List alternate PMs or Presidents
- Thread starter Razors are for Fish
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Another analogue:
1861-1865: Abraham Lincoln/Hannibal Hamlin (R)
1865-1869: Abraham Lincoln/William Seward (R)
1869-1873: William Seward/James Garfield (R)
1873: George McClellan/Thomas Hendricks (Conservative)
1873-1877: Thomas Hendricks/vacant (C)
1877-1881: Chester A. Arthur/William Wheeler (R)
1881-1882: William S. Hancock/Grover Cleveland (C)
1882-1885: Grover Cleveland (C)
1885-1889: James G. Blaine/Robert T. Lincoln (R)
1889-1893: Benjamin Harrison/Thomas B. Reed (R)
1893-1897: Adlai Stevenson I/Alton B. Parker (National)
1861-1865: Abraham Lincoln/Hannibal Hamlin (R)
1865-1869: Abraham Lincoln/William Seward (R)
1869-1873: William Seward/James Garfield (R)
1873: George McClellan/Thomas Hendricks (Conservative)
1873-1877: Thomas Hendricks/vacant (C)
1877-1881: Chester A. Arthur/William Wheeler (R)
1881-1882: William S. Hancock/Grover Cleveland (C)
1882-1885: Grover Cleveland (C)
1885-1889: James G. Blaine/Robert T. Lincoln (R)
1889-1893: Benjamin Harrison/Thomas B. Reed (R)
1893-1897: Adlai Stevenson I/Alton B. Parker (National)
"A Win's a Win"
What if Kennedy and Nixon had tied?
1960: John F. Kennedy / Lyndon Johnson (Democratic) [1]
1964: John F. Kennedy/Lyndon Johnson (D) [2]
1965: Lyndon Johnson/VACANT (D) [3]
1968: Jim Rhodes/Edward Brooke (R) [4]
1970: Edward Brooke/VACANT (R) [5]
1972: George Wallace/Strom Thurmond (AI) [6]
1973: Strom Thurmond/VACANT (AI) [7]
1976: Jerry Brown/Lloyd Bentsen (D) [8]
1980: Thomas J. Anderson/Cliff Finch (AI)[9]
1984: Thomas J. Anderson/Cliff Finch (AI)[10]
1988: Jesse Jackson/Bill Clinton (D)[11]
1992: David Duke/Pat Buchanan (AI)[12]
1994: Pat Buchanan/VACANT (AI)[13]
1996: Pat Buchanan/Robert Bork (AI)[14]
2000: Robert Bork/Larry McDonald (AI)[15]
2004: Robert Bork/Larry McDonald (American)[16]
2007: Jerry Brown/Cornel West (National Peoples' Movement) [Provisional Government] [17]
2011: Sam Webb/Bernard Sanders (Communist) [18]
2015: Barack Obama/Greg Pason (Labor) [19]
2019: Bernard Sanders/Cornel West (Communist) [20]
[1] Tied 269-269 in the Electoral College, the Presidential race is thrown to the (Democratic-controlled) Congress. JFK enters office through entirely Constitutional means... but his victory is overshadowed by having lost the popular vote to his challenger. Partisanship rockets. Kennedy's hands are also tied when it comes to several issues, due to political capital he had to spend in order to assure various Democratic politicians that they concerns would not be overlooked with him in the White House.
[2] Kennedy was reelected by a soft margin in 1964, and he used his second term to expand on his "New Frontier" and the ongoing conflict in Vietnam.
[3] Kennedy's sordid love life and crippling drug addiction comes to the fore half a year after his squeaker of a reelection. With his approval rating plummeting and investigations ramping up, he resigns in disgrace. Johnson's role in ensuring that this happened is not revealed until decades later, but is well known in the beltway. Richard Nixon, the incredibly popular "winner" in 1960 waits in the wings, and is widely expected to win in 1968.
[4] Nixon sadly didn't get the chance to run in 1968 as he, while ill was run over by a car in 1967. The race for the GOP nomination is now a slug-fest between the liberal and conservative wings. When Ronald Reagan bows out to wait until 1972 he backs Ohio Governor Jim Rhodes. Rhodes won the race handily after gaining the support of Reagan and powerbroker Senator Strom Thurmond. Rhodes then surprisingly picked (much to Thurmond's irk) liberal negro Massachusetts Senator Edward 'Ed' Brooke as his Running Mate. LBJ handily won the Democratic primaries and picks Florida Senator George Smathers who was an ally and friend of JFK. The election came down to the wire and only after returns from the swing state of Illinois (despite Mayor Daley's 'encouragements') were called for Rhodes that the election was settled.
[5] The assassination of Edward Brooke in August 1970 led to the first Black president. This would prove to be controversial...
[6] Leading to the election of George Wallace, the Southern Democratic candidate for President in 1972; becoming the first third-party President in a very long time. He drafted the old Strom Thurmond to be his VP. His administration was noted for it's firm conservatism and refusal to advance civil rights any further.
[7]The assassination attempt on the Wallace cabinet killed the majority of his inner circle and seriously injured Thurmond. However, the old man survived and cracked down even harder on the civil rights movement. A revengist president can be a dangerous thing.
[8] Jerry Brown, was the Democrats run away candidate, winning all states in the Primaries, some say that if Jimmy Carter, had not died in while being Secretary of State in Wallace's cabinet.
Brown's popularity won him the whole of the West coast and the North East, while with support from his running mate, Lloyd Bentsen and Louisiana Governor, Edwin Edwards, their ticket was able to pull more votes away from President Thurmond.
Being elected aged 38, Brown became the youngest person to be elected president, only 14 years after Kennedy broke the record at 43, and the youngest president (beating Theodore Roosevelt, who was 42 when he became president after the assassination of William McKinley).
Between 1977 and 1981, Brown was having to fight for his presidency not only at home but also abroad.
At home, he created three new offices, the Department of Energy (Secretary Cliff Finch), the Department of Education (Secretary Patrick Lucey) and the Department of Equalities (Secretary Walter Fauntroy.)
The D. of Equ. was set up to support and bring about civil rights laws, in Brown's words "For every citizen in the United States of America, to have the freedom and liberty, our forefathers wanted us to have, whether they are Black, Hispanic, female, disable or homosexual."
After the sudden death of Leonid Brezhnev and the quick succession of Defence Minister, Dmitriy Ustinov, as General Secretary in 1978, Brown was dragged into the Iran–Iraq War, when Ustinov, sent his troops into the Islamic Republic of Iran to support Ruhollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader of Iran, President Brown, immidiatly removed all Fifty-two American diplomats and citizens from the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and sent military support to Iraq, although it is said, that he did not trust, President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.
The war in the Middle East would carrying on into the next presidential term and became a big debate during the 1980 election.
[9] With the Democrats low in popularity and the Republicans fading into nonexistence, Thomas Anderson of the American Independent Party was elected President by about 70%.
[10] With the early 1980s being seen as the beginnings of a decade of prosperity, Anderson was reelected by an even greater margin in 1984.
[11] In 1988, Jesse Jackson was elected President and promised big, big, changes.
[12] But the Democrats were bitterly divided over Jackson's policies, and heightened racial tensions broke out into racial riots which David Duke managed to blame on President Jackson and the "uppity n*****rs". Al Gore ran an Independent Democratic ticket and handed the election to Duke. The AIP was utterly angry at there being two black presidents, so they moved to make sure it would never happen again. The AIP narrowly controlled a majority of Congress, so they moved fast to kill off the Civil Rights Act by hollowing it even more (this started under President Anderson) and thus enabling the AIP-controlled states to pass bills restricting blacks' ability to vote. With the Democrats collapsing in 1994 due to the restricted franchise and massive racial riots from angered African-Americans turning off even more whites from the Democrats and giving credibility to the AIP's racial-charged rhetoric, the era of AIP dominance began...
[13] Duke's assassination at the hands of an African-American activist radicalized race relations in the United States further, causing riots throughout the United States. With the Democrats collapsing, President Pat Buchanan looks like the likely victor of the 1996 election...
[14] Buchanan was widely popular and was a virtually assured re-election. In the General Election he selected conservative columnist and lawyer Robert Bork. The AIP ticket faced the Democratic ticket of Pennsylvania Governor Robert "Bob" Casey, Sr. and Georgia Senator Sam Nunn. The Democratic ticket was essentially locked on the east coast winning only the southern states from Alabama up to Maryland and the states of Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Minnesota and Alaska as well. President Buchanan took office with sky high approval ratings and a good economy - nothing could stop the AIP-revolution...
[15] The 2000 presidential election was one of the most lopsided in American history. The economy was doing well, approval ratings were high, and the ticket of Vice President Robert Bork and Georgia Senator Larry McDonald captured the presidency with over 70% of the vote.
[16] Bork then banned all other parties in 2002, thus ensuring he winnning 2004 by 100%.
[17] Outrage at the clear violation of the constitution and fury over the reinsitution of poll taxes and jim crow nationwide, combined with anxiety in the white middle class over the radical right wing turn the nation has taken, results in nationwide political paralysis. California and New York declare the central government illegitimate after the massacre of 1,000 protestors in the Bronx in 2005. Many other states and regions follow. Order starts to break down, and combined with the extreme stress put on the lower and middle classes since the end of most government services, this leads the nation to a breaking point. Mass defections in the military start to a occur, especially when ordered to fire on civilians. But the central government hangs on, especially in their conservative heartlands. However, it can't last forever. As times goes on, the anti-government movement is coopted by leftist radicals, who have a large base of support in the very large underclass, and the red banners of revolution begin to appear throughout the country. An older, more radical Jerry Brown and his long time friend and influential scholar West, are raised through popular acclaim to the provisional presidency. The embattled Bork administration is finally overthrown by a palace coup, when he attempts to use nuclear weapons against the rebels. In 2007, Brown and West land in Dulles, travel through the ruins of outer DC, and take the provisional oath of office.
What follows is the bloody "Correction". Bork, Buchanan, Duke, McDonald, Finch, the elderly Anderson and the VERY (and somehow still alive) Thurmond are put to death. As is their inner circle, and a fair number of his lower officials. The blood of the crony capitalists and class traitors run reds in the streets of every town and city. Additionally, every legislator (state and federal) and major political figure (in or out of office) is put to death. The death toll in these retroactively legal purges is estimated to be anywhere between 350,000 to 870,000. No one really knows.
Brown would be the farther of a renewed American and elections are planned for 2011 at the earliest. Multi trillion dollar infrastructure projects are begun, private healthcare abolished, and race and gender equality enforced in the new constitution. Unrest in the "heartlands" is put down brutally, with mass deportations numbering in the millions of people. However, for many Americans, this is a time of renewal, especially in states like California and New York, which are rewarded generously for their initial stands against the Bork Dictatorship. Brown's first overseas trip is to the Soviet Union, where he accepts billions in aid and assistance.
[18] Like the Russian Revolution of old, the American provisional government collapsed in on itself. Jerry Brown declined to run for a second term, citing his age. The NPM was split into two feuding factions, one led by Cornell West and the other led by People's Secretariat for Urban Housing and Development Donald Trump. In the end, the 2011 election, was won by the Communist Party and Sam Webb and his more moderate running mate, Bernard Sanders.
[19] The Webb administration, while doing well for its situation, saw itself blamed for the economic downturn. Many blamed the new socialist economy, which allowed Barack Obama and the moderate Labor Party to sweep into power in 2014.
[20] Labor attempts to slightly liberalize the New Economy are used as the perfect election fodder by the Communists to scare the voters about the spectre of "Thurmondism" returning. The popular Cornel West is brought onto the ticket with the promise of a so called "joint-presidency". The hard left has certainly become a permanent part of the American fabric. The Sanders-West Administration begins their term with yet another purge of the far right. No one protests.
What if Kennedy and Nixon had tied?
1960: John F. Kennedy / Lyndon Johnson (Democratic) [1]
1964: John F. Kennedy/Lyndon Johnson (D) [2]
1965: Lyndon Johnson/VACANT (D) [3]
1968: Jim Rhodes/Edward Brooke (R) [4]
1970: Edward Brooke/VACANT (R) [5]
1972: George Wallace/Strom Thurmond (AI) [6]
1973: Strom Thurmond/VACANT (AI) [7]
1976: Jerry Brown/Lloyd Bentsen (D) [8]
1980: Thomas J. Anderson/Cliff Finch (AI)[9]
1984: Thomas J. Anderson/Cliff Finch (AI)[10]
1988: Jesse Jackson/Bill Clinton (D)[11]
1992: David Duke/Pat Buchanan (AI)[12]
1994: Pat Buchanan/VACANT (AI)[13]
1996: Pat Buchanan/Robert Bork (AI)[14]
2000: Robert Bork/Larry McDonald (AI)[15]
2004: Robert Bork/Larry McDonald (American)[16]
2007: Jerry Brown/Cornel West (National Peoples' Movement) [Provisional Government] [17]
2011: Sam Webb/Bernard Sanders (Communist) [18]
2015: Barack Obama/Greg Pason (Labor) [19]
2019: Bernard Sanders/Cornel West (Communist) [20]
[1] Tied 269-269 in the Electoral College, the Presidential race is thrown to the (Democratic-controlled) Congress. JFK enters office through entirely Constitutional means... but his victory is overshadowed by having lost the popular vote to his challenger. Partisanship rockets. Kennedy's hands are also tied when it comes to several issues, due to political capital he had to spend in order to assure various Democratic politicians that they concerns would not be overlooked with him in the White House.
[2] Kennedy was reelected by a soft margin in 1964, and he used his second term to expand on his "New Frontier" and the ongoing conflict in Vietnam.
[3] Kennedy's sordid love life and crippling drug addiction comes to the fore half a year after his squeaker of a reelection. With his approval rating plummeting and investigations ramping up, he resigns in disgrace. Johnson's role in ensuring that this happened is not revealed until decades later, but is well known in the beltway. Richard Nixon, the incredibly popular "winner" in 1960 waits in the wings, and is widely expected to win in 1968.
[4] Nixon sadly didn't get the chance to run in 1968 as he, while ill was run over by a car in 1967. The race for the GOP nomination is now a slug-fest between the liberal and conservative wings. When Ronald Reagan bows out to wait until 1972 he backs Ohio Governor Jim Rhodes. Rhodes won the race handily after gaining the support of Reagan and powerbroker Senator Strom Thurmond. Rhodes then surprisingly picked (much to Thurmond's irk) liberal negro Massachusetts Senator Edward 'Ed' Brooke as his Running Mate. LBJ handily won the Democratic primaries and picks Florida Senator George Smathers who was an ally and friend of JFK. The election came down to the wire and only after returns from the swing state of Illinois (despite Mayor Daley's 'encouragements') were called for Rhodes that the election was settled.
[5] The assassination of Edward Brooke in August 1970 led to the first Black president. This would prove to be controversial...
[6] Leading to the election of George Wallace, the Southern Democratic candidate for President in 1972; becoming the first third-party President in a very long time. He drafted the old Strom Thurmond to be his VP. His administration was noted for it's firm conservatism and refusal to advance civil rights any further.
[7]The assassination attempt on the Wallace cabinet killed the majority of his inner circle and seriously injured Thurmond. However, the old man survived and cracked down even harder on the civil rights movement. A revengist president can be a dangerous thing.
[8] Jerry Brown, was the Democrats run away candidate, winning all states in the Primaries, some say that if Jimmy Carter, had not died in while being Secretary of State in Wallace's cabinet.
Brown's popularity won him the whole of the West coast and the North East, while with support from his running mate, Lloyd Bentsen and Louisiana Governor, Edwin Edwards, their ticket was able to pull more votes away from President Thurmond.
Being elected aged 38, Brown became the youngest person to be elected president, only 14 years after Kennedy broke the record at 43, and the youngest president (beating Theodore Roosevelt, who was 42 when he became president after the assassination of William McKinley).
Between 1977 and 1981, Brown was having to fight for his presidency not only at home but also abroad.
At home, he created three new offices, the Department of Energy (Secretary Cliff Finch), the Department of Education (Secretary Patrick Lucey) and the Department of Equalities (Secretary Walter Fauntroy.)
The D. of Equ. was set up to support and bring about civil rights laws, in Brown's words "For every citizen in the United States of America, to have the freedom and liberty, our forefathers wanted us to have, whether they are Black, Hispanic, female, disable or homosexual."
After the sudden death of Leonid Brezhnev and the quick succession of Defence Minister, Dmitriy Ustinov, as General Secretary in 1978, Brown was dragged into the Iran–Iraq War, when Ustinov, sent his troops into the Islamic Republic of Iran to support Ruhollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader of Iran, President Brown, immidiatly removed all Fifty-two American diplomats and citizens from the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and sent military support to Iraq, although it is said, that he did not trust, President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.
The war in the Middle East would carrying on into the next presidential term and became a big debate during the 1980 election.
[9] With the Democrats low in popularity and the Republicans fading into nonexistence, Thomas Anderson of the American Independent Party was elected President by about 70%.
[10] With the early 1980s being seen as the beginnings of a decade of prosperity, Anderson was reelected by an even greater margin in 1984.
[11] In 1988, Jesse Jackson was elected President and promised big, big, changes.
[12] But the Democrats were bitterly divided over Jackson's policies, and heightened racial tensions broke out into racial riots which David Duke managed to blame on President Jackson and the "uppity n*****rs". Al Gore ran an Independent Democratic ticket and handed the election to Duke. The AIP was utterly angry at there being two black presidents, so they moved to make sure it would never happen again. The AIP narrowly controlled a majority of Congress, so they moved fast to kill off the Civil Rights Act by hollowing it even more (this started under President Anderson) and thus enabling the AIP-controlled states to pass bills restricting blacks' ability to vote. With the Democrats collapsing in 1994 due to the restricted franchise and massive racial riots from angered African-Americans turning off even more whites from the Democrats and giving credibility to the AIP's racial-charged rhetoric, the era of AIP dominance began...
[13] Duke's assassination at the hands of an African-American activist radicalized race relations in the United States further, causing riots throughout the United States. With the Democrats collapsing, President Pat Buchanan looks like the likely victor of the 1996 election...
[14] Buchanan was widely popular and was a virtually assured re-election. In the General Election he selected conservative columnist and lawyer Robert Bork. The AIP ticket faced the Democratic ticket of Pennsylvania Governor Robert "Bob" Casey, Sr. and Georgia Senator Sam Nunn. The Democratic ticket was essentially locked on the east coast winning only the southern states from Alabama up to Maryland and the states of Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Minnesota and Alaska as well. President Buchanan took office with sky high approval ratings and a good economy - nothing could stop the AIP-revolution...
[15] The 2000 presidential election was one of the most lopsided in American history. The economy was doing well, approval ratings were high, and the ticket of Vice President Robert Bork and Georgia Senator Larry McDonald captured the presidency with over 70% of the vote.
[16] Bork then banned all other parties in 2002, thus ensuring he winnning 2004 by 100%.
[17] Outrage at the clear violation of the constitution and fury over the reinsitution of poll taxes and jim crow nationwide, combined with anxiety in the white middle class over the radical right wing turn the nation has taken, results in nationwide political paralysis. California and New York declare the central government illegitimate after the massacre of 1,000 protestors in the Bronx in 2005. Many other states and regions follow. Order starts to break down, and combined with the extreme stress put on the lower and middle classes since the end of most government services, this leads the nation to a breaking point. Mass defections in the military start to a occur, especially when ordered to fire on civilians. But the central government hangs on, especially in their conservative heartlands. However, it can't last forever. As times goes on, the anti-government movement is coopted by leftist radicals, who have a large base of support in the very large underclass, and the red banners of revolution begin to appear throughout the country. An older, more radical Jerry Brown and his long time friend and influential scholar West, are raised through popular acclaim to the provisional presidency. The embattled Bork administration is finally overthrown by a palace coup, when he attempts to use nuclear weapons against the rebels. In 2007, Brown and West land in Dulles, travel through the ruins of outer DC, and take the provisional oath of office.
What follows is the bloody "Correction". Bork, Buchanan, Duke, McDonald, Finch, the elderly Anderson and the VERY (and somehow still alive) Thurmond are put to death. As is their inner circle, and a fair number of his lower officials. The blood of the crony capitalists and class traitors run reds in the streets of every town and city. Additionally, every legislator (state and federal) and major political figure (in or out of office) is put to death. The death toll in these retroactively legal purges is estimated to be anywhere between 350,000 to 870,000. No one really knows.
Brown would be the farther of a renewed American and elections are planned for 2011 at the earliest. Multi trillion dollar infrastructure projects are begun, private healthcare abolished, and race and gender equality enforced in the new constitution. Unrest in the "heartlands" is put down brutally, with mass deportations numbering in the millions of people. However, for many Americans, this is a time of renewal, especially in states like California and New York, which are rewarded generously for their initial stands against the Bork Dictatorship. Brown's first overseas trip is to the Soviet Union, where he accepts billions in aid and assistance.
[18] Like the Russian Revolution of old, the American provisional government collapsed in on itself. Jerry Brown declined to run for a second term, citing his age. The NPM was split into two feuding factions, one led by Cornell West and the other led by People's Secretariat for Urban Housing and Development Donald Trump. In the end, the 2011 election, was won by the Communist Party and Sam Webb and his more moderate running mate, Bernard Sanders.
[19] The Webb administration, while doing well for its situation, saw itself blamed for the economic downturn. Many blamed the new socialist economy, which allowed Barack Obama and the moderate Labor Party to sweep into power in 2014.
[20] Labor attempts to slightly liberalize the New Economy are used as the perfect election fodder by the Communists to scare the voters about the spectre of "Thurmondism" returning. The popular Cornel West is brought onto the ticket with the promise of a so called "joint-presidency". The hard left has certainly become a permanent part of the American fabric. The Sanders-West Administration begins their term with yet another purge of the far right. No one protests.
Humphrey/Rockefeller in '68:
1969-1973: Hubert Humphrey/Nelson Rockefeller (D) [1]
1973-1977: Nelson Rockefeller/Abraham Ribicoff (D) [2]
1977-1978: Nelson Rockefeller/George Romney (D) [3]
1978-1981: George Romney/George H.W. Bush (R) [4]
1981-1983: John B. Anderson/Patrick Lucey (I) [5]
1983-1985: Patrick Lucey/Martin J. Schreiber (I) [6]
1985-1993: Ted Kennedy/Jesse Jackson (D)
1993-1997: George H.W. Bush/Bob Dole (R)
1997-2005: Gary Hart/Mario Cuomo (D) [7]
2005-2009: Steve Forbes/Alan Keyes (R) [8]
2009-2013: Steve Forbes/John Kasich (R) [9]
2013-2021: Barney Frank/Chris Dodd (D)
2021-2029: Judy Chu/Cory Booker (D) [10]
[1] Nixon is shot and drops out of the race, handing the nomination to Reagan. Seeing the Republican Party move even farther right, Rockefeller jumps ship and accepts the offer of VP from Humphrey. The "New Unionist Ticket", as its referred to in the press, sweeps the country and wins in a landslide, beating both Reagan and Wallace.
[2] Ribicoff, reaching countrywide fame after his comments at the 1968 DNC, is offered the position of VP by Rockefeller, seeking to appeal to the liberals who voted him in under Humphrey.
[3] Rockefeller falls in the White House and hits his head during his first term, and despite a swift recovery, this worries Ribicoff who has zero aspirations of president. When Rockefeller runs again, Ribicoff denies the position of VP, which is given to Romney. Despite his failed campaigns for president earlier, he is well received as VP.
[4] Sure enough, Ribicoff was right, and Rockefeller dies a year later. Looking to appeal to more conservative Republicans, Romney nominates businessman and Texas governor Bush for VP.
[5] Romney's inability to campaign in '68 reflects itself in his inability to run the country, but being an incumbent with moderate support, he is given the nomination. Anderson initially challenges Romney, but after polling well in primaries, declares himself to be independent and fights a tooth-and-nail campaign against Romney and Ted Kennedy. Ultimately, he wins by electoral victory, with Kennedy narrowly securing the popular vote.
[6] Disliked by most and hated by many, Anderson is shot in '83 by student Andre Yudin. His Russian background and left-leaning politics, as well as Anderson's firm stance against the Soviet Union lead some to believe it was a Soviet attack, but these rumors are largely dismissed and ignored.
[7] Mario Cuomo was the expected Democratic frontrunner in '04, but a heart attack on the campaign trail left the Democrats without a strong candidate.
[8] In 2008, Alan Keyes' 22-year-old daughter came out as a lesbian and was disowned by her family. In the ensuing controversy, Keyes resigns and Kasich is chosen as a more moderate option. In coming years, public opinion towards homosexuality will start to largely skew to the left.
[9] Despite being a radically right Republican following one of the more liberal presidents, Forbes wins reelection in '08. This is largely credited to the then well-received Syrian War.
[10] In 2021, Judy Chu becomes not only the first person of color to run the Oval Office, but she is also the first woman to do so.
1969-1973: Hubert Humphrey/Nelson Rockefeller (D) [1]
1973-1977: Nelson Rockefeller/Abraham Ribicoff (D) [2]
1977-1978: Nelson Rockefeller/George Romney (D) [3]
1978-1981: George Romney/George H.W. Bush (R) [4]
1981-1983: John B. Anderson/Patrick Lucey (I) [5]
1983-1985: Patrick Lucey/Martin J. Schreiber (I) [6]
1985-1993: Ted Kennedy/Jesse Jackson (D)
1993-1997: George H.W. Bush/Bob Dole (R)
1997-2005: Gary Hart/Mario Cuomo (D) [7]
2005-2009: Steve Forbes/Alan Keyes (R) [8]
2009-2013: Steve Forbes/John Kasich (R) [9]
2013-2021: Barney Frank/Chris Dodd (D)
2021-2029: Judy Chu/Cory Booker (D) [10]
[1] Nixon is shot and drops out of the race, handing the nomination to Reagan. Seeing the Republican Party move even farther right, Rockefeller jumps ship and accepts the offer of VP from Humphrey. The "New Unionist Ticket", as its referred to in the press, sweeps the country and wins in a landslide, beating both Reagan and Wallace.
[2] Ribicoff, reaching countrywide fame after his comments at the 1968 DNC, is offered the position of VP by Rockefeller, seeking to appeal to the liberals who voted him in under Humphrey.
[3] Rockefeller falls in the White House and hits his head during his first term, and despite a swift recovery, this worries Ribicoff who has zero aspirations of president. When Rockefeller runs again, Ribicoff denies the position of VP, which is given to Romney. Despite his failed campaigns for president earlier, he is well received as VP.
[4] Sure enough, Ribicoff was right, and Rockefeller dies a year later. Looking to appeal to more conservative Republicans, Romney nominates businessman and Texas governor Bush for VP.
[5] Romney's inability to campaign in '68 reflects itself in his inability to run the country, but being an incumbent with moderate support, he is given the nomination. Anderson initially challenges Romney, but after polling well in primaries, declares himself to be independent and fights a tooth-and-nail campaign against Romney and Ted Kennedy. Ultimately, he wins by electoral victory, with Kennedy narrowly securing the popular vote.
[6] Disliked by most and hated by many, Anderson is shot in '83 by student Andre Yudin. His Russian background and left-leaning politics, as well as Anderson's firm stance against the Soviet Union lead some to believe it was a Soviet attack, but these rumors are largely dismissed and ignored.
[7] Mario Cuomo was the expected Democratic frontrunner in '04, but a heart attack on the campaign trail left the Democrats without a strong candidate.
[8] In 2008, Alan Keyes' 22-year-old daughter came out as a lesbian and was disowned by her family. In the ensuing controversy, Keyes resigns and Kasich is chosen as a more moderate option. In coming years, public opinion towards homosexuality will start to largely skew to the left.
[9] Despite being a radically right Republican following one of the more liberal presidents, Forbes wins reelection in '08. This is largely credited to the then well-received Syrian War.
[10] In 2021, Judy Chu becomes not only the first person of color to run the Oval Office, but she is also the first woman to do so.
While this is an interesting thought exercise for sure, I'm afraid this would have to involve at least *some* ASBs; there's no way that George Wallace in his segregationist form could have won in '72, even with a POD in 1960, and even if he'd run as a Republican or a Democrat-and certainly not as the poster boy of the A.I.P.-hell, if it had to come between an unrepentant Wallace and the good Senator from Massachusetts, there's no real doubt whatsoever that at least somewhat of a majority of even white voters nationwide(with most of the South and maybe a few other places excepted!)would have gone for the black guy, rather than the dyed-in-the-wool Jim Crow worshipper.
It was just a game, we weren't really aiming for plausibility in the slightest. Besides, it was more of a thought experiment anyway.
Here's the second part:
1897: Adlai Stevenson I/William McKinley (Union)
1897-1901: William McKinley (R)
1901-1905: George Dewey/John W. Kern (N)
1905-1907: George Dewey/Bill Cody (N)
1907-1909: George Dewey/vacant (N)
1909-1913: William J. Bryan/Woodrow Wilson (N)
1913: Champ Clark/William Hearst (N)
1913-1917: William Hearst/vacant (N)
1917-1918: Hiram Johnson/Charles W. Fairbanks (R)
1918-1921: Hiram Johnson/vacant (R)
1921-1925: James M. Cox/Charles W. Bryan (N)
1925-1929: Hiram Johnson/Charles G. Dawes (R)
1929-1931: Al Smith/Oscar Underwood (N)
1931-1933: Al Smith/vacant (N)
1933: Al Smith/George S. Patton (N)
1933-1937: George S. Patton/vacant (N)
1937-1941: George S. Patton/Alben W. Barkley (N)
1941-1944: Joseph P. Kennedy/Franklin D. Roosevelt (N)
1944-1945: Joseph P. Kennedy/vacant (N)
An attempt for a permanent three-way American party system, with Teddy Roosevelt's family becoming a dynasty and therefore creating their own "Roosevelt coalition". The Democrats develop from a segregationist and sometimes populist party to a moderate centre-right force, while the Republicans become a less ideological, free-market "business-only" party.
1912 Theodore Roosevelt/Charles Hughes (Progressive)
def. Champ Clark/Thomas Marshall (Democrat), William Howard Taft/Nicholas Butler (Republican)
1916 Theodore Roosevelt/Charles Hughes (Progressive)
def. Woodrow Wilson/Oscar Underwood (Democrat), Elihu Root/Charles Fairbanks (Republican)
1920 William McAdoo/Carter Glass (Democrat)
def. Charles Hughes/Jane Addams (Progressive), Warren Harding/Calvin Coolidge (Republican)
1924 William McAdoo/Carter Glass (Democrat)
def. Robert M. La Follette/Burton Wheeler (Progressive), John Rockefeller, Jr./Herbert Hoover (Republican)
1928 Carter Glass / John Nance Garner (Democrat)
def. Herbert Hoover/Henry Ford (Republican), Dudley Field Malone/Hiram Johnson (Progressive)
1932 Hiram Johnson/Alice Roosevelt (Progressive)
def. Carter Glass/John Nance Garner (Democrat), James Wolcott Wadsworth/William Borah (Republican)
1936 Hiram Johnson/Alice Roosevelt (Progressive)
def. William Borah/Wendell Wilkie (Republican), Henry Skillman Breckinridge/Charles Lindbergh (Democrat)
1940 Wendell Wilkie/Robert Taft (Republican)
def. Hiram Johnson/Alice Roosevelt (Progressive), Charles Lindbergh/Huey Long (Democrat)
1944 Wendell Wilkie/Robert Taft (Republican)
def. Alice Roosevelt/Thomas Dewey (Progressive), Huey Long/Cordell Hull (Democrat)
1948 William Averell Harriman/Walter Reuther (Progressive)
def. Robert Taft/Arthur Vandenburg (Republican), Herman Talmadge/Harry Byrd (Democrat)
1952 Dwight Eisenhower/Richard Russell (Democrat)
def. William Averell Harriman/Walter Reuther (Progressive), Harold Stassen/Henry Ford II (Republican)
1956 Dwight Eisenhower/Richard Russell (Democrat)
def. Adlai Stevenson/William Fulbright (Progressive), Christian Herter/Richard Nixon (Republican)
1960 Edith Roosevelt Williams/Lyndon B. Johnson (Progressive)
def. Nelson Rockefeller/Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (Republican), Coleman Andrews/Happy Chandler (Democrat)
1964 Edith Roosevelt Williams/Lyndon B. Johnson (Progressive)
def. George Wallace/Ronald Reagan (Democrat), Nelson Rockefeller/Robert McNamara (Republican)
1968 George Romney/Richard Nixon (Republican)
def. Robert Kennedy/Eugene McCarthy (Progressive), Ronald Reagan/Lester Maddox (Democrat)
1972 George Romney/Richard Nixon (Republican)
def. Sam Yorty/Hubert Humphrey (Democrat), George McGovern/Shirley Chisholm (Progressive)
1976 Richard Nixon/Roger MacBride (Republican)
def. Jimmy Carter/Lloyd Bentsen (Democrat), Walter Mondale/Sargent Shriver (Progressive)
1980 John Glenn/Ernest Hollings (Democrat)
def. Richard Nixon/Roger MacBride (Republican), Eugene McCarthy/Bella Abzug (Progressive)
1984 John Glenn/Ernest Hollings (Democrat)
def. David Koch/George Bush (Republican), Geraldine Ferraro/Gary Hart (Progressive)
1988 John Heinz/Alexander Haig (Republican)
def. Al Gore/Pat Robertson (Democrat), Jesse Jackson/Pat Schroeder (Progressive)
1992 John Heinz/Alexander Haig (Republican)
def. Robert Reich/Ron Brown (Progressive), Robert Byrd/Ed Koch (Democrat)
1996 Bruce Babbitt/Laura Tyson (Progressive)
def. Bud Cramer/Bobbi Fiedler (Democrat), Steve Forbes/Larry Elder (Republican)
2000 Bruce Babbitt/Laura Tyson (Progressive)
def. Bobby Bright/Jim Oberstar (Democrat), Michael Bloomberg/Alan Keyes (Republican)
2004 Mitt Romney/Charles Koch (Republican)
def. John Edwards/Bill Richardson (Democrat), Howard Dean/Barbara Lee (Progressive)
2008 Rudy Giuliani/Joe Donnelly (Democrat)
def. Mitt Romney/Charles Koch (Republican), Dennis Kucinich/Joseph Stiglitz (Progressive)
2012 Rudy Giuliani/Joe Donnelly (Democrat)
def. Antonio Villaraigosa/Tammy Baldwin (Progressive), Abigail Johnson/Colin Powell (Republican)
2016 Bob Casey, Jr./Kathy Dahlkemper (Democrat)
def. Russ Feingold/Amy Klobuchar (Progressive), Rick Scott/Carly Fiorina (Republican)
1912 Theodore Roosevelt/Charles Hughes (Progressive)
def. Champ Clark/Thomas Marshall (Democrat), William Howard Taft/Nicholas Butler (Republican)
1916 Theodore Roosevelt/Charles Hughes (Progressive)
def. Woodrow Wilson/Oscar Underwood (Democrat), Elihu Root/Charles Fairbanks (Republican)
1920 William McAdoo/Carter Glass (Democrat)
def. Charles Hughes/Jane Addams (Progressive), Warren Harding/Calvin Coolidge (Republican)
1924 William McAdoo/Carter Glass (Democrat)
def. Robert M. La Follette/Burton Wheeler (Progressive), John Rockefeller, Jr./Herbert Hoover (Republican)
1928 Carter Glass / John Nance Garner (Democrat)
def. Herbert Hoover/Henry Ford (Republican), Dudley Field Malone/Hiram Johnson (Progressive)
1932 Hiram Johnson/Alice Roosevelt (Progressive)
def. Carter Glass/John Nance Garner (Democrat), James Wolcott Wadsworth/William Borah (Republican)
1936 Hiram Johnson/Alice Roosevelt (Progressive)
def. William Borah/Wendell Wilkie (Republican), Henry Skillman Breckinridge/Charles Lindbergh (Democrat)
1940 Wendell Wilkie/Robert Taft (Republican)
def. Hiram Johnson/Alice Roosevelt (Progressive), Charles Lindbergh/Huey Long (Democrat)
1944 Wendell Wilkie/Robert Taft (Republican)
def. Alice Roosevelt/Thomas Dewey (Progressive), Huey Long/Cordell Hull (Democrat)
1948 William Averell Harriman/Walter Reuther (Progressive)
def. Robert Taft/Arthur Vandenburg (Republican), Herman Talmadge/Harry Byrd (Democrat)
1952 Dwight Eisenhower/Richard Russell (Democrat)
def. William Averell Harriman/Walter Reuther (Progressive), Harold Stassen/Henry Ford II (Republican)
1956 Dwight Eisenhower/Richard Russell (Democrat)
def. Adlai Stevenson/William Fulbright (Progressive), Christian Herter/Richard Nixon (Republican)
1960 Edith Roosevelt Williams/Lyndon B. Johnson (Progressive)
def. Nelson Rockefeller/Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (Republican), Coleman Andrews/Happy Chandler (Democrat)
1964 Edith Roosevelt Williams/Lyndon B. Johnson (Progressive)
def. George Wallace/Ronald Reagan (Democrat), Nelson Rockefeller/Robert McNamara (Republican)
1968 George Romney/Richard Nixon (Republican)
def. Robert Kennedy/Eugene McCarthy (Progressive), Ronald Reagan/Lester Maddox (Democrat)
1972 George Romney/Richard Nixon (Republican)
def. Sam Yorty/Hubert Humphrey (Democrat), George McGovern/Shirley Chisholm (Progressive)
1976 Richard Nixon/Roger MacBride (Republican)
def. Jimmy Carter/Lloyd Bentsen (Democrat), Walter Mondale/Sargent Shriver (Progressive)
1980 John Glenn/Ernest Hollings (Democrat)
def. Richard Nixon/Roger MacBride (Republican), Eugene McCarthy/Bella Abzug (Progressive)
1984 John Glenn/Ernest Hollings (Democrat)
def. David Koch/George Bush (Republican), Geraldine Ferraro/Gary Hart (Progressive)
1988 John Heinz/Alexander Haig (Republican)
def. Al Gore/Pat Robertson (Democrat), Jesse Jackson/Pat Schroeder (Progressive)
1992 John Heinz/Alexander Haig (Republican)
def. Robert Reich/Ron Brown (Progressive), Robert Byrd/Ed Koch (Democrat)
1996 Bruce Babbitt/Laura Tyson (Progressive)
def. Bud Cramer/Bobbi Fiedler (Democrat), Steve Forbes/Larry Elder (Republican)
2000 Bruce Babbitt/Laura Tyson (Progressive)
def. Bobby Bright/Jim Oberstar (Democrat), Michael Bloomberg/Alan Keyes (Republican)
2004 Mitt Romney/Charles Koch (Republican)
def. John Edwards/Bill Richardson (Democrat), Howard Dean/Barbara Lee (Progressive)
2008 Rudy Giuliani/Joe Donnelly (Democrat)
def. Mitt Romney/Charles Koch (Republican), Dennis Kucinich/Joseph Stiglitz (Progressive)
2012 Rudy Giuliani/Joe Donnelly (Democrat)
def. Antonio Villaraigosa/Tammy Baldwin (Progressive), Abigail Johnson/Colin Powell (Republican)
2016 Bob Casey, Jr./Kathy Dahlkemper (Democrat)
def. Russ Feingold/Amy Klobuchar (Progressive), Rick Scott/Carly Fiorina (Republican)
Alternate list of British Prime Ministers. There is a link between all the names and it should be fairly easy to work out.
Winston Churchill: 1940 – 1945[1]
Emmanuel Shinwell: 1945 -1948[2]
Maurice Webb: 1948 – 1952[3]
Derek Walker-Smith: 1952 – 1956[4]
John Morrison: 1956 – 1964[5]
Douglas Houghton: 1964 – 1971[6]
Cledwyn Hughes: 1971 - 1976[7]
Edward Du Cann: 1976 – 1988[8]
Harry Legge-Bourke: 1988-88
Stanley Orme: 1988 – 1993[9]
Marcus Fox: 1993 – 1998[10]
Jean Corston: 1998 – 2002[11]
Tony Lloyd: 2002 – 2008[12]
Graham Brady: Incumbent[13]
[1] Many expected Churchill’s loyal deputy Clem Attlee to lead Labour into the next election. However shortly after VE day, Attlee announced that after ten years at the helm, he would be standing down to allow another man to lead the party into the next election.
[2] Unexpectedly his successor was not one of the expected Big Beasts of the Labour Party but Minister of Food in the Coalition Government, Manny Shinwell, who rode to victory with the support of Ernie Bevin. Walking away with a 145 seat majority following the election, Shinwell set about building a new country, including a large scale policy of nationalisation of industry. However Shinwell while a passionate politician, he could also be fiery and unpredictable. A mere three years after taking office, he resigned following a scandal over a coal shortage during the winter of 1947.
[3] Webb’s victory in the Labour leadership election was as unexpected as Shinwell. Having only entered Parliament in 1945, he had however been around Labour politics since his teenage years and his recognised skills in propaganda may well have contributed to his rapid rise. Despite having another two years to run of the present parliament, upon his election, Webb decided to seek his own mandate and Labour were handed yet another victory, all be it with a smaller majority. An master of propaganda, Webb saw his role as a salesman while leaving the legislation to his cabinet. Despite many achievements, including a Local Health Service or LHS (run at local level, on the insistence of Eileen Wilkinson) the existence of a many former ILP members in Government added fuel to Lord Beaverbrook’s claim of a Red Takeover over of the government, which the public took to heart at the 1952 election.
[4] Derek Walker-Smith was a shire Tory of the old school. Having entered Parliament in 1945 he had risen rapidly up the ranks, thanks to the old boys network finding himself Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury by 1950. When the Men in Grey persuaded Churchill to stand down in 1951, they Magic Circle realised that there were too many potential candidates for the leadership, so decided to select a temporary candidate to take them through an election they expected to lose, while the succession sorted itself out. Thus it was a bit of a surprise to everyone when Walker-Smith found himself election Prime Minister in 1952
To start off Walker-Smith did well. While Labour under Shinwell and Webb had improved public services, they hadn’t done much for the economy (despite securing loans from Washington), so Walker-Smith, focussed on trimming public expenditure where he could and reasserting the strength of British trade. However it would be Foreign affairs that would be his undoing. Shortly before the election of 1956, the Egyptian Government, renationalised the Suez canal. Concerned about the effect on British industry, Walker-Smith, began plotting with the French and Israeli government to overthrow Nasser. When this got to the ears of the cabinet, they decided that the succession had had long enough to sort itself out, and Walker-Smith “resigned” in favour of his Chancellor of the Exchequer.
[5] John Morrison had risen to power by not offending anyone and not shaking the boat unless absolutely necessary. The ousting of Walker-Smith however had been necessary. Winning the 1956 election on a promise of building Britain’s strength at home, his first act was to send his Foreign secretary Reginald Maudling, to Egypt to negotiate, a deal. Maudling returned with one. The UK and France would be able to travel unheeded up and down the canal in exchange for a small percentage of the profit. This type of solution was typical of the Morrison premiership. When in a tight spot, negotiate. This was also how he dealt with the breakdown of the British empire, negotiating it into the Commonwealth Union we know today. The main focus of his Premiership however was home affairs, including resurrecting a prodigious house building project that had been begun and then shelved by the Webb government.
He also took an special interest in Britain’s heritage, starting the organisations that would in time become the English Historical Trust and the National Heritage Foundation.
Morrison’s relaxed charm endeared him to the General public, allowing him to breeze through re-election in 1960. He could have gone on for another term easily, but instead announced his retirement shortly before the 1964 election. Deciding that after 12 years of Tory rule, they wanted something different, the public exiled his successor to the Opposition benches.
[6]Douglas Houghton, Baron Houghton of Sowerby is considered by many to be one of the great Labour Prime Ministers, not for anything he did specifically but rather for his ability to hold the party together during a period where the Left/Right divide was starting to come to the fore. A friend to everyone and a well-known face around the tea rooms he was someone everyone in the party counted as a friend, which was partially responsible for his rise to the leadership as a consensus candidate in 1961. Politically he made use of the money left behind by Morrison and the trade deals he had enacted to extend state services, including the abolition of prescription charges for those under 21 and over 55. He also allowed a limited amount of private ownership of business, but in the co-op style, so as to make sure that the workers had an equal say in how the business was run. A passionate animal lover, he also began setting up conservation areas around the country, and granting Special interest status to others. He retired in 1971 shortly after his 73 birthday.
[7]Houghton’s Education Secretary Cledwyn Hughes followed the Webb precedent and announced a snap election in order to secure his own mandate. He benefited from the Tories in ability to decide how they were going to respond to the Post-War consensus, with the battle between Powell and Heath leaving the party in danger of civil war. Policy wise, Hughes mostly continued his predecessor’s policy, though he did establish a commission on devolution to the provinces. However the nation’s economic bubble stretching to breaking point, and a Powellite Tory toppling Heath in 1975 (Powell himself having accepted he was too divisive to be leader) meant that come the election of 76, Labour were sent packing back to the Opposition benches.
[8]If you mention the name Edward Du Cann to people today, you will get very mixed views. For some he is the greatest (and all will acknowledge the longest serving to date) Prime Minister since the war. To others he is the scourge of the working class. Whatever your opinion of him however, it cannot be denied that he bought about big changes in Britain. His Chancellor Willie Whitelaw’s first budget for example announced the end of the gold standard, and the independence of the Bank of England. But this was as nothing to the statement made by his Secretary of State for Industry, Keith Joseph, in 1979, announced the Trade Union and Politics Bill, which would outlaw wild cat strikes and require all strikes to require 50% support of members. It also regulated the amount of money unions could donate to political parties, introducing a mandatory cap. The Unions hit the roof and walked out in a mass strike. However, Du Cann had the last laugh and revealed he had been stock piling materials for some time, allowing the country to carry on around the strikers. While the Bill would gradually be watered down, by the House of Lords, the damage had been done to the power of British trade unions.
While Du Cann would consider himself an internationalist (continuing the policy of Morrison, Keith Joseph and Foreign Secretary Margaret Thatcher would secure many trade deals for the UK abroad), it was Europe that would prove to be his weak spot. While he was no supporter of the European Federation he was also a person who believed in direct democracy. Having entered the common market under Houghton, Du Cann resolved to put it to a referendum. The British people narrowly voted to continue as a member, though Du Cann resisted any further attempts at integration.
In the end Du Cann was not defeated at the Ballot Box but decided to go on his own terms retiring shortly after the twelfth anniversary of his becoming Prime Minister. His successor only lasted three months in office, before the people decided that they like Du Cann, but didn’t necessarily like his party. For better or worse whatever people think of it, Cannism would come to define Conservative ideology through to the modern day
[9]Stanley Orme could not have come into power at a worse time. While many on the ecological left will remember him as the man who began investigations into renewable forms of energy (though he also continued investing in nuclear power) he is mostly remembered as the man who was in charge when IRA stepped up their campaigns. Numerous discussions over the years had failed to create a decent deal, and this combined with an unwise jaunt to Iran with President Bentsen caused Orme’s stock to plummet. The final blow came when shortly after before the election was called a deal with the French over a new airplane fell through, and the stock market tumbled slightly. This was enough to give Fox’s Tories the edge in the election.
[10] Marcus Fox, Du Cann’s final Chancellor, was just the right man to right the wobbly economy, putting together a new deal with the Germans to resurrect the Concord project. His approach to Ireland however, was a lot less subtle. While he also attempted to engage in talks (and the final Remembrance Day deal put together by the following administration can be traced back to his work) his first response was to ramp up the military presence. While he cannot be directly blamed for the actions of the rouge soldiers involved in the Black Friday encounter, the press had a field day. However like many politicians in the Conservative party, his downfall would be Europe. Fox was a Europhile in a party that was becoming increasingly Eurosceptic. While he favoured further integration others in his cabinet did not, and the despite the economic and domestic successes of his government (including new tram lines in most major cities), the Press and the Labour Party were able to use the arguments as a sign the Tories were unfit to govern, leading to the historic election of 1998.
[11] The first female Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Jean Corston had been Home Secretary in Stanley Orme’s government and one of its few success stories. During her time as PM, Corston, bought peace to Northern Ireland, and rolled out devolved assemblies to Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Cornwall as well as a granting greater powers to the Greater London Council. The one sticky part of her administration was when President Richards (another first for the US this time) decided following the Washington Monument Bombing of 2002, to return to Iran to finish what her predecessor had started. However unlike her own predecessor, Corston decided to side with the French and the rest of the EU in refusing to join in taking the fight to Tehran, though the UK did involve itself in the rebuild. Corston retired at the end of her first term, feeling that she wanted to go out on a high, and endorsed her Health secretary as her successor.
[12] Lloyd benefited from the Tory party tearing itself apart over Europe, electing a succession of unsuitable leaders. Lloyd who had got his start in local politics in Manchester counted his main achievement as the increased amount of powers granted to local governments. Rather than investing in a regional assembly for England, he passed legislation allowing local councils to join up into large municipal authorities with directly elected Mayors at their head. He also took the UK further into the EU. However this would prove to be the thing to bought to an end an otherwise successful premiership. When in 2007 the Euro tumbled, it took the UK economy with it. Thus the Tories (united under a new coalition building leader) were bought back to once again to steer the economy out of stormy waters.
[13] Despite not being as badly hit as the Germany’s, austerity was the watch word of Brady’s first term in office. While many on the left were unhappy with this cuts to the public sector, he was able to point to a growth in trade and employment figures in order to secure re-election in 2013. The focus of his second term is Europe. Brady is a well-known Eurosceptic, but like Du Cann has promised to put it to a referendum next year. He has announced he will be retiring before the next election and all eyes are on his likely successor, Foreign Secretary, Charles Walker.
Winston Churchill: 1940 – 1945[1]
Emmanuel Shinwell: 1945 -1948[2]
Maurice Webb: 1948 – 1952[3]
Derek Walker-Smith: 1952 – 1956[4]
John Morrison: 1956 – 1964[5]
Douglas Houghton: 1964 – 1971[6]
Cledwyn Hughes: 1971 - 1976[7]
Edward Du Cann: 1976 – 1988[8]
Harry Legge-Bourke: 1988-88
Stanley Orme: 1988 – 1993[9]
Marcus Fox: 1993 – 1998[10]
Jean Corston: 1998 – 2002[11]
Tony Lloyd: 2002 – 2008[12]
Graham Brady: Incumbent[13]
[1] Many expected Churchill’s loyal deputy Clem Attlee to lead Labour into the next election. However shortly after VE day, Attlee announced that after ten years at the helm, he would be standing down to allow another man to lead the party into the next election.
[2] Unexpectedly his successor was not one of the expected Big Beasts of the Labour Party but Minister of Food in the Coalition Government, Manny Shinwell, who rode to victory with the support of Ernie Bevin. Walking away with a 145 seat majority following the election, Shinwell set about building a new country, including a large scale policy of nationalisation of industry. However Shinwell while a passionate politician, he could also be fiery and unpredictable. A mere three years after taking office, he resigned following a scandal over a coal shortage during the winter of 1947.
[3] Webb’s victory in the Labour leadership election was as unexpected as Shinwell. Having only entered Parliament in 1945, he had however been around Labour politics since his teenage years and his recognised skills in propaganda may well have contributed to his rapid rise. Despite having another two years to run of the present parliament, upon his election, Webb decided to seek his own mandate and Labour were handed yet another victory, all be it with a smaller majority. An master of propaganda, Webb saw his role as a salesman while leaving the legislation to his cabinet. Despite many achievements, including a Local Health Service or LHS (run at local level, on the insistence of Eileen Wilkinson) the existence of a many former ILP members in Government added fuel to Lord Beaverbrook’s claim of a Red Takeover over of the government, which the public took to heart at the 1952 election.
[4] Derek Walker-Smith was a shire Tory of the old school. Having entered Parliament in 1945 he had risen rapidly up the ranks, thanks to the old boys network finding himself Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury by 1950. When the Men in Grey persuaded Churchill to stand down in 1951, they Magic Circle realised that there were too many potential candidates for the leadership, so decided to select a temporary candidate to take them through an election they expected to lose, while the succession sorted itself out. Thus it was a bit of a surprise to everyone when Walker-Smith found himself election Prime Minister in 1952
To start off Walker-Smith did well. While Labour under Shinwell and Webb had improved public services, they hadn’t done much for the economy (despite securing loans from Washington), so Walker-Smith, focussed on trimming public expenditure where he could and reasserting the strength of British trade. However it would be Foreign affairs that would be his undoing. Shortly before the election of 1956, the Egyptian Government, renationalised the Suez canal. Concerned about the effect on British industry, Walker-Smith, began plotting with the French and Israeli government to overthrow Nasser. When this got to the ears of the cabinet, they decided that the succession had had long enough to sort itself out, and Walker-Smith “resigned” in favour of his Chancellor of the Exchequer.
[5] John Morrison had risen to power by not offending anyone and not shaking the boat unless absolutely necessary. The ousting of Walker-Smith however had been necessary. Winning the 1956 election on a promise of building Britain’s strength at home, his first act was to send his Foreign secretary Reginald Maudling, to Egypt to negotiate, a deal. Maudling returned with one. The UK and France would be able to travel unheeded up and down the canal in exchange for a small percentage of the profit. This type of solution was typical of the Morrison premiership. When in a tight spot, negotiate. This was also how he dealt with the breakdown of the British empire, negotiating it into the Commonwealth Union we know today. The main focus of his Premiership however was home affairs, including resurrecting a prodigious house building project that had been begun and then shelved by the Webb government.
He also took an special interest in Britain’s heritage, starting the organisations that would in time become the English Historical Trust and the National Heritage Foundation.
Morrison’s relaxed charm endeared him to the General public, allowing him to breeze through re-election in 1960. He could have gone on for another term easily, but instead announced his retirement shortly before the 1964 election. Deciding that after 12 years of Tory rule, they wanted something different, the public exiled his successor to the Opposition benches.
[6]Douglas Houghton, Baron Houghton of Sowerby is considered by many to be one of the great Labour Prime Ministers, not for anything he did specifically but rather for his ability to hold the party together during a period where the Left/Right divide was starting to come to the fore. A friend to everyone and a well-known face around the tea rooms he was someone everyone in the party counted as a friend, which was partially responsible for his rise to the leadership as a consensus candidate in 1961. Politically he made use of the money left behind by Morrison and the trade deals he had enacted to extend state services, including the abolition of prescription charges for those under 21 and over 55. He also allowed a limited amount of private ownership of business, but in the co-op style, so as to make sure that the workers had an equal say in how the business was run. A passionate animal lover, he also began setting up conservation areas around the country, and granting Special interest status to others. He retired in 1971 shortly after his 73 birthday.
[7]Houghton’s Education Secretary Cledwyn Hughes followed the Webb precedent and announced a snap election in order to secure his own mandate. He benefited from the Tories in ability to decide how they were going to respond to the Post-War consensus, with the battle between Powell and Heath leaving the party in danger of civil war. Policy wise, Hughes mostly continued his predecessor’s policy, though he did establish a commission on devolution to the provinces. However the nation’s economic bubble stretching to breaking point, and a Powellite Tory toppling Heath in 1975 (Powell himself having accepted he was too divisive to be leader) meant that come the election of 76, Labour were sent packing back to the Opposition benches.
[8]If you mention the name Edward Du Cann to people today, you will get very mixed views. For some he is the greatest (and all will acknowledge the longest serving to date) Prime Minister since the war. To others he is the scourge of the working class. Whatever your opinion of him however, it cannot be denied that he bought about big changes in Britain. His Chancellor Willie Whitelaw’s first budget for example announced the end of the gold standard, and the independence of the Bank of England. But this was as nothing to the statement made by his Secretary of State for Industry, Keith Joseph, in 1979, announced the Trade Union and Politics Bill, which would outlaw wild cat strikes and require all strikes to require 50% support of members. It also regulated the amount of money unions could donate to political parties, introducing a mandatory cap. The Unions hit the roof and walked out in a mass strike. However, Du Cann had the last laugh and revealed he had been stock piling materials for some time, allowing the country to carry on around the strikers. While the Bill would gradually be watered down, by the House of Lords, the damage had been done to the power of British trade unions.
While Du Cann would consider himself an internationalist (continuing the policy of Morrison, Keith Joseph and Foreign Secretary Margaret Thatcher would secure many trade deals for the UK abroad), it was Europe that would prove to be his weak spot. While he was no supporter of the European Federation he was also a person who believed in direct democracy. Having entered the common market under Houghton, Du Cann resolved to put it to a referendum. The British people narrowly voted to continue as a member, though Du Cann resisted any further attempts at integration.
In the end Du Cann was not defeated at the Ballot Box but decided to go on his own terms retiring shortly after the twelfth anniversary of his becoming Prime Minister. His successor only lasted three months in office, before the people decided that they like Du Cann, but didn’t necessarily like his party. For better or worse whatever people think of it, Cannism would come to define Conservative ideology through to the modern day
[9]Stanley Orme could not have come into power at a worse time. While many on the ecological left will remember him as the man who began investigations into renewable forms of energy (though he also continued investing in nuclear power) he is mostly remembered as the man who was in charge when IRA stepped up their campaigns. Numerous discussions over the years had failed to create a decent deal, and this combined with an unwise jaunt to Iran with President Bentsen caused Orme’s stock to plummet. The final blow came when shortly after before the election was called a deal with the French over a new airplane fell through, and the stock market tumbled slightly. This was enough to give Fox’s Tories the edge in the election.
[10] Marcus Fox, Du Cann’s final Chancellor, was just the right man to right the wobbly economy, putting together a new deal with the Germans to resurrect the Concord project. His approach to Ireland however, was a lot less subtle. While he also attempted to engage in talks (and the final Remembrance Day deal put together by the following administration can be traced back to his work) his first response was to ramp up the military presence. While he cannot be directly blamed for the actions of the rouge soldiers involved in the Black Friday encounter, the press had a field day. However like many politicians in the Conservative party, his downfall would be Europe. Fox was a Europhile in a party that was becoming increasingly Eurosceptic. While he favoured further integration others in his cabinet did not, and the despite the economic and domestic successes of his government (including new tram lines in most major cities), the Press and the Labour Party were able to use the arguments as a sign the Tories were unfit to govern, leading to the historic election of 1998.
[11] The first female Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Jean Corston had been Home Secretary in Stanley Orme’s government and one of its few success stories. During her time as PM, Corston, bought peace to Northern Ireland, and rolled out devolved assemblies to Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Cornwall as well as a granting greater powers to the Greater London Council. The one sticky part of her administration was when President Richards (another first for the US this time) decided following the Washington Monument Bombing of 2002, to return to Iran to finish what her predecessor had started. However unlike her own predecessor, Corston decided to side with the French and the rest of the EU in refusing to join in taking the fight to Tehran, though the UK did involve itself in the rebuild. Corston retired at the end of her first term, feeling that she wanted to go out on a high, and endorsed her Health secretary as her successor.
[12] Lloyd benefited from the Tory party tearing itself apart over Europe, electing a succession of unsuitable leaders. Lloyd who had got his start in local politics in Manchester counted his main achievement as the increased amount of powers granted to local governments. Rather than investing in a regional assembly for England, he passed legislation allowing local councils to join up into large municipal authorities with directly elected Mayors at their head. He also took the UK further into the EU. However this would prove to be the thing to bought to an end an otherwise successful premiership. When in 2007 the Euro tumbled, it took the UK economy with it. Thus the Tories (united under a new coalition building leader) were bought back to once again to steer the economy out of stormy waters.
[13] Despite not being as badly hit as the Germany’s, austerity was the watch word of Brady’s first term in office. While many on the left were unhappy with this cuts to the public sector, he was able to point to a growth in trade and employment figures in order to secure re-election in 2013. The focus of his second term is Europe. Brady is a well-known Eurosceptic, but like Du Cann has promised to put it to a referendum next year. He has announced he will be retiring before the next election and all eyes are on his likely successor, Foreign Secretary, Charles Walker.
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Got it in one. Well done.
The other thing I did which may not have been spotted, is that with the exception of Brady (who I gave another term to as he is the incumbent chair of the 1922) and Harry Legge-Bourke who was a place holder, everyone's time as PM lasts as long as their real life chairman ships did. Hence why Shinwell only lasts three years (he was chair from 1964 - 67 in our world) and Du Cann serves twelve (he was to date the longest serving post-war chairman of the 1922 committee). It's also why I made the precedent of those who assume the premiership halfway through a term calling a snap election a thing, so I could grant them the full five years in office.
(As an additional side note, Charles Walker is one of the current vice-chairs of the 1922 hence my suggestion he might become Prime Minister soon)
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Iowa is Always Right
In which the primary winners of Iowa are the nominees and Iowa's result in the OTL presidential election determine who wins in ATL.
1972: Richard Nixon (Republican) def. Edmund Muskie (Democratic)
1976: Gerald Ford (Republican) def. Jimmy Carter (Democratic)
1980: George H. W. Bush (Republican) def. Jimmy Carter (Democratic)
1984: George H. W. Bush (Republican) def. Walter Mondale (Democratic)
1988: Dick Gephardt (Democratic) def. Bob Dole (Republican)
1992: Tom Harkin (Democratic) def. George H. W. Bush (Republican)
1996: Tom Harkin (Democratic) def. Bob Dole (Republican) [With clear "incumbent unopposed" primaries, I gave it to the ATL incumbent]
2000: Al Gore (Democratic) def. George W. Bush (Republican)
2004: George W. Bush (Republican) def. John Kerry (Democratic)
2008: Barack Obama (Democratic) def. Mike Huckabee (Republican)
2012: Barack Obama (Democratic) def. Rick Santorum (Republican)
In which the primary winners of Iowa are the nominees and Iowa's result in the OTL presidential election determine who wins in ATL.
1972: Richard Nixon (Republican) def. Edmund Muskie (Democratic)
1976: Gerald Ford (Republican) def. Jimmy Carter (Democratic)
1980: George H. W. Bush (Republican) def. Jimmy Carter (Democratic)
1984: George H. W. Bush (Republican) def. Walter Mondale (Democratic)
1988: Dick Gephardt (Democratic) def. Bob Dole (Republican)
1992: Tom Harkin (Democratic) def. George H. W. Bush (Republican)
1996: Tom Harkin (Democratic) def. Bob Dole (Republican) [With clear "incumbent unopposed" primaries, I gave it to the ATL incumbent]
2000: Al Gore (Democratic) def. George W. Bush (Republican)
2004: George W. Bush (Republican) def. John Kerry (Democratic)
2008: Barack Obama (Democratic) def. Mike Huckabee (Republican)
2012: Barack Obama (Democratic) def. Rick Santorum (Republican)
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