President William O. Douglas

[Ricardolindo]

Let's say Franklin Delano Roosevelt picked William O. Douglas instead of Harry S. Truman as running mate, died on schelude and Douglas became President? How different would Douglas's administraton be from Truman's? In our timeline, he was the most liberal Justice in the history of the Court. Also, who would succeed him on the Court?

 

[Jackson Lennock]

Sherman Minton probably replaces Douglas. He was one of the top three choices for Black's seat along with Stanley Reed and Black; plus he was a Circuit Court judge by this point and Black lobbied to get him on the bench.

Given how close Black and Douglas were, Douglas probably promotes Black to Chief when Stone dies in 1945. If that happens, Jackson very likely retires out of frustration.

Fred Vinson and Tom Clark were friends of Truman, so I doubt Douglas puts them up. And even if Douglas wants to put a Republican on to replace Owen Roberts as a bipartisan gesture the way Truman did, it'd probably be somebody more liberal than OTL's Burton.


Herbert F Goodrich of the Third Circuit and Dean of University of Pennsylvania Law School was considered at one point.
Arthur T Vanderbilt, Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, President of the American Bar Association from 1937–38, and Dean of New York University Law School twice declined offers to be on the United States Supreme Court. He was also a Republican.
Erwin Griswold wasn't Dean of Harvard Law School until 1946, but he was already a somewhat prominent lawyer working for the Government, developed the bluebook system of legal citation (which is still used today), and in 1942 co-authored a piece in the New York Times supporting Black's dissent in Betts v. Brady with New Deal lawyer Benjamin V. Cohen. He was also a Republican.
Abe Fortas was a student of Douglas's at Yale Law School and impressed Douglas enough that Douglas got him a job at the Law School. By 1945 he'd had a whole range of government positions.
Thomas Dewey might be nominated just to keep him from running for President against Douglas in 1948. Eisenhower and Nixon offered him the Chief Justice spot, but he said no both times. He didn't want to give up all of the money he was making in private practice. He'd be liberal on racial issues but conservative on criminal procedure.

 

[Ricardolindo]

Sherman Minton probably replaces Douglas. He was one of the top three choices for Black's seat along with Stanley Reed and Black; plus he was a Circuit Court judge by this point and Black lobbied to get him on the bench.

Given how close Black and Douglas were, Douglas probably promotes Black to Chief when Stone dies in 1945. If that happens, Jackson very likely retires out of frustration.

Fred Vinson and Tom Clark were friends of Truman, so I doubt Douglas puts them up. And even if Douglas wants to put a Republican on to replace Owen Roberts as a bipartisan gesture the way Truman did, it'd probably be somebody more liberal than OTL's Burton.


Herbert F Goodrich of the Third Circuit and Dean of University of Pennsylvania Law School was considered at one point.
Arthur T Vanderbilt, Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, President of the American Bar Association from 1937–38, and Dean of New York University Law School twice declined offers to be on the United States Supreme Court. He was also a Republican.
Erwin Griswold wasn't Dean of Harvard Law School until 1946, but he was already a somewhat prominent lawyer working for the Government, developed the bluebook system of legal citation (which is still used today), and in 1942 co-authored a piece in the New York Times supporting Black's dissent in Betts v. Brady with New Deal lawyer Benjamin V. Cohen. He was also a Republican.
Abe Fortas was a student of Douglas's at Yale Law School and impressed Douglas enough that Douglas got him a job at the Law School. By 1945 he'd had a whole range of government positions.
Thomas Dewey might be nominated just to keep him from running for President against Douglas in 1948. Eisenhower and Nixon offered him the Chief Justice spot, but he said no both times. He didn't want to give up all of the money he was making in private practice. He'd be liberal on racial issues but conservative on criminal procedure.

What about Douglas's administration and his foreign policy? Also, would he have won in 1948?

 

[Jackson Lennock]

What about Douglas's administration and his foreign policy? Also, would he have won in 1948?

Douglas would be very liberal and might provoke more moderates into voting for the Republican nominee and more southerners into voting for Thurmond. But as a westerner he might pick up a few states out west and as a more liberal candidate he might pick up some OTL Henry Wallace voters. If he gets Dewey out of the way and runs against Taft, he might win. Harold Stassen might beat Douglas.
He'd probably be a better campaigner than Truman.

Douglas would try to continue the New Deal even though the Conservative Coalition was in control of Congress by that point and there wouldn't be to much appetite for big reforms following the war ending.

Douglas was an internationalist in Foreign Policy and supportive of foreign aid, democratization of the third world, multilateral organizations, taking the lead on decolonization, etc. OTL he traveled to Vietnam in 1952, met Ho Chi Minh, became friendly with Ngo Dinh Diem, and introduced Diem to senators Mike Mansfield and John F. Kennedy. Douglas was a big promotor of Diem and caused that relationship. Maybe he opposes the French War in Indochina and supports transitioning the place into into independence, rather than returning it to French rule. FDR and General Joseph Stillwell privately told the French during the War they weren't getting Indochina back but that changed under Truman.

No idea how hawkish Douglas would be in Europe or if he'd drop the bomb like Truman did.

 

[Ricardolindo]

Douglas would be very liberal and might provoke more moderates into voting for the Republican nominee and more southerners into voting for Thurmond. But as a westerner he might pick up a few states out west and as a more liberal candidate he might pick up some OTL Henry Wallace voters. If he gets Dewey out of the way and runs against Taft, he might win. Harold Stassen might beat Douglas.
He'd probably be a better campaigner than Truman.

Douglas would try to continue the New Deal even though the Conservative Coalition was in control of Congress by that point and there wouldn't be to much appetite for big reforms following the war ending.

Douglas was an internationalist in Foreign Policy and supportive of foreign aid, democratization of the third world, multilateral organizations, taking the lead on decolonization, etc. OTL he traveled to Vietnam in 1952, met Ho Chi Minh, became friendly with Ngo Dinh Diem, and introduced Diem to senators Mike Mansfield and John F. Kennedy. Douglas was a big promotor of Diem and caused that relationship. Maybe he opposes the French War in Indochina and supports transitioning the place into into independence, rather than returning it to French rule. FDR and General Joseph Stillwell privately told the French during the War they weren't getting Indochina back but that changed under Truman.

No idea how hawkish Douglas would be in Europe or if he'd drop the bomb like Truman did.

Any US President would have nuked Japan. It would be politically impossible not to do so as everyone wanted to end the war as soon as possible.

 

[Roger II]

Any US President would have nuked Japan. It would be politically impossible not to do so as everyone wanted to end the war as soon as possible.

I mean if you want go for the No Nukes Drop version of this, easy enough to butterfly it by having Douglas take a slightly different tack than Truman on being aware of the bomb and/or on the diplomatic end of Japanese surrender, or by having him do something differently that tips the balance towards "surrender" in Japan before the bombs are ready to go.

 

[Roger II]

Hell, have Douglas take a Nice Long Hike at the right time with Papa Joe, impress him a lot, and convince him to reword the Potsdam Declaration to be a teensy bit more face-saving for Japan, or some similar dodge. For dramatic effect, have the Japanese send their surrender decision just in the nick of time for the flights to get canceled and have the crew of the Enola Gay learn of the cessation of hostilities while the bomber is being fueled.