MI-Sen 1918 : Ford defeats Newberry

[Huey Long is a Republican]

In 1918, well known industrialist who helped create the Assembly Line, Former Republican Presidential Candidate (1916), and noted anti-Semitic/Hitler inspiration Henry Ford was convinced by President Woodrow Wilson to run for Senate in Michigan as a Democrat. Despite 1918 being a relatively bad year for the Democrats, Ford came within 1.72% of winning. What would happen if Ford did defeat Newberry in that Election? How would Senator Does act and would he win in 1924/1930?

[brucejoel99]

Senator Ford would admittedly be interesting, considering he was a strong League of Nations proponent & Wilson ally. He'd also (for the most part) turned over his company to his son by then, so there really wouldn't be any major changes on that front. He might possibly manage to garner some additional support for the Treaty of Versailles, but it'd still fail due to Republican opposition.

However, he'd likely remain just that - a voice in the Senate. I'm not sure you'd see much of a difference compared to real life; as the '20s dawn, he'd probably become more & more conservative, & his anti-Semitism would probably start dripping out more openly. He'd probably be easily re-elected in 1924 despite the Republican tide nationally, & of course he'd do better if he actually switches parties & becomes a Republican. Re-elected again in 1930 & 1936, & assuming he makes it that long, would probably retire come 1942.

Were he to ever run for President, the absolute earliest I could see him realistically run for President would be 1928, but he'd already be 65 by then, so a race for the White House might not be in the cards.

[Huey Long is a Republican]

Henry Ford was a very ambitious man and the rise of Fascism in Italy and other such Nations would likely embolden him. Remember that he had his own National Paper and he could successfully convert that into a propaganda machine for his movement. He might see how hard it'll be to win in '28 and will instead run in '32, as he'd 69 and the breaking off Point for Presidential Candidates seems to be mid-late seventies for a 1st term.

[brucejoel99]

Henry Ford was a very ambitious man and the rise of Fascism in Italy and other such Nations would likely embolden him. Remember that he had his own National Paper and he could successfully convert that into a propaganda machine for his movement. He might see how hard it'll be to win in '28 and will instead run in '32, as he'd 69 and the breaking off Point for Presidential Candidates seems to be mid-late seventies for a 1st term.

Eh, given that he only had an 8th-grade education & was something of a control freak, I suspect that he may prove to be a bit of an embarrassment to the Democratic Party were he to have actually sought the Presidency.