Paint it Red: The Rise of the American Left (1908-1932)

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I love how despite Roosevelt's anti-German stance IOTL you made it political pandering. I admire your innovative and creative use of ideas!

Thanks! Yes, in my timeline America's involvement in the war has more to do with economics than geopolitics. Although TR still personally supported the Entente, pushing the United States to go to war against an emerging trading partner would probably stick a knife in the U.S. stock market and prove the isolationists correct: not a winning formula for a re-election campaign.

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President Roosevelt Attends a Rally, May 1916

Chapter Four: The Election of 1916: War's Reprieve

  It was in the midst of this chaotic world stage that the election cycle of 1916 took place in the United States. Truth be told, the election largely occurred in the background while the events of the war took most of the spotlight. President Roosevelt's popularity was slipping as the war lagged on, and there was certainly the possibility for a new president come November, but the attention of the nation largely stuck on the war itself.

  On February 15th, the president expectantly announced that he would be running once again in 1916. He made no fuss about it, and was confident that he would win in a landslide. No Progressive Party candidate ran against President Roosevelt, and he would cinch his party’s nomination at the enormous Progressive National Convention in New York City. While in 1912 Roosevelt had to push for conservative support, in this cycle he needed to reinvigorate his base and remind them that he stood for progressive change. As such, Vice President Taft did not run for renomination (he would end up being appointed by TR to the Supreme Court in 1917), and instead the nomination unanimously went to Californian Governor Hiram Johnson.

  President Roosevelt gave the following address at the convention. "To those who speculate the character of and future for this gathering of ours, this Party of the Bull Moose, you and I shall tell them that we republicans are here to stay. Factional parties may come and go, but for as long as the plain man wants to see our government act and not simply talk, we who stand for the cause of the betterment of mankind must fight."

  The president pledged new government programs to award returning soldiers with jobs, re-stated his wish for a National Health Board, and offered other similar programs. The central theme of the Roosevelt Campaign was swift victory in the war, followed immediately by a slew of new Square Deal programs. Johnson stated in his acceptance speech, "We will bring justice to Europe and retain economic prosperity at home". The crowd turned this into the eventual political slogan for the Progressives: "Victory, Justice, Prosperity".

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Governor Woodrow Wilson Addressing a Crowd in New Jersey

  The Democratic and Republican parties were largely divided on how to defeat Roosevelt in 1916. According to contemporary newsprint reports, the majority of Republicans and left-leaning Democrats believed Roosevelt was a fairly good president and a skilled war commander, but that he was either 1) on the wrong side of the war or too internationalist, or 2) too liberal, too big government to be a proper representative of the American people.

  Democrats like W.J. Bryan feared the ‘American Empire’ policy which began with McKinley and grew with Roosevelt’s first term. He had given a few speeches in 1915 where he urged diplomacy against war, but after the Lusitania and the proceeding call to arms, he stayed mostly silent. The bulk of the Democrats, including Governors Eugene Foss of Massachusetts and Simeon Baldwin of Connecticut stated that it would be un-American and unpatriotic to make speeches or run a campaign against the war. No Democrat ran in 1916 on an anti-war platform, but rather on an anti-Roosevelt-War platform.

  The Liberal Party had dissipated by 1916. While some on the fringes still refused to be involved with the Democratic machine, there was a definite call for unity against Roosevelt. The frontrunner going into 1916 was Champ Clark, but in January he stated that he would not be running again for president. Judson Harmon stated he would consider a run, but only if no other candidate stood by "our good Democratic values". Bryan also announced he would not run, instead stating that he wanted to focus on bringing national attention to the Social Gospel.

  The leading contender throughout the last year was, without a doubt, Governor Woodrow Wilson. He became the voice of moderate action in Europe and stressed that the president cared very little for the American people, judging by how he abandoned the medical plan in favor of sending souls to die for the German war machine. Wilson preached "God-given hope" and assured the public that his election would mean real progressive action and an escape from war-torn Europe.

 With the governor in the race, nearly every Democrat endorsed him as a 'united front' against TR. Wilson's only competition was Oscar Underwood who announced a presidential campaign to "thwart radical action" and "bring sanity back to Washington." Learning from 1912, however, the Democratic Party leadership did not want to risk a permanent party breakup and stifled Underwood's run at every turn. Finally, at the Democratic National Convention in St. Louis, Woodrow Wilson won his party's nomination in a remarkable landslide while the vice presidential slot went to Missouri Senator William J. Stone.

DEMOCRATIC BALLOT		1st Call		1088 DELEGATES
Woodrow Wilson		966
Oscar Underwood		107
OTHERS/BLANK		15

DEMOCRATIC BALLOT		1st Call		1088 DELEGATES
William J. Stone		902
John W. Kern		76
Thomas R. Marshall		63
Eugene Foss		18
Henry Ford		12
OTHERS/BLANK		17

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Outside of the Chicago Coliseum, Venue of the 1916 RNC

  In March, former Vice President Fairbanks declared that he would be seeking the Republican nomination for president. In a thunderous opening speech, he had stated that the United States as a beacon of democracy should not have gone to war with Britain at all, and furthermore needs to exit the war at once and begin financially supporting the Allied forces. Although few brought up the Lusitania as a German-provoked attack by 1916, Fairbanks began including the tragedy in his stump speech, calling it an "unwarranted provocation against American lives with a most inappropriate response from our government."

  Senator John W. Weeks also announced his candidacy for president. He ran a more liberal campaign than the other Republicans, stating that most of Roosevelt's legislation was in the right spirit, though the majority of it was simply lip service. Weeks was also the only Republican candidate who completely agreed with Roosevelt's foreign policy. "Our war in Europe is reaching its end. However, when our nation's role is complete, it's complete."

  The final front-running contender for the nomination was Senator Elihu Root of New York. The leading conservative of the election, Root called for an immediate end to the legislation he called "unfriendly and uncooperative" from the president. "This administration has seen attacks on our people, on our businesses, and on the character of our nation. On all fronts, there is silence from our president. Our Republic deserves better." Root also called for the United States to immediately begin supporting France and Britain, calling upon the poor treatment of Belgian citizens by the Germans as irrefutable proof that the German government is  far from humanitarian.

  When the National Convention was convened in Chicago, former President Knox gave the opening address, calling for unity in defeating Roosevelt and bringing back the Progressives into the GOP. As the press reported, Knox's speech was more electrifying than any he had made as president. As printed in the Chicago Tribune, "Where was this man when we needed him?"

  Fairbanks, as the moderate candidate, began as the frontrunner in the ballot calls. Receiving 353 delegate votes, he surpassed his competitors with a fair margin, but not enough to solidify his nomination. In the third ballot, Weeks formally dropped out of the race and endorsed Senator Root. In his concession speech, Weeks noted a critical point: that Fairbanks was historically linked to President Roosevelt, and in order to achieve full independence from the "Era of the Moose", only Root could be counted on to lead. That was enough for the delegates.

REPUBLICAN BALLOT		1st Call		2nd Call		3rd Call		4th Call		1026 DELEGATES
Elihu Root		207		210		340		783
Charles Fairbanks		353		362		381		183
Albert B. Cummins		85		76		80		58
Philander Knox		99		60		62		7
Herbert Hadley		41		50		32		1
John W. Weeks		175		221		120		0
OTHERS/BLANK		66		61		11		11

  Thus, Elihu Root became the nominee for the Republican Party. Fairbanks conceded, but did cite his disappointment with the delegates for choosing Root over him for an "inconsequential" reason. Root won with a unified vote, and he immediately went on the attack and bashed Roosevelt at every turn. During the campaign, he would hardly pay any attention to Wilson. Only once did he refer to Wilson, stating that he was "ill-equipped" to lead the nation through the war. As a favor, Root endorsed Senator Weeks for vice president, and he thusly won that contest without any competition. It should be noted, however, that during the entirety of the convention there was no mention of the disastrous performance of the Republican Party in 1912 and more so, no solutions to expand on Knox's 26 electoral votes.

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Allan Benson, the 1916 Socialist Party Presidential Nominee

  Putting it lightly, the Socialist Party was a long-shot in the election. Four years prior, a huge portion of self-affiliating socialists voted for the Progressives. TR and the Bull Moose politicians were viewed as 'sensible' choices who could bring about some institutional change and make better the lives of working class men and women. When Roosevelt announced his plan for a National Health Board, even Eugene Debs was taken aback.

  However, the war had changed all that. Foreign policy became the most significant issue for the 1916 election, and just as the socialist Second International had almost entirely set aside socialism for nationalism, there were a slew of American socialists who openly supported the Great War as a means to defend jobs and the economy. As co-founder of the Social Democratic Party of America, Benjamin Hanford put it, "Nobody wins if we all lose."

  With the war also came a different face for the Progressives. For many in America, they were no longer perceived as game-changing, third party insurgents, but overtly liberal Republicans led by Roosevelt. This was a significant shift in the political realm, and propelled the narrative that American politics is inherently locked between two factions. Other than men like Senator Root, who himself represented only a faction of Republicans who were pro-British, the great majority of Congress approved of the war and the corresponding draft.

  The Socialist Party, therefore, became the party against the war. The elected socialists in Congress were among the only politicians willing to vote against American entrance into the war, causing a stir in the press. Then came the SP-led anti-war protests which rang up in a tide of recognition that the president had totally ignored social policies in favor of deeper-still involvement in the war abroad. Even though the protest dwindled and ended ultimately unsuccessfully, the party won a brief moment of national attention. The New York Times even referred to the protests in a 2-Page column about "The Shadowed Threat: American Sedition". The party, as thus, received a minor jump in membership when the issue was released.

  When Debs announced that he would run for a Congressional seat and not the presidency, that role fell to newspaper editor and author Allan L. Benson. Having been a socialist author for some time, Benson was known in some intellectual circles, but little beyond this. His competition was made up of the farther left James H. Mauer and Arthur Le Seuer, but Benson was able to command the party delegation following a speech where he pledged to "Always and firmly stand opposed to Roosevelt imperialism and Roosevelt war." Benson stated that supporting the war was inherently anti-patriotic, because, and very simply, it directly caused the deaths of a growing number of Americans.

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Governor Wilson Campaigning from his Automobile

  Wilson was considered, initially, to be the easy favorite in this election cycle. He was preaching moderation while the other sides were stressing extreme measures. The promised "gradual withdrawal" from Europe was appealing to mothers who had recently gained the right to vote. Wilson as the moderate and Stone as the conservative provided, arguably, the most balanced ticket of any of the major ones. This was pressed in advertising slogans to portray a diverse ticket to be representative of the American people.

  Root was struggling to kick his campaign off of the ground. He conducted a front-porch style campaign, thus allowing supporters to come to his doorstep, while his vice presidential nominee, Senator Weeks, briefly toured the Eastern United States from September to late October. Senator Root continued to attack Roosevelt for his unwillingness to back out of his "war for German dominance of Europe", though at a time in the country when most had already accepted the alliance with Germany, the senator's words fell on deaf ears.

  When the war’s pace had slowed in the winter, newspapers speculated about exactly what a return to the Democrats would mean for the country, especially in wartime. Battles were ending in stalemates over and over again, and there was no clear end in sight. A Democratic comeback would mean that a President Wilson could pass most legislation without worry, thanks to the wholly Democratic-controlled Congress.

  However, the tide began to turn once again by the fall. With the victories in Verdun and the Somme, the chances that the United States had chosen the wrong side were growing very slim. One can see just how the election shifted from these battles by examining the Des Moines Register polls from July, before either battle’s end, to September.

The Des Moines Register: July 1916
Which candidate would you endorse for president?

Woodrow Wilson: 38%
Theodore Roosevelt: 30%
Elihu Root: 17%
Allan Benson: 11%
Other/None of These: 4%

The Des Moines Register: September 1916
Which candidate would you endorse for president?

Theodore Roosevelt: 37%
Woodrow Wilson: 32%
Elihu Root: 18%
Allan Benson: 12%
Other/None of These: 1%

  By November of 1916, the Germans had totally driven the British and French armies from Belgium, and had pushed deep in Lorraine, nearly to Chaumont. The French government was beginning to fall apart, and massive rallies in Paris from anarchist and socialist groups pushed public opinion against the war. The British government was holding firm, but it too was dealing with a fair share of internal unrest. Things were finally beginning to work out in the president's favor.

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C.R. Foster's Election Song Highlights Pro-Democratic Sentiment

  Even though the polls showed a victory for Roosevelt, all the way through Election Day, Wilson kept right on his heels. The president did not campaign much in October, instead working to accelerate the war effort. In truth, TR's health had begun descending slightly, and there was an unreported minor scare in early September when he fainted at his desk. This was, however, kept under wraps, but the president did not himself campaign because of it. Secretary La Follette had made a brief appearance in Madison, WI to promote the Progressive campaign, as did Hiram Johnson along the Pacific Coast.

  Woodrow Wilson actually spent very little time in the South during the campaign, instead focusing on swing-states including New York and Ohio. Senator Stone campaigned for Wilson hard in Missouri, pushing even the most conservative Democrats to promote the relatively moderate presidential ticket. Allan Benson drove vigorously in the industrial Midwest, and won some national press when he appeared with Senator Miller of Nevada in Washington.

  When it came to vote totals, Roosevelt and Root were neck-and-neck in parts of New England and the Mid Atlantic. The traditional, conservative Republican bases ensured a basic total for the senator. Elihu Root picked up Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island with fair totals. Maine was relatively close, though Roosevelt picked it up with about 42% of the vote.

  Wilson's job in the election was to confidently advance the Democratic vote above the Mason-Dixon line. He did just that when he won New Jersey and Delaware with over 50%. Pennsylvania, one of the growing Progressive bases in the nation, went to Roosevelt without much effort. New York was closer, and every candidate needed the Empire State. Analysts believe that it was a combination of Root's unwillingness to campaign and Roosevelt's economic success, but the split Republican vote did not play as critical as a role that it could have. Roosevelt won New York with 50.2%.

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President Roosevelt Shaking Hands with VP Nominee Hiram Johnson

 
  The entirety of the Solid South stuck with Wilson as expected, including Missouri and Maryland. States like South Carolina and Mississippi were won by over 90% by Wilson. West Virginia, initially considered an easy win for the Wilson Campaign, was again lost by the Democrats by 5% to Roosevelt. Regardless, the election was already too close for TR's standards. One of the ways Roosevelt had won in 1912 was with Massachusetts, and without it he was in danger of not having enough votes to win the presidency.

  Luckily for the president, there was no Liberal Party contending in Wisconsin this year, and Roosevelt was able to carry it and the entire Midwest with it, including Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, each with hefty vote totals. Indiana was the closest after a fierce competition with Wilson, but TR once again came out victorious. As it turned out, the president’s vigorous defense of the National Forestry system, the increase of federal funding to National Parks, and the agreement to lower tariffs paid off when he totally swept the West.

  Arizona and New Mexico were hotly contested by each of the candidates, but in the end, Wilson won each by roughly 38% of the vote. Wilson had spent very little time campaigning in the West, and chiefly paid attention to swing states like New Jersey and New York, but due to this, he lost states like Colorado and Kansas which were plausible Democratic winners. Oklahoma had a very strong showing for the Socialist Party’s candidate, and it ended up being the closest state in this election. It showed 12% for Root, 28% for Roosevelt, 29.54% for Wilson and 29.56% for Benson. For the time in American history, the Socialist Party won the electoral votes of a state.

  With that, the election came to a close and President Roosevelt was in for another term in the White House.

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The Election of 1916: Final Results

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[NeverAgain]

LOLOklahoma. Closest Socalists!

[Pyro]

LOLOklahoma. Closest Socalists!

Indeed! Although 29% is far from a majority, Benson did have some luck in OK, just as he did in our timeline where he won over 15.5%! States like Oklahoma, Arizona and Nevada were pretty major swing states in this period. For instance, if you look at how Debs performed in those states in 1912, he did rather well too.

[NeverAgain]

LOLOklahoma. Closest Socalists!

Indeed! Although 29% is far from a majority, Benson did have some luck in OK, just as he did in our timeline where he won over 15.5%! States like Oklahoma, Arizona and Nevada were pretty major swing states in this period. For instance, if you look at how Debs performed in those states in 1912, he did rather well too.

When did thinking people leave the Deseret? ;-;

[Pyro]

LOLOklahoma. Closest Socalists!

Indeed! Although 29% is far from a majority, Benson did have some luck in OK, just as he did in our timeline where he won over 15.5%! States like Oklahoma, Arizona and Nevada were pretty major swing states in this period. For instance, if you look at how Debs performed in those states in 1912, he did rather well too.

When did thinking people leave the Deseret? ;-;

Hah! Well I'm not super well-versed in the Southwestern U.S., but I would imagine that demographic changes would play its part, as would a general, national leaning towards the right beginning in the 1920s and then much more so in the 50s. Republicans were (and still are) very skilled at picking up support from working class whites, especially when the Left became totally unraveled.

[NeverAgain]

LOLOklahoma. Closest Socalists!

Indeed! Although 29% is far from a majority, Benson did have some luck in OK, just as he did in our timeline where he won over 15.5%! States like Oklahoma, Arizona and Nevada were pretty major swing states in this period. For instance, if you look at how Debs performed in those states in 1912, he did rather well too.

When did thinking people leave the Deseret? ;-;

Hah! Well I'm not super well-versed in the Southwestern U.S., but I would imagine that demographic changes would play its part, as would a general, national leaning towards the right beginning in the 1920s and then much more so in the 50s. Republicans were (and still are) very skilled at picking up support from working class whites, especially when the Left became totally unraveled.

Luckily with this TL, that will soon change...

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1916 Congressional Elections      

Senate
Democratic: 48 (-2)
Republican: 28 (-10)
Progressive: 18 (+11)
Socialist: 2 (+1)

House
Democratic: 178 (-45)
Progressive: 123 (+82)
Republican: 113 (+30)
Socialist: 10 (+5)
Prohibition: 1 (0)
Independent: 1 (0)

  The 1916 Election turned out to be a clear-cut victory for the Progressive Party. As with all of Congress, in the Senate, the Republican Party saw an exodus of its Old Guard and a huge boost to the Progressives. While deeply Democratic states unexpectedly kept their Democrats and New England kept their Republicans, the other states saw major contests. Swing states were watched rather closely, especially in locations like California and New York where the population typically elected higher numbers of conservatives to their legislatures.

  In 11 states, Progressives won Senate seats. In many of these states, the leading Republican candidates decided to instead run as Progressives. Only in a few of these did the state Republican parties run separate tickets, and in each they lost. Massachusetts easily had the most interesting senatorial election. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge (R-MA) refused to fold on multiple demands which would have won him the endorsement of the state’s Progressive Party. Because of this, James McChucker won the nomination of the Progressives, thereby splitting the vote and allowing for the victory of Representative John F. Fitzgerald (MA-D). Fitzgerald, a liberal Democrat, was not expected to break through 40% of the popular vote, but the splitting of the Republicans soared him into office with a 47% win. Thanks to the new 17th Amendment, the state legislature could not appoint Lodge as they had done so many times before.

  California had also been rather close. The incumbent Republican who had been expected to win unopposed, Senator John D. Works (R-CA), announced his retirement. There was an initial buzz that Hiram Johnson would fill his seat, but when he accepted the position of vice president from Roosevelt, that role went to Francis J. Heney, who won against Democrat George S. Patton, Sr. Senator Atlee Pomerene (D-OH) managed to lose his re-election bid to Roosevelt’s former Secretary of the Interior, James R. Garfield (OH-P). In Wisconsin, a multi-way vote occurred to decide the fate of Secretary La Follette’s Senate seat. The Progressive candidate, James O. Davidson, was the leading contender, but in an upsurge of labor fueled by a recent strike, the former Mayor of Milwaukee, Emil Seidel, was elected with a difference of 145 votes.

  In the House, the Democrats and the Republicans took a near-equal share of losses to the Progressive Party. The Progressives manages to win 82 additional seats, from former Republicans and Democrats, pushing them into the 2nd Minority, ahead of the GOP. More so, the Republicans and the Progressives now had enough combined voting power to overpower the Democratic majority. The Socialist Party doubled their House seats with wins in Arizona, Wisconsin, and Washington, putting them at 10 total. Montana elected Jeannettee Rankin (R-MT) to the House of Representatives, making her the first woman in that role. The House also adopted the "cloture" procedure which was designed by the leading Democrats to try and prevent any disruptive filibusters from the minority Socialists.

 House of Representatives Leadership

Speaker Champ Clark (D-MO)
Minority Leader William Stephens (P-CA)
Minority Leader James Mann (R-IL)
Minority Leader Meyer London (S-NY)
Charles Hiram Randall (Pro-CA), caucus w/ Progressives
William Kent of California (I-CA), caucus w/ Democrats



  Senators Elected in 1916 (Class 1)

Henry F. Ashurst (D-AZ): Democratic Hold w/ 55%
William F. Kirby (D-AK): Democratic Hold w/ 67%
Francis J. Heney (P-CA): Progressive Gain w/ 57%
George P. McLean (R-CT): Republican Hold w/ 51%
Henry A. du Pont (P-DE): Progressive Gain w/ 49%
Park Trammell (D-FL): Democratic Hold w/ 82%
Harry Stewart New (P-IN): Progressive Gain w/ 44%
James Eli Watson  (P-IN): Progressive Gain w/ 47%
Frederick Hale (R-ME): Democratic Gain w/ 50%
Joseph I. France (P-MD): Progressive Gain w/ 47%
John F. Fitzgerald (D-MA): Democratic Gain w/ 47%
Charles E. Townsend (R-MI): Republican Hold w/ 56%
Frank B. Kellogg (P-MN): Progressive Gain w/ 48%
John Sharp Williams (D-MS): Democratic Hold w/ 100%
James A. Reed (D-MO): Democratic Hold w/ 50%
Henry L. Myers (D-MT): Democratic Hold w/ 51%
Gilbert Hitchcock (D-NE): Democratic Hold w/ 49%
Key Pittman (D-NV): Democratic Hold w/ 44%
Joseph S. Frelinghuysen, Sr. (P-NJ): Progressive Gain w/ 56%
Andrieus A. Jones (D-NM): Democratic Gain w/ 51%
Bainbridge Colby (P-NY): Progressive Gain w/ 40%
Porter J. McCumber (P-ND): Progressive Gain w/ 53%
James R. Garfield (P-OH): Progressive Gain w/ 48%
M. Clyde Kelly (P-PA): Progressive Gain w/ 46%
Peter G. Gerry (D-RI): Democratic Gain w/ 52%
Kenneth McKellar (D-TN): Democratic Hold w/ 54%
Charles Allen Culberson (D-TX): Democratic Hold w/ 81%
William H. King (D-UT): Democratic Gain w/ 55%
Carroll S. Page (R-VT): Republican Hold w/ 74%
Claude A. Swanson (D-VA): Democratic Hold w/ 100%
Miles Poindexter (P-WA): Progressive Gain w/ 59%
Howard Sutherland (R-WV): Republican Gain w/ 50%
Emil Seidel (S-WI): Socialist Gain w/ 40%
John B. Kendrick (D-WY): Democratic Gain w/ 51%

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Roosevelt 'Pops Out' in this November Issue of Leslie's Magazine

Chapter Five: The Fourth Term: Party of Reactionaries

  President Roosevelt had won the election handily in the electoral vote, even though Wilson won a hefty amount of the popular vote. The public was most definitely tired of the war, and if not for the recent victories, Roosevelt may not have won in such a decisive fashion. Nevertheless, the president made a powerful address to the public. After working mostly behind the scenes in the fall months, Roosevelt looked somewhat different. The war aged the president noticeably, turning his signature mustache entirely white. He still had the Roosevelt-charm and energy, but everyone could see the cost of war on the man's face.

  When he took his fourth Oath of Office on January 22nd, in a completely different tone than his inauguration speech in 1913, the president dedicated 9/10ths of his hour-long speech to the war effort. He stressed committed patriotism, a willingness to die for one’s country, and stated that “our allies in Europe would not have come so far without continued support from these United States.” He condemned anti-war actions as “childish" complaining, and urged that the war cannot successfully end without public support at home. In the middle of his speech, he mentioned that when the war does come to a close, a committee will be set up to discuss peace terms, and one of these terms will be the creation of an international order to ensure that another war of this magnitude will never occur. In truth, he had worked with Wilson on this idea, and the former governor would be an essential piece of the puzzle.


The Roosevelt Cabinet

President                        Theodore Roosevelt
Vice President                  Hiram Johnson
Secretary of State            Robert M La Follette
Secretary of Treasury       Jonathan Bourne Jr.
Secretary of War              Ulysses S. Grant III
Attorney General              Charles Bonaparte
Postmaster General           George von L. Meyer
Secretary of the Navy       Franklin D. Roosevelt
Secretary of the Interior    George Tubulin
Secretary of Agriculture     James Wilson
Secretary of Commerce     Joshua W. Alexander
Secretary of Labor            William B. Wilson

  The president's newest cabinet had only changed slightly from the one he kept secure for the past four years. Former Governor Johnson was now Vice President, and he appeared young and spry next to the aging president. Major Ulysses S. Grant III had taken over as Secretary of War from Luke Wright, and was chosen because of his work in organizing the victory at Verdun. Incidentally, Grant was married to Edith Root, the daughter of the Republican nominee in 1916, Senator Elihu Root. Whether this was merely a coincidence or perhaps an olive branch is unknown.

  Secretary James Redfield retired in mid-1916 resulting in the first separation between Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of Labor. The Secretary of the Navy, Truman H. Newberry, had decided against serving in a second term, and TR had his cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, take over that post. Franklin Roosevelt had been a major player in breaking up the British blockade, making his name well-known amongst military leaders. There was some fabricated controversy in the press when Theodore Roosevelt chose a relative for a cabinet position, but the president successfully rebounded this sentiment with one comment. "My administration has been nothing if not honest after four years of naked robbery. For the unscrupulous press to question the recommendation of Franklin Delano to my cabinet undermines not simply his natural ability and record, but the promise of triumph in our entire military endeavor."

[NeverAgain]

I hope TR lives on until the end of his term. Great TL Pyro!

[Pyro]

 

Russian Rally Against the War, February 1917

  It did seem as though the war was coming to a close. The stalemate on the Western Front had been broken and the German and U.S. forces were through Belgium and nearing Amiens by February. In the South, the Italian military had suffered some minor losses in Switzerland, but when more U.S. troops came to their aid, they powered through into Annecy and Grenoble by springtime. The Russians were struggling to remain in the fray by 1917.

  The defeat of the Russian army seemed inevitable when in March, a revolution broke out in Petrograd, leading to the abdication of Czar Nicholas II and the creation of a new, liberal government under one Georgy Lvov. The new Russian Republic had sworn that their part in the war would soon come to an end, but little action actually took place, and the German and Austrians continued to wail on the often weaponless Russian military. Roosevelt declared that this new government was now the officially designated leadership in Moscow.

  In Great Britain, sizable rallies occurred throughout the major cities demanding an end to the war. As with each of the participating countries, the poor were going hungry while the soldiers were ordered to kill one another. Finally, the British government agreed to hold a new general election on April 2nd of 1917 due to popular demand. The leading parties, the Conservative and Liberal parties, were expected to take tremendous losses, yet they still campaigned as fervently as possible to not lose their majorities. The center-left Labour Party had been expected to grab this momentum and take the majority in Parliament. An assassination attempt on King George V by an Irish nationalist altered this course of history, resulting in the Labour Party only gaining 27 new seats. The Conservative Coalition Party won the majority and kept control.

  The Central Powers in the Eastern front had begun closing in on Russia and making substantial gains when the provisional government of Russia, under Alexander Kerensky, was overthrown by the collective uprising of the Petrograd workers in conjunction with Vladimir Lenin and the Bolshevik Party on November 7th. This became known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. Strengthened by the fast-fading war effort, the Bolsheviks were able to win the elected majority in the All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. Becoming the leading voice in Russia, the radical leftist party oversaw massive changes under the label of a new Workers' State. Almost immediately, Russians saw their lives change, from food being distributed freely and equally to healthcare becoming available to all civilians.

  The Soviets, or workers councils, became havens for direct democracy, where average Russians were able to see their needs represented without the influence of greed or capitalist profit. The rest of world, however, saw this new form of government as an unacceptable threat to republicanism and, of course, global capitalism. President Roosevelt immediately declared Lenin and the Bolsheviks a “stain on the world” and that the Kerensky government-in-exile was still the legitimate government of Russia. The revolutionary government in Russia made good on their initial promise of peace and brought about an order of armistice. Soon thereafter, Russia offered an official treaty of peace to Germany. When this deal was accepted, the Eastern front came to a formal end. In accordance with this deal, Austria-Hungary and Germany were set to make enormous land gains in the East and expand their empires.

[Pyro]

Raymond Poincaré, 10th and Last President of the Third French Republic

  Uprisings took place in Paris for weeks upon weeks, with anarchists and socialists demanding the resignations of President Raymond Poincare and Georges Clemenceau. The rallies had initially been rather small, with only about a thousand attendees marching against the war. When the news of Verdun reached the French public, there had been an awakening, of sorts, against the central government. The movement ascended and descended in varying measures between September 1916 and August 1917. It likely would have collapsed after only some months, but when Czar Nicholas was toppled in March, the French protests grew immeasurably.

  There had only been two minor incidents of violence, and each had blame placed squarely on the protesters themselves. However, this perspective was changed on November 9th when the Parisian police were ordered to disband the protesters. This resulted in the bloody demise of over 30 nonviolent protesters. Still, the next day, the revolt had not ended. Banners waved with pictures of Karl Marx and Jean Jarues, the assassinated leader of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) Party.

  By this time, the Central Powers were well on their way to Paris, and the Allies feared that London would be next on the agenda. On December 5th, PM Clemenceau declared that the war was far from over and a "momentous counter-strike" would frighten the German and American forces enough to drive them back to Belgium. On December 14th, Clemenceau was assassinated in his office by one of his own sworn guardsmen. Clemenceau's provocation of nationalism was a failure. December 19th saw a massive revolt in the streets of Paris with numbers estimated over one million: the largest yet. The Parisian police stood guard at the Elysee Palace awaiting a similar charge to that described in Moscow after its February Revolution.

  Right when, as reported, the police readied their weapons for an assault, President Raymond Poincaré appeared on the scene. Some expected an immediate assassination. However as the president walked toward the crowd they seemed to calm. He only spoke four short lines, and in it, he announced his own resignation as president and solemnly stated, "...and so ends our republic." The police threw down their weapons and the crowd began to applaud and cheer wildly. They had won. This peaceful change of government later became known as, "the December Revolution for Peace".

  The new leading party of the Fourth Republic became the same one which fueled the rallies, the SFIO. Jules Guesde was chosen to be the new Prime Minister of France, and Léon Blum, a Jewish social democrat, became the new President. A constitution was written, one which guaranteed food and shelter as human rights, and supplied the means for a new economic structure in which the union would be guaranteed. The minority party in France became the French Communist Party, founded by former SFIO member Ludovic-Oscar Frossard. This party was far more in line with Marxist tendencies towards the emancipation of the working class and sided with Lenin’s Russia. Guesde, always the nationalist, stated that the new Russia was “not our enemy, but not our friend.” The third party was the Republican-Socialist Party, a center-left coalition of former Democrats. Lastly was the National Bloc, a coalition of right-leaning to far-right tendencies led by Poincaré’s friend, Paul Deschanel. 

  Although not as revolutionary as the new Russian government, this new “Social-Democracy” contained, as Lenin said, “...elements of the old French Bourgeoisie, but certainly a step towards the Workers’ State.” The party had largely supported the war effort, but when the new Republic was created, immediately called for an armistice and requested Germany and the United States come to Paris for a peace accord. Britain was absolutely furious.

[Pyro]

  

Map of Europe, 1918

  On January 5th, 1918, an armistice was signed formally ending the Great War. Over eight million were estimated to have died, with nearly 18 million wounded or missing. The war was also expensive, and cost each of the participating nations a hefty amount of gold. President Roosevelt was thrilled to have served as a “war president” who would most certainly be remembered for his brave actions as leader. Britain was in a sorry state, and saw its economy breakdown in the last year of the war. France and Russia had undergone revolutions and were still trying to re-situate themselves. Germany and Austria-Hungary, as the primary victors of the war, saw their economies boom with the war’s end.

  Following the armistice, the Paris Peace Conference was held to determine the fate of the world following the long war. It took roughly six months of negotiations, from January to June. Over 32 countries were represented and each sought to further the advantages of their nation. Each country had a major figure to represent them, such as President Roosevelt for the United States, PM Jules Guesde of France, PM Vittorio Emanuele Orlando of Italy, PM David Lloyd George of Britain, German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, and Franz von Hotzendorf of Austria-Hungary.

  The central issue of the conference was how to handle the overseas territories held by Britain and France. Britain, which encountered no invasion, was staunch in their dismissal of these plans, but eventually a forthright threat by President Roosevelt that they would fight to piece-apart Canada disarmed the fledgling British sect. First, both France and Britain would have to repay the debts owed to the other nations with high interest rates. Next, France would lose some of its Southeastern territory to Italy, and would surrender all holdings in Alsace and Lorraine to Germany. Belgium would become a protectorate and Luxembourg would be absorbed by Germany.

  The territory held in Africa by the Allied powers would be split amongst the Central Powers, including the United States which won control over a great deal of West Africa including the Gold Coast from Britain. Italy would have Sudan and the remainder of Somaliland. The Ottomans would win control of Egypt back, minus the Suez Canal. Britain was also ordered to surrender all claims and give full independence to Ireland, granting them their own republic. Finally, the Belgian Congo, Uganda, Rhodesia, and British East Africa would belong to Germany. The deal was harsh to both France and Britain, but was very clear in placing the full blame on Britain for escalating the war by "encroaching" into an affair between Germany and France.

  The map of Europe was redrawn, for the first time in nearly half a century, and it was clear to all observers that Germany had trounced the Allies. Italy now controlled the conquered territory in France. Austria-Hungary now had total control over Serbia and Albania, her new protectorates. Germany expanded far Eastward after Russia’s unilateral surrender: thus constructing the new nation-state satellites of Poland, Lithuania, Courland, Riga, and Estonia. Belgium became a buffer-zone protectorate of Germany. Ireland was fully independent of Britain for the first time in roughly one hundred years and the Ottomans reclaimed their lost land in Egypt. Perhaps these aging empires had found a 'fountain of youth' in these expansions.

edit: imgfix

[YPestis25]

This TL is fantastic.

[Pyro]

President Roosevelt Speaks to a Crowd in Downtown Columbus, 1918

  When he was elected, TR promised not only to bring a just end to the war, but to ensure that no conflict in this large a scale ever occurred again. From the very start of his fourth term, President Roosevelt worked to instill a sense of international comradery in the American people. As he stated to a crowd in Ohio, peace must not be a means achieved every several years only to be washed away at the drop of a pin. "Peace must win through cooperation." He began talking about exactly what the average American feared: a permanent United States presence in Europe.

  The brainchild of Woodrow Wilson, this new international agency would act as, essentially, a world peace-keeping institution. President Roosevelt agreed with the other nations’ representatives regarding how important such an agency would be. Every country agreed on the terms: that a General Assembly would commence to discuss various agenda and then an Executive Council, composing of only major powers, would act as a director. In a way, as Roosevelt would later describe it, this was "the Supreme Court of the World."

  However, the American people would have none of it. The United States was historically a country living in stern isolation prior to the arrival of Roosevelt. After years of fighting overseas for a cause very few quite understood, nearly everyone wanted things to return to normal. Even though TR was a masterful speaker and had had great luck convincing America to go to war in 1915, his “League of Nations” was met with much skepticism.

  Almost every Republican was ready in Congress to vote against the measure, and many isolationist Democrats saw the League as another excuse for Roosevelt to grab further power for himself. The Progressives sided with the president, but this was not enough votes in either Congressional house. Roosevelt and Wilson therefore embarked on a “Grand Tour of Coalition" to prompt the American people to demand the United States join the League of Nations.

  From March through May, Roosevelt tried his hardest to have his agenda be met with praise, but it was not to be. The Senate defeated the treaty, with 59 Nay and 31 Yay, with 7 abstentions. Although distraught that Congress had rejected his plan, he was determined to bring it about, and quietly urged Wilson and other internationalist Democrats to run in 1920 and, with a bipartisan Democrat-Progressive coalition, have Congress authorize American involvement in the League of Nations.

[NeverAgain]

Shady Teddy.

[Kingpoleon]

Fairbanks-Lincoln 1920: Internationalist Republicans-Moderate Progressives Coalition

[Pyro]

Logo of the American Federation of Labor

  As an American in 1918, the situation seemed bleak for the future of the United States. The economy had undergone a postwar boom, but it was not expected to last. Unemployment was already rising with all of the returning troops. Without a coordinated pension plan or healthcare system, these soldiers, more often than not injured, were coming home to a country that seemed to not care if they were in decent shape or not. Little of Roosevelt's proposed legislation was passed and American workers were losing their patience.

  One of the outcomes of the war was an immediate rise in unemployment and a slashing of wages in the steel industry, because the need was no longer there for new steel. The AFL, which was firm in its pro-U.S. war effort stance, had backed the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers’ effort to unionize the steel industry. Gompers had been close with Roosevelt during the war years, and the two had exchanged pleasantries on more than one occasion. The president was not openly pro or anti-union, but had, when the war broke out, expressed federal protection for any union willing to assist in the war effort.

  However, with the war at its end, this policy was up in the air. The AFL and the AA had called for organizing drives in the Northeast and Midwest, but this was hampered by Pinkerton efforts to thwart the union drive. In March of 1918, a plant in Pennsylvania went on strike to demand recognition of union meetings, but the plant boss forbade any such meeting. Simultaneously, a National Steelworker’s Conference took place, as organized by the AFL. At the conference, AFL leaders decided that unionizing efforts were encouraged, but striking was unilaterally disallowed. Some of the more radical unionists like Debs were not happy with Gompers’ tactics, but allowed to let the day run its course.

  In a last ditch effort, the AFL requested U.S. Steel chairman Elbert Gary meet with President Roosevelt while he was campaigning for the League of Nations, but Gary refused, thus prompting a strike action. Nearly all steel plants from Colorado to New York associated with the AA declared a strike. The steel owners caught on to a new trend occurring in middle class neighborhoods at the time and were determined to use this to their advantage: a fear of Communism as prompted by the revolutions in Russia and France. They published information degrading the organizers as communist puppets and immigrant job-takers. Public opinion began to turn. 

  President Roosevelt was in California when he heard of the strike wave, and sent a telegram to chairman Gary demanding a nonviolent end to the strike. Gary reported this news to his Pinkerton agents, but neglected to mention the president's call for nonviolence. The state police forbade mass meetings and when they occurred in hiding, clubbed and beat any pro-union worker and/or organizer. The AFL explicitly did not endorse the strikers, and refused to contribute relief funds.