Lists of Heads of Government and Heads of State

[RyanF]

Leaders of the Unionist Party (the "Yoons")

Sir John Gilmour (1965-1967) [1]
Sir John MacLeod (1967-1970) [2]
Gordon Campbell (1970-1972) [3]
Alick Buchanan-Smith (1972-1980) [4]
Malcolm Rifkind (1980-1985) [5]
Colin Mitchell (1985-1987) [6]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (1987-1994) [7]
Michael Forsyth (1995-2002) [8]
Brian Monteith (2002-2009) [9]
Murdo Fraser (2009-2014) [10]
Jo Swinson (2014-) [11]

[1] For a party that had won 40% of the vote and a third of seats at the 1964 general election, a decision to merge the Unionist Party in Scotland with the Conservative & Unionist Party of England and Wales must have seemed very odd indeed. It was certainly so to Ross & Cromarty MP Sir John MacLeod; technically elected as a Liberal & Conservative candidate, his campaigns against rural rail line closures in the Highlands spiralled into a greater campaign for the conservatives in Scotland to retain their autonomy from the party in London. This was given little attention by the Unionist MPs or the new Conservative leader Edward Heath, but when many Unionist Associations across Scotland supported MacLeod, the decision to merge the Scottish party was shelved. The same could not be said for MacLeod's former party the National Liberals, of which he was the closest they had to a representative north of the Tweed. The National Liberals would merge with the Unionists and Scotland and the Conservatives in England. As part of the reforms in the Unionist Party, vice chairman Sir John Gilmour, East Fife, was selected by the party's MPs to be their first leader. He did little with the role, and when Prime Minister Harold Wilson called a snap election in 1966 he did little to build a distinctly Scottish campaign. This cost the Unionists three seats, but there was little call to replace him as this may have been due to the sombre mood prevalent in the country due the World Cup in England. In 1967 he announced he was standing down, with only a token opposition from Sir Fitzroy Maclean, Bute & North Ayrshire, Sir John MacLeod would be elected as the Party's second leader.

[2] The rebellious backbench MP and tweed designer would prove to be a constant annoyance to the Leader of the Opposition, not to the extent of the controversial Member for Wolverhampton South West, Enoch Powell, but a more lasting one. He was never sacked from the Shadow Cabinet (holding, like his predecessor the post of Shadow Scottish Secretary) like Powell was, though his public disagreements on policy as it effected Scotland did cause much speculation. The only time he appeared to support his English colleagues fully was over Heath's Declaration of Perth in support of Scottish devolution in 1968 - the increase in rail fares and closure of lines in the Highlands doing much to bring him round to the idea of some measure of self-government in Scotland. He did much to promote the idea of the Unionists as a separate organisation from the Conservatives in England, widely seen as costing Labour the Hamilton by-election by the narrowest of margins to the Unionist candidate - though the SNP claim their candidate splitting the vote from Labour was the real cause of this. The unexpected Conservative victory in the 1970 general election saw the Unionists gain four seats (two each at the expense of Labour and the Liberals, but losing their Hamilton by-election gain to the Labour Party); but MacLeod would play no part in the Labour government. Heath appointed someone who was more in tune with himself to the post of Scottish Secretary, causing MacLeod's resignation. The new Scottish Secretary was quickly acclaimed the new leader of the Unionist Party by the party's MPs.

[3] Gordon Campbell, Moray & Nairn would prove to be a transitional leader of the Unionist Party. Dedicated to seeing through the Prime Minister's ambition for British entry into the EEC, to this end he made preparations in the Scottish Office to accept a smaller national fishing fleet as a price of entry. He also fought against Heath's proposals to invest North Sea oil revenues into the Scottish economy. When his parliamentary colleagues in the Unionist Party got word of this, they threatened to vote down the EEC bill as it currently stood. Heath and the government went back to the drawing board. For his part, Gordon Campbell quickly resigned as both Scottish Secretary and Party leader. After another nine months of discussion the government was able to negotiate an opt-out off the Common Fisheries Policy for the UK and the other applicants (Denmark, Ireland, and Norway) for a temporary but undetermined period. The Unionist MPs would elect a new leader, and in Heath's snap election in February 1974 over the issues of industrial strife Gordon Campbell would one of only two Unionist MPs to lose their seats (Campbell would lose to Winnie Ewing of the SNP, the other Unionist MP to lose his seat was Russell Fairgreave, Roxburgh, Selkirk & Peebles to the previous MP for that constituency, David Steel).

[4] The 1970s would prove a time of change in Scotland Scotland. The 1974 election saw the Scottish National Party return their largest ever number of MPs to Westminster, both of their MPs being devoted to devolution as a stepping stone to devolution. The Unionists and Conservatives were also in favour of devolution, as were their coalition partners in the Liberal Party. The man to see the troubled Scotland & Wales Bill (the Welsh nationalist Plaid Cymru had returned 3 MPs in 1974) through from the Scottish Office was Alick Buchanan-Smith - a devotee of devolution in the Unionist Party. There were those within the party who were opposed to devolution, especially at a time when Unionism was seemingly under threat over in Northern Ireland as the violence increased during the decade. For this reason the model of devolution in Northern Ireland was not considered as a model for Scottish devolution. Buchanan-Smith would help steer the devolution proposals through Westminster with support of the Liberals, Nationalists, and pro-devolution Labour MPs; and it would be confirmed narrowly by a referendum with 51% of the vote. Under the provisions of the Royal Commission on the Electoral Reform, elections would be held to the new Assembly under the single-transferable vote of proportional representation (the proposals for open-list proportional representation for European elections was also passed into law, whilst the proposals for mixed-member semi-proportional representation for Westminster would be quietly ignored). Labour had taken a distinctly anti-devolution and anti-EEC platform by the end of the decade under Peter Shore; and by the time of the 1979 general election, which saw the Unionists return 22 MPs they were back in government in London and in government in Edinburgh. Pro-devolution MPs in the Labour Party would keep the government from making nay moves to abolish the Assembly, but it quickly became a rubber stamp for the Westminster government. Buchanan-Smith would resign as leader in 1980, making way for a new leader similarly inclined to devolution.

[5] In some ways Malcolm Rifkind was the busiest Unionist Leader before or since; he wore three hats during his tenure - leader of the Unionist Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Scottish Assembly, and Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland in Westminster. The still rife violence in Northern Ireland, increasing trade union unrest, the question of the EEC, and Labour Party infighting between various factions made for a troubled time for Shore's government, even with North Sea oil revenue starting to come ashore. By 1984 the Conservatives had returned to power under Peter Walker, although they were still in Opposition in Calton Hill. An attempt, completely unrelated to any brief of Rifkind's, to end the violence in Northern Ireland would spell the end of his leadership. The Anglo-Irish Agreement, dating back all the way to the tail end of the Heath government, would give the Republic of Ireland an advisory role in the province and would pave the way for the return of devolution. It was also voraciously opposed by the Unionist community in Northern Ireland, and there was a lot of sympathy amongst certain sectors of Scottish society, especially in the Unionist Party and its voters, for their counterparts across the Sheuch. Rifkind refused to countenance any suggestion that any Unionist MPs resign their seats in protest as the unionist MPs from Northern Ireland had done - especially when all of them doing it would cost the Walker government its majority. There would soon be calls for a leadership election to be held on the matter, which Rifkind would go on to lose in a schock result in the first election open to all members of the party. Before any Unionist MPs could resign and reduce the government to a minority, the bill was withdrawn from consideration. The government of the Republic of Ireland was incensed, the violence in Northern Ireland would still not end, but Peter Walker kept his majority. Rifkind would also remain as Scottish Secretary, and Leader of the Opposition in Edinburgh, the new leader not holding a seat in the devolved government.

[6] Someone nicknamed Mad Mitch in most circumstances might not have been a sensible choice to lead a political party; as they proved to be when Colin "Mad Mitch of Aden" Mitchell became leader of the Unionist Party largely on the fact he was opposed to the Anglo-Irish Agreement. No leader had done so little with the role since Sir John Gilmour, and none had been so outspoken in his beliefs, particularly when opposed to the Conservative Party, since Sir John MacLeod. He also had no time for the Scottish Assembly; it is an apocryphal tale that he coined the nickname "porridge parliament" for the Edinburgh-based body, but the sentiment is almost certainly his. His leadership was at a time when support for the Assembly before or since it was created was at its lowest ebb. This was in part due to Mitchell's ambivalence, in part due to the Conservatives not devolving further powers to a Labour government in Edinburgh, and in part due to the Labour government of Donald Dewar preferring to criticise the Westminster government than use their own powers. His end would come when he appeared unsympathetic in interviews to the Lockerbie disaster in 1987, and a leadership challenge had been launched. Rifkind had refused to stand again, instead suggesting that the new leader should be taken from the Assembly Members rather than the MPs. Rifkind would step down as Leader of the Opposition following the leadership election, but would remain as Scottish Secretary until the return of the Labour Party to government in Westminster under Neil Kinnock in 1989.

[7] Lord James Douglas-Hamilton was elected leader of the Unionist Party with only token opposition from what had become nicknamed the party's Orange wing, a small but vocal group within the party's elected officials. He would serve as Leader of the Opposition to Donald Dewar's Labour/Liberal coalition for the entirety of his unremarkable tenure. The centre of gravity within the Unionists had moved to Calton from Westminster, and when he resigned from Parliament, the Assembly, and as leader when he inherited and Earldom in 1994, he would be replaced by someone from the Assembly. The changes of the Kinnock government to not allow for double jobbing would serve keep the Unionist Party leadership based in Edinburgh.

[8] Becoming the first Unionist First Secretary of Scotland fell largely by accident to Michael Forsyth. Labour had been in government since the first elections in 1979, had won each successive election in 1983, 1987, 1991, and 1995, but by 1999 the people of Scotland were ready for change. Disatisfaction with the Labour governments in both Edinburgh and London (the latter led since 1996 by Bryan Gould), including the controversial climate change legislation limiting the use of coal would lead to the Unionists becoming the largest party in the Scottish Assembly since its inception. Their minority government would receive supply and confidence from the third largest party in the Assembly, John Swinney's Nationalists, in exchange for promised further powers to be devolved when the Conservatives won the next United Kingdom general election (now taken as a given with the problems the Gould government were facing). In many ways, Forsyth's programme of monetarist government reforms were a pilot program for what Conservative leader Michael Portillo was proposing for the whole United Kingdom. The initial success of these reforms, backed by a reduction in taxes in Scotland, convinced the Westminster government to push ahead with them following the 2002 election. Forsyth himself would resign from the Assembly and as leader to contest the Stirling constituency in the general election, being elected with a comfortable margin.

[9] The honeymoon for what was quickly called Portilloism was over very quickly. The crash in the global economy heralded by the United States finally reaping the whirlwind of President Reagan's reforms meant taxes could no longer be slashed as the carrot to go with the stick of cuts in funding. A tabloid revealing a homosexual affair Portillo had at university brought further scandal, but did cause the resignation of Alan Duncan - coming out in the process - to fight a by-election on equal age of consent for homosexual sex. The eventual legislation for this, and for the final end to the violence in Northern Ireland would be the lasting achievements of the Portillo Ministry. For Forsyth's replacement as First Secretary and leader of the Unionist Party, a successful election in 2003 would be the worst thing that would ever happen to his career. In an eventual desperate attempt to turn around the worsening economic situation, a reform of local government taxation at a fixed price per adult resident and cuts in benefits including penalties for "under-occupancy" brought riots in several Scottish towns and cities. By 2006 the Nationalists had completely withdrawn support from Monteith's government, though they would limp on in autopilot until 2007. The Conservatives were replaced in Westminster by the Labour Party under Robin Cook, and in Calton Hill the Unionists were replaced by the same party under Wendy Alexander. The Unionists suffered the humiliation of coming third for the first time in a Scottish election behind the Nationalists in terms of both seats and votes (though they remained the second largest party in the Westminster elections held the same year). With the party in disarray Monteith was convinced to remain in place until a transition could be smoothly arranged. Both Monteith and Forsyth had other plans though, both began to make moves to integrate the Unionist Party with the Conservatives in order to present a united opposition to Labour in both legislatures. This trend caused concern in many quarters in the party, and at the 2009 conference a challenge to Monteith by backbencher Murdo Fraser yielded the surprising result of losing to the former Energy Minister.

[10] All talk of a merger with the Conservatives was dropped, and instead Fraser strove to appeal to the "tartan" aspect of Unionist voters. Calling for a return to the "Ane Naition" brand of Unionism. This would pay dividends by the time of the 2011 Assembly elections, where the Unionists would return to being the Official Opposition. His long-term goal as leader was to keep the Unionists as separate from the Conservatives, now under David Davis, as the Ulster Unionists were. He also heralded a change in Unionist leadership attitudes to Europe, being pro-continued membership in the EEC. This did not extend of course to supporting entry into the European Union, which remained a fringe movement in Scotland more so than the rest of the UK. By 2014 he had announced he was stepping down as leader in order to give his successor a clear run at the 2015 Assembly election.

[11] At the age of thirty-four one of the youngest leaders of any major party in Europe, Jo Swinson would break more records when she became one of the youngest leaders of any legislature in the world. She, along with her inner circle of what has been called the "New Unionism", have served to elevate the party to their greatest success at Westminster in the 2017 General Election since 1955. Robin Cook's removal and subsequent death had done a lot to demonise the Labour Party under David Miliband in Scotland. It was in this atmosphere that the Unionists would top the poll and win the most seats in Scotland in the general election, and the SNP under Charles Kennedy would win the most seats they had ever managed in their history returning seven MPs (mainly at the expense of Labour). In Coalition with the Liberals and still enjoying high approval ratings, the Unionists are now the natural party of government in Scotland, risen from the ennui of the Monteith years. Polls point to them potentially winning a majority at the next Assembly election due in 2019, which would be an impressive feat under STV.

 

[aurinoko]

Post-WWII France as South Korea

1948- 1960: Charles de Gaulle (Rally of the French People)
def. 1948: Maurice Thorez (PCF), Georges Bidault (MRP), Vincent Auriol (SFIO)
def. 1953: René Pleven (UDSR), Guy Mollet (SFIO)
def. 1960 Unopposed

Events of Avril 60
Fifth Republic (1960-1961)

1960- 1961: Pierre Mendès France (Radical)

Putsch des généraux
Sixth Republic (1961-1969)

1961- 1969: Jacques Massu (National Republican Rally)
def. 1961: Pierre Mendès France (Radical)
def. 1968: Jacques Delors (FGDS)

National Republic (1969- 1980)

1969- 1979: Jacques Massu (National Republican Rally)
def. 1969: Unopposed
def. 1976: Unopposed

1979- 1980: Maurice Couve de Murville (Independent)

« Paris Spring »
Putsch of 1980
Bordeaux Massacre
Eighth Republic (1980- 1988)

1980- 1988: Jean-Pierre Cherid (National Front)
def. 1980: Unopposed

Events of Juin 87
Ninth Republic (1988- present)

1988- 1993: Georges-Paul Wagner (Rally for Democracy and the Republic)
def. 1987: Raymond Barre (UDF), Jacques Delors (PG), Jean-Marie Le Pen (FN)

1993- 1998: Raymond Barre (Union for French Democracy)
def. 1993: Jacques Delors (PG), Jean-Marie Le Pen (FN)

1998- 2003: Jacques Delors (Party for the Democratic Left)
def. 1998: Alain Juppé (UMP), Édouard Balladur (RPR)

2003- 2008: Arnaud Montebourg (Party for the Democratic Left)
def. 2003: Alain Juppé (UMP), Olivier Besancenot (PRCF)

2008- 2013: Vincent Bolloré (Union for Popular Movements)
def. 2008: François Hollande (PGD), Alain Juppé (DVD)

2013- 2017: Nicolas Sarkozy (Union for Popular Movements)
def. 2013: Jean-Marc Ayrault (PS)

Impeachment of Nicolas Sarkozy

2017- : Jean-Marc Ayrault (Socialist Party)
def. 2017: Laurent Wauquiez (LR), Xavier Niel (XN), Édouard Philippe (UDF), Christiane Taubira (PRCF)

 

[lerk]

1978-1981: P. W. Botha (National)

Pieter Willem Botha campaigned for constitutional reform to turn South Africa into a federal state while keeping white supremacy in tact and secretly pursued a nuclear weapons program when he was previously Defence Minister. However, not a lot of those plans got passed, as in 1981 he was assassinated on orders of the African National Congress.

1981-1987: Connie Mulder (National)
1984 def - Frederik van Zyl Slabbert (Progressive Federal)

Mulder, who had previously failed to become Prime Minister in 1978, was more reactionary in his beliefs, and saw Botha's death as a way to crack down on both the African National Congress and their paramilitary wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe. However, that just caused more resentment among black South Africans, and led to violence just getting worse. Mulder also continued the building of nuclear weapons, and in 1985 with the test of Springbok-1, South Africa had joined the nuclear club, and had increased South African morale, yet that went away quickly. South Africa soon had to endure worldwide sanctions (an anti-Apartheid bill veto being overridden in the US led to their only possible lifeline being cut off), which made the economic situation even worse, and the mysterious death of Nelson Mandela in 1986 which had led to more violence. Mulder died in 1987, and some had hoped for a more moderate successor. Those hopes were soon dashed.

1987-1996: Andries Treurnicht (National)
1988 def - Colin Eglin (Progressive Federal)
Future elections cancelled due to Civil War

Treurnicht was as hardline as Mulder was, and kept the status quo intact. Because of this, civil war was not seen as an if, but when. The straw that broke the camel's back was the killing of Winnie Mandela, Nelson Mandela's widow, along with her two daughters at an ANC rally. This led to anti-Apartheid groups increasing in size to the point where they could potentially capture Pretoria. South Africa, much like Yugoslavia and Somalia had fallen to violence. Thankfully, however, a UN intervention led to South Africa's nuclear weapons being taken to the IAEA. While most of the outside world was supporting multi-racial groups, those groups did not gain much support in South Africa, as it was either the government or black nationalists. Treurnicht mysteriously disappeared sometime in July of 1996, and was declared dead in 1998. However, many in the successor states of South Africa, along with neighboring states and even some in the United States claim to have seen him.

1996-1998: Ferdinand Hartzenberg (National)

By the time Hartzenberg got in power, all the South African government controlled was Pretoria, its surrounding areas and the Western Cape (though laws were hard to enforce there). White supremacist militias South Africa had been using saw the writing on the wall and was soon breaking free of the control and went down to the white-majority south, where they declared the independence of the Volkstaat. The Volkstaat's independence led to Zulu militias declaring Zululand's independence, and the black nationalist militias claimed the independence of Azania and began to march to the Western Cape. The UN got involved and ordered an intervention into South Africa with 90 countries (the United States had refused to go with Somalia being fresh in their minds) helping. However, 90 countries failed to break the popularity of white, black and Zulu militias and had only taken the Western Cape, which became a UN neutral zone. It took some time, but Azania, the Volkstaat and Zululand began to achieve recognition, no matter how deplorable the governments of the former two were. Black militias had won against the South African government in the Battle of Pretoria in 1998, which led to Hartzenberg, along with the entire South African government and their families committing suicide.

Azania

1998-2006: Vusumzi Make (Pan Africanist Congress)
2000 def - Various
2005 def - Mosiuoa Lekota (Azanian People's Congress)

With Zimbabwe being slowly turned into a pariah state, nobody had any high hopes for Azania and their leaders, many of whom were personal friend of Robert Mugabe. Make began to implement numerous reforms very similar to Zimbabwe, such as nationalization and land redistribution. However, Azania did not go through the hyperinflation that Zimbabwe did, though nobody would call their economy exemplary. Azania has so many similarities to Zimbabwe that many have called it "South Zimbabwe". In 2005 Make had a tough challenge in the form of Mosiuoa Lekota, who promised democracy and to open Azania up to the world. However, a massive smear campaign dedicated at Lekota, along with numerous cases of election fraud led to Make winning a 50-point landslide over Lekota. However, his victory was short lived as he died a year later.

2006-2009: Johnson Mlambo (Pan Africanist Congress)

Mlambo succeeded Make, and continued his reign of human rights abuses, dictatorship, racism and corruption. In 2008 the economy had gotten so bad that a general strike occurred, which nearly crippled Azania and could had finally led to the collapse of the PAC regime. However, the strike's popularity slowly decreased, and Mlambo had the leaders thrown in jail. Mlambo was known for his support of North Korea, and had congratulated Nepal's Maoists on winning the Nepali Civil War in 2007. Mlambo hurt relations with India and Sri Lanka, the former for his support of the Naxalites, and the latter for his support of the Tamil Tigers. Because of Azania's support for those two groups, they nearly got on the US state sponsors of terrorism list. Following a coup d'etat in Zimbabwe in 2009, Mlambo ordered the Azanian military to go into Zimbabwe to restore Mugabe. It would had been a success had the Azanian army avoided the Matabele areas, but as history shows they didn't, and Matabele militias expelled the Azanian army, which had led to Mlambo being forced to resign.

2009-0000: Tiyani Lybon Mabasa (Pan Africanist Congress)
2010 def - Mosiuoa Lekota (Azanian People's Congress)
2015 def - Opposition outlawed

Mabasa had his differences with the PAC, to the point where he nearly broke off with them in 2004. Because of this, many expected Mabasa to be a new face for Azania, one which would bring democracy and open it up to the world. When Lekota nearly died in a car crash in 2010, people stopped singing his praises. Mabasa began a nuclear weapons program, with help from North Korea, Iraq and Libya, the former two already had developed nuclear weapons. Mabasa also increased Sino-Azania ties, with China reportedly beginning a program of investment into it as a part of their investment in other African countries. Mabasa began to crack down on religious freedom as well, such as shutting down all mosques and Hindu temples. Mabasa began to make irredentist threats towards Lesotho and eSwatini, which had gotten the two worried. In 2015 the APC was outlawed and Lekota was thrown in jail. Will Azania eventually transform itself, as many had been hoping for? Maybe, maybe not, but optimists will do what they do best: hope.

Volkstaat

1998-0000: Eugene Terre'Blanche (Afrikaner National Conservative Party)
2002 def - Unopposed
2008 def - Unopposed
2014 def - Unopposed

When the Volkstaat declared independence an ethnic cleansing of black South Africans occurred which led to the Volkstaat's racial demographics today being 96% white. The Volkstaat was seen as an inspiration to white supremacists that a white supremacist state was still possible, and when the dust settled and the successor states of South Africa was becoming peaceful white supremacists began to move to the Volkstaat, and they were welcomed by the Volkstaat government. This has led to problems, such as in 2009 when white supremacist terrorists released sarin gas on a subway station in New York City, killing 59. The terrorist group was based in the Volkstaat, and as such the United States ordered Operation Never Ending Courage which had the US bomb terrorist training camps in the Volkstaat. The Volkstaat protested this at the UN, yet they were ignored. The Volkstaat has been labeled a state sponsor of terrorism by the United States, and a worldwide embargo (Zululand has some economic ties as Zulu and Afrikaner militias both fought together in the Civil War) has led to a terrible economy, and many believe that in the case of a Volkstaat collapse the Republic of the Western Cape should annex it. Recently, Terre'Blanche has been making less and less public appearances, with some rumors spreading that he has dementia and would be overthrown sometime in 2018. If that is the case, the strongest candidate to succeed him is Defence Minister Steyn von Ronge.

Western Cape

1999-2003: Harry Schwarz (United Liberal)
2001 def (Reconstruction Coalition) - Leonard Ramatlakane (Cape African Congress); Marthinus van Schalkwyk (Democratic National)

Harry Schwarz was a notable anti-Apartheid politician before the Civil War, and fled to Namibia when it began, supporting the multi-racial Cape Republican Army, which did not have much supporters among whites or blacks at first, but the UN intervention led to their dream of a multi-racial, democratic Cape Republic being realized. However, the racial resentment between both whites and blacks were still there, and many were doubting the Republic of the Western Cape could survive. The UN forces made Harry Schwarz president, and in 2001 elections were called, and while the United Liberal party lost to the Cape Congress, they agreed on a "Reconstruction Coalition" with the Cape African Congress and the Democratic National Party in an attempt to heal old wounds and focus on developing the Western Cape. The coalition was successful, and the RWC was becoming more and more peaceful. While the RWC was getting better, Harry Schwarz wasn't, and he succumbed to a stroke in 2003.

2003-2005: Colin Eglin (United Liberal)

Colin Eglin drafted much of the RWC's constitution, and before that was the leader of the anti-apartheid Progressive Federal Party. Following Schwarz's stroke, Eglin, who was already being seen as a potential successor to Schwarz in the ULP, was made president. Eglin continued the Reconstruction Coalition's attempt at rebuilding the nation, and his presidency was largely uneventful. Eglin had wanted to retire by 2005, yet was persuaded to continue on as leader of the ULP in the 2005 elections. Eglin lost, though he, like Schwarz are remembered as great leaders, and they will be remembered as such for some time.

2005-2013: Leonard Ramatlakane (Cape African Congress)
2005 def - Colin Eglin (United Liberal); Marthinus van Schalkwyk (Democratic National)
2009 def - Helen Zille (United Liberal); Marthinus van Schalkwyk (Democratic National); Ferlon Christians (African Christian Congress)

As Eglin could not campaign much due to his advanced age, and van Schalkwyk's attempt at creating a non-racist National Party was laughed at, the RWC looked to Ramatlakane as their leader for the next four years. Ramatlakane broke away from the CAC's socialist policies and pursued neoliberal economic policies. During his premiership, the Cape economy was growing at a high rate, and Ramatlakane succeeded in getting the FIFA World Cup to be played in Cape Town in 2014. However, even as the economy was growing so was crime, which led to Ramatlakane cracking down on numerous gangs, which led to an almost successful assassination attempt on him in 2008 by a member of a Chinese triad. Some had felt that Ramatlakane was not going far enough, such as members of the Democratic National Party, which called for resumption of the death penalty, which had been declared unconstitutional by the RWC Supreme Court in 2004. However, nobody really listened to the DNP, so their request was ignored. Ramatlakane also tried to make internet access more accessible to the people of the RWC, as before him only 1% of the RWC population had internet connection, and when he left that number had been 17%.

Ramatlakane was also known for trying to open Azania to the world, such as trying to get the PAC and APC to negotiate, which failed following Mabasa's failed murder of Lekota. The Azanian invasion of Zimbabwe became a major issue in the 2009 election, with the ULP and DNP claiming Ramatlakane was being too soft on Azania and that the invasion showed the true colors of their eastern neighbor, and these attacks almost led to the ULP winning, though with some close victories in some seats led to the CAC pulling a bare majority. However, as Azania started to get more and more insane, Ramatlakane was becoming more and more unpopular. Ultimately, Ramatlakane decided to step down as CAC leader, handing the torch to Deputy President Ebrahim Rasool.

2013-2015: Ebrahim Rasool (Cape African Congress)
2013 def - Helen Zille (United Liberal); Ferlon Christians (African Christian Congress); Marthinus van Schalkwyk (Democratic National); Nevie Aubrey Baartman (Cape Freedom Party)

Rasool presented himself as a new face of the CAC, and tried to distance himself as far from the increasingly unpopular Ramatlakane and avoid questions about Azania and their nuclear program as much as possible. The CAC engaged in a massive PR campaign which turned out in their favor, and the ULP ended up losing seats in what could had been their easiest election. Rasool was more hawkish than Ramatlakane on the issue of Azania, which proved to help him somewhat, and started to gradually decrease aid from the RWC to Azania. However, he was soon undone by allegations that he was paying political reporters and journalists in order to write articles which portrayed him in a positive light. "Reportergate" ended up with parliament declaring a motion of no confidence against the Rasool government, which led to elections being called.

2015-0000: Athol Trollip (United Liberal)
2015 def - Ebrahim Rasool (Cape African Congress); Nevie Aubrey Baartman (Cape Freedom Party); Ferlon Christians (African Christian Congress); Marthinus van Schalkwyk (Democratic National)

Nobody denied that the ULP was going to win, it was a forgone conclusion. Only a few polls showed the CAC winning, and those were from pollsters with a clear bias. The ULP won by a 10 point margin, even robbing Rasool of his own seat.

So far, the ULP has been doing a good job of governing the RWC. Nobody can deny that the RWC is the most well off of the South Africa successor states. Currently, it is experiencing an economic boom, and became a guest at the 2017 G20 summit, and the 2017-2018 recession has not done a mark on the RWC's economy. The RWC has also become a safe haven for defectors from the Volkstaat, many of whom are black. These defectors are welcomed with open arms, though it has led to conflicts with the Volkstaat, such as some brief border violence in 2016. However, as the Volkstaat is looking more and more fragile with Terre'Blanche's inactivity, and with not many countries willing to object to an RWC annexation of the Volkstaat in case of civil war there, such violence is irrelevant, and as such the RWC has plans for a possible future scenario with this happening and what their military would do.

Zululand

Monarch

1998-0000: Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu

Prime Minister

1998-2008: Mangosuthu Buthelezi (Inkatha Freedom Party)
1999 def - Various
2003 def - Various

Buthelezi would had been forgotten had it not been for the fact that he had been the first Prime Minister of Zululand. While Zululand did not grow much economically mostly because of economic mismanagement, and with tribalism somewhat being supported by the government, Zulus remember the Buthelezi era as a time of peace. While Buthelezi did not face much opposition, this was mostly because of his popularity. However, the IFP began to split following his retirement in 2008.

2008-0000: Ben Ngubane (Inkatha Freedom Party)
2008 def - Various
2013 def - Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi (Nationalist Party)

Ngubane won the title of leader of the IFP narrowly after his opponent, Zanele kaMagwza-Mbisi. However, while kaMagwza-Mbisi was initially willing to work with Ngubane differences over economic policy led to her announcing a split in 2011. In 2013 the Nationalist Party of Zululand won 36% of the popular vote, however some doubt the authenticity of the results as the IFP faced allegations of rigging, and the fact that political violence occurred around the 2013 election campaign, with kaMagwaza-Mbisi even being assaulted by an IFP supporter. With Azania becoming more aggressive Zululand has been on alert, and formed alliances with Lesotho and 'eSwatini as Azania has been threatening them with annexation. Some have suggested the Zululand start a nuclear program to counter Azania's, though the Ngubane government has not done so. At least, not yet.

 

[Beata Beatrix]

snip

This is really interesting work, and I like it a lot.

One thing, though: Mulder was suspended from the National Party in '79 in the aftermath of the Muldergate scandal, which really disgraced him, and I don't think he even held a seat until his comeback in '87, only a little bit before his death.

 

[Miss Teri]

Should I repost my lists from AH.com?

 

[Japhy]

Should I repost my lists from AH.com?

I would say if you have recent ones, cross-posting is fine but if you want to move ALL or better, the ones you think it best to, over, its probably better to do what I did and set up a repository thread.

 

[Bonniecanuck]

Ending up thinking of a list of Governors of Hong Kong if Sir Mark decided to postpone his retirement until his plans were done and the Young Plan got thoroughly implemented. Went for some varied choices based on individuals in the diplomatic service, observers of recent affairs in Hong Kong, and military history.

Governors of Hong Kong (1945-)

1945: Sir Franklin Charles Gimson*

1945-1946: Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt**

1946-1951: Sir Mark Aitchison Young

1951-1956: Sir John Stuart Macpherson

1956-1959: Arthur Creech Jones

1959-1966: Sir John Maud

1966-1974: Admiral Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma

1974-1980: Sir Oliver Wright

1980-1986: Sir Roderick MacFarquhar

1986-1992: Sir Brook Bernacchi

1992-1999: Sir Francis Cornish

1999-2010: Sir Paddy Ashdown

2010-2016: Sir Malcolm Rifkind

2016-: Sir Benedict Rogers

* Acting governor
** Military administration

 

[lerk]

This is really interesting work, and I like it a lot.

One thing, though: Mulder was suspended from the National Party in '79 in the aftermath of the Muldergate scandal, which really disgraced him, and I don't think he even held a seat until his comeback in '87, only a little bit before his death.

You're correct. I'll find someone to replace him.

 

[Oppo]

1984-1984: Edward du Cann (Conservative majority, later minority)
1984-1985: Roy Jenkins (SDP-Liberal Alliance)
1984 (Majority) def. Michael Foot (Labour), James Molyneaux (UUP)
1985-1987: Roy Jenkins (Social Democratic coalition with Liberals)
1987-1995: Shirley Williams (Social Democratic)
1989 (Coalition with Conservatives) def. David Steel (Liberal), Neil Kinnock (Labour), The Earl of Stockton (Conservative), Collective leadership (Green), Gordon Wilson (SNP), James Molyneaux (UUP), Dafydd Elis-Thomas (Plaid Cymru)
1994 (Coalition with Conservatives) def. David Penhaligon (Liberal), Neil Kinnock (Labour), Collective leadership (Green), Chris Patten (Conservative), Gordon Wilson (SNP), Dafydd Elis-Thomas (Plaid Cymru), James Molyneaux (UUP)
1995-1999: David Owen (Democratic coalition with Conservatives)
1999-Present: Nick Harvey (Liberal)
1999 (Coalition with Labour & Greens) def. David Owen (Democratic), Tony Benn (Labour), Collective leadership (Green), Chris Patten (Conservative), Alex Salmond (SNP), Dafydd Elis-Thomas (Plaid Cymru)
2004 (Coalition with Labour & Greens) def. Bill Rodgers (Democratic), Collective leadership (Green), Robin Cook (Labour), Daniel Finkelstein (Conservative), Alex Nell (SNP), Dafydd Elis-Thomas (Plaid Cymru)

(based on the one poll with the Alliance on over 50%)

With the military disaster of the Falklands War and the economic issues facing Britain, the SDP-Liberal Alliance wins a landslide of 558 seats, with Labour on 71 and the Tories on 0. Quickly, Jenkins implemented the Alliance's major agenda, electoral reform. In a referendum, proportional representation is put into place along with Scottish and Welsh devolution. With the new electoral system, the SDP and Liberals end their alliance but continue to work in government until the next election. Jenkins "retires" in 1987 upon Owen trying to force in the popular Shirley Williams and revelations about his affair with Tony Crosland.

1989 results in a coalition with the Tories (led by Supermac from the House of Lords), with the Liberals just ahead of Kinnock's Labour. The Green Party makes a strong showing, with over 10% of the vote. Williams' next term has a more moderate direction due to the influence of the Tories, which continues through 1994. Upon Williams’ retirement, David Owen removed the “Social” from SDP and reversed the party’s pro-European tendency.

Owen’s term was at the same time as the later 1990s recession, allowing the young radical Nick Harvey to take power in a “Plural Left” coalition with the Greens and Labour. Under Harvey, the UK has begun nuclear disarmament, implemented a carbon tax, and has been aiming to cool relations with President Lebed and Russia. Currently, the Liberals are far ahead of Sue Slipmans DPUK, and look set to be able to drop Labour for a strait Lib-Green coalition.

 

[Mumby]

Peace In Our Time

1963-1973: Lyndon B. Johnson (Democratic)
1964 (with Hubert Humphrey) def. Barry Goldwater (Republican)
1968 (with Spiro Agnew) def. Richard Nixon (Republican), Eugene McCarthy (Independent)
1973-1973: Spiro Agnew (Republican)
1972 (with Ronald Reagan) def. George Wallace (Democratic), Hunter S. Thompson (Peoples' Front)
1973-1977: Ronald Reagan (Republican)
1977-1981: U. Utah Phillips (Peoples' Front)
1976 (with Kayren Hudiburgh) def. George Wallace (Democratic), Charles Mathias (Republican)

LBJ doesn't pull out in 1968, while Eugene McCarthy decides to do an anti-war independent run. He is endorsed by Peace and Freedom, along with a couple other left-wing parties and they ride his coattails to success further down the ballot. Nevertheless, the result is a hung electoral college which sees LBJ re-elected but has Agnew forced upon him.

The next four years see a slight improvement in the economy, but America still struggles in the mire of 'Nam. The Democrats continue to haemorrage left-wing support, and the 1966 mid-terms see several humiliating victories for the newborn Peoples' Front that has united the numerous runners and riders of McCarthy '68. In 1972, Agnew uses his experience as VP to soundly win the Republican nomination and places fellow conservative and charismatic foil Reagan in the ballot. Meanwhile, Wallace wins the Democratic nomination in a bloody convention. Hunter S. Thompson leads the Peoples' Front to victory in the mountain states and in some of the liberal heartlands of the North that are repulsed by both Agnew and Wallace.

Agnew goes down thanks to his gubernatorial corruption after only a few months in the Oval Office and suddenly Reagan is thrust to the fore. His attempts to implement monetarist economics only see the recovering economy go down the pan, the Oil Crisis exacerbates this and his sabre-rattling foreign policy sees yet more troops committed to the Southeast Asia quagmire. He is primaried in 1976 and Charles Mathias tries to lead the Republicans in a disappointingly staid and underwhelming campaign. Wallace is renominated by the Democrats, hoping to build on his support in the Rust Belt but it comes to nothing.

U. Utah Phillips, a New York representative won the Presidency alongside California representative Hudiburgh, sweeping up depressed industrial states alongside the mountain enclaves and traditional liberal heartlands. The Democrats remained confined to the Deep South while the Republicans suffered their worst result since the Great Depression. While the Peoples' Front have only a rather small contingent in Congress, Phillips is optimistic that he doesn't actually need the national legislature to accomplish much of what he plans to do...

 

[Thande]

(based on the one poll with the Alliance on over 50%)

Are you aware of @iainbhx 's scenario on this? Some things look different, but 'Falklands disaster followed by du Cann caretaker government' seems oddly similar if it's a coincidence.

I don't think they would do a referendum on electoral reform, they would just do it.

 

[Oppo]

Are you aware of @iainbhx 's scenario on this? Some things look different, but 'Falklands disaster followed by du Cann caretaker government' seems oddly similar if it's a coincidence.

I don't think they would do a referendum on electoral reform, they would just do it.

I am aware of it, but it's a scenario that's been used many times by others. The main POD wasn't the focus of the list I did - it was more to see what happened afterward.

 

[Bolt451]

@lerk and @aurinoko Great work! both very interesting and creative

 

[Lord Caedus]

Turn, Turn, Turn

1963-1965: Lyndon B. Johnson (Democratic) / (none)
1965-1969: Lyndon B. Johnson / Hubert H. Humphrey (Democratic)
1964: Barry Goldwater/William E. Miller (Republican)
1969-1971: Hubert H. Humphrey / John Connally (Democratic) [1]
1968: Richard Nixon/Spiro Agnew (Republican) [2], George Wallace/Curtis LeMay (American Independent)
1971-1973: Hubert H. Humphrey (Democratic) / John Connally (Republican) [3]
1973-1976: John Connally (Republican) / Albert Brewer (Democratic) [4]
1972: John Connally/Richard Ogilvie (Republican), Hubert Humphrey/Albert Brewer (Democratic), George Wallace/John G. Schmitz (American Independent)
1976: Albert Brewer (Democratic) / (none) [5]
1976-1978: Albert Brewer / Lee Metcalf (Democratic) [6]
1976: Ronald Reagan/Richard Schweiker (Republican), James Buckley/Meldrim Thomson (American Independent) [7]
1978: Albert Brewer (Democratic) / (none)
1978-1981: Albert Brewer / Edmund Muskie (Democratic)
1981-1985: Hank Grover / Al Quie (Republican) [8]
1980: Albert Brewer/Edmund Muskie (Democratic), John Anderson/Lowell Weicker (Independent) [9]

[1]- Following President Johnson's humiliatingly narrow victory in the New Hampshire primary, the president announced he would not seek re-election. The Democratic nomination, marred by the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy after his victory of the California primary, ended up in the hands of Johnson's vice president, Hubert Humphrey, who did not enter a single primary or caucus. The Chicago convention devolved into a chaos with protesters being beaten by police on live television while inside Humphrey and his running mate, Texas Governor John Connally, accepted the party's nomination for president and vice president. The Republican nominee, former vice president Richard Nixon, held a commanding lead throughout the summer, but a dogged campaign by Humphrey, who finally broke with the president on the war in Vietnam in September, resulted in the Democrats winning the election in a very tight race comparable to Nixon's first defeat eight years earlier.

[2]- Rumors of an attempt by the Nixon campaign to interfere with peace negotiations between the United States and North Vietnam to tip the election to the Republican ticket have circulated since the end of the 1968 presidential campaign, although no evidence has thus far confirmed them.

[3]- The split between Humphrey and Connally was perhaps inevitable given the ideological and personal differences between the two men. Connally announced his switch to the Republican Party after a series of heated arguments between the two and instantly became the de facto Republican alternative to Humphrey, refusing to resign and instead spending the remainder of his vice presidency laying the ground work for his own presidential run.

[4]- The 1972 election was the first election since 1828 to be thrown to the House, with Alabama Governor George Wallace succeeding in causing a hung electoral college. The Democratic Senate chose Wallace's predecessor as Alabama governor, Albert Brewer, to be vice president, while Wallace told his electors to throw their votes to Connally, despite the Republican nominee losing the national popular vote.

[5]- It took less than a year before questions about Connally's involvement in the close-knit world of Texas Democratic politics soon turned into ones about several payments that the president had received during his tumultuous stint as vice president from groups that successfully lobbied the Humphrey administration. A series of congressional investigations exposed several shady dealings stemming from Connally's time as Texas governor through his presidency, and the embattled president finally threw in the towel in January 1976, becoming the first president to resign, handing power over to Vice President Brewer.

[6]- The first president from the Deep South since Zachary Taylor, Brewer attempted to restore the nation's faith in government that had been shattered by Vietnam, the disputed 1972 election result and President Connally's resignation in disgrace. His dogged efforts to keep his party united and attempt to see the country through the difficult post-Vietnam era finally collapsed at the end of the decade.

[7]- Former Governor Ronald Reagan shocked supporters by picking liberal Senator Richard Schweiker as his running mate following his victory in the Republican primaries. While moderate and liberal Republicans considered it a sign of Reagan reaching out to other factions of his party, die-hard conservatives took it as a sign that Reagan would abandon his convictions if elected. Conservative activists hijacked the remnant of George Wallace's American Independent Party and persuaded retiring New York Senator James Buckley to run, offering a "principled conservative" answer to Reagan. Although only ever polling in single-digits, the party siphoned enough votes away from Reagan to deny the Republicans the presidency.

[8]- Grover's populist, socially conservative takeover of the Republican Party has been seen as the culmination of the "Dixiecrat" shift to the Republican Party, and might possibly signal the beginning of a new political era in the United States.

[9]- The independent bid of John Anderson, a liberal Republican representative from Illinois, seriously impacted both the Grover and Brewer campaigns' strategies, although it ultimately failed to force Grover to moderate his positions and more than likely tipped a few northeastern states to the Republican candidate.

 

[Japhy]

The Road to Socialism, American Style


1877-1881: Samuel J. Tilden / Thomas A. Hendricks (Democratic) [1]
1876: Rutherford B. Hayes / William A. Wheeler (Republican)
1881-1884: Ulysses S. Grant / Chester A. Arthur (Republican) [2]
1880: Winfield S. Hancock / John Kelly (National Democratic), Samuel J. Tilden / Henry B. Payne (American Democratic), James B. Weaver / Thomas Ewing, Jr. (National Independent) [3]
1884-1885: Chester A. Arthur / vacant (Republican)
1885-1889: James A. Garfield / Joseph R. Hawley (Republican) [4]
1884: William S. Rosecrans / Joel Parker (Democratic), James B. Weaver / Absolom M. West (Greenback)
1889-1893: James A. Garfield / Levi P. Morton (Republican)
1888: John M. Palmer / John C. Black (Democratic), Walter Q. Gresham / Joseph C. S. Blackburn (Anti-Monopolist)
1893-1895: Robert T. Lincoln / Blanche K. Bruce (Republican) [5]
1892: Benjamin F. Butler / John P. Buchanan (Farmer-Labor), William E. Russell / Henry Watterson (Democratic) [6]
1895-1897: Robert T. Lincoln / vacant (Republican)
1897-1901: Robert T. Lincoln / H. Clay Evans (Republican)
1896: Richard P. Bland / Joseph C. Sibley (Democratic-Farmer-Labor) [7]
1901-1905: Henry C. Lodge / James A. Mount (Republican) [8]
1900: Eugene V. Debs / Augustus Van Wyck (Democratic-Farmer-Labor)
1905-1909: Henry C. Lodge / William H. Taft (Republican)
1904: William D. Haywood / Thomas E. Watson (Democratic-Farmer-Labor)
1909-1912: James S. Sherman / Robert M. La Follette (Republican) [9]
1908: John A. Johnson / Milford W. Howard (Democratic-Farmer-Labor)
1912-1913: Robert M. La Follette / vacant (Republican) [10]
1913-1918: Theodore Roosevelt / William E. B. Du Bois (Republican) [11]
1912: [James S. Sherman / Robert M. La Follette (Republican)], James B. Clark / William E. Borah (Democratic-Farmer-Labor)
1916: William D. Haywood / James C. McReynolds (Democratic-Farmer-Labor), Robert M. La Follette / [T. Woodrow Wilson], Kate R. O'Hare (Progressive) [12]
1918-1921: William E. B. Du Bois / vacant (Republican) [13]
1921-1925: Lynn J. Frazier / James E. Ferguson (Democratic-Farmer-Labor) [14]
1920: William E. B. Du Bois / Warren G. Harding (Republican), William R. Hearst / Newell Sanders (Patriotic Republican), William D. Haywood / Jessie W. Hughan (Populist) [15]

Footnotes
[1]- Samuel Tilden was swept into the White House atop waves of the blood of Murdered Freedmen, Corrupt Machines and the fine talk of fine men who talked of fine reforms. The First Democrat elected since before the Civil War, he quickly sought to put Federal Power in support of the redeemer parties of the south that were filled with the Red Shirts and Klansmen who mere months before had been chased down as the criminal butchers they were. While the "South Rose Again" in waves of brutality, Tilden spent most of his administration passing Civil Service reform, the passage of the Asian Exclusion Act to end immigration from outside of Europe, and dramatic fights with the captains of industry and the Republicans over tariffs. Democratic losses at the Midterms were in part countered by the complete destruction though violence and rigged votes of the last Republican holdouts in the former Confederacy. This though, was followed by several major corruption scandals where Tilden was forced to defend "Honest Graft" after years of presenting himself as reformer. As the developing Yellow Press made hay from both that and the horror stories coming from the deep South the American people started to despise Tilden and in the North and West, began to remember just why they had stood with Lincoln and with Grant to defeat the Confederacy and to win the peace. Having thrown it away in 1876 for promises from the "Right Sort" in Dixie that they would be 'fair' in restoring a Whites Only regime. Tilden thus. The Republican sweep in New York in 1879 seemed to put the last nail in Tilden's coffin after his involvement in the campaign could not even secure lowly state posts such as the Canal Commissioner to the party.

[2]- The Shirts finding themselves once more soaked in blood, the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party was not just ascendant doing into 1880 but mostly supported by the reformists in the party. As such the Old General and Former President was able to easily secure the nomination with pledges put into the party platform to appoint specific reformers to the cabinet. Winning over a split ticket, Grant became the first president to serve more then two terms. What followed was the largest deployment of US forces since the Great Sioux Wars, Grant and the victorious Republicans passed new Force Acts, new Civil Rights acts and to back them up passed the 16th and 17th Amendments, abolishing the Poll Tax and a supplementary civil rights amendment ensuring the role of the Federal Government to ensure "One Man, One Vote" be the law of the land. The Asian Exclusion Act was replaced with a quota system for immigrants, minimal labor reforms took place and Civil Service laws were strengthened. But the biggest change was in the South, the Regular Army was expanded and states offered volunteer regiments as suppliments but a Bi-Racial, Multi-Party Democracy was forced on the South and entrenched to deny it any chance of being so easily overthrown again. The Klan and the Redshirts were chased down in a bloody and brutal insurgency, freedmen were armed as part of the militia service and Federal troops made shows of force for every election that followed. The "Solid South" fractured as Unionist white population came back around and the rest of the nation made clear, with the rage shown to every lynching, every burnt cabin and every riot that they were not going to let the system in place stand. They had been promised that going away would ensure peace and the old fine sort, men like Wade Hampton and others had been shown wanting, and they would not be given a second chance. Initially it was feared by detractors that this would create an endless cycle of war. But when Democrats were allowed to take their victories in districts they had fairly won, and were unable to use violence to ensure victories in others, changes began to take hold. In some cases the black vote would even be courted by Ex-Confederates. In a few rare cases, it would even be won. The tidal shift would see Federal forces on hand for decades to come, though in ever decreasing numbers, but it also saw that there would be a multi-party system in the South, with not just Republican but often Freedmen in Congress, in the State Governments and on occasion in the Senate and the Governor's mansion.

And then in 1884, with the legacy of himself and Lincoln as secure as could be, Ulysses S. Grant became one for the ages, passing on from cancer while staying at a cabin built for him in the Rockies.

[3] - The collapse in Tildens support would see discontented Democrats rally to Winfield Scott, who in a repeat of 1860 would win more electoral votes, mostly in the South then his party's standard bearer, even as Tilden won more votes overall. In addition the discontent movement of Greenback Currency men, Silver Miners, Urban workers and Jeffersonians of the Greenback or National Independent Party would made the most impressive third party showing in several years.

[4]- Grant's Vice President was in poor health himself, and while working to continue his Captain's work was glad to step aside. And in came the Governor of Ohio, the popular and radical James A Garfield. For the next eight year Garfield would keep the commitment in place for defending Civil Rights. In addition to the work in the South he would oversee efforts to secure protections for Chinese, Korean and Japanese migrants in the Pacific and Mountain states and for those African Americans who sought a new future for themselves in Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas as part of the Exoduster movement. Discontent was on the ride though, as Garfield continued Grant's policy of very minimal work in standing up to the growing power of the Railroads and other private industries for America. While some states like Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Tennessee, and Illinois would seek to copy the impressive reforms of Bismarck there was heavy opposition to such a growth in the power of the Federal Government or for that matter, many of the state governments. Farmers and Factory laborers continued to feel the pinch, especially as Garfield maintained the commitment, untouched by Grant and Tilden to keep the US on the Gold Standard. The second Silver Purchase Act offered a degree of relief to miners as the Long Depression since 1873 continued but was considered insufficient by most.

Overseas there would be several war scares under Garfield, with Spain as Cuba burned, with Chile as the US Navy rose to challenge their previous dominance of the American half of the Pacific, and with Brazil after the violence of the overthrow of that nations Empire saw acts of violence against American citizens and affronts to the Flag. With these in mind Garfield, a Volunteer Army General became an advocate for developing the US Navy. Meanwhile his Secretary of State, James G. Blaine would oversee the Conference of the Americas and the establishment of the Pan-American Conference in Mexico City after many issues and minor offences. The International Congress would meet permanently and ensure growing ties between the Americas especially after the Brazilian Civil War concluded in 1890.

[5] - In 1892 the Party turned towards the son of its Greatest and First President. Robert Todd Lincoln would be elected with a small but comfortable majority even as his Vice President made history as the First Black Man to be elected to a national executive office (Frederick Douglas having been a cabinet secretary for Grant in his third term). While this would see a small return to the bad old days in Dixie, the night riders were again swatted down with ease as fewer and fewer men were willing to die for the cause. His greatest domestic victory after this would be the passage of the Hoar Anti-Trust Act, the first great tool for the Executive to fight the growing power of Monopolies with, which he would use very sparingly, exclusively against railroad trusts that shut down competition in the Western United States.

Abroad in 1896 he would see the deployment of US troops as part of a Pan-American intervention to stop a civil war in Columbia, cementing America's role as a first among at least supposed equals, the war would prove controversial at home, triggering the move of the party to remove Bruce from the ticket that year, a move which, as the election came down entirely to the vote in New York with its hostile Irish voting bloc may have been decisive.

[6]- The growing issues of the Trusts, Immigration and Railroads saw the populist movement slowly solidify over the past several cycles. In 1892 the Farmer-Labor Party, able to take advantage of the poorer classes of the American South as well as Western Farmers and ever more eastern factory workers was able to unseat the Democratic Party as the second party of American politics. Defections increasing the Democrats went with a young, Hard currency, Pro-Gold party and found themselves collapsing on themselves.

[7]- In 1896 the discontent in the Democratic Party came to a head as its Pro-Silver remnants were able to seize control of the party and bring them into an alliance with the Farmer-Labor Party which would soon turn into a permanent union. On one hand the working class of America was given a platform they never could have dreamed of previously, on the other hand there were the compromises. In the South the previous efforts to work towards gaining the black by Farmer-Labor was abandoned for a 'Lily-White' Party with major gains. In the North many political machines, most of all Tammany Hall were 'reformed' to stand up for the workers more but were still, at their heart the machines of old. And yet for the agrarian and union movements the gains were just too much. Acts of caring were either dropped outright or men would quietly tell themselves they'd remember their black class allies when the victory was at last won, and to leave it merely at that. There would be little if anything ever shown on the front of Civil Rights for that compromise for decades. Booker T. Washington would be elected as a Farmer-Labor senator that year, and be forced to cross over to the Republicans within two years.

[8]- Lodge on taking office would begin the withdrawal of American troops from Columbia and would refuse to send them back. Taking a strong stand against Pan-American interventions he would gladly send the Marines into the Dominican Republic in 1903, and use the Mexico City Congress to push though a proposal to build a Canal in Nicaragua in 1904, and in 1906 would extend US recognition to the Cuban rebels as they besieged Havana at the close of the last Cuban War of Independence. Outside of the Americas he would sign the Treaty of Protection with the Kingdom of Hawaii, leasing Pearl Harbor for 99 years and ensuring the survival of that country with privileges for the American settler population. He would renegotiate immigration treaties with China and Japan in an effort to further restrict immigration from those countries and would push unsuccessfully for a quota system for European immigration.

At home he would see negotiations with various Unions, extending federal recognition to many of them, and working to break apart the US Steel Trust. Industry regulations would shake up the Meat, Clothing, and Timber to their cores. the 17th and 18th Amendments would pass at this time, banning Child Labor and establish systems for the direct election of Senators, as well as for primaries and recall elections (the last of which would exclude the Presidency and the Senate).

[9]- In 1908 the Republican Party would pick a moderate New York reformer in the form of James Sherman. Sherman would oversea several years of intense labor reform, including the end of a national coal mining strike in 1909 which threatened to send the Northern United States into the winter without heat. Under his watch the 19th Income Tax Amendment and the 20th, which would see Women granted the right to vote was sent to the states.

Sherman would be most remembered for his work in 1911 as France and Russia found themselves at war with Germany, and Austria-Hungary. After the initial offensives of the war saw millions dead and the war bogging down into Trench Warfare Sherman would travel first to Mexico City where he would secure declarations of neutrality from the American Republics and then with their blessing travel to Britain to partake in an attempt along with Prime Minister Billy Hughes to end the war. The 1912 Peace Treaty that the London Conference would produce would see Europe at peace for more then a decade to come, and would secure for Sherman acclaim though history, as well as a Nobel Peace Prize.

Disaster though would soon strike, as the stresses of the effort and the Presidential election that followed would see Sherman die from a heart attack only three days after he had decisively won a second term.

[10]- And so would begin the brief, unhappy administration of Fighting Bob La Follette. In his first statement to the country he attempted to present himself not only as a brief office holder but as the unquestioned winner of the election, and assured the country that the electoral college would soon swiftly award him with the votes of his late chief and that he would seek to nominate former Vice President and current Supreme Court Justice Taft to return to the second office. In addition he promised a vast series of reforms, for Labor, Conservation, Economics, and the nature of the legislature itself. All he hoped would be secured by the calling of an Article V convention to debate and draw up amendments to the Constitution.

The problems with this address are almost beyond measure: The nation had wanted a solemn review of the tragic death of the President. Instead they had been given a stump speech. Sherman had been an advocate of methodical and well-debated reform, and that was what the country wanted. Radicalism on this level was something one would want from the Debs-Haywood wing of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, not a Republican. An Article V convention was a call for pure madness, with no idea what would come out the other end. And most of all the American people didn't like being told what was going to happen and that things were clear cut when they knew damned well they absolutely weren't. The Nation was offended. The legitimate and Yellow presses aired concerns about his mental health. The D-F-L saw a chance for blood and went for it, hoping for a split in the Electoral College. Republican Party leaders who had quietly been wondering if they should just elect the man now openly rushed to find a replacement, not just for the Presidency but to dump La Follette himself from the ticket.

Fighting Bob kept going to the press to oppose this all, to say he had a popular mandate and to say that things would soon be smoothed over. But in the face of seeing a madman in the White Houses even the most reactionary Boss knew there was one man who could easily secure popular support and even though he was a loudmouth's loudmouth and a reformist's radical, he was at the very least, not mumbling to himself and having tremors as he screeched to reporters.

[11]- And so it was that the Republican electors closed ranks nearly completely and voted for the popular, Progressive, long-term governor of New York and for the African-American senator from Massachusetts. At least some of them would come to regret it. Theodore Roosevelt, former young man in a hurry, former successful Cattleman, darling of the Yellow Press for his actions on a Congressional Delegation that was cut off by a rebel uprising in the midst of the Colombian intervention, was now the most powerful man in the Americas. And he took off running. Naval rearmament, crisises with China, a stand against the Convict Labor system in the South, Roosevelt did it all. Roosevelt would see the creation of a National Health Service, Social Security Insurance, an Eight Hour Work Day, and the creation of a Federal Banking cartel as a late in the game effort to establish Bismarckian social reform in America, which proved so massively popular that the 1916 election was a landslide in his favor.

And then there was the short, victorious war. In 1915 another round of rebellions hit the Spanish colony in the Philippines and when American Marines sent to Manila to protect US businesses two years later were fired upon by forces unseen, killing several, TR went to war. Nine months later the Spanish Pacific Islands were in Americas hands and, to TR's annoyance due to a Congressional Act, the Philippines were an independent country, with the US merely leasing a base at Subic Bay. The war had been a nasty affair but the American people were clearly high on the victory of it all and the fact that they had secured "The Open Door to China" at long last. Republicans would make major gains not only in 1918 but in various state races besides. And then that winter the unexpected happened. In December Roosevelt became the first American president to visit Alaska at the start of a tour of the countries new Pacific Empire, planning on visiting Hawaii, Truk, Guam before arriving to a victors parade in Manila to sign a friendship treaty with the Philippine Republic. But he would never make it, instead in Anchorage he would witness a minor disaster as the ice broke under part of the crowd that had come to see him off at the docks. Always a man of action he would rush in and partake in the efforts of navymen and local police to help rescue survivors. He would have pneumonia within a few days after drenching himself with the sub-arctic waters, and would die in the territory before New Years.

[12]- Bill Haywood, the popular, charismatic and bombastic Labor leader and Congressmen who was the D-F-L party came close to winning it in 1916, had it not been for the other radical in the race, he may very well have done it. Instead the disaster that was the ousted president La Follettes attempt to retake the White House or at least deny it to the Republicans backfired, drawing away more votes from tradtional DFL strongholds and bases then his old compatriots. Republicans by this point considered him to be completely unhinged, an opinion shared halfway though the campaign by the former Independent governor of Virginia who quit the ticket in October.

[13]- And so it was that on December 27th, 1918 America would find itself awakening to the news that it had its first Black President. Du Bois was a northern man, born and raised in Western Massachusetts, and had built for himself over the years, strong progressive credentials. He would, over the next two years set off to use them. Under Du Bois two major domestic acts were passed that would ensure for himself a position as one of the greats: He would see the establishment in 1919 of the National University of the United States in Washington DC and would see the passage of the National Technical College Act setting the stage for the founding of nearly 100 new colleges over the next four years, at least two in every state and at least one in all US Territories, and all of which would be for at least the first twenty years (though it would continue long after) to be tuition free and free of any racial or ethnic quotas. Du Bois' biggest international accomplishment would be the trilateral treaty between the United States, France and Haiti in 1919, requiring France to forgive all debts to the little island nation, and which set up a French Education Indemnity to help make up for decades of abuse to its former colony. And while that treaty would help ensure the poorest nation in the Americas could start to grow, it would unfortunately be the first great issue in the undoing of WEB Du Bois.

[14] - Lynn Frazier became the first DFL President after spending most of the campaign talking about the issues of "Good and Bad" Trusts and the need for the 'Real' American people to break apart the National Banking system and to diversify it from four branches in New York, Chicago, San Fransisco and Washington DC into a series of small agencies spread in most states and around farm country to break the power of wall street. He left the race baiting up to his VP nominee.

[15]- In the end it wasn't what Du Bois had done but who he was that cost him a term of his own. While most Republicans were willing, especially after nearly two full years to back their man, there were enough of them, organized by California Republican William Randolph Hearst to say now and thus cost him the election. Of course even then it was a close run thing because the issue of Race cut both ways. Big Bill Haywood, an avid reader of Socialist and Anarchist thought as well as that of Richard P Bland and Henry George was considered in 1920 to be the inevitable nominee for the DFL. But when Du Bois' administration saw the rise in "White Citizens Councils" across the country, Haywood took a stand against them. He had already secured a majority in the DFL primary process when the word came that the convention was determined to put and endorsement of the councils into the campaign. Haywood refused to be nominated with such a platform and when push came to shove, walked out of the party. His outright anarcho-socialist Populist Party stood no chance but at the very least he could say he ran a clear and fair campaign, and thus secured for it support for decades. The DFL would go on without him, still at time radical as well. And in the end, DuBois wouldn't be finished either, the only faction in that election that would die rapidly would be Hearst's, and while 1920 was a victory for DFL socialism and a defeat for civil rights, it would not be the end of the conversation, but the watershed for a new era, firmly out of the shadow of the the bloody redemption of 1877 or the Second Reconstruction that followed.

 

[Japhy]

Fixed it.

If racist Socialism seems out of place I will point you all to the fact that Kate Richards O'Hare was one of the most successful Socialist writers in the history of American Marxism, and was almost the SPA's VP nominee in 1916 thanks to a straight postal vote by Party members. She was a raging bigot who insisted that blacks could never achieve equality to rights and barely deserved rights. And her support clearly shows that it wasn't she who was 'tolerated' by the Party so much as it was Haywood and Debs' support for civil rights, at least into the 1920s, after the party was in decline.

 

[Creekmench]

Fixed it.

If racist Socialism seems out of place I will point you all to the fact that Kate Richards O'Hare was one of the most successful Socialist writers in the history of American Marxism, and was almost the SPA's VP nominee in 1916 thanks to a straight postal vote by Party members. She was a raging bigot who insisted that blacks could never achieve equality to rights and barely deserved rights. And her support clearly shows that it wasn't she who was 'tolerated' by the Party so much as it was Haywood and Debs' support for civil rights, at least into the 1920s, after the party was in decline.

Didn't Jack London write a story where genociding Chinese was a good thing?

 

[Mumby]

Didn't Jack London write a story where genociding Chinese was a good thing?

I'm pretty sure B Munro did a cover of that scenario, set a few decades afterward where everyone is deeply creeped out by the desolate wastes of What Was China.

 

[Mumby]

really really cool stuff my japhy

And your point about racist socialism is a good one. Never forget that Keir Hardie said some pretty unpleasant things about Lithuanian migrant workers.

 

[Japhy]

Didn't Jack London write a story where genociding Chinese was a good thing?

Yup. I often forget to use him in lists like this though because he was in the Socialist Labor Party rather then the Socialist Party of America.