You're just going to brush off the blatant corruption during his stint in the oval office then? Or the matter that Lincoln likely would've been similar to Johnson in terms of forgiveness if he wasn't assassinated? Grant was a good general, terrible politician.
America's Silver Era, The Story of William Jennings Bryan
- Thread starter CELTICEMPIRE
- Start date
Grant's crimes as a politician were extreme delegating, rather than partaking in corruption himself. And he did uphold Reconstruction and hold off Jim Crow as best he could.
IMHO Roosevelt was destined for fame. It's not inevitable that he become President, but he's not going to fade into the background either.
1)it was clearly a politically motivated asassassination. Leon became dissafected with the catholic curch in the wake off a market crash, and turned to the socialist groups in his area. Later he was inspired by the killing of the Italian king by an anarchist. Not to mention that pretty much all reports show he was of firm mind.
2) maybe not to your mind but you have to put it into context of a radical socialists' perspective. McKinley was the poster child of the guilded age, and the president that began America's first steps into a more global form of imperialism (Cuba, Porto Rico, Hawaii, and so on)
Ah, you're arguing from his perspective. In that case it makes a lot more sense. Thanks for clarifying.
By this logic Harding should be similarly defended given he himself had no personal stake in his oil scandals too. Grant picked the men in his staff, in this respect it's still on him for his choices and Grant picked poorly.
harding and grant get an unfair reputation imo. Pierce was still a piece of shit.
Interesting that you say that, but before I settled on William Jennings Bryan, I was considering a TL where Pierce's presidency was good.
Now that would be interesting, since I feel he was one of our worst presidents personally.
It might be a while.
The reason I decided against making that TL was because I couldn't figure out exactly how to make his presidency good.
Earlier in this year I came up with a few TL ideas:
-Confederate Victory (1862 POD with foreign intervention, I had a short-lived TL with this)
-Breckinridge elected in 1860 (This one is an old idea of mine and I have the first chapter somewhere in my documents)
-Soviets start WWII
-A TL focused around Chiang Kai-shek
-A TL focused on Franklin Pierce (POD where his son Benjamin doesn't die)
-A TL focused on Henry Clay (POD where he defeats Polk)
-A TL focused on William Jennings Bryan (already wrote part of a TL with this so I had a basic idea of what direction to go in)
-The Guangxu Emperor escapes from house arrest
And the Guangxu Emperor lived at the same time as WJB, so why not put that last idea into my new TL?
I'm not sure we should really look back at politicians for giving their darndest. Yeah, he crushed the Klan... and then had to pull out federal troops and then proceed to have Reconstruction collapse. Let's not even mention the economic collapse and his terrible (and admittedly at the time economic consensus) response. I get where the reevaluation of Grant is coming from because I too have a lot of sympathy for him, but we shouldn't lower the standards we give to leaders for merely trying hard. If FDR tried his best but the New Deal failed while the Depression kept getting worse, he would be a terrible President. Tried his best but still bad. No more than we should re-evaluate Franklin Pierce because he was suffering from depression while in office.
I would really like to see such a TL, since it's one of the most interesting PODs and I could find just one about it. The Franklin Pierce Wank would also be interesting.
A Jefferson Davis-Franklin Pierce bromance?
Well, I hadn't really planned too much of it out.
I might get around to it eventually. This TL will probably be finished some time in March 2018, so I'll see what I can do after that.
Wonderful TL thus far. I actually am a new member of this site and had not realized that someone made a Bryan TL recently (always found this site’s lack of Bryan TL’s interesting, due to his dual nature of progressive and fundamentalist) and I was wondering if you would like to examine my very new Bryan TL. I don’t think it’s too similar, and I don’t want to copy your TL. I hope, from one Bryan enthusiast to another, that you appreciate it:
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...nnings-bryan-presidency.433272/#post-16255559
Someone posted on my TL that your TL might help me with mine. That’s how I found you. Keep up with the good work!
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...nnings-bryan-presidency.433272/#post-16255559
Someone posted on my TL that your TL might help me with mine. That’s how I found you. Keep up with the good work!
Chapter XVIII, Peak Progressivism
Theodore Roosevelt came into office as twenty-seventh President of the United States with widespread support. Even those who didn’t vote for him came to like the man. After 16 years of Democratic rule, Republicans had high hopes that the Executive Mansion would once again be dominated by the GOP. Roosevelt, in stark contrast to his predecessor, believed in a strong and active executive branch. He was not hesitant to use executive order as a means of enacting his agenda. Roosevelt was clearly in the party’s progressive wing, though he was much more palatable to the Eastern establishment than Robert La Follette. The 1910s can be seen as a high point for American progressivism as both major parties became dominated by their progressive wings. The Republican Party, which resisted progressive policies when Bryan was in office, now was often the driving force behind such reforms.
-Excerpt from The Guide to the Executive Mansion, an in Depth Look at America's Presidents, Benjamin Buckley, Harvard Press, 1999.
Roosevelt soon got to work on building his presidential cabinet. He chose Ohio Senator Joseph B. Foraker as Secretary of State. Lyman Gage of Iowa was chosen as Secretary of the Treasury (this gave some diehard Gold Standard supporters false hope for the new administration). Representative Elihu Root of New York was chosen as Secretary of War. His Attorney General was Charles Evans Hughes. For Postmaster General, 1904 Presidential nominee Robert La Follette was selected, though the two would clash later on in Roosevelt’s presidency. Rhode Island Senator Nelson W. Aldrich became Secretary of the Navy. His Secretary of the Interior was Fred Dubois, who served in that same position in the Bryan administration. And finally, the new Secretary of Agriculture would be Representative Frank Hanly of Indiana.
At the beginning of Roosevelt’s Presidency, the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified. Now, an income tax could be collected by the federal government. Roosevelt was a strong supporter of Bryan’s conservation policy, and doubled the amount of land set aside by the Bryan and Dewey governments. Seeing much of his agenda advancing, Bryan returned to politics and was elected Senator. He looked forward to working with Roosevelt. Roosevelt had been on Bryan’s side on many issues when he was a Representative. Senator Bryan and President Roosevelt worked together during the first few years of the Roosevelt’s Presidency. The two even went on a hunting trip together. Roosevelt was able to accomplish even more than Bryan in many areas. Roosevelt faced much less opposition from Congress and the Supreme Court. From conservation to regulation to trust-busting, Roosevelt went even further than Bryan.
There was one very important area of disagreement between Roosevelt and Bryan’s Progressivism. This difference was in foreign policy. Roosevelt did not share Bryan’s views on war. While Dewey established a small American presence on the Philippines, Roosevelt increased it dramatically. The islands began to be referred to as an American colony. In 1912 America became involved in an internal conflict in the country. The majority-Muslim islands tried to break away from the Philippines and form the Moro Sultanate. Many of these Moro rebels had fought the Spanish as well. The Philippine army was weak and failed to put down the rebellion. Thus, Philippine President Aguinaldo asked for American help. While there was some opposition to intervention within the US, thousands of soldiers were sent to crush the rebellion. After the defeat of the rebels American influence in the Philippines became even greater.
(American troops in the Philippines)
The Roosevelt administration also worked to advance the cause of civil rights in America. The Republican-controlled Congress tried to pass bills designed to help African-Americans. Racially-motivated violence had been increasing over the last decade and white supremacist movements were becoming more organized and effective. Most of this was in the South, but Northern anti-Semitic movements sprung up as well. Historians believe that this trend began in the election of 1904 as a reaction against efforts to mobilize black voters in the South. Further enraging supporters of the Jim Crow system was the brief period of Republican control in North Carolina, which saw attempts by the state government to protect the rights of African-Americans. While federal civil rights legislation was derailed by filibustering Democrat Senators, the Roosevelt administration hired a significant number of black federal employees. Many Democrats used Roosevelt's support for civil rights against Republicans, and the GOP did lose seats in the 1910 midterms. However, it was not enough to hand control of Congress over to the Democratic Party.
-Excerpt from America's Silver Age, Edward S. Scott, Patriot Publishers, 2017.
-Excerpt from The Guide to the Executive Mansion, an in Depth Look at America's Presidents, Benjamin Buckley, Harvard Press, 1999.
Roosevelt soon got to work on building his presidential cabinet. He chose Ohio Senator Joseph B. Foraker as Secretary of State. Lyman Gage of Iowa was chosen as Secretary of the Treasury (this gave some diehard Gold Standard supporters false hope for the new administration). Representative Elihu Root of New York was chosen as Secretary of War. His Attorney General was Charles Evans Hughes. For Postmaster General, 1904 Presidential nominee Robert La Follette was selected, though the two would clash later on in Roosevelt’s presidency. Rhode Island Senator Nelson W. Aldrich became Secretary of the Navy. His Secretary of the Interior was Fred Dubois, who served in that same position in the Bryan administration. And finally, the new Secretary of Agriculture would be Representative Frank Hanly of Indiana.
At the beginning of Roosevelt’s Presidency, the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified. Now, an income tax could be collected by the federal government. Roosevelt was a strong supporter of Bryan’s conservation policy, and doubled the amount of land set aside by the Bryan and Dewey governments. Seeing much of his agenda advancing, Bryan returned to politics and was elected Senator. He looked forward to working with Roosevelt. Roosevelt had been on Bryan’s side on many issues when he was a Representative. Senator Bryan and President Roosevelt worked together during the first few years of the Roosevelt’s Presidency. The two even went on a hunting trip together. Roosevelt was able to accomplish even more than Bryan in many areas. Roosevelt faced much less opposition from Congress and the Supreme Court. From conservation to regulation to trust-busting, Roosevelt went even further than Bryan.
There was one very important area of disagreement between Roosevelt and Bryan’s Progressivism. This difference was in foreign policy. Roosevelt did not share Bryan’s views on war. While Dewey established a small American presence on the Philippines, Roosevelt increased it dramatically. The islands began to be referred to as an American colony. In 1912 America became involved in an internal conflict in the country. The majority-Muslim islands tried to break away from the Philippines and form the Moro Sultanate. Many of these Moro rebels had fought the Spanish as well. The Philippine army was weak and failed to put down the rebellion. Thus, Philippine President Aguinaldo asked for American help. While there was some opposition to intervention within the US, thousands of soldiers were sent to crush the rebellion. After the defeat of the rebels American influence in the Philippines became even greater.
(American troops in the Philippines)
The Roosevelt administration also worked to advance the cause of civil rights in America. The Republican-controlled Congress tried to pass bills designed to help African-Americans. Racially-motivated violence had been increasing over the last decade and white supremacist movements were becoming more organized and effective. Most of this was in the South, but Northern anti-Semitic movements sprung up as well. Historians believe that this trend began in the election of 1904 as a reaction against efforts to mobilize black voters in the South. Further enraging supporters of the Jim Crow system was the brief period of Republican control in North Carolina, which saw attempts by the state government to protect the rights of African-Americans. While federal civil rights legislation was derailed by filibustering Democrat Senators, the Roosevelt administration hired a significant number of black federal employees. Many Democrats used Roosevelt's support for civil rights against Republicans, and the GOP did lose seats in the 1910 midterms. However, it was not enough to hand control of Congress over to the Democratic Party.
-Excerpt from America's Silver Age, Edward S. Scott, Patriot Publishers, 2017.
Md139115
Banned
His big stick ripped over a cataclysmic hole in time and space to the result that every universe in where he is capable of existing results in his gloriously infectious grin yanking America or some equivalent of it hither and yon.
I like this timeline alot though I do have one major issue with it. I find Byron's passing of the "Just War Act" to be completely unrealistic and something that would never have happened during this time. It's extremely hard to define what a Just War is most of the time and by that definition America has violated it plenty of times in the past, especially in relation to Native Americans. The Army and Navy would never be on board with this and you'd have officers staging protests. Besides there's the fact that most of the congressmen would never warm up to an ideal created by a Catholic Saint. While Byron's supporters could hypothetically draft a bill, it would never pass either house.