AnActualFam
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Shocked we don’t see Justin Trudeau anywhere on this list.
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Lists of Heads of Government and Heads of State
- Thread starter Mumby
- Start date
Personally I’m of the view that a successful Quebec Referendum would lead to a minor recession and Dole becoming Prez but eh,it ain’t unlikely that Slick Willy couldn’t narrowly win somehow.
Still,interesting list. Don’t think that the Maritimes would just change to Democrat,Republican or Green though-it’s more likely that the Liberals,Conservatives and the NDP just carry on being local parties and the only really successful third parties.
He’s a Quebecer, so not elligible.
I had Comeback Kid Bill pull a 1948-style upset against the Dole-Baker ticket who are just saying generic nice things and complaining about people below the age of 50.
Local parties are probably still a thing on the state level until the early 2010s, but on the federal level Newfoundland and the Maritimes try to integrate as quickly as possible, due to Republican worries about adding two ‘liberal’ states.
By 2021 Newfoundland is a one party state with the primaries being the actual elections, as the Republicans increasingly slide into libertarian fascism.
rosa
Well-known member
The second Oregon I never knew the US needed
TheCoolCucumber
Well-known member
Funny to think that in this TL my great-grandfather would have lived in a self-governing British colony, then a British dominion, then a British colony under direct rule, then a Canadian province, and finally a US state.
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The Professional Rebel:
1990-1993: John Major (Conservative)
1991 (Ulster Unionist Confidence & Supply) def: Neil Kinnock (Labour), Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrats)
1993-1996: John Smith (Labour)
1993 (Majority) def: John Major (Conservative), Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrats)
1996-2002: Jack Straw (Labour)
1997 (Majority) def: Ian Lang (Conservative), Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrats)
2002-2008: Michel Portillo (Conservative)
2002 (Majority) def: Jack Straw (Labour), Simon Hughes (Liberal Democrats)
2006 (Majority) def: Alan Milburn (Labour), Vince Cable (Liberal Democrats)
2008-2010: David Davis (Conservative Majority)
2010-2011: Andrew Lansley (Conservative Majority)
2011-2013: Peter Hain (Labour)
2011 (Majority) def: Andrew Lansley (Conservative), Vince Cable (Liberal Democrats), David Campbell-Bannerman (UKIP)
2013-2020: Emily Thornberry (Labour)
2016 (Coalition with Liberal Democrats) def: Boris Johnson (Conservative), John Leech (Liberal Democrats), Fergus Ewing (Scottish National Party)
2018 AV+ Referndum: Yes 56%, No 44%
2020-: Esther McVey (Conservative)
2020 (Community Confidence & Supply) def: Emily Thornberry (Labour), John Leech (Liberal Democrats), Jason Zadrozny (Community), Fergus Ewing (SNP), Molly Scott-Cato-Anthony Slaughter (Green)
A list from the world of that Mark Ashton vignette I wrote (link in the title). Due to butterflies of Ashton not dying in 1987, John Major calls an election early and gains a minority government reliant on Ulster Unionist Confidence & Supply. For the Left who begrudgingly supported Kinnock at best, this is a blow but in the wake comes the victory of John Smith for Leader and the formation of Green Left by Dave Cook (who doesn’t die from a car crash in Turkey) as well as the continuation of Dave Nellist as a Militant Labour MP etc.
For more on the shape of this world and it’s politics beyond the list and that quick description of the opening, I recommend you read the Vignette and ask questions there.
1990-1993: John Major (Conservative)
1991 (Ulster Unionist Confidence & Supply) def: Neil Kinnock (Labour), Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrats)
1993-1996: John Smith (Labour)
1993 (Majority) def: John Major (Conservative), Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrats)
1996-2002: Jack Straw (Labour)
1997 (Majority) def: Ian Lang (Conservative), Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrats)
2002-2008: Michel Portillo (Conservative)
2002 (Majority) def: Jack Straw (Labour), Simon Hughes (Liberal Democrats)
2006 (Majority) def: Alan Milburn (Labour), Vince Cable (Liberal Democrats)
2008-2010: David Davis (Conservative Majority)
2010-2011: Andrew Lansley (Conservative Majority)
2011-2013: Peter Hain (Labour)
2011 (Majority) def: Andrew Lansley (Conservative), Vince Cable (Liberal Democrats), David Campbell-Bannerman (UKIP)
2013-2020: Emily Thornberry (Labour)
2016 (Coalition with Liberal Democrats) def: Boris Johnson (Conservative), John Leech (Liberal Democrats), Fergus Ewing (Scottish National Party)
2018 AV+ Referndum: Yes 56%, No 44%
2020-: Esther McVey (Conservative)
2020 (Community Confidence & Supply) def: Emily Thornberry (Labour), John Leech (Liberal Democrats), Jason Zadrozny (Community), Fergus Ewing (SNP), Molly Scott-Cato-Anthony Slaughter (Green)
A list from the world of that Mark Ashton vignette I wrote (link in the title). Due to butterflies of Ashton not dying in 1987, John Major calls an election early and gains a minority government reliant on Ulster Unionist Confidence & Supply. For the Left who begrudgingly supported Kinnock at best, this is a blow but in the wake comes the victory of John Smith for Leader and the formation of Green Left by Dave Cook (who doesn’t die from a car crash in Turkey) as well as the continuation of Dave Nellist as a Militant Labour MP etc.
For more on the shape of this world and it’s politics beyond the list and that quick description of the opening, I recommend you read the Vignette and ask questions there.
39. Edward M. Kennedy 1981-1989 (D-MA)
(With Dale Bumpers) Def: John Connally/John Warner
(With Dale Bumpers) Def: Paul Laxalt/Buddy Cianci
40. Dale Bumpers 1989-1992 (D-AR)*
(With Harvey Gantt) Def: Pat Robertson/Lewis Lehrman Silvio Conte/Ed Crane (Center)
41. Harvey Gantt 1992-1997 (D-NC)
(With Dick Celeste) Def: Barry Goldwater Jr/Richard Lugar
42. Elizabeth Dole 1997-2005 (R-NC)
(With Scott L. Klug) Def: Harvey Gantt/Dick Celeste Joe Sobran/Bob Dornan (1776 Coalition)
(With Scott L. Klug) Def: Ross Perot/Joseph Kennedy Jr Pat Buchanan/Virgil Goode
43. Jon Huntsman Jr 2005-2009 (R-UT)
(With Susan Engeleiter) Def: Douglas DeGood/James R. Perry Woody Jenkins/Mark Silijander
43. Raul Grijalva 2009-2013 (D-AZ)
(With William McRaven) Def: Jon Huntsman/Susan Engeleiter
44. Jim Dugger 2013-2017 (R-AR)
(With Greg Orman) Def: Raul Grijalva/William McRaven
45. Robert F. Kennedy Jr 2017-2021 (D-NY)
(With Eric Holder) Def: Jim Dugger/Raul Labrador Greg Orman/Allyson Schwartz
46. William McRaven 2021- (D-TX)
(With Rapheal Warnock) Def: Robert Kennedy/Max Blumenthal (People's) Allen West/Heidi Nelson
*=Assassinated by Martin Bryant while visiting Australia.
The POD is no Iranian Hostage Crisis due to the embassy being evacuated a couple days earlier due to the hostile situation. Good news is no hostages are taken. Bad news for Carter it provides more reasons to vote against him. Combined with Kennedy giving a better interview with Roger Mudd allowing him to crush Carter in Iowa.
On the Republican side Connally targets Iowa giving him a victory and pushing Reagan to third. Reagan doesn’t knock it out of the park at the NH debate and Connally and him split the conservative vote allowing Bush to eke out a very narrow victory. Connally eventually wins but he suffers from allegations of corruption and can’t unite the party. Kennedy wins by a decent margin in November.
(With Dale Bumpers) Def: John Connally/John Warner
(With Dale Bumpers) Def: Paul Laxalt/Buddy Cianci
40. Dale Bumpers 1989-1992 (D-AR)*
(With Harvey Gantt) Def: Pat Robertson/Lewis Lehrman Silvio Conte/Ed Crane (Center)
41. Harvey Gantt 1992-1997 (D-NC)
(With Dick Celeste) Def: Barry Goldwater Jr/Richard Lugar
42. Elizabeth Dole 1997-2005 (R-NC)
(With Scott L. Klug) Def: Harvey Gantt/Dick Celeste Joe Sobran/Bob Dornan (1776 Coalition)
(With Scott L. Klug) Def: Ross Perot/Joseph Kennedy Jr Pat Buchanan/Virgil Goode
43. Jon Huntsman Jr 2005-2009 (R-UT)
(With Susan Engeleiter) Def: Douglas DeGood/James R. Perry Woody Jenkins/Mark Silijander
43. Raul Grijalva 2009-2013 (D-AZ)
(With William McRaven) Def: Jon Huntsman/Susan Engeleiter
44. Jim Dugger 2013-2017 (R-AR)
(With Greg Orman) Def: Raul Grijalva/William McRaven
45. Robert F. Kennedy Jr 2017-2021 (D-NY)
(With Eric Holder) Def: Jim Dugger/Raul Labrador Greg Orman/Allyson Schwartz
46. William McRaven 2021- (D-TX)
(With Rapheal Warnock) Def: Robert Kennedy/Max Blumenthal (People's) Allen West/Heidi Nelson
*=Assassinated by Martin Bryant while visiting Australia.
The POD is no Iranian Hostage Crisis due to the embassy being evacuated a couple days earlier due to the hostile situation. Good news is no hostages are taken. Bad news for Carter it provides more reasons to vote against him. Combined with Kennedy giving a better interview with Roger Mudd allowing him to crush Carter in Iowa.
On the Republican side Connally targets Iowa giving him a victory and pushing Reagan to third. Reagan doesn’t knock it out of the park at the NH debate and Connally and him split the conservative vote allowing Bush to eke out a very narrow victory. Connally eventually wins but he suffers from allegations of corruption and can’t unite the party. Kennedy wins by a decent margin in November.
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Comrade Izaac
Secretary General of the Alt-Historians Union
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lmao two Republican Vice Presidents from Wisconsin in a row
Luke_Starkiller
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Is that the 19 Kids and Counting, molestation-hiding Jim Duggar?
Yep. This asshole was actually a state senator so give him a senate seat and he could plausibly become president.
Luke_Starkiller
Well-known member
"Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Bob Duggar covers up son's sexual assault allegations" could make for an interesting wrench to throw into a President Huckabee TL
It would be. Right after Huckabee trashes gay marriage as immoral his Chief of Staff is forced to resign for covering up his pedophile son. Though I'm sure Duggar will still find a way to try and justify his actions.
AnActualFam
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Ultra woke: Huckabee impeached in 2011 for covering up the Josh Duggar thing along with Hastert's own awfulness.
Luke_Starkiller
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AnActualFam
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Based,
Amazing nonetheless.
Blackentheborg
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1961-1965: Richard Nixon
(with Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.) defeated Lyndon Johnson [replacing John Kennedy]/Spessard Holland [replacing Lyndon Johnson]
1965-1973: Hubert Humphrey
(with Sam Yorty) defeated Richard Nixon/Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
defeated William Scranton/David Cargo, Ted Walker/Estus Pirkle (Independent)
1973-1981: Ronald Reagan
(with John Ashbrook) defeated Sam Yorty/Tom Turnipseed
defeated Henry Jackson/Terry Sanford
1981-1985: Phil Crane
(with Paul Fannin) defeated Jerome Cavanagh/Reubin Askew, Coleman Young/Ralph Nader (Independent)
1985-1993-: Jerry Litton
(with Grant Sawyer) defeated Phil Crane/Paul Fannin
defeated Bob Dole/Bill Janklow
1993-????: Oliver North
(with Bill Archer) defeated Angela Davis/Bill Bradley
Due to a mild inconvenience, Richard Paul Pavlick decides he's gonna kill Kennedy several months earlier than he did in OTL (specifically after the election). JFK and Pavlick both die somewhat simultaneously when the latter rams his dynamite-laden car into the side of a church. While Johnson is certainly entitled to the sympathy vote, he's just not the handsome face that voters wanted, and Nixon ekes out his own Presidency.
Almost immediately, things go wrong. Nixon isn't as quick on the draw with Cuba, opting for heavy bombardment instead of an invasion, leading to a bone-rattling half hour when a Soviet B-59 submarine is sunk off the Florida cost was seen as the opening salvo of The Big One. He survives impeachment by the skin of his teeth, with a handful of Republicans vouching for the fact he technically didn't cause nuclear war. The American public disagrees and give Hube his landslide, paired with Mayor Yorty, who'd become something of a national hero for how he handled his city during the nuclear close call.
Don't get it twisted; Humphrey hates the commies, and so does Yorty. Fighting the scourge of soviet expansion is his administration's first and only priority. This leaves the Civil Rights Movement in a vicious cycle of suffering horrific and unusually cruel attacks and murders only for the government to shrug and point vaguely at Indochina. Weirdly, some don't find Humphrey's focus on the rooskies to be tunneled to their liking, namely a looney texan general and a rote holy man who had some, ahem, creative films made.
(with Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.) defeated Lyndon Johnson [replacing John Kennedy]/Spessard Holland [replacing Lyndon Johnson]
1965-1973: Hubert Humphrey
(with Sam Yorty) defeated Richard Nixon/Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
defeated William Scranton/David Cargo, Ted Walker/Estus Pirkle (Independent)
1973-1981: Ronald Reagan
(with John Ashbrook) defeated Sam Yorty/Tom Turnipseed
defeated Henry Jackson/Terry Sanford
1981-1985: Phil Crane
(with Paul Fannin) defeated Jerome Cavanagh/Reubin Askew, Coleman Young/Ralph Nader (Independent)
1985-1993-: Jerry Litton
(with Grant Sawyer) defeated Phil Crane/Paul Fannin
defeated Bob Dole/Bill Janklow
1993-????: Oliver North
(with Bill Archer) defeated Angela Davis/Bill Bradley
Due to a mild inconvenience, Richard Paul Pavlick decides he's gonna kill Kennedy several months earlier than he did in OTL (specifically after the election). JFK and Pavlick both die somewhat simultaneously when the latter rams his dynamite-laden car into the side of a church. While Johnson is certainly entitled to the sympathy vote, he's just not the handsome face that voters wanted, and Nixon ekes out his own Presidency.
Almost immediately, things go wrong. Nixon isn't as quick on the draw with Cuba, opting for heavy bombardment instead of an invasion, leading to a bone-rattling half hour when a Soviet B-59 submarine is sunk off the Florida cost was seen as the opening salvo of The Big One. He survives impeachment by the skin of his teeth, with a handful of Republicans vouching for the fact he technically didn't cause nuclear war. The American public disagrees and give Hube his landslide, paired with Mayor Yorty, who'd become something of a national hero for how he handled his city during the nuclear close call.
Don't get it twisted; Humphrey hates the commies, and so does Yorty. Fighting the scourge of soviet expansion is his administration's first and only priority. This leaves the Civil Rights Movement in a vicious cycle of suffering horrific and unusually cruel attacks and murders only for the government to shrug and point vaguely at Indochina. Weirdly, some don't find Humphrey's focus on the rooskies to be tunneled to their liking, namely a looney texan general and a rote holy man who had some, ahem, creative films made.
Luke_Starkiller
Well-known member
Based, Nixon fucking up in Cuba is surprisingly underused. I always thought it was fun to have it lead to Claude Pepper '64 and then Rocky '68.
Comrade Izaac
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keeping this one in my back pocket for later
i think part of the problem with "Nixon fucks up Cuba" is that, unless the Soviets are (extremely unrealistically) removed from the picture, the U.S screwing up anything regarding the Cuban Crisis would absolutely mean global thermonuclear war
Chief Secretaries of Ireland
1887-1890: Charles Stewart Parnell (Irish Nationalist-Liberal alliance)
1887 def. unorganized Tories, Unionists
With the achievement of the passage of the Home Rule Act with the reluctant acceptance of the Lords after the Liberals won a majority in Westminster over the issue, the Irish Nationalist-Liberal alliance won a sweeping majority in the Second Order of the Irish Legislative Body, and though initially Gladstone attempted to make his hand-picked man the Chief Secretary of Ireland, Parnell refused with harsh words and forced him to accept the rise of responsible government as a constitutional norm. And so, Parnell was sworn in as Chief Secretary, and Dublin Castle, once the face of cruel British colonialism, became the site of a truly Irish administration. New laws were passed through the Irish Legislative Body, and many in Westminster breathed a sigh of relief as they were no longer encumbered with obstructionist Home Rulers nor with Irish business they understood little about. Yet, this only stood for so long. Parnell quickly pushed the Legislative Body to its limits; he was not content with mere autonomy modelled after a Canadian province, but rather he wanted the Irish nationality to be free. Indeed, even where the Irish Legislative Body explicitly had no power, he had passed petitions "praying" that Westminster issue a new tarriff, or reorganize the police. At times, this move clashed heavily with the First Order of the Legislative Body, an elite house with the power to delay legislation for up to three years. Gladstone too was angry; he thought the Home Rule Act would end Irish nationalist agitations forever, and he was proven deeply wrong. This perhaps helped cause the 1890 defeat of the Liberals in Westminster; the new prime minister Lord Salisbury thought responsible government too much for a people he viewed as savage and revoked it. And in Ireland grew a sentiment of outrage. But that didn't stop Salisbury.
1890-1895: Lord Allerton (Conservative)
1890: Responsible government revoked
1892 election: Majority won by Irish Nationalist-Liberal alliance
As Dublin Castle once more became the site of a cold, unfeeling foreign imposition, in Ireland grew an anger, even as Lord Salisbury declined to go as far as to repeal the Home Rule Act. Fenianism and agrarian radicalism made a distinct comeback to the horror of many, and the Irish Legislative Body became the site of immense disdain towards the British government. Resolutions of the Legislative Body were consistently passed condemning the government, while the new Coercion Acts were hotly contested. The 1892 Legislative Assembly elections confirmed the large Irish Nationalist-Liberal majority, in a direct refutation of the Dublin Castle administration, and Liberals condemned Prime Minister Salisbury's revocation of responsible government to a much higher degree now that it was proven the Irish were on their side. Gladstone gave multiple skilled speeches condemning this despite his advanced age, and attempted Tory bills on re-establishing an Irish presence in Westminster all floundered. But the issue of Irish responsible government would be put on the backside when word came of horrific atrocities exacted on the Armenian people by the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II. Britain's continued alliance with the Ottomans made many Britons very angry indeed. And this anger would be given a voice when, despite his advanced age, Gladstone gave a famous speech denouncing this. On the backs of this palpable anger, the Liberals won the 1895 election in Westminster and Gladstone became Prime Minister for one last time. And Irish responsible government was restored.
1895-1898: Charles Stewart Parnell (Irish Nationalist-Liberal alliance)
1895: Responsible government restored
1897 def. Edward James Saunderson (Unionist)
As Parnell returned to power, peace was restored to Ireland once more as Fenianism came to a crashing end and agrarian radicalism was satisfied through new legislation. Gladstone died in 1896, after having forced the Ottomans to put the Armenian vilayets under western supervision, using threats of British invasion; despite fears that afterwards responsible government would be revoked, the new Prime Minister John Morley refused this, and responsible government was finally achieved permanently. This time, Parnell did not test the limits of home rule as he did last time; he stayed within its bounds, but bided his time. And with that, Irish administration finally calmed and became satisfactory to the people. Ireland was perhaps happier than it had ever been before, even if it wanted to go further with the restoration of its nationhood. But this only lasted so long before, in 1898, Parnell was implicated in the divorce proceedings of Kitty and John O'Shea. These proceedings revealed that he had a long adulterous love affair with Kitty O'Shea. The result was an extreme anger, not just among the Catholic clergy, but also among the so-called moralistic "Nonconformist Conscience" on both sides of the Irish Sea. When Parnell refused to resign, his party was split into two, and the Anti-Parnellites won the support of the Liberals in forming a new government. After losing a vote of no confidence, he was forced to leave office. A broken Parnell died in 1900, a man widely credited for restoring Irish nationalist even if he had much less success in his political career afterwards.
1898-1905: Edward Blake (Irish Nationalist (Anti-Parnellite)-Liberal alliance)
1902 def. Justin McCarthy (Irish Nationalist (Parnellite)), Edward James Saunderson (Unionist)
Edward Blake had a very long political career - but it was almost entirely in Canada. He was active as a Canadian Liberal from the 1870s, where he even served as Premier of Ontario, and went on to serve as Leader of the Opposition in Ottawa over the 1880s, although he also flirted with the Protestant supremacist Canada First movement. After failing to unseat the Canadian Conservatives, he moved to Britain and won election as an Irish Nationalist Member of the Legislative Body in 1892, and despite his former Protestant supremacist attitudes he joined the Catholic-dominated Anti-Parnellites when they split. Come 1898, this made him one of the few Anti-Parnellites with any ministerial experience whatsoever even if that ministerial experience was in Canada, and his Protestantism made him a good candidate for a Chief Secretary who could win the support of the Liberals. And so, he was sworn in as Chief Secretary. In office, he strongly supported the Boer War, sending Irish battalions funded by the Legislative Assembly, to join it. He also initiated a process of establishing good relations with the white dominions; however, this meant also linking up with imperialist white supremacists such as Cecil Rhodes in the name of Imperial Autonomy, and forever sundered Irish nationalism's anti-colonialism from itself. He also established the roots of the modern Royal Irish Navy by establishing a coast guard. However, in many ways he was alienated from the wider Anti-Parnellite Party, as he lacked their hard Catholicism or social conservatism; instead he was a traditional liberal in the Anglo-Canadian tradition.
He also endorsed much immigration to Ireland, which following the failure of the Parnellite plan of sending people from the west to farm the fields of the east which had since the Famine been empty. This immigration policy did indeed help boost Irish agriculture despite some nativist backlash. That most of these immigrants were Catholic, with major exceptions, likely helped assuage fears of a backbencher revolt. The enaction of anti-feudal legislation also helped in this regard. The Anti-Parnellite - Liberal alliance won a smaller majority in 1902, and Blake continued his premiership. However, it became increasingly apparent he was out of step with the remainder of his party, and with the Parnellite party under the leadership of the Catholic aristocrat John Redmond, they looked increasingly appealing. Finally, in 1904, John Redmond established the "United Irish Patriotic League", a name that harkened back to the Grattanite struggles and that was just vague enough to appeal to both out-and-about Irish Nationalists and Liberals. This won a large amount of defections from both Liberals and Anti-Parnellites. In 1905, Blake was ousted in a vote of no confidence, and John Redmond was at last sworn in.
1905-1912: John Redmond (Irish Patriot)
1907 def. Edward Carson (Unionist)
Redmond made history by not only reunifying Irish nationalism, but by also being the first Catholic Chief Secretary since the position's establishment by Elizabeth Tudor. In power, he continued many existing policies: he continued to push for the integration of the Irish into imperial whiteness, and he continued to exceed Irish constitutional powers albeit within the context of the white dominions. He aligned himself tightly with the white dominions, in the hope of getting Ireland recognized as just another one of them. In the 1907 election, however, this wasn't enough to stop losses against the Unionists, led by the charismatic Edward Carson, who despite his unionism exerted Irishness from every pore of his body, and though these losses weren't enough to lose a majority, it did ensure the Unionists would make up the opposition instead of being a motley bunch of bigoted Ulstermen.
In the years that followed, Redmond and Carson established a parliamentary rivalry widely compared to Gladstone and Disraeli, or Fox and Pitt. Redmond's most notable achievement in this period was the passage of a Westminster act that codified many of the new powers that the Irish Legislative Body obtained unofficially; this ensured that Britain would be unable to yank the chain, in an important milestone for Irish nationhood that has since been exceeded by further developments. Yet, his party ultimately foundered over the issue of many issues. One was women's suffrage, something Redmond firmly opposed despite the suffragist movement; the only reason the Unionists did not use the issue was because Carson too was opposed to women's suffrage. The other great issue was over the tariff. Many within his party believed free trade with Britain was actively harming Irish growth in this era, but his party was divided. All this was despite that the Irish Legislative Body had no tariff power whatsoever, and that it would instead have to be passed by Westminster. The Tariff Petition Resolution Bill, which attempted to petition Westminster to pass such an act, bitterly divided Irish Patriots against one another; only the Unionists had a firm position against it, and after they did successfully defeat the bill this led to the Unionist victory in the 1912 election.
1912-1921: Edward Carson (Unionist)
1912 def. John Redmond (Irish Patriot)
1917 def. John Redmond (Irish Patriot)
Carson was a man who achieved a great deal. He turned the Unionists from the enemy of the Irish nation into its representatives, and in power he finally had the opportunity to enact his unionist nationalist vision. International war broke out in 1913 when the Ottoman Empire, ruled by the Committee of Union and Progress, unilaterally revoked Armenian autonomy and sent an army to enforce this; this quickly spiraled into a war encompassing the entirety of Europe. Carson competently spearheaded the Irish charge for the Crown, and Irish battalions were just as much part of the war than those of any white dominion. The Great War proved highly important to the achievement of permanent Irish nationhood, as Irish troops gave their blood for the Crown on the fields of the Western Front. And despite all of Carson's unionist nationalism, he made Ireland more autonomous from the metropole by simply pushing for Ireland to support the Crown. He established an unofficial foreign policy as part of the empire, and he was part of the Imperial War Cabinet which implicitly put him on the same level as the white dominions. But all the while, he preached loyalty to Britain and to the crown. It was perhaps representative of the ambiguities inherent in unionist nationalism.
A notable precedent was set when Irish elections were held in 1917, in the middle of wartime. Though Irish elections could be delayed beyond the constitutional limit, it would take a vote from Westminster, and that would take up too much parliamentary business. Thus, Carson went ahead with elections, ones which his Unionists predictably won with large margins, even if dubious vote-assignment of the predominately-Unionist soldiers at war muddled this picture. And so, the war continued unabated, until finally in 1919 the Entente finally obtained a surrender from the Central Powers. With the completion of the war, Carson became an Irish nationalist icon just as significant as Parnell or the recently deceased Redmond, and had achieved almost as much as them in achieving Irish autonomy - all the while preaching loyalty to the Empire. And finally, he chose to retire after this most exhausting affair. This was in part because he was out of step with his party on matters such as women's suffrage, but to many it looked as if he chose to retire after his moment of triumph. But nevertheless, he ensured the Irish Unionist Party would have a place in the modern independent Irish nation, not as its enemy but as its friend.
Need some assistance on CSA President choices for my "Dixie Curtain" sequel. Choices after '75 should ideally be a blend of hardliner/gerontocrat, semi-parallel to the Brezhnev-Andropov-Chernenko stretch in the USSR. Current list/thoughts:
1963-1972: LBJ (Whig, i.e. moderate conservative)*
1972-1975: James Carter (Whig)**
1975-1977: George Wallace (Patriot, i.e. staunch conservative/RW-nationalist)***
1977-1981: James Eastland (Patriot)****(?)
1981-1990: Howard Baker (Whig)*****
*Died three years into 2nd six-year term; succeeded by VP James Carter (previously 3-term Georgia Rep, chosen after LBJ dumped Thurmond in 1968, after four years of gradual sidelining due to events/revelations in "DC").
**Considering another, slightly-less hardliner Whig choice, given "party wing balance" concerns.
***Defeated Carter in '75; assassinated.
****Defeated largely due to stagflation/other economic woes & increasing disorder/violence which his hardline stances failed to quash.
*****President at start of the novel; very narrowly reelected in '87-'88.
1963-1972: LBJ (Whig, i.e. moderate conservative)*
1972-1975: James Carter (Whig)**
1975-1977: George Wallace (Patriot, i.e. staunch conservative/RW-nationalist)***
1977-1981: James Eastland (Patriot)****(?)
1981-1990: Howard Baker (Whig)*****
*Died three years into 2nd six-year term; succeeded by VP James Carter (previously 3-term Georgia Rep, chosen after LBJ dumped Thurmond in 1968, after four years of gradual sidelining due to events/revelations in "DC").
**Considering another, slightly-less hardliner Whig choice, given "party wing balance" concerns.
***Defeated Carter in '75; assassinated.
****Defeated largely due to stagflation/other economic woes & increasing disorder/violence which his hardline stances failed to quash.
*****President at start of the novel; very narrowly reelected in '87-'88.