America and Onward 2.0

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

“With news of the panic in Boston reaching the Industry Party Convention in Philadelphia in a matter of minutes, the delegates too panicked. With break-off groups rushing to nominate different people, businessmen, Secretary of Law Adlai E Stevenson, and even the popular Secretary of George Marshall for President instead of Kennedy, Kennedy would nonetheless win re-nomination on the first ballot. However, with Vice-President Matthew M Neely announcing shortly after Kennedy’s re-nomination that he would not seek another term, different factions that had just been beaten at the ballot for President, began pushing their candidates for the Vice-Presidential nomination. Some even suggested the young and energetic Nelson Rockefeller who was at that point only 44 and pursuing a seat in the New York State Legislature after his time in appointed positions. However, Rockefeller, unaffiliated with party names except when giving endorsements, sent a telegram to the convention declining such an offer. Rockefeller, who, despite lacking a party to give his allegiance to, had a bright future, privately told his secretary Ann Whitman “I’m not signing on with Kennedy for one reason and one simple reason. He’ll lose. Of this I am sure. I have better ways to help my career than to attach myself to a doomed and unpopular man.” Rockefeller instead intended to use his time in the New York State Legislature to win the favor of local politicians and set up a run for Governor. Having served in national offices already dating to the late 1930’s, Rockefeller knew he would have to go local in order to build a staircase to the Presidency. Instead, the convention nominated the Progressive pleasing choice of Adlai E. Stevenson, Secretary of Law, for Vice-President.

Meanwhile, the Lincolnian Party Convention, originally a shoo-in for Taft, had, upon the second ballot, become a war with more moderate supporters writing in the name of Head of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower who had been a national hero since the days before the country had finally formed. Having commanded the field army that kept the peace between the loose alliance that would one days call itself the Atlantic Coalition, many had called on him as early as 1944 to run for President. However, the General was concentrated more on being a General. More moderate supporters, those who had nominated Thomas Dewey in 1948, were terrified that Taft might try to make unpopular moves such as gutting many of Kennedy and Farley’s domestic programs. Believing that political suicide, they hoped Eisenhower, a man with barely articulated political views, might come to their aid.

As the third ballot geared up, Eisenhower, having heard the news of his supporters, arrived at the convention. Eisenhower, consulting with Taft, assured him that he had no want for the Presidency. “However”, he said “Have respect for those down there that are hesitant about nominating you. Know that they too are the party.” With that, Eisenhower pledged all his delegates to Taft who, in turn, nominated Senator Ralph E. Flanders of Vermont, a moderate Conservative from New England, for Vice-President.

With that the Lincolnian Party set out with its ticket, facing the Industry Party ticket. Results, as they had been in the past, would be slow to come in. However, within two weeks following the election’s original date, from December 4th, to December 18th, it had become clear in most people’s minds that Taft was leading and leading with a clear margin. Moderate fears that Taft’s Conservatism would be too much for the Atlantic electorate were, at least at that time, proven trivial.

By December 28th, Taft had been declared the official winner and would move into the Executive Offices on Manhattan Island on January 3rd. With that, the Lincolnian Party had won its first Presidential election and had firmly established a multi-party system in the Atlantic Coalition, an event which had yet to transpire in both Texas and the Western American Republic."

-Atlantic. John Eisenhower

Legislature Minority Leader Robert Taft (OH)/Legislator Ralph E. Flanders (VT) Lincolnian: 130 electoral votes

President Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. (MA)/Secretary of Law Adlai E. Stevenson II (IL) Industry: 91 electoral votes

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

List of Presidents of the Atlantic Coalition

1. James Farley (Unaffiliated, Industry-Manhattan Island); January 1st, 1945-January 3rd, 1949
2. Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. (Industry-Massachusetts) January 3rd, 1949-January 3rd, 1951
3. Robert Taft (Lincolnian-Ohio) January 3rd, 1951-?

List of Vice-Presidents of the Atlantic Coalition

1. Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. (Unaffiliated, Industry-Massachusetts) January 1st, 1945-January 3rd, 1949
2. Matthew M. Neely (Industry-West Virginia) January 3rd, 1949-January 3rd, 1951
3. Ralph E. Flanders (Lincolnian-Vermont) January 3rd, 1951-?

List of Losing Tickets in Atlantic Coalition Presidential Elections
1944: Former United States Senator Arthur Vandenberg (Independent Conservative-Michigan)/Aviator Charles Lindbergh (Independent Conservative-New York), Former United States Senator Harry F. Byrd (Southern-Virginia)/Former Governor Charles Edison (Conservative-New Jersey), Former United States Senator Robert LaFollette Jr. (Progressive-Wisconsin)/Businessman Wendell Willkie (Progressive-Manhattan Island)
1946: Former United States Senator Arthur Vandenberg (Lincolnian-Michigan)/Former Governor Charles Edison (Lincolnian-New Jersey), Former United States Senator Robert LaFollette Jr. (Progressive-Wisconsin)/Former Governor Raymond E. Baldwin (Progressive-Connecticut)
1948: Secretary of Law Thomas Dewey (Lincolnian-Manhattan Island)/Governor Ralph E. Gates (Lincolnian-Indiana)
1950: President Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. (Industry-Massachusetts)/Secretary of Law Adlai E. Stevenson II (Industry-Illinois)

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

“Following the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Atlantic Coalition, Garner’s term would be marked by only a few major items. The legislature having been incredibly active during Garner’s first term, seemed to have fallen into the lull of “normalcy”. For the most part, the nation had been established. Over all, it would be much quieter and not even attempts to create political parties, activity that would be the ruin of Garner’s successor, would garner (no pun intended) much attention.

Beginning the Second Congress, Garner pushed only for the National Preparedness Act, which established an annual military budget which, that year, would include a total of 48,000 Lonestars to go towards long-term military development. Garner personally promised that next year’s budget would be much smaller in comparison, claiming that the NPA should be “At most, a once in a decade deal”. MacArthur, who had been eyeing the development of the South-East and the West with considerably more suspicion and attention than anyone else, was very pleased by its passage. Senate President Lyndon B. Johnson and nearly seventy-five percent of the Senate supported it, as well as well over the majority in the House.

Meanwhile, the domestic development budget wouldn’t see many increases during Garner’s second term. Instead of a large, pro-industry budget, industry had instead driven itself to fill the gap. Texas, a much more market friendly government than those on the Atlantic or Pacific Coasts, had allowed instead for the free market to work. For Texas, it had worked fine. With companies leading the way, cities like Houston became shining jewels of the American South-West which places like Los Angeles, Phoenix, and others were somehow never able to rival. Instead, the domestic budget was focused mainly on infrastructure maintenance, railroads and highways. In contrast to the much larger plans of those such as Lyndon B. Johnson and others, Garner quickly set a precedent of little government intervention in the affairs of business.

On December 17th, 1949, President John Nance Garner delivered, in the spirit of George Washington, his announcement that he would not be a candidate for the Presidency in 1950. With that, heir-apparent Vice-President Samuel Rayburn, a man who, despite not having held a seat in the Texan Congress, had been Garner’s right-hand man in everything, immediately entered the race. With his experience in politics as a United States Congressman dating back to 1913, having been Garner’s Chief-of-Staff during his first term, and being the Vice-President of four years, Rayburn had been practically bred for the office for the last two years of Cactus Jack’s term. Now, with an open field, the Vice-President announced that he did intend to run for the highest office in the land. However, the Vice-President, with the financial backing of wealthy Houstonians who hoped he would continue Garner’s policies and the political backing of the popular President Garner himself, Rayburn would surprisingly not be alone in the race for President. Running from the Left was Head of the Bureau of Justice James V. Allred of Montague who campaigned on larger subsidies to farmers as well as expanding the minimal regulatory laws. Surprisingly, in one of the greatest betrayals of Texan politics, Senate President Lyndon B. Johnson announced his endorsement of Allred. Meanwhile, in a campaign from the Right, came former one-term Congressman J. Everetts Haley of Belmont County. A historian and Conservative, Haley was far to the Right of both the more Centrist Rayburn and the more Liberal Allred. However, throughout the race, neither candidate would pose a chance of unseating Rayburn. Rayburn, with his mountain of money, mountain of publicity, and mountain of support, was able to overshadow his two opponents by large margins. Texas by then wasn’t set on a two-party, or any party for that matter, system.

On April 3rd, 1950, the election began. With Texans reporting to polling places across the nation, the second Texan Presidential election would begin. By the end of April, pollsters confirmed that yes, indeed, Vice-President Samuel Rayburn had been elected President of the Republic of Texas, by a large margin."

-A Texan History, James R. Perry

Vice-President Samuel Rayburn (Fannin County) 58%
Former Representative J. Everetts Haley (Belmont County) 26%
Head of the Bureau of Justice James V. Allred (Montague County) 13%
Others: 3%

Samuel Rayburn of Fannin County, the 2nd President of the Republic of Texas

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

All credit for the map goes to Dallasfan65!

List of Presidents of the Republic of Texas
1. John Nance Garner (Unaffiliated-Uvalde) June 6th, 1944-June 6th, 1950
2. Samuel Rayburn (Unaffiliated-Fannin) June 6th, 1950-?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

List of Presidents of the Commonwealth of Dixie
1. Huey Pierce Long (Populist-Louisiana) October 15th, 1946-February 1st, 1951
2. Richard B. Russell Jr. (Dixie-Georgia) February 1st, 1951-?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

"One of the first acts of Rayburn as President was to visit the refugee camps building up on the Western border. Families, streaminig in from Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Colorado, either seeking refuge from the elements, or seeking refuge from the Western American Republic, were forming their own communities along Texas' then-Western border. Wading through the tents and shacks that had formed around El Paso, Rayburn was surprised by the amount of people that waited to be accepted as citizens. "I have been to El Paso to day", Rayburn wrote to Senator John Marvin Jones, "I am at once disgusted and amazed. Disgusted by the horrid conditions that these people have put themselves in, and amazed by their determination. I have heard tales from these Arizonans and Nevadans and New Mexicans, if you will, of the atrocities committed by the W. A. R. I fear our own nation will one day be spurred to action against this alleged Republic which seems to seek nothing more than an extension of power and influence over its free-living neighbors." On June 18th, on a second trip, Rayburn would happen upon a man, well into his thirties. According to Rayburn's own records of the encounter, he had been shaking hands, hearing stories, and was in the process of wiping his forehead from the summer heat when this man approached him. Hello, Rayburn greeted him. "What's your name and where are you from?" "Barry Goldwater, and from Prescott Arizona." "Oh, well that's very nice." Rayburn, never a verbose man, was not looking for a conversation. However, the young man pressed on. "Will something be done about these atrocities?" "Eh, what do you mean?" "Mr. Rayburn, if you will, I mean, will something be done about this- this imperial power that seeks only to crush all things in its path?" "Well, people are in Austin, and there are discussions there about what exactly to do." "When I was in Prescott, the soldiers from the W.A.R. were talking about what an ungrateful bunch of barbarians we were. They though they were blessing us. Well let me tell you, there was no blessing in what those men did. Raping our town's women, taking of private property, re-distribution of resources, mainly to serve their purposes. Let me tell you, there are many men here today that'd be willing to come back there with weapons of our own. It's neither a strong military, nor a particularly effective one. Just a determined and barbarous one. Grant my people that." Rayburn was taken aback by the man's determination and what he believed viciousness. Writing in a letter to the piddling Texan Senate Council on Foreign Affairs, a committee formed in response to the the Week Long War, Rayburn re-iterated this conversation. "These new people on our borders, they carry the lust for vengeance that a son might feel against the man who had killed his family. I know not yet how they will affect our nation, but it is clear they will have an effect. I urge all of you to begin looking into the possibilities of establishing a home for these refugees, beginning conversation with the leaders of the W.A.R., and preparing for the possibility of war with the W.A.R." Rayburn saw something in Goldwater that day. he did not know what it was, but the entire country would one day call it "heroics" and "leadership". They would hear the name Barry Goldwater.

However, Rayburn's concerns, in the summer of 1950, were not with the situation brewing in what he would later coin as the "Sun Belt". They were with Congress back in Austin. Despite the attempts by Conservatives, moderates, and Rayburn allies, Senate President Lyndon B. Johnson would not be deposed. The same coalition that had delivered him to the Presidency of the Senate in the first place would keep him there. Rayburn, once a good ally and friend of Johnson, found that they were now sworn enemies and that he would have to ally himself heavily with Houston businessmen and their cabal of supporters in order to form a coalition that could be somewhat successful in passing legislation past "Legislature Lyndon". The greatest domestic endeavor of the Rayburn Administration would be the Trans-Republican Highway Act, creating a network of roads spanning the country, form the North to South to East and West. Some of these very roads would lead to the foundation for expansion to the North and West in his second term and beyond, with roads leading as far North as Oklahoma to the "de facto citizenry" up there. The bill would be in Congress for months with many on the Right, the so-called Hayleyites, claiming it would unbalance Texas' proudly balanced budget and give government far too much of a role. Meanwhile, Johnson, if only for the sake of spiting Rayburn, opposed it on the grounds that "It favors large Houston corporations far too much and does not provide funding for the small roads that the common man, in places far outside of Houston, relies on to go to church and delivers his crops to the supermarket on." Johnson, a master of folksy Texas Populism, seemed at his best railing against a plan that, had he been President, would have gladly supported. However, Johnson's strength was not eternal, nor was it entirely consistent, and on that issue he failed to entirely hault Rayburn as the bill passed on January 4th of 1951."

-The Last Stage of the American South-West, Randolph B. Campbell

"The conversation with Rayburn, though historians love to chalk it up as the moment that put him on the course to war with California, was no great, significant one. Rayburn may have written about it, but I served only as an example. From what I knew back then, he'd had the same conversation a dozen times that day. As far as I was concerned, I was one more voice in the many thousands of people piled up in his country's backyard, hoping for citizenship or at the very least, retribution. We had been driven from our communities by an immoral, unethical, unconcerned, over-bearing, and hostile force much larger than us and much better equipped to pummel a people into submission. As the unofficial Mayor of Prescott in those days, I was seen as a representative of my neighbors upon our arrival in Texas. My status as a prominent businessman and former city councilman helped me attain a certain amount of respect among what Rayburn would term "The huddled masses, lying destitute and in need upon our Western border, crying for justice, and not merely that, but crying as well for acceptance into this great land".

Wandering into urban El Paso to purchase some supplies to get the family through the week and to help out with some cheap odd jobs, I found myself wandering along a road adjacent to an air field. Intrigued, I wandered in. Texas was a much more lax country in those days. Today, the concern over rank, and officiality would be appalling to any man from this old Jew's time. Wandering in, I shook hands with an employee, wandering over to a one man plane. My old memory can't seem to remember the type, though apparently I did know the controls. With permission, I was able to fly for an hour or so. A glorious moment I'll never forget. I hadn't been in the cockpit of a plan since the preceding summer, a hobby I had been forced to leave behind as nearly the entire city of Prescott wandered East in search of the near legendary Republic of Texas. Touching down on the run way nearly an hour later, I climbed out. The crew member cried "We haven't had as good a flier here in a couple years! Where ya from?" "Arizona." "Well forget that, you're a Texan now!" I thought as he walked to buy me a beer, this could be home, at least for a little while."

-No Apology, Barry M. Goldwater

[Jerseyrules]

BUMP!  Great TL Cathcon; will there ever be a re-unified USA or a confederation of some sort? Maybe the Carribean joins Dixie?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Bump. Update may come soon. I was actually working on one, then when I looked at this thread I realized I had already covered the beginning of Rayburn's term.

[Jerseyrules]

Great TL Cathcon; will there ever be a re-unified USA or a confederation of some sort? Maybe the Carribean joins Dixie?

[Jerseyrules]

Goldilocks for president!  Of something!

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Moving into the Executive Offices, Taft intended to end the days of continued government expansion. While he had no intention of gutting a number of more popular programs, especially government housing, he did intend on slowing or stopping growth and easing away from some of the more excessive portions of Kennedy's domestic policy. In foreign policy, however, the shift would be more in image than in practice. Both Kennedy and Taft practiced a moderate foreign policy, choosing to follow a Washington-esque path of neutrality while continuing to build up the military--specifically the growing field of atomic weaponry. However, in image, Kennedy was much more aggressive on foreign policy than Taft. Years later, former President Kennedy would comment "I don't know where they get these ideas that I was some lover of war or anything like that. Hell, I was just as anti-war as Taft. Yes, I did have some more aggressive foreign policy goals in terms of the balance of power, but I never had any intention of sending the Atlantic Coalition to War, and you damn well know it." In assembling his cabinet, Taft would select the most talented names and faces in and out of his party.

Secretary of Diplomacy: John Foster Dulles (U-NY)
Secretary-Treasurer: Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (L-MA)
Secretary of Law: John W. Bricker (L-OH)
Secretary of War: Dwight D. Eisenhower (U-PA)
     Head of the Army: Charles E. Wilson (L-OH)
     Head of the Navy: Charles F. Adams IV (L-MA)
     Head of the Air Corps: Henry H. Arnold (U-PA)

While Taft went about laying out his domestic agenda and using his clout as one of the nation's greatest legislators to his advantage, in New York, another nationally known man was also working toward his goals. Nelson Rockefeller, who had headed the Transportation Corps in the mid-forties, was busy working his way up the ladder of the Manhattan island political hierarchy. Still at that point an independent and one that was being catered to by both sides, he played this to his advantage, earning meetings with higher-ups in the MH Industry party and the MH Lincolnian Party. Funding a number of works projects across the city and throwing around his family money, he made his face a well known one not only on Manhattan Island, but also in the neighboring New York, a state that once called Manhattan Island its own. The capital city at that point was busy recovering from the Panic of 1950 and public endowments like his earned him great popularity. In June of 1951, after seeing how unpopular the citizens of Manhattan Island still were following the Panic last year, he fell in line behind Thomas Dewey's moderate Lincolnians. Elected to the Manhattan Island State Senate later that year, he found himself well on his way towards his goal.

Meanwhile, in the skyrises above the Manhattan Island State Senate, President Taft found himself dealing with the national Legislature. While many among the ranks, especially among the younger, Mid-Western freshmen, were ready and willing to pass Taft's domestic agenda, a string of moderates from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Manhattan Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland proved to be the main opposition within the party. While themselves a small fraction, they, combined with the labor-controlled Industry, posed a problem to the Lincolnian agenda. The main leader was Christian Herter of Massachusetts, a "Deweyite". Even as the more senior Leverett Saltonstall of the same state worked to quell moderate opposition, Herter found himself rising in visibility as a leader of his fellow centrists. "We do not seek to endanger the poor, labor, or the stockholders. Nor do we intend to retreat and hide from the world. It is the goal of this caucus to find solutions that satisfy the entire nation, that successfully reduce the debt and deficit, and encourage a strong and robust economy." The proposals to come out of the small caucus were an anathema to both the Lincolnian and Industry party leadership. Party elders on both sides of the aisle such as John McCormack and Everett Dirksen, balked at the proposal of increased taxes, a small stimulus, an increase in regulations on the major industries, a restriction of the bargaining rights of public employees, and steep cuts in subsidies.

In mid-1951, the Lincolnians finally came together with a final deal. Cutting industry subsidies, keeping tax rates basically the same but for the middle class which saw a drop, an increase in tariffs, cutting of the corporate taxes that Kennedy had raised, destruction of a number of levels of regulatory and bureaucratic parts of Kennedy's domestic initiatives, a small drop in subsidies, and a large drop in military spending. With this, a coalition was cobbled together that passed what became known as the Atlantic Economic Re-Adjustment Act of 1951. While economists measured an initial negative jolt in response to loss of funding for a number of things, including expansion of the Transportation Corps, by 1952 as many would find out, the economy had recovered.

President Taft discussing the situation in Congress with Legislator Everett Dirksen (L-IL)

Meanwhile, members of Taft's foreign policy team were forced to deal with the loss of funding. However, given who Taft had assembled, there was barely any opposition to Taft's plans. Secretary of Diplomacy Dulles, one of the two holdovers from the Kennedy Administration, didn't care as long as funding for Atomic Research went through and there was no real threat to Atlantic security. Eisenhower and his department weren't upset at all. "This nation needs a balanced budget and some fiscal sanity above all else." The general view that had persisted throughout the Farley, Kennedy, and Taft Administrations had been that as long as Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia continued to tear into each other, the Western hemisphere was sage. For Taft specifically, he didn't view international events as any concern to his country.

At home in Hyannis Port, the former President Kennedy kept in touch with news through the newspaper. Bitter after his defeat and the betrayal of his party in 1950, the ex-statesman was for the most part refined to sitting by the water, either in a hammock or in a chair in the cool summer air. If he was going to be involved in any politics after that sham of an election, it'd be helping his boys get elected in their own rite. His eldest, Joe, had already served as Head of the Navy from June 23rd, 1947 to January 3rd, 1951. With that under his belt, Joe would be running for the National Legislature in 1952. Meanwhile, his second son John was working as a reporter for Hearst Newspapers and himself was keeping in the public eye. Bobby at that point was working as an attorney, retired from his time working as an aide to Joe McCarthy.

-Atlantic, John Eisenhower

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Anyone think I should continue this?

[Gass3268]

Anyone think I should continue this?

Yes! What's going on in Minnesota? I would assume that they would fit in better with the Atlantic Coalition then any of the other countries.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Anyone think I should continue this?

Yes! What's going on in Minnesota? I would assume that they would fit in better with the Atlantic Coalition then any of the other countries.

They have yet to be claimed, though I'd been considering putting them in the W.A.R. I'd be open to having them in the A.C. though. Right now, I believe the W.A. R has plans on annexing them.

[Jerseyrules]

Finish this!

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Beginning in President Warren's second term as President of the Western American Republic, expansion was the largest issue on his mind. There was trouble in Arizona, however, he was convinced that such troubles would resolve due to the superior military of the W.A.R. However, in the North, Dakota and Minnesota seemed prime for the taking and Hubert H. Humphrey as a representative of Minnesota seemed to be saying that, unlike in Arizona, no resistance would be meet and Western forces would be welcomed. With that, in early 1951, a motion to annex the areas once known as Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, and Wyoming passed by incredible margins.

With technology expanding and links between countries growing, the news soon reached President Taft in the Atlantic Coalition. While opposed to intervention in any number of foreign policy issues, Taft's cabinet was able to convince him otherwise in this case. With what was described as a very left-leaning government in control of the W.A.R. and news of previous attempts to forcefully gain territory in the American South-West, opposing the expansion with force was seen as the only realistic option. While Taft hadn't intended to be a war President, it seemed the only option. With the Atlantic military greatly reduced, especially in terms of ground troops, Taft would be relying on the Navy, the A.C.'s most powerful military branch. As Western troops marched or rode along highways towards their destination, Atlantic cruisers, battleships, and carriers from Wisconsin and Michigan began pouring into Lake Superior. As well, Wisconsin and Illinois' proximity with Iowa and Minnesota helped.

In North Dakota, Western troops gained support from the citizenry, which had become concentrated in small towns, reliant on commerce on the borders and communal sharing of crops. With citizens relieved at the idea of a larger government to take them in and help them with basic necessities, North Dakota was under complete Western control by the end of 1951. Meanwhile, Iowa, which had been pursued by the Atlantic Coalition as precious territory and a buffer with the Western American Republic, soon fell into Atlantic folds. Mostly Conservative farmers which had benefited much better than those in North Dakota thanks to access to markets in Illinois and Wisconsin and were of a different breed than those in the Dakotas, they welcomed joining with the Coalition against the "Californian Commies" that were rumored to be approaching.

Minnesota became the major battleground between the two growing countries. With Atlantic troops gaining ground in the Northern areas thanks to soldiers controlling parts along Lake Superior and Western troops having established control of the areas bordering the Dakotas, an uneasy peace and unofficial peace settled in. However, both sides naturally began attempting to take control of as much of the state as possible. On March 17th, 1952, shots were fired between Western and Atlantic troops in Central Minnesota. With word reaching back to both countries, Declarations of War were easily passed. However, the Western American Republic had the advantage in ground troops. With battalions trained for land battles going up against soldiers who had spent the majority of their time training for naval maneuvers, Atlantic troops only managed to hang on through the summer by emulating the Russians in the days of Napoleon, burning down towns and farms as they retreated North. Nonetheless, it was clear by September that the fight for Minnesota was over. Even so, the Atlantic Coalition had gained ground in the West with the seizure of Iowa. In peace negotiations in October, Presidents Taft and Warren agreed to the Lake Superior Treaty, made aboard an Atlantic battleship. In it, it was agreed that the Mississippi River would not be crossed by either side but for the granting of one new territory to each side, Minnesota to the W.A.R. and Iowa to the A.C. With that, the second military conflict the Atlantic Coalition had been involved in came to an end and Taft returned home to face re-election.

In Sacramento, President Warren celebrated the successful military and diplomatic feat. He appointed Hubert H. Humphrey Territorial Governor of Minnesota until its eventual admission as a state in 1953. The same was done for North Dakota. As well, during the time Western ground troops had been engaged in battle, the W.A.R. had taken control of Wyoming and Nevada. With this, Warren was proud to declare "victory" for his country in the negotiations. However, in the South-West, things weren't going as planned. Fighting in desert conditions, troops were faced with a number of problems including rebelling locals. In his auto-biography, published in 1965, President Warren would write: "It became the greatest mistake of my Presidency in assuming that any and all territory possible should be part of the Republic. I'm sad to say that death came to thousands of innocents on both sides due to my insistence on expansion into the South-West. Whereas the impoverished areas of the North had greeted us as saviors, we were treated as foreign belligerents by the residents of Arizona. I'm also sad to say that the military over-reacted, igniting a literal war in that area. Due to external events, it would soon spread."

The "external events" Warren referred to were taking place in the Republic of Texas. With refugees piling up along the Western border of the country and continual cries for action on behalf of those dis-placed, President Rayburn--caught in a stalemate in Congress over domestic issues with his chief rival, Senate President Lyndon Johnson--found himself pushed towards war. Finally consenting to the recommendation of his special committee, President Rayburn called upon Congress to issue a Declaration of War against the W.A.R. for "continued assault and aggravation of the liberties and rights of the residents of the regions formerly known as Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico." With Johnson stepping aside in a rare moment of  unity, the declaration passed.

In the refugee camps, registration for military service was the norm. With the knowledge that the Republic of Texas was taking on the task of fighting for their liberties and their land, over fifty percent of all males in the camps signed on, and that included Barry Goldwater. A pilot earlier in his life and the former Mayor of Prescott, Arizona, Goldwater was a leader in his community and a natural to take the reigns of leading the Arizonan First Regiment of the Texan Army into battle. Despite his longings for "a damn plane", the Texan Air Force didn't have the capabilities to fight in Arizona. So instead, Barry Morris Goldwater, at age 43, would be given the rank of Captain and fight on the ground with Arizonans and Texans a like.

Only in the last two years--incidentally, the first two years of Rayburn's term--had the Texan military seen any serious growth. Despite initial construction of naval vessels and tanks taking place along the coast, overall, Garner had let it stagnate. Upgrading it from the Texas National Guard of the days of the United States to a working and fully organized military, Rayburn--in conjunction of course with Douglas MacArthur--had accomplished something that alone earned him a place in Texas' history. With "Mac" himself leading troops on the trek from Texas to Arizona in mid-1952, one of the greatest wars of Texan history was to be fought...