The Golden GOP: A History of the “California Liberals” and the United States

[Citizen A]

Interesting tidbit I just came across: according to John Gerring, it was actually in the 1950's when Democrats started toning back the class warfare that had been a big part of their rhetoric since the days of Jennings Bryan, in favor of more inclusive messaging that treated corporations as legitimate actors in the political system. It seems like this OTL trend is going to hit a wall ITTL, but at the same time, the reasons Gerring cites for the shift remain in place: one, the Soviet Union is still out there, and going after business too vociferously makes you look like a communist sympathizer, and two, the New Deal and its safety net reduced class resentments among the general public. Taft-Hartley was passed by veto-proof majorities, so while it, and Hartley's appointment as Secretary of Labor are certainly provocations for organized labor, this probably isn't a cause that has the general public all that invested in it. So in the short term, at least, the Democrats' attempts to differentiate themselves on labor issues may be to their detriment.

I had read similar and such ideas surround this timeline. I'd like to respond to some of the stuff here. The big thing is that Democrats are stuck big time between swinging back to be this hardcore labor movement and holding onto Southern "Law and Order" type Democrats. As well I feel you hit the nail on the head, the core reason for this is to ensure that the Democrats have something to push the Republicans on. Keep in mind the Taft-Hartley bill was almost immediately opposed by all big leaders and opposition to it was included or at least alluded to in many later Democratic Platforms, it was popular at the time because the Democrats soon dropped it as you said and many moved to support stopping big strikes over supporting labor, but this issue in this timeline could be swapped to rile up big unions especially in key Midwestern states. But you definitely made some big points and the "New Deal" and its legacy will be fought over by both parties.

 

[Unknown]

Wonder if Colonel Sanders will make an appearance...

 

[Citizen A]

Cities and Corruption​

“CITY CLOSES STATEN ISLAND RAPID TRANSIT LINES DUE TO LACK OF FINANCES”

-Headline from the New York Daily News, March 1953​

“It is simply unacceptable that the government has let issues as important as infrastructure and transportation fall to the hands of incompetent city governments and poorly run state boards, it is time for the federal government to use its power for the national good.”

-Quote from Secretary of Public Works, Robert Moses, to the press​

“The Secretary or one of his aids was soon a main stay of my office. He was constantly pushing for a larger budget, expanded jurisdiction, or most importantly the passage of one of his pet bills. I suppose I wasn’t alone though as these plans soon came up on the Congress floor and with a large amount of support.”

-Excerpt from the autobiography of House Speaker Joseph Martin Jr​

“The American City is the hub of enterprise and the center of American business. I stand before you representing the shining city on the hill, the City of Boston and I wish to ensure that these benefits only grow and expand, to the benefit of all Americans. To the benefit of the worker who must get to the city center to work each morning, to the businessman who commutes to his office building, to the farmer whose wares are ferried from the city harbor, it is to the benefit of all that the American city grow, and that is why I have presented this bill.”

-Quote from Representative Angier Goodwin on the Goodwin-Stuyvesant Bill also known as the Urban Infrastructure Renewal Act of 1953 or the Moses Act​

“-What can possibly justify the massive cost of renewal? [At the time the bill cost 15 million or about 142 million in 2018 dollars]

--America must accept we either pay the costs now or lose much more later.

-What do you mean by that?

--Without this bill, the American city will lose millions due to a slow and aging system, a slow and aging system someone will have to keep paying thousands to continually patch.”

-White House Press Reporter questioning Secretary of Public Works Robert Moses on Urban Infrastructure Renewal Act​

“The bill earmarked the money to be used to: help metropolitan commissions maintain and expand current networks, help finance and offer loans to city and state corporations for infrastructure and help offer planning and assistance for development. Ignored at the time was the federal takeover, called a conservatorship, of the two Staten Island lines which set the precedent for the Department of Public Works to incorporate other state-run boards when they saw them as ‘failing’ or in ‘financial danger’. This precedent was rarely pressed during the Moses era though as the department kept steady financial control of any corporation they had given a loan to.”

-Excerpt from Bureaucracy in the United States: 1920-2000​

“The Urban Infrastructure Renewal Act had a stringent application process and the Department of Public Works openly said that not all applications would get the funding requested. It was soon accused of favoring cities that followed Moses’s model for city planning, accused of favoring Republican run cities, and accused of denying much needed funding to African American neighborhoods. The whole system was decried as an example of a poorly run administration, but Moses was quick to reply that he personally oversaw the majority of projects and ran a tight ship. But it may be telling that it was Moses and not Warren who oversaw the Department’s projects.”

-Excerpt from Big City Machines and Federal Puppetry: Corruption in the Inner City​

“Moses fought tooth and nail to keep his Department independent of much oversight or investigation. Every committee hearing on his funding was met by heavy lobbying on his part and the part of urban planners who flourished under his watch. Every press question was met with a lofty response on the importance of efficiency and meeting tomorrow’s problems today. In short, the Department of Public Works became the private domain of Robert Moses and he continued to lobby and push to see it grow.”

-Excerpt from The Power Broker in Washington​

“The slow expansion of the Department of Public Works also saw the expansion of the Moses plan for urban planning. The, now notorious in some circles, ‘wheel and spoke’ model for freeways around cities was pushed by the Department and projects that implemented the model were far more likely to get the funded and loans they needed.”

-Excerpt from The History of American Urbanism​

“Despite the fact that the original spark for the bill had been the Staten Island Rapid Transit Line shutdown, those lines were soon shut down regardless, the Department announcing that they simply were not tenable. This soon became a trend, with the department killing many of the public transit, particularly rail, projects that came under their management.

-Excerpt from The Death of the American Tramway​

“Despite being given the power to basically play architect of any American city he so chose, Robert Moses was hardly satisfied, and soon, alongside the President, began to push for even larger projects, which would of course likely fall under his jurisdiction.”

-Excerpt from The Power Broker in Washington​

“Moses was used by the opposition Democrats in a variety of ways. Many from urban centers or those who had the backing of steel or other affiliated unions attacked him due to perceived opposition to public transit and many Democrats began to push for intraurban rail as an alternative to Moses’s highway corridor plans. Others, rural and Southern Democrats attacked him as a ‘Big Wig Yankee’ who had little quarter, or even a penny, for the interest of the Southern farmer or even for Southern cities. He was, and often is, used as a symbol of the oft broken progress offered by the Warren administration.”

-Excerpt from The Crumbling Opposition; Democrats in the 50’s​

“Robert Moses soon became a symbol of many things. To some he represented the ideals of development and rule by the technocrat that many believed Warren had come into office to assert. To others, he represented the corruption of the large cities and the misguided ideology of the progressive. No matter what he was symbolic of though, it cannot be denied that Moses was a giant that dominated not just his own Department but the 83rd Congress, cities around America, and indeed the future of the American city as a whole. While many opposed him, far more fell into line. “

-Excerpt from The Power Broker in Washtington​

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[Citizen A]

I would also like to point out that this speed of posting is very temporary and I will likely be scaling back, so the contents are better written, better thought out, and better paced. Just wanted to add this here just so no one gets too used to this posting schedule, we have a whole lot left to cover before I will be happy ending this timeline though so thank you to everyone reading along and supporting me.

 

[Citizen A]

For Liberty and Justice for All​

“Earl Warren was simply not the anti-communist critics make him out to be. He played an influential role in the silencing of the McCarthy style anti-communist, and yes, he did allow party men and conservatives to run free in his administration, but this was more due to the power of his party and a lack of focus on such issues. The man was far more liberal in that era than many give him credit for.”

-Excerpt from The Warren Era​

“The appointment of Herbert Brownell Jr. to the position of Attorney General shocked no one really, he was a strong party insider, with a progressive past, and a solid legal career. What was not know was just how much influence he would have on later, much larger events.”

-Excerpt from Inside the Warren White House​

“Many acolytes of President Warren quickly forget his administrations blatant attacks on labor, quickly discourage discussion of the FBI run amuck, and shy away from discussions of what the CIA was doing abroad. These things will not be forgotten in this book though, no, they will be thoroughly examined and prodded”

-Excerpt from Reexamining the Warren Government​

“There was time for a while where I could tell me and my boys were being watched. A few close friends and associates of mine were taken in, mostly on the grounds of their former support for the Communists. I want it on the record here though, that by 1950, I had sworn of the Red Flag and sworn of Foster, I was never a Communist after Foster took over. But despite all this, allegations began stacking up, I think a few boys said they’d planned or considered or even thought the words ‘general strike’ and that was all that was needed for the FBI to rifle through my files.”

-Labor leader and head of the Transport Workers Union Mike Quill quoted in The Syndicalist Scare​

“Warren’s administration was no more particularly anti-labor than even Truman’s had been and where it was, it was more the effect of the trends of the day and the influence of the Taft-McCarthy wings of the party than of Warren himself. His administration fought for numerous causes that would have helped the working man and the fact that he is now remembered for the actions of a very independent FBI is quite a shame.”

-Excerpt from Progressives and the Worker: 1900-1980​

“Warren began to take note of the Civil Rights movement sometime in the summer of 1953. He instructed Attorney General Brownell to investigate the previous Bolling v Sharpe case and the numerous new cases that were coming up through the legal system including the now famous Brown v Board of Education. Brownell took up this responsibility and began considering active involvement of the US Department of Justice on these cases but realized this may seem to be overstepping his boundary. Instead, he began drafting legislation on the matter and contacting allies and coworkers in the Justice Department and law in general.”

-Excerpt from Justice for All: The Civil Rights Movement and the US Legal System​

“Warren pushed for the Congress to, both for the sake of the states and due to a genuine belief in the importance and out of a genuine belief it was the best policy, expand Public Law 280 by adding in additional funding for states that decided to incorporate the Indian Reservations as well as offering federal help. A campaign of governors and senators from states with significant reservations helped push this addition through. This did help soften the blow that Public Law 280 had on the Indian community.”

-Excerpt from American Indian Policy: 1950-2010​

“The era of racial progress during the 1950’s saw an odd parallel in the Native American community as Natives were now stripped of special protections and in some states, their very nationhood, under the banner of ‘racial equality’. Warren, for his part, came from a state where the Indian Reservations had caused a few issues and so he was no defender of the reservations. While the reservations were imperfect, the state funding to help the transition from reservation to equal citizens was often squandered or worse still spent on white-majority communities. The 1950s, despite attempts at improvement and a sincere spirit of goodwill, were a period of quite heavy damage for the Native American community.”

-Excerpt from The Indian School and Termination: American Indian Policy​

“The early years of the Warren administration saw little progress on the race question. Warren, as someone who was well versed in law and previously held numerous legal positions, knew his limits as executive. He set aside important resources for those looking into the early civil rights cases and pushed for expansion of important laws, but he was relatively constrained by his own belief he could not overstretch himself lest he lose the support of his party. By Fall of 1953 though, Warren had a real chance to make a lasting impact on US law and the US legal system.”

- Excerpt from Justice for All: The Civil Rights Movement and the US Legal System​

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[BP Booker]

It seems its not all roses with Waren, althou it would appear that the administration is getting ready to commit to civil right, or at least more than Ike ever did

 

[Citizen A]

There was no way I could write a Warren based timeline and not put some emphasis on the Civil Rights movement. I promise that will not be the sole focus of this timeline though as I hope previous updates and future updates will show, the lens is far broader than just that.

 

[Milo]

Does Stassen have any influence on the administration ?

 

[Citizen A]

Harold Stassen became quite famous for debating against Dewey that America should ban the Communist Party, in that regard I think you could already say we have seen the influence of people like Stassen. But never fear, he will be coming up a lot more soon, I chose him to be VP for a reason after all

 

[Citizen A]

The Health of the Nation​

“Upon my appointment I found myself constantly hounded with letters, lobbyists, and staffers. Not all negative of course, many came to support my cause and support the work of the Department, but the majority were from those who came to be my greatest opponents.”

-Excerpt from the autobiography of Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Isidore Falk​

“I was tasked with writing a series of what I would now call polemics against, well against most everything, but most particularly any snippet of proposed policy that leaked out of the Department. “

-Editor and Writer for the American Medical Association interviewed in 1982​

“Beginning in spring of 1953, there were three concurrent plans. The first, being drafted primarily by New Deal Democrats (with some of the higher-level officers of the Department of Health offering feedback), was a sweeping universal healthcare program, an attempt to revive Truman’s healthcare plan. This was officially called the Health Implementation Act though it was more often called the Fair Plan, after the former President Truman’s Fair Deal. The second, being drafted by some slightly more conservative Midwesterners and Southerners, was a plan to improve healthcare in rural regions and offer medical aid to the elderly and some poor (provided they were not ‘vagrants’) and was largely an extension of the Hill-Burton Act. The third and final plan was that being built by pro-business conservative Republicans, who were building a plan to provide a tax benefit to companies which offered health insurance to their employees as well as boosting spending towards research and development (this later became known as the drug subsidy).”

-Excerpt from The History of Health Reform in America​

“Dear Fellow Citizens and Countrymen,

It is time that great thought be given to a question that has been raised numerous times, that question being, what is the best system that we, as Americans can build to keep our nation healthy? I will continue to support, as I did as President, the implementation of a universal healthcare program. This letter will contain my final bargain and my final push for what I believe is the only fair deal for the American people…”

-Letter from Former President Truman, published in the New York Times, Summer of 1953​

“The participation of a former president in matters of national debate is not just abnormal but should be looked down upon. The people have made their decision regarding Truman, if they had wished to hear from him again, they would have elected Stevenson.”

-Anonymous Republican Congressman in 1953​

“-Will the President endorse any of the bills on the House Floor?

--The President and his staff wish to make no comment on any bill currently on the floor.

-Will the President endorse the concept of a national healthcare system?

--No, though he will say he hopes to see America get a better healthcare system during his Presidency

-Is it not true that in his time as Governor he supported such a program in the state?

--This is true.”

-White House Press Secretary Murray Chotiner responding to questions during the Healthcare Debate of 1953​

“I cannot support my fellow House Democrats in regard to the Health Implementation Act, but I wish to offer my reasons why. The first is purely cost, if the bill is accepted in its current form then the budget will be crushed under the load. Programs vital to older Americans like Social Security will likely be robbed to pay for this expensive program. The second is a lack of clarity regarding how it will help Americans in rural counties, offering them insurance that is useless without doctors and medicine to acquire with it…For all these reasons I will not be voting in favor of this bill.”

-Quote from Democratic Caucus Chairmen Wilbur Mills during the healthcare debate of 1953​

“By the end of June 1953, it was clear that in their current states, no one of the three bills would be able to pass, so a committee of Democrats and Republicans got together, along with the President and multiple officials from the Department of Health and opened a new discussion with the hopes of pinning down a real plan. Negotiations almost broke down when the American Medical Association demanded access to these meetings, but they were quickly satisfied by the addition of a few more conservative Republicans.”

-Excerpt from The History of Health Reform in America​

“Every side of course came in with demands and it didn’t appear as though any compromise would be made. The Fair Deal Democrats actually left the talks two separate times before agreeing to drop their demands for universal care. Shockingly, the strongest speakers against them was a small group of Southern Democrats who ardently pushed for the moderate Republican bill. The Republicans quickly realized that this split could be capitalized upon and out of this meeting came a sort of compromise bill. The bill would continue to expand rural hospitals, provide health insurance to the elderly and working poor, and provide a tax benefit to employers who offered their workers health insurance. It would be amended to add on tax breaks and direct government subsidies to a consortium of drug research companies while on the House floor.”

-Excerpt from Compromise, Compromise: The Warren Government​

“A deal was also made to keep Democratic support through the voting process by firing Dr. Falk. Falk had made it clear that he was an ardent supporter of universal care, and such a belief was no longer tenable. Southern Democrats offered one of their own, Lister Hill [of fame for the Hill-Burton Act] to serve as the Secretary. Few found this to be impossible, except of course the few Fair Deal Democrats still at the talks and Dr. Falk himself, though he was quickly shuttled off and closed out. “

-Excerpt from Inside the Warren White House​

“I was shocked when I arrived to one of the meetings and was informed, I was not to be allowed in, when I got back to my office a memo was waiting on my desk, after just five months of service and having barely even begun any planning, I was to be removed. I left my office and began meeting with a smaller group of Democrats in their office building.”

-Excerpt from the autobiography of Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Isidore Falk​

“I followed Senator Douglas to the meetings of the Fair Deal Democrats, and I seem to recall getting quite active in the debates there, soon a few members there took interest in me, said I was a good orator, it was one of my earliest encounters with the Democratic Party and politics proper rather than purely just organizing and community work.”

-Excerpt from the memoirs of Ronald Reagan​

“Leading the now isolated group of Democrats was House Minority Whip John McCormack. McCormack was not just a paternal figure for many in the group, he also gave their demands real weight in the party and made the group a significant force. He was also quick to try to pull together the same coalition he had pulled for the original Fair Deal votes to coalesce around writing a proper bill for a national insurance. This movement did not go far, but McCormack was still seen as a leader of this now growing bloc. By mid-July though, McCormack had sat through enough meetings with his party and with the President to realize that the only bill that would pass was the ones drawn up by the Conservative Coalition, and so he quickly pushed the Fair Deal bloc to support the bill.”

-Excerpt from The Fair Negotiator​

“Warren was shockingly active during this whole affair. Initially it seemed he was going to be pushing for the same Fair Deal style universal healthcare program that Truman was and so now historians and even analysts at the time must explain, what changed? Some say it was party pressure, others say he was just taking the best deal offered. Regardless, Warren still pushed for the new health insurance bill quite strongly and was one of its strongest advocates, a radical departure from his silence on the matter just weeks earlier.”

-Excerpt from Inside the Warren White House​

“The bipartisan National Healthcare Act has come to the House floor where it is expected to pass with a large majority.”

-Quote from a “Washington Post” article, July 1953​

“NATIONAL HEALTH BILL PASSES”

-Headline from the New York Times, July 1953​

“In the end, the bill received support from a quite large portion of the Congress. Almost all Democrats voted in favor, and the majority of Republicans did as well (though some splitters remained, primarily from the Taft/Midwestern coalition). With this, the bill was sent to the Senate, where mostly Democratic leadership on the part of Minority Leader Johnson pushed it through.”

-Excerpt from Compromise, Compromise: The Warren Government​

“I am glad to finally be able to sign into action a law that Americans have waited for many decades. A law to guarantee that those who cannot reach help themselves will always have access and that no matter where you live or at what level of society you live in this great country, you will have access to good medical care. I am glad to sign into law a bill which will finally improve the health of our nation.”

-Quote from Earl Warren as he signs the National Healthcare Act of 1953 into law
​

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[Cybercat]

So is this healthcare bill basically Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare subsidies/tax credits?

 

[Citizen A]

It would be vaguely similar yes, though it comes with many more corporate subsidies and tax deals which I am unsure if any of those programs had.

 

[Citizen A]

I hope everyone can excuse my gap!

 

[Citizen A]

Warren’s Court​

“CHIEF JUSTICE VINSON DIES OF HEART ATTACK”

-Headline from the New York Times, September 1953​

“ I remember the President coming to my office the day after we had learned of the Chief Justice’s heart attack, he had this odd air about him, I knew he was trying to seem saddened, and indeed I think his heart was there, but his mind was clearly ready to move forward onto the work that Justice Vinson was known to block.”

-Quote from Attorney General Hebert Brownell Jr​

“I remember quite early on realizing that Warren was focused on people he personally had worked with, even though they were almost exclusively Democrats. He suggested I begin to watch Robert Kenny, I did, and I observed the activities and policies of a typical liberal democrat. Then he moved on to Chief Justice of California, Phil S Gibson, who he thought would uphold his administration’s policies, though he quickly brushed past him as well due to more personal reasons. I tried to inform him as politely as possible that appointing any Democrat to the Supreme Court would essentially sink any confidence the party still had left in him.”

-Quote from Chief of Staff Thomas Kuchell​

“Despite the general practice, rumors and inside sources say numerous Democrats and ex-Roosevelt advisors were considered by President Warren. According to some, even Truman appointee Judge Francis Duffy was being considered. Also, heavily emphasized is his consideration of fellow Californians, to the point he returned to his home state, for the expressed purpose of visiting, but with clear intent to talk to several possible appointees.”

-Excerpt from In Pursuit of Justices​

“I remember the Senator was quite nervous about who would be chosen by the President, fearing that he’d have to either doom the country to many more years of this progressive ideological radicalism or else risk all party unity. If the President decided to make it a recess appointment, there was still the question of whether or not to speak out on the issue. I think the Senator was even more incensed because he truly loathed the man chosen by Warren.”

-Quote from the aide of an anonymous Republican senator​

“Despite claims of being controlled by the party or a leaf in the wind of party opinion, Warren proved these wrong numerous times very early on, from his arguments on healthcare to his choice of Chief Justice.”

-Excerpt from an essay on Earl Warren​

“It was a clear day and an early morning. The Governor had called his board of advisors and officials for a meeting to discuss an issue regarding infrastructure construction safety, superficially regarding multiple municipal laws he’d hoped to be able to discuss. He mulled around the house a little longer than usual that day, much to the consternation of his aides, reading up on a local legal case he had both much and little interest in. In a certain way, that is how the Governor felt about all local politics, after much time on the national stage and a grand role in his party, it was almost difficult to settle back into state politics and petty big machine feuds, though he believed he would soon fall back into step. This was not to be though, as he came to his office, he was met with various aides who let him know a call had come in for him from Washington, and within a few hours, Governor Dewey was on his way back to Washington D.C.”

-Excerpt from The Life and Times of Thomas Dewey​

“Dewey was of course, for men like Warren, the perfect candidate. A well-known legal figure, with a strong progressive background, who was well liked by enough of the party. No one then was shocked all too much when news of the consideration of Dewey spread, though many believe it did cause some heartache from the more conservative wing of the party.”

-Excerpt from Inside the Warren White House​

“DEWEY CONFIRMED TO BE SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE”

-Headline from the New York Times​

“That was the power of the recess appointment, Dewey was rushed through, without too much screaming and crying mind you, and we had the court. I remember it was a hectic few days while this was all going on but once it was done, it was done, it was Warren’s court now. And soon the entire nation would see would a Warren court would do. I’ll be honest, I was one of many disillusioned liberals who thought Dewey’s ascendance would do little to push our agenda through, I will admit now I was wrong, and if I had to tell you who was the better man, well, let’s save that for off interview eh?”

-Quote from an Aide to Chief of Staff Thomas Kuchell in Inside the Warren White House​

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[Citizen A]

This update is a little short as I wanted to keep this timeline up and going, but hopefully this will be made up for in the next post in the following days.

 

[Citizen A]

Hello everyone! I have returned and am hopeful to start working on stuff again over the summer. Before I do so though, it has been a few months and I wanted to gauge what the community wants as I am unsure of what project to do. I will link to a strawpoll for people here to vote on and then make my choice later today. I am excited to get back into writing, especially with some free months.
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https://www.strawpoll.me/18019515/

 

[Citizen A]

Atoms for Peace​

“I appreciate the distinction of addressing you, I have a sense of exhilaration as I look upon this room. Your deliberations and decisions will shape this century possibly more than anyone else’s. But the great tests and the great accomplishments still lie ahead. I would be loath to use this great opportunity to recite, however hopefully, pious platitudes. I therefore decided that this occasion warranted my saying to you some of the things that have been on my mind as defense papers cross my desk. I know that the American people and this party share my deep belief that if a danger exists in the world, it is a danger shared by all; and equally, that if hope exists in the mind of one nation, that hope should be shared by all. I feel impelled to speak today in a language that in a sense is new, one which I, who have spent so much of my life in the military profession, both recognize and find foreign. That new language is the language of atomic warfare. With this new development, we enter a new age, not just of warfare, but of policy making. And so, if the all the members of this room are to be tasked with designing the modern statecraft and the modern strategy, they must be armed with the significant facts of today's existence. My recital of atomic power is necessarily stated in military terms, for these are the only terms that I know, I need hardly point out to this body, though,that this is not just a military issue, but a diplomatic one, and a domestic one. Today, the United States' stockpile of atomic weapons, which, of course, increases daily, exceeds by many times the total equivalent of the total of all bombs and all shells that came from every plane and every gun in every theatre of war in all the years of the Second World War. A single air group whether afloat or land based, can now deliver to any reachable target a destructive cargo exceeding in power all the bombs that fell on Britain in all the Second World War. This fact must not frighten us though, it must only serve to enlighten use to the power of this new weapon. Many in this room, many in America fear this power. We wish, desperately, to be a nation at peace, not at arms. We desire grand sweeping agreements, not wars, among nations. We want to live in freedom, and in the confidence that the people of every other nation enjoy equally the right of choosing their own way of life. But we know that against our current enemies, we cannot guarantee that all men are free. We know that our freedom, nor the freedom of our allies cannot be guaranteed. From Korea to Germany, the rights of man are threatened by the Communist powers. It is against this foe that we cannot shrink from the deployment of our atomic power. Do not think that means war. Was it war when I deployed tanks in Berlin? Was it war as American planes flew over the city? The answer is clear, no it was not. It was confrontation, plain and simple, it was standing up to an aggressor, it was refusing to back down. If it is a nuclear deterrent that is needed to stand up against aggressors, we cannot fear it’s use there either. Though we may desire peace, we cannot flee blindly into it. I do not stand here before you to urge the use of a nuclear first option, I stand before you to urge to use this atomic power to secure peace, to secure a peace for man, for our nation, a peace that can only be secured by a stalwart defense and an iron will.

It is our job to stand up to the powers that threaten us, under the circumstances of today, only we have that power. Only we have the strength, the power, to halt and meet the aggression of our foes. To the making of these fateful decisions, I pledge, as a politician and countryman, before you—and therefore before the nation- my determination to protect the peace, even if that means the use of the atomic power or any other power at my disposal. Because I will not shrink from the ability to use atoms for peace."

-Excerpt from a speech by Secretary of Defense Lucius Clay to a dinner hall of Republican policy makers on December 10, 1953. This speech is often cited as the start of the era of “atomic brinkmanship” as well as the most clear and early direct committals of the United States to protecting the world peace and world freedom during the Cold War. It is now frequently referred to as the “Atoms for Peace” speech, in contrast to the far less remembered address to the United Nations given by various US civil servants regarding civilian uses of nuclear energy.​

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[Citizen A]

Opening this history back up with a slightly shorter post as I get back into preparing for some of the bigger stuff, but I do hope it is still telling of what may be to come

 

[Citizen A]

Pistol Shots Ring Out​

“I am Joaquín, lost in a world of confusion, caught up in the whirl of a gringo society,”

-Excerpt from the Chicano Poem “I Am Joaquin”​

“This morning, just a few blocks from this station, gunfire was reported at the Spring Street Courthouse, during the scheduled visit of the State Attorney General, we will keep you updated”

-The beginning of the days events as reported by one California radio station on February 9th, 1954​

“Though shrouded in the fog of time as well as the blankets of hearsay and rumors that of course took place after the event, it is not too hard to piece together the events of that morning. The State Attorney General, Edmund “Pat” Brown, came under fire as he exited the Spring Street Courthouse. The assailant supposedly shouted some words in Spanish prior to firing upwards of 3 rounds at the Attorney General, none of which hit the target, though one round did hit a legal clerk exiting the building behind him. Though law enforcement was quick to act and protect the Attorney General, the perpetrator was not caught, at least not immediately.”

- American Historical Association Report on the events of February 9th​

“I distinctly remember the day, I’m pretty sure I could even tell you the color tie that Mr. Brown was wearing. I was exiting the building just behind the Attorney General when I heard shouting and noticed a man, more a boy than a man but you get my meaning, running towards the Attorney General. He then revealed an old service revolver and began firing. Me and the other officers weren’t slow to act but our first instinct really wasn’t to go after the man but to protect the Attorney General.

[He was then asked by the interviewer: “At the time, you said the man was Hispanic, will you repeat that for me?”]

The court did in fact find one Joaquin Navarro guilty yes.”

-Excerpt from the dissertation Racial and Socioeconomic Justice in Southern California ​

“-Do you remember where you were that day?

--Me and Joaquin were trying to fix an old bike that we’d been working on in the shop for quite a while.

-So, you still claim to have been with him at the time of the shooting?

--I know where my brother was”

-Interview with Elías Navarro, brother of Joaquin Navarro, done as research and included as a citation in the previously cited dissertation in 1975​

“What happened after the shooting is where events grow more questionable. Most agree that a few hours later, around 5 PM, typical after work hours, a small group of white men, mostly members of the local Native Sons of the Golden West organization, met at the home of former City Councilman Earl C. Gay. Some authors stop here to note that the group was unarmed and merely agreed to drive to East Los Angeles to see if they could help police in that neighborhood in anyway, whilst other authors observe that the men were likely armed and were likely unaffiliated with police. Regardless, the group of men arrived in the City Terrace community by 6:30 PM”

- American Historical Association Report on the events of February 9th​

“I remember my Mom crying as the men came into our home, she tried to send me into the other room but they insisted I stay, I now understand they thought I very well could have been the shooter, despite being no more than 12 at the time. They searched through our home and I think one of them hit my Mom, they passed over our house quickly. Luckily for us we lived two blocks away from where most of the real action would take place.”

-Interview with a resident of East Los Angeles done in 1976​

“-And do you remember why you had the revolver?

--It wasn’t uncommon for a shop owner to own a gun in Los Angeles at the time, not in East Los Angeles

-It was a service revolver no?

--It was, they were the easiest to come by and the cheapest to buy too, lots of veterans pawned off their old equipment to pay some lost debts.”

- Interview with Elías Navarro​

“suppressed by manipulation and destroyed by modern society.”


“When the band of men arrived in the neighborhood of Joaquin Navarro, they entered his home and found what they suspected to be the murder weapon. Again, reports diverge at this point. Many of the earlier reports claimed that the men took Navarro immediately to the police and that the events that followed were unrelated to the men or the arrest. Later reports, often updated to include the accounts of those living in the neighborhood, reported that the men dragged Joaquin out to the car, but were not yet finished, as they took out their anger on the neighborhood.”

- American Historical Association Report on the events of February 9th​

“Before the fire, this is where the garage of the Navarro brothers once stood. Most of the old equipment and the husk of the building remained out here till the early 1960’s when the equipment had mostly been sold off. Joaquin’s brother, Elías tried to sell the building throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s but ultimately just had to get the lot leveled, selling it in 1971. It passed through multiple hands until eventually it came under the ownership of this Beauty Salon.”

-Excerpt from the transcript of a documentary on the East Los Angeles Fire done in 2018​

“What sparked the fires is not known. The police reports at the time concluded that it had been an unnaturally dry period and that electrical issues on account of poor wiring started the fire. Some eyewitnesses report that the garage had been purposefully targeted by white militias. When asked about his role, former City Councilman Earl Gay claimed that the fire was unconnected with his group’s arrest of Joaquin Navarro. Regardless of the spark, every news report and account agree that the fires spread far past the neighborhood of the Navarro garage, quickly engulfing much of the City Terrace community and spreading into the rest of Eastern Los Angeles. “

- American Historical Association Report on the events of February 9th​

“You can actually see on the maps of the time just the sheer amount of buildings lost in the fires, over 20% of the Eastern Los Angeles community saw some damage, most of it irredeemable. It is actually what laid the groundwork for the overpasses in the area, as the land was amazingly cheap for the federal government to seize for infrastructure projects.”

-Interview with a member of the local planning board, 2015​

“The scale of human lives lost is disputed. Police records claim that no more than 10 people died whilst the highest estimates (those done by one UCLA student in 1968) claim that over 30 may have died. Both estimates agree that property damage was well into the tens of thousands. “

- Excerpt from the dissertation Racial and Socioeconomic Justice in Southern California ​

“I look at myself. I watch my brother. I shed tears of sorrow. I sow seeds of hate.”


“-Do you think what happened was an injustice?

--Yes

-And why do you think that?

--You could look at the jury and tell what their ruling was going to be.”

- Interview with Elías Navarro​

“After being driven to the police station, Joaquin Navarro was held and interrogated for multiple days. The trial saw multiple pushbacks that led to Navarro sitting in a jailcell for three weeks prior to his trial. When the trial did commence, it was relatively quick. He was tried in front of an all-white jury in a segregated courthouse, two practices that would be declared unconstitutional in just a few months in the case of Hernandez v Texas. His sentencing was swift, and no appeals were made."

- Excerpt from the dissertation Racial and Socioeconomic Justice in Southern California ​

“I have been killed.”

- Excerpt from the Chicano Poem “I Am Joaquin”​