Ooh pity. Really thought we would get Governor Bernie in '72.
Alternate Wikipedia Infoboxes VI (Do Not Post Current Politics or Political Figures Here)
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Oooh boy, looks like we're in for a united leftist front political party in this alternate 1980s. Looking forward to President Nader.
This is turning out to be a pretty fun series, I quite like it! Have you considered making a separate thread for it?
These are well done, though I would flag that Bush/Dole had a bitter rivalry
I don’t know why but neither Bob Dole nor George H. W. Bush ever struck me as the types of people to have had bitter rivalries. Was it predominantly personal or political in nature?
Well it started politically, and then it got pretty personal.
It started with Nixon replacing Dole at the RNC with Bush. ITTL that would be all that happened, but it continued through the 1980 primaries and then culminated in the 88 primary when — infamously — they appeared on primary coverage at the same time and when asked if he had anything to say to Bush, Dole said “Yeah stop lying about my damn record”
“One of the seminal serial novels of the 1920s, ‘A Vile Turn’ follows a collegiate professor, Walter White, as he discovers he has a fatal illness. In order to provide for his family he reunites with a former student to begin producing illegal moonshine, despite his brother in law being a Prohibition Agent. As time goes on, and his operation expands White becomes entangled with gangsters and it becomes apparent that there is more at play than simple desire to provide for his family…”
Can't stop laughing at the "Model T: A Vile Turn Story"
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My first attempt at a wikibox, so obviously there are some issues:
Important note: Ignore the registered, turnout, %, and popular vote numbers. The % and popular numbers are made up guesstimations not actually based on anything resembling math, while the registered and turnout numbers are kept from the original wikibox (an Internet cookie for whoever correctly tells me what the original wikibox is). Taken together, they're nonsense. I just put these fake numbers there to make the wikibox look nice. The seats numbers are real, though. Now onto the accompanyng wikipedia article about a United States that went parliamentary in 1869 (might make more of these, though this TL idea is quite frankly not very original):
The 1923 United States federal election was held on November 4, 1923. The Progressive Party, led by Prime Minister Theodore Roosevelt, won an outright majority in their best electoral performance in history. The Democratic Party, led by Leader of the Opposition Oscar Underwood, was soundly defeated, winning only 226 seats, a loss of six after their already anemic 1920 results. The Republican Party, led by William Howard Taft, suffered a sharp decline, as the 1920 results made it abundantly clear that the Progressive Party had usurped its place as a major party; it lost more than half of its seats, reduced to just 64, with many leftwing voters abandoning it for the Progressives and its rightwing voters leaving for the Democrats. The Socialists also lost seats, returning only 20 MPs, as its influence waned during the economically prosperous 20's. The Prohibition Party, which had seen its namesake goal enacted a few years earlier, also lost seats, as since prohibition was in place, many voters questioned its continued existence; leader Wayne Wheeler largely kept the party in place to maintain his place as an MP and also as a precaution to ensure that alcohol would ever be legalized again. The number of MPs was reduced to 650, down from the 652 that had been in place during the last decade to accommodate New Mexico and Arizona.
At the time of the election, the government was formed by a coalition of the Progressives and Republicans, who governed together largely due to their shared distrust of the Democrats. Since the Progressives were the larger party, their leader, Theodore Roosevelt, was the prime minister, while William Howard Taft, the Republican leader, was the deputy prime minister. However, the two parties were increasingly headed down differently ideological paths, as the loss of leftist Republicans to the Progressives meant the GOP rapidly veered to the right. The Republicans had called the 1920 election by defeating the Roosevelt government in a motion of no confidence in an attempt to overtake it in seats, but failed and instead lost seats, making it clear the Progressives would be the primary opponents of the Democrats. The 1923 election was called by Roosevelt, who by that time had become tired of Republicans blocking aspects of his agenda; sensing that conventional wisdom that the party would lose support at the next election was correct, the election was scheduled for November.
In the wake of their majority win, the stage was set for the mid-20's to enact much progressive legislation, and 1924 and 1925 saw some of it enacted. However, this would soon be complicated by Roosevelt himself. While only in his 60's, the premier's health had been deteriorating since his taking over as prime minister in 1918, and by 1923 he was only keeping the post until the next election. He continued on for long enough to pass the 1924 budget, but by the middle of the year his health issues were such that he resigned, and the divisive Hiram Johnson won the leadership race to replace him. The retired Roosevelt managed to keep the peace until his death in late 1925, at which the Progressives, split over Johnson's leadership, descended into infighting, keeping them from governing effectively; despite this, the Parliament served its full term until 1928.
Other parties also faced consequences. Taft, already tired as Republican leader by 1920 and finally cognizant of the fact his party would not lead government for the foreseeable future, stepped down as Republican leader and was replaced by Calvin Coolidge, whose leadership was a major step into the Republicans' transition from a big tent party to a libertarian one whose influence lay as a coalition partner and in holding the balance of power. Debs initially stayed on as the Socialist leader, but died in 1926, prior to the next election, and was replaced by Norman Mattoon Thomas. Wayne Wheeler experienced a similar fate; his death in 1927 saw him replaced as Prohibitionist leader by D. Leigh Colvin. The Democrats' embarrassing defeat compelled Oscar Underwood to resign; he was replaced initially by conservative New Yorker Alton B. Parker. However, Parker also died in 1926, leading to another leadership contest; John Nance Garner won, and he would lead the Democrats into the 1928 election.
Important note: Ignore the registered, turnout, %, and popular vote numbers. The % and popular numbers are made up guesstimations not actually based on anything resembling math, while the registered and turnout numbers are kept from the original wikibox (an Internet cookie for whoever correctly tells me what the original wikibox is). Taken together, they're nonsense. I just put these fake numbers there to make the wikibox look nice. The seats numbers are real, though. Now onto the accompanyng wikipedia article about a United States that went parliamentary in 1869 (might make more of these, though this TL idea is quite frankly not very original):
The 1923 United States federal election was held on November 4, 1923. The Progressive Party, led by Prime Minister Theodore Roosevelt, won an outright majority in their best electoral performance in history. The Democratic Party, led by Leader of the Opposition Oscar Underwood, was soundly defeated, winning only 226 seats, a loss of six after their already anemic 1920 results. The Republican Party, led by William Howard Taft, suffered a sharp decline, as the 1920 results made it abundantly clear that the Progressive Party had usurped its place as a major party; it lost more than half of its seats, reduced to just 64, with many leftwing voters abandoning it for the Progressives and its rightwing voters leaving for the Democrats. The Socialists also lost seats, returning only 20 MPs, as its influence waned during the economically prosperous 20's. The Prohibition Party, which had seen its namesake goal enacted a few years earlier, also lost seats, as since prohibition was in place, many voters questioned its continued existence; leader Wayne Wheeler largely kept the party in place to maintain his place as an MP and also as a precaution to ensure that alcohol would ever be legalized again. The number of MPs was reduced to 650, down from the 652 that had been in place during the last decade to accommodate New Mexico and Arizona.
At the time of the election, the government was formed by a coalition of the Progressives and Republicans, who governed together largely due to their shared distrust of the Democrats. Since the Progressives were the larger party, their leader, Theodore Roosevelt, was the prime minister, while William Howard Taft, the Republican leader, was the deputy prime minister. However, the two parties were increasingly headed down differently ideological paths, as the loss of leftist Republicans to the Progressives meant the GOP rapidly veered to the right. The Republicans had called the 1920 election by defeating the Roosevelt government in a motion of no confidence in an attempt to overtake it in seats, but failed and instead lost seats, making it clear the Progressives would be the primary opponents of the Democrats. The 1923 election was called by Roosevelt, who by that time had become tired of Republicans blocking aspects of his agenda; sensing that conventional wisdom that the party would lose support at the next election was correct, the election was scheduled for November.
In the wake of their majority win, the stage was set for the mid-20's to enact much progressive legislation, and 1924 and 1925 saw some of it enacted. However, this would soon be complicated by Roosevelt himself. While only in his 60's, the premier's health had been deteriorating since his taking over as prime minister in 1918, and by 1923 he was only keeping the post until the next election. He continued on for long enough to pass the 1924 budget, but by the middle of the year his health issues were such that he resigned, and the divisive Hiram Johnson won the leadership race to replace him. The retired Roosevelt managed to keep the peace until his death in late 1925, at which the Progressives, split over Johnson's leadership, descended into infighting, keeping them from governing effectively; despite this, the Parliament served its full term until 1928.
Other parties also faced consequences. Taft, already tired as Republican leader by 1920 and finally cognizant of the fact his party would not lead government for the foreseeable future, stepped down as Republican leader and was replaced by Calvin Coolidge, whose leadership was a major step into the Republicans' transition from a big tent party to a libertarian one whose influence lay as a coalition partner and in holding the balance of power. Debs initially stayed on as the Socialist leader, but died in 1926, prior to the next election, and was replaced by Norman Mattoon Thomas. Wayne Wheeler experienced a similar fate; his death in 1927 saw him replaced as Prohibitionist leader by D. Leigh Colvin. The Democrats' embarrassing defeat compelled Oscar Underwood to resign; he was replaced initially by conservative New Yorker Alton B. Parker. However, Parker also died in 1926, leading to another leadership contest; John Nance Garner won, and he would lead the Democrats into the 1928 election.
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Chase: "We have the better of our opponents; we have completely written them down."
Carroll: "And do you think that writing will settle the question between us?"
Chase: "To be sure, what else can we resort to?"
Carroll: "The bayonet. Our arguments will only raise the feelings of the people to that pitch, when open war will be looked to as the arbiter of the dispute."
As a Catholic, I already love this scenario, although for plausibility's sake I do wonder how a Catholic was elected in early America. After all, this was one of the flags used early on in the Revolution:
Chase: "We have the better of our opponents; we have completely written them down."
Carroll: "And do you think that writing will settle the question between us?"
Chase: "To be sure, what else can we resort to?"
Carroll: "The bayonet. Our arguments will only raise the feelings of the people to that pitch, when open war will be looked to as the arbiter of the dispute."
It's really a oneshot thing, I have some ideas, but nothing really concrete. Carroll is an interesting guy, if anything, I could see his mission to Quebec with Franklin and Chase go super well? But who knows.
"Hurt" is a song by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from its second studio album, The Downward Spiral (1994), written by Trent Reznor. It was released on April 17, 1995, as a promotional single from the album. The song received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Song in 1996. In 2020, Kerrang and Billboard ranked the song number two and number three, respectively, on their lists of the greatest Nine Inch Nails songs.
In 2002, Elvis Presley covered "Hurt" to commercial and critical acclaim. He covered the song in a different way to the original for his estranged wife Priscilla and daughter Lisa Marie. The related music video is considered one of the greatest of all time by publications such as NME. Reznor praised Presley's interpretation of the song for its "sincerity and meaning," going so far as to say "that song isn't mine anymore."
The cover triggered a career resurgence for Presley who was widely recognized as an icon of American music, but had most of the preceding decades in a from of musical exile in Las Vegas. In the mid-90's, after the death of his longtime manager Col. Tom Parker, he began a prolific collaboration with former Def Jam producer Rick Rubin, resulting in critical and commercial success.
Music video
The music video was directed by former Nine Inch Nails collaborator Mark Romanek, who sought to capture the essence of Elvis, both in his youth and in his older years. In a montage of shots of Presley's early years, twisted imagery of fruit and flowers in various states of decay, seem to capture both his legendary past and the stark and seemingly cruel reality of the present. Much of the video is in a style deliberately reminiscent of vanitas paintings, thus emphasizing the lyrics' mood of the futility and passing nature of human achievements. According to literature professor Leigh H. Edwards, the music video portrays "Presley's own paradoxical themes".Romanek had this to say about his decision to focus on the Graceland museum in Memphis:
When the video was filmed in February 2003, Presley was 68 years old and had serious health problems. His frailty is clearly evident in the video. He died seven months later, on September 12.
In July 2011, the music video was named one of "The 30 All-TIME Best Music Videos" by Time. It was ranked the greatest music video of all time by Rolling Stone.
The house where music video for "Hurt" was shot, which was Elvis' home for nearly 40 years, was destroyed in a fire on April 10, 2007.
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