The Ruins of an American Party System, Part Three: Revolution
- Thread starter Emperor Julian
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Bulldoggus
Banned
Is my boi Salty doing anything other than attending functions the President didn't feel like going to?
Wendell Willkie, American Political Maverick and International Ladies' Man.
Wendell Willkie, American Political Maverick and International Ladies' Man.
If things go right, this could help develop a good chunk of the world and provide allies against the USSR (at least until the USSR reforms). Of course, removing Chiang is an important requirement, to speed up China's democratization.
Seconded!
Goddamn, Peru is a mess. I wouldn't be shocked if the fascists wind up winning, with their strongest opposition caught up in infighting and losing foreign support. Could definitely be a negative mark on Taft's legacy if things keep looking bleak.
Any particular reason Randolph is a Progressive rather than a Socialist, as IOTL?
Any particular reason Randolph is a Progressive rather than a Socialist, as IOTL?
The President's Challenges, Continued
"I have been called a conservative and a liberal. However, in actuality I am neither. I am not aligned to any ideology, but to the United States Constitution. When I took the oath of office, I swore to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. This oath applies to every article and every amendment." The President addressed a joint session of Congress, although his voice was carried by radio across the nation.
"The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution reads, 'The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.' This amendment was ratified seventy-five years ago, but has yet to be truly enforced. If any part of the Constitution can be ignored, if any section can be violated, then the entire document can be ignored. The preservation of the rule of constitutional law is absolutely essential for the preservation of the union itself."
"The Constitution also states in Article Four, Section Four that 'The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government'. It is impossible to claim that any state where forty percent of the population is disenfranchised due to their race is a republic. And it is equally impossible to state that vast portions of the populace of this country are not excluded from the franchise due to their race."
"LIAR!" came a shout from one of the Commonwealth Congressmen; Taft could not identify which one.
Ignoring the shouter, the President kept speaking. "Furthermore, following the passage of the twenty-eighth amendment, egregious breaches of democracy in one state can shape the entire nation's choice for president in a close election. We have received complaints over possible irregularities in the election-" been accused of all manner of wild offenses, more like it, but if the left was going to go berserk and attack Taft, he would use their rage "-and thus we should pass legislation to secure our nation's electoral process and ensure that everyone's votes are counted."
"The Fifteenth Amendment's second section," Taft continued, "States that 'Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation'. As President of the United States, I call upon the United States Congress to fulfill its constitutional duty and to pass comprehensive voting rights legislation."
~~~
As expected, Taft's open endorsement of the voting rights legislation had a mixed political response. Liberal Republicans, who Saltonstall had already gotten on board with the legislation, applauded him. Conservatives did so as well, in a more subdued and cautious fashion. Taft sent his chief of staff Buffett to try and convince the conservatives that he wouldn't go overboard, while he had Hoover call up big business in the north to convince them that it was in their best interest to back the bill as well. Progressives were torn between cheering the president for supporting a bill which they generally did as well, and trying to find ways to criticize him for not going far enough. Even the American Party's response was mixed; while few members of the American Party really supported comprehensive race-based voting rights legislation, many thought that the provisions to ensure voting access could help them against the Commonwealth Party's schemes in the South. The Commonwealth Party of course opposed the legislation, and claimed it was a plot by big-business northeasterners to break apart the white working class of the South in order to reverse all of the progress made there.
Taft was in his office, reading various memos sent to him by government agencies summarizing their progress in reducing "leaks" by communists, when Secretary of State Vandenberg threw open the door. This was unusual; Vandenberg was normally very formal and calm, and would have notified the President and scheduled a meeting. Taft was not annoyed, however; the look on Vandenberg's face indicated that something was disastrously wrong.
"Arthur, what's going on?" he asked, concerned.
"Willkie's dead," the Secretary of State answered.
"What?!" the President exclaimed.
"I just got the confirmation from the Chinese Embassy, I thought to notify you myself."
The President was shocked. "How, what happened?" he asked.
Vandenberg sighed. "Severe heart attack apparently, at a party in the Presidential Palace. Apparently he felt bad and had to lie down in a separate room and no one found him until it was too late."
Taft was saddened by the loss of a good man, but he had other concerns. "And we're sure that it was... natural, without any possibility of foul play?"
Vandenberg didn't know. Later, as he was dealing with consoling Willkie's wife (who had apparently not been feeling well and was absent the party) and working on finding a new commerce secretary, Taft met with Vandenberg again with more news.
"Some of our diplomats at the party said that they suspected that Willkie hadn't been alone in the room, and they said that the Chinese were acting very suspiciously," Vandenberg informed the President. "Obstructing their ability to inspect, canceling the party and ushering everyone away, not letting us investigated anything. But we had one of our own army doctors there to perform the autopsy, and he said that there was no trace of poison he could find, nor signs of electric shock or any other way that the heart attack could have been induced unnaturally."
"How unfortunate, how terribly unfortunate," Taft replied. Of all the calamities to strike, why this one, why now?
Certain Chinese individuals who may or may not have involved would not have known just how bad Willkie's heart condition was and how vulnerable he may be during certain activities.
I doubt that the Chinese killed Willkie, given that the autopsy produced no evidence of wrongdoing and considering the fact that Willkie had a heart attack in OTL (probably at least partially caused by unhealthy behavior). That being said, suspicions of wrongdoing could very well have effects...
Ah, the classic "Died in interrogation, massive asscovering ensues".
Christ, heads are going to roll, were I the pOTUS, I'd casually slice back aid to China a bit, just as a message.
Nazi Space Spy
Banned
Wilkie's demise doesn't sound like anything sinister.....it probably was just too much fun, and you know what happens when you have too much fun
Certain activities ... hmm ... well, well, well ...
"oh oh oh
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH"
-Wendell Willkie's last words
I understand better this passage now.He took Soong Mei-Ling's offered hand shook it as well, bowing moderately. If his hand held hers for too long, or if he stared at her too long afterwards, he didn't notice.
Willkie held high hopes for China indeed.
EDIT: I just found about this : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soong_Mei-ling#Alleged_tryst_with_Wendell_Willkie .
Well, that's the perfect way for an International Ladies' Man to go out, with a bang.
So given that the president explicitly supports the Voting Rights Act and the Progressive, Socialist, and Republican members of Congress can also be relied on to vote for it- almost certainly a filibuster-proof majority, if that exists- then the Commonwealth Party is pretty well-fucked on a major issue. I'm curious how LBJ is gonna handle this. He's too politically savvy to just accept being an isolated party incapable of really influencing the national agenda. But where the hell does he look for allies? And at what cost?