Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower (1933-1957)

In 1948, Harry Truman was willing to step aside if Eisenhower wanted the Democratic nomination. I think the idea was for an Eisenhower-Truman ticket, but I could be wrong. Eisenhower, meanwhile, would only have done it if the Republicans in 1948 had nominated Robert Taft (a not implausible prospect).

What if Eisenhower had been elected as a Democrat in 1948 and served until 1957, thus giving the Democrats 24 years in the White House?


Eisenhower was pretty much a Dewey Republican - thoroughly internationalist, budget-minded, but otherwise a very moderate liberal Republican. He'd likely fit in okay with the more moderate New Dealers in the Democratic fold. Odds are, if Dewey is the 1956 nominee for the GOP, Ike would back him.
 
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In 1948, Harry Truman was willing to step aside if Eisenhower wanted the Democratic nomination. I think the idea was for an Eisenhower-Truman ticket, but I could be wrong. Eisenhower, meanwhile, would only have done it if the Republicans in 1948 had nominated Robert Taft (a not implausible prospect).

What if Eisenhower had been elected as a Democrat in 1948 and served until 1957, thus giving the Democrats 24 years in the White House?


Eisenhower was pretty much a Dewey Republican - thoroughly internationalist, budget-minded, but otherwise a very moderate liberal Republican. He'd likely fit in okay with the more moderate New Dealers in the Democratic fold. Odds are, if Dewey is the 1956 nominee for the GOP, Ike would back him.

Bumping.

I think Eisenhower might avoid the Korean War. It was kind of a fluke-ish thing OTL, given how Kim only went ahead following Stalin giving the okay due to the US Secretary of State not mentioning Korea as part of the area of US interest. No Korean War means

1) no decline in Democratic popularity in 1952
2) no escalation of tensions with red China - Secretary Acheson had spoken of the US not being interested in propping up the KMT in Taiwan before the war and was talking up how it was the Soviets who were the real threat to Chinese territorial integrity. The US might realpolitik hard and turn China against Moscow without the Korean War.
3) OTL's military-industrial complex won't emerge. Yes, there's no way there'll be a complete return to pre-WW2 armament levels but the military buildup of OTL was very very influenced by the Korean War. Just take a look at this chart. The US will have fewer budget issues here compared to OTL.
  • IIRC the Korean War influenced the West German recovery quite a bit as well. The US needed West German industry to provide supplies for the Korean War so we wouldn't see as much of a German stimulus. I think Korea lead to the west being more for German rearmament as well.
  • There will likely mean fewer troops in Japan in the long-term without the Korean War, so there would be less Keynesian stimulus. Still, if the US isn't sticking troops in Korea, maybe those troops go to Japan instead.

4) If the period from 1949-1957 under the Eisenhower-Truman administration is seen very positively, maybe Truman comes back in 1956 as Ike's Third Term. I'm pretty sure that he'd be allowed to run in 1960 as well due to having been president before the 22nd amendment, but that'd be a heck of a stretch.
 
This also means that Democrats win back control of the House and Senate and keep their majorities throughout Ike's 8 years as POTUS. Probably, Nixon and Goldwater are not elected to the US Senate in 1950 and 1952 respectively, and McCarthy loses reelection in 1952.
 
This also means that Democrats win back control of the House and Senate and keep their majorities throughout Ike's 8 years as POTUS. Probably, Nixon and Goldwater are not elected to the US Senate in 1950 and 1952 respectively, and McCarthy loses reelection in 1952.

Goldwater probably loses, but Nixon won 60-40.

The GOP will have a much smaller bench TTL however, but probably a more liberal one as well. Nixon, Lodge, and Rockefeller are the only potential names that come to mind. Maybe Margaret Chase Smith, given her anti-McCarthy fame.

Maybe Reagan gets elected as a Democratic Congressman TTL. In 1953 he tried to run but was turned down by the party IIRC.
 
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