Chapter I: Americano
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20th of January 1961
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STATUS OF THE AMERICAN SOCIAL DEMOCRACY
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During Q. Roosevelt’s three terms as President of the US, he transformed the US from a night-waking state to the beginnings of a welfare state. He introduced the 8 hour work day, subsidized health insurance, work health and safety regulations and much more. Roosevelt also founded NASA, the National Aeronautical and Space Administration, as an answer to the already successful Russian space program. Although there were still conservative members in the Republican Party who opposed all these reforms, the majority of the party accepted the much needed changes and saw the benefit they brought to the stability of the war torn country. The Democrats however were left with a lot of problems, how would they deal with all these reforms? Many of them initially welcomed them with open arms, because of the need to have basic social legislation. But after three Republican presidential terms, the Democrats had grown sceptic of social democracy. They thought that a good economy was the result of individual freedom and as much freedom as possible for companies. They would create wealth, not the government. In November 1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower won the presidential elections for the Republicans. He was more moderate than Roosevelt, but did not touch any of his predecessor’s legislation. Instead he, as a military man, focused on housing for army veterans and their reintegration into society. He also set up the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and made an effort to improve American infrastructure by constructing an interstate highway system. During his presidency, the Old Guard right wings of the Republican Party became a bigger problem, but by the end of his term, he had effectively dealt with them, in the words of Eisenhower himself: “I have just one purpose ... and that is to build up a strong progressive Republican Party in this country. If the right wing wants a fight, they are going to get it ... before I end up, either this Republican Party will reflect progressivism or I won't be with them anymore.” Eisenhower managed to get re-elected and continued his program. America’s first steps into space were also happening during this time. But after five terms of Republican rule, it became clear that they didn’t have an answer to everything. The Civil Rights movement became a bigger and bigger factor in politics, with a African-American even securing the Democrat nomination for Vice-President. Also, the growing conflict in Indochina was draining more and more attention of the US Military.
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NOW BACK TO HUEY
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After twenty years of living in exile in Cuba, Huey had developed a daily routine. The first ten years he had to cope with the Cuban soldier waking him up during his security checks. But Huey had gotten rid of him and had replaced him by one of his own trusted men. Now he can have a relaxed morning, reading the newspapers from Cuba and the US. The 68-year old man was disgusted by reading today’s newspaper. On the front page, everything about the new American president was covered. Ever since Quentin Roosevelt’s third term as President of the US, the exiled Huey Long had developed a real hatred for American politics. But things like a new president were not avoidable. Long still respected Eisenhower’s presidency from 1953 until 1961, because he proved himself an honourable man during the Second Great War. But now, on the 20th of January 1961, a young democrat from Massachusetts was inaugurated as the 35th President of the United States. And that young democrat was called Robert F. Kennedy. But that was not what was bothering Long. It was the name of the Vice-President which stood out more: Martin Luther King, a black dominee from Atlanta, his Atlanta, the Atlanta which once was the capital of the American Union State. In recent years the rights of Afro-Americans became a real issue in American politics. People like King advocated for equal rights with the Civil Rights Movement. Kennedy, a 35-year old Roman Catholic, was known to support the case and in a bold move, he announced his candidacy for the presidency with King at his side. King got inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s effort of unifying India in a peaceful way and decided to participate in politics. Many political analysers were baffled with the results, but what got Kennedy and King into the White House was more complex than any election before. Their electoral base was mainly the already existing Democrat electorate, this time combined with the black minority, along with American Catholics including the Hispanic minorities. It was a really close call in the end, but what drew many last minute voters to Kennedy was his more pacifist stand on the Indochinese War. His older brother had died in the struggle against Japan, and Robert wasn’t willing to send many more soldiers to die in another country’s war. Nixon was known for his willingness to keep US Forces in South Indochina for as long as the Germans were an active threat.
The results of the presidential vote in the Electoral College. Fourteen electors refused to vote for Kennedy due to his support for the Civil Rights Movement (voting for Byrd instead), but Kennedy still had a majority of 300 against 216. The difference in the popular vote was closer, with Kennedy having 113 856 votes more than Nixon.
Now Huey turned to the pages that interested him more: news from the Russian sphere of influence. Joseph Goebbels, head of state of Prussia, had made another of his famous cabinet reshuffles. It was his way of thinning out political opponents and eventually finding a suitable successor. It was peculiar how national populist dictatorships destabilized after a transition of power. In democracies, the process of an election usually assured the smooth transition, but in a dictatorship, elections were out of the question. Even an internal election in the party could be seen as weak. Goebbels finally got rid of that brute Heinrich Heydrich and replaced him with a women called Leni Riefenstahl. Riefenstahl was an ambitious woman. She was a famous movie director before the war and Goebbels even wrote some reviews about her production back when he was a movie critique. But after Germany’s defeat in the Tripartite War, she became determined to rebuilt the country and one day restore Germany to its former glory, just like Goebbels wanted to. However, for some reason, she ended up in Prussia and started her political career there. As a typical example of a Prussian woman, she was able to sway any man into doing her bidding. Huey hoped he would have the honour to meet her one day. He was sure the connections of the Golden Circle reached all the way into the Russian sphere of influence, and maybe all the way to Moscow and Konigsberg.
In other news, this time from Asia, Louis Ferdinand von Hohenzollern, son of the deceased Kaiser Wilhelm III and pretender to the German throne, was captured by the Viet Cong in the ongoing conflict in German Indochina. With Louis Ferdinand’s capture, it became clear that the German colonials were losing the war. US involvement in the conflict was limited, but still substantial. The US, under Eisenhower, had sent a small army to aid the Vietnamese Democratic Forces (VDF) and to capture German war criminals. And then there was also the Viet Cong, the syndicalists who were opposed to both the Germans and the VDF. Huey finds this whole Indochinese War an overcomplicated thing, but it is a distraction for the US and that means that soon, his plans can go into motion. Soon, Long would get the opportunity to take a spot in the Cuban House of Representatives in local elections. Batista’s coup in 1952 had halted the presidential elections, but parliamentary elections still continued as usual. Batista’s coup was in fact a result of Long’s scheme for power. Starting from 1944, Cuba had had some presidents who increasingly became corrupt. Batista used his popularity and his influence to take control and to promise a Cuba without corruption. The Cuban populace was easily convinced of his good intentions, but Long knew that this was the beginning of a dictatorship in the Caribbean. The future smiled upon Huey, it was time to step out of the shadows and once again enter the stage of politics in the Americas. And tomorrow, his friends of the Golden Circle would come to discuss their next move.
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LATER THAT DAY
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Agent Jameson had followed the rumours all the way to this remote village on the Cuban coast. People here spoke of an ‘Americano’, an American living amongst them, rarely showing his face. It was amazing how much you could get out of people, simply by posing as a traveling salesman in the latest American commodities. He quickly found the remote beach mansion the locals described. He took out his binoculars and looked for any movement, while lying on the ground. As he spotted a man through one of the windows, he immediately recognized his target. The rumours were true, Long was alive and well, right here in Cuba, right under the nose of the United States. He had to inform his superiors as quickly as possible. But before he even had the chance to stand up, he felt a foot pressing on his back. “Game’s over, who sent ya?” a man with a Southern accent said. A moment later, everything went black.
On the other side of the world, in Indochina, German High Command was in a state of complete chaos. Their leader had just been captured by syndicalist scum and they had not received any news from him yet. It was unclear whether they would use the Kaiser to force peace on the Germans or if they would just outright kill him. Anyway, they couldn’t afford waiting, as the syndicalists began a new offensive. A young diplomat called Ernest von Gibbenstein took the initiative as he sent a telegram to the Chinese Emperor, begging him for support against the anti-monarchist anarchists just south of the Chinese border. Playing into his fear for being overthrown, von Gibbenstein managed to convince Emperor Puyi that anarchists in Indochina could easily cross into China and rally the Chinese population against their Emperor. Emperor Puyi agreed to providing ‘volunteers’ for the Germans to fight against the syndicalists.
Indochina is embroiled in a three way war between the syndicalist DRI (north), the democratic RI (south) and the remnants of the German Empire in the middle.
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Initially, I didn't plan to include the conflict in Indochina into this AAR, but because in OTL the Vietnam War was so important for the Cold War, I had to include it. This means however that I'll have to figure out how US involvement would be in this timeline and if the same dynamics would still play as in OTL. What do you think the position of Russia and the US are on this conflict? Keep in mind that the German remnant is essentially an enemy to both of the superpowers.
As for the US presidential elections of 1960, I decided to spice things a little bit up. I kept the outcome in votes (for example, the map I used is the map of the actual 1960 presidential elections). In this timeline however, JFK died in the war in the Pacific, and his much younger brother, Robert Kennedy, has taken up his role. Martin Luther King was inspired by the great Gandhi, who in this timeline was much more politically active than in OTL. I don't think a black Vice-President is unimaginable in the 1960s, certainly not in this timeline, as a Second American Civil War came with some very progressive ideas on the victor's side. All in all, I'd say this timeline's Kennedy has as much of a chance to become President as our JFK.