1944 Primaries

In an election marked by suppressed turnout compared to years past—presumably because of the center being disenchanted with the hardliners on both sides—1940 would nevertheless hand over a victory to Robert Taft, who defeated Henry Wallace by a solid margin. However, the American Union had more convincing gains in Congress, solidifying their Senate majority and obtaining a House majority by twelve members. Taft and the AU had successfully painted Wallace as a communist sympathizer and they were also able to connect the Workers’ Party as a whole to the same type of radical politics to voters. With this and the public’s general approval of the last four years of AU leadership, conservatives got a better opportunity to push their agenda forward.

During his inaugural address, President Taft stated that “the American people are eager for a responsible and efficient government,” and promised to achieve just that. No time was wasted, as Taft pushed major proposals through in the first few months of his term. The oil industry was denationalized, something that President Vandenberg was unable to do due to a split Congress. In addition, farm subsidies were cut by more than half and a number of government bureaucracies—namely those related to economic and labor issues—were audited and subsequently downscaled or dismantled. The income tax would also be slashed for low-income earners, which Taft called “a great victory and much deserved for the least fortunate among us” in a radio address to the nation. Finally, by the end of the year the Coolidge-era immigration restrictions were reinstated, fulfilling one plank of the AU platform that was especially desired by the former Bull-Meese.

1942 saw the ratification of the Women’s Suffrage Amendment in February after years of delaying, guaranteeing the right to vote for women across the country. The year would also showcase the most controversial aspect of Taft’s term with the passage of the Hartley Act, a major piece of legislation that overhauled policies toward labor unions, prohibiting many kinds of strikes, heavily restricting union shops, and cracking down on communist influence within the labor movement. The WP stood firm in opposition to the bill in Congress and several moderate AU members defected from the leadership to also oppose it, although heavy whipping efforts from President Taft and Vice President Garner allowed for the bill to pass through both houses, albeit quite narrowly. The bill was intended to weaken the influence and deter the motivation of organized labor, but labor leaders threw all they could in the midterm elections and helped the WP to win seats from AU, even reclaiming the House. Following the midterms, Taft would no longer be able to claim any substantial victories with the WP-controlled House refusing to hold votes on most bills from the minority party.

Taft maintained his non-interventionist stance for his presidency and refused to intervene in what would become known as the Second World War, believing that “we must address our problems at home above meddling in world affairs.” Although some believed that an Axis power such as Japan could strike the country, nothing west of California was annexed, making such a scenario unlikely. In Europe, the Allied forces played defense, determined to prevent Nazi Germany from making additional land acquisitions. The Soviet Union joined the Allies in 1941 and became a major player in the conflict along with Britain and France. Momentum would not be on either side for the moment, as fighting had resulted in a relative deadlock with millions of casualties across the continent. Taft wished for the Allies to prevail but did not send American troops in, nor did he directly supply weapons and economic aid. Taft had increased the size of the Navy, though, in the hope that a stronger national defense would scare away potential attacks on the US. Public opinion remained on Taft’s side regarding the war, although a growing number of politicians from both parties expressed the urge to intervene.

The incumbent President is running for reelection on his domestic achievements over the last four years, promising to keep the country out of war and that the slow but steady economic recovery from the Great Depression will continue under his watch. However, Taft, who was the insurgent candidate in 1940, faces strong opposition from the moderate and internationalist wings of the party who find much to disagree with on his policies. His most notable foe is former President Arthur Vandenberg, who is seeking a comeback and who, like Taft, once favored staying out of WWII until the atrocities of the war reversed his opinion. Vandenberg is now hitting the President hard for not doing anything to combat Hitler and his allies. New York Governor Thomas Dewey is considered the de facto leader of the moderate and liberal Unionists. He is a committed internationalist and he has called Taft’s lassiez-faire policies “dangerous for social progress.” Wendell Willkie, a businessman who has never held elected office, is attempting another run for the presidency and is distinguishing himself from the frontrunners, Taft and Vandenberg, as the most hawkish on the war issue and consistent from the beginning. Although the conservative wing of the AU has gotten more clout in recent years and Taft’s support runs deep, it remains to be seen whether he can easily fend off his primary challenges in the convention.

The WP, having buyer’s remorse over their last nominee and distraught by Taft’s presidency, is committed to finding a more electable candidate to take back the White House. A number of different candidates would place their names for nomination, representing many segments of the party. Former Vice President Matthew Neely is running again, hoping that enough leftover goodwill from his work in the La Guardia administration will hand him the nomination this time around. Speaker of the House Daniel Hoan is running as the establishment’s preferred choice, spearheading the effort to repeal the Hartley Act and focusing on introducing sweeping new public works programs in his platform. Senate Minority Leader Alben Barkley is another establishment candidate and is hoping that his connections in Washington, along with his reputation as a loyal warrior for the party, will allow him to prevail at the convention. Harry Truman, a little known Senator from Missouri and a haberdasher by trade, is seen as a moderate and is strongly supporting entering the war. Harry Byrd represents the declining but still prevalent Southern conservative wing of the party and is a noted hawk on the war issue as well as an unflinching segregationist. Henry Wallace, the party’s most recent nominee, is making another attempt at entering the White House, running on the same platform as last time but now vehemently criticizing Taft every time he can for “his radical proposals against the common man.” Claude Pepper is perhaps the greatest longshot candidate of the field, and like Wallace, he has been perceived as being too close with the Soviets. Last but not least, California’s former governor Upton Sinclair is running an insurgent campaign, focusing on the issues that hit progressives closest to home and that made him a household name as a muckraker decades ago.

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