a wiki box of the 2020 United States election showing "Warren Hughes" of the "National Reconstruction" party triumphing over "Hilda Smith" of the "Federal Union" party
The
2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial American presidential election. The first round was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. As no candidate received a majority, the top two candidates advanced to the second round on Tuesday, November 24, 2020. The National Reconstruction candidate, former President Warren Hughes, and his running mate, Long Island City Mayor Gianfranco Saluzzo, defeated the Federal Union candidate, California Senator Hilda Smith, and her running mate, former Secretary of Education Meriwether Standiford. Hughes took office as the 42nd president, and Saluzzo as the 46th vice president, on January 20, 2021.
Incumbent President Theresa Culberson declined to seek a second full term, dogged by the ongoing Northwater scandal which had engulfed her administration and severely impacted her Federal Union, as well as junior partners in the New Liberal Alliance. Due to the poor reputation of the party, many potential Federal Union candidates declined to run. The nomination was won by California Senator and former Secretary of State Hilda Smith, who had become a critic of Culberson since resigning from the Cabinet. This helped her distance her campaign from Culberson and made her stand out from the other candidates. She selected Meriwether Standiford as her running mate. Standiford, a former Cabinet secretary, Rhode Island Congressman, and chief of the New Liberal Central Committee, was a well known party insider and relieved top level fundraisers and organizers who were concerned about Smith's heterodox positions.
The National Reconstruction Party had fallen from its apogee as the natural party of government. There had not been a Reconstruction president in the entire 21st century and the party's position as senior partner of the American Populist Coalition was at risk. However, the calamity of the Culberson administration allowed the NRP to make major gains across the nation and soon they were once again well positioned to take back the presidency. The early frontrunner for the nomination, Maryland Governor Josiah Caldwell, was removed from contention when he was incapacitated by a stroke in 2018. After that, numerous candidates rose and fell as a vicious fight broke out, concerning party leaders. This kind of infighting had damaged the party in past elections. Additionally, the most ambitious candidates were ones of dubious character and fringe positions. As Warren Hughes, the last Reconstruction president, returned to the national stage as a voice of caution, the party base began to want him back. A draft movement convinced his son Worthington to stand as a proxy for him as the race began. Eventually, Hughes agreed to run and easily won the nomination. Hughes selected the young firebrand Gianfranco Saluzzo, the Mayor of Long Island City, as his running mate. A fierce critic of the president and an intellectual leader in the NRP, Saluzzo was praised a good balance for Hughes.
Three minor parties also ran national campaigns. The Conservative Party (NLA) nominated Senator David Landry of Kentucky. Landry hoped Northwater would drag the FU down enough for him make the runoff as the leading candidate of the Alliance. The Patriotic Party nominated former Congressman Ezekiel Colby of Missouri. Colby, the longtime leader of the far-right party, made his sixth attempt at the presidency. Finally, the Green-Socialist Party nominated Senator Angela D'Abruzzo of Pennsylvania, their first split from the NPC since the 1980s. The Green-Socialists had joined the NPC in 1987 after then-president Hughes and Socialist leaders reached the May Day Agreement. Giorgio D'Abruzzo, the Mayor of Pittsburgh, broke with his party and rejected the agreement by running for president in 1988. With Hughes once again being the Reconstruction nominee, D'Abruzzo's daughter continued his fight and ran for president. Several other independent and fringe party candidates also ran.
Although foreign policy issues took a backseat in the campaign, there were still some points of contention. The ongoing presence of American troops in Europe, particularly in England, was growing unpopular. Additionally, increasing instability in the Arabian Federation promised to create trouble for the next president. Domestically, there was a strong economy, but Northwater was the topic of the day. All candidates focused on maintaining good ethics and tackling corruption, as well as completing the investigation, even if it meant prosecution for President Culberson.
In the first round, Hughes came in first with 41% of the vote. Smith came second with 28%. Landry received a remarkable 20%, the strongest showing for a minor party since 2000. Hughes and Smith automatically advanced to the second round. Hughes easily defeated Smith with 53% and over 94 million votes, due to the combination of FU's unpopularity and Hughes's own personal popularity. Hughes assembled a broad coalition of voters in several key swing states, including Florida and Ohio. Once the youngest president at 37, he was now the oldest president, 73 years old. Hughes became the first president to serve a nonconsecutive term since Dominic Fitzgerald, and the first to be elected to a fifth term in office. Percentage wise, it was his third best result, while it was his highest popular vote total. Hughes was the first National Reconstruction president elected since he himself last left office.