1924 with Henry Ford as the Democratic nominee

[Blow by blow, the passion dies]

I've read the book "How Democracies Die", and a part of it talked about Henry Ford's presidential ambitions. Apparently, his background and welfare capitalist views were popular, and many rural Americans liked him as much as presidents such as Washington and Lincoln. But the Democratic party bosses were highly opposed to his campaign.

But if Ford won the nomination and chose William Gibbs McAdoo as his VP, what would be the results?

[Fuzzy Bear]

I've read the book "How Democracies Die", and a part of it talked about Henry Ford's presidential ambitions. Apparently, his background and welfare capitalist views were popular, and many rural Americans liked him as much as presidents such as Washington and Lincoln. But the Democratic party bosses were highly opposed to his campaign.

But if Ford won the nomination and chose William Gibbs McAdoo as his VP, what would be the results?

LaFollette would have done better.  Ford was a solid Republican who campaigned for Hoover in 1932. 

[Agonized-Statism]

This is more feasible than people might realize. Ford switched parties to run for the Senate in 1918 at Wilson's behest and never looked back. Nor would he really be in the same lane as La Follette, whose support came from the proletariat and small farmers (the Socialist Party, farmer's groups, labor unions). Ford's base would be the middle class petite bourgeoisie- although the progressive muckraking of the turn-of-the-century had petered out into a dispassionate efficiency-fixated "business progressivism" following the horrors of industrialized total warfare, that was exactly what Ford was selling, and he was just the celebrity to get them excited again.

Of course, neither the urban Democratic machines nor the trusts would be happy, and they would run the mother of all smear campaigns. But then Ford could fire right back with Teapot Dome and punch from the right on cultural tensions with McAdoo's KKK connections (Indiana's a slam dunk). All in all, I think he pulls off an upset.


President Calvin Coolidge (R-MA) / Fmr. Budget Director Charles Dawes (R-IL)
Businessman Henry Ford (D-MI) / Fmr. Secretary of the Treasury William McAdoo (D-CA) ✓
Senator Robert La Follette (P-WI) / Senator Burton Wheeler (P-MT)

[wnwnwn]

This only has sense if he wins the Senate election in 1918.
I think Ford could had convinced progressive democrats like Wheeler to stay in the party. La Follete and the minor parties still do their campaing, altrought with less support.