The American Monarchy

[paul718]

Yes!  Exactly what I was looking for.  Thanks man, and keep up the good work.

[True Federalist]

I think Carolina's TLPA would be likelier to be CR than CL.  (Of course, unless butterflies have flapped TLPA's aren't in use yet.)  The abbreviation that would have been in use would have been Car. and when the Post Office Department came up with the TLPA's they based them on the earlier variale length standard abbreviations that had been in use (such as Tex. for Texas, which became TX.)  A side effect would be that California's TLPA would likely be CF, and CA wouldn't even be used to avoid possible confusion.

[Hashemite]

If it isn't too much work for you, could you tell me who are the current councillors from Upper Columbia, Madison, Winnipeg, Ontario, Quebec, NB, and Nova Scotia?

Who is Governor of Ontario? Quebec?

Thanks

[Lief]

Sorry I haven't updated in a bit. I'll update double this weekend (after midterms and essays) and answer Hashemite's very difficult questions () too.

[Lief]

The American Monarchy: The Election of 1954

The Liberals and ACU soon realized that they had made a mistake in bringing down Wallace’s government, as polls taken after his party lost confidence showed that the SDP remained incredibly popular.

April Nationwide Gallup Poll
Social Democratic Party: 45%
Liberal Party: 27%
Farmer-Labor Party: 12%
American Christian Union: 10%
Undecided/Other: 6%

Aware of their precarious state, the Liberals went into their late-April convention in Philadelphia dispirited and demoralized. By this point, Thomas Dewey was widely opposed as Party Leader; conservatives called him spineless, blaming him for rolling over to the SDP, while moderates in the party blamed him for leading the Liberal party in bringing down such a popular government. As such, Dewey was challenged by both conservatives and his own moderates on the first ballot, and came in a humiliating third place. Many Senators threw their hats into the ring, as did the Speaker of the House of California (the executive of the state) Earl Warren.

First Ballot:
Senator Richard Nixon of California: 342
Speaker Earl Warren of California: 201
Senator Thomas Dewey of New York: 179
Royal Councilor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois: 106
Senator John W. Bricker of Ohio: 100
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts: 85
Senator Fred A. Hartley, Jr. of New Jersey: 93
General Douglas MacArthur: 54
Senator Charles A. Halleck of Indiana: 31
Others: 9
Delegates Needed: 601

Richard Nixon, though immensely popular, saw the writing on the wall, and had not even put his name into contention, deciding to wait until the next election, when he might have a chance at winning the premiership. His first place showing on the first ballot was due purely to a draft effort. Douglas MacArthur’s votes were also due to a draft effort, as MacArthur wasn’t even attending the convention. Dewey, though pressured to drop out, refused. Warren, Lodge, Stevenson and Dewey gained support mostly from moderates in the party, while Nixon, Bricker, Hartley, MacArthur and Halleck were supported by conservatives. Before the second ballot, Richard Nixon gave a speech, declining to run for Party Leader, and avoiding endorsing any candidate.¹ Nonetheless, his supporters moved mostly to Senator Hartley, though Speaker Warren also gained some support from Nixon’s Californian and moderate supporters.

Second Ballot:
Senator Fred A. Hartley, Jr. of New Jersey: 443
Speaker Earl Warren of California: 257
Royal Councilor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois: 132
Senator Thomas Dewey of New York: 109
General Douglas MacArthur: 97
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts: 73
Senator John W. Bricker of Ohio: 49
Senator Richard Nixon of California: 23
Senator Charles A. Halleck of Indiana: 10
Others: 7
Delegates Needed: 601

By the second ballot, Hartley and Warren had emerged as the front-runners, and Dewey had collapsed. MacArthur continued to gain steam. The next few ballots were uneventful, and showed little movement.

Sixth Ballot:
Senator Fred A. Hartley, Jr. of New Jersey: 463
Speaker Earl Warren of California: 313
Royal Councilor Adlai Stevenson: 152
General Douglas MacArthur: 104
Senator Thomas Dewey of New York: 64
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts: 47
Senator John W. Bricker of Ohio: 32
Senator Charles A. Halleck of Indiana: 12
Others: 15
Delegates Needed: 601

Finally, before the seventh ballot, Thomas Dewey dropped out, and endorsed Councilor Stevenson. Before the seventh ballot, Douglas MacArthur also contacted the convention organizers, stating that he would accept a draft effort. This dramatically shook up the race, with Warren falling to fourth, and Stevenson becoming the moderate candidate of choice.

Seventh Ballot:
Senator Fred A. Hartley, Jr. of New Jersey: 323
Royal Councilor Adlai Stevenson: 313
General Douglas MacArthur: 282
Speaker Earl Warren of California: 205
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts: 60
Others: 17
Delegates Needed: 601

Before the eighth ballot, Senator Lodge threw his support behind Stevenson. MacArthur continued to gain, at the expense of Hartley.

Eighth Ballot:
Royal Councilor Adlai Stevenson: 401
General Douglas MacArthur: 354
Senator Fred A. Hartley, Jr. of New Jersey: 251
Speaker Earl Warren of California: 176
Others: 18
Delegates Needed: 601

Before the ninth ballot, Warren met with Stevenson and offered him his endorsement, in exchange for Senator Nixon (a close ally of Warren and a fellow Californian) becoming Deputy Party Leader. Stevenson accepted, and Warren publicly endorsed him. When the convention heard that Nixon would be Deputy Leader under Stevenson, the Nixonites flooded from MacArthur to Stevenson, allowing him to reach a majority.

Ninth Ballot:
Royal Councilor Adlai Stevenson: 656
General Douglas MacArthur: 302
Senator Fred A. Hartley, Jr. of New Jersey: 238
Others: 4
Delegates Needed: 601

Adlai Stevenson would, like Thomas Dewey before him, have to lead a fractured party into the July elections. Due to the close split in the party, the platform ended up vague and all over the map, and the Liberals lacked a clear message going into the election.

The other conventions were much less raucous. At the ACU convention, Harry F. Byrd’s leadership against Wallace’s budget and his attempts at civil rights legislation had made him incredibly popular, and he was re-elected by acclimation. Alf Landon stepped down at the FLP convention, retiring from politics. Philip La Follette, Senator from Wisconsin, replaced him. Also at the FLP convention, FLP delegates approved overwhelmingly a proposed alliance with the SDP. The two parties would become permanent allies, not running candidates against each other and standing in coalition in the Senate. Finally, at the SDP convention in Los Angeles, Henry A. Wallace was easily re-elected as the leader of the SDP. He promised the delegates at the convention that his next government would pass civil rights legislation and would shrink the bloated military budget, while continuing to invest in the American economy and the American worker. At the end of May, the Supreme Court handed down the landmark Gebhart v. Belton decision, declaring school segregation unconstitutional by a 7-2 vote. The FLP, Liberals and SDP all praised the decision, while the ACU harshly criticized it. Polls released in late May, after all four conventions, showed that the Liberals had eroded much of their support, losing many conservatives to the ACU.

Late May Gallup Nationwide Poll:
Social Democratic Party: 44%
Liberal Party: 21%
Farmer-Labor Party: 12%
American Christian Union: 16%
Undecided/Other: 7%

The Liberals, however, had much more funding than the SDP, and used the still growing medium of television to get their message out. Adlai Stevenson ran a strong campaign, and he was able to quell fears that the Liberals would repeal the SDP’s social programs. However, the conservative base of the party disliked him, keeping the Liberal percentage mired in the 20s throughout June. Two weeks before the election, General Douglas MacArthur endorsed the Liberal Party, giving them a solid bounce, and bringing many conservatives back into the fold. This, however, was not enough, and the SDP-FLP was still able to score a decisive victory in early July. The successes of Wallace’s government, as well as the strong economy, plus a fractured opposition, were the three main reasons that the SDP were able to win such a victory.


(Percentage of seats)

The Senate after the Election of 1954:
Liberal Party: 29.8% PV (-7.5%)  
      63 CS; 75 PLS; 138 Total Seats (-60)
Social Democratic Party: 45.2% PV (+5.3%)
      143 CS; 114 PLS; 257 Total Seats (+53)
Farmer-Labor Party: 11.1% PV (+4.7%)
      21 CS; 28 PLS; 49 Total Seats (+20)
American Christian Union: 13.2% PV (-1.9%)
      23 CS; 33 PLS; 56 Total Seats (-13)
Other Parties: 0.7% PV (-0.6%)
Total: 500 Seats

Though the SDP had a majority of seats in the Senate, they stayed true to their agreement with the FLP. Wallace appointed FLP Senators to his cabinet, and Senator Philip La Follette was made Deputy Prime Minister.

The Second Wallace Cabinet (July 1954):
Prime Minister: Henry Wallace (SDP-IA)
Deputy Prime Minister: Philip La Follette (FLP-WI)
Majority Whip: Lyndon B. Johnson (SDP-TX)
Secretary of State: Glen H. Taylor (SDP-LK)
Secretary of the Treasury: Harry S. Truman (SDP-MO)
Secretary of Defense: Philip La Follette (FLP-WI)
Attorney General: W. Averell Harriman (SDP-NY)
Secretary of Agriculture & Food: George Aiken (FLP-VT)
Secretary of Labor & Industry: Wayne Morse (FLP-OR)
Secretary of Business & Commerce: Sam Rayburn (SDP-MA)
Secretary of Health & Welfare: Tommy Douglas (SDP-MN)
Secretary of Transportation & Infrastructure: Darlington Hoopes (SDP-PA)
Secretary of the Interior & Environment: Agnes Macphail (FLP-ON) <sup>2

1</sup>In his memoirs, Nixon recalled that he specifically refused to endorse any candidates at the 1954 convention, either publicly or privately, so as to not anger any faction in preparation for his run for party leader at the 1959 election.
²Macphail, an FLP Senator from Ontario, was the first female cabinet member in United States history.

[izixs]

I remember taking the VP test a while back. I always seemed to get H. Wallace.

I'm curious as to if there will be any more states joining the union in this time line.

[Lief]

The American Monarchy: 1954-1957

When the Senate reconvened in August, Prime Minister Wallace had received a clear mandate from the American people in support of his economic policies, as well as his calls for greater voting rights and civil rights. During the summer, Prime Minister Wallace had met with King Robert III, asking him for the monarch’s support if he passed civil rights bills during his next term. To Wallace’s surprise, Robert was decidedly in favor of civil rights reform, inspired by the actions of George II, who some called “the abolitionist king.” The king pledged that he would lend military support to any civil rights bills, and promised that his appointments to the Supreme Court would only be men who were committed to the cause of civil rights, to build on the Gebhart decision. The meeting was kept private at the time, at the risk of tarnishing the new king’s image in the South. At the meeting, Robert III also revealed that he was somewhat wary of nuclear build-up, and wished to normalize relations with the British.

In August, debate began on the Voting Rights Act of 1954, which outlawed discriminatory voting practices, banning, among other things, poll taxes and literacy tests, and establishing federal oversight of election administration in jurisdictions and states with histories of discriminatory voting practices. The act also created a Commission on Minority Voter Registration, which was tasked with monitoring registration rates of minorities and to produce yearly reports on the results. In presenting the act to the Senate, Prime Minister Wallace pledged “a day when every American, regardless of his race, is registered to vote and exercises his God-given right regularly.” Harry F. Byrd called it “a disgusting, immoral and illegal extension of federal power”, but Adlai Stevenson indicated that his party would firmly support the bill. After a month of debate, the bill was put up to a vote in late September, passing by an overwhelming 393 to 105 margin. The bill was then sent to the Royal Council, where it was once again hotly debated. Eventually, it passed by an overwhelming 47 to 7 vote. By the end of November, King Robert III had signed the bill into law. 

While the Voting Rights Act was passed in the United States, Europe also saw great upheavals. In the United Kingdom, before the 1954 general election, Prime Minister Mosley indicated that he wouldn’t run for another term, having served for two decades. Some of his Tory opponents (and those within his own Labour Party) had accused him of becoming increasingly dictatorial, and his harsh revanchist rhetoric had begun to seem out of place in a world where Great Britain was once again a super power. In a televised address, Mosley celebrated that his 20 years as Prime Minister had “made Great Britain great once more.” The torch was passed on to Foreign Minister Harold Macmillan, who was narrowly defeated by Conservative Anthony Eden.

In 1955, King Robert III traveled to the Palace of Nations in Geneva, where he adressed the League of Nations. In a speech that would later be called the Age of Democracy Speech, Robert III laid out his vision for the world: “My friends, we have two choices: we can continue the bloodshed, the tyranny, and subjection of the past millenia of human existence, or we can make the next century an age of peace, of democracy, of freedom. If we embrace the doctrines of self-determination and of rule by and for the people, then in a century, when the history books are written, they will point to us as the founders of this era of democracy.” The speech was well received by some of the delegations, notably the Russians and British, but many in the fascist and communist nations of mainland Europe saw it as an insult. Robert III also traveled to the United Kingdom, where he met with King Edward VIII and Prime Minister Anthony Eden. Robert professed his desire that the two countries work together, and move beyond their history of hostility. Robert also pressed the British on working towards free elections in Southern China, but Prime Minister Eden was non-committal on the issue.

Back in the United States, Wallace was pre-occupied mainly with domestic matters, with Secretary Taylor and the King focused on foreign affairs. The budgets passed in 1955 and 1956 saw major military spending cuts, including large cuts in the budget for atomic weapon research, development and production. The Liberals and ACU were ardently opposed to these cuts, but Wallace was a strong leader, and was able to keep hawkish SDP Senators in line and pass the budgets. In 1956, Wallace continued with his civil rights agenda, with the Civil Rights Act of 1956.  The act would outlaw racial segregation in government insitutions and schools, as well as prohibiting discrimination in government hiring practices. The act would apply at the federal, state and local level. Some in the Senate argued that the act should go further, affecting private institutions or applying to gender-based discrimination as well. Wallace was warned by his cabinet and his advisors that, with the Royal Council elections coming up that fall, he should be careful not to over-reach. The 1956 act would be able to gain the support of the SDP, FLP and Liberals, and would, like the voting rights act, pass rather easily. After a few weeks of debate, again dragged out by Southern filibuster, the Civil Rights Act of 1956 was passed by an overwhelming 425 to 72 margin. It passed easily in the Royal Council and was signed into law by King Robert before the Senate adjourned for the summer.

In the 1956 Royal Council elections, the SDP and FLP campaigned hard, with the objective of holding on to their majority in the chamber. The Liberals also sought to make gains, and popular Liberal leaders like Adlai Stevenson, Richard Nixon and Douglas MacArthur stumped across the country. The ACU campaigned hard against the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts, primarily in the South, but also in some western and Canadian states, which were thought to be receptive to the states’ rights, anti-government message. In the November elections, the ACU increased their hold on the South, and the Liberals were able to make some gains at the SDP’s expense, winning hard-fought pick-ups in the critical swing states of Florida, Missouri and California. They also defeated a number of strong SDP challenges. In Illinois, the Liberals narrowly held on to Adlai Stevenson’s vacated seat. In Connecticut, Liberal Royal Councilor Prescott Bush narrowly won re-election, after a spirited campaign run by Lt. Gov. B.J. Monkiewicz, who attacked Bush for his ties to Planned Parenthood. Bush’s victory against a well-organized SDP campaign in a swing state set him up as a front-runner to challenge Adlai Stevenson in the next Liberal Party leadership elections.



The Royal Council after the Election of 1956:
Liberal Party: 21 Seats (+3)
Social Democratic Party: 22 Seats (-7)
Farmer-Labor Party: 3 Seats (nc)
American Christian Union: 8 Seats (+4)
Total: 54 Seats

Following the elections, there was speculation that Prime Minister Wallace would resign, though he brushed these off. As the November Royal Council elections took place, brief fighting broke out in Europe, when a communist group assassinated the German president, Rudolf Hess. The assassination came after two weeks of a coal miners’ strike. The government at first had been hesitant to crack down on the strike, as Mussolini and the other Tripartite Pact leaders had encouraged, but after the assassination, order in many major cities broke down, and the coal strike quickly became a general strike. Communists briefly seized control of Berlin and other sections of the country before Italian and French troops entered the country to restore order. By January 1957, the German Revolution of 1956 had ended, and Lothar Bolz, the former foreign affairs minister, was put in power. Trade unions and striking were soon prohibited, as was membership in communist or socialist groups.

In early 1957, King Robert III and Secretary Glen Taylor traveled to Asian, to oversee the first free elections in Japan and East China, and the transfer of power from the American military government to civilian rule. While Robert and Secretary Taylor were overseeing the transfer of power, the British shocked the world by detonating a hydrogen bomb, with thousands of times the yield of the fission-based bombs dropped during the war. Back in the Senate, Liberal Shadow Secretary of War Richard Nixon attacked the Wallace administration for allowing the British to advance so far ahead of the United States in nuclear technology. Senators from the ACU also attacked the SDP government for their military budget cuts. Opinion polls released at the time showed that Wallace’s government had lost much of its early support, with 47% of respondents approving of its performance and 43% disapproving. Polls also showed the Liberals narrowly beating the SDP/FLP coalition, 41% to 39%.

May 1957 Hypothetical Election Poll:
Liberal Party: 41%
Social Democratic Party: 33%
American Christian Union: 15%
Farmer-Labor Party: 6%
Undecided/Other: 4%

Nonetheless, Wallace pushed on, though did he allow the passage of the Weapons Research and Development Act of 1957, which doubled government spending on nuclear weapon research. Though this angered the dovish wing of his party (and the FLP), Robert III had pressed him hard on it. Moving on from foreign policy issues, Wallace turned again to domestic issues, eager to pass a national highway bill, which had the bipartisan backing of most of the ACU and many Liberals. During the summer recess, he met with his own cabinet and leaders from the Liberal party in drafting a comprehensive national highway act.

[Lief]

If it isn't too much work for you, could you tell me who are the current councillors from Upper Columbia, Madison, Winnipeg, Ontario, Quebec, NB, and Nova Scotia?

Who is Governor of Ontario? Quebec?

Thanks

Royal Councilor:
UC: W. A. C. Bennett (Lib)
      A member of the conservative wing of the Liberal party, and former Premier of the state.
MN: Ted Gardland (SDP)
      SDP Senator in the 20s and 30s, who retired and ran for the Royal Council.
WG: William Irvine (SDP)
      A member of the SDP old guard, and former Senator. Retired from the Senate before the '47 election, and then ran for the Royal Council.
ON: Arthur Meighen (Lib)
      Has been serving in the Royal Council since the early 30s, and is seen as the de facto Liberal leader in the body.
QC: Maurice Duplessis (Lib)
      Served as Governor of Quebec from 1938-1952, when he ran for and won the Quebec Royal Council seat. His political machine continued to control the seat until the 1954 elections, when the SDP took control of the State House and defeated Duplessis' candidate in the Liberal gubernatorial primary.
NB: John B. McNair (Lib)
      Former Governor, McNair retired from electoral politics in the 30s to serve as an adviser to the king. After King Henry's death he ran for the NB Royal Council seat.
NS: Henry D. Hicks (Lib)
      A lawyer and former State Senator.

State Executive:
Ontario: Speaker Ted Jolliffe (SDP)
      The SDP won state elections in 1936, and have been in power since then, though Ontario remains Liberal on the national level.
Quebec: Governor Jean Lesage (Lib)
      Succeeded Maurice Duplessis, and defeated the Duplessis-backed candidate in the Liberal primary. Though the SDP gained the state house, Lesage has been able to work well with them.

Also, please no one ask me to do this for other states, because it takes hours.

[Hashemite]

Great stuff, great update.

Thanks

[HappyWarrior]

What are politics of Maryland?  Its state executive and Councillor I mean.  Basically the same question as Hashemite just for MD. lol

[Historico]

Wow Leif, this is an awesome, thorugh tl./ I can't believe you have stuck with it so long but it is definatley worth it I do however have a few questions. So where does the actual Robert E. Lee bloodnline diverge from OTL, King Henry I or King Robert III? With American territories in Africa, what has happened with Liberia, as it was a site for American Colonization efforts of removing free blacks and I assue that the policy may have continued with the Virginia Planter class actually becoming a true aristocracy? Also what is going on with some of the prominent African Americans from OTL...Like Harriet Tubman, Fredrick Douglas, Blanche Bruce, WEB Dubois, Booker T. Washington, Paul Robeson etc? I think you need to do a segment on going over Civil Rights in America under the time of the Monarchy, since you seem to really not have touched on it at all. With the breakdown of the Different parties, who would be most likely to nominate an African American for the Prime Minister position? Also with America's close relationship with Germany ITTL, I assume that there is a federal department to take the amateur field of Rocketry and turn it into it a NASA like Analogue? Are we still around otl '50's technology level or is TTL's Americas behind or ahead of schedule? Keep it comming.

[Captain Chaos]

Where there any African-Americans serving in the Royal Council or Senate?

[HappyWarrior]

Lief we NEED an update.

[tallguy23]

Quick question: Does the monarch live in the White House?

[izixs]

...Or is it more of a ... White Castle?

[Kevinstat]

What's the scoop on Portugal at the present time (in your timeline, so the late 50s)?  (And could you give a brief rundown on its history?)  Is/has António de Oliveira Salazar reigning/reigned as dictator?  Is Portugal alligned with the Tripartite Pact (Italy, France and Spain).  Btw, could someone tell me what relations were like in OTL between the Estado Novo (Salazar's Portugal) and the Tripartite Pact nations and Spain?  What about Britain and France?  I know Portugal didn't enter WWII as they did WWI, even though  the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance signed in 1373 is still in force according to Wikipedia.

Is Germany largely a puppet state of France as suggested in your last world map or has Italian influence grown since Italian troops put down the German revolution?  What if any efforts did Hungary engage in during that uprising?  I'll have to look back to see whether the revolutionaries were communists (or at least not anti-authoritarian socialists) or of a liberal democratic nature (in which case Hungary might not have seen them as worth provoking the fascist alliance.  How are relations between Italy, France and Spain and any other not clearly puppet regimes largely alligned with them?

[MasterJedi]

We need an update!!!

[Kevinstat]

We need an update!!!

[CultureKing]

We need an update!!!

[Kevinstat]

We really need an update!

[MasterJedi]

You're not in the Senate anymore so you should have more time!

[ottermax]

Is this ever going to be updated again?

[Meeker]

A-hem.

[Californian Tony]

Maybe if I hadn't voted for him for Atlasia's President, Lief would have been able to give us further updates...

[Lahbas]

I have to say, this is one of the best timelines I have ever read. It rivals even those of Harry Turtledove, at least the Confederate one. (The Alien Intervention in World War II series was.....weird). And the fact you are doing this with only history as a base, makes it even more incredible. You should polish your writings, and begin releasing it as a series.