Alternate US History (1788 onwards)

[West_Midlander]

The Clarke Court (1911-)
45. Justice George Shiras Jr.
46. Justice Edward Douglass White
48. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
49. Justice Horace Harmon Lurton
50. Justice James Clark McReynolds
51. Justice George Gray
52. Justice David Louis Brandeis
53. Chief Justice John Hessin Clarke
54. Justice Isaac Hourwich

[West_Midlander]

The Supreme Court
Following Harlan's death in late 1911, President Hearst decided to wait on appointing a nominee. He was worried that his preferred pick would be used to attack him and his supporters during the primary. Once the primaries were over, the party voters had made their choice. So President Hearst nominated socialist Democrat and NY State Treasurer Isaac Hourwich to the Supreme Court. He was approved 47-46 with Vice President Kearn's tie breaking vote. The Democrats (not including the Opposition Democrats) and the Socialists stood with the President's nominee.

[West_Midlander]

The Republican Primary
Roosevelt ran up the totals in populous states. New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New Jersey, etc. He took Taft's home state of Ohio by a huge margin. FTR, the primaries were not all on the same day for this election. Taft took a sizeable lead and carried many, many states after Roosevelt's initial wins, and he carried these medium-sized and smaller states by huge margins.

With all states as winner take all, this allowed Taft an outright delegate win, though Roosevelt had won the popular vote due to his wins in the larger states.
Popular Vote
Roosevelt 49.3%
Taft 43.8%
La Follette 6.9%
Roosevelt had won the popular vote by five points and a majority of Republicans voted for someone other than Taft.
Delegates
Taft 576/533 to win
Roosevelt 462
La Follette 26
States Won
Taft 33
Roosevelt 14
La Follette 1
As Taft was nominated at the RNC, the Roosevelt delegates chanted "The Corrupt Bargain of 1912" and stormed out. Roosevelt did not endorse Taft, opting to leave the convention.

[West_Midlander]

Following The GOP Convention
After the Republican convention, Theodore Roosevelt declared the formation of the Progressive Party. The Progressives convened in New York City and unanimously nominated Former President Roosevelt. Some called for Republican unity, but Roosevelt said in a democratic affair he would have won. Roosevelt offered a unity ticket, composed of Roosevelt/Taft, which Taft declined.
 Taft again stated Roosevelt was old news. He had won 83.9% of the Republican vote in the previous primary, and he won 49.3% this time, a massive decline of 34.6%. Roosevelt had swept all 46 states,
 100% of the Union, in 1908. He won just 29.2% of the states this time. He took 43.4% of delegates as opposed to 100% in the previous primary.

[West_Midlander]

The Democratic Primary
Wilson won in North Dakota. In the second primary, Underwood bested Clark in Alabama,
 by 2%. Wilson won by a large margin in Wisconsin and narrowly bested Clark in Illinois. Following this,
 the 19th amendment began to gain momentum and President Hearst won a string of medium sized and large states by large margins. Clark won by a large margin in Texas, and Wilson was relegated to the single digits in that state. Clark solidly won Maryland and the President came back for a victory in Mississippi. In the 1908 Hearst state of California, Wilson had picked up momentum, after endorsing the 19th amendment. He won by a huge margin, knocking the President and Clark below 20% each.
 Clark sent the message that he was still in the race, winning the Ohio primary by a large margin. Wilson won a big victory in his home state of New Jersey, and went on to carry Arizona. The President won a decent victory in South Dakota, though it was a small state and was not a surprise to anyone.
 Wilson is the frontrunner at this point.

Hearst won by a small margin in Arkansas, a surprising win for him here. He carried Colorado unsurprisingly. In an upset, Wilson narrowly took Connecticut. The race was within one percent. In another blow to the President, Woodrow Wilson won in Delaware. In Florida, Hearst won a huge upset victory. He carried the state with more than two thirds of the vote. Idaho went for Hearst. Indiana, Vice President Kearn's home state, went narrowly for Wilson. The Florida win put Hearst slightly ahead, but Indiana indicates that there is no real frontrunner at this point.

Major smears by the media came out against Wilson, and the President took the next five states.
 A solid win in Kentucky, Southern voters have strongly indicated they do not want Wilson. Hearst has won all Southern states so far except Texas, to the dismay of the Opposition Democrats.

A few more states voted for Hearst. Many are confused after the Missouri primary. Missouri went 50-30 for Clark, with President Hearst getting badly beaten, taking just 20% there. Is Hearst's momentum fading? The country turns away from the South as the Hearst campaign is bolstered by two wins. New Hampshire and Montana. Some thought Hearst had the race wrapped up but New Mexico then voted against the President, 49-44 (for Wilson). Wilson's momentum is crushed after a big win for Hearst in New York, his home state. This is followed by a big win for the President in North Carolina. Wilson shocks all, taking Oklahoma in an upset. Tennessee and South Carolina massively went for the President. Hearst won the last contests before the end of the primary.

[West_Midlander]

The Democratic National Convention

Popular Vote
Hearst 46.8%
Clark 26.9%
Wilson 26.3%
Surprisingly, Clark emerged ahead of Wilson in the popular vote. Hearst won by a large margin but did not manage to win a majority of the party. Many in Wilson's and Clark's camps attacked each other, each viewing the other candidate as a spoiler. Hearst lost 12.3% support since the 1908 primary.
Delegates
Hearst 682/533 to win
Wilson 232
Clark 150
Hearst won 66.5% of delegates in 1908 and 64.1% of delegates in 1912.
States Won
Hearst 32
Wilson 11
Clark 7
Hearst won 32 states in 1908 as well but due to the admission of two more states, his % of states won fell from 69.6% to 66.7%.

Clark endorsed Hearst at the convention, opting to use his leverage to push the platform in a more moderate direction. He had come second place amongst Democratic voters, after all. Wilson did not attend the convention and refused to endorse the President.

[West_Midlander]

The Running Mates
The Socialist-Independence-Labor party agreed by acclamation to nominate William Randolph Hearst again. They will not field a candidate of their own.

At the RNC, William Howard Taft had a short list. He decided to hold off on choosing a running mate,
 worried about the Roosevelt split from the party. Taft offered Roosevelt the vice presidential nomination the week after the convention. Roosevelt declined and Taft announced his running mate would be Nicholas Murray Butler, the President of Columbia University.


William Randolph Hearst nominated his moderate Vice President, John W. Kern, for another term.

Theodore Roosevelt nominated Senator Robert La Follette to be his running mate, in a major blow to the Republican Party.

[West_Midlander]

November
Roosevelt defied all expectations and gained more and more ground on President Hearst as the campaign went on. Hearst led massively when the campaign began, with the Republican party crippled and a major third party running. Republicans were evenly split between Taft and Roosevelt. Roosevelt ran an amazing campaign and nearly closed the gap. Nearly.

The Bull Moose Party swept the populist and farmer vote, taking that demographic en masse from the Hearst's Democratic Party. The North divided on Roosevelt and Hearst. The Solid South held Democratic. The West, Mountain-West and Plains went essentially unanimously for Roosevelt (with the exception of OK, NM). The closest state, within 2%, was New York, the home of Roosevelt and Hearst. The race was closer than 1908 but the candidates' home state flipped from Roosevelt in 1908 to Hearst in 1912. It was a close race in this rematch, as opposed to the Hearst landslide of four years ago. The vice presidential nominees' home states were won by the opposition party. Taft was wiped out and only managed 2nd place in two states, Wyoming and Vermont, though he came within striking distance in Wyoming. When the results were announced, the Opposition Democrats railed against President Hearst with the following complaints: He failed to win a majority, losing a lot of ground from 1908, and he lost the farmer and populist vote. The likes of Bland, Bryan and Hearst were able to convince farmer-populists that their home was in the Democratic Party. Hearst had lost that ability, with a third party in existence, specifically for those voters' interests, The Progressive Party. He had lost the mandate.
The Results
Hearst 270 EVs / 43.2% / 21 states
Roosevelt 261 EVs / 39.1% / 27 states
Taft 0 EVs / 17.7% / 0 states
Changes from 1908: Roosevelt, running as the Republican nominee in 1908, got 2% less than in 1912. Hearst's popular vote share fell from the low 60s, a huge majority, to 43%, a decline of 19.7%. Many states flipped and Roosevelt won 56.3% of the states as opposed to 34.8% of the states (27 as opposed to 16 out of 46, then 48 total states). The EV total was 311-172 in 1908 and 270-261 in 1912. Though the Republicans technically had a full decline in the amount of states and EVs carried as Taft did not win any.
EDIT: Accidentally used Atlas colors in a break from the rest of the timeline.

[West_Midlander]

The Congress Heading Into Election Day
When Roosevelt split from the Republicans, he announced he had a vision for America, that the Republican leaders had given up on (when they failed to nominate him). Roosevelt ran candidates up and down the ballot and many Republican incumbents turned to him. Wilson refused to endorse anyone during the campaign, driving the divide between the Opposition and main Democrats. As Roosevelt performed better and better in the polls, by election day, 15 Republican Senators had split to his party. Hearst, Kern and other Democratic and Socialist leaders tried their best, but four defected to Roosevelt's party, between the two parties. Losing control of the Chamber impacted the President very negatively in the polls.
The US Senate
Democrats: 30 (-3)
Progressive: 19 (+19)
Republicans: 18 (-15)
Socialist-Independence-Labor: 12 (-1)
Opposition Democrats: 13
The US House
Democrats: 140
Progressive: 88 (+88)
Republicans: 73 (-73)
Socialist-Independence-Labor: 47
Opposition Democrats: 46
The same situation occurred in the House, as in the Senate. The Democrats lost their working majority in this chamber as well, but would retain the Speakership through this term.

[West_Midlander]

Ratification (August-November)
Roosevelt was heavily trying to swing the momentum from amendment ratification from Hearst to himself. He went to California in August and campaigned for the 19th amendment. Later that month, the amendment was voted up by state Progressives and Democrats. In September, Hearst stumped across the West, and Nevada, Utah, and Colorado Democrats passed the amendment. In October, Tennessee passed the amendment, after Hearst swung through the state. In the final days of that month, Georgia passed the amendment under Heart's influence. Hearst gave a huge victory speech for the amendment's passing in Atlanta on November 1st and he rode the momentum to a narrow victory on Election Day.
The Amendment has passed 36/36 states needed.

[West_Midlander]

The Elected Congress, 1912
The US Senate
Progressive: 33 (+14)
Democrats: 30
Republicans: 17 (-1)
Socialist-Independence-Labor: 11 (-1)
Opposition Democrats: 5 (-8)
The US House
Progressive: 174 (+86)
Democrats: 156 (+16)
Socialist-Independence-Labor: 45 (-2)
Republicans: 44 (-29)
Opposition Democrats: 16 (-30)
In a crushing congressional defeat to the President, the Progressives took the plurality of seats in both chambers. The Opposition Democrats served as spoilers to the Democratic Party in many districts and states. During the campaign, opposition Democrats were blamed for destroyed party unity, and for the party's loss of both chambers. Democratic voters blamed the Opposition more than Hearst, though Hearst lost confidence among all voters. Democrats abandoned the Opposition at the ballot box. This was the lowest point for Hearst's popularity and presidency since he lost the 1904 nomination. But he had survived. And the Opposition Democrats had been routed.

Woodrow Wilson had survived his election by a margin of one vote. After the election, he declared the formation of the Center Party in an attempt to appeal to voters outside the Democratic Party.
 The party would continue to run on a moderate version of the Democratic platform, so just right of center. This move was reviled by Conservative members of the faction, who left and formed their own American Conservative party. There were a few members of the Congress who sought to realign themselves with the new party makeup of the chamber.

[West_Midlander]

The Congress, January 1913
The US Senate
Progressive: 33
Democrats: 29 (-1)
Republicans: 14 (-3)
Socialist-Independence-Labor: 11
American Conservative: 6 (+6)
Center: 3 (-2)
The Senate remained a tossup. It would be a difficult two years for Hearst. A Democratic-SIL cooperation would fall 8 votes short of a majority, even with Kern's tie breaking vote. A Progressive-Republican cooperation would be one vote short. They could potentially work with the Center. Of course, a Progressive-Democratic cooperation would have a large working majority but both parties rejected this idea for the Senate, opting to work it out a issue by issue basis. If both were willing to play ball, there was a lot of common interests between the Hearst Democrats and the Progressives.
The US House
Progressive: 174
Democrats: 156 (-4)
Socialist-Independence-Labor: 45
Republicans: 40 (-4)
Center: 17 (+1)
American Conservative: 7 (+7)
The Republicans had already been reduced to the fourth party in the House, but more defections drove them further into the hole. After 10 failed ballots to elect a Speaker of the House. The Progressives and Democrats agreed to work together on an issue by issue basis. Democrats approved a Progressive Speaker of the House and the Democrats were able to have the Deputy Speakership as a conciliation prize. Hearst supporters generally viewed the compromise as just, allowing the Progressives control, since they won more seats. Their own party, as the second party, maintained the Deputy position in return for allowing the Progressives working control, at least to elect a leader, and the promise to work together in the future. Most others, some of Hearst's base included, viewed the move as a failing of the Hearst-led Democratic Party. The President's own party had lost control and failed to piece together a Democratic led majority despite holding the Supreme Court and White House. Even more outraging was the fact that a Democratic-SIL-Center-American Conservative cooperation would've given the President a working majority, without Kern's tie breaking vote, in the Senate. Though the Center and Conservatives were unwilling to work together with Hearst and the Socialists. If the same group of parties had fallen together in the House, the President would've had a majority with 7 seats over, allowing for some members to stay out. Again,
 the Center and American Conservative parties had the same position.

[OSR STANDS WITH PALESTINE]

I love this timeline

[West_Midlander]

I love this timeline

Thanks so much!

[West_Midlander]

President William Randolph Hearst's Third Cabinet (1913-)
President: William Randolph Hearst
Vice President: John Worth Kern
Secretary of State: Robert Lansing
The conservative lawyer, Lansing, was nominated in an attempt to bring conservative Democrats back into the party.

Assistant Secretary of State: Phoebe Hearst
The President's mother narrowly passed the Senate to be appointed Assistant Secretary of State.
Secretary of the Treasury William Green
Green was nominated to serve for a third term.
Secretary of War: George Dewey
George Dewey, Hearst's Secretary of War was nominated again. Dewey is a party moderate and served as Hearst's Vice President from 1900-1905.
Attorney General: Horace Boies
Boies was nominated to serve Hearst for a third term as Attorney General.
Postmaster General: John Coit Spooner
Postmaster General John Coit Spooner was confirmed for another term. He jubilantly had declared, "I am never retiring!" on his 70th birthday on January 6th, 1913. He served in both of the President's previous cabinets. Spooner was a Republican, then turned Independent in 1909. He became a Democrat in 1913 and publicly met President Hearst at the White House in an attempt for the administration to make good press. For some time now, Spooner has been regarded as the "Old Man of Washington." He has served in Washington since his appoint to President Bland's first cabinet in 1893. He has served under a record breaking five consecutive Presidents, Bland, Bryan, Sewell, Roosevelt, and Hearst. 1913 will be his 20th year in the cabinet and in the position of Postmaster General.
Secretary of the Navy: Josephus Daniels
North Carolinian, Daniels, was appointed in an attempt to draw American Conservative and Center voters back into the party.

Secretary of the Interior: Franklin Lane
Moderate Franklin Lane was confirmed to the position of Interior Secretary. The San Francisco Mayor was nominated in an attempt to unite the Democrats again.

Secretary of Agriculture: Meyer London
London was nominated for a second term.
Secretary of Commerce: Kate Richards O'Hare
O'Hare was nominated for Commerce Secretary after serving as the Commerce & Labor Secretary from 1909-1913.
Secretary of Labor: Samuel Gompers
Samuel Gompers, the nation's 1st Secretary of Commerce & Labor, was nominated for Labor Secretary after the department split in two. Gompers had been eyeing the Secretary of State position after aiding massively in the President's Canadian efforts during the previous term. He was abated by an appointment as an official advisor to the President, as well as commanding his current department.
United States Ambassador to France: John McBride
Two-term Secretary of State, McBride, was nominated to the ambassadorship.
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom: Allan Benson
Hearst's one term Navy Secretary was nominated to the British ambassadorship.
United States Ambassador to Mexico: James Hudson Maurer
Hearst's one term Interior Secretary was appointed to the Mexican ambassadorship.
United States Ambassador to Austria-Hungary: Victor Luitpold Berger
Berger was nominated to serve again as Ambassador.

[OSR STANDS WITH PALESTINE]

Hughes 1916?

[West_Midlander]

Hughes 1916?

It will be about time for a Republican to win by then. And Roosevelt is done. So maybe. Since he has not been appointed to the Supreme Court, to make a presidential run possible, I could say Hughes is and has been in the Senate. One of the New York seats.

[OSR STANDS WITH PALESTINE]

Hughes 1916?

It will be about time for a Republican to win by then. And Roosevelt is done. So maybe. Since he has not been appointed to the Supreme Court, to make a presidential run possible, I could say Hughes is and has been in the Senate. One of the New York seats.

Chuck Hughes 1916!!!

[West_Midlander]

United States Polling Firm - Interactive
Which Party Do You Most Agree With?
Progressive
Democratic
Republican
Socialist-Independence-Labor
American Conservative
Center
Poll link: https://www.strawpoll.me/15151803
Hearst Approval Poll: https://www.strawpoll.me/15151815
On the strawpoll I specified 1913-, actually consider previous years under his presidency as well.
 Everything discussed in the TL except party strong-arming local/state branches and the Canadian subversion would be public knowledge.

[West_Midlander]

United States Polling Firm - Interactive
Which Party Do You Most Agree With?
Progressive
Democratic
Republican
Socialist-Independence-Labor
American Conservative
Center
Poll link: https://www.strawpoll.me/15151803
Hearst Approval Poll: https://www.strawpoll.me/15151815
On the strawpoll I specified 1913-, actually consider previous years under his presidency as well.
 Everything discussed in the TL except party strong-arming local/state branches and the Canadian subversion would be public knowledge.

Thanks for 10K+ views on this thread! I will write up the midterms once I get some more responses to the strawpolls so I can get an idea of what direction you all want this timeline to go.

[West_Midlander]

Tensions
The Hearst administration accomplished very little in the way of legislation in 1913-1914. In June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was assassinated in Sarajevo.

Following this, remarks made by the United States Ambassador to Austria-Hungary were leaked to the Austrian press. The alleged comments made their way back to America. The Ambassador had said something to the effect of "good riddance" when questioned unofficially on the assassination.

[West_Midlander]

Tensions Rise
Ambassador Berger made more stirring comments. When Austria made its large list of demands to the Kingdom fo Serbia, Berger declared that Austria should "back off" and stop bullying smaller nations. Austria-Hungary requested that President Hearst recall the ambassador to Washington. The President refused. The Austro-Hungarian government responded by naming Ambassador Berger a persona non grata in their nation. Berger was recalled to Washington and confirmed as Hearst's Ambassador to the Russian Empire. With Hearst standing completely by his ambassador, the Austrian government decided to sever diplomatic contact with the United States.

[West_Midlander]

The War To End All Wars
Austria-Hungary imprisoned and exiled thousands as well as aided the anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo. Hundreds died in prison and hundreds more were then sentenced to death in Bosnia. The United States government, through the German-American embassy in Berlin, called on Austria-Hungary to stop its tyranny against the Serbs. To which Austria fired back onto America's treatment of blacks and Native Americans, which it termed as tyranny. This put an egg on the face of the Hearst administration.

On the 28th of July, 1914, Austria-Hungary finally declared war on Serbia, after Serbia confidently rejected its demands, bolstered by their Russian allies and by Americans words of encouragement. By early August, all the powers of Europe had been arranged against one another in war. The United States immediately offered to supply aid to the Allied Powers. Hearst declared that the United States would wait and see, regarding entrance to the war. He would not proclaim neutrality as so many urged him to. Eugene Debs and several other Democrats declared their support for neutrality. The SIL declared that it stood for neutrality. Woodrow Wilson and his Centrists endorsed neutrality. The Anglophile minority urged Hearst to enter the war. Many of this faction had his ear. Irish-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans,
 German-Americans and church leaders opposed war. Women also opposed war, and they would be voting for the first time in the midterm elections, this November.

[West_Midlander]

The War To End All Wars II
After Germany bombed neutral Belgium on August 6th, 1914, President Hearst demanded that Congress declare war and allow the United States to come to the defence of a publicly neutral power, a small nation that had been attacked. Congressional leaders, with varying degrees of fortitude,
 stood against this move. Most Americans still viewed that it was not an American affair. Hearst began scheming to get the war resolution passed. He called upon the Democratic Deputy Speaker of the House and the Democratic Senate leader to aid him. The Democratic Deputy Speaker refused and resigned his post. The new Deputy Speaker led the Democrats to pass a narrow victory in the House of Representatives.
 When the Chamber was nearly vacated, almost the entire Democratic delegation walked into the House. The Progressive Speaker had allowed a vote after a recess, expecting the measure to fail.
 One name was to be called by the hour, until all members were present. With the Speaker absent from the House, the Deputy Speaker called on the roll to be announced quicker. The vastly Democratic filled chamber voted up the war resolution 119-109. The same thing occurred in the Senate, with the help of the President of the Senate, John Worth Kern. The Senate tied 25-25, and Kern broke the tie for war.

[West_Midlander]

The War To End All Wars III
On September 2nd, 1914, the United States of America delivered a declaration of war onto the Empires of Austria-Hungary and Germany, respectively, via the American ambassador at the Berlin embassy. At the same time the declaration of hostilities was delivered, the United States Airforce dropped many bombs on the Austrian port of Trieste. Desperate for anything to redeem the Democrats before the midterms, President Hearst had pushed heavily for war. Public opinion remained heavily against the war, and even more so once conscription began.

A US aircraft taking off, heading for Europe.