"A Mob is Coming"

1935

The New York Times; September 9, 1935[1]
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CBS Radio News; October 16, 1935
"Hi I'm James Clark, special corespondent here at CBS Radio News, bringing breaking news to all you listeners out there straight from it's source here in Washington DC. Recently I was contacted by a source within the White House who preferred to remain anonymous but, while he may not ever be known, the information he told me and I'm about to tell you may be remembered for quite some time as a political turning point. The information provided to us is on the topic of a 'second new deal' plan that was, at one time being considered by the administration but which was scraped earlier this year for the apparent reason that President Roosevelt did not want to appear to be caving into pressure from the left and, namely, his probable presidential opponent Huey Long. Among those projects abandoned includes a 'social security act,' which would have capitalized upon a long popular idea. For those who don't know the idea behind this...."

Huey Long Book Release Speech; November 2, 1935
"Thank you all for showing up here today for the release party of my, as it's been dubbed, 'second autobiography,' My First Days at the White House. Although I doubt anyone here is unaware this book covers my ambitions for the upcoming presidential election next year and outlines quite clearly what my plans will be once I'm there. So let's go ahead and make it official what everyone's known for quite a while, right here right now let's do it. I, Huey Long, will indeed be seeking the presidency of the United States of America in opposition to President Roosevelt and his failed plans and forgotten policies with the hope of creating a better America for our children and our children's children and their children as well. The name of my society is not simply a political statement, it is the truth, it is time the we shared our wealth so that everyone in society may be better off for it.

"As for my chances, some say they are not high, but I beg to differ. The recent revelation of Roosevelt's scraped second new deal plans are rather humorous as, I believe, this is the first legislation he has produced which the American people truly support and truly believe will make a difference and what does he do, scrape it. The American people know what must be done. They don't care who does it or in what way or under which parties banner or any banner at all, so long as it gets done. That is why I think next year not only will I pose a major challenge but soon enough you'll all be calling me President Long.

"As for the unreleased book cover, I took a simple and straightforward approach, the American people don't need to be tricked, they just need the truth, and here it is."

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St. Louis Post-Dispatch; December 3, 1935
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Native hero and the famed flyer of the Spirit of St. Louis though he may be, it was New York City where Charles Lindbergh may have just surpassed his famous flight with an announcement of even greater importance. Yesterday, December 2nd, Lindbergh was set to headline the "Great American Rally," as it was named, in Madison Square Garden which was meant as a response to the announcement exactly one month earlier that left-wing icon Huey Long would be perusing the presidency.

Lindbergh's speech went as expected throughout almost it's entirety, bashing the left and Senator Long while mixing in patriotism and conservative speech. Then, as the end of the speech approached, Lindbergh let out a stunning statement, after claiming that there must be a legitimate right-wing challenge to Roosevelt and Long, that someone from the real right must take the nomination rather then a traditional Republican of this era, he announced that he himself, Charles Lindbergh, would pursue the presidency this upcoming election....

.... The packed night finally ended with another surprise, Hermann Göring presented the aviator and now presidential candidate with a medal on behalf of the NAZI government recognizing Lindbergh as a true warrior against the Marxist "disease."

Fr. Coughlin's Radio Broadcast; December 25, 1935
"... So a marry Christmas indeed to all of you once again. However before we end tonight I'd like to tackle one last pressing question, the presidency. I've received a truly massive quantity of letters regarding who my support will go to when it comes to the election next year. Charles Lindbergh is an interesting guy indeed, he has some interesting ideas and theories, but he's also a bit of a hack. I get a sense from him that he doesn't truly comprehend what he's talking about, nor that he really believes any of it. On top of that he is a man with literally no experience whatsoever trying to rely on the popularity he gained from flying across an ocean which, while an impressive feat, does not qualify someone for the presidency.

"So as we sit down on this Christmas day, as a family, in the spirit of Christ, I ask you to join with me in support Huey Long's candidacy for the presidency of the United States of America. I'd like to read to you a short passage from the Acts of the Apostles; 'Acts 4:32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.' We must work towards this biblical goal of true equality and unity. We must work towards fairness, we must Share Our Wealth."

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[1]This centers around the theory that Long was actually fatally wounded as a result of a misfired shot by his bodyguards rather then actual bullet of Carl Weiss. This is the most likely theory since the bullet that entered and killed Long in OTL was of a different caliber then that of the gun Weiss had.
 
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Any feedback is very welcome and suggestions suggested :) .

In particular I'd like to know opinions on Lindbergh's chances. Normally I don't think he'd have a chance but with a weak Republican Party, his powerful name, and the candidacy of Long do you think he'd get the nomination or at least make a legitimate challenge?
 
Long won't come close: his economic program when closely examined is unconstitutional communitarian socialism. Aka RL version of Santa's workshop. I also believe that he was overrated, mainly because his oratory was much sounder than his ideas. I also doubt that Lindbergh, a celebrity without political experience or a university education, is presidential material either IOTL or in just about any ATL.
 
Huey Long was the potential candidate that Roosevelt feared the most. He said as much in one of his letters. Long was working on a partnership with Father Charles Coughlin, the "Radio Priest" who had a nationwide listening audience so dedicated and so large that the dimes and quarters they sent him made him a powerful figure in the silver market. Coughlin had supported Roosevelt in 1932, but grew disenchanted when FDR declined to follow his advice. A Long-Coughlin partnership could have posed a real threat to FDR's reelection.
 
Long won't come close: his economic program when closely examined is unconstitutional communitarian socialism. Aka RL version of Santa's workshop. I also believe that he was overrated, mainly because his oratory was much sounder than his ideas. I also doubt that Lindbergh, a celebrity without political experience or a university education, is presidential material either IOTL or in just about any ATL.

Well first off I hate Huey Long politically so we're in agreement there but that still doesn't effect them timeline and I'm trying to keep all bias out of it.

Now as for his being able to win his Share Our Wealth Society was massive (7.5 million members, likely more then the Democratic Party) and his ideas, though radical, were popular during the depression. FDR himself claimed that he initiated the Second New Deal partially to "take the winds out of Long's sails." Without the second new deal and FDR's turn to the left we have a very different political environment with a very powerful third party candidate.

As for Lindbergh, he toyed around with the idea of running for president and supporters attempted to get him involved several times. With Long running from the left it might have been enough to push Lindbergh over the edge and convince him to run. Now he's not going to win, no chance of that, but it fuels Long's Share Our Wealth by putting an open fascist in the presidential scene.
 
Huey Long was the potential candidate that Roosevelt feared the most. He said as much in one of his letters. Long was working on a partnership with Father Charles Coughlin, the "Radio Priest" who had a nationwide listening audience so dedicated and so large that the dimes and quarters they sent him made him a powerful figure in the silver market. Coughlin had supported Roosevelt in 1932, but grew disenchanted when FDR declined to follow his advice. A Long-Coughlin partnership could have posed a real threat to FDR's reelection.

That's a good point though I could easily see Coughlin as more of a Lindbergh supporter then a Long one, however, since Lindbergh is likely to lose, it is quite possible that Coughlin throws his substantial weight behind Long. Combine the substantial grassroots support of 7.5 million members of Share Our Wealth along with Coughlin's nearly 40 million regularly listeners and you have a real movement on your hands.
 
Great TL, please continue. Though if Long were to run for president, wouldn't that make FDR more likely to implement the Second New Deal in order to deflate Long's appeal?;'
 
Great TL, please continue. Though if Long were to run for president, wouldn't that make FDR more likely to implement the Second New Deal in order to deflate Long's appeal?;'

In real life that's basically why FDR did implement it. However I took the reverse route and decided that FDR would realize that the left was likely to side with Long either way so he would both make himself look as though he wouldn't give into outside pressure, and reach out towards centrists by not presenting the second new deal.

Also the newspaper site is http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp
 
I just started on a Long TL but now unsure if I should continue. Also what is this newspaper site please?

Do you have the TL still we could work collaboratively? Two heads are always better then one plus it keeps me on top of things to have someone working with me. Of course it's up to you.
 
Do you have the TL still we could work collaboratively? Two heads are always better then one plus it keeps me on top of things to have someone working with me. Of course it's up to you.

I just started a rough outline and after reading an interesting biography was looking up more on Depression politics.
 
Abe, you might take a look at the growth of fascist and other right-wing organizations in the United States during the Great Depression, such as the Silver Shirts. The Silver Legion of America, as it was called, had about 15,000 members in 1934. In a campaign that includes Huey Long and his populist socialism, there's the potential for some serious violence both before and after the voting. Long might end up getting shot anyway -- or perhaps arranging for someone else to get shot.
 
That's a good point though I could easily see Coughlin as more of a Lindbergh supporter then a Long one, however, since Lindbergh is likely to lose, it is quite possible that Coughlin throws his substantial weight behind Long. Combine the substantial grassroots support of 7.5 million members of Share Our Wealth along with Coughlin's nearly 40 million regularly listeners and you have a real movement on your hands.

Coughlin's views shifted as the decade wore on. By the late 1930s he was speaking at German-American Bund rallies (Nazism appealed to his increasingly strident anti-Semitic views), but the political boundaries of that era were so fluid that he could have gone either way. He made much of the fact that the Nazis were National Socialists, which he drew in sharp distinction to communism, which he abhored.

When the war started in 1941, Coughlin was already out on the margins. He had lost most of his radio outlets, and the U.S. Post Office stopped delivering his newspaper on orders from the Attorney General's Office. Finally the Vatican reined him in, and he returned to his Church of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, Michigan, remained there as a parish priest until he retired in 1966. He died in 1979.
 
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