Alexander Mitchell Palmer took charge of a country that was sick of war in Europe and in Mexico and demanded to be left in peace. Thus the phrase was born from his campaign. "Return to Normalcy", which offered him the White House. Palmer, in his first 100 days, oversaw the ratification of the 20th Amendment which defined Presidential succession and inauguration as well as the expansion of food exports to Europe following the end of the First World War.
He should be commended for his stance on ensuring American affairs remained far removed from the revolutions in Russia, the Dutch East Indies as well as the rump Ottoman Empire. Americans need to understand that entering into a war that did not hurt us is a war that should never be fought at all. Americans did not need to fight in Britain and France's conflicts. America needed to work and needed to make sure that they had a job. His choice in appointing Roosevelt as Secretary of the Navy allowed for the eventual formation of the "Two Ocean Navy", not to see entry until the event commemorated as 9/11 which saw the entry of the USA into the Second World War.
The appointment of Hoover in Interior, Roosevelt in Navy and Ford in Commerce was something of a strong-arming nature, given Hoover's past days as a businessman in Australia where he imported foreign labour against unionists and given the then anti-Semitic sentiments Ford had. The three men revolutionised and modernised the governing system. Roosevelt ordered the modernisation of the Navy even in peacetime, working to maintain strong relations with unions. Hoover ordered the creation of sub-departments and to use experts alongside politicians in finding efficient means of production, reducing waste and using the best talents of public servants. Ford refined the business and the bureaucracy and ensured the quickest resolution for the businessman.
The Democratic Party would shift from its Wilsonian and progressive ideals to a more conservative and isolationist stance in the four years after 1916 and in the victory of 1920. Regulations would be cut, taxes along with them and the people were meant to get to work. Thomas Marshall, having left for a third-party run in 1916, was barred from the Democratic Convention and his exit from the role of Vice-President ensured the reversal of the work that he did (or rather, tried to do).
The Palmer Administration should not, however, be immune from criticism. The Administration was responsible for the complete segregation of all government departments and sub-divisions therein. It was part of Glass and Palmer's plan to draw voters from the AIP away from any dark horse candidate that they might throw up. The National Origins Act of 1923 was responsible for the barring of all Oriental (1) immigration and the restriction of Occidental immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe. This bill started the anti-American sentiment in Japan, which in turned fuelled the ratification of the bill.
The decision to form the National Investigation Service (NIS) under J. Edgar Hoover (2) led to an outcry by civil rights activists and by labor groups when Hoover took part in raids against activists such as Emma Goldman, Felix Frankfurter and many other radicals. He was also responsible for the imprisonment and deportation of 2,000 German-descended Americans.
Palmer's election was a blow to the labor movement, along with the appointment of Underwood as Attorney-General and Ford in Commerce, which allowed for the elimination of the labor movement's demands. The Veterans Payment Act of 1924 was a bill voted down by a coalition of conservative Republicans and Democrats led by Ohio Senator Warren G. Harding, due to arguments over whether it was the start of a future pension plan or if it only applied to soldiers that fought in the First World War. The appointment of the segregationists McAdoo and McDuffie to the Supreme Court drew the attention of the NAACP. Hoover's raid on the Chicago and Los Angeles offices of the American Freedom Institute in September 1924 cemented the antagonism President Palmer had with the labor movement of the United States.
Antagonism that his successors would have to deal with sooner or later.
- Ronald Reagan, narrating the 1983 documentary series
America: The Story Of Her Presidents (from President George Washington all the way to the modern day)
This mess started with Palmer and his fingers continue to stretch from the grave through Hoover and onto the working man and working woman of this country. Every President has been a part of this operation and every President is responsible. Only I am able to fix this mess. Won't you help me?
- Lyndon LaRouche, "
private letter number 00472" from the "Murdoch-Mogg Papers", prior to the 1972 Presidential Election and prior to 6/6/76.
The entrenched segregation that the Palmer Administration put forward was the last of an effort already committed by the previous administrations before his. Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson all worked their way through the departments to enforce the Jim Crows that were in the South and spreading to the rest of the Union. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr attempted to reverse some of the decisions, to be stonewalled by the 1918 Midterms and to be left with no chance to outlaw lynching let alone desegregate sectors of government. It was feared that the Republicans could never regain the White House if they were so bold in fighting against Jim Crow, given how much the public did not like the Republican's support for intervention in Europe or Mexico.
It was hoped that further segregating the government and the bureaucracy would allow for the Democrats to maintain the stranglehold of the South over the prepubescent American Independence Party.
All it took was for one man to bump into the wrong man.
Tulsa, Oklahoma, 17th February 1924
Dick Rowland was a black shoeshiner, who was living in the most prosperous region for African-Americans. It would be a glimmer of hope, a candle in the darkness of Jim Crow. Every time that he would go to the nearest toilet, he would have to get to the nearby Drexel building. The top-floor bathroom was restricted to black people and he was given express permission to use the bathroom. It had to be accessed by an elevator operated by Sarah Page, a 19-year old elevator operator. Taking the trip up, he went into the bathroom and relieved himself. (3)
Returning to the elevator, he managed to travel down without a concern. Walking out at 3pm, he went through Renberg's, a clothing store on the first floor of the Drexel. Just as he was going out of the door, he crashed into a man. Both men knocked to the ground, a clerk from Renberg's approached the scene. Getting up, the man berated Rowland for pushing him down to the ground. Opening his eyes and seeing the man for himself, Rowland was scared.
He did not bump into any ordinary man.
He bumped into
THOMAS FUCKING DIXON
At once, Dixon Jr contacted the authorities and beckoned for the news reporters. Despite the clear admission of Rowland's accident and his character being backed by several attorneys and legalists who knew him, the accidental bump to the founder of the American Independence Party and its militant wing the Ku Klux Klan was more than enough to set ablaze a fiery call for Rowland's lynching.
By 7pm, the word had got around. Fearing the lynching of the man, the police escorted Rowland into the top level of the Tulsa County Courthouse. 10 of the 45 police officers were on the roof with rifles and shotguns. Having disabled the elevator, the sheriff of the town positioned the rest of his men at the top of the stairs with orders to shoot the growing lynch mob.
8pm, Dixon addressed the mob. Growing to over 2,000 white men, this included several members of the KKK and the AIP. As the police hunkered down for the night and deterred requests for Rowland to be handed over, the mob armed themselves by getting their own private weapons or attempting to storm the National Guard armoury. Major James Bell of the 180th Infantry Regiment called up three National Guard units to repel 700 men from storming the armoury. At only half their strength, they faced the rush of 700 men besieging the armoury. For 23 minutes, the men held out before they surrendered and retreated out to a better defensive position. 45 lynchers were killed versus 8 National Guardsmen.
Having stolen all of the remaining ammunition and guns, the men returned to the County Courthouse at 9:15pm, where the lynch mob was 3,000 strong facing 200 National Guardsmen, veterans and policemen. Ten minutes later, 120 black men arrived to stand their ground with the officers, having claimed that they were asked by the sheriff (when the sheriff had no such request made).
To this day, no one has figured out who fired the first shot at 11:37pm. When it did, the mouth of Hell opened up. Standing their ground at the courthouse, the defenders shot at the whites from both the ground and from the roof. Running away, the lynch mob suffered a total of 32 dead in three minutes. Splitting up the lynch mob began to rove around the black neighbourhoods, shooting at anyone regardless of whether they were armed or not. Looting shops for weapons and ammunition, the lynch mob woke up many that were defenceless and unaware of the struggle.
Racing for more units to quell the disorder, the National Guard opened fire on white lynchers and detained blacks that refused to cooperate. The lynch mob opened fire into businesses that employed blacks, they made petrol bombs (known as Springfield Shakers) (4) and threw them at any black citizens that happened to be awake or trying to flee the city.
On and on and on the fighting went into the wee hours of the morning. Over 3500 whites and 3,000 blacks were fighting one another, with 1,000 whites fighting against the lynch mob. It wasn't until 1pm when 2,000 National Guardsmen from across the state were brought in to restore order.
It would take decades of hard work to rebuild Tulsa into a proper city. But in the meantime, the casualties were as follows:
- 217 African-Americans were shot dead, including 14 children. 753 were wounded.
- 329 white American looters were shot dead, with 1,185 wounded.
- 59 National Guardsmen and 19 policemen were shot dead.
(5)
The reaction to the riots was explosive. The NAACP and the AFI and the KKK/AIP's memberships increased as the news came out. Many lynchers came out in support of the AIP Presidential ticket. The white demographics of Oklahoma shifted from Democrat to American Independent from 1924 all the way to 1976, never giving any of its electoral votes to anyone else.
The 1924 Presidential Election was one that was going to be heated. Labor groups protested President Palmer's actions and went ahead to support a "Push Off Palmer" nomination. The first choice was Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt, but he declined in favour of endorsing Palmer and Glass as President and Vice-President. The other choices were of Senator Kenneth McKellar of Tennessee as well as George S. Silzer from New Jersey. The rush of diners such as Edward Doherty had tainted an already shaky perception of Palmer among the unions.
1st Ballot
Presidential Candidate | Occupation | State | Votes (out of 1096) |
Alexander Palmer | Incumbent President | Pennsylvania | 467 |
George S. Silzer | Governor of New Jersey | New Jersey | 201 |
Thomas Marshall | Vice-President to Woodrow Wilson | Indiana | 168 |
George Berry | President of the International Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America | Tennessee | 151 |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | Secretary of the Navy | New York | 44 |
Al Smith | Governor of New York | New York | 38 |
Robert Latham Owen | Senator from Oklahoma | Oklahoma | 16 |
William Jennings Bryan | Perennial candidate, former Secretary of State | Nebraska | 11 |
Roosevelt, upon seeing what had occurred, declared his endorsement for the President. Marshall met with George Berry in the hope for Berry to be his Secretary of Labor. Berry accepted and endorsed Marshall as President.
The 5th Ballot showed Palmer obtaining 590 votes with Marshall gaining with 318 votes. Al Smith trailed behind with 226 votes. It was Vice-President Glass who came up with one trick that would solidify the nomination.
As well as the fears that the labor movement had of the Democrat Party.
Shifting among the delegates, Palmer told a handful of delegates of the plan. At the same time, Marshall stated the need for a return to progressive ideas such as regulations on the banks, cheap credit for farmers as well as the abolition of child labor laws.
By the 10th Ballot, Palmer had 615 votes and Marshall had 372 votes with Al Smith dropping down with 109. Upon seeing the numbers, Palmer began to snatch victory from Marshall's clutches.
On the 11th Ballot, Palmer called in his delegates. A total of 85 delegates
were told to go to Marshall then leave him if the numbers were too close. Palmer had 780 votes, Marshall had 316 votes. From there, Palmer was re-confirmed as the Democrat Nominee for the President of the United States. (6)
It took one ballot to confirm Carter Glass as the Vice-President.
With reality kicking in, a total of 200 delegates along with their informal leader, George Berry, walked out of the DNC cursing Palmer on the way out.
The Republican Party, the Party that has never won re-election save for Theodore Roosevelt (who has been dead since 18th June 1921), was a whole different story.
For the conservatives, there was the Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge (Governor since 2nd January 1919), who oversaw the crushing of civil unrest caused by the attempted unionisation of the Boston Police. Coolidge believed that smaller, more efficient government was the means to prosperity. Coolidge believed in lower taxes, less regulations, a smaller peacetime army and navy as well as maintaining American interests in Latin America.
Challenging him was the Wisconsin Progressive Robert LaFollette, who was a firebrand criticising many things such as the current "Banana Republics" in Latin America. He also campaigned on making Native Americans citizens of the United States, supporting pensions for Army Veterans, abolition of child labor and progressive taxes. With the death of Theodore Roosevelt high in progressive minds, LaFollette captured the majority of states in the Republican Primaries, with only favourite-sons dealing with him.
Such was LaFollette's popularity among the people that there were fears of a third party break. After all, Thomas Marshall did the same thing in 1916 and it awarded Holmes the White House. However, the ideas seemed far too radical for a population that wanted to work. But after twenty ballots, the fiery passion that was there could not abate. It was there that Republican Party bosses confronted LaFollette and compromised with him: Coolidge as Vice-President, or LaFollette will be denied the election. On the 25th Ballot, LaFollette triumphed over the last of the favourite sons.
LaFollette would be 69 when he received the nomination, which again brought up the question of age for the Republicans. (7)
The American Independence Party, having heard the news of the Tulsa Racecide (which is the term used by the NAACP as well as the newly formed Morgenthau Institute Against Racecide), formed its convention at Birmingham, Alabama on the 15th to the 16th June.
The leading man was Mississippi Governor since 1916, Theodore G. Bilbo, the only Governor to be a member of the AIP. Vowing to protect "the institution of white supremacy in the South and in the United States", he would support measures such as abortion for the poor (this would target African-Americans the most) as well as a bill to transport African-Americans to Liberia and other colonies in Africa (8).
(9)
His running mate was the Georgia Senator Thomas Watson. A former House member for Georgia, Presidential candidate for the Populist Party in 1896 and 1904 and 1908, he changed from a racially liberal man to a white supremacist that mocked blacks and Jews alike, taking part in the sensationalisation of the trial of Leo Frank. Despite suffering a stroke one year earlier, he managed to maintain senility during this time and during the campaign.
Thus, the AIP ticket was forged.
WHO WILL WIN THE 1924 ELECTION? WHAT WILL BE CONTROVERSIAL ABOUT IT? TUNE IN NEXT TIME FOR
THE BAND PLAYED WALTZING MATILDA
SAME WALTZING MATILDA TIME
SAME WALTZING MATILDA WEBSITE
1. ATL Oriental refers to all peoples of Asia: Japanese, Koreans, Indians, Mongolians, Indians, etc. Occidentals refer to all people from Europe and from their diasporas in every colony.
2. ALT FBI
3. The 1921 Tulsa Massacre occurred because Rowland tripped on his way to the elevator and (this is the most common explanation) he grabbed onto Sarah's arm to break his fall. ATL, he doesn't trip. He just bumps into the man who wants to see him put down for as long as possible.
4. ATL American term for Molotov Cocktails
5. Many of the fatalities occurred in the dark of night between 2am and 6am.
6. OTL Democratic Convention required a two-thirds majority in favour of the candidate. Protestants like it due to denying Al Smith the nomination and the South wants it to maintain their interests (even though the AIP can fit their interests to a T)
7. Palmer is organising a more conservative administration, with the Republicans slowly accepting of policies that Robert LaFollette would champion. It is a question of whether that "slow acceptance" will bring about the desired votes come November.
8. To be fair to Margaret Sanger, she received positive plaudits for birth control from progressives and racists alike. To suggest that X liked her ideas, therefore she was X is not to be taken seriously. LaFollette would receive her endorsement in both OTL and ATL.
9. Bilbo could have been played by Frank Gorshin and LaFollette could have had Kirk Douglas play him. That would have been interesting.
Thoughts and comments please on who will win.
The virgin Palmer
The CHAD LaFollette
The simp BiLbO
WHO WILL WIN
see you all later.