Hail, Columbia! (The Election of 1908 RUNOFF)

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

No candidate won a majority of the vote in the first round of the 1908 presidential election, necessitating a runoff between the two top finishers: incumbent President Manuel Mendez of the Concordites and New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. of the splinter National Liberal Party.


President Manuel Mendez of Nuevo Leon [Concordite]
The leading voice against American involvement in the Great War, Mendez has earned the enmity of the war hawks within his party but has steadfastly stayed the course. Though he signed legislation strengthening the Continental Navy, Mendez continues to draw a distinction between preparedness and provocation, and has gone so far to offer himself as a mediator between the warring powers. On the home front, he has called for a continuation of the financial reforms passed during the previous term: a hard money policy, repeal of the National Railway Act, opposition to further nationalization schemes, and preference for the "free market" over the "command economy" proposed by the ASWI.


Governor Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. of New York [National Liberal]
Roosevelt leads the pro-war wing of the Concordite Party that split from the main caucus following their unsuccessful challenge to Mendez's renomination. He strongly favors entering the Great War as an ally of France, and has publicly attacked the Administration's policy of neutrality as "treacherous and cowardly." On the home front, he supports a strong protective tariff, a system of national health insurance, repeal of the National Railway Act and blanket opposition to further nationalization schemes, and a two-fronted strategy to combat inflation by reducing the amount of silver currency in circulation and allowing the Commonwealth Reserve to purchase Treasury Bonds.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Election of 1908
 

Manuel Méndez [Concordite-Nuevo Leon]—21.2% General, 54.1% Runoff
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. [National Liberal-New York]—27.3% General, 45.9% Runoff
John Calhoun Bell [Democratic-Kansas]—18.2% General
Victor Luitpold Berger [ASWI-Winnebago]—18.2% General
Leon Czolgosz [Communist-Huron]—15.2% General

The election of 1908 took place against the backdrop of the Great War, as Americans debated whether to intervene on behalf of their old ally, France, or remain neutral in what had become an increasingly deadly struggle between the great powers of Europe. The tension between war and peace tore the prevailing party system at its seams, resulting in no fewer than five candidates contesting the presidency in the fall campaign. Leader of the peace forces was President Manuel Mendez, who narrowly survived the bloodbath of the first ballot to face pro-war Governor Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. in a runoff vote. The son of the late former President Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., Roosevelt won the support of French-speaking voters in Canada and the Old Northwest and made some inroads with progressive voters, but was unable to overcome the strongly anti-war sentiment sweeping the country. Instead, Mendez was reelected with the grudging support of the anti-war Democrats and Socialists, prompting an unusual realignment that would have broad implications for the still-beginning 20th Century.