Oh, Franklin Roosevelt. What potential he had: No FDR in politics

[Peter the Lefty]

      September 1, 1947: Joseph Kennedy rules out another Presidential run.  "I've already run once, and while I enjoyed the idea of the Presidency, I will not contest it again.  I'm not at a stage in my life where I'm willing to run a second political campaign for myself.  I'm finished with politics, as far as I can see."  He even goes as far as to say that he feels disaffected with the rightward turn of the Democratic Party, saying he now feels "more comfortable on the right-wing of the Republican Party."
      Governor Solomon also rules out a run for the Presidency in 1948.  "I support Vice-President Wallace.  In my opinion, he'll make a fine President, and I will support him fully not only in this primary against Mr. Senior, but in the general election as well." 

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Go Taft!

[Peter the Lefty]

      September 2, 1947: Senator Harry Truman rules out another run for the Presidency.  "I've had my turn at a candidacy, and I lost it.  I'm not going to make another attempt at the White House.  Too much of my energy was used up in the last campaign.  I think we have a new generation in our party, ready to take over the reigns and carry it to great heights.  I think that Harold Stassen represents that generation well and is quite fit and ready to lead that generation in renewing America."

[Peter the Lefty]

      September 3, 1947: Vice-President Wallace announces his candidacy for President, saying he wants "to keep this great administration alive, to keep building as we have in the past eight years."  "We cannot simply settle for keeping the great achievements we have made in the past eight years.  They have been fantastic achievements, without a doubt, but we have more to accomplish.  We can only accomplish them with a continuation of the Socialist administration." 

[Peter the Lefty]

      September 4, 1947: Senator McCarthy laughs off the idea of a Presidential run in 1948, saying "I have only two years of Senate experience and my name in the newspapers.  If that is sufficient for the Presidency, I think we've sunk to very low levels as a nation." 
      Meanwhile, Senator Irving Ives confirms his candidacy for President.  He calls for "an end to pointless and undeserved animosity."  He also says it is "time for us to build partnerships rather than conflicts.  We need to help to reconcile the interests of labor and business, and between government and society, while calling out and punishing the illegal and unethical actions of any of these groups."

[Peter the Lefty]

      September 5, 1947: Senator Richard Russell, Jr. announces his third candidacy for the Presidency.  In his speech, he promises to repeal Thomas's civil rights legislation, and to de-nationalize the economy.  He also vows to roll back many of Thomas's other programs, while keeping some in place.  He vows to end all welfare entitlements and public works jobs for blacks.  

      The same day, Thomas E. Dewey rules out another Presidential run, saying that it is best for another candidate to to pick up the Republican mantle.  He says that he is withholding his endorsement for the time being. 

[Peter the Lefty]

      September 6, 1947: Senator Arthur Vandenberg announces another bid for the White House.  "We who warned that state control of the economy was dangerous were dismissed.  We were told that we would not be taken seriously due to our party's history.  And now we've been proven right.  The economy has been strangled by government ownership!  And together, we can unshackle it and return it to prosperity!"

      Many speculate, given his poor poll numbers, that he is hoping to be a compromise candidate should the supporters of Taft and Thurmond be unable to unite.  
      September 7, 1947: Republican House Leader Joseph William Martin, Jr. announces his candidacy for the Presidency.  "We need to achieve a strong and fair economy, but also a free one.  We need to find the right balance between unfettered crony capitalism and statist socialism.  We also need a strong national defense, but also a diplomatic foreign policy.  We need to build our society, and build our country, from the ground to the sky, and I believe that I am the right man for the task.  For that reason, I am asking for your vote!"  

[Peter the Lefty]

      September 7, 1947: Arkansas Governor Benjamin Travis Laney announces his candidacy for the Presidency.  "After much consultation with my family and friends, I have decided to run for the Presidency in 1948.  I believe that the states of this country deserve to be given back the rights which they have had taken from them.  I believe it is time for the people of this country to be returned their rights which have been usurped by the Thomas administration.  I seek to continue the crusade of my great party's founder, Jefferson, on behalf of people and states against the authoritarian power-grabs of the federal government!" 

[RogueBeaver]

Talk about an alt-1972. Keep it coming Peter!

[Peter the Lefty]

      September 9, 1947: Senator Taft unexpectedly condemns Governor Thurmond's "victim" comment.  "Any white Southerner would have plenty of reasons to feel invaded.  The law enforcement duties of the states have been usurped by the President, who simply sent in the national guard to enforce the laws which have always been up to the state to enforce.  He did not bother to consult or work with the Southern Governors to ensure that the law was being enforced against terrorist forces.  He simply doubted that they would bother to enforce the law, displaying a level of bigotry against white Southerners only matched by the level of bigotry against African-Americans by the Klan itself.  Governor Thurmond is right that white Southerners are a victim of bigotry, of having so-called "civil rights" forced upon them by the federal government, and of many other things.  But it is insensitive not to acknowledge that the victims of the Klan are far greater victims than any other demographic." 

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

This is shaping up quite nicely. Will we see the primaries unfold? Great work!

[Peter the Lefty]

      September 12, 1947: Secretary of State Homer T. Bone is called to answer questions from McCarthy's Standing Committee on National Loyalty.  The questioning goes as follows:
      Joseph McCarthy: Good morning, Mr. Bone.  I would like to start by thanking you for taking time out of your–uh–doubtlessly busy schedule to be here with us today.  I'd like to start by asking a very upfront and direct question.  Are you, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party?
      Homer T. Bone–No sir.  I have never been a member of the Communist Party.  
      JM: And can you give us a list of the political parties of which you have ever been a member.  
      HB: I have been a member of the Socialist Party, of the Republican Party, and then of the Socialist Party again.  
      JM: Have you ever employed people in your office with Communist backgrounds, sir?
      HB: I have never knowingly employed anyone in my office with either membership in it ties to the Communist Party.  
      JM: What is your department's policy with respect to employment of known Communist Party members?
      HB: The United States Department of State requires all new employees to sign a pledge stating that they are not and have never been members of the Communist Party, and will not pass any state information to any individuals to whom they are not authorized to communicate such information.  The pledge also states that they understand that if they break the commitment, they have committed a federal offense.  
      JM: Uh–what...precautions...do you have in place to ensure the sincerity of those who sign the pledge?  
      HB: We forbid their passing of any information to unauthorized individuals and monitor their communications with unauthorized individuals.  
      JM: In what ways do you monitor such communications?
      HB: Sir, if I were to tell you that, the Soviets' job would be made a hell of a lot easier, pardon my language.  (laughter)
      JM: I understand, sir.  Eh–have you yourself ever had any Communist sympathies?  
      HB: No, sir.  Since my childhood, I have always considered myself a democratic socialist.
      JM: And, eh–how would you distinguish, or, eh–define, the difference between the ideology of democratic socialism, as you say, and communism?
      HB: The names of the ideologies speak for themselves sir.  I think I have done what I have been asked–
      JM: How so?
      HB: Excuse me?
      JM: How do the names speak for themselves, Mr. Bone?
      HB: Senator, I was called here to answer questions about potential Communist infiltration within my department, and I have done so.  But now–
      JM: And I thank you for doing so, but–
      HB: But now, I am being asked–
      JM: But there are still more questions to be asked–
      HB: But now–if you'll excuse me, Senator–I am being asked philosophical questions about my political philosophy and how I contrast it with communism, and–
      JM: And your objection to that, Mr Bone?–
      HB: Senator, as I was about to say before you interrupted me yet again, the differences between democratic socialism and communism are well known and self-explanatory through their names.  If you wish to learn more about them, I suggest you read the works of Karl Marx and then read the works of Edouard Bernstein, and I'll think you'll find quite a difference.  
      JM: I would like to hear how you would define it, with all due respect.
      HB: Senator, I will define it, not so that you get an answer you could easily find elsewhere, but so that the corporate newspapers don't say that I got testy and walked out of here after refusing to answer your question and making me out to be a communist on those grounds.  Democratic Socialism is the belief that both the state and the economy should belong to the people, and in the liberation of the proletariat class through these means.  Communism as defined by Marx is the belief that the state ought to be eradicated and private property abolished, and that the economy and all material things should belong collectively to all the people.  Communism as defined by Stalin is the belief that the state should control the people, and the economy, and it leads not to the liberation or dictatorship of the proletariat, but simply the broadening of it to include all the people besides the dictators.  I hope that answers your question, Senator, and good day to you.

[Peter the Lefty]

      Immediately, Bone becomes revered within Socialist ranks for the ease with which he demolished McCarthy.  Some even begin to promote him as an alternative to Wallace in the election, and he is forced to publicly deny any presidential ambitions.  Meanwhile, McCarthy vows to go on with his questioning of State Department officials below Bone, as well as other cabinet secretaries.

[Peter the Lefty]

      September 24, 1947: General Alexander Papagos, head of the Hellenic Army, finally hands an official surrender, after two years of bloody fighting, to General Markos Vafiadis, head of the Democratic Army of Greece.  Vafiadis proclaims the Democratic Republic of Greece.  He is to serve as Premier, while Nikos Zachiardis is to serve as President. 

[Peter the Lefty]

      September 25, 1947: Senator Vandenberg condemns the Thomas administration for having "failed to do anything to prevent the red flag from flying over Greece."  Governor Stassen, Senator Tydings, and the other Republican contenders also accuse Thomas for not sending aid to the monarchist side.  Senator Taft, however, refuses to join in the chorus of condemnations, saying that "while more aid should have been sent, we must be careful not to keep involving ourselves in the petty affairs of the world." 

[Peter the Lefty]

      September 28, 1947: An opinion poll shows the nation to be divided on the question of whether more aid should have been sent to the Greek monarchist forces.  47% say there should have been more, and 44% say there shouldn't have been more aid. 

[Peter the Lefty]

      October 3, 1947: Turkish President Ismet Inönü signs a new and revised Treaty of Non-Aggression with the Soviet Union that allows for the building of Soviet military bases in Turkey.  Declaring it to be within the best interests of both countries, he points to the social and economic benefits that the building of the bases will bring, and insists that Turkey will not be a "slave to any other power," in an attempt to reassure the angry Kemalists within his party, to little avail.  Now, the expansion of the Soviet sphere of influence to Turkey and Greece is fully complete. 

[Peter the Lefty]

      October 4-7, 1947: Secretary of State Bone and President Thomas fly to New Delhi to meet personally with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to convince him that remaining either Allied with America or being unaligned would give India far more benefits than alignment with the Soviet Union.  They promise more financial aid packages to India should it remain out of the Soviet sphere of influence and remain a democratic nation.  Nehru assures them that India will maintain good relations with the United States.  Bone and Thomas then fly to Tehran and meet personally with Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.  There, they give him a stark condition: He must agree to hold free, fair, and transparent elections within 9 months, and appoint the government chosen by the elected parliament, and agree to the loss of status of absolute monarch should the new government demand it.  If he does not comply, he will loose all American political and economic aid.  Knowing how reliant his country is on American aid, the Shah is forced to agree to elections in June of 1948. 
      The steps are considered bizarre and drastic, but as Thomas would later say, "democracy is the only way to defeat communism."  The moves ultimately pay off, though they are considered a huge gamble, as there is little to no reliable opinion polling in Iran, and many Americans fear that the Tudeh Party may win the June elections. 

[Peter the Lefty]

      October 8, 1947: Stassen attacks President Thomas for having "displayed bold recklessness and sheer ignorance of the threat posed by Communism."  Taft calls it "rude and dangerous to enforce our will, no matter how honorable, upon another nation."  Governor Thurmond calls Thomas "not just a carpetbagger enforcing the will of the North upon the South, but also his own strategy upon a foreign country; a strategy which could likely lead to a takeover of Iran by the Tudeh Party."  

[Peter the Lefty]

      October 10, 1947: Thomas, Bone, and their negotiating team fly to London for easy work: to convince Prime Minister Attlee and Foreign Minister Bevin to speed up the decolonization process, beginning with Home Rule of all African and Middle-Eastern colonies beginning in 1948, followed by independence in 1951.  The reason they give: Independence movements would develop anyway, and could easily be hijacked by the Soviets if they were given time to be.  They also make the case that it is the morally correct thing to do.  Attlee and Morrison both agree, and actually consider it a relief that the financial burden of maintaining the colonies would be lifted. 

[Peter the Lefty]

Hey guys, I'm really sorry about the lack of an update in such a long time.  I've had a lot of sh*t to deal with lately and haven't been able to focus it, but expect another update in the next few days.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I was meaning to bump this at some point.

[Peter the Lefty]

      October 13, 1947: Thomas, Bone, and Greene fly to Paris and find that Prime Minister Ramadier, their fellow Socialist, is quite unwilling to negotiate any decolonization of French-held territories.  Furthermore, the unrest going on in the country at the time causes Ramadier to caution the Americans that within a month or so, there may be a new Prime Minister, likely from the center or the center-right. 

[Peter the Lefty]

      November 4, 1947: President Thomas and Secretary Bone announce that a Conference on the Future of Colonial Territories will be held starting on the 6th of February, 1948.  In the meantime, meetings would be held among tribal leaders to coordinate the positions of the colonial peoples, so that the conference would run as smoothly as possible.

[Peter the Lefty]

Among the many disputes that needed to be solved were:
The question of whether there should be a Jewish state in Palestine, and what the boundaries of such a state should be. 
The question of whether all Arab peoples should be unified under one state, or if there should be multiple states based on tribal and/or sectarian lines
Boundary disputes among African tribes