1898 - Blessings of Silver and a Smoke-Filled Room
The room may have been smokey, but Croker knew exactly who he was talking to. The three shadowy figures that sat at the other ends of the table were Hill, McLaughlin and Murphy, all powerful men in their own right. ‘But none as powerful as me’ Croker thought to himself. Anyway, they weren’t there to compete as per usual, but to compromise. Right now, the candidacy for the Democrats’ New York gubernatorial nominee was split. Hill’s camp and their candidate Elliot Danforth had about ⅓ of the vote, and with the ‘Free Silver’ platform having swung their support behind that boy mayor from Syracuse James K. McGuire, his vote was also about ⅓ [1]; Croker had essentially become kingmaker. His camp’s initial candidate of NYC mayor Robert Van Wyck had been dismissed as his position as mayor was too valuable, but his camp still held that last ⅓ of the vote. Now the four men had met to decide on a compromise candidate. But, Croker had other plans.
That boy mayor had initially been written of as a lieutenant governor at best. Croker had written him off as well, and not to mention the fact he was still slightly insulted by McGuire's support of Sulzer two years earlier. However, after meeting the delegation McGuire had sent, he’d started to change his tune, and during that carriage ride where he actually met the mayor himself, he could see the fire in the young man’s eyes. If anyone had a chance at beating that Republican upstart Roosevelt, it was him. [2]
However, Croker let the other men squabble and compromise first. They all brought up bland names, people who wouldn’t offend, but didn’t satisfy Croker either. One name peaked his interest, Augustus Van Wyck, brother of the mayor Robert, but he eventually shot it down, as McGuire would probably take the nomination as a slight, and the Free Silver’s would definitely bolt.[3]
Finally, he revealed his true plans, “McGuire, we should nominate McGuire”. Almost immediately, he was met with angry cries from the three other men.
“He’s just a candidate of Free Silver” one said.
“He hasn’t made any pledges towards them, and he has sizable Gold Democrat support” rebuffed Croker, “He could represent both factions of the party, a compromise candidate, if you will.”
Still, no one conceded, but their stubborness only hardened Croker’s own resolve. He would get McGuire nominated, goddammit! Finally, he fully threw his support behind McGuire, making it known he would not back down. Hill, seeing no way to win, finally folded and compromised by having his own candidate Elliot Danforth on the ticket as Lieutenant governor.[4] Murphy continued to protest though, rambling on about how a paddy in the governor’s seat would cost him his reelection[5], but the other 3 men bullied him into silence.
Croker breathed a sigh of relief. It was official. The 1898 NY gubernatorial race would be between The ‘Hero of San Juan Hill’ Theodore Roosevelt and the ‘Salt City Shaker’ James K. McGuire.
1901 - The Papers on the Governor’s Desk
Governor McGuire glanced at the newspaper from a week ago and grumbled.
M’KINLEY SHOT!
Latest Bulletin Says The President Has Rallied and Is Resting Easier - Ground For Hope.
Latest Bulletin Says The President Has Rallied and Is Resting Easier - Ground For Hope.
McGuire had been reelected in quite a landslide[6], so hopefully the opposition wouldn’t be able to paint him as responsible for this whole mess. Nevertheless, he would still have to meet with the newspapers to stop them from publishing any of those mad conspiracies linking him to the President’s assassin or, at the very least, try to. He knew he could rely on Hearst though. He called out to his secretary and asked her to arrange a meeting, then he sat back in his chair and sighed a deep sigh.
McGuire sighing again, reached for that day’s paper and grimaced,
PRESIDENT IS DEAD
JOHN DAVIS LONG
SWORN IN AS 26th PRESIDENT
JOHN DAVIS LONG
SWORN IN AS 26th PRESIDENT
it had only been a matter of time.[7]
[1] This is the POD, in OTL Free Silver bolted the convention, making the initial hope for many McGuire supporters of him being a sort of compromise candidate between Gold and Silver out of the question. Here they throw their support almost entirely behind him, and he still has a sizable amount of Gold Democrat support.
[2] All is the same as IOTL, except Croker never actually supported McGuire for Governor. With McGuire having an actually strong backing and position, he seriously considers McGuire.
[3] IOTL Augustus was the actual nominee.
[4] Same compromise as IOTL, but with McGuire on the Governor’s ticket.
[5] He had these same concerns IOTL.
[6] With the support of Free Silver and overall being a more energetic campaigner, McGuire is able to win the election that Augustus Van Wyck narrowly lost, and runs for reelection successfully.
[7] Without Roosevelt in the picture, McKinley was able to secure his friend and first choice John Davis Long as his VP.