WI President Leonard Wood (1921-26)

Based largely on the work of this thread:

Working on a rough timeline that where:

* Leonard Wood wins the nomination and the Presidency in 1920, with Warren Harding is his running mate (re-elected in 24)
* initial Cabinet includes Andrew Mellon at Treasury, and tentatively includes Elihu Root at State and Charles Evans Hughs as AG
* Wood dies in August of 1926 (year earlier than OTL), and Harding succeeds him

So, what effects does this have on the 1920's? How is the Great Depression affected or averted? The geopolitics that OTL become WWII? Anything else you can think of?
 
Ah yes, I was expecting this. With Wood's influence and if Hoover is still Sec of Commerce we could see an interstate roads system pop up under the Commerce department. Increased military readiness on the part of the US would be a probable outcome too.
 
Increased military readiness on the part of the US would be a probable outcome too.

OK, let's take that further -- if the US sees less demilitarization in the 1920's, what effect does this have on the ambitions of other nations like Japan in the 1930's?
 
Curious as to whom you'd have as SecState and SecWar: might the latter be Theodore Roosevelt, Jr?

I'd hope Wood might be able to adjust public opinion to some degree: the US turned inward a good deal during the 1920s in OTL as a sort of rebound effect from involvement in the recent war in Europe. I don't believe the armed services were held in low regard during the era; rather, they were overlooked and allowed to diminish as a function of greatly curtailed spending (by 1932, the standing army ranked 17th in the world in size, and was smaller than that of Sweden).

Somehow, that decline would have to be prevented/reversed to allow a stronger standing army--and navy, for that matter. There will always be the question of "OK, now that we have these forces, what do we do with them?" Concerning the army: more involvement in Latin America? Some sort of account settling with Mexico after the Villa years? It's a bit difficult to rationalize Congress authorizing a large standing army with no overseas involvement and no real peacetime mission.

The navy may be a different story, especially in the Pacific: guarding the route to the Phillippines and all that. Conceivably there could be an earlier "frank exchange of ideas" with Japan (during the '20s and '30s, a final exam question in the Japanese naval academy was "how would you plan and execute a surprise raid on Pearl Harbor?") as a result.
 
Curious as to whom you'd have as SecState and SecWar...

Well, I'm tentatively considering Elihu Root for the former (largely based on Whan's posts in the prev thread).

... might the latter be Theodore Roosevelt, Jr?

Now that's something I haven't thought of or come across before -- I like it :D

The navy may be a different story, especially in the Pacific: guarding the route to the Phillippines and all that. Conceivably there could be an earlier "frank exchange of ideas" with Japan (during the '20s and '30s, a final exam question in the Japanese naval academy was "how would you plan and execute a surprise raid on Pearl Harbor?") as a result.

Interesting... so, if I understand correctly, this could prevent Japanese militarism in the Pacific, and if Hitler's rise is also brushed out, a Wood Presidency could butterfly away WWII all together.

Now this is interesting... What about the economy? Does the GD still happen?
 
Well, I'm tentatively considering Elihu Root for the former (largely based on Whan's posts in the prev thread).



Now that's something I haven't thought of or come across before -- I like it :D



Interesting... so, if I understand correctly, this could prevent Japanese militarism in the Pacific, and if Hitler's rise is also brushed out, a Wood Presidency could butterfly away WWII all together.

Now this is interesting... What about the economy? Does the GD still happen?

TR dies in Jan 1919, a year before the election. Despite our modern perceptions, he has been a very sick man since 1912, catching malaria and getting a serious infection, not to mention getting shot. I am not one to think that Dates of Death cannot change in AH, but unless you stop him from going to South America in 1912, he will get sick and be sickly and die a premature death.

Root or Hughes are both excellent statesmen from which to choose and both should be respected and considered. Root was pushing it in age too though. He did live to his 90s OTL, but he didn't know he would at the time. That's probably why Hughes was chosen OTL.

President Wood could have strong unintended butterflies with respect to WWII, especially Japan. The Hitler question would be difficult. The Washington Naval Conference would probably cause the biggest change.

Also, the GD will still happen pretty much OTL with a Republican, only semi-progressive 20s, no matter the president. Also, if Hoover is Sec of Commerce then expect things to go very OTL. He was a national figure as SecCommerce, known throughout America and a real go-getter. The only real things that could soften the blow of the GD would be if the US steps away from the gold standard (unlikely) or if there if farm relief is greater under Wood, somehow don't know what specific change could make it so.

Another way to stop the initial damage of the GD would have to wait until the President elected in 1928. Hoover negotiated with labor leaders and industries to not have a drop in wages which seems like a good idea but what that meant was greater rates of layoffs and less hiring since they could not change the worker's wages to reflect economic realities.

I am not sure if Wood was as a strong federalist as Coolidge or Hoover, which is considered a contributing factor to why they did little to regulate the economy as Presidents. Wood, being an Army man, may believe in a stronger central government and may be more willing to intervene economically. But it could go this was - Wood, as an Army man, defers economic decisions to the economic experts (aka Hoover and Mellon for the most part) so things go as they did IOTL. Mellon really did set the low tax standard that was the Roaring Twenties, and if he is part of the Wood administration, expect that not to change.

With respect to non-economic domestic policy, both Coolidge and Harding were fairly ahead of their times race relations wise, with Harding passing an anti-lynching bill. Harding passed the first major social welfare program with the Sheppard-Towner Maternity Act. Harding freed Debbs from prison, I do not see Wood doing that. He hated Commies.

EDIT: DID not see the Jr. on the back of TR! D'oh! He is far too green to serve as the real Sec of State. Maybe assistant of Navy as he was OTL, or War or State but he wouldn't cut the mustard for the top one. If Wood is President though, there is no Tea Pot Dome Scandal and therefore Jr's image isn't tarnished as it was IOTL.
 
If the GD goes as OTL, but Imperial Japan is curbed, it would seem Hitler may well still rise, and we could see a WWII with a sole European theater. (And, though it's probably off topic, that would likely mean no Soviet invasion, since Hitler probably wouldn't have an ally in the east.)

The only real things that could soften the blow of the GD would be... if farm relief is greater under Wood, somehow don't know what specific change could make it so.

My current inclination is to think he'd be more partial to this.
 
What was Congress' attitude toward the Defense budget in the 1920s? If Wood asks for larger appropriations, is he likely to get them?
 
Last edited:
I would think he would be more likely to get the US involved in something, perhaps in China?

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
My inclination us yes, and that he would side with Wallace -- if he defers to Mellon on the economy, it stands to reason he'd defer to Wallace on Agriculture.
 

Markus

Banned
"War Plan Orange" states Wood was a BIG proponent of defending the Philippines. If he becomes POTUS we might see stronger US forces in the Philippines and possibly stronger Philippine forces. Who knows, maybe his presidency would even influence the non-fortification clause of the WNT. "WPO" claims this actually benefited the USA as the USA would have never build fortifications on Guam ect., while Japan would have fortified the Mandates and Marianas but IMO there are too many islands to fortify all that have the potential to be used as bases. Thus island hopping would still be possible.
 
I would think he would be more likely to get the US involved in something, perhaps in China?

My first thought here was that Wood would not be waging a war -- first, in the 1920's, Japan was actually kind of quiet, and second, because he'd likely be less interventionist overall. (Except with regard to current colonies, as Markus pointed out.)

OTOH, if the US has more of a Pacific presence, it's possible that the US position vis-a-vis Japan would be stronger circa 1937 (or possibly 1931). So we might go to war over China at a latter date, but somehow I think it more likely that Japan just wouldn't try a full invasion of China proper. (Manchuko maybe -- I'm still seeing Prezes Hoover in 1931 and FDR in 1937.)
 

mowque

Banned
I have worked extensivly with Leonard Wood in my TL. Here are a few points I have come up, if you care.

Inter-state road system, based off the Pershing Plan.

A willingness to use force in places like Carribbean and Asia.

Conservative, in favor of small goverment.

Intelligent and capable

In my TL, he runs the American war in the Europe during my 'WW1' and becomes a bit Eisenhower like.
 
Top