A wild thought about the 1944 election: Suppose Wallace does get the Democratic vice-presidential nomination--FDR is somehow convinced (maybe after a mini-stroke that briefly impairs his judgment) that dumping him would cost the Democrats more votes than it would gain them. Some southern conservative Democrats have an idea. They know FDR is still popular with southern voters, so they claim they are still supporting him--but they run tickets in their states with FDR for president *and a southern conservative for vice-president.* (Harry Byrd?) FDR (barely) wins the presidential race, but--shades of 1836, when some southern Democrats couldn't bring themselves to support Richard Johnson--the vice-presidential race goes into the Senate, which has to choose between the top two candidates--Wallace and Bricker. The GOP minority is larger than in OTL, and enough southern conservative Democrats hate Wallace that we get--FDR and Bricker! The latter of course becomes president on FDR's death in April 1945...
FDR and Bricker!
- Thread starter David T
- Start date
Interesting.
Bricker was a staunch conservative and is going to seriously butt heads with both liberals in Congress and the FDR cabinet. At the same time he supported civil rights, IIRC. Maybe we get desegregation and the civil rights platform in the Democratic Party butterflied/delayed to '52 or later, they're gonna want to rally the FDR coalition to boot Bricker in '48. Bricker will have to provide some lip service to the liberals in his party if he wants to be re-elected (and I very much so doubt he will, '48 is not a friendly time for an incumbent president, he won't be looked at as terribly legitimate, the GOP in Congress may still piss off farmers, and he doesn't have the New Deal Coalition or labor to back him--in fact they'll despise him). Doubt Dewey would accept VP. Maybe Earl Warren. Maybe Stassen, though lacking regional balance. Maybe Leverett Saltonstall.
A Bricker '45-'49 may alter some stuff on the international scene, not sure what his policy changes would be here, anyone know? This also has big implications extending to Korea and thus '52. That being said if Kefauver isn't butterflied away, it's possible any Democrat that defeats Bricker may be doomed for re-election too. Which means we'll see Eisenhower in '52 anyway, or perhaps even a Dewey win, him being untainted by '48 and the conservatives still being discredited depending on how badly Bricker is defeated and looked at.
Bricker was a staunch conservative and is going to seriously butt heads with both liberals in Congress and the FDR cabinet. At the same time he supported civil rights, IIRC. Maybe we get desegregation and the civil rights platform in the Democratic Party butterflied/delayed to '52 or later, they're gonna want to rally the FDR coalition to boot Bricker in '48. Bricker will have to provide some lip service to the liberals in his party if he wants to be re-elected (and I very much so doubt he will, '48 is not a friendly time for an incumbent president, he won't be looked at as terribly legitimate, the GOP in Congress may still piss off farmers, and he doesn't have the New Deal Coalition or labor to back him--in fact they'll despise him). Doubt Dewey would accept VP. Maybe Earl Warren. Maybe Stassen, though lacking regional balance. Maybe Leverett Saltonstall.
A Bricker '45-'49 may alter some stuff on the international scene, not sure what his policy changes would be here, anyone know? This also has big implications extending to Korea and thus '52. That being said if Kefauver isn't butterflied away, it's possible any Democrat that defeats Bricker may be doomed for re-election too. Which means we'll see Eisenhower in '52 anyway, or perhaps even a Dewey win, him being untainted by '48 and the conservatives still being discredited depending on how badly Bricker is defeated and looked at.
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