I was looking through old infobox files and was reminded of
one I made about John W. Leedy— which, geez, was three years ago. The concept is still one of my favourites, but the execution is not my best work. A particularly irksome aspect, to me, is that it used a picture from much earlier in his life (and career)— though this was out of necessity, because I couldn't find a more contemporary photo, but it still grated. So I decided to dig a bit deeper and see if I could find anything. Lo and behold— I did! As a result, I decided to remake the thing— and along the way corrected some errors, changed some of the lazy alt-history, and drafted a better write-up with more context. So here it is: a remastered infobox.
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… John W. Leedy displayed little interest in politics until the founding of the Populist Party. He joined the new party upon its founding in 1890, and in 1892 he was elected to the Kansas State Senate under its banner. In 1896 he emerged as the Populist candidate for governor, and defeated the incumbent, Republican Edmund N. Morrill, in the election. …
… Denied renomination by his party, Leedy turned his interest in mining operations in Galena, before decamping to Valdez, Alaska in 1901. There, his mining experience proved fortuitous, as he discovered a gold mine and became very wealthy. Leedy also took the opportunity to change careers and practiced law (despite not having formal legal training), and later served as mayor for two years. In 1908 he left Valdez for Whitecourt, Alberta, where he returned to farming, and eventually became a naturalized Canadian.
Leedy became a prosperous farmer and soon joined the United Farmers of Alberta. At this point, the UFA was a non-partisan lobbying organization, but some members— including Leedy— began to advocate for direct action. To that end, Leedy was one of the founding members of the Alberta Non-Partisan League, a political party that pledged to represent and promote farmers in the political arena. In the 1917 provincial election, Leedy stood as its candidate in the constituency of Gleichen, and was successfully elected alongside two other members.[1]
The NPL's victories frightened the UFA, who worried that the NPL would eclipse them as the main voice for farmers; as a result, the UFA announced its own entry into politics. The NPL dutifully folded itself into the new UFA party, with its groundwork and organization providing the backbone of the party. Many former NPLers, including Leedy, became prominent and influential in the new UFA.[2] …
… The 1921 election saw the UFA sweep into power, winning 38 of 61 seats. This was a shock not just to observers but to the UFA themselves, who had not expected to win more than 20 seats and thus had not yet designated a political leader— raising the question who would become premier. The obvious answer was UFA president Henry Wise Wood; however, Wood turned the position down, saying he had no interest in the minutiae of government or crafting policy— he did not run for a seat in the election— and that he felt he would be best suited to managing the farmer movement more broadly.[3] The next in line would be the UFA's vice president, Percival Baker, who had run for a seat; but Baker, hospitalized after a farm accident three weeks prior, died from his injuries a day after the election.[4] Wood wanted John Brownlee, the UFA's solicitor, for the position; but Brownlee, too, declined, reasoning that it would be seen as a betrayal of the movement for its government to be headed by an urban lawyer.[5] The interim vice president, Herbert Greenfield, also displayed no interest in the role.[6]
With the UFA executive ruling themselves out, the UFA caucus began to look within. As nearly the entire caucus was freshly elected, the only MLAs under serious consideration were the two with previous experience: George Hoadley and John Leedy. Hoadley had the most legislative experience, having sat in the legislature since 1909; however, since Hoadley was previously a Conservative (and had only joined the UFA in 1920), he was seen as too close to the "party politics" the UFA had campaigned against and thus was unacceptable.[7] The MLAs instead turned to Leedy, whose politics were more in-line with the UFA's aspirations, and with the hope that his experience in Kansas would give the government the guidance it needed.[8] Leedy accepted, although due to his age he pledged to step down before the end of the term. He was sworn into office on August 13, 1921. …
[1] The POD. IOTL, Leedy placed a distant third; ITTL, a more successful campaign allows him to to harness the farmer demographic and ride them to victory. This is sort of a handwave, but since Gleichen went for the UFA in a landslide in 1921, and the 1917 election already saw two NPL candidates win IOTL, I do not think it is unreasonable to have Leedy follow their lead and tap into that emerging force a little ahead of schedule.
[2] The NPL-UFA merger is OTL. Leedy joining the UFA party is also OTL, though his becoming an influential member is a ripple from his earlier success ITTL.
[3] This is OTL. Wood remained an influential figure on the sidelines but never entered elected politics.
[4] This is OTL.
[5] This is OTL. Brownlee did agree to join cabinet, however, and served as Attorney General and Minister of Justice. He did later become UFA premier, but only after it was clear that the caucus approved of him.
[6] Greenfield's lack of interest is OTL. He wasn't not approached or considered at this point IOTL, as far as I know, but I've mentioned it to for the sake of the story, such as it were.
[7] This is OTL. Hoadley led the Conservative Party from 1917 to 1920, when he was ousted from caucus— and subsequently crossed to the UFA. Though he was deemed unacceptable as a UFA leader, he did serve as a cabinet minister in the UFA government.
[8] Of course, Leedy wasn't here IOTL. At this point, the UFA didn't appear to have anyone willing to take the job, and speculation arose that the Liberal premier, Charles Stewart, would simply stay in office heading a UFA cabinet (not as ridiculous as it sounds— Stewart was a member of the UFA in its history as a lobbying organization)— though Stewart publicly rejected such a situation and nothing came of it. Finally, the UFA caucus selected Herbert Greenfield, who had no interest in the job (interim vice president, remember, and didn't run in the election) but accepted because literally nobody else acceptable would. (Incidentally, Greenfield had a miserable time in politics, and when his party ousted him, he was relieved to be done with it.)