DBWI: Hughes lost to Wilson in 1916

C.E. Hughes defeated Wilson in the 1916 presidential election by running as a moderate with an even hand instead of as an ultra conservative like Taft or a progressive like Roosevelt. He avoided the tariff issue, calling only for modest increases to fund the military expenditures that Wilson had created. He ran to be slightly more hawkish than Wilson, instead of as an isolationist or as an imperialist. What if he had run a different campaign, either to his right or to his left, causing him to lose the election? How would the Great War have gone were Wilson running the country rather than Hughes? Would Wilson have had a more difficult time getting the US in the League of Nations post-war without Hughes’ handling of the Senate Isolationists? Are there any other knock-on effects of no Hughes presidency we might be ignoring?
 
C.E. Hughes defeated Wilson in the 1916 presidential election by running as a moderate with an even hand instead of as an ultra conservative like Taft or a progressive like Roosevelt. He avoided the tariff issue, calling only for modest increases to fund the military expenditures that Wilson had created. He ran to be slightly more hawkish than Wilson, instead of as an isolationist or as an imperialist. What if he had run a different campaign, either to his right or to his left, causing him to lose the election? How would the Great War have gone were Wilson running the country rather than Hughes? Would Wilson have had a more difficult time getting the US in the League of Nations post-war without Hughes’ handling of the Senate Isolationists? Are there any other knock-on effects of no Hughes presidency we might be ignoring?

Given Wilson's record on race, you probably wouldn't see the 1918 Anti-Lynching Act signed into law.
 
Given Wilson's record on race, you probably wouldn't see the 1918 Anti-Lynching Act signed into law.

That’s true, but I think it’s unlikely any bill similar to it would be signed by any Dem President until after the second Civil Rights Movement in the 1920s.
 
Wilson had an idealized but unrealistic view of the world, plus rumors had that he would’ve segregated the offices.

Wilson still would’ve gotten into the war, just probably some months later than OTL. However, Hughes did appoint some capable people over in Europe and thus, was smart enough to not let Britain and France screw over Germany.

Plus, we helped Russia in the nick of time to make the Provisional Govenrment looked good. It’s why Lenin’s Bolsheviks failed the uprising. The public was on the side of the Duma.
 
That’s true, but I think it’s unlikely any bill similar to it would be signed by any Dem President until after the second Civil Rights Movement in the 1920s.

After Wilson lost in 1916 (despite winning the popular vote) he made a comeback in 1920. In his second term Wilson did everything he could to undermine progress on civil rights. I imagine he would've done the same in 1917-1921, only it might've been worse since the wartime emergency would award him greater presidential authority.
 
After Wilson lost in 1916 (despite winning the popular vote) he made a comeback in 1920. In his second term Wilson did everything he could to undermine progress on civil rights. I imagine he would've done the same in 1917-1921, only it might've been worse since the wartime emergency would award him greater presidential authority.

Yeah, and it was Wilson’s fuckups that caused FDR to switch from Democrats to Republicans. He succeeded where Teddy failed in a lot of social reforms though the Japanese-American War also helped (Pearl Harbor came out of nowebere and if the US was made at Japan before, the Rape of Nanking pretty much pushed it. Only reason Japan did not get off as harshly was because Britain stepped in for Japan’s rebuilding while the US helped China rebuild after Kai-Shek got shot.)

If I recall correctly, Europe was dealing with a war against fascism st the time. It was France, Germany, the Netherlands, Bulgaria and Romania against Fascist Italy, Francoist Spain, Portugal’s Estado Novo, Yugoslavia and Turkey.
 

Thomas1195

Banned
It was France, Germany, the Netherlands, Bulgaria and Romania against Fascist Italy, Francoist Spain, Portugal’s Estado Novo, Yugoslavia and Turkey.
OOC: France alone should be able to handle Italy + Spain + Portugal + Yugoslavia + Turkey. France + Germany would be overkill.
 
Like the Federal Health Act of 1939, which established universal health care in the US.
Yeah, thankfully. It was pretty controversial, but then the war with Japan came and suddenly a lot of people were quite happy with it and FDR was able to rally the support to reinforce it, especially with anti-discrimination laws.

OOC: France alone should be able to handle Italy + Spain + Portugal + Yugoslavia + Turkey. France + Germany would be overkill.
OOC: Well, France is namely dealing with the first three and the other two are because of an alliance of convenience by Italy, and so that’s how Romano and Bulgaria get involved, especially when Greece is taken. Germany i reckon gets involved as a change to even things out with France while the Dutch play support
 
Wilson’s second term was scandal-ridden, luckily for us. It ensured civil rights would be protected, ironically, since opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1923 (redone in 1925) was effectively tied to Wilson’s incompetence and corruption by Republican and anti-corruption activist President Harding, which even the most racist of Southerners could barely stomach.
 
Wilson’s second term was scandal-ridden, luckily for us. It ensured civil rights would be protected, ironically, since opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1923 (redone in 1925) was effectively tied to Wilson’s incompetence and corruption by Republican and anti-corruption activist President Harding, which even the most racist of Southerners could barely stomach.

Yeah, though it did also symbolize the beginning of the end of the quasi-two party system the USA had for a long while. Once the Democrats fell apart in the early 1940s after years of incompetance, it caused the infighting regarding the moderates and progressives in the Republicans to come out in the open and split. FDR refound the Progressive Party and became its first candidate and president (also his last term as he died just after leaving office).
 
Yeah, though it did also symbolize the beginning of the end of the quasi-two party system the USA had for a long while. Once the Democrats fell apart in the early 1940s after years of incompetance, it caused the infighting regarding the moderates and progressives in the Republicans to come out in the open and split. FDR refound the Progressive Party and became its first candidate and president (also his last term as he died just after leaving office).

So, do you think the Dems still fall apart if Wilson doesn’t lose to Hughes?
 
So, do you think the Dems still fall apart if Wilson doesn’t lose to Hughes?

Likely not. Wilson’s loss then and later victory planted the seeds for revolt down the line and the different political climate under someone like Wilson would have large ramifications geopolitically.

Though both the Dems and GOP fell in the end. We’ve got... like five main parties now.
 
Likely not. Wilson’s loss then and later victory planted the seeds for revolt down the line and the different political climate under someone like Wilson would have large ramifications geopolitically.

Though both the Dems and GOP fell in the end. We’ve got... like five main parties now.

No politics in this forum!!!

I tend to agree though, the political climate would’ve been much different
 
No politics in this forum!!!

I tend to agree though, the political climate would’ve been much different

I’m not politicking, just noting the surprise on how the US has five main political parties when it’s kinda always been two.

What other big deals happened? I know if Wilson, he probably would’ve done something dumb like show “Birth of a Nation” in the White House
 
I’m not politicking, just noting the surprise on how the US has five main political parties when it’s kinda always been two.

What other big deals happened? I know if Wilson, he probably would’ve done something dumb like show “Birth of a Nation” in the White House

OOC: didn’t he do that in his first term?

IC: Hughes was able to repeal the Clayton Antitrust Act and replace it with the Wadsworth Antitrust Act, which was far more limited in scope. He also repealed the Adamson Act entirely, and increased the role of private banks in the Federal Reserve, which has both fueled accusations of corruption in the Fed while also actually ensuring a relatively recession-free economy. I mean, there have been no major economic downturns since 1917 and only 3-4 minor recessions, depending on what economists you talk to.
 
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