The Passing of Midnight

When the mariner, sailing over tropic seas, looks for relief from his weary watch, he turns his eyes toward the southern cross, burning luridly above the tempest-vexed ocean. As the midnight approaches, the southern cross begins to bend, the whirling worlds change their places, and with starry finger-points the Almighty marks the passage of time upon the dial of the universe, and though no bell may beat the glad tidings, the lookout knows that the midnight is passing and that relief and rest are close at hand. Let the people everywhere take heart of hope, for the cross is bending, the midnight is passing, and joy cometh with the morning. - Eugene V. Debs


United States President Election, 1916

The division in 1916 was deep. With the reunited Republican Party running Charles Hughes against the incumbent Woodrow Wilson. Of the utmost importance in the election was the Great War raging in Europe and the ongoing revolution in Mexico. Hughes criticized Wilson for not being properly prepared to face a conflict in Europe, helping Wilson's image as an anti-war candidate. Eugene Debs, the Socialist candidate, had briefly considered running for Congress in Indiana but eventually decided against it and won the Socialist nomination in a landslide.

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Republican Convention, The Coliseum, Chicago

Nominations

Democratic National Convention

The 1916 Democratic National Convention was held in St. Louis, Missouri from June 14th and 16th. President Wilson was extremely popular within his party and ran unopposed for the nomination. Additionally Vice President Thomas Marshall ran unopposed for the Vice Presidential nomination.

Republican National Convention

The 1916 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois from June 7th to June 10th. Following the humiliating defeat of 1912, the primary goal of the convention was to seek out someone who could reunify the progressives and the conservatives in order to carry the party to victory. The party bosses looked for a moderate who could fulfill that task, they went to Supreme Court Justice Charles E. Hughes who had been appointed to the court in 1910. Hughes had made no intention to run for the nomination but made it clear if nominated he would carry through with his parties wishes.

On the first ballot Hughes lead, with 253 votes for Hughes, 105 John W. Weeks, and 103 Elihu Root. On the second ballot Hughes lead increased further, with 326 Hughes, 102 Weeks, and 89 Root. On the third and final ballot Hughes crushed his opposition with 950 votes. Hughes was to be the Republican nominee for President, and Vice-President Charles W. Fairbanks was nominated as his running mate.

Progressive National Convention

The Progressive Party attempted to nominate Teddy Roosevelt again. However Roosevelt himself declined the nomination not wanting for the Republicans to face a humiliating defeat to Wilson as they did in 1912. The party broke into infighting over whether someone should be nominated or to fold back into the Republican Party. State-level Progressive parties were disbanded and by the time the National Convention actually convened in Chicago on June 26th, those in attendance hesitantly endorsed Hughes and the Republican ticket. Most of the members would return to the Republican Party.

Socialist Party Nomination

Entering into the convention four-time presidential candidate Eugene Debs once again quickly emerged as the frontrunner. Debs had for a time considered running for Congress in Indiana and Allan Benson, a newspaper editor from New York, briefly emerged as a frontrunner. However after much consideration Debs decided that he would run for the Socialist nomination again. The vote for the nomination was conducted through a mail-order ballot, with Debs capturing 25,346 out of a total of 33,267 cast.

General Election

The Democrats rallied around the cry "He Kept Us out of War," saying a Republican victory would mean war with both Mexico and Germany. Hughes attempted to downplay the war issue, and called for greater mobilization and preparedness. Hughes also attacked Wilson for his support of various pro-labor laws, on the grounds that they were harmful to business interests. His criticisms gained little traction, however, especially among factory workers who supported such laws. Hughes was helped by the vigorous support of popular former President Theodore Roosevelt, and by the fact that the Republicans were still the nation's majority party at the time.

The Democrats rallying cry, however, would not be enough to ensure Wilson's reelection.

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272 EV / 44.15% - Charles Hughes/Charles Fairbanks (R)
259 EV / 46.21% - Woodrow Wilson/Thomas Marshall (D)
0 EV / 8.18% - Eugene Debs/Allan Benson (S)
0 EV / 1.20% - Frank Hanly /Ira Landrith (Prohibition)
0 EV / 0.18% - N/A (Progressive)
0 EV / 0.08% - Arthur Reimer/Caleb Harrison (Socialist-Labor)

Hughes was able to pull off a narrow win in 1916, though he lost the popular vote. In California (the key to Hughes success) Hughes only beat out Wilson by a little over a thousand votes, polls had shown it to be an extremely close race previously. New Hampshire set a record when Hughes won the state by only 42 votes. Additionally Socialist Eugene Debs was able to beat his 1912 record of 5.99% by over two percent.

United States Senate elections, 1916

Notable in the 1916 Senatorial Elections was the election of the first Socialist, Ashley G. Miller of Nevada, to the Senate. The increase in votes for the Socialist Party allowed for some narrow Republican victories in places such Nebraska, New Mexico, and Ohio.

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Republican - 45 Seats (+5)
Democratic - 50 Seats (-6)
Socialist - 1 Seat (+1)

United States House of Representatives elections, 1916

The House of Representatives elections in 1916 saw the Republicans regain a razor-thin plurality though the Democrats managed to hang onto a majority by forming a coalition with the remaining Progressives and the Socialists in the House. This being a sign of what was to come, coalitions would soon become a mainstay in the future of American politics. Additionally Jeannette Rankin, a Republican from Montana was the first woman ever elected to congress.

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Republican - 215 Seats (+18)
Democratic - 214 Seats (-16)
Progressive - 3 Seats (-3)
Socialist - 2 Seats (+1)
Prohibition - 1 Seat (-)

_____________________________________________

If you guys think this sounds good and take an interest I'll continue. Also throw criticisms of any kind my way.
 
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NoMommsen

Donor
subscibed

A republican president with some "progressive" filaments in his webbings, please continue, I am keen to see where you lead this.
 
Wilson's Resignation

In October of 1916 President Woodrow Wilson drafted a plan in order to rid himself of the lame duck period of his presidency in the event of a defeat in the general election. He planned within 3 days after the general election to dismiss the current Secretary of State Robert Lansing, then he would appoint Charles Hughes as the new Secretary of State. Further Wilson and his Vice-President Thomas Marshall would both resign, thereby making Hughes President months early without a lame-duck period.

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Woodrow Wilson announcing his resignation from the office of President.

After several days of deliberation, on November 11th 1916 Charles Hughes accepted the appointment as Secretary of State and sailed past his conformation. On November 14th, after finishing up affairs that needed to be taken care of, Wilson and Marshall resign from their positions and Hughes is sworn in as the 29th President of the United States of America. Although Hughes will not have a Vice-President until the official inauguration ceremony on March 4th.

The Hughes Cabinet

Vice President: Vacant (Until March 4th, 1917)
Secretary of State: Elihu Root
Secretary of the Treasury: Andrew Mellon
Secretary of War: Leonard Wood
Attorney General: Harry Daugherty
Postmaster General: Will H. Hays
Secretary of the Navy: Theodore Roosevelt
Secretary of the Interior: Nicholas Murray Butler
Secretary of Agriculture: Herbert Hadley
Secretary of Commerce: William F. Whiting
Secretary of Labor: James J. Davis

First Months of the Hughes Presidency

After organizing a cabinet and getting his nominees approved Hughes' next step was to work with what had been the preparedness movement. Already the two biggest advocates were in his cabinet, being Wood and Roosevelt. There had already been some work on a military buildup earlier in 1916 under Wilson. The officer corps had doubled in size to around 11,000 officers and the army had been doubled to 200,000 men. There had also been the beginning of a naval buildup in the wake of the Battle of Jutland.

The Hughes Administration would push for even more expansions to the military through what became known as the Armed Peace Bill, with the goal of the bill being an expansion of the Regular Army to 400,000 men. The push for armament would be resisted by the isolationist Democrats and the two Socialists of the house. The Armed Peace Bill was filibustered relentlessly by it's opponents and it wouldn't be passed until the aftermath of the discovery of the Zimmerman Telegram.

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Socialist Representative Meyer London giving a speech opposing the Armed Peace Bill.

The Zimmerman Telegram

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The Zimmerman Telegram

The Zimmerman Telegram and the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare that was the impetus for the telegram would ultimately be the cause of the entry of the United States into the Great War. The Telegram proposed to Mexico, in the event of an American entry into the Great War, that Germany would provide financial aid and that Mexico could strike at the United States in an attempt to reconquer Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. The German High Command believed that they could defeat France and strangle Britain with unrestricted submarine warfare before any American troops could arrive in significant numbers in Europe. With Mexico tying down American resources in the Americas it would be difficult for the United States to deploy any significant amount of troops to Europe.

Unfortunately for the Germans after a quick commission done by the Mexican President, Venustiano Carranza, it was quickly deemed that any attempt to retake lost territories would result in a Mexican defeat and was undesirable for other reasons even if Mexico possessed the capability to conduct such a victory. There was the primary issue of integrating a largely english-speaking population into Mexico and the issue that the German financing would almost be non-existent.

Even more unfortunate for the Germans however was the British interception of the Zimmerman Telegram. The British had been tapping into the Trans-Atlantic cables used for the communication of the telegram, and the message was intercepted soon after it was sent in mid-January. There was one major difficulty for the British, it would be difficult to give to the Americans and first convince them that it was not forgery and two how to disclose the telegram without also releasing knowledge of British code breaking. On February 20th William Reginald Hall, the head of Room 40, showed the Zimmerman Telegram to Edward Bell. Bell was unbelieving at first, thinking that it was a British forgery, an attempt to drag the United States to war. However over the next several days Bell was convinced, and became outraged at the Germans. On February 26th William Hall formally sent the Telegram to United States ambassador Walter Hines Page. Page then passed it on to President Charles Hughes. On the day before his formal inauguration ceremony, Hughes formally released the text of the Telegram to the press.

Only a day after Hughes' inauguration ceremony he called for the arming of merchant ships, the Armed Peace Bill was quickly modified by it's proponents to call for the arming of merchant ships. In February alone four American ships had been sunk by German U-Boats. The outrage in the aftermath of the Zimmerman Telegram and the resumption of Unrestricted Submarine Warfare was enough to push the Bill through. America was hurtling onto the warpath.
 

NoMommsen

Donor
This cabinet ... seems to become interesting, how they manage the peace negotiations after the Central Powers defeat and the war debt questions ... and what kind of League Of Nations they might advocate (but will the congress ITTL aprove the US membership of it ?)

However - still very interested. Might teach me a lot of "what if's" and definitly had teached me already something about US history ;) (on looking up all these politicians I didn't know yet).
 
American Entry into the Great War

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American troops training under the provisions of the Armed Peace Bill.

Following the exposure of the Zimmerman Telegram to the American public and the German resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare, with four American ships having been been sunk by U-Boats in February alone, public opinion was quickly swinging towards intervention. Shortly after his formal inauguration President Charles Hughes asked Congress for a declaration of war on the German Empire on March 7th, 1917. The joint session of Congress voted for war. In the Senate the declaration of war on Germany was passed 81 to 7 with 8 senators abstaining from voting. In the House the 372 to 51 with 9 not voting. America was now at war.

WHEREAS, The Imperial German Government has committed repeated acts of war against the Government and the people of the United States of America; therefore, be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the state of war between the United States and the Imperial German Government, which has thus been thrust upon the United States, is hereby formally declared; and that the President be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources of the Government to carry on war against the Imperial German Government; and to bring the conflict to a successful termination all the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States. - 1917 United States declaration of war on Germany


Public Opinion

There was no large opposition from the primary parts of the Democratic or Republican parties. However the Western portions of both parties were generally opposed to the war. The Socialist Party would devolve into two factions for the duration of the war. The isolationists would dominate the Socialist Party, leading many pro-war socialists would leave to found the Nationalist Party.

The Midwest and West were largely isolationist, with the rural remote areas generally seeing no need for war. The sentiment was also bolstered by the large amounts of German-Americans and Scandinavian-Americans living in the region. African-Americans were extremely tepid about the war, though a few notable people such as W.E.B. Du Bois calling for African-Americans to support the war effort in order to gain standing and hopefully be seen as equal to whites. Many whites living in New England however and the East in general were far more supportive of the war, with closer ties to England and to Europe.

Organization of the American Expeditionary Forces

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Major General Frederick Funston

President Charles Hughes, now in charge of a nation at war had to begin organizing American forces for the Great War. Though the Armed Peace Bill had increased the size of the military and helped with training the United States was still not yet ready to begin sending forces to war in Europe. Undermanned and undertrained American forces would be slaughtered if sent over there unprepared. Thus the training camps established by the preparedness movement and the Armed Peace Bill would be put into high gear. With thousands of American soldiers being trained in each camp.

Funston was adamant that the AEF would remain separate from the Entente forces. As it was originally proposed that American soldiers simply join existing allied units to fill holes. American soldiers would in due time be joining Entente soldiers in the trenches in order to fight and die by the Huns.
 
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