Talk Elections

This is a new TL I am working on beginning with the controversial 1876 election.  The POD will be that in my TL David Davis will not resign his Supreme Court seat to take one in the Senate.  He will then vote for Samuel J. Tilden, thus elevating him to the presidency of the United States.  Thereafter the future of America will take a totally different path.

Looking forward to it :)

This sounds interesting. :D

By the way I do plan on finishing this one unlike the previous attempts lol.

1876:The Davis Decision

In all of America's years, very few elections were anywhere near as controversial or as close as that of the 1876 election.  Governor Samuel J. Tilden and Governor Rutherford B. Hayes were locked in an electoral matchup for the ages.  After all the votes were counted there was still controversy over the fate of the electoral votes of three states.  These states were Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina.  In response the Congress created an electoral commission, the majority party in each house named three members and the minority party two. As the Republicans controlled the Senate and the Democrats the House of Representatives, this yielded five Democratic and five Republican members of the Commission. Of the Supreme Court justices, two Republicans and two Democrats were chosen, with the fifth to be selected by these four. 

The final Supreme Court Justice would prove crucial, and longtime independent David Davis was chosen as the final member.  Davis had been elected and would soon be sworn into the U.S. Senate however before taking that seat he felt it was his duty to join the Commission.

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Supreme Court Justice David Davis

Davis would consistently be the deciding vote on the Commission and in three seperate 8-7 decisions the Democrats would win Louisiana and South Carolina, while the Republicans would hold Florida. 

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This electoral result would make Samuel J. Tilden the President of the United States, much to the chagrin of the Republican Party.

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19th President Samuel Jones Tilden

What a fat ass.

I'll be updating through the 1878 midterms today.

Yes, but ITTL he took right side :P

God, Cheif Justice had to have been bigger than Taft lol, but Happy Warrior I am definatley liking where this is heading. Can't wait to see how the Tilden Presidency goes down...Keep it comming

The final result is ironic because some historians these days argue that if a fair election had been held without any violence and intimidation, Hayes would have won the election with 189 electoral votes to Tilden's 180, for he would have won all of the states that he did carry in addition to Mississippi and without Florida. Since South Carolina, Louisiana, and Mississippi were the only Southern states with an African-American majority population (even though some Southern states had a percentage of African-Americans just short of 50%), they would have arguably gone for Hayes, since nearly all African-Americans during this time voted Republican. Thus those states would have gone for Hayes and Florida (with a majority white population) would have gone to Tilden in a fair election.

1877-78: Tilden's Beginnings

Just two days after the final decision of the electoral commission President Tilden and Vice President Hendricks are sworn in for their first term in office.  In his inaugural address Tilden makes the biggest point his support for the rights of every American and his desire to have the South "free" once again.  The most famous line of his speech and his presidency was, "If we impart our views on all Americans as the Republicans have for the last eight years, are we no better than tyrants?  The Southern States must be given their rights under our great Constitution!" 

Right away Tilden is given the responsibility to replace David Davis in the United States Supreme Court, the man who cast that final vote for his election.  The President heavily leans on the advice of Davis and finally settles on George Henry Williams, the former Attorny General of the Grant administration who had at one point been a nominee for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court but had been denied due to his having never been a member of the court.  He was a moderate Republican and former Democrat, which at least made him acceptable to both parties.  He would easily be confirmed.

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Justice George Henry Williams


President Tilden also began making cabinet appointments at this time, his most important being the appointment of General Winfield Scott Hancock as his new Secretary of State.  He would also be quickly and easily confirmed.  Tilden's remaining appointees also passed through the Congress quite easily.

Early in 18777 President Tilden begins to ask the Congress for a plan at ending Reconstuction in the South, however the Republicans, who control the Senate fight him tooth and nail on the issue, with the Democrats offering the Posse Comitatus Act as their plan which would have essentially prevented military forces acting as police forces in the states, thus ending Reconstruction.  The Act would be quikly struck down by the Republican Senate.

The Congress would also pass with largly bipartisan support, the Bland-Allison Act, which an 1878 act of Congress requiring the U.S. Treasury to buy a certain amount of silver and put it into circulation as silver dollars.  President Tilden quickly signed this into law as well.  The Congress also passes at the urgin of President Tilden, The Chinese Exclusion Act, which made Chinese Immigration no longer possible.

However despite the major policies he enacted up to this point, in 1878 the Presideent's term would begin to go downhill.  His response to the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, in which employees of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad walked off the job and were joined across the country by thousands of workers in their own and sympathetic industries was considered to be too sympathetic to the striker. When the labor disputes exploded into riots in several cities, Tilden made the decision not to send in any federal troops, mainly on the view tha the states had the responsibility under the constitution to deal with such problems.  Finally after six months, the last embers of the strike were put down in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with the deaths of 45 men and boys in the Factory Massacre.  All in all hundreds of people and millions of dollars were lost in the riots, destroying a large amount of the President's credibility.

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Finally In 1878, the Republican New York Tribune published a series of telegraphic dispatches in cipher, accompanied by translations, as evidence that, during the crisis following the 1876 election, Tilden's campaign manager—his nephew, William T. Pelton, using Tilden's house as a base—had been negotiating for the purchase of the electoral votes of South Carolina and Florida. Tilden denied emphatically all knowledge of these dispatches, while not denying his nephew had sent them. Many of the dispatches were sent directly to and from his Gramercy Park mansion. The 'Cipher Dispatches thus seriously weakened his reputation and the Midterm elections were only a few weeks away....

Updated!

Wasn't expecting for Davis to have such a rocky term...I wonder if he can pull things around for last two years of his term, if not we may not see another Democrat elected for a while lol.

Please Continue. :D

Question:  Is this timeline's Bland-Allison Act the same as ours? It had to pass over Hayes veto in OTL, so with Blaine supportive it might be more inflationary (i.e. require the purchase of more silver)

It is the same as IRL but Tilden s more strenuous about it's enforcement while Hayes did very little in terms of utilizing the bill.

I should have an update up to the 1880 Presidential election up tomorrow.  Any guesses on what will happen? ;)

Hmm...I personally would like to see Grant be successful in his want to break the Washington Tradition and win the GOP nomination for a third terml. I didn't realize how close OTL 1880 Election was in term of popular vote, so in a battle between Tilden and Grant it could go either way.

1879-1880: The End of the Tilden Era

President Tilden's term had quickly become mired in scandel.  Only the lucky admission by his nephew that the President truly had'nt been involved in the Cipher scandal saved him from impeachment.  Odd considering this was the President who had been nominated based on the fact that he was considered to be quite uncorruptable.  However he soon saw his term's first fit of luck in an economic rebound.  Though his reaction to the 1877 Railroad strike was poor he had successfully implemented the Bland Act and the economy quickly came roaring back.

Tilden also refused to engage in most foreign affairs.  He kept out of the wars in South America and in the end the Argentines succeeded in securing all the concessions they wanted from the Paraguayens.

The final event in Tilden's term is a major attempt at legislation in civil service reform, lead by Republican Half-Breeds James Garfield and James G. Blaine.  The Republican Stalwarts with aid from a large number of Democrats manage to stop the bill, despite the overt support of President Tilden. 

The 1880 Democratic National Convention:

Quickly President Tilden is renominated for the Presidency by his party.  Despite the many weaknesses of his term the President was perceived as the only man who could possibly pull out a victory in the election.  He and Vice President Hendricks prepare for the inevitably hard campaign.

The 1880 Republican National Convention:

Early in the 1880 Republican Convention the Stalwarts took a huge amount of power after their massive victory over the Half-Breeds in the recent fight over civil service reform.  Knowing this the big name for the Half-Breeds, James G. Blaine does not put his name into nomination and instead supports the leadeing Stalwart candidate, Former President Grant, in exchange for certain promises.  One of these is the choice of Former Vice President, Half-Breed, and Maine Senator Hannibal Hamlin as Vice President.  Grant accepts this and is quickly nominated.

Grant and Hamlin pursue a front-porch campaign wherein they rarely leave their homes in Illinois and Maine respectively.  Tilden and Hendricks on the other hand campaign throughout the nation.  This however does not prove to be enough.

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In the end the problems which had beset President Tilden prove to be too much to best the two men who out of all the possible choices seemed the most likely to know what the much revered President Lincoln would have wanted for the nation.  Tilden fails to even carry 3 out of the four southern border states, winning only Kentucky.

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18th and 20th President Ulysses S. Grant

Didn't expect to see a third term for Grant. Are you planning on continuing this TL.....even after Tilden lost lost the election?

Cool, I called it....I just liked the idea of the Uncorruptable being defeated the Corrupted or Encouragable one lol.  Grant's Third yet unsequential term, should be pretty interesting especially if he isn't assasinated by Guiteau...Might he finally be able to secure Santo Domingo for the US Freedmen? Major Civil Service Reform, and the first steps toward internationalism for the US would be crazy. But ironically, the stress of another term would probably force Grant to succumb to his throat cancer a year or two earlier than IOTL. Thrusting Hannibal Hamlin in to office in his 70's will be very interesting indeed. Keep it comming

I'll be updating this in the next day or two.  Any comments from anyone?

Hopefully, Grant will now have more political experiance, or at least a capable and efficent goverment.

The Third Term of Ulysses S. Grant:

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President Grant entered office amidst a huge wave of popularity.  He was the first president to be elected to a third term and also the first to be elected to a nonconsecutive term.  Early on he was approached to make civil service reform, however being a leader of the Stalwarts, the president decides that such an action would cause a huge amount of disdain from his own faction and also he simply does not enjoy the idea.  Instead he pushes for something quite different.  Something he had long desired for himself and America.

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Considering it an imperative he quickly began making renewed plans for the annexation of Santo Domingo.  He requested permission from the then President of the nation for the annexation as had been allowed in 1871, though the United States Congress had denied him that time.  This time the Dominican's would not allow it.  The President asked instead for a declaration of war.  With his huge popularity and the enourmous Republican majority the President got his declaration.  He appointed General Winfield Scott Hancock, the former Secretary of State, as the leader of the expeditionary force.  Grant's own son Fredrick was also an officer in the war.

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Fredrick Dent Grant

However the President would not even be able to see the war's beginning.  On June 12th, 1881, the President would be shot in the early morning hours after taking a walk on the grounds of the White House.  He would be buried in Arlington National Cemetary three days later after lying in state.  No one was ever able to discover the truth behind only the nation's second Presidential assasination, however much suspision would be cast on Dominican nationalists, making the calls for war that much worse.  Within hours, 72 year old Hannibal Hamlin would be inaugurated as the nation's oldest president up to that point.


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21st President Hannibal Hamlin

Poor Grant. :(

Other than the initial sadness, how was the update?

It was good.

Solid Update, Happy Warrior...Can't say I was expecting Grant to be assasinated lol, but I guess it's better than the destitute, Cancer ridden death he had in OTL. Will Hannibal continue to stay the course with the war? I know he was a staunch abolitonist/Civil Rights Supporter but his old age may make him have a few military fumbles. I hope the war doesn't last to long, and that Hamlin is able to get somekind of Gilded Age Reform passed. Keep it comming.

A very interesting update, and I look forward to the Hamlin Administration.

So when cane we epect the next installment SOEA?

I've been very busy IRL, I'm getting ready for a move to college the 26th so hopefully soon....

I will finally be updating this TL either tomorrow or late tonight.

The First Term of Hannibal Hamlin

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The Twenty First President at the time of his inauguration.

Hannibal Hamlin is sworn in hours after the death of Ulyssess S. Grant.  Quickly he meets with President Grant's Secretary of State, Robert Todd Lincoln as well as his old friend, Senate Majority Leader James G. Blaine, and Speaker of the House Joseph Warren Keifer.  Also involved in the meeting are the Secretary of War, William H. Hunt, Secretary of the Navy Chester Alan Arthur, and the leaders of the Democratic Party in the Congress.  This huge meeting is to commmunicate the President's wish for the entire nation to unite on the war in Santo Domingo.  Though Samuel J. Randall, former Democratic Speaker, storms out of the meeting in anger, being a strict isolationist, the rest of the leaders to agree that this is the best policy.

A few days after the assasination, President Grant is interred in Arlington National Cemetary, after a very tearful eulogy given by his son Fredrick Dent Grant, who had requested leave in order to attend the funeral.  However following his leave he returns to Florida to prepare to go to Hispanola.  Also present at the funeral is President Hamlin, many members of Congress, almost all of President Grant's various cabinet members are also in attendence.

In 1882 the actual invasion of Hispanola was launched.  Quickly the capital of Santo Domingo is captured with only 26 American casualties.  Also in that year the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in order to keep out Chinese immigrants from the nation, despite the fact that they had long been great workers in the construction of the American West. And a new Immigration Act was passed putting forward a tax on all new immigrants to America.

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Copy of the Chinese Exclusion Act

In Santo Domingo the war starts quite well with over half of the territory under the control of the United States military, this half being the more developed East.  However in the west the jungles offer an oppurtunity to guerrila rebels and militias.  The forests allow the rebels to survive.  Newly promoted Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer is sent to the west of the island to weed out these rebels, having survived the Indian Wars and managed quite a bit of success due to President Tilden's increased troop levels in the region.

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General Custer at the time of the Domincan War.

President Hamlin also decides late in the year to not run for reelection in the 1884 leaving the race wide open....

How did Custer survive the Indian Wars? And I have to say I disagree with Tilden being one of the worst Presidents. I feel like this is waiting Bush's term out, electing Obama, and then REELECTING Bush because Obama is just four times as bad. Even your description of Tilden's term doesn't seem as bad as Grant's.

Either way, very interesting!

Interesting update; I'm looking forward to more :)

I just like to add in one little weird thing in each TL.  In this one it is Custer surviving ;)

I almost started a timeline like this. You are doing a fine job HW!

The 1884 Election

Republican National Convention

The Republicans gathered in Chicago for a very celebratory convention in which they first have a single morbid day in remembrance of President Grant, saying that the convention is in his memory.  Following this the successes of the Grant/Hamlin administration were highlighted and within a couple of hours President Hamlin came forward to nominate his old friend James G. Blaine as the Republican nominee.  Despite minor opposition from Senator John A. Logan, Blaine was nominated on the first ballot.  He would nominate popular Secretary of the Navy Chester Alan Arthur for Vice President.  Heading into the election the Republicans would remain confident.

Democratic National Convention

The Democrats would also gather in Chicago, however their convention is much less happy and raucous.  Few truly capable candidates emerge.  Governor Grover Cleveland of New York was thought to be the best possible candidate that could have been in the race.  However Cleveland said early on that he would not run, knowing that the Democratic ticket would not be winning this election, his old friend and mentor, former President Tilden also gave him advice on this matter.  In the end Former Speaker Samuel J. Randall was nominated.  As his runningmate the party chose Allen G. Thurman.

The General Election Campaign

Throughout the election the Democrats would consistently focus on Senator Blaine's quite apparent corruption.  Though Randall's integrity is impeccable, the Democratic policies are still reviled after the Presidency of Samuel J. Tilden.  In the end the fear over a second term of President Tilden easily overcomes the corruption of Senator Blaine.  For the first time since the end of Reconstruction the Democrats lose a Southern state, Virginia.

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Good Timeline.  Keep it going HW.

A very good, very interesting update, and I'm looking forward to the Blaine Administration.  How close was Virginia?

Razor thin margin of victory for Blaine in the state.

Interesting, I had originally thought you were going to give the GOP nomination to Robert Todd Lincoln. But it will be cool to see how corrupt the Blaine Presidency is going to be...I have a feeling he might become the 1st president to be impeached or atleast forced to resign. All of which remains to be seen...Keep it comming.

BUMP. Someone should finish this TL. It is great so far.

Would anyone else like to see this continue?

I would.

I thought it was quite good.

Oh yes keep it going.

I will be returning to this TL

My thoughts exactly

He's so fat he makes President Taft look anorexic.

I will be finishing up 1886 within the week, as well as hopefully 1888.

1884-86: President Blaine's First Midterm

Upon his inauguration President Blaine delivers his inaugural address, highlighting his commitment to America and the people who had made it strong, "My friends, we must depend on those who have been persecuted in the past in the near future to continue on the track begun by President Grant and continued by President Hamlin.   We must aid the blacks of the South in securing their rights, however at the same time we can not do this at the expense of the people of the South who must be given their freedom from military governance.  They have paid their price for the Civil War and now must be allowed to move forward."  This ideal of President Blaine was well known before the election however few individuals ever thought that he would truly push for it, especially within his own party.  The Radical Republicans quickly called foul, with John Sherman leading the fight against the ideals of President Blaine.  Meanwhile the Democrats, lead by House Minority Leader John G. Carlisle, considered to be a possible Presidential contender in 1888, called this "The greatest thing any Republican champion has done in quite some time, we must simply hope he follows through with it."

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House Minority Leader John G. Carlisle

Following the inauguration the new Republican administration begins to get to work.  President Blaine continues to utilize Secretary of State Robert Todd Lincoln.  Secretary Lincoln would quickly be sent to Berlin to participate in the Berlin Conference where he would quickly prove himself to be instrumental in securing a ban on slavery in the African colonies.  Meanwhile he also called out the Prussian Government in regards to their putting down of their ethnic minorities, with the Prussian representatives citing the problems within America's own time as a nation.  Both nation's would leave the Conference with a bad taste in their mouths in regards to one another.

Meanwhile the Republican congressional majority pushes through a bill within the Congress to prevent immigration in large part to the nation.  Despite a veto by President Blaine, the majority of Republicans, led once again by the Senate Majority Leader, John Sherman, override the President's veto, President Blaine rapidly is beginning to grow unpopular within his own party, though he has become far more popular thanks to his policies which were far more popular with Democrats and Independents.

Late in 1886 President Blaine experiences his first midterm election.  In this election the Republicans lose a huge number of seats in both the House and Senate with the most notable new Senator being former Governor Grover Cleveland of New York.  In an odd way President Blaine is pleased by this turn of events.  The Republicans barely hold on to the Senate but do lose the House.  President Blaine had quickly realized that being a moderate of the nation were what would give him the ability to pass his agendy, not the stalwarts of his own party.  It would be slow going for the President to move forward but now there was at least the possibilty to move forward in the nation, especially with the possibilty of President Blaine trying to win reelection.

Does anyone have any opinions on this most recent update?

Intresting...Since we all know how petty American Politcs was in the late 19th Century, the GOP could very well just not nominate the sitting President if there butting heads so much even to the public chargin. So we could see a later or earlier depending how you look at it lol Grover Cleveland Presidency. I really don't care as long as we get the Populist Party to win the White House in 1892, to really shake things up in American Politics lol....Keep it comming

Go Blaine 1888!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll be posting an update tomorrow.  Anymore comments?

I hope the 2 party system remains in place.

I'm very excited. I hope President Blaine can win re-election.

What is the state of Blaine's health?

Essentially the same as it was at this time IRL

Didn't you just say that?

I hope Blaine goes down in the next election. :P

Cleveland '88!

I'd actually completely forgotten about this.  Anybody interested in me continuing it?

Yes

ja ja

Oh yes

I'm really interested. Is Custer interested in politics, or is he just military life?

For now just military.  I'l try to make an update soon.  By the way, any comments on previous updates from anyone?

I'd like it to continue. :)

1887-88:  Blaine's Troubles Continue

Ever since attaining the Presidency, James G. Blaine had proven himself to be a rare breed of politician, a man who stood for principal in his political actions rather than his party.  Though he had become quite popular amongst the common folk because of this trait, within his own party he was very much reviled and hated, due to opposition from the Radical wing of the party, who felt that he was the worst man ever elected to the Presidency from within their party, after all it was their support which had given him the Presidency by way of the nomination and yet he had opposed their acts time and again.  However in Early 1887 he would cross over the line, not only being against something the party very much wanted, but actively vetoing it.  The Party managed to pass the Dawes Act, removing Indians from their land.  This bill was then sent to the President for his signature.  Instead as opposed to the views of the majority of his party, President Blaine struck down the bill with a veto, prompting the wrath of Senator Henry Dawes, the author of the bill.  Senator Dawes called the President a madman, saying that the party "would never forget an act so clearly against the will of it's leaders and President Blaine will certainly face steep repercussions for it."

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Senator Henry L. Dawes

Meanwhile through an alliance of moderate Republicans and Democrats, President Blaine managed to Shepard through the Posse Comitatus Act, thus ending the allowance for military members to act as police forces during peace time.  This was another bill which the Radical Republicans were not exactly fond of.  President Blaine was already in deep trouble with his own party.

Meanwhile in Hispaniola General Ganusha Pennypacker, the youngest Union general in the Civil War, was attempting to assist the nation in opposing the rebels of Hispaniola who continued their uprising against the United States government.   This rebellion was lead by General Alejandro Woss y Gil, a popular politician whose rebel army was mainly concentrated around Pedernales, in what was once the Southwest Dominican Republic.  At this time the Hispanolan's were conducting guerrilla warfare, in a single month thirty American soldiers were killed at this worst point of the rebellion. 

Many, particularly within the Democratic party were calling for America to give up their recent colonial possession. General Pennypacker however managed to show his ability as a general when in the sole pitched battle of the war at the end of 1888, the Battle of La Vega, a number of rebel troops were attempting to cross the river in order to return from a northern raid in which they had made off with a large sum of gold.  At the other side of the river General Pennypacker and his men opened fire upon the soldiers, whereby the water quickly filled with blood, subsequently many would call the river El río de Sangre, or the river of blood.  However General Pennypacker was not a politically minded man and this only managed to stiffen the resistance.  There were also rumors abounding at the time that the rebels were also gaining foreign aid from a European nation....

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General Galusha Pennypacker

Excellent! Blaine pretty much has committed political suicide at this point... so I am wondering if the party he has defied will renominate him, even if there is a war.

Looking forward to the next update, HW. :)

Good update, keep 'em coming. :)

1888: The Decisive Decision

The Republican Convention

As they walked into their convention, the Republicans looked poised to overthrow their sitting President in their nominating convention.  On the first ballot the President  came in first, however despite his placement he was still far from the necessary number of delegates in order to attain the nomination.  The other major candidates near the needed total were Senators Dawes and John Sherman, both Radical Republicans.  After twelve ballots however the opposition to the President begins to splinter, splitting along factional lines until finally on the thirteenth ballot the President attains renomination.  However despite this victory the President is crushed when the party's Radical wing engages in a walkout, deciding that thei best hopes to continue to have any hold on the system at all was to rebel from their own party.  The Radical Republicans subsequently nominated John Sherman for President and Henry Dawes for Vice President

The Democratic Convention

The Democratic Conventin was divided for a totally different reason, this being that they felt assured of vidctory, after all the Republicans were completely divided and the Democratic ideas were far more popular.  Early on two clear factions emerged in the Convention, the Bourbon Democrats of the North and the Southern Democrats who had consistently held power. 

Many possible nominees quickly emerged with the strongest of these being Fitzhugh Lee, Governor of Virginia and former Confederate General and Thomas F. Bayard, Senator of Delaware.  In the end Bayard gave his endorsement to Governor Lee just before the fourth ballot is exchange for Bayard being made Secretary of State and for a Bourboun Democrat to be made the Vice President.  For the Vice Presidency Lee chose Senator Grover Cleveland, one of the strongest and most charismatic members of the Democratic party

The General Election

Quickly it became clear that despite the presense of a former Confederate on the ticket the Democrats were the party to beat.  Despite his Confederate background most voters quickly decided that Governor Lee had redeemed himself by his subsequent service to the nation.  Meanwhile the split between the Radical and mainstream divisions of the Republicans results in a large amount of damage to their possibilities for victory.  In the end the odds were simply stacked to much against President Blaine for him to attain reelection and the split allowed for the Democrats to win.  Meanwhile the Republicans managed to maintain their Congressional majority due to the fact that there was no Radical split on that level.

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President Fitzhugh Lee

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Vice President Grover Cleveland

Comments would be very much appreciated.

Interesting twist with Fitzhugh Lee becoming President. I wouldn't have expected it.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to the next update. :)

"Save your Confederate Money boys, The South is risin' agin!!!", Idk what to expect for a Fitzhug Presidency, I really didn't see anything that said he was a stauch proponet of Jim Crow so he might govern pretty moderatley. Also the nomination of a Southern Democrat may take the wind out of the Populist movement, which drew alot of votes from White Southern Farmers outside of their stronghold of the midwest...Keep it comming

By the way for those of you confused as to how a former Confederate general could win an antebellum presidential election it is bcause oviously there was a huge split in the Republican party but also because Lee was an incredibly pro-American individual following the end of the war, despite his actions during the war, also for the short time he was in office he was considered a very strong Governor.

Will this split survive and fragment into separate parties, or will the Republicans re-unite in time for the next election?


Keep up the good work coming up with ideas btw.

Frankly I have not decided for sure. 

I like it so far. :) Keep up the good work.

I should be putting up an update within the next few days, any comments before hand? ;)

I will try to update through 1890 tonight but does anyone else have any comments?

Great TL, looking forward to the next update.

Well I think that the time has come that instead of starting a new timeline I will simply return to this one.  I will begin writing an 1889 update over the coming days but does anyone have any comments on what has already happened?

Why did you abandon this, out of curiousity?  And was there some sort of absence that prevented you from continuing this for 2 years?

At the time I simply lost interest in it sadly

Don't get me wrong; I've read it and it's great, and I look forward to seeing it continue

Cool stuff!

1889: The South has Risen Again!

President Fitzhugh Lee is inaugurated into the White House on March 4th, 1889.  In his inaugural address President Lee makes a point out the fact that the time has come for the nation to come together once again and for the Unionists and Confederates to once again reconcile together along with the desire for the nation's reach to extend even further South outside of Hispaniola.  However soon after the inauguration people begin to once again suspect his loyalty and that of fellow former Confederate with the rise of many former Confederates into positions of power, specifically the new Speaker of the House Charles Frederick Crisp and new Attorney General Lucius Q. C. Lamar.

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Speaker Charles Crisp

With these fears in mind, many Americans begin to wonder if President Lee truly has their best interests at heart.  In the Senate the Republicans still maintain a majority though the Democrats still have gained a majority in the US House.  Due to this few measures in the Congress were passed at a very fast rate excluding the bipartisan Sherman Antitrust Act which President Lee proved to be a vigorous defender of, despite it having the name of a political opponent in its name.  In the Senate President Pro Tempore John Sherman also attempted to push through Civil Rights legislation to attempt to empower Southern blacks both in voting and in legal proceedings however both Speaker Crisp and President Lee vow to strike down such legislation and repeatedly succeed in doing so with President Lee going so far as to proclaim, "So long as I am President no negro will be given an equal vote to a white man.  Whether they are slaves or not, they are still lesser men."  With these words he quickly ends any hopes for civil rights legislation.

Meanwhile President Lee made plans for another expansion of America and convinced Speaker Crisp to push through a bill expanding the U.S. navy, what for no one was exactly sure.  Nonetheless, the next couple years under President Fitzhugh Lee would certainly prove interesting to future historians.

I'm hoping to have another update up soon.  Anyone else have comments for me?

I'm reading. :) I just have to comment, wasn't Blaine corrupt in OTL? And thus, I have a hard time seeing him as a symbol of principle in a partisan party or whatever.

He often campaigned as a holier-than-thou, which got him in trouble with the higher national scrutiny of a presidential bid.  He was a halfbreed as well, opposing Grant's bid in 80 in part (and publicly, mostly because) of his sketchy time in office

He was supposedly alot like Grant, someone who wasn't personally corrupt but surrounded themselves with people who were.

The difference being (at least to the best of my knowledge), Grant didn't try to deny it, while Blaine borrowed his head in the sand.

Sounds about right.