Those Marvellous Presidents (Part 1)
1957-1965: Steve Rogers /Estes Kefauver (Democratic)
The Democrats decided the only way to defeat Eisenhower was to find their own equivalent and when New York teacher & local Democrat activist Steve Rogers' true wartime record was declassified, they knew they had one. Rogers, Kefauver, and their chosen Congress creatures like LBJ would embark on an ambitious set of policies that Rogers would label "the Square Deal": enhanced welfare programs and labour laws, slum renovation and new housing bills, investment in education, and the creation of Medicare. The Soviet Union and Red China were to be opposed - Rogers' 'commie smasher' activity in the early 1950s, combined with his war work, made it hard for opponents to label the Square Deal as socialistic - and the moon, he proclaimed, would be in reach.
Lacking any previous experience with office or any leadership outside of his captain rank in WW2, Rogers often struggled with the bureaucratic parts of his job and was one of the weaker presidents - Kefauver and others were given a great deal of leeway. The President relied on his famous charisma to get politicians on his side or, failing that, to appeal to the public. This is largely responsible for him serving two terms. The 1959 Civil Rights Act was a bitterly fought piece of legislation and barely passed, and saw him face a vicious fight for the nomination in 1960 - a fight he was barely able to afford with the threat of the more serious-seeming Nixon as the Republican candidate. But 1960 also saw the debut of televised debates and Rogers' charisma saw him narrowly scrape past both opponents.
The early 1960s saw growing tension over desegregation and welfare for African-Americans (both that they were receiving it and the struggles to ensure the civil servants at the ground were giving it), and over Rogers' foreign policy: his pressure on Batista in Cuba had led to a seemingly weak left-wing government, troops were 'advising' in South Vietnam but the long-term plan was unclear, and it was becoming clear he was at odds with his own CIA over their activity. Plans for a multinational intelligence sharing outfit, acronym SHIELD, were presented by opponents (and CIA leakers to the press) as an overly ambitious, overly expensive way to distract America from its own interests. It was clear Kefauver would struggle to win office with this legacy.
1965 - 1969: Harrington Byrd / William Miller (Republican)
A hawkish and patrician figure, Byrd had come to prominence with his senate hearings into Stark Industries - he was seen as an uncompromisingly tough figure who, while pro-business and planning to ease the labour laws, could reassure swing voters that he wouldn't let the industrial complex push them around. Once in office, his two primary defence & foreign policy plans were to strengthen the West's involvement in Vietnam without forcing the US to lose too many lives - in the end, US forces would secure part of the country & train Vietnamese forces, who would then (with foreign and Marine Recon support) actually do the rural fighting - and to reform SHIELD so it would 'work'. In a sop to the CIA, he appointed senior officer Colonel Nick Fury as the first head of SHIELD.
The growing counterculture was a source of confusion and annoyance for Byrd, but was dismissed as irrelevant and kids being stupid (which didn't please many of the more socially conservative figures in his party). His main domestic policy concern was rising crime levels, which struck him and Miller both as a failure of their rule, and the ongoing racial tensions. It proved near-impossible to reverse Rogers' legislation there and Byrd found that giving the states more leeway on this was causing protests, riots, and mystery deaths in parts of the south. The failure to put a lid on this was an international embarrassment, and harmed attempts at diplomatic relations with the new Wakandan monarchy; worse still was the Sons of the Serpent terror group forming, initially due to Chinese black money in retaliation over Vietnam but swiftly becoming an unkillable domestic presence.
A bright spot was America landing on the moon in 1966. Byrd was able to get Congress to approve taxes for a mission to Mars, planned for the mid-70s.
1969-1977: Dr Henry Pym / Gerald Ford (Republican)
1975-1977: Gerald Ford / Bill Foster (Republican)
Pym, a decorated scientist, was already a scientific advisor for the government and was famous for involvement in crime-fighting with the Avengers group - when he challenged Byrd for the candidacy, his tough-on-crime credentials seemed impeccable.
While committed to reducing taxes and reducing some parts of the welfare budget, he also increased funding for STEM education at all levels of the school system and for universities. For Pym, this was necessary to keep the US as the world's superpower and equally necessary for ending the US's sense of ennui. Initiatives were set up to increase African-American and Hispanic involvement in STEM, overseen by his advisor Dr Bill Foster; this went some way to calming racial tensions even as Pym pushed for harsher policing and federal action. His signature law-enforcement and counter terror policy was the "Fifty State Initiative" to put Avengers everywhere, and this did go some way to shattering the Sons of Serpent for a few years. The crime rate did briefly plateau.
Under him, the Vietnam War ground to a slow, dull semi-peace with a few "accidents" and terrorist outrages every month. Relations with the communist powers remained frosty, causing mutual arms buildups and continuing the fiction that the Republic of China was the 'real' Chinese state. The Latverian dictatorship also continued to be a thorn in Pym's side, and indeed everyone's once it had the bomb.
What doomed Pym in the end was his mental health. Bipolar disorder and depression had dogged him for most of his adult life, which was hushed up during the presidency - up until 1975, when it leaked out. Pym was deeply ashamed of what he considered "weakness" and when the news came out, he resigned the presidency despite the lack of any call to do so. Ford attempted to continue Pym's policy and stunned the country with the first black Cabinet member when he made Foster a VP (mainly to have someone close for the STEM work than anything else), but that would be his only sole legacy.
1977-1981: Prez Rickard / Walter Mondale (Democratic)
Rickard was a true outsider, coming out of nowhere in a burst of youthful energy (Mondale was necessary to calm the swing voters with the sight of an 'adult'). He was famous worldwide for having been the eighteen-year-old mayor of Partridge, Minnesota, and for doing a good enough job to become a plausible candidate in 1976. The Ford government was tired and the boomer generation was disgruntled that they'd seen Rogers leave for 12 years of stodgier figures.
We also know now that corrupt figures like Smiley and Wilson Fisk were backing Rickard's campaign in the hope of taking advantage of him and any chaos caused by inexperience. While they greatly underestimated Rickard, there was indeed chaos caused by his passion and inexperience, and Fisk was able to expand his reach outside of New York.
Rickard's youth and passion would lead to big, transformative gestures: a rollback of labour laws to the Rogers standard, more ethnic minorities and women appointed than before (including a Native American head of the FBI), and relations were opened with China. (An attempted thaw with Latveria did not work) The delayed Mars landing took place. While Pym had enacted green policies, recognising their scientific validity, Prez greatly ramped up environmental protections and pollution curbs. The downsides were, of course, the aforementioned chaos that caused various initiatives and programs to run inefficiently, and he would be blamed for a rise in street crime.
Realistically, he was going to lose in 1980. The problem was who he ended up losing to, and over what issue, as Senator Kelly made a bid for candidacy....
1957-1965: Steve Rogers /Estes Kefauver (Democratic)
The Democrats decided the only way to defeat Eisenhower was to find their own equivalent and when New York teacher & local Democrat activist Steve Rogers' true wartime record was declassified, they knew they had one. Rogers, Kefauver, and their chosen Congress creatures like LBJ would embark on an ambitious set of policies that Rogers would label "the Square Deal": enhanced welfare programs and labour laws, slum renovation and new housing bills, investment in education, and the creation of Medicare. The Soviet Union and Red China were to be opposed - Rogers' 'commie smasher' activity in the early 1950s, combined with his war work, made it hard for opponents to label the Square Deal as socialistic - and the moon, he proclaimed, would be in reach.
Lacking any previous experience with office or any leadership outside of his captain rank in WW2, Rogers often struggled with the bureaucratic parts of his job and was one of the weaker presidents - Kefauver and others were given a great deal of leeway. The President relied on his famous charisma to get politicians on his side or, failing that, to appeal to the public. This is largely responsible for him serving two terms. The 1959 Civil Rights Act was a bitterly fought piece of legislation and barely passed, and saw him face a vicious fight for the nomination in 1960 - a fight he was barely able to afford with the threat of the more serious-seeming Nixon as the Republican candidate. But 1960 also saw the debut of televised debates and Rogers' charisma saw him narrowly scrape past both opponents.
The early 1960s saw growing tension over desegregation and welfare for African-Americans (both that they were receiving it and the struggles to ensure the civil servants at the ground were giving it), and over Rogers' foreign policy: his pressure on Batista in Cuba had led to a seemingly weak left-wing government, troops were 'advising' in South Vietnam but the long-term plan was unclear, and it was becoming clear he was at odds with his own CIA over their activity. Plans for a multinational intelligence sharing outfit, acronym SHIELD, were presented by opponents (and CIA leakers to the press) as an overly ambitious, overly expensive way to distract America from its own interests. It was clear Kefauver would struggle to win office with this legacy.
1965 - 1969: Harrington Byrd / William Miller (Republican)
A hawkish and patrician figure, Byrd had come to prominence with his senate hearings into Stark Industries - he was seen as an uncompromisingly tough figure who, while pro-business and planning to ease the labour laws, could reassure swing voters that he wouldn't let the industrial complex push them around. Once in office, his two primary defence & foreign policy plans were to strengthen the West's involvement in Vietnam without forcing the US to lose too many lives - in the end, US forces would secure part of the country & train Vietnamese forces, who would then (with foreign and Marine Recon support) actually do the rural fighting - and to reform SHIELD so it would 'work'. In a sop to the CIA, he appointed senior officer Colonel Nick Fury as the first head of SHIELD.
The growing counterculture was a source of confusion and annoyance for Byrd, but was dismissed as irrelevant and kids being stupid (which didn't please many of the more socially conservative figures in his party). His main domestic policy concern was rising crime levels, which struck him and Miller both as a failure of their rule, and the ongoing racial tensions. It proved near-impossible to reverse Rogers' legislation there and Byrd found that giving the states more leeway on this was causing protests, riots, and mystery deaths in parts of the south. The failure to put a lid on this was an international embarrassment, and harmed attempts at diplomatic relations with the new Wakandan monarchy; worse still was the Sons of the Serpent terror group forming, initially due to Chinese black money in retaliation over Vietnam but swiftly becoming an unkillable domestic presence.
A bright spot was America landing on the moon in 1966. Byrd was able to get Congress to approve taxes for a mission to Mars, planned for the mid-70s.
1969-1977: Dr Henry Pym / Gerald Ford (Republican)
1975-1977: Gerald Ford / Bill Foster (Republican)
Pym, a decorated scientist, was already a scientific advisor for the government and was famous for involvement in crime-fighting with the Avengers group - when he challenged Byrd for the candidacy, his tough-on-crime credentials seemed impeccable.
While committed to reducing taxes and reducing some parts of the welfare budget, he also increased funding for STEM education at all levels of the school system and for universities. For Pym, this was necessary to keep the US as the world's superpower and equally necessary for ending the US's sense of ennui. Initiatives were set up to increase African-American and Hispanic involvement in STEM, overseen by his advisor Dr Bill Foster; this went some way to calming racial tensions even as Pym pushed for harsher policing and federal action. His signature law-enforcement and counter terror policy was the "Fifty State Initiative" to put Avengers everywhere, and this did go some way to shattering the Sons of Serpent for a few years. The crime rate did briefly plateau.
Under him, the Vietnam War ground to a slow, dull semi-peace with a few "accidents" and terrorist outrages every month. Relations with the communist powers remained frosty, causing mutual arms buildups and continuing the fiction that the Republic of China was the 'real' Chinese state. The Latverian dictatorship also continued to be a thorn in Pym's side, and indeed everyone's once it had the bomb.
What doomed Pym in the end was his mental health. Bipolar disorder and depression had dogged him for most of his adult life, which was hushed up during the presidency - up until 1975, when it leaked out. Pym was deeply ashamed of what he considered "weakness" and when the news came out, he resigned the presidency despite the lack of any call to do so. Ford attempted to continue Pym's policy and stunned the country with the first black Cabinet member when he made Foster a VP (mainly to have someone close for the STEM work than anything else), but that would be his only sole legacy.
1977-1981: Prez Rickard / Walter Mondale (Democratic)
Rickard was a true outsider, coming out of nowhere in a burst of youthful energy (Mondale was necessary to calm the swing voters with the sight of an 'adult'). He was famous worldwide for having been the eighteen-year-old mayor of Partridge, Minnesota, and for doing a good enough job to become a plausible candidate in 1976. The Ford government was tired and the boomer generation was disgruntled that they'd seen Rogers leave for 12 years of stodgier figures.
We also know now that corrupt figures like Smiley and Wilson Fisk were backing Rickard's campaign in the hope of taking advantage of him and any chaos caused by inexperience. While they greatly underestimated Rickard, there was indeed chaos caused by his passion and inexperience, and Fisk was able to expand his reach outside of New York.
Rickard's youth and passion would lead to big, transformative gestures: a rollback of labour laws to the Rogers standard, more ethnic minorities and women appointed than before (including a Native American head of the FBI), and relations were opened with China. (An attempted thaw with Latveria did not work) The delayed Mars landing took place. While Pym had enacted green policies, recognising their scientific validity, Prez greatly ramped up environmental protections and pollution curbs. The downsides were, of course, the aforementioned chaos that caused various initiatives and programs to run inefficiently, and he would be blamed for a rise in street crime.
Realistically, he was going to lose in 1980. The problem was who he ended up losing to, and over what issue, as Senator Kelly made a bid for candidacy....
