1904 Conventions

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Alfred F. Jones
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	1904 Conventions « on: May 24, 2014, 10:23:29 PM »
	« edited: May 24, 2014, 11:32:49 PM by Senator Alfred F. Jones »

The year 1901 was possibly the most exciting thrill-ride (in historical perspective of course; at the time it was quite scary and confusing) in American history yet, with four (yes, folks, four!) Presidents taking office through the year. The commotion all started when President Ignatius Loyola Donnelly became the second to die in office, weary after a tough campaign and an exceedingly narrow victory. His lack of a Vice President would normally have caused the office to go to House Speaker Jerry Simpson, but the man (totes cool though he was) was born in Canada, and President Crockett's attempt to annex the nation's neighbor to the north in 1858 literally went down in flames. Therefore, Sen. Marion Butler of North Carolina, the president pro tempore and an avowed white supremacist, took office as a caretaker for the next three months or so. His term was rather uneventful, to the joy of most of his party, and he quietly made way for Wharton Barker to assume an office he didn't particularly want and pass some law about increased mail delivery for farmers (although he did revive the old Populist crusade for a federal income tax to no result). Much to Barker's relief, he would be shot six months into his term, and much to the chagrin of both the People's Alliance and quite a few Unionists, new Speaker Thomas Brackett Reed was sworn in as President.

Reed's tenure was an interesting one, harkening back to Charles Francis Adams (in a good way!) by focusing more on civil rights than on economic issues. However, the majority of his own party (and a not-insignificant number of Populists) were opposed to all them Negroes getting the vote, and so Czar Reed was forced to due what he did best: shove aside his detractors and do whatever he damn well wanted! His deployment of federal troops into the South to stem the rising tide of the organization known as the Ku Klux Klan (started by Confederate veterans in 1847) was met with hostility by many in Congress but warmth from the African-American community. Sadly, President Reed passed away in late 1902 (I'm starting to sound like a broken record, aren't I?), and a far different man took his place.

Ex-Speaker (now President) Joseph Gurley Cannon was not a very nice man, and it showed. His first executive order was the removal of all of Reed's precious troops from the South, and his first successful policy achievement was the reprivatization of the railroads (an act which led to the first unsuccessful assassination attempt in 1903 at Haymarket Square), and although most of his other policies (an anti-union crusade and the repeal of the eight-hour day) were too radically right-wing for even his own party, he did show the People's Alliance that he was in charge here and he didn't give a damn about the workers. He has not made very many friends in Washington during his term (understatement of the year there), but he has vowed to press on.

Challenging Cannon for the nomination of the shrunken party is Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, who is equally right-wing on economic issues, but wishes to restore the so-called "Reed Brigade" to its former duties. He is also, however, quite xenophobic and harbors some sort of deep hatred towards what he calls "hyphenated Americans." While many of William McKinley's supporters have asked him to run, he has stated that he will decline to serve as either President or Vice President unless forced by an assassin's bullet or some such thing. Frederick Gillett (also a Bay Stater) is running as well. Though he agrees with Cannon's policies, he has called for moderation of his alienating tactics and was allegedly overheard by this reporter to have told the President to "calm your sh**t" over the telephone.

The People's Alliance has gotten quite interesting indeed. While the agreed-upon frontrunner is the fiery, deeply Christian William Jennings Bryan, a Populist since the days of Donnelly and one of the late President's strongest allies, he is receiving a challenge from upstart Representative Eugene V. Debs. A hero to the national labor movement for his role in the Pullman Strike (where he won several concessions for the railroad workers' union with the aid of President Vance's lip service), Debs is taking his message all across America that outright socialism is the best way to go, noting that the near-deified President Donnelly had supported worker cooperatives and nationalization of industry, and stating that "the bosses must be held accountable to the working people." The idiosyncratic freshman Representative and (more importantly) newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst is running as well, but no one really knows what he's trying to do (though he has mumbled a bit about foreign policy and intraparty corruption). Finally, there is Senator "Pitchfork Ben" Tillmann, a devoted Watsonite just like Butler (i.e. crazy racist, to use the historical term) and an orator to match Bryan shout for shout. The name "Pitchfork Ben" was given to him when he stated he'd stab Cannon with a conveniently-placed pitchfork "like a ing bitch" if he repealed Donnelly's collective bargaining law at a campaign rally.

Remember all those Unionist enemies of President Cannon? Well, one of them was 1900 nomination runner-up Theodore Roosevelt, who resisted calls to name his party the Progressive Party but declined because "who would ever call a party the Progressive Party?" He is calling for many general left-wing goals (the main one being attempting to "bust the trusts" in monopolized industries instead of the outright nationalization called for by many in the PA), but has been met with suspicion by both the right and the left; his old party calls him a traitor while the PA calls his party "a collection of Moderate Heroes", to quote Debs. Though Roosevelt is near-certain to be nominated, he is challenged by Cheesehead Governor "Fighting Bob" La Follette, who hates him for some reason, and Iowa Governor Albert B. Cummins, who is running on the fact that, like Zebulon B. Vance and James B. Weaver, his middle name is Baird. He also hopes to be a compromise candidate or something like that, but no one actually cares about him.

Well, I wrote that all up just for you folks, so I hope you like it. Have fun!

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