Retrospective US Presidential Election Results Thread

[Rooster Cogburn]

I came into this pretty late, so my list is quite short.

1856- James Buchanan
1860- John Bell
1864- George B. McClellan
1868- Horatio Seymour
1872- Horace Greeley
1876- Samuel J. Tilden
1880- James A. Garfield
1884- James G. Blaine

1968- Richard Nixon
1972- Richard Nixon
1976- Gerald Ford
1980- Ronald Reagan
1984- Ronald Reagan
1988- George H.W. Bush
1992- George H.W. Bush
1996- Bob Dole

I'm terrible at this game

[Turquoise Blue]

You voted for Buchanan, same as me. Don't worry, I had a bad losing streak in that time. I voted for Buchanan, Douglas and McClellan.

[Abhakhazia]

Originally Posted by Nerdlinger

Don't misquote me. It's rude.

Sorry. filler

[Justin Green]

Heres a question. The Democrats and Populists both nominated Bryan as their presidential canidate, but they had seperate canidates for veep. I cant find how many votes Bryan got as a Populist, but if you can find the numbers Nerdlinger and they are sufficient, I would like to suggest Bryan be listed twice on the '96 ballot as a Democrat and Populist, his votes combined to determine if he wins, and whichever party has more votes than the other determining veep.

[Nerdlinger]

Originally Posted by Justin Green

Heres a question. The Democrats and Populists both nominated Bryan as their presidential canidate, but they had seperate canidates for veep. I cant find how many votes Bryan got as a Populist, but if you can find the numbers Nerdlinger and they are sufficient, I would like to suggest Bryan be listed twice on the '96 ballot as a Democrat and Populist, his votes combined to determine if he wins, and whichever party has more votes than the other determining veep.

No, a candidate will only be listed once. There aren't two William Jennings Bryans who ran, a Democratic one and alternate universe Populist one. It's the same guy with the same political views. If Bryan wins, his Democratic running mate Sewall will become his VP rather than his Populist running mate Watson. It's just easier that way.

[Justin Green]

Alright just an idea.

[Nerdlinger]

Originally Posted by Justin Green

Alright just an idea.

However, I might run a poll afterward if Bryan wins to determine which running mate becomes his VP. Happy?

[Nerdlinger]

Boy, I took a look at Arthur Sewall and Thomas Watson, and I don't like either of them. Sewall is conservative and inexperienced, and Watson is ostensibly progressive but actually a racist bastard.

[Turquoise Blue]

Originally Posted by Nerdlinger

Boy, I took a look at Arthur Sewall and Thomas Watson, and I don't like either of them. Sewall is conservative and inexperienced, and Watson is ostensibly progressive but actually a racist bastard.

It's a good thing Bryan doesn't die until 1925, then...

[Justin Green]

Watson didnt turn racist till after 1896, he actually tried his best to spread the message about poor whites and blacks setting aside the race thing to help themselves.

He's just a Nixon like figure that became embittered over his failed career and turned to the Darkside.

[Justin Green]

Originally Posted by Nerdlinger

However, I might run a poll afterward if Bryan wins to determine which running mate becomes his VP. Happy?

Awesome. Thats a cool idea.

[Turquoise Blue]

Originally Posted by Justin Green

Watson didnt turn racist till after 1896, he actually tried his best to spread the message about poor whites and blacks setting aside the race thing to help themselves.

He's just a Nixon like figure that became embittered over his failed career and turned to the Darkside.

Then if Bryan wins and the poll opens up, I'm voting for Watson.

[Nerdlinger]

Originally Posted by Justin Green

Watson didnt turn racist till after 1896, he actually tried his best to spread the message about poor whites and blacks setting aside the race thing to help themselves.

He's just a Nixon like figure that became embittered over his failed career and turned to the Darkside.

If the Wikipedia article is right, it's when Watson became richer that his racism emerged. I don't think that such beliefs could have just abruptly appeared. I suspect that he was merely concealing these tendencies while he preached about uniting the races against the rich.

[Justin Green]

Originally Posted by Nerdlinger

If the Wikipedia article is right, it's when Watson became richer that his racism emerged. I don't think that such beliefs could have just abruptly appeared. I suspect that he was merely concealing these tendencies while he preached about uniting the races against the rich.

That is certainly possible. I still would rather have Watson over the other guy, if only because Watson would still be more likely to cast tie breaking votes (if there are any) in line with my beliefs, than Sewall.

Dont get me wrong I wouldnt vote for Watson later down the road, I would just choose him over Sewall for veep in 1896.

[metastasis_d]

Originally Posted by Nerdlinger

If the Wikipedia article is right, it's when Watson became richer that his racism emerged. I don't think that such beliefs could have just abruptly appeared. I suspect that he was merely concealing these tendencies while he preached about uniting the races against the rich.

Yeah, that seems more like a "true self coming out" kind of thing than simply he became racist out of the blue.

[metastasis_d]

Originally Posted by Nerdlinger

However, I might run a poll afterward if Bryan wins to determine which running mate becomes his VP. Happy?

Sounds like a good compromise.

[freethinker]

Hmm in this ATL America kind of turns into something like France with multiple political parties, of course the right is much smaller here than in OTL France the Far Left Canidate always gets between 5-30% of the vote.

[Plumber]

Watson was not really racist. He recognized that the poor were of both colors and had to unite. But like after Bacon's Rebellion, the Southern elite won out and divided the poor by color. Watson gave up after Jim Crow set in and race baited like the rest. Sad, really.

If Watson is elected in 1896 it makes more sense to have Bryan as a Populist POTUS, which also makes sense from the project's view.

[Nerdlinger]

Originally Posted by Plumber

Watson was not really racist. He recognized that the poor were of both colors and had to unite. But like after Bacon's Rebellion, the Southern elite won out and divided the poor by color. Watson gave up after Jim Crow set in and race baited like the rest. Sad, really.

If Watson is elected in 1896 it makes more sense to have Bryan as a Populist POTUS, which also makes sense from the project's view.

I don't know if it matters whether or not he was truly racist, if this is true:

As his own personal wealth grew, Watson denounced socialism, which had drawn many converts from the ashes of Populism. He became a vigorous antisemite and anti-Catholic crusader, and advocated reorganizing the Ku Klux Klan.

Given that neither running mate would become president (Bryan doesn't die until 1925), I think I'd rather have a benign albeit conservative political naif like Sewall than a man capable of such vitriol like Watson.

[Justin Green]

Either way my chief concern is getting Bryan elected.

From reading aboyt the Populist party, Watson was really reserved about the joint ticket in 1896.And apparently a large part of the party jumped ship after the election and joined the Socialists under Debs.

That might explain Watsons hatred for the socialists later on.