1940 Conventions (The Hearse at Monticello)

Four years after his razor-thin election amidst a divided Populist field, President Earl Warren has restored (for the most part) public faith in the government and made visible progress in combatting the Depression. Within months of his inauguration, the Californian established an official Investigating Committee to, in the words of one journalist, "pull up the Long Administration's legacy of corruption by its roots". The result was a thorough "house cleaning" within the executive branch, and while some argue that the multiple indictments of former Long lackeys hurt the president as much as it helped him, the popular consensus is that Warren's Administration is by far more honest than its predecessors'.

On the subject of the economy, President Warren has enacted a series of public works projects and employment schemes that, while far more limited than Long's "Share Our Wealth" program, have achieved visible, if subtle, results. Unemployment, which at the time of Warren's inauguration was at 18%, has now fallen to 14% though a full economic recovery remains elusive.

Tensions abroad, however, are the dominant theme as Warren seeks renomination at the American National Convention in 1940. With the rapid success of Adolph Hitler's Nazi government in overrunning much of continental Europe, many within the Administration - including the president - are of the opinion that it is only a matter of time before the United States is drawn into the conflict. Aware that intervention is not popular with the electorate, Warren has instead launched a "preparedness" campaign. In response, Warren's Secretary of State, Robert A. Taft of Ohio, resigned in protest in early 1940 and has launched a bid to unseat the president at the convention. A fiscal conservative and a firm isolationist, Taft is essentially the polar opposite of the president, and a bitter nomination battle is sure to ensue.

After their strong performance in 1936, the Democrats feel good about their chances in the upcoming election. Front-runner for the nomination is Senator Millard Tydings of Maryland. Like Taft, Tydings is a fiscal conservative and opposes Warren's economic program, though he supports the preparedness campaign. In addition, Tydings has criticized both Taft and Warren for pacifying the Prohibitionist wing of the American Party, arguing that the president is "itching" to reinstate Prohibition. Tyding's only serious challenger is businessman Wendell Wilkie, who agrees with him on most major issues.

The Populist party, meanwhile, is in disarray following its catastrophic loss in the Election of 1936. No fewer than six candidates have stepped forward to contest the nomination at the party's 1940 Convention. The front runner amongst them is Senator William Bankhead of Alabama, whose fierce advocacy for the plight of organized labor has won him the endorsement of the AFL-CIO. Bankhead's most serious challenger is Iowa Governor Henry Wallace, who has been endorsed by former President Eleanor Roosevelt. While Wallace is sympathetic to labor unions, he is primarily seen as the farmers' candidate and has called for aggressive action to assist the country's rural population, which was hard hit by the Depression. Other notable candidates include Congresswoman Jeanette Rankin, a renowned pacifist who was the party's nominee for president in 1916, and Father Charles Coughlin, whose diagnosis of the Depression can be summed up as "the Jews did it" and who has called for an alliance with Adolph Hitler.

Vote wisely.

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