List of Alternate Presidents 2.0.

[Octowakandi]

The Problem With Populism

1913-1921: Woodrow Wilson / Thomas Marshall (Democratic)
1912: Theodore Roosevelt / Hiram Johnson (Progressive), William Taft / Nicholas Butler (Republican)
1916: Charles Hughes / Charles Fairbanks (Republican)
1921-1929: Theodore Roosevelt / Charles Curtis (Republican) [1]
1920: James Cox / Franklin Roosevelt (Democratic), James "Pa" Ferguson / William Hough (American)
1924: William McAdoo / Charles Bryan (Democratic), James "Pa" Ferguson / scattered ("Wet" Democratic) [2]
1929-1933: Hiram Johnson / Hiram Bingham (Republican) [3]​​
1928: Thomas Walsh / James Reed (Democratic) [4]
1933-1935: Huey Long / Miriam "Ma" Ferguson (Democratic) [5]
1932: Theodore Roosevelt Jr. / James Rolph (Republican), Henry Breckenridge / John Davis ("Bryanite" Democratic), Hiram Johnson / Smedley Butler (Progressive)
1935-1937: Miriam "Ma" Ferguson / VACANT (Democratic) [6]
1937-1941: Miriam "Ma" Ferguson / Paul McNutt (Democratic) [7]
1936: William Borah / Hamilton Fish III (Republican), William "Alfalfa Bill" Murray / Coleman Blease ("Mad as Hell" Democratic)
1941-XXXX: Quentin Roosevelt / Herbert Hoover (Republican)[/color] [8]
1940: James Byrnes / James Farley ("Clean" Democratic), James "Pa" Ferguson / Simon Buckner Jr (Democratic)

[1] The old Bull Moose himself is nominated easily as the Republican nominee from President. He had spent the last decade out of power stirring up support for the war (and then condemning Wilson for a bad deal) but decided against a safari trip overseas, deciding he needed a little more time to recover from the bullet wound from campaigning in 1912. With his sons Ted, Archie, Kermit, and Quentin all having returned safely from the war, TR was ready for his last political rodeo. While he may have had to dial back some of his 1912 promises, he easily crushed Cox in the national wave and immediately began governing as a moderate progressive but with his characteristic energy that would frequently irritate the Old Guard Republicans. Even when his Secretary of Interior and former Rough Rider, Albert Fall, and the ensuing scandal did little to hurt his popularity once the people realized it was merely Fall who was corrupt as opposed to Attorney General Beveridge. Recognizing that much of the progressive gains he made may be in danger in an open nomination (and also remembering his great mistake of leaving it to his successors) while the party realized LaFollette was just itching to run a splinter ticket, the old man would surprise the party by announcing another run for the Presidency which, despite some handwringing about norms by party bosses and newspaper editors, he would easily win.

[2] The Democrats, reeling from a 1920 landslide and a 1922 midterm that was not nearly as good as it should have been, were in a state of panic. Wilson's son-in-law and the former Treasury Secretary, William McAdoo, was the clear choice for the party. Despite a sizable uproar among northeastern bosses of the immigrant communities over McAdoo's unwillingness to condemn the Klan, the bosses found a lack of alternative options with their main base in New York still suffering under Governor Miller. While Senator Underwood made a spirited attempt, McAdoo would inevitably  take the nomination.

The events of 1924 certainly weren't set in stone, despite popular belief. Former Governor James Ferguson had ran the previous election to little fanfare or popularity. He had managed to improve his reputation out of power, so that a significant percentage of the people believed he was innocent and a victim of party politics as opposed to his own corruption and incompetence. Ferguson saw the discontent in the party not only with a Klan-backed candidate but also with a Prohibition supporter, the two pillars that he had fought the most as Governor. He decided the time was ripe (1920 had taught him the importance of timing) and now was ripe. He announced another run for President, not as the candidate of the vaguely named American Party, but directly as the "wet" and anti-Klan candidate. Voters who knew little of his history flocked to him as a populist boss who would keep the taps flowing and their communities unmolested.

[3] The Second TR term was uneventful as age battered down the Bull Moose. The larger fight was over his successor, one which TR shocked the party by backing his old running mate, Hiram Johnson. Johnson, a prominent Senator who was the face of the party's progressive faction, fought hard against the party bosses who opposed him and managed to win the nomination. TR passed away shortly after Johnson's ascendancy which was probably for the best as Johnson would prove to be a more inept President than anyone could have imagined. He took any disagreement as a personal attack. He spent massive amounts of time fighting over the most minor differences in policy. By the time the Depression hit, the party and the country was already exhausted. Little would they know...

[4] The incredibly unimpressive performance of the Walsh ticket and the ticket split of 1924 made it clear to the Democratic Party that they couldn't muddle through another election. This was the direct result of the primary voting system for nomination, a system designed to make the party of Jackson and Bryan truly the party of the masses by putting the voting power into their hands. Little would they know...

[5] As the Johnson administration imploded in on itself culminating in the man losing renomination and his announcement of reviving the Progressive Party banner (not even the diehard progressives were convinced by this), the Democratic Party would have liked to have a nice peaceful nomination process, putting forth an inoffensive popular nominee. Instead, the newly established primary process meant that perfectly acceptable candidates like Albert Ritchie or Speaker Garner was completely over mad populists like the newly elected Senator James Ferguson (thanks to his wife, Governor "Ma" Ferguson, having completely stacked the state political system in the family's image) and the yeoman Governor "Alfalfa" Bill Murray who promised bread, butter, bacons, and beans as well as blaming minorities. The nature of the delegate system being new to everyone meant that the other candidates were cornered out as Ferguson and Murray fought to a standstill, leading to neither having enough delegates. A negotiation was required for the two candidates, and ultimately, they would settle on Murray's pick, Governor Huey Long, paired with "Ma" Ferguson ("Pa" being deemed too controversial to risk). Despite an astroturfed alternative Democratic ticket claiming to represent the true values of the party and not this rabble, Long would easily win the election.

[6] The assassination of Long by a mad anarchist who didn't realize it wasn't 19th century anymore would fundamentally change the direction of the nation, so much so that Long is to this day remembered in hagiographic terms in relation to his successor. Ferguson as President would prove to be monstrously corrupt, stacking the halls of Washington DC with Ferguson cronies. The massive Long-era infrastructure project money would disappear into Ferguson-affiliated companies which did little to stimulate the economy. And "Pa" Ferguson himself would find himself in the White House as the new Secretary of State where he wined and dined across the world with Chamberlain, Mussolini, and Schleicher. The Ferugsons' promising to continue to keep the poor farmers and working class afloat kept enough voters loyal to the Fergusons that few party leaders dared to oppose them beyond begging Ma to not step down for Pa. Ma herself was more ambitious and savvy than given credit for, recognizing that stepping aside for her husband may lead to their very demise. She simply picked a popular governor and won her reelection despite an energetic splinter campaign by Alfalfa Bill.

[7] To say that the Fergusons' control over the party collapsed when Pa made his move to take the nomination for himself is inaccurate. Already, the grounds for their fall were set with the revival of the Republican Party in the midterms that saw the rise of Speaker Snell as the memory the Johnsonvilles faded. Oversight committees under Snell's gavel started figuring out just how much money was embezzled, just how much corruption was present started tearing down the Ferguson Legend. By the time Pa ran for the nomination, the bosses and officials had realized both that it would be electoral suicide as well as the people were starting to get sick of the First Family. With the shocking results of the Kentucky primary, the Fergusons went into emergency mode, calling in every favor they had, and ultimately, in their desperation, increasing the power of delegates. The nomination was theirs, but the damage was done. More and more, their empire collapsed as, for the first time since Ferguson's 1924 run, the Democratic Party faced a competent splinter ticket under the conservative but inoffensive southerner Governor Byrnes allied with the Boston machine boss Senator Farley.

[8] In the end, it was enough. The strength of the splinter ticket and the Republican nomination of the son of the man many regarded as the greatest Republican President since Lincoln, a man who had proven himself in the fields of France where his bravery saved dozens of comrades and won him a Medal of Honor, a Governor who fought Tammany Hall to a standstill. If any man looks like he can lead America to an era of normality as well as navigate the hazardous waters of a Eurasia in flames, it must be Quentin Roosevelt, President-Elect of the United States.

[Octowakandi]

Unfamiliar Paths
Inspired by Yankee

1845-1853: Stephen Douglas / Lewis Cass (Democratic) [1]
1844: Henry Clay / Millard Fillmore (Whig)
1848: John Clayton / Robert Charles Winthrop (Whig) [2]
1853-1857: Henry Gardner / John Scott Harrison (Whig) [3]
1852: William Marcy / Robert Hunter (Democratic)
1857-1861: Lewis Cass / Fernando Wood (Democratic) [4]
1856: Henry Gardner / John Scott Harrison (Whig)

[1] The taking of the nomination by the young charismatic Senator from Illinois was the political rejuvenation that the Democratic Party needed after their embarrassing defeat to William Henry Harrison. Douglas spared the Democratic Party the nomination of Martin van Buren who was vastly seen as out of touch with the population. Douglas's vigorous and inspirational campaign put the Clay campaign into a tailspin, leading to the desperate nomination of lightweight Millard Fillmore in a bid to win New York. Fillmore would campaign in a frighteningly nativist way which earned massive crowds but terrified the Clay campaign in terms of winning votes. In the end, Douglas would win decisively although strange swings occurred to the Whigs due to Fillmore's positions.

[2] Douglas would prove to be a popular President even as he dealt with a nascent economy. As Texas became an independent nation propped up by the French and the British and Mexicans proxy warred over influence of the vast frontier territory, America broadly stepped away from colonization and focused on domestic issues. He pushed aggressive elimination of tariffs to promote free trade, a policy amenable to the South and their cotton industry which relied on international trade. The Whigs used this point to make a furious return in the midterms. This did little to help long term issues with the Whigs. This was apparent when the party nominated John Clayton who proved to be aloof and overly attached to Whig principles when Fillmore had shown the party's base was interested in something more exciting. Even more accentuated was Clayton's pick of the young Congressman, Robert Winthrop. The party would make up some ground from 1844 but lose decisively. In a discussion with party leaders after the disastrous defeat, Winthrop, the only Whig who exited the election with higher profile, would make the case that it was essential that the party improve with immigrants if they had any chance of surviving.

[3] It was the party's failure to respond to the demands of their electorate that led to the shocking rise of Henry Gardner. Knocking out a dozen respected politicians most notably Edward Everett who he decried as weak, the rabble rousing Massachusetts Governor used effective grassroots organizations to pry the mechanisms of the party from its leadership and took the Whigs on a path of nativism and protectionism. As Winthrop watched in horror as immigrants went to the Democrats in droves, the young Speaker of the unruly Whig House saw the electoral doom that Gardner was taking the party in, something that even Gardner's choice of stalwart Whig Indiana Governor John Harrison could not change. They would be annihilated by Secretary of State William Macy in the elections no doubt. Winthrop called up friendly Whig newspapers and prepared to publish an article attacking Gardner the day after the election as a disaster for the party.

And then Gardner won. Not only won, but broke through into Arkansas, Missouri, and Louisiana, states the Whigs had always failed to win. A political tide was turning

[4] Winthrop tried working with the new President but retired in his 40s before the next midterm, defeated and dejected. The ridiculous and showman style of Gardner worked to gain immense affection from some and huge detestment from others. His immigration policies saw a total ban of all European arrivals which proved to be a boon for the Republic of Texas which received them instead. Gardner's confrontational style laser focused on the British Empire which he accused of not playing by the rules of "free trade" and enriching themselves by manipulating the markets. The brutal tariff war against the British Empire was a mixed bag, but as Gardner moved away from the nativist candidate and became increasingly the anti-British candidate, something strange occurred. Immigrants from nations that opposed Britain and traditionally Democratic voters in the South started to flock to Gardner even as normally upper class Whig voters left the party, disgusted by his attitude, governing style, and horrifying comments.

[5] While these political changes were significant, the fundamentals just were not in Gardner's favor especially after his administration's haphazard and amateur response to an outbreak of cholera including comments about how nobody should have to boil their water before drinking it. The old party stalwart and former Vice President to Douglas, at the age of 74, was elected President of the United States by threading the needle of winning back disaffected Douglas-Gardner voters, holding onto the South, and winning the upper class educated Northerners who liked Gardner's policies but hated his style which overcame Gardner's shocking gains among immigrant communities that turned New York from a swing to a solid Whig state. Cass unfortunately had little mandate, his victory not translating downballot where the Whigs gained in the House and the Senate. Even worse, Gardner decried the election as rigged, noting Democratic governors in the three Southern states he won in 1852 as being proof of rigging. Why he lost the Whig controlled state of Ohio and Kentucky was ignored. As faith in American Democracy seems to be at its lowest since the nullification crisis and President Cass elected on not much more than "not being Gardner," both parties look to the future with trepidation. Rumors circulate that Gardner intends to start his own nation wide newspaper to attack his enemies and perhaps even come back to power in 1860. Meanwhile Cass is almost certain not to run for reelection yet Vice President Wood, nominated purely as a coalition pick, seems unable to step up to the mantle. All remains to be seen in the upcoming midterms.