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Too bad about him not getting healthcare passed.

I know, it would have also ended our endless political pageant going on today... I really hate American political culture! :glare:

Ah, everything used to be so much better under Teddy. :p
A true gentleman stays neutral in European conflicts and sells arms and ammo to everyone.

A true gentleman shouldn't ever engage in war or conflict, but alas, it doesn't appear as if that will be the case. Theodore greatest President ever? Behind Lincoln of course... :eek:o

Oh boy, they do know that Israel and the Lord didn't always see eye to eye in the Old Testament, right?
Also, excellent work on the Mexican invasion. It was realistic in that it was less than a complete success either in the short term or the long, and showed the complications that will arise from the US' new foreign policy. And finally, it's great to see this continued! Now I just have to back and reread from the start...

American religious history is one of the most confused, amazing, and most unknown topic that everyone who claims authority on it, doesn't have the remotest clue of what they are talking about. For example, for much of American history: anti-slavery/abolitionism, women's suffrage, Progressive Era, New Deal, and Civil Rights were all successful because of the involvement of the various Protestant (and some Catholic) Churches in advocating for reform. "True" American liberalism is tied to American Protestantism, but don't try telling that to people today...

Oh dear Heavens, I don't think you should start from the beginning, to which I also admit again - I should have finished this back in 2011... Nice to see you again Eams!

Including portraying the First Officer as a German spy who becomes a swivel-eyed, homicidal loon once the ship starts to sink, running around shooting passengers at random and shrieking out his dedication to the Fatherland.

Didn't the Murdoch Family (if memory serves me correct) get some sort of settlement from the fiasco that Cameron created in his portrayal of him... the slimy bastard even after admitting inaccuracy said officers fired shots to enforce the women and children first policy. BTW, I hate James Cameron (although I must confess some of his movies are ok...although much too long).

It has been my experience that Paradox games likes to draw weird borders.

I always am never satisfied with the borders of any nation I play as in a Paradox game!


The History Channel told me a couple times in different programs that he led troops into battle during the defense of D.C. and was forced to retreat.

I don't think the HC is a reputable "history" source. Although I enjoy shows like Pawn Stars. He was at the Battle of Bladdensburg? (sp.) I've mostly read he was present, but not actually leading the soldiers during the fight. But we weren't there, so I guess we'll never know! :eek:

We need that movie!

As long as it is not 3+ hours long, I'm okay with that...
 
Episode Eighteen: Theodore Roosevelt

Episode Eighteen, Part VIII

Number 25: Theodore Roosevelt
Party: Republican
44 years old, from New York

The Calm Before the Storm

When Roosevelt returned to the United States from his whirlwind across Europe, he re-assured the American public that the United States would stay neutral from any European conflict, and that the idea of a European explosion and devolution into total war was overblown and completely unlikely. While publically supporting the official unofficial American tradition of isolationism, Roosevelt was still maneuvering behind the scene with American financiers to support the Anglo-French Alliance in the event of war.

Roosevelt, fearing that America would be drawn into the oncoming conflict, or knowing that he would bring America into such a conflict, slowly started an arms and munitions buildup. The United States was put on high alert, especially her African Squadron, which neighbored nearby zones of hostility from the European carving up of Africa, to which the United States, although a late player to the game, had entered under the Randall Administration (1881-1889). Naturally, the calm before the storm never lasts. By June 1911, the United States watched as Europe marched to war with one another – each side confident of a quick and decisive victory over their opponent!

The Great War in Europe

In June 1911, Europe was embroiled in flame. The Germans and Austrians were in an armed conflict with Russia, which had pushed claims for Balkan territory that alarmed the Austrians, who promptly sought to defend their hegemony in the region moreover than a genuine coming to the defense of the Ottomans. Germany was then dragged into the conflict. According to the Congress of Paris that had ended the Crimean War, Europe was to prop up the declining Ottoman Empire [1]. For over 50 years, the Ottoman degradation had been held at bay by mostly German, British, and French financiers who were industrializing and developing a less developed Ottoman Empire. While on paper, the European powers had promised one another not to seek territorial acquisition from the Ottoman Empire, all were still suspecting the collapse of the House of Osman and what would transpire to the vast wealth of territory still held by former envy of the world!

On June 9, when Russia invaded the Ottoman Empire, European interests in the Ottoman sphere (Austrian hegemony in the Balkans and German finances and development that had been entrusted to the Berlin-Baghdad Express came under threat from the Russian invasion). The blatant violation of the Congress of Paris re-assured Austria-Hungary and Germany that France and Great Britain would abstain from the conflict. However, by July, the Russians appealed to the British and French for help. British and French interests in Africa and the Middle East convinced the two powers to forgo the Treaty of Paris and they marched off to war with the expectations of gaining German African colonies and administering control over prospective Ottoman regions like Syria, Palestine, and Iraq.


French heavy cavalry march off to war! The beginning of the Great War saw European forces still dressed in elaborate uniforms, unawares of what was laying ahead of them!

While Europe was ablaze, both London and Paris looked to Washington according to the secret Pact Roosevelt had made with the British that promised American involvement no later than one year of armed conflict between the major European powers. Matters were complicated for two reasons. First, the timing of the war was poor for the Roosevelt Administration. Having publically acknowledged neutrality to the American people, he felt it would be political suicide to enter the war anytime soon. Furthermore, 1912 was an election year and Roosevelt would follow the tradition of two-terms [2] and not run for a third term. Both parties had a lot riding on the election, and being in a war, or for war, didn’t seem to help their chances. Roosevelt re-assured the British and French that America would get involved in the war, if necessary, after the 1912 election.

Leading up to 1912

The 1912 election was one of the most pivotal elections in American history. The Republican Party’s favorite son, Theodore Roosevelt, had declined the offer for a third-term. The usual Vice Presidential slot, which was in many cases a political killer (for a young up and comer who was at odds with the party bosses) or the best way for a statesman to retire (after a long and noble career, winding down as Vice President seemed perfect), was occupied by a man who had neither of those intentions – Vice President Robert LaFollette of Wisconsin. He was a more progressive unionist politician. LaFollette also had ties with the Progressive Christian fundamentalists – he was a Baptist of “fiery zeal and passion.” Likewise, Governor John “Jack” Rockefeller Jr., the son of industrialist John D. Rockefeller, was a favorite among business conservatives, and a favorite of President Roosevelt for all the support his father and he had given him for his election campaigns (thus Standard Oil was a “good” trust). Another Republican governor who was also elected in 1910 like Jack Rockefeller, Hiram Johnson, was another favorite of the Progressive wing of the Party.


Governor John Rockefeller Jr. (at left), and Vice President Robert LaFollette (at right), the two Republican favorites for the upcoming nomination. Jack, or "Junior", had just been elected governor of Ohio and was 38 years old coming in the convention. Vice President LaFollette was an experienced politician and darling of the progressives.

The Progressive Christian Party had been able to sway perennial socialist candidate Eugene Debs to seek their nomination. Debs was the obvious front-runner of the “Populist-Progressive-Socialist-Christian” Alliance. While Debs himself was privately a freethinker in the tradition of Western Deism, he often played up Christian imagery and heritage in his speeches and public persona. In Chicago, 1912, Debs gave his famous “Jesus, the Supreme Leader” Speech in which he cast Christ as a martyr of the working underclass (which mirrored the prevailing spirit of the Social Gospel that spurred Messianic Protestantism throughout the United States) [3].

Jesus was the grandest and loftiest of human souls – sun-crowned and God-inspired; a full-statured man, red-blooded and lion-hearted and gentle as the noble mother who had given him birth…This was the martyred Christ of the working class, the inspired evangel of the downtrodden masses, the world’s supreme revolutionary leader, whose love for the poor and the children of the poor hallowed all the days of his consecrated life, lighted up and made forever holy the dark tragedy of his death, and gave to the ages his divine inspiration and his deathless name.

In additional, the Democratic Party had two major favorites for the nomination: William Randolph Hearst and John Burke, Governor of North Dakota (who was Roman Catholic, almost a cardinal sin in American politics even as the ecumenism found in the Protestant social gospel was not enough to curb the anti-Catholic bigotry found in even the “mainstream” Protestant churches of the day). Hearst was a favorite of the Progressives, mostly for his rhetoric, but the clear favorite among the imperialists and jingoists in the party. Governor Burke, an enthusiastic supporter of the progressive movement, also had the support of the former President of Princeton, and current governor of New Jersey, Woodrow Wilson. When the conventions were held, media men were glued to who would be the future nominations of the major parties, not the encroaching German advance on Paris which was now in sight of German soldiers by the summer of 1912.


William Randolph Hearst (at left), the Democratic favorite for the nomination, and Eugene Debs (at right), the certain nominee of the Progressive Christian Party and Socialist Party alliance.



[1] True from OTL, I really needed a reason to describe how and why Europe marched to war after a Russian invasion of the Ottoman Empire (I briefly covered this timeline’s Crimean War in one of my intermission sections).

[2] Until the 22nd Amendment in 1947, the “two-term” limit was unofficial, in fact, Wendell Willkie and the Republicans in 1940 claimed FDR’s third-term – re-election – was unconstitutional, it wasn’t.

[3] In reality, Debs gave the speech “Jesus, the Supreme Leader” in 1914, the speech name and extract is verbatim. The entire text can be accessed online.
 
American religious history is one of the most confused, amazing, and most unknown topic that everyone who claims authority on it, doesn't have the remotest clue of what they are talking about. For example, for much of American history: anti-slavery/abolitionism, women's suffrage, Progressive Era, New Deal, and Civil Rights were all successful because of the involvement of the various Protestant (and some Catholic) Churches in advocating for reform. "True" American liberalism is tied to American Protestantism, but don't try telling that to people today...

Oh dear Heavens, I don't think you should start from the beginning, to which I also admit again - I should have finished this back in 2011... Nice to see you again Eams!
Wait, are you trying to tell me Martin Luther King was not a conservative? ;)
Also speaking of the connection between Christianity and American liberalism/progressivism, will Norman Thomas be making an appearance later on?
I'm also hoping that American military adventurism into Mexico and increased Protestant missionary work will help kick-start Catholic liberation theology a couple of decades early.

Didn't the Murdoch Family (if memory serves me correct) get some sort of settlement from the fiasco that Cameron created in his portrayal of him... the slimy bastard even after admitting inaccuracy said officers fired shots to enforce the women and children first policy. BTW, I hate James Cameron (although I must confess some of his movies are ok...although much too long).
Don't know about any settlement, but they did get an apology from a studio executive. So yay. Anyway, the portrayal of Murdoch is up there with that of Max Baer in The Cinderella Man as the most insanely stupidly incorrect and downright slanderous depictions of real-life figures in Hollywood history. It's enough to make me want to become a director and do a bio-pic of Ron Howard, but portraying him as a compulsive mutilator of livestock as a way of paying him back for that cinematic travesty.

Re your latest update: The first paragraph left me stumped. Surely Roosevelt couldn't believe that even as he said it? It seems like a massive strategic mistake on his part. Not that that isn't a realistic portrayal of the kind of cock-ups real politicians make. I'm also flabbergasted that the deal with France and Britain wasn't limited to a defensive war, since they seem to be siding with the Russian aggressors in this case, and thus pulling Americans in with them. I'm not envious of Teddy's successor, and that deal is bound to sully his historical legacy if they are dragged into an unjust and heinously bloody war.
And oh Lord, you've got Debs, Hearst and Woodrow within the scope of one update. With a cast of characters like that, no wonder this is a great AAR!
 
Funny. UK going to war breaking a treaty (TTL) vs UK going to war defending a treaty (OTL) :rofl:

I know. I have a very special sense of humour.
 
Hearst! Hearst! :p I still want Teddy to enroll into the army...
 
@ Eams: I do not think Norman Thomas, unfortunately, will be making it on the list of characters who will briefly, or have, heavy focus on. :( Another great example of a Christian Socialist in American history (Presbyterian minister). Ironically, I think Fox News has forgotten the Pledge was also written by a Christian socialist minister in Massachusetts Francis Bellamy...

Even TR is prone to making political mistakes, although he is among my favorite Presidents - if you couldn't tell be my re-telling of his somewhat ahistorical presidency. And thank you Eams for your kind words to this long overdue to be finished AAR! :rofl:

@ Enewald: Germany was a juggernaut in Vicky! But they didn't get to fight a human controlled USA now in many games? :cool: Oh well, only time will tell.

@ Kurt Steiner: A good sense of humor is needed in the case of ahistories and perhaps, in times of war...

@ GuG: I hate Hearst, something I think will cause him problems when I write about the Democratic Convention.
 
Episode Eighteen: Theodore Roosevelt

Episode Eighteen, Part IX

Number 25: Theodore Roosevelt
Party: Republican
44 years old, from New York

The Secret Promise

The Spring of 1912 was quick to arrive, and the quick war that many in Europe had expected had come and gone. As the war was moving towards a full year of armed conflict, the situation was bleak and beginning to drag into a stalemate. Russian forces had been halted at Varna by the combined forces of an Ottoman-Austrian Army, and had thereby saved the Ottoman Empire. While the Russian army had made gains in the Caucasus Mountains, stout Ottoman defenders halted the Russian advance. As the British and French mulled invasions in Palestine and Mesopotamia, such ideas seemed to be halted by the German Spring Offensive of 1912. As the Republicans, Democrats, and other parties were assembling for party conventions, German soldiers had crossed the Marne and had Paris in their sights. One German soldier remarked, “[We] could see the Eiffel Tower off in the distance.” The Allies in Europe were frantic, and begged for Roosevelt to honor his agreement to join the war, but Roosevelt balked. Rather, Roosevelt promised that he would personally guarantee American involvement, but only after the election of 1912 was held. Thus, the successor of Theodore Roosevelt would eventually be informed of the ongoing promises of the American State Department (and some American Bankers financing the Allied War cause) to join the war in Europe – which was among the last things on America’s mind! Of all the great accomplishments of the Roosevelt Administration, his posturing and dreams of imperial ambitions seem to be his shortcoming – at least to some people that is.

The Wild Conventions

The Democrats met in Denver Colorado to choose a candidate, among the favorites being William Randolph Hearst, a newspaper baron and former member of Congress, long an ardent opponent to both McKinley and Roosevelt. Governor Burke of North Dakota was a favorite among the Progressives, but his being Roman Catholic was a possible problem in a fervent Protestant country. Religiously, while some of the ecumenical efforts of the Social Gospel movement had taken root, most Protestants still saw Catholicism as being anti-Christian, or at the very least, saw it is suspicious. Also, Woodrow Wilson, the Governor of New Jersey and former President of the University of Princeton, was a possible darkhorse for the candidacy, although he had publically supported Burke.

The Democratic Convention moved through eight rounds of voting with no clear cut winner. After the Seventh Round of Voting, Wilson withdrew his candidacy and would swing the convention’s delegates either to Hearst or Burke. Wilson, keeping to his earlier statements of support for Burke, asked his delegates to support Burke, which they did! Governor John Burke was nominated in the eighth round of voting with a slim 53% of the delegates over 45% for Hearst and 2% for others or abstaining. In a surprise turn, Hearst was not nominated to be Vice President, rather, Woodrow Wilson, the power broker who helped Burke solidify the nomination was chosen! The Democrats were gearing for a strong Progressive ticket.


The Democrats Convention in 1912 (note, this picture is actually the OTL GOP convention in 1912 - I just like the picture better).

The Republicans saw an even more incredible convention, one that stoked the flames of emotion, religion, and corporate power. After two days of politicking and convention voting, the party had still not chosen a candidate. In the halls of Chicago, President Roosevelt took to the stage and gave another famous political speech, “The Salvation of Democracy,” where he declared the United States the salvation of democracy in the midst of the chaos of Europe, and gave his support to John Rockefeller Jr., a largely inexperienced politician and son of the famous American tycoon John D. Rockefeller (at the same time as Roosevelt gave his speech, German soldiers entered Paris). Newspaper decried the result of the 22nd Round of voting, in which “Junior” was nominated as the party’s candidate. One newspaper said heralded the choice, “The death of American Democracy!” Another said, “All Hail Emperor Rockefeller!” John S. Sherman, a Representative from New York, was chosen as Vice President. Much to the chagrin of LaFollette, who many expected to be nominated, he would retire to Wisconsin where he would once again be re-elected governor and champion the Progressive cause.

The outcry of the nomination of John D. Rockefeller Jr. caused another minor walkout among progressive Republicans who flocked to the Progressive Christian Party, which had – to no one’s surprise, nominated Eugene Debs as their nominee. The newspapers however, as mentioned, went off the cliff with the information that swept through the telegraph lines to their respective publishing headquarters stating Rockefeller Junior had been chosen! The next morning, the headline of the New York Times satirically read: “Money is the Salvation of Democracy!” The chaos of the Republican party’s nomination caused the fact that Governor was Burke to be largely overlooked by the media, except for a resurgent Ku Klux Klan that decried the Democrats nomination as “a sell out to Pagan Papists.” At the same time, the concern for the war in Europe was totally lost. News of the German capture of Paris was reported more than two weeks after it had happened, much to the chagrin of President Roosevelt and American creditors and financiers who grew nervous that the war might soon end before America properly involved herself in a European land war.


As the Party conventions distracted American media from the war in Europe, German troops, shown above, march through a suburb of Paris in the Summer of 1912.

The Election of 1912

Both Burke and Debs slammed the nominee of Rockefeller as a sellout to the cause of Progressivism. Rockefeller continuously defended his moderately progressive agenda while he was briefly governor of Ohio (he was still governor during the election cycle, which essentially meant he was no longer governor as he had his eyes set on the White House). Supporters of both Burke and Debs decried Rockefeller as having his father manipulate everything behind the scenes. Burke famously declared, “Who shall we have as our President, Junior or Father Rockefeller?”

The crying of outrage from both Burke and Debs, as well as the progressive walkout from the Republican party severely damaged the sails of Rockefeller and the Republican Party. While Roosevelt had managed to win decisive electoral victories with over 50% of the popular vote in both instances, and although his popularity suffered slightly for his backing of Rockefeller – Teddy Roosevelt still rated highly in the minds of most Americans, but the suspect legacy and wealth of “Daddy” Rockefeller tainted “Junior” throughout the campaign. Yet, the ideological in-fighting between Debs and Burke was also taking a toll. While both were adamantly opposed to Rockefeller, both called one another a phony. Debs called Burke, “A man who has sold his soul to the Devil” while Burke called Debs, and perhaps more accurately, “A damn Socialist.”

Senate : 102 seats

Senate Majority: Republicans, 52 seats
Senate Minority: Democrats, 44 seats
Third Party: Progressives, 5 seats
Fourth Party: Socialist, 1 seat

House of Representatives: 445 seats

House Majority: Republicans, 223 seats
House Minority: Democrats, 201 seats
Third Party: Progressives, 19 seats
Fourth Party: Socialist, 1 seat
Fifth Party: Anti-Catholic, 1 seat

As stated, the election was brutal to all three candidates. In the end, the victory won by Rockefeller was less due to Rockefeller and more due to the splitting of the progressive vote that split itself between Burke and Debs. Rockefeller fell far short of a popular majority, but the progressive vote having been split by Burke and Debs allowed for Rockefeller to edge out Burke with a slight popular vote plurality, but a rather handy electoral vote majority, despite the fact that Burke had won 26 of the 51 states of the Union. This was the primary result of Burke dominating the small Western Progressive states, including winning the newly admitted states of Arizona and New Mexico and New Leon with 77%, 82%, and 91% of the vote respectively which all together totaled only 154,000 votes between the three states. However, as stated before, the Burke-Debs split ensured that Rockefeller edged out Burke in the major states of importance like New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, whose 107 electoral votes between them shot Rockefeller over the top despite winning those states by a summed total of less than 115,000 votes. John Rockefeller Jr., was President-Elect of the United States of America.



Rockefeller/Sherman (R) - 6,920,343 popular votes (42.2%), 25 states carried, 304 Electoral votes (273 Needed for victory)
Burke/Wilson (D) - 6,543,167 popular votes (39.9%), 26 states carried, 241 Electoral votes
Debs/Seidel (PCP/S) – 2,317,400 popular votes (14.2%), 0 states carried, 0 Electoral votes
Others – 618,006 popular votes (3.7%), 0 states carried, 0 Electoral votes
Total: 16,398,916 Popular Votes, 51 states, 545 Electoral votes (100%)
 
Maybe a war-hawk will get elected and go bail out France.

Edit: Ninja-updated! Pagan papists? Reminds me of my aar. Also, a multi-millionaire didn't seem to be a very good nominee. I wonder if his money helped him fudge the votes a little...
 
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Maybe a war-hawk will get elected and go bail out France.

Edit: Ninja-updated! Pagan papists? Reminds me of my aar. Also,

It looks like a habit of updates almost occurring simultaneously! :)

Perhaps a warhawk behind the scenes will bail out France! ;)
 
Blimey, Rocky Jr. seems like Dubya 88 years early, with Burke as Gore and Debs playing the part of Nader (alas, poor Gene). Now all we need is an unpopular war or two and an economic meltdown in 1918, and the parallel's pretty much perfect.
Also, the Republican majority in both houses appears extremely tenuous. And the Anti-Catholic party?! :eek:
 
Blimey, Rocky Jr. seems like Dubya 88 years early, with Burke as Gore and Debs playing the part of Nader (alas, poor Gene). Now all we need is an unpopular war or two and an economic meltdown in 1918, and the parallel's pretty much perfect.
Also, the Republican majority in both houses appears extremely tenuous. And the Anti-Catholic party?! :eek:

Parallelisms, hmm... I suppose it was either planned or just a coincidence, or may have made better sense had this been completed before 2012! :p

Anti-Catholicism...the last acceptable prejudice and the longest history of bigotry in U.S. history!! :glare: But otherwise very interesting...

Don't go to Europe!
France does not surrender with Paris occupied?
Was there no scripted event for such a situation?

Yes we will go to Europe! :)

It's just a combination of wars that will effectively serve as TTL's "WWI/Great War" (plus, if I didn't get involved the post-war world would have looked somewhat foreign)... ;)
 
Episode Nineteen: John Rockefeller Jr.

Episode Nineteen, Part I

Number 26: John Rockefeller Jr.
Party: Republican
39 years old, from Ohio


John Rockefeller Jr., having recently turned 39 before inauguration.

The Purchased Presidency?

Although John Rockefeller Jr. had been elected President of the United States, there was wide discontent and dissatisfaction with the outcome of the 1912 election. While a war waged in Europe that frightened American financiers and institutions who had been bankrolling the French and British, and to a lesser extent Russian war effort – the American public was fixated on the “purchased” presidency of Jack Rockefeller. One Paper read, “Rockefeller enters his House of Gold,” another read, “Which Rockefeller will be President?” while another remarked, “Will our President Serve God or Mammon?” In addition, the Democratic ticket of Burke and Wilson felt robbed after having won the majority of states with 26 (to Rockefeller’s 25) but had lost by a sizeable margin in the Electoral College. Governor Burke called upon the progressive movement for electoral reform – but he was met with a largely cold response by politicians and political bosses from both parties. In addition, the domestic front of America was in a critical position.

While the Roosevelt Administration had accomplished so much on the domestic front, from trust busting to national wildlife refuges to minimum wage, there was much left unanswered. The revival of the Ku Klux Klan was no longer contained to the American South, but had swept north and states like Indiana had many members of their State Legislature as members of the Klan. Despite the efforts of the Anti-Immigration Act to limit wave upon wave of foreigners to enter the country after the assassination of McKinley – the War in Europe was bringing a new wave of immigrants attempting to escape the horrors of war. Many of them were Catholics and Jews, whom fierce Protestant nativists hated with a passion despite the efforts of the ecumenism of the Social Gospel movement. Many Protestant nationalists saw the intelligentsia of the Social Gospel as “sell-outs” to the dreams of Papist domination of America. In addition, the nomination of Governor Burke, a Catholic, was cause for the splitting of the progressive movement and a partial revival of the Klan. Furthermore, the failure of the Roosevelt Administration to answer the question of women’s suffrage also served as the new nexus of reform – especially when many leaders of the Social Gospel and many participants in the Social Gospel movement advocated for women’s suffrage. Throw a war in Europe where America had tied up much financial interests, John Rockefeller Jr. inherited an America that had experienced dramatic progress and prestige increases over the last 20 years, but also inherited an America at the crossroads. The efforts of the Morgan and Roosevelt Administrations in particular, had set America on the path to reform, but the reform had not happened fast enough for some groups.

In his inaugural address on March 4, 1913, President Rockefeller outlined his “Promise to America.”
In this time of reform and soul-searching, I give my solemn promise – indeed my very pledge, that the focus of this administration will be one to continue the great legacy given to us by a predecessors. The concern of racial tensions, religious liberty, women’s suffrage must all be answered and answered swiftly. In addition, I promise to continue our government’s noble effort in the eradication of poverty, and I promise to continue our efforts for universal education to all of America’s youth. Lastly, I promise to keep America out of a European land war.

The War in Europe

The last promise would become the most important of his address. While American elites had long wanted to join the war on the sides of the Allies, largely for financial reasons – the American public could care less about the war. In the summer of 1912, the Germans had captured Paris and the war seemed to be coming to a dramatic conclusion. As Americans cast their votes for Presidents, a combined Anglo-French offensive along the Marne River had managed to dislodge the Germans from Paris and a stalemate ensued on the Western. In the meantime, the dramatic gains and losses of the Eastern Front became the new focus of the war. Russia, having come so close to the capture of Constantinople in the opening months of the war, was now in full retreat across all fronts by the combined weight of Austrian and Ottoman forces, with some German assistance (the German war effort was primarily concentrated in France). In February 1913, the British launched an invasion into Mesopotamia and Palestine to ease the burden of the Eastern Front and to force Turkish movements south to give the Russians some aid. At the same times, eyes were still positioned upon the other great European power who had managed to stay out of the war – Italy, as well as minor European nations whom had more sympathies with the Allied war cause – Serbia and Greece, who had also remained out the conflict.

On May 22, 1913, a little over two months following his first term as President, Rockefeller was pressured by former President Roosevelt, and a contingent of America’s wealthiest financiers and bankers to answer Europe’s plea for help. He approached the Congress asking for a declaration of war to save Europe from the evils of tyranny, decrying the actions and governments of Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire as being “The legions of Satan, governments dominated by the heart and interests of evil men – imperialists and conquerors who have nothing in their mind but to rule over Europe with an iron fist. If Christ himself looked over the mountain top and saw the carnage befalling Europe and saw us watching – he would be ashamed that we call ourselves as Christian people of the highest moral fortitude but without the courage to help those who love God and liberty all the same!”


President Rockefeller addresses the US Congress about deliberations of going to war in Europe. Congress would overwhelmingly support the decision to get involved in a European War.

Two days later, on May 24, the declaration of war was brought forth to a vote in Congress and passed with only 45 opposing votes in the House and 11 in the Senate. The United States had formally entered the war, but were still far from impacting the war effort in Europe. Conscription and volunteer notices went out across the country for abled body men to swell the ranks of the American military to help “Save the world and make it safe for democracy!”

Domestic Reforms Halted

While Rockefeller may have been sincere in some of his promises about domestic progress in the fields of civil rights, religious liberty and women’s suffrage – almost all were halted with America’s declaration of War and entry into the Great War in Europe. As American men started to assemble for the war effort, which had mixed results forcing a conscription act to foster patriotism and vigor to venture off to Europe to save Europe in a purely European conflict of interests (even though it had spilled over into European colonial possessions in Africa and Asia), all major domestic reforms outside of the push for universal education were halted because of the war. While Rockefeller still gave some vague promises that he and his administration was still concerned for issues such as women’s suffrage and the continual expansion of wildlife preserves across America – he maintained that it was his primary responsibility to build up concern for the war to end all wars.
 
Strange, usually presidents wait until their second turn to break their promises. Unless he ment he would just blockade the Central Powers by the "no land war in Europe" thing.
 
Wow. Even worse than Wilson. :p From a gameplay perspective, nicely done!
 
Funny to see cries in the States against the European "imperialists"
 
What a lame reason to join the war.
Will democracy be brought to British and French colonies too and to Tsarist Russia? :p

Well, the real reason cannot be stated now can it? Although I think financing the Allied war effort has something to do with it (just like in OTL!) :p

Wilson wanted democracy (self-determination for nations) to come to many of these areas, but if we win (well, I'm sure you know who will win the war now that I got involved, back in 2011! :p)


Strange, usually presidents wait until their second turn to break their promises. Unless he ment he would just blockade the Central Powers by the "no land war in Europe" thing.

Yeah, but sometimes 1-term Presidencies are needed, or perhaps this will ensure Junior's reelection if we win and win spectacularly! :cool:

Wow. Even worse than Wilson. :p From a gameplay perspective, nicely done!

From a gameplay perspective, most excellent indeed! :D

Funny to see cries in the States against the European "imperialists"

America wouldn't know anything about being an imperialist power now would it? :p
 
I know, it would have also ended our endless political pageant going on today... I really hate American political culture! :glare:

Which is why I don't watch either MSNBC or Fox News. Do we really need liberals (MSNBC) or conservatives (Fox News) pounding their drums twenty-four hours a day? :wacko:

Theodore greatest President ever? Behind Lincoln of course... :eek:o

I'm rather impartial to James Polk. Here's a guy who accomplished some major things during his term and voluntarily went home afterwards, satisified with himself.

I should have finished this back in 2011...

I wish you wouldn't be hard on yourself over that, volksmarschall. :)

Didn't the Murdoch Family (if memory serves me correct) get some sort of settlement from the fiasco that Cameron created in his portrayal of him... the slimy bastard even after admitting inaccuracy said officers fired shots to enforce the women and children first policy.

The problem the Murdoch Family had with "Titanic" is that it showed First Officer William Murdoch accepting a bribe. Even though Murdoch didn't actually accept the bribe but instead threw the money back at the briber afterwards, the fact that he shown accepting a bribe in the first place is what got his family upset.

Officers were shown in "Titanic" firing shots to enforce the women and children first policy...because they did. Once people realized the Titanic really was sinking, the officers had to use force in order to restore order. Officers are shown doing the same thing in the late 1950s British Titanic film "A Night to Remember".

[2] Until the 22nd Amendment in 1947, the “two-term” limit was unofficial, in fact, Wendell Willkie and the Republicans in 1940 claimed FDR’s third-term – re-election – was unconstitutional, it wasn’t.

For me, reading this part was the equivalent of hearing a dog whistle. My head actually jerked up when I read it.

Funny. UK going to war breaking a treaty (TTL) vs UK going to war defending a treaty (OTL) :rofl:

I know. I have a very special sense of humour.

Actually, I laughed at that as well. :laugh:

...but the suspect legacy and wealth of “Daddy” Rockefeller tainted “Junior” throughout the campaign.

Reminds me of the joke John F. Kennedy told about "Daddy" Kennedy, which went something like this:

"Whatever you do, Jack, don't aim for a landslide victory. I damn well am not going to pay for one."

So Rockefeller is President now...hopefully this Rockefeller is just a one-time deal. We certainly don't need a Rockefeller dynasty in this country, that's for sure. :glare:

On the plus side, Scoop Jackson has entered the world. That's a good thing in my opinion.