The Year of the Tiger: The Legacy of the Election of 1920

[Mechaman]

It is the year of 1920, and the American people have had enough of Republican progressivism.  After 24 years of Republican rule and Bryanite control of the Democratic Party, the people want Change.  The year is 1920, and America has been suffering from one of the worst post war panics in history.  Due to excessive wartime and government spending the government is running a deficit of over $10 billion for the first time in it's history, despite heavy income taxation.  American businessmen lay back in leather chairs, stuffed to their britches in lemon cake and soda, while millions of the poor barely make enough to afford the expensive domestic products that the protective tariff protects.  Worse yet, in an era of so-called "progressivism", groups like the Irish Catholics, Italians, African Americans, Czech Americans, Polish Americans, and other non-WASP minorities are treated like secondary citizens in Protestant dominated America.  Each just asking, begging to be recognized as equals to their White Protestant brethren.  All of them looking for somebody to give them a voice, to make them feel one with American society.
Now was the time for Change.  After many years in the political desert an infamous Democratic machine was about to make the grandest of returns in the Election of 1920.  Their causes would ultimately prove to be the cause of the American people who could barely get by under the ideology of Big Government Republicanism.  The year is 1920, the year of the Tiger.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

"Irish Catholics, Italians, and African Americans are treated like secondary citizens in Protestant dominated America"

Thanks a lot for skipping other non-WASP and non-Protestant groups.

[Mechaman]

"Irish Catholics, Italians, and African Americans are treated like secondary citizens in Protestant dominated America"

Thanks a lot for skipping other non-WASP and non-Protestant groups.

Sorry it's early in the morning.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

"Irish Catholics, Italians, and African Americans are treated like secondary citizens in Protestant dominated America"

Thanks a lot for skipping other non-WASP and non-Protestant groups.

Sorry it's early in the morning.

No problem, bro. Here's it's already 17.00 PM and I'm going to drink with friends.

[Vazdul (Formerly Chairman of the Communist Party of Ontario)]

This looks very interesting. Please continue.

[Mechaman]

So yeah I'm going to be pretty busy so the next update might not be up until Saturday.  It should prove to be interesting though.
I won't take 3 months to update this, that I will say right now.

[Mechaman]

So yeah, this took a little while longer than I had hoped.

Prologue:

Throughout it's history the Democratic Party, the Party of the People, has taken a most just and courageous stance against the evils of the protective tariff, a tax designed in such a way as to willingly keep the people of this nation forever at the whims of American businessmen.  The Democratic Party, unlike the Republican Party and it's forebears, believe that the American Government should be a government of the people, for the people, and by the people, nowhere should the word "business" be found.  The protective tariff, in the words of it's own proponents, is a tool to be used by our government for the benefit of American business EVEN AT THE COST OF THE AVERAGE WORKING MAN'S LIVING.  The protective tariff, if none of us shall deal it with the metaphorical bullet to bring about it's demise, if gone unchecked will destroy the economic well being of the American people.  How else can one explain the severe economic panic we are experiencing?  Oh war you say?  In Europe?  What the high hell are American boys doing in Europe fighting a war that was never ours to begin with?  Oh that's right, the so-called "progressives" in the Republican Party arguing that a truly American foreign policy is to play global policeman, to bully our beliefs into the subconscious of the uninformed!  That we should play babysitter to the corrupt monarchs of Imperialist Russia!  To the Republican vandals who rob the poor and merchant classes of their buying power for the benefit of big business and antagonize our trading partners with insane taxes nothing is sweeter than the deploy of thousands of American boys to die on foreign battlefields with the hope of spreading the markets of big business, the longtime love of the Grand Old Party.  That is why more than ever the American people shall turn to the call of the Democratic Party, and when I say Democratic I don't mean the slaves of Bryanism, but that of the true Democratic Party: the party of freedom, the party of liberty, the party of the free market to save them from this hell.

New York Governor George B. McClellan Jr., "On Republicanism April 21, 1920"

[Mechaman]

Alright, I'm finally going to put up a serious update for this timeline that isn't just a randomass speech made by some guy who is governor of New York.

If I decide to throw caution to the wind and stay up late to update all of my TLs because I have no social life on Saturday you might see this update tonight.

I will say (in all honesty) that I should have an update up before next Wednesday (which is when our Fall Break is).  I'm going to be in Boulder, Colorado from Wednesday-Monday (I'll probably get back Sunday Evening, but due to my normal sleeping schedule that I developed over the past 5 months or so don't expect me to be on here at like 1:30AM).

In the meantime I'll take any comments/question you might have.

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

Here's one:

Post more!

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I have no idea what this is about, despite skimming through it. I like the Tiger picture though...

[Vazdul (Formerly Chairman of the Communist Party of Ontario)]

Here's one:

Post more!

[Mechaman]

1920: The Beginning

New York Times, April 26th, 1920:

Tammany Rising:
Five days ago George McClellan Jr., the governor of New York and the son of the immortal Union general George McClellan Sr., offered what many have described as "the strongest anti-tariff speech of all time."  A few years ago many would call the governor a fool for stating such a statement, but after a recent poll done in the state of New York asking who they would rather have in office, a Progressive Republican or a Tammany Hall Democrat, 58% said they would prefer a candidate from the Tammany Hall Machine of New York City than they would any Progressive Republican, a clear indication that even against a machine with as bad of a history as Tammany Progressive Republicanism is on the decline.  Also in a related poll, President Roosevelt, who was once considered one of the greatest presidents in this nation, was considered by a majority of 63%, this in New York state, to be worse than average.  In fact just last week US Senator Alfred Smith of New York went as far as to say this:

"If Teddy Roosevelt had quit the job in 1909 he would've been remembered by historians as a visionary, as one of the greatest presidents of all time.  He would've been remembered as the forefather of modern day American progressivism.  If his respect for the traditions of the office of president were stronger than his own personal ego then perhaps we would've been spared one of the worst economic panics in American history, the rights of the American people to express discontent with the government would be upheld, and most importantly 90,000 American boys wouldn'tve died fighting wars that they had no business dying in for the old imperialist powers of Europe."

For his remarks the New York senator was strongly rebuked by Republican leadership, who noted that outbursts like Smith "were part of the Democratic partisanship that is threatening to destroy the fabric of this nation."  Senator Smith has become a pest in the side of Republican leadership due to his opposition to the aggressive action of the administration against the Socialist Party, namely party leader Eugene V. Debs.  The President defended his action of imprisoning the Socialist Party leader, claiming that Eugene Debs speeches against American intervention in Europe "is a threat to the morale of the American people."  Smith criticized this latest statement by claiming "whatever Mr. Debs freedom of speech is, it sure not is in anyway any more of a threat to the American people than the Republican Party has proven itself to be these past twenty four years.  Look at the polls Teddy, they agree."  This back and forth between the President and the New York Senator has turned nasty to the degree that the President has banned Senator Smith from the White House.
Another area in which the President is getting hit hard in approval in his support of the Czar in the Russian Civil War as well as his stance against Irish independence, of which a majority of the population supports.
On the flip side, many Tammany Hall and other Democratic machines have recently spoken out loudly against interventionism in the Russian Civil War and in support of Irish Independence.  Also amongst the criticisms levied against the Administration and congressional Republicans is condemnation of the protectionist tariff, with the average tariff rate at 48.51%, which many prominent Democrats derided as "the source of all the economic hardships that have befallen everyday Americans."
Already there are many Democrats that have come up on the list of possible Presidential nomination, three of whom: Senator Smith, Massachusetts Senator John F. Fitzgerald and California Senator James D. Phelan, are Irish Catholics.  The presence of this many Irish Catholic politicians, many of whom favorite sons of urban Democratic machines, suggests that the Bryanite and Southern factions that have controlled the nomination for the past 16 years may have a hell of a fight.
Although Irish Catholics find themselves in more positions of power than ever in the history of these United States there is the question of the other Democratic voting segment: White Southern Protestants.  Despite being in the same party these two voting segments often clash and in the event of a Democratic candidate of Irish ancestry and Catholic faith being nominated, even in a year of economic crisis as this.....one has to wonder if the long "Solid" Democratic South might crack just a little.  Not enough for the Republican Party to win, but just enough to foment a seed of doubt in the Democratic Party for generations to come.
One thing we can already say though: whoever wins the nominations for the major parties this year will play a huge hand in history.

[Mechaman]

Alright I shouldn't be doing this but I will: I'm making another update tomorrow night.

Before I do that I would like to ask: What does everyone think of how I set up the TL so far?  I know it's unorthodox, but I thought it would be quite interesting.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Is this going to involve what you talked about in your Westman timeline, with Irish-Catholic Libertarians attempting a take over or something like that? 'Cause I'm good with two of the three words in "Irish Catholic Libertarian", and good with three fourths of the term "Irish Catholic Paleo-Conservative"

[Mechaman]

Is this going to involve what you talked about in your Westman timeline, with Irish-Catholic Libertarians attempting a take over or something like that? 'Cause I'm good with two of the three words in "Irish Catholic Libertarian", and good with three fourths of the term "Irish Catholic Paleo-Conservative"

Urr maybe.
Like I tell everyone else when I make these timelines: even I don't know how they will turn out.  At first Irish Catholic Libertarians may take over......then next thing you know it's Anglo Protestant State's Rights taking over the Democratic Party (like Hans TL lol).
Just saying.
Actually I got this idea after someone posted a thread asking what a Roosevelt in 1912 situation would've looked like and I said a "Smith in 1920" scenario would've been pretty interesting.  Not sure if Al Smith will be the candidate yet though, in fact I'm not even sure who will be the candidate yet.
I always found the rise of the Irish Catholic politician interesting, thus why I am usually biased towards Irish Catholic Democrats with libertarianesque views in my TLs.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Is this going to involve what you talked about in your Westman timeline, with Irish-Catholic Libertarians attempting a take over or something like that? 'Cause I'm good with two of the three words in "Irish Catholic Libertarian", and good with three fourths of the term "Irish Catholic Paleo-Conservative"

Urr maybe.
Like I tell everyone else when I make these timelines: even I don't know how they will turn out.  At first Irish Catholic Libertarians may take over......then next thing you know it's Anglo Protestant State's Rights taking over the Democratic Party (like Hans TL lol).
Just saying.
Actually I got this idea after someone posted a thread asking what a Roosevelt in 1912 situation would've looked like and I said a "Smith in 1920" scenario would've been pretty interesting.  Not sure if Al Smith will be the candidate yet though, in fact I'm not even sure who will be the candidate yet.
I always found the rise of the Irish Catholic politician interesting, thus why I am usually biased towards Irish Catholic Democrats with libertarianesque views in my TLs.

1) I think Smith 1920 would be sweet. However, I would call him a "Paleo-Conservative" more than a Libertarian per se...

2) Is the list of Presidents TR for five straight terms, or Tr for two, Taft for one, and TR for two?

3) There were other Irish Catholic politicans such as JFK in the 60's that weren't as isolationist as Smith in the 20's. It would be interesting to see a Kennedy-like Nationalism collide with a Smith-like Isolationism. Both were Irish Catholic somewhat Conservative Democrats from different eras, but Kennedy was a Cols-Warrior.

I'm really just babbling on and thinking out loud with this post

[Mechaman]

Is this going to involve what you talked about in your Westman timeline, with Irish-Catholic Libertarians attempting a take over or something like that? 'Cause I'm good with two of the three words in "Irish Catholic Libertarian", and good with three fourths of the term "Irish Catholic Paleo-Conservative"

Urr maybe.
Like I tell everyone else when I make these timelines: even I don't know how they will turn out.  At first Irish Catholic Libertarians may take over......then next thing you know it's Anglo Protestant State's Rights taking over the Democratic Party (like Hans TL lol).
Just saying.
Actually I got this idea after someone posted a thread asking what a Roosevelt in 1912 situation would've looked like and I said a "Smith in 1920" scenario would've been pretty interesting.  Not sure if Al Smith will be the candidate yet though, in fact I'm not even sure who will be the candidate yet.
I always found the rise of the Irish Catholic politician interesting, thus why I am usually biased towards Irish Catholic Democrats with libertarianesque views in my TLs.

1) I think Smith 1920 would be sweet. However, I would call him a "Paleo-Conservative" more than a Libertarian per se...

2) Is the list of Presidents TR for five straight terms, or Tr for two, Taft for one, and TR for two?

3) There were other Irish Catholic politicans such as JFK in the 60's that weren't as isolationist as Smith in the 20's. It would be interesting to see a Kennedy-like Nationalism collide with a Smith-like Isolationism. Both were Irish Catholic somewhat Conservative Democrats from different eras, but Kennedy was a Cols-Warrior.

I'm really just babbling on and thinking out loud with this post

Please do when you have a thought, speak it.
It's been really helpful so far.
Seriously you deserve "newcomer of the year" status or something.

And Taft had term in between 1909-1913 and then TR again.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I know it's extremely unlikely, but I just have to shout it out:

Smith/Coolidge 1920!!!!

Yeah, I know it won't happen.

[Mechaman]

So yeah, something came up last night.  So yeah if things go the way I think they will go in the next few weeks.....well I might be a little distracted from making TLs.

I mean I will try, but if it comes down to a random political forum and the ladies........no contest.

[Mechaman]

Alright I'm finally going to make an update for this TL sometime before I leave for Thanksgiving break on Tuesday.  But first here are the results from the 1912 and 1916 Presidential Elections:

1912
Republican:
Incumbent President William Taft stands down so former President Theodore Roosevelt can run for president.  California Governor Hiram Johnson is nominated for Vice President.
Democratic:
New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson with the endorsement of Bryan and other influential anti-Tammany and anti-Bourbon Democrats wins the nomination over Tammany Hall favored Champ Clark of Missouri.  Indiana Governor Thomas R. Marshall is nominated Vice President.
Map:

Former President Theodore Roosevelt (New York)/Governor Hiram Johnson (California) Republican Party 53.97% PV 350 EV
Governor Woodrow Wilson (New Jersey)/Governor Thomas R. Marshall 42.15% PV 181 EVs(Indiana)

1916 Election:
Republican:
President Roosevelt is renominated for a second term by the Republican Party as is Vice President Hiram Johnson.  US involvement in the War of European Powers is pretty unpopular but Republican Party is confident that the progressive reforms passed by the administration will help them win.
Democratic:
Governor William Gibbs McAdoo of New York wins the nomination with the support of the Bryanite faction of the Democratic Party.  To ease tensions with the traditional Bourbon wing of the Democratic Party he names Thomas F. Bayard, Jr., Congressman of Delaware, as his Vice President.
Map:

President Theodore Roosevelt (New York)/Vice President Hiram Johnson (California) 48.17% PV 270 EVs
Governor William Gibbs McAdoo (New York)/Representative Thomas F. Bayard Jr. (Delaware) 49.56% PV 261 EVs

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

An update!! Hoping for the 1920 election!

[feeblepizza]

Waiting for 1920...hopefully Cox can beat Johnson

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Waiting for 1920...hopefully Cox can beat Johnson

1920's gonna include "Senator" Al Smith, that's for sure.

[Vazdul (Formerly Chairman of the Communist Party of Ontario)]

What were the closest states in 1916?

[Mechaman]

What were the closest states in 1916?

California: about 1,100 votes (I'm bad with numbers)
Washington: give or take about 800.
Pretty much the West Coast.