A Different America: 1956, The Eisenhower Administration

[Orwell]

The Eisenhower administration

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The Cabinet
Secretary of State: George F. Kennan
Secretary of the Treasury: Robert B. Anderson
Attorney General: Emanuel Celler
Secretary of the Interior: George S. Long
Secretary of Agriculture: Elmer Thomas
Secretary of Commerce: Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.
Secretary of Labor: Lister Hill
Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare: Claude Pepper

Rolls
Eisenhower health (1-10 death): 41
Kefauver health (1-10 death): 53
Corruption: 6
Civil Unrest: 92
New USSR leader (1-60 Khruschev 61-100 Malenkov): 78 (Malenkov)
Rosenberg clemency (1-90 No, 91-100 yes): 77
Korean Armistice (1-90 Yes, 91-100 no): 88
Iranian Coup: 16 (Coup fails, Mosaddegh retains power)
Eisenhower approval rating:
Economy 1952-1954: 95
Economy 1954-1956: 76
1954 Olympics: 54
Midterm Republicans: 68
Midterm Democrats: 54
Eisenhower approval rating: 58 (Eisenhower averages similar to his OTL approval of 60%)
Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1-80 Same as OTL 81-100 French victory): 78
Brown v. Board of Education: 100 (Unanimous decision, ordering immediate desegregation)
Racial violence during integration: 50
University of Mississippi riots: 26
Guatemala Coup: 69 (Succeeds)
Civil Rights movement: 67



Player Rolls
Will Angler (KaiserDave) (+10): 78 + 10 = 88
Congressman Gerald O’Connor (Entropy) (+10): 81 + 10 = 91
Congressman Anton Jepson (Elcapsar) (+12): 55 + 12 = 67
Thomas Kenway (GoTFan) (+5): 89 + 5 = 94
Congressman Marcus Jackson II (+20): 94 + 20 = 114
Helen Nolan Tobin: 7

Eisenhower’s First Term

As President Eisenhower and Vice President Kefauver were inaugurated they quickly set out on a course of changes. The creation of a United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare was one of their first actions which quickly passed through Congress, and to serve as the Secretary of Health Education and Welfare, President Eisenhower selected his close friend and ally Senator Claude Pepper of Florida, the Governor of Florida appointed Marcus Jackson to the seat to succeed Pepper.

Other than the creation of the new Federal Department, President Eisenhower focused on tax cuts, organized labor, and foreign policy. Following the unanimous court decision in Brown v. Topeka Kansas Board of Education which ordered immediate desegregation of public schools, President Eisenhower ordered the 101st and 82nd Airborne to the most afflicted states of Alabama and Mississippi where the soldiers protected the integration process at High Schools throughout the state.
   

Soldiers in the 101st airborne escorting African American students to class in Mississippi

In the 1954 midterm elections, The Democrats lost 25 seats they had gained in the 1952 election reducing their majority down to 235-200, and the loss of 5 seats in the Senate, with Republican victories in West Virginia, Illinois, Montana, Colorado, and Nevada being the highlight of the night, but in Iowa, the young lawyer and activist Thomas Kenway won a resounding victory with President Eisenhower campaigning on his behalf, the Democrats also lost a pair of Senate seats to Independents when Mississippi Senator James Eastland, and newly minted South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond who had been the States Rights Party nominee for President in 1948. The standing of the Senate now is 53 Democrats, 41 Republicans, and 2 Independents.

The next major piece of legislation was the Veterans Aid Act, presented by newly minted Senator Marcus Jackson, it passed both houses of Congress easily and with the help of the Congressman's allies throughout the house and his newly found friendship with the majority whip J. Percy Priest and he had gained himself a posse of young Congressman, among those allied in the Senate with Jackson, were Jack Kennedy, Scoop Jackson, and Marion Daniel. The 4 men were all young, and veterans of World War 2, all were committed anti-communists as well. Following the 1954 midterm elections, the group was joined by a new member Senator Thomas Kenway of Iowa.

A few problems presented themselves to Senator Marcus Jackson, the one at the forefront was if he would sign the Southern Manifesto denouncing the Brown v. Board of Education decision, or if he would refuse to sign it. If he refused to sign it may spell difficulty for his future in politics in Florida, with the likelihood of a primary challenger facing him in the general election of 1956. The other concern would be how to capitalize on his popularity, he was young, charismatic, and being offered a place to speak at the Democratic convention in 1956 as apart of the future of the party, but if he is also offered a place among the Democratic committees to decide the party's platform (outside of Ike! of course) and he can only select one of the options.

For Senator Thomas Kenway the election season was easier than expected as President Eisenhower had lent support whenever needed, and he was able to cruise to a victory with lockstep support among veterans and labor in the farm state. He was also able to secure the election of a newfound political friend, Herschel C. Loveless to the Iowa Governor's mansion in the fall, and saw Wyoming elect Bill Jack as well in a victory for the Plains Democrats. Kenway was given the opportunity to nominate President Eisenhower at the 1956 convention the only question was the style of speech he wished to give.

Gerry O'Connor had achieved a large step up following the 1954 midterm elections as he was named a Deputy Whip of the Democratic majority. In Chicago, things were not as pleasant as Richard Daley had won the Democratic Mayoral race, and then the Mayorship, things were eating up between the different sides of the party, but with O'Connor having stayed neutral there was an opportunity for him to intervene and mediate between the two sides. He was also offered a spot on the Democratic policy committee for the 1956 convention.

Will Angler has found himself at the centerfold of Vermont politics, over the past 4 years his efforts finally paid off and he found himself a better man for it. He was victorious in the Republican primary in the spring of 1956, this held tantamount to the Governorship in deep red Vermont. All seems well for the Vermont State Senator who will soon be in the Governor's mansion.

Helen Nolan Tobin was unable to win the Senate election in Massachusetts, but she had won the primary and with that, she drew a name to herself. She was offered a place in the office of recently elected Governor of New York Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. as his personal secretary and assistant a powerful position.

In the 1954 midterm elections Anton Jepson the firey young Minnesotan nearly was defeated, if it weren't for a late stop by Senator Humphrey to repay his friend Jepson for his hard work and perseverance another Democrat may have been defeated, but by a margin of 544 votes Anton Jepson was reelected in the fall of 1954, but the bad news was that Jepson was not offered an important committee due to the leaderships fear that he would be defeated in a coming election. 

[Orwell]

The Republican National Convention of 1956

Primary Rolls
Governor Joe Foss: 93
Former Senator John Bricker: 66
Former Governor Harrold Stassen: 18
Former Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.: 30
Senator Everett Dirksen: 23

The Republican Party entered their 1956 convention confused, their nominee from 4 years ago President Warren was finished with politics, as was his Vice President Thomas E. Dewey. Both men held great clout among the Republicans still, but it seemed that in 1956 the party would move away from the path it had taken with Warren and Dewey, and instead take a more conservative bent, as would be seen with the leading candidates for the nomination in the 1956 cycle.

1956 Republican primary map (Note: Cabot Lodge won Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and D.C.)
   

   The Governor of South Dakota and World War 2 hero Joe Foss is the leading Republican candidate, in the Minnesota primary he practically eliminated Former Governor Harrold Stassen by delivering a defeat, and he went onto win 7 states (California, South Dakota, Montana, Oregon, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and the Alaska Territory) Foss is apart of the arch-conservative wing of the GOP, he was both fiscally and socially conservative, and in favor of loosening the regulations on business. With Foss being only 40 years old, many in the GOP believe it an opportunity to steal the younger voters from the Democrats, along with the age of Eisenhower being a factor.

The next leading candidate is someone that was allied to the Warren camp, Former Attorney General and Senator from Ohio John W. Bricker, Bricker was victorious in 5 states (Ohio, Indiana, Maryland, Florida, and West Virginia) Bricker who has spent the last 2 decades in political office began as the Attorney General of Ohio, before being elected three times as the Governor of Ohio, and serving as Thomas Dewey’s running mate in the 1944 Presidential election against Franklin Roosevelt. Both Foss and Bricker hold similar plans for governance, but the real difference is youth versus experience.

In a distant third sits Senator Everett Dirksen of Illinois, he represents much of the legislative GOP, as he served for 17 years in the House of Representatives before defeating the Democratic leader Scott Lucas in the 1950 Senate elections. Dirksen was able to carry the two largest primary states (Illinois and Pennsylvania) however, many questions if he truly wants to be President, and he is seen primarily as doing this to raise his political standings in hope of one day becoming the Republican leader in the United States Senate.

The final serious candidate and the most liberal of the bunch is Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., the former Senator from Massachusetts who was defeated in the Democratic landslide of 1952. Lodge represents much of the Eastern Establishment of the GOP, he is a close ally of Former President Thomas Dewey and New York Republican Nelson Rockefeller. Lodge was victorious in the New Hampshire, Massachusetts, D.C., and New Jersey primaries during the primary cycle, with his political connections and his victories in the populist Northeastern states could see the possibility of a Lodge nomination grow.

There is also the opportunity to attempt to draft a candidate if you want.

Due to Foss’s primary victories, he gets my vote.

Player Rolls
Marcus Jackson II(+20): 40 + 20 = 60
Thomas Kenway (+5): 42 + 5 = 47
Will Angler (+5): 35 + 5= 40
Anton Jepson (+15): 64 + 15 = 79
Helen Nolan Tobin: 91

Marcus Jackson is able to gain the Department of Veterans Affairs as apart of the Democratic Platform for the 1956 cycle. While his relationship with some of the more liberal Democratic Senators, such as Kennedy and Humphrey, was damaged by his signing of the Southern Manifesto, he did further cement his favorite as a leader of the southern Senators. Vice President Kefauver however, did not look so kindly towards Jackson for his actions on the manifesto. The other young Senators have also mostly abandoned him due to his aversion for Civil Rights.

Thomas Kenway has become one of the young liberal leaders in the Senate, with his friends in Kennedy, Humphrey, and Jackson. Each of the men was considered a Presidential hopeful in the future, Kenway was junior to the other three in both age and seniority, but he was still well respected for his speech on the Senate floor.

It seemed that the only option of the primary for Will Angler was Senator Lodge, the rest were far too conservative for the Vermont State Senator, but even with this progressive bent he still was a loyal Republican and looked to be cruising to an easy election come November of 1956.

Anton Jepson was able to deal significant damage to Senator Jackson for his signing of the southern manifesto and his opposition to civil rights. Jepson also established himself as one of the most prominent voices on civil rights, and as a prominent liberal within the House of Representatives.

Helen Nolan Tobin was able to successfully build her profile for a run for Mayor in 1959 as the 1955 Mayoral election has already happened.

You guys will have 48 hours to vote on the First Ballot of the RNC and do any roleplaying you wish to do.

[Orwell]

1956 Republican Convention
San Franciso, California

Rolls
Joe Foss(+20): 75 + 20 = 95
Everett Dirksen: 22
Henry Cabot Lodge Jr(+5): 72 + 5 = 77
John W. Bricker: 13

Department of Defense

It seems on the first ballot much of the establishment had chosen their man, with the complete collapse of the support of Dirksen and Bricker among the delegates won on the first ballot both candidates were in an impossible position. Following the shifts on the first ballot, the nomination was secured by Governor Foss despite the best efforts of Former Senator Lodge, who secured the New England states, New York, and New Jersey but was not able to put together a large enough voting bloc as many Republicans outside of New England were not prepared to support such an outspoken internationalist as Senator Lodge.

With the end of the first ballot and the selection of Governor Foss as the Republican nominee for President, it was seen of the utmost importance to select a Vice President that could balance the party and solid experience as either an executive leader or in Congress.

The top candidate for the Vice Presidency is California Senator William F. Knowland, Knowland has spent the last 11 years in the Senate, and has staked out a conservative path, following the resignation of Robert Taft to be Secretary of Defense, he became the Senate Minority leader and has served at that post since 1949. The selection of Knowland as Vice President would double down on key themes the GOP is attempting to hammer home, he is also immensely popular in his home state of California carrying over 80 counties in his reelection in 1952 in the face of the Democratic wave in other parts of the nation. He is also a strong ally of Former President Warren and could help mend the fences between Foss and the establishment.

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Another major candidate is Representative Charles Halleck of Indiana, the only person on the list to represent a state carried by President Warren, 4 years ago, Halleck is a Republican leader and a long time Congressman with good legislative experience and solid legislative allies. Between 1947-1951 Halleck was the Majority Leader in the House of Representatives and since the Democratic takeover of the House in the 1950 midterm elections he has served as the House minority whip. Halleck is a strong conservative but doesn’t truly add to the ticket in ways other than experience, as he is seen primarily as a legislative mind instead of a great campaigner.

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The final major candidate is Former Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. while unlike the other two candidates he has no elected office at this time it is thought that he isn’t currently seeking the Vice Presidency as he feels he could not run second fiddle to Foss, but if he were to be drafted by the convention he promises to serve. With the quick nomination and his ability to only consolidate the New England states and those controlled by his political allies, it is warranted to see if Lodge can win in the future, if he is not nominated at the convention it serves to see he may run again for Senator, Governor, or possibly another run for the Presidency in 1960 as he is only 54 years old.

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Player Rolls
Will Angler (KaiserDave) (+5): 9 + 5 = 14
Marcus Jackson II (NTP) (+20): 5 + 20 = 25
Thomas Kenway (GoTFan) (+15): 100 + 15 = 115
Gerald O’Connor (Entropy)(+10): 97 + 10 = 107
Helen Nolan Tobin (Ishan): 25

At the Democratic convention in Chicago, Illinois both President Eisenhower and Vice President Kefauver were renominated by acclamation at the convention. However, the true star of the night was Iowa Senator Thomas Kenway, who brought the convention floor to its feet with a terrific recount of his service under General Eisenhower, and how President Eisenhower has served the nation it brought the crowd to chant “4 more years! 4 more years! 4 more years!” the speech catapulted Kenway to the front of many New Deal Liberal circles and made him a possible contender for President in the future.

   Behind the scenes in Chicago, things were working to the plans of Congressman Gerald O’Connor, with his work with Mayor Daley and the other King’s of the Chicago Machine he had placed himself as an integral partner to this machine. He had brought peace to the tense factions where many thought there would be an outright Civil War among the Cook County Democratic Party, but no, because of the fast thinking and persuasion of Congressman O’Connor there was peace in our time between both sides of the Democratic Party in Chicago, and it seemed that the convention would go off without a hitch, better yet it seemed that the committee in which he had been apart of was able to put a broad progressive Senior Healthcare plan into the platform of the party, with a victory in November that could surely boost the chances of passage.

   While he had been apart of the Lodge supporters in the convention it was all for not for Gubernatorial candidate Will Angler, he was almost sure to win in November, but he did face a minor scandal when returning home from Vermont, as some of the accounting for his write off expenses had been wrong and a small amount of money, ($100) was unaccounted for from his Senate office. He still led his Democratic opponent, a timber magnate Henry Jean Le Pierre by a sizeable amount in the polls however.

   For Senator Marcus Jackson, his brother had decided to remain in the State Senate for the time being, but this positive news was also met with negative news as well. Due to his opposition to Civil Rights and his signing of the northern manifesto and his comparison to those fighting for Civil Rights to Communist China among others, he was taken personally aside by Vice President Kefauver and given quite a verbal talking to,  Kefauver was incensed with the Senator’s calls of the Civil Rights activists as Communists and told the young Senator that if he wanted a future within the party he would lower his rhetoric towards those in his own party.

Helen Tobin continued her support of Eisenhower in Massachusetts.

Player Health rolls

I am introducing a new mechanic as we reach a point where all the characters are in their 30’s to 40’s I’m going to begin rolling for their health, of course, if you wanted to you could kill off your character whenever you wanted to (within reason). However, until you reach 50 y/o it will take you rolling a 1 to die, (bar a serious illness).

Congressman Marcus Jackson II (1 Death, 2-5 serious illness): 46
Will Angler (1 death 2-5 serious illness): 74
Senator Thomas Kenway (1 death, 2-5 serious illness): 53
Congressman Gerald O’Connor (1 death 2-5 serious illness): 24
Helen Nolan Tobin (1-3 death 4-10 serious illness): 35
Congressman Anton Jepson (1 death 2-5 serious illness): 16

[Orwell]

1956 United States Presidential Election

Foss campaign: 63
Lodge campaign: 89
Eisenhower campaign: 91
Kefauver campaign: 54
Democratic Unity (+20 incumbency): 37 + 20 = 57
Republican unity: 34

The next Vice President of the United States is someone unexpected, he is a former Senator and the scion of a political family, the next Vice President of the United States would be Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., a committed internationalist and a member of the Eastern Establishment of the Republican Party, with the addition of Lodge to the ticket adds a balance that it lacked before along with the addition of many more moderate Republicans turned off by the Conservatism of Foss.

Following the end of the Democratic and Republican conventions, a Gallup poll put Eisenhower at 50%, Foss at 43%, and Undecided at 7%. Foss’s main strength was in the Western United States, with the corn belt, and the mountain west firmly on the side of Governor Foss, while the Pacific Coast, Mid Atlantic, and Solid South back Eisenhower with a ferocity. The crucial Swing States, include Ohio, Wisconsin, and New Jersey. With the addition of Senator Lodge to the Republican ticket, Massachusetts is also considered a swing state though it is leaning the favor of President Eisenhower. The current electoral total is 331 for President Eisenhower to 72 for Governor John Foss of South Dakota.

The Democratic candidates roared out of the convention with President Eisenhower swinging through Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey in a frenzied swing while Vice President Kefauver matched the campaigning in the Appalachian regions of Ohio and Virginia, along with the driftless in Wisconsin, before heading to a whistlestop throughout the swing states in the West. For the Republican ticket, Governor Foss campaigned in Oklahoma, Nevada, New Mexico, before pivoting to the upper south in Kentucky and Virginia. While Lodge focused on driving home the base in New England, especially in his home state of Massachusetts and the state of Connecticut, but even with the choice of Lodge there is significant dissension in the Republican ranks. 

Marcus Jackson II (+20): 74 + 20 = 94
Gerald O’Connor (+15): 76 + 15 = 91
Anton Jepson(+10): 93 + 10 = 103
Henry Harris (+5): 52 + 5 = 57
Thomas Kenway (+5): 60 + 5 = 65
Will Angler (+5): 98 + 5 = 103

   With his apparent misunderstanding with Vice President Kefauver resolved (The Vice President had been slightly inebriated at the time of the speech), Jackson was in a much better position then he had been in the days earlier, with the proposition of the “Farmer Wages and Insurance Act” Senator Jackson has also made allies among many of the Democrats in heavy farming states and among the farmers in Florida. His stock was again on the rise as he had found a new ally with Vice President Kefauver, and many of the more pro-civil rights Senators were less angered then they had been earlier, with his clarification on the issue, but those such as Senator Jackson, Kenway, and Kennedy still were simply cordial in their relationship with Jackson.

   He had only been elected to the Senate in 1954, but Thomas Kenway a former Paratrooper under Eisenhower in Normandy was not at the forefront of American politics. With his nominating speech for President Eisenhower, he now was seen as a standard-bearer by many Liberals in Congress, when he partnered with Senator Jackson on the Farmer Wages and Insurance Act he also added some legislative credentials, but at dinner that night with Senator Kennedy. The Senator told Kenway something, “Tommy, I’m going to President soon, and I’ll need someone by my side, it may not be in 4 years time, it may not be in 8, but Tommy. We both know someday I will be President of the United States, you’re a good man and friend, I want you to be on my side when I make that run.”

   With the acceptance of Medicare on the party platform, along with his work with Congressman Jepson. Congressman Gerald O’Connor had been successfully positioned as a leader of the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party, still a close confidant of Speaker Rayburn and his “Board of Education”, but he is not without friends among the Southerners. Richard Bolling of Missouri, Homer Thornberry of Texas, and Jack Brooks of Texas rank among O’Connor’s most steadfast allies among the South. With Rostenkowski poised to be elected to the 8th District in Illinois, it seems that another ally will join O’Connor’s clique within the House.

   
State Senator Henry Harris had been quiet in his first years in office, but in the 1956 legislative session Harris was able to make a movement towards passing a bill advocating for more Nuclear Power in the state of Illinois, this while not passed yet, was relegated to committee work, his campaigning in the Presidential race was met with less success as many in the state worshiped President Eisenhower for leading the allied to forces to victory in Europe, but some were receptive of Foss’s stances on smaller government, and a stronger national defense.


Will Angler was finally back into his rhythm after a hard time in his first years in the Vermont State Senate, he had finally begun to regain his former self when he hit the campaign trail, while he made no comment on the Presidential race, he grew in support with many in the predominantly rural state many state Senate and House candidates ran parallel to their gubernatorial nominee eschewing liberal values. Will’s support for Jacob Javits was a boon to the New York congressman’s campaign, and the “scandal” that had appeared earlier was cleared up and many just assumed it was a mistake, due to his positive reputation among the people of his county and state.

The situation for Anton Jepson was much more positive than it had been 2 years earlier and the spirit of Minnesota’s 5th Congressional district was in tune with that of the left-wing Jepson. While Jepson was not as much of an open politician as someone such as O’Connor, Kenway, or Jackson. Jepson was brilliant when he did speak, and his work to convince many in the House to support the legislation was successful, as Speaker Sam Rayburn offered to teach Jepson some of the parliamentary tricks known only to a few of the elder members of Congress.

[Orwell]

Eisenhower Campaign (+15) : 55 + 15 = 70
Kefauver Campaign: 29
Foss Campaign: 40
Lodge Campaign: 2
Democratic Turnout: 58
Republican Turnout: 20
House Turnout (D) (+30): 68 + 30 = 98
House Turnout (GOP): 60
Senate Turnout (D)(+30): 61 + 30 = 91
Senate Turnout (GOP): 63
Gubernatorial Turnout (D) (+30): 92 + 30 = 122
Gubernatorial Turnout (GOP): 12
Eisenhower/Kefauver X factor: 64
Foss/Lodge X factor: 32
October Suprise (1-20 Foss/Lodge 80-100 Eisenhower/Kefauver 21-79 None): 10

Party Mandate: After the midterm elections, the incumbent party holds more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives than after the previous midterm elections.
Contest: There is no serious contest for the incumbent party nomination.
Incumbency: The incumbent party candidate is the sitting president.
Third-party: There is no significant third party or independent campaign.
Short-term economy: The economy is not in recession during the election campaign.
Long-term economy: Real per capita economic growth during the term equals or exceeds mean growth during the previous two terms.
Policy change: The incumbent administration effects major changes in national policy.
Social unrest: There is no sustained social unrest during the term.
Scandal: The incumbent administration is untainted by major scandal.
Foreign/military failure: The incumbent administration suffers no major failure in foreign or military affairs.
Foreign/military success: The incumbent administration achieves a major success in foreign or military affairs.
Incumbent charisma: The incumbent party candidate is charismatic or a national hero.
Challenger charisma: The challenging party candidate is not charismatic or a national hero.

The final days of the campaign were spent of damage control by the GOP candidate Foss, stories of impropriety arose from South Dakota, with there being allegations of fraud, but when election day came, The polls following the convention had actually been better than the final tally for Governor Foss, 4 years after President Warren was beaten in a landslide by Ike, Foss fared even worse. Foss only secured the vote of 11 states, 51 Electoral Votes, and 39% of the Popular Vote. Ike carried Indiana for the first time since the Democratic landslide of 1936 20 years earlier. In both houses of Congress, the Democratic majorities were replenished in both houses of Congress, in the Senate, the Democratic majority was 57 seats, 35 Republicans, and 2 Independents. In the House 24, more Democrats were elected to the House bringing the total to 264.

Freshman Senators

Adlai Stevenson II (D-IL)
Richard Richards (D-CA)
John A. Carroll (D-CO)
Frank Church(D-ID)
George P. Mahoney (D-MD)
Jacob Javits (R-NY)
Joseph S. Clark (D-PA)
George McGovern (D-SD)
Wallace Bennett (R-UT)
William C. Marland (D-WV)
R.M. Evans (D-IA)

(Flips are bold)

s

Senator Marcus Jackson II (+15): 3 + 15 = 18
Congressman Gerald O’Connor (+10): 66 + 10 = 76
Congressman Anton Jepson (+10): 90 + 10 = 100
Senator Thomas Kenway (+5): 37 + 5 = 42

In Florida, Senator Jackson secured renomination and reelection with ease as his Republican opponent garnered only 22% of the vote to his 75%. Of the other freshman Senators in seats won from the seats, the Democrats gained from the GOP in the fall, all of them were Pro-Civil Rights and closer to the left in the party, so Jackson was unsuccessful in building his standing among the Freshmen, he was also approached to become a member of the Senate Farming Caucus.

For Senator Thomas Kenway, the election cycle was a victory of the new Democratic Senators 6 were Midwestern or Western, these included  Kenway allies in George McGovern of South Dakota, Frank Church of Idaho, and R.M. Evans of Iowa. With the beginning of the new Congress many Plains, and Mountain West, and Midwestern Democratic Senators, including the aforementioned trio, along with Senators Mansfield, Humphrey, Maier, Mahoney, and Stevenson II, came to Kenway to request that he be the Chairman of the newly formed Senate Senate Farming Caucus. He was also going to be appointed to the Senate Committee on Foreign relations,  with another committee he would sit on being the Committee on Agriculture. while he would have preferred the Armed Services committee it appeared this would be better than nothing.

Gerald O’Connor, Speaker Rayburn wasn’t getting any younger. While it would be impossible for Gerry to challenge Rayburn, the same wouldn’t be true for John McCormack, in private Rayburn had told Congressman O’Connor that he was thinking about retiring following the 1958 midterms, more younger Democrats trickled into alliances with O’Connor, one of these another Texan Olin Teague joined the likes of Congressmen Jack Brooks, Thornberry, and Bolling in O’Connor’s posse, soon to be bolstered again with Rostenkowski’s inauguration in January. Could O’Connor make a challenge for the Speakership or will he shoot for the position of Majority Leader following the retirement of Speaker Rayburn a much more realistic position, but the Speakership still in view.

Anton had done it! Reelection was secured in 1956 by not the measly 500 votes as it had been 2 years before but by 15% of the vote he had gotten 57% of the vote to his Republican opponents 42%, this appeased much of the worries Congressional leaders had and with the beginning of the next Congress he would be a member of the  Education and Labour Committee in the United States House of Representatives

[Orwell]

Eisenhower health (1-5 death): 3
Kefauver health (1-10 death): 26
Corruption: 63
Civil Unrest: 96
Economy 1956-1958: 91
Midterm Republicans: 44
Midterm Democrats: 93
Eisenhower approval rating: 64
Kefauver approval rating: 68
Civil Rights movement: 13
Suez Crisis: 94
Medicare: 83
Veteran’s Affairs:  100
The Americans Citizens Act: 59
Election Holiday Act: 39
Does the US back Israel: 80
USSR Space Program: 83
US Space Program (+10): 67 + 10 = 77

Player Rolls
Governor Will Angler (KaiserDave) (+15): 92 + 15 = 107
Congressman Gerald O’Connor (Cabbage) (+10): 69 + 10 = 70
Congressman Anton Jepson (Elcapsar) (+20): 93 + 20 = 113
Senator Thomas Kenway (GoTFan) (+10): 52 + 10 = 62
Senator Marcus Jackson II (+15): 12 + 15 = 27

The beginning of President Eisenhower’s 2nd term in office was going well, with the passage of the Medicare, and the American Citizens Act without much trouble. The establishment of the Department of Veterans affairs was marked with the appointment of J. Allen Frear Jr. as the first Secretary of Veterans Affairs. There was, little movement on the front of civil rights, as white southerners violently fought back against the attempts African Americans made to seek enfranchisement and equal rights, a young activist named John Lewis was murdered while attempting to register fellow African Americans to vote. A flare of world tension when war erupted between Israel and Egypt over the Suez Cana as the United States backed Israel and Egypt was backed by the USSR, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

2nd Arab-Israeli War

Israel (Egyptian front) (+10): 77 + 10 = 87
Egypt(+5): 30 + 5 = 35
Israel (Syrian Front): 71
Syria(-5): 39 - 5 = 34
Israel (Jordanian Front): 50
Jordan: 61

The Israeli surprise attack left Egypt totally unprepared and soon the Israels had seized much of the Sinai peninsula, and by the end of 1967, Israel was fastly approaching the Suez canal. On the Syrian front, the Syrians attempted attack was easily repulsed and thousands were killed on the Syrian side, as Israel established air dominance they seized the Golan Heights. On the Jordanian front, Israel had limited success and was actually pushed back from the West Bank as heavy fighting continued in Jerusalem by the end of 1967.

The economy continued to boom as the campaign season of 1968 began, President Eisenhower hit the campaign trail with haste to protect Democrats across the nation who might be under threat. He began his tour in the upper south where the GOP had seen a resurgence with the Democrats turn towards civil rights, and then he headed north a campaigned in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin… and then everything went wrong… When President Eisenhower had just finished a rally for Representative Anton Jepson (D-MN-5) he returned quickly to his hotel room as he complained of being tired, he would never wake up. President Dwight D. Eisenhower died at 0100 hours approximately on March 7, 1958, he was 66 years old. Vice President Kefauver was in Washington D.C. when he was awoken by the Secret Service and told the President was dead.

With the death of President Eisenhower, the approval rating of the new President Estes Kefauver of Tennessee was soaring near 90%, Kefauver had decided to be more of a caretaker President as he too had poor health, following the death of President Eisenhower, Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn announced he would be retiring in 1958, meaning for the first time in nearly 2 decades the Democrats in the House of Representatives would be choosing a new leader. The two leading candidates were John McCormack of Massachusetts the favorite of many in the Old Guard, and Gerald O’Connor of Illinois the favorite of some in the new south, the midwest delegations, and some western congressmen. It would wait and see how the balloting would be in January.

When election day came only 3 seats were lost by the Democrats in the House while in the Senate the Democratic incumbents in Michigan, Nevada, Utah, and Maryland were defeated for reelection, but with Hawaii and Alaska gaining statehood the Democrats gained all 4 seats up for grabs. Resulting in the same amount of Democratic Senators returning to Washington, just with 4 more Republicans. 57-41-2, with Senator’s Eastland and Thurmond bringing the Democratic majority to 59-41 one short of a majority to invoke cloture.


For the funeral of President Eisenhower, two men were invited to eulogize the President with Senator's Kenway and Marcus Jackson being the men requested for the task by Mammie Eisenhower.

Gerald O'Connor is faced with the task of battling Representative McCormack for the position of Speaker in the new house.

Governor Will Angler was extremely successful in his first term as Governor, even with the pro-Democratic atmosphere of the 1958 midterms he was reelected with over 65% of the vote and much of his agenda was passed with little complaint even from the Democratic members of Congress.

Congressman Anton Jepson won reelection 58-39, his district seemed to be trending to become more and more Democratic and with the help of his friend Hubert Humphrey he was able to secure a position on the House Committee on Ways and Means with another Young Congressman named Daniel Rostenkowski.