PPT Spiral
Spiral
Atlas Politician
YaBB God
Posts: 4,534
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« on: November 06, 2014, 03:30:40 AM » |
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« edited: November 06, 2014, 04:24:09 PM by Speaker Spiral »
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For many Americans, they were getting used to hearing “President Kefauver” for the next four years. However, that would not unfold, as President Taft came from behind to achieve an improbable victory. After trailing by double digits for most of the year, Taft gradually brought his party’s supporters together, and by the fall the two tickets were in a virtual tie. Taft did this by promising to end the unpopular war in Korea and achieve peace in the region, already in the process of scaling back forces. In addition, a fair amount of voters were turned off by Kefauver’s more radical proposals on civil rights, particularly in the South, and crucial votes in competitive states flocked to Taft, who was seen as more moderate on the issue. Ultimately, the president narrowly won, though it still would be an impressive result given how he was practically left for dead some months before.
Emboldened by winning a third term—a task only achieved by Jefferson and Adams prior—Taft set out to make use of it, but was impaired by his now failing health. His last major accomplishments in office would be the full withdrawal of American forces in Korea and the signage of the Korean Armistice Agreement, which halted fighting between the two sides and provided defense support to the South. Only days after the armistice became official, on July 31, President Taft succumbed to cancer and handed over the office to Vice President Eisenhower. The former general put his immediate efforts into keeping the nation stable, reflected by a television address in which he stated, “While we are dealing with tragedy at home and a growing communist threat overseas, we must be resilient as a people and forge on as a world leader.” Within the next month, Eisenhower would select Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., grandson of a failed Union Party nominee and a loyal ally to the president, for the vice presidency and was quickly confirmed by the Senate.
President Eisenhower would not be as ardent of a conservative as his former boss on domestic affairs, having approved an expansion of Social Security and condoning other federal programs introduced by the WP in Congress. The president often clashed with conservative leadership in the AU, who he thought was too unwilling to compromise. Foreign affairs, Eisenhower’s favorite subject, would instead dominate his presidency. In stark contrast to many of Taft’s policies as president, Eisenhower pushed his party and the rest of the nation in a more internationalist direction. The US was admitted in NATO in January 1954 after Taft’s previous refusal to enter, and the US become more involved in the UN as well. The Eisenhower years are also considered by historians to be when the Cold War arrived in full force, with worse relations between the US and the USSR than ever before. Through a policy of containment, Eisenhower sought to undermine Soviet influence in regions where communism was creeping up, highlighted by covert CIA operations in places such as Iran and Guatemala. Research on nuclear weapons and energy was also ramped up in response to the Soviets devoting more of their efforts toward building a nuclear arsenal. Anti-communist sentiment continued to reach new highs, exacerbated by figures such as Joseph McCarthy, though he was eventually censured by the Senate and swiftly discredited following flagrantly false accusations made toward top-ranking members of the Eisenhower administration.
Eisenhower earned the reputation of a popular leader, with many Americans applauding his bold actions against communism and for presiding over moderate economic growth. His high approvals contributed to the AU’s strong performance in the 1954 midterms that gave them back the House. However, it all came to an end on September 24, 1955, when the president had a severe heart attack and passed away later that day. With the nation grieving over the death of another president after only two years, Henry Cabot Lodge stepped up to center stage. The newly minted President Lodge faced many challenges from the start and received sympathy from the public initially, hopeful that he would heal the country and keep it on a good path. Senate Majority Leader William Knowland was chosen as Lodge’s successor as Vice President, and the president announced that he would be seeking a full term around the beginning of the new year, campaigning on continuing Eisenhower’s legacy. However, he would face opposition in his own party from all sides, with many considering him to be an illegitimate leader since he was never elected for president or for vice president. Ohio Senator John Bricker, who was a staunch ally of President Taft, is running as the full-spectrum conservative and is hitting Lodge hard for “conceding to the liberals” on many issues. Richard Nixon, who has become the Senate’s leading anti-communist after McCarthy’s fall, is mainly campaigning on foreign policy and national security and is arguing that he would be a more effective leader for the Cold War era than Lodge. Governor George Craig has received attention for his reform-minded agenda in Indiana and while has clashed with conservatives, he is seen by party leadership as having much potential on the national stage. Finally, Senator Prescott Bush is openly running as the candidate of Wall Street and has received many questions about his financial connections to Nazi Germany.
The national climate for Lodge and the AU scared off some potential WP candidates who were considered top tier, including Hubert Humphrey and John F. Kennedy. Nevertheless, six candidates materialized, all determined to have their party come back to the White House. Estes Kefauver, still smarting after his unexpected loss in 1952, wants to get the nomination again and is seen as the frontrunner out of the field. Kefauver is running on more or less the same platform as last time, with a great emphasis on civil rights. The aging Sam Rayburn has garnered a reputation as a party man and a workhorse in Congress with a bit of an independent streak, and he is betting that he can lead the party to make a national comeback. Lister Hill of Alabama has built his career mainly on health-related issues and favors universal healthcare, increased veterans’ benefits, and expanded public education among other items. Richard Russell is running against the tide of civil rights as one of the few notable segregationists left standing in his party, though he is also running on being strong on national security. Averell Harriman held some ambassadorships under the Sinclair administration and is a respected voice on foreign policy within his party who wants to keep the pressure on the Soviets. Fighting for the spot of civil rights leader with Kefauver is Governor “Soapy” Williams of Michigan, who has undergone extensive efforts to reach out to blacks and is famous for refusing to extradite one of the Scottsboro Boys who had escaped from prison.
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