Populist Presidents

[Beck Reilly]

In your opinion, who was the greatest Populist Party President of the last century? Feel free to explain why he (or she) is your choice...

Populist (People's) Party: Pro-reform, Pro-labor Party of the People

[NapoleonXIV]

Stevenson, he had a better chance than most and he was an intellectual. Non-intellectual Populists are scary.

[Abdul Hadi Pasha]

Populists without brains are bad.

[Beck Reilly]

What, exactly, does "brains" mean? College-educated, high-school educated, just plain intelligent? In order to have "brains," what do you have to do?

[Xen]

Originally Posted by Walter_Kaufmann

What, exactly, does "brains" mean? College-educated, high-school educated, just plain intelligent? In order to have "brains," what do you have to do?

First you must follow the Yellow Brick Road, and see the wonderful wizard of Oz.

[Tyr]

Huzzah I guessed right (I have no idea what any of these means so voted Long- the man with the most votes)

[Grey Wolf]

Originally Posted by Leej

Huzzah I guessed right (I have no idea what any of these means so voted Long- the man with the most votes)

Leej, lol, I like it ! Was it something about his name that made you pick him ?

I voted for Debs

Grey Wolf

[Beck Reilly]

LoL, sorry for the confusion. There has never been a Populist President of the US and, obviously, none of these men were ever elected President. I was hoping that people may explain why the ATL President's were great but that didn't really develop, so I sort of gave up...

[Grey Wolf]

Originally Posted by Walter_Kaufmann

LoL, sorry for the confusion. There has never been a Populist President of the US and, obviously, none of these men were ever elected President. I was hoping that people may explain why the ATL President's were great but that didn't really develop, so I sort of gave up...

Well, I kinda understood that I knew maybe half the names - including Wood who I am glad to see has no votes

I voted for Debs because he seems to be the closest analogue to the leaders of Britain's Labour Party or Germany's SPD

Grey Wolf

[Beck Reilly]

LoL, sorry. If you have any questions about any of them in OTL, I'd be happy to answer them.

[NapoleonXIV]

OIC

Adlai Stevenson in his two terms as President created the Liberal concensus which mainly governs the US to this day. His "Competing Ideologies' solution to the nascent Vietnam Crisis in 1958 became the model for the CoDominium Union of the US and the Soviet Union under Kennedy in 1964.

[Grey Wolf]

Originally Posted by Walter_Kaufmann

LoL, sorry. If you have any questions about any of them in OTL, I'd be happy to answer them.

I guess my main question is what criteria you were using - some like Bryan I recall ran on POPULIST Party platforms, whilst Debs was a socialist. Others I had thought were within the main party system ?

I don't know Weaver, La Follette, Lewis and Watson

I know I could look them up - lol, I'll probably do that anyway

Grey Wolf

[Grey Wolf]

Ah, let's see

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Debs - Socialist candidate 1900-1920

Weaver - Greenback Labour whatever that is, 1880
and People's 1892

Bryan, DEMOCRAT 1896 AND 1900

Watson - Peoples 1904 and 1908

La Folette - Progressive 1924

Stevenson - DEMOCRAT - 1952 and 1956

The others didnt stand in elections, just in the caucuses/primaries ?

btw what do you think of Perot ?

Grey Wolf

Presidential election date from :-
http://search.eb.com/elections/etable2.html
__________________

[Beck Reilly]

Yes, some of them, like Debs, Wood, and Stevenson, were within either the Democratic, Socialist, or Republican parties. My rationale is that, with the creation of a powerful Populist Party, these men's political goals will coincide with the Populist platform and they will join that party instead of the others.

James Baird Weaver - He was, simply, the Populist candidate in the 1892, and, I figure, would have been the candidate in the next two elections had the Populist Party survived.

Robert Marion La Follette, Sr. - One of the principal leaders of the U.S. Progressive movement. La Follette broke completely with the Republican Party after its 1924 convention rejected his platform proposals. He organized the League for Progressive Political Action and became its presidential candidate in the same year. With combined agrarian and labor support, including that of such organizations as the American Federation of Labor, the agrarian Non-Partisan League, and the Socialist Party, La Follette received 13 electoral votes and about 4,831,000 popular votes, badly trailing the Republican and Democratic candidates. He returned to his Senate post and died in Washington, D.C., on June 18, 1925. I figure he would have been the Populist candidate in 1924.

John Llewellyn Lewis - President of the Panama (a town in Illinois; not the country )local of the United Mine Workers of America, lobbyist for the United Mine Workers (UMW), organizer for the American Federation of Labor (AFL), and vice president of the UMW. The first president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). Perhaps the most colorful labor leader in America, Lewis was often the center of stormy controversy. Most labor historians both accused him of exerting dictatorial control over the UMW and credited him for the remarkable rise in the standard of living of miners between World Wars I and II. His control over the UMW also gave Lewis an important position in national labor affairs and considerable influence over the American economy; and his flair for drama and pungent statement made him a favorite source of newspaper copy. A brilliant organizer as well as a superb orator, Lewis successfully challenged the giant automobile and steel industries by means of crippling sit-down strikes. After World War II, however, his power waned as the importance of coal in the economy declined. In 1947 and 1948 Lewis was a subject of nationwide controversy as he defied newly enacted provisions of the new National Labor Relations Act that put certain constraints upon labor. He broke with the AFL in 1947 over the issue of compliance with these provisions, known as the Taft-Hartley Act, and remained one of its most consistent opponents. After his retirement as president of the UMW, Lewis continued to work as trustee of the UMW retirement fund. Probably the Populist candidate in 1928 and 1932.

Thomas Watson - A powerful orator, Watson was a Populist leader from Georgia who urged cooperation between blacks and whites. He was the Huey Long of the early 1900s. Later in his life he turned bitter and racist but I figure that won't happen in TTL. He'd have been the Populist candidate between 1904 and 1912.

Any others? Can anyone think of a possible Populist President that I'm missing?

[Beck Reilly]

The People's Party is the Populist Party. They're two names for the same thing.

Yes, some of the others, like Wood, did not gain the nomination, while some, like Long, who didn't live long enough to seek a nomination (he was assassinated) and others didn't even try (like Lewis).

[Grey Wolf]

Originally Posted by Walter_Kaufmann

Any others? Can anyone think of a possible Populist President that I'm missing?

Well, I guess that the only question is what happens later ? If the USA has a mainstream Populist Party which contests and wins elections, then later on it would have candidates

What about Eugene McCarthy or Robert Kennedy for example ?


Grey Wolf

[Beck Reilly]

Oh, didn't see the part about Perot.

I think that he had merit and some good ideas in his first try in 1992. At that time, the government had run up a huge deficit and it was an equally huge problem. Also, I agree with the campaign finance reforms which he wanted and health care reforms as well. I don't know why I pay more for drugs made in this country than Canadians do. Every other major Western nation has a government run health care system except the US. I don't know why it's taking everyone so long to realize that we need a change...

I think that his second attempt, in 1996, was a little less well done. I'm sorry but, no matter what you say about Clinton's personal life, he brought the nation out of record deficit and into a record surplus. Life was good and we had, seemingly, plenty of friends in the world. Now, we have a grand total of 3 and another record deficit. Anyways, in 1996, I don't think Perot was as warranted with his complaints but the morality and health care reforms that he emphasized were, certainly, good.

Sticking with the thread, I think he would have made a fairly good Populist, except Populists would be, traditionally, of a rather poor upbringing. Perot was a billionaire.

[Beck Reilly]

As for the 'future' of the Populist Party (if we lived in the 1940s), I actually see the Populists turning quite Conservative, especially if they decide to stick to their main regions of support, the south and west. In in the 1950s, I could see a war-hero running on the Populist ticket. In the 1960s I could see someone like Goldwater running, if the PP turns conservative like I suspect it might. If not, though, as much as I hate to admit it, RFK would fit in with a liberal PP. In the 1970s, I could see someone like George Wallace (if he sticks with the pro-equality stance he started his career with and does not turn pr-segregation) or, if he does turn pro-segregation, someone like Curtis E. LeMay, who was his running mate in OTL but was NOT racist. Again, if the PP does not turn conservative and does stay liberal, I could definitely see Eugene McCarthy running as a Populist.

[Grey Wolf]

Originally Posted by Walter_Kaufmann

As for the 'future' of the Populist Party (if we lived in the 1940s), I actually see the Populists turning quite Conservative, especially if they decide to stick to their main regions of support, the south and west. In in the 1950s, I could see a war-hero running on the Populist ticket. In the 1960s I could see someone like Goldwater running, if the PP turns conservative like I suspect it might. If not, though, as much as I hate to admit it, RFK would fit in with a liberal PP. In the 1970s, I could see someone like George Wallace (if he sticks with the pro-equality stance he started his career with and does not turn pr-segregation) or, if he does turn pro-segregation, someone like Curtis E. LeMay, who was his running mate in OTL but was NOT racist. Again, if the PP does not turn conservative and does stay liberal, I could definitely see Eugene McCarthy running as a Populist.

War heroes, ah that interesting American phenomenon. From Zac Taylor and Winfield Scot to Grant and Eisenhower, and more recently we see Wesley Clarke, lol. Of course in the earliest days you had Washington, later Jackson. The overall verdict IMHO is 50% - can hardly say Taylor did anything much, Grant is usually seen as starting good and heading into disaster, whether Jackson was good or bad depends on your point of view and maybe what you are looking at in his career

Le May... I remember him for destroying the world with a slightly different name in an alt-hist novel

Which war heroes say from WW2 were you thinking of for the Populists ? Not Eisenhower and certainly not MacArthur... What if Patton had lived perhaps ?

Grey Wolf

[Beck Reilly]

Originally Posted by Grey Wolf

LeMay... I remember him for destroying the world with a slightly different name in an alt-hist novel

Which war heroes say from WW2 were you thinking of for the Populists ? Not Eisenhower and certainly not MacArthur... What if Patton had lived perhaps ?

No, a Populist war hero, IMHO, would probably have not been one of the higher-ranking generals but probably a no-name who won a chest full of medals. People like to be able to see an example of a regular person who do extraordinary things.

Goddamn Dr. Strangelove. If that's what your thinking of, try to block that from your mind. That movie (did they make a book?) did more to harm the reputation of Curtis LeMay that anything. LeMay was, in actuality, a rather nice person, and he was always in control of himself. LeMay was a war hero (WWII) and one of the main reasons why we did not have a WWIII (Strategic Air Command was his brain child). He certainly WAS NOT Jack Ripper (got the characters mixed up for a second) in Dr. Strangelove.