WI:Truman sits out 1948

As it says on the tin, Truman declines to run for a full term. Who is the likely democratic nominee, do they win as Truman did IOTL?
 
Associate Justice William O. Douglas and General Eisenhower were the top choices of the Democratic "Dump Truman" contingent. Obviously Ike was not going to accept the Democratic nomination-but Douglas is a contender. I think that Dewey might eake out a victory here because Douglas might not campaign the way Truman did.
 
The obvious answer is Senator Alben Barkley of Kentucky, but any campaign he would mount may very well run into the same issues he experienced when he tried to run in '52; he was 71 after all, which back then was still a height that caused some concern among both the voters and the delegates. Certainly there would be comparisons with Roosevelt and the need to get his running-mate right for those who decided to back him.

Senator Claude Pepper could make a go at it, though I have doubts he would get all that far given he also would be facing the same concerns he faced in OTL, namely his dovish positions in regards with how to deal with the Soviet Union.

Associate Justice William Douglas as others have put forward seems a strong candidate and he might very well have received the support of Truman for the nomination, but his nomination would be very divisive. The Southern delegations would be strongly opposed to his nomination by virtue of his more Liberal temperament, and it is not clear whether he could unify the the more Progressive Democrats behind him even with establishment support.

Richard Russell would serve as the nominee of the Southern delegations much as he did in OTL, but he has no chance of being nominated.

Unfortunately not many other candidate comes to mind, at least those that would have elicited more than a handful of delegates.
 
Associate Justice William Douglas as others have put forward seems a strong candidate and he might very well have received the support of Truman for the nomination, but his nomination would be very divisive.

Does the nomination of William Douglas cause the Dixiecrats to walk out like they did IOTL? Alot of ire was aimed personally at Truman because he desegregated the army, would the southerners be rankled enough at Douglas to form a third party ITTL?
 
Does the nomination of William Douglas cause the Dixiecrats to walk out like they did IOTL? Alot of ire was aimed personally at Truman because he desegregated the army, would the southerners be rankled enough at Douglas to form a third party ITTL?
I think they were more upset at the Party Platform including a firm commitment to future Civil Rights legislation rather than the desegregation of the Armed Forces, though that certainly did add fuel to the fire. Douglas's more Liberal standings elsewhere may more than make up for it, especially if he decides to run on Civil Rights at the behest of those like Humphrey.
 
A guy, who as a 67 year old Supreme Court Justice, marries a 23 year old college senior probably does not have good political skills.
 
Douglas's more Liberal standings elsewhere may more than make up for it, especially if he decides to run on Civil Rights at the behest of those like Humphrey.

Who would Douglas's likely running mate be? Will he double down and tap someone like Pepper, or will he go south for a ticket balancer? Barkley is a possibility of course, but is there anyone else south of the Mason-Dixon line worth choosing?
 
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