Chapter 3: Governance
“I will give you the best I have.” -George Marshall (OTL)
George Marshall, 34th President of the United States, (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959)
George Marshall had no desire to be President. Some historians said that hesitancy made him a good leader, but he would be the first to disagree. Marshall’s first priorities after restoring order was to assemble the cabinet and ask if they wished to stay on. Not a single man resigned, honoring Marshall’s wishes for national unity. Marshall was able to quickly appoint skilled diplomat Dean Acheson to succeed him as Secretary of State. Marshall would then be forced to deal with the political repercussions of Truman’s assassination. Any calls for laws restricting Judaism or Jews in the US were off the table, a sentiment Marshall had declared in his first address to the nation, as well as in closed-door meetings with Southern Senators and leaders of the Conservative Coalition, who collaborated with Liberals to put a gag rule on such legislation, not wanting to evoke memories of Kristallnacht and the Nuremberg Laws.
As the first and only president sworn in in accordance with the Presidential Succession Act of 1886, Marshall would focus on reforming the line of succession. The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 would be unanimously passed in both houses of Congress, placing the Speaker of the House and President Pro Tempore of the Senate above the Secretary of State in the line of succession. Marshall felt a pang of guilt essentially being appointed to the presidency through his place on the cabinet, and congress agreed, thus placing the two highest congressional officers before the cabinet in the line of succession. This would later be solidified by the passage of the 22nd Amendment later that year.
Text of the 22nd Amendment (Same as OTL 25th Amendment):
Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
The National Defense Reorganization Act of 1947, which had been lingering since Truman's death, was passed by the end of the summer, establishing the Department of Defense to replace the War Department, The Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Council and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appointing James Forrestal to become the first Secretary of Defense. The United States Army Air Force would notiably be shifted into a new branch of the military, the simply named United States Air Force.
Marshall also passed the Civil Defense Reorganization Act of 1947, which created the cabinet-level Department of Civil Defense, which was tasked with internal security, defense infrastructure and defense of the homeland from foreign attack. The department would also have authority over the CIA, while the Defense Department would have control over the DIA. The department would be placed last in the line of succession, with Marshall appointing US Army General Mark Clark to the post after being confirmed by the Senate 96-2.
European recovery was also a large part of Marshall's agenda, as he spearheaded it as Secretary of State. His so-called “Marshall Plan” would be passed quickly in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1947, with some gripping from fiscal conservatives concerned about “handouts to dying empires”. The Marshall Plan authorized $12 billion to be given for European recovery, contingent upon the reduction of trade barriers and other regulations. The Marshall Plan would be lauded by liberals and internationalists alike, as it bolstered US allies and prevented European starvation.
By the end of the year, Marshall had already made many accomplishments modernizing the US command structure and defense bureaucracy, with his status as a war hero and stern, straightforward, and yet stubborn manner making him popular among the American people, and respected by Congress. This warm reception would be put to the test, however, as the Presidential Election of 1948 loomed and tensions with the Soviets threatened to bring the world closer to conflict…..
