A Different America: 1948 Presidential election General election thread

[GoTfan]

Kenway made the decision not to run for office this year and instead focus on completing his legal degree. During the campaign however, he would campaign heavily for Truman using the slogan "Give'em Hell, Harry!". He would also campaign against Wallace, statting "I like Henry, but the man is simply too close with the Communists to be a legitimate candidate."

Most notably, he would serve as an organiser for the Truman campaign in Iowa City and serve as the campaign's effective leader at the University of Iowa, mobilising the college vote for Truman. He also campaigned among Iowa veterans, citing that it had been Truman who had taken care of them since the war ended, but had been effectively blocked by the Do-Nothing Congress.

He was not idle on his own plans for the future however, and began forging plans to sign up with the Johnson County Attorney's office upon his graduation with an eye to running for office in the 1950s. most notably however, he began laying the foundations for a liberal organisation called Veterans for A Better America.

[GoTfan]

Am I allowed to continue the action? Because I already have some ideas in mind for what to have Feinberg do next.

Same.

[GoTfan]

Thomas Kenway, 1948-1952

Kenway was disappointed, but not shocked by Truman's defeat. The fact was that the Do-Nothing Congress would prefer to put their party above all else. At least it was Earl Warren and not a conservative, he supposed.

Completing his education in 1949, Kenway immedaitely signed up with the Johnson County Attorney's office, determined to gain some practical experience before seeking a political office. He would prove to be a valuable asset to the office, being skilled at trapping witnesses and pushing them into corners. Notably, he held firm to his view of 'innocent until proven guilty', which extended to his views on HUAC. While believing that HUAC was overstepping its bounds in private, his public caution got the better of him

He might've been a progressive, but socialism and communism was a step too far.

As the new decade dawned, he also focused on continuing to build Veterans for a Better America. The organisation was meant to be non-partisan, pushing for better care of veterans in particular and wider liberal policies in general. In mid 1950, he released the organisation's 3 core missions:

1) Advocate for action on mental health of veterans to address those returning with mental wounds; such as combat stress reaction and depression.

2) Support of progressive policies such as universal healthcare, for the enormous benefits that they would not only grant veterans returning with physical wounds, but the country as a whole.

3) Anti-communism. Progressivism is not communism, and attempts to cast it as so are done by bad-faith arguers.

This organisation, he hoped, would become a powerful tool in progressives' arsenals over the years. He was soon attemtping to establish chapters in Minnesota and Wisconsin, two states he believed would be receptive to the message.

In late 1951, he also began building for for a run for the Iowa House of Representatives in 1954 in the 74th District, centred on Johnson County. This included contacting old friends from law school and other like-minded individuals within the districth