1964-?: Stop the World, I Want to Get Off

[Peter the Lefty]

November 3, 1964

Humphrey: MLK "Should be Obvious Choice for Governor General"

      The Labor Leader and former Deputy Prime Minister voiced his opinion rather soon after Eisenhower's second announcement was made.  In his opinion, the nation's most prolific civil rights activist "should be the clear and obvious choice to serve as the representative of our sovereign."  "The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. is not only a man of incredible courage and moral integrity, but a hero of modern times.  His fight for equal rights for all Americans, peace, and social justice, is a quintessentially American struggle.  I believe that should he be willing to take the position, Dr. King should be the runaway choice."

[Peter the Lefty]

November 4, 1964

Nixon Recommends Academic for Gov. General

     Conservative Leader Richard Nixon recommended that an academic mind would be best fit to perform the Queen's functions in her absence.  He called Humphrey's suggestion of King a "good idea," but questioned King's ability to be impartial in light of his active role in anti-poverty and peace movements, which made his support for the Labor Party all too clear for someone who is supposed to be politically impartial.  He recommended that any leading academic mind would be a good idea, and pointed to Harvard Professor Henry Kissinger as an example.

Russell Blasts Humphrey for MLK Suggestion, Calls it an Insult to Her Majesty

     ANM Leader Richard Russell blasted Humphrey's suggestion of Dr. King for the position of Governor General.  Pointing out that the Governor General is theoretically a representative of the Queen, he said he was "not prepared to have our beloved Queen represented by a communist, philandering, homosexual Negro."  He blasted Humphrey's plan as a step in the "communization" of America.

Goldwater Proposes Businessperson

     Goldwater also said he opposed the idea of King's accession to Lincoln Hall (The Governor General's residence), but his rhetoric was careful to include no racial undertones.  He simply called Dr. King "too politically oriented to hold an impartial office."  He went on to recommend that the position be given to a prominent businessman or businesswoman.

[Peter the Lefty]

November 5, 1964

King "Will Not" Accept Governor Generalship

     "Let me put all of the speculation to rest now.  I do not wish to accept, and will not accept, the position of Governor General of the American Commonwealth.  I am flattered by the praise which has been heaped upon me by those have suggested that I should hold the position.  And believe me when I tell you that the color of the skin of our next Governor General should not matter.  
      But now that civil rights legislation has been passed, this does not mean that I will cease to fight in God's name against the injustices which I see.  I will continue to fight the forces of racism and bigotry wherever I see them.  I will continue to fight the forces of poverty wherever I see them.  I cannot do so on the fine and mighty foundations of Lincoln Hall.  I cannot, under the chandeliers and grand staircases, strive to ensure that none of God's children are hungry.  The only place where I can do so is down here on the streets with you.  
      So I am flattered by Mr. Humphrey's suggestion.  And I applaud him and his party for everything they have done to right the injustices of this world.  But if Mr. Johnson–to whom I am also most grateful–takes Mr. Humphrey's advice, I will decline."

[Peter the Lefty]

November 6, 1964

A Johnson Cabinet Meeting

Lyndon Baines Johnson: All right boys.  We've got ourselves a *beep*ing sh**tpot mess right here.
Jacob Javits: Who thought picking a Governor General would be so goddamn difficult...
John W. McCormack: It wouldn't be if only Hubert hadn't gone around expressing himself to the reporters.
Stuart Symington: Yes, but so what?  They're not in the government anymore, and we're not talking about a crucial vote here.  Humphrey's just another opposition party leader now.  
LBJ: Yes but that ain't the point!  They still think we're still in cahoots.  And hell, we basically are.
Earl Warren: So who do we appoint?
LBJ: Lowest common denominator.  Douglas Edwards.
Symington: Doesn't sound like he'll be too outrageous to anyone.  
Javits: And if he says no?
Stassen: Swayze.  
LBJ: Now that's a dang good idea.  Keep it to newsmen.  
Frank Lausche: So that's settled?
Ed Muskie: Seems like it.
LBJ: Yes it is.  One of 'em's gotta accept it.  Odds are too high.  Now, for the next sh**tstorm of the agenda.
Symington: Vietnam.
LBJ: These Viet Cong mother*beep*ers are stepping up their attacks on us–and they're growin' in numbers.  They're about a million now, and we're talking compared to 850,000 in 61.  Now we've been keepin' this quiet since then because we've wanted not to get involved any further in this, but in accordance with containment, we's got to.  They're becomin' too big of a threat, and the North Viets are bombing the South in order to help the Cong mofos.  
Lausche: We're going to need reprisal airstrikes–
LBJ: Did I tell you ya could talk, Laush**t?  
Lausche: Sir, I'm the Defense Minister.  I thought I should be involved in the explanation of–
LBJ:–No.  Anyways, we're going to need reprisal airstrikes on North Vietnamese air bases sometime in the early months of next year.  And we gots to do it quick.  The goal is to knock the commies down for long enough to help the South Vietnamese get on their feet.  And we're supposedly caring about pressuring them to democratize.  That was the b.s. we told Labor, anyhow.
Symington: But we will, won't we?  At least somewhat?
LBJ: (dismissively) Sure.  Why the *beep* not?

[Peter the Lefty]

Labor Party to See Deputy Leadership Election Soon

      In run-up to the 1964 election, A. Phillip Randolph, one of the Labor Party's most highly-regarded figures, had decided to retire.  In addition to being a prolific MP, and cabinet minister, and a prolific civil rights activist, he had also been Deputy Leader of the Labor Party since 1954.  He also retired from this position at the time of the '64 election.  This now meant that the Deputy Leadership of the Labor Party was vacant.  By January 31 of 1961, the Party would have to hold an election for his successor.
      The American Labor Party was unique in that its leadership and deputy leadership elections were held amongst the party membership.  The formula had been crafted by the party's second leader, Robert La Follette, in 1921.  La Follette had a burning passion for democracy, as well as a desire to, at the height of the first Red Scare, prove that the Labor Party was committed to democratic principles.  So he not only added Senate abolition to the Labor Party's constitution as a goal, but also created a formula for electing Leaders and Deputy Leaders.  Under it, 75% of the votes would come from the Party's rank-and-file membership, including MP's, whose votes would be worth no more than those of any other Labor Party member.  The other 25% of the vote would come from the trade unions. 
      The last time this system was put into action was in 1958, when Hubert Humphrey was overwhelmingly elected to succeed Estes Kefauver as Leader of the Labor Party, defeating Wayne Morse on the final ballot.  Humphrey was vigorously backed by the trade unions, African-Americans industrial workers, most of the party's frontbench, and, most believed, Kefauver himself, which was more than enough to overcome Morse's backing from left-intellectuals, old-style socialists (who only begrudgingly backed him against Humphrey), and Thomasite pacifists. 
      Whomever the coalition that had backed Humphrey decided to back for the Deputy Leadership was almost certain to win.  The party's members, unions, and MP's all overwhelmingly came from the social democratic right-wing of the party.  Yet the margin of victory would give a good sense of the party's internal pulse.

[Peter the Lefty]

What's Lincoln Hall, the Capitol building? Why's it named after Lincoln, specifically? Also, could we have a list of Gov-Gens so far?

It's the Governor General's residence.  It's named after Lincoln because the history of American Confederation which I explained a post on my 1960-1964 thread (which I'll repost here momentarily.)

I actually don't have a list of Governor Generals yet.  Eisenhower's the first American-born one is all I know.  Beforehand, it's like Canada originally: a bunch of British aristocrats.

[Peter the Lefty]

The Birth of a Commonwealth

     In 1852, the young, tall, and skinny Justice Minister of Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, was elected to the leadership of the Liberal Party of Illinois, thus assuming the highest office any politician in Illinois could achieve at the time: the Premiership of the province.  
      Upon assuming power, he began to organize a group of Liberal Premiers in the cause of greater Home Rule for the British colonies in North America.  With Premiers Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania, William Seward of New York, Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, Benjamin Wade of Ohio, John C. Fremont of California, and Francis Hincks of Canada East, Lincoln co-authored a petition to Queen Victoria advocating a federal parliament and government of all of the North American colonies.  It also pushed the abolition of slavery in all British territories in North America.  While he'd been one of the holdouts on including the demand for abolition, Lincoln did most of the wording for the letter, and having been the one who organized the movement, he emerged as its unofficial leader.  
      As the Premiers announced their petition to Queen Victoria, it was widely laughed at.  White Southerners were enraged by the demand for the abolition of slavery.  True to her imperialist ideology, the Queen sent a rejection to the Premiers' proposal.  It came as a major defeat to the new Premier, especially one year before the next provincial election.  And it took its toll.  In the 1853 provincial election, Stephen Douglas's Conservative Party swept to power.  Douglas derided Lincoln as "anti-royalist," "radical," and "republican."  Douglas was also a dynamic leader, and the status of Illinois politics soon became a gauge of the national zeitgeist.  
      In 1857, Lincoln and the Liberals surged back to power in Illinois.  He reorganized all of the Liberal Premiers of the British North American colonies, and another petition was sent to the Queen, demanding Confederation and an end to slavery.  The British government again rejected it.  Another petition was sent a year later, with the same requests, and was rejected yet again.  Yet Liberals were now consistently winning North American provincial elections (except in the Southeast), and it was clear that Lincoln's movement now had the support of the majority British subjects in North America.  In 1861, the Liberals in Illinois (and many other provinces) scored smashing majorities, leading London to give in to both demands.  
      The British government then declared that a gradual, 18-year phase out of slavery would be introduced in the North American colonies, and replaced (over the protests of Stevens and his followers) by a system of racial segregation.  Then, there would be a one-year period in which the dust would settle.  Then, two separate Commonwealth governments would be created: one including Quebec, the far-Atlantic provinces, Canada West, and British Colombia (and all territory in between).  The other would include Washington, Florida, California, Texas, Maine, and all territory between.  The reason was simple: Quebec and the Southeast were both regions which had cultural and historical bitterness bottled up inside, and should they join together they'd pose a major threat to any single-Commonwealth government that included them both (and the possibility of the then-pro-slavery Irish Catholic population of the American Northeast joining such an alliance could have made it lethal.). Therefore, they had to be in separate "countries," so to speak.  Both "Canada" and "America" would have enough people from the rest of the country to keep the "trouble regions" in check.  
      Before the deal was made, however, the Queen made it very clear to Lincoln that he must agree never to become involved in federal American politics.  She mistrusted him, believing he was an upstart, a man who was too intelligent to be trusted, and someone with secret radical tendencies.  In truth, he was a secret republican.  Yet he was very pragmatic.  He secretly saw the Commonwealth concept as a stepping-stone to a republic, since he felt it could prove that the "primitive" colonists could be trusted with self-governance.  And for it, he was willing to sacrifice his political aspirations.  
      
      A century and a year later, the first Liberal Prime Minister who had been an Illinois Premier announced six words to all American forces via radio: "The quarantine is now in effect."

[Peter the Lefty]

Thank you, I appreciate the repost.

No probs.  And hopefully I'll be able to compile a list of Governor Generals soon.

[Peter the Lefty]

Though his interests might lie in the Conservative leadership after the election defeat, I would think that Rockefeller would be taking a look into Lincoln Hall. Is he under any consideration?

Nah.  It would basically be the finale of his political career if he were to become Gov. General, and he's after much bigger fish (or at least, more powerful). 

[Peter the Lefty]

Labor Deputy Leadership Election: Possible Candidates

     Abraham Ribicoff: The former Health Minister was almost certainly the second-most well-known member of Labor's frontbench after Humphrey, and would be a natural fit for Deputy Leader.  Raised in poverty, he'd first gotten into Connecticut provincial politics in 1947, after returning from his naval service.  By 1951, he was suddenly the Leader of the Connecticut Labor Party, and under his leadership, the party saw significant gains in a province whose wealth made had always made the Liberals the dominant progressive party in the province.  
      Ribicoff had federal ambitions, as many Connecticut Labor leaders before him did.  In 1956, he made good on these ambitions and ran for parliament himself.  He was swiftly promoted to the party's frontbench as Shadow Minister of the Interior.  In 1960, he found himself as Minister for Health in the very first federal cabinet with Labor Ministers in American history.  In this position, his fame was cemented.  He became the key crafter of the NAHS, which, while modeled on the British NHS, left certain services of lower cost to the provinces (except in those which refused to comply, where the federal government picked up the tab).  He was also in the motorcade with Prime Minister Adlai Stevenson when the latter was assassinated in Columbus, Ohio.  Ribicoff himself was wounded in the arm in the same incident, which was already sparking quiet whispers of a possible conspiracy.  
      Ribicoff was likely to be backed by the Labor Party's right wing in the contest if he were to run.

      Wayne Morse: As the runner-up to Humphrey in the Labor Party's 1958 leadership election, Morse was likely to contest the Deputy Leadership, especially after the debacle over the Gulf of Tonkin incident.  Morse had resigned from the cabinet (he'd been Deputy Minister of Justice) over Johnson's resolution, which affirmed parliamentary support for "all measures necessary" to stop "Communist aggression in Southeast Asia."  Morse then lead a backbench revolt against the Labor party's leadership in voting "no" on the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which did not truly authorize or allow for any actions.  All it did was to affirm parliamentary support for Johnson if he were to send ground troops into South Vietnam, which was actually a royal prerogative (meaning he could have done it without parliamentary consent).  He had not yet sent troops into Vietnam, but had many "military advisers" who served the same purpose, and ground troops were appearing likelier and likelier to be inevitable.
      Morse had been elected to the House of Commons in 1940 in an election which otherwise saw horrible losses for Labor.  He was a passionate supporter of Norman Thomas's leadership in spite of the latter having lead Labor in two elections which had seen it take large drubbings.  Morse then gradually became less vocal about public ownership of industry, but remained a fervent peacenik.  He ran as the soft-left candidate in the leadership election of 1948, but went largely unnoticed, and was dismissed as a "maybe someday" candidate.  He ran again in 1958 and made it to the final ballot, surging past the hard-left candidate, Darlington Hoopes, who had made it to and lost the final ballot to Kefauver in 1948.  Yet the coalition that backed him (Thomasite pacifists, hard-leftists who would've preferred Hoopes, and left-intellectuals) were no match for the labor unions, white-collar workers, civil rights groups (and the great majority of African-Americans), and the party's establishment.  
      Assuming he would run, Morse was likely to make this campaign about Vietnam.  He had accused Humphrey, after the Gulf Resolution was passed, of allowing the Labor Party to get sucked into the Liberal Party's platform on foreign policy, while also making mention of more nationalization of large monopolies.

     Joseph S. Clark, Jr. A member of the social democratic right-wing of the party, Clark had started his political career on the Philadelphia City Council in 1945.  He was elected to the House of Commons in 1952 after briefly considering staying in municipal politics to run for mayor a few years later.  As a minister in the Stevenson-Johnson I cabinet, he was naturally considered a potential candidate.  

     John F. Kennedy: Also a member of the cabinet during the coalition government, he was well known for his strong charisma and charm.  His achilles' heel was the fact that he was a party turncoat; he'd first been elected to the House in 1948 as a Liberal, and was not exactly considered a "grapefruit" (a slur often used against Liberal MP's who appear to be more in line with Labor ideologically but entered the Liberal Party for opportunistic reasons).  Months after the 1952 election resulted in a fiasco for the Liberal Party, Kennedy raised eyebrows when he crossed the floor to the Labor Party.  Labor's strong result in that election (combined with many recent provincial successes) led many pundits and political experts to believe that a Tory-Labor political alignment was just on the horizon.  So a party-switch on any young aspiring Liberal politician's part was hardly surprising.  
      Kennedy's arrival in the Labor Party was greeted with a wild mix of cautious embrace (in the case of the right) to fanatic opposition (in the case of the left).  Yet after becoming Leader of the Party in 1958, Humphrey appointed Kennedy to the front bench as Shadow Minister of the Economy and Business, a portfolio which he would also hold in the 1960-1964 coalition government.  Despite his strong performance in that position, his personal wealth and background, as well as his political past, were a huge hemorrhage to his ambitions in the Labor Party.

     Ralph Yarborough: After defying expectations in El Paso in 1948 that he wouldn't possibly win election to the House of Commons (he was, after all, a Labor candidate in Texas), he continued to defy the "experts" by getting re-elected in every election since.  In so doing, he'd remained true to Labor's values.  He's staunchly backed civil rights, social democratic economic reforms, labor union rights, environmental protection laws, and peace efforts in spite of the risks it all posed in Texas.  He was also on the Labor right, but in Texas he may as well have been a Trotskyite.
      He'd briefly served as Deputy Minister of Justice in the twilight months of the last government.  And he also, in the eyes of most of his admirers, served as a quintessential counterexample to all negative stereotypes of white Southerners.  

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
      He was a prominent civil rights activist, and many considered it to be natural to have one civil rights activist followed by another.  Yet he was in certain ways a rival to Randolph and King.  His legendary ego had always made him wish he'd been the true leader of the civil rights movement, but it was already clear that King would have this status when the history was written.
      Powell was also not exactly of proper moral standards for the job.  He had a felony charge against him in his own riding, and was spending increasingly large amounts of time in Florida, making him quite frequently absent from parliament.  A recall effort against him was now underway, and many of his fellow Labor MP's couldn't wait to see the back of him.  His womanizing was also well-known.  Yet he was bound to run for the deputy leadership.  His ego and ambition were overpowering.

     Frank Zeidler: The old-fashioned socialist had taken over as mayor of Milwaukee in 1944 when his predecessor, Daniel Hoan (also a Labor man) decided to run for parliament.  Zeider inherited Hoan's Sewer Socialist policies, and aggressively fought to annex the suburbs into which the white inhabitants of the city often fled.  He also fought to bring a greater proportion of Milwaukee's workforce into the public sector.  In addition, he'd been a staunch supporter of civil rights and integration.  He retired in 1960 on health grounds, but decided to run for parliament in 1964, and was elected in a newly created but nominal safe seat.
      Despite being new to parliament, he had a staunch following on the party's far-left-wing.  Morse, for many of them, was too moderate and not fervently enough committed to public control of industries.  Zeidler was a staunch supporter of federal nationalization of all industries, and would accept nothing less.  The fact that he, as a former Mayor of a decently-sized city, was not given a front-bench promotion was considered by a great deal of the party's left-wing to be a snub.  But while he wasn't likely to win, Zeidler was likely to run for the Deputy Leadership in order to give new life to his faction of the party.

[Peter the Lefty]

How long did it tell to write all of this?

That last post, you mean?  Basically this entire week. 

[Peter the Lefty]

Deputy Leaders of the Parties

Deputy Leaders of the Liberal Party
1. Theodore Roosevelt, 1898-1901
2. George Gray, 1901-1910
3. Charles Evans Hughes, 1910-1917
4. Hiram Johnson, 1917-1926
5. Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1926-1931
6. Cordell Hull, 1931-1944
7. Harry S. Truman, 1944-1945
8. Harold Stassen, 1945-1952
9. Lyndon B. Johnson, 1952-1963
10. Jacob Javits, 1963-Present

Deputy Leaders of the Conservative Party
1. Levi P. Morton, 1898-1905
2. Charles W. Fairbanks, 1905-1918
3. Warren Harding, 1918-1925
4. Herbert Hoover, 1925-1932
5. Arthur Vandenberg, 1932-1942
6. Robert Taft, 1942-1953
7. Everett Dirksen, 1953-1961
8. Nelson Rockefeller, 1961-Present

Deputy Leaders of the Labor Party
1. Victor Berger, 1900-1909
2. Morris Hillquit, 1909-1915
3. James Maurer, 1915-1926
4. Haim Kantorivich, 1926-1933
5. Clarence Senior, 1933-1939
6. Robert La Follette, Jr., 1939-1946
7. Algernon Lee, 1946-1954
8. A. Phillip Randolph, 1954-1964

Deputy Leaders of the American National Movement
1. Richard B. Russell, 1947-1960
2. J. William Fullbright, 1961-Present

Deputy Leaders of the Libertarians
1. James B. Utt, 1962-Present

[Peter the Lefty]

Takes some determination! well done

Thank you!  And I already had an outline of it in my head, so it wasn't that difficult.  Just time-consuming.

[Peter the Lefty]

November 6, 1964

Douglas Edwards Announced as PM's Pick for Governor General

     Johnson announced his pick for Governor General on November 10.  The former news anchor was widely respected and seen as the best compromise choice.  Some jokingly referred to him as the "lowest common denominator."  Johnson also announced that he had spoken with the former anchor himself and that the deal was a go.  The outgoing Governor General also announced his approval of Edwards.  

[Peter the Lefty]

November 14, 1964

Buckingham Palace Gives Edwards Approval; Denies Rumors of Racist Remark by Duke of Edinburgh over King Suggestion

      Buckingham Palace soon announced Royal approval of the selection of Edwards, saying Her Majesty "desired the least divisive of all credible options."  The statement also denied that her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, had made racist remarks at a state dinner.  One person present alleged that he had commented on the suggestion of Martin Luther King, Jr. For the position of Governor General, saying "Now the Americans want their Queen to be represented by an ape, don't they?"  Downing Street and Chestnut Street both declined to comment on the allegation.

[Peter the Lefty]

November 26, 1964

Edwards Sworn in as Governor General

      The compromise choice was sworn in with Her Majesty's appointment having been finalized.  He was sworn in at the official ceremony by Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr..

[Peter the Lefty]

First time I've read this in a few days, excellent work Peter! Good to see a still-alive JFK here as well, even if he is a grapefruit-turned-Laborite .

Thank you!  And yeah, he's not incredibly thrilled right now, since the Libs are riding high, and he's not there to enjoy it (and wait in the wings for Johnson to retire).

[Peter the Lefty]

December 1-31, 1964

Ribicoff, Morse, Powell, and Zeidler to Run for Labor Deputy Leadership; Kennedy, Clark, and Yarborough Won't Run

     It appeared that Ribicoff would be the right's candidate in the Labor Party's deputy leadership race.  Joe Clark, Ralph Yarborough, and John F. Kennedy all declined to run, and it was widely believed that Humphrey's personal blessing had been the reason that made Ribicoff decide to run.  Like Humphrey, Ribicoff was renown for his uncompromising integrity and personal humility.  He was also, like Humphrey, born into poverty during the progressive era, and was quite close to him in age.  He was also a member of the now-dominant social democratic wing of the party.  Having done perhaps the most work of all Labor's Cabinet Ministers (besides Humphrey) in creating the Stevenson-Johnson I government's agenda, he seemed to be a natural contender for the party's number-two spot.  The trade unions already seemed to be lining up behind him, as he'd received endorsements from Walter Reuther and other key heroes of the union movement.
      Wayne Morse would also contest the Deputy Leadership on a platform of attempting to change the party's foreign policy.  His pacifist tendencies won him the backing of former Labor leader Norman Thomas, who, like him, opposed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution.  Other left-wing intellectuals were likely to back the elderly Oregonian in this contest.  He was making mention of breaking up (and nationalizing parts of) large firms such as US Steel and GM, which was likely to win him the support of Zeidler-backers on the final ballot (assuming he were to make it there).
      The civil rights activist (and egotist) Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. returned to work (after a very long vacation in Florida) to announce his own bid for the party's deputy leadership, saying that "we, the Negro people, must continue to have representation at the top of this party."  While some African-Americans backed him, most of his fellow civil rights leaders launched an effort to persuade black Labor Party members not to support him.  King said that "Mr. Powell's irresponsibility and his lack of parliamentary accountability will be an embarrassment to the Negro if he wins the Deputy Leadership of the third-largest party in the country."  Outgoing Deputy Leader A. Philip Randolph himself explicitly backed Ribicoff, as did John Lewis and Bayard Rustin.  There was a secret worry among large numbers of Laborites that Powell would subtly play off of the strange electoral antagonism between certain African-Americans and Jews, making it even more important for civil rights leaders to come out swinging for Ribicoff.  
      Frank Zeidler, was of course, the real rebel candidate in the field.  He was a leftist firebrand and unafraid to say it.  He was unlikely to make it anywhere near the final ballot, but his showing would still be a good indicator of how well his ideas fared among Labor members.  He was promising to make all efforts possible of to reinsert nationalization of all private businesses, peaceful coexistence with the USSR, unilateral nuclear disarmament, and republicanism into the Labor Party's platform.  

[Peter the Lefty]

How long are you planning to continue this?

Until the next government comes in.  Which is when I'll start a new one for that (like I did with my 1960-64 and now 64-whenever timelines)

[Peter the Lefty]

How long are you planning to continue this?

Until the next government comes in.  Which is when I'll start a new one for that (like I did with my 1960-64 and now 64-whenever timelines)

OK. Are you going to make one for each successive government or do you plan to stop at a certain point?

Up to the present, though I may wait, since I'm pretty sure (spoiler alert) that Hillary Clinton will be Prime Minister at one point, so I might want to wait until I've (presumably) seen her in action as POTUS as a point of reference before writing that part.  

[Peter the Lefty]

The Party Leaders as 1965 Commences

     Lyndon Johnson was unquestionably secure in his Leadership of the Liberal Party.  Adlai Stevenson's backers, who had often suspected him of plotting leadership challenges to the soon-martyred Prime Minister, had dropped their hostility to him quickly thanks not only to the somber mood of the post-assassination months, but also Johnson's swift acquiescence to Stevenson's domestic program.  Having passed a single-payer universal health care system soon after taking office, he continued to push the welfare expansions and civil rights programs advanced by his slain predecessor.  
      One issue which was appearing to be potentially problematic for Johnson was Vietnam.  His plan was to squash and cripple both the North Vietnamese forces and the Viet Cong while training the South Vietnamese to defend themselves.  Then, once the communist forces were significantly downtrodden, the Americans would pull out.  He was planning a series of air strikes against North Vietnamese air bases which were being used to aid the Viet Cong, which would commence in early 1965.  Yet what few outside of the cabinet knew was that these plans would not be going through right now had it not been for the Stevenson assassination.  
      Stevenson had confided in Symington and Harriman (Symington's predecessor) before his death that he was planning to disengage from American involvement in the conflict.  Harriman was now drifting into the hawks' camp on the issue, and Symington, once a quintessential hawk himself, had appeared to be on Stevenson's team on foreign policy (just as he was on nearly all issues).  For that reason, Johnson had made the decision, upon becoming Prime Minister, to keep Symington in the Foreign Ministry rather than Defense (which was a stronger field for him).  Yet wherever he was, Symington had emerged as the leader of the Liberal Party's left-wing, a status which John F. Kennedy would certainly have right now if he'd remained a Liberal.  Many saw Symington as a potential rival to Johnson, though there was no desire on the part of the Liberal Party to get rid of Johnson at this point.

     Oh, Richard Nixon.  One couldn't help feeling sorry for him at this point, save for the difficulty in doing so at any point.  He had gone from holding a fifteen-or-so-point poll lead to winning the worst popular vote figure in the Conservative Party's history.  And the worst part: it wasn't even his fault.  Stevenson had saved the world from nuclear oblivion, and was martyred only a year afterward, and the popular consensus shifted significantly leftward.  Sadly enough for the Torries, Nixon did better than probably any other member of the Conservative Party's top brass would have done.  
      Still, there were concerns about his leadership.  In the aftermath of the election, Nixon's Deputy (and opponent on the final ballot of the 1961 leadership race), Nelson Rockefeller, briefly but quietly consulted with political allies on the feasibility of a leadership challenge to Nixon.  After receiving unanimous advice against it (on account of both political reasons as well as personal scandals), Rockefeller, whose ego was as big as his wealth, dropped all considerations.  Yet word had managed to reach Nixon, who reacted with fury.  The episode made him feel as if every move of his was under scrutiny, and as if Rockefeller (and potentially others) was/were waiting to pounce.  It led to a noticeable change in Nixon's character, which friends and political allies alike began to notice.  He became exceedingly paranoid and fearful–both traits that would later come to define him.

     Hubert Humphrey was still as popular as ever within his party.  In spite of loosing some voters to the Liberals, his party had received a slew of seats across the Southeast and was stronger than ever.  And unlike previous Labor leaders, who at best could hope to pull the political zeitgeist leftward, Humphrey had helped to directly achieve many accomplishments–namely civil rights and universal health care coverage.   He had a crusading zeal about him, yet a great success in turning his aims into effective action.  Moreover, there was a common sentiment among the party that in terms of its leadership, the Labor Party's best days were in the era of a Debs, La Follette, and Hillquit.  According to this narrative, Norman Thomas and Henry A. Wallace had doomed their party in their own respective days thanks to Thomas's accommodation of radical elements in the party, and Wallace's dubious closeness to the USSR.  It had been left, according to this view, to Louis Waldman to whip the party back into credibility, and to Estes Kefauver to take the party forward without dividing it.  Yet those who held this view of the Labor Party's history almost universally considered Humphrey to be on the same level as Labor's legendary first three leaders.  
       Ribicoff was almost certain to be elected as his Deputy on January 25.  From there, it would be up to Humphrey and his team to overcome the current Liberal craze, take their experience in the coalition government, and make the case for a Labor government come the next election.  It would be difficult, but if the non-Southern white working class, African-Americans, and students could all vote Labor in all parts of the country, Humphrey would have a winning coalition.  

     Richard Russell was not a happy man.  His party had just taken a beating, and while he'd only been on the job for four years, some were already wondering if he was the right man to lead the ANM.  Of course, the party had only been drubbed due to the millions of African-Americans who could vote for the first time in 1964.  The popular vote percentage which the party achieved had actually been higher than that which it had achieved in 1960.  Yet he was perceived as lacking energy, and the new Shadow Minister of Justice, George Wallace, was seen as possessing the zeal which Russell lacked.  Yet there was not yet enough will to replace Russell, so he was safe...for now.

     Barry Goldwater looked quite secure in his leadership of the Libertarian Party (which he had, after all, founded).  None of the three other MP's looked as if they sought to challenge his leadership.  All was well for him.

[Peter the Lefty]

January 3, 1965
      A nearby pocket-watch stuck 2:00 am, and the minute lamps attached to the wall dimmed for a brief instant.  With the overhead lights turned off, the wall lamps were the only source of illumination in the entire Senate on this a dark, cold, and windy January night in Philadelphia.  The windows were bombarded once again by an onslaught of wind and snow until the tirade of natural forces came to a sudden end. 
      William Averell Harriman sat alone on the government side of the chamber, noticing for the first time the pocket-watch which had just indicated the arrival of the third hour of the new day.  During his 35 years in the House of Commons, he had discovered it to be a wonderful place at night for those seeking peace of mind.  Since his appointment to the Senate, he had found it to be equally helpful at night for those seeking serenity and private reflection. 
      He had also found it hardly any livelier during the day.  The Senate was, in essence, a political retirement home.  Those who had served out their careers in the Commons (or dominated the politics of their own provincial legislatures, in some cases), came to the Senate knowing that they would die while serving in it.  The majority were nearly out of energy, and served only to warm the benches.  Due to his own personal determination not to find himself transformed along these lines, Harriman continued to serve as an informal adviser to the Johnson government. 
      Yet at night, the Senate and the House were both playgrounds for the intellectual, the restless, and the introvert alike.  Their emptiness lead to a state of tranquility for anyone who dared to inhabit either of them.  The vastness of the Commons made it preferable, and Harriman had frequently visited the chamber which he had inhabited for 35 years at night even after he had passed into the next political life. 
      He now, however, was prevented from entering the Commons.  It was not the result of any new locks, barriers, or new rules regarding entry at night.  Harriman could not enter the Commons, for no matter which of the seats in which he sat, there existed two which his eyes could not avoid, and when he could, their presence was still impossible to avoid.  They were the two seats from which the excitement, the zeal, and the debate in the Commons stemmed from.  More importantly they were the only two seats in which he had ever sat during his eleven years in the House. 
      It was now impossible for the former Foreign Minister to visit the House of Commons without feeling the presence of his rival, his unlikely ally, and his would-be-rival-again.  For that reason, he sat in the upper chamber while in need of mental serenity.  Adlai Stevenson had never sat in the Senate. 
      Harriman was not attempting to avoid the spirit of Adlai Ewing Stevenson II simply due to the grief from the latter's loss.  His difficulty in dealing with reminders of Stevenson stemmed from his own personal guilt.  He had information in the back of his troubled mind which could well die with him, and he had every intention of insuring that it did so.  Suddenly, Harriman felt a creeping sensation along his spine, and his mind could no longer withhold the memory of the words which he was struggling to suppress. 
      "Lyndon, I'm afraid I must talk to you about a subject which I dread might create friction between us." 
      That he could not shake the memory of the Illinoisan from his mind was a dreadful realization for Harriman.  He was gripped again as the words "I've been reviewing the situation in Vietnam" passed through his train of thought.  He was being prevented from sleeping from memories of words which hadn't even been spoken to him.  He'd been merely the third person in the room while they were spoken. 
      It was then that the veteran politician put on his coat, left the chamber, and returned to the gusts from which he had taken refuge.

[Peter the Lefty]

January 9, 1965

Labor Members Gather in Detroit for Deputy Leadership Vote

      Ribicoff, Morse, Powell, and Zeidler were to face off in Detroit–the ultimate Labor city–for this vote.  Ribicoff was the clear frontrunner, and it was unlikely that the other three candidates would succeed in pursuing (or even attempt to pursue) a common front against him. 

[Peter the Lefty]

January 9, 1965

Ribicoff Elected Deputy Leader of the Labor Party on First Ballot

First Ballot
Abraham Ribicoff–52.3%
Wayne Morse–29.8%
Frank Zeidler–10.3%
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.–7.6%

[Peter the Lefty]

February 7, 1965

Johnson Orders Reprisal Air Strikes on Viet Cong and North Vietnam

     Prime Minister Johnson and Defense Minister Lausche ordered a large retaliatory series of air strikes against the Viet Cong beginning on February 7, 1965 in reply not only to a series of Viet Cong strikes, but especially a mortar attack at Pleiku.  Issues were ordered to send the 18th Tactical Fighter Squadron from the American base in Okinawa to South Vietnam, where it participated in the air strikes, which were focused on North Vietnamese army bases near Dong Hoi. 
      Opposition Leader Richard Nixon supported Johnson in the action, as did Labor Leader Hubert Humphrey, ANM Leader Richard Russell, and the chief of the Libertarians, Barry Goldwater.