The Rise of Progressivism

[Cathcon1]

Originally Posted by galileo-034

If the crisis of 29 isn't butterflied, this would benefit to the Progressives, thanks to their economical interventionism.

As Cylon Number 14 said, the 1920's have been very different from real life and thus the economy as of 1929 is in a different shape than in OTL 1929.

[Zioneer]

Thanks for answering my questions, Cathcon.

Also, I did promise to provide Utah politicians for you, in case you wanted them. First, I've got George Henry Dern, a progressive with a knack for bipartisanship (as well as an OTL endorsement from Robert La Follette). I'm thinking he would have most likely been Progressive Governor of Utah sometime in the late Roosevelt or early Robinson/Smith presidencies. Again, if you want, you can insert him anywhere in your TL, but you don't have to.

Second, I've got Henry H Blood, a OTL Democrat, but an odd one. Wiki says he was an ardent supporter of the New Deal, but that he also cut state employee wages and slashed state departments. I suppose he'd be only a moderate Progressive, and might even stay with the Democrats. Here's a picture of Mr. Blood.

I'm less familiar with political figures from other states, but if you'd like me too, I can probably help you find them.

[Cathcon1]

Thanks for the suggestions, MormonMobster. Sorry for the long wait. I won't be able to update much in the next week, but hopefully sometime in August I'll get back on the wagon.

[JoeMulk]

i'm loving it! I eagerly anticipate more updates. It'd be interesting to see how the great depression plays out ITTL.

[Cathcon1]

Also, I meant to mention this earlier: "D'oh! John W Davis isn't from Ohio, he's from West Virginia!" I guess I glanced too quickly at his wikipedia info-box, and ended up thinking that Cox and Davis were both from Ohio.

[Cathcon1]

Since I'm going on vacation this week, I'm hoping to squeeze out an update today. We might be leaving today or tomorrow depending on a couple things, but there's hope.

[Cathcon1]

Curses! I was working on an update when I was called away, and now that I'm back, I see that someone exxed out of it.

[freethinker]

just wondering...
Why would Herbet Hoover be a progressive?

[Cathcon1]

Originally Posted by freethinker

just wondering...
Why would Herbet Hoover be a progressive?

Information is conflicting about his ideology. Eighth grade history teachers will say he was a staunch rugged individualist. Looking at some of the stuff he did, that was hardly the case. Going further, despite being a rather moderate President, at least from what I know, he did inspire Conservative icons Robert Taft and Barry Goldwater, both of whom met him and looked up to him. Meanwhile, he himself was the sole progressive voice in Coolidge's administration. At that time I started writing this, I believed (and probably still do), that the main focus of his beliefs was on using government as a helping hand, so he was made a Progressive. ITTL, he worked for the second Roosevelt administration, first on food relief as in OTL, and then as ambassador to France or something like that.

[Plumber]

Hoover was a "Progressive" in Coolidge's time, a Moderate in his time, and a Conservative in FDR's time. A good example of the country's shift to the left. However, in TR-Taft-Wilson's time, he would NOT be classified as Progressive.

[Young Lochinvar]

This timeline kept me hooked til 2am. Excellent work.

[Cathcon1]

Originally Posted by Young Lochinvar

This timeline kept me hooked til 2am. Excellent work.

Thanks!

Anyway, I hope that eventually I'll get the motivation to write the 1930 update & hopefully get to 1932 before school starts.

[Cathcon1]

The First Term of
President Calvin Coolidge
Part Two

"Throughout 1929 and 1930, Coolidge, despite his, well, silence, was able to maintain a positive public image and a well received Presidency. The economy continued on a shaky, yet positive course as Coolidge's mass deregulations and tax cuts allowed businesses to expand much more than they had during the 1910's and 1920's. As the decade ended, many of Coolidge's supporters were claiming that "The 1930's will mark one of the greatest decades this country has experienced in a long while." And, despite political confusion, it seemed social order was being restored.

Many will criticize President Coolidge for his policies, economic especially, due to the lack of regulation over child labor laws, regulations concerning Wall Street, and for essentially "leaving the little man behind". However, little is paid attention by those critics to the rise in the standard of living during that time as businesses expanded and unemployment continued to shrink. However, there were, as with every Presidency, downsides, as farm aid was shrunken. Farmers, located far to the West of the urban centers of New York and its neighboring states, were affected the least by the economic growth. This only increased the West's alliance to the Progressives and while they had lost strength in the North-East and the Industrial Mid-West and were as good as dead in the South, in the West they were only growing stronger.

In 1930, the nation had to bury two of its Presidents. On February 19th, 1930, former President William Howard Taft died, and on February 22nd, became the first President to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Like his predecessor and successor Theodore Roosevelt, he too had lived a long life, holding numerous offices along the way towards his Presidency, though probably not nearly as interesting as those of Roosevelt.

William Howard Taft (September 5th, 1857-February 19th, 1930)

5th United States Solicitor General (February, 1890-March 17th, 1892)
Judge of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (March 17th, 1892-March 15th, 1900)
Governor of the Phillipines (July 4th, 1901-December 23rd, 1903) served wtih Adna Chaffee
42nd United States Secretary of War (July 11th, 1921-December 30th, 1908)
27th President of the United States of America (March 4th, 1909-March 4th, 1913)

Attending the funeral were President Coolidge, Vice-President Bryan, former President Smith, Senate Majority Leader and former Vice-President Hiram Johnson, 1912 Republican Vice-Presidential nominee Nicholas M Butler, Senator Robert Taft, Taft's family, and former President Roosevelt who himself was rumored to be on his last legs. A stirring eulogy was delivered by Senator Robert Taft.

Former President Taft had spent his near twenty years in retirement recovering from health and weight problems, though those were never fully recovered from, exploring the Alaskan wilderness and regaining a fondness for the outdoors, and come the 1920's, not knowing where to stand politically. Taft had, as President, self-identified as a Progressive, but felt deeply betrayed by Roosevelt and the Progressives. Teddy's attempt at mending their friendship by offering him a seat on the Supreme Court in 1913 did nothing to help their relationship and his relationship with the Progressives as, to Taft, it only symbolized Roosevelt's betraying of him in 1912 that had led to that situation. As the Republican party continued to shatter while the race became between the Democrats and the Progressives, and then as the Conservative Party had risen, Taft had finally resigned himself to complete retirement, seeing himself as a relic of a forgotten age of American politics. His last political act was at a campaign stop with then-War Secretary Coolidge in 1928. Taft had only agreed to appear there at the urging of his son, Robert Taft, who by that time had been elected Senator from Ohio. Finally, on February 19th, 1930, the last Republican President died.

On June 15th, America buried another President as Theodore Roosevelt, a Progressive icon, died only four days earlier. He had lived an even more diverse life as he had served in even more political offices than Taft before becoming President.

Theodore Roosevelt (October 27th, 1858-June 11th, 1930)

Member of the New York State Assmebly (1881-1884)
New York City Police Comissioner (1885-1887)
5th Assistant Secretary of the Navy (April 19th, 1897-May 10th, 1898)
33rd Governor of New York (January 1st, 1899-December 31st, 1900)
25th Vice-President of the United States of America (March 4th, 1901-September 14th, 1901)
26th President of the United States of America (September 14th, 1901-March 4th, 1909)
28th President of the United States of America (March 4th, 1913-March 4th, 1921)

Since political retirement, Roosevelt had spent the majority of his time in South America on hunting and wildlife expeditions. His occasional returns were only for political or family purposes--celebrating soem important holidays with his family, campaignign for the Progressive Party ticket every Presidential election, and campaigning for both his son, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., and his cousin, Franklin D Roosevelt, in their quests for higher office. Attending the funeral were both of these. At the time, Theodore Jr. had been out of office as Governor of New York, having served from January first, 1923 to December 31st, 1928. Franklin D Roosevelt, after his years in his cousin's administration, had been the 1920 Progressive nominee for Vice-President, United States Senator from New York for eight years, and since January 1st, 1929, Governor of New York. Rumor had it that Teddy had been prepping one or both of them for a Presidential run the last two decades. He did not live to see either of them elected to the highest office in the land, however.

The national mourning for not one but two Presidents (some claimed two and a half given that they believed Teddy was worth two and Taft was barely worth anything), not much was done policy-wise in the run-up to the 1930 mid-term elections, aside from several Progressive bills that evoked Teddy's name. In the 1930 elections, the most lasting result besides actual election results, was the political maneuvering of Postmaster-General James Farley, a Conservative Democrat and a Catholic, he was able to draw more and more Catholics to the Conservative party during that campaign. This was mainly through branding the three other parties as unfriendly stereotypes. The Progressives had no clue about urban issues, it was reasoned. They were too stuck in Wyoming and Colorado campaigning for farmers. The Democrats were merely racist neo-confederates. And the Republicans, what few of them were left, were portrayed as Blue-blooded WASP elitists. Despite Coolidge himself being a New England WASP, this did not figure into the races in Massachusetts thanks to Coolidge's popularity there, as well as his rather obvious roots there. With Farley's political maneuvering, not only was he able to begin the transformation of Catholics into, surprisingly, a Conservative base in the North-East, but he was also able to merge many elements of both the Democrats and the Conservatives and thanks to newly passed fusion laws under Governor Alvan T Fuller (Conservative), many candidates ran as Conservative-Democrats. Senator David Walsh himself, despite not being up for re-election, began caucusing with both parties as a Conservative-Democrat. Notable races that year included Franklin D Roosevelt being re-elected Governor, Herbert Hoover being elected Governor of California, Governor Alvan T Fuller in Massachusetts being re-elected, and former Comerce Secretary Henry Ford being elected to the Senate in Michigan. In the House of Representatives, Conservatives were able to beat out Democrats for second place, while in the Senate they tied with Progressives, meaning Progressives, with Vice-President Charles W Bryan, were able to maintain their plurality status. All in all, however, the elections were a success for President Coolidge and the Conservative Party."

-The Life of Calvin Coolidge, Robert H Ferrell

[Zioneer]

Excellent as always, Cathcon. Interesting to see both of the late presidents being so close in age at the time of their deaths. I always thought Taft was an older man, but hey.

There's only one problem with your update; you wrote that Taft died on February 19th, and President Roosevelt spoke at his funeral. However, you had Roosevelt die on the 15th of the same month. Unless zombie Theodore is speaking, I don't think that's possible.

[Cathcon1]

Originally Posted by MormonMobster

Excellent as always, Cathcon. Interesting to see both of the late presidents being so close in age at the time of their deaths. I always thought Taft was an older man, but hey.

There's only one problem with your update; you wrote that Taft died on February 19th, and President Roosevelt spoke at his funeral. However, you had Roosevelt die on the 15th of the same month. Unless zombie Theodore is speaking, I don't think that's possible.

Check the death dates again.

[Zioneer]

Originally Posted by Cathcon1

Check the death dates again.

Oh, whoops. Somehow, I managed to read Roosevelt's death date as February. Sorry about that.

[Archangel]

Can we consider the Catholic Northeastern Conservatives as a Christian-Democratic analogue (in a 1930's sense)?

Keep it up, Cathcon1!

[Cathcon1]

Originally Posted by Archangel

Can we consider the Catholic Northeastern Conservatives as a Christian-Democratic analogue (in a 1930's sense)?

Keep it up, Cathcon1!

Thanks.

As for the Conservatives, it's a difficult coalition. The way they originally broke through the Democratic ranks was from Smith's endorsement in 1928 and from 1928-onward, the party becoming more Southern and basically saying "F-you!" to the northern wing of the party despite having been led, somewhat successfully, by a Northern Catholic Democrat. The way the Conservatives are cultivating them, (at least the way Farley's cultivating them, Coolidge himself is rather apathetic to the issue outside of the deal he cut with Smith), is by A) establishing the party as "wet" on the issue of prohibition, which is still an issue, though not a policy, B) pitting the Catholics against a Southern Democratic party, a Western Progressive Party, and a retreating Republican Party and asking "where ya gonna go?", C) Positioning Senator David Walsh, himself an economic moderate, as one of MA's new fusion Conservative-Democrats. D) Catholics don't have very many successful national politicians besides Smith, and within Coolidge's cabinet is both Farley and Kennedy. A large amount of religious Western Progressives are as of the moment, "dry", and the Southern Democrats are dry as well. It's a help that Coolidge himself is from Massachusetts and is popular there. So basically, in Massachusetts and Catholic havens elsewhere, Farley is working to put forth the image of a wet, economically moderate-to-conservative party that also respects civil rights and is willing to be a voice for them now that the Democrats have abandoned them. In this, the Conservative party treads a careful tightrope as they have to appear both pro-Civil Rights for not just the Catholics, but the Northern members, and at the same time as adherents to Federalism to the growing Southern wing of the party. Coolidge, as will be demonstrated, can actually manage to pull this off thanks to some careful steps.

I'm not really sure what social issues looked like in the 1920's and 1930's aside from prohibition and civil rights, so in the sense that Christian Democracy is moderate on economics and conservative on social issues, I'm at a bit of a loss to say, though I hope I've demonstrated Catholics' move to the Right in this tl's recent years.

So, in the short answer, at least as I can tell, no, though the way Catholics vote and the issues will definitely change and the Conservative party will change as well, though not necessarily with the Catholics.

[DSS]

Originally Posted by MormonMobster

Excellent as always, Cathcon. Interesting to see both of the late presidents being so close in age at the time of their deaths. I always thought Taft was an older man, but hey.

There's only one problem with your update; you wrote that Taft died on February 19th, and President Roosevelt spoke at his funeral. However, you had Roosevelt die on the 15th of the same month. Unless zombie Theodore is speaking, I don't think that's possible.

The chances of Zombie Roosevelt are quite large, so I wouldn't write off that assumption.

[Cathcon1]

Originally Posted by Dead Sea Squirrels

The chances of Zombie Roosevelt are quite large, so I wouldn't write off that assumption.

I actually see him as the best equipped President to fight off a zombie invasion.