1956 Conventions (The Hearse at Monticello)

Prevented from enacting his domestic agenda by the Populist majorities in Congress, President John W. Bricker instead focussed his efforts on winning the Cold War. His administration scored an early victory when, in the Summer of 1953, the North Koreans agreed to an armistice that preserved the division of the Korean Peninsula along the 38th Parallel, effectively preserving the status quo. While the talks had begun under President Roosevelt, Bricker took most of the credit for stopping the "Red Menace" in its tracks, leading to a burst of popularity that proved, as was soon seen, impermanent.

In early 1953, Bricker launched what would become known as the "Loyalty Commission", a panel of roughly a dozen prominent Congressmen tasked with rooting out alleged Communists agents operating within the United States. Headed by Congressman Joeseph McCarthy, the Commission brought charges against a number American citizens, from government employees to journalists, that it claimed were in the employ of the Soviet Union and the American Communist Party. While some of these individuals had at one point been Communists, the vast majority were innocent of all but opposition to McCarthy, who quickly began to use his influence to target political opponents. Those who did not confess their guilt to the Commission and assist in identifying other "Communists" risked loosing their jobs or worse. The rising tide of fear only served to fuel McCarthy's purge, with all but a few in Washington afraid to public oppose him.

Then, McCarthy made the biggest mistake of his career and subpoenaed Dwight Eisenhower.

The rational for attacking Eisenhower was clear enough. The hero of World War II, by 1954 Eisenhower was being spoken of as a possible candidate for president in 1956, and his Kansan background made him likely to run as a Populist. There was a large incentive within the Bricker Administration to take Eisenhower down, and some - such as Vice President Nixon - were privately scheming to soil "Ike's" reputation. Instead of eliminating Eisenhower as a potential candidate, however, his hearing - the first of the Commission's interrogations to be televised - turned public opinion decidedly against McCarthy and President Bricker. Eisenhower was hailed as a martyr, McCarthy a power-hungry lunatic. In the 1954 Midterm elections, the Populists made noticeable gains in the House (McCarthy lost reelection by a margin of 13%) and picked up several seats in the Senate. The following year, a ruling written by Chief Justice Thurgood Marshall found the Commission's proceedings to be "an unconstitutional abuse of executive power".

Despite this, Bricker is attempting to distance himself from McCarthy's tactics in his bid for reelection, hoping that his lack of direct involvement in the day-to-day proceedings of the Loyalty Commission will save his political career. He is opposed by Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy, a liberal American who has attacked Bricker for instigating a "witch-hunt". On the Populist side, Dwight Eisenhower is seen as the presumptive front runner for the nomination, though some consider him too conservative to accurately represent the party's liberal base. Opposing Eisenhower are a myriad of Senators and Governors, including Lyndon B. Johnson, who has called for aggressive anti-poverty measures; Estes Kefauver, leader of the liberal Populists; and J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, one of the earliest public figures to openly oppose McCarthy.

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