The American Monarchy

[Simfan34]

I just finished this and it's amazing. Do go on. Please

How fast are you at reading?

Very.

I think that was me, yes.

Figures. Weren't you also the guy who somehow was able to read through my monstrosity of a timeline "A Second Chance"?

[sentinel]

What you guys should really do is bombard whatever thread he's posting on...

His last post was yesterday here:
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=140458.msg3013170#msg3013170

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Just finished reading this! Such a disappointment to see it stop. I wanted to see what happened with George Wallace, Pat Buchanan, & Dick Nixon! If only if only...

[Lief 🗽]

The fact that you guys are so fond of this that you refuse to believe that it'll never be updated again, to the point of threatening basically writing fan fiction extending my internet forum timeline, might just have convinced me to maybe update it again.

Maybe. I'm very busy with other things that need writing (things that actually affect my life and my future), but I'll try and devote some energies to this. I'll probably be using the format in the most recent updates, instead of the textbook format, just because I the new way is closer to entertaining creative writing than the very boring (after having written for a century and a half of history) textbook way of doing things. But there will be maps, because I like maps, you like maps, and elections suck without them.

Also I still think it's strange that Richard Nixon and other historical figures would even exist at this point in my timeline, after so much history has been changed, but maybe I can imagine that the Richard Nixon in this timeline is not our Richard Nixon or even named Richard Nixon, but has a similar sort of character and world view, and we only refer to him as Richard Nixon as a sort of shorthand to make the story readable and understandable.

Also I have to re-read stuff because I've forgotten most of what happened.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Praise be! Thank you God!

Really glad to see you considering updating, and hoping that you do update.

As for your point about Richard Nixon, I agree that it's unlikely for the exact same person to exist with such a POD. However, it is, IMO, better to use real people than just start making people up. For one, there are no photos of these fictional people, two, it takes away from the background of knowledge that readers already have of the person, and three, it takes away from the "coolness" aspect of having _________ be Prime Minister.

[sentinel]

Praise be! Thank you God!

Really glad to see you considering updating, and hoping that you do update.

As for your point about Richard Nixon, I agree that it's unlikely for the exact same person to exist with such a POD. However, it is, IMO, better to use real people than just start making people up. For one, there are no photos of these fictional people, two, it takes away from the background of knowledge that readers already have of the person, and three, it takes away from the "coolness" aspect of having _________ be Prime Minister.

Using real people also gives the reader something to compare back to...like if Bill Clinton popped up as a conservative...etc

[Lief 🗽]

SOVIETS INVADE ITALY, GERMANY
-From The New York Times, September 12th, 1958


They attacked in the early morning. September the 12th. I still remember it. I was at my post, bored, smoking a cigarette, still depressed over the World Cup results, when I hear the sound of planes above me and the rumbling of tanks in the distance. Before I could report it, there were explosions, fire, smoke everywhere. The next few weeks were constant retreat. Before September ended we lost Venezia—eh, I guess they call it Velence now, right? Heh. Of course there was little the army could do. Before the Soviets invaded we were mostly focused in Libya and Ethiopia, or helping the French in their colonies, or “peacekeeping” in Germany.

And then, you know the Americans, they turn our fight into their politics.

-Saviero Esposito, interviewed for the documentary The European War of 1958, 2001


Nixon’s shtick—and you really only could call it shtick—about American honor and spreading democracy, all those vague platitudes, they had little effect on the campaign until the war in Europe broke out. Suddenly, somewhat unfortunately in my opinion, no one cared about the issues affecting them, the issues I was really passionate about, the issues I knew we could debate the Social Democrats on, head to head. Instead, every newspaper, every radio broadcast, every television broadcast, was WAR, WAR, WAR. And, just as suddenly as the war had begun, we had a double-digit lead in the polls.

-From A Man from Libertyville, Illinois: The Autobiography of Adlai Stevenson, 1968


Liberal Party: 42%
Social Democratic Party: 26%
American Christian Union: 14%
Farmer-Labor Party: 7%
Undecided/Other: 11%

-From Gallup nationwide poll results, released in late September, 1958


NED BROOKS: The election is tomorrow, in fact polls are opening in the North Atlantic in less than twenty-four hours. Who is going to be in charge of this country two days from now? Mr. Reuther, does the SDP have any chance?

WALTER REUTHER: Well my union’s going to be doing everything we can to turn out our members tomorrow, to deliver Glen Taylor the mandate he needs to keep this country on the right track. I think it’s shameful the way the media has hidden the real bread and butter issues of the campaign to gawk at the violence happening in Europe.

PRESCOTT BUSH: Excuse me sir, but that’s been precisely the problem with the SDP campaign. They seem content to stick their heads in the sand and ignore the international situation that they have so completely bungled! And now Europe is turning into a bloodbath. The American people are scared, and rightly so, and in these times of international turmoil they’re turning to the party of strength and leadership, and I believe we will see a large Liberal plurality or perhaps even majority tomorrow night. While the other parties were content to run away from the world, Nixon and the Liberals have from the beginning of the campaign presented a brave, pro-democracy foreign policy. And the American people are about to fully embrace it tomorrow.

-Meet the Press, October 5th, 1958


LIBERALS WIN PLURALITY IN THE SENATE
GAIN NEARLY ONE HUNDRED SEATS
-From The New York Times, October 7th, 1958


EUGENE MCCARTHY KEEPS SEAT
Senator McCarthy, after leaving the Farmer-Labor Party last year over its “dangerous” foreign policy, won re-election as an Independent yesterday, with fifty-eight percent of the vote, defeating Liberal and FLP opponents. He has indicated he will continue to caucus with the FLP.
-From the Star Tribune, October 7th, 1958


On election day, most pundits forecasted that the Liberals would win a comfortable 10-point popular vote victory over the combined SDP/FLP. When the results started coming in, however, it became clear that the SDP had closed the gap on Election Day, as the economy was still relatively strong, and most undecided voters broke to the SDP because of it. SDP numbers held up in the Liberal stronghold of the Northeast, as some moderates in the region were unwilling to vote for Nixon as Prime Minister, and Glen Taylor and the SDP were seen as a more moderate, safe choice. However, SDP numbers collapsed in the South, to the advantage of the Liberals and ACU. What doomed the SDP/FLP coalition were the results in the Midwest and West, however. The FLP’s base, still angry about its involvement (as part of the government coalition) in the government’s interventionist policy, didn’t turn out in sufficient numbers, causing the FLP to under-poll, its vote nearly dipping below the 5% threshold. By midnight, it had become clear that the Liberals had won, barely edging out the SDP/FLP with a plurality of +31 seats. The next day, Mr. Nixon would meet with Harry F. Byrd, the leader of the ACU, and negotiate a coalition agreement. Mr. Byrd, whose party had been out of government for nearly a decade, agreed, even promising to not oppose Mr. Nixon’s foreign policy, if his ACU had input on social and civil rights issues. Mr. Nixon agreed and announced his coalition cabinet in mid-October.


(shading based on percentage of seats won)

The Senate after the Election of 1958:
Liberal Party: 41.7% PV  (+11.9%) 
116 CS; 107 PLS; 223 Total Seats (+85)
Social Democratic Party: 33.6% PV (-11.6%)
86 CS; 86 PLS; 172 Total Seats (-85)
Farmer-Labor Party: 5.3% PV (-5.8%)
6 CS; 14 PLS; 20 Total Seats (-29)
American Christian Union: 17.3% PV (+4.1%)
 42 CS; 44 PLS; 86 Total Seats (+30)
Other Parties: 2.1% PV (+1.4%)
   1 CS; 0 PLS; 1 Total Seat
Total: 502 Seats

-From The American Encyclopedia of Politics, 2009

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Thank you Jesus! It's back! This can't even be expressed in words. ;D:D:D

[Vosem]

Thank you Jesus! It's back! This can't even be expressed in words. ;D:D:D

This is the first time fans have meant something since Family Guy came back. Love you, Lief.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

By the way, what are the Kennedys doing? It's hard to imagine Northern Catholics choosing between the Southern Protestant Party, the Northern Protestant Party, and the Western Protestant Party.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Just finished reading this! Such a disappointment to see it stop. I wanted to see what happened with George Wallace, Pat Buchanan, & Dick Nixon! If only if only...

You're obsessed with Pat Buchanan

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Just finished reading this! Such a disappointment to see it stop. I wanted to see what happened with George Wallace, Pat Buchanan, & Dick Nixon! If only if only...

You're obsessed with Pat Buchanan

How so?

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

Is Indiana a swing state in this tl?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Thank you Jesus! It's back! This can't even be expressed in words. ;D:D:D

[Napoleon]

Wow

[OAM]

I just want to say I'm a long time follower of this, lurking before I even had an account, and this story is absolutely amazing!  Reading the new update now!

[Lief 🗽]

By the way, what are the Kennedys doing? It's hard to imagine Northern Catholics choosing between the Southern Protestant Party, the Northern Protestant Party, and the Western Protestant Party.

I haven't decided what to do with the Kennedy's but I doubt I'll make them very important. Presumably one or two of them were killed in the Anglo-American War.

Catholics, with the exception of French Catholics, mostly support the SDP.

Is Indiana a swing state in this tl?

At the moment, yes. The SDP has a historical base of support in the state since Eugene Debs, though that's beginning to weaken and the Liberals and ACU are finding success.

[Lief 🗽]

NIXON ANNOUNCES CABINET
FORMER LIB LEADER STEVENSON TO BECOME STATE SEC
-The New York Times, October 25th, 1958


The First Nixon Cabinet (October 1958):
Prime Minister: Richard Nixon (Lib-CA)
Deputy Prime Minister: Harry F. Byrd (ACU-VA)
Majority Whip: William F. Knowland (Lib-CA)
Secretary of State: Adlai Stevenson (Lib-IL)
Secretary of the Treasury: Fred A. Hartley, Jr. (Lib-NJ)
Secretary of Defense: Harry F. Byrd (ACU-VA)
Attorney General: James Eastland (ACU-MS)
Secretary of Agriculture & Food: Russell B. Long (ACU-LA)
Secretary of Labor & Industry: Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (Lib-MA)
Secretary of Business & Commerce: John Diefenbaker (Lib-ON)
Secretary of Health & Welfare: Margaret Chase Smith (Lib-ME)
Secretary of Transportation & Infrastructure: A. Willis Robertson (ACU-VA)
Secretary of the Interior & Environment: Charles A. Halleck(Lib-IN)

-From The American Encyclopedia of Politics, 2009


Accepting Nixon’s offer to become Secretary of State was in no way easy. First of all, the man angered me to no end: he was a slick, western reactionary, and of course I still felt betrayed by the party after the convention. Looking back now, though it was the best and most fulfilling job I have ever had, though maybe if I had been Attorney General or Secretary of Defense, our nation wouldn’t be in this mess we are currently in. 

-From A Man from Libertyville, Illinois: The Autobiography of Adlai Stevenson, 1968


His Majesty brought me on to his team, as chief advisor no less, only a week before the Soviet bombs started dropping in Italy and Germany. Christ, I thought when I heard the news, what the hell have I gotten myself into? Of course, over the years, a lot’s been said about me… and His Majesty, a lot of lies and rumors and innuendo have gotten out. So I’d like to set the record straight here.

-Former Chief Advisor to King Robert III Robert McNamara, interviewed in the documentary Robert III, 2001
 

By November of 1958, combined Soviet forces had reached as far as the Po River in Italy. The advance was incredibly rapid, genuinely surprising both Soviet and Tripartite Pact leaders. However, in retrospect, the Soviet soldiers, at least through 1958 and 1959, were clearly the superior soldiers in training, equipment, leadership, and even numbers. French, Spanish and Portuguese troops did not start arriving in force in Northern Italy until December, as large numbers were tied up in Africa and Germany.

By January, the front had stabilized, and would remain roughly along the Po River until the spring, when a renewed Soviet offensive would begin. As winter stalemate ensued in Italy, and Soviet forces became bogged down in the mountains of Austria and southern Germany, the attention of both sides was turned to Africa. Soviet support for the rebel movements, which had been fairly covert through 1957 and early 1958, was redoubled after the war began, with Soviet troops taking beachheads on the Libyan coast in January of 1958. With beachheads secured, more troops (mostly from Hungarian allies and puppet states, with few of the more disciplined, more highly trained Hungarian units ever fighting in Africa) and more supplies for the rebels began arriving.

-From The Last Great European War, by Harry Hinsley


NIXON, HARTLEY RELEASE BUDGET

Prime Minister Richard M. Nixon and Secretary of Treasury Fred A. Hartley released the preliminary draft of the government’s budget today. The budget is considerably smaller than the budgets passed under former Prime Minister Henry Wallace. Many of the popular social programs enacted during Mr. Wallace’s governments will be retained however, including the national health insurance program.

“This budget, released today, calls for much needed cuts in wasteful spending, while also lowering the tax burden on American families and businesses,” Mr. Nixon said in brief remarks to the press.

“If we want the American economy to grow, if we want every American to have a job and every American family to own a home, the answer is not a government handout, but smart policies that promote responsibility and growth,” Mr. Hartley added in his own remarks. “This Liberal government aims to give Americans the tools necessary for economic success, but those tools don’t require crippling tax rates or an inefficient welfare apparatus.”

Opposition Leader Glen Taylor was quick to voice the disproval of both his party and the Farmer Labor Party to the new budget. Despite opposition protests, the budget is expected to pass within the next month.

-The New York Times, March 12th, 1959


While Nixon and Hartley were passing their budget back in the United States, I had been sent to Switzerland, to address the League of Nations and hopefully broker some sort of ceasefire. Both the Prime Minister and His Majesty had no desire for this conflict to spread out of control, and, frankly, none of us wanted either side, whether the fascists or the communists, to be in total control of the European continent.

There are probably some out there who blame me for killing the League. Let me assure you, dear reader, I had no desire to destroy the League of Nations. When I arrived there, it was clear that no one really believed in the institution anymore. The Hungarians accused me of “imperialist meddling” and a week later they and their allies—a significant bloc of states in a world where countries like the United States and Great Britain still own vast tracts of colonial lands—walked out. And a week after that the French and Italians and the rest of the Tripartite Pact were gone. After that, it was basically just us, the British and the Russians, and by the end of the year we had quietly dissolved the League.

After the disaster in Geneva, I refused to give up, so I flew straight to Rome. The war hadn’t yet reached the capital, so the city was still relatively peaceful. I was taken to meet with Mussolini, though I’m not sure why. It’s no secret by this point that the man was basically an invalid by then, kept alive with drugs and constant bed rest, while his incompetent and corrupt cronies plundered the treasury and ran the country into the ground. I met with some of the Italian government ministers, no one seemed to really be in control of the country, and I got on a plane for home.

-From A Man from Libertyville, Illinois: The Autobiography of Adlai Stevenson, 1968


Winter was a nice little rest, but later on we came to realize it was only the calm before the storm. Once the spring flowers had begun to bloom, the Soviet tanks and artillery and jet bombers began pounding our lines again, and we retreated once more. The reinforcements of our allies were helpful, yes, but the Soviets, they just kept coming. Then we began to hear word that the Soviets had landed in the South, at Bari and Taranto. Once I heard that, I knew that we had lost. And then Il Duce died. Heh, I was sure then that not only had we lost, but God himself had turned against us.

-Saviero Esposito, interviewed for the documentary The European War of 1958, 2001

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Words can't express my joy of seeing this masterpiece updated!

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Words can't express my joy of seeing this masterpiece updated!

[Vosem]

Words can't express my joy of seeing this masterpiece updated!

[Lief 🗽]

lol, glad you guys enjoy it.

[Napoleon]

More!

[Dr. Cynic]

I'm going to read it again from the beginning! This was the first and I think it's probably the greatest timeline in Atlas history!

[LastVoter]

Epic timeline.I am not happy about Columbia being divided into four states though.