A Decade Of The Common Man

PROLOGUE

The president was tired. He had been fighting for this nation for years, and he had no intention of giving up. But he was tired, he was ill, and he felt it. He knew the rest of the men in the room felt it too. It didn’t matter. He still had that sort of presence, one that commanded every room he was in, one that even unnerved the most powerful men in the party on their home turf. However, that only brought a brief pause in their plan.

“Mr. President, we need to talk about the Vice President. He’s simply too...”

“Nuts?”

“...eccentric, especially with the risk of... nevermind. Either way, we will not allow his renomination.”

“And who exactly do you have to replace him?”

“Byrnes.”

“James Byrnes? He’s going to reverse course should he take my office, you all know that. Are you so willing to end this progress in favor of a slightly better taste in your mouth?”

And as his glare bored holes into the Democratic bosses, Franklin Roosevelt said one brief thing, one of those responses that the future would turn on.

“Gentlemen, Henry Wallace stays, and I will endure this blatant coup against him. Fight if you will, but which of us do you expect to have more sway over this process?”
 

BigBlueBox

Banned
Keeping Henry Wallace on--what could possibly go wrong with that?
The "Henry Wallace is a Communist-sellout who would destroy America" meme is just that, a meme. He might have done that if he became President, or he could have ended up taking the same path that Truman did. Even if he initially more friendly to the Communists he would likely have a change of heart after the Czechoslovak coup, Berlin Blockade, etc. The potential actions of Wallace as President are bound to differ from those he took as a private citizen.
 
Oh boy, a President Wallace TL. I don’t know what you plan on doing with Wallace here, but it can’t be any worse than his presidency in For All Time and The Footprint of Mussolini. I look forward to seeing what you do with this TL.
 
The "Henry Wallace is a Communist-sellout who would destroy America" meme is just that, a meme. He might have done that if he became President, or he could have ended up taking the same path that Truman did. Even if he initially more friendly to the Communists he would likely have a change of heart after the Czechoslovak coup, Berlin Blockade, etc. The potential actions of Wallace as President are bound to differ from those he took as a private citizen.

It's also worth noting that in 1950 he admitted he was wrong about Stalin and he supported the Korean War. He even voted for Richard Nixon in 1960 (although he came to like JFK).
 
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