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Author's Note: Greetings everyone! For those of you wondering, this timeline is based off of, and ties in with White Star and Titanic, What Could Have Been. You most definitely do not need to read the entire timeline to know what is going on here, but if you would like a more in depth look at the POD, it is covered in detail in the first post of that timeline. There have been a few minor edits and ret cons to the original Timeline as, in my research for this, I found some things just wouldn't work the way I originally wrote them. So without further adieu, I give you: The Return of Roosevelt!

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April 19th, 1912

At 1400 local time, the damaged ocean liner, RMS Titanic tied up to Pier 59 in New York City. On board were some eight hundred passengers of the thirteen hundred she had originally sailed with. The remainder being spread out aboard the RMS Carpathia and the SS Californian. Few knew the twists and turns that their lives were going to take.

One of those who did was John Jacob Astor IV. In his 47 years of life, he had been many things: A businessman, a writer, an inventor and an Army Officer among them. During his time in Europe on his honeymoon, he had kept abreast of political developments back home. So when he arrived back in New York City, he sent a telegram to Theodore Roosevelt. The contents of the telegram were destined to change the landscape of American politics.

May 14th, 1912

Captain Edward J Smith, Captain of the RMS Titanic and Commodore of the White Star Line looked himself over in the mirror one more time. His beard was neatly trimmed, his uniform was spotless and freshly pressed and his shoes had a high mirror shine on them. He looked every inch a Sea Captain. He had been staying at the Astor residence at Fifth Avenue and 65th Street for the last few weeks, ever since Titanic had been moved to dry dock and he had returned from Washington after giving his testimony at the Court of Inquiry. He shuddered briefly as he recalled the events of April, 14th. How close Titanic had come to going down. He could still picture it in his mind, watching her head getting pulled down lower and lower by the inrushing water. But thanks to God and his men, they had won in the end. The North Atlantic would not claim his ship as her prize. And today, he was returning aboard her to complete final preparations for her return voyage to England that was scheduled to depart at noon the next day.

Titanic had been floated out of dry dock four days previously on the 10th. Since that time, he had had a million details to oversee. And he was very grateful for the quiet respite that staying with the Astors had provided him. John Astor had become a good friend in that time. And they had talked long over their plans for their respective futures. It seemed that their brush with death had pushed both of them to view some things a bit differently.

As Captain Smith prepared to leave, he thanked Madeline and John for their hospitality and wished both of them the best. As he shook John's hand and walked outside into the fresh morning air, he smiled to himself. It was good to be alive.

June 21st, 1912

"On the sixteenth ballot, the tally is Robert La Follete, 41 votes, William Taft, 504 votes and Theodore Roosevelt, 547 votes. The Republican Party hereby nominates Theodore Roosevelt as our candidate for President of the United States!"

Theodore Roosevelt breathed a long sigh of relief. When the Republican Convention began three days earlier, he had been sure that it was rigged against him. It was his belief that several of the state delegations had been seated fraudulently by some of the conservative Republican Party bosses in order to oppose him. Because of that, he had very nearly walked out of the Convention to start his own party. In fact, that was exactly what Hiram Johnson, the Governor of California and the man he wanted to serve as his Vice President, suggested he do. But some of his biggest supporters, chief among them John Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim, urged him to stay, that things were not as bad as they seemed. That they were working hard to ensure he was the Republican nominee for President. So he had stuck it out, given his speech to the Convention and waited for the results of the first ballot, sure he was going to lose and look like a fool when it happened. When the tally was read, he felt shocked. The vote was deadlocked! Taft had 523 votes, while he had 509.

It had taken three days and fifteen more votes before he had pulled out the win. And even then, it had been close. The following three votes had seen almost no change in the tally for either himself or Taft. Though Robert La Follete picked up a few votes along with Charles Evans Hughes. But in the end, he had won. And that was all that mattered. Along with that, Hiram Johnson was nominated in a landslide to serve as his Vice President. As Roosevelt walked towards the stage to give his acceptance speech, he couldn't help but smirk, on the inside, at the absolutely devastated looks on the faces of William Barnes Jr and Boies Penrose. They had tried every trick in the book, and a few outside of it, to keep the nomination away from him. Well, it was his now. And he had no intention of letting this opportunity go to waste.

Standing at the lectern on the stage at the Chicago Coliseum Roosevelt began, "My fellow Americans..."

July 2nd, 1912

President William Howard Taft sat in the Oval Office of the White House. Across from him was his Military Aide and friend, Major Archibald Butt, United States Army. Taft was not a happy man. First, Roosevelt had defeated him for the Republican Nomination, now he was being advised to publicly support Roosevelt. The very suggestion galled him. He had been tempted to throw Archibald out of his office when he first heard it. But as Archibald explained his reasons behind it, a reconciliation began to make more sense. Well, a public reconciliation, at any rate. Finally nodding his head to Archibald, Taft told him, "Get in touch with Roosevelt. Tell him I want to meet with him."

July 6th, 1912

Roosevelt and Taft sat across from each other in the Blue Room inside the White House. Though the meeting was meant to be informal, both men knew that was only half of the truth. They were sitting in the White House as a subtle reminder to Roosevelt that Taft was still the President and that Roosevelt would need his help if he wished to become President again. The two men had yet to say much to each other, they were still sizing each other up.

Finally, Roosevelt broke the silence. "William, we both want what's best for the country. While it's become plainly obvious that our opinions on what that is differ, we do agree that electing a Democrat to this office would be a disaster."

"It would be. But what made you think you were better suited to beat them than I was? You had your turn. Are you really so willing to break with tradition and try to win a third term? Any chance of you and I ever resuming our friendship was killed when you and your backers stole the nomination from me."

His eyes flashing, Roosevelt responded, "Stole? In nine of the twelve states that held a vote on who the Party should nominate, I won. The people we claim to represent very obviously chose me. And for your information, I didn't have to stay at the Convention. Hiram wanted me to walk out when it became obvious that a number of delegations were clearly seated fraudulently. Instead, I stayed. I was convinced that I was going to lose. That you were going to make me look like a fool. But I stayed for the good of the Party. We're sitting here today for the good of the Party. So why don't we just be upfront with each other."

"Fine. Lets be upfront with each other. You're here because you need my help to win in November. I'm here because the last thing I want to see is Wilson, a Southern Democrat, in the White House."

"Agreed. What would it take for you to get your supporters to back me?"

"Don't you mean, 'what is it going to take for you to support me?'"

"Alright, have it your way. Yes. What will it take for you to publicly support me?"

Giving Roosevelt a cold smile, Taft told him, "These are my conditions..."

November 4th, 1912

The day before Election Day. It had been a long time coming. For Roosevelt the campaign had been long and grueling. He had even gotten shot during the campaign! But all that was behind him now. Now, he only had to wait for the results to come in tomorrow. His campaign had required quite a lot of skill to run. Facing off against Woodrow Wilson, a fellow Progressive, had been more difficult than he had imagined. In the end, he had run on a platform of aggressive new anti-trust laws, a solemn promise to keep the common man from being abused in his workplace and advocating for a strong national defense.

Fortunately, Taft had been as good as his word and urged his supporters to back him. Nearly all of them did. While Roosevelt didn't much care for it, he did have a debt to pay to Taft. He had promised him the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court he would get. Eventually. There were a handful of other promises he had made as well, but they were minor compared to the Supreme Court.

As Theodore Roosevelt went to bed that evening he was supremely confident of a victory.

November 5th, 1912

The result were in! In a landslide, Theodore Roosevelt had been elected President of the United States. In his acceptance speech, he had been both gracious and determined. The United States had veered off the path of Progressivism. He would be the one to return her to her proper course.

March 4th, 1913

With one hand on the Bible, Theodore Roosevelt stood before the Capitol Building and said the words that would return him to power: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, Protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." With that, Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as the twenty-eighth President of the United States. He had spent the last several months building his cabinet, preparing his agenda and finalizing several other appointments as well. Today would be spent in celebration. Tomorrow, the real work would begin.
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