alternatehistory.com
Mumby - Hueytopia
HUEYTOPIA
1933-1933: Huey Long / vacant (Democratic)
1932 def. Herbert Hoover / Charles Curtis (Republican)
1933-1945: Huey Long / James Farley (Democratic)
1936 def. William Borah / Styles Bridges (Republican)
1940 def. William H. Vandenburg / Charles L. McNary (Republican)
After Al Smith's untimely death before his inauguration, Long implemented what became known as 'The Every Man A King Plan' which would come to define 20th century America. It involved sweeping economic reform which was condemned from the right as socialist, and from the left as only tweaking the mechanisms of capitalism. Long, in alliance with the mechanically minded Farley, spread his vote-winning and more importantly power-keeping apparatus across the United States, using the recruitment of legions of unemployed into Keynesian public works programmes to displace local political patronage machines and build his own national machine. He narrowly reachieved victory against the elderly but insurgent Borah and won by a much wider margin in 1940 as he correctly predicted American isolationist instincts would be outweighed by concerns over events in Europe. America finally entered the war over German submarine warfare in the Atlantic that eventually sank an American vessel in Greenlander waters.
1945-1949: Huey Long / Henry A. Wallace (Democratic)
1944 def. Thomas E. Dewey / John W. Bricker (Republican)
1949-1953: Huey Long / James F. Byrnes (Democratic)
1948 def. Robert A. Taft / John W. Bricker (Republican), Henry A. Wallace / Glen H. Taylor (Progressive)
In 1944, many expected Long to stand aside. After all he had been President for twelve years, even if he had only won two terms himself. But at the last minute, with war still roiling in Europe and the Far East, he decided to stay on and see out the war. Farley resigned in disgust and there were fears a Democratic split could let an isolationist Republican into the White House. It came to nothing as it turned out Americans broadly approved of Long's decision to see through the war. He had been planning to groom the progressive, agrarian and former Republican Wallace to take his place in 1948 but it was not to be. Wallace's own eccentricities rubbed up Democrats the wrong way, and in lieu of a worthy successor, Long selected a fellow Southerner and ally of his economic agenda. With the Republicans swinging sharply right and against Long's involvement in international affairs (particularly his involvement in opposing the expansion of Communism abroad), he was able to win comfortably despite losing a couple of Northern states to the Progressives.
1952-1961: Huey Long / Lyndon B. Johnson (Democratic)
1952 def. Douglas MacArthur / Joseph McCarthy (Republican)
1956 def. Joseph McCarthy / Harold Stassen (Republican), Wayne Morse / Estes Kefauver (Progressive)
1961-1965: Huey Long / Richard Nixon (Democratic / Republican)
1960 def. Nelson Rockefeller / Richard Nixon (Republican), George Smathers / Orval E. Faubus (State's Rights), Wayne Morse / Stuart Symington (Progressive)
By 1952, the wheels were starting to come off Long's machine. The disparate coalition which had held him in power for two decades was falling apart. He realised that for the Democrats to continue to hold the Presidency they had to choose a side in the growing Civil Rights battle, lest they lose the North or the South. Kicking out Byrnes, he selected another Southerner, but one firmly on the opposite side of the aisle when it came to segregation. Long and Johnson's battle to overcome the South's prejudices was long and hard, and was frustrating to those on both sides who believed it was either a battle that shouldn't be fought in the first place, or was taking too long. The White House wanted to win the battle in such a way that they could still hold Democratic heartlands in the South. Meanwhile the Republicans went from isolationism to hawkishness, condemning Long's lack of vigour in preventing the growth of Communism in Southeast Asia or in Africa. Long himself was growing tired of his long reign, and saw in LBJ a worthy and suitable successor, and hoped to hand over to him once the Civil Rights battle was won to their mutual satisfaction. His best laid plans fell apart in the hung election of 1960 where no party emerged triumphant and Long was forced to accept a Republican Vice President.
1965-1966: John Connally / vacant (Independent)
1964 def. Lyndon B. Johnson / Eugene McCarthy (Democratic), Richard Nixon / John Connally (Independent), Barry Goldwater / George Wallace (Official 'Conservative' Republican / State's Rights), Nelson Rockefeller / Hubert H. Humphrey ('Liberal' Republican / Progressive)
1966-1969: Huey Long / John Connally (Democratic / Independent)
After four years of a bipartisan White House, Long made his decision to retire. He saw something of himself in Nixon and what satisfied with endorsing Johnson for the Democratic ticket, and felt that Nixon was a shoe in for the Republican nomination. No matter who won, he felt, Longism would be the victor. As it was, the Republicans fragmented horribly, as conservatives and liberals alike refused to endorse Nixon who was tainted by association with Long, but was nevertheless popular with the grassroots. His Independent candidacy nearly won through, and after the House could not choose a President, his V-P Connally became Acting President. After many stressful months in the House, it was eventually decided to bring Long out of retirement and back to the Presidency, after Democrats, Liberal Republicans and Progressives all agreed.
1969-1972: Huey Long / Robert F. Kennedy (Democratic)
1968 def. Richard Nixon / George W. Romney (Republican), John Connally / Curtis LeMay (Conservative)
1972-1973: Huey Long / vacant (Democratic)
1973-1975: Huey Long / Lyndon B. Johnson (Democratic)
1972 def. John M. Ashbrook / Spiro Agnew (Republican)
1975-1975: Huey Long / vacant (Democratic)
1975-1978: Huey Long / Ronald Reagan (Democratic)
1976 def. Charles Mathias / Richard Schweiker (Republican)
1978-0000: Ronald Reagan / vacant (Democratic)
The last nine years of Long's Presidency were a farce of a man trying to retire and annoint a successor but that successor always dying. Long himself was now an institution, an embodiment of the Presidency itself, at the centre of the vast web of patronage, and state/federal bodies that implemented the 'Every Man A King' agenda. After RFK's death at the end of assassin's gun barrel and Johnson's return cut short by heart failure, Long plumped for a man much like himself in terms of showmanship and cutting a charismatic dash through the establishment. Long never got his retirement, passing away at the age of eighty-five, matching his father in age, having served as President for a total of forty-four of the past forty-five years.
1933-1933: Huey Long / vacant (Democratic)
1932 def. Herbert Hoover / Charles Curtis (Republican)
1933-1945: Huey Long / James Farley (Democratic)
1936 def. William Borah / Styles Bridges (Republican)
1940 def. William H. Vandenburg / Charles L. McNary (Republican)
After Al Smith's untimely death before his inauguration, Long implemented what became known as 'The Every Man A King Plan' which would come to define 20th century America. It involved sweeping economic reform which was condemned from the right as socialist, and from the left as only tweaking the mechanisms of capitalism. Long, in alliance with the mechanically minded Farley, spread his vote-winning and more importantly power-keeping apparatus across the United States, using the recruitment of legions of unemployed into Keynesian public works programmes to displace local political patronage machines and build his own national machine. He narrowly reachieved victory against the elderly but insurgent Borah and won by a much wider margin in 1940 as he correctly predicted American isolationist instincts would be outweighed by concerns over events in Europe. America finally entered the war over German submarine warfare in the Atlantic that eventually sank an American vessel in Greenlander waters.
1945-1949: Huey Long / Henry A. Wallace (Democratic)
1944 def. Thomas E. Dewey / John W. Bricker (Republican)
1949-1953: Huey Long / James F. Byrnes (Democratic)
1948 def. Robert A. Taft / John W. Bricker (Republican), Henry A. Wallace / Glen H. Taylor (Progressive)
In 1944, many expected Long to stand aside. After all he had been President for twelve years, even if he had only won two terms himself. But at the last minute, with war still roiling in Europe and the Far East, he decided to stay on and see out the war. Farley resigned in disgust and there were fears a Democratic split could let an isolationist Republican into the White House. It came to nothing as it turned out Americans broadly approved of Long's decision to see through the war. He had been planning to groom the progressive, agrarian and former Republican Wallace to take his place in 1948 but it was not to be. Wallace's own eccentricities rubbed up Democrats the wrong way, and in lieu of a worthy successor, Long selected a fellow Southerner and ally of his economic agenda. With the Republicans swinging sharply right and against Long's involvement in international affairs (particularly his involvement in opposing the expansion of Communism abroad), he was able to win comfortably despite losing a couple of Northern states to the Progressives.
1952-1961: Huey Long / Lyndon B. Johnson (Democratic)
1952 def. Douglas MacArthur / Joseph McCarthy (Republican)
1956 def. Joseph McCarthy / Harold Stassen (Republican), Wayne Morse / Estes Kefauver (Progressive)
1961-1965: Huey Long / Richard Nixon (Democratic / Republican)
1960 def. Nelson Rockefeller / Richard Nixon (Republican), George Smathers / Orval E. Faubus (State's Rights), Wayne Morse / Stuart Symington (Progressive)
By 1952, the wheels were starting to come off Long's machine. The disparate coalition which had held him in power for two decades was falling apart. He realised that for the Democrats to continue to hold the Presidency they had to choose a side in the growing Civil Rights battle, lest they lose the North or the South. Kicking out Byrnes, he selected another Southerner, but one firmly on the opposite side of the aisle when it came to segregation. Long and Johnson's battle to overcome the South's prejudices was long and hard, and was frustrating to those on both sides who believed it was either a battle that shouldn't be fought in the first place, or was taking too long. The White House wanted to win the battle in such a way that they could still hold Democratic heartlands in the South. Meanwhile the Republicans went from isolationism to hawkishness, condemning Long's lack of vigour in preventing the growth of Communism in Southeast Asia or in Africa. Long himself was growing tired of his long reign, and saw in LBJ a worthy and suitable successor, and hoped to hand over to him once the Civil Rights battle was won to their mutual satisfaction. His best laid plans fell apart in the hung election of 1960 where no party emerged triumphant and Long was forced to accept a Republican Vice President.
1965-1966: John Connally / vacant (Independent)
1964 def. Lyndon B. Johnson / Eugene McCarthy (Democratic), Richard Nixon / John Connally (Independent), Barry Goldwater / George Wallace (Official 'Conservative' Republican / State's Rights), Nelson Rockefeller / Hubert H. Humphrey ('Liberal' Republican / Progressive)
1966-1969: Huey Long / John Connally (Democratic / Independent)
After four years of a bipartisan White House, Long made his decision to retire. He saw something of himself in Nixon and what satisfied with endorsing Johnson for the Democratic ticket, and felt that Nixon was a shoe in for the Republican nomination. No matter who won, he felt, Longism would be the victor. As it was, the Republicans fragmented horribly, as conservatives and liberals alike refused to endorse Nixon who was tainted by association with Long, but was nevertheless popular with the grassroots. His Independent candidacy nearly won through, and after the House could not choose a President, his V-P Connally became Acting President. After many stressful months in the House, it was eventually decided to bring Long out of retirement and back to the Presidency, after Democrats, Liberal Republicans and Progressives all agreed.
1969-1972: Huey Long / Robert F. Kennedy (Democratic)
1968 def. Richard Nixon / George W. Romney (Republican), John Connally / Curtis LeMay (Conservative)
1972-1973: Huey Long / vacant (Democratic)
1973-1975: Huey Long / Lyndon B. Johnson (Democratic)
1972 def. John M. Ashbrook / Spiro Agnew (Republican)
1975-1975: Huey Long / vacant (Democratic)
1975-1978: Huey Long / Ronald Reagan (Democratic)
1976 def. Charles Mathias / Richard Schweiker (Republican)
1978-0000: Ronald Reagan / vacant (Democratic)
The last nine years of Long's Presidency were a farce of a man trying to retire and annoint a successor but that successor always dying. Long himself was now an institution, an embodiment of the Presidency itself, at the centre of the vast web of patronage, and state/federal bodies that implemented the 'Every Man A King' agenda. After RFK's death at the end of assassin's gun barrel and Johnson's return cut short by heart failure, Long plumped for a man much like himself in terms of showmanship and cutting a charismatic dash through the establishment. Long never got his retirement, passing away at the age of eighty-five, matching his father in age, having served as President for a total of forty-four of the past forty-five years.
- Mumby
- Word Count: 1.1k