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The First Term of Charles Evans Hughes
Event Date: 10-13-1916 Event Description: Governor Hiram Johnson (R-CA) requests another meeting with Justice Charles Evans Hughes (R-NY). Meeting at a hotel earlier in the year, Hughes asked for the governor’s explicit and outright endorsement. Johnson, a prickly personality, was impressed by the presidential candidate, and set out to mention him at every occasion. Hughes’s campaign aides eagerly accept the notion that the two should meet again, but inform Johnson’s staff that such a conference will is impossible at the current time.
Event Date: 10-31-1916 Event Description: Justice Hughes continues his campaign with a swing through Indiana, the home state of President Wilson’s vice president. Telling a crowd of fifty thousand that he favors the “maintenance of every right, including the right of travel and the right of shipment” Hughes subtly appeals to the interventionist supporters of his campaign. In his next statement, he declares that we "must consider our place as a great nation dedicated to the interests of peace,” reaching out to isolationist factions. Ever since his nomination, Hughes has been walking a tight rope, trying to placate men of all ideologies.
Event Date: 11-5-1916 Event Description: President Wilson, increasingly worried about his re-election prospects, presents his “resignation” strategy, in which he would appoint Justice Hughes Secretary of State, force Vice President Marshall to resign, and then renounce the office himself. This would effectively make Hughes President of the United States. With the Great War in Europe leering on the horizon, Wilson wishes to isolate all chances of a crippled American government.
Charles Evans Hughes/Charles Warren Fairbanks: 268 Electoral Votes, 46.1% of the Popular Vote Thomas Woodrow Wilson/Thomas Riley Marshall: 263 Electoral Votes, 49.2% of the Popular Vote
Event Date: 11-7-1916 Event Description: With the help of Governor Johnson, Justice Charles Evans Hughes is able to score a narrow victory, and the initial calls of East Coast newspapers for the Republican are correct. However, he loses the popular vote to President Woodrow Wilson by a substantial margin, making him a ‘minority’ president. Hughes manages to keep all of his supporters united, albeit barely, and manages to win the election. It is unclear to most Americans where their new President-elect stands, due to his vague rhetoric. He was, after all, a compromise nominee.
Event Date: 11-8-1916 Event Description: President Wilson puts his strategy into effect, telling his aides to inform Hughes of his ‘resignation’ proposal. In the meantime, he convinces Vice President Marshall to go along with the plan. The man from Princeton is uneager to leave so abruptly, and feels the sting of defeat, but knows that it is best for the nation.
Event Date: 11-10-1916 Event Description: President-elect Hughes, after contemplating the proposal, decides that it is necessary America not have a lame-duck President during such a period. Hughes accepts Wilson’s offer to become Secretary of State.
Event Date: 11-21-1916 Event Description: President-elect Hughes sails past confirmation, in part because of Wilson’s threats toward Democratic lawmakers. Democrats lost two Senate seats and their majority in the House during the past cycle, but it was the lame-duck members that had to confirm the nominee. The national media is quite surprised at the prospect of Hughes becoming president early, thinking that they would have to wait until March 4th to see him be inaugurated.
Event Date: 11-25-1916 Event Description: President Wilson and Vice President Marshall both resign their offices after taking care of last-minute affairs. Charles Evans Hughes becomes the 29th President of the United States after a curious process. He presides over a sharply divided nation, and his cabinet isn’t even of his choice or party. He and Vice President-elect Fairbanks will be split for several months, as the traditional inaugural ceremony will not occur until March. At that point, he will be re-inaugurated, and his Vice President inaugurated.