The 1936 Elections

The Kingfish at the Edge of Death

"The Hell he'd have to go and do that for?" Huey Long could barely feel the pavement, or the hands of his bodyguard trying to put pressure on his wounds. He felt only the pain in his back and his leg, and a strange dizziness in his head. He was getting dizzier and dizzier, and the world was getting darker and darker...

Huey Long remembered pain. He remembered waking up to lights and voices. He remembered darkness and more pain. There was Rose's voice, amid the pain. He tried to call out to her, but he could not. He remembered later, being able to talk, but he could not remember the words of the conversations. The doctors said something, but he could not remember. There were more memories of pain and darkness.

He was speaking to his son Russell. "If I die..." Huey began, but Russell quieted him. "You'll live Pa, you'll pull through"

He remembered horribly vivid dreams. Floyd Olson was speaking. We have achieved so much, the dead president said. We have conquered poverty. We have saved the lives of millions. We indeed have built Jerusalem upon America's fair and pleasant land. But then blood began to pour from Olson's eyes and mouth and nose and even his skin. Olson kept speaking. It will all be worth it, he said, they will judge us rightly in the end. The president, even as his eyes and mouth became pits of darkness and his face a skull, remained standing. The bloody Olson-thing kept speaking, but was it worth it? Are we justified?

Long dreamt another time he was at the Louisiana state capitol, the great tower he'd had constructed. He remembered the shooting in DC in the dream, but somehow he knew it had not occurred here. It was just a dream, he thought. His power was at its peak, his health prime, surrounded by bodyguards. A young man walked toward Long. He wanted to greet the man, perhaps a supporter, but then the young man's face turned into that of the old man from DC, and there were gunshots and gunshots, and the pigeons were flying and he was lying down by the AEA theater again in blood.

Long had awoken, and stared at the light in his hospital room, remembering these dreams and what he could of recent events. He tried to speak, gasping, but did not know what to say. "Mr. Long!" exclaimed a voice. "You're awake!" Shortly thereafter, he was drinking some water and listening to the doctors describe his long dance with death. Apparently, the Attorney General had been at death's door for quite some time due to the bullet wounds and blood loss, and even as he'd begun to recover from that after a long time, he began to suffer from an infection and lost consciousness for another extended period. Blood transfusions, surgery, and large doses of various drugs had been necessary to save his life. His body and brain had been through so much the past several weeks, they said, it was no wonder he could barely remember anything. He'd awoken several times, but he'd never been able to leave his bed.

Huey Long realized that a lot of time must have gone by, but he strangely did not seem to care about what must have happened in the rest of the world. All he really wanted at the moment was to see his family. Rose was waiting nearby, and arrived within ten minutes of Long's conversation with the doctors. They talked about how horrible the assassination attempt was, how crazy McReynolds' brother must have been, and how well the family was doing. Long was getting tired, despite just awakening. He was amazed at how weak he was feeling. "What is the day?" he asked, his weakness apparent.

"August thirteenth," his wife replied gently.

At first, the date meant nothing to Long. He couldn't remember why even even wanted to know the day. Then, the image of the blood-covered Floyd Olson dream came to his head. "The conventions!" he exclaimed. "What happened?"

"The doctors don't want you stressed," replied Rose. "You should regain your strength before you engage in politics again. You were unconscious for periods stretching days. You woke up before, several times over the past several days, but you couldn't even talk sometimes, and you could not stay awake for more than five minutes. Do you not remember?" Huey did not. "You've been talking for almost 30 minutes now, go back to sleep and we can talk about more things as you get stronger."

Long was too tired to protest, and he lapsed back into unconsciousness soon thereafter. When he awoke the next several times, he simply spoke to family members and friends about private matters, avoiding political discussion.

Over the next week, as Long slowly regained his strength and awareness, information began to come back in, none of it good. The least alarming news, which they told him first, regarded the Republican convention. The convention had initially been divided between Alf Landon, Herbert Hoover, Arthur Vandenburg, and a scattering of favorite sons. However, Vandenburg, realizing that some of Hoover's delegates and many of the favorite sons would go to Landon before him, decided to drop out and endorse Herbert Hoover over the liberal Landon. With the conservatives rallying around Hoover, the former Secretary of Commerce easily beat Landon, winning a huge majority of the delegates on the next ballot after Vandenburg's endorsement. Hoping to gain support in the midwest, he'd nominated some Illinois Congressman named Stephen Day who'd apparently won a couple primary votes.

Meanwhile, Senator Borah's campaign was off to a decent start, he'd chosen former Governor of Colorado William Sweet, a Democrat turned Republican turned independent, as his running mate. Long wondered if Borah was trying to intentionally throw the election one way or another.

It was only after a few more days that Rose thought he could handle the next set of news. Thanks to Norman Thomas's enthusiastic endorsement, Fiorello La Guardia was easily nominated by the Socialist Party. Meanwhile, the Progressive Convention was held during the period where Long was near death due to the severe infection. With their leader believed to be more likely to die, most of his delegates defected to the President, with the rest scattering. The Louisiana delegation's vote for the Attorney General was seen as more symbolic than an actual attempt to nominate him. Shortly thereafter, the Commonwealth Convention, with most thinking Long would die, but with everyone too scared of being nominated in case he didn't, and with their previous official declaration being in favor of endorsing whoever the Progressives nominated, backed La Guardia as well.

After an hour long nap for her husband, Rose came back with the final, and wost pieces of news. "Huey, after you were shot..." tears were in her eyes, "They came and raided the House, a secret court from the ISA gave them a warrant... they raided your office too I hear. They searched everywhere, I didn't know which files to save... they returned some..."

"It wasn' your fault, no one could've stood up to 'em," comforted Long. However, internally, he was panicking. No doubt La Guardia had done his best to seize any blackmail material. Long didn't know how much was now destroyed, or in La Guardia's possession. No doubt J. Edgar Hoover had switched loyalties to the President at the sign of weakness.

But Rose was not done. "The Party, when they nominated La Guardia, many down here said they betrayed the South, nominating someone like him. The Conservatives are broken, but the politicians were afraid of a resurgence against the President. Governor Talmadge, of Georgia, he, he..." Rose took a deep breath. "Three days after the convention, he ordered a major crack down on all activities by the Negro protestors. The crackdown caused riots in Atlanta. The chaos spread to Memphis, Montgomery, Birmingham, all across the South..."

"Damn damn damn DAMN!!" swore Long. At Rose's concerned looks, he took some deep breaths. "I'm calm, I'm fine," he said.

His wife continued, "The riots kept spreading. Seven Southern states have declared a state of emergency. Many areas are under martial law." She could see how upset her husband was. "Huey, it's made the national news, it's in every paper."

"Goddamn that sonofabitch Talmadge and his ilk to the lowest circle of Hell," fumed the enraged Kingfish. He looked out the window of the Washington D.C. hospital, realizing that he would never be President.

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Rose Long

The 1936 Presidential Election

The Progressive Convention was a glorious triumph for the President. From Secretary Frances Perkins' dramatic speech praising the welfare state to the memorial to Floyd Olson, from the huge delegate majorities in every region of the country to his own acceptance speech, it showcased the success and power of America's youngest political party. Even a few protest votes for Borah could not stop his triumph. Another victory came shortly thereafter, as the Commonwealth Party voted to nominate La Guardia in their disorganization.

At that point, things started to get complicated in the South. A series of race riots and brutality against civil rights activists swept the region, making national headlines. President La Guardia soon found himself trapped in the middle of two opposing sides: the Progressives in the North who opposed segregation and wanted civil rights for all races, and the Commonwealth in the South who wanted a crackdown on the black protestors. While La Guardia personally despised racism and supported the protestors, in the end he decided to do what he'd done for most other contentious issues: kick in down the road, as much as he could. Secretly meeting with black leaders such as Martin Luther King, he told them to discourage any demonstrations, telling them that in the current climate they would alienate northerners. Meanwhile, he gave a speech, deploring "lawlessness, both black and white" and calling for "peace and understanding among all races throughout the South". While this was far from an endorsement for the black cause, many white Southerners felt that the President should have openly sided with them.

Already distrustful of La Guardia for his support of civil rights and his foreign name and general social liberalism, 1936 could have been a good year for other parties to break into the South. However, they were stymied by a variety of problems. The Southern Commonwealth Governors decided they needed to "justify" their party's official support for La Guardia, and decided to do so by making the other candidates seem even more "pro-Negro". They brought out a massive campaign to remind voter's of Hoover's promise to black leaders in 1927 that they would have "more influence than ever before" in his administration, and that Hoover had been part of the Miller administration, still cursed in the South. They also started rumors that Hoover was seen dancing with a black woman, with the unspoken implication that he might be having an affair. The Republican Party was so weak in most of the South, they were unable to launch an effective counter campaign. Meanwhile, Borah, who had voted against the anti-lynching bill on Constitutional grounds, might seem to be the obvious alternative to La Guardia in the South. However, Borah's strong support for good relations with the USSR hurt him as the Commonwealth Party attacked him as "pro-Communist". Meanwhile, the Commonwealthers implied that the fact that he claimed to support Civil Rights, but believed that federal action was unconstitutional, meant that he would appoint pro-civil rights judges to reinterpret the Constitution. The threat of vote-splitting was also raised, with many declaring "A Borah vote is a Republican vote". At the same time, various anti-KKK and other anti-Democrat quotations from Borah's running mate former Governor Sweet were taken out of context and used to make it seem like he was bigoted against the South in general. However, disdain for La Guardia was so high in the South, that in the end it was only the general disorganization of his opponents' Southern campaigns, as well as a couple weak independent segregationist write-in campaigns and vote splitting between the two that allowed him to sweep the region. Turnout down South was especially low, with many disliking all Presidential candidates.

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Former Governor William Sweet, a staunch anti-KKK politician​

Nationally, however, many predicted a defeat for President La Guardia, or at least a very tough race. Polls consistently showed a close race, occasionally even with Hoover in the lead. The Literary Digest commissioned a poll showing Hoover leading in a landslide, and boldly predicted his victory. In better news for the President, Gallup showed La Guardia in the lead by about 5 points, a solid but not insurmountable margin. Many of his supporters believed that Borah would throw the electoral college, and moderate Progressives and the Republicans would vote for Borah over La Guardia and make him President. Hoover believed that his moderate Republican platform would appeal to many voters, and with the crisis of the Depression over, voters would return to the party of the "natural majority" since 1896: the Republicans.

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The Literary Digest, upon realizing their error​

However, the polls were flawed. Many magazines, such as The Literary Digest, polled their own readers. Most polls used telephones. Some used automobile registers. People who could subscribe to magazines and who owned telephones and cars, especially with the Depression so recently over, tended to be wealthier than those who could not. And those poor masses who could not afford telephones, cars, and magazines voted for the party which they credited for getting back their jobs and their homes and their food. They voted for the party of the Great Recovery. They voted for the Party of Floyd Olson.

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The 1936 Congressional Elections

Once again, Herbert Hoover's impressive record managed to draw in many moderates who otherwise voted for the Progressives down ticket. Hoover outperformed the Republican Party congressional candidates among every demographic except for black voters. Overall, in the states where La Guardia's support was the strongest - the industrial areas of the Northeast and Midwest - the Progressive Party made an impressive number of gains at the expense of the Republican Party. However, their net gains were significantly less, due to every single remaining Progressive in the South either switching to the Commonwealth Party, running as an independent, or getting defeated. Republican Party gains were significantly less, and scattered about the nation. The GOP gained a seat in Hoover's home state of Iowa. Alf Landon's coattails to his landslide election to the Senate gave the GOP a seat in Kansas, and the continued political chaos of the South let the Republicans pick up a seat in Tennessee.

For all of their success, the Commonwealth Party was significantly less successful than Huey Long had expected before he was shot. Racial tensions saw an upsurge in support of the Conservative Coalition, which retained a seat in Mississippi and half of the South Carolinian seats. Meanwhile, Conservative Coalition member the American Party of Texas gained several seats, albeit at the expense of Progressives and Republicans, not at the expense of the Commonwealth Party. The Commonwealth Party failed to break out of the old Confederacy any more than they had previously, only winning a district in Kentucky. Huey Long's hope of making the South as solidly Commonwealth as it had been Democratic twenty years before were not yet successful.

The Socialist Party gained a couple seats on Norman Thomas's coattails in New York, and a seat in California under the direction of Upton Sinclair. However, they lost a couple seats elsewhere, and were restricted to their strongholds in California, New York, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Despite their concentration, the Socialist Party's net gain of a seat insured that their party would remain relevant for quite some time to come.

Overall, left-wing parties gained twenty seats, while conservative parties lost twenty-three. The combined total of the PFL-CW-S coalition now stood at 345, the largest majority in history.

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The 1936 Senate elections saw the continued rise of the Left Coalition. The Progressives gained four seats in the Northeast and Midwest at the expense of the Republicans. Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Party swept the South, gaining six seats from the Conservative Coalition. The Progressives lost a seat in New York, but it was to Socialist Norman Thomas, who had also won the Progressive nomination for his election and who caucused with the majority Left Coalition. George Norris remained the majority leader. Meanwhile, Huey Long made a return to the Senate, having resigned from his post as Attorney General following his recovery, and getting Louisiana to nominate him for Senator. As powerful as Long was, his once dictatorial grip over his party was no longer as strong as it used to be. However, he could still generally direct them.

Not all was good for the Left, however. The Republicans managed to gain a seat in Kansas, as popular Governor Alf Landon won in a landslide. Meanwhile, thanks to vote splitting due to a rogue Commonwealth Party candidate running in Kentucky, the Republicans retained their seat there. The Commonwealth Party's presiding over the racial riots of the summer of 1936 caused great controversy, widely credited with saving the Conservative Senator in Texas. Meanwhile, thanks to the rise of fusion balloting, the Conservative-Republican candidate in Tennessee scraped by with a win as well.

However, overall the Left increased its majority by 9, leaving the majority coalition with 74 Senate Seats.

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Post-Election

The President and his Vice President were about to conclude their meeting, planning the next four years. The two were getting along well; La Guardia hoped to give Wheeler a large role in his administration, like his own large role under Olson. Already plans were being made for Wheeler to promote certain agricultural policies popular among the westerners he represented, and as a former Senator he could help negotiate in Congress. Towards the end of their meeting, Wheeler was suddenly seized by a thought. "La Guardia," he said, cautiously, "We've been talking about domestic policy, but what about foreign affairs?"

"I hope to be a domestic president," replied the President. "I hope to be remembered for how I improved the lives of Americans."

"But I know that the United States is sending funding and weapons to anti-fascist governments worldwide," responded the Vice President. "If the Fascists' Alliance were to go on the offensive, I hope that the United States..."

La Guardia stared into his VP's eyes. "I do not intend to be another Wilson, wasting American lives in a pointless war."

"Good, good," replied Wheeler. "May we have a term of great progress." He left the room. After he left, La Guardia began making phone calls, mostly to congratulate Progressives on their victories. He scheduled a meeting with Norman Thomas, the Socialist Senator recently elected to serve the last two years of Wagner's term. La Guardia and Thomas met publicly, a famous photograph showing them shaking hands in alliance.

~~~​

Huey Long limped forward using his cane. The second bullet had shattered his knee joint, and he would never again be able to walk easily again. Every step reminded him of his pain. He took a car to go speak to new Commonwealth Congressmen and Senators who had just arrived at Washington. They made him speak on the subject of civil rights, and repeat again and again how equality did not mean integration. He was tired, and luckily that young man from Texas had spoken in his support and allowed him to retain control of the meeting. The Texan had a generic name, like Jackson or Johnson or something.

The Kingfish went to his last meeting with his replacement as Attorney General, Earl Warren. He knew that if La Guardia wanted to destroy him, he would have ordered Warren to do so already. No, the President knew that their alliance was more profitable for both of them, their parties, and the country. As Long walked back to his car from Warren's office, every step reminding him of his brief weakness and La Guardia's triumph.

All was not over. He was still in control of the second largest party in the House and the third largest in the Senate. For all of the talk of Eugene Talmadge and the others, he was still the leader and he would bring back his control. La Guardia wouldn't risk all the economic progress for the sake of the Negroes. And they wouldn't be foolish enough to try to rise up and risk what they had already gained. Long was sure of it. As he walked back into his house from his car, every step reminded him of McReynolds.


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Huey Long would never again be able to walk without a cane

~~~​

"A new age is dawning!" proclaimed Governor Upton Sinclair. "Here in California, the socialist revolution is at hand. But not in blood and fire as preached by the Communists. No, we have achieved a democratic revolution at the ballot box. A peaceful revolution!" The audience applauded. They knew that Sinclair had eliminated unemployment in the state, and given everyone a home. Things were improving in California, and the Socialist governor was amazingly popular. "Across the nation, people are turning to the Left," continued the Governor. "First Olson, then La Guardia, showed that the American political establishment has realized that it is our ideas which will truly benefit the majority of Americans. For the first time in history, a Socialist is in the Senate. Progress will continue, now and forever!" The crowd cheered again.

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Upton Sinclair

~~~​

Another day, another phone call for President La Guardia. The NAACP was on the line currently. Their members, emboldened by civil disobedience demonstrations down South, had elected to begin to aggressively challenge segregation in Court, starting with the legal system. La Guardia warned them to be careful, but knew that they were not seeking his approval. The fight would not be led by the President, at least not yet. Meanwhile, the organization of the nascent Civil Rights movement was occurring in the South. Using the anti-Lynching law, La Guardia hoped to protect the brave people down there. But he knew that they would have to triumph over the evils of segregation themselves, at least at first.

His next phone call was to Secretary of State Bullitt. The two men had been meeting frequently, to discuss certain difficult negotiations. Luckily, the two men saw eye to eye on almost every issue.

After his phone calls were gone, La Guardia received a visit from several moderate Progressives, most prominently Senator Hiram Johnson of California. He read over the executive order that he'd had drafted. The AEA acts gave the President a lot of authority to direct funding, in order to help whichever area of the country needed it most. Each state was allocated a certain amount based on population and need, but an additional portion was assigned at the will of the President. A majority of this supplementary funding was currently pouring into California, courtesy of Floyd Olson's orders. It was this funding which Sinclair had used to build the new roads and schools and bridges and homes. It was with this money everyone in California who was able and willing to work had a good paying job. It was with this money that California could do so without insane tax levels. As Johnson and the others watched approvingly, with a stroke of a pen the President reassigned this funding to be distributed proportionally with all the rest. About 79% of national funding for California's socialist experiment had been cut.

~~~​

As Supreme Court Justice Nathan Miller and President Fiorello La Guardia once again recited the oath of office on January 15, as public officials smiled and the crowd cheered, Secretary of State Bullitt was not present. He had traveled to the Soviet Union, to meet with the leadership there. In the Kremlin, the American Secretary of State and the Soviet Troika were speaking, with the help of translators.

"The Fascists are distracted by the rebuilding of Germany," stated Kamenev. "Our spies in Italy show that almost all spare resources are going there. Until Germany recovers from its civil war, they will be unable to effectively project their power abroad."

"Germany is rising," warned Bullitt, "But you are correct. They will not be able to spare enough men or money or weapons to win in Spain."

"May I ask why America is not sending more to help the Republicans?" asked Zinoviev. "We here in the USSR are the ones who are helping them win the war. If not for the fact that the fascists are unable and the reactionary French unwilling to send sufficient aid to ensure a nationalist victory, America's lack of aid could be problematic."

Bullitt paused before speaking, "The situation in the United States is... delicate. Many, especially within my own party, are unwilling to see the country go to war, and are wary of all foreign aid to countries in conflict for that reason. We will send the most we can..."

"Is America then unwilling to go to war to stop the fascists?" interjected Bukharin. "Whenever the reactionary monsters attempt their aggressive war, will you sit still and watch?"

Looking the Soviet Leader straight in the eye, Bullitt replied, "President La Guardia has told me on no uncertain terms that he will not see a global triumph of fascism. He predicted to me that the next Great War will not be a useless waste of lives as the great empires clash, but that it will be the great struggle between freedom and evil. Rest assured, when that day comes, when the free people of the world call for aid against fascist aggression, the United States will answer that call."

Bukharin smiled. "Together, we will fight the reactionaries," he stated. "We will oppose them to whatever end."

As he shook hands with each of the leaders, Bullitt repeated Bukharin's words. "To whatever end."

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So Concludes Part 1 of The Ruins of an American Party System

(additional supplementary materials to be posted in this thread)
 
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Supplementary Materials

State Government Control Map, 1936:
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Lord Caedus's Wikipedia-style Electoral Maps:

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Bar Graph of Partisan Control of the US House, 1918-1936:

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Line Graph of Partisan Control of the US House, 1918-1936

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Additional Supplementary Materials

Bar Graph of Partisan Control of the US Senate, 1918-1936

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Line Graph of Partisan Control of the US Senate, 1918-1936

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