours following the attacks that struck the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Arlington, VA, and were suspected to be the cause of a crash in rural Pennsylvania. The administration's immediate reactions drew criticism - the President and Vice President appeared spineless when the White House should have been strong - not to mention the revelation that national security agencies had already warned the President, who still receives criticism for not reacting to the threat before, but the days that followed brought the characters of a strong and able leader. Gore recast himself after 9/11 as a skilled leader and fighter. On September 16, at Camp David, Gore's unscripted comment, "this is a war on terrorism", gave the name War on Terror, though the President was always quick to remind that it was a War on State Terrorism, though the name did not stick.

The Patriot Act, signed October 20, 2001, extended the powers of the Presidency and law enforcement to counter terrorism. Criticized as an opportunistic expansion of government power passed with little debate as an appeal to patriotism, the Patriot Act remains controversial, attracting attacks on the Gore White House from left as well as right. The act's expansion of power played especially well into conservative politicians' campaigns against Gore and his supporters. But the support for Gore and the Act propelled him into war with Afghanistan and, later, into his second term.

to be continued...
​

 

[Darth_Kiryan]

Al Gore
43th President of the United States (2001-2009)
timeline 2000AGP-IAP1​

BOOYAH! Al Gore!

 

[Vexacus]

This threads keeps getting better and better. Thought might we see an Alt-Hist President Gingrich?

 

[Emperor of Scandinavia]

A Newt Gingrich Presidency would be interesting to say the least.

However my main point here is to suggest several possible presidents.

1- Alben Barkley - he was considered as Roosevelt's vp to replace Wallace in 44. He said no, so Truman was chosen

2- Robert Taft - would be interesting how "Mr. Republican" would lead America. To do this, Taft needs to live out his first full term.

3- Jimmy Carter - I personally think Carter was one of the better Presidents has had, and I wish he had gone on to be reelected A 2nd term would mean a reduced budget defecit, more alternative energy, health care reform (perhaps), and perhaps peace in the Middle East. To do this, Kennedy needs not to run in 1980, a good POD is he is killed at Chappaquiddik along with the other woman in the car with him. Also necessary is for Carter to get the hostages home QUICKLY.

Wishing you well, his majesty,
The Scandinavian Emperor

 

[Darth_Kiryan]

William T Sherman Presidency. 1873-1881
Hard-line Republicanism....perhaps even a new party, if need be.

 

[Nofix]

I know its been a year, but this is an awesome idea! If you're not going to continue, can it become an open source project?

 

[Lyly]

Al Gore
43th President of the United States (2001-2009)
timeline 2000AGP-IAP1

After an election to close to call, with a bitter battle over votes in Florida, the Supreme Court stepped in, allowing manual recounts in that state to proceed, giving incumbent Vice President Al Gore the state, and the nation, by a margin of 107 votes. Only the 1960 race, in which Kennedy squeaked out a victory over Nixon by 0.1%, was closer.

The controversy dominated political talk for the few months before and after Gore's inauguration as the 43rd President. The incumbent Vice President who couldn't carry his own state, or any other southern state for that matter, said conservative pundits, surely did not deserve victory in an election that could have delivered Bush to the White House in any number of ways.

Following a President who retired from the White House with a 65% approval rating, these early signs did not bode well for Gore and the circumstances of his victory and the political realities in Congress forced the new President to practically realign himself for any hope of political victory in the White House. Within the first days of Gore's presidency, it was made very clear that the Republican-controlled House and the evenly-split Senate would not play ball with a partisan President.

​

On the morning of September 11th, 2001, Gore's sickly political support was given the catalyst for a dramatic positive shift. The President, on tour of a new solar panel factory in California when he received the news, was whisked from public view for several hours following the attacks that struck the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Arlington, VA, and were suspected to be the cause of a crash in rural Pennsylvania. The administration's immediate reactions drew criticism - the President and Vice President appeared spineless when the White House should have been strong - not to mention the revelation that national security agencies had already warned the President, who still receives criticism for not reacting to the threat before, but the days that followed brought the characters of a strong and able leader. Gore recast himself after 9/11 as a skilled leader and fighter. On September 16, at Camp David, Gore's unscripted comment, "this is a war on terrorism", gave the name War on Terror, though the President was always quick to remind that it was a War on State Terrorism, though the name did not stick.

The Patriot Act, signed October 20, 2001, extended the powers of the Presidency and law enforcement to counter terrorism. Criticized as an opportunistic expansion of government power passed with little debate as an appeal to patriotism, the Patriot Act remains controversial, attracting attacks on the Gore White House from left as well as right. The act's expansion of power played especially well into conservative politicians' campaigns against Gore and his supporters. But the support for Gore and the Act propelled him into war with Afghanistan and, later, into his second term.
The invastion of Afghanistan began in October, with Gore outlining three goals: the overthrow of the ruling Taliban regime, the destruction of the terrorist Al-Qaeda group, and the capture of Osama bin Laden. Gore was joined by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and in December the United Nations created the International Security Assistance Force led by NATO.

A transitional government was established in the wake of the invasion and marked the creation of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. British and American troops were used to support Afghan efforts to drive out the Taliban and secure Afghanistan's rural areas to enable the reconstruction of infrastructure and schools. Support for the war remained strong throughout much of Gore's first term and his approval ratings with it. However, renewed Taliban fightbacks in 2003 and a doubling-down of US forces in the region reduced support for the administration ahead of the 2004 elections.

Gore campaigned on his response to 9/11, the ongoing campaign in Afghanistan, and his domestic initiatives, including a middle-class tax cut, the No Child Left Behind Act, funding increases and reforms to Medicare, and the reformation and consolidation of the US security and intelligence apparatuses under the Department of National Security. Despite a fledgling economy, an on-dragging war, and a strong challenger in Arizona Senator John McCain, Gore secures re-election in 2004 and by slightly wider margins than four years prior.

​

More challenges emerged in the second term of the Gore presidency than in even the first. The Afghanistan War intensified in 2005 as Gore promised to double-down efforts to finally expel the Taliban insurgency. The coalition struck an alliance with Pakistan and President Musharraf delivered A.Q. Khan, accused of running a "nuclear black market" into the hands of the International Criminal Court in late 2005, but despite near certainty that bin Laden lay hidden within Pakistan, the Gore administration would never succeed in his capture.

Following the 2004 election, Gore was faced with a Republican-controlled Congress, forcing a capitulation and compromise on promised reforms and Supreme Court nominations. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 exposed widespread deficencies in the ability of the federal government to respond to natural disasters. But while Gore's domestic policy was frustrated by Congress, in Afghanistan, key victories resulted in a wave of peace agreements between the Afghan government and local insurgent groups throughout 2007 and 2008. By the time Gore left office, US troops were being scaled down and American involvement in Afghanistan would formally end on December 1, 2009.

Gore's legacy has not been a favorable one. Despite a victory on-paper in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the unstable government lasted less than five years after American withdrawal and at home, the Gore administration is still blamed for failing to predict 9/11 in the first place. Furthermore, the massive financial collapse beginning in 2007 and worsening in the years following was pinned on the sixteen years of Democratic control of the White House. Gore's departure ended the 'Clintonian Era' and ushered in a new period of Republican domination. Gore is remembered positively for his Administration's focus on human rights and environmental issues throughout his eight years in office and for his determined fight for campaign finance reform which saw only meager victories passed through Congress.
​

 

[Darth_Kiryan]

AN UPDATE A GLORIOUS UPDATE!

 

[Lyly]

I'm not completely satisfied with the Al Gore entry, but I wanted to finish it up and be done with it. I'll come back and work out the details more later.

In the meantime, I'm going to go back to the 19th century for the next entry or two at least.

 

[Rich Rostrom]

The Root White House became so frequented by prominent businessmen and industry leaders hired on dollar-a-day salaries

ITYM "Dollar a year" - that was the nominal salary for a big businessman in a wartime government job.

In 1917, there were a lot of people for whom a dollar a day would be a raise.

 

[Ganesha]

I'm not completely satisfied with the Al Gore entry, but I wanted to finish it up and be done with it. I'll come back and work out the details more later.

In the meantime, I'm going to go back to the 19th century for the next entry or two at least.

I really like this idea and your execution has been great so far. Congrats!

One thing to consider for the Al Gore timeline - does Ahmad Shah Massoud survive? If so, Afghanistan could go a whole lot better. He was a natural fit to be the President of Afghanistan, and would have been a whole lot better than Karzai, who was corrupt and ineffective from the start.

Cheers,
Ganesha

 

[Lyly]

ITYM "Dollar a year" - that was the nominal salary for a big businessman in a wartime government job.

In 1917, there were a lot of people for whom a dollar a day would be a raise.

Good point. We should consider that it was actually closer to something like that.

 

[Rich Rostrom]

With emancipation, freedmen were made full citizens and were given the right to vote.

No. There were hundreds of thousands of free blacks before the War, and they didn't vote, except maybe in New England.

The 14th Amendment recognized that states could limit voting by race, and imposed a penalty for it - but didn't forbid it.

Only with the 15th Amendment did blacks get the right to vote.

With the assistance of the Freedmen's Bureau, which was accused by Southern whites of organizing freedmen against their former masters, blacks voted and held office, something not seen in any other emancipated Western society

The Freedmen's Bureau OTL did not organize blacks for political activity.

emigrating to Liberia or to newly-founded colonies in Haiti, Panama, and British Honduras.

None of the ex-slaves wanted to emigrate, least of all to Liberia.

Lincoln argued for "malice toward none" and supported amnesty for most Southerners with the "ironclad oath", which restored full citizenship to anyone who swore they never supported the Confederacy and never served it.

The "ironclad oath" was the policy of the Radicals, as most white Southerners couldn't take it. And no amnesty is required for anyone who could take it, as they haven't done anything.

In much of the South, a lack of employment opportunities ensured that blacks were returned to slave-like conditions working in the fields.

Field work wasn't the defining quality of slavery. Slaves were often household or personal servants, or craftsmen; field workers could get wages. It was the absence of choice that mattered.

In much of the South "Conservative" reconstructed legislatures in 1865-1866 passed "Black codes" which amounted to de facto enslavement: blacks were required to have jobs which they were not allowed to quit, and their freedom of movement was restricted.

Voting rights, nominally guaranteed by the 15th Amendment...

The 15th Amendment passed in 1870 - after the end of Lincoln's second term. Unless Lincoln pushes it immediately after the war, and that hasn't been mentioned.​

Lincoln was talking openly about partial suffrage for blacks at the end of the war; whether he would have gone for full suffrage is unclear.

More important, perhaps, is that Lincoln, unlike Johnson, was a partisan Republican instead of a Democrat, who would make conscious efforts to recruit Republicans in the South. Southern ex-Whigs could be solicited to support the Whig-derived Republican planks, such as a protective tariff. Federal patronage could be used as a party-building tool.

OTL, Johnson did none of this; Grant did some, when he took office in 1869, but four years had passed, and Grant was no political operator.

Lincoln would start on this program at once, and that is the biggest difference.

 

[Rich Rostrom]

When Abraham Lincoln refused to be nominated to a third term, he felt it became his duty, before he could retire from the Presidency, to choose a successor.

Nope. That would be a very arrogant position, and one Lincoln would never adopt. Note that Lincoln did not choose either of his VP running mates; they were selected by the conventions.

Lincoln's ... Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase.

Chase had been appointed Chief Justice in 1864.

David Davis... hailed from Indiana...

No, he was from Illinois. He had been a judge on the court circuit where Lincoln practiced.

The Democratic national convention nominated Thomas Hendricks of Indiana for President and Reverdy Johnson of Maryland for Vice President.

Johnson would be 72. Too old.

​

 

[Lyly]

Many thanks for the info, Rich. I'll need to make sure to edit Lincoln and Seward's entries accordingly. Some of these are things I'm aware of now, but wasn't then, others are oversights or mistakes, some are simply not going into explicit detail. But I'll make sure to edit them in when I update that TL.