1949-1957: Harold Stassen (Republican)
1948 def. (with Henry Cabot Lodge) Harry Truman (Democratic), Strom Thurmond (States Rights), Henry Wallace (Progressive)
1952 def. (with Henry Cabot Lodge) Wayne Morse (Anti-Intervention [backed by Democratic, Progressive]), Douglas MacArthur (Anti-Communist)
1957-1961: Will Rodgers Jr. (Democratic)
1956 def. (with Sid McMath) Henry Cabot Lodge (Republican), James Eastland (Anti-Communist)
1961-1965: Granville Knight (Anti-Communist)
1960 def. (with Carroll Gartin) Will Rodgers Jr. (Democratic), Margret Chase Smith (Republican)
1965-0000: Harold Stassen (International)
1964 def. [backed by Democratic, Republican] (with Claude Pepper) Granville Knight (Anti-Communist), Wayne Morse (Third Way)
Harold Stassen’s first term in office saw the “boy governor” transition away from the hopeful optimism he had espoused on the 1948 campaign trail, uniting Americans of all stripes, to a man cloaked in the realism of his age. Stassen turned autocrat with his banning of the CPUSA, crackdowns on isolationist and labor groups, and support for much of J. Edgar Hoover and Joe McCarthy’s “investigations”. He justified his anti-Communist paranoia with the war in Korea, as Republicans promoted the “domino effect” and made the sky rumble in Manchuria. He turned butcher when he aided the French Republic against the Indochinese by lending them nuclear weapons. His use of the atomic bomb in two conflicts lead to mass anti-war sentiment, as portions of Asia were turned into ash under his command. At home he was willing to play the hero, promoting civil rights, expansion of housing, and even some social programs. Supporters flocked to his expansion of the welfare state, and ignored him tearing down the houses and neighborhoods of blacks, north and south.
As both parties had become big tent coalitions by the 1950s, Stassen had walked a precarious tightrope in 1948. He tried to maintain Republican appeal to both the isolationist and interventionist wings of the nation, tried to appeal to liberals and conservatives, and tried to expand the Republican coalition into the south. However, his policies as president and selection of the liberal internationalist Henry Cabot Lodge as his running mate exposed that Stassen was, indeed, as internationalist and liberal as his reputation had many believe. While he had gained some conservative cred for his work with McCarthy and Hoover, the resignation of Douglas MacArthur in 1951 over “disagreements” and support for civil rights fractured the unstable “Stassen Coalition”. Meanwhile the use of atom bombs across Asia would lead to mass opposition, both in fringe and mainstream circles. The leader of this movement was Wayne Morse, Republican-turned-Democrat senator from Oregon, who, after announcing a campaign on his “Anti-Intervention” ticket, would bring the spirit of ‘72 to 1948, being cross endorsed by the Democrats and Progressives after some overtures to the Southern wing of the Democratic Party.
Unfortunately, Morse’s unwieldy coalition of anti-war voters, southerners, farmers angry at unfortunate farming conditions stemming from the international environmental effects of the use of nuclear weapons, and the remaining portions of the New Deal Coalition, would fall apart. Much of this was due to Morse being an awkward and idealistic campaigner, but others pointed to large scale indifference to international war crimes to the united states, and even the third party candidacy of Douglas MacArthur splitting Morse’s vote in the South and Mormon west. As the results rolled in, many Americans, particularly intellectuals and liberals, geared up for another 4 years of internationalist war from Stassen. Stassen, on the other hand, largely dropped the butcher mantra in his second term, forming a peace deal that divided China between KMT and PRC properly, healing relations with the increasingly isolationist Soviet Union, and helping make African decolonization relatively “painless”. The “new look” of Stassen largely came from Nelson Rockefeller becoming a key advisor, and Douglas MacArthur leaving the administration. Minor civil rights goals were attained through the legislature, although the highest came through the judiciary, with Brown v. Board officially desegregating schools. However, the 7-2 margin infuriated the South, and lead to “Massive Resistance” and victories for the Anti-Communist Party.
As 1956 rolled around, the Democrats, rebuilding their coalition after 8 years in the wilderness, nominated popular and charismatic Will Rodgers Jr., who, when compared to the stale WASP saltine Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. and human equivalent of a confederate flag James Eastland, won quite easily, embracing one of the most liberal platforms in modern memory, and sweeping every region except New England, the Mormon Belt (increasingly conservative as Ezra Taft Benson controlled the political arm of the church) and deep South, which bucked the liberal Rodgers for James Eastland. Rodgers would largely be remembered as the modern equivalent to John Q. Adams. Although wanting to the right thing in many areas, Rodgers failed to expand union power, seriously disarm either the United States or Soviet Union or Egypt or Switzerland or France’s nuclear arsenals, and failed to pass anything but the barest of the bare civil rights legislation. What he did succeed in was re-arming the tortured farm belt, rebuilding much of the rural economy with the help of Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman, something that won him the admiration of many for decades. Rodgers would also be praised for supporting African independence movements, backing the winds of change, and even allying with some leftist leaders. However, when it came to the Formosa Rebellion of 1959, he backed the brutal suppression of native Yuanzhumin, which many have since equated to genocide.
While Rodgers was still-charismatic and still-optimistic, his luster had been lost by 1960. The economy had entered a hardcore recession in 1958, something many blamed on decades of center left leadership and labor unions. Suburbs and many industrial areas derided Rodgers “farm-first” policies, and conservatives continued to oppose Rodgers for every reason they could possibly think of, and the Anti-Communist Party held over a quarter of the seats in the senate, either via defection or election. The Anti-Communists would nominate Granville Knight, a physician and Rodgers’ replacement as senator from California. Knight, a noted far right demagogue, was nominated as a compromise between the southern white nationalist, western Mormon, and northern petit-bourgeoise wings of the ACP, and chose out and out white supremacist Carroll Gartin of Mississippi as his running mate. Republicans on the other hand, would nominate Margret Chase Smith, the first woman on a major party ticket, but largely an unpopular selection outside of New England. While Rodgers and Smith campaigned hard, Knight would shock the world with his victory. A sweep of the south, Mormon belt (punctuated by wins in UT, ID, WY, and NV), California, Ohio, Wisconsin, and a few “border states”, would lead to the first major victory for the American far right in decades. Many questioned why, pointing to resentment at desegregation, labor unions, and a liberal governance stretching back to FDR. Others saw it as a result of vote-splitting, with Smith and Rodgers warring as the “anti-Knight” vote.
While Knight’s election would send the various Communist states of the world into distress, he largely stuck to Bircher orthodox on foreign intervention, not really entering any new conflicts, although he would controversially send weapons to Belgium and South Africa, as they suppressed native African rebellions. With only a quarter to a third of congress serving as Knight’s allies, he couldn’t really pass much reactionary legislation either. What he would do, however, is utilize the American security state to destroy every possible progressive and labor movement it could. Hoover was somewhat of an ally, but not pure enough for the Birchers. As a trade off, he got to serve as Associate Justice on the Supreme Court, while W. Cleon Skousen would take over as FBI director. In four years the civil rights movement would be endlessly harassed, leading to mass racial violence in the south, the labor movement attacked as investigations were turned up and strikers fired, and bill after bill promoting anything to the left of Gengis Kahn would be vetoed. Americans were soon left in the wind, with constant violence and controversy in the news driving down Knight’s popularity, and anger at the “weirdo Mormons” and “rednecks” running the country grew in the north.
In times like this, America needed a unity figure. With little popularity given to any military leaders, the main man was former president Harold Stassen, who had been on a bit of a forgiveness tour, and whom was quite popular. Stassen’s “new look” had endeared him to previous opponents, and his backing of civil rights and labor groups appealed to traditional liberals. With this Stassen began his 1964 campaign on the “Internationalist” ticket, and soon won the Democratic and Republican nominations, choosing Claude Pepper, a former opponent, as his running mate. The only third candidate was Morse, still bitter, but as polls showed a Stassen landslide incoming, he almost entirely gave up campaigning outside of his native Oregon.
…And that’s exactly what happened. Stassen wiped the floor with Knight, winning every state but Oregon, Utah, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, and South Carolina. His sweeping victory provided a sense of normalcy for the country. However, an attempted coup from the ACP, led by Edwin Walker, William Momyer, and James Crommelin (now a senator), would lead to a massive shake in confidence. Stassen, not above authoritarianism, would completely dismantle the ACP, passing various civil rights acts and arresting many of its leaders…
What Happened After:
1967-1969: Harold Stassen (Republican)
1969-1977: George Putnam (Democratic)
1977-1985: Prescott Bush II (Republican)
1985-1993: Bill Doughtery (Democratic)
1993-1997: Bobby Fischer (Democratic)
1997-0000: James Bevel (Republican)
