Westman Timeline Pt. I

[Mechaman]

Those of you familiar with Atlasia Americana are no doubt familiar with the character Scott Westman that I created and just how off the wall his story is.  What many of you may not know is that I already had the idea of creating this character before Americana.  Due to the strange setup of Americana (where Winston made a Libertarian utopia in the 1980s) Scott Westman turned into something much more different than I had originally planned.  You see originally I had planned to make Westman a libertarian Democratic US Senator from Montana with views similar to a cross between Brian Schweitzer and early Jerry Brown.  However, just as I was making the first entry Winston already created the first post identifying his character, President D'Israeli, as a Libertarian.  After reading his posts I decided to go ahead and change my character to a Libertarian with a very similar backstory as my original planned Westman character.  However, as I began creating a detailed story for Westman he seemed to go from a simple hellraiser in the Senate to an overblown radical libertine ex-hippie who had enough issues to write a soap opera over.  While not a horrible idea, in hindsight it seemed to change my focus of Westman as a badass politician into an emotional wreck with controversy and tragedy around every corner.  As the timeline went on I suddenly found myself writing a soap opera tragic hero instead of a politician.  Eventually, I ran out of ideas and became less and less enthused to be a part of Americana.  As of this moment I dissassociate myself from the Americana project.
Which brings me to my new pet project: An Alternative History timeline that revolves around Scott Westman in the original vision that I imagined.  I have kept certain elements of the character, some of the backstory, but a great deal will be different than the Americana version.  Notably, since this is of a different history than Americana, certain individuals that existed in Americana do not exist in this story.  Without the existence of a major Libertarian Party certain individuals who became prominent go on with their merry little lives in this timeline and have little impact on history.  However, rest assured this will not be a carbon copy of American history from the 1970's-present day, there will be a few pretty noticeable differences in elections and events.
Rest assured though, I will not make this guy a god or an ideal prince, he will still have moral failings and will experience quite a share of defeats.  Just thought I would get that off my chest.
I know this board is frequented a lot less than the What If? board, but I put this thread here because I believe this project will have more to do with history than it will elections.

Go ahead and blast away.

[Mechaman]

This will be more of a biographical/chronological timeline by the way.

First post will probably deal with family history.

[Mechaman]

Good luck, but I won't follow your example. Americana was fun because it wasn't one character thread/story and personally I had greatest fun with reading other posters entries than mines.

True.
My purpose for this timeline is mostly experimental, I have been kicking around the idea of creating a fictional timeline based on a fictional character for awhile.  I figured that the best place to start would be with a character that I already created.
First entry should be up tonight.
Trust me folks, this timeline will be quite different than Americana.  I know there will be a few skeptics about this timeline, that it might be unpopular because first thing people will see is "Scott Westman" and assume that it will be an Americana timeline or that I am doing this to stroke my own ego.  Let me assure you kind reader that each time I make an alternate timeline I am stroking my already enormous ego, so this is really no different.
For those of you who never really got into Americana don't worry about not knowing about Scott Westman, after all this is a completely new story.  If you haven't read Americana you aren't really missing anything that will be in this story.

[Mechaman]

I figured that before I engage in the actual character story, I go chronological and begin with the Westman family history.

Prologue: Go West

Of the many families to raise to great prominence, perhaps one of the most mysterious of them is that of the Westman family in the United States from the mid 1920's to the present day.  What makes the Westman line so mysterious is how different each generation has taken it's course.  Most interesting, the relative youthness of the Westman line, both in America and in the name itself.  In fact, as recently as 120 ago the Westman family didn't exist.  This section deals with the first Westmans to come to America in 1889: two young poor Irish Catholic teenagers from County Kilkenny who fled their home country after the arrest of their father and elder brother as "subversives" to the British Crown.  This is their story.

The Family O'Welherin:

The O'Welherin Family of Kilkenny is a most interesting story.  The family line is descended from that of the infamous Celtic villain Briac the Deranged who with his bands of roaming brigands plundered and pillaged many a village in the Emerald Isle in the late 11th Century.  Many estimate that his rowdy gangs claimed hundreds of lives in their bloody raids.  Most horrible of these crimes, however, were the untold numbers of kidnappings and rapes of young girls and women undertaken by the villain Briac and his deranged gangs.  The infamous Briac himself is rumoured to have fathered over a hundred children, though many historians now believe that many of these claims are a result of exaggerated claims by British nobility to keep the Irish populace obedient.
Due to the controversy of their ancestor, the O'Welherin line had for hundreds of years adopted a very sedentary lifestyle: keeping to themselves to avoid trouble.  They had their friends and family, but never were they to ever put themselves into positions of great scrutiny.  Like many families, the Great Famine had not been so kind to them, having wiped out all but a few of their members.
In the wake of the famine, Brian O'Welherin, the only survivor in his immediate family to survive the famine, would set up shop as a merchant blacksmith in the city of Kilkenny.  His fortunes in the coming years would be better than that of his predecessors, as he made enough on his work to guarantee a suitable life for his family, including an education for his children.  However, it would be the events of July 18th, 1888 that would change his life, and his family's lives, forever.  After a well renown British nobleman by the name of Richard Locke was found dead in an alley with one of Brian's signature blades found in his gullet, the British authorities, without due process, would lock up O'Welherin and his eldest son Daniel under suspicion of "instigating rebellious behavior".  In the aftermath, Katherine, the wife of Brian, would send the family's two youngest children, 14 year old Seamus and 11 year old Madeline, toward the coast to catch a ship bound for America.  The journey would prove most difficult for the two, as tubercolosis would ravage amongst the ship killing dozens of the crew.  After weeks on the treacherous North Atlantic seas and surviving bouts of tubercolosis, the two O'Welherin siblings would get off the ship at Ellis Island, New York on September 12th, 1888.  Seamus would immediately look for work on the docks to make a living for he and his sister.  After a few months of work the young Seamus O'Welherin would be approached by a Mister Robert Mahan, who would tell the kid "sonny, if you want a well paying honest job go to Tammany Hall".
In January 1889, the O'Welherin siblings would move into Tammany Hall where their living needs were supplemented by the Democratic machine.  In exchange Seamus would take up employment as a cook, cleaning boy, and occasional "muscle".  The Tammany Machine would take care of the O'Welherin's needs in exchange for servitude and votes.  Eventually Seamus would rise in power in the organization, going from simple "muscle" to a secretary to Boss Croker by 1896, when he changed his family name from O'Welherin to Westman to better fit into American society.  His sister, Madeline, would take up occupation in a nursery for children and as nurse.  The young Madeline would grow into a very beautiful woman, capturing the attention of a young office clerk by the name of Alfred Emmanuel Smith who worked in the offices of the Commissioner of Jurors.  The two would start seeing each other in May 1895 and get married on October 18th, 1897.  Madeline's status as Smith's wife would later bring much prominence to the Westman family.
Seamus Westman, however, would lead a most libertine existence.  He would become a rabid alcoholic and womanizer for the rest of his days.  With his mistress Rose McGillis, the daughter of a potato vendor, he would have his firstborn son William, who would become the patriarch of the Westman family in the early-mid 20th century.

[Mechaman]

The New York Lion:

The turn of the century had been very well for Seamus and Madeline.  Seamus, thanks to his unique charm was able to help restore the tainted image of the Tammany Hall machine of New York and become one of the top men in the organization by 1910.  He was the right hand man of the boss Charles Murphy, whom he accompanied to the 1912 Democratic National Convention.  Althroughout his life Seamus Westman was a heavy drinker, and the 1912 Democratic National Convention was no exception.  Confident that Speaker of the House Champ Clark (who Tammany endorsed) would get the nod for President, Seamus and some of his associates would go to a local "wet" spot and get drunk off of rum.  Once he got back and heard Alabama delegate James Heflin announce support for New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson thereby denying Champ Clark a majority needed for the nod, Seamus reportedly in a drunken fury flung a chair through a nearby window calling the Alabama delegate a "goddamn moral tyrant" and had to be dragged out by the convention security.  Later on his problem with drinking would only increase until on January 12th, 1919 he died of alcohol poisoning.  He would leave behind one son (that he knew of) named William Westman, who would later be dubbed "The New York Lion" due to his high standing amongst the people of New York as well as his fiery skills of oratory.
William Westman: Born September 11th, 1896 to Rose McGillis, the 15 year old daughter of a local potato vendor.  Since the McGillis family was very poor at the time and couldn't care for the child, William ended up being raised by his aunt and uncle along with the couple's five other children.  Being raised in prestige, William would have none of the disadvantages that faced his father and aunt when they came to America as destitute Irish immigrants.  He would end up being schooled at the finest learning academies of the day, as well as become a campaign manager for various New York City Democrats.  He would also undertake a barnstorming tour for his uncle Alfred E. Smith's 1918 gubernatorial campaign around New York State, braving the extremes of the Upstate climate to get out the vote.
After helping his uncle get elected William Westman would find himself rise throught the ranks of Tammany Hall and inevitably New York state's Democratic Party.  In 1924 he would, along with his uncle Al Smith, his aunt Madeline Smith, and Tammany boss George Washington Olvany attend the 1924 Democratic National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.  It was also around this time that William and his first love, a Miss Talia Corleone (a 17 year old 1st generation Sicilian American who worked at her family’s local ristorante in the Bronx), would welcome their son, Daniel Antonius Westman.  At the 1924 Convention he would take the floor and give a rousing speech in support of his uncle Al Smith’s candidacy for the Democratic nomination against the favorite William Gibbs McAdoo.  Just 12 years before the Southern Democrats had ruined the Tammany machine’s plan to get Champ Clark the nomination, and so it was at the 1924 Convention that William, Tammany Boss Olvany, and others plotted their revenge against the Southern faction by getting enough votes to deny McAdoo the nomination.  Their plan succeeded, for the first 100 ballots or so.  In fact, around the 103rd ballot it seemed as if though Governor Smith might just get enough votes to grab the nomination……that is until the Southern contingent suddenly threw in a so-called “compromise” candidate by the name of John Davis, who in William’s words “was to “compromise candidate” what “sh**t” is to “rum””.  Westman’s infamous words, captured by a local reporter, would become widespread throughout the nation and used by Republicans to play upon the division within the Democratic ranks in the 1924 election and help them build their solid support in the US Congress as well as governorships and state legislatures across the country.  William, feeling so disillusioned with the Democratic ticket, would end up voting a “protest vote” for the Progressive ticket that year which featured Wisconsin Senator Robert M. LaFollette and Montana Senator Burton K. Wheeler.  He would only tell of this on his deathbed.
The next few years would prove quite eventful for William Westman.  In 1926 he and Talia would welcome their second child, a baby girl who they would name Connie Westman.  That same year he would enter the state senate race for a seat representing upper Manhattan on the Democratic ticket.  While running he would find himself having defend his own personal integrity and person against slander due to his association with Tammany Hall, whom he worked as a “vote getter” as a young boy.  The Republican attempts to deny a Westman a senate seat representing Manhattan would ultimately fail, and in November 1926 William Westman would at the age of 30 become a Democratic State Senator, a fine achievement for a young man whose father and aunt had just come to America just 38 years ago.  During his tenure he would be known as a “constant pain in the ass” by his Republican counterparts for his continual use of filibuster whenever the Republicans were trying to push forward a rise in protective tariffs, stronger Prohibition measures, and other Republican bills.
In 1928 Westman’s uncle (and father figure) Governor Alfred Smith of New York would run for president again at the Democratic National Convention (this time held in Houston, Texas).  Due to the perceived prosperity of the Republican administration of Calvin Coolidge it was a foregone conclusion that whoever the Republican nominee would be would win and that the Democratic nominee would be the proverbial “sacrificial lamb”.  As a result many top names Democrats took a very low key campaign at the Convention, not wanting to be the “sacrificial lamb” at the Convention.  However, Alfred Smith, seeing as how he was running out of years to run decided to make yet another attempt at running for office after failed attempts in 1920 and 1924.  This time, thanks to the tireless efforts of men like William Westman, he would end up grabbing the nomination in the midst of the shocked Texas Democrat establishment that was hosting the Convention.  To appease Southern Democrats the Convention would nominate Arkansas Senator Joseph Taylor Robinson for Vice President.  With his nomination as Democratic choice for president, Al Smith would become the first Roman Catholic to win a major party nomination for president.  As a result, the Republicans would attack Smith with the three P’s: Properity, Prohibition, and Prejudice.  Prosperity: of the previous two Republican administrations.  Prohibition: At the time it was a fairly popular idea.  Prejudice: Republicans accused Al Smith of being an “agent of the pope” due to his Catholicism and would also alienate Southern blacks in order to get more white votes for the first time in the Grand Old Party’s history.  The end result would be a massive Republican landslide in which even the states of Virginia, Florida, and Texas went Republican with only the Deep South and Massachusetts and Rhode Island going Dem (although winning Massachusetts and Rhode Island would be considered a “moral victory” for northern and Catholic Democrats) that would help the GOP solidify their hold on Congress that would lead to many Democratic officeholders losing their seats, including New York Democratic State Senator William Westman, who was elected just two years earlier in 1926.

More to come on William Westman's career........

[Mechaman]

November 7th, 1928:
The Republican wave of 1928 had been too much for many of the New York Democrats to withstand, in particular Presidential candidate Alfred Smith and his nephew New York State Senator William Westman representing Manhattan.  As the results came in it was apparent that the Republican Party, riding on the coattails of the landslide election of Herbert Hoover, would have massive gains in all levels of government.  Even a few traditionally Democratic states, namely Virginia and Texas, would break for the election of Herbert Hoover due to the GOP using scare tactics about the Roman Catholicism of Al Smith, the Democratic nominee.  William Westman, was not one to celebrate such an occasion.
Westman: Those soulless bastards, going to any low to secure a landslide election.
Smith: Well, it’s not like the odds were on our side to begin with, you know with economic prosperity, Prohibition, and the whole Irish Catholic bit, you know us being the agents of Rome?
Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Golly my good men, you seem a bit downtrodden today over the results.  Can’t you at least look a bit up about my election as state governor?
Smith: Yes, one bright spot out of the darkness, but you didn’t have to deal with Republicans constantly trying to connect you to the Pope, or imply that you are a drunken Constitution hating bastard.  Bigotry……..it runs both ways!
Roosevelt:  Haha sucks to be Irish Catholic!  Just when it seemed like the nation was warming up to you guys you get the massive shaft out of office, sucks.  Add on top of all of that the infamous words: Tammany Hall.
Westman: Watch it pal!  Without out Tammany Hall you probably wouldn’t even have a career!  Hell, Democrats wouldn’t probably even exist north of the Mason Dixon line if it weren’t for Tammany and other Democratic machines.  It may be dirty politics, but we sure as hell wouldn’t let no Whigs, Know Nothings and Republicans tell us to go eat potatoes somewhere else!  So how about a little thank you little Franklin?  Thank you Tammany for making it possible for rich elitist Dutch dudes like yourself get a political career!
Roosevelt: Haha!  Willie, if I didn’t know better you have been hitting the rum again!  As long as you keep that bootleg crap off of my premises, or any other government premises I won’t feel the need to whip your paddy ass if the time calls for it.  Besides, having Roosevelt as my last name also is a bit of a boost……..what kind of name recognition do you get with “Westman” anyway?  Where the hell did your father come up with that name anyway?  You sure don’t look like any “west man” I’ve ever seen?
Westman:  You whip my ass?  Hahahaha, yeah sure Franklin, what are you going to do run me over with your wheelchair?  Knock me out with your cane?  Hahahahaha!!!!  If you are so against political machines why did you bother asking for our help to get you elected anyway?  Oh let me guess, so called “reform” is just a way for you to get Republican votes just to give the impression that you were never bought by us in the first place!?  You so-called “reformists” are all jokes, whether it be Samuel Tilden, Winfield Hancock, or Grover Cleveland you can’t go anywhere without us!  The hypocrisy is astounding!
Roosevelt:  Which is why you just got elected governor while I lost a state senate race IN MANHATTAN!
Westman: Bastard……you’re lucky your wife put in a good word for you with Al.
Smith:  Enough children!  Such a loss was predictable, the Republicans have gaining steam over the past decade thanks to the failure of Wilson.  Surely the horror that was 1924 will dissuade the national party from nominating a southern conservative in the future.  Also, Royal got re-elected, so New York Democrats, who by the way have a majority of our congressional representation in office, will keep on telling the Republicans to lay off their calls for higher moral regulation.  The more reactionary idiots like Heflin open their mouths, the better off we will be in the future.
Smith:  Indeed.  Well chaps, let us hope that fortune will be with us in 1930, and that Hoover doesn’t turn out to be the “greatest president” of our times.
How prophetic would Smith’s words turn out…..

[Mechaman]

A Depressing Situation:

After leaving the senate William Westman would find himself jobless and with very little opportunities to take advantage of to further his position.  He was well enough off, after taking advice from his friend Joseph Kennedy Sr., a master at earning hundreds of millions of dollars just by playing the stock market, to sell some prime industrial stock in June of 1929.  The timing couldn't be more perfect, as just a few months later in September the Stock Market Crash of 1929 would occur.  The truth about Westman's financial dealings that involved insider trading and other unethical actions would not be found out until 1979, two years after his death.  Had the truth been known earlier many historians speculate that William Westman would have ended up serving almost as much as 50 years.  As a result of the revelations, Willam Westman would become a very controversial subject in American history.
After the passing of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff William Westman would correctly predict that the recession that the United States seemed to be recovering from would get much worse since the tariff, which would raise tariffs to a record level, would lead to a trade war between the US and it's trading partners which would lead to a worldwide depression.  He would go onto win back his old state senate seat in Manhattan riding off the momentum of the nationwide Democratic wave in 1930.
1931 would begin on a sad note for William, as his long time partner Talia Corleone, the mother of his two children, would be ran over by an automobile on the night of January 4th, 1931.  The result of that accident would change William Westman, turning him into a different person almost overnight.  His occasional drinking turned into full blown alcoholism concerning many friends and neighbors.  He would be thrown in jail for being caught with alcohol at his residence and forced to resign on October 21st, 1931.  He would be in jail for six months and get out in time for the 1932 election season.
Westman, a free man, would go throughout the northeast campaigning for his uncle Al Smith who was making another attempt at the presidency.  Westman’s pet issue would be the repeal of Prohibition, an issue that a lot of New Yorkers and New Englanders were concerned with.  However, the popularity of New York Governor Franklin Roosevelt, who was the party favorite for the nomination, would be too great to overcome in the primaries.
At the Democratic National Convention of 1932 Al Smith would end up losing the nomination battle to Roosevelt, whom Tammany Hall had a lukewarm relationship with at best.  Roosevelt’s pandering to Southern sympathies, as well as his history as a “reform governor” didn’t rub so well with the New York machine.  However, after the prejudiced GOP campaign against Irish Catholic Democrats in 1928, the urban bosses would easily line up to support any Democratic candidate against the Hoover administration.  FDR’s support of repealing Prohibition would only make his support amongst this group much stronger, hell would bring a storm come the general election.
FDR would go onto be elected in a landslide election over Herbert Hoover and would pass an amendment to repeal Prohibition through Congress not much later.  After the repeal Westman would begin drinking again, reverting back to his alcoholic behavior.  One day while in a drunk spell his 7 year old daughter Connie would ask her dad to take her to the park, the drunk William Westman would kick over a table in his apartment and tell the girl to “get the hell out of here and go to the park by your own damned self!”  Her brother Daniel would witness the occurrence and after telling his great aunt Madeline Smith, the Smith family would take William’s children away from him.  Along with Westman’s drinking problem he started becoming a womanizer, having relations with many women.  He would even get involved with Telly Smith, the youngest daughter of Al and Madeline Smith, his aunt and uncle.  They would have a child, a baby girl named Shelly on April 30th, 1934.  The two would live together, first cousins and lovers, for three years.  His relationship with Telly would estrange him from his uncle, who felt outrage at Westman having a child with a girl “who we raised to be like a sister to him”.  Incidentally, the disconnect between Westman and Smith would free Westman of Smith’s influence in political affairs.  This was notable in the general election of 1936 when Westman endorsed FDR’s re-election and the New Deal while Smith bolted and threw his support Republican candidate Alfred Landon in opposition to FDR’s New Deal policies.  After the Election of 1936 William Westman’s political fortunes would change for the better.
After three years of living together, William Westman and Telly Smith would end their relationship due to “irreconcilable differences”.  Later on in her memoirs, Telly Smith would reveal that Westman was having multiple relations with other women and “eventually, I could no longer put up with it.”  It seemed that Westman, finding himself in a state of moral crisis, would need a dramatic about face to revive the once great life he led.  In June 1937, after years of going down a dark road, he would enter a cathedral and admit his sins to a priest, something he hadn’t done in 20 years.

[Mechaman]

A Cathedral in New York City, June 14th, 1937:

Father: My son, are you ready to confess your sins before God?
Westman: Yes father.  Well you see Father, it's been a long time since I've been to a confession, in my worldly pride I abandoned my faith for the wants of man and have succombed to his worst vices.
Father: My son, it is never to late to ask for the forgiveness of our Holy Father.  There is no sin too great that he can not forgive.
Westman: Alright.  Father, I was born into very bad conditions......my father was a chronic drunk and womanizer....my mother........well Father......I have never met her.  I was raised by my aunt and uncle, people strong and virtuous in the faith of God.  They taught me to live the good life, to not trample upon the same road as my father.  I tried Father, I tried to overcome the demons of my predecessor, but alas I could not.  I had a family, I had a woman I loved, and children to call my own.  My inability to cope with my vices.....took that away from me.  I have hit rock bottom and I don't know if I can possibly get out, so I come here today as a humbled man before God to ask for his eternal forgiveness.
Father: 40 hail Marys ought to do it.  Go now, God has heard your confession and will forgive you of your sins.

William Westman walked out of the Cathedral, head held high, to a new beginning.

Five Months later
November 18th, 1937:

Priest: I present to you all Mr. and Mrs. William Westman!
(applause)
William Westman walks down the aisle with his bride, the former Miss Anne Williams, US Senator Royal Copeland's secretary.  When the two met four months ago it was love at first sight, just a month after their first meeting William had proposed to Miss Williams, the 25 year old daughter of a prominent New York businessman.  Ever since entering that cathedral five months ago William Westman's life had turned around, going from a broke alcoholic womanizer to a partner in one of New York City's top law firms as well as Public Relations manager for various New York Democrats.
Wiliam Westman was ready for a political comeback that would truly shock both mortal man and gods alike.

[Mechaman]

Comments?

[Mechaman]

A Royal Opportunity:

William Westman for the past few months had developed a new lease on life.  He had once again a beautiful young woman, this time one to call "wife".  He would be the first Westman male to have been legitimately married (his father never married), a very sobering thought for the then 41 year old William Westman (whom his friends now called "Willie").  He would also be the first Westman to marry a non-Irish Catholic, as his wife Anne was of Anglo and Dutch descent.  Thinking back on how much politics had cost Westman he thought he would never go back to politics again, that he would just settle for a new life with his beautiful young wife Anne.  In December the couple had received happy news: Anne was pregnant.  The future child, who would be a girl named Brooke Westman on August 7th, 1938.  She would later go onto become a world renowned singer of great fame.  She would become a very important figure in the life of her half-nephew Scott Westman, William’s future grandson, who she called her “little brother”.
Before the birth of Brooke, however, Willie experienced a tragedy: the death of his close friend and mentor Royal S. Copeland, the Democratic US Senator of New York whom Westman saw (after estrangement from his uncle Alfred Smith) as the closest thing he had to a real father.  Copeland had taken in Westman when Westman had gone totally destitute, allowing him to stay at Copeland’s estate.  The loss of this great mentor was tremendous for William Westman, who for first time in his life felt he had lost all paternal figures in his life.  But in the wake of tragedy is when Westman would find his quantum of solace.  Copeland died in office on June 17th, 1938 and he would be buried in Manwah Cemetery in Manwah, New Jersey.
Just a week later, members from Tammany Hall showed up at Willie’s front door requesting that William Westman run for the late US Senator’s vacant seat in the special election.  Willie, who had wanted to avoid a life of politics, politely refused to run.  It had seemed that Tammany had given up, until former governor Alfred Smith, Westman’s uncle showed up at Westman’s apartment and made a personal appeal.  In Westman’s 1984 biography “The Proud Son” by Patrick Mahan, mostly based on his relationship with his father figure Al Smith, Westman’s wife Anne Williams Westman in the forward quotes parts of the conversation, most notably Smith’s “Greater Purpose” speech:

“Destiny herself has thrust upon you without recourse at this most opportune moment.  Could it be that politics was not the beast that slew you, but that of your own attempts to deny yourself of your fate?  If there is one thing I have always known about you Westmans it is that Fate can not ignore the impact of your clan.  How that I, who could’ve found any other woman in the world, couldn’t get my eyes off of your aunt Mady, how Fate deemed it necessary that I should fall for her, that I should be there to be merry with her……..a poor destitute young Irish girl like herself who survived merely off of her own brother’s corrupt behavior.  How Fate deemed that you, her brother’s only son, should be raised by me and my wife as one of our own, me the most esteemed former New York Governor to take you with me as my protégé so that one day you could succeed where men like me and your father failed: to help bring Civil Rights, liberties, and equality for all of God’s children.”

Westman, moved by his uncle’s words, would soon enter the contest for the late US Senator’s seat.  He would enter the Democratic Primary and win in a landslide against his opponents in the race due to name recognition and the influence of Tammany Hall and his uncle’s own prestige.  Halfway through the campaign Willie would receive shocking news: his son, Daniel Antonius Westman, had run away from the Smith estate and left a note telling them he was “headed west” and had taken Westman’s daughter Connie with him as well.  This made Westman a little unnerved, as though he had rarely seen his kids, he feared that they (having the genes of their father and grandfather) would get into a lot of trouble.  He had just put his life back together and his two eldest children decided to leave home and make it on their own in some unknown land in the West…..typical teenagers.
William’s opponent would be a young Republican Manhattan District Attorney by the name of Thomas Dewey, who was becoming notable for his tough actions against organized crime since coming into office in 1937.  During the campaign, as Dewey told Westman at a political function that was sponsoring both candidates, “the gloves were off”.  During the general election season Dewey would hit upon Westman on all fronts, especially focusing on Westman’s resignation from office as state senator in 1931 after being caught “breaking the law”.  Westman would admit openly that he had a drinking problem, but that he belonged in rehab and not in jail just like most of the nation’s alcoholics at the time.  Furthermore, he would add, it was because of policies sponsored by the Republican Party that helped create such a powerful organized crime wave in the first place and the people can expect men like Dewey to vote for more legislation that will create more and more organized crime.  Dewey would be thunderstruck at such a maneuver, commenting “if I threw a bolt of lightning at Westman, he would swallow it whole and become ten times more powerful than he was before.”  However, despite Westman’s amazing ability to counter everything that Dewey threw at him he still dragged behind in the polls, mostly due to his lack of political experience outside of his tenure as a state senator.
And then the day of the Special Election would arrive:

November 5th, 1938:
At the Westman apartment, present are William Westman, his wife Anne, and Thomas and Laura Fletcher, friends of the Westman family:
Thomas: I hope somehow you pull off an upset here Willie, it’s not looking all that hot for you.
Westman: Yeah, that’s what I get for taking the better part of a decade flushing my life down a toilet before deciding to make a political comeback and run for the damned US Senate seat!
Laura: Don’t worry Willie, if you are anywhere as convincing as you were to me at last year’s New Year’s Party, it should be a walk.
Everyone laughs.
Westman: Considering how smashed out you were, it was quite easy Laura.  Hell, if I were a little sober I would’ve even asked Anne to join us.
Thomas: Now let me tell you something right now you drunk horny Irishman……
Anne: Relax Tom, he’s talking about how he got your wife to go to old man Flynn’s apartment and throw a Black Kat into his toilet, watching it explode!
Thomas: Oh….right.
Anne: Here are the results right now.
Radio: And here are the latest results coming in…..from the special US Senate election for the seat vacated by the late Democrat Royal S. Copeland.  If we read the results correctly……Thomas Dewey
Westman: Damn it, I knew it.
Radio: has lost the electoral battle to the Democratic underdog William Westman by a margin of 105,000 votes.
Thomas: Wow, 105,000 votes……over Dewey!?
Westman: Sometimes, I amaze myself.
Anne: Understatement of the year.
Radio: As a result, on December 3rd William Westman shall be sworn in as New York’s junior US Seantor.  Congratulations are in order for Mr. Westman, a 2nd generation Irish Catholic American, who has achieved this office only 50 years after his father first came over here as a teenage boy from Kilkenny, Ireland.  This will make William Westman, alongside fellow US Senator David I Walsh, the second child of Irish Catholic immigrants to serve in the US Senate.

[Mechaman]

A Royal Pain in the Ass:

Almost immediately after getting into office William Westman would end up on alot of people's bad list.  On December 15th he had already penned a comprehensive anti-lynching bill that infuriated many Southern Democrats.  In fact, some observers would argue that Westman went out of his way to infuriate the Southern pro-segregation branch of the Democratic Party by proposing, year after year, anti-lynching and anti-hanging legislation.
Southern Democrats would not be the only people who would feel Westman's wrath, as (opposed to his earlier support for) he would voice vehement opposition to what he called "Franky Boy's statist goals", voting continuously against Roosevelt's New Deal policies.  Like his predecessor he was no fan of the New Deal, however unlike Copeland Westman would openly oppose the New Deal, calling it the "solution to fix the gap between the United States of America and Nazi Germany".  His opposition to the two biggest factions of the Democratic Party: the New Deal liberals and the Southern Democrats, would make William Westman a widely despised figure within his own party.
Westman's reputation amongst conservative Republicans, however, was high.
FDR was so opposed to Westman as a senator that in 1940 he endorsed the Republican nominee for Westman's seat, New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia (a supporter of the New Deal) against Westman.  The campaign would be very dirty, as LaGuardia would accuse Westman of being "the voice of Tammany Hall, not the people of New York" while Westman woudl fire back that LaGuardia "has no real principles except which help him get elected".  The election would be notable for having an anti-New Deal Democrat incumbent against a pro-New Deal Republican.  Many predicted that LaGuardia would win the election thanks to the popularity of Roosevelt and that of his own administration in cutrailing crime and corruption, however in the last few days of the election a supporter of LaGuardia, Preacher Robert Washington, uttered the infamous "Tammany Paddy" line.

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The Westman campaign would pick up on that line and turn it to their advantage, claiming:

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The radio ad would be called "one of the most blatant attack ads in electoral history".  By comparing LaGuardia to nativist and anti-Catholic Republicans, William Westman was able to pull off an upset victory margin of 85,000 votes over the New York mayor.

[Mechaman]

The War Years:

After winning election to his first full term in office William Westman would suddenly find himself in the middle of the foreign policy debacle over the US involvement in World War II.  Along with fellow non-interventionist Democrats David I. Walsh (MA) and Burton K. Wheeler (MT), Westman would be known for his staunch opposition to American intervention into "the War Between the European Powers", voting (alongside conservative Republicans like Robert Taft and Arthur Vandenberg) against interventionist legislation like the Lend Lease Act and the boycott against Imperial Japan.  Westman, like his colleagues, would remain strongly opposed to intervention until December 7th, 1941.......

[Mechaman]

December 7th, 1941
12:15 PM
William Westman's Apartment:

William Westman wakes up in his apartment, his head feeling a bit groggy and the feeling of great warmth about him and something furry against his chest.  He looks down and sees a great mass of brown hair on his bare chest, oh christ, I really need to stop with these awkward one night stands while Anne visits her relatives.  The young woman wakes up with a loud yawn.  She turns around and sees Westman, causing her to gasp.

Gloria: Oh my god!  Did we?  Did we?
Westman: Ohhhhhh crap.......we did.
Gloria: Oh my god!  I'm sorry.....Willie......I don't usually sleep with married men with prominent careers.
Westman: Yeah, and I guess you usually don't drink Jimmie's Whiskey very often either........
Gloria gets out of bed, furious.
Gloria: Wait!  You remember me passing out!  You-u-u weren't drunk?
Westman: I got drunk once we got into the apartment.........
Virginia slaps Westman....HARD.
Gloria: Drunk horny bastard!  You seduced me!
Westman turns on the radio.
Westman: Gloria....doll, the only one who seduced anybody in this room is you.
Radio: This incoming from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii: Attack!  Attack!  Oh my god!  We never saw them coming!  Already there are many casaulties!  America is under attack!
Westman and Gloria look at each other.
Westman: Man that whisky must be stronger than I thought.........

Five Hours later
Capitol Hill, Washington DC:

William Westman is hurrying toward the building when a swarm of reporters catch up to him.
Reporter: Mister Westman!  What do you make of the attack on Pearl Harbor?
Westman: A great crisis, I didn't think Japan would be this stupid to attack us.
Reporter: Do you regret your stance on the Japan issue?  You know of not getting involved.
Westman stops, and grabs the microphone.
Westman: Let me just say right here and right now that if more people had followed my lead and opposed the ridiculous foreign policy legislation that has passed Congress in recent months the US Navy would not be short 3,000 young men in the biggest bloodbath on this soil in recent memory.
Westman leaves the reporters and heads on into the US Senate.
The first person he sees is New Jersey Republican William Warren Barbour.
Barbour: Well Will, are you happy now!?  Thousands of innocent young men and women dead because of the uncaring attitude of men like you!
Westman: More like because of war hawks like yourself putting up the pretend face of "neutrality" while putting your nose in affairs that shouldn't concern the United States of America.  But no matter, since Japan dared attack us it looks like you war loons will finally get your wishes.........................

On December 8th, 1941 William Westman would vote "aye" for the declaration of war against the Empire of Japan.

[Mechaman]

A World at War:

During the war William Westman would become a much less controversial figure than he did before the war.  He would vote for a majority of bills that dealt with army funding and even approve of FDR’s “Europe First” plan.  Westman would defend his policies by stating: “I don’t care what helped cause the Attack on Pearl Harbor but it still happened, the Empire of Japan attacked us first we did not attack them.  Their allies declared war on us first, we did not shed first blood.  Therefore, in self defense it is only necessary that we bring the war to their doorstep for dragging us into it in the first place.”  This would make Westman odd bedfellows with Republican senator Warren Barbour of New Jersey, a staunch interventionist whom Westman originally despised.  However, in 1943 as news of alleged Nazi persecution of Jews became known, Westman became a strong advocate for overthrowing Nazi Germany than he was of Japan.  As he heard more and more about the crimes being carried out in the concentration camps, the more zealous he would become in prosecuting the war against Nazi Germany.
In the Election of 1944 Westman would support FDR for president, the first time he had done so since 1936.  In the war, FDR and Westman had finally found a common ground.  At the 1944 Democratic National Convention Westman would make the keynote address for FDR:

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Surprisingly, Westman would find his name on the Vice Presidential list, however he would end up losing the nod to Missouri Senator Harry Truman, a supporter of Civil Rights and interventionism.  He would say of Harry Truman:

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FDR/Truman would go on to win a landslide election.  Westman’s career would change after the beginning of FDR’s fourth term in office.
A most pressing offer:
On January 24th, 1945 President Franklin Roosevelt would announce that his pick to replace retiring Secretary of Commerce Jesse H. Jones would be Democratic New York Senator William Westman.  This pick surprised many, considering Westman’s vocal fiscal conservatism and opposition to the New Deal.  Roosevelt would defend this pick, saying “William Westman is just the right pick for this position in preparation for the post-war world.”
Westman would accept the nomination and would pass the Senate confirmation, taking office on March 2nd, 1945
Also, on May 2nd, 1945 Westman's wife Anne would have their second daughter.  Her name would be Rebecca.

[Mechaman]

A Policy Maverik:

Westman's tenure as Secretary of Commerce would be eventful.  First he would develop a longstanding feud with former Vice President Henry A. Wallace, mostly due to the sense that Wallace, as former Vice President, should've been serving as Secretary of Commerce instead of Westman.  He also was disgusted by what he perceived as the "radical corporatism" of Secretary Westman, believing that Roosevelt appointed Westman on advice from Truman to help turn the devastated Europe into a goldmine for American corporations at the expense of the people.  Westman would call Wallace's comments:

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President Roosevelt would die in office on April 12th, 1945, Vice President Harry Truman of Missouri, whom Secretary Westman was good friends with, would ascend to the presidency.  Although Westman and Roosevelt rarely agreed with each other and Roosevelt made himself an enemy to the Tammany Hall Machine to which Westman was a stalwart defender of, the two had always been good friends.  At FDR’s funeral, close Westman friend Joseph Kennedy Sr. would comment “who knew that William Westman could shed tears.”
As Secretary of Commerce William Westman would begin the process of establishing favorable commerce and trade with postwar Europe and transitioning the wartime American economy back to domestic production.  Westman’s strict fiscal conservatism and opposition to government interventionist measures would nerve fellow Truman Cabinet officials, notably Secretary of State George Marshall.  Westman, though no fan of the Soviet Communism, would have many objections to the proposed “Marshall Plan”:

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Despite these objections Westman would remain supportive of the Truman Administration and continue to encourage American enterprise involvement in Europe.  As George Marshall would say:

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[Mechaman]

Dewey beats Truman!:
However, things for Westman’s friend Truman were not good at all.  As the heir to Roosevelt Truman had huge shoes to fill in the role of president and in early 1948 disapproval of his administration was at an all time high.  Already there was talk emerging amongst Democratic party bosses to dump Truman as the party nominee in favor of candidates due to his unpopularity amongst southern Democrats and the emerging “Progressive” wing.  Party leaders had started looking for candidates who would have wide appeal to both big wings of the party, notably former Allied Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower (who was also being courted by the Republican Party to run against the Democrats).  Those efforts would prove fruitless, as Eisenhower did not want to be involved in politics at the time.  The party establishment would have no choice but to back the unpopular president for the nomination against Georgia Senator Richard Russell Jr. at the Democratic National Convention.  However, the worst was yet to come.
In the weeks leading up to the DNC 1948, a number of pro-Civil Rights Democrats that included Minneapolis mayor Hubert Humphrey and US Secretary of Commerce William Westman appealed to the Truman to adopt a Civil Rights plank into the Democratic Party platform.  Truman would voice hesitation, claiming that if he were to do so “we might lose the South for a generation.”  Eventually Truman would accept the proposition hoping that it would help the Democratic Party gain strength amongst the diverse urban working class in previously strong GOP strongholds in states like Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois.  After Humphrey, who was running for the US Senate seat from Minnesota, made a nine minute speech in favor of the Civil Rights platform the Southern Democratic delegation would bolt from the Convention and later hold their own convention creating the “State’s Rights” Party in opposition to the national Democratic Party’s new platform.  Henry Wallace and other liberal Democrats, who disapproved of Truman’s hardline stance against the Soviet Union, would also form a “Progressive Party” ticket which would support full civil rights for blacks, universal healthcare, and friendly relations with the USSR.
Before the Convention there was talk of a “Draft Westman” for Vice President movement in order to secure the votes of conservative northern Democrats that could swing states like New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey, Illinois, and New York that might go to Dewey due to vote splitting that might result from the Democratic platform.  However, party leaders decided that Westman, though a fiscal conservative, would likely cost Truman the votes of Southern states like Texas, Georgia, and Tennessee that would likely (due to machine politics) stay Democrat due to his controversial position on Civil Rights, therefore to increase chances in the South the party should nominate a Southern moderate to the ticket.  The party would settle on Kentucky Senator Alben W. Barkley.
The GOP would nominate Thomas E. Dewey of New York, a moderate-liberal to run against Truman.  Dewey would campaign on expanding Social Security, promotion of health and education by the federal government, more funding for public housing, and civil rights legislation.  All except for the latter were unacceptable to the conservative Republican leadership in Congress, a fact that Truman would take advantage of.  Truman would campaign on the differences between the Republicans in Congress and Dewey, arguing that “there is very little difference between me and Mr. Dewey, you might as well vote Democratic like you have in every election since 1932.  But what do you expect from the party of No Ideas?”  Truman copied the FDR trick of portraying the Republican candidate as a “Me-Too”, arguing that the only thing that Dewey has proposed is that he will somehow do the same thing as Democrats except “do it better.”  Dewey would then decide to stop making vague policy statements and be more direct in his approach.  His main focus would be on his successful efforts in curbing crime and corruption as Governor of New York, a more assertive and competent foreign policy, and the Democratic failure to bring forth effective Civil Rights legislation under Truman’s leadership.  Dewey’s campaign would be “A Better America” and that Republicans could “truly do what Democrats do better.”
Truman would pull out all the stops, but Dewey’s sudden new approach would catch Truman and the Democratic leadership off guard.  The end result:

November 2nd, 1948:

Thomas E. Dewey (New York)/Earl Warren (California) Republican Party 305 electoral votes 48.12% popular vote
Harry S. Truman (Missouri)/Alben W. Barkley (Kentucky) Democratic Party 176 electoral votes 44.02% popular vote
Strom Thurmond (South Carolina)/Richard Russell Jr. (Georgia) State’s Rights Democratic 50 electoral votes 4.38% popular vote
Henry A. Wallace (Iowa)/Glen Taylor (Idaho) Progressive Party 3.08% popular vote
Other 0.4% popular vote
Westman: Oh hell, looks like I’ll be unemployed come January.

[Mechaman]

November 3rd, 1948:
White House bar
President Truman and Secretary of Commerce Westman

Truman: Damn it, DAMN IT!  How could I lose!?  For god’s sake Dewey is a “Me-too”!  A F***ING ME-TOO!
Everyone in bar looks at Truman.
Westman:  Settle down damn it, last thing we need is for the papers to start printing “President Cry Baby Truman” all over the papers.
Truman: I don’t know whose throat I should slit: those damned Dixiecrats, those bastard Progressives……..or you.
Westman scoots back and gives Truman an offended look.
Westman: Me?  Why the hell Harry?  What did I do to destroy your chances?!
Truman: You, and that egghead Humphrey…….Civil Rights platform?  And to think I bought your bullsh*t about urban voters in Michigan and Wisconsin…….really?
Westman gets out of chair and starts prancing around.
Westman: Oh it’s my fault?  It’s my fault that you lost the election?!  Sacrifices had to be made Harry!  SACRIFICES HAD TO BE MADE!!!
Truman: Oh yes, the Deep South……yeah that’s a necessary sacrifice….
Westman: Don’t get smart with me ASSHOLE!
Truman: HOW DARE YOU!
Westman: How dare you sir!
Truman: HOW DARE YOU BARK AT ME LIKE I’M SOME JUNKYARD DOG!  I AM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!
Westman laughs.
Westman: Yeah keep telling yourself that.
Truman looks back up.
Westman: Harry……do you not see any good that we accomplished?  Massachusetts and Rhode Island voted for us, for us by ten point margins and we came very close to winning New York despite Dewey being it’s governor.  We also won the black vote, the black vote, despite Dewey having a pro-civil rights platform.  68% of that is not something to laugh off.  We won Minnesota with 58.89% and Humphrey won his election in a landslide.  Yes, you lost, but we won.  Tell me, do you honestly think you could’ve won with the Deep South?  Do you really think appealing to Southern bigots would’ve helped us do better in California, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and New York where we came close in?  No, you would’ve still lost the election and Dewey would’ve still won.  The Deep South is useless to us, I say let all of those segregationists rot in hell, they are useless to any of us Democrat or Republican.  Those retard traitors: Russell, Thurmond, Perez, they are useless……f***ing useless.  All they have proven yesterday is that no matter what they wouldn’tve affected this election one wee bit, hell we even gained seats in Congress despite their rebellion.
Truman looks up, a sudden look of clarity in his eyes.
Truman: Quite right you are, let the bastards rot.
The two men click their glasses together and down their whiskey.
Truman: What about the Progressives?
Westman looks at Truman and then throws out a sudden loud laugh.
Westman: Are you kidding me!?  Those pinko commies?  The Progressives are a joke faction, a bloody joke.  Progressives have never, and will never be prominent in this nation.
Both men laugh.

[Mechaman]

Surprise Appointment:

After President Truman lost the 1948 Election William Westman assumed that as a result he would be released from his office of Secretary of Commerce therefore ending his political career.  Westman would retire to his home on Long Island, New York before getting a phone call from President Dewey offering him a job as the US Ambassador to Great Britain.  Westman would, after much thought, accept the position and on March 1st, 1949 he would begin his tenure as Ambassador to Great Britain, moving into the Embassy with his wife Anne and his three daughters Brooke, Rebecca, and Rachel.  During his tenure Westman would witness the official declaration of the Republic of Ireland, effectively making the Republic of Ireland no longer a part of the British Commonwealth (it was technically a member of until then).  He would also, on December 3rd, 1951 mediate the establishment of a free trade agreement between the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain, an achievement many would call “extraordinary for any ambassador,” as well as the beginning of a friendly trade relationship between the US, Great Britain, and India.  William Westman would stay in his position as Ambassador to Great Britain from March 1st, 1949-August 11th, 1959, the longest continuous tenure for any Ambassador to Great Britain in US history.  While in Great Britain Westman and his wife would have three more children, all girls: Kayle born August 8th, 1950, Kathleen born April 1, 1952, and finally Abigail born September 18th, 1956.  In all, William Westman fathered nine children, one son and eight girls, six of those with his wife Anne.

Later Life:
After returning home from Great Britain with his wife Anne and daughters Rebecca and Rachel (Brooke would leave in 1956 to go back to the States to pursue a singing career) on August 18th, 1959, Westman would retire to his estate in upstate New York on Lake Ontario to a simple life of fishing and boating.  It would be in his retirement that Westman would finally see his eldest children and their families.  He would become a man very removed from society, selling most of his investments (worth a value of $125 million in 1959 dollars) and donating it to charities for the needy.  He would also give away his properties in Manhattan and Long Island to charities for the homeless.  By the 1964 Presidential Election, William Westman had completely removed himself away from the public eye.  In his retirement he would become known as a man of great charity, donating time and money to running charities for the needy and homeless in nearby Buffalo, New York.  His last public appearance would be at a “Charity for the Needy” on St. Patrick’s Day 1977, he would pass away a month later to a heart attack on April 19th, 1977.


William Patrick Westman: September 11th, 1896-April 19th, 1977 Age 80.

[Mechaman]

Democratic National Convention 1952
Chicago, Illinois
International Amphitheatre
Meeting Room:
Sam Rayburn: Well gentlemen, what is the analysis for 1952?
William Averell Harriman: Willie would kill me for saying this, but with popularity of Dewey’s tough on crime and foreign policy platform we need to combat that with a more assertive candidate.
Adlai Stevenson: You can’t be seriously Will, are you suggesting we carbon copy the Republicans?
Harriman: No less than Dewey and the Me-toos who preceded him did.  Gentlemen, we are in an era of great moderation, the people won’t elect anyone who isn’t of the New Deal meld: liberal on domestic policy, hawkish on foreign policy.  Dewey isn’t seen as being a super phenomenal success, but he sure as hell isn’t a failure.  We need a candidate with a proven record of moderatism, pragmatism, and a tough stance against corruption.
Harry Truman: You are not suggesting what I think you are suggesting?
Harriman: Yes I am Harry.
Truman: Goddamn it Averell!  Willie would definitely kill you for saying this!  I’m tempted to just by hearing it.
Harriman: If we ignore the Primaries the people will resent us Harry.  It is only most Democratic if we take their votes and nominate the man they most want to see president, not who the party bosses want.
Truman: But Kefauver…….how can we trust him?  He’s already exposed the link between some of our figures and mafia figures, HOW CAN WE TRUST HIM?
Harriman: All of you had blind faith in a man, Dwight Eisenhower, who had absolutely no ties to this good party to run for president, what makes Kefauver, a Democrat since birth, less acceptable?
Truman: Dwight is universally popular and would’ve been a guaranteed landslide for any party wise enough to win him over.  Sadly, he’s too uninterested in politics to take in our cause.
Rayburn: I don’t like the son of a bitch either Harry, but with sons of bitches like McCarthy on the other side a tough guy, who is also southern, on our ticket can only be a plus.  His moderate stances will help us greatly in the South and the American West, where Dewey’s “too liberal for GOP” stances would kill him in the eyes of conservative GOPers.
Truman: Why the hell do we need the South so badly?  Won’t Civil Rights help us in the North anyway?
Harriman: Harry, dear boy Dewey is so popular in the North it would take nuclear holocaust to make him lose in solid states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and maybe even New York….all big vote places.  If we can shut him out everywhere else we might just have a shot.  I suggest a Southern/Western ticket.
Rayburn: Okay, who did you have in mind for the VP slot?
Harriman gives him a wide grin.
Harriman: The son of the New Deal himself……..
Later:
Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, your candidates for President and Vice President: Estes Kefauver of Tennessee and James Roosevelt of California!
 1952 US Presidential Election:

Estes Kefauver (Kentucky)/James Roosevelt (California) Democratic Party 268 electoral votes 49.24% popular vote
Thomas Dewey (New York)/Earl Warren (California) Republican Party 263 Electoral Votes 49.44% popular vote
Other: 1.34% Popular vote
Announcer: After four years out of power the Democrats have retaken the White House by the slimmest of electoral margins and while losing the popular vote by just over one hundred thousand votes.  Dewey would be pressed by his campaign to challenge the results, but he would refuse noting “the nation needs to be united at this time.”  In January, Estes Kefauver would be sworn in as President.

[Mechaman]

Just realized I didn't post this one:

Danny Boy:

On January 8th, 1948, at the age of 51, Westman's sixth child (the third with his wife Anne Williams Westman) would be born, a girl named Rachel.  It was also in January of 1948 that William Westman would hear from his long lost son Daniel, who would send a letter to his father on January 14th, 1948:

Dear father,

I know it has been a long time, almost ten years to be exact.  I know that the sudden departure of me and my sister must’ve been quite a shock to you and how much more shocked that after a period of almost ten years I have decided to write back to you.
It is understandable if you have feelings of resentment towards our sudden departure, but please know that it had nothing to do with your previous behavior but rather my fear (as well as Connie’s) of being compelled into a life of public service.  I had no such desire then, nor do I know, which is why I had fled from Uncle Smith’s estate those years ago to the West.  In January of 1942, after trying to make ends meet in a number of places out West me and Connie finally settled down in a quaint town in the far northwest of Montana known as Whitefish.  Almost immediately we were offered the friendship of an old barkeep named Richard Barnes who allowed us to reside in a small bedchamber in the back of the bar.  Almost immediately Connie was a favorite of many of the working men that frequented the bar, most notably a 25 year old openly agnostic Irishman by the name of Fletch Murphy who was put in management of the construction of a ski resort near Whitefish.  It concerned me that such a mature accomplished man would take a liking to young Connie, who was but still a child at the time but also displayed similar feelings for Mister Murphy.  All of those men with such thoughts!  Going after my 15 year old sister!
Well, there was no stopping fate, Mister Murphy eventually won the affection of young Connie and the two started seeing each other romantically.  She would move into (because 15 year old girl can’t get married without “parental approval”) his home by March, just a month and a half after we got there.  They still have not married since and have three children: a boy and two girls.  Obviously they are the subject of much gossip about town, though I am glad that Connie has found a man of good income to take care of her.
As for myself, I have since the death of Barnes two years ago been in management of the “Happy Fish” along with my wife Janet, the daughter of a prominent local Chinaman businessman named Don Xiahou and his British wife Danna (nee Ronin) Xiahou.  We have been married since January 11th, 1944 and we have a son whom we have named Scott Augustus Westman, born May 24th, 1945.  Do not fear, he has inherited your red hair and pale disposition.  He is a very big young child at 34 inches and 33 lbs, as well as extremely advanced in mental development.  He can read, yes read, at the same level as a 2nd year elementary student and can do basic math at the age of two and a half.
I have heard much of your recent accomplishments, of your entry into the US Senate as a representative from New York and now of your role as Secretary of Commerce.  I fear had I stayed, given your recent status as a prominent national figure I would’ve felt compelled to carry on your political livelihood, a situation I would not welcome.  I hope someday you will more truly understand my motives more fully.

Your son,
Daniel Antonius Westman.

Westman was amazed by what he read, most notably the revelation that he had 4 grandchildren whom were older than his youngest daughter.  He had lost all hope of re-establishing contact with his eldest children and thought that if they indeed wanted to remain independent of his influence he would have no choice but to keep separate from them as long as he was in politics.

[Mechaman]

Scott Westman, early years:

Born May 24th, 1945 in the far northwestern Montana ski resort town of Whitefish, Scott Westman would be a very gifted child.  He would be noted both for his genius intelligence and his raw physical strength, even as early as eight years of age.  He would also be known as a very loyal and caring person to those he cared about, especially his younger sister Lenora Westman, born July 8th, 1948.
Scott Westman would spend his youth in the books and in the mountains of the surrounding countryside outside of Whitefish.  At the age of 12 he would get his first work at a lumberjack shop where the owner would lie about Westman’s age to authorities so he could work there.  At the age of 12, the already 6’1” 185 lbs Scott Westman was very good at chopping down trees.  But he excelled the most at the subject of History to the point of continuously correcting the teachers who taught the subject in public schools on key events.  His area of key interest was late 19th century America and the role of the Bourbon Democrats, conservatives who opposed Democratic machines in the North, had in their party and the nation.  Later on he would describe his political leanings as such, describing himself explicitly as a “20th Century Liberal Bourbon Democrat”, which would earn him a good deal of criticism due to his grandfather being “flesh and blood Tammany Hall” to which Westman would respond “I am not my grandfather.”  However, despite his favoring of the fiscal and economic conservatism, Westman would take a great interest in the Civil Rights movement, not understanding why it should be hard for anybody to deny someone else access to their establishment just on the basis of race.  For the multiracial Westman, who was of Irish, Italian, Chinese, and British descent it seemed like a no brainer, however quite a few people thought differently.
Due to his ethnic background, Scott Westman would look very unique: he inherited the red hair and pale skin of his Irish American grandfather on his father’s side but inherited the mongoloid facial features of his Chinese grandfather on his mother’s side.  The Italian and the British ancestry would be less noticeable.  This would lead Scott’s close friends to jokingly call him “the Chinky Mick”, a very derogatory nickname that would’ve most likely offended someone who didn’t have the tolerance for dirty words like Scott Westman.
Politically the Westman family in Montana was not as motivated as their relatives out back east who were a part of the Democratic Party machine of New York.  Daniel Westman was a very apathetic Democrat, only going to the ballot box “out of my civic duty”.  His father in-law, Don Xiahou, the prominent local Chinese businessman, was a devout and active Republican Party member.  The dinners at the Xiahou residence would be most interesting between the apathetic Democrat and the zealous Republican.  Scott Westman, caught between the two, would find himself a political agnostic, not caring about either two parties and staying an Independent.
Scott Westman’s childhood wasn’t real memorable, at least according to him, as he spent most days chopping wood, reading books with his sister, or working at his uncle Fletch Murphy’s ski resort.  When he got into his teens Westman, like his predecessor William, took up interest in girls and alcohol.  His parents, removed from paternal duty, would be apathetic towards this behavior due to running the bar.  However, his sister Nora would be very protective and needy of Westman, sometimes forcing herself into Westman’s lap to keep other girls away.  This would end up having the opposite effect, as Westman’s love interests would interpret this to mean that he really loves and cares about his sister and therefore could be really loving and caring for them.  This would inevitably end up being true with Catalina Umberg, a 14 year old girl of German Swiss and Dominican descent whom he met when he was 17 years old.  After spending the night with Westman in a nearby mountain, Catalina would become pregnant with the couple’s child.  Since her family was very traditional her father demanded that Westman marry his daughter before the child is born or “run the risk of becoming the town’s first eunuch.”  Scott Westman, wanting to keep his manhood intact, readily agreed to Mr. Umberg’s proposal even going as far as to pay for the wedding himself.  The two would be married on May 28th, 1963, four days after Westman’s 18th birthday (at the time a 14 year old girl could marry with the permission of her parents in Montana) and five months before the child was due.  The child, a daughter named Brea, would be born on November 17th, 1963.
On June 2nd, 1964 Scott Westman would graduate from the local learning institute.  His wife, Catalina, would take lots of summer courses and graduate in August 1964 so she could move with Westman and their daughter Brea to Missoula, where Westman would attend the University of Montana in pursuit of a History degree.  While at the University of Montana Westman would become involved with the College Democrats group, making himself a very unique voice amongst the progressive dominated group.  In the words of one fellow Democrat: “Westman was a very unique voice, while the rest of us called for fair deals for American workers he decried it as “economic nationalism” and called for “free and unrestricted trade”.  He was an avid supporter of Civil Rights, yet had a zeal for the unregulated free market.  Imagine a mix of Milton Friedman and Martin Luther King, that was Scott Westman in college.  But my god did he hate the war, even in 1964!”
As early as 1964 Scott Westman would take to the streets of Missoula protesting the War in Persia.  Over his years at Montana University he would get many warnings from the Administration about his protests, which went to no avail.  He would graduate Montana University with a degree in History on May 4th, 1968, during the 1968 Primary Season.  During the 1968 Presidential Election Westman would be a very avid supporter of Eugene McCarthy, Mark Hatfield (anti-war Republican candidate who would ultimately lose the nod to George Romney) and then Robert Kennedy (whom Westman initially doubted, but after Kennedy won the nomination he started supporting him) for their stances against the Persian War.  Westman would become a big supporter/drafter for the Kennedy campaign in Missoula until September 28th, 1968…..when he got arrested for wearing a shirt with the words “F*** the Draft” on it.  He would be tried for “Disturbing the Peace” in court and would serve a 30 day sentence.  He would go out and vote once he got out of prison in the 1968 election that would result in:

Robert F. Kennedy (New York)/Frank Church (Idaho) 251 Electoral Votes 42.88% Popular Vote
George Romney (Michigan)/George HW Bush (Connecticut) 234 Electoral Votes 43.22% Popular Vote
George C. Wallace (Alabama)/John Wayne 53 Electoral Votes 13.58% Popular Vote(California)
Other: .32% Popular Vote
For the first time since 1824, the election would to the House and Senate.  Due to Democratic majority in the House Robert Kennedy would win the Presidency:

 however, despite Democratic majority in the Senate a number of conservative Democrats would team up with the Republicans (Democrats held only a 52 seat majority, gaining 3 seats in the Congressional elections) and George HW Bush would become Vice President elect with a 51 vote majority.  After the elections Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy would call for a reform of the electoral process, noting that “it’s undemocratic for Congress to vote for President and Vice President, the people MUST decide!”  This would lead to the Voting Reform Act of 1970, which McCarthy would sponsor with freshmen Democratic Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska.
Scott Westman, was somewhat elated, however things never go as planned.........

[Mechaman]

Kent State University, May 4, 1970:
Protesters are marching on the Ohio National Guard:
Captain: This is your last warning: Cease and desist!
Protester: F*** you pig!
Captain: Alright, that’s it, lay it on them heavy and strong……
The National Guard assume firing position and start firing into the crowd.  Immediately people start falling down, five of them dead.
Nora Westman is on the ground with blood all over her shirt.  She lifts up her head…..and slowly gets up when she notices the body next to her.
Nora: Catalina!  No please don’t be……
She turns her friend, her sister in-law over, and sees a gaping rifle wound in her chest as her eyes go white.  Catalina Westman, aged 21, loving wife and mother of one, was dead…..the victim of an overreach of federal power reminiscent of Nazi Germany.  Her funeral, along with four others, would be held on May 6th and would be delivered by anti-war stalwart Scott Westman, her husband.

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

This is epic, Mech.

[Mechaman]

Elections 1956-1964

Since the timeline is different I thought I would post how the elections of 1956, 1960, and 1964 turn out:

1956:

President Estes Kefauver (Tennessee)/Vice President James Roosevelt (California) Democratic Party 366 Electoral Votes 52.11% popular vote
Former Governor Harold Stassen (Minnesota)/Representative Hugh Scott (Pennsylvania) Republican Party 120 Electoral Votes 43.81% popular vote
Former Governor Herman Talmadge (Georgia)/Representative Thomas Werdel (California) States Rights Party 45 Electoral Votes 3.61% popular vote
The signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1956 by President Estes Kefauver causes yet another schism in Democratic ranks and the State’s Rights Party is formed hoping to cost the Democrats enough votes to cost them the election (like they tried in 1948).  However, due to Kefauver’s success at keeping the US out of conflict and a strong economy the Democrats manage to hold onto the White House for four more years.

1960 US Presidential Election:

US Senator Charles H. Percy (Illinois)/US Senator Thurston B. Morton (Kentucky) 270 Electoral votes 48.52% Popular Vote
US Vice President James Roosevelt (California)/US Senator John F. Kennedy (Massachusetts) 240 Electoral Votes 48.39% Popular Vote
US Senator Harry Byrd (Virginia)/Governor Orval Faubus (Arkansas) State’s Rights Party 27 Electoral Votes 2.65% Popular Vote
Other: .44% Popular Vote
The Republican ticket of Percy/Morton nabs a close victory over the Democratic ticket of Roosevelt/Kennedy, with Democratic Vice Presidential nominee John Kennedy being the first Catholic to be nominated Vice President on a major party ticket.  Also, Charles Percy would be the youngest president (to that point) in history at the age of 41 on Inauguration Day.  The Percy/Morton administration would see both domestic and foreign policy successes, the Bay of Pigs operation which deposed Cuba’s communist government being their greatest accomplishment.  However, President Percy would become gravely ill in February of 1963 from an unknown virus (many speculate it the result of a biological attack on the president from Cuban revolutionaries) before resigning the Presidency “due to health concerns” on February 18th, 1963.  He would die four days later at the age of 43.  His successor, Morton, would be known for his push for further Civil Rights legislation (including the Affirmative Action Act of 1964).

1964 US Presidential Election:

US President Thurston B. Morton (Kentucky)/US Senator Hiram Fong (Hawaii) Republican Party 390 Electoral Votes 55.72% Popular Vote
US Senator Mike Monroney (Oklahoma)/Former Governor John Burroughs (New Mexico) 148 Electoral Votes 42.88% Popular Vote
Other: 1.4% Popular Vote
Due to a good economy and playing off of the memory of the late President Percy the Republican ticket cruises to a comfortable election.  The Democratic ticket of Monroney/Burroughs campaign for fiscal responsibility and a “race blind” policy toward Affirmative Action (which results in the shifting of hundreds of thousands of votes in the Deep South toward the Democrats for the first time since 1952).  However, the ongoing war in Persia would once again change the dynamics of the electoral map.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I can't see Thurmond running for President in 1960, as he would have been simultaneously having to run for reelection as a Senator.  Not a good tactic at the best of times and it would have required a change in State law, as South Carolina law prohibits running for two offices simultaneously.