America and the Laborers Party

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Rudolf Hakonson was born in Northern Minnesota to Icelandic miner parents. After the Mesabi Mining Disasters he lead the charge to found the Mesabi Miners Party, which changed its name to the Minnesota Laborers Party in 1904. The Party would merge/take over the existing Socialist Party, lead by Hakonson's friend Eugene Debs(The MLP existed as an affiliate of the Socialist). However after "The Great Merger" of 1913 Hakonson began to moderate the party, crafting in more like the Laborers of Minnesota, a left wing populist organization. Many historians cite Hakonson's refusal to oppose America's entry into WW1 as the major turning point in the war. He himself abstained on the measure in congress. While this caused many more hardliner socialists to leave the party, the Laborers(as the national party was now known as) avoided being outlawed, in fact President Wilson employed Hakonson to encourage Nordic-Americans to enlist. Hakonson would later say WW1 was the most conflicted he ever felt on an issue, while he personally did not support the war, he knew the Laborers Party would not survive if it opposed it. While he is widely lauded among the Laborers Party, some peace activists and more left wing elements of the party criticize him for his public support of WW1

 

[leecannon_]

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days I've been working on this;

Do you like reading about crazy racist politicians? No? Well too bad!
(Warning; This contains some racial slurs since this is about a racist Governor in the 1930s)

Thanks to @Kanan for being my inspiration!

 

[leecannon_]

I realized I made a mistake on the first one so I fixed it and reuploaded it

Speaker Honda is the first Speaker of the House of Asian American decent and first to have a sexual minority family member, his granddaughter Malisa, and the first from California. He became Speaker after the 2016 election in which the Laborers flipped the House, Senate, and Presidency, with Governor Nina Turner of Ohio beating Senator Mike Simpson of Idaho. Honda faced some opposition to his leadership run, former Minority Leader and the last Laborers speaker, Louise Slaughter, was 80 when she left her position, and Honda was 68 when he took over the position. However he has had strong support from most sexual minorities due to his long time support to them. Upon the Laborers taking the house some called for him to resign and let him deputy David Cicilline take over the position, but Honda refused. However recently Honda has speculated he may resign in the next few years.

 

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I have been busy with School and spring break so I haven't had time to work on this much, but I now have an update.

Harold Ickes was a lawyer and republican politician from Pennsylvania who served as Mayor of Pittsburgh from 1926-1930, then ran for, and was elected to, the United States Senate over Laborers representative John Paul Barnett from PA-12 which covered most of of the Coal Region. Ickes and Barnett also faced a minor challenge from democratic businessman Ed Call of Eerie. John Paul Barnett was considered a raising star in the Laborers Party and many assumed with the combination of the Laborers rising national status and the recent stock market crash only furthering the Laborers success. However Ickes beat Barnett in the closest election in Pennsylvania history due to his pro-labor policies as well as his support from the Black community.

Ickes would build a bond with Franklin D. Roosevelt while he served in LaGuardia's and Wallace's cabinet and Ickes would work with the Laborers to pass economic relief post-crash, however while he largely agreed with the Laborers economically he was a staunch opponent to their support/ignoring of segregation and racial injustice. His close bond with Roosevelt earned him the nickname "Second Deputy Attorney General"(Roosevelt was Attorney General for the last 4 years of his life).

Ickes described 1945 as "The worst damn year god ever gave me". In April Roosevelt died and it took a personal toll on Ickes, and that September the previously temporary coalition to oppose the Laborers in 1944 morphed into the two parties permanently joining as the "Unity Party". Ickes, as well as many Blacks and socially liberal republicans split from the party and formed the "Liberty Party". The saw the merger with the Democrats as the party making a run to the right and abandoning the cause of African-Americans. In 1948 Ickes ran for President with fellow Senator Wayne Morse (The only other Liberty Senator). The two failled to win a state and received 4% of the vote.

Ickes would loose reelection in 1950 to Laborers governor James H Duff. Duff had the support of the Unity Party in the election, as both did not like Ickes as both wanted to ignore the issue of segregation. Ickes would die two years later

 

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The Election of 1930 has been determined as the turning point in American politics, the decline of the Democratic and Republican Party began and the Laborers skyrocketed to the majority party in America, which helped them elect LaGuardia in 1932. The Laborers formed a left-populist coalition across the nation due to largely ignoring most controversial social issues, especially segregation. This allowed them to be competitive in states that had not had a serious general election in generations. They were able to pick up open seats and face incumbents across the south, in states such as Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Alabama that were able to take open seats, but the most famous senators won against incumbents with Heuy Long in Louisiana and John P Maycoll in South Carolina. Incumbent South Carolina Senator Coleman Blease faced a fierce primary challenge from Representative John F Byrnes which he won in a runoff by 51.2%. Laborers Representative John P Maycoll easily won his party's nomination as he faced no major challenge. In the general many expected it to be a close race, but ultimately expected Blease to win.

One of the major unknown factors of the race was Rep. Byrnes. Byrnes did not formally endorse Blease after the primary and continued to make remarks that the state needed "new faces, new ideas, new spirits" he was joined in this by fellow failed nominee Olin D. Johnston who was mounting an independent campaign for Governor. While Johnston was still technically an "independent democrat" he did endorse Maycoll in the election, and campaign with him in much of Johnston's native upstate. This helped Maycoll greatly. Johnston would later succeed Laborers Governor Mary Gordon Ellis in 1934 as a Laborers.

Maycoll painted Blease as an embarrassment to the state, said that Blease lacked decorum, and that Blease was inept and possibly insane. Blease spent most of the general campaign giving fiery rants against Maycoll's allegations and said Maycoll did not respect the traditions of the state by not running under the Democratic Party. These attacks helped solidify the image that Maycoll was painting of Blease. Maycoll was also aided when Byrnes formally announced he would not vote for Blease in the election, however he did not say he would vote for Maycoll. Blease attacked Byrnes as a "Catholic Carpetbagger". This cost Blease Charleston County, where Byrnes was from and where he was very popular. In the end what would have been a close victory for Blease turned into a triumph for Maycolll. Due to his outsider image and fresh grand ideas which were very popular after the great depression, and the endorsement/half endorsement from Johnston and Byrnes.

Maycoll would serve as a senator for South Carolina until 1967, when he resigned at age 87, a total of 36 years. Olin Johnston would serve as governor of South Carolina from 1935-1939 and as Senator from 1939-1941. When Henry Wallace was nominated for the Laborers Party in 1940 to succeed LaGuardia he asked Maycoll to be his VP, but Maycoll instructed him to pick Johnston, who was much younger than Maycoll and Johnston, and Maycoll wanted to keep his senate seat. Wallace would win the 1940 election in a landslide. Towards the end of his career Maycoll was a strong supporter of President Sidney McMath, and supported his efforts to increase the standard of living for rural america, for both blacks and whites. McMath offered Maycoll the position of Secretary of Agriculture but declined due to his age.

 

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Colvill Beatty was a lawyer and Laborers politician from Minnesota. He was born to Edmund Beatty and Cora Thompsett on June 23, 1866. His father was a union soldier and served under William J. Colvill, whom he named his son after. He studied at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis and graduated from there in 1888 and afterwards he became a lawyer, living in Minneapolis for 5 years until he moved to Brainerd, Minnesota in 1893. In 1892 he worked as a surrogate speaker and organizer for James B. Weaver's presidential campaign, and from then on became very active in the progressive and labor movements. In Brainerd, Colvill and his brother Andrew set up a legal practice and Colvill began to write articles in the local Newspaper. In 1894 he married Minnie Hyland (b. 1869). The pair would have two children; Edna Beatty (b. 1897) and Raymond Beatty (b. 1899).

After the Mesabi Mining Massacres that shook the nation he railed against the mine owners criminal negligence. In 1905 Rudolf Hakonson was in Brainerd giving a speech to rally support for the new Minnesotan Farmers and Laborers Party, which would evolve into the Laborers Party. Beatty was captivated by Hakonson's speech and in 1906 he ran for, and was elected Mayor of Brainerd. In 1910 Beatty and Hakonson became the first Laborers to run for congress. Beatty ran against incumbent republican Representative Charles Lindburgh and democratic shopkeeper David Baines. The race was a tight fight between Lindburgh and Beatty with Baines lagging behind.

On election day 72,583 people voted in the race for the house, Baines came in third with 15,341 votes, 21.1% of the vote, Beatty came in second with 28,525, 39.3% of the vote, and Lindbergh with 28,717, 39.6% of the vote. A margin of 192 votes or .2%. Beatty called for and was awarded a recount. The recount placed the results as Baines; 15,371, 21.2%, Beatty; 28,726, 39.6% and Lindbergh; 28,486, 39.3%. A margin of 240 votes or .3%, with Beatty leading. Lindbergh called a recount. The second recount gave the results Baines; 15,359, 20.1%, Beatty; 28,639, 40.6% and Lindbergh; 28,585, 39.3%. A margin of 52 votes, 0007%. Though Lindbergh’s supporters encouraged him to push for a third recount, Lindbergh ultimately conceded defeat. Baines applied for a recount, but was denied. The race garnered national attention, not only for its razor thin results, but also for the novelty and rarity of the Minnesota Laborers Party. This helped place the Laborers into national headlines and gain name recognition.

Beatty spent 18 years in congress and was a loyal and prominent member or the Laborers party. He became a figure in the party and George Norris considered selecting him as his vice presidential candidate in 1928, but he instead picked Representative Perry C. Barnett of Georgia. Beatty would retire from the House of Representatives in 1928 and returned to his family law practice. He was a strong support of Henry Wallace in the 1940 presidential election and Wallace considered nominating him for a judgeship, however Beatty died on June 18, 1941 of a stroke at age 74. He was survived by his wife Minnie, who would die in a car wreck five years later at age 76, and his children Edna, a future governor, and his son Raymond, who was a journalist.

 

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Carole King is a Laborers politician and former singer-songwriter who is the incumbent Secretary of the Environment. She has previously served as Governor of Colorado for 6 years until President-Elect Nina Turner announced she would nominate King for Secretary of the Enviroment. King resigned her governorship on March 1, 2017, and became Secretary of the Environment on March 14, 2017.

Before politics she was a songwriter composing 118 Billboard Hot 100 songs, and performed at the legendary 1976 New York Olympics. She became involved in politics in 2000, being heavily involved in Al Gore's campaign, and again in 2004. She became a prominent supporter and surrogate speaker, focusing mostly on environmental related causes.

In 2010, with the support of Al Gore she ran for Governor of Colorado, campaigning on environmental causes, and labor issues with the slogan "You've Got a Friend". She won a narrow campaign against incumbent Alliance Governor Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Also running was Denver city councilor Tom Tancredo under the Freedom and Liberty Party. The results were King 52% to Campbell's 39% with Tancredo taking a surprising 9% of the vote.

As Governor she pledge to make Colorado 100% renewable by 2020 called the “One Fine Day Project”. She was a strong supporter of legalization of marijuana in what she called the “Wrap Around Joy Act” and also had the state file suit against mining companies for unsafely disposing of industrial waste, which she dubbed the “I Feel the Earth Move Initiative”. This was very controversial and she barely won reelection in 2014 against Alliance Asma Hasan; 51% to 49%. In her second term she saw the introduction of the Colorado Equality Act, or the “So Much Love, Now and Forver Act” which banned discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender expression. In the crowded 2016 Laborers Primary she endorsed fellow Governor Nina Turner of Ohio. Her endorsement as the governor of an early primary state was crucial to Turner securing the Laborers nomination.

After being confirmed as Secretary of the Environment she has pushed to fund nuclear, solar, and wind power over coal and natural gas. She has also been key in founding Ozarks and Gila National Parks. She has adapted her “One Fine Day” into the “It’s Not Too Late Program”, forming a plan to make america 100% renewable energy by 2040.

 

[CosmicAsh]

President-Elect Nina Turner

Well first you had my interest, and now you have my full attention

 

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Well first you had my interest, and now you have my full attention

The Laborers are basically a progressive democrats party. Claude Peppers is president for a while

 

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President Adlai Stevenson was assassinated on January 9, 1958 in Asheville, North Carolina. At the time of Stevenson's assassination he had served just 353 days in office. Stevenson was on a tour through the southeast that had started in Charleston, South Carolina and he was planned to work his way back up to Washington. On the way he gave speeches in Charleston, Columbia, and Charlotte, toured tobacco fields in the PeeDee region, meet with various industry groups, and was in Asheville and the surrounding region to talk about poverty in Appalachia. He was scheduled to make appearances Newport News, Richmond, and Arlington in Virginia. The tour was planned to help Stevenson's suffering poll numbers.

Stevenson went to the Asheville Fire Station to deliver a speech from the second story balcony, and meet with local service workers, including firemen, police officers, and ambulance drivers. After Stevenson delivered a short speech he began to mingle with the service men, and as he made his way towards the car a local hotel clerk Jules Zeb Fahr approached President Stevenson, and Representative Wash, with Ellen Stevenson who were both facing him, and Fahr fired a shotgun once at them, he then fired a pistol 6 times aimed at Stevenson, and Mayor Aterberry who was standing behind Stevenson. The shrapnel from the shotgun and Fahr's poorly aimed pistol shooting injured several bystanders, including Stevenson's son Borden. Fahr was quickly apprehended and charged with murder.

Upon interviewing Fahr police learned that Fahr was greatly influenced by Pastor Hugh McCoughtry of the Free American Baptist Church, an independant baptist church that was located outside of Asheville. McCoughtry would frequently rail against the Laborers Party and called them "Anti-American, Radicals, Communists". He would call out Stevenson as "A Soviet Agent" and he repeatedly encouraged his congregation to take all actions necessary to prevent them from "Letting the Communists take our freedoms". Fahr also seemed very confused when questioned as he believed what he had done was right, truly believing McCoughtry's sermon. Fahr was charged with 3 counts of murder and executed by private hanging, and McCoughtry was sentanced to life in prison for being an acessory to murder.

Stevenson and Wash died on sight due to massive blood loss, Arterberry sustained partial wounds from the shotgun, and was hit twice from the pistol, once in the shoulder and once in the neck, shattering his Adam's apple. He died the following day. Borden Stevenson had part of the skin on his arm blown off and had a scar on his arm for the rest of his life. The only other major injury was to Fred Witt who lost his right middle and ring finger after his hand was struck by a bullet trying to protect Wash. Stevenson was pronounced dead at 5:05 pm after several attempts to revive him. Vice President Claude Peppers was called at 5:00 and informed of Stevenson's death at 5:10. Peppers at the time was spending Christmas with his family in Florida and he called Judge Albert Orly, who was a known Alliance supporter, and Orly administered the oath of office to Peppers at 5:35. Claude Peppers would be officially sworn in as president by Chief Justice Hugo Black on January 11, 1958

In response to the assassination, which Peppers blamed on religious extremism under the guise of anti-communism, Peppers and Congress passed a resolution changing the motto to “United with Liberty for All”. The “Under God” in the pledge remained. This proved very controversial as some viewed it as an opportunist trying to push an agenda during a national tragedy. This would foreshadow the rest of Peppers tumultuous term in office.

 

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The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially called the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event in New York, New York in 1976, and the first summer Olympic Games held in the United States since Detroit 1952, and the first Olympic Games since the Aspen Winter Games in 1960. New York was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC session, over the bids of Kiev, Auckland, and São Paulo.

The 1976 games were a "Celebration of America and Internationalism, in America's International City". The games were the brain child of Speaker Gerald Ford, former football player and athlete at the 1932 Olympics. He thought the Olympics would be the best way to celebrate America's bicentennial. He presented the idea to President Henry Lodge and the head of the USOC Eddie Eagan. Both were not too responsive to the idea. Ford however picked up the idea two years later in 1967, now joined by fellow Alliance Olympian Representative Bob Mathias of California, presented the idea again to the new USOC head Mal Whitfield and President Sidney McMath. Whitfield was mildly supportive, but McMath was a huge fan and said that it would be the greatest way to celebrate America's bicentennial, showing that America was now the center stage of the world. McMath and Secretary of State Henry Jackson began quietly asking allies to not seek the 1976 Olympics, and while there were some behind the scenes complaints, such as Prime Minister Doug Anthony of Australia, but there were no bids from America's Allies.

Representative Mathias was appointed head of the USOC's America '76 committee. They examined many american cities, Detroit, Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Washington D. C., Seattle, San Francisco, New Orleans, Orlando, Austin, Denver, and most other large cities in America. The Committee narrowed it to two lists; Historic American Cities and Modern American Cities. On the Historic list were Boston, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and D.C. On the Modern List were Austin, New York, Phoenix, and Atlanta. The final three were Phoenix, New Orleans, and New York. New York was selected as America's bid to the IOC and it easily won over its only main competitor Kiev.

The Olympic Torch traveled 19,760 miles across America going through every state. For the opening ceremony, which was in Central Park, the torch went through the five boroughs, finally going from Staten Island by boat to the Statue of Liberty, which was the inspiration of the torch design, then reaching Manhattan at Battery Park, in between the Twin Towers, and finally to the LaGuardia Stadium in Central Park where former Olympic star Jesse Owens and current Olympic star Mark Spitz. The choice of the two highlighted two of the main themes of the night, mixing Old and New, and Racial Unity. The opening ceremony was broken into two halves, the first featured America's history, and controversially included "The Protesters", suffragettes, civil rights activists, environmental activists, and workers' rights activists. It also featured many historic figures from American history, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, John Muir, Alice Paul, Theodore Roosevelt, LaGuardia, Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, Judy Garland, F Scott Fitzgerald, and several more American Icons. The second half was a focus on international unity, peace, art, and music. The second half had several performances from many famous American bands and singers at the time; Carole King, Don McLean, Fleetwood Mac, Billy Joel, The Eagles, Boston, Gloria Gaynor, KC and the Sunshine Band, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Olivia Newton-John, John Denver, Dolly Parton, and Glen Campbell. The final song was the now famous "1976 American Pie" in which all participants performed McLean's "American Pie". The rendition, officially performed by "The Sound of America '76", became an international bestseller and topped the charts for 5 weeks and became the popular anthem of the Olympics.

President Henry Jackson, who had been a major force behind the games along with his friend Fmr. President Sid McMath, opened the games with;
"Today, on America's 200th Birthday, I welcome the world to our doorstep to celebrate the XXI Olympiad and declare the 1976 Olympic Games of New York open."

America won the most medals with 104, followed by the Soviet Union with 81, and then the United Kingdom with 33 and West Germany in fourth with 31. San Marino won their first, and only, medal, a Silver in the Individual Road Race.

The closing ceremony had many of the similar themes as the second half of the opening ceremony, with several of the singers returning for the closing ceremony. The organizers called it "America's Concert for the World" and it was set up like a music festival, with many now famous collaborations. One commentator said "The 1976 has done more for the American music industry than the invention of the record player."

While there were some minor criticism abroad about the games being to America-centric, but they were a massive success at home, although some criticized it, saying it promoted of civil rights and race mixing too much. Still, The 1976 New York Games have become a defining aspect of American History and Culture in the late 1900's, they are cited as keeping several music styles alive, such as disco, and are largely sited as the main reason for Henry Jackson's reelection. Prior to the election Jackson had a 47% approval rating, but afterwards his approval rating had climbed over 15% to 64%. He and Vice President Vance Hartke went on to win a second term.

Also thank you @Kanan for making the logo, you da best

 

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If you are ever thinking about doing an american presidential primary, don't. They eat time.

(But there so fun)

 

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The 2012 Laborers presidential primaries were the process by which voters of the Laborers Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 U.S. presidential election. Senator Dick Durbin won the Laborers Party nomination by securing more than the required 1,995 delegates on June 26, 2012, the last primary date. The Primary were conducted by the 1976 rules; where delegates are distributed proportionally, with a minimum of 10% and if a candidate gets more than 80% of the vote they take all of the delegates. If rounding fails to achieve the correct number of delegates, they are taking/added from the lowest candidates to highest. The schedule was put together at the Laborers Primary Committee Convention during the second to last full week in October, the order was determined by random selection.


Durbin faced a strong primary challenge from the more moderate and younger Senator Jack Conway of Kentucky, who had only been a senator for 4 years. Also in the competition were Former Vice President Barbara Lee, Senators Mark Begich, and Richard Blumenthal and Representative Diana DeGette. Blumenthal dropped out before the Louisiana Primary, DeGette dropped out the day after the Louisiana Primary. Begich held out until the Arkansas Primary, after which he dropped out. Lee was seen as a major contender before the primary season started but she turned out to be a spoiler for Durbin as she syphoned away his support, causing dark horse moderate Jack Conway to win the first two primaries. Lee withdrew after a disappointing second in her native California amid calls from the left for her to bow out so that Conway wouldn’t win. However Conway’s early momentum lead to him nearly forcing a contested convention. Conway dropped out after the New York Primary after a dismal showing the week before in rural states, which he had been over performing in. Conway still had a small chance in the New Jersey Primary to make a contested convention. He dropped out to avoid a contested convention, which he likely would have lost.


Conway’s run had resurrected the long neglected strength the Laborers could flex in rural America. However Conway’s populist agenda was controversial within the party. Lee, who was running on a popular and fairly successful democratic socialist agenda, suffered a gaffe a scandal when it was leaked she compared Conway to Governor George Wallace. This further calls for her to dropout from the left and right. Lee did extremely well with Urban Blacks, however Conway surprised pundits with his “Heartland Coalition” of rural blacks, whites and latinos, working women(also mostly rural), young voters, and some of suburbia. He accomplished this through his natural appeal and powerful speeches. Durbin ran as the sensible and experienced middle of the road from the more moderate Conway and the leftist Lee. After Lee dropped out Durbin picked up urban support along with his upper and middle class support, however he would struggle with most of Rural America throughout the primary season, failing to win the crucial 80% in his native Illinois after Conway ran up his numbers enough downstate to keep Durbin well away from the 80%. Conway however suffered throughout the primary about his inexperience, having been a senator for just 4 years. This was especially tough from Lee who hoped to force Conway out and earn the rural black vote, securing her the south.


Durbin became the nominee after the New Jersey primary, which he won by over 80%. At the Laboers 2012 convention in Des Moines he chose former rival Diana DeGette as his vice presidential candidate. They would loose to incumbent Unity President Charlie Dent and Vice President Kay Bailey Hutchinson

 

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George Herbert Walker Bush (born June 12, 1924) is an Alliance politician who served as the Governor of Texas from 1999-2003. He declined to run again in 2002 due to health concerns. Before he was governor, Bush was Secretary of State from 1997 to 1998 when he resigned to run for governor. He had previously been a Congressman, Deputy Secretary of State, and Ambassador to the United Kingdom. During his career, he was known simply as George Bush;however he has since been listed as George H W Bush to distinguish him from his son, George W Bush, who became Governor after him.

Bush was a congressman for 14 years until President Gerald Ford nominated him for Deputy Secretary of State under Secretary Richard Lugar. After Averell Harriman's death in 1986 Ford nominated him to Ambassador to the United Kingdom. In 1988 he briefly ran for Alliance Presidential Nomination, but dropped out after Vice President Paula Hawkins announced her intentions to run and he endorsed her. Since his time in the Ford Administration he had become a figure in the Moderate to Liberal wings of the Alliance Party. He supported the passage of the ERA, which passed in 1987, and is known for his middle of the road policies and being well liked throughout the Alliance Party. Because of this Clinton strongly considered Bush to be his Vice President and reportedly pushed hard for him, however his advisers convinced him to pick George Duekmejian of California instead, saying it would provide a better regional balance and mroe experience, though Clinton disagreed on the later, he relented on the former. He instead selected Bush to be him Secretary of State, with Anne Armstrong as his Deputy, this lead to many comics and David Letterman sarcastically called Texas the "center of American diplomacy". As Secretary of State forged a strong bond with Clinton that has lasted since Clinton lost reelection in 2000 to John Marty of Minnesota.

In 1998, after much coaxing from the Alliance Party of Texas, Bush resigned his position of Secretary of State and ran for Governor of Texas. He ran on his expierence and on "Forging a path that all can follow on". promising to work with both the Evangelicals in the Alliance Party of Texas as well as being to open working with the Laborers. This helped him after Hurricane Idella, which defined his term in office. He was very very active cooperative approach in response to Hurricane Idella in 2002 along with Governor Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana, and President John Marty. Idella was a category 5 hurricane that devastated Port Arthur and Beaumont in Texas and Lake Charles in Louisiana. It was one of the most expensive hurricanes of the 21st century. He spent two weeks working with relief agencies directly doing everything from finding shelter for displaced victims to packing bags of food. He also lead fundraisers to help victims. When asked why he helped so directly he responded "I am Governor for all Texans, but these Texans need my full attention right now."

While encouraged to run for a second term, he declined and was succeeded by Kay Bailey Hutchinson. He had endorsed his more conservative son George Bush, but he and Rick Perry split the conservative vote and let moderate Representative Hutchinson win, she would go on to win in the General against Laborers Henry Cuellar. Since his time as Governor he has become an Elder Statesman in the Alliance Party, and still is remembered fondly by moderates and some liberals, many wishing he had become President. Though he was become less involved with politics in the last few years. His wife was known for her literacy campaigns that she started the School Fund while after he served as Secretary of State. The School Fund is now a multinational organization to promote education and literacy worldwide and is the largest worldwide Education charity.

 

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Thomas Gore was an American politician from the Laborers Party, originally Democratic, from Oklahoma. He served two nonconsecutive terms in 1907-1921 as a democrat and 1927-1933 as a Laborers He was elected to a third term in 1933 but was appointed as Secretary of the Interior before he could finish his term. He was the first blind member of cabinet. He was a prominent voice in the Laborers isolationist and conservative wings.

Before he was elected to the Oklahoma senate, he ran for offices in Texas and Mississippi under the Populist Party. He was known for his great oratory skills and camapigned heavily for William Jennings Bryan across the country. He moved to Oklahoma in 1901

He was first elected to the senate in 1906 as one of Oklahoma's inaugural senators, he was a close friend of Woodrow Wilson, however the two split due to Gore's isolationist and anti-war views and Gore's opposition to the League of Nations. He was also a leading voice against conscription. He began to split with the Democratic party more and more, and side more with the fledgling Laborers Party. He would loose reelection in 1920, and join official join the Laborers Party in 1922. In 1926 we ran for his old seat against Republican incumbent John W. Harreld and Democratic Elmer Thomas. Gore won with 38% of the vote to Harreld's 35% and Thomas's 27%. He became a leading figure in the Laboerers anti-war and conservative wings. While also being a powerful campaigner for the Laborers Party. He was close friends with John P. Maycoll and campaigned heavily for him in 1930. In 1932 he was initially hesitant to support LaGuarida for the Presidency, stating concern on if LaGuardia would focus to much on Urban issues and while neglecting rural America. In response LaGuardia went to Gore's home in Oklahoma to discus rural issues and asked him to be his adviser on rural issues. Gore agreed and began barnstorming the south and the prairies in support of LaGuardia. In turn LaGuarida considered nominating his for Attorney General, but instead nominated him as Secretary of the Interior.

While there was some concern over his blindness he squashed them with the zeal with he perused his job. As Secretary of the Interior he focused mainly of rural electrification. Gore Electrics, the original is named after him. He built many many dams across America and became known as "the Dam Cowboy" a play on his earlier nickname "the Blind Cowboy". While he did not entirely support LaGuardia's extensive public works, the two formed a strong relationship. He became a key adviser and helped moderate LaGuardia's policies. He remained in his position as Secretary of the Interior for the entirety of LaGuardia's term. Incoming President Wallace considered leaving Gore in his position, but thought he was too conservative and instead nominated the liberal James E Murray. After leaving LaGuardia's administration the two remained friends, but he would fallout with President Wallace. He would remain in D.C. as a lawyer until he died in 1949.

 

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The 1960 Alliance National Convention was held in Atlantic Beach, New Jersey on July 25-July 29 1960. It was the end of a competitive primary campaign between the Northern Liberal Governor and Former Secretary of Commerce Nelson Rockefeller of New York and the staunch Southern Conservative Senator and former Governor of Georgia Herman Talmadge. Senator Talmadge had energized the Segregationist wing of the Alliance Party who were fearfully of Rockefeller's social liberalism. The northern liberal former Republicans had often clashed with the southern conservatives former Democrats. There were rumors of southern delegates possibly leaving the party and reviving the now dead Democratic Party. However the Southern conservatives were also very fearful of a Peppers win. Peppers had tried to introduced civil rights legislation in 1958 and failed. As a compromise Nelson Rockefeller chose the moderate segregationist Governor George Wallace of Alabama.

Rockefeller and Wallace would win with 295 Electoral Votes to President Peppers and Senator Mansfield's 242 electoral votes.

The Alliance Party formed in 1945 as a united opposition against the Laborers at the expense of the Civil Rights movement. Since then the party had been split by liberals in the north and conservatives in the south. In most elections compromise tickets had to be formed. Usually two moderates, a northerner and a southern, however in 1960 the liberal Rockefeller was nominated and southerners demanded a southerner on the ticket. Rockefeller consulted former rival Herman Talmadge as to who he should nominate to avoid a Southern walkout. Rockefeller told his personal aides he would like to nominate Cecil H. Underwood, but knew that would cause the Southern delegates to walk. He pitched to Talmadge; Stuart Symmington, Happy Chandler, George Wallace, Lyndon Johnson, and George Smathers. After hours of debate the two settled on George Wallace, and Wallace was confirmed by a voice vote. However there was a a surprisingly loud "Nay" from several northern delegation. Also part of the compromise was that Talmadge was given a prominent speaking role at the convention, but many northerners left their seats during his speech. Rockefeller and Wallace would have a tense working relationship and many historians consider Wallace's addition to the ticket as to why Alliance lost the election of 1964.

Candidates who also ran for the nomination include; Senator George Smathers and Governor Cecil H. Underwood

 

[leecannon_]

If you have any ideas as to what I should do for this timeline feel free to pitch in!

 

[Turquoise Blue]

If you have any ideas as to what I should do for this timeline feel free to pitch in!

I think it would work better if you did it in chronological order, as right now it's a bit disorganized and we don't really get a story from it.

 

[Amateur Psephologist]

If you have any ideas as to what I should do for this timeline feel free to pitch in!

An actual infobox about the Laborers Party and a bit more history about the Party?

 

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The Laborers Party was founded by Rudolf Hakonson in 1903. It was founded after a series of mining disasters killed hundreds of miners in the Mesabi Range of Minnesota in mines belonging to Columbiana North. The owners were found not guilty of criminal negligence. Thereafter the miners, guided by Rudolf Hakonson, formed the Minnesota Miner's Party, which not long after became the Minnesota Laborers Party. Hakonson served as their chairperson. The party ran for three seats in the 1904 Minnesota Legislature Election, and won all three. Two in the House and one in the Senate, where Hakonson was elected. The party expanded their scope to the federal level in 1910 and elected two members to the House of Representatives, Rudolf Hakonson and Colvill Beatty. They were joined by Victor Berger. Until 1913 The Minnesota Laborers served as a semi-autonomous wing of the Socialist Party of America. In 1913 Hakonson, supported by the Minnesota Laborers Party, the largest state party, was elected chairman of the Socialist Party of America. He immediately began moderating the party, changing the name to the Laborers Party. When WWI broke out Hakonson supported America when the declared war, losing many of the far left wing members and pacifists. However President Wilson did not ban the Party when other socialist movements were. This allowed the party to continue to grow and expand to be a mainstream force. The launched their first presidential campaign in 1924 with Robert LaFollette and Rudolf Hakonson, who lost to Williams Gibbs McAdoo. The Party also expanded in the previously solid south by ignore the issue of segregation or in some cases supporting it. This allowed them to elected governors and senators throughout the South in states that had been entirely for the Democratic Party for 50 years. In 1932 the Laborers one in a landslide across the country to the Great Depression in what is known as the "Red Wave". Representative Fiorello H Laguardia and Senator Cordell Hull were elected as President and Vice President, respectively, with the party just barley taking of the House and a plurality in the Senate. The Party would take total control of the federal government in 1936 and would maintain total control until 1948. The would retain control of the Senate until 1952, and the House until 1958.

The party lost Southern Support during the McMath and Jackson administration, 1965-1973 and 1973-1981, respectively, due to their commitment in persuing civil rights, McMath passed the American Rights Act of 1968 and Jackson expanded it in 1973. Since then the party has drifted to the left, with a strong commitment to the poor, both rural and urban. The Party's left win Status was cemented under the Biden administration 1989-1997. Biden became an icon in the gay community for his active, direct, and focused response to the AID crisis of the late 80s. The Party has seen a surge of left-wing populism under the recent election of Nina Turner, while she was elected in a landslide, which extended to both chambers of congress, she is currently suffering from low approval is facing a tough midterm election where the Laborers is expected to loose the house and many seats in the Senate