List of Alternate Presidents and PMs II
- Thread starter Asami
- Start date
- Status
If anybody is interested in doing collaborative presidents lists, I have just started a game here. Feel free to join!
1804-1806: William Pitt ('Independent' Whig - Reform majority)
1806-1807: William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville ('Independent' Whig)
1806 (Ministry of All The Talents with 'Radical' Whigs and other 'Independent' Whigs) def. George Canning ('Reform' Whig)
1807-1810: Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson (Reform)
1807 (Majority) def. William Grenville ('Reunited' Whig)
1810-1818: HSH Horation Nelson, Regent of the United Kingdom (Reform)
1812 (Majority) def. George Ponsonby (Whig), Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (Tory)
1806-1807: William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville ('Independent' Whig)
1806 (Ministry of All The Talents with 'Radical' Whigs and other 'Independent' Whigs) def. George Canning ('Reform' Whig)
1807-1810: Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson (Reform)
1807 (Majority) def. William Grenville ('Reunited' Whig)
1810-1818: HSH Horation Nelson, Regent of the United Kingdom (Reform)
1812 (Majority) def. George Ponsonby (Whig), Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (Tory)
HALF PAST NOON: President Jackson and the disintegration of the Right
An alternate timeline to my current TL, HALF PAST NOON: Ronald Reagan and the rise of the American Conservative Party. The POD of the TL is the ABC movement succeeding in 1976 pairing with Reagan and the conservatives getting firmly rejected by Ford at the convention, the two events create a populist surge and Reagan and others break off from the GOP to form the Conservative Party. Hijinks ensue.
The basic premise for this list is that Reagan not only breaks off from the GOP to form the Conservative Party like in the TL but he also wins the Presidency in '76. It doesn't go well for him. Think of this as a sort of reverse of my TL.
1976-1980: Ronald Reagan/William Ruckelshaus (Conservative)
1976 def: Birch Bayh/John Glenn (Democratic), Gerald Ford/Kit Bond (Republican)
Elected in the populist surge of '76, Ronald Reagan and his Conservative Party quickly ran into numerous issues both domestic and international. An economic slowdown, paired with further gas troubles led to popular dissatisfaction that only got worse following the implementation of Reagan's poor economic policies which only served to increase the deficit. The Iran crisis and civil war was another issue of substantial note that weighed down the President's approval. Failure to significantly improve the economy or solve the Iran crisis caused Reagan to lose the 1980 Presidential election even after dumping Ruckelshaus amid declarations of "getting serious" with governance did little to change the writing on the wall. It was over before it started. It was thought that the Conservative Party were a sign of changing times, the times of a shift rightward. In the end, all Reagan was the sign of was the final gasps of the very temporary victory of the conservative reaction started by Nixon. The failings of the Reagan administration ended the fantasies of the right in one fell swoop.
1980-1982: Henry "Scoop" Jackson/Cliff Finch (Democratic)
1980 def: Ronald Reagan/Bill Brock (Conservative), Gerald Ford/George HW Bush (Republican)
President Scoop Jackson's time in charge was short but ultimately had great effect on American history. He managed to overcome many other challengers in the Democratic Primaries and won the election. Ultimately President Jackson achieved little that he set out to do beyond solving the aforementioned Iran crisis and civil war because of his short time in charge. The economy improved a decent amount and the international situation was largely stabilized. Although he is not well remembered today, President Jackson is typically ranked as an above average President. Jackson's death from an aortic aneurysm in 1983 was a tragic time for the nation but it did provide a fantastic chance for change for a talented political operator, just as with JFK. In the wake of his death, the VP from Mississippi who took cues from Carter ascended to the Presidency of the United States.
1982-1992: Cliff Finch/Edmund Muskie (Democratic)
1984 def: William Miliken/Elliot Richardson (Republican), Bill Brock/Phil Crane (Conservative)
1988 def: Pat Robertson/Fob James (Conservative), William Miliken/Lowell P. Weicker Jr. (Republican)
Cliff Finch wasn't a well known man outside of the South and his selection as Jackson's running mate was just as likely as any of the other candidates that were considered. It was his status as a politically amenable southern governor that made him worthwhile enough for the Jackson campaign to pick him in the end. With Finch's becoming President after a tragedy it was quickly revealed that Finch was a talented politician and the most memorable late Cold War President. President Finch undertook a more conservative social platform and shied away from supporting abortion or allowing Vietnam dodgers to return home. Economically he was also a moderate, preferring a somewhat Keynesian program but by no means going overboard like his congressional rival Ron Dellums might have liked. Finch was instrumental in forming the new "Finch Coalition" which kept traditional Democratic areas of support (racial and ethnic minorities, intellectuals, urbanites, etc) but also winning him back the support of many poor whites in the south. In foreign affairs he rejected the more openly confrontational style of President Jackson and his dovish policy ruffled the feathers of many of Jackson's old allies.
Regardless of how one felt about the shakeups to the norms, Finch was without a doubt a successful President and is typically ranked in the top 10 Presidents. During his time as President he oversaw the downfall of the Soviet Union, the full recovery and eventual expansion of the economy, and setting up America as the world's sole superpower through peaceful measures. President Finch was, if anything, a love letter to the values of peace and cooperation.
1992-2000: Al Gore/Jeane Kirkpatrick (Democratic)
1992: William Cohen/Marge Roukema (Republican), Pat Robertson/Ron Paul (Conservative),
1996: Ross Perot/Arlen Specter (Republican), Ross Perot/Tom Tancredo (Conservative), Ron Dellums/John Murtha (People's), Ron Paul/Various (Independent Conservative)
Al Gore was in many ways the logical successor to old President Finch. He was from the South, a moderate social conservative in the Finchian "Christian Democrat" way, and backed his foreign policy of dovish internationalism to a hilt. The only problem was Gore's trade policy. Finch's trade policy was always skeptical of free trade, not protectionist but skeptical. Gore's trade policy was far more accepting of free trade. To Finch, this was dangerous and threatened the coalition he had built up as it was in part made up by organized labor. Unfortunately for Finch there was little he could do other than hope Muskie's campaign managed to showcase his experience enough to beat Gore. As history would show, this wasn't to be and Al Gore was nominated and easily walked over the still very divided Republican and Conservative parties.
Despite the early kerfuffle of Finch and Gore the two made up before the passing of the torch and Gore would largely rule as Finch would have. President Gore kept up the Finchian consensus internationally and domestically. At home the economy continued along as it had been previously and abroad President Gore focused his policy on dovish internationalism (to the annoyance of hawks in the party). He did ultimately go his own way on that particular issue, however.
Just as Finch expected Gore set a more pro-free trade course. Gore sought a free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, stating his final goal was a 'hemispheric market' encompassing all of North America and Western Europe. This was received terribly on the right and the left, albeit the center where Gore's bread and butter laid didn't mind one bit. The somewhat unpopular free trade policy which in the end only made for a Mexican-American free trade agreement passed and when paired with an economic slowdown in late 1995 it made for an ugly political storm for America.
Gore survived the storm but it bears mentioning that he was never in danger of losing power, lest one become overly convinced of President Gore's bravery. The storm was on the right. The Conservative Party which had been hemorrhaging votes since 1992 and the rebuilding Republicans nominated the same candidate in an unprecedented double primary victory for the mercurial businessman Ross Perot. After the election the Conservative Party merged back into the Republican Party, leaving those opposed supporting Ron Paul's initial Independent Conservative Party and later the far-right American Party. On the left too, there were breakaways formed by the People's Party. The People's Party was formed out of a motley crew of organized labor, social progressives, feminists, and left wing populists. They're great story comes a little later. For now they're just a footnote.
2000-2008: John Heinz/Barry Goldwater Jr. (Republican)
2000 def: Donald J. Trump/Bill Richardson (Democratic), John Murtha/Bernie Sanders (People's), Howard Philips/Arthur R. Thompson (American)
2004 def: Jim Moran/Tom Daschle (People's), Colin Peterson/Mickey Leland (Democratic), Tom Tancredo/Ralph Reed (American)
After having won the primaries over more conservative options, Heinz proceeded to the general and was confronted by a trio of screaming fools. The Democrats had, in their foolishness, nominated the (in)famous businessman Donald Trump who was thought to be the Democratic answer to Ross Perot. Instead he was loud and ran an utterly shambolic campaign that was more focused on selling his products than himself. People's nominated the highly corrupt and very brash John Murtha. On the far-right, the newly assembled American Party brought the slimy and loutish Howard Philips who promised a flat tax of only 5%. Heinz easily walked over them and was then therefore President.
John Heinz and his VP Barry Goldwater Jr. were the first Republicans in the White House since Gerald Ford and they set out to show that Republicans deserved the spot. Seemingly, the Republican Party following Nixon was cosmically doomed to failure. If you get to heaven sometime you should ask the big guy about it.
President Heinz attempted to bring the economy back to a state of growth but naturally the economy plodded along without change. Foreign affairs also took a turn for the worst under Heinz, with the beginning of the Second Yugoslav Wars. Heinz had no interest in allowing the situation to get out of hand but the American military was perhaps not a worthwhile peacekeeping force. The American military was in a major conflict for the first time since Vietnam. The scope of active American warzones abroad increased again after terror attacks on American embassies in the Middle East and Africa. Not wanting to be seen as weak, Heinz deployed troops to the failed states of Iran and Somalia and increased troop commitments to peacekeeping operations around the globe.
With the economy stagnating and troops coming home in body bags, what happened next just made sense.
2008-2016: Jim Moran/Terry O'Neill (People's)
2008 def: Hillary Clinton/Paul Wellstone (Democratic), Ben Nelson/Jim Ramstad (Republican), Frank Gaffney/Jim Gilchrist (American)
2012 def: Charlie Dent/Mark Udall(Democratic), Mike Gravel/Jim Gilmore (Republican), Bob Vander Plaats/Pamela Geller (American)
After the surprise success of the Moran/Daschle ticket, the People's Party were keen on reproducing the success they achieved in 2004. Luckily for them, with the economy in the toilet and war on multiple fronts, the victory of the Moran/O'Neill ticket was almost assured.
President Moran formed the more right wing of the People's Party. He supported progressive legislation and firmly supported feminist proposals to expand abortion access among other women-centric legislation although he rejected any label like "democratic socialist" or close to the color red. His foreign policy and domestic policy positions were firmly within the People's Party ideological range and in this sense he was the most progressive president for some time. However like most in the party's leadership, he was prone to corruption and illiberality. The economic recovery and the measured pull out of foreign wars made him a popular President although continual corruption probes and questions about the heavy handedness of his governmental style muddied his otherwise very positive record as the commander in chief.
In the end though as his schemes became more and more hotly investigated by public and private organs of power, Moran was sent on the defensive. Investigators and reporters closed in and the political noose seemed closer to finishing President Moran with every new day. In the end though, Moran would see the end of his second term as President without any charge and would plead guilty to lesser charges several months into his successor's term.
The chants of the People's Party supporters claiming that it was a witch hunt continued unabated.
2016-2020: Jeh Johnson/Kathy Dahlkemper (Democratic)
2016 def: Andrew Napolitano/Charlie Crist (Republican), Donald J. Trump/Nick Rahall (People's), Andrew Napolitano/Bob Vander Plaats (American Patriot)
2020 def: Mike Turzai/Tom Tancredo (Republican), Dennis Kucinich/Lee Whitnum (People's)
Jeh Johnson had an easy victory although the 2016 election ushered in more important change than just America's first black president. The People's Party brought forward ex-Democrat turned radical trade protectionist Donald Trump after his victory in their primaries. The Republicans however had TV personality Andrew Napolitano on their ticket. His brash, confrontational style was a welcome change to the otherwise mellow Republicans of the past 20 years or so. Napolitano's popularity and personal style was surprisingly popular and with it saw the final end of the Conservative Party's lineage with the merger of the American Patriot Front into the Republican Party in 2017. In this sense, Jeh Johnson was instrumental in ending the contemporary Party System. His election brought the People's Party into the firm trade protectionist and populist field rather than the more "Demsoc" origins of the party under Dellums, albeit failing to fully shake the charges of corruption and foreign loyalties with the advent of investigations into payments from the Qatari government to the Kucinich campaign in 2020. The Republicans however did become a little more right wing, more eager to grit their teeth and stick to their guns at the very least. They embraced a focus on the traditional liberal capitalists: free trade, small government, conservative social policy. Smell that son? That's Goldwater.
President Johnson too had his chance to remake the Democratic Party. It had been ideologically languishing since Gore. Confused about what its past meant and what its future could be. Johnson was by no means a progressive and his policy reflected that. His tenure as president and his policies were of a centrist strain. What President Johnson had in mind was a party of America's center. To him, the Democrats could provide good, sensible governance without the need of any sort of populist appeal. In some ways it could be fair to say that he took inspiration from Japan's dominant Liberal Democratic Party which has lead the country almost unabated since its inception in the 50's.
Much to Johnson's chagrin, his coalition of the center did not take hold as much as he would have liked. The People's Party and the (slightly) resurgent Republican Party made sure that educated or otherwise wealthy whites had no interest in the party - a major ingredient in any "natural ruling party" coalition. What Johnson needed was something fiery or interesting, something to draw votes and to play political theater with. Perhaps a largely non-ideological center wasn't of value. Perhaps you needed to believe in something. The Democrats and most of America grew to appreciate his legacy as America's first black president but over time they also learned to acknowledge his failings of political policy as well.
2024-202?: Tulsi Gabbard/Richard Trumka (People's)
2024 def: Karen Porterfield/Edward M. Kennedy Jr. (Democratic), Mark B. Madsen/Paul Teller (Republican)
The 2024 election was close, very close. The People's Party and the Democrats were neck and neck in the polls and indeed they were close in the ballot box as well. When it was all said and done, the People's Party had come out on top once again. This time by way of Kucinich's ideological successor: Hawaii's Tulsi Gabbard. She had been waiting in the wings for some time, so that her mentor Kucinich cleared out and so that she could finally take center stage - a position she's dreamed of her whole life. Although her Presidency is just beginning it is clear from appraisals that she is both a headstrong and highly ambitious figure although only time will tell if she will be able to play the game of Washington Politics as good as Finch or as bad as Reagan.
Major Political Parties as of 2024:
The Republican Party
The Republican Party and the whole of the American right has seen many bad years and it shows on their party's history. They split, merged together again, and now occupy a place in the American political spectrum that is firmly on the right but with decreasing popularity of the party and increasing difficulties to find funding from old sources, one is forced to ask what went wrong with the party. Has the Republican Party and the right finally going the way of the dodo or are the Democrats perhaps pushing into their ideological territory? The ballot box doesn't lie, and it says they're losing.
The Democratic Party
The Democrats have had their ups and downs in the past and will no doubt continue to do so in the future. From Presidents Finch and Gore they have acquired a unique centrist style of governance that is very reminiscent of the parties supporting Christian Democracy in Europe. They are generally moderate in terms of social policy and prefer free trade, long since forsaking Finchian trade policy. The Democrats are also notable for being the party of the hawks and so-called "liberal interventionists" who take after the long dead President Scoop Jackson. How their plans to rule from the center go is a story yet to be told.
The People's Party
The People's Party has went through one hell of an ideological journey since their inception in the early 90's. It started out as dissident movement in the later stages of the Finch Presidency by those who felt left out by Finch's centrism, unofficially at first. Social progressives, feminists, Democratic Socialists, environmentalists, leftists of all shapes and sizes formed the base. In '96 it grew to encompass organized labor and opponents of free trade who opposed President Gore's free trade policies and from that point on the movement became official. Since then it has fully endorsed populism by way of folks like John Murtha and Jim Moran and now the politics of the People's Party can only be adequately described as syncretic. It is now the party of nativism, organized labor, and...environmentalism oddly enough.
An alternate timeline to my current TL, HALF PAST NOON: Ronald Reagan and the rise of the American Conservative Party. The POD of the TL is the ABC movement succeeding in 1976 pairing with Reagan and the conservatives getting firmly rejected by Ford at the convention, the two events create a populist surge and Reagan and others break off from the GOP to form the Conservative Party. Hijinks ensue.
The basic premise for this list is that Reagan not only breaks off from the GOP to form the Conservative Party like in the TL but he also wins the Presidency in '76. It doesn't go well for him. Think of this as a sort of reverse of my TL.
1976-1980: Ronald Reagan/William Ruckelshaus (Conservative)
1976 def: Birch Bayh/John Glenn (Democratic), Gerald Ford/Kit Bond (Republican)
Elected in the populist surge of '76, Ronald Reagan and his Conservative Party quickly ran into numerous issues both domestic and international. An economic slowdown, paired with further gas troubles led to popular dissatisfaction that only got worse following the implementation of Reagan's poor economic policies which only served to increase the deficit. The Iran crisis and civil war was another issue of substantial note that weighed down the President's approval. Failure to significantly improve the economy or solve the Iran crisis caused Reagan to lose the 1980 Presidential election even after dumping Ruckelshaus amid declarations of "getting serious" with governance did little to change the writing on the wall. It was over before it started. It was thought that the Conservative Party were a sign of changing times, the times of a shift rightward. In the end, all Reagan was the sign of was the final gasps of the very temporary victory of the conservative reaction started by Nixon. The failings of the Reagan administration ended the fantasies of the right in one fell swoop.
1980-1982: Henry "Scoop" Jackson/Cliff Finch (Democratic)
1980 def: Ronald Reagan/Bill Brock (Conservative), Gerald Ford/George HW Bush (Republican)
President Scoop Jackson's time in charge was short but ultimately had great effect on American history. He managed to overcome many other challengers in the Democratic Primaries and won the election. Ultimately President Jackson achieved little that he set out to do beyond solving the aforementioned Iran crisis and civil war because of his short time in charge. The economy improved a decent amount and the international situation was largely stabilized. Although he is not well remembered today, President Jackson is typically ranked as an above average President. Jackson's death from an aortic aneurysm in 1983 was a tragic time for the nation but it did provide a fantastic chance for change for a talented political operator, just as with JFK. In the wake of his death, the VP from Mississippi who took cues from Carter ascended to the Presidency of the United States.
1982-1992: Cliff Finch/Edmund Muskie (Democratic)
1984 def: William Miliken/Elliot Richardson (Republican), Bill Brock/Phil Crane (Conservative)
1988 def: Pat Robertson/Fob James (Conservative), William Miliken/Lowell P. Weicker Jr. (Republican)
Cliff Finch wasn't a well known man outside of the South and his selection as Jackson's running mate was just as likely as any of the other candidates that were considered. It was his status as a politically amenable southern governor that made him worthwhile enough for the Jackson campaign to pick him in the end. With Finch's becoming President after a tragedy it was quickly revealed that Finch was a talented politician and the most memorable late Cold War President. President Finch undertook a more conservative social platform and shied away from supporting abortion or allowing Vietnam dodgers to return home. Economically he was also a moderate, preferring a somewhat Keynesian program but by no means going overboard like his congressional rival Ron Dellums might have liked. Finch was instrumental in forming the new "Finch Coalition" which kept traditional Democratic areas of support (racial and ethnic minorities, intellectuals, urbanites, etc) but also winning him back the support of many poor whites in the south. In foreign affairs he rejected the more openly confrontational style of President Jackson and his dovish policy ruffled the feathers of many of Jackson's old allies.
Regardless of how one felt about the shakeups to the norms, Finch was without a doubt a successful President and is typically ranked in the top 10 Presidents. During his time as President he oversaw the downfall of the Soviet Union, the full recovery and eventual expansion of the economy, and setting up America as the world's sole superpower through peaceful measures. President Finch was, if anything, a love letter to the values of peace and cooperation.
1992-2000: Al Gore/Jeane Kirkpatrick (Democratic)
1992: William Cohen/Marge Roukema (Republican), Pat Robertson/Ron Paul (Conservative),
1996: Ross Perot/Arlen Specter (Republican), Ross Perot/Tom Tancredo (Conservative), Ron Dellums/John Murtha (People's), Ron Paul/Various (Independent Conservative)
Al Gore was in many ways the logical successor to old President Finch. He was from the South, a moderate social conservative in the Finchian "Christian Democrat" way, and backed his foreign policy of dovish internationalism to a hilt. The only problem was Gore's trade policy. Finch's trade policy was always skeptical of free trade, not protectionist but skeptical. Gore's trade policy was far more accepting of free trade. To Finch, this was dangerous and threatened the coalition he had built up as it was in part made up by organized labor. Unfortunately for Finch there was little he could do other than hope Muskie's campaign managed to showcase his experience enough to beat Gore. As history would show, this wasn't to be and Al Gore was nominated and easily walked over the still very divided Republican and Conservative parties.
Despite the early kerfuffle of Finch and Gore the two made up before the passing of the torch and Gore would largely rule as Finch would have. President Gore kept up the Finchian consensus internationally and domestically. At home the economy continued along as it had been previously and abroad President Gore focused his policy on dovish internationalism (to the annoyance of hawks in the party). He did ultimately go his own way on that particular issue, however.
Just as Finch expected Gore set a more pro-free trade course. Gore sought a free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, stating his final goal was a 'hemispheric market' encompassing all of North America and Western Europe. This was received terribly on the right and the left, albeit the center where Gore's bread and butter laid didn't mind one bit. The somewhat unpopular free trade policy which in the end only made for a Mexican-American free trade agreement passed and when paired with an economic slowdown in late 1995 it made for an ugly political storm for America.
Gore survived the storm but it bears mentioning that he was never in danger of losing power, lest one become overly convinced of President Gore's bravery. The storm was on the right. The Conservative Party which had been hemorrhaging votes since 1992 and the rebuilding Republicans nominated the same candidate in an unprecedented double primary victory for the mercurial businessman Ross Perot. After the election the Conservative Party merged back into the Republican Party, leaving those opposed supporting Ron Paul's initial Independent Conservative Party and later the far-right American Party. On the left too, there were breakaways formed by the People's Party. The People's Party was formed out of a motley crew of organized labor, social progressives, feminists, and left wing populists. They're great story comes a little later. For now they're just a footnote.
2000-2008: John Heinz/Barry Goldwater Jr. (Republican)
2000 def: Donald J. Trump/Bill Richardson (Democratic), John Murtha/Bernie Sanders (People's), Howard Philips/Arthur R. Thompson (American)
2004 def: Jim Moran/Tom Daschle (People's), Colin Peterson/Mickey Leland (Democratic), Tom Tancredo/Ralph Reed (American)
After having won the primaries over more conservative options, Heinz proceeded to the general and was confronted by a trio of screaming fools. The Democrats had, in their foolishness, nominated the (in)famous businessman Donald Trump who was thought to be the Democratic answer to Ross Perot. Instead he was loud and ran an utterly shambolic campaign that was more focused on selling his products than himself. People's nominated the highly corrupt and very brash John Murtha. On the far-right, the newly assembled American Party brought the slimy and loutish Howard Philips who promised a flat tax of only 5%. Heinz easily walked over them and was then therefore President.
John Heinz and his VP Barry Goldwater Jr. were the first Republicans in the White House since Gerald Ford and they set out to show that Republicans deserved the spot. Seemingly, the Republican Party following Nixon was cosmically doomed to failure. If you get to heaven sometime you should ask the big guy about it.
President Heinz attempted to bring the economy back to a state of growth but naturally the economy plodded along without change. Foreign affairs also took a turn for the worst under Heinz, with the beginning of the Second Yugoslav Wars. Heinz had no interest in allowing the situation to get out of hand but the American military was perhaps not a worthwhile peacekeeping force. The American military was in a major conflict for the first time since Vietnam. The scope of active American warzones abroad increased again after terror attacks on American embassies in the Middle East and Africa. Not wanting to be seen as weak, Heinz deployed troops to the failed states of Iran and Somalia and increased troop commitments to peacekeeping operations around the globe.
With the economy stagnating and troops coming home in body bags, what happened next just made sense.
2008-2016: Jim Moran/Terry O'Neill (People's)
2008 def: Hillary Clinton/Paul Wellstone (Democratic), Ben Nelson/Jim Ramstad (Republican), Frank Gaffney/Jim Gilchrist (American)
2012 def: Charlie Dent/Mark Udall(Democratic), Mike Gravel/Jim Gilmore (Republican), Bob Vander Plaats/Pamela Geller (American)
After the surprise success of the Moran/Daschle ticket, the People's Party were keen on reproducing the success they achieved in 2004. Luckily for them, with the economy in the toilet and war on multiple fronts, the victory of the Moran/O'Neill ticket was almost assured.
President Moran formed the more right wing of the People's Party. He supported progressive legislation and firmly supported feminist proposals to expand abortion access among other women-centric legislation although he rejected any label like "democratic socialist" or close to the color red. His foreign policy and domestic policy positions were firmly within the People's Party ideological range and in this sense he was the most progressive president for some time. However like most in the party's leadership, he was prone to corruption and illiberality. The economic recovery and the measured pull out of foreign wars made him a popular President although continual corruption probes and questions about the heavy handedness of his governmental style muddied his otherwise very positive record as the commander in chief.
In the end though as his schemes became more and more hotly investigated by public and private organs of power, Moran was sent on the defensive. Investigators and reporters closed in and the political noose seemed closer to finishing President Moran with every new day. In the end though, Moran would see the end of his second term as President without any charge and would plead guilty to lesser charges several months into his successor's term.
The chants of the People's Party supporters claiming that it was a witch hunt continued unabated.
2016-2020: Jeh Johnson/Kathy Dahlkemper (Democratic)
2016 def: Andrew Napolitano/Charlie Crist (Republican), Donald J. Trump/Nick Rahall (People's), Andrew Napolitano/Bob Vander Plaats (American Patriot)
2020 def: Mike Turzai/Tom Tancredo (Republican), Dennis Kucinich/Lee Whitnum (People's)
Jeh Johnson had an easy victory although the 2016 election ushered in more important change than just America's first black president. The People's Party brought forward ex-Democrat turned radical trade protectionist Donald Trump after his victory in their primaries. The Republicans however had TV personality Andrew Napolitano on their ticket. His brash, confrontational style was a welcome change to the otherwise mellow Republicans of the past 20 years or so. Napolitano's popularity and personal style was surprisingly popular and with it saw the final end of the Conservative Party's lineage with the merger of the American Patriot Front into the Republican Party in 2017. In this sense, Jeh Johnson was instrumental in ending the contemporary Party System. His election brought the People's Party into the firm trade protectionist and populist field rather than the more "Demsoc" origins of the party under Dellums, albeit failing to fully shake the charges of corruption and foreign loyalties with the advent of investigations into payments from the Qatari government to the Kucinich campaign in 2020. The Republicans however did become a little more right wing, more eager to grit their teeth and stick to their guns at the very least. They embraced a focus on the traditional liberal capitalists: free trade, small government, conservative social policy. Smell that son? That's Goldwater.
President Johnson too had his chance to remake the Democratic Party. It had been ideologically languishing since Gore. Confused about what its past meant and what its future could be. Johnson was by no means a progressive and his policy reflected that. His tenure as president and his policies were of a centrist strain. What President Johnson had in mind was a party of America's center. To him, the Democrats could provide good, sensible governance without the need of any sort of populist appeal. In some ways it could be fair to say that he took inspiration from Japan's dominant Liberal Democratic Party which has lead the country almost unabated since its inception in the 50's.
Much to Johnson's chagrin, his coalition of the center did not take hold as much as he would have liked. The People's Party and the (slightly) resurgent Republican Party made sure that educated or otherwise wealthy whites had no interest in the party - a major ingredient in any "natural ruling party" coalition. What Johnson needed was something fiery or interesting, something to draw votes and to play political theater with. Perhaps a largely non-ideological center wasn't of value. Perhaps you needed to believe in something. The Democrats and most of America grew to appreciate his legacy as America's first black president but over time they also learned to acknowledge his failings of political policy as well.
2024-202?: Tulsi Gabbard/Richard Trumka (People's)
2024 def: Karen Porterfield/Edward M. Kennedy Jr. (Democratic), Mark B. Madsen/Paul Teller (Republican)
The 2024 election was close, very close. The People's Party and the Democrats were neck and neck in the polls and indeed they were close in the ballot box as well. When it was all said and done, the People's Party had come out on top once again. This time by way of Kucinich's ideological successor: Hawaii's Tulsi Gabbard. She had been waiting in the wings for some time, so that her mentor Kucinich cleared out and so that she could finally take center stage - a position she's dreamed of her whole life. Although her Presidency is just beginning it is clear from appraisals that she is both a headstrong and highly ambitious figure although only time will tell if she will be able to play the game of Washington Politics as good as Finch or as bad as Reagan.
Major Political Parties as of 2024:
The Republican Party
The Republican Party and the whole of the American right has seen many bad years and it shows on their party's history. They split, merged together again, and now occupy a place in the American political spectrum that is firmly on the right but with decreasing popularity of the party and increasing difficulties to find funding from old sources, one is forced to ask what went wrong with the party. Has the Republican Party and the right finally going the way of the dodo or are the Democrats perhaps pushing into their ideological territory? The ballot box doesn't lie, and it says they're losing.
The Democratic Party
The Democrats have had their ups and downs in the past and will no doubt continue to do so in the future. From Presidents Finch and Gore they have acquired a unique centrist style of governance that is very reminiscent of the parties supporting Christian Democracy in Europe. They are generally moderate in terms of social policy and prefer free trade, long since forsaking Finchian trade policy. The Democrats are also notable for being the party of the hawks and so-called "liberal interventionists" who take after the long dead President Scoop Jackson. How their plans to rule from the center go is a story yet to be told.
The People's Party
The People's Party has went through one hell of an ideological journey since their inception in the early 90's. It started out as dissident movement in the later stages of the Finch Presidency by those who felt left out by Finch's centrism, unofficially at first. Social progressives, feminists, Democratic Socialists, environmentalists, leftists of all shapes and sizes formed the base. In '96 it grew to encompass organized labor and opponents of free trade who opposed President Gore's free trade policies and from that point on the movement became official. Since then it has fully endorsed populism by way of folks like John Murtha and Jim Moran and now the politics of the People's Party can only be adequately described as syncretic. It is now the party of nativism, organized labor, and...environmentalism oddly enough.
Second Chances
Leaders of the Labour Party
1935-1945: Clement Attlee
1935 def. Herbert Morrison, Arthur Greenwood
1945-1950: Stafford Cripps
1945 def. Herbert Morrison, Clement Attlee
1950-0000: Aneurin Bevan (Acting)
Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
1940-1945: Winston Churchill (Conservative leading War Government with Labour, National Liberals, Liberals and National Labour)
1945-1945: Winston Churchill (Conservative leading National 'Caretaker' Government with National Liberals)
1945-1950: Stafford Cripps (Labour)
1945 (Majority) def. Winston Churchill (National - Conservatives, National Liberals), Archibald Sinclair (Liberal)
1950 (Majority) def. Winston Churchill (National - Conservatives, Liberals)
1950-0000: Aneurin Bevan (Labour majority)
Leaders of the Labour Party
1935-1945: Clement Attlee
1935 def. Herbert Morrison, Arthur Greenwood
1945-1950: Stafford Cripps
1945 def. Herbert Morrison, Clement Attlee
1950-0000: Aneurin Bevan (Acting)
Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
1940-1945: Winston Churchill (Conservative leading War Government with Labour, National Liberals, Liberals and National Labour)
1945-1945: Winston Churchill (Conservative leading National 'Caretaker' Government with National Liberals)
1945-1950: Stafford Cripps (Labour)
1945 (Majority) def. Winston Churchill (National - Conservatives, National Liberals), Archibald Sinclair (Liberal)
1950 (Majority) def. Winston Churchill (National - Conservatives, Liberals)
1950-0000: Aneurin Bevan (Labour majority)
List of Prime Ministers of Australia (EDU)
1. Sir Edmund Barton (Protectionist) (1901-1903)
2. Alfred Deakin (Protectionist) (1902) (1903-1904) (1905-1908) (1909-1910)
3. Chris Watson (Labour) (1904)
4. George Reid (Free Trade) (1904-1905)
5. Andrew Fisher (Labour) (Labor*) (1908-1909) (1910-1913) (1914-1915)
6. Joseph Cook (Commonwealth Liberal) (1913-1914) (1921)
7. Billy Hughes (Labor) (National Labor) (Nationalist) (1915) (1915-1923)
8. Stanley Bruce (Nationalist) (1923-1929)
9. James Scullin (Labor) (1929-1932)
10. Joseph Lyons (United Australia) (1932-1939)
11. Sir Earle Page (Country) (1939)
12. Sir Robert Menzies (United Australia) (Liberal) (1939-1941) (1949-1966)
13. Arthur Fadden (Country) (1941)
14. John Curtin (Labor) (1941-1945)
15. Frank Forde (Labor) (1945)
16. Ben Chifley (Labor) (1945-1949)
17. Harold Holt (Liberal) (1966-1967)[II]
18. John McEwen (Country) (1967-1968)
19. John Gorton (Liberal) (1968-1971)
20. William McMahon (Liberal) (1971-1972)
21. Gough Whitlam (Labor) (1972-1975)[III]
22. Malcolm Fraser (Liberal) (1975-1983)
23. Bob Hawke (Labor) (1983-1991)
24. Paul Keating (Labor) (1991-1996)
25. John Howard (Liberal) (1996)[IV]
26. Nick Greiner (Liberal) (1996-2002)
27. Kim Beazley (Labor) (2002-2010)
28. Julia Gillard (Labor) (2010-2018) (2018-2023)[V]
29. Mark Butler (Labor) (2018)[VI]
Notes
* - Originally the Australian Labor Party was spelled as "labour" with the "u" in it. But Australian politician King O'Malley (who might of been an American immigrant to Australia), would later alter the spelling of the Australian Labor Party, by getting rid of the "u" in it. So by the time Andrew Fisher was prime minister the spelling was changed from labour to labor.
[I] - John Curtin died in office in early 1945, just when World War II was nearly coming to an end.
[II] - Disappeared while in office, and later considered to have died in office. Basically Holt went out to go for a swim at a beach and was never seen again. Many people made conspiracies about his disappearance ranging from being kidnap by Chinese or Soviet spies in a submarine, or by the CIA, but in reality he most likely died due to his heart problems in which even his doctor told him it wasn't safe for him to swim. Of course Holt didn't listen. Anyway Harold Holt is basically the only prime minister in Australian history to disappear while in office.
[III] - Whitlam was dismissed by then Governor-General Sir John Kerr, who then made Malcolm Fraser of the Australian Liberal Party as the new prime minister. This action led to the controversial event known as the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis.
[IV] - Howard was only prime minister of Australia for a brief time, because he eventually later became elected as the first Governor-General of the ANZC in 1996.
[V] - Gillard almost was assassinated while in office by a member of the Australian Brotherhood. Though she thankfully survived, she had to be put in the hospital for a whole single week in order to recover. So as a result...
[VI] - Deputy Prime Minister Mark Butler ended up becoming prime minister of Australia for just a single week. He did his job well even for a very short-lived prime minister. After a week basically once again Gillard became prime minister of Australia again and Mark Butler became Deputy PM once more.
1. Sir Edmund Barton (Protectionist) (1901-1903)
2. Alfred Deakin (Protectionist) (1902) (1903-1904) (1905-1908) (1909-1910)
3. Chris Watson (Labour) (1904)
4. George Reid (Free Trade) (1904-1905)
5. Andrew Fisher (Labour) (Labor*) (1908-1909) (1910-1913) (1914-1915)
6. Joseph Cook (Commonwealth Liberal) (1913-1914) (1921)
7. Billy Hughes (Labor) (National Labor) (Nationalist) (1915) (1915-1923)
8. Stanley Bruce (Nationalist) (1923-1929)
9. James Scullin (Labor) (1929-1932)
10. Joseph Lyons (United Australia) (1932-1939)
11. Sir Earle Page (Country) (1939)
12. Sir Robert Menzies (United Australia) (Liberal) (1939-1941) (1949-1966)
13. Arthur Fadden (Country) (1941)
14. John Curtin (Labor) (1941-1945)
15. Frank Forde (Labor) (1945)
16. Ben Chifley (Labor) (1945-1949)
17. Harold Holt (Liberal) (1966-1967)[II]
18. John McEwen (Country) (1967-1968)
19. John Gorton (Liberal) (1968-1971)
20. William McMahon (Liberal) (1971-1972)
21. Gough Whitlam (Labor) (1972-1975)[III]
22. Malcolm Fraser (Liberal) (1975-1983)
23. Bob Hawke (Labor) (1983-1991)
24. Paul Keating (Labor) (1991-1996)
25. John Howard (Liberal) (1996)[IV]
26. Nick Greiner (Liberal) (1996-2002)
27. Kim Beazley (Labor) (2002-2010)
28. Julia Gillard (Labor) (2010-2018) (2018-2023)[V]
29. Mark Butler (Labor) (2018)[VI]
Notes
* - Originally the Australian Labor Party was spelled as "labour" with the "u" in it. But Australian politician King O'Malley (who might of been an American immigrant to Australia), would later alter the spelling of the Australian Labor Party, by getting rid of the "u" in it. So by the time Andrew Fisher was prime minister the spelling was changed from labour to labor.
[I] - John Curtin died in office in early 1945, just when World War II was nearly coming to an end.
[II] - Disappeared while in office, and later considered to have died in office. Basically Holt went out to go for a swim at a beach and was never seen again. Many people made conspiracies about his disappearance ranging from being kidnap by Chinese or Soviet spies in a submarine, or by the CIA, but in reality he most likely died due to his heart problems in which even his doctor told him it wasn't safe for him to swim. Of course Holt didn't listen. Anyway Harold Holt is basically the only prime minister in Australian history to disappear while in office.
[III] - Whitlam was dismissed by then Governor-General Sir John Kerr, who then made Malcolm Fraser of the Australian Liberal Party as the new prime minister. This action led to the controversial event known as the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis.
[IV] - Howard was only prime minister of Australia for a brief time, because he eventually later became elected as the first Governor-General of the ANZC in 1996.
[V] - Gillard almost was assassinated while in office by a member of the Australian Brotherhood. Though she thankfully survived, she had to be put in the hospital for a whole single week in order to recover. So as a result...
[VI] - Deputy Prime Minister Mark Butler ended up becoming prime minister of Australia for just a single week. He did his job well even for a very short-lived prime minister. After a week basically once again Gillard became prime minister of Australia again and Mark Butler became Deputy PM once more.
Wouldn't Butler simply be acting PM and therefore not count in the official tally?
Yes and no.
But now you mention he sort've was, but most people in my TL consider him as being PM of Australia for a brief time. He basically had control of the entire parliament while Gillard was recovering. In many ways he kind of was and wasn't.
It’s ATLF time again....
ATLF:Ocean of Storms
US presidents
1961-1963:John F.Kennedy
1963-1969:Lyndon B.Johnson
1969-1977:Robert F.Kennedy
1977-1985:Gerald Ford
1985-1993:John Glenn
1993-1997:Ralph Nader
1997-2005:Bernie Sanders
2005-2013:Cynthia Nixon
2013-2021:Barack Obama
Populist
“Ultra” Democrat
Leaders of the USSR/New Union
1964-1975:Leonid Brezhnev
1975-1983:Yuri Andropov
1983-1991:Mikhail Gorbachev
New Union
1991-1992:Vladimir Zhirinovsky
1992-2002:Boris Yeltsin
2002-2009:Vladimir Putin
2009-2014:Svetlana Savitskaya
2014-incumbent:Dmitri Medvedev
“Old Line”
One Union for All
Socialism with a Human Face (mostly disillusioned Old Line defectors)
Green
Advocates for a Russian EU
ATLF:Ocean of Storms
US presidents
1961-1963:John F.Kennedy
1963-1969:Lyndon B.Johnson
1969-1977:Robert F.Kennedy
1977-1985:Gerald Ford
1985-1993:John Glenn
1993-1997:Ralph Nader
1997-2005:Bernie Sanders
2005-2013:Cynthia Nixon
2013-2021:Barack Obama
Populist
“Ultra” Democrat
Leaders of the USSR/New Union
1964-1975:Leonid Brezhnev
1975-1983:Yuri Andropov
1983-1991:Mikhail Gorbachev
New Union
1991-1992:Vladimir Zhirinovsky
1992-2002:Boris Yeltsin
2002-2009:Vladimir Putin
2009-2014:Svetlana Savitskaya
2014-incumbent:Dmitri Medvedev
“Old Line”
One Union for All
Socialism with a Human Face (mostly disillusioned Old Line defectors)
Green
Advocates for a Russian EU
Last edited:
What do you guys like? Ocean of Storms or my phresh leader ideas?
Here’s an overview
RFK launched the 50 Stars Initiative in 1970 to promote space exploration. He also withdrew American troops from Vietnam. The Vietnam War ended in 1974,with the revised Treaty of Paris,which recognized the Saigon government. In 1976,however,the economy began to take a downturn.
By and large,the Ford administrations were breaths of fresh,conservative air. Ford supported the Macmillan Act of 1979,which began the movement of the US towards the metric system. This move was completed in 1988. The Helios solar power production program also began under Ford.
The Glenn presidency oversaw the formation of the Union of Slavic States (the New Union) in 1991,and also the commissioning of the first permanent lunar bases. The Gulf War of 1989 also happened while Glenn was in office. The deposition of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq spawned the various democratic movements in the Near East,culminating in the ‘Muslim Spring’ of 1996.
If Glenn’s presidency saw the first permanent construction on the Moon,then the Nader administration saw a commitment,at last,to manned Mars exploration. Nader was the first third party candidate to become President,running on the center-left Populist ticket. He oversaw the beginnings of new environmental protection projects on a scale not seen since Robert Kennedy’s administration.
The Sanders administrations saw the implementation of the environmental schemes Nader had begun. In 1999,the Black Hand terror group (led by Osama bin Laden) rose up in Azerbaijan,but carefully targeted NATO airstrikes killed bin Laden and his associates. Two years later,appropriately in 2001,the Explorer 5 crew became the first people on Mars.
The Nixon administration was relatively quiet,seeing an expansion of manned deep space exploration. On Earth,the administration’s main focus was transitioning from fossil fuel energy sources to (strangely enough) safe nuclear energy. The first manned nuclear-powered space missions flew during this period.
The Obama presidency has seen more turbulence than Nixon’s,caused by the Netherlands leaving the EU last year and by the collapse of North Korea after the New Union and China withdrew military support. Presently there is a shooting war of some magnitude being conducted in the region. The leaders of South Korea have announced their intention to instate a Malaysia-style elective monarchy in Korea if they win.
Last edited:
This is a very good timeline so far. Kudos on building a two and a half (ish) party system in the U.S. That said, given your party descriptions, I could see the GOP as something more than moribund here, filling ideological space not really covered by the other two parties. More pressingly though, why does Cliff Finch live longer in this timeline?
He probably took better care of himself after Jackson and had access to better care. He also just fit the mold I wanted.
Teejay
Gone Fishin'
Alternative Australia Prime Ministers
Andrew Peacock 1990-1995 (Liberal National Party Coalition)
John Howard 1995-1999 (Liberal National Party Coalition)
Kim Beazley 1999-2007 (Australian Labor Party)
Jenni Macklin 2007-2008 (Australian Labor Party)
Peter Costello 2008-2015 (Liberal National Party Coalition)
Julie Bishop 2015- (Liberal National Party Coalition)
Andrew Peacock 1990-1995 (Liberal National Party Coalition)
John Howard 1995-1999 (Liberal National Party Coalition)
Kim Beazley 1999-2007 (Australian Labor Party)
Jenni Macklin 2007-2008 (Australian Labor Party)
Peter Costello 2008-2015 (Liberal National Party Coalition)
Julie Bishop 2015- (Liberal National Party Coalition)
Last edited:
Not going to lie, this timeline doesn't sound bad at all (except Macklin taking over from Beazley, i'd rather beaz stay).
A preview
British Prime Ministers
David Lloyd George (Liberal) 1916-1922
Andrew Bonar Law (Conservative) 1922-1923
Stanley Baldwin (Conservative) 1923-1924
H.H Asquith (Liberal) 1924-1928
Stanley Baldwin (Conservative) 1928-1930
Herbert Samuel (Liberal) 1930-
American Presidents
Woodrow Wilson (Democratic) 1913-1921
Warren Harding (Republican) 1921-1925
William Gibbs McAdoo (Democratic) 1925-
Soviet Leaders
Vladimir Lenin 1917-1924
Leon Trotsky 1924-
British Prime Ministers
David Lloyd George (Liberal) 1916-1922
Andrew Bonar Law (Conservative) 1922-1923
Stanley Baldwin (Conservative) 1923-1924
H.H Asquith (Liberal) 1924-1928
Stanley Baldwin (Conservative) 1928-1930
Herbert Samuel (Liberal) 1930-
American Presidents
Woodrow Wilson (Democratic) 1913-1921
Warren Harding (Republican) 1921-1925
William Gibbs McAdoo (Democratic) 1925-
Soviet Leaders
Vladimir Lenin 1917-1924
Leon Trotsky 1924-
- Status