Wilson Doesn't Get a Second Term?

The election of 1916 was a very close election. The closest state, Minnesota went voted Democratic by .1%. Lets say that they swing over to the Republicans, for whatever reason. What would a Hughes presidency be like? Genocide link.
 
For starters, Hughes would enter office in November 1916, as Wilson planned to demand the resignation of his Vice-President and Secretary of State, then appoint Hughes as Secretary of State, and then resign, leaving Hughes as his successor and President four months in advance.

Hughes, IIRC, was in favor of intervening on behalf of the Entente in Europe, so expect the Americans to declare war on Germany three or four months in advance of OTL. There may be more than a handful of American divisions in France when the last gamble of 'Michael' is launched by the German high command.
 
For starters, Hughes would enter office in November 1916, as Wilson planned to demand the resignation of his Vice-President and Secretary of State, then appoint Hughes as Secretary of State, and then resign, leaving Hughes as his successor and President four months in advance.

Wow! Really? why? :confused::confused:
 
He was throwing a silly little tantrum about people not approving of his brilliant ideas. Literally.

Wilson never threw tantrums. Especially not after Congress refused to ratify his precious 14 points.

Does anyone know what Hughes's other positions were (aside from on the War)?
 
Hughes probably wasn't any more eager than Wilson to get involved in the Great War. He only supported mobilization and preparedness in case of attack - the idea that he would intervene in the war wasn't much more than pro-Wilson propaganda. He criticized Wilson for his intervention in the Mexican Revolution - if he was opposed to intervention there, he would probably be opposed to intervention in Europe.

If the United States were to get involved in World War I, you can expect to see Americans maintaining most of the civil liberties that were lost under Wilson. The Hughes Department of Justice wouldn't have hired the American Protective League to spy on Americans, and violate the civil liberties of anyone who dissented.
 
Remember, TR pushed Hughes into being all-out for the war. Since TR also supported the League IIRC, likely Hughes would as well.
 
For starters, Hughes would enter office in November 1916, as Wilson planned to demand the resignation of his Vice-President and Secretary of State, then appoint Hughes as Secretary of State, and then resign, leaving Hughes as his successor and President four months in advance.

Hughes, IIRC, was in favor of intervening on behalf of the Entente in Europe, so expect the Americans to declare war on Germany three or four months in advance of OTL. There may be more than a handful of American divisions in France when the last gamble of 'Michael' is launched by the German high command.

Very interesting. :eek: Could that establish a precedent that future Presidents would follow, or would Congress take steps to prohibit it as violating the Constitution?
 
My impression is that blame for the war was a major factor in the Democrats being anihilated in the 1920 election.

In this scenario, unless Hughes avoids getting involved in WW1 which I doubt, might the Republicans lose in 1920.

I still have the idea that this might result in the parties ideological basis changing with Democrats becoming conservative and Republcians progressive.

Any thoughts
 
I don't have much on the actual topic, other than that it's an interesting hypothetical, with a very intriguing codicil (the resignation plan). However, it's worth noting that Wikipedia's actually using red for Republican and blue for Democrat here. Minnesota already went for Hughes; you'd want California as the swing state, which Wilson won by some 3,700 votes total. (New Hampshire was won by a grand total of 54 votes, but that doesn't carry enough electoral votes to swing the Presidency to Hughes.)

If you're looking for a POD to make this happen, the Wiki page also indicates that Hughes failed to call on CA Governor Hiram Johnson when they were staying at the same hotel on a campaign swing, and Johnson got ticked. Switch that, get Johnson more involved in the campaign, and Hughes may well have driven up Republican turnout and won the state, and thus the Presidency.
 
I don't have much on the actual topic, other than that it's an interesting hypothetical, with a very intriguing codicil (the resignation plan). However, it's worth noting that Wikipedia's actually using red for Republican and blue for Democrat here. Minnesota already went for Hughes; you'd want California as the swing state, which Wilson won by some 3,700 votes total. (New Hampshire was won by a grand total of 54 votes, but that doesn't carry enough electoral votes to swing the Presidency to Hughes.)

If you're looking for a POD to make this happen, the Wiki page also indicates that Hughes failed to call on CA Governor Hiram Johnson when they were staying at the same hotel on a campaign swing, and Johnson got ticked. Switch that, get Johnson more involved in the campaign, and Hughes may well have driven up Republican turnout and won the state, and thus the Presidency.
Ooops. I didn't catch that...:eek: Thanks for the POD
 

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There'd either be Hughes, the puppet of TR, or a Hughes who has broken TR:s strings. A Hughes under TR:s control would probably enter the war early, while a Hughes not heavily influenced by TR would enter the war in 1917 due to unresticted submarine warfare (seriously, there's no way for the US to stay out if the Germans go nuts with the submarines).
 
For starters, Hughes would enter office in November 1916, as Wilson planned to demand the resignation of his Vice-President and Secretary of State, then appoint Hughes as Secretary of State, and then resign, leaving Hughes as his successor and President four months in advance.


I could see the Secretary bowing to it, but why wouldn't the VP tell Wilson to pound sand?
 
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