The American Monarchy

[Hash]

I have to say, this is one of the best timelines I have ever read. It rivals even those of Harry Turtledove, at least the Confederate one. (The Alien Intervention in World War II series was.....weird). And the fact you are doing this with only history as a base, makes it even more incredible. You should polish your writings, and begin releasing it as a series.

I've never liked Turtledove.

Turtledove writes crap.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I have to say, this is one of the best timelines I have ever read. It rivals even those of Harry Turtledove, at least the Confederate one. (The Alien Intervention in World War II series was.....weird). And the fact you are doing this with only history as a base, makes it even more incredible. You should polish your writings, and begin releasing it as a series.

I've never liked Turtledove.

Turtledove writes crap.

Turtledove is a fairly good short story writer who because of the realities of what it pays for an author to write these days, writes "novels" that are little more than a threaded together assemblage of short stories with a common setting since that's what pays.

[Lahbas]

I have to say, this is one of the best timelines I have ever read. It rivals even those of Harry Turtledove, at least the Confederate one. (The Alien Intervention in World War II series was.....weird). And the fact you are doing this with only history as a base, makes it even more incredible. You should polish your writings, and begin releasing it as a series.

I've never liked Turtledove.

Turtledove writes crap.

Turtledove is a fairly good short story writer who because of the realities of what it pays for an author to write these days, writes "novels" that are little more than a threaded together assemblage of short stories with a common setting since that's what pays.

I like Turtledove because, in the case of the Confederacy series, takes a rather small change and produces a whole series. That, and he shows how all of society is affected by the situations that occur within his universe. The writing itself I do not care for. If it was up to me, I would have Stephen King writing those stories, or at least improving upon the sentances. At the same time, it would be a different read, and the books could be completely different.

[hcallega]

of course turtledove is also insane...so there's that

[MasterJedi]

Oh come on, you know you have the time to update this. So do it!

[Lief 🗽]

Thanks for all the love, haha. Since I have some time, and I no longer have writer's block, I've decided to update this again. The format of my updates will be a little different though, somewhat inspired by some alternate histories I've read on the internets since I put this on unofficial hiatus. I'm kind of aiming for a sort of "scrap book" vibe, with excerpts from newspapers and books and documentaries and stuff from the alternate world I've made up. There'll still be all the politics and what have you, along with maps, but there'll also be more of a focus on world building, I guess you'd call it, and more biography about some of the big political figures. I'll still be picking up from where I left off though, in 1957.

So I should have an update by tomorrow, I think. And thanks again for all the encouragement.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Thanks for all the love, haha. Since I have some time, and I no longer have writer's block, I've decided to update this again. The format of my updates will be a little different though, somewhat inspired by some alternate histories I've read on the internets since I put this on unofficial hiatus. I'm kind of aiming for a sort of "scrap book" vibe, with excerpts from newspapers and books and documentaries and stuff from the alternate world I've made up. There'll still be all the politics and what have you, along with maps, but there'll also be more of a focus on world building, I guess you'd call it, and more biography about some of the big political figures. I'll still be picking up from where I left off though, in 1957.

So I should have an update by tomorrow, I think. And thanks again for all the encouragement.

Great !

[Edu]

I finally finished reading this great timeline, glad Lief will continue it

[Historico]

Thanks for all the love, haha. Since I have some time, and I no longer have writer's block, I've decided to update this again. The format of my updates will be a little different though, somewhat inspired by some alternate histories I've read on the internets since I put this on unofficial hiatus. I'm kind of aiming for a sort of "scrap book" vibe, with excerpts from newspapers and books and documentaries and stuff from the alternate world I've made up. There'll still be all the politics and what have you, along with maps, but there'll also be more of a focus on world building, I guess you'd call it, and more biography about some of the big political figures. I'll still be picking up from where I left off though, in 1957.

So I should have an update by tomorrow, I think. And thanks again for all the encouragement.

Sounds good Lief, I can't wait to see this bird on it's feet again.

[Lief 🗽]

The American Monarchy: 1957

If you had told your average American, twenty years ago, that the country was on the verge of the greatest social and political upheaval since maybe the War of Secession, they would have laughed you off as a kook. Henry Wallace—not “Pancho” but pretty damn close—was Prime Minister, an avalanche of very bipartisan, very groovy legislation was coming out of the Royal District, and for the first time since 1776, the Brits and us Yanks weren’t at each other’s throats. Sure, the world wasn’t perfect, but in America at least, it looked like the second half of the 20th century might turn out pretty good. And then some red North Africans went and screwed everything up.

-Editorial in Rolling Stone, January 1977


The revolution in Germany, though in the short term quite demoralizing for the Jihad, would eventually prove to be the turning point in our fight for independence. You see, in 1957 the Fascist Powers became increasingly afraid that the German uprising would be the beginning of a whole wave of revolutions. So, in January and February, Franco, Mussolini (who was quite senile by 1957), all of them, passed new laws, restricting freedom of speech and press and the freedom to peaceably assemble.

There is an Arabic saying that translates, not literally of course, but more or less, to “Do not hate misfortune, for maybe there is fortune for you in it.” Soon after these series of laws were passed, we came into contact with some young and very angry fellow believers in Algeria and Libya, and soon after that, we brought them into contact with the very generous Soviet regime. At the time I had no idea of this, as I was a grunt, a recruit, and this was all very high-level and secret. But by the end of the year my comrades and I would be in Algeria, fighting the imperialist oppressors.

-Frmr. President Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti, interviewed for the documentary Hammer and Crescent: Arab Socialism in the Land of Muhammad, 2005


ANARCHY IN NORTH AFRICA;
REBELS IN “FULL CONTROL” OF MAJOR CITIES,
ADMIT STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS
-The New York Times, July 9th 1957


Today our brave soldiers, led by General Charles de Gaulle, an upstanding and loyal member of the Party, a veteran of the Great War, and a Hero of the German War, have landed in the French department of Algeria, to aid the brave garrisons in their fight to defeat a number of communist terrorist groups. De Gaulle, as you listeners no doubt remember, was the brilliant commander who liberated Belgium and Netherlands from the Kaiser’s rule. He also played an integral part in conquering Berlin and toppling the Kaiser once and for all. General de Gaulle has promised to crush the illegal uprising and help the majority of patriotic French Algerians in restoring order. Long live His Majesty, King Henri! France above all!

-From a translated French state radio broadcast, July 11th, 1957


SOVIET PREMIER ADDRESSES LEAGUE OF NATIONS,
DENOUNCES “HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES” IN N. AFRICA
-The New York Times, July 19th, 1957


Henry,

I must once again implore you to lead the Senate in taking some action with regards to the North African situation. Every day I read in the papers of new reports of French or Italian or Spanish atrocities. I know you have your apprehensions about aiding, even indirectly, the Soviets (and Soviet Premier Rakosi getting in front of the League last week has made it clear that they are very much on the side of the rebels), but it’s imperative that we don’t sit idly by. I’m also going to try and talk with Senator Adlai Stevenson, and see if the Liberals can be brought around on this issue as well.

-Letter from His Majesty King Robert III to Prime Minister Henry Wallace, dated July 27th, 1957

[Lief 🗽]

thoughts, comments, etc?

[HappyWarrior]

Very interesting update, I'm sure that if we enter the war Wallace won't be happy about his military cuts at all.  Whos side would we enter if we entered this war by the way?

What are politics of Maryland?  Its state executive and Councillor I mean. 

[Lief 🗽]

Whose side to intervene on is a pretty difficult question. Neither fascism nor authoritarian communism is really that great of an option. The ACU and the FLP are both very isolationist, and there are large non-interventionist segments in the Liberals and SDP as well. As for your Maryland question, I'll have to answer that later when I have more time. But here's an update!


CHET HUNTLEY: Turning to the situation in North Africa…

RICHARD NIXON: Uh, yes, yes…

HUNTLEY: Well, as both Deputy Leader of the Liberals and Shadow War Secretary, I’m curious if your party has any response to the very serious conflict currently going on over there.

NIXON: I think it would be, uh, improper to speak for Party Leader Stevenson or for the party as whole, that isn’t for me to say, but I’ll tell you what I know. I know that the age of brutal, heavy-handed colonialism is fast coming to an end. I know that backwards and authoritarian regimes, like those you find in France, Spain, Italy, and Portugal must realize that they cannot preserve this system at gunpoint.

HUNTLEY: So what should the United States do?

NIXON: Well, I would suggest, Mr. Huntley, that we monitor the situation and keep all options on the table.

HUNTLEY: Does that include using the military, sir?

NIXON: All options must be kept on the table.

-From Richard Nixon’s famous interview on the ABC Evening News, August 18th, 1957


My staff liked to joke that I was an “egghead”, this caricature of a bureaucratic, boring old academic. So after the Nixon interview, they were rather surprised that I was yelling and cursing and slamming doors shut. I was furious though. Nixon had pulled the rug from right up under us. I was carefully deliberating the issue, with His Majesty, my advisors, the cabinet, and then Nixon goes on the Evening News, practically declares war on the Tripartite powers, and suddenly we have phone calls and letters from the grassroots all over the country in support of the guy. The response forced our hand, and Wallace’s, and soon the Senate would pass the aid bill.

I would have loved to get rid of him, but he was without a doubt the most popular Liberal Senator. I often think that if I had sacked him, right then and there, I might have been Prime Minister in ’58. Then again, maybe I would have lost even worse. The Liberal grassroots loved him fanatically, right up until the end.

However, the election was still a year off in August 1957. After his speech, the Soviets (and the rebels in Africa) became significantly more aggressive. Soviet troops began massing along the Italian border and rebellion would soon spread to Italian-controlled Ethiopia.

And then the Russians detonated their first atomic bomb. The world was falling apart—but at least, remarked one of my interns (a man by the name of Patrick Buchanan), Wallace’s poll numbers were still dropping. I got a macabre little chuckle out of that. Later on I would have to fire the kid, after he wrote some nutty far-right memo and circulated it around my office. He is still in politics though, and from what I am told he’s something of a big shot working for the man serving as Prime Minister as I write this book.

-From A Man from Libertyville, Illinois: The Autobiography of Adlai Stevenson, 1968


The Senate today approved the African Economic Aid Act after weeks of contentious debate. The act, expected to easily pass through the Royal Council, will authorize His Majesty to send a small contingent of American ships to North Africa to distribute aid, provided they act in a neutral manner.

Hawks in the Senate, led by Liberal Senator Richard Nixon of California, had pressed for the United States to intervene militarily. Senators in the American Christian Union and Farmer-Labor Party had bitterly opposed any intervention. The final bill was a compromise drafted largely by Wallace and the Social Democratic leadership.

As the bill was debated, it was forcefully condemned by both the Tripartite Pact and Soviet bloc, both of whom have accused the United States of meddling in other nations’ affairs.

-From the ABC Evening News, September 26th, 1957


Voting on the African Economic Aid Act by Party
SDP: 161 Ayes, 73 Nays
Lib: 81 Ayes, 56 Nays
ACU: 1 Ayes, 55 Nays
FLP: 12 Ayes, 37 Nays
Total: 274 Ayes, 222 Nays

-From the Congressional Record


SENATOR MCCARTHY BOLTS FROM FLP
The Senator announced his resignation from the party today, attributing it to the passage of the African Aid Act. He plans to run for re-election as an independent, in opposition to what he calls the “dangerous interventionist” policies of both the Liberals and the SDP/FLP coalition.

-From the Star Tribune, September 27th, 1957


When the Aid Act passed, I was still a staffer with Stevenson; the Pinko hadn’t fired me yet for trying to expose the truth of the Nig...um, militant black problem. I was a Liberal at the time because my father and my mother were Liberals. Good, upstanding Americans, even through the 30s, when their friends and neighbors turned to the communists and elected Villa and Thomas. But during the debate on the Aid Act, while I was taking notes for Stevenson in the Senate chamber, one of the ACU Senators started talking and I thought, “You know, this guy makes a heck of a lot of sense.” That man was George Wallace.

His entire party voted against the act, but not him. You see, back then, the ACU was still full of limp-wristed isolationists, who thought it was just fine to hide in our homes while the whole world was turned against us. But Wallace, see, he knew. He was a first termer, elected from Mississippi, in a by election actually, so that might as well have been his first real Senate speech. He got up in front of the Senate and he said, if America does not lead, then the world will turn to fascists or communists or maybe even the Brits again, and liberty and justice, all those uniquely American values, would die out.

I didn’t officially leave the Liberal Party until ’61, when that traitor Stevenson fired me. But after hearing Wallace speak, and seeing him cast the lone ACU vote for the act, watered down thought it might have been, in my heart I knew I wasn’t a Liberal anymore. Of course, I was never a follower of the ACU either. No, I followed one man, and one man alone: Senator George C. Wallace.

-Patrick Buchanan, interviewed for the documentary Right From the Beginning: The Life of Patrick Buchanan, 2002

[Хahar 🤔]

Meh, I liked the other format better.

[Kevinstat]

What's the scoop on Portugal at the present time (in your timeline, so the late 50s)?  (And could you give a brief rundown on its history?)  Is/has António de Oliveira Salazar reigning/reigned as dictator?  Is Portugal alligned with the Tripartite Pact (Italy, France and Spain).  Is Portugal alligned with England?  (The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance signed in 1373 is still enforced today OTL although Portugal didn't enter WWII and entered WWI rather late in the game IIRC.)  Did it take part in the last big war?

Is Germany largely a puppet state of France as suggested in your last world map or has Italian influence grown since Italian troops were largely involved in putting down the German revolution?  Or could you have used any of France's, Italy's or Spain's colors as an outline for Germany to show its puppet state status, and just chose France's.  What if any efforts did Hungary engage in during that uprising?  I forget whether the revolutionaries were communists (or at least not anti-authoritarian socialists) or of a liberal democratic nature (in which case Hungary might not have seen them as worth provoking the fascist alliance.  How are relations between Italy, France and Spain and any other not clearly puppet regimes largely alligned with them?

[Kevinstat]

Oh, I forgot to say, nice updates.  I liked the old format, but the new one seems interesting as well (like the "What if Gordon Banks had played?" alternative history timeline that had Labour winning in 1970 after a World Cup semifinal win (IIRC) and Enoch Powel replacing Heath as leader of the Conservative Party and later becoming Prime Minister - that might have been one of the timelines you were referring to that you decided to emulate).

[HappyWarrior]

I prefer the old format personally but I really like the whole thing about George Wallace.

[paul718]

Thank you, Lief!

[Lief 🗽]

What's the scoop on Portugal at the present time (in your timeline, so the late 50s)?  (And could you give a brief rundown on its history?)  Is/has António de Oliveira Salazar reigning/reigned as dictator?  Is Portugal alligned with the Tripartite Pact (Italy, France and Spain).  Is Portugal alligned with England?  (The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance signed in 1373 is still enforced today OTL although Portugal didn't enter WWII and entered WWI rather late in the game IIRC.)  Did it take part in the last big war?

Salazar came to power roughly at the same time and with the same circumstances as in our history, and Portugal signed on to the Tripartite Pact after the 1943 German War. They've committed troops to fighting the insurgency in Africa, as they too have African colonies, and are worried of losing them. Both Britain and Portugal have pretty much ignored the Anglo-Portuguese treaty and are really focused on different things: Britain on its empire in Asia and the Pacific (and Africa, to an extent) and Portugal on Europe.

Is Germany largely a puppet state of France as suggested in your last world map or has Italian influence grown since Italian troops were largely involved in putting down the German revolution?  Or could you have used any of France's, Italy's or Spain's colors as an outline for Germany to show its puppet state status, and just chose France's.  What if any efforts did Hungary engage in during that uprising?  I forget whether the revolutionaries were communists (or at least not anti-authoritarian socialists) or of a liberal democratic nature (in which case Hungary might not have seen them as worth provoking the fascist alliance.  How are relations between Italy, France and Spain and any other not clearly puppet regimes largely alligned with them?

Germany is under mostly French and Italian influence, depending on where in the country you are, though there are also some Spanish and Portuguese troops stationed there. The German government is a very decentralized federal system, with only nominal central control from the capital. Tripartite soldiers occupy most of the country. Regarding Hungary, they were widely believed to have behind the uprising, at least in part. Both alliances engage in propaganda activities against one another, funneling money and support to resistance movements and the like. Relations between the four fascist powers are relatively good. Each leader mostly deals with his own domestic matters, though they do coordinate quite a bit on military things. There's some resentment in the Iberian countries against France and Italy, who are seen as very aggressive and militaristic and sort of poking their noses into places they shouldn't be and starting trouble, while Franco and Salazar would prefer to just rule and defend their countries.

I prefer the old format personally but I really like the whole thing about George Wallace.

Oh yeah, I have big plans for old George (and by extension, Mr. Buchanan).

[Mechaman]

Great updates Lief. You've proven once again why this timeline along with Fluke of the Gods are the biggest influences on my writing.

[Lief 🗽]

Great updates Lief. You've proven once again why this timeline along with Fluke of the Gods are the biggest influences on my writing.

Thanks man. It's cool to know that people are influenced by what I write.


Prime Minister Eden announces plan for gradual “decentralisation” of the Empire
Australia, New Zealand, South Africa to be recognised as autonomous states
Eden promises to “work towards” Indian home rule

-The Times, February 9th, 1958


The Eden Declaration, as it is now known, was an insult to us. The Prime Minister certainly had much to say about China, and India, and Australia, but did he say a single word about the Middle-East or Africa? No! It was then that I knew, though I was not yet twenty-one, that the British would only be driven out by force. Once our brothers in North Africa were liberated, we would have to turn our eyes back to Arabia.  Of course, the struggle in North Africa would continue into the 60s. In ’58, if I recall, the Fascists had made major gains. De Gaulle, “The Butcher” we called him, had been rather effective. But we knew that our Jihad was just and righteous, and we continued on.

-Frmr. President Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti, interviewed for the documentary Hammer and Crescent: Arab Socialism in the Land of Muhammad, 2005


HAWAII TO BECOME 55TH STATE
-The New York Times, June 3rd, 1958


I was in Hawaii, at the statehood celebration with the king and Prime Minister Wallace when we were first told of the incident. I was eating lunch when an aide rushed into the room. “Senator Stevenson, Senator Stevenson”, he was yelling, “We’re at war sir!” The aide was just a kid, so I forgave him his hyperbole. He was, though, by and large correct. American men were dead, we would later found out an American destroyer had sunk, and suddenly the whole expedition was over with.

That evening we were briefed and I was told the story that will one day be in every American history textbook, under the bold heading “The Maddox Incident.” The Maddox, a destroyer outside Algiers aiding in supplying the city, had triggered a French naval mine. The resulting explosion, which would sink the ship, was thought to be an attack by other American ships, which then opened fire on the harbor. A skirmish ensued and a lot of lives were lost due to a stupid mistake.

After that, the public outcry was enormous. The public never really understood what we were doing there or why, so after they heard that Americans were dead, they wanted out, immediately. Secretary of State Glen Taylor had to fly to France, to apologize. The King withdrew most ships from the Mediterranean. And a few weeks later Prime Minister Wallace would announce that he would not be running for re-election, and called for fall elections.

-From A Man from Libertyville, Illinois: The Autobiography of Adlai Stevenson, 1968


UNITED STATES TAKES THIRD PLACE IN FOOTBALL WORLD CUP
DEFEATS FRANCE 4-2; BRAZIL TO FACE ITALY TOMORROW
-New York Times, June 28th, 1958


October election could go either way

The numbers for the coalition Social Democratic Party/Farmer-Labor Party governing coalition have, for much of the year, been rather poor. However, following Wallace’s announcement that he would be resigning as Party Leader following the Maddox Incident, it looks like the coalition’s numbers have rebounded. Some have also speculated that the American football team's strong showing has helped the government's poll numbers.

During the fall campaign season, the SDP/FLP will need to keep its base energized. Many of the FLP’s traditionally dovish supporters were turned off by their party’s role in the African Aid Act. The SDP, no matter who is eventually elected as the new party’s leader, will need to vigorously and forcefully defend its economic, social and foreign record.

The Liberals, meanwhile, face another bitter convention fight. Already, Deputy Leader Richard Nixon, the conservative from California, has indicated that he will challenge Senator Stevenson for the leadership. Rumors abound that Royal Councilor Prescott Bush of Connecticut, the unofficial leader of the progressive wing of the Liberal Party, will also challenge Stevenson. Either one of the three men could emerge victorious. No matter who wins, however, the Liberals will likely seek to focus the debate on foreign rather than economic policy, where they are seen to have an advantage.

-Editorial in The Capital Post, July 1958

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

That evening we were briefed and I was told the story that will one day be in every American history textbook, under the bold heading “The Maddox Incident.” The Maddox, a destroyer outside Algiers aiding in supplying the city, had triggered a French naval mine. The resulting explosion, which would sink the ship, was thought to be an attack by other American ships, which then opened fire on the harbor. A skirmish ensued and a lot of lives were lost due to a stupid mistake.

It's fairly obvious why you chose the USS Maddox for this "honor", but who was the ship named for?  Because of the significant differences in how you handled the conquest of California in this timeline from OTL, it is extremely unlikely that a destroyer would be named for 2nd. Lt. William A. T. Maddox USRMC, as unlike his counterpart in OTL, he would never have become Military Commandant of the Middle District of California since there was a significant force of the Royal Army there.  Even if it were named after  William A. T. Maddox, he must have risen to prominence in a different fashion.

[Historico]

Hey Leif Wow Leif, this is an awesome, thorugh tl./ I can't believe you have stuck with it so long but it is definatley worth it I do however have a few questions. So where does the actual Robert E. Lee bloodnline diverge from OTL, King Henry I or King Robert III? With American territories in Africa, what has happened with Liberia, as it was a site for American Colonization efforts of removing free blacks and I assue that the policy may have continued with the Virginia Planter class actually becoming a true aristocracy? Also what is going on with some of the prominent African Americans from OTL...Like Harriet Tubman, Fredrick Douglas, Blanche Bruce, WEB Dubois, Booker T. Washington, Paul Robeson etc? I think you need to do a segment on going over Civil Rights in America under the time of the Monarchy, since you seem to really not have touched on it at all. With the breakdown of the Different parties, who would be most likely to nominate an African American for the Prime Minister position? Also with America's close relationship with Germany ITTL, I assume that there is a federal department to take the amateur field of Rocketry and turn it into it a NASA like Analogue? Are we still around otl '50's technology level or is TTL's Americas behind or ahead of schedule? Keep it comming.
 

[Lief 🗽]

Ernest:

You're right that the history in my timeline would mean that Mr. Maddox could not have come to prominence in the same he did in our timeline. Perhaps Mr. Maddox did something similarly noteworthy during his time in the armed forces in the mid-19th century, or perhaps the ship is named after a wholly different man with the surname Maddox. It's not, after all, that uncommon a last name.

Historico:

Robert E. Lee (King Robert I) married into the royal family through marriage with Princess Maria, the daughter of King George II (George Washington's (King George's) adopted son). So their sons, King William and King Robert II would be the first divergences.

I'll try to talk about African-American history and civil rights issues more in later installments, as they'll become rather important. Neither party is really going to nominate or try to nominate an African-American for Prime Minister for a while. The SDP got by with a Catholic (in Villa) a little earlier than we did in our time line, but the United States also has a larger Catholic population than in our timeline, with the addition of Cuba, Sonora, Lincoln, Hamilton, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, so it's not so much a taboo. Black voters generally support the SDP, especially in the South (when they can vote) and in urban areas, though the Liberals get a fair chunk (30-40%).

Rocket technology has been pushed back a little bit, mostly because the Germany of the 1930s and 1940s, has been in pretty poor shape, facing recurring budget crises through the 30s and under military occupation since 1943. Most of the German scientists and physicists left after the invasion for Britain or the United States (and a handful to Russia or Hungary). Technology is probably about 5-10 years behind our own, for two main reasons: First, there was never a large scale, truly global second world war that would have necessitated technological development, and, somewhat related to the first point, the world is pretty fractured and multipolar, with a number of competing blocs (the British, the Americans, the Russians, the Soviets, the Fascists), which means that the technological advances that do happen are not easily traded and do not easily spread. That said, a major plank of the Liberal platform in the next election will be establishing a space program.

[Lief 🗽]

SECRETARY OF STATE GLEN TAYLOR WINS PARTY LEADERSHIP

Secretary of State Glen Taylor of Lakota was elected to be his party’s standard bearer heading into the October election last night on the first ballot. With the support of five hundred and four delegates out of a total of one thousand, Mr. Taylor, widely seen as the establishment pick and supported by Prime Minister Wallace, defeated challenges from Senators Tommy Douglas of Madison and Walter Reuther of Michigan, as well as Speaker Frank P. Zeidler of Wisconsin.

After the vote had concluded, Mr. Taylor, in his acceptance speech, stressed the need to continue the important social and economic reforms of his predecessor. Mr. Taylor did not however touch on foreign affairs in his speech, despite having largely been in charge of them as Secretary of State. Polls have shown the government’s foreign policy to be increasingly unpopular.

-New York Times, July 24th, 1958


Going in to the convention, the Social Democrats had managed to close the gap in the polls and everything was tied up again, but I had bigger worries. In New York I’d be challenged from the right and the left, and no one wanted to vote for the plain old Midwestern moderate.

-From A Man from Libertyville, Illinois: The Autobiography of Adlai Stevenson, 1968


The two challengers for the Liberal leadership could not be more different. Senator Richard Nixon is a veteran of the Third Anglo-American War, while Royal Councilor Prescott Bush fought in the Great War. Nixon recounts his upbringing as a humble one, as he worked his way through college and law school. Bush, on the other hand, was born to wealthy industrialists, educated in expensive northeastern private schools. Nixon is a social conservative, and an economic protégée of the late Senator Robert Taft. Bush, meanwhile, is quite progressive and supports a woman’s right to abortion and some of the Wallace administration’s economic policies.

In between these two men sits the hapless Senator Adlai Stevenson, who, though well respected and the incumbent, has a shallow base of support. The convention will likely come to a battle between the left and right wings of the Liberal Party and either Nixon or Bush could emerge victorious.

-From Time Magazine, August 1958


The ’58 convention in New York was when I first realized the power of the conservative movement. For decades we had been told to shut up, sit down, and follow our progressive, liberal elitist masters. Bob Taft, a great American, had been backstabbed by these idiots, replaced with that out of touch big city politician Dewey, and we’d lost handily. That was ’51. Seven years later, the conservatives in the party were ready to take it back.

At the time I was still working for Stevenson, and it was thanks to him that I was even attending the convention in the first place. So I went through the actions, of course, holding up my big STEVENSON sign, cheering, but of the three candidates there, Nixon was the only one who wasn’t an idiot. So I didn’t feel too bad when my boss came in third place and dropped out on the first ballot. Of course, I was worried that that baby-killer from Connecticut would get the nod, but Nixon took care of him on the next ballot. And the rest is history, you could say.

-Patrick Buchanan, interviewed for the documentary Right From the Beginning: The Life of Patrick Buchanan, 2002


POLLS BETWEEN COALITION AND LIBERALS REMAIN CLOSE
-From The New York Times, August 30th, 1958


The Maddox Incident, as the media is now calling it, and its handling by the Wallace administration was one of the worst events in this nation’s proud history. Withdrawing from Africa, retreating with our tail’s between our legs as innocents die by the thousand… well, it was a humiliating retreat from the world stage and Glen Taylor and the Social Democrats should be ashamed!

[applause, cheering]

I’ll tell you this: when I am Prime Minister—

[cheers]

—when I am Prime Minister and the Liberals are back in the capital running things, we still restore America’s honor and we will make sure the march of democracy is not halted!

[cheers, applause]

-From a stump speech delivered in by Richard Nixon, September 1958