A Three Party System: LaFollete and the Progressives

[War on Want]

The presidential elections of 1924 started out in a very turbulent manner, with Robert LaFollete attacking both Coolidge and Davis equally with scathing attacks. He also tried to build a large party organization in the Midwest, West, and Plains, and had stump speeches all across the Midwest, attacking Davis for his inexpirince and Coolidge for his corpratism, and uncaring for the poor. Davis was increasingly becoming irrelevant, except in the South, because of the Democratic Party's divide. Most Catholic Democrats decided to vote for LaFollete, and it looked as though the Democratic Party might be overtaken by a little known Midwestern party by October.


On election day the results came in slowly compared to modern standards, but Coolidge won, with LaFollete and Davis vying for a second place finish. It looked as if LaFollete's Progressive Party was going to be a force to be reckoneded with:

Calvin Coolidge 44.5% 389 EV's
John Davis 28.5% 96 EV's
Robert LaFollete 27.5% 46 EV's

[HappyWarrior]

I hope you make this into a full blown timeline.  Looks like it could prove interesting.

[War on Want]

The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge

The presidency of Calvin Coolidge was fairly silent, as the country was thriving in the "Roaring Twenties". He embodied the Lassiez Faire politican, and did as much as he could to keep government small and out of people's lives. Unfortunatley for him a good coalition of other political parties was coming against his
 Both the Farmer-Labor, American Labor, and Socialist Parties joined together with Magnus Johnson from Minnesota, and Robert LaFollete from Winsconsin fromed the Progressive Party in the early months of 1925. The party was slated to run candidates in much of the Midwest, West, and Plains states in 1926, and Calvin Coolidge feared these "Communards", but luckily for him they were a small group.
Besides this, Calvin Coolidge had an easy first few years as president cutting taxes, and keeping the budget lean, to pay off debts accumlated during the Great War. He had major problems when the McNary-Haugen Farm Bill came to his desk, by the will of many Rural Republicans, and Democrats in early 1926. He vetoed it and a great backlash came against his presidency from Farmers.
More problems came to Coolidge, when the Second Polish-Soviet war broke out in early 1926, when Josef Stalin pushed for war with Poland. Many jingoist Conservative Democrats wanted to help Poland defend itself from the Soviets, and sell supplies to them to help them from the "red menace". Coolidge opposed this, and did not want to get caught up in another foriegn struggle that was not his. Luckily for Coolidge, Gustav Stresseman of Germany did more than enough to help Poland defend itself, and thus the Soviets were defeated with in 6 months. The effects of the war to be felt much later however.....
Meanwhile the Midterm Elections of 1926 were to be held, as a referendum to Coolidge's policies. In the Midwest, and Plains it was to be a 3-way race, with the populist Progressives, fighting against moderate Republicans, and conservative Democrays for control of delegations. Meanwhile most battle ground Senate races were two ways in areas where Progressives weren't even on the ticket.
Results:

House:

Republican Party 231 Seats(-16)
Democratic Party 194 Seats(+11)
Progressive Party 11 Seats(+7)

Senate Results:

Republicans 62 Seats(+1)
Democrats 35 Seats(-1)
Progressives 3(+2)

[War on Want]

I hope you make this into a full blown timeline.  Looks like it could prove interesting.

Thanks. I plan on making it even extend into the future, if I can. I also plan on covering wars and foriegn events extensively.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

I like your maps. They look quite similar to my Herbert Hoover Timeline ones...

Hopefully, you will continue this timeline through to the present day. You seem to, like me, not to finish some of your timelines.

[War on Want]

I like your maps. They look quite similar to my Herbert Hoover Timeline ones...

Hopefully, you will continue this timeline through to the present day. You seem to, like me, not to finish some of your timelines.

Yeah I get sidetracked. This one I plan to finish though. I already have a rough plot.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

I like your maps. They look quite similar to my Herbert Hoover Timeline ones...

Hopefully, you will continue this timeline through to the present day. You seem to, like me, not to finish some of your timelines.

Yeah I get sidetracked. This one I plan to finish though. I already have a rough plot.

Good to know. Continue the great work

[War on Want]

I like your maps. They look quite similar to my Herbert Hoover Timeline ones...

Hopefully, you will continue this timeline through to the present day. You seem to, like me, not to finish some of your timelines.

Yeah I get sidetracked. This one I plan to finish though. I already have a rough plot.

Good to know. Continue the great work

Thanks. Does the writing flow well? I am worried that sometimes my wording is confusing and cliched sometimes....

[Robespierre's Jaw]

I like your maps. They look quite similar to my Herbert Hoover Timeline ones...

Hopefully, you will continue this timeline through to the present day. You seem to, like me, not to finish some of your timelines.

Yeah I get sidetracked. This one I plan to finish though. I already have a rough plot.

Good to know. Continue the great work

Thanks. Does the writing flow well? I am worried that sometimes my wording is confusing and cliched sometimes....

Your writing flows well and it is readable. More so than Gporter's timeline involving Kennedy surviving an assassination attempt in 1963 and the Cubans launching missiles towards the United States .

[War on Want]

The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge

After the Congresional Elections it looked as if everything was going to go very smoothly for Cooldige and his plan. After all the Economy was doing well, the World was at relative peace, and businessmen across America were getting rich, while the Stock Market was booming. Unfortunatley for him God had other plans for America, when the Great Mississipi Flood of 1927 occured after a uneventful winter, and spring. It devastated millions of people in Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. Nearly 14% of Arkansas was enveloped in flood water. Levees were set off at areas northwest of New Orleans, just to save the city.
It was the worst Natural Disaster to hit the country in some time, yet President Coolidge did nothing to help the millions of people, and wrote privately in his memoirs to"Let the states deal with it." He only paid lipservice to the Mississippi Valley region, when he named Herbert Hoover to take care of all flood problems. Hoover did his best but had no funds to do anything. Meanwhile the region had extreme poverty, and unemployment problems in a time of relative prosperity, and a great migration of poor Whites, and African-Americans fled the region for Manufacturing jobs in Ohio and Michigan, often taking with them Populism, espoused by LaFollete, and the ailing Eugene Debs, who heavily critized Coolidge's governmental and Lassiez Faire ideals. They found odd allies with Southern Democrats from the region and it seemed that a temporary coalition had been found.
Meanwhile in Europe, the Soviet Union continued to rattle its sabre against Romania, Finland and Poland, while building up its military along the western borders of the Baltic states. After the disastrous war with Poland, the Soviet Union had reformed its Officer's Corps, and its units discipline so that it was more orderly, but not Fascist in nature.(Before Stalin came to power the Soviet Military was famously lax, and officers had about has much power as they did in modern day Israel)
Mexico also went through the Cistero War, when Catholic Clergy and devout followers fought against Mexico's secularized government. American gave aid to Plutarco Calles' government, while Spain and Portugal aided the Rebels. It ended with the Federals winning, and America gaining a new found friend with the Liberalised Mexico, but enemies with the Autocratic Spanish and Portugese, who aligned more with Mussolini's Italy more than ever.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

A question about your timeline, Evilmexicandictator:

Is Herbert Hoover still a Republican and Secretary of Commerce? And will he opt to run for the 1928 GOP Nomination or the Progressive Nomination?

[War on Want]

A question about your timeline, Evilmexicandictator:

Is Herbert Hoover still a Republican and Secretary of Commerce? And will he opt to run for the 1928 GOP Nomination or the Progressive Nomination?

Yes he is the Secretary of Commerce and he is a committed Republican, and will be running for the GOP nomination. Remember this Progressive Party is much more of Labor/Socialist Party, than a Liberal one and really isn't quite mainstream yet.

[War on Want]

1928: Primaries

In early 1928 primary season began! With Coolidge stepping down as president the Republicans had 3 main contenders for the preisdency. Herbert Hoover was running on a platform of Economic Moderation and Social Change. He wanted to reform the Republican Party to take up what he called its "Centrist Roots". Charles Curtis, the Republican Senate Majority Leader from Kansas, and Frank Lowden, the fiscally Conservative Governor of Illinois both ran on continuing Coolidge's legacy as president, except Lowden was against Coolidge's Natural Disaster Policy and was one of the Governors, who was against Coolidge during the Floods of 1927.
The Democrats had 3 main contenders as well. Al Smith was for a "Wet" Prohibition policy and for Social Liberalism, and Economic Centrism. He was a slick Governor from New York however and it looked like he wasn't going to win, as much of the Catholic support that would have went for him were Progressives. Cordell Hull, a Conservative Representative from Tennessee, ran on Foriegn Interventionalism, Flood Relief, and a "Dry" Prohibition Policy. James Reed, a more Mainstream Conservative Senator from Missouri, ran on the same platform except with Foriegn Isolationsim, and tarriffs being enacted.
The Progressives had a very easy Primary season with LaFollete looking to be shooed in by the party, with only one radical challeneger by the name of Norman Thomas, as former Socialist Party member.
The Primaries went by fairly quickly on the Democratic Side, with James Reed taking the nomination in 2 months with Al Smith and later Cordell Hull dropping out early with lackluster support. At the Democratic Convention in Chicago, Illinois, James Reed picked William McAdoo as his Vice President, to try and hold together the Democratic, Catholic vote.
On the Republican Side, it was a long drawn out process, with a two way race emerging between Herbert Hoover, the candidate of Change, and Frank Lowden, the Establishment's man. It went all the way to the Convention where Frank Lowden was selected by whisker. Surprisingly though, Herbert Hoover endorsed him fairly enthused, talking about the Unity of the Republican Party. Many of his supporters, however, did not feel that way.
On the Progressive side, LaFollete was nominated, and Thomas was picked as his Vice-Presidential candidate to hold together the more fanatical, Socialist members of the Party from  the UP of Michigan, and northern Minnesota and Winsconsin.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

Hate to burst your bubble but Robert La Follette died in 1925. Unless your talking about his son that ran for the Presidency in 1928.....

[War on Want]

1928 Campaign for the White House

The election campaign was a long, drawn out process with many attacks on all sides. LaFollete attacked both Lowden and Reed for not caring about the common man, and not supporting Flood Relief enough. He campaigned hard for disilusioned, former Hoover supporters to join him and his party and barnstormed in the Midwest hard. He hoped that somehow a split between the Republicans and Democrats would allow him to take all of the Western areas of the United States.
Meanwhile Lowden and Reed fought like cats and dogs, over Prohibition, Farm Relief, and Taxes, with Reed stressing the importance of a balanced budget and Lowden focusing on the pointlessness of illegalizing Alcohol, and how it would not work. It was very much a cultural battle between the Rural, James Reed, and the slick, Cosmopolitan Lowden, who was born in Chicago. By election day the momentum was with LaFollete, but would it be enough to win the election?
Election Results:

Frank Lowden/Charles Curtis 38% 289 EV's
James Reed/William McAdoo 34% 175 EV's
Robert LaFollete/Norman Thomas 28% 74 EV's

[War on Want]

Hate to burst your bubble but Robert La Follette died in 1925. Unless your talking about his son that ran for the Presidency in 1928.....

His death is butterflied away, because of more confidence and more to live for. He is very elderly, but fairly healthy.

[War on Want]

Congressional Elections of 1928

In 1928, it looked as if the Republicans might even gain on their already large margins of majority in the Senate and House. The only areas they might loose seats in were in the Mississipi Valley areas, where the Democrats and even the Progressives were looking stronger than them. It was looking like the Republicans would be the dominating force in politics for years to come, but they were met with one small setback on month before election day, when William E. Borah, the Liberal Senator from Idaho, defected to the Progressive Party. A big setback also happened to the Democratic Party when Burton Wheeler, a Moderate Senator from Montana, and John B. Kendrick, of Wyoming defected to the Progressive Party.
House Results:

Republicans 230 Seats(-1)
Democrats 190(-4)
Progressives 19(+8)

Senate Results:

Republicans 64 Seats(+2)
Democrats 30 Seats(-5)
Progressives 6 Seats(+3)


In the end, the Democrats were routed in the Senate but held steady in the House, to the fury of many pundits who predicted that they would be crushed there as well. More surprises came about when the Progressives continued to gain seats, when many pundits predicted that they would loose have their delegation due to no success in Congress. They were dead wrong.

[The Hack Hater]

Great scenario here. Does a Progressive get elected president in 1932? Somehow, I see a much better world coming out of this, though not without it's share of challenges and obstacles.

[War on Want]

The Presidency of Frank Lowden

Frank Lowden's first year in office was fairly lackluster. The only major reform he did was to finally give some federal aid to the Flood Areas, so that they could finally recover from the disaster that had occured. Thus Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee's economies finally started to recover for a smal period of time. Then the unthinkable happened.....
On Black Monday, on Ocotober 29th of 1929, the Stock Market crashed and a great scramble of the rich to pull their money out of banks and the Stock Market occured over the next few weeks. America and evenutually the world one month later, was in dissary. Crop prices fell dramitically all over the World, and hundreds of thousands of Farmhands, Loggers, Miners, and Workers lost their jobs over the course of the next 6 months. By March of 1930, nearly 1 out of ten people in America were out of work and it was even worse in Rural, and inner-city areas where 1 out of 5 were out work, and in really bad areas, such as in the Flood Striken areas of Arkansas, and Lousiana, nearly 40% of the population was out work.

Governments all over the world were having major problems, as in Germany where Communists, and radical Social Democrats and even Liberals, fought Reactionaries, and the Nazis in the streets. In Poland the Autocratic government Pilduski government was replaced by a Worker's Council, closely aligned to the German Social Democratic Party. In Spain, and Portugal, revolution was in the air, but the governments defeated any movements quickly. Freedom of the Press, Speech, and Assembly was cancelled and the already Conservative governments of Salazar and Rivera showed their true colors, as they aligned with Austria, and Italy to from the 1st Anti-Comintern Pact of 1930.
France, also had Authortarian, and Fascist movements fight the Police and Unions, but the moderate Socialists, and the  Liberals held control of the government by a whisker even though food riots, and gang wars erupted in Paris, Lyon and Bordeaux.

The Great Depression was world shattering, but meanwhile in America, President Lowden did little. He was worried that the Great Depression would be worsened by government intervention and while children and grown men alike starved, he focused on a Balanced Budget and Inflationary Controls. Even Conservative Democrats became very worried and Moderate Republicans, Southern Democrats, and Progressives formed a coalition to pass a Farm Relief Bill, a Child Labor Law Bill, and a Food Stamp Act, but these didn't pass, as a coalition of Catholic Democrats, Conservative Republicans, and the remmnants of the Bourbon Democrats voted them down. By 1931, America was in crisis, and it looked as if there was little hope for the world, except in Great Britain, where cooler heads prevailed and the Conservatives formed a Grand Coalition with Labor to keep the fascist Union Party out of government.

[War on Want]

Great scenario here. Does a Progressive get elected president in 1932? Somehow, I see a much better world coming out of this, though not without it's share of challenges and obstacles.

Thanks. As you can see a greater world might not come out of this, but it will be interesting.

[War on Want]

1930 Congressional Elections:
In 1930 it looked as if the Progressives or the Democrats were going to landslide easily. The Republicans were in a state of confusion as they supported Lowden's policy but saw their consituents in extreme poverty and out of work. Most pundits agreed that it was most likely that if you were a Midwestern or Plains Republican, that you would either be defeated by a Progressive or Democrat, or switch parties.
There was more hope for the Republicans in the Pacific Coast, and New England as the economies there were slightly better, but it still looked like total disaster for them in 1930. The Republican strategy was to focus on "stronghold" areas, but to ignore areas that it looked like they were going to loose for sure. Would it work?
Congressional Results:

Republicans 193 Seats(-47)
Democrats 200 Seats(+10)
Progressives 56 Seats(+37)

Senate Results:

Republicans 51 Seats(-13)
Democrats 34 Seats(+4)
Progressives 15 Seats(+9)

In the end, the wave for the Progressives was not large enough to let them take control, or even become on par with the Democrats. They were now a extremely powerful force to be reckoned with and as they formed a coalition with the Democrats to pass Farm Relief, Food Stamps, and Collective Bargaining Acts, it looked as if Lowden's plans would be cut short...(Ignore the Electoral Vote
 

[War on Want]

The Presidency of Frank Lowden

As the year of 1931 opened, America was in a larger crisis than ever. The Slums in many major cities were growing quickly, and crime was rampant there, along with radical politics, consisting of Trotskyism, Stalinism, and Anarchist/Syndalicsm. People were also migrating en-masse out of the Great Plains, and even out of the South, regardless of lackluster relief plans proposed by Progressive, and Democratic Governors, trying to help their state. These plans were not neccesarily bad, but just did not have enough funding, and thus were not successful.

Europe was even worse, except in Scandinavia, and Switzerland. In Germany, a coalition of the Social Democrats, moderate Communists, Centrists, and even some minor Liberal parties now controlled the country, and were surpressing constant violence in Northern Germany. The only reason the Military had decided to throw its support to the Coalition For Democracy, was a bargain overseen by the former Chancellor Gustav Stresseman, to not cut pay or funding for the Military and not follow the Versailles Pact.
Luckily for Germany, France was in turmoil with, Conservatives, and Fascists in constant revolt around the country, with even Trotsykists, and Anarchists rioting in Paris and Marsailles ocassionally. Leon Blum, the leader of the SFIO(Socialists) who had emerged as the leader of France in a bargain with the Radical Liberals, was increasingly facing problems as he nationalised the Railroads, and major Industrises temporarily in order to increase production to satisfy the people. In March of 1932 A proposed collectivization of Farms to stop Food Shortages across the country, threw the country over the breaking point, and Marshall Petain declared the Social Republic of France to be an indepedent country right after the declaration. Republican France deposed Blum and replaced him with former the Radical Liberal, President of France, Edouard Herriot. The French Civil War had begun.
Meanwhile the rest of Europe was also going through trouble, Marshall Rivera's Spain was going through more and more problems enforcing the bans of Unions as an Anarchist movement for change swept the country. The Anti-Comintern gained three new members with Yugoslavia, Romania, and Finland joining the pact, as the Soviet Union's wartime industry and funding was greatly increased. It seemed as if Europe was on the verge of major war at any time....
In America the new Democratic-Progressive House tried re-introducing the Farm Relief Act, Food Stamp Act, and Collective Bargaining but the bills barely failed in the Senate leading to more disgust around America against the Congress. Approval ratings of Frank Lowden hovered around 25%, and it seemed that America was ready for change. In late 1931, primary season was beginning and with a world filled with threats from Fascists, and Communists, and nearly one out of Three in America that were impoverished, it seemed like a new Political Revolution was in the air.

[War on Want]

the 1932 Primaries

the Democrats

The Democrats were very divided in 1932. While one faction dominated the party, two more minor factions still had power and if they vaulted the party, the Democrats would be crushed. The three factions, were the Southern Democrats(known for their social Conservatism, and Economic Conservatism to Populism), Catholic Democrats(known for Social Moderation, and Economic Conservatism to Leftism), and the most minor the Tammamy Hall Democrats(known for Social Moderation/Apathy and Economic Conservative.
This Primary Season there were three major candidates. Al Smith, the Governor of New York, represented the Catholic Bloc, but was doing poorly and only a small chance of winning the election. John Nance Gardner, the new Speaker of the House, was essentially a candidate that almost any Democrat could want as a nominee but was facing challenges from James Reed. James Reed was a populist Senator from Missouri, but was also doing poorly. In the end John Nance Gardner was a shoo in and at the Democratic Convention in Indianapolis, he selected the minor candidate Newton Baker as his running mate.

the Progressives

The Progressive Nomination was very contested this year, as Robert LaFollete retired and aged. The two major candidates were William Borah Jr, a moderate Progressive Congressman from Idaho, and Norman Thomas, a radical Progressive Congressman from New York. The fight was very contested, but Borah won over the Farmer, Logger, and non-Unionized vote, with his message of Hope and Change, which just barely won over Thomas' radical message of Class Divide, and Nationalization of Industries. In the end Americans were not ready for Socialism but at the Progressive Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, Borah selected Thomas as his running mate to unite the Party.


The General Election would look like this:
Republicans: Frank Lowden/Charles Curtis
Democrats: John Nance Gardner/Newton Baker
Progressives: William Borah/Norman Thomas

[War on Want]

the 1932 Presidential Election

The presidential election was heavily contested with mainly the Democrats and Progressives trading blows against each other, while the Republican campaign was lackluster. Frank Lowden tried his best to promote his Small Government Recovery Plan but it failed in most places around the country. He was even failing in New England and his home state of Illinois. Meanwhile John Nance Gardner was failing in his campaign of trying to have help for the people but have no major reform, Borah was pounding him hard on the campaign trail for not wanting to have "real" change for the people of America, and not sticking up for the Working Man, and Woman. In the end it would come down to Borah and Gardner.
Election Results:

William Borah 43.5%
John Nance Gardner 35.6%
Frank Lowden 21.5%

In the end, Borah was successful at uniting the country around his ticket. He even convinced many stalwart southern Democrats to vote for him and many New England Republicans to vote for him. It was a solid victory in tough times.

[True Democrat]

Is that a majority of the electoral college?