A Bucket of Warm Piss: A World Without FDR

A Bucket of warm piss:
A world without FDR

The nation was in the throws of depression and the people were looking for hope. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the man they put their hope in. He easily achieved victory over the highly unpopular progressive republican incumbent, Herbert Hoover. He has big plans and the desire for power to full fill his big promises.

February 15th, 1933 will be a day that will live in infamy. The President-Elect Franklin D. Roosevelt was in Miami, Florida. Roosevelt delivers a short speech at Bay Front Park in front of 25,000 people. The crowd cheers the President to be, but soon those cheers will turn to shrieks of terror. From the shadows of the crowd, an angered Italian immigrant by the name of Giuseppe Zangara pulled out a pistol and fired 5 shots at Roosevelt. The first two shots miss. The third shot hit Roosevelt in head, and the 4th and 5th hit him in the chest. The assassin was tackled as the President-Elect fell to the ground.

The crowd goes into a panic, while the assassin is trampled to death. Police are called in to quell the riot. Roosevelt is rushed to a nearby hospital, but to no avail. He is pronounced dead less then an hour after he is shot. News papers and radio stations broadcast this across the country “Roosevelt is Dead”. Speaker of the House and Vice President-Elect John Nance Garner is made aware of the situation an hour after Roosevelt is pronounced dead. President Hoover is alerted of the situation. He is reported to have said “I weep for my country, and I weep for democracy”.The Proper arrangements are made. On February 20th there is a funeral in Albany, New York for the slain Roosevelt.

On March 4th however, the nation inaugurated a new man into the position of commander and chief. Roosevelt’s southern running mate, John Nance Garner, was sworn in as the 32nd President of the United States. He was not the man that the his Party had chosen, but he was the man they had now. In his inaugural address, he laid out his plan for the nations economic recovery: repeal of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, Abolishment of the 18th Amendment, and building and investment projects in rural areas. His most famous quote from this address was “With God and Government on our side, the people shall prosper”.
 
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Haha. The best part of that quote is that Garner called the reporter who quoted him as saying "a bucket of warm spit" a "pantywaist."
 
The first major action taken by congress was on March 10th, when the 21st amendment, to repeal prohibition, was proposed and passed by congress. It was brought up earlier, but the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt put everything on hold. This amendment would be ratified by the end of December, with 40 of the 48 states ratifying it.

The next of Garner’s goals would not be as easily accomplished. The progressive democrats and the republicans in congress both favored the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, signed by Herbert Hoover in 1930. Part of Garner’s plan for recovery was to repeal the tariff. This would allow Americans to buy cheaper goods, and hopefully lead to other countries removing their retaliatory tariffs. This would not be easy, despite having large political capital brought by sympathy of the death of his running mate. He ended up having to make a compromise. He couldn’t get the republicans and progressives to repeal the tariff, but he was able to get them lower the tariff. In July of 1933, congress amended the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, to lower the tariff from 19.8% to 16%. He hoped to lower it again later, but for now this would have to do.

In August of 1933, he managed to get one of the most comprehensive bills of his first term passed. This was the Rural Infrastructure Act(RIA). This was the third step in Garner’s plan for economic recovery. This act would put men to work building roads, canals, and hydro-electric damns in the south. The work men received would only be temporary, but Garner hoped that by the time the projects were finished the economy will have recovered enough that the men could find jobs. It was passed on August 11th, but none of the construction projects would begin until spring of 1934.
 
President Garner’s Cabinet
Secretary of State: Cordell Hull
Secretary of War: John J. Pershing[1]
Secretary of Treasury: Henry Morgenthau Jr.
Post Master General: James Farley
Secretary of the Navy: Theodore Roosevelt Jr.
Secretary of the Interior: Harold L. Ickes
Secretary of Agriculture: Claude R. Wickard
Secretary of Commerce: Daniel C. Roper
[2]
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[1] Pershing only serves as secretary of war untill 1935

[2] did not appoint a secretary of labor
 
President Garner’s Cabinet
Secretary of State: Cordell Hull
Secretary of War: John J. Pershing[1]
Secretary of Treasury: Henry Morgenthau Jr.
Post Master General: James Farley
Secretary of the Navy: Theodore Roosevelt Jr.
Secretary of the Interior: Harold L. Ickes
Secretary of Agriculture: Claude R. Wickard
Secretary of Commerce: Daniel C. Roper
[2]
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[1] Pershing only serves as secretary of war untill 1935

[2] did not appoint a secretary of labor

Nice, Black Jack Pershing. I imagine he'll go back to being General of the Armies in 1935?

I don't know much about Teddy's kids, but always nice to see a Roosevelt, especially his namesake following his footsteps :D
 
The Great Depression in the United States started with the stock market crash of October, 1929. The next decade would be marked by high unemployment and poverty. Many lost all of their savings from the collapse of banks. The Federal Reserve had failed to prevent the disaster, which was their entire reason for existence.

This collapse was preceded by a decline in the agricultural sector. Many farmers lost their farms because they couldn’t make a living at the prices agricultural goods were sold at. The First World War had created not only a demand for arms, but for food as well. Arms manufacturers and farmers had a steady market of selling goods to Europe during the war years. However, after the war ended the demand for these goods sharply declined, and the depression of 1920-21 was started. Thanks to the laissez-fair policies of President Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, the roaring twenties were able to roar. This roar happened in manufacturing, but not so much in farming. So many farmers had grown so much that they couldn’t support themselves on the market value of their goods. Many farmers went under, and this continued throughout the 1920s.

The rise in unemployment led to the creation of shanty towns across the country, which became known as Hoovervilles. This also lead to an increase in radical politics. The Communist Party gained more members, and the labor unions became more violent.

In late 1933, in order to appease the more progressive factions of the Democratic Party he asked congress for a “Bank Holiday”, in October. The banks were closed for 1 month in order to asses which banks were stable and which weren’t. A series of bank laws were passed that put regulations on the bank. Among these regulations were; how much hard cash the bank must hold at all times, higher requirements for loans, and a yearly required 1 week bank holiday. Despite these concessions, the next progressive goal would pit the President’s own party against him. This would be the battle of the gold standard.

The progressives in the House and Senate passed legislation that would get America off the gold standard. When this bill reached Garner’s desk, it was 7 days before congress would recess for winter. Garner took advantage of the pocket veto. When congress reconvened in January, there was great anger at the President. The Progressives tried to get the bill back off the ground, but the Republicans and the Bourbon Democrats had no desire to continue this fight.
 

Dialga

Banned
I have a feeling this TL ain't gonna turn out good. I shudder to think of what might happen come WW2.
 
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