President Alfred Driscoll Timeline

I. Introduction:


At the 1952 Republican National Convention, Earl Warren gets wind of Richard Nixon's machinations in favor of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Warren is furious and cuts off Nixon at the knees by making a deal with Robert Taft. Taft wins the “fair play” vote and keeps his Southern delegates. He then wins a narrow first ballot victory over Dwight D. Eisenhower.
However, the party is badly split. Taft desperately needs the support of the Eastern wing of the GOP to have a chance in November. He thus turns to the relatively little known, but youthful and progressive Republican Governor of New Jersey, Alfred Driscoll. Taft also asks Eisenhower to become his Secretary of State if he wins.
The Democrats meanwhile have chosen Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson for President and Alabama Senator John Sparkman for Vice President.
Taft lacks Eisenhower's star power. Stevenson turns out to be a much better speaker. Even so, after 20 years of Democratic control, along with the fear of Communism in Washington and internationally, and a bloody stalemate in Korea, the Taft-Driscoll ticket wins a narrow victory over Stevenson-Sparkman in the popular vote: 31,219,278(51%) to 29,284,395 (48%). In the electoral college, the margin is wider: 355 for Taft, 176 for Stevenson. Compared to 1948, there was a noticeable trend to the Republicans in the South, with Taft carrying Virginia and Florida, and barely missing in Texas. The GOP also gains in the West and Midwest. Stevenson narrowly loses even his home state of Illinois and carries not a single Great Lakes or Farm Belt State.
But Taft's victory was reduced by a trend to the Democrats in parts of the East. After losing Pennsylvania in 1948, the Democrats win the state in 1952, and also come close in New York. Driscoll's presence helped Taft hold onto New York and New Jersey.
The Congressional elections show only slight changes. The GOP picks up one seat in the Senate. But with the defection of Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon, the GOP and Democrats each have 49 seats. Vice President Driscoll will have more importance and visibility than most Vice Presidents because he will be needed to break any tie votes, beginning with the vote to organize the Senate. Leverett Saltonstall of Massachusetts becomes Majority Leader. Lyndon Johnson of Texas is the new minority leader after Arizona's Ernest McFarland went down in a stunning upset to Barry Goldwater. The GOP takes control for the second time since 1932. The GOP also has a tiny margin in the US House.


genusmap.php


(Blue = Taft/Driscoll)
(Red = Stevenson/Sparkman)
 
  1. Transition of Power:
After the election, President-elect Taft set out to form his cabinet. He chose a good number of Old Guard conservatives or Ohioans for important posts: the Secretary of Defense is Patrick J. Hurley, formerly Secretary of War under Herbert Hoover, and still vigorous at 70. For Treasury, balanced-budget advocate George Humphrey of Ohio is named (Hurley and Humphrey are seen as cautious if not hostile to foreign adventures and alliances, as well as zealous advocates of economy in government including for the military). In a stinging blow to organized labor, Taft names Congressman Robert Hartley of New Jersey as Secretary of Labor. And he names Mormon church official and conservative Ezra Taft Benson as Secretary of Agriculture.
But progressive Republicans are also taken care of. Dwight Eisenhower is named Secretary of State. He is much more inclined to support international alliances and various methods of resisting Communism. But he also supports economy in government, even for defense, so his presence in the cabinet is not as contentious as one might think. The new Attorney General is not Earl Warren, as many had assumed. Instead, Taft names Ohio's former Attorney General and Governor Thomas Herbert as AG.
Rounding out the Cabinet, Douglas McKay of Oregon was named Interior Secretary; Sinclair Weeks was named Commerce Secretary; Arthur Summerfield was named Postmaster General.
It is truly a coalition government. After it was named, Adlai E. Stevenson quipped that he had never seen a bird try to fly in two directions at once, but all of America would have a chance to see this strange bird try to fly.
 
1953, Part I:

President Taft faced a world and national situation that would be a challenge to any new President, much less one who wanted to roll back the clock to a simpler time. The President was finding himself frequently being forced to compromise his positions. Thus, while he had opposed both the US intervention in the Korean War as well as NATO and the continuation of the draft, as President he knew that actually carrying out his convictions could have dire results. A pullback from Korea would almost certainly re-ignite the war, leaving him with the terrible choice of losing the entire peninsula to Communist aggression after 50,000 Americans had died to protect South Korea … or he would have to recommit American forces with the prospect of an even greater loss of life. For better or worse, a continuing American presence in Korea was inevitable.

And so was it was in Europe. Taft had opposed NATO, but it existed, and under the terms of the treaty, the US was committed to West Europe’s defense. The best Taft could hope for was to keep the commitment as low and inexpensive as possible.

As long as the US was committed to both Asia and Europe, it was impossible to imagine ending the draft anytime soon, either. Again, the best Taft could hope for would be some reduction in draft calls.

Taft was, however, determined to draw a line as to further alliances and foreign interventions. Thus, when British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden visited Washington in April to suggest an Anglo-American covert effort to overthrow the Mossadegh Government of Iran (which had nationalized Britain’s oil interests there), he was coldly rebuffed by the Administration (although Eisenhower was sympathetic to the idea). Taft also rejected French pleas for support in Indochina, where they faced a Communist and nationalist insurgency commanded by Ho Chi Minh. And finally, Taft showed no enthusiasm for supporting West German rearmament. The plans for a European Defense Community were essentially dead. NATO was in disarray … something that did not unduly concern Taft. Taft also supported passage of the Bricker Amendment to the Constitution, which would make it much harder for any President to enter into alliances or military actions without Congressional approval. With Taft's support, the Amendment passed Congress in May and was sent to the states for ratification.

The Taft Administration would attempt to support America’s defense commitments by increasing hydrogen bomb production. And, in an exception to his overall noninterventionist policies, Taft did OK covert operations against the Arbenz government of Guatemala. Arbenz himself was not a Communist … but his government tolerated Communist activities in Guatemala and had acted against the outsized influence of the US owned United Fruit Company. Even America-First style isolationists believed that the United States should act to bar “foreign” influence from Latin America, which the US saw as its own sphere of influence.

President Taft had two other difficult domestic questions to handle. First, whether or not to commute the death sentences handed down against Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who had been convicted of espionage for the Soviet Union. Appeals from clemency poured in from around the world, including from Pope Pius XII. Eventually, Taft did commute Ethel’s sentence to life imprisonment for the sake of her young children. But the execution of Julius went ahead as scheduled.

And then there was Joe McCarthy. Taft had found McCarthy useful when he was savaging the Truman Administration. There had even been rumors Taft had considered McCarthy for Vice President. And Taft still sought to appease McCarthy by supposedly “strengthening” the loyalty program already instituted by President Truman. Some of McCarthy’s natural allies in the Senate, like William Jenner, Kenneth Wherry, and Richard Nixon, succeeded in having McCarthy tone down some of his flamboyant accusations and investigations. “Come on, Joe, this is BOB TAFT we’re talking about, not Harry Truman,” Jenner exclaimed on one occasion. Thus, an uneasy peace persisted between McCarthy and the Taft Administration.
 
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1953, Part II:

Fortunately for the United States, the apparent disarray in foreign policy came at a time of even greater indecision for the Soviet Union, as iron-fisted dictator Joseph Stalin died suddenly on March 5, 1953. For many months, the USSR would be preoccupied with its own succession crisis, as Beria, Malenkov, Bulganin and Kruschchev all battled for power (Beria was deposed and executed quickly in the process).

President Taft may have handled relations with the post-Stalin USSR brilliantly … but that would never be known, because in a stunning twist of fate, Taft himself would be diagnosed with cancer in April, and after seeming to rally in the summer, would succumb at the end of July. After seven short months, Vice President Alfred Driscoll, former Governor of New Jersey, a man with little foreign policy experience, would find himself as President and Commander-in-Chief at a perilous time in world history.

Back in 1950, the Truman Administration had issued NSC-68, which predicted that 1954 would be the “Year of Maximum Danger” from expansionist Communism (and thus justified the call for a massive US military build-up). With both the USA and USSR seemingly drifting without strong leadership for several months, the year of maximum danger came one year early. The fall of 1953 would shake the free world to its foundations.
 
September, 1953: President Driscoll is barely in office, and there is no Vice President. There will be none until either an appropriate Constitutional Amendment is passed allowing a Vice President to be named between elections, or until January 1957! September proves a fateful month as enough states ratify the Bricker Amendment to the Constitution to make it the law of the land. The US appears adrift in its foreign policy.

And so does the USSR. Stalin died in March, and it is still unclear who will be really running things. The current Soviet Government lacks the iron control that Stalin exercised over his Communist allies, such as Mao and Kim Il Sung. Mao takes the opportunity to accentuate the “revolutionary” aspect of Communism. He does not believe the US will be able to stop him, and he does not think the Soviet Union will be able to restrain him.

On October 1, 1953, the Korean War erupts once again with a North Korean offense, supported by Chinese troops and equipment. At the very same time, Chinese troops land on Quemoy and Matsu, threatening Chiang Kai Shek’s last outpost, Formosa. The only thing now between Red China and Formosa was the US 7th fleet.

The US Congress swiftly authorizes Driscoll to take whatever action is necessary to stop Communist movements in the Far East. His own party is in an uproar. And Democrats, having been tarred with the “loss” of China in 1949, is none too willing to cut the Republican Administration any slack as South Korea and Formosa are threatened.

Military preparedness had slipped during Taft’s brief Presidency. There was relatively little that could be done … conventionally … to stop Chinese and North Korean military operations. But the US did have atom bombs in stock, and President Driscoll made the fateful decision to use one as a demonstration of America’s determination. On October 30, 1953, the US exploded an atomic bomb between the Chinese coast and Chinese-occupied Quemoy and Matsu. Considerable radiation damage was inflicted upon a section of the coast as well as the two islands. In addition, the small Chinese navy, which was ferrying troops and equipment to the islands, was wiped out.

At the same time, another atomic bomb is dropped off of the North Korean coast, mainly for demonstration purposes. However, radiation also spreads inland. The US was merely following through on its threat from early in 1953 to use nuclear weapons to end the Korean War if necessary.

On November 1, 1953, President Driscoll addresses the American people as to the crisis in the Far East. He emphasizes that America’s intention is not a conquest of either North Korea or China, but to force them to honor the lines that have been drawn by the free world. The atomic bomb deployments have shown what the US can do if necessary to end the war. In addition, the US is proceeding "at full speed" to develop hydrogen bomb capacity ... such bombs would make the atom bomb seem like a harmless plaything by comparison.

Indeed, the brief war of 1953 comes to an end, with all sides returning to their “start lines.” The prospect of nuclear annihilation does not appeal to either China nor North Korea, as they could witness first-hand the consquences of atom bomb use. In addition, China’s offensive capability against Formosa is virtually destroyed by the atom bomb explosion. A fragile peace returns. But what will happen next? How can the world avoid yet another major war?
 
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Wow...Driscoll sending down Hydrogen bombs to end the Korean War is major, and Im suprised the Soviets haven't had anything to say about it. Early Cold War history is not one of my strongest periods but I am reading lol Keep it comming.
 
How the heck did they get deployable H-bombs so early!?!?

OTL, the first US H-bomb was Ivy Mike in November 1952, but this was not a weapon, and couldn't be - it involved a TANK OF LIQUID HYDROGEN. The first US test of a bomb that was even possibly usable as a weapon was the "Castle Bravo" test at Bikini Atoll, 1 March 1954. This used lithium deuteride as the fusion fuel.

While you talk about the 'h-bomb production line' being sped up, the fact of the matter is that they didn't have a workable WEAPON at the time you want them using two of them.

Ivy Mike weighed 80 tonnes or so, and was apparently the size of a small office building.


I'd suggest you retcon that to big fission bombs (which in and of themselves produce more radioactive contamination/yield from the fission products), or possibly some intermediate thing like the first Soviet 'Hbomb', which now seems to have actually been a fusion enhanced fission device rather than a real true H-bomb.

I'm not sure whether the US actually, iOTL, figured out the Lithium Deuteride idea themselves, or if they got it from the Soviets. If the latter, they might have to wait for the Soviet test (August 1953).
 
How the heck did they get deployable H-bombs so early!?!?

OTL, the first US H-bomb was Ivy Mike in November 1952, but this was not a weapon, and couldn't be - it involved a TANK OF LIQUID HYDROGEN. The first US test of a bomb that was even possibly usable as a weapon was the "Castle Bravo" test at Bikini Atoll, 1 March 1954. This used lithium deuteride as the fusion fuel.

While you talk about the 'h-bomb production line' being sped up, the fact of the matter is that they didn't have a workable WEAPON at the time you want them using two of them.

Ivy Mike weighed 80 tonnes or so, and was apparently the size of a small office building.


I'd suggest you retcon that to big fission bombs (which in and of themselves produce more radioactive contamination/yield from the fission products), or possibly some intermediate thing like the first Soviet 'Hbomb', which now seems to have actually been a fusion enhanced fission device rather than a real true H-bomb.

I'm not sure whether the US actually, iOTL, figured out the Lithium Deuteride idea themselves, or if they got it from the Soviets. If the latter, they might have to wait for the Soviet test (August 1953).

Thanks for the heads-up. I made some corrections based on this. I had based my original comments on Truman's claim in his last State of the Union Address that the US had hydrogen bomb technology.
 
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