WI: Truman in '52?

President Truman may have been in office when the 22nd Amendment was passed, but since he became President before its passage, he was exempt from adhering to its Two Term limit. As such, he could have continued to run for the Presidency. What cost him this was plummeting popularity in the face of Korea, McCarthyism, and scandals.

But what if perhaps things went better between 1949 and 1952, and Harry Truman managed to give 'em Hell and run for another term?
 
^^Ah, but if Truman is running, and the election isn't essentially the GOP's to lose, that could well butterfly away Ike's decision to run in the first place...

Too bad, I was looking forward to some making a picture of Truman grinning with an "EISENHOWER DEFEATS TRUMAN" headline.
 
Truman actually didn't withdraw from the contest for the Democratic nomination until after the New Hampshire primary (though he had privately decided on retirement earlier). Kefauver defeated Truman in that contest, and while he certainly wouldn't defeat Truman for the nomination, it was very much LBJ syndrome.

If anything, Stevenson preformed better than Truman would have. He was a charming outsider who presented a pleasant continuation of New Deal liberalism. He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
 
You'd need a better Korea and a KMT China for that. Congressional control can probably be saved by the Depregoguery which still worked against the GOP in those days. Against Taft, Truman wins, perhaps with LBJ as his VP.
 
You'd need a better Korea and a KMT China for that. Congressional control can probably be saved by the Depregoguery which still worked against the GOP in those days. Against Taft, Truman wins, perhaps with LBJ as his VP.

If MacArthur stops at the DMZ than Korea probably comes to an "end" much sooner. For the KMT to win in China there needs to be some more significant changes. Their semi-fascist policies and Chiang Kai-Shek's cult of personality weren't too popular.
 
if things went better means a quick and easy victory in the Korean War. m Maybe things go even better. World War Ii ends without a Soviet
takeover of Eastern Europe and Jaing's forces win the Chinese Civil War. So no Korean War and no Red Scare.
 

wormyguy

Banned
If Truman ran again he possibly wouldn't win a single state if he were somehow renominated. Dude was less popular than Nixon during Watergate.
 
52 is tough for the Democrats even if things go better overall.

After 20 yiears of one party it is just natural for the country to swing to the other. We've only had one period were a single party ran longer than 20 yrs and that was in the early days when paries were much more fluid.
 
My idea -- Chiang wins China.* Freakouts in 1949 are a lot less, war in Korea is either prevented or a lot shorter, you don't get McCarthyist witch hunts, and overall liberal Democrats have more room to enact an agenda following their victories in 48.

*best way to do that, IMO, is to kill Mao, Zhao, & Co. in 1934, but that's another thread...
 
If Truman ran again he possibly wouldn't win a single state if he were somehow renominated. Dude was less popular than Nixon during Watergate.

Because 1949-1952 was a crap shoot. As I stated in the OP, make 1949-1952 better if need be.

52 is tough for the Democrats even if things go better overall.

After 20 yiears of one party it is just natural for the country to swing to the other. We've only had one period were a single party ran longer than 20 yrs and that was in the early days when paries were much more fluid.

The GOP certainly feared it. Thats why they passed the 22nd Amendment to begin with. They were afraid the rest of the 20th century would be dominated by multi-term New Deal Democrats.
 
WI a general obeyed instructions not tp put US forces North of the point where the Chinese would react

Could Truman have clearly won the Korean war?

Would that have made him electable?


By the way what was the economy like in 52?
 
WI a general obeyed instructions not tp put US forces North of the point where the Chinese would react

Could Truman have clearly won the Korean war?

Would that have made him electable?


By the way what was the economy like in 52?

You'd have to ask someone else about Korea, but economically there was a recession in 1948-1949. And I think there were some worker strikes. What that all looked like by 1952, I can't remember.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recession_of_1949
 
I'll admit, the reason I bring this up is I had the fanciful thought of Truman being President again...and again...and again. At least through the Ike years. A way to bring to life that GOP fear that the Democrats would be the White House party for the 20th century.
 
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I'll admit, the reason I bring this up is I had the fanciful thought of Truman being President again...and again...and again. At least through the Ike years. A way to bring to life that GOP fear that the Democrats would be the White House party for the 20th century.
Look in the sig :cool::p Though he personally was divided on breaking the two-term limit, after he decided to be became depressed as he realized he was leaving the White House. But twelve years in a row is the limit I think.

This is tough though. No one in Washington was going to stop at the DMZ. You could maybe avoid it if Mac dies after Inchon and another general who doesn't issue ultimatums to the Chinese while the North is being invaded. The best bet would be a different Chinese Civil War end set-up.
 
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