Ruins Revisited: The Robert Taft Story

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    • Emperor Julian

    The cheesy yet iconic early 2000's ABC logo flashes onto the screen, followed by a "3" and the equally cheesy "Education!" subtitle, accompanied by bouncy sound effects.

    "Robert Taft, the 38th President of the United States" intones the narrator's voice.

    Images and video footage of President Taft appear across the screen in the form of a big collage, ranging from pictures of the former president as a baby to the last picture only months before his death at age 77. The scenes are accompanied by dramatic theme music.

    "Only the second son of a former President to assume the Oval Office, President Taft's journey to the White House was not easy - and neither was his presidency."

    The images of Taft's childhood, inauguration in 1945, and various images and video of him during his years in office play across the screen. The front credits for the coordinating historian and the unions of television workers who helped make the documentary roll, along with a thanks to the Taft family for their help. The dramatic music fades into classic 1940s music throughout

    "ABC3 Presents: The Robert Taft Story, Episode 4: The 1948 Election Campaign!"

    The titles fade away as the documentary begins, without commercial interruption, of course.

    Anonymous public reviews of the previous episodes from the ABC Website during their brief period from 2001-2004 when they allowed unmoderated comments on the audience ratings.

    Robert Taft - such a wonderful man <3, I love this series!!! Shows how great he was! Hope they do more! Love The ABC! <3
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    OF COURSE the governmennt-run media abomination behemoth would attack a great president like ROBERT A TAFT because he stood up to their communist socialist agenda this series is communits propaganda the CBS series from 97 is much more fair and unbias since it's private TV and not socialist mess of ABC
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    As expected, the establishment kow-towing ABC whitewashes and lionizes authority figures such as Robert Taft, advancing their white supremacist, anti-poor, pro-war right-wing agenda. What a disgrace - Floyd Olson would be ashamed of what his legacy has become!
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    Alright wish they would make another Floyd Olson one though I loved the documentary on him from five years ago, better than the 1990 one they made for sure
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    Sensationalist garbage - standard TV these days. Entertainment, not education!
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    I am glad we live in a counry with a real FREE AND PUBLIC press like ABC that will cover how ineffective and failures right-wing leaders liek Robert Taft were rather than praising him like right-wing liberal CBS!
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    DO NOT LET THIS DISTRACT YOU! U.S. GOV MURDER SOVIET PREMIER SAGINTAEV 1999! STEAL USSR RARE METAL RESOURCE TO CONTINUE WEATHER CONTROL CLIMATE HOAX! SAGINTAEV MURDERED TO KEEP SECRET WEATHER CONTROL OPERATION HELIOS HOMOESEXUAL FASCIST CONSPIRACY HAS NOW SEIZED POWER IN USSR AND DESTROY REAL COMMUNISM WITH US SUPPORT AND COVERRUP!
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    ~~~

    433px-Taft40.jpg

    ​
    What is this? This is when you've been away from your TL for so long that you feel that a revival in original thread would get buried. This is also when you decided that a more focused TL in a different format would be a better way to continue.

    How long will this last? First of all, each post will not be one "episode" - "Episode 4" will take multiple posts and there may or may not be more. If Robert Taft wins the 1948 Presidential election, this thread will continue through the end of his presidency. If he loses, then another thread in similar format will be made for whoever is president afterwards.

    Will there be more? Yes - I hope to revisit the Floyd Olson Presidency and go into further depth, and also possibly explore other figures during the late 40s period as well.

    What can you do? If anyone here is interested and wants to make the sort of poorly aging logo that The ABC would have in the early 2000s, it would be fun to actually have one.

    Part One - Completed and Revised
    Part Two - Completed
    Part Three - Terminated Early, Continued Here

    Fun Little Spinoff
     
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    • GrasshopperKing

    New format is intriguing for sure. Hope we still get Wikiboxes, since you're really good at them. But I'm excited this TL is back, no matter how you want to do it.
     

    Light_Star 1

    Will your Original plan for RoaAPS years 1948-1952 still be detailed in this new thread? Please tell me we will still get wikiboxes for the 1948, 1950, and 1952 elections?
     
    The Jovian

    The Jovian

    Light_Star 1 said:
    Will your Original plan for RoaAPS years 1948-1952 still be detailed in this new thread? Please tell me we will still get wikiboxes for the 1948, 1950, and 1952 elections?
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    Given that this new thread uses a retrospective view from TTL's present day to tell its story, I think that it is a given.
     
    The Jovian

    The Jovian

    Also it is great to know that the TL isn't dead, merely metamorphosed. I await to see how American politics will recover from the fusion ballot clusterf@ck that party affiliation has become.
     
    A New Problem
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    • Emperor Julian

    A New Problem
    ​
    When Robert A. Taft was Senator from Ohio, he had been one of President LaGuardia's most vicious critics.

    A voice mimicking Robert Taft, reading a speech of his: "President LaGuardia has led this country to the brink of financial ruin. If deficits continue to grow at the rates they have under his presidency, we shall be bankrupt by the end of the decade." Images of LaGuardia fill the screen. "He has led us into a quagmire in Peru that has become a drain on the country and our foreign policy."

    laGuardia.jpg

    ​
    However, upon being elected President, Robert Taft gained new respect for President LaGuardia.

    Pictures of the President and President-Elect fill the screen, as the fake Taft voice continues speaking, reading from Robert Taft's letter to his brother Charles: "Pres. LaGuardia's energy is illimitable. Rather than expressing hostility for my defeat of his party, he has enthusiastically sought to prepare me for the office of president of the United States. I have come to appreciate that despite our differences on the strategy of the war in Peru, he wishes for me to be best prepared to lead it, for the good of the United States."

    After he took office, Robert Taft continued to ask Fiorello LaGuardia advice, and the two men remained in contact.

    LaGuardia Biographer Lester T. Pierce, PhD: "Former Presidents traditionally had a certain camaraderie, the result of the privilege of being part of such an elite club. Floyd Olson's more radical and confrontational attitudes were responsible for an unusually cold relationship between him and former Presidents Miller and Snell. Fiorello LaGuardia, however, was a naturally friendly individual. He could be vicious towards his foes, but he got along well with Miller and Snell and later with Taft. I think it surprised some people how well they publicly expressed a sense of unity and cooperation, but I don't think it was unusual."

    On September 13, 1947, former President Fiorello LaGuardia died of a heart attack in his home in New York City. Images of newspapers and mourning citizens play. The former President's death came as a surprise to many people, as he was only 64 when he died.

    Fake Robert Taft voice, reading from a letter to Charles: "The United States, and indeed the world, has lost one of the great men of history. The legacy of President LaGuardia will surely be one of debate and argument throughout all time."

    Taft Biographer Alexander Patterson, PhD: "President Taft had a unique situation in the death of Fiorello LaGuardia, in that this was the first time a former president had died in the age of television. He knew he had to speak to the American people, not as a Republican leader, but as the head of state, to unite the country in mourning the loss of his predecessor."

    Historian Marsha Spielberg, PhD: "It's one of the great paradoxes of the American Presidency, the President must serve as both a partisan leader, and also as the non-partisan head of state. I think Taft was very aware of this, and the funeral of LaGuardia was going to be a time when the latter function was far more important."

    A video clip of President Taft giving a memorial speech: "This nation will be forever grateful for the nine years of service President LaGuardia dedicated to it. I have met few men who were so tirelessly devoted to working for the betterment of this country, so enthusiastic in their devotion to their ideal of a better America." The documentary makes sure when including the people present at the service to focus on Patricia Olson McCarthy and Eugene McCarthy, standing next to Patricia's mother Ada.

    Alexander Patterson:     "Taft hoped that he could provide comfort and a sense of national unity to the millions of Americans who mourned the death of LaGuardia. I think he was successful, and I think everyone expected his speech to be well received. No controversy marred the public memorial service and had things gone as planned, I don't think that anything would be remembered of the entire funeral."

    Unfortunately, that evening, disaster struck at the funeral of President LaGuardia. His fellow New Yorker Supreme Court Justice Robert F. Wagner, Floyd Olson's only appointee to the court, overcome by emotion, burst into an impromptu speech at the private funeral service afterwards.

    Man speaking as a distraught Justice Wagner: "No one ever loved this country like Fiorello... Every year he was in office he fought for everything. He was a real American, a real champion for this country, a great man."

    Midway through his speech, Justice Wagner collapsed. Doctors discovered that he had suffered from a severe heart attack. He was hospitalized, but the next day, the Supreme Court Justice was pronounced dead.

    Wagner_hi.jpg

    Justice Robert F. Wagner​

    While the funeral and public memorials to Justice Wagner would be similarly non-partisan, the stage was set for a vicious battle over who would fill his Supreme Court seat.
     
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    • Knightmare

    Knightmare

    Emperor Julian said:
    Midway through his speech, Justice Wagner collapsed. Doctors discovered that he had suffered from a severe heart attack. He was hospitalized, but the next day, the Supreme Court Justice was pronounced dead.
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    On the upside, at least nobody important had to leave town in that timeframe, so hey, quick funeral!
     

    President Eternal

    Welp, that's not something you wanna happen just before an election year. Especially not with a Congress that is, as I recall from the old portions of this TL, is an epic clusterfuck of party factions.
     
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