AHC: Socialist POTUS

My bad then man. I didn't realize but like said I hear that a lot. Especially living in the South. It just really offends me being a liberal. I apollogize again.

No problem man. I confess, he's not my favorite President policy wise, but he is still my President, for better or worse, and I will give him my respect for that. Just don't expect me to vote for him if nothing changes.
 
No problem man. I confess, he's not my favorite President policy wise, but he is still my President, for better or worse, and I will give him my respect for that. Just don't expect me to vote for him if nothing changes.

Being the anarchist I am, I confess no president has expressed my favorite policies. But let's not turn this into political-showdown. Back to the OP.
 
Here's a rough idea of what I had in mind:

1901 -- McKinley survives the attempt on his life
1902 -- Philippine Organic Act passes (as OTL)
1901-04 -- McKinley's second term goes less well than his first -- the 1902 Coal Mine strike grows violent (no WH intervention), and there is little action against trusts; the war
1904 -- William Jennings Bryan defeats Nelson Aldrich for the Presidency

1905-08 -- Bryan Presidency very chaotic and grows quickly unpopular
1905 (circa) -- Phillipine hostilities are declared at an end (bringing about sooner Phillipino self government); (also, the Russo-Japanese War lasts three months longer than OTL, due to a lack of US mediation, leading to a more radical 1905 Revolution in Russia)
1906 -- Sinclair's The Jungle doesn't lead to any organized political response, but does lead to a slew of muckraker reports on the food industry; this poor response from Washington, combined with an economic crisis following the San Francisco earthquake, lead to major Socialist gains in Congress and at the state levels
1907 -- the economic crisis deepens as the Bryan administration falters
1908 -- Charles W Fairbanks defeats Bryan's bid for re-election; the Socialist candidate, Eugene Debs, receives nearly as many votes as the incumbent President

1909-12 -- the Fairbanks Presidency is confounded by crises
1909 -- Government is does little ambitiously, looking instead to overlook a slow recovery
1910 -- Socialists continue to do well, as Jackson Stitt Wilson wins the California Governorship, while John W. Slayton wins in Pennsylvania
1911 -- the recovering economy is imperiled with war breaking out in Europe

Election of 1912 -- President Fairbanks, under intense stress and growing unrest, declares he will not seek a second term
--the Republicans, not expecting to need another nominee, deadlock and end up nominating Speaker Joseph Cannon
--Theodore Roosevelt leads a group of splitters, running as an "interventionist independent"
--the Democrats, meanwhile, split between the Bourbons, who nominate Champ Clark, and the Populists, who bolt, and re-fuse with the People's Party; before the latter gather to nominate a candidate they are approached by the SPA...
--the Socialists nominate Pennsylvania Governor and noted party speaker John Slayton, who begins an outreach to Progressive Republicans and Populist Democrats
--faced with the prospect of nominating William Bryan as their candidate, delegates for the People's Party move toward a deal with the Socialists for a joint run, leading to Slayton's Populist nomination
--in a four way race, Roosevelt comes in fourth (with over 5% of the vote but no states), Joseph Cannon comes in third, Champ Clark comes in second, and Slayton -- with less just over 40% of the popular vote and 267 ECVs -- wins the Presidency
 
Sounds plausible to me. Quicker than I would have expected, but certainly not beyond the realm of possibility.
 
If Jello approves of it, then it's plausible. He's the socialist and communist America expert, after all. I do think it's a bit early though, and no Bryan presidency would probably make it easier since Bryan could be tied to the Socialists or something.
 
This Slayton scenario is as interesting as it is unlikely. I wonder what Congress will do with a Socialist in the White House. Out of curiosity, who is his running mate?

This is a U.S. that I suspect will stay out of the world war.
 
Forgot I had unanswered questions in this one...

This Slayton scenario is as interesting as it is unlikely. I wonder what Congress will do with a Socialist in the White House. Out of curiosity, who is his running mate?

I was thinking People's Party candidate (and TTL, revived) Thomas Watson...

This is a U.S. that I suspect will stay out of the world war.

That's what I see as well; though the US will also have interests in seeing the war brought to an end...
 
Sort of, yeah; I tend to think TLs are more interesting if the VPs are politically smart choices, but still seriously flawed (a la John Nance Garner)...

I like the idea, but question whether Watson would have gone for it. Also, I am linking to this list I devised in another thread for the benefit of readers in this thread.
 
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Here's a rough idea of what I had in mind:

1901 -- McKinley survives the attempt on his life
1902 -- Philippine Organic Act passes (as OTL)
1901-04 -- McKinley's second term goes less well than his first -- the 1902 Coal Mine strike grows violent (no WH intervention), and there is little action against trusts; the war
1904 -- William Jennings Bryan defeats Nelson Aldrich for the Presidency

1905-08 -- Bryan Presidency very chaotic and grows quickly unpopular
1905 (circa) -- Phillipine hostilities are declared at an end (bringing about sooner Phillipino self government); (also, the Russo-Japanese War lasts three months longer than OTL, due to a lack of US mediation, leading to a more radical 1905 Revolution in Russia)
1906 -- Sinclair's The Jungle doesn't lead to any organized political response, but does lead to a slew of muckraker reports on the food industry; this poor response from Washington, combined with an economic crisis following the San Francisco earthquake, lead to major Socialist gains in Congress and at the state levels
1907 -- the economic crisis deepens as the Bryan administration falters
1908 -- Charles W Fairbanks defeats Bryan's bid for re-election; the Socialist candidate, Eugene Debs, receives nearly as many votes as the incumbent President

1909-12 -- the Fairbanks Presidency is confounded by crises
1909 -- Government is does little ambitiously, looking instead to overlook a slow recovery
1910 -- Socialists continue to do well, as Jackson Stitt Wilson wins the California Governorship, while John W. Slayton wins in Pennsylvania
1911 -- the recovering economy is imperiled with war breaking out in Europe


That's a great scenario. If Russia suffers a revolution in 1905 and gets rid of the Tsar, would the Germans be tempted into an earlier war soon after?

R
 
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