President V President 1920

[Lincoln Republican]

President Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey decides to seek a third term, and is nominated by the Democrats.  Wilson is in good health.  Vice Presidential nominee is Governor James M. Cox of Ohio.

(In reality Wilson was physically immobile at this time)

Former President Teddy Roosevelt of New York wants to be President again, and is nominated by the Republicans.  Roosevelt is in good health.  Vice Presidential nominee is Governor Frank O. Lowden of Illinois.

(In reality Roosevelt died in 1919)

What happens in this election?

Maps?

[Lincoln Republican]

Well?

[Boris]

Wilson was largely unpopular at that time, I believe. Roosevelt would probably slaughter him.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Of course Roosevelt would win.

I always get a kick out of the fact that the other President Roosevelt lost his home state (as Democratic VP nominee) in that election by 38 points.

[Lief 🗽]

Roosevelt would win, and I'd voted for him.

[CPT MikeyMike]

Actually, Wilson was hoping he would be renominated for a third term despite the stroke. He seriously thought about seeking a third term because he was absolutely (and stubbornly) determined to get the League of Nations passed. So to have Wilson running in 1920 is not as far fetch as some may think though I bet Thomas Marshall is Wilson's running mate.

As for TR, that is also not far fetched. By early 1919, the Republican party was rallied behind TR from the conservative politicians like Taft and more progressive Republicans like Hiram Johnson. Seriously, only his death prevented TR from running for president in 1920 and receiving the nomination.

As for the election, it would have been a landslide for TR. Wilson got lucky twice in his victories. In 1912, it was a split in the GOP that got Wilson elected and in 1916, it was Hughes that shot himself in the foot by not meeting with California Governor Hiram Johnson costing Hughes the election. This time nothing would save Wilson from defeat.

Roosevelt: 417
Wilson: 114

TR probably gets around 65% of the national vote.

[Lincoln Republican]

CPT Mikey, I agree with your map.

But there is simply no way that Vice President Thomas Marshall would have signed on for yet a third run for Vice President.  At age 66, he would want to retire from public life, after a long career in politics.

Besides, he would not want to be Vice President for four more years, in the extremely unlikely event that he and Wilson were to win.  Don't forget, in those days, the Vice Presidency was not the powerful office it has become of late, and back then, it was not the stepping stone to the Presidency, unless the President died.  In those days, a Vice President was chosen largely to fullfill the constitutional requirement, presiding over the Senate, and little else.

No, Marshall would not have run for a third term as Vice President.

In real life, after Wilson's stroke in 1919, which almost totally incapacitated him, Wilson was, with few exceptions, kept out of the presence of Vice President Marshall.  Wilson's was the most serious case of Presidential disability in history.  The Vice President should have been kept very close to the situation, and should have assumed some Presidential duties.  Instead, Wilson's wife, Edith Wilson, selected issues for the President's attention, and delegated other issues to Cabinet Secretaries.

After being treated with such disdain in real life, even in this theoretical scenario, I would imagine that Wilson would not hold Marshall in high regard.

When FDR in fact ran for a third term in 1940, he selected another Vice Presidential running mate, instead of the Vice President he had for 8 years.  Wilson would have done the same thing.   

   

[gorkay]

I agree that Marshall would not have run again. I also agree with the consensus that TR would have won in a landslide against Wilson or any other Democrat, probably by an even greater margin than Harding beat Cox.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

TR wins 384-147.

[bonncaruso]

I am sure Roosevelt would have won.