TL-191: Filling the Gaps

[President Mahan]

Timeline TL-191

1860
• Leonard Wood born

John Joseph Pershing born.
• Abraham elected President of the United States.
1861
• Galusha Grow R-PA becomes US Speaker of the House.
• Winfield Scott retires. George McClellan becomes Commanding General of the US Army.
• War of Secession Begins
• Jefferson Davis is elected President of the CSA
• France- Britain- Spain invade Mexico over debt repayment.
1862
• Thomas S. Bocock, I-VA becomes CS Speaker of the House.
• Battle of Camp Hill
• War of Secession ends
• Henry Halleck becomes Commanding General of the US Army.
• Joint invasion of Mexico by UK, France and Spain
• Daniels, Josephus 1862 born.
1863
• Dominion of Canada incorporated
• James Mason becomes Chief Justice of the CS Supreme Court.
• Daniel Voorhees D-IN becomes US Speaker of the House.
• Post US War Military Tribunals begin.
• Battle of Fort Gibson.
• French forces occupy Mexico City.
• Panic of 1863
1864
• Treaty of Arlington signed
• Robert E. Lee becomes General-in-Chief of the CS Army
• Horatio Seymour elected
• Chief Justice of US Supreme Court Robert Taney dies. He is succeeded by Edward Bates.
• James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart, Jr born.
• Maximillian I arrives in Mexico.
• Post US War Military Tribunals end.
1865
• John Dix becomes Commanding General of the US Army.
• Thomas Bayard D-DE becomes US Speaker of the House.
• George McKenna born
• Fenian Raids begin
• U.S.-C.S. Friendship Treaty signed.
• Shuster v. Endicott (US Supreme Court refused to extend Dred Scot decision to the states.)
1866
• James Chesnut, I-SC becomes CS Speaker of the House.
• Maximillian I coronated as Emperor of Mexico
• French forces withdraw from Mexico.
1867
• Samuel Cox, D-OH becomes US Speaker of the House.
• Braxton Bragg/ P.G.T. Beauregard elected President of the CSA
• Benjamin Disraeli becomes prime minister of Great Britain
• U.S. suppresses the Fenian Raids.
• Tariff of 1867 enacted.
1868
• Thomas Hendricks elected president of the USA
• George Stoneman becomes Commanding General of the US Army.
1869
• Chief Justice of US Supreme Court Edward Bates dies. He is succeeded by Jeremiah Balck.
• US-CS Fugitive Slave Treaty
• Last U.S. slave states abolish slavery.
• Marquez coup attempt fails to topple Emperor Maximilian I.
1870
• Montgomery Meigs becomes Commanding General of the US Army.
• ??? becomes General-in-Chief of the CS Army
• Cardozo, Benjamin 1870 born.
• Passage of the 13th Amendment. (Balanced budget).
• Franco- Prussian War begins
• Emory Upton’s first book is published A New System of Infantry Tactics, Double and Single Rank, Adapted to American Topography and Improved Fire-Arms.
1871
• Samuel Randall D-PA becomes US Speaker of the House.
• Franco- Prussian war wins with a Prussian victory and the formation of the German Empire.
1872
• William H. Forney, W-AL becomes CS Speaker of the House.
• George W. Woodward elected President of the United States
1873
• Rufus Ingall becomes Commanding General of the US Army.
• Fitzhugh Lee elected President of the CSA
• Confederacy Passes the Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution.
• John Campbell becomes Chief Justice of the CS Supreme Court.
• Alfred Smith born.
• Earl Van Dorn kills Nathan Bedford Forrest in a duel.
• British install David Kalakaua as King of Hawaii.
1874
• Winston Spencer Churchill born
1875
• Charles XI of France born
• Panic of 1875 begins.
• Upton leaves for a tour of the armies of Europe and Asia.
• George W. Woodward dies and Samuel Cox becomes President of the US.
1876
• Emory Upton returns from abroad and publishes his report on The Armies of Europe & Asia.
• John Reagan, W-TX becomes CS Speaker of the House.
• US Bicentennial
• Thomas Jackson becomes General-in-Chief of the CS Army
• Samuel Tilden elected President of the United States
• Peter Longstreet elected Governor of Georgia
1877
• CSA purchases Cuba from Spain
• Raphael Semmes dies
1878
• Arango, Doroteo 1878 born.
• Upton Sinclair born.
• The Cuban rebellion begins
• Nelson Aldrich elected to Congress
1879
• Henry Dawes R-MA becomes US Speaker of the House.
• James Longstreet elected President of the CSA
• The Cuban rebellion ends
• Emperor Maximilian I abdicates in favor of his son, Maximilian II.
1880
• J. Proctor Knott, W-KY becomes CS Speaker of the House.
• James Blaine elected President of the USA
• Upton assigned to command a Regiment on the Ohio Kentucky border.
• Nelson Aldrich appointed to Senate.
• 14th Amendment ratified (abolishing slavery.)
• CSA raises its tariffs to 15%
1881
• William Rosecrans becomes Commanding General of the US Army.
• Passage of the 14th Amendment end of slavery in the US
• Second Mexican War Begins
• Battle of Louisville begins
• Battle of Pocahontas
• Battle of Eddington
• Battle of Plattsburgh
• Battle of Tiptonville
• Ulysees S. Grant dies
• Unrest in Utah Territory. US establishes martial law.
• Battle of Plattsburgh.
1882
• Battle of Teton River
• Raid on San Francisco
• Second Mexican War ends
• FDR Born
• Grover Cleveland elected Governor of New York????
• Abraham Lincoln joins the Socialist Party.
• Porfirio Diaz leads rebellion against Maximilian II.
• King Kalakaua forced to abdicate in favor of his sister, Liliuokalani
1883
• Thomas Reed D-ME becomes US Speaker of the House.
• Henry Hunt becomes Commanding General of the US Army.
• Chief Justice of US Supreme Court Jeremiah Black dies. He is succeeded by James Garfield.
• Confederacy Manumission Amendment to the Constitution.
• Diaz forces capture Vera Cruz.
• CSA blockades Vera Cruz, extends financial support to Imperial Mexican government.
1884
• Winfield Scott Hancock elected, defeats James Blaine (R) Abraham Lincoln (S).
• Passage of the 15th Amendment no foreign titles.
• Theodore Roosevelt elected to the NY State Assembly.
1885
• Abraham Lincoln dies
• Thomas Jackson elected President of the CSA
• Upton’s Military Policy of the United States published.
• Porfirio Diaz captured and executed by Imperial Mexican forces. Diaz rebellion ends.
1886
• First US Conscription Act
• Winfield Scott Hancock dies
• Allen Thurman becomes President.
• Ambrose Powell Hill becomes General-in-Chief of the CS Army
1887
• US officers procured the designed for weaponized trinitrotoluene (TNT) artillery shells, and early models of recoil artillery.
• John Campbell becomes Chief Justice of the CS Supreme Court.
• LQC Lamar becomes Chief Justice of the CS Supreme Court.
• CSA introduces Conscription.
• Federal Railroad Commission created
• U.S. Supreme Court strikes down peacetime income tax
1888
• Wade Hampton IV, W-SC becomes CS Speaker of the House.
• Thomas Reed elected, defeats James Garfield (R) William Dearfield (S)
• June 15, 1888 Wilhelm II becomes emperor of Germany
• Stevenson Anti-Trust Act
• Liberty Union v. Butler (U.S. Supreme Court upholds peacetime conscription)
• Panic of 1888
1889
• Leland Stanford D-CA becomes US Speaker of the House.
• Henry Hunt dies
• All Steel Navy Bill Passed.
• Emory Upton becomes General in Chief
• Chief of Staff Bill
• Emory Upton becomes Chief of Staff
• TR made Assistant Secretary of War
• Mahan made Assistant Secretary of the Navy
• Chief Justice of US Supreme James Garfield Bates dies. He is succeeded by Henry Billings Brown.
• Robert Taft born.
• US enacts first Rationing legislation.
1890
• The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 published.
• Mahan Made Secretary of the Navy
• Bismark dismissed as Chancellor of Germany.
• US Army replaces Gattling Guns with Maxims knock-offs.
• Passage of the 16th Amendment. (conscription/police power).
1891
• States Rights Gist elected President of the CSA
• Leonard Wood becomes Reeds personal physician.
• Steel Fleet and Staff Act.
• CSA establishes General Staff.
• US Army expansion to 300,000 Regulars and 300,000 Active reserve and militia.
• US Army Re-organized into Four Field Armies.
1892
• TR made Inspector General of NY National Guard
• Second Conscription Act (creates a conscience objector stauts).
• Thomas B. Reed re-elected. Defeats John Sherman (R) Edward Bellamy (S)
• Nelson Aldrich switches parties.
1893
• First US Army Annual Maneuvers conducted .
• Passage of the 17th Amendment to the US Constitution (income tax).
• First Interservice Coordination Conference.
• James G Blaine dies
• John Harlan becomes Chief Justice of the CS Supreme Court.
• William Preston Johnson becomes Chief of Staff of the CS Army.
• Panic of 1893
• World Columbian Expositions held in Chicago and Atlanta
1894
• Alfred Colquitt, W-GA becomes CS Speaker of the House.
• Platt Act (outlaws sympathy/general strikes).
• 17th Amendment- Income Tax
• Pullman Railroad Strike
• Cripple Creek Miners Strike
• Great Northern Railroad Strike
• Bituminous Coal Miner
• May Day Employment Riot
• Repeal of the Negro Exclusion Act
• Coxey's Army
• Franco- Russian Alliance Formed
1895
• William McKinley D-OH becomes US Speaker of the House.
• Assassination of Chief Justice Brown
• US Aldrich- Cannon Act, Creation of the Criminal Justice Division
• British Annex Sandwich Islands
• Haitian Crises
• Chief Justice of US Supreme Court Henry Billings Brown is assasinated. He is succeeded by Joseph McKenna.
• US Army expands to 500,000 Active and 500,000 Reserve.
• US State Militias re-organized into the National Guard.
• Emperor Maximilian II dies. Francisco Jose I assumes the throne.
• Jameson Raid
1896
• Alfred Thayer Mahan elected, defeats William J. Bryan (R) and Terence Powderly (S).
• First modern Olympics held in Athens.
• President Thomas Jackson dies.
• Eugene V. Debs elected to Congress
• De Leon v. United States (U.S. Supreme Court upholds the Platt Act)
• Siegel v. Root (U.S. Supreme Court rejects conscientious objector status due to political beliefs.)
• Anglo-Venezuelan Crisis
• Morgan-Paucefote Treaty
• Bulloch Corollary
1897
• Robert Taylor elected President of the CSA
• First Nicaragua Crises
• Soldiers Circle created
• Wilcox Rebellion fails in the Sandwich Islands.
1898
• Rufus Polk, W-TN becomes CS Speaker of the House.
• 75mm Field Gun introduced in France
• Arthur MacArthur killed in Indian Raid
• Theodore Roosevelt elected to the NY State Senate.
• Marines enlarged to six divisions.
1899
• Horatio Sellars becomes Chief of Staff of the CS Army of the CS Army
• US Wage Price Control Bill
• Boer War begins
• Canada introduces Conscription
1900
• Alfred T. Mahan re-elected defeats Jacob Coxey (S) John Hay (R).
• Creation of the US Federal Reserve
• Jerry Voorhis born.
• TR made Secretary of War
• Confederacy Passes the Income Tax Amendment to the Constitution.
• Olympics Games held in Paris.
• Liberal and Radical Parties merge to form the Radical Liberal Party.
1901
• Henry Adams D-MA becomes US Speaker of the House.
• Theodore Roosevelt made Secretary of War
• US Army re-organized into 6 Field Armies
• Emory Upton resigns and Charles F. Adams Jr. becomes CoS
• CS Army purchases the 75mm Field Gun from France
• Hispano-Japanese War
• Charles Tupper becomes Prime Minister of Canada.
1902
• Andrew Jackson Montague, W-VA becomes CS Speaker of the House.
• Anthracite Coal Strike
• Seqoyah becomes state of the CSA
• German-Venezuelan Crisis
1903
• Champ Clark elected President of CSA
• M1903 Springfield adopted by US Army
• US joins the Quadruple Alliance.
• Third Conscription Act creates the US Construction Corp.
• UK stations 2 division expeditionary force to Canada
1904
• Panic of 1904
• Nelson Aldrich elected, defeats Robert La Follette (S) Philander Knox ®.
• James Longstreet dies
• TR looses Democratic primary for NY Governor.
• Olympics Games held in Berlin.
• CS ends Indian raids on the US
• Russo-Japanese War begins
• Industrial Workers Congress formed.
• Wright Brothers achieve powered flight.
1905
• First Moroccan Crises
• HMS Dreadnought sea trials
• 2 to 4 Dreadnought Bill
• US Army Reduction to 800,000 men.
• John Hay born
• Red Council deported from the US
• Russo-Japanese War ends in a stalemate.
• Charles Tupper steps down as Prime Minister of Canada in favor of Sam Hughes.
1906
• US Hanna- Fish Tarriff Act (60% on manufactured goods).
• US Trade Disputes Act of 1906
• Eugene V. Debs becomes the first Socialist Senator
• Wright brothers achieve the first example of sustained powered flight at Sandy Hook New Jersey.
• US-CS Commercial Treaty
1907
• Philadelphia Naval ConferenceQuadruple
• Quadruple Entente officially incorporated between; Great Britain, France, Russian Empire and Confederacy
• Industrial Workers Congress v United States (U.S. Supreme Court upholds employing the Stevenson Anti-Trust Act against unions.)
1908
• Food and Drug safety bill
• TR elected Governor of NY
• President Aldrich lifts the meat and cotton rationing.
• US Alliance with Chile and Paraguay
• Albert Beveridge or Henry Cabot Lodge possible contenders for the Democrat Presidential nomination.
• Olympics Games held in London.
• Edward R. Murrow born.
• Woodrow Wilson elected Governor of Virginia.
1909
• US-CS North Pole expedition
• US-CS Extradition Treaty
• UK- Argentine Alliance formed. UK sell 3 dreadnoughts AG.
• Second Nicaragua Crises
• Woodrow Wilson elected President
• Haywood v United States (U.S. Supreme Court upholds the Trade Disputes Act)
• U.S. sells 3 dreadnoughts to Chile.
• 2nd 2 for 4 Dreadnought bill.
• Robert Borden becomes Prime Minister of Canada.
1910
• Zachary Taylor Wood, W-LA becomes CS Speaker of the House.
• UK Fortification of Bermuda and Sandwich Islands
• US Federal Road Ways Act
• Passage of the 18th Amendment
• CS purchases 10.5cm British. Vickers howitzers
• National Reclamation Act
• CSA agrees to purchase 4 battlecruisers from UK
1911
• Franco- Liberia Crises
• Edward Douglass White becomes Chief Justice of the CS Supreme Court.
• Upton Sinclair first elected to Congress
• UK adds third division to the BEF in Canada.
• Italo-Turkish War.
1912
• New York City hosts the 1912 Olympics
• Theodore Roosevelt elected President
• Clifton Rhodes Breckinridge becomes Chief of Staff of the CS Army
• 18th Amendment ratified (direct election of U.S. Senators).
• National Roadways Scandal
1913
• US purchased the design of the Austrian 305mm Super Heavy Howitzer.
1914
• August 4th CSA declares war on Germany.
• US Congress declares war on the CSA and Entente Allies August 6th

 

[bguy]

Very impressive job. Just a few questions and suggested edits/additions below.

1862
• War of Secession ends with the Treaty of Arlington

I show Craigo having the peace treaty finalized in 1864.

1867
• Braxton Bragg? elected President of the CSA

Didn't Craigo settle on P.G.T. Beauregard as winning that election?

1869
• Chief Justice of US Supreme Court Edward Bates dies. He is succeeded by Edward Bates.

That should read "He is succeeded by Jeremiah Black."

1883

• Chief Justice of US Supreme Court Edward Bates dies. He is succeeded by James Garfield.

Should be Jeremiah Black again.

1897
• Robert Taylor elected President of the CSA

Taylor is on Craigo's list of Confederate presidents, but I don't think he makes much sense as a CSA president. Per Taylor's Wikipedia page, his family were Unionists that fled Tennessee for Pennsylvania in 1861. OTL they moved back into the south after the civil war was over, but it's hard to believe they would do that in TL-191.


Otherwise, here are some additional events.

1863-Battle of Fort Gibson.
-French forces occupy Mexico City.
-Panic of 1863

1864-US-CS Peace Treaty concluded.

1865-Fenian Raids begin
-U.S.-C.S. Friendship Treaty signed.
-Shuster v. Endicott (US Supreme Court refused to extend Dred Scot decision to the states.)

1866-Benito Juarez killed by Imperial Mexican forces.
-French forces withdraw from Mexico.

1867-U.S. suppresses the Fenian Raids.
-Tariff of 1867 enacted.

1869-Last U.S. slave states abolish slavery.
-Marquez coup attempt fails to topple Emperor Maximilian I.

1873-Earl Van Dorn kills Nathan Bedford Forrest in a duel.
-British install David Kalakaua as King of Hawaii.

1879-Emperor Maximilian I abdicates in favor of his son, Maximilian II.

1880-14th Amendment ratified (abolishing slavery.)
-CSA raises its tariffs to 15%.

1881-Unrest in Utah Territory. US establishes martial law.
-Battle of Plattsburgh.

1882-Abraham Lincoln joins the Socialist Party.
-Porfirio Diaz leads rebellion against Maximilian II.
-King Kalakaua forced to abdicate in favor of his sister, Liliuokalani.

1883-Diaz forces capture Vera Cruz.
CSA blockades Vera Cruz, extends financial support to Imperial Mexican government.

1885-Porfirio Diaz captured and executed by Imperial Mexican forces. Diaz rebellion ends.

1887-CSA introduces Conscription.
-Federal Railroad Commission created
-U.S. Supreme Court strikes down peacetime income tax

1888-Stevenson Anti-Trust Act
Liberty Union v. Butler (U.S. Supreme Court upholds peacetime conscription)
-Panic of 1888

1889-US enacts first Rationing legislation.

1891-Steel Fleet and Staff Act.
-CSA establishes General Staff.

1895-Emperor Maximilian II dies. Francisco Jose I assumes the throne.

1896-De Leon v. United States (U.S. Supreme Court upholds the Platt Act)
-Siegel v. Root (U.S. Supreme Court rejects conscientious objector status due to political beliefs.)
-Anglo-Venezuelan Crisis
-Morgan-Paucefote Treaty
-Bulloch Corollary

1897- Wilcox Rebellion fails in the Sandwich Islands.

1899-Boer War begins
-Canada introduces Conscription

1900-Liberal and Radical Parties merge to form the Radical Liberal Party.

1901-Hispano-Japanese War
-Charles Tupper becomes Prime Minister of Canada.

1902-German-Venezuelan Crisis

1903-UK stations 2 division expeditionary force to Canada

1904-CS ends Indian raids on the US
-Russo-Japanese War begins
-Industrial Workers Congress formed.
-Wright Brothers achieve powered flight.

1905-Red Council deported from the US
-Russo-Japanese War ends in a stalemate.
-Charles Tupper steps down as Prime Minister of Canada in favor of Sam Hughes.

1907- Industrial Workers Congress v United States (U.S. Supreme Court upholds employing the Stevenson Anti-Trust Act against unions.)

1909-Haywood v United States (U.S. Supreme Court upholds the Trade Disputes Act)
-U.S. sells 3 dreadnoughts to Chile.
-2nd 2 for 4 Dreadnought bill.
-Robert Borden becomes Prime Minister of Canada.

1910-National Reclamation Act
-CSA agrees to purchase 4 battlecruisers from UK

1911-UK adds third division to the BEF in Canada.
-Italo-Turkish War.

1912-18th Amendment ratified (direct election of U.S. Senators).
-National Roadways Scandal

 

[Indigo]

William Jennings Bryan 1860-1925 Part 1(Also, Battle of Tiptonville)
William Jennings Bryan was born on March 19th, 1860 in Salem Illinois. Although he would later be known as the most prominent Republican of the early 1900s, his family was profoundly Democratic, especially his father, who had been a state senator in Illinois till the year of his birth. Bryan’s youth was mainly notable for his religiosity, with him later describing his baptism into the Presbyterian Church as a pivotal moment. He graduated from Illinois College as valedictorian in 1881, and a month later enlisted in the U.S. army with the outset of the Second Mexican War. His experience in the war would forever be linked with the Battle of Tiptonville.

Bryan’s Illinois regiment was not in the Army of the Ohio, and therefore did not take part in the Louisville Campaign. He instead served in the Army of the Tennessee under the command of Gen. Charles S. Hamilton. Hamilton was one of the few Generals who had survived Stanton’s purges at the end of the War of Secession, not due to military talent but because of his willingness to intrigue against other officers, most notably Ulysses S. Grant. In fact, the opposition of Hamilton led the Blaine administration to reject Grant’s request for a volunteer command in Missouri, despite his obvious qualifications.

Hamilton’s plan was to repeat Pope’s Island no. 10 campaign of 1862; and unhinge Confederate control of the Mississippi. Despite the fact that he was facing one of the strongest Confederate fortifications, continued demands to reinforce Willcox meant that Hamilton only had around 15000 men when he finally launched his campaign. Assuming from the Confederate’s behavior that they would be unwilling to attack (when in fact the only reason New Madrid was not seized because of Longstreet’s standing orders not to invade), Hamilton moved his forces to Riddle’s point and prepared for a crossing of the river.

Early in the morning on Sep 5, Hamilton started his crossing of the river, intending to land in Tiptonville. Unbeknownst to him, Confederate commander Charles W. Adams had placed around 5000 men in the town, with orders to conceal themselves until the moment of crossing. Rather than being unopposed, Hamilton’s forces ran into punishing fire from a foe they could hardly see. Still Union resilience established a landing on the north end of the town, near Gen. Adams' headquarters. Adams, who had ridden out to survey the positions of his forces, rode into a union patrol and was killed. That was the last success for Union forces; surrounded by Confederates and inferior in number, 4000 of the remaining troops, including Bryan, surrendered. The defeat was overshadowed in the press of both nations by coverage of Willcox’s landing in Louisville. The Mississippi front remained static for the rest of the war.

For several months, Bryan languished in a Confederate prisoner of war camp, recovering from minor injuries. He was finally paroled with Blaine’s ceasefire, and in total he was left with a horror of war and some gratitude to the much-hated 19th president. After returning to Illinois, Bryan practiced law until 1887, before moving to the boom town of Kalamazoo, Michigan[1]. Michigan at that time was one of the states worst hit economically by the Second Mexican War, with Britain having destroyed most of the state’s livelihood from the Great Lakes. Partly as a result, the state was going through a more agrarian phase, which the young charismatic Bryan was well placed to exploit. Having befriended municipal leaders, he ran for and won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1890 as a Democrat. Bryan was reelected as a fairly typical Democrat in 1892 and 1894, although his dislike of war began to ostracize him from the Reed-Remembrance wing of the party. In 1896 his moment came.

That year, at the Democratic Convention in Boston, two leaders of the party, Grover Cleveland and Robert Pattison both deadlocked, leading to Democratic convention’s choice of Mahan. Mahan was a political outsider, an easterner, and most crucially to Bryan, an admiral and leader of the Remembrance wing. In addition, Mahan refused to support the farmers who Bryan saw as the heart of the Democratic Party. Upon Mahan’s address to the convention, Bryan staged the walk-out of 20 mainly western delegates. The next month, at the Republican Convention in Chicago, Bryan appeared. He had come into contact with leading Republicans, who urged him to bolt parties, and inspired by idealism more than practical considerations, he agreed to do so. In exchange, he was given a key speaking spot at the beginning of the convention.

He sprang up to begin his speech. Republican delegates were unsure what the apostate was going to say. He was going to step into history.
“Some of you may be wondering why I have left the Democratic Convention and come here. I come to speak to you in defense of a cause as holy as the cause of liberty—the cause of humanity. It is for the common people that we speak. We do not come as aggressors. Our war is not a war of conquest; we are fighting in the defense of our homes, our families, and posterity. We have petitioned, and our petitions have been scorned; we have entreated, and our entreaties have been disregarded; we have begged, and they have mocked when our calamity came. We beg no longer; we entreat no more; we petition no more. We defy them![2] I am not speaking of the war we have fought against our brethren in the Confederacy. Because there is no such war! This battle is not fought on the lines of Pennsylvanians versus Virginians, but both of those against the businessmen, the generals, and the merchants of death who want such a war. We will answer the demands of these plutocrats by saying to them ‘You shall not make us live in fear of the guns of the south, you shall not crucify us on Remembrance Day!’”

[1]I choose Michigan for the following reason-it is presented as a reasonably Republican state in the 1910s, 1920s, along with Iowa and Illinois, and as it is the only one that doesn't have a large farm belt, there seemed to be some reason for it voting Republican and not Socialist. Also, Nebraska is presented as pretty diehard Democrat, so it would be a little strange for Bryan to have succeeded there.

[2]This first section is mostly from the OTL speech.

 

[Turquoise Blue]

Interesting. Anti-Big Business, eh? Well, he has some competition there, as the Socialist Party is growing at this time.

 

[Reggie Bartlett]

William Jennings Bryan 1860-1925 Part 1(Also, Battle of Tiptonville)
William Jennings Bryan was born on March 19th, 1860 in Salem Illinois. Although he would later be known as the most prominent Republican of the early 1900s, his family was profoundly Democratic, especially his father, who had been a state senator in Illinois till the year of his birth. Bryan’s youth was mainly notable for his religiosity, with him later describing his baptism into the Presbyterian Church as a pivotal moment. He graduated from Illinois College as valedictorian in 1881, and a month later enlisted in the U.S. army with the outset of the Second Mexican War. His experience in the war would forever be linked with the Battle of Tiptonville.

Bryan’s Illinois regiment was not in the Army of the Ohio, and therefore did not take part in the Louisville Campaign. He instead served in the Army of the Tennessee under the command of Gen. Charles S. Hamilton. Hamilton was one of the few Generals who had survived Stanton’s purges at the end of the War of Secession, not due to military talent but because of his willingness to intrigue against other officers, most notably Ulysses S. Grant. In fact, the opposition of Hamilton led the Blaine administration to reject Grant’s request for a volunteer command in Missouri, despite his obvious qualifications.

Hamilton’s plan was to repeat Pope’s Island no. 10 campaign of 1862; and unhinge Confederate control of the Mississippi. Despite the fact that he was facing one of the strongest Confederate fortifications, continued demands to reinforce Willcox meant that Hamilton only had around 15000 men when he finally launched his campaign. Assuming from the Confederate’s behavior that they would be unwilling to attack (when in fact the only reason New Madrid was not seized because of Longstreet’s standing orders not to invade), Hamilton moved his forces to Riddle’s point and prepared for a crossing of the river.

Early in the morning on Sep 5, Hamilton started his crossing of the river, intending to land in Tiptonville. Unbeknownst to him, Confederate commander Patrick Cleburne had placed around 5000 men in the town, with orders to conceal themselves until the moment of crossing. Rather than being unopposed, Hamilton’s forces ran into punishing fire from a foe they could hardly see. Still Union resilience established a landing on the north end of the town, near Gen. Cleburne’s headquarters. Cleburne, who had ridden out to survey the positions of his forces, rode into a union patrol and was killed. That was the last success for Union forces; surrounded by Confederates and inferior in number, 4000 of the remaining troops, including Bryan, surrendered. The defeat was overshadowed in the press of both nations by coverage of Willcox’s landing in Louisville. The Mississippi front remained static for the rest of the war.

For several months, Bryan languished in a Confederate prisoner of war camp, recovering from minor injuries. He was finally paroled with Blaine’s ceasefire, and in total he was left with a horror of war and some gratitude to the much-hated 19th president. After returning to Illinois, Bryan practiced law until 1887, before moving to the boom town of Kalamazoo, Michigan[1]. Michigan at that time was one of the states worst hit economically by the Second Mexican War, with Britain having destroyed most of the state’s livelihood from the Great Lakes. Partly as a result, the state was going through a more agrarian phase, which the young charismatic Bryan was well placed to exploit. Having befriended municipal leaders, he ran for and won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1890 as a Democrat. Bryan was reelected as a fairly typical Democrat in 1892 and 1894, although his dislike of war began to ostracize him from the Reed-Remembrance wing of the party. In 1896 his moment came.

That year, at the Democratic Convention in Boston, two leaders of the party, Grover Cleveland and Robert Pattison both deadlocked, leading to Democratic convention’s choice of Mahan. Mahan was a political outsider, an easterner, and most crucially to Bryan, an admiral and leader of the Remembrance wing. In addition, Mahan refused to support the farmers who Bryan saw as the heart of the Democratic Party. Upon Mahan’s address to the convention, Bryan staged the walk-out of 20 mainly western delegates. The next month, at the Republican Convention in Chicago, Bryan appeared. He had come into contact with leading Republicans, who urged him to bolt parties, and inspired by idealism more than practical considerations, he agreed to do so. In exchange, he was given a key speaking spot at the beginning of the convention.

He sprang up to begin his speech. Republican delegates were unsure what the apostate was going to say. He was going to step into history.
“Some of you may be wondering why I have left the Democratic Convention and come here. I come to speak to you in defense of a cause as holy as the cause of liberty—the cause of humanity. It is for the common people that we speak. We do not come as aggressors. Our war is not a war of conquest; we are fighting in the defense of our homes, our families, and posterity. We have petitioned, and our petitions have been scorned; we have entreated, and our entreaties have been disregarded; we have begged, and they have mocked when our calamity came. We beg no longer; we entreat no more; we petition no more. We defy them![2] I am not speaking of the war we have fought against our brethren in the Confederacy. Because there is no such war! This battle is not fought on the lines of Pennsylvanians versus Virginians, but both of those against the businessmen, the generals, and the merchants of death who want such a war. We will answer the demands of these plutocrats by saying to them ‘You shall not make us live in fear of the guns of the south, you shall not crucify us on Remembrance Day!’”

[1]I choose Michigan for the following reason-it is presented as a reasonably Republican state in the 1910s, 1920s, along with Iowa and Illinois, and as it is the only one that doesn't have a large farm belt, there seemed to be some reason for it voting Republican and not Socialist. Also, Nebraska is presented as pretty diehard Democrat, so it would be a little strange for Bryan to have succeeded there.

[2]This first section is mostly from the OTL speech.

Cleburne was alive in 1914, he appeared in "American Front".

 

[Indigo]

Dang! Good catch there. Changed.

 

[Reggie Bartlett]

Dang! Good catch there. Changed.

So you killed Cadmus Willcox?

 

[bguy]

Also, Nebraska is presented as pretty diehard Democrat, so it would be a little strange for Bryan to have succeeded there.

Where was Nebraska portrayed as a Democrat state? The only reference to its politics that I remember was it having Socialist George Norris as one of its senators during the Second Great War.

 

[Indigo]

More accurately, it was presented as Socialist later, but I think it was Democratic along with Kansas in 1924(?) and I do know it was never specifically Republican the way you would expect it to be if Bryan had been there.

 

[President Mahan]

Timeline:
so I made this list to help to help keep my posts straight. I wasn't making judgments on whether I agreed with Craigo or anyone else. There are definitely inconsistencies. I tried to point them out by adding questions marks. I just thought it would be helpful. Feel free to throw up better versions of the timeline with what you want added. Making it easier to read, more thorough, Months, days, more colors etc...

Saying that, I don't agree with Bragg or Beauregard. In my opinion there is no way Robert E. Lee isn't President in 1866. He won the war and thought he was the new Washington. He wanted to be president, there was no way to deny him. I wasn't sure where Craigo landed on Beauregard or Bragg. I thought he back peddled after it was pointed out Beauregard was a catholic. This would mess with Fitzhugh Lee Presidency. Thoughts?

There is no way Harlan is a confederate supreme court justice. He fought for the union army, but after 1863 I think. Maybe when the csa won he decided to work in the CSA system, but i doubt it. His grandson went to New York Law School in Manhattan.

I also think there are discrepancies with the Amendments. Especially the direct election of Senators.

Bryant:
Happy for the Bryant Post. I cant describe how glad I am to see all the new contributions. I am tired of re-reading my crap, I generally write when I have the next day off and I have been drinking. That's why I never make spelling or gramatical errors.

There has to be more to the Second Mexican War then just Louisville, New Mexico and Virginia. We need more on the indecisive secondary fronts. Who is General Adams? Charles Francis Adams Jr the man who bungled Case Blue in the Great War?

I was reading a TR biography and one of the big attacks on Roosevelt in OTL was that he stole the Democratic party business regulation platform. I think you did a good job on showing how Bryant could transfer the big business regulation mantle to the Republicans. Its that middle ground between the outright government ownership of utilities and the laissez faire government the Bourbon Democrats like Cleveland wanted.

I think one of the reasons the Republicans became the party of big business in OTL was because it was so successful. The Democrats are the big business party in TL 191, because they are the dominant party. Big business spent the money to garner enough influence in the ruling party. Bryant is a cool way to explore these issues.

Churchill:
I have the the beginnings of A churchill post, unless someone is close to puttting something up. It ties in his mom being from Brooklyn and TR's uncle being the CSA ambassador to the UK. I found a few articles where TR said Churchill annoyed him in OTL. With Lodge and Roosevelt running around and hating the British Empire, you know they would have caused trouble. Maybe Rough Riders on the Veldt. I think thats a start.

 

[Indigo]

William Jennings Bryan 1860-1925 Part 2

Bryan stepped down from the podium after his speech to thunderous applause. Contrary to later opinion, he was still considered a dark horse. But the frontrunner for the nomination, form Sec. of War Benjamin Harrison, inspired little enthusiasm, and the dying Republicans decided to take a gamble on the unknown (and extraordinarily young) quantity of Bryan.

They did not regret it at first. Bryan launched a whirlwind tour of the country, campaigning more than any candidate since Stephen Douglas. Bryan had begun an effort to remake the Republican Party in his own image, talking more about his desires for agrarianism and pacifism than the Republican platform. As a result, while he increasingly solidified the Republican base in the farm states, Republican fortunes in New England finally sunk so low that they became a permanent third party in that region. In addition, Bryan launched a feud with Powderly that would set back leftism in the U.S. for two decades. Bryan attacked Powderly as a Catholic [1] who would enslave the United States to Rome, while Powderly shot back that Bryan was as theocratic as the Mormons. The divide also undercut both of them on economic issues; Bryan retained the farmers, while Powderly had the workers, and neither was able to bridge the gap. Matters weren’t helped by the fact that Bryan felt a need to distance himself from the Socialists and as a result called their economic proposals as bad as Democratic rationing. Ultimately, Bryan managed to erode the edge of legitimacy that the Republicans had had over the Socialists. Meanwhile, Mahan ran a front-porch campaign from Washington, which suited the indifferent campaigner personally.

In the end, 1896 turned out to be a catastrophe for Bryan. He only won 27 electoral votes and two states, being overtaken narrowly by Powderly in the electoral count and popular vote. The referendum on new Republicanism seemed to have decisively voted Bryan down.
The next two years for Bryan were spent in political isolation. After having let down the Republican Party, and deserted the Democratic Party, he seemed to have no political future. But his fortunes paradoxically took an upturn with the resolution of the Nicaragua crises, when Bryan benefited from Mahan’s actions. In the aftermath of diplomatic victory, with Mahan having brought about conciliatory C.S.A. leadership without firing a shot, Bryan’s pacifism seemed suited to the brief thaw in relations. As a result, he was elected U.S. senator from Michigan in 1900, and with John Hay’s tremendous defeat, the Republican Party was ready for a bold candidate again. In 1904, Bryan again seized the nomination, with the backing of the farm states that were no clearly the base of the Republican Party. Bryan had moderated his views somewhat, now admitting that deterrence had worked, but he still made a major campaign plank the U.S. exiting the quadruple alliance. Unsurprisingly, German-Americans and to some extent Irish-Americans were deeply offended by this policy. Once again, he campaigned cross-country, as did La Follette. This time, Bryan and La Follette made an informal pact to avoid attacking each other, to avoid the debacle of 1896. As a result, both condemned Aldrich as a plutocrat and supported more government control of business (although La Follette did have considerably more radical proposals). In addition, all three candidates had similar foreign policy views. It was only the backdrop of the economic crises that livened up the campaign.

In the end, the similarity between La Follette and Bryan ended up dooming both their campaigns; as they simply competed for the same pool of voters. Bryan, who had however alienated German-Americans, came out the worse of the two; he lost his own home state due to the spoiler effect from La Follette[2] while the same thing almost happened in reverse in Wisconsin. As a result, while La Follette and Bryan did astonishingly well in the popular vote, reducing Aldrich to a plurality, in the electoral college they were crushed- La Follette only won WI, DA, MN, IA, MT and CO, while Bryan only won Missouri, and only there because he was favored by those economically connected to the south. Bryan’s second run had once again failed to build up a viable base for the Republican Party (Missouri would not vote Republican once for the next 50 years, especially with the aftereffects of war). Bryan was still loved by Republicans for his grand oratory, and with the support of some cross-over socialists he was re-elected Senator in 1906. Bryan tried for a third nomination in 1908 but deadlocked at the convention. He bitterly watched as Philander Knox let the party down with an eastern based campaign. In 1912, Bryan finally lost his senate seat, one of the last Republicans had been holding, and to add insult to injury saw the election of Theodore Roosevelt that same year; the most bellicose president yet.

Two years later, the U.S. went to war, developing into the biggest crises in Bryan’s political life. The former senator argued persuasively about the lunacy of an Archduke’s assassination meaning bloodshed in America, but in a nation filled with Remembrance and military spirit, Bryan got an unsympathetic reception. After a particularly flamboyant pro-peace speech in late 1914, Bryan was arrested and charged with sedition[3].
The Socialist opposition was offended by what they saw as Rooseveltian oppression, and the Democratic administration became understandably reluctant about what they had done. In the end, after famous lawyer Clarence Darrow defended Bryan admirably, with Bryan himself speaking in his own defence, he was narrowly acquitted of charges. Largely as a result, Roosevelt chose not to really prosecute dissenters for the remainder of the war.

After the end of the war in 1919, Bryan largely remained in obscurity. His last notable action was, the day after Sinclair’s election, to give an emotional speech to the press where he said “At last, the forces of peace have won. We have won.” He passed away 5 years later, having left a lasting impression on the Republican Party. For decades after, the Republicans would be in the economic middle, more religious by far than the other two parties [4], generally dovish in foreign policy, and most importantly, they would be indelibly linked with the farmers who Bryan had championed.

[1]Powderly's Catholicism seems a little problematic; one would think it would have been mentioned during the whole Al Smith campaign.

[2]This is based on bguy's previous post, and also isn't implausible-Bryan lost Nebraska in 1900 in OTL.

[3]So, this is an attempt to reconcile the autocratic nature of the Remembrance Democrats with the fact that Socialists such as Flora apparently get away with criticizing the war, when in OTL Debs didn’t. Basically, Bryan’s arrest was a trial balloon by Roosevelt starting with the powerless Republicans. When that failed, Democrats ceased their efforts.

[4] I infer this from the fact that the Socialists seem to be generally atheist and the Democrats don’t really mention religion at all; that kind of voter has to go somewhere.

 

[Turquoise Blue]

I love the Bryan update. Here's the 1904 election.

Aldrich (D): 270 EV
La Follette (S): 51 EV
Bryan (R): 18 EV

(Oh, and I doubt liberalism would be equalled to leftism in this America, especially with a major Socialist Party.)

 

[Indigo]

Thanks for the map! General Adams is Charles W. Adams, a Confederate, btw. A suggestion for the president list for the C.S.A. (since that seems to require a little hashing out) for a more probable Lee than either Robert or Fitzhugh, I'd go for Custis, who would at least be 41 in 1873(and a former aide to Davis), and therefore slightly more plausible than 38 year old Fitzhugh Lee. To replace Robert Taylor, who seems ineligible because of his northern proclivities, I'd like to suggest either Charles James Faulkner Jr. or Marcus Aurelius Smith, two politicians who are a little more interesting because they both went out of the former Confederacy( and who both fit the right non-veteran time period). Finally, for elaborating on secondary fronts of the Second Mexican War, would anyone be interested in Gen. Hood's raid of Wichita?

 

[Indigo]

General John Bell Hood/Raid on Wichita

Hood’s had succeeded dramatically in the Battle of Gaines’ Mill and in Second Bull Run. He was restored to command at the outset of Lee’s invasion of the north. At Camp Hill, Hood’s division smashed into McClellan’s center, the sheer scope of casualties on both sides being one of the factors preventing McClellan from responding to the flanking attacks until it was too late. Hood was severely wounded in the arm during the attack, but would survive his wounds[1]. In the aftermath of the war, Hood’s star was clearly on the rise. Subsequent C.S.A. administrations promoted the still young Hood to higher command in the East. In 1867 Hood was promoted to Lieutenant General, making him one of the Confederacy’s top military leaders. With the election of Longstreet, Hood’s old commander, in 1879, Hood was finally promoted to full General, making him one of the highest ranking Confederate officers.

Hood in fact commanded the Army of Northern Virginia for much of 1880. Had he remained in that position, the results could have been disastrous, but James Longstreet, discreetly seeking to promote more prudent leadership in the east, offered Hood command of all Confederate forces in Texas, and an opportunity to defend his home state. Longstreet had intended it to be a plum promotion; Kansas was the only aggressively Republican state that bordered the Confederacy, and he (incorrectly) expected some kind of Union offensive there. After the first raid into Indian Territory led by Custer, however, nothing happened. Hood rather impatiently sat on his hands. A few months later, Hood received reports (false as it would later turn out) of a U.S. force massing in Kansas. Hood seized the pretext to disobey Longstreet’s orders and massing a force from both Indian Territory and Texas, went on the rampage in southern Kansas. Brushing aside a U.S. force at Augusta, Hood attacked Wichita, and more specifically the railroad. After destroying the tracks and receiving angry orders from Longstreet, Hood retreated, leaving both sides feeling they had won a victory. The U.S. quickly repaired the railroad, and the Kansas front (with Hood recalled by Longstreet) was quiescent except for some indian raids for the rest of the war.

 

[President Mahan]

Henry Cabot Lodge
Part II
Publications
It was during his time in Congress that Lodge began to write seriously on history and foreign relations. In 1892 Lodge published the Origins of Democracy in the New World,in it he explored the growth of liberty in Britain and the New World and the origin of North-South schism leading to the War of Secession. To Lodge the origins of democracy in the western world was not in the cities states of Greece but the primordial forests of Germany. Where Germanic chieftains were elected an eschewed hereditary title. The freedom loving Germanic war bands carried these ideals to Britain through the Saxons. There they merged with the similarly individualist Britons creating agrarian societies who elected there leaders and were devoted to the common good.

However in 1066 the Norman Conquest divided Britain racially. The Normans were congenital tyrants who conquered the freedom loving Saxons and imposed the yoke of serfdom on them. These descendants of Saxon serfs and Norman conquerors eventually emigrated, respectively, to Massachusetts and Virginia. This was the true cause of the sectional conflict. Southern slavery was the outgrowth of that English racial conflict. The Southerners were descendants of an imperious race who had imposed serfdom upon their Saxon underlings. That they would push the Union toward secession over an insistence upon holding slaves was unsurprising. This idea had originated in the sectional strife of 1850 and was called the Puritans vs. Cavaliers theory. Lodge characterized the southerners as having “The Norman pride, his scorn of labor, his high blood, despotic temper, and aristocratic temper.” Lodge like these earlier writers explained that Northerners and Southerners “were not of the same race.”

Lodge also began writing articles on foreign relations for the North American Review, the New York Times, Boston Herald, Philadelphia Tribune and the Atlantic (the nations premier pro-militarist publication). Lodge as early as 1888 was arguing that the true threat to the United States was Great Britain. The South could not have won the war without British Intervention in 1862 or 1882. That in both periods the United States had saw set backs but neither were fatal to the Union cause. It was only Britain’s entrance into both wars that sealed the United States fate. Further Britain only entered the war of secession out of fear of the growing power of the United States. They despised the institution of slavery, yet joined the south to cut the north off at the knees. They only joined the south in the Second Mexican War to grab North American territory and prop up their ally. The United States should do all in its power to break the alliance between the Confederacy and Britain. The only way to do this was to build up the nations harbor defenses instigate a war with Britain and crush Canada before the Confederacy and Britain can respond. Only then would the United States be free to restore the Union.

Reed Cabinet
After the election Reed, his staff, and his close ally Lodge went about picking a cabinet. To help bind growing divide in the party, Reed wanted the Cabinet made up of members of the Remembrance and Bourbon factions. This would mean brining members of the party that were vehemently opposed to his positions on foreign policy and defense. This required a delicate selection of members for each position to keep them from undermining the overall goal of consolidating power in the federal government, pursuing new alliances abroad and making the US the predominant military power in North America.
In his first sop to big business Democrats he selected Mark Hanna as his secretary of the treasury. Hanna had made a fortune in pig iron and was an influential figure in Ohio politics. He and his long time ally William McKinley had split from the Republican Party in the wake of the Second Mexican War. Hanna was one of the staunchest defender of the gold standard, which delighted big business men afraid that Reed was going to debase the currency to pay for his military build up.

As heads of his Armed Forces Departments he selected two Remembrance men, William Collins Whitney of Massachusetts as Secretary of the Navy and Daniel Sickles as Secretary of War. Whitney was a Harvard educated attorney who moved to New York and became a Corporate Lawyer. As a result he was well connected in the world of New York finance. In the crash following the Second Mexican War he returned to his native Massachusetts. He quickly capitalized on the growing militarization movement and organized a new Naval Ship building company. This made him a natural choice for Secretary of the Navy. Daniel Sickles was selected despite his controversial military reputation for his loyalty during the 1888 Convention.

For Attorney General Reed selected another Bourbon Democrat Richard Olney of Massachusetts. Another Harvard educated lawyer he made his fame as a railroad attorney. As Attorney General of Massachusetts, Olney was known for his vigorous prosecution of violence committed by members of the Socialist Party. He also had a reputation for opposing any legislation to regulate business. He appealed to those who feared the growing danger of the Socialist movement and the anti-regulation men.

For Secretary of State he chose a Remembrance Democrat from Indiana John W. Foster. Foster was a veteran of the War of Secession and served in the Kentucky Theater of the war. After the war he worked in the state department despite being a republican and earned a reputation as state department troubleshooter. During the Second Mexican War he served as US Ambassador to Mexico. He strongly supported strengthening ties with Germany and aggressively pursuing ties with Mexican rebels. He also supported supporting other Western Hemisphere powers being pressured by Great Britain like Chile, Haiti and Venezuela. Following the war he left the Republican party and earned a reputation as the most preeminent international lawyer in Philadelphia. Foster’s worldview was similar to Reeds in that both wanted to restore the United States to greatness without resorting to the heavy handed Imperialism of the European powers.

Finally for Secretary of the Interior Reed broke with the tradition of picking men from western states. Central to the Remembrance plan of mass conscription and Naval construction was establishing the US government’s ability to ration resources necessary to make war. Reed envisioned these to be materials like iron, steel, lead. Brass, coal, cotton and nitrates. Because of these were primarily natural resources, Reed and his advisors believed rationing should be under the purview of the Secretary of the Interior. Because of the controversial nature of these powers, President Reed needed someone above reproach. He chose the former governor of Pennsylvania Robert Pattison. Robert Pattison was known to be a tough on corruption and pro-civil service reform.

Inauguration
Thomas B Reed took the oath of office in March 4, 1889, in front of the US Capitol building in Washington DC. The reconstruction was still not complete on the dome, which was severely damaged by the Confederate Artillery during the Second Mexican War. Despite the frigid weather most of the US government made the trip from the de facto capitol of Philadelphia to see the first inauguration in Washington since the Second Mexican War. Because of close support and Lodge was given pride of place behind Reed on the inauguration podium. The 50-year-old President gave a speech substantially longer then President Hancock who was already showing signs of the illness that would take his life.

In his address, which lasted 40 minutes, Reed first touched on important domestic issues. These included the need to balance protectionism for American industries with the needs of the American farmer. The importance of a sound currency set by the gold standard. Then he turned to the need for free schooling for America’s youth and the importance of building free military academies to train engineers and military officers. The need for home rule in the federal territories to prepare its citizens in becoming sister states. He warned of the threat of Mormonism in the US territories and the need to curb its influence to prevent unrest and treason. He supported he need to homestead federal lands to provide homes for the growing number of American families. He finished his section on demanding the importance of admitting those states of the union that were ready. Especially Dakota, Montana and Washington; whose admittance would increase our border defenses with Canada.

Then Reed turned to national defense. Reed called for a 16th Amendment to protect conscription and prevent any future constitutional attack. He advocated future Army reform by creating a General Staff, Then struck on the need to complete the harbor defenses began after the Second Mexican War. To further protect our border the nation also need to protect its sea-lanes and prevent crippling naval blockades. To afford this the nation would have to centralize more power in the federal government. Granting it new powers to tax and ration.

Finally at the heart of his address was the new direction of United States foreign policy. The nation would pursue a policy of returning the country to greatness and the return of all lost territory. Unlike the Confederacy to the south, which preyed on weaker neighbors to its in the Caribbean and Latin America, the people United States wanted only what was theirs. The United States of America unlike the peoples of Europe will not seek an overseas empire and support the right of all peoples to freedom. The speech was received with thunderous applause. Especially Reed’s faithful Congressional Allie Lodge, except noticeably during Reeds foreign policy speech.

Leader of Remembrance delegates in the House
Many expected Reed to name Lodge as an assistant secretary of war. Lodge opted to remain in Congress and recommended his friend Theodore Roosevelt instead. With Reed in the Powell House, Lodge quickly came to dominate the Remembrance caucus. Reed set an ambitious legislative agenda for his first year. He was instrumental in organizing democrats and republicans for there passing of defense legislation. These included the creation of rationing boards, the naval expansion act, the creation of a Staff College, nomination of Emory Upton for Commanding General and the formation of the General Staff. Lodge was instrumental in the deal with Republicans, which secured their votes for military reforms by agreeing to the ascension of Dakota, Washington and Wyoming.

1889 was also a seminal year as this was when Lodge first became familiar with the writings of Alfred Thayer Mahan. Roosevelt recommended to Lodge a selection of Mahan’s writings. Roosevelt introduced the two and they became fast friends. Lodge quickly became a disciple of Alfred Thayer Mahan’s message of naval power. When Mahan completed his seminal The Influence of Sea Power on history Mahan devoured it. When Roosevelt recommended Mahan as Assistant Secretary of Navy, Mahan seconded it.

Lodge often argued from a Mahan outlook at dinner and in the House. He told Roosevelt in a letter that “he used Mahan as a preacher used the Bible. For three days in March of 1891 he expounded on the US Senate floor about his Large Policy. Like Mahan Lodge had come to believe that the only way to keep the United States safe was to replace Great Britain as the dominant Sea Power. In his office he erected a large map of the world where he placed maltese crosses to signify future American possessions: the Sandwich Islands, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Newfoundland, the Bahamas, the Falkland Islands and Canada. He was oft to declare “It is sea power, which is essential to the greatness of every splendid people.”

Lodge acted faithfully as Reed’s voice in Congress on military matter during 1890 session. The most important issue was the ratification of the 16th Amendment. If passed the amendment would give the federal government general police powers, providing that it did not conflict with existing Constitutional provisions. Challenges had already been made to the Conscription Act of 1886. So far it had been upheld by the Supreme Court by a vote of 5-4 in Liberty Union v. Butler (1888), with all three Republicans joining two Democrats. There were new concerns that the new laws would not survive challenges. Again there was strong resistance to the efforts by states righters of the Democrats and the few Socialist candidates. Lodge had to turn to the Republicans to support the passage of these bills. As a result Idaho and Montana were admitted to the Union.

Despite the government having moved to Philadelphia, it retained some of the relaxed attitudes it developed in the southern Washington DC. The President when not at state dinners had his evenings free to associate who he wanted. President Reed often chose to spend his nights amid with lively conversation. There was no more lively conversation that of former dinner associates of Hay, Adams and Lodge. With the addition of Roosevelt and Mahan, the conversation only became livelier. It was in these late night debates however that the first inkling of a rift between Reed and his young protégé Lodge. Reed and Lodge more often found himself on the opposite sides of a foreign policy debates. These debates often found the original members of Adams, Reed and Hay against the newer members of Lodge, Roosevelt and Mahan.

Lodge dutifully championed the President’s legislative agenda in 1891, despite there changing world outlooks. Thanks to the growing influence of the Remembrance movement and Lodge’s legislative skill 1891 would see a vote on a new all Steel Battle Fleet bill. This called for the construction of an ocean going force to project American power beyond its coast. Armed with modern Steel Battleships to match the size and strength of those being produced in Great Britain. It also called for the re-organization of the Army into field Armies, expand the Army Reserve force and reorganize the state militias into the new National Guard. This also included the creation of Mahan’s new Steel Navy that included new Modern Steel Battleships to match the size and strength of those being produced in Great Britain.

1891 also saw a push by the Reed administration for domestic reforms. These included a new round of protective tariffs that further angered western republicans. Unlike past tariffs that were blanket tariffs on manufactured good, these were aimed directly at manufactured goods from Great Britain and France. This helped to foster friendship with German Empire and punish those nations that allied with the CSA. Reed also pushed for pegging the national currency to the gold standard. Up until 1873 the US had been a bi-metal system. However in 1873 US congress had passed the Fourth Coinage Act. After this species payments would only be made in Gold. This put the U.S. on a mono-metallic gold standard. However in order to pay the damage created by the Second Mexican War the government briefly resumed species payments in both silver and gold this led to the 1888 market crash. When Reed had resumed the Presidency the treasury had returned to making only species payments in Gold, Reed’s Fifth Coinage Act would make this official. These moves angered the Western delegates that Lodge and others had worked so carefully to cultivate.

With nearly all the western states now admitted to the union, save Utah and New Mexico. Remembrance democrats would have to bargain something else for Republican support. Lodge convince both Reed and Roosevelt to make a tour of the west reminding westerners that many of these previously safe states were now border states with our new enemy to the North. Roosevelt the victor of the Battle of Teton River served to drive this message home. Reed reminded crowds that the best way to defend against Canada was to prevent it from being reinforced on the seas. Reed and Lodge also promised to release more federal lands for settlement the following year in a homestead bill. Thanks to pressure from the new border-states Remembrance legislation passed.

1892 Election Year
Even at the beginning of the 1892 most Democrats and Republican were focused to the summer Party convention and the fall election. Reed was popular with most US citizens, having restored confidence in the Federal government and the armed forces. Despite continued labor unrest in the wake of new taxes and increased militarization, many believed Reed if nominated would go on to be the first Democratic President to win a second term since Andrew Jackson. Reed first however had to be re-nominated. As a result 1892 was marked by little debate on legislation or action in foreign policy.

Reeds only push on congressional action came from the Republican side of the house where several Republicans and democrats wanted a second conscription bill creating a conscientious objector status for members of the Quaker, Mennonite, and Brethren faiths. While this angered several of the more hardcore militarists, it was popular with the country at large. The one rough spot was a renewed push to repeal of the Negro Exclusion Act, which forbade the immigration of Negroes from the former confederate states. Reed not wanting to create controversy before the convention worked quietly behind the scenes to kill the repeal. In an unprecedented act Lodge broke with Reed and supported the Republicans. However neither Lodge nor the conservative Republican Leader Nelson Aldrich could move the Bill to the floor.

On June 21st Democratic Party members met in Chicago to select their candidate. After years political infighting no one was sure Reed would win the nomination. The Democrats had not selected the same candidate two conventions in a row since Andrew Jackson, who started the convention system. Reed was popular nationally but not all party bosses were satisfied with him. Reed had failed to live to the hope of civil reformers and at the same time been too radically federalist for the states righters. In the months leading up to the convention there had been serious infighting in his Cabinet as well.

Reed and his secretary of State John W. Foster had slowly growing apart. Foster wanted the President to act more decisively in international affairs and to take a harder line against Great Britain and Confederate machinations in the Western Hemisphere. While agreeing in principle Reed knew the military was not yet ready for a more aggressive foreign policy. Foster announced his intention to resign at the end of the year. Many expected Reed to nominate Lodge as his replacement, however Lodge was equally as aggressive and Reed feared he would find himself in the same place.

Olney in the position of Attorney General was creating many problems for the administration. Olney had also ordered federal prosecutors to turn a blind eye as large corporations began to hire the Pinkerton detective agency to infiltrate their workers and disrupt attempts to organize and as private armies to break up striking workers and miners. Worst of all Pinkertons were being used to openly disrupt Socialist Party meetings. When these failed Olney had used the power of his office to call on the state militias 6 times to break up striking workers when the Pinkertons had failed. This made him unpopular with the average citizen but increasingly popular with the more reactionary members of the party. Some wanted to replace Reed with Olney.

To squash these Cabinet troubles Reed attempted to move Olney to Secretary of State and even offered Cleveland the Attorney General position. Neither agreed, Olney wanted to stay in Attorney General position and Cleveland wanted no part of the Reed administration. Lodge was upset that he had not been considered, as a consolation Reed had offered him the position of minister of the interior. Robert Pattison had left the Department of Interior to run for governor of Pennsylvania again. Lodge refused but promised to support Reed if he supported his bid for Senate in 1893.

Reed entered the convention in shakier position then he wanted. Olney was not running, the party at large knew he was too controversial to be elected. Despite this small victory the many heads of the Democratic Hydra reared to life. In the end 10 names were put forward for nomination with multiple Bourbon Democrat candidate. These included Vice President Adlai Stevenson, Attorney General Olney, Secretary of the Navy Mahan, Secretary of the Interior Pattison, Senator Gorman of Maryland and Judge James E. Campbell of Ohio. While the convention started off on the in a deadlock like most Democratic Conventions, things immediately took a different turn. The power of the Remembrance faction, had only grown since Reeds election. Lodge make quick deals with several candidates including Judge Campbell which he promised a supreme court justiceship. Walter Q. Gresham former Postmaster General was given the State Department. A deal with the Pennsylvania Party boss Mathew S. Quay was reached for his votes in exchanged for making the business friendly Philander Knox Secretary of the Interior. Reed won on the third Ballot.

An equally contentious convention was being held in Minneapolis by the Republican. There a civil war was forming in the Party. With the growth of the Remembrance movement the party was hemorrhaging votes. Many Midwestern party bosses felt that the party was too beholden to eastern leaders like Nelson Aldrich of Rhode Island and Thomas Platt of New York, which kept the party as a Remembrance-lite. Western Republicans had success at appealing too more mid-western and farmer concerns. This group staged a coup, nominating John Sherman. Sherman’s promised trust-busting, civil service reform, tariff reduction, and bimetallism:

As more and more eastern Republicans defected to the Democrats, the center of power in the Republican Party was increasingly found in the west. These western Republicans had very different views than Nelson Aldrich and at the 1892 Republican presidential convention they selected John Sherman, former Secretary of the Treasury during the Blaine Administration, to be the Republican nominee. Sherman in turn ran on a platform designed to appeal to western voters as he promised trust-busting, civil service reform, tariff reduction, and bimetallism. This caused the second and final schism in the Republican Party, causing the flight of most of the eastern party leadership. Destroying the eastern electoral base and dooming the Republicans to the fate of a regional Midwestern party.

The Socialist convention in Milwaukee was a much more subdued affair. The Socialist Convention was met July 10th in the shadow of the Homestead strike. Many delegates wanted to capiltalize on the recent success in the strike by nominating a fiery orator to inflame americas already enraged workforce. The Socialists biggest debate in this period was whether to elect more intellectual candidates that would appeal to the middle class or more populist democrats that would mobilize the more conservative farmers. As public support turned against the strikers the more intellectual minded faction won out and selected William Bellamy. The author of a bestselling novel on a Utopian Socialist future entitled 2000- 1887 Looking Backward, Bellamy was a nationally known figure. His message had spurred the creation of more than 100 Socialist organizations across the country. While no one expected a victory, many hoped his campaign would give a gentler more intellectual face to party after the years of labor strife.

As expected the election was a route with Reed winning a commanding victory over his two opponents. Sherman came in second winning most of the new western states including Ohio, Kansas, Minnesota, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington. Bellamy came in last, but with a dramatic increase of voters winning with 19% of the popular vote. The Homestead strike helped to draw attention to the plight of the workers and the need for improved working conditions. Bellamys peaceful approach to the strike garnered alot of support. This was more than either of his more fiery predecessors Lincoln and Dearfield.

 

[President Mahan]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! Thanks for keeping this thing alive, its been a great year of posts.

So what do we think? Does anyone outside New England celebrate Thanksgiving in TL 191 ?

Americans traditionally recognize the harvest feast of Plymouth colony in 1621 as the first Thanksgiving. The first national day of thanksgiving was decreed by General George Washington to take place on December 18th, 1777 to recognize the recent American victory over the British at Saratoga, New York.

In 1789, Congress passed a resolution to request the now-President Washington to proclaim another day of thanksgiving on Thursday, November 26 of that year - in honor of the newly created US Constitution. Washington marked the day by donating beer and food to imprisoned debtors in New York City.

Thanksgiving Day did not become an annual tradition until 1863 when President Lincoln created the holiday we celebrate today. It was not officially observed by the Southern states until the Civil War ended in 1865.

My money is on its not a national holiday in the CSA, probably only a regional holiday in the United States. Unless one of the two Presidents from Maine established it.

Tomorrow goes up the next part of Henry Cabot Lodge, finally getting into some of the Labor Strikes and Direct Action.

 

[President Mahan]

Henry Cabot Lodge
Part III
1893
The Democratic Party was euphoric. For the first time a President was having a second inauguration, since Andrew Jackson. The excitement quickly ended as soon as the economic tremors in the stock markets in New York and Richmond became a full on panic. By February 10th there was a run on several major banks including the failure of the Knickerbocker Bank of New York. After the Panic, Reed’s second inauguration became a much gloomier affair, gone was the rousing rhetoric of the last inauguration. Instead Reed speech promised to not allow economic troubles to undue the gains of the made in the last decade since the Second Mexican War. Lodge again stood behind the President, but this time several rows back from the pride of place he took four years ago.

Despite the worsening economic crises Reed still proposed an aggressive economic agenda. This included the 17th Amendment which would legalize the income tax the supreme court recently struck down by Chief Justice Garfield. Chief of Staff Upton also wanted increased funding for the Army to increase its size to 400,000 men on regular duty. Henry Cabot Lodge again led the Remembrance faction in the house to victory. Both easily passed as Congress after several business experts including financial prodigy Andrew W. Mellon, supported the income tax. Mellon also supported the expansion of the regular army to remove some of the younger untrained men from the work force. The seventeenth amendment would not be ratified by enough states until late 1894.

Lodge as a member of the armed service committee was able to attend the first army annual maneuvers. Lodge watched as two full Corps of the Fourth Army headquartered in Plattsburg New York conducted exercises in New York and upper New England. The involvement of the New York National Guard meant that he would be reunited with his friend Theodore Roosevelt. It was during these maneuvers that Upton told Reed and Roosevelt that his long term project was to grow the army to more than a million men on active duty which during wartime could be expanded to three million. The three agreed that a project like this could not be completed until 1910 without bankrupting the country.

Meanwhile that summer the city of Chicago held the World’s Columbian exposition to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World. Over 27,000,000 people would visit the gleaming white faux marble city erected in Chicago, which held exhibits on latest industrial, household and military technological innovations. Lodge and Roosevelt were both special guests. As Presidents of the Boone and Crocket Outdoor Club they helped to organize an exhibit on early settler life. Roosevelt coordinated an exhibit on early Prairie life and Lodge on the early settlements in the Plymouth colony. Lodge often compared the Pilgrims to the Saxons who invaded England, carving out places for settlement through war.

The CSA held a competing Exposition in Atlanta at the same time. Though organized by former President Longstreet the exhibition was not nearly as popular, as the slowness of the CSA’s gradual manumission discouraged many European visitors. While the US had exhibits and guests from over 46 countries the Atlanta exhibition only attracted a handful of foreign participants. Mainly those closely allied to the CSA or other slave powers, such as the Empires of Mexico and Brazil. In the end the Atlanta exposition only attracted 6 million visitors.

Mahan meanwhile had his sights set on the 1893 Massachusetts Senate election. Mahan had become a potent force in the House of Representatives. Years of taking a hardline against Great Britain had made him popular with working class Irish voters and ship builders. His supporter of the tariff made him popular with factory owners and factory workers. His one weakness was with old guard Democrats who still suspected those Republicans who jumped ship in 1883. This group was led by the senior Senator Hoar Frisbee, who believed Lodges imperialist policy’s were an anathema to the founders visions. Lodge was vying with governor William E. Russell a pro-business reformer.

Fortunately Lodge still had the ear of President Reed. The navy board was deciding on whether to headquarters the Northern Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet in Boston or Newport Rhode Island. Despite their recent disagreements over the course of foreign policy, Reed helped to nudge the Navy Board towards Boston. Lodge was selected by the Massachusetts state legislature as the next Senator from Maine.

1894
The Panic of 1893 had grown into a full-blown depression; by 1894 millions of US citizens were out of work. This was an exceptionally difficult year for the Democratic Party national leadership. The nation continued to be rocked by a wave of violent strikes and Labor protests. President Reed swore to keep order and to mobilize the newly incorporated National Guard to protect important military related assets like the railroads, munitions factories, shipyards and steel mills. In a speech before the Union League of New York Reed dismissed the Socialist movement. Saying:

“When walking through the streets of New York and contrasting the brownstone fronts of the rich merchants with the unrewarded virtue of the people on the sidewalk, my gorge rises, . . . I do not feel kindly to the people inside. But when I feel that way I know what the feeling is. It is good honest high-minded envy. When the gentlemen across the aisle have the same feeling they think it is political economy.”

Major violent strikes included the Cleveland May Day Riots against unemployment, Cripple Creek Miners Strike in Colorado and the Bituminous Coal Miner strike that included more than 180,000 miners in Colorado, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. In each of these instances federal and National Guard troops were sent in to protect vital national interest. During the Rochester Shipyard strike New York Inspector General Theodore Roosevelt personally led National Guard forces in the dispersing striking workers. The largest and most famous strike of this year was the Pullman strike

The Pullman Strike was a nationwide railroad strike in the United States in the summer of 1894. In June of 1894 future Presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs and the American Railway Union called a massive boycott against all trains that carried a Pullman car. It affected most rail lines west of Detroit and at its peak involved some 250,000 workers in 27 states. The catalyst was the Pullman Palace Car Company cut wages as demand for new passenger cars plummeted and the company's revenue dropped. A delegation of workers complained that wages had been cut but not rents at their company housing or other costs in the company town. The company owner, George Pullman, refused to lower rents or go to arbitration.

Debs had started out as a railway clerk and was converted to the Socialist movement by Lincoln’s Chicago Speech at the end of the Second Mexican War. After the he secretly worked to enlist workers in the ARU. On June 29, 1894, Debs hosted a peaceful meeting to rally support for the strike from railroad workers at Blue Island, Illinois. Afterward, groups within the crowd became enraged and set fire to nearby buildings and derailed a locomotive. Elsewhere in the western states, sympathy strikers prevented transportation of goods by walking off the job, obstructing railroad tracks, or threatening and attacking strikebreakers. The Socialist Party had learned lessons from the more violent Homestead strike and party leaders worked hard to keep the strikes peaceful. This helped to mitigate violence and repair the reputation of the party. Socialist party members also began infiltrating Pinkerton detective agency, which helped to give notice of strike breakers and possible danger.

President Reed wanted the trains moving again, based on his legal, constitutional responsibility for the mails and National Defense. However Attorney General Olney went further and obtained an injunction in federal court barring union and socialist party leader from supporting the strike and demanding that the strikers cease their activities or face being fired. Debs and other leaders of the ARU ignored the injunction, and federal troops were called up to enforce it.

Thousands of United States Marshals and some 12,000 United States Army troops, commanded by Major General Nelson Miles, took action. The arrival of the military and the subsequent deaths of workers in violence led to further outbreaks of violence. Despite attempts to prevent violence by the Socialist Party, during the course of the strike, 30 strikers were killed and 57 were wounded. Property damage exceeded $80 million,

The strike affected hundreds of towns and cities across the country. Railroad workers were divided, the old established Labor Brotherhoods, which included the skilled workers such as engineers, firemen and conductors, did not support the labor action. Public opinion was mostly opposed to the strike and supported Reed's actions. Eastern Democrats and Republicans supported Reed and Olney, while western Republicans and Socialists generally denounced him. Governor John Peter Altgeld of Illinois, a states rights Democrat, denounced Reed and said he could handle all disturbances in his state without federal intervention.

A more peaceful and interesting protest that year was that of Coxey’s Army. This also involved a future socialist presidential candidate Jacob Coxey a Ohio and Pennsylvania business owner, whose Pennsylvania quarry earned him a small fortune. Falling under the influence of a Christian preacher Carl Browne, Coxey organized a group of followers on a march from Massilon, Ohio to Philadelphia to protest the poor condition of the nations roads, which unfairly harmed farmers and the coinage of silver to increase the supply of capital for the nation. The main group started with 100 men and slowly swelled to around 6,000 men. Other branches left from as far away as California, stealing a train in Utah until they were caught by US Cavalry under the command of Major Tasker Bliss in Iowa.

When the main body arrived on May Day outside Independence Hall, they were joined by hundreds of local Socialists. Many in the government feared this was a march on Philadelphia to decapitate the government and begin a Socialist revolution. As a result Chief of Staff Upton mobilized a division of Federal Regulars. Coxey entered the grounds outside Independence Hall to make his demands to Congress where he was promptly arrested for trespass. The group remained camped on the lawn outside Independence Hall for more than three weeks until most of its members drifted away. Coxey became a Socialist hero and wound up spending a month in a federal prison for trespass.

All this unrest led to a feeling of unhappiness with the Democratic response to the Panic. Bourbon Democrats believed that it was the result of excessive military spending, business regulation and taxation. Many regretted Reeds re-nomination and vowed to select a Bourbon Democrat in 1892. Republicans began preaching the need for silver coinage and regulation of railroad rates. Socialists pointed to this as the ultimate failure of capitalist system. Luckily for Lodge the Socialist Party made little in roads into New England. Massachusetts remained rock solidly Democrat, this left Lodge in the enviable position of retaining his focus on military and foreign policy matters.

Lodge like Roosevelt was also a reformer. He supported efforts to ban child labor, create a civil service commission and increase access to education. These efforts were unsuccessful. The one area of reform that was successful came out of the most unlikely of places. Nelson Aldrich was a recent convert from the Republican party. He had the reputation for being one of the most conservative and anti-business regulation men in the Senate. When Aldrich introduced a Bill to repeal of the Negro Exclusion Act, Lodge enthusiastically supported. Lodges father had taken his family south on business trip when he was eight. Lodge never forgot the horror of seeing other children in slaves. Lodge and Aldrich like many former New England Republicans were some of the few in Congress still supporting Negro civil rights. With the nation so focused on the depression few cared whether the government allowed for the immigration of hand full of former Black citizens. The Bill passed with help from Midwestern Republicans, New England Democrats and nearly the entire Socialist delegation.

Aldrich was also successful in the passage of the Platt Act. This act authored by Congressman Thomas Platt the Republican Party boss and leader of the remaining Eastern Republicans after Nelson Aldrich Left. The Bill outlawed General Strikes and Sympathy srikes after 1894’s spat of sympathy strikes.

1895
The next year turned out to be as contentious as the year before. A new round of Labor strife more organized than the year hit the nation, this time affecting New England and New York. The two largest being the Haverhill Massachusetts Shoe Strike and the Brooklyn Trolley Workers' Strike. While these were largely peaceful affair, other strikes were growing more violent. After the assassination of a string of well known business leaders including Henry Frick and the moderate Socialist Samuel Gompers, local law enforcement and the private Pinkerton Detective agency was seeming increasingly inadequate.

All of this came to a head in May 2nd with the assassination of Chief Justice Brown. With assassination of the French President the year before, many feared that it would be the beginning of a global revolution. Lodge supported the Aldrich-Cannon Act to establish a federal law enforcement agency, the Criminal Investigation Division, within the Department of Justice. The House co-sponsor of the bill, Congressmen Joseph Cannon of Illinois, would go on to be appointed the first Director of the CID after the bill was enacted. The Bill was easily guided to passage by the new Speaker of the House William McKinley despite heavy Socialist opposition.

With the looming threat of civil strife few, in the country noticed when the British attempted to invade the Boer Republic of the Transvaal Republic. More people took notice however when the British annexed the Sandwich Islands in June of that year. Soon the country was angry at the growing aggressiveness of the British Empire. Protests were held in most major cities bombarded by the Royal Navy during the Second Mexican War. The Remembrance Democrats were quick to capitalize on the growing anger, giving speeches to emphasize all that has been done to rebuild the army and navy.

Then in late July Reed saw the chance to demonstrate the new power of the United States military. Over the summer Confederate Filibusters supported by Confederate banks had been preparing to invade the island nation of Haiti. Haiti had defaulted on several loans by major Confederate banks, further threatening the CSA’ s financial institutions. Several leading Congressman were organizing filibuster militias to invade and possibly annex the islands over the loans.

Reed called Lodge and a number of other leading Remembrance Democrats including Senator Elihu Root of New York, Secretary Mahan, Secretary Sickles and Chief of Staff Upton to a Cabinet meeting to advise him on his options. Secretary of State Gresham suggested sending an official demand to Richmond not to invade the island. Senator Lodge advised against this as it would only inflame southern honor and force them to act. Both Service Secretary’s advised that the nations military though stronger, was not ready for war with the C.S.A. and its allies. Secretary Mahan advised that Reed sneak a fleet into Port-au-Prince if it looks like the Filibusters were preparing to invade. Chief of Staff Upton and Secretary Sickles also suggested a full mobilization of third Army as a show of strength. Root suggested that with the fleet in place the President should offer a defensive alliance with Haiti. Reed agreed sending a fleet to Port-au-Prince and offering a mutual defense treaty.

In late August Senator Samuel Pasco from Florida organized over two thousand veterans and adventurers into two Regiments to invade Haiti. Another two thousand men from Alabama also pledged to join if the Florida Regiment made landfall. When US spies heard that the Pasco Regiment reached Miami, Reed ordered a squadron of warships already on patrol in the Caribbean to make for Port-au- Prince. Reed also ordered Third Army stationed in Southern Pennsylvania to mobilize for exercises in Maryland. The rapid US response caught the CSA by surprise. When the US announced it would defend Haiti, the CSA gave up any chance of annexation. In a secret meeting Lodge advised Reed to press his advantage over the Haitians forcing them to lease a naval base and station a Brigade of Marines on the Island. Reed refused believing that this would leave the US no better than the CSA.

The nation was ecstatic at the first American diplomatic victory since the War of Secession. Enlistments that were already abnormally high because of the depression swelled even further. States that resisted the paying for the National Guard reforms now saw opposition give way. Despite the continuing economic malaise the average US citizens was showing a pride in his nation he had not shown in decades. As a result a new Army Bill was passed that raised the peace time size of the Army to 500,000, with a reserve force of over a million men.

The attitude in the CSA was slightly more ambivalent. Most CSA citizens were unaware of the filibuster expedition. President Gist himself did not support it, and its organizers hoped to force the annexation of the islands as a fait accompli. What the President and people of the CSA were stunned by was the sudden mobilization of over 200,000 men along its Virginia border before they had time to react. This called for a round of hearings and investigations by the CS Congress on the failures intelligence and military readiness. President Gist in an address to the CS people condemned the Yankees, who “would not have tried this if the illustrious, General Jackson had not died earlier this year.” He vowed to "never let the CSA be humiliated like this again.”

1896
As the US entered 1896 the US public’s attention was again turned towards the Presidential election. The Remembrance Democrats were again riding high on their recent victory in the Haitian Affair. The nation was aware that Lodge and Mahan had played a hand in the overall victory. The nations economy was also beginning to show improvements, with more factories hiring again.

Bourbon Democrats believed it was finally their chance to elect a candidate and they turned to their perennial champion, Grover Cleveland. Now a private citizen, he had been criss-crossing the country lecturing on the economic mismanagement of the Reed administration. The Remembrance faction on the other hand had no clear candidate. There were whispers that Custer now serving on the General Staff wanted the nomination, as did Speaker McKinley, Joshua Chamberlain of Maine and Senator Elihu Root. There were even rumors that Reed wanted to run again. The party bosses however chafed after eight years of one mans rule. In the months leading up to the convention many were drifting to the popular Pennsylvania governor Robert Pattison. Though primarily a reform candidate, his time as Secretary of the Interior had made him popular with Remembrance Democrats.

Reed was not clear whom he supported; Reed was generally amenable to the reform minded Pattison. Lodge however strongly believed that Mahan was a the best viable alternative if the convention became deadlock. Reed who was growing concerned over Mahan and Lodge’s bellicosity and imperialist dreams. Reed refused to give his consent to any candidate, possibly hoping the convention would throw it to him instead. Lodge then conspired with Theodore Roosevelt now a State Senator to have Mahan nominated. The two spent the spring and summer garnering support for a Mahan presidency. While the first modern Olympics were being celebrated in Athens, the Democrats were holding their national convention in Indianapolis. When Cleveland and Pattison deadlocked at the convention Lodge’s legwork paid off. The Party bosses were controlling this convention and wanted a candidate that would not meddle in domestic affairs. Fortunately for Mahan both Cleveland and Pattison campaigened on civil service reform. Lodge convinced them that Mahan had no domestic agenda and would leave domestic politics to Congress. After 20 ballots without selecting a candidate, the more and more delegates began to slip to Mahan. When Lodge convinced Pennsylvanian party boss Quay that Mahan would accept Pattison as a VP the state party bosses switched en mass to Alfred Thayer Mahan.

The Republican convention meanwhile selected Williams Jennings Bryan whose populist platform of farm subsidies, bimetallism and low tariffs played well primarily with the American farmers, but little else. Bryan’s only real opponent John Sherman was slipping into senility and not a viable candidate. Bryan would come in third place to Terrence Powderly a moderate and head of the Knights of Labor. The brutal repression of the labor movement created a swell of sympathy votes for the Socialist Party.

Mahan would go on to win capturing more than a majority of the popular vote despite a front porch campaign. Mahan would owe everything to the younger generation of speakers that crisscrossed the country on his behalf. This included not just Roosevelt and Lodge, but also Midwestern Remembrance Democrats like Albert J. Beveridge and Speaker of the House William McKinley. Thanks to renewed imperial projects in the Caribbean by the CSA and Great Britain the nation saw the need for a President strong on national defense. Many Americans considered the Morgan Pauecfote treaty signed between the two powers as tantamount to a plan to divide Latin America between them. Primarily Roosevelt and Lodge.

As a lame duck Reed hoped to finish one last task before he returned to his native Portland. The issue of Utah statehood still troubled the nation. Utah had not quite rebelled in the Second Mexican War and many feared it would take the first opportunity it could to secede from the Union. Reed after working with Mormon moderates believed that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints would be convinced to moderate its stance towards membership in the union if it was granted acceptance and constitutional protection. Reed also believed if young Mormons were drafted they would realize that there gentile countrymen were not inherently evil and out to destroy them all. Reed proposed that he would grant the territory statehood as long as it promised to outlaw polygamy and acknowledge federal superiority in its constitution. Many in the federal government including Lodge, wanted to keep Utah a territory until enough non Mormon settlers entered the territory to undue Mormon domination. Many like Chief of Staff Upton and Major General Custer wanted to prevent them from having a National Guard unit. Reed felt that preventing them from having a National Guard or militia unit violated the second amendment. After weeks of negotiations Mormons agreed, to ban polygamy and place a guarantee for a republican form of government in their constitution. Reed with the support of regular congressional allies pushed through a vote that supported the ascension of the state the day before winter recess. When Reed left office he had oversaw the ascension of six new stars to the union.

 

[Turquoise Blue]

I can do a presidential listbox (it's surprisingly easy) for TL-191. Just gimme me the presidents and veeps list.

 

[President Mahan]

US Presidents and Vice Presidents
1861-1865 Abraham Lincoln (Hannibal Hamlin)
1865-1869 Horatio Seymour (George Pendelton)
1869-1873 Thomas Hendricks (Joel Parker)
1873-1875 George Woodward (VP Samuel Cox)
1875-1877 Samuel Cox (*No VP)
1877-1881 Samuel Tilden (Henry Payne)
1881-1885 James Blaine (Donald Cameron)
1885-1886 Winfield Scott Hancock (Allen Thurman)
1886-1889 Allen Thurman (*No VP)
1889-1897 Thomas Reed (*Adlai Stevenson)
1897-1905 Alfred Thayer Mahan (*Robert Pattison)
1905-1913 Nelson Aldrich (Charles Fairbanks)
1913-1921 Theodore Roosevelt (Walter McKenna)

So I combed the books, Craigo's election series and bguys Nelson Aldrich Bio to find the VP names.

* both of these presidents have no vp's because they were their predecesors Vp's who died in office.

* I picked Adlai Stevenson for Reed and Robert Pattison for Mahan, based on thread conversations and they just seem to fit.

What do you think?

 

[bguy]

The list looks good. The only change I would recommend is the novels (eventually) decided on "Walter McKenna" as TR's vice president's name.