Over the Hills and Far Away: The Life Story of Fred Roy Harris

[Mechaman]

I've decided that since my strongest strength in Alternate Universe writing is character development that I will start writing detailed life stories of politicians in another universe. I thought that for the first entry in my endeavor I would write an alternate history about one of my favorite senators of all time: Fred Roy Harris (simply because he was one of the few Okie senators who weren't batsh*t insane). Throughout the story I will include Presidential Election details, because after all this is a different history and throughout the life of this Fred Harris the US has different presidents than it does IOTL. This TL should be alot shorter than my epic timeline "America that Never Was", which I decided to end at the election of 1801 and continue that timeline in another thread under a new name (in other words, an anthology).

Anyway, I'm hoping to get started tonight.

Info on Fred Harris:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_R._Harris

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I've decided that since my strongest strength in Alternate Universe writing that I will start writing detailed life stories of politicians in another universe. I thought that for the first entry in my endeavor I would write an alternate history about one of my favorite senators of all time: Fred Roy Harris (simply because he was one of the few Okie senators who weren't batsh*t insane). Throughout the story I will include Presidential Election details, because after all this is a different history and throughout the life of this Fred Harris the US has different presidents than it does IOTL. This TL should be alot shorter than my epic timeline "America that Never Was", which I decided to end at the election of 1801 and continue that timeline in another thread under a new name (in other words, an anthology).

Anyway, I'm hoping to get started tonight.

Info on Fred Harris:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_R._Harris

Cool!

[Mechaman]

Okay, apparently Fred Harris fell from the sky or something because I can't find any mention of his parents' names. Ahh hell:

On December 12th, 1930, in Norman, OK, Doctor Glenn Harris wakes up in the middle of the night to the knock of the door. He opens the door to see a hooded figure walking away and at his feet a wooden basket with a baby in tow. Oh his bleedingheart, another poor creature who suffered the ravages of the Dust Bowl who didn't even have enough food to feed her own baby boy. He couldn't leave it out here alone, his humanity forced him to do what needed to be done. He took the baby in the basket and brought it inside. Once inside he got a closer look, yeah it's a boy. Too bad the woman didn't leave any identifying information for him, does this kid even have a birth certificate? Would he keep the child to live a life much greater than the one that had been given to his mother? Or should Glenn just give this kid to an orphanage for him to grow up in with no one to look to as a parent figure?
It was late now and he needed to go back to sleep. He had a lot to prepare for the next day as it was.
Eventually he decides to adopt the boy as his own and gives him the name Fred Roy Harris. He just wondered how he would break the news to Lauren Upton, whom he had developed a great deal of affection for these past few weeks. He didn't mean for it to happen this way, if the staff at Oklahoma University found out that he was being more than friendly with a student he might be joining this poor thing's parents on the trip to California or wherever they're going. He could imagine it now: all the claims of "abuse of authority", dirty looks from colleagues, if word got out about the relationship between Glenn Harris, Professor of Business at Oklahoma University, and the top of the class in the School of Business Lauren Upton, he would be in big trouble. Hell, he could end up behind bars. And now, against his better judgement, he has adopted this child as his own just to please his bleedingheart nature. That means on top of the charges of abuse of authority, the naysayers would be able to slap on the charge "fornicator". Not many people will believe the story of some poor young girl in a hood dropping off her child on his doorstep so it could get a better life.

Eventually Glenn did tell Lauren about the child he had received. The next semester she dropped his course so as to avoid any possibility of Glenn getting fired for being involved with a student. Eventually their feelings of affection for each other transformed into something more and on November 14th, 1931 Glenn Harris and Lauren Upton were bonded together in Holy Matrimony. Finally the dreams of Fred Harris' mother had come true, he had been given a great home with a loving family. He had been given a life free of the suffering and hardships endured by his parents and grandparents.

Growing up he would have a lot to live up to, especially to his father who would eventually become the Head of Business Administration Department at Oklahoma University. In place of the hardships of the soil came the hardships of the mind. His parents expected very high standards of academic success from Fred, in fact many people would say that the elder Harris would "demand that Fred have a mind twice that of Zeus and Apollo". One time Fred came home with a "B" on a test and his father said that Fred wouldn't get to go outside until he came home with an "A grade". Despite his insistence on academic excellence, Glenn was actually a fairly lenient father who let his son go into town if he wanted to to hang out with his friends or get a job. It would be on one of these job hunting excursions, when he was 10, that would awaken his mind to the outside world.

Okay, this may come out crappy but I can't just jump to his early adulthood.

[Mechaman]

Between the time that Fred had been discovered at the doorstep of Glenn Harris' house and by the time he was ten, great change had come to the nation. In the 1932 US Presidential election, FDR and the Progressive Party (had to bring in my other timeline, lol) would score a landslide election over the the GOP of Herbert Hoover and the Democratic Party of John Nance Garner on a mandate of economic progressivism

1932:

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (NY)/Robert M. LaFollette Jr. (WI) (Progressive) 403 evs 53.24% pv
John Nance Garner (TX)/Albert Ritchie (MD) (Democratic) 73 evs 24.89% pv
Herbert Hoover (IA)/Charlie Curtis (KS) (Republican) 55 evs 18.97%
Norman Thomas (NY)/James H. Maurer (PA) (Socialist) 2.4% pv
William Z. Foster (IL)/James W. Ford (AL) (Communist) 0.4% pv
William P. Upshaw (GA)/Frank S. Regan (IL) (Prohibition) 0.1% pv
William Hope Harvey (AR)/Frank Hemenway (WA) (Liberty)

It was the time of the Great Depression and people were getting desperate and would turn to anybody who promised that soon everything would be alright:

1936:

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (NY)/Robert M. LaFollette Jr. (WI) (Progressive) 507 evs 59.97% pv
Newton D. Baker (OH)/Miriam Ferguson (TX) (Democratic) 17 evs 23.82% pv
Alf Landon (KS)/Stephen A. Day (OH) (Republican) 7evs 13.91% pv
William Lemke (ND)/Thomas C. O'Brien (MA) (Union) 1.8%
Norman Thomas (NY)/George A. Nelson (WI) (Socialist) 0.4%
Earl Browder (KS)/James W. Ford (NY) (Communist) 0.1% pv

With FDR parlaying a spirit of optimism for the country's future and the promise of better times ahead, the American people re-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the greatest electoral landslide since Martin Van Buren (greatest personal vote landslide since Grover Cleveland). Both the Democratic and Republican parties are in danger of entering third party status with Progressives holding supermajorities in the House and Senate.

But after his glorious re-election, FDR died tragically to the polio that had gripped him since that fateful vacation in 1922. Everyone around the nation, evens FDR's biggest enemies, mourned the loss of who many considered "the most inspirational president in history". In his place was Robert M. LaFollette Jr., a man who was born, bred, and will die a Progressive. Roosevelt's Legacy was saved, even if Fightin' Bob Jr. didn't have the same inspirational qualities that FDR had.
The nation would get over the loss of one of it's greatest leaders. FDR's death really affected Fred Harris, whose father was an avid Roosevelt supporter. Glenn Harris was known for being a "dedicated Progressive" who would create posterboards of Roosevelt for Progressive Party fundraisers and motivational events. Thanks to the efforts of men like Glenn Harris, the Progressive Party managed to steal Oklahoma (which at the time had the reputation of being the "anti-progressive" state). Glenn would pass on his Progressive beliefs onto his son Fred, especially his views on racial equality, which was anathema even to other Oklahoma Progressives. This is how Fred Harris would be raised in the belief that it is the goal of American government to grant all people equal rights and take care of the poor and downtrodden.

Robert M. LaFollette would be elected to his first full term in office on a bit of a smaller mandate:

Robert M. LaFollette Jr. (WI)/Henry Wallace (IA) (Progressive) 365 evs 41.21% pv
Wendell Wilkie (NY)/Arthur Vandenberg (MI) (Republican) 94 evs 30.34% pv
Millard Tydings (MD)/Louis A. Johnson (VA) (Democratic) 72 evs 28.15% pv
Norman Thomas (NY)/Maynard C. Krueger (IL) (Socialist) 0.3% pv

LaFollette's electoral and popular vote percentages, while impressive, showed the trend toward the GOP that America was drifting back toward. The South was returning to it's Democratic roots. Soon, the Progressive Supermajority would weaken and disappear. However, the Progressive force would always remain.

[Sewer]

Good TL.

[Mechaman]

Something I forgot to add:
In 1933 when Glenn and Lauren Harris were trying to have a baby, the family doctor (an associate of Glenn's from OU) concludes that Glenn is infertile. Fred would be their only child.

February 5th, 1941 in Norman, Oklahoma.

During this time Glenn Harris was busy promoting Progressive causes statewide in Oklahoma. He got stuck in Tulsa, OK during a vicious ice storm that frose Green Country, preventing his return home. His wife Lauren would take care of all family affairs in his absence.
Fred Harris is looking for a job as the drug boy at the local pharmacy/soda shop. On his way out he notices something very disturbing: a group of poor white men beating the hell out of a Cherokee trader. Fred rushes over and kicks on of the men in the balls and tells them to get the hell out. The men, shocked that a 10 year old boy would talk to them like that tell Fred "you get the hell out of here you little shit! You have no business protecting Kimosabe's firewater!" Fred refuses to back down and gets the hell beaten out of him by the group of five men, however the Cherokee trader manages to get out of there before it got too ugly. Later in the day Lauren Harris would get a call from the doctor at the Oklahoma University doctor's office claiming that her son had been beaten badly and had a broken arm. She would run over to the doctor's office and see 10 year old Fred Harris with black spots all over his body, as well as signs of internal bleeding, and his arm in a cast. She would inquire of the doctor what happened, then Fred would speak "I showed those mean men what happens when they beat a nice man in the presence of a Harris." Lauren would be very upset with her son, saying that what he did was very stupid and that sometimes it's just best not to be involved in business he shouldn't be involved in. Fred would say "I couldn't just let that innocent man be beaten momma." Fred would stay in the OU medical ward for a month recuperating from his injuries, and his father wouldn't have a clue of his injuries until he got back from his Progressive barnstorming tour in early May (he had an adjunct professor take over his class). Upon hearing what had happen to his boy, Glenn would comment "my 10 year old boy, twice the man I am and only a fourth my age." (Glenn Harris was 40 at the time, his wife Lauren 31, his adopted son Fred 10).

[Mechaman]

Resumation

Fred Harris would recover from his injuries within 6 months at which point he would be back in school. At school Fred Harris would once again be among the brightest students of his class.  He was known by his teachers for being a really interested in the course materials, especially history and politics. At his school around 8th grade they started  doing class elections wherein each candidate would run campaigning on their issues to see who would get elected. Fred Harris ran for President promising to fight for "social security and National Health Care for all". Fred Harris beat the other two opponents in a landslide due to his passion and knowledge of all the issues at hand. However, the story wouldn't be the same for the Progressive presidential nominee Henry Wallace of Iowa come Election Night 1944:

1944:

Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.(MA)/Alben W. Barkley (KY) (Democratic) 34.09% pv 216 evs
Thomas E. Dewey (NY)/Harold Stassen (MN) (Republican) 34.1% pv 212 evs
Henry Wallace (IA)/Glen H. Taylor (ID) (Progressive) 31.21% pv 103 evs
Norman Thomas (NY)/Darlington Hoopes (PA) (Socialist) 0.4% pv
Claude Watson (CA)/Andrew N. Johnson (KY) (Prohibition) 0.2% pv

The noninterventionist Progressive foreign policy outrages many Americans hearing about the atrocities of the German army, as well as an economic recession in 1944. Joseph P. Kennedy and Thomas E. Dewey capitalize on Robert M. LaFollette's dovish foreign policy and staunch government intervention in the economy. No electoral majority, election goes to the House (which is under Democratic dominance (34%)) and Senate (which is under Republican dominance (34%)). Progressives, seeing that any chance of getting either Wallace or Taylor is nil, either vote for Taylor or Wallace or sell their vote to the "lesser of evils". The end result is:

Senate:
The US Senate vote would be a lot easier than the House vote, due to the fact that alot of Progressives found the GOP vice president Harold Stassen to be a "progressive sympathesizing" Republican. The end result would be 60 Stassen, 31 Barkley, 7 Wallace.
Harold W. Stassen is elected as Vice President.

House:

Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. (MA) 26 states
Thomas E. Dewey (NY) 15 states
Henry Wallace (IA) 7 states

Joseph P. Kennedy by a slim majority of the House vote is elected US President. This would be the first administration since 1797 that would have a president and a vice president from separate parties. President Joseph P. Kennedy and Vice President Harold Stassen would get along famously, proving that bipartisanship is possible in the Executive Branch.

On Election Night 1944 there were no champagne bottles being opened at the Harris residence where a lot of the Progressive sympathesizers usually celebrated. However, the unusual effects of the election, especially the House and Senate process, would intrigue Fred Harris about the political process the rest of his life. He would have no idea that he in fact would one day help bring about one of the biggest electoral reforms in American history.

[Mechaman]

At the age of 18 Fred Harris would get a full ride tuition to Oklahoma University and would pursue a major in Political Science. During 1948 he would get his first experience working in a political campaign as a worker for the presidential campaign of Idaho Senator Glen H. Taylor on the Progressive Party ticket. Thanks to the tireless efforts of volunteers like Fred Harris, Glen Taylor did very well in Oklahoma, beating out the Democratic and Socialist Party candidates with almost 30% of the popular vote (still would lose to the Republican vote). It would be thanks to the dedication of party chairs like Fred's dad Glen that would make Oklahoma the Progressive Party's most competitive state south of the Mason-Dixon line.

1948:

Thomas E. Dewey (NY)/Earl Warren (CA) (Republican) 283 evs 33.8% pv
Joseph P. Kennedy (MA)/Estes Kefauver (TN) (Democratic) 112 evs 28.2% pv
Glen H. Taylor (ID)/James Roosevelt (CA) (Progressive) 86 evs 29.8% pv
Strom Thurmond (SC)/Herman Talmadge (GA) (Dixiecrat) 50 evs 7.8% pv
Norman Thomas (NY)/Tucker P. Smith (MI) (Socialist) 0.3% pv
Claude Watson (CA)/Dale Learn (PA) (Prohibition) 0.1% pv

After a term of Joseph P. Kennedy's staunch interventionism as well as fracturing within the Democratic Party due to the adoption of Civil Rights into the party platform helps Thomas E. Dewey win a decent electoral victory.