alternatehistory.com

Taken from "A History of American Politics, 1920-present, copyright 1992.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the president who reshaped American politics more than any other. His progressive economic and social reforms brought an end to the Laissez-faire policies of the previous generations. His leadership brought about allied victory in the second world war, and turned America into an unprecedented superpower. His unorthodox decision to seek a third, and then fourth term, shook American politics to it's core, and paved the way for the longest serving president in American history, and the dominance of Liberal Democrats, which has continued (with two brief interruptions 1953-1961 and 1985-1989) ever since. After his death in 1945, his vice president, Harry S. Truman came to lead the United states for the rest of the 1940s, and the early 50s. Seen mostly as a "transitional figure", noted mainly for his quixotic support for the proposed "22nd amendment" which would undue the very precedent that his predecessor had set. The first interruption was the 1952 election of republican Dwight "Ike" Eisenhower, who lead for the rest of the 1950s. His main concern as president was Military power, putting high priority on the Space Race, and Nuclear build up. He served two terms (the last president to do so) before being beaten out in 1960 by John F Kennedy. The youngest President in American history at the time he assumed office, and the first Roman Catholic, Kennedy would survive numerous assassination attempts to become the longest serving president in American history. The 20 years he was in office, from 1961-1981 where also a time of great change in America. The greatest single cultural shift since the industrial revolution, and the energetic young president took it in strides...
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