Pax Americana - Collaborative Timeline

The year 1900 was a time of great anticipation for the United States, both good and bad, but exciting nonetheless. The United States had very recently defeated the Spaniards in the Spanish-American War, procuring a small Caribbean and Pacific Empire. Many saw this as a sign of the United States growing power in the Western Hemisphere. But, at the same time, there were problems back at home. President McKinely died in an unfortunate accident during the Galveston Hurricane, lacking a Vice President. This launched the elderly David Henderson into office for the remaining year or so of McKinley's first term.

This caused a huge upset, and resulted in the Republican Caucus very briefly reopening. A brutal three week session resulted in the wise old Joseph Cannon defeating the upcoming Theodore Roosevelt in multiple debates. While energetic, Teddy wasn't much liked by the rest of the Republican Caucus, while Cannon was esteemed by all of his peers. It is for these same reasons that Cannon eventually beat William Jennings Bryan in the 1900 Presidential Election, and was victoriously ushered into the White House in early 1901.

It is said that his election marked the true beginning of Pax Americana, a period of one hundred years wherein the United States did not engage in any foreign wars.
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Let the games begin.
 
He is a dapper one, that Cannon,

JoeCannon3.jpg


Short and pugnacious, apparently; maybe his nickname could be "sawn-off" ;)

Uncle Joe sounds like an interesting guy, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Gurney_Cannon opposed getting into WW1 as well as getting into the League of Nations afterwards.


Edit:
For what it's worth, in OTL, his lifespan was ninety years, dying in 1926. He had been in political office up to 1923, it seems.
 
Yes, that is exactly why I picked him, model. :)

For those lazy bastards too apathetic to read the OP, here's the current changes in date format -

September 8th, 1900: The Galveston Hurricane hits Texas, resulting in the untimely death of President William McKinley, who up until now had been doing well in his re-election campaign.

September 10th, 1900: Speaker of the House David Henderson is officially sworn into the position of President, in order to replace the late McKinley until the conclusion of the elections.

September 15th, 1900: Theodore Roosevelt, the running mate of the late McKinley, declares his intentions to finish out the late President's campaign and become President himself. While he has some support, this causes an uproar among Republicans, who had hoped to confine him to obscurity as the Vice President.

September 17th, 1900: The Republican Caucus formally opens in New York, where they plan to elect a last second candidate for President. Roosevelt is not invited.

September 19th, 1900: A well-known and respected Congressman by the name of Joseph Cannon has taken the lead in the Republican Caucus. As he is about to be unanimously elected, Roosevelt and his support group arrive at the Caucus, and burst in uninvited. He attempts to give a rowdy speech, but is taken away rather embarrassingly by the caucus security. This damages his reputation greatly.

September 20th, 1900: Joseph Cannon officially accepts the Republican Nomination, and Roosevelt, thoroughly embarrassed, issues a formal apology and withdraws from the race, giving his nominal support to Cannon.

November 20th, 1900: Despite the last minute nature of the Republican Campaign, the good name of Cannon and the support of Roosevelt allow the resounding defeat of William Jennings Bryan (once again) in the U.S. Presidential Election.

March 4th, 1901: Joseph Cannon is inaugurated as the President of the United States of America, finally replacing the lame duck (Henderson). In his ensuing speech, he promises to keep the U.S. in isolation from the "petty European squabbles".
Uncle Joe
Actually, I quite like this as a nickname for the man. Considering his authoritarian track record in Congress, this might also have a double meaning. ;)
 
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