Hello everyone! Some of you may remember that a while back, I posted a thread about Joshua Chamberlain becoming president. After extensive research on Chamberlain and the politics of the early 1880s, this timeline is the result of some of the ideas from that thread. Technically our POD here is that Chamberlain isn't as severely wounded during the Civil War (he still gets hurt, but not enough to cause him chronic pain and other health issues for the rest of his life as OTL), but the actually significant divergence is during the 1880 Maine gubernatorial election, as seen below.
For anyone who's been reading If Ye Do Not Feel The Chain, I haven't forgotten about it either--I've just had a serious case of writer's block. I'm still making progress, it's just very slow. This TL, done in a very different style, is done partly in the hope that I can switch back and forth between one and the other when inspiration isn't coming easily.
In January 1880, the gubernatorial election for the state of Maine resulted in a dispute over the winner. In most circumstances, the event would have passed as a footnote in history, and indeed it almost did here as well--except for the boost it gave to the political career of a retired Civil War general by the name of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.
Chamberlain had served as the (extremely popular) Governor of Maine for several terms in the late 1860s, and was the current commander of the state militia, so it is perhaps not a surprise that his assistance was requested in arbitrating the situation. The situation almost escalated into violence several times as accusations of corruption and bribery flew back and forth. Chamberlain staunchly maintained a nonpartisan stance throughout the crisis, despite several threats on his life, as the state Supreme Court deliberated on the decision. (1)
But as the situation escalated, Chamberlain began to worry that his efforts to keep the peace would not be enough. He took the floor in the state legislature on several occasions to make impassioned speeches extolling the virtues of the democratic process, urging all involved to stay calm and maintain order throughout the crisis. Though some were displeased by his refusal to support either side, his oratory skills impressed many legislators. Republicans in particular began to wonder if Chamberlain, a member of their party, might make a suitable candidate for federal office. (2)
When the situation ended with Daniel Davis, the Republican candidate, winning the court case (3), Chamberlain had made many enemies--but also won powerful allies in the state legislature. Several of them offered to support him if he chose to run for Senator. After a great deal of deliberation, he agreed to their suggestion.
The opportunity for that position came the following year, in 1881, when Chamberlain threw his hat into the ring to contest Eugene Hale’s appointment to the position. The vote was close, but thanks to his fame as a war hero and his actions during the gubernatorial crisis, Chamberlain’s supporters were able to swing the legislature to narrowly vote in his favor.
His first two years in the Senate were relatively uneventful, as he familiarized himself with federal politics and the inner workings of Congress. However, there were still a few events of note.
Foremost among these is his encounter with Frederick Douglass, who was then serving as the Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia (4). The two men met by chance when Chamberlain was filing some real estate documents, and took an immediate liking to one another. They would become friends and correspondents in later years.
He cast a controversial vote against the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, seeing it as little better than the Jim Crow laws of the South. The act still passed in spite of his vote, but many immigrant groups took note of the action. (5)
In 1883, he drew national attention for his proposal (influenced by his correspondence with Frederick Douglass) of an anti-lynching bill, for which he argued passionately on the Senate floor. Like most civil rights legislation before it, it was killed by a Southern Democratic filibuster, but the bill’s very existence combined with his fame as a Civil War general drew him back into the spotlight. He received hundreds of letters of condemnation, including several death threats, and of support, most notably a commendation from noted anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells.
As 1883 drew to a close, the failing health of President Chester A. Arthur caused Republican political leaders to seek a new nominee. Chamberlain was a popular choice among the more racially progressive sections of the party, having previous governing experience, pro-civil-rights views, and the added bonus of being a Union war hero. When he threw his hat into the ring for the presidential nomination, the party quickly rallied around him as their candidate. One of the loudest voices in Chamberlain’s favor was the young reformer Teddy Roosevelt, who spoke in his favor at the 1884 Republican convention. (6) Vermont Senator George F. Edmunds was selected as Chamberlain’s Vice President. (7)
The nomination of an openly pro-civil-rights Republican and former Union general enraged Southern Democrats and galvanized support for them at the DNC, which they took advantage of to push strongly for their preferred candidate, Thomas Bayard (8). Meanwhile, seeing the strength of the Southern Democrats as opposed to his own Bourbon Democrat faction and not wanting to run against a unified Republican party, Grover Cleveland opted not to run for President, remaining in his position as Governor of New York (9). The Democrats opted to nominate Thomas A. Hendricks as their Vice President--a compromise candidate who had opposed both Reconstruction (pleasing Dixiecrats) and the creation of fiat currency “greenbacks” during the Civil War (pleasing pro-gold-standard Bourbon Democrats). The stage for the 1884 election was set.
Chamberlain proved to be a quite unusual candidate for a Gilded Age Republican. His moderate stance on prohibition--pro-temperance, but against strict enforcement of liquor laws--appealed to traditionally Democratic voters such as Irish Catholics and German immigrants, while distancing him from Northern pietist congregations such as Methodists and Presbyterians. His reputation for honesty appealed to the anti-patronage “Half-Breed” faction in the Republican party, who were on the rise after the passage of the Pendleton Act of 1883, which reformed the civil service to make the federal government more meritocratic. And though all of the Republican presidential candidates of the Gilded Age had served in Union Army, Chamberlain had the additional prestige of being a war hero thanks to his famous charge at Gettysburg.
His Vice Presidential nominee, George Edmunds, was a gifted debater, and had gained infamy in the South for his cutting remarks aimed at Southern Democrats. Edmunds was also an adherent of traditional machine politics, having taken retainers from railroad companies, which helped to assuage the doubts of pro-machine “Stalwart” Republicans (though it did not endear him to the Half-Breeds).
Support for Bayard, by contrast, was largely limited to the “Solid South”. Though Dixiecrats turned out in unprecedented numbers to oppose Chamberlain and Edmunds, the Electoral College worked against them, limiting their prospects. Bayard launched vicious attacks against his opponent, focusing on the anti-lynching bill he sponsored and his status as a former college professor (attempting to exploit the same anti-intellectualism that helped Andrew Jackson win the Presidency), but the election was effectively his to lose. His background as a “Copperhead” Peace Democrat stood in stark contrast to Chamberlain’s status as the hero of Gettysburg, and appeals to white supremacism were less effective outside the South. Thomas Hendricks’s failing health and controversial record as Indiana Governor were also called into question.
Ultimately, Chamberlain coasted to victory by a margin of roughly 50% to 47%, with the remainder going to various minor parties:
President Joshua Chamberlain was inaugurated on March 4, 1885, before a jubilant crowd in Washington, DC. Once the ceremony was done, he retired to his room in the White House, hoping to rest and prepare himself for the challenges he would face over the next four years...
For anyone who's been reading If Ye Do Not Feel The Chain, I haven't forgotten about it either--I've just had a serious case of writer's block. I'm still making progress, it's just very slow. This TL, done in a very different style, is done partly in the hope that I can switch back and forth between one and the other when inspiration isn't coming easily.
In January 1880, the gubernatorial election for the state of Maine resulted in a dispute over the winner. In most circumstances, the event would have passed as a footnote in history, and indeed it almost did here as well--except for the boost it gave to the political career of a retired Civil War general by the name of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.
Chamberlain had served as the (extremely popular) Governor of Maine for several terms in the late 1860s, and was the current commander of the state militia, so it is perhaps not a surprise that his assistance was requested in arbitrating the situation. The situation almost escalated into violence several times as accusations of corruption and bribery flew back and forth. Chamberlain staunchly maintained a nonpartisan stance throughout the crisis, despite several threats on his life, as the state Supreme Court deliberated on the decision. (1)
But as the situation escalated, Chamberlain began to worry that his efforts to keep the peace would not be enough. He took the floor in the state legislature on several occasions to make impassioned speeches extolling the virtues of the democratic process, urging all involved to stay calm and maintain order throughout the crisis. Though some were displeased by his refusal to support either side, his oratory skills impressed many legislators. Republicans in particular began to wonder if Chamberlain, a member of their party, might make a suitable candidate for federal office. (2)
When the situation ended with Daniel Davis, the Republican candidate, winning the court case (3), Chamberlain had made many enemies--but also won powerful allies in the state legislature. Several of them offered to support him if he chose to run for Senator. After a great deal of deliberation, he agreed to their suggestion.
The opportunity for that position came the following year, in 1881, when Chamberlain threw his hat into the ring to contest Eugene Hale’s appointment to the position. The vote was close, but thanks to his fame as a war hero and his actions during the gubernatorial crisis, Chamberlain’s supporters were able to swing the legislature to narrowly vote in his favor.
His first two years in the Senate were relatively uneventful, as he familiarized himself with federal politics and the inner workings of Congress. However, there were still a few events of note.
Foremost among these is his encounter with Frederick Douglass, who was then serving as the Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia (4). The two men met by chance when Chamberlain was filing some real estate documents, and took an immediate liking to one another. They would become friends and correspondents in later years.
He cast a controversial vote against the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, seeing it as little better than the Jim Crow laws of the South. The act still passed in spite of his vote, but many immigrant groups took note of the action. (5)
In 1883, he drew national attention for his proposal (influenced by his correspondence with Frederick Douglass) of an anti-lynching bill, for which he argued passionately on the Senate floor. Like most civil rights legislation before it, it was killed by a Southern Democratic filibuster, but the bill’s very existence combined with his fame as a Civil War general drew him back into the spotlight. He received hundreds of letters of condemnation, including several death threats, and of support, most notably a commendation from noted anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells.
As 1883 drew to a close, the failing health of President Chester A. Arthur caused Republican political leaders to seek a new nominee. Chamberlain was a popular choice among the more racially progressive sections of the party, having previous governing experience, pro-civil-rights views, and the added bonus of being a Union war hero. When he threw his hat into the ring for the presidential nomination, the party quickly rallied around him as their candidate. One of the loudest voices in Chamberlain’s favor was the young reformer Teddy Roosevelt, who spoke in his favor at the 1884 Republican convention. (6) Vermont Senator George F. Edmunds was selected as Chamberlain’s Vice President. (7)
The nomination of an openly pro-civil-rights Republican and former Union general enraged Southern Democrats and galvanized support for them at the DNC, which they took advantage of to push strongly for their preferred candidate, Thomas Bayard (8). Meanwhile, seeing the strength of the Southern Democrats as opposed to his own Bourbon Democrat faction and not wanting to run against a unified Republican party, Grover Cleveland opted not to run for President, remaining in his position as Governor of New York (9). The Democrats opted to nominate Thomas A. Hendricks as their Vice President--a compromise candidate who had opposed both Reconstruction (pleasing Dixiecrats) and the creation of fiat currency “greenbacks” during the Civil War (pleasing pro-gold-standard Bourbon Democrats). The stage for the 1884 election was set.
Chamberlain proved to be a quite unusual candidate for a Gilded Age Republican. His moderate stance on prohibition--pro-temperance, but against strict enforcement of liquor laws--appealed to traditionally Democratic voters such as Irish Catholics and German immigrants, while distancing him from Northern pietist congregations such as Methodists and Presbyterians. His reputation for honesty appealed to the anti-patronage “Half-Breed” faction in the Republican party, who were on the rise after the passage of the Pendleton Act of 1883, which reformed the civil service to make the federal government more meritocratic. And though all of the Republican presidential candidates of the Gilded Age had served in Union Army, Chamberlain had the additional prestige of being a war hero thanks to his famous charge at Gettysburg.
His Vice Presidential nominee, George Edmunds, was a gifted debater, and had gained infamy in the South for his cutting remarks aimed at Southern Democrats. Edmunds was also an adherent of traditional machine politics, having taken retainers from railroad companies, which helped to assuage the doubts of pro-machine “Stalwart” Republicans (though it did not endear him to the Half-Breeds).
Support for Bayard, by contrast, was largely limited to the “Solid South”. Though Dixiecrats turned out in unprecedented numbers to oppose Chamberlain and Edmunds, the Electoral College worked against them, limiting their prospects. Bayard launched vicious attacks against his opponent, focusing on the anti-lynching bill he sponsored and his status as a former college professor (attempting to exploit the same anti-intellectualism that helped Andrew Jackson win the Presidency), but the election was effectively his to lose. His background as a “Copperhead” Peace Democrat stood in stark contrast to Chamberlain’s status as the hero of Gettysburg, and appeals to white supremacism were less effective outside the South. Thomas Hendricks’s failing health and controversial record as Indiana Governor were also called into question.
Ultimately, Chamberlain coasted to victory by a margin of roughly 50% to 47%, with the remainder going to various minor parties:
President Joshua Chamberlain was inaugurated on March 4, 1885, before a jubilant crowd in Washington, DC. Once the ceremony was done, he retired to his room in the White House, hoping to rest and prepare himself for the challenges he would face over the next four years...
- This is from OTL; he focused on keeping peace and order above all else, including supporting his party’s candidate.
- IOTL, during the crisis, he mostly worked in isolation when he wasn’t commanding the militia. Here, since he isn’t wounded as badly, he takes a more active role in the situation.
- As IOTL.
- I’m not actually sure what Chamberlain’s views on civil rights were, but I know that he pushed for Maine to ratify at least the 14th Amendment, so he is at the absolute least not a white supremacist. And Douglass’s influence will push him further toward supporting them.
- Chamberlain isn’t making an active effort to appeal to immigrants with any of his stances; it just so happens that he has a few more beliefs that are in line with their interests than the average Republican. The effect this is having on voting patterns is more-or-less negligible for now.
- With Chamberlain running instead of Blaine, the Mugwumps don’t bolt the party; TR stuck by Blaine the whole time, but his allies voted for Cleveland instead. But they have no reason to do that ITTL, because Chamberlain isn’t perceived to be anywhere near as corrupt as Blaine was (quite the opposite, in fact).
- Edmunds was hated in the South, but the Republicans know that nominating Chamberlain is going to piss off the Dixiecrats anyway, so they decide that it doesn’t matter if they’re a little angrier.
- Bayard is pretty much the only major Dixiecrat I could find who didn’t join the Confederacy at some point, and even he was a Copperhead. I probably could have found someone else, but I didn’t feel like going through the lists of all the Senators and Congressmen from the entire Solid South when there was an acceptable candidate already running.
- A lot of the support for Cleveland in the New York legislature comes from Republican reformers like Teddy Roosevelt. Since they’re supporting a Republican ITTL, if he campaigned against their chosen candidate, he’d risk losing all momentum for his agenda.
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