each alike in dignity, part 7b.

All right, jabronies–we made it to the end of this timeline, exploring the presidencies of a splintered United States, with New England breaking away in the 1810s, and the Midwest breaking away in the 1870s, with France retaining most of the Rockies and the Pacific Northwest, and Mexico never losing Texas, California, or the rest of what is now the American Southwest.

So here are our last three president cards for the Algonquin League, and I may post some concluding thoughts on this timeline in the future. For now, I need to post this before my son wakes up from his nap…

Our final list of Algonquin League presidents:

1. Zachariah Chandler (Michigan, Old Whig, 1876-1879)
2. William T. Sherman (Ohio, Old Whig, 1879-1887)
3. James Birdseye McPherson (Ohio, Old Whig, 1887-1890)
4. William Windom (Minnesota, Old Whig, 1890-1891)
5. John Hay (Illinois, Old Whig, 1891-1895)
6. Adlai Stevenson (Illinois, Democratic, 1895-1899)
7. Marshall Field (Illinois, Old Whig, 1899-1903)
8. Russell Alger (Michigan, Old Whig, 1903-1907)
9. Eugene V. Debs (Indiana, Farmer-Labor, 1907-1911)
10. Nicholas Longworth (Ohio, Old Whig, 1911-1919) 
11. Irvine Lenroot (Wisconsin, Old Whig, 1919-1927)
12. Edward Jackson (Indiana, Old Whig, 1927-1931)
13. Norman Thomas (Ohio, Farmer-Labor, 1931-1939)
14. Arthur Vandenberg (Michigan, Old Whig, 1939-1944)
15. John W. Bricker (Ohio, Old Whig, 1944-1947)
16. Henry A. Wallace (Iowa, Farmer-Labor, 1947-1955)
17. Harold Handley (Indiana, Old Whig, 1955-1963)
18. Hubert H. Humphrey (Minnesota, DFL, 1963-1971)
19. James Rhodes (Ohio, Old Whig, 1971-1975)
20. George McGovern (Dakota, DFL, 1975-1983)
21. Roger Chafee (Michigan, Old Whig, 1983-1991)
22. Thomas Hayden (Michigan, DFL, 1991-1995)
23. Fred Grandy (Iowa, Old Whig, 1995-1999)
24. Hillary R. Collins (Illinois, DFL, 1999-2007)
25. John Kasich (Ohio, Old Whig, 2007-2015)
26. Scott Walker (Wisconsin, Old Whig, 2015-2019)
27. Peter Buttigieg (Indiana, DFL, 2019- )

Read Full Post »

each alike in dignity timeline, part 6b.

I can’t believe it, but we’re at the second-to-last installment of Each Alike in Dignity, the longest, most convoluted timeline I’ve ever attempted. As always, I am including four president cards, these ones covering the midwestern Algonquin League from the 80s through the Naughts. And just for you, Philip, two of them are from Michigan.

Roger Chafee was one of the astronauts who perished in the Apollo 1 fire; in this timeline, where space flight begins in a little bit later, he’s the first man to orbit the earth and lives a much longer life. And if Eugene Debs can become president in a polarized Midwest, why not Tom Hayden, the founder of Students for a Democratic Society? For those of you wondering if any celebrities would be president, Fred Grandy surfaces. As you may know, he played Gopher on The Love Boat and was an Iowa congressman. At last, Hillary gets to be president, and it happens partly because she didn’t marry Bill.

1. Zachariah Chandler (Michigan, Old Whig, 1876-1879)
2. William T. Sherman (Ohio, Old Whig, 1879-1887)
3. James Birdseye McPherson (Ohio, Old Whig, 1887-1890)
4. William Windom (Minnesota, Old Whig, 1890-1891)
5. John Hay (Illinois, Old Whig, 1891-1895)
6. Adlai Stevenson (Illinois, Democratic, 1895-1899)
7. Marshall Field (Illinois, Old Whig, 1899-1903)
8. Russell Alger (Michigan, Old Whig, 1903-1907)
9. Eugene V. Debs (Indiana, Farmer-Labor, 1907-1911)
10. Nicholas Longworth (Ohio, Old Whig, 1911-1919) 
11. Irvine Lenroot (Wisconsin, Old Whig, 1919-1927)
12. Edward Jackson (Indiana, Old Whig, 1927-1931)
13. Norman Thomas (Ohio, Farmer-Labor, 1931-1939)
14. Arthur Vandenberg (Michigan, Old Whig, 1939-1944)
15. John W. Bricker (Ohio, Old Whig, 1944-1947)
16. Henry A. Wallace (Iowa, Farmer-Labor, 1947-1955)
17. Harold Handley (Indiana, Old Whig, 1955-1963)
18. Hubert H. Humphrey (Minnesota, DFL, 1963-1971)
19. James Rhodes (Ohio, Old Whig, 1971-1975)
20. George McGovern (Dakota, DFL, 1975-1983)
21. Roger Chafee (Michigan, Old Whig, 1983-1991)
22. Thomas Hayden (Michigan, DFL, 1991-1995)
23. Fred Grandy (Iowa, Old Whig, 1995-1999)
24. Hillary R. Collins (Illinois, DFL, 1999-2007)

Read Full Post »

each alike in dignity timeline, pt. 5b.

The big moment has come. As longtime readers know, my alternate history timelines have one hard and fast rule: no IRL (in real-life) presidents, and nobody who was a president in a previous timeline I’ve written. So this post is my one chance to speculate on the presidencies of my two very favorite unsuccessful candidates: George McGovern and Hubert Humphrey. Believe me, I’d very much like to live in a world where each of them had eight years as president.

Designer’s notes: I couldn’t find a real right-winger who fit the Midwest well– instead I went with Handley–a quintessential “could have been worse” guy from the most reactionary state in the Midwest, and Jim Rhodes, most famous for unleashing the National Guard at Kent State.

But it’s Humphrey and McGovern that stand out to me- two very different sides of liberalism. Humphrey had plenty of administrative talent, a gift for gab, and was knew how to work through parliamentary maneuvers to be an effective legislator. And in this timeline, he doesn’t have Lyndon Johnson to keep screwing him over. McGovern was an idealist, a moralist, and a rare introverted politician. I wanted both men’s good intentions to come to unpredictable ends– Humphrey’s desire to send out good young persons in service to the world ends in a drawn-out war in Latin America. And McGovern’s desire for peace ends in committing soldiers to try and stop a genocide. The latter was inspired by McGovern’s comments that if he had been elected, he would have used American military power to halt the Khmer Rouge atrocities against their own people in Cambodia–striking for a man running on a platform of withdrawal from Vietnam.

1. Zachariah Chandler (Michigan, Old Whig, 1876-1879)
2. William T. Sherman (Ohio, Old Whig, 1879-1887)
3. James Birdseye McPherson (Ohio, Old Whig, 1887-1890)
4. William Windom (Minnesota, Old Whig, 1890-1891)
5. John Hay (Illinois, Old Whig, 1891-1895)
6. Adlai Stevenson (Illinois, Democratic, 1895-1899)
7. Marshall Field (Illinois, Old Whig, 1899-1903)
8. Russell Alger (Michigan, Old Whig, 1903-1907)
9. Eugene V. Debs (Indiana, Farmer-Labor, 1907-1911)
10. Nicholas Longworth (Ohio, Old Whig, 1911-1919) 
11. Irvine Lenroot (Wisconsin, Old Whig, 1919-1927)
12. Edward Jackson (Indiana, Old Whig, 1927-1931)
13. Norman Thomas (Ohio, Farmer-Labor, 1931-1939)
14. Arthur Vandenberg (Michigan, Old Whig, 1939-1944)
15. John W. Bricker (Ohio, Old Whig, 1944-1947)
16. Henry A. Wallace (Iowa, Farmer-Labor, 1947-1955)
17. Harold Handley (Indiana, Old Whig, 1955-1963)
18. Hubert H. Humphrey (Minnesota, DFL, 1963-1971)
19. James Rhodes (Ohio, Old Whig, 1971-1975)
20. George McGovern (Dakota, DFL, 1975-1983)

Read Full Post »

Each Alike in Dignity, pt. 4B

As we established last time, the Algonquin States are going to swing a bit between far-left and reaction. Nowhere is that more apparent than in this set, which covers the equivalent of World War II, called the Trans-oceanic War in this timeline.

Designer’s notes: Only in a world of tense polarization could Henry Wallace and Norman Thomas become heads of state! But they both show radicalism in the U.S. frequently has Midwestern roots right out of the American soil. In fact, a religious element was often present: Wallace had a strong lineage in the social gospel tradition–his grandfather was a pastor in that school of thought–and Norman Thomas was himself a pastor.

1. Zachariah Chandler (Michigan, Old Whig, 1876-1879)
2. William T. Sherman (Ohio, Old Whig, 1879-1887)
3. James Birdseye McPherson (Ohio, Old Whig, 1887-1890)
4. William Windom (Minnesota, Old Whig, 1890-1891)
5. John Hay (Illinois, Old Whig, 1891-1895)
6. Adlai Stevenson (Illinois, Democratic, 1895-1899)
7. Marshall Field (Illinois, Old Whig, 1899-1903)
8. Russell Alger (Michigan, Old Whig, 1903-1907)
9. Eugene V. Debs (Indiana, Farmer-Labor, 1907-1911)
10. Nicholas Longworth (Ohio, Old Whig, 1911-1919) 
11. Irvine Lenroot (Wisconsin, Old Whig, 1919-1927)
12. Edward Jackson (Indiana, Old Whig, 1927-1931)
13. Norman Thomas (Ohio, Farmer-Labor, 1931-1939)
14. Arthur Vandenberg (Michigan, Old Whig, 1939-1944)
15. John W. Bricker (Ohio, Old Whig, 1944-1947)
16. Henry A. Wallace (Iowa, Farmer-Labor, 1947-1955)

Read Full Post »

Each Alike in Dignity timeline, pt. 3B

One of the distinguishing features of an independent Midwest in this timeline is its sometimes wild fluctuations between left and right. Consider that Wisconsin alone has sent a hack like Ron Johnson, a hysteria-monger like Joe McCarthy, a reformer like Bob LaFollette, a civil libertarian like Russ Feingold, a fiscal hawk like William Proxmire, an environmentalist like Gaylord Nelson, and a progressive lesbian like Tammy Baldwin to the Senate within a century’s time. Given some early, and highly explosive, decisions regarding labor unions, this teeter-tottering between extremes on the political spectrum becomes the new normal in the Algonquin League.

That’s our batch for this round…in our timeline they were a Klansman (Jackson) and, a socialist who got a million votes in an election and was thrown in jail by the man who defeated him (Debs, of course). Lenroot could very easily have become president in our timeline…he was the favorite for the vice-presidency in 1920 as a progressive-lite balance to Warren Harding, but the delegates made a last minute and almost spontaneous move to Coolidge. Finally, Nicholas Longworth was a key Republican of the 1920s, and was rendered a cuckold by William Borah.

This makes our presidents of the Algonquin League, so far:

1. Zachariah Chandler (Michigan, Old Whig, 1876-1879)
2. William T. Sherman (Ohio, Old Whig, 1879-1887)
3. James Birdseye McPherson (Ohio, Old Whig, 1887-1890)
4. William Windom (Minnesota, Old Whig, 1890-1891)
5. John Hay (Illinois, Old Whig, 1891-1895)
6. Adlai Stevenson (Illinois, Democratic, 1895-1899)
7. Marshall Field (Illinois, Old Whig, 1899-1903)
8. Russell Alger (Michigan, Old Whig, 1903-1907)
9. Eugene V. Debs (Indiana, Farmer-Labor, 1907-1911)
10. Nicholas Longworth (Ohio, Old Whig, 1911-1919)
11. Irvine Lenroot (Wisconsin, Old Whig, 1919-1927)
12. Edward Jackson (Indiana, Old Whig, 1927-1931)

Read Full Post »

Each Alike in Dignity timeline, pt. 2B

Now that the Algonquin League is well-established as a sovereign nation, let’s dig a little bit further into its chronicles…

Four presidents, all of them born in the 1830s, all of whom would have been involved in some capacity with the Midwest’s struggle for independence. We’ve got a Secretary of State, a vice-president, a department store tycoon, and Russell Alger- a governor who seriously bungled the Spanish-American War.

Take note of the Parker decision, because it’s going to be a major turning point in the history of the Algonquin League…

Read Full Post »

Each Alike in Dignity timeline, pt. 1B.

We’ve made it to our third country in this timeline. As earlier cards indicated, it’s more or less the American Midwest, which breaks off from the rest of the USA in the 1870s, disgusted with Southern dominance of U.S. politics. After a deep conflict called the Prodigal War in the U.S. and the Second Independence in the Midwest, the fledgling nation calls itself the Algonquin League, fancifully and ahistorically fashioning itself after earlier Amerindian civilizations that once populated the area.

Designer’s notes: Behold- our first four Algonquin League presidents! Two of them were Civil War generals in our timeline. William T. Sherman is very well known to this day, but I have to confess that James McPherson was unknown to me until I read Ron Chernow’s biography of Ulysses Grant. McPherson meets a similarly violent end here, albeit later in life. Their first president is a fiery antislavery man–Chandler–and his juxtaposition to Sherman captures how the Midwest was of a divided mind in terms of the role of the freedman. Some were abolitionists and strikingly forward-thinking, others simply wanted the frontier reserved for white man, not slave labor. Finally, Windom–a Treasury Secretary in our time–has a namesake who was a 20th century actor and played a starship captain driven to madness in the Star Trek episode “The Doomsday Machine.”

Read Full Post »

Each Alike in Dignity timeline, pt. A9

Let’s finish up the United States proper with this installment. As you may have inferred from the New England cards covering this same time period, environmental disasters are becoming endemic and scientists are scrambling to figure out why.

Designers’ notes: Rockefeller was one tragedy in the South Seas away from a potentially fascinating career in any number of fields. Since he obviously did not live to become a middle-aged man, I used a picture of his cousin Jay. I also considered Joe Biden instead of Gephardt, but my policy is not to include IRL presidents for these alternate history projects, and there’s an above-50% chance that he will, in fact, be president 6 months from now.

So, this wraps up the United States proper for this timeline. Soon, we’ll begin our third and final North American country carved out of the United States.

Our final list of U.S. presidents in this timeline:

•  Stephen Van Rensselaer (New York, Federalist, 1817-1825)
• 6. John C. Calhoun (South Carolina, Democratic, 1825-1833)
• 7. Joel Poinsett (South Carolina, Democratic, 1833-1837)
• 8. Winfield Scott (Virginia, Whig, 1837-1841) 
• 9. Thomas Hart Benton (Missouri, Democratic, 1841-1849)
• 10. James Guthrie (Kentucky, Democratic, 1849-1853)
• 11. Thomas Corwin (Ohio, Whig, 1857-1859)
• 12. Joseph Lane (Indiana, Democratic, 1859-1861)
• 13. Jefferson Davis (Mississippi, Democratic, 1861-1869)
• 14. Clement Valadigham (Ohio, Democratic, 1869-1873)
• 15. B. Gratz Brown (Missouri, Democratic, 1873-1878) 
• 16. William P. Johnston (Kentucky, Democratic, 1878-1881)
• 17. James Longstreet (Louisiana, Democratic, 1881-82)
• 18. Augustus Garland (Arkansas, Democratic, 1882-85)
• 19. Edwin Booth (Maryland, Democratic, 1885-1889)
• 20. Richard Bland (Missouri, Democratic, 1889-1893)
• 21. Henry Grady (North Carolina, Democratic, 1893-1897)
• 22. William Jennings Bryan (Nebraska, Democratic, 1897-1901)
• 23. Henry Grady (North Carolina, Democratic, 1901-1905)
• 24. William Jennings Bryan (Nebraska, Democratic, 1905-1909)
• 25. Oscar Underwood (Alabama, Democratic, 1909-1917)
• 26. Josephus Daniels (North Carolina, Democratic, 1917-1925)
• 27. John J. Pershing (Missouri, Army of the Republic, 1925-1929)
• 28. William McAdoo (Tennessee, Democratic, 1929-1933)
• 29. William Rogers (Sequoia, Democratic, 1933-1935)
• 30. Carl Vinson (Georgia, Democratic, 1935-1941)
• 31. Douglas MacArthur (New York, Army of the Republic, 1941-1950)
• 32. Benjamin “Happy” Chandler (Kentucky, Democratic, 1951-1957)
• 33. Luther Hodges (North Carolina, Democratic, 1957-1965)
• 34. Sargent Shriver (Maryland, Democratic, 1965-1969)
• 35. George Wallace (Alabama, Ind. Democratic, 1969-1977)
• 36. Terry Sanford (North Carolina, Democratic, 1977-1985)
• 37. Fred Harris (Sequoia, Democratic, 1985-1989)
• 38. Thomas Kean (New Jersey, Freeholders, 1989-1997)
• 39. Michael Rockefeller (New York, Freeholders, 1997-2001)
• 40. Richard Gephardt (Missouri, Democratic, 2001-2009)
• 41. George Allen (Virginia, Freeholders, 2009-2013)
• 42. Jack Conway (Kentucky, Democratic, 2013-2017)
• 43. Marco Rubio (Cuba, Freeholders, 2017- )

Read Full Post »

Each Alike in Dignity timeline, pt. A8

We’ll see how the 70s and 80s play out in this timeline. This batch of four starts with a bit of a shocker, and politics buffs will probably recognize the other three names. If you surgically remove the southwest, Pacific, New England, and Midwest, I’m pretty sure these guys could have made credible bids for the presidency.

Designer’s notes: this is our penultimate set of cards for the United States in this timeline. We start with George Wallace- and a lot of my thoughts on him are influenced by Dan Carter’s singular study of his career, The Politics of Rage. A key quote from one of Wallace’s contemporaries reads: ““If George had parachuted into the Albanian countryside in 1962, he would have been head of a collective farm by the fall, a member of the Communist Party by mid-winter, on his way to the district party meeting by the following year and a member of the Comintern in two to three years.” That’s a great line, because Wallace’s key trait was a ruthless adaptability. His racism and anti-elite populism weren’t innate values, but cynical measures he used to further his political career. Unlike Trump, a figure to which he is frequently compared, Wallace had first-rate political instincts. And if you look at Wallace’s performance as a third-party candidate in 1968, his success in the South may seem like a given, but it’s his double-digit performances elsewhere in the country that really raises eyebrows. It’s a testament to Wallace’s ability to slither from standing-in-the-doorway-of-the-university racism to subtler use of code words and opposition to policies like busing. I have no doubt that under the right conditions, Wallace could not only get elected president, but handily re-elected as well.

We continue with Terry Sanford– perhaps the best governor of North Carolina ever. There’s even a rumor that Kennedy would have replaced LBJ with him on the ’64 ticket had he lived. We continue with Fred Harris mounting a successful Bernieish insurgency, and the rise of a stable, viable competitor for the Democrats focused on fiscal conservatism and property rights: the Freeholders. Fred Harris, by the way, is one of only half a dozen or so senators from the 1960s still alive.

Read Full Post »

Each Alike in Dignity timeline, pt. A7

The Transoceanic War continues to rage on– and democracy is imperiled, not just abroad but at home as well.

Designer’s notes: MacArthur’s genius, laced with his megalomania, makes him a dangerous prospect, and I am very grateful he never became president in real life. We also have a governor-turned-senator-turned-baseball commissioner-turned-governor again. I can easily see someone associated with baseball using that kind of cultural leverage to heal a fractured nation. And we have McGovern’s running-mate (the second one, anyway), and one of the most decent men in American politics, the godfather of the Peace Corps, Sarge Shriver.

• 5. Stephen Van Rensselaer (New York, Federalist, 1817-1825)
• 6. John C. Calhoun (South Carolina, Democratic, 1825-1833)
• 7. Joel Poinsett (South Carolina, Democratic, 1833-1837)
• 8. Winfield Scott (Virginia, Whig, 1837-1841) 
• 9. Thomas Hart Benton (Missouri, Democratic, 1841-1849)
• 10. James Guthrie (Kentucky, Democratic, 1849-1853)
• 11. Thomas Corwin (Ohio, Whig, 1857-1859)
• 12. Joseph Lane (Indiana, Democratic, 1859-1861)
• 13. Jefferson Davis (Mississippi, Democratic, 1861-1869)
• 14. Clement Valadigham (Ohio, Democratic, 1869-1873)
• 15. B. Gratz Brown (Missouri, Democratic, 1873-1878) 
• 16. William P. Johnston (Kentucky, Democratic, 1878-1881)
• 17. James Longstreet (Louisiana, Democratic, 1881-82)
• 18. Augustus Garland (Arkansas, Democratic, 1882-85)
• 19. Edwin Booth (Maryland, Democratic, 1885-1889)
• 20. Richard Bland (Missouri, Democratic, 1889-1893)
• 21. Henry Grady (North Carolina, Democratic, 1893-1897)
• 22. William Jennings Bryan (Nebraska, Democratic, 1897-1901)
• 23. Henry Grady (North Carolina, Democratic, 1901-1905)
• 24. William Jennings Bryan (Nebraska, Democratic, 1905-1909)
• 25. Oscar Underwood (Alabama, Democratic, 1909-1917)
• 26. Josephus Daniels (North Carolina, Democratic, 1917-1925)
• 27. John J. Pershing (Missouri, Army of the Republic, 1925-1929)
• 28. William McAdoo (Tennessee, Democratic, 1929-1933)
• 29. William Rogers (Sequoia, Democratic, 1933-1935)
• 30. Carl Vinson (Georgia, Democratic, 1935-1941)
• 31. Douglas MacArthur (New York, Army of the Republic, 1941-1950)
• 32. Benjamin “Happy” Chandler (Kentucky, Democratic, 1951-1957)
• 33. Luther Hodges (North Carolina, Democratic, 1957-1965)
• 34. Sargent Shriver (Maryland, Democratic, 1965-1969)

Read Full Post »