Me Instead Of You: A Political Timeline
- Thread starter JwEX
- Start date
Part XI: The Great Reform Continues
Part XI: The Great Reform Continues
President Garner was already preparing for reelection. But for that to happen, he had to pass some popular legislation. He began in April with the Rural Electrification Act of 1935, which was sponsored by Garner's protege, Sam Rayburn, and was masterminded by Frances Perkins and Rexford Tugwell. The President himself even lent a bit of thought towards the specifics of the bill. The REA looked like it was going to have a lot of opposition, until Rayburn made a name for himself and his brainchild on the floor of the House:
President Garner was already preparing for reelection. But for that to happen, he had to pass some popular legislation. He began in April with the Rural Electrification Act of 1935, which was sponsored by Garner's protege, Sam Rayburn, and was masterminded by Frances Perkins and Rexford Tugwell. The President himself even lent a bit of thought towards the specifics of the bill. The REA looked like it was going to have a lot of opposition, until Rayburn made a name for himself and his brainchild on the floor of the House:
"Since the beginning of our fair country, Americans have lived their whole lives in darkness, day and night, never learning to read past the most basic level, never learning an advanced trade, never leaving their hometowns, simply because there was no adequate way. Today, it is simply inexcusable for any American to live like this. As our economy has improved and technology has advanced exponentially, endeavoring Americans have demonstrated to the world the power of electricity. Imagine the entire country lit up at night with electric lamps, with no child going to bed with the sunset, but reading and working and making a life for themselves! This is the America that this Act can forge. Perhaps it will cost a bit of a sum, but the better America that results from the cost is well, well worth it."
Representative Sam Rayburn
The REA was passed easily in the house, with nearly all Democrats and a sizable minority of Republicans voting in favor of it. With a quiet front overseas and a still-growing economy, and near-universal electricity promised by 1938, Garner began to become popular again. Garner chose this time to reach out to the Labor groups in the U.S.A. Garner was never the largest fan of Unions or their power, but he knew they would have a huge helping hand in the Great Reform. Thus, with Secretary Perkins at his side, Garner signed the Labor Relations Act into law, which provided a basic legal framework for union negotiation with the government and vice versa. The Brain Trust called for an expansion, but Garner equivocated, saying that an eventual expansion would be prudent "at some point."
Shortly after this, in June, Garner signed the Insurance For The Needy Act* or IFNA. This act would provide insurance for the old and disabled. However, after a long fight in Congress, it was majorly watered down and the ceiling for insurance provided was lowered to no more than half of the annual income of the individual. That amendment had been pushed through by Republican Representative Hamilton Fish III of New York. Fish was opposed by fellow Republican, but radical Great Reform supporter William Lemke of North Dakota.
Rep. Fish on the House floor
Looking to the Supreme Court, Garner watched with trepidation as many cases involving his legislation seeped through the judicial system. Even with Justices friendly to Garner's agenda like Louis Brandeis and Hugo Black (replacement to Pierce Butler), the Court still had major reservations when it came to the constitutionality of Garner's legislation. In the first of the cases, Garner v. Fish (yes, the same Hamilton Fish from earlier), an argument over the legality of the Wagner-Wheeler Relief Bill, the court narrowly voted in favor of the bill on a narrow 5-4 decision. Garner had been fully legitimized for the first time, and now seemed fully in control of his administration, as Attorney General Pierce Butler's dissent had been silenced.
Justice Hugo Black, who wrote the majority opinion for Garner v. Fish
Although the situation overseas remained tenuous and concerning, the economy still improved, and Garner, after more than two years in office, had finally began to solidify control over his administration.
*essentially Social Security
Part XII: Chaos In The Pacific
Part XII: Chaos In The Pacific
Japan was becoming the strongest power in the world. The Soviet Union was mired in depression. France and Germany were in the midst of civil unrest and a messy fascist takeover. Great Britain's empire was stretched thin. Italy was attempting to resist the Fascists. The United States was dithering on foreign policy and was isolationist, their President unsure of himself, making his reelection his main concern. Japan, meanwhile, had conquered nearly all of the East Pacific, Korea, and Manchuria. They had the best weapons and the most resources. Their economy was a well-oiled machine. With the rest of the world distracted, Japan invaded China, sparking the Sino-Japanese War and Invasion of China. With civil war between warlords supporting the Kuomintang and the Communists supported by the USSR, Japan managed to conquer Beijing within 19 days. The invasion began on September 9, 1935 and was done by the 28th of the month. Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek fled to Tibet while Communist leader Mao Tse-tung was found in hiding by the Japanese and was executed on October 3, 1935.
Mao Tse-tung, a man with a promising future in Communist China, was killed by the Japanese
With Tse-tung's death, the coalition between the Kuomintang and Communists largely fell apart. Wih Kai-shek gone as well, northeastern China had effectively been ceded to the Japanese. The Japanese had lost few lives, and had just gained an even stronger foothold in the East.
The next step was invading southeastern and southern China. The key to that plan was conquering Shanghai. However, the Kuomintang, with assistance from the British and the Soviets, held on to the city, refusing to cede even an inch of land to the Japanese. The conflict grew quickly into a bloody stalemate.
However, the fact that Japan held Taiwan allowed them to easier access the South China sea and as such launched an invasion of French Indochina. The peoples of this colony had risen against French as the nation fell into chaos at home, which led to a weak colonial force. French Indochina succumbed to Japanese forces relatively quickly. Suddenly, southern China was under attack from the South as well, and the British came close to folding as defending Thailand, Burma, and India became a priority as well. Even as the Anti-Japanese Alliance barely held Shanghai from the Japanese, their only defensible entryway a small corridor from the south, the Japanese launched an assault on Hong Kong and Macau.
East Asia as of 1935, Dark red denotes Japanese Control
While this was occurring, the United States worried of two things: Hawaii and the Philippines. Both were vulnerable to attack, especially the Philippines, who were slowly gaining autonomy, and as such, losing U.S.A. protection. Garner, never really friendly to the Japanese, made a political as well as economic move: he started an oil embargo against the Japanese. 80% of Japan's oil came from the United States, and Garner claimed that he embargo would allow the United States to produce oil for itself, and not focus on others. Garner also stated that continuing to sell oil to Japan was helping an evil force that was actively opposed to United States interests. The decision was a relatively popular one; the public bought his claims. Few would realize how this would accelerate Japanese aggression, not even the Brain Trust. Regardless, Garner prepared American interest in the Pacific for potential war.
The incoming Presidential race was already heating up. Louisiana Senator Huey Long ran on a economically populist platform, claiming (with some warrant, too) that the Great Reform was in no way adequate for the average worker. On the Republican side, maverick Senator William Borah who was strictly isolationist and economically progressive, faced off against Kansas Governor Alfred Landon.
After Garner made his decision to enforce the oil embargo, somebody else joined the race for the Republican nomination. Running as a soft isolationist, fed up with the opposing sides on foreign policy issues that Garner had taken throughout his presidency and claiming that the Great Reform was an expensive waste, former President Herbert Hoover announced that he'd be running for the GOP nomination on January 12, 1936.
Fmr. Pres. Herbert Hoover
A dramatic election season was arriving.
Japan was becoming the strongest power in the world. The Soviet Union was mired in depression. France and Germany were in the midst of civil unrest and a messy fascist takeover. Great Britain's empire was stretched thin. Italy was attempting to resist the Fascists. The United States was dithering on foreign policy and was isolationist, their President unsure of himself, making his reelection his main concern. Japan, meanwhile, had conquered nearly all of the East Pacific, Korea, and Manchuria. They had the best weapons and the most resources. Their economy was a well-oiled machine. With the rest of the world distracted, Japan invaded China, sparking the Sino-Japanese War and Invasion of China. With civil war between warlords supporting the Kuomintang and the Communists supported by the USSR, Japan managed to conquer Beijing within 19 days. The invasion began on September 9, 1935 and was done by the 28th of the month. Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek fled to Tibet while Communist leader Mao Tse-tung was found in hiding by the Japanese and was executed on October 3, 1935.
Mao Tse-tung, a man with a promising future in Communist China, was killed by the Japanese
With Tse-tung's death, the coalition between the Kuomintang and Communists largely fell apart. Wih Kai-shek gone as well, northeastern China had effectively been ceded to the Japanese. The Japanese had lost few lives, and had just gained an even stronger foothold in the East.
The next step was invading southeastern and southern China. The key to that plan was conquering Shanghai. However, the Kuomintang, with assistance from the British and the Soviets, held on to the city, refusing to cede even an inch of land to the Japanese. The conflict grew quickly into a bloody stalemate.
However, the fact that Japan held Taiwan allowed them to easier access the South China sea and as such launched an invasion of French Indochina. The peoples of this colony had risen against French as the nation fell into chaos at home, which led to a weak colonial force. French Indochina succumbed to Japanese forces relatively quickly. Suddenly, southern China was under attack from the South as well, and the British came close to folding as defending Thailand, Burma, and India became a priority as well. Even as the Anti-Japanese Alliance barely held Shanghai from the Japanese, their only defensible entryway a small corridor from the south, the Japanese launched an assault on Hong Kong and Macau.
East Asia as of 1935, Dark red denotes Japanese Control
While this was occurring, the United States worried of two things: Hawaii and the Philippines. Both were vulnerable to attack, especially the Philippines, who were slowly gaining autonomy, and as such, losing U.S.A. protection. Garner, never really friendly to the Japanese, made a political as well as economic move: he started an oil embargo against the Japanese. 80% of Japan's oil came from the United States, and Garner claimed that he embargo would allow the United States to produce oil for itself, and not focus on others. Garner also stated that continuing to sell oil to Japan was helping an evil force that was actively opposed to United States interests. The decision was a relatively popular one; the public bought his claims. Few would realize how this would accelerate Japanese aggression, not even the Brain Trust. Regardless, Garner prepared American interest in the Pacific for potential war.
The incoming Presidential race was already heating up. Louisiana Senator Huey Long ran on a economically populist platform, claiming (with some warrant, too) that the Great Reform was in no way adequate for the average worker. On the Republican side, maverick Senator William Borah who was strictly isolationist and economically progressive, faced off against Kansas Governor Alfred Landon.
After Garner made his decision to enforce the oil embargo, somebody else joined the race for the Republican nomination. Running as a soft isolationist, fed up with the opposing sides on foreign policy issues that Garner had taken throughout his presidency and claiming that the Great Reform was an expensive waste, former President Herbert Hoover announced that he'd be running for the GOP nomination on January 12, 1936.
Fmr. Pres. Herbert Hoover
A dramatic election season was arriving.
Last edited:
Sweet Jesus! Japan launching it's bid for conquest far earlier and Herbert Hoover launching a comeback bid? Wild ride!
HOOVER 36! Let's put the chicken back in the pot!
HOOVER 36! Let's put the chicken back in the pot!
Hoover? Oh dear lord tghis could be an amazing election if Hoover wins and pretty much redacts/retracts everything New Deal-ish.....
Hoover did push a lot of reforms, so I don't think it would be too drastic. Him running with Borah as his VP could roll back the radical pieces but I think they'd keep things like social security and the bank security laws due to political reasons.
I think this is pretty spot on. Hoover's opposition to the New Deal was primarily his opposition to the Federal Government being responsible. He likely did support it in theory, especially considering his experiences from Belgium in WWI.
Part XIII: The 1936 Campaign
Part XIII: The 1936 Campaign
With the chaos brewing in Asia, Garner and Bankhead pushed for their nomination, focusing on the effects of the Great Reform. Still very popular with the common American, it was a good thing to campaign on. They faced little opposition, and after an attempted coup attempt in Japan and Germany agreeing to have joint control over the Rhineland with France, the pair was seen as strong in a foreign policy crisis. This was mainly because Garner was quieting Secretary of State Byrd in a bid to keep his popularity up. When the DNC came that fall, Garner and Bankhead were renominated by acclamation.
However, there were problems. First and foremost was the two-thirds nomination rule, which typically advantaged the South. A motion was made to abolish the rule, but with Garner in support of the rule, the motion died. Senator Bennett Champ Clark, after the vote died, was reported to say "The Democratic Party fails to heed the political currents of the nation and remains sectional. This will do nothing but injure the party."
Senator Clark
There were also issues when it came to civil rights. Black delegates were often harassed, resulting in a lot of negative press in the north.
Even more worrying was the campaign of the National Union party's nominee, Louisiana Senator Huey Long. Garner had hoped that after an attempt on the renegade Senator's life, he would withdrew from the race. That wasn't to happen. Long's already disturbingly large poll numbers ballooned. He averaged at around 17% of the vote nationally. That meant he would most definitely cost Garner the electoral college, and most certainly the popular vote.
After Herbert Hoover entered the race for the Republican nomination, Kansas Governor Alf Landon dropped out of the race without an endorsement. The primaries and nomination was going to be a battle between William Borah (who was at times more progressive than Garner) and the former President, who was painting himself as a common sense reformer, who wanted to recreate the Great Reform but at a cheaper cost.
The primaries hevaily favored Borah, who won all contests but three. The "establishment" GOP states of New Jersey and Massachusetts went for Hoover while California voted for the favorite son candidate, Earl Warren.
Blue denotes Hoover, Gold Borah, and Brown Warren
However, convention delegates were far less affectionate towards Borah. The Idaho Senator hoped that Hoover would bring up bad memories of the Depression. However, Hoover effectively argued to the delegates that the Depression was not his fault; that the problems that led to the economic sickness began far earlier.
Hoover was nominated easily. He selected well-known anti-Great Reformer Representative of New York Hamilton Fish III. He promised to be fiery on the campaign trail, a great supplement to the more laid back Hoover.
Borah and his supporters were left out in the cold, and staged a walkout.
In August, Huey Long announced his running mate: William Borah. The ticket surged in the polls, reaching 21% before subsiding as the election neared. The election was obviously close, but most Pundits had declared that Hoover had the edge. When it came to the economy, he was relatively blameless, especially compared to the "socialistic tendencies" of the Great Reform. When it came to foreign policy, Hoover said that he was "not a waffler, someone who stayed true to his convictions" unlike Garner. The President said that Hoover had little foreign policy experience, but this didn't catch on.
For Garner, Hoover was not the main enemy. He was doing his best to ensure that Long wasn't able to serve as a spoiler. Most thought it was likely. Hoover had carried much of the South before without a split vote. Long was going to cripple the President. Polls showed a similar outcome: they showed the President narrowly holding on to the South, with many non-Southern Democratic states as total battlegrounds. Most "red" states seemed like they would go for Hoover strongly.
The final polls before the election showed that Hoover was most likely going to be President:
With the chaos brewing in Asia, Garner and Bankhead pushed for their nomination, focusing on the effects of the Great Reform. Still very popular with the common American, it was a good thing to campaign on. They faced little opposition, and after an attempted coup attempt in Japan and Germany agreeing to have joint control over the Rhineland with France, the pair was seen as strong in a foreign policy crisis. This was mainly because Garner was quieting Secretary of State Byrd in a bid to keep his popularity up. When the DNC came that fall, Garner and Bankhead were renominated by acclamation.
However, there were problems. First and foremost was the two-thirds nomination rule, which typically advantaged the South. A motion was made to abolish the rule, but with Garner in support of the rule, the motion died. Senator Bennett Champ Clark, after the vote died, was reported to say "The Democratic Party fails to heed the political currents of the nation and remains sectional. This will do nothing but injure the party."
Senator Clark
There were also issues when it came to civil rights. Black delegates were often harassed, resulting in a lot of negative press in the north.
Even more worrying was the campaign of the National Union party's nominee, Louisiana Senator Huey Long. Garner had hoped that after an attempt on the renegade Senator's life, he would withdrew from the race. That wasn't to happen. Long's already disturbingly large poll numbers ballooned. He averaged at around 17% of the vote nationally. That meant he would most definitely cost Garner the electoral college, and most certainly the popular vote.
After Herbert Hoover entered the race for the Republican nomination, Kansas Governor Alf Landon dropped out of the race without an endorsement. The primaries and nomination was going to be a battle between William Borah (who was at times more progressive than Garner) and the former President, who was painting himself as a common sense reformer, who wanted to recreate the Great Reform but at a cheaper cost.
The primaries hevaily favored Borah, who won all contests but three. The "establishment" GOP states of New Jersey and Massachusetts went for Hoover while California voted for the favorite son candidate, Earl Warren.
Blue denotes Hoover, Gold Borah, and Brown Warren
However, convention delegates were far less affectionate towards Borah. The Idaho Senator hoped that Hoover would bring up bad memories of the Depression. However, Hoover effectively argued to the delegates that the Depression was not his fault; that the problems that led to the economic sickness began far earlier.
Hoover was nominated easily. He selected well-known anti-Great Reformer Representative of New York Hamilton Fish III. He promised to be fiery on the campaign trail, a great supplement to the more laid back Hoover.
Borah and his supporters were left out in the cold, and staged a walkout.
In August, Huey Long announced his running mate: William Borah. The ticket surged in the polls, reaching 21% before subsiding as the election neared. The election was obviously close, but most Pundits had declared that Hoover had the edge. When it came to the economy, he was relatively blameless, especially compared to the "socialistic tendencies" of the Great Reform. When it came to foreign policy, Hoover said that he was "not a waffler, someone who stayed true to his convictions" unlike Garner. The President said that Hoover had little foreign policy experience, but this didn't catch on.
For Garner, Hoover was not the main enemy. He was doing his best to ensure that Long wasn't able to serve as a spoiler. Most thought it was likely. Hoover had carried much of the South before without a split vote. Long was going to cripple the President. Polls showed a similar outcome: they showed the President narrowly holding on to the South, with many non-Southern Democratic states as total battlegrounds. Most "red" states seemed like they would go for Hoover strongly.
The final polls before the election showed that Hoover was most likely going to be President:
Last edited: