So somehow Nixon made the Catholic Pat Brown look like an anti-Catholic bigot?
TLIAW(II):A Rigged Deck, for a Rigged System
- Thread starter Nofix
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So somehow Nixon made the Catholic Pat Brown look like an anti-Catholic bigot?
Nixon is the greatest politician ever. He can do anything.
So somehow Nixon made the Catholic Pat Brown look like an anti-Catholic bigot?
More like the Reform party as a bunch of crypto-nativists.
There has always been a split between the eastern urban Reformers and the rural western/southern Reformers, especially over touchy issues like Prohibition and support of Ireland. The prohibitionist and isolationist lobby keeps the American Catholics from being wholly dedicated to the Reform Party. Nixons campaign managed to get away from Browns Catholicism and focus on the alleged anti-catholic elements in his party.
#39.) George Stanley McGovern - Reform
(1973-1977)
Vice-President:
Warren Magnuson, Reform (1973-1977)
The first President elected from Dakota, George McGovern came into office hopeful of transitioning the old American Reformism into something new. A loud and proud internationalist, he won the primary after the mass of isolationists tore themselves apart trying to appeal to the same constituents. The slowly declining economy hit McGovern personally as he came from a farming state, something he used to great effect while campaigning to reach out to the common voter and connect to their suffering and hardships. While he wanted to enlarge America's standing on the world stage he was still and Old Reformer at heart and didn't dare touch any of the farm subsidies or try to touch any of the age old labor legislation, even as much of it was painfully out of date.
In fact, much of McGovern's term can be chalked up to well-intentioned bumbling. By no means a dumb man, he was someone who occupied an uncomfortable place in American politics, an Internationalist Reformer from a small western state. As the economy continued to slowly fall during his reign, and the President was widely perceived to be doing everything but focusing on the economy, McGovern was challenged by an obscure Representative from Georgia. But McGovern and his men ignored him, thinking while the President wasn't doing too hot it's not like he could lose renomination right? Wrong. State after state Jimmy Carter swept the primaries and managed to coup McGovern. He and his men were floored.
McGovern is remembered rather poorly. No one really disliked him, but his inability to deal with the economy, and his rabid insistence not to change the countries labor laws even as his own party demanded change, made him hated in his day. He has recovered his reputation in recent years, and has become mildly respected when he was proven right on many things, including the need to take better care of the environment after a series of disastrous fires that swept across the polluted Midwest.
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#40.) James Earl Carter - Reform
(1977-1985)
Vice-President:
Walter Mondale, Reform (1977-1985)
The obscure Georgian Representative first proved amusing to political watchers who gave him little chance of beating McGovern in any primary. Then he won New Hampshire, and Iowa, and South Carolina, and he kept steamrolling McGovern even after they set up an emergency campaign. Still, with the economy in a slump and the Reform Party unpopular there's no way some hick Representative could win right? Wrong again, while not the most technically skilled campaigner, he made his fair share of gaffes on various interviews, he came off as earnest and honest to Americans looking for change.
While Speaker Ford managed to sew up his Federalist Party's nomination, he gave off the impression he was rather unknowable of the outer world. Such as calling the Russian Republic the "Russian Empire", or misidentifying Ireland as "South and kind of east of Ireland." When questioned if he meant to say west and Britain at the end, he strangely stuck with his response, red faced and obviously trying to push through that part of the interview. There was also an aborted attempt to paint Carter as a Prohibitionist, and continue the recent success the Federalists had among Catholics, but Carter turned the discussion around, telling people in no uncertain terms he was a teetotaler but had not intention of "raiding your pantries and bars" if elected President.
Carter was more of a conservative then McGovern, and proved more then willing to tell America they needed to make "necessary cuts and changes" to their entitlement system. "I won't lie," Carter said in his inaugural message, "these cuts will be painful and not everyone will like them. In fact, I fully expect a good deal of unpopularity to come on my shoulders as a result. But I will stand by them." Carter proved both prescient and completely wrong on that front. While in the short term the tax cuts, federal wage cuts, repeal of labor laws, and the process of replacing them with new ones were all painful and unpopular, tanking the Reform Party in the 1978 midterms, it gave Carter the image of a strong and honest President willing to stand by unpopular but necessary actions. When the economy began picking up around 1979, it gave his re-election campaign some much needed air. Defeating Ford in a re-match by an even larger margin, Carter became the first President since Norman Thomas to serve two consecutive terms.
With a booming economy in his second terms, he was able to get past some more of his agenda, including free trade with various European, African, and Asian states, environmentalist reform, loosening of immigration laws, and expanding the Reform Party's worldview. Carter is considered among one of the higher tiered Presidents, a man totally willing to buck expectations, political norms, and openly speak his mind when most would duck or deflect. He would serve as an important pseudo-Ambassador for the next few Presidents and would continue his advocacy of environmentalism, free trade, and compassionate integration.
They were made all the way back in the very early 1900's. The Federalists adopted something of a "don't rock the boat" mentality when it came to labor and workers legislation, and the Reformers were content to rest on their laurels after a few Congress's getting things done. 50 to 70 years later, you have a widely different labor market, industrialization making some jobs obsolete or in need to refinement, and other problems with decades old legislation that no one is sure how to change..
Rather then picking out the bad laws piece by piece, the Carter Administration wanted to rip it out wholesale and fit back in a new set of laws (workers comp, liability, sick days, striking, etc.). In some ways it ended up better for the laborers of America, they were able to extract more money when injured in a workplace (as the fines in the old days didn't change with inflation), and clauses involving ethnic and/or migrant workers not being able to unionize were repealed.
However some things did harm the American workforce, mostly involving making it easier for businesses to leave overseas to escape paying union wages, cutting down how much a union was able to lobby in a certain year, and most harmfully banning mandatory Union Dues. This is all just a small overview of the situation, and not a whole encompassing look.
I hope this answers your question.
#41.) Walter Frederick Mondale - Reform
(1985-1989)
Vice-President:
Gary Warren Hartpence, Reform (1985-1989)
With the election of President Mondale, or President Fritz as the media liked to call him on occasion, the Reform Party entered it's longest period of holding the Presidency, 4 consecutive terms. Mondale continued the more conservative policies of the Carter Administration but making his own mark on the United States, most famously endorsing the use of Nuclear Power as a replacement for coal and the hydro-electric power plants used since the beginning of the 20th century. While Mondale was right on the inefficacy of those types of energy, the public was still suspicious about nuclear science, as a new and unexplored field, miners and government employees furiously opposed Mondale's attempts to "kill their lifeblood."
In fact, the Mondale Administration was when the centrist or conservative bent of the modern Reform Party started to crack the party open. Some went as far to say the party was dead, or ought to disband and reform (no pun intended) in a more ideologically pure form. Other dissented on that, most famously former President Carter who said that "...a party with a plethora of ideas is not a defect [of American democracy], it's a feature, and a good one at that." Mondale himself said he was willing to undergo his own share of scorn for necessary change in the United States.
However Mondale didn't have the 'homespun honesty', as one political commentator called it, of President Carter. Like or dislike him, no one could convincingly call Carter a dishonest man. Mondale was a career politician, and often his "evolving views" came off as turncoat behavior and his "willingness to take criticism" as an attempt to preemptively deflect said criticism from being seriously considered. With a strong third party in the "Workers and Laborers Party", calling back to an older Reformer era with it's clunky name, Mondale faced a tough three way race with him uncomfortably being squeezed in the middle. Eventually, he lost to the second Texan President, who in turn would lose to the third Texan President a term later.
Mondale is remembered much better then on election day where he narrowly got above 40% of the popular vote. His stance on Nuclear Energy would eventually become a central part of the Reform Party platform, advocated by not just Mondale but many rural Congressmen who wanted the high amounts of funding that went into the construction of these things.
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So....and Al Gore presidency maybe?
Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayybe. I know at least I want to get this story done tonight or maybe mid-day tomorrow. I've got a paper due Thursday and I need the first half of that to furiously write it.
Basically. So many good, qualified, and popular men lose office that it's not seen as particularly strange to keep running until you win again.
This says a lot about the America of this TL. In our timeline once you lose you tend to be seen as damaged goods. Hence why there's only been one non-consecutive two term President.
Edit: Also my prediction is that Federalist George HW Bush, will beat Mondale, only to be beaten in turn by either Reformist Lloyd Bentsen or Reformist Anne Richards
Edit: Also my prediction is that Federalist George HW Bush, will beat Mondale, only to be beaten in turn by either Reformist Lloyd Bentsen or Reformist Anne Richards
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#42.) George Herbert Walker Bush - Federalist
(1989-1993)
(1989-1993)
Vice-President:
John Forbes Kerry, Federalist (1989-1993)
The Secretary of State under Richard Nixon, Chinese Ambassador under Carter, and most recently serving a state as Texas Senator, George Herbert Walker Bush has had one of the more accomplished foreign affair credentials upon entering office since fellow Secretary of State Roosevelt. Bush received the backing of former President Nixon, two times Presidential nominee Gerald Ford, and a score of other Federalists. He picked fellow Senator John Forbes Kerry of Massachusetts as his running mate. Bush's entire tenure can be considered one relating to foreign policy, to mixed success.
Bush was an enthusiastic convert to Free Trade, and was key in getting the International League Free Trade Bill brought up in Congress. The simplified version of it was that all members of the IL would be able to trade substantially easier with each other. To supporters this would mean the tighter integration of the world economies and would be the quickest path to world peace. Detractors claimed it would be the spear into the heart of the American labor movement, as there would be a massive exodus of businesses who would establish themselves in cheaper parts of the world to work. The battle raged on and on, and even with a Federalist majority in Congress it seemed like it would never get passed. Finally, Congress voted on it and the issue was narrowly defeated. It was a grand humiliation for the Bush Administration, who bet everything on this.
Bush would be succeeded by a fellow Texan, one who only recently joined the Reform Party so he could battle Free Trade. George H.W. Bush is not particularly well remembered. Despite being a rather intelligent and focused man, a superb Secretary of State, and a very attentive Senator, his bet that Free Trade would succeed and define his legacy was a gamble that lost him the house. Literally, as both houses of Congress switched to the Reform Party in 1992 alongside his successor's landslide victory.
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#43.) Henry Ross Perot - Reform
(1993-2001)
Vice-President:
Hubert Horatio Humphrey III, Reform (1993-2001)
One of the most unlikely men to be a Reform Party President, a party of the working class mostly, billionaire Henry Ross Perot entered the 1992 Primaries to much shock and proceeded to beat front-runners Clinton, Cuomo, and Brown. While not officially a member of the Reform Party until recently, having been Federalist policy wonk under Nixon, Perot always objected to Free Trade and made his position known on that. While many Reformers were suspicious of this turncoat, they could rest a little knowing his opposition to their most dreaded foreign policy was genuine. To draw in more traditional Reform Party voters, he tapped "Skip" Humphrey from Minnesota, who proved to be far more popular then the man he was campaigning under, according to a least one poll.
Retaking the Presidency alongside both houses of Congress, President Perot enthusiastically declare that Free Trade was "dead" within the United States. Despite this bold proclamation, that was not quite true. Perot himself was not a Fabian Socialist by any means, and he even endorsed some measure of trade liberalizations with a few countries the United States hadn't got around to recognizing or making trade agreements with.
The other big success of the Perot Administration was the big increase in electronic infrastructure spending. The big failure of the Perot Administration was his proposal to rewrite the Constitution. "Keep in mind our Constitution predates the Industrial Revolution. Our founders did not know about electricity, the train, telephones, radio, television, automobiles, airplanes, satellites, or space exploration. There's a lot they didn't know about. It would be interesting to see what kind of document they'd draft today. Just keeping it frozen in time won't hack it." However, there was very little public support for overthrowing the Constitution that had kept America together for some two centuries.
The second Perot win in 1996 again George Bush cemented the Reform Party as the party of not just the laboring classes, but of middle class entrepreneurs, young and rich political gadflies, centrists, environmentalists and various other types. Perot himself did not limit his endorsements to just traditional Reform Party dogma, he tried to get a balanced budget amendment, a free computer for every student in America, a single all-encompassing entitlement program that would consolidate the existing ones, and more. While very few of his schemes worked, through his Vice-President he was able to get many school reforms pushed through, such as subsidized school books for all high school children and guaranteed payment for the first 2 years of community college.
Remembered as one of the more eccentric Presidents in recent times, Perot did manage to get a lot and was not the party hopping turncoat bastard his critics accused him of being. His administration was relatively successful in spite of headbutting with Congress on many issues, especially over the balanced budget amendment he stuck to for so long. However the next Administration would not go so well and once again split the Reform Party on several lines, with Perot leading one faction and the President leading another.
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Whoa, whoa, whoa...There're only Fourteen amendments!!
With a more successful Federalist Party, they appoint more Federalist Justices, who over time established the Federal Government being able to do things without explicit constitutional permission. Examples include barring slavery, income taxes, etc.