There is Power in Socialism.

Turquoise Blue

Turquoise Blue

OOC: Alright, this is my first "modern" TL, please be gentle with me.

1900: You Can't Teach Old Parties New Politics

Republican Nomination: William McKinley (For Pres.) and Garret Hobart (For Vice Pres.)
Democratic Nomination: George Dewey (For Pres.) and Alton B. Parker (For Vice Pres.)

This election was based on the incumbent Administration's successes and the Opposition's validity. Dewey's campaign was inferior compared to McKinley's and he lost in a landslide. In this election, the new Social Democratic Party founded by Eugene Debs gained 1.1% of the vote, mostly from radicalized workers and disgruntled farmers who refused to vote for the Democrats since they renounced Populism. In 1901, three months after McKinley's re-inauguration, they renamed themselves the Socialists.

The Populist Democrats argued that this proved their party should have embraced Populism and won (or at least not lost in an embarrassing landslide). The Bourbon Democrats argued that Populism was a dangerous ideology and that it ensured the Democratic defeat in 1896, ignoring that the previous Cleveland administration had far more to do with it than any Populists did.
 
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OOC: If anybody could make realistic maps, that would be kind.

1901-1905: You Can't Kill McKinley!
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25th President of the United States: William McKinley.

The second term of President William McKinley was a fairly stable one, well, apart from all the labor alienation...

There was an incident in 1901 where a crazed Anarchist tried to kill McKinley, but the enraged public stopped him before he could get close to the President.

In the 1902 mid-terms, the Democrats made minor gains, thanks to the Bourbon-Populist divide alienating some of the factions' voters. The Republicans still had majorities in both chambers of Congress, and McKinley interpreted this as the people having faith in him and his government.

The last quarter of McKinley's presidency proved to be stable, with only the growing tension in Europe being notable.
 
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Turquoise Blue

Turquoise Blue

OC: And of course, advice would be welcomed. I'm kind of skimming this bit because I want to focus more on the Twenties, but advice here would be good.

1904: A Squashed Progressive Revolution.

The Democrats had a divisive convention where the Populists, led by William Jennings Bryan, fought the Bourbon Democrats, led by Alton B. Parker, and lost due to the Bourbon stranglehold on the establishment. Populists started to feel that the Democrats wasn't the party for them...

Meanwhile, their closest Republican equivalent, the Progressives, led by Governor of Wisconsin Robert M. La Follette, and the conservative Republicans, led by Nelson Aldrich, had a fairly stressful convention where it all came down to the 23rd ballot, where Aldrich won.

Republican Nomination: Nelson W. Aldrich (For Pres.) and Charles W. Fairbanks (For Vice Pres.)
Democratic Nomination: Alton B. Parker (For Pres.) and John S. Williams (For Vice Pres.)
Socialist Nomination: Eugene V. Debs (For Pres.) and Benjamin Hanford (For Vice Pres.)

The Republican ticket won in a landslide, defeating the conservative Democrats and continuing the era of Republican dominance that started in 1860.

In this era of conservatism triumphant, some alienated reformist votes trickled to the Socialists, which gained 3.6% of the vote, more than doubled their 1900 vote, and the Populists disappeared into obscurity.
 
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1905-1909: New Friendships to the Old Countries
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26th President of the United States: Nelson Aldrich

 Nelson Aldrich aimed to strengthen ties to Britain, France and Italy, for he thought America should be more involved with foreign affairs, and the growing tension in Europe seemed to be a major foreign crisis. Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire was in a deadly staring contest with Britain, France, Italy and Russia, one where the first blink led to a war. So far, nobody was blinking...

On the home front, unbridled capitalism continued to run rampant as labor rights was trampled upon and ignored. People continued to work for a pittance and strikes was brutally broken. In despair, some workers turned to a party they knew would support them all the time, the Socialist Party. Financial reform proved fairly unpopular with all but the left, which despised him for his other stances.

In the 1906 mid-terms, the Democrats made small gains, but hardly significant gains compared to the size of the Republican majority. The Democratic Party was trending conservative and as the GOP started to alienate the reformist vote to the Socialists, the Democrats' gains was mostly in the North.

In 1908, the political situation was far different than it was just eight years ago. Socialists were growing, the Republicans were alienating reformists and conservative Democrats were growing in the North. The Republicans was sandwiched on two fronts, the left by the Socialists, the right by the Democrats. Could this political sandwich continue, or could the GOP ensure it won another term by wooing enough reformists and conservatives? Aldrich, with his ideas of Efficiency in the financial sector, certainly believed so...
 
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1908: Bourbonism, Socialism and a Political Sandwich, oh my!

The Democrats prepared to return to the Oval Office after 12 years out in the wilderness. While they were out, they combated the urge to go Populist and stayed conservative, by choosing fairly young, but also conservative Senator from Missouri James A. Reed. This helped them massively in Northern states where people saw them as the "safe" choice, not radical like the Socialists or unreliable like the Republicans. The South was safely Democrat, as always, thanks to the curbing of African-American votes. They chose Senator from New Jersey Woodrow Wilson to appease the Progressives left, to ensure party unity.

The Socialists nominated their popular candidate, Eugene Debs of Indiana, who was also running for a House seat as well. He railed against the inequality of capitalism and the increasing likeliness of war in Europe. He proved fairly popular, and netted 7.9% of the popular vote.

The Republicans was pessimistic about their chances, and sent their President to take a final stance against the Democrats and Socialists.

Democratic Nomination: James A. Reed (For Pres.) and T. Woodrow Wilson (For Vice Pres.)
Republican Nomination: Nelson W. Aldrich (For Pres.) and Joseph M. Dixon (For Vice Pres.)
Socialist Nomination: Eugene V. Debs (For Pres.) and Emil Seidel (For Vice Pres.)

In the end, it was an expected Democrat landslide, as James Reed stormed to victory. The Political Sandwich showed itself yet again, as the conservatives went to Reed and the reformists continued their trickling to Debs' Socialists, even after Aldrich tried to appeal to them by choosing Progressive Senator Joseph M. Dixon.

In the House election, the Socialists won 4 seats in the House, while the majority transferred to the Democrats.

Meanwhile, the Senate stayed Republican...
 
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1909-1913: Misfortune: The Presidency of James A. Reed
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27th President of the United States: James A. Reed.

James Reed was the first Democratic president for 12 years, and he pursued a fairly conservative platform, yet with some tinges of liberalism. However, in the South, oppression of African-Americans got worse under a Democratic president who had a history of racism.

The youngest President of the United States proved to be the most conservative of the 20th Century so far. He continued Aldrich's policy of "Atlantic Friendship" with Britain, France and to a lesser extent, Italy. He also massively alienated the Populists by cracking down on labor strikes.
James Reed said:
A true American is one who puts the nation's economy above his own labor.
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The Socialists and Republicans despised him with a passion, the Socialists because he crushed labor strikes and the GOP because he denied President Aldrich re-election and he took their Northern conservative vote away from them.

His relationship with his vice-president was tepid at best and frosty at worst, but they agreed on some reforms, like the democratization of the Senate.

The mid-terms ended in a plurality for the Democrats as the Republicans lost Northern seats to the Socialists and lost even more to the Democrats due to the Socialists splitting the reformist votes. The Senate ended up still in Republican hands.

With a divided government, Reed decided to adopt a fairly neutral stance and the last two years of his term was stable, well, as stable as one could hope for.
 
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Turquoise Blue

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1912: An Advancement in Learning

Reed's one term was one full of turbulence, as the Socialists and progressive Republicans continuously opposed his conservative policies, and the people was tiring of the breaking up of strikes and the harsh anti-labor policies he took.

The Socialists was set to choose Debs, but he declined. Seidel was the second choice, but he too declined. So the Socialists decided to go with Christian Socialist and experienced politician William Dwight Porter Bliss, their second-elected Senator. He chose Parley Christensen of Utah as his vice-president. Bliss/Christensen won 11.2% of the vote, yet again a gain from 1908.

Despite all the misfortune of his administration, the Democrats felt confident that he could win re-election and chose him for the Presidency. Woodrow Wilson was also re-nominated as his Vice-President, something he begrudgingly conceded to the populists.

The Republicans opted for Heisler Ball, the Governor of Delaware who managed to get elected twice despite the rising Socialist vote in his state. He chose experienced Governor of New York Theodore Roosevelt as his vice-president as Roosevelt proved himself far less radical than what some people thought he was in 1900.

The election saw the GOP take back the White House by a narrow majority, the Socialists' strength in the West grow and Reed was thrown out by the people for being ineffective in government and for alienating far too much people with his harsh policies.

Republican Nomination: Heisler Ball (For Pres.) and Theodore Roosevelt (For Vice Pres.)
Democratic Nomination: James A. Reed (For Pres.) and T. Woodrow Wilson (For Vice Pres.)
Socialist Nomination: William D. P. Bliss (For Pres.) and Parley P. Christensen (For Vice Pres.)

A new president walked in the Oval Office the next year, and within five months, the world became hell.
 
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Turquoise Blue

Turquoise Blue

List of Presidents of the United States
25: William McKinley (Republican) 1897-1905
26: Nelson W. Aldrich (Republican) 1905-1909
27: James A. Reed (Democratic) 1909-1913
28: Heisler Ball (Republican) 1913-
 

glenn67

I suggest you use a darker shade of green for the Republicans and give Electoral vote totals for President.
 

Kaiser K

Turquoise Blue said:
I'm not writing a timeline about 1900s politics. Its why I'm skimming that bit and focusing on different stuff. Its like Abby's TL in that respect.
Click to expand...


HEY!!! :p.......


Then again, my TL was never about the deep political issues and more about the events and story.
 
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