1948: MacArthur (R) vs. Truman (D)

[Rooney]

In 1948 General Douglas MacArthur was seriously talked about as a top tier presidential candidate. He made a half-hearted bid for the Republican nomination which got nowhere. He apparently hoped he would be drafted at the convention and by that time Governor Dewey had already dispatched of Taft and Stassen in the primary season.

What would have happened if MacArthur had seriously entered thwe 1948 Republican Primaries and bsted Dewey in the New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Oregon Primaries? MacArthur is nominated on the 1st balllot and paired with conservative Congressman Charles Halleck of Indiana as his running-mate. The war hero of the Pacific Theater declares that he and Halleck will run a strongly anti-communist campaign and attack Truman for cost of living issues.

President Truman is nominated as in our timleline and is still paired with the ancient Senator  Alben W. Barkley of Kentucky as his running-mate.

It's Truman vs. MacArtur three years earlier! Who wins this heavyweight battle for the White House? I'll make a map soon.

[Rooney]

MacArthur/Halleck (R): 297 EV
Truman/Barkley (D): 196 EV
Thurmond/Wright (Dixiecrat): 38 EV

MacArthur runs a far more aggresive campaign than Dewey did in real life. He attacks Truman relentlessly on the issue of Soviet expansion and Truman responds belligerently. This serves to alienate some more liberal Democrats and thus Wallace would have done a little bit better than he did in real life. Wallace may break 2 million votes, thus finishing ahead of Thurmond in terms of popular votes but still fail to break into the electoral college. Wallace's percentage in New York would increase from a considerable 8% to 10-15% of the total  vote of the state. This is what tips New York to MacArthur and with it the election.

A President MacArthur from 1949-1953 creates a great deal of alternative paths to follow. Truman, in our timeline, intervened in the Korean War and did not rule out nuclear strikes. This was primarily for effect. However, President MacArthur may not have simply thought about usage of tactical nuclear weapons in Korea or to save Nationalist China. This creates a Cold War scenario which could become quite hot and quite soon.