The Prodigal Sons Return: The Progressives of Wisconsin and the Republican Party

Chapter 25(b)

List of the Senators of the United States, 1959, by State
Alabama
John Sparkman – (D)

J. Lister Hill – (D)
Alaska
Bob Bartlet – (D)
Ernest Gruening – (D)
Arizona
Ernest McFarland – (D)
Carl Hayden – (D)
Arkansas
John L. McClellan – (D)
J. William Fulbright – (D)

California
Earl Warren – (R) [FN1]

Richard M. Nixon – (R)
Colorado
Gordon L. Allott – (R)
Eugene Milikin – (R)


Connecticut
Prescott Sheldon Bush – (R) [FN2]
William A. Purtell – (R)

Delaware
John J. Williams – (R)
C. Douglas Buck – (R)

Florida
Claude Pepper – (D)

Spessard Holland – (D)
Georgia
Richard Russell – (D)

Melvin E. Thompson – (D)
Hawaii
Hiram Fong – (R)
Oren E. Long – (D)
Idaho
Henry C. Dworshak – (R)
John C. Sanborn – (R)
Illinois
C. Wayland Brooks – (R)
Scott W. Lucas – (R)
Indiana
Homer E. Capehart – (R)

Alvin Cast - (R)
Iowa
Thomas E. Martin – (R)
Bourke B. Hickenlooper – (R)
Kansas
Frank Carlson – (R)
Andrew F. Schoeppell – (R)
Kentucky
John Sherman Cooper – (R)
Charles I. Dawson – (R)
Louisiana
Russell B. Long - (D)
Allen J. Ellender – (D)
Maine
Frederick G. Plaine – (R)
Margaret Chase Smith – (R)
Maryland
James Glenn Beall – (R)
D. John Markey – (R)
Massachusetts
Robert F. Kennedy (D)
Leverett Saltonstall (R)
Michigan
Charles E. Potter - (R)
Patrick V. McNamarra – (D)
Minnesota
Hubert H. Humphrey (D)
Edward J Thye (R)
Mississippi
John C. Stennis (D)
James Eastland (D)
Missouri
Thomas C. Hennings Jr. (D)
Stuart Symington (D)
Montana
Mike Mansfield (D)
James E. Murray (D)
Nebraska
Roman Hruska (R)
Hazel Abel (R)
Nevada
George W. Malone (R)
Cliff Young (R)
New Hampshire
Styles Bridges (R)
Robert W. Upton (R)
New Jersey
Robert W. Kean (R)
Clifford P. Case (R)
New Mexico
Clinton P Anderson (D)
Dennis Chavez (D)
New York
Kenneth Keating - (R)
Jacob K. Javits - (R)
North Carolina
Frank P. Graham - (D)
Sam Ervin - (D)
North Dakota
William Langer (until November 1959, when he died and his seat was filled by Quentin Burdick) - (R) [FN3]
Milton Young - (R)
Ohio
Charles P. Taft - (R) [FN4]
John W. Bricker - (R)
Oklahoma
A. S. Mike Monroney - (D)
Robert S. Kerr - (D)
Oregon
Guy Cordon - (R)
Wayne Morse - (R)
Pennsylvania
High Scott - (R)
Joseph S. Clark - (D)
Rhode Island
John O. Pastore - (R)
Theodore F. Green - (D)
South Carolina
Strom Thurmond - (D)
Olin D. Johnston – (D)
South Dakota
Kenneth Holum - (D)
Karl E. Mundt – (R)
Tennessee
Albert Gore – (D)
James P Sutton – (D)
Texas
Coke R. Stevenson – (D)
Price Daniel – (D)
Utah
Arthur V. Watkins - (R)
Ezra Taft Benson – (R)
Vermont
Winston L. Prouty – (R)
George D. Aiken – (R)
Virginia
Harry F. Byrd – (D)
A. Willis Robertson – (D)
Washington
Henry “Scoop” Jackson – (D)
Warren G Magnusson – (D)
West Virginia
W. Chapman Revercomb – (R)
Jennings Randolph – (D)
Wisconsin
Walter J. Kohler Jr. – (R)
Alexander Whiley – (R)
Wyoming
Joseph C. O’Mahoney – (D)
Gale W. McGee – (R)
Republicans – 55
Democrats - 45

[FN1] Earl Warren tookthe Senate seat formally held by Bill Knowland when he ran as Macarthur's VP in 1952

[FN2] Prescott Bush won his first bid for a Senate Seat in 1950, due to a strong Republican year as the national ralliedbehind the flag to support the war in Korea.

[FN3] In OTL Quentin Burdick, the son of Usher Burdick, was instrumental in switching the Non-Partisan League (the liberal faction of North Dakota politics) from the Republican camp to the Democrat. This is the reason that the Democrats in the state are refered to as the D-NPL to this day. In the ATL, Burdick maintains the League's connections to the Republican Party and follows a path similar to the Progressive of Wisconsin. As a result he comes to the Senate as a Republican following Langer's death.

[FN4] Charles Taft succeeds his brother to a United States Senate seat following an effort bridge the gap between the liberal and conservative Republicans in Ohio. He serves as the Republican VP candidate in 1956.

NOTE: The footnotes to NOT list all of the changes between the ATL Senate and its OTL ounterpart. Furthermore, I consider this list to be a "work in progress" and if anyone has any imput, please let me know!
 
As someone who has spent many hours over my own Senate lists, that's a good one.

Earl Warren as the junior Senator to Nixon? God, that must be unbearable for both of them.
 
As someone who has spent many hours over my own Senate lists, that's a good one.

Earl Warren as the junior Senator to Nixon? God, that must be unbearable for both of them.

Thanks! This one took a while to work through; I basically looked at OTL Senate listings from 1959 and then looked to see who had close elections, giving the Republicans the benefit of the doubt in 1950, 1954 and 1958, as well as having a few close primary elections go a different way (I also threw a few curve balls into the mix, just for fun, but not too many!). Good to hear this seems realistic; I was honestly a bit worried about it. And, as I've often said, if anyone knows their own state history for the era and wants to make a suggestion, let me know.

As for Warren and Nixon ... don't worry; it is! Much less unbearable for Senior Senator Nixon, than for Junior Senator Warren, of course :) (also, the Nixon-Warren relationship is somewhat better than OTL, as Nixon didn't spend 1952 seeding the Warren delegation to the Republican convention with Eisenhower supporters ... but only a bit so. The two really just seem, in OTL, to not like one another)
 
Last edited:

Thande

Donor
Haven't looked at this TL for a while so I've just caught up to date. Good stuff, I like how you go into the nitty-gritty of how the US political parties are loose coalitions with infighting factions, how the same people as OTL can rise to prominence but in a very different way, and the pop culture stuff. ("Mr Arkham, tear down this asylum!")

If Elvis has died it's only fair to let Buddy Holly live, hmm? ;)

The stuff about a 'grittier' Batman series etc made me ponder where the camp phenomenon of the mid-1960s really came from, and I was thinking it might have been a counterreaction to the Cuban Missile Crisis scare by making people embrace surreal escapism? Might explain why James Bond started out as fairly realistic in 1962 and rapidly became more fantastical, for instance.

Eisenhower's handling of Egypt is going to piss off Britain and France even more than OTL and I suspect the stability of NATO could be threatened. (Though I don't see Guy Mollet's Franco-British Union proposal being seriously considered, even with the increased hostility from America). It could be awkward because in OTL Eden was succeeded by Macmillan who was perceived as being close to Eisenhower, perhaps overly so (Agatha Christie caricatures him in one book as being dreamily obsessed with the President's approval, a bit like the more recent Blair-as-Bush's-poodle satirical image). To be honest I'm not sure what the political fallout would be.

And did you say you know the writer of For All Time in real life?

Also I made a map of those Senate results:

Wisconsin TL Senate.png
 
Chapter 25(b)

List of the Senators of the United States, 1959, by State
Alabama
John Sparkman – (D)

J. Lister Hill – (D)
Alaska
Bob Bartlet – (D)
Ernest Gruening – (D)
Arizona
Ernest McFarland – (D)
Carl Hayden – (D)
Arkansas
John L. McClellan – (D)
J. William Fulbright – (D)

California
Earl Warren – (R) [FN1]

Richard M. Nixon – (R)
Colorado
Gordon L. Allott – (R)
Eugene Milikin – (R)


Connecticut
Prescott Sheldon Bush – (R) [FN2]
William A. Purtell – (R)

Delaware
John J. Williams – (R)
C. Douglas Buck – (R)

Florida
Claude Pepper – (D)

Spessard Holland – (D)
Georgia
Richard Russell – (D)

Melvin E. Thompson – (D)
Hawaii
Hiram Fong – (R)
Oren E. Long – (D)
Idaho
Henry C. Dworshak – (R)
John C. Sanborn – (R)
Illinois
C. Wayland Brooks – (R)
Scott W. Lucas – (R)
Indiana
Homer E. Capehart – (R)

Alvin Cast - (R)
Iowa
Thomas E. Martin – (R)
Bourke B. Hickenlooper – (R)
Kansas
Frank Carlson – (R)
Andrew F. Schoeppell – (R)
Kentucky
John Sherman Cooper – (R)
Charles I. Dawson – (R)
Louisiana
Russell B. Long - (D)
Allen J. Ellender – (D)
Maine
Frederick G. Plaine – (R)
Margaret Chase Smith – (R)
Maryland
James Glenn Beall – (R)
D. John Markey – (R)
Massachusetts
Robert F. Kennedy (D)
Leverett Saltonstall (R)
Michigan
Charles E. Potter - (R)
Patrick V. McNamarra – (D)
Minnesota
Hubert H. Humphrey (D)
Edward J Thye (R)
Mississippi
John C. Stennis (D)
James Eastland (D)
Missouri
Thomas C. Hennings Jr. (D)
Stuart Symington (D)
Montana
Mike Mansfield (D)
James E. Murray (D)
Nebraska
Roman Hruska (R)
Hazel Abel (R)
Nevada
George W. Malone (R)
Cliff Young (R)
New Hampshire
Styles Bridges (R)
Robert W. Upton (R)
New Jersey
Robert W. Kean (R)
Clifford P. Case (R)
New Mexico
Clinton P Anderson (D)
Dennis Chavez (D)
New York
Kenneth Keating - (R)
Jacob K. Javits - (R)
North Carolina
Frank P. Graham - (D)
Sam Ervin - (D)
North Dakota
William Langer (until November 1959, when he died and his seat was filled by Quentin Burdick) - (R) [FN3]
Milton Young - (R)
Ohio
Charles P. Taft - (R) [FN4]
John W. Bricker - (R)
Oklahoma
A. S. Mike Monroney - (D)
Robert S. Kerr - (D)
Oregon
Guy Cordon - (R)
Wayne Morse - (R)
Pennsylvania
High Scott - (R)
Joseph S. Clark - (D)
Rhode Island
John O. Pastore - (R)
Theodore F. Green - (D)
South Carolina
Strom Thurmond - (D)
Olin D. Johnston – (D)
South Dakota
Kenneth Holum - (D)
Karl E. Mundt – (R)
Tennessee
Albert Gore – (D)
James P Sutton – (D)
Texas
Coke R. Stevenson – (D)
Price Daniel – (D)
Utah
Arthur V. Watkins - (R)
Ezra Taft Benson – (R)
Vermont
Winston L. Prouty – (R)
George D. Aiken – (R)
Virginia
Harry F. Byrd – (D)
A. Willis Robertson – (D)
Washington
Henry “Scoop” Jackson – (D)
Warren G Magnusson – (D)
West Virginia
W. Chapman Revercomb – (R)
Jennings Randolph – (D)
Wisconsin
Walter J. Kohler Jr. – (R)
Alexander Whiley – (R)
Wyoming
Joseph C. O’Mahoney – (D)
Gale W. McGee – (R)
Republicans – 55
Democrats - 45

[FN1] Earl Warren tookthe Senate seat formally held by Bill Knowland when he ran as Macarthur's VP in 1952

[FN2] Prescott Bush won his first bid for a Senate Seat in 1950, due to a strong Republican year as the national ralliedbehind the flag to support the war in Korea.

[FN3] In OTL Quentin Burdick, the son of Usher Burdick, was instrumental in switching the Non-Partisan League (the liberal faction of North Dakota politics) from the Republican camp to the Democrat. This is the reason that the Democrats in the state are refered to as the D-NPL to this day. In the ATL, Burdick maintains the League's connections to the Republican Party and follows a path similar to the Progressive of Wisconsin. As a result he comes to the Senate as a Republican following Langer's death.

[FN4] Charles Taft succeeds his brother to a United States Senate seat following an effort bridge the gap between the liberal and conservative Republicans in Ohio. He serves as the Republican VP candidate in 1956.

NOTE: The footnotes to NOT list all of the changes between the ATL Senate and its OTL ounterpart. Furthermore, I consider this list to be a "work in progress" and if anyone has any imput, please let me know!

John Pastore was a Republican?
 
Nice senate make up. Ugh, Strom Thurmond or however you spell his name. Hopefully if civil rights bills are past, the racists from the South will change their tune, or at least most of them.
 
Haven't looked at this TL for a while so I've just caught up to date. Good stuff, I like how you go into the nitty-gritty of how the US political parties are loose coalitions with infighting factions, how the same people as OTL can rise to prominence but in a very different way, and the pop culture stuff. ("Mr Arkham, tear down this asylum!")

First of all, before I start; thanks for the map! That was amazing! Also, thanks for the compliments. I've always seen American political parties as fairly non-monolythic, and I wanted to play around with that in this TL, and show the imporance of facionalism. I also, of course, wanted to really show the importance of state and local dynamics; which is something which (for good reason, honestly; no one can be a master of the politics of all states, and the sources aren't always the best) doesn't always get delved into in this group.

As to "Mr. Arkham"; I believe Arkham Asylum didn't enter the mythos until the 1960s, but I'm going to look into that, because it would be an awesome reference :D

If Elvis has died it's only fair to let Buddy Holly live, hmm? ;)

Buddy Holly is alive and well, let me tell you. He likely goes down on the dominant force in 50s Rock; although the scene has shattered more than in OTL, as I've described.

The stuff about a 'grittier' Batman series etc made me ponder where the camp phenomenon of the mid-1960s really came from, and I was thinking it might have been a counterreaction to the Cuban Missile Crisis scare by making people embrace surreal escapism? Might explain why James Bond started out as fairly realistic in 1962 and rapidly became more fantastical, for instance.

I think that's a pretty good theory. I think between the Cuban Missle Crisis, and the Kennedy Assassination, there was a general attempt in popular culture to be more disengaged from what was going down on the streets, and being most positive. I also think it was a general resposne to the culture of the 1950s and 1950s which was more 'gritty' and 'realistic' in many ways.

There are likely those who know more about 60s pop culture than I, who could give more information!


Eisenhower's handling of Egypt is going to piss off Britain and France even more than OTL and I suspect the stability of NATO could be threatened. (Though I don't see Guy Mollet's Franco-British Union proposal being seriously considered, even with the increased hostility from America). It could be awkward because in OTL Eden was succeeded by Macmillan who was perceived as being close to Eisenhower, perhaps overly so (Agatha Christie caricatures him in one book as being dreamily obsessed with the President's approval, a bit like the more recent Blair-as-Bush's-poodle satirical image). To be honest I'm not sure what the political fallout would be.

I need to do more reading into British and French politics during this era, but I agree with your general assumptions. I think British-American relations cool, but not to the point of a break. Who ever succeeds Eden may well be much more hesitant about the American government for a spell.

And did you say you know the writer of For All Time in real life?

Also I made a map of those Senate results:

Thanks again for the awesome map!

And yes, me and Mike (President Chester A. Arthur) knew one another in college. We actually lived in the same dorm house my Sophomore Year (and had "Arab-Islamic History" with Dr. Shellehase together! Oddly enough, I first ran into him in RL after communicating with him on Soc.History.What-If for a few months. Neither of us knew we were students at the same University for a while!
 
Nice senate make up. Ugh, Strom Thurmond or however you spell his name. Hopefully if civil rights bills are past, the racists from the South will change their tune, or at least most of them.

Yeah, Thurmond is not my favorite man in universe. However, by 1959, I don't think there is much chance is dislodging him from his Senate seat. We shall see how his path developes from hereon out (although, if Nixon gets his despire of a Civil RIghts Bill, it seems pretty likely that Thurmond won't be making a party switch, come the 1960s!)
 
Yeah, Thurmond is not my favorite man in universe. However, by 1959, I don't think there is much chance is dislodging him from his Senate seat. We shall see how his path developes from hereon out (although, if Nixon gets his despire of a Civil RIghts Bill, it seems pretty likely that Thurmond won't be making a party switch, come the 1960s!)

If anyone can create a Dixiecrat Party that's longlasting and has national influence, it'll be Thurmond. Without Lyndon Johnson, the Democrats have a good chance of splitting into two permanent parties if a Republican is elected in the 1960s. This will be interesting on conservatism's development, because it'll be harder for Taftites and segregationists to mix into one party. The lack of Goldwater is already going to have big changes. Unless the Democrats end up staying together instead of fragmenting and end up as the conservative party, which is what I think you may be going for.
 

Thande

Donor
I need to do more reading into British and French politics during this era, but I agree with your general assumptions. I think British-American relations cool, but not to the point of a break. Who ever succeeds Eden may well be much more hesitant about the American government for a spell.
I could perhaps see something like de Gaulle's withdrawal from the NATO command structure happening earlier and both Britain and France doing it. Britain will also perhaps pursue a more French-style policy of full independence in nukes, armed forces equipment etc out of the sense that it can't trust America anymore (indeed Britain and France might collaborate on a common arms programme).

And yes, me and Mike (President Chester A. Arthur) knew one another in college. We actually lived in the same dorm house my Sophomore Year (and had "Arab-Islamic History" with Dr. Shellehase together! Oddly enough, I first ran into him in RL after communicating with him on Soc.History.What-If for a few months. Neither of us knew we were students at the same University for a while!
Very interesting--the exact same thing has happened recently, incidently, with two British AH.com members being roommates at a university for several months without realising it. As if we needed reminding that history can turn on bizarre unlikely coincidences...
 
If anyone can create a Dixiecrat Party that's longlasting and has national influence, it'll be Thurmond. Without Lyndon Johnson, the Democrats have a good chance of splitting into two permanent parties if a Republican is elected in the 1960s. This will be interesting on conservatism's development, because it'll be harder for Taftites and segregationists to mix into one party. The lack of Goldwater is already going to have big changes. Unless the Democrats end up staying together instead of fragmenting and end up as the conservative party, which is what I think you may be going for.

Well, I will say, I do see the Democrats as holding together through the 1970s, although I don't see them as ending up as an entirely Conservative Party (nor, for that matter, do I see the Republicans ending up as OTL Liberals, either). However, we will see Conservatives showing up in greater number. Whether they are able to take control of a Party is another matter entirely! :) (which is my sad attempt to remain mysterious! :D )

As for Thurmond; there are several different avenues that he might walk down, yet.
 
Very interesting--the exact same thing has happened recently, incidently, with two British AH.com members being roommates at a university for several months without realising it. As if we needed reminding that history can turn on bizarre unlikely coincidences...

Mike's a great guy. I'm not sure if he has any history on this group or not, but we used to hang out in college pretty frequently. I was a bit more of the social butterfly than him, I'm afraid (and still am, truth be told! Probably one of the reasons he has his PhD already, and I only have a Master's and a great catalogue of amazing drinking stories :p). Great guy; he's married with kids by now, and I'm right jealous :D (in other news I just remembered; he still has my copy of a biography of DeVelera!)
 
Last edited:
Another awesome update.

Senate Majority/Minority Leader Nixon is almost too perfect. Nixon was, I believe, a principled man at heart. However, he wasn't afraid to cajole, threaten, bribe, or engage in underhanded behavior to get what he wanted or what he thought was right. While that kind of behavior is generally looked down upon when dealing with a president, Senate leadership kind of gets the "We don't want to see how the sausage is made" treatment. I almost hope Nixon doesn't get his party's 1960 nomination just so he can stay in the Senate as a wheeler-dealer for the next couple/few decades.

The lack of Goldwater is already going to have big changes.

Dan, this is something that I wanted to address at some point earlier in the thread or our discussions, and indeed I may have and have since forgotten. Goldwater honestly didn't believe he would win the Senate race in 1952. (He didn't believe he would win any race he was in, ever, actually.) He saw it as a chance to expand his name recognition in Arizona, setting him up to run for Governor in 1954 or 1956, whichever year Pyle decided to step down. Now, IOTL that never happened and his intentions never mattered because Goldwater won in 1952. However, a Goldwater at home scenario is interesting because Pyle, who was pretty unpopular at the time, was challenged by the recently-become-former Senator McFarland. McFarland won that race and left the governorship in 1958 to challenge Goldwater.

If Pyle doesn't run, I would assume that Goldwater would win the nomination and go on to win the Governorship. I am of the opinion, knowing what I do about Goldwater, that if there was any hint that Pyle would run again in 1954 he would stand down and wait his turn. Pyle, pretty unpopular, would probably lose to whatever Democrat ran against him. (I'm unfamiliar with the party at the time.) But in 1956, Goldwater would have two options 1) challenge either that Democratic Governor or Carl Hayden or 2) Wait until 1958 and run for either seat at that point. Either way, I doubt he's gone. He had big-time connections with important politicos and donors in Arizona in addition to his own rather deep pockets.

So Goldwater isn't done, and I doubt Arizona (possibly the United States) hasn't seen the last of him yet.
 
When's the next update?

Soon, I promise! I feel like I should explain. I found out I graduated back on December (took them until February to tell me. Ah, NDSU, I love you!). I suddenly realize, that I didn't need to read non-fiction anymore nor did I need to write anything but non fiction! The last few months I've been reading a lot of fiction, and also writing a bunch of short stories which I haven't been able to do in years! I'll come back this time line very soon I really want to do it I just really need to get something out of my system first!
 
Dan, just a suggestion, I think you should somehow find a way to keep the Braves in Milwaukee instead of moving to Atlanta. Heck, you kept Buddy Holly and Hank Sr. alive. You killed off Elvis, I think we should keep the Braves in Milwaukee.
 
Dan, just a suggestion, I think you should somehow find a way to keep the Braves in Milwaukee instead of moving to Atlanta. Heck, you kept Buddy Holly and Hank Sr. alive. You killed off Elvis, I think we should keep the Braves in Milwaukee.

This times a million!
 
I've just come across this TL and it's a great one.
I know this has been a long time you didn't update this thread Dan, but I hope you have plans to continue that one (personally, I've one or two threads in "cryogenic sleep" waiting I've gathered enough material to restart them).
I just wonder if Dewey is going to pull a Cleveland with Nixon as running mate (I guess Nixon would run only if Dewey doesn't), and also about the possibility Eisenhower might run for a third term if pressed hard by the party.
 
Top