"Hipster" PMs and Presidents Thread
- Thread starter Comisario
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Thomas C. Coffin was a fairly neat person. A Yale graduate from Idaho and a WWI veteran, he led a group of pro-labor Democrats in Pocatello opposed to the business focus of the Idaho Democrats under mayor (and then Governor) C. Ben Ross that managed to win control of the local party. Coffin himself ran for and won the mayoralty in 1931 and then the Second Congressional District, which was a surprise even in 1932 because the Second Congressional District was generally considered strongly Republican, but his bright political future as a young-ish New Dealer came to a tragic end when he was hit by a car and died in his first term.
Here's a weird one that also ties in sports. I don't know if he had national ambitions but former Nebraska football coach and congressman Tom Osborne did run for governor in 2004 but was beaten in the primary by Dave Heineman, but if he had won the republican primary (the equivalent to being governor in Nebraska) i'm guessing he'd run for Senate in either in 2012 or 2014. If he ran in 2012 he'd be 73 and maybe if he had the energy he might run for president. It'd be a long shot but might be interesting to see a former football coach in the white house.
Another one might be Nile Kinnick who won the Heisman in 1939 at Iowa. Apparently he was active in the Young Republicans and gave a speech at their convention. Unfortunately he died in a plane crash during World War Two, but had he lived, he might have had a good political career. He even had a grandfather who was governor of Iowa. So lets say after the war he goes back to law school and runs for congress sometime in the 50's and eventually runs for Senate. The guy would have a long career ahead of him as he was born in 1918. So maybe President Kinnick might be a thing.
Another one might be Nile Kinnick who won the Heisman in 1939 at Iowa. Apparently he was active in the Young Republicans and gave a speech at their convention. Unfortunately he died in a plane crash during World War Two, but had he lived, he might have had a good political career. He even had a grandfather who was governor of Iowa. So lets say after the war he goes back to law school and runs for congress sometime in the 50's and eventually runs for Senate. The guy would have a long career ahead of him as he was born in 1918. So maybe President Kinnick might be a thing.
I'm surprised more hasn't been done with Geoffrey Fieger, the controversial lawyer (famously representing Jack Kevorkian, among others) who was the Democratic nominee in the 1998 Michigan gubernatorial election.
Here's some highlights from Wikipedia:
Here's some highlights from Wikipedia:
Wikipedia said:
Wikipedia said:
Probably hard to get him elected - he lost to John Engler by about 25 points in 1998 - but if you can find a way to get him into higher office he'd be a fantastic Trump-like candidate on the Democratic side of things.Wikipedia said:
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Nazi Space Spy
Banned
His son Shane Osborne was later the pilot involved in 2001 spy plane crash in China. He also ran for office.
Shane wasn’t his son. Shane was from Norfolk and Tom was from Hastings and they were not related.
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Red Kelly. His political record isn’t super impressive - he served as the Liberal MP for York Centre for three and a half years in the early 1960s before retiring - but what’s fun about him is he was a famed Toronto Maple Leaf and helped the team win two Stanley Cup victories while he was in office.
Now, I don’t know the circumstances of his retirement from politics, so it might not be realistic to have him stick around - he might’ve decided politics just wasn’t for him - but if not then he’d make for a good Liberal leader in the 70s, 80s, and even the 90s.
Now, I don’t know the circumstances of his retirement from politics, so it might not be realistic to have him stick around - he might’ve decided politics just wasn’t for him - but if not then he’d make for a good Liberal leader in the 70s, 80s, and even the 90s.
Don't know if this is hipster enough, but my family used to be big into the Charolais cattle business and in Missouri one of the bigger Charolais dealers of the time was a man by the name of Jerry Litton who ran for congress and later ran for Senate in Missouri, but died in a plane crash in Kansas City the night he won the Democratic primary in 1976. He was quite popular and was known for having a local television show called "Dialogue with Litton" and had guests such as Earl Butz and Jimmy Carter, and as congressman he was quite popular and there were even Litton for President bumper stickers. If the guy runs in 76 and wins (he was only 49 at the time) he'd be in a pretty good spot to run in 1992 and being he'd be a farmer he might do well in a state like Iowa which could help him to win the nomination.
Some borderline current politics ones from Italy:
Vincenzo De Luca : mayor of Salerno for cumulative 17 years between the 90s, the 00s and the 10s, and current President of Campania. Politically born in the Italian Communist Party, currently member of the centre-left Democratic Party. Defined by someone as a "center-left populist", De Luca is surely an interesting character; authoritarian, with some legal controversy but much cleaner than the average Southern politician, and the most theatrical statesman in Italian politics. The theatrics of De Luca are what made him nationally famous, since he was Mayor of Salerno. His first term as governor was pretty controversial for a while, with a lot of good and bad at the same time, and his re-election was probable, but in doubt. Then Covid came. De Luca provided a strong and steady leadership (with the usual colour), and acquired a lot of support. This September he broke, together with the President of Veneto Luca Zaia, the record for the previous highest result a Regional President has ever got in a regional election, being re-elected with 69,5% of votes. I could see him becoming Secretary of PD or President of the Council in the future. Here's a commentary of him for more details.
Antonino Spirlì : journalist and TV writer for many years, co-inventor of that abomination of Forum (fake justice court for the public evaluation of fake disputes between people. I stress on "fake", since I personally know one of the "plaintiffs" and both the name and the story were fake. Epitome of trash). He also became a right-wing populist and sovranist thinker, and pushed these ideas in opinion articles in some newspapers. Surprisingly for someone in his ideological wing, he's homosexual, but this contrast gets less important when some of his...colorful opinions on the matter get read. In his words: "I say ricchione (faggot) and trouble to who tries to stop me", or "we're in the hands of lobbies, and the most powerful is the gay one", or again, on gay marriages: "you're all crazy. Have you ever saw two men marrying? A baby with two fathers, or two mothers? Have you ever seen them in nature? Have you ever seen a dog puppy with two fathers that bark in the same manner? I'll say ni**er and faggot till the end of my days". This year he entered politics with right-wing populist and sovranist Lega in the regional elections of Calabria, and got nomineed Alderman/Councilman/? for Culture and Vicepresident. Literally today he has become president of the Region Calabria after the previous President, Jole Santelli, suddenly died, probably due to the cancer she was battling since a while. He's kinda a quixotic and hipster guy, and right now he's in control of a Region.
Vincenzo De Luca : mayor of Salerno for cumulative 17 years between the 90s, the 00s and the 10s, and current President of Campania. Politically born in the Italian Communist Party, currently member of the centre-left Democratic Party. Defined by someone as a "center-left populist", De Luca is surely an interesting character; authoritarian, with some legal controversy but much cleaner than the average Southern politician, and the most theatrical statesman in Italian politics. The theatrics of De Luca are what made him nationally famous, since he was Mayor of Salerno. His first term as governor was pretty controversial for a while, with a lot of good and bad at the same time, and his re-election was probable, but in doubt. Then Covid came. De Luca provided a strong and steady leadership (with the usual colour), and acquired a lot of support. This September he broke, together with the President of Veneto Luca Zaia, the record for the previous highest result a Regional President has ever got in a regional election, being re-elected with 69,5% of votes. I could see him becoming Secretary of PD or President of the Council in the future. Here's a commentary of him for more details.
Antonino Spirlì : journalist and TV writer for many years, co-inventor of that abomination of Forum (fake justice court for the public evaluation of fake disputes between people. I stress on "fake", since I personally know one of the "plaintiffs" and both the name and the story were fake. Epitome of trash). He also became a right-wing populist and sovranist thinker, and pushed these ideas in opinion articles in some newspapers. Surprisingly for someone in his ideological wing, he's homosexual, but this contrast gets less important when some of his...colorful opinions on the matter get read. In his words: "I say ricchione (faggot) and trouble to who tries to stop me", or "we're in the hands of lobbies, and the most powerful is the gay one", or again, on gay marriages: "you're all crazy. Have you ever saw two men marrying? A baby with two fathers, or two mothers? Have you ever seen them in nature? Have you ever seen a dog puppy with two fathers that bark in the same manner? I'll say ni**er and faggot till the end of my days". This year he entered politics with right-wing populist and sovranist Lega in the regional elections of Calabria, and got nomineed Alderman/Councilman/? for Culture and Vicepresident. Literally today he has become president of the Region Calabria after the previous President, Jole Santelli, suddenly died, probably due to the cancer she was battling since a while. He's kinda a quixotic and hipster guy, and right now he's in control of a Region.
PNWKing
Banned
Dave Ramsey the radio host would make for an interesting at least Governor if not Vice President or President.
Shane Osborn (notice that Tom Osborne spelled his last name with an e) was a pilot and State Treasurer of Nebraska. Get him into either the Senate or the Governorship in the early 2000s and he could easily run for President in 2008 or 2012.
Shane Osborn (notice that Tom Osborne spelled his last name with an e) was a pilot and State Treasurer of Nebraska. Get him into either the Senate or the Governorship in the early 2000s and he could easily run for President in 2008 or 2012.
PNWKing
Banned
Thomas Kuchel, a moderate Republican Senator from California who was floor manager for both the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act. Would make for an interesting 1968 or 1972 nominee in an ATL.
John Heinz, heir to the Heinz fortune and first husband of Teresa Heinz Kerry.
John Heinz, heir to the Heinz fortune and first husband of Teresa Heinz Kerry.
For the USSR, Solomon Lozovsky: a trade unionist and only General Secretary of Profintern/Red International Labour Union. He was also one of the leaders of the Central Council of Trade Unions and a party Central Committee member. He was generally a supporter of Stalin, but that didn't stop him getting purged in 1952. If the trade unions become more influential, Lozovsky would be a leadership candidate from that wing of the party.
Forgot he spelled it without an E. I was in junior high when all that went down. I grew up in Nebraska so it was a big deal. Speaking of another hipster president related to Nebraska, I wonder if any of William Jennings Bryan's kids would have ever tried to make a dynasty either in Nebraska or Florida where he retired. I know his daughter was a congresswoman in Florida and maybe a political dynasty of sorts could be started with daughter Ruth.
If they're an American politician and they don't have a wikipedia page, then they're a hipster pick in my opinion.
Craig Barnes is one of those. Peace Activist, desegregationist, founder of Colorado Common Cause, and in 1970 he primaried out a conservative Democratic congressman from Colorado who had served for two decades, only to lose in the general election. He never ran for office again, despite losing at the age of 34 and having plenty of chances to do so. I could see him making a run for Governor in 1974, serving two or three terms, and making a run for President in 1988 as the western candidate. He might not win the general election, or even the Democratic primary, but he could probably do better than Gary Hart.
Craig Barnes is one of those. Peace Activist, desegregationist, founder of Colorado Common Cause, and in 1970 he primaried out a conservative Democratic congressman from Colorado who had served for two decades, only to lose in the general election. He never ran for office again, despite losing at the age of 34 and having plenty of chances to do so. I could see him making a run for Governor in 1974, serving two or three terms, and making a run for President in 1988 as the western candidate. He might not win the general election, or even the Democratic primary, but he could probably do better than Gary Hart.
H. F. Samuel was a four time political candidate in Idaho. He ran as the Democratic candidate for Governor in 1918 (losing 60-40), then (after the primary was abolished, and the Idaho Non-Partisan League reconstituted itself as a political party), as the Progressive Party nominee in 1922 and 1924, losing both times by narrow margins (40-32 the first time, and 44-39 the second, both to the Republican candidate). He also ran in 1926 for Senate, losing 45-30 to the Republican Party.
If the political graveyard is to be believed, his full name was Henry Floyd Samuels, he was a lawyer, the Shoshone County Attorney from 1898 to 1900, worked in zinc, lead, and silver mining, build a hotel, and was a banker. He was born in 1869 and died in 1948 at the age of 79.
Now, I'm not saying if he'd won in 1918, or any of the subsequent attempts, that would put him on the fast-track to the Presidency, but his political sustainability, getting between 30 to 40% of the vote as a Democrat or Progressive, tells me he had a strong base in the state. Maybe in a world where the Democrats and Progressives achieved some kind of agreement in the state, or across the west, he could have become a Burton K. Wheeler type of western Senator, powerful, occasionally talked about for President, and maybe even a candidate for VP (as a Democrat or as a Progressive).
If the political graveyard is to be believed, his full name was Henry Floyd Samuels, he was a lawyer, the Shoshone County Attorney from 1898 to 1900, worked in zinc, lead, and silver mining, build a hotel, and was a banker. He was born in 1869 and died in 1948 at the age of 79.
Now, I'm not saying if he'd won in 1918, or any of the subsequent attempts, that would put him on the fast-track to the Presidency, but his political sustainability, getting between 30 to 40% of the vote as a Democrat or Progressive, tells me he had a strong base in the state. Maybe in a world where the Democrats and Progressives achieved some kind of agreement in the state, or across the west, he could have become a Burton K. Wheeler type of western Senator, powerful, occasionally talked about for President, and maybe even a candidate for VP (as a Democrat or as a Progressive).
George L. Berry was a Tennessee labour union activist who was appointed the Democratic Senator for Tenessee by Governor Gordon Browning in 1937, serving until 1938, when he failed to be nominated for re-election. During that time he was president of the International Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America, and was an administrator in Roosevelt's National Recovery Administration (NRA). The fact he attempted to run for re-election did show he had some greater political ambitions.
What's interesting is that as well as being a pro-labour Democrat in the South, which was unusual enough at the time, was that Berry was actually one of the top candidates to be John W. Davis' running mate in the 1924, only losing by a pretty narrow 332-270 to eventual nominee Charles W. Bryan, who was favoured by party leaders like Davis and Al Smith.
While the 1924 election was basically unwinnable for any Democratic candidate - a POD that involves a less Republican-dominated 1920s could see him elevated to higher office, and potentially only one heart attack away from the presidency.
What's interesting is that as well as being a pro-labour Democrat in the South, which was unusual enough at the time, was that Berry was actually one of the top candidates to be John W. Davis' running mate in the 1924, only losing by a pretty narrow 332-270 to eventual nominee Charles W. Bryan, who was favoured by party leaders like Davis and Al Smith.
While the 1924 election was basically unwinnable for any Democratic candidate - a POD that involves a less Republican-dominated 1920s could see him elevated to higher office, and potentially only one heart attack away from the presidency.
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Elystan Morgan one of the most interesting figures in 1960s-70s Welsh Labour politics. Originally a Plaid Cymru member he joined Labour in 1965 and the following year was elected MP for Cardigan/Ceredigion, he served as a Junior Home Office Minister 1968-70, before being chosen as Chairman of the Welsh group of Labour MPs in 1971 (remarkable considering he was only 38 and had been an MP for 5 years). Had the misfortune to lose his seat in 1974, later leading the unsuccessful 'Yes' campaign in the 1979 Welsh Assembly referendum. He was defeated in a bid to return to parliament succeeding his good friend Cledwyn Hughes for Angelsey in the subsequent general election campaign, and effectively left politics to focus on his legal career.
Had he been able to hold onto a seat in parliament he would have been a likely choice for Welsh Secretary in a Labour government in the 70s, 80s. More significantly had a Welsh Assembly been created, either with the Kilbrandon Commission proposals implemented in full or the 1979 Referendum being successful he would have been one of the main contenders to become Premier/First Secretary/First Minister of Wales.
Had he been able to hold onto a seat in parliament he would have been a likely choice for Welsh Secretary in a Labour government in the 70s, 80s. More significantly had a Welsh Assembly been created, either with the Kilbrandon Commission proposals implemented in full or the 1979 Referendum being successful he would have been one of the main contenders to become Premier/First Secretary/First Minister of Wales.
I wouldn't call him that much of a "hipster" since he's a very well known, even if fringe, figure nowadays, but Dennis Kucinich's career could've been very different had he been reelected mayor of Cleveland in 1979. There's a variety of PODs that could be used: first, not firing Hongisto, which led to the attempt to recall him (making him a little more popular ITTL as a result), and second, keeping George Voinovich's daughter from being struck and killed by a van.
If things go right for Kucinich and he wins a third term in 1981, he could take credit for the Cleveland's financial recovery in the eighties and run for governor of Ohio (he can't run for the Senate since both seats are occupied by very powerful Democratic incumbents, John Glenn and Howard Metzenbaum). Depending on how soon he decides to leave the mayoralty, he could become a strong presidential candidate as soon as 1988, assuming he becomes governor in 1982.
If things go right for Kucinich and he wins a third term in 1981, he could take credit for the Cleveland's financial recovery in the eighties and run for governor of Ohio (he can't run for the Senate since both seats are occupied by very powerful Democratic incumbents, John Glenn and Howard Metzenbaum). Depending on how soon he decides to leave the mayoralty, he could become a strong presidential candidate as soon as 1988, assuming he becomes governor in 1982.
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Kucinich is an odd one, yes. Has a kind of appeal about him despite very much not 'looking' the part.