BritishImperial said:
From a brit I would have expected something like: "You can never ever have enough ships!" I agree with you though. In the later phases of almost all my games I use Infrastructure as an IC soaker at the bottom of the list.
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From a brit I would have expected something like: "You can never ever have enough ships!" I agree with you though. In the later phases of almost all my games I use Infrastructure as an IC soaker at the bottom of the list.
El Pip: Surprise! :rofl:
4/5/10: That revision took a long time. The Dixiecrats stuck to Russell like paper-to-glue and the Progressives did better than they did OTL. Historically, the Democratic Party really did split into three ways. I decided to keep that down to two.
Then again, I did build Montana-class battleships. Historically, they were never built. Maybe I am addicted to building obsolete battleships.
"Hi, my name is Nathan, and I have an addiction to building old battleships."
Teep: Here's another angle to the battleship controversy. How about building obsolete ships to give to Japan and other allies in need of a navy? Your explanation is good, too.
Enewald: Perhaps one day China will be united again. Perhaps not.
BritishImperial: The new roads will come in the 1950s and homes for the poor is coming up in the second term.
trekaddict: Oh, sure. The British can keep their big navy but I can't.
Given that the Americans historically built up infrastructure through the Highway Act, I am waiting for that to come along.
4/5/10: If I had to play my game over again, I would have done the navy building differently.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Winners of 1948
On November 2nd, 1948, Republican President Thomas E. Dewey won re-election with 51.07% of the popular vote. Shortly after NBC radio broadcaster H.V. Kaltenborn authoritatively announced his victory, the triumphant President entered the joyous packed ballroom of the Roosevelt Hotel. However, he wasn’t the same man who had entered the same room four years earlier. In 1944, Dewey reacted somberly to the news of his election, knowing full well that he was only becoming President because of Willkie’s death. In 1948, his attitude was vastly different. He ran on his own merit and had won. Understandably, he walked into that ballroom with a sense of legitimacy that had eluded him for the last four years. People crowded around Dewey, congratulating him on his victory and wishing him success on his second term. When one person asked how he felt now that the election was over, the President answered:
“I feel grand. The campaign was fun. I enjoyed it immensely.”
Within hours, the President received gracious telegrams of concession from his two rivals. Having sent the telegram, Russell considered his Presidential campaign to be a thing of the past. His main focus now was on the future. Although he was soundly beaten in his attempt to occupy the White House, Russell still had his Senate seat. On Election Night, he was re-elected unopposed to another six-year term as Georgia’s junior Senator (the senior Georgia Senator, Walter F. George, had been occupying his seat since 1922). On the opening day of the Eighty-First Congress (January 3rd, 1949), Russell met the new Senator from Minnesota – Hubert Humphrey.
The man who had walked out on Russell in Philadelphia and had run against him was himself elected to the Senate. Defeating Republican Senator Joseph H. Ball in a landslide, Humphrey became the first Democrat the North Star State sent to the Senate since before the Civil War. His win was part of a small resurgence the Democratic Party experienced on Election Night. After enduring setback after setback stretching all the way back to the G.O.P. recovery in the 1938 midterm, the 1948 gains – which barely threatened the Republican majority – showed that the Party of Jackson was beginning her own recovery. They picked up twelve seats in the House of Representatives and six seats in the Senate. The composition of the new Congress:
-House of Representatives: 255 Republicans; 179 Democrats; 1 Labor
-Senate: 53 Republicans; 43 Democrats
As with every opening day of Congress, the Eighty-First witnessed the swearing-in of new members. They included:
-Republican Representative Gerald Ford of Michigan
-Democratic Representative Lloyd Bentsen of Texas
-Democratic Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas
-Democratic Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee
-Republican Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine (the first woman elected to the Senate in her own right)
Gerald Ford had been a star football athlete at the University of Michigan when a career in law became his main drive. He entered politics in 1940, working for Wendell Willkie’s successful Presidential campaign. Serving in the Navy during World War Two, Ford saw action in the Pacific. After returning home from the war, Ford was elected to the House in 1948 – having campaigned literally door-to-door as “a moderate in domestic affairs, an internationalist in foreign affairs, and a conservative in fiscal policy.”
He soon gained a reputation for modesty and became known as the “Congressman’s Congressman” to his colleagues.
Lyndon B. Johnson had been a teacher down in Texas when his incredible thirst for power and control led him to join the House of Representatives in 1937. Johnson was a prominent supporter of the New Deal, particularly in the area of rural electrification. In 1948, he sought to make the jump over to the Senate. However, he faced a major obstacle in the Democratic Senate primary: former Texas Governor Coke R. Stevenson. To take on his opponent, Johnson rented a helicopter and flew over fairgrounds, advertising himself through a loudspeaker. The primary campaign between the two men became so close, Johnson ended up winning by a mere eighty-seven votes. Shrugging off allegations of voter fraud, Johnson went on to win the Senate election in November. Upon his arrival in the Senate, Johnson struck up a friendship with Russell – who took the forty-year-old under his wings.
Perhaps the most unique winner of all was Estes Kefauver. A lawyer in Tennessee, Kefauver joined the House of Representatives in 1939 shortly after World War Two broke out. A staunch liberal, he earned national attention for openly attacking President Willkie for his decision to eliminate the Tennessee Valley Authority in favor of restoring electricity production to private corporations. From then on, Kefauver earned a reputation of being tough on Big Business and opposing what he called "the growing concentration of economic power in the United States."
Campaigning for the Senate in 1948, Kefauver was accused by his opponent of working for Communists with the stealth of a raccoon. He made fun of the charges by wearing a coonskin cap in every appearance. After winning the election, the cap became Kefauver’s trademark.
In addition to the Congressional gains, the Democrats also picked up a few Governorships. The most notable gubernatorial win took place in Illinois. Although Dewey carried the Land of Lincoln, it didn’t help lackluster Republican incumbent Dwight H. Green. Serving as Governor since 1941, Green’s second four-year term was ravaged by postwar problems – particularly a sharp housing shortage for returning veterans. He struggled in his campaign for a third term against Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson. A member of a prominent Illinois political family (which included a Vice President, a Secretary of State of Illinois, and Abraham Lincoln’s campaign manager during his unsuccessful 1858 Senate race), Stevenson was an intellectual lawyer known for his public speaking and his self-deprecating sense of humor. With the winds of change blowing behind him, Stevenson defeated Green in an astonishing landslide. On January 10th, 1949, he took office as the thirty-first Governor of Illinois.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dewey’s Second Inauguration
The morning of January 20th, 1949 was chilly and sunny in Washington, D.C. – perfect weather for a Presidential inauguration. Four years earlier, Dewey’s first inauguration had been a solemn, simple affair at the White House. Having won re-election, the President wanted his second inauguration to be the complete opposite. It would be the biggest, most expensive inauguration the city had ever seen. Eighty-thousand dollars would be spent on the lavish affair. More than a million people would be on hand to witness the pomp and pageantry.
For the first time ever, television would broadcast the proceedings live for those unable to make it to the nation’s capital. Early that morning, Dewey made the last decision of his first term: he would withdraw American forces from Korea. With the two Chinas relatively stable – despite a tense border and even tenser relations – and Korea in no particular danger, the President was willing to bring the troops stationed on the peninsula home. Shortly afterwards, he and his family attended the traditional prayer service at St. John’s Episcopal Church. From Church, Dewey and Bricker rode together to the Capitol Building for the inauguration (to be held in front of the East Portico). First, Bricker was sworn-in again as Vice President. Then, with the clock reading 1:29 P.M., President Thomas Edmund Dewey raised his right hand and was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice Curtis Shake. In his second inaugural address, the forty-six-year-old strongly stressed the need for the United States to play a major role in guaranteeing the postwar peace:
“In the cause of peace and freedom, America is the decisive power in the world. We did not deliberately seek this decisive role. We have been reluctant to accept its immense responsibilities and assume its heavy burdens. The bitter sacrifices of two World Wars and the anxieties of a peace that is not peace have taught us however that there can never be isolation for America. There can be no withdrawal from a world where freedom and tyranny are locked in a deadly struggle for survival.
As a people we are resolved to accept the great world role which providence has marked out for us. We are resolved to take our stand on the side of liberty and peace, to make our position unmistakable and irrevocably clear.
We have not come to these decisions as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans. War lays its tragedy on all of us. Peace is a blessing that we all share. Division and dissension are an invitation to the aggressor. We will put them behind us. The task of waging peace should be above partisanship. We must keep it above partisanship. America will stand before the world as one country and one people, believing deeply in the cause of peace.
Our strength for peace is spiritual as well as material. We are armed with the sure knowledge that our cause is a just cause. Throughout history, cynical men have boasted that might make right. We live by higher principals than that. Over the years, the United States has given to the world an unequalled demonstration of a great Nation using its great power for great purposes. In the whole length of human history, there is no parallel for what our country has done.
In America, the cause of human freedom, of justice, and of peace has a mighty ally. For too long, we have taken count of our weaknesses and counsel of our fears. Let us now take inventory of our strength. Let us act decisively to arouse and strengthen and solidify the free world so that the forces making peace will be more powerful than the forces making war.
We can once again lead from strength and not from weakness. We can make it clear to the entire world that America stands with the free peoples of Europe and of North and South America and elsewhere in the world, determined to uphold the cause of human freedom and able to back up its determination.
If we can unite our strength and draw together with all the people who believe with us in peace with honor and justice, we can bring together such a great force that once again the cause of freedom will be a vital and expanding thing. We will again bring hope to millions all over the world. We will strengthen our purpose. We will strengthen our policies. We will reinforce our friends.
We shall build a peace so strong and so unbreakable that we can move on to a better and happier life for every American, a more secure and happier future for all our children.”
After the inauguration, the President and the Vice President watched a seven-mile-long procession that took three hours to pass their glass-enclosed reviewing stand (situated in front of the White House). The procession included West Point cadets, midshipmen from Annapolis, the Marine Band, the United States Army Band, various other bands, state governors in open cars, floats representing every state, and military vehicles. For Dewey, it was a wonderful start to his second term. Sadly, that feeling would be short-lived.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1949 Overview of the Dewey Administration
Army
Infantry: 38
Cavalry: 14
Motorized: 10
Mechanized: 4
Armored: 24
Paratroop: 7
Marine: 14
Mountaineer: 14
Garrison: 3
Headquarters: 9
Militia: 10
Navy
Battleship: 27
Light Cruiser: 37
Heavy Cruiser: 19
Battlecruiser: 11
Destroyer Group: 39
Carrier: 15
Light Carrier: 6
Submarine: 11
Transport: 28
Air Force
Fighter: 7
Interceptor: 9
Strategic Bomber: 7
Tactical Bomber: 11
Naval Bomber: 8
Close Air Support: 8
Transport: 8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Note from the Author
During his first term in office, President Dewey made two appointments to the Supreme Court. On July 31st, 1945, Hoover-appointed Associate Justice Owen Roberts retired after fifteen years on the Supreme Court. The President picked New York State Attorney General Nathaniel L. Goldstein to succeed Roberts. Less than a year later, on April 22nd, 1946, Coolidge-appointed Associate Justice Harlan F. Stone died of a cerebral hemorrhage – ending twenty-one years on the Supreme Court. To take his place, Dewey selected close aide Charles D. Breitel. This is the composition of the Supreme Court at the time of the Presidential inauguration in January 1949:
Chief Justice Curtis Shake (1941-1978; Willkie appointment)
Associate Justice Hugo Black (1937-1971; Roosevelt appointment)
Associate Justice Stanley F. Reed (1938-1957; Roosevelt appointment)
Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter (1939-1962; Roosevelt appointment)
Associate Justice William O. Douglas (1939-1975; Roosevelt appointment)
Associate Justice Frank Murphy (1940-1949; Roosevelt appointment)
Associate Justice Percy R. Kelly (1941-1949; Willkie appointment)
Associate Justice Nathaniel L. Goldstein (1945-1981; Dewey appointment)
Associate Justice Charles D. Breitel (1946-1986; Dewey appointment)
Of these nine men, Murphy and Kelly will leave the Supreme Court during Dewey’s second term in office. Therefore, he will have two more seats to fill – bringing his total to four.
4/5/10: That revision took a long time. The Dixiecrats stuck to Russell like paper-to-glue and the Progressives did better than they did OTL. Historically, the Democratic Party really did split into three ways. I decided to keep that down to two.
Then again, I did build Montana-class battleships. Historically, they were never built. Maybe I am addicted to building obsolete battleships.
"Hi, my name is Nathan, and I have an addiction to building old battleships."
Teep: Here's another angle to the battleship controversy. How about building obsolete ships to give to Japan and other allies in need of a navy? Your explanation is good, too.
Enewald: Perhaps one day China will be united again. Perhaps not.
BritishImperial: The new roads will come in the 1950s and homes for the poor is coming up in the second term.
trekaddict: Oh, sure. The British can keep their big navy but I can't.
Given that the Americans historically built up infrastructure through the Highway Act, I am waiting for that to come along.
4/5/10: If I had to play my game over again, I would have done the navy building differently.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Winners of 1948
On November 2nd, 1948, Republican President Thomas E. Dewey won re-election with 51.07% of the popular vote. Shortly after NBC radio broadcaster H.V. Kaltenborn authoritatively announced his victory, the triumphant President entered the joyous packed ballroom of the Roosevelt Hotel. However, he wasn’t the same man who had entered the same room four years earlier. In 1944, Dewey reacted somberly to the news of his election, knowing full well that he was only becoming President because of Willkie’s death. In 1948, his attitude was vastly different. He ran on his own merit and had won. Understandably, he walked into that ballroom with a sense of legitimacy that had eluded him for the last four years. People crowded around Dewey, congratulating him on his victory and wishing him success on his second term. When one person asked how he felt now that the election was over, the President answered:
“I feel grand. The campaign was fun. I enjoyed it immensely.”
Within hours, the President received gracious telegrams of concession from his two rivals. Having sent the telegram, Russell considered his Presidential campaign to be a thing of the past. His main focus now was on the future. Although he was soundly beaten in his attempt to occupy the White House, Russell still had his Senate seat. On Election Night, he was re-elected unopposed to another six-year term as Georgia’s junior Senator (the senior Georgia Senator, Walter F. George, had been occupying his seat since 1922). On the opening day of the Eighty-First Congress (January 3rd, 1949), Russell met the new Senator from Minnesota – Hubert Humphrey.
The man who had walked out on Russell in Philadelphia and had run against him was himself elected to the Senate. Defeating Republican Senator Joseph H. Ball in a landslide, Humphrey became the first Democrat the North Star State sent to the Senate since before the Civil War. His win was part of a small resurgence the Democratic Party experienced on Election Night. After enduring setback after setback stretching all the way back to the G.O.P. recovery in the 1938 midterm, the 1948 gains – which barely threatened the Republican majority – showed that the Party of Jackson was beginning her own recovery. They picked up twelve seats in the House of Representatives and six seats in the Senate. The composition of the new Congress:
-House of Representatives: 255 Republicans; 179 Democrats; 1 Labor
-Senate: 53 Republicans; 43 Democrats
As with every opening day of Congress, the Eighty-First witnessed the swearing-in of new members. They included:
-Republican Representative Gerald Ford of Michigan
-Democratic Representative Lloyd Bentsen of Texas
-Democratic Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas
-Democratic Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee
-Republican Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine (the first woman elected to the Senate in her own right)
Gerald Ford had been a star football athlete at the University of Michigan when a career in law became his main drive. He entered politics in 1940, working for Wendell Willkie’s successful Presidential campaign. Serving in the Navy during World War Two, Ford saw action in the Pacific. After returning home from the war, Ford was elected to the House in 1948 – having campaigned literally door-to-door as “a moderate in domestic affairs, an internationalist in foreign affairs, and a conservative in fiscal policy.”
He soon gained a reputation for modesty and became known as the “Congressman’s Congressman” to his colleagues.
Lyndon B. Johnson had been a teacher down in Texas when his incredible thirst for power and control led him to join the House of Representatives in 1937. Johnson was a prominent supporter of the New Deal, particularly in the area of rural electrification. In 1948, he sought to make the jump over to the Senate. However, he faced a major obstacle in the Democratic Senate primary: former Texas Governor Coke R. Stevenson. To take on his opponent, Johnson rented a helicopter and flew over fairgrounds, advertising himself through a loudspeaker. The primary campaign between the two men became so close, Johnson ended up winning by a mere eighty-seven votes. Shrugging off allegations of voter fraud, Johnson went on to win the Senate election in November. Upon his arrival in the Senate, Johnson struck up a friendship with Russell – who took the forty-year-old under his wings.
Perhaps the most unique winner of all was Estes Kefauver. A lawyer in Tennessee, Kefauver joined the House of Representatives in 1939 shortly after World War Two broke out. A staunch liberal, he earned national attention for openly attacking President Willkie for his decision to eliminate the Tennessee Valley Authority in favor of restoring electricity production to private corporations. From then on, Kefauver earned a reputation of being tough on Big Business and opposing what he called "the growing concentration of economic power in the United States."
Campaigning for the Senate in 1948, Kefauver was accused by his opponent of working for Communists with the stealth of a raccoon. He made fun of the charges by wearing a coonskin cap in every appearance. After winning the election, the cap became Kefauver’s trademark.
In addition to the Congressional gains, the Democrats also picked up a few Governorships. The most notable gubernatorial win took place in Illinois. Although Dewey carried the Land of Lincoln, it didn’t help lackluster Republican incumbent Dwight H. Green. Serving as Governor since 1941, Green’s second four-year term was ravaged by postwar problems – particularly a sharp housing shortage for returning veterans. He struggled in his campaign for a third term against Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson. A member of a prominent Illinois political family (which included a Vice President, a Secretary of State of Illinois, and Abraham Lincoln’s campaign manager during his unsuccessful 1858 Senate race), Stevenson was an intellectual lawyer known for his public speaking and his self-deprecating sense of humor. With the winds of change blowing behind him, Stevenson defeated Green in an astonishing landslide. On January 10th, 1949, he took office as the thirty-first Governor of Illinois.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dewey’s Second Inauguration
The morning of January 20th, 1949 was chilly and sunny in Washington, D.C. – perfect weather for a Presidential inauguration. Four years earlier, Dewey’s first inauguration had been a solemn, simple affair at the White House. Having won re-election, the President wanted his second inauguration to be the complete opposite. It would be the biggest, most expensive inauguration the city had ever seen. Eighty-thousand dollars would be spent on the lavish affair. More than a million people would be on hand to witness the pomp and pageantry.
For the first time ever, television would broadcast the proceedings live for those unable to make it to the nation’s capital. Early that morning, Dewey made the last decision of his first term: he would withdraw American forces from Korea. With the two Chinas relatively stable – despite a tense border and even tenser relations – and Korea in no particular danger, the President was willing to bring the troops stationed on the peninsula home. Shortly afterwards, he and his family attended the traditional prayer service at St. John’s Episcopal Church. From Church, Dewey and Bricker rode together to the Capitol Building for the inauguration (to be held in front of the East Portico). First, Bricker was sworn-in again as Vice President. Then, with the clock reading 1:29 P.M., President Thomas Edmund Dewey raised his right hand and was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice Curtis Shake. In his second inaugural address, the forty-six-year-old strongly stressed the need for the United States to play a major role in guaranteeing the postwar peace:
“In the cause of peace and freedom, America is the decisive power in the world. We did not deliberately seek this decisive role. We have been reluctant to accept its immense responsibilities and assume its heavy burdens. The bitter sacrifices of two World Wars and the anxieties of a peace that is not peace have taught us however that there can never be isolation for America. There can be no withdrawal from a world where freedom and tyranny are locked in a deadly struggle for survival.
As a people we are resolved to accept the great world role which providence has marked out for us. We are resolved to take our stand on the side of liberty and peace, to make our position unmistakable and irrevocably clear.
We have not come to these decisions as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans. War lays its tragedy on all of us. Peace is a blessing that we all share. Division and dissension are an invitation to the aggressor. We will put them behind us. The task of waging peace should be above partisanship. We must keep it above partisanship. America will stand before the world as one country and one people, believing deeply in the cause of peace.
Our strength for peace is spiritual as well as material. We are armed with the sure knowledge that our cause is a just cause. Throughout history, cynical men have boasted that might make right. We live by higher principals than that. Over the years, the United States has given to the world an unequalled demonstration of a great Nation using its great power for great purposes. In the whole length of human history, there is no parallel for what our country has done.
In America, the cause of human freedom, of justice, and of peace has a mighty ally. For too long, we have taken count of our weaknesses and counsel of our fears. Let us now take inventory of our strength. Let us act decisively to arouse and strengthen and solidify the free world so that the forces making peace will be more powerful than the forces making war.
We can once again lead from strength and not from weakness. We can make it clear to the entire world that America stands with the free peoples of Europe and of North and South America and elsewhere in the world, determined to uphold the cause of human freedom and able to back up its determination.
If we can unite our strength and draw together with all the people who believe with us in peace with honor and justice, we can bring together such a great force that once again the cause of freedom will be a vital and expanding thing. We will again bring hope to millions all over the world. We will strengthen our purpose. We will strengthen our policies. We will reinforce our friends.
We shall build a peace so strong and so unbreakable that we can move on to a better and happier life for every American, a more secure and happier future for all our children.”
After the inauguration, the President and the Vice President watched a seven-mile-long procession that took three hours to pass their glass-enclosed reviewing stand (situated in front of the White House). The procession included West Point cadets, midshipmen from Annapolis, the Marine Band, the United States Army Band, various other bands, state governors in open cars, floats representing every state, and military vehicles. For Dewey, it was a wonderful start to his second term. Sadly, that feeling would be short-lived.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1949 Overview of the Dewey Administration
Army
Infantry: 38
Cavalry: 14
Motorized: 10
Mechanized: 4
Armored: 24
Paratroop: 7
Marine: 14
Mountaineer: 14
Garrison: 3
Headquarters: 9
Militia: 10
Navy
Battleship: 27
Light Cruiser: 37
Heavy Cruiser: 19
Battlecruiser: 11
Destroyer Group: 39
Carrier: 15
Light Carrier: 6
Submarine: 11
Transport: 28
Air Force
Fighter: 7
Interceptor: 9
Strategic Bomber: 7
Tactical Bomber: 11
Naval Bomber: 8
Close Air Support: 8
Transport: 8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Note from the Author
During his first term in office, President Dewey made two appointments to the Supreme Court. On July 31st, 1945, Hoover-appointed Associate Justice Owen Roberts retired after fifteen years on the Supreme Court. The President picked New York State Attorney General Nathaniel L. Goldstein to succeed Roberts. Less than a year later, on April 22nd, 1946, Coolidge-appointed Associate Justice Harlan F. Stone died of a cerebral hemorrhage – ending twenty-one years on the Supreme Court. To take his place, Dewey selected close aide Charles D. Breitel. This is the composition of the Supreme Court at the time of the Presidential inauguration in January 1949:
Chief Justice Curtis Shake (1941-1978; Willkie appointment)
Associate Justice Hugo Black (1937-1971; Roosevelt appointment)
Associate Justice Stanley F. Reed (1938-1957; Roosevelt appointment)
Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter (1939-1962; Roosevelt appointment)
Associate Justice William O. Douglas (1939-1975; Roosevelt appointment)
Associate Justice Frank Murphy (1940-1949; Roosevelt appointment)
Associate Justice Percy R. Kelly (1941-1949; Willkie appointment)
Associate Justice Nathaniel L. Goldstein (1945-1981; Dewey appointment)
Associate Justice Charles D. Breitel (1946-1986; Dewey appointment)
Of these nine men, Murphy and Kelly will leave the Supreme Court during Dewey’s second term in office. Therefore, he will have two more seats to fill – bringing his total to four.
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Fairly standard looking post war, not sure on the details but the general gist looks about the same (Though why the hell the collaborators of Sweden and the cowards of Ireland get anything I've no idea)
Will post-colonial borders make sense and work this time (as much as they can at this late date) or will everyone screw up again?
Trying to make sense of this bit: Merging the Department of the Army and Navy into Defence; but then splitting off a Department of the Air Force?
yeah, ireland werent even in the war were they? (in your timeline) why do they deserve or need aid?
4/10/10: My apologizes. Due to my revision, I have decided to re-order some of my posts. Posts 223-226 now refer to Post 227 instead of Post 222.
I know it is weird reading comments before the update, but...think of it as a preview.
El Pip: Given that Dewey historically supported Truman's postwar foreign policies, it seems likely to me that Dewey might have taken a similiar route - but with different actors in these roles.
I see that a lot in second-order counterfactuals - which this AAR is. After a major change in history, a familiar pattern takes place.
Ireland and Sweden get things because the Americans don't want to risk annoying any of the non-Communist countries into drifting into the Communist camp.
Imagine if Sweden turns Red! All the people who made this game would become Communists and rig HOI so the Soviet Union always wins!
Teep: What do you mean?
Incognitia: The United States Air Force started out as part of the Army. That's why they called it the United States Army Air Force. After the war, the decision was made to make the Air Force independent. The Defense Department covers the Army, Navy, and Air Force. It just that the Air Force is independent of the Army.
I hope that helps. *revises information in update*
BritishImperial: Ireland gets aid because Joseph Kennedy said so.
Actually, like I said before, all the countries that applies for the Marshall Aid gets something - regardless of whether or not they fought in the war.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Marshall Plan
Six days after the inauguration, the first major event of Dewey’s second term began to take shape. On January 26th, the Secretary of State arrived in the Oval Office for an important meeting. Marshall had just returned to the United States from his inspection tour of Europe. Visiting several countries, he saw first hand how the continent was still gripped by the devastation inflicted by World War Two. Almost five years after Germany’s surrender, Europe’s recovery was moving at a snail pace. Her division by the Iron Curtain only exacerbated the problem. While the Soviet Union tightened its’ oppressive hold over Eastern Europe (transforming the region into the Eastern Bloc), desperate people in Central and Western Europe looked favorably at local Communist parties to solve their problems. Gravely worried, Marshall warned the President that if the United States “wait any longer to take action, a point will come when the actions we take will amount to nothing.”
Three months earlier, the United States had given five-hundred million dollars to Greece, Turkey, and Yugoslavia to help them oppose Communism militarily and economically. Now, the Dewey Administration decided to greatly expand upon that by providing economic assistance to the rest of Europe. Soviet indifference towards economic rehabilitation would be countered with American desire for stability and prosperity. After the meeting, the President quickly ordered the State Department to draw up plans to accelerate European recovery. Within a month, an outline of an American aid effort aimed at not only “combating Communism as such but to the restoration of the economic health and vigor of European society” had been reached. To make the plan public, Marshall decided to use an upcoming speaking engagement in Boston, Massachusetts to make the case. On March 5th, addressing a large audience in Bean Town, he proposed using American aid in promoting European recovery and reconstruction:
“Aside from the demoralizing effect on the world at large and the possibilities of disturbances arising as a result of the desperation of the people concerned, the consequences to the economy of the United States should be apparent to all. It is logical that the United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world, without which there can be no political stability and no assured peace. Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist.
Such assistance, I am convinced, must not be on a piecemeal basis, as various crises develop. Any assistance that this Government may render in the future should provide a cure rather than a mere palliative. Any government that is willing to assist in the task of recovery will find full cooperation; I am sure, on the part of the United States Government. Any government which maneuvers to block the recovery of other countries cannot expect help from us. Furthermore, governments, political parties, or groups which seek to perpetuate human misery in order to profit there from politically or otherwise will encounter the opposition of the United States.
It is already evident that before the United States Government can proceed much further in its efforts to alleviate the situation and help start the European world on its way to recovery, there must be some agreement among the countries of Europe as to the requirements of the situation and the part those countries themselves will take in order to give a proper effect to whatever actions might be undertaken by this Government. It would be neither fitting nor efficacious for our Government to undertake to draw up unilaterally a program designed to place Europe on its feet economically. This is the business of the Europeans. The initiative, I think, must come from Europe. The role of this country should consist of friendly aid in the drafting of a European program and of later support of such a program so far as it may be practical for us to do so. The program should be a joint one, agreed to by a number, if not all, European nations.”
The reaction from Europe was immediate and favorable. British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin, calling the speech a “lifeline”, immediately contacted his French counterpart to hastily arrange a continental meeting to discuss and ultimately accept the offer. The Soviets were invited to take part in the talks; although, it was obvious that Stalin wouldn’t go along with anything that would help Central and Western Europe. Convening in Paris on April 12th, representatives from most of Europe met to discuss Marshall’s proposal. The Soviet Union and the countries under her iron-clad control refused to attend the meeting on the correct perception that the Americans were trying to counter Stalin’s influence in European affairs. After a long and complex conference, the participating nations agreed on a plan that promoted free trade and continental unity. The Europeans then sent the Dewey Administration a reconstruction plan requesting twenty-two billion dollars in aid over a four-year period. From the White House, the plan was then submitted to the Eighty-First Congress for its approval. Weary of spending more money on foreign relief, Congress sharply opposed it – with Taft leading the opposition, of course. Knowing that he needed his archenemy on board in order to push the plan through and transform Europe into what he called “a Federal union”, Dewey dispatched Dulles to meet with the Ohio Senator on his behalf and learn what the price would be for ensuring Congressional approval.
“What does that bum want?” was the question facing Dulles upon returning to the Oval Office. The foreign policy advisor answered that Taft would only support the European Recovery Program (the official name for what history remembers as the Marshall Plan) if the price tag was slashed down to thirteen billion dollars – a sixty-percent reduction. Once Taft gave his blessing, like-minded Conservatives would fall into line. The President had no choice but to accept the condition. After being informed that the White House would give into his demand, Taft worked in tandem with Republican House Majority Leader Charles A. Halleck of Indiana to steer the ERP through Congress. Ten months after Marshall’s speech in Boston, Dewey signed the European Recovery Act into law on January 3rd, 1950.
Upon writing his signature, he dryly observed:
“The European Recovery program will cost us a few billion. War, on the other hand, will cost us hundreds of billions. If we did not have so many friends and allies, it would cost us our liberty and our country itself.”
A colossal thirteen billion dollar aid package was sent to Europe to speed up recovery. By the time the money ran out in 1954, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Yugoslavia were all better off than they were four years earlier. Industrial production had increased by thirty percent, agricultural production reached a record high, postwar poverty and starvation vanished, and Europe outside the Iron Curtain embarked upon two decades of growth which dramatically increased standards of living. The Marshall Plan also brought about political stability and greatly reduced Communist influence. Europe would show its’ gratitude by awarding Marshall the Nobel Peace Prize in 1955.
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The Taft-Hartley Act
An historian once noted that “Thomas E. Dewey’s second term is very unusual. Usually, a President who is re-elected uses their second term as a continuation of their first. Not in this case; where Dewey’s second term doesn’t reflect his first. The period between 1945 and 1949 was mostly reactionary. It was all about solving problems that were popping up at a rapid pace. 1948 changed this. From 1949 to 1953, the emphasis was on legacy-building instead. Dewey’s re-election gave him a self-mandate to do things that people would remember most.”
Legacy-building was certainly on Dewey’s mind in the spring of 1949. Early March witnessed the rolling out of the Marshall Plan. That was soon followed by a controversial piece of domestic legislation. The great labor unrest of 1947 had greatly alarmed Congressional Republicans; they blamed the pro-labor Wagner Act of 1935 for it. In 1941, Republican President Wendell Willkie tried to curtail the Wagner Act as part of the New Deal-reforming Landon Plan. However, Democratic majorities in both Houses of Congress blocked him from doing so. Now that the G.O.P. enjoyed majority-status, they decided to have another go at “curbing the powers of Big Labor.”
The result was the Taft-Hartley Act. Sponsored by Taft – who wanted to make labor-management relations “a two-way street” – and Republican Representative Fred A. Hartley, Jr. of New Jersey, the Act amended the Wagner Act in a number of ways. Jurisdictional strikes, wildcat strikes, political strikes, secondary boycotts, secondary picketing, closed shops, and monetary donations by unions to political campaigns were all banned. In addition, heavy restrictions were placed on union shops and states were given authority to pass right-to-work laws. Finally, the Executive Branch was granted the right to obtain legal strikebreaking injunctions if an impending or current strike “imperiled the national health or safety.”
On March 20th, Dewey signed the Taft-Hartley Act into law. Of course, union leaders reacted by screaming bloody murder. “Repeal Taft-Hartley!” became the rallying cry for Democrats seeking the Labor vote. On the floor of the Senate, Truman – who had voted against the bill – attacked the President for approving “this blatant move towards slave labor.”
On the other hand, many Democrats voted for the bill. Among them was Lyndon B. Johnson, the new Texas Senator. He was critical of unions, and thought the Senate Minority Whip was going overboard in his opposition.
A month later, Dewey signed his sweeping National Security Act into law. Part of his Cold War strategy was to streamline the military, foreign policy, and intelligence gathering in order to make the United States more efficient at dealing with the Soviet threat. Under his reorganization plan (which took effect that June), the NSA merged the Department of War and the Department of the Navy into the Department of Defense. Alf M. Landon, the final Secretary of War, became the first Secretary of Defense.
Up until this point, the Air Force had been controlled by the United States Army. The NSA changed this. The United States Air Force became a separate military branch, with Carl A. Spaatz serving as her first Chief of Staff.
The NSA also established the National Security Council to advise and assist the President on national security and foreign policy matters. The initial members of the NSC were the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and whomever the President felt should sit on the council. Finally, the NSA created the civilian Central Intelligence Agency to collect and analyze intelligence information. Former Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. of Massachusetts – already serving as the Director of the Central Intelligence Group – made the jump to the position of being the first Director of the CIA.
I know it is weird reading comments before the update, but...think of it as a preview.
El Pip: Given that Dewey historically supported Truman's postwar foreign policies, it seems likely to me that Dewey might have taken a similiar route - but with different actors in these roles.
I see that a lot in second-order counterfactuals - which this AAR is. After a major change in history, a familiar pattern takes place.
Ireland and Sweden get things because the Americans don't want to risk annoying any of the non-Communist countries into drifting into the Communist camp.
Imagine if Sweden turns Red! All the people who made this game would become Communists and rig HOI so the Soviet Union always wins!
Teep: What do you mean?
Incognitia: The United States Air Force started out as part of the Army. That's why they called it the United States Army Air Force. After the war, the decision was made to make the Air Force independent. The Defense Department covers the Army, Navy, and Air Force. It just that the Air Force is independent of the Army.
I hope that helps. *revises information in update*
BritishImperial: Ireland gets aid because Joseph Kennedy said so.
Actually, like I said before, all the countries that applies for the Marshall Aid gets something - regardless of whether or not they fought in the war.
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The Marshall Plan
Six days after the inauguration, the first major event of Dewey’s second term began to take shape. On January 26th, the Secretary of State arrived in the Oval Office for an important meeting. Marshall had just returned to the United States from his inspection tour of Europe. Visiting several countries, he saw first hand how the continent was still gripped by the devastation inflicted by World War Two. Almost five years after Germany’s surrender, Europe’s recovery was moving at a snail pace. Her division by the Iron Curtain only exacerbated the problem. While the Soviet Union tightened its’ oppressive hold over Eastern Europe (transforming the region into the Eastern Bloc), desperate people in Central and Western Europe looked favorably at local Communist parties to solve their problems. Gravely worried, Marshall warned the President that if the United States “wait any longer to take action, a point will come when the actions we take will amount to nothing.”
Three months earlier, the United States had given five-hundred million dollars to Greece, Turkey, and Yugoslavia to help them oppose Communism militarily and economically. Now, the Dewey Administration decided to greatly expand upon that by providing economic assistance to the rest of Europe. Soviet indifference towards economic rehabilitation would be countered with American desire for stability and prosperity. After the meeting, the President quickly ordered the State Department to draw up plans to accelerate European recovery. Within a month, an outline of an American aid effort aimed at not only “combating Communism as such but to the restoration of the economic health and vigor of European society” had been reached. To make the plan public, Marshall decided to use an upcoming speaking engagement in Boston, Massachusetts to make the case. On March 5th, addressing a large audience in Bean Town, he proposed using American aid in promoting European recovery and reconstruction:
“Aside from the demoralizing effect on the world at large and the possibilities of disturbances arising as a result of the desperation of the people concerned, the consequences to the economy of the United States should be apparent to all. It is logical that the United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world, without which there can be no political stability and no assured peace. Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist.
Such assistance, I am convinced, must not be on a piecemeal basis, as various crises develop. Any assistance that this Government may render in the future should provide a cure rather than a mere palliative. Any government that is willing to assist in the task of recovery will find full cooperation; I am sure, on the part of the United States Government. Any government which maneuvers to block the recovery of other countries cannot expect help from us. Furthermore, governments, political parties, or groups which seek to perpetuate human misery in order to profit there from politically or otherwise will encounter the opposition of the United States.
It is already evident that before the United States Government can proceed much further in its efforts to alleviate the situation and help start the European world on its way to recovery, there must be some agreement among the countries of Europe as to the requirements of the situation and the part those countries themselves will take in order to give a proper effect to whatever actions might be undertaken by this Government. It would be neither fitting nor efficacious for our Government to undertake to draw up unilaterally a program designed to place Europe on its feet economically. This is the business of the Europeans. The initiative, I think, must come from Europe. The role of this country should consist of friendly aid in the drafting of a European program and of later support of such a program so far as it may be practical for us to do so. The program should be a joint one, agreed to by a number, if not all, European nations.”
The reaction from Europe was immediate and favorable. British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin, calling the speech a “lifeline”, immediately contacted his French counterpart to hastily arrange a continental meeting to discuss and ultimately accept the offer. The Soviets were invited to take part in the talks; although, it was obvious that Stalin wouldn’t go along with anything that would help Central and Western Europe. Convening in Paris on April 12th, representatives from most of Europe met to discuss Marshall’s proposal. The Soviet Union and the countries under her iron-clad control refused to attend the meeting on the correct perception that the Americans were trying to counter Stalin’s influence in European affairs. After a long and complex conference, the participating nations agreed on a plan that promoted free trade and continental unity. The Europeans then sent the Dewey Administration a reconstruction plan requesting twenty-two billion dollars in aid over a four-year period. From the White House, the plan was then submitted to the Eighty-First Congress for its approval. Weary of spending more money on foreign relief, Congress sharply opposed it – with Taft leading the opposition, of course. Knowing that he needed his archenemy on board in order to push the plan through and transform Europe into what he called “a Federal union”, Dewey dispatched Dulles to meet with the Ohio Senator on his behalf and learn what the price would be for ensuring Congressional approval.
“What does that bum want?” was the question facing Dulles upon returning to the Oval Office. The foreign policy advisor answered that Taft would only support the European Recovery Program (the official name for what history remembers as the Marshall Plan) if the price tag was slashed down to thirteen billion dollars – a sixty-percent reduction. Once Taft gave his blessing, like-minded Conservatives would fall into line. The President had no choice but to accept the condition. After being informed that the White House would give into his demand, Taft worked in tandem with Republican House Majority Leader Charles A. Halleck of Indiana to steer the ERP through Congress. Ten months after Marshall’s speech in Boston, Dewey signed the European Recovery Act into law on January 3rd, 1950.
Upon writing his signature, he dryly observed:
“The European Recovery program will cost us a few billion. War, on the other hand, will cost us hundreds of billions. If we did not have so many friends and allies, it would cost us our liberty and our country itself.”
A colossal thirteen billion dollar aid package was sent to Europe to speed up recovery. By the time the money ran out in 1954, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Yugoslavia were all better off than they were four years earlier. Industrial production had increased by thirty percent, agricultural production reached a record high, postwar poverty and starvation vanished, and Europe outside the Iron Curtain embarked upon two decades of growth which dramatically increased standards of living. The Marshall Plan also brought about political stability and greatly reduced Communist influence. Europe would show its’ gratitude by awarding Marshall the Nobel Peace Prize in 1955.
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The Taft-Hartley Act
An historian once noted that “Thomas E. Dewey’s second term is very unusual. Usually, a President who is re-elected uses their second term as a continuation of their first. Not in this case; where Dewey’s second term doesn’t reflect his first. The period between 1945 and 1949 was mostly reactionary. It was all about solving problems that were popping up at a rapid pace. 1948 changed this. From 1949 to 1953, the emphasis was on legacy-building instead. Dewey’s re-election gave him a self-mandate to do things that people would remember most.”
Legacy-building was certainly on Dewey’s mind in the spring of 1949. Early March witnessed the rolling out of the Marshall Plan. That was soon followed by a controversial piece of domestic legislation. The great labor unrest of 1947 had greatly alarmed Congressional Republicans; they blamed the pro-labor Wagner Act of 1935 for it. In 1941, Republican President Wendell Willkie tried to curtail the Wagner Act as part of the New Deal-reforming Landon Plan. However, Democratic majorities in both Houses of Congress blocked him from doing so. Now that the G.O.P. enjoyed majority-status, they decided to have another go at “curbing the powers of Big Labor.”
The result was the Taft-Hartley Act. Sponsored by Taft – who wanted to make labor-management relations “a two-way street” – and Republican Representative Fred A. Hartley, Jr. of New Jersey, the Act amended the Wagner Act in a number of ways. Jurisdictional strikes, wildcat strikes, political strikes, secondary boycotts, secondary picketing, closed shops, and monetary donations by unions to political campaigns were all banned. In addition, heavy restrictions were placed on union shops and states were given authority to pass right-to-work laws. Finally, the Executive Branch was granted the right to obtain legal strikebreaking injunctions if an impending or current strike “imperiled the national health or safety.”
On March 20th, Dewey signed the Taft-Hartley Act into law. Of course, union leaders reacted by screaming bloody murder. “Repeal Taft-Hartley!” became the rallying cry for Democrats seeking the Labor vote. On the floor of the Senate, Truman – who had voted against the bill – attacked the President for approving “this blatant move towards slave labor.”
On the other hand, many Democrats voted for the bill. Among them was Lyndon B. Johnson, the new Texas Senator. He was critical of unions, and thought the Senate Minority Whip was going overboard in his opposition.
A month later, Dewey signed his sweeping National Security Act into law. Part of his Cold War strategy was to streamline the military, foreign policy, and intelligence gathering in order to make the United States more efficient at dealing with the Soviet threat. Under his reorganization plan (which took effect that June), the NSA merged the Department of War and the Department of the Navy into the Department of Defense. Alf M. Landon, the final Secretary of War, became the first Secretary of Defense.
Up until this point, the Air Force had been controlled by the United States Army. The NSA changed this. The United States Air Force became a separate military branch, with Carl A. Spaatz serving as her first Chief of Staff.
The NSA also established the National Security Council to advise and assist the President on national security and foreign policy matters. The initial members of the NSC were the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and whomever the President felt should sit on the council. Finally, the NSA created the civilian Central Intelligence Agency to collect and analyze intelligence information. Former Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. of Massachusetts – already serving as the Director of the Central Intelligence Group – made the jump to the position of being the first Director of the CIA.
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The Dewey-Taft Feud
The 1940s was a prosperous decade for the Republican Party. Having regained the White House in 1940, the Party of Lincoln went on to recapture the House of Representatives in 1944 and the Senate in 1946. Times should have been golden for them; however, a major problem lurked beneath the surface. Controlling the Federal Government, Republicans were split about which ideological course to pursue. The Eastern Establishment, represented by Dewey, occupied the White House and wanted to purse a liberal, internationalist agenda. Congress, on the other hand, was led by Taft and wanted to move America in a conservative, isolationist direction. Rather than seek compromise, both sides insisted they were right and the other side was wrong. This “us-versus-them” mentality led to the fissure between the Left and Right wings of the G.O.P., which had been dormant during World War Two, being slowly awaken in 1947. Two years later, it would erupt violently, taking down the Party in the process.
The eruption began when Dewey delivered his 1949 State of the Union Address. With the Eightieth Congress, he had been willing to take what he could get – his anger notwithstanding. With the Eighty-First, he was different. In an uncompromising tone, he essentially told Congress, “I have a liberal legislative agenda to enact. You will enact it. Doing nothing is not an option I will accept. If I have to knock some heads together, I will.”
Conservative Republicans and Southern Democrats sat stone-faced, not liking what they heard. Nor did they like what they heard in early February, when the President addressed a dinner honoring former President Abraham Lincoln’s one-hundred-fortieth birthday:
“The time has come to confront a truth. The Republican Party is split wide open. It has been split wide open for years, but we have tried to gloss it over. We have in our party some fine, high-minded patriotic people who honestly oppose farm price supports, unemployment insurance, old age benefits, slum clearance, and other social programs. These people consider these programs horrendous departures into paternalism. These people believe in a laissez-faire society and look back wistfully to the miscalled ‘good old days’ of the Nineteenth Century.
However, if such efforts to turn back the clock were actually pursued, you can bury the Republican Party as the deadest pigeon in the country. We need to stop bellyaching about the past and go on from there to provide progressive ideas in line with the overwhelming majority who believe that government has to be more than a cold and impartial umpire.
Those who oppose a liberal and progressive Republican Party ought to go out and try to get elected in a typical American community and see what happens to them. But they ought not to do it as Republicans. They should do it instead as slaves with chains around their minds and dangling on their heels. Those who are Republicans go as free men with their heads high and their minds and souls unfettered by the state. The whole difference between freedom and slavery lies in how you advance toward your goals.
I believe in social progress, under a flourishing, competitive system of private enterprise where every human right is expanded. I am opposed to delivering the nation into the hands of any group who will have the power to tell American people whether they may have food or fuel, shelter or jobs. My desire has always been to strip fat from government’s frame, replace political spoils with competent rule, and preserve individual freedom and economic incentive. I want to save Americans from the tyranny of the few.”
The Conservatives whom Dewey slammed were still in no mood to rubberstamp a domestic agenda they opposed. Republican Senator Ralph L. Carr of Colorado spoke on behalf of his colleagues:
“The President’s plan is not consonant with the American system of government, or with a capitalist economy. We Republicans need to take a determined stand against further experimentation in the field of socialism and Communist philosophy. The existence of an equality of opportunity is not to be questioned because some of our citizens refuse to put forth the necessary energy to realize that opportunity.”
The record of the Eighty-First Congress:
-Congress again ignored calls to improve health care, raise the minimum wage, increase unemployment compensation, expand Social Security, and streamline Civil Service. In addition, the creation of an agency to coordinate unemployment insurance between the states still went nowhere. Instead, they focused on cutting Federal spending wherever they could.
-A massive housing program was enacted. Under the Housing Act, Federal financing was provided to states for slum clearance, mortgage insurance from the Federal Housing Administration was increased, the Federal Government was authorized to build over eight-hundred-thousand low-cost public housing units, and the FHA was permitted to provide financing for rural homeowners. Taft had sponsored the bill, making it one of the few items he and Dewey could agree on.
-Congress did agree to increase Federal assistance for education (again, Taft supported this). However, Dewey’s call to outlaw discrimination in the classroom was blocked by Southern Democrats.
-In addition, Southern Democrats continued to block Dewey’s aggressive civil rights program. A Federal anti-lynching law (a Presidential priority since the Willkie Administration), a more effective statutory protection of voting rights, the abolition of the poll tax, establishing a permanent Fair Employment Practices Commission, ending discrimination in interstate travel, and enacting a constitutional amendment guaranteeing equal rights were all filibustered to death. Despite the Congressional roadblock, the President did find a few ways to advance the cause of civil rights. For instance, he denied government contracts or financial assistance to those with racially discriminatory practices and named African-Americans to Federal posts – most notably Bertha J. Diggs as Secretary of Labor. In turn, African-Americans strongly supported both Dewey and the Republican Party in general. In their eyes, the G.O.P. was at least trying to end discrimination.
In the end, Dewey was no happier with the Eighty-First Congress than he was with the previous one. Of course, he blamed Taft for blocking his agenda – once remarking that his archenemy should have carnal relations with himself. Why did he hate Taft so much? The answer has to do with the fact that the Ohio Senator wielded considerable influence seldom seen on Capitol Hill – so much power in fact that he earned the nickname “Mr. Republican”. It was Taft who made committee assignments, set legislative priorities, and chose which proposals coming out of the Executive Branch would receive Congressional approval. He was also very detail-oriented, possessing an awe-inspiring mastery of facts and figures. Taft was also not afraid to snap at his colleagues and made no apologies for his icy demeanor.
The old saying “This town isn’t big enough for the both of us!” appropriately sums up the relationship between Dewey and Taft. It wasn’t just that Dewey was a Liberal and Taft was a Conservative. What was at stake for them was control of the Republican Party. Like a title boxing match, the winner of this battle would become the Party’s undisputed leader. Both men wanted to be the champ, and neither one was willing to back down. It was the Dewey-versus-Taft conflict that laid at the heart of the erupting fissure that was tearing the Party apart.
Upon his return to the United States on June 10th from an inspection tour of Europe (which included strengthening America’s friendship with France, warning the United Kingdom not to tilt too much towards greater nationalization of their economy, and being treated like a national hero in the Federal Republic of Germany for his role in preventing the FRG from being carved up after the war), the President decided to react to Congress blatantly ignoring his “pass my agenda or else” warning by carrying out his “or else” threat. Acting in a “two can play this game” mentality, Dewey exercised his veto power more frequently. Conservative bills – even those he might otherwise have approved – that reached his desk were quickly rejected and returned to Congress (which either had enough votes to override the veto or allowed the bill to die in vain). In doing so, Dewey was giving future historians a major reason for giving him mixed scores in Presidential rankings. One historian has explained why the thirty-fifth President generally sits in the “upper good, lower great” region:
“His foreign policy was excellent. His handling of both the Second World War and the Cold War showed off his decisiveness and firmness. His dealings with Congress, on the other hand, were horrendous. He was stubborn and unwilling to work with people he disagreed with. Not surprisingly, that makes for bad government.”
Equally stubborn was Taft. Instead of scaring him, Dewey’s vetoing only hardened the Ohio Senator. Whenever anyone asked why he didn’t want to seek an armistice, Mr. Republican always pounded his fist on the table and crisply stated that the White House was “too liberal” and that he would continue to stonewall as long as he wanted.
The Federal Government is supposed to put the interest of the nation first. Obviously, the Republican White House and the Republican Congress were more interested in power struggles than in governing…and they would pay a heavy price for it as their feud entered the politically important year of 1950.
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1950 Overview of the Dewey Administration
Army
Infantry: 39
Cavalry: 15
Motorized: 11
Mechanized: 5
Armored: 25
Paratroop: 8
Marine: 15
Mountaineer: 15
Garrison: 4
Headquarters: 9
Militia: 11
Navy
Battleship: 29
Light Cruiser: 43
Heavy Cruiser: 21
Battlecruiser: 11
Destroyer Group: 45
Carrier: 17
Light Carrier: 8
Submarine: 13
Transport: 29
Air Force
Fighter: 8
Interceptor: 12
Strategic Bomber: 9
Tactical Bomber: 12
Naval Bomber: 9
Close Air Support: 8
Transport: 9
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Israel
It was during Dewey’s second term that the Middle East became an important region in the realm of America’s foreign policy. From this point on, events in this part of the world could no longer be ignored by the Americans. The first major postwar issue in the Middle East was the fate of Palestine. Since 1920, the British maintained control over Palestine in the form of a mandate.
For three decades, the British had to deal with two major populations that lived within Palestine: the Jews and the Palestinians. The problem was that both groups had staked historical claims to the area. Thus far, the British solution to this problem was to maintain strict immigrations quotas for Jews interested in moving to Palestine. However, rather than ease tensions between these two different groups, the quotas eventually made things worse. By the late 1940s, a series of violent attacks conducted by the Jewish Resistance Movement against the British had made the Mandate untenable. One terrorist attack alone killed ninety-one people when the Irgun (the military arm of the JRM) bombed the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. The hotel was targeted because it was the site of the central offices of the Mandate authorities.
Upon becoming Prime Minister in July 1948, Attlee decided enough was enough. A few months into his Premiership, Attlee announced his country was planning to terminate the Palestine Mandate and turn the issue over to the United Nations. On February 15th, 1949, the UN created a special committee consisting of representatives from eleven countries to research the Palestine question and come up with a solution. Three months later, a solution was proposed: create independent Palestinian and Jewish states, with Jerusalem placed under international administration.
On August 29th, the Partition Plan was placed before the General Assembly of the United Nations for a vote. By a margin of twenty votes, the Plan was approved (United States Ambassador Arthur Vandenberg had worked behind the scenes to see the measure through). It would take effect on February 15th, 1950 – the date the British would withdraw from Palestine. The Jews were elated by the news, while Arabs across the region vehemently rejected the Plan. Meeting in Cairo, Egypt shortly after the vote, Arab nations decided to militarily oppose the creation of a Jewish state. The result was a civil war between Jewish and Arab communities throughout Palestine that would last until the termination of the British Mandate took effect in mid-February. Thousands of people would be killed and wounded in a struggle to determine the outcome of Partition.
Where did the United States stand in all this? The President strongly supported the establishment of a Jewish state in the Middle East. From the moment he took office, Dewey had consistently pressured the British to allow more Jews to migrate to Palestine. He met often with leaders of the Jewish community; assuring them that the United States was genuinely committed to supporting the Zionist cause. Dewey’s position was overwhelmingly backed by public opinion…but not the State Department. In meetings in the Oval Office, Marshall and others strongly disagreed with the President. They argued it would arouse Arab hostility, endanger America’s access to petroleum resources throughout the region, and have a negative impact on the national security front. On November 12th, Marshall went as far as saying that the United States was “playing with fire while having nothing with which to put it out.”
However, having made up his mind to back the Partition Plan, Dewey refused to back down. At one point, he point-blankly reminded his Secretary of State (this is his remarks in a nutshell), “I am in charge here, George. I have the final word on all matters. We are going to support the Jews, whether you like it or not. You know I have a ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy towards insubordination. If this bothers you that much, I will accept your resignation and find someone else to do your job.”
With the State Department effectively sidelined, Dewey met with renowned Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann on December 18th and informed him that the United States would recognize the Jewish state when it came into being. The small and charming Weizmann thanked him for “the sympathetic interest which you have constantly devoted to the cause of our people.”
The dramatic moment came on February 14th, 1950. With the Mandate set to expire the next day, an interim Jewish government headed by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion issued a Declaration of Independence and called their new nation “Israel” (the biblical name for the region). Eleven minutes later, Dewey publicly announced that the United States formally recognized the State of Israel – the first nation to do so. Of course, Jewish reaction was nothing but deeply moving gratitude. For instance, Chief Rabbi of Israel Isaac Halevi Herzog told the President:
“God put you in your mother’s womb so you would be the instrument to bring the rebirth of Israel after two thousand years.”
With Israel now on the map, Arabs became hell-bent on stamping it out. The bloody civil war that had been raging since last September suddenly transformed into all-out war. The day after Israel came into being, a large Arab army comprised of thousands of troops belonging to Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria invaded the newborn country. In response, the newly created Israel Defense Forces defended their home turf with an initial army of thirty-thousand (to grow steadily by an average of ten-thousand soldiers a month).
Watching the war unfold from the White House, the President not only opposed the Arab invasion but wanted to militarily aid the Israelis in the “rightful defense of their country.”
Meeting with his Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Commander-in-Chief stated that he wanted to deploy thirty-thousand troops and a carrier task force to the Middle East to prop up America’s newest ally. It was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dwight D. Eisenhower who talked him out of it. Displaying the levelheadedness that had made him so indispensable in Dewey’s eyes, Eisenhower warned that military intervention by the United States to protect Israel would require at least three times the amount Dewey had in mind. “Mr. President,” Ike said plainly, “I know you want to help the Jews and that is admirable. However, the hard truth is that if we go into Israel, we are going to be fighting the entire Middle East. We will run the risk of transforming a regional conflict into a new global war. If we go into the Middle East, the Arabs might turn to the Soviet Union for support. If the Soviets get involved, we could be looking at World War Three. Mr. President, I cannot stress enough how risky this situation is. It has only been three years since Japan surrendered. That involved a massive lost of life. If we go to war in the Middle East, victory will be very hard to achieve…if we can achieve it at all.”
The President leaned back in his chair, taking Eisenhower’s words into consideration. After a few minutes of silence, Dewey leaned forward and spoke:
“Gentlemen, I can disagree with Marshall and I can disagree with others. I cannot disagree with Ike.”
Backing down, he scrapped the idea of military intervention. Instead, he would take the less risky step of authorizing arms shipments to Israel. Once again, Eisenhower was the hero of the day – this time nipping war in the bud. As it turned out, direct American involvement wasn’t needed. Israel not only held her ground but fought back. The war lasted until April 20th, 1951, when the Arabs threw in the towel. In the end, Israel decisively came out on top. In a series of armistice agreements reached between Israel and her enemies, territorial lines were established that greatly benefitted Israel – even though Egypt was allowed to retain control over a strip of the Mediterranean coastline called the Gaza Strip and Jordan occupied the West Bank of the River Jordan. Of course, the end of the 1950 Arab-Israeli War didn’t mean Israel could sit back and relax. Instead, the nation would find herself continually at war with her neighbors all the way to today. From Dewey on, every President would more-or-less have to deal with conflicts in the Middle East.
Ironically, the birth of Israel witnessed the end of George C. Marshall’s career. At the same time the United States geared up to recognize Israel, Marshall quietly handed in his resignation. In their final meeting, Marshall informed Dewey that he was retiring solely on the grounds of ill health. “This has nothing to do with Palestine,” he firmly insisted, “My opposition to the position you wish to take is not a public one; nor will I make it public. One does not resign because a President who has the constitutional right to make a decision made one.”
With Marshall’s departure, the President needed to find his third Secretary of State. Having gone through a politician and a military general, Dewey decided to make an unorthodox pick. To the surprise of the entire nation, famed poet Allen Tate was tapped to succeed Marshall. Hailing from Kentucky, Tate was a Southern poet best known for “Ode to the Confederate Dead”. The closest he ever came to foreign policy was his condemnation of Fascism and National Socialism. When asked why he wanted a former Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress to run the State Department, Dewey admitted he wanted a “yes-man” that he could order around. In other words, this was a power-grab move on the part of the President. He would tell Tate what to do, and the Secretary of State would do it without question. For the rest of the Dewey Administration, the State Department was effectively connected to the White House – Tate being nothing more than a puppet.
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Apparently, Paradox thinks writing poems qualifies a person to be Foreign Minister.
The 1940s was a prosperous decade for the Republican Party. Having regained the White House in 1940, the Party of Lincoln went on to recapture the House of Representatives in 1944 and the Senate in 1946. Times should have been golden for them; however, a major problem lurked beneath the surface. Controlling the Federal Government, Republicans were split about which ideological course to pursue. The Eastern Establishment, represented by Dewey, occupied the White House and wanted to purse a liberal, internationalist agenda. Congress, on the other hand, was led by Taft and wanted to move America in a conservative, isolationist direction. Rather than seek compromise, both sides insisted they were right and the other side was wrong. This “us-versus-them” mentality led to the fissure between the Left and Right wings of the G.O.P., which had been dormant during World War Two, being slowly awaken in 1947. Two years later, it would erupt violently, taking down the Party in the process.
The eruption began when Dewey delivered his 1949 State of the Union Address. With the Eightieth Congress, he had been willing to take what he could get – his anger notwithstanding. With the Eighty-First, he was different. In an uncompromising tone, he essentially told Congress, “I have a liberal legislative agenda to enact. You will enact it. Doing nothing is not an option I will accept. If I have to knock some heads together, I will.”
Conservative Republicans and Southern Democrats sat stone-faced, not liking what they heard. Nor did they like what they heard in early February, when the President addressed a dinner honoring former President Abraham Lincoln’s one-hundred-fortieth birthday:
“The time has come to confront a truth. The Republican Party is split wide open. It has been split wide open for years, but we have tried to gloss it over. We have in our party some fine, high-minded patriotic people who honestly oppose farm price supports, unemployment insurance, old age benefits, slum clearance, and other social programs. These people consider these programs horrendous departures into paternalism. These people believe in a laissez-faire society and look back wistfully to the miscalled ‘good old days’ of the Nineteenth Century.
However, if such efforts to turn back the clock were actually pursued, you can bury the Republican Party as the deadest pigeon in the country. We need to stop bellyaching about the past and go on from there to provide progressive ideas in line with the overwhelming majority who believe that government has to be more than a cold and impartial umpire.
Those who oppose a liberal and progressive Republican Party ought to go out and try to get elected in a typical American community and see what happens to them. But they ought not to do it as Republicans. They should do it instead as slaves with chains around their minds and dangling on their heels. Those who are Republicans go as free men with their heads high and their minds and souls unfettered by the state. The whole difference between freedom and slavery lies in how you advance toward your goals.
I believe in social progress, under a flourishing, competitive system of private enterprise where every human right is expanded. I am opposed to delivering the nation into the hands of any group who will have the power to tell American people whether they may have food or fuel, shelter or jobs. My desire has always been to strip fat from government’s frame, replace political spoils with competent rule, and preserve individual freedom and economic incentive. I want to save Americans from the tyranny of the few.”
The Conservatives whom Dewey slammed were still in no mood to rubberstamp a domestic agenda they opposed. Republican Senator Ralph L. Carr of Colorado spoke on behalf of his colleagues:
“The President’s plan is not consonant with the American system of government, or with a capitalist economy. We Republicans need to take a determined stand against further experimentation in the field of socialism and Communist philosophy. The existence of an equality of opportunity is not to be questioned because some of our citizens refuse to put forth the necessary energy to realize that opportunity.”
The record of the Eighty-First Congress:
-Congress again ignored calls to improve health care, raise the minimum wage, increase unemployment compensation, expand Social Security, and streamline Civil Service. In addition, the creation of an agency to coordinate unemployment insurance between the states still went nowhere. Instead, they focused on cutting Federal spending wherever they could.
-A massive housing program was enacted. Under the Housing Act, Federal financing was provided to states for slum clearance, mortgage insurance from the Federal Housing Administration was increased, the Federal Government was authorized to build over eight-hundred-thousand low-cost public housing units, and the FHA was permitted to provide financing for rural homeowners. Taft had sponsored the bill, making it one of the few items he and Dewey could agree on.
-Congress did agree to increase Federal assistance for education (again, Taft supported this). However, Dewey’s call to outlaw discrimination in the classroom was blocked by Southern Democrats.
-In addition, Southern Democrats continued to block Dewey’s aggressive civil rights program. A Federal anti-lynching law (a Presidential priority since the Willkie Administration), a more effective statutory protection of voting rights, the abolition of the poll tax, establishing a permanent Fair Employment Practices Commission, ending discrimination in interstate travel, and enacting a constitutional amendment guaranteeing equal rights were all filibustered to death. Despite the Congressional roadblock, the President did find a few ways to advance the cause of civil rights. For instance, he denied government contracts or financial assistance to those with racially discriminatory practices and named African-Americans to Federal posts – most notably Bertha J. Diggs as Secretary of Labor. In turn, African-Americans strongly supported both Dewey and the Republican Party in general. In their eyes, the G.O.P. was at least trying to end discrimination.
In the end, Dewey was no happier with the Eighty-First Congress than he was with the previous one. Of course, he blamed Taft for blocking his agenda – once remarking that his archenemy should have carnal relations with himself. Why did he hate Taft so much? The answer has to do with the fact that the Ohio Senator wielded considerable influence seldom seen on Capitol Hill – so much power in fact that he earned the nickname “Mr. Republican”. It was Taft who made committee assignments, set legislative priorities, and chose which proposals coming out of the Executive Branch would receive Congressional approval. He was also very detail-oriented, possessing an awe-inspiring mastery of facts and figures. Taft was also not afraid to snap at his colleagues and made no apologies for his icy demeanor.
The old saying “This town isn’t big enough for the both of us!” appropriately sums up the relationship between Dewey and Taft. It wasn’t just that Dewey was a Liberal and Taft was a Conservative. What was at stake for them was control of the Republican Party. Like a title boxing match, the winner of this battle would become the Party’s undisputed leader. Both men wanted to be the champ, and neither one was willing to back down. It was the Dewey-versus-Taft conflict that laid at the heart of the erupting fissure that was tearing the Party apart.
Upon his return to the United States on June 10th from an inspection tour of Europe (which included strengthening America’s friendship with France, warning the United Kingdom not to tilt too much towards greater nationalization of their economy, and being treated like a national hero in the Federal Republic of Germany for his role in preventing the FRG from being carved up after the war), the President decided to react to Congress blatantly ignoring his “pass my agenda or else” warning by carrying out his “or else” threat. Acting in a “two can play this game” mentality, Dewey exercised his veto power more frequently. Conservative bills – even those he might otherwise have approved – that reached his desk were quickly rejected and returned to Congress (which either had enough votes to override the veto or allowed the bill to die in vain). In doing so, Dewey was giving future historians a major reason for giving him mixed scores in Presidential rankings. One historian has explained why the thirty-fifth President generally sits in the “upper good, lower great” region:
“His foreign policy was excellent. His handling of both the Second World War and the Cold War showed off his decisiveness and firmness. His dealings with Congress, on the other hand, were horrendous. He was stubborn and unwilling to work with people he disagreed with. Not surprisingly, that makes for bad government.”
Equally stubborn was Taft. Instead of scaring him, Dewey’s vetoing only hardened the Ohio Senator. Whenever anyone asked why he didn’t want to seek an armistice, Mr. Republican always pounded his fist on the table and crisply stated that the White House was “too liberal” and that he would continue to stonewall as long as he wanted.
The Federal Government is supposed to put the interest of the nation first. Obviously, the Republican White House and the Republican Congress were more interested in power struggles than in governing…and they would pay a heavy price for it as their feud entered the politically important year of 1950.
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1950 Overview of the Dewey Administration
Army
Infantry: 39
Cavalry: 15
Motorized: 11
Mechanized: 5
Armored: 25
Paratroop: 8
Marine: 15
Mountaineer: 15
Garrison: 4
Headquarters: 9
Militia: 11
Navy
Battleship: 29
Light Cruiser: 43
Heavy Cruiser: 21
Battlecruiser: 11
Destroyer Group: 45
Carrier: 17
Light Carrier: 8
Submarine: 13
Transport: 29
Air Force
Fighter: 8
Interceptor: 12
Strategic Bomber: 9
Tactical Bomber: 12
Naval Bomber: 9
Close Air Support: 8
Transport: 9
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Israel
It was during Dewey’s second term that the Middle East became an important region in the realm of America’s foreign policy. From this point on, events in this part of the world could no longer be ignored by the Americans. The first major postwar issue in the Middle East was the fate of Palestine. Since 1920, the British maintained control over Palestine in the form of a mandate.
For three decades, the British had to deal with two major populations that lived within Palestine: the Jews and the Palestinians. The problem was that both groups had staked historical claims to the area. Thus far, the British solution to this problem was to maintain strict immigrations quotas for Jews interested in moving to Palestine. However, rather than ease tensions between these two different groups, the quotas eventually made things worse. By the late 1940s, a series of violent attacks conducted by the Jewish Resistance Movement against the British had made the Mandate untenable. One terrorist attack alone killed ninety-one people when the Irgun (the military arm of the JRM) bombed the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. The hotel was targeted because it was the site of the central offices of the Mandate authorities.
Upon becoming Prime Minister in July 1948, Attlee decided enough was enough. A few months into his Premiership, Attlee announced his country was planning to terminate the Palestine Mandate and turn the issue over to the United Nations. On February 15th, 1949, the UN created a special committee consisting of representatives from eleven countries to research the Palestine question and come up with a solution. Three months later, a solution was proposed: create independent Palestinian and Jewish states, with Jerusalem placed under international administration.
On August 29th, the Partition Plan was placed before the General Assembly of the United Nations for a vote. By a margin of twenty votes, the Plan was approved (United States Ambassador Arthur Vandenberg had worked behind the scenes to see the measure through). It would take effect on February 15th, 1950 – the date the British would withdraw from Palestine. The Jews were elated by the news, while Arabs across the region vehemently rejected the Plan. Meeting in Cairo, Egypt shortly after the vote, Arab nations decided to militarily oppose the creation of a Jewish state. The result was a civil war between Jewish and Arab communities throughout Palestine that would last until the termination of the British Mandate took effect in mid-February. Thousands of people would be killed and wounded in a struggle to determine the outcome of Partition.
Where did the United States stand in all this? The President strongly supported the establishment of a Jewish state in the Middle East. From the moment he took office, Dewey had consistently pressured the British to allow more Jews to migrate to Palestine. He met often with leaders of the Jewish community; assuring them that the United States was genuinely committed to supporting the Zionist cause. Dewey’s position was overwhelmingly backed by public opinion…but not the State Department. In meetings in the Oval Office, Marshall and others strongly disagreed with the President. They argued it would arouse Arab hostility, endanger America’s access to petroleum resources throughout the region, and have a negative impact on the national security front. On November 12th, Marshall went as far as saying that the United States was “playing with fire while having nothing with which to put it out.”
However, having made up his mind to back the Partition Plan, Dewey refused to back down. At one point, he point-blankly reminded his Secretary of State (this is his remarks in a nutshell), “I am in charge here, George. I have the final word on all matters. We are going to support the Jews, whether you like it or not. You know I have a ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy towards insubordination. If this bothers you that much, I will accept your resignation and find someone else to do your job.”
With the State Department effectively sidelined, Dewey met with renowned Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann on December 18th and informed him that the United States would recognize the Jewish state when it came into being. The small and charming Weizmann thanked him for “the sympathetic interest which you have constantly devoted to the cause of our people.”
The dramatic moment came on February 14th, 1950. With the Mandate set to expire the next day, an interim Jewish government headed by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion issued a Declaration of Independence and called their new nation “Israel” (the biblical name for the region). Eleven minutes later, Dewey publicly announced that the United States formally recognized the State of Israel – the first nation to do so. Of course, Jewish reaction was nothing but deeply moving gratitude. For instance, Chief Rabbi of Israel Isaac Halevi Herzog told the President:
“God put you in your mother’s womb so you would be the instrument to bring the rebirth of Israel after two thousand years.”
With Israel now on the map, Arabs became hell-bent on stamping it out. The bloody civil war that had been raging since last September suddenly transformed into all-out war. The day after Israel came into being, a large Arab army comprised of thousands of troops belonging to Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria invaded the newborn country. In response, the newly created Israel Defense Forces defended their home turf with an initial army of thirty-thousand (to grow steadily by an average of ten-thousand soldiers a month).
Watching the war unfold from the White House, the President not only opposed the Arab invasion but wanted to militarily aid the Israelis in the “rightful defense of their country.”
Meeting with his Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Commander-in-Chief stated that he wanted to deploy thirty-thousand troops and a carrier task force to the Middle East to prop up America’s newest ally. It was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dwight D. Eisenhower who talked him out of it. Displaying the levelheadedness that had made him so indispensable in Dewey’s eyes, Eisenhower warned that military intervention by the United States to protect Israel would require at least three times the amount Dewey had in mind. “Mr. President,” Ike said plainly, “I know you want to help the Jews and that is admirable. However, the hard truth is that if we go into Israel, we are going to be fighting the entire Middle East. We will run the risk of transforming a regional conflict into a new global war. If we go into the Middle East, the Arabs might turn to the Soviet Union for support. If the Soviets get involved, we could be looking at World War Three. Mr. President, I cannot stress enough how risky this situation is. It has only been three years since Japan surrendered. That involved a massive lost of life. If we go to war in the Middle East, victory will be very hard to achieve…if we can achieve it at all.”
The President leaned back in his chair, taking Eisenhower’s words into consideration. After a few minutes of silence, Dewey leaned forward and spoke:
“Gentlemen, I can disagree with Marshall and I can disagree with others. I cannot disagree with Ike.”
Backing down, he scrapped the idea of military intervention. Instead, he would take the less risky step of authorizing arms shipments to Israel. Once again, Eisenhower was the hero of the day – this time nipping war in the bud. As it turned out, direct American involvement wasn’t needed. Israel not only held her ground but fought back. The war lasted until April 20th, 1951, when the Arabs threw in the towel. In the end, Israel decisively came out on top. In a series of armistice agreements reached between Israel and her enemies, territorial lines were established that greatly benefitted Israel – even though Egypt was allowed to retain control over a strip of the Mediterranean coastline called the Gaza Strip and Jordan occupied the West Bank of the River Jordan. Of course, the end of the 1950 Arab-Israeli War didn’t mean Israel could sit back and relax. Instead, the nation would find herself continually at war with her neighbors all the way to today. From Dewey on, every President would more-or-less have to deal with conflicts in the Middle East.
Ironically, the birth of Israel witnessed the end of George C. Marshall’s career. At the same time the United States geared up to recognize Israel, Marshall quietly handed in his resignation. In their final meeting, Marshall informed Dewey that he was retiring solely on the grounds of ill health. “This has nothing to do with Palestine,” he firmly insisted, “My opposition to the position you wish to take is not a public one; nor will I make it public. One does not resign because a President who has the constitutional right to make a decision made one.”
With Marshall’s departure, the President needed to find his third Secretary of State. Having gone through a politician and a military general, Dewey decided to make an unorthodox pick. To the surprise of the entire nation, famed poet Allen Tate was tapped to succeed Marshall. Hailing from Kentucky, Tate was a Southern poet best known for “Ode to the Confederate Dead”. The closest he ever came to foreign policy was his condemnation of Fascism and National Socialism. When asked why he wanted a former Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress to run the State Department, Dewey admitted he wanted a “yes-man” that he could order around. In other words, this was a power-grab move on the part of the President. He would tell Tate what to do, and the Secretary of State would do it without question. For the rest of the Dewey Administration, the State Department was effectively connected to the White House – Tate being nothing more than a puppet.
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Apparently, Paradox thinks writing poems qualifies a person to be Foreign Minister.
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And so Israel/Palestine slides into chaos historically. Interested to see the President's response.
Seems like you have now stuffed up Palistine. Hopefully you won't do the same with Africa.
and so america assumes the position of 'world police' (in the last update, i missed it). Sigh.
The Taft-Hartley Act looks absolutely spiffing, an excellent piece of legislation.
And a poem write as Secretary of State? While it will make the press statements more artistic I'm not sure that alone is a good qualification. In fact I'd go as far as to say it probably isn't even a good idea to have artistic statements and demands.
And a poem write as Secretary of State? While it will make the press statements more artistic I'm not sure that alone is a good qualification. In fact I'd go as far as to say it probably isn't even a good idea to have artistic statements and demands.
Nathan Madien said:
He can read his works to the foreign ministers and put them to sleep...
Great to see the birth of Israel for I rarely see it happen in my games, only a few times while Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and sometimes Palestine always become independatn after World War II.
Le Jones: I think Dewey might have been a stronger supporter of Israel than Truman historically was.
Teep: The Americans support the decolonization of Africa. By the end of my game Egypt, Ethiopia, Liberia, Libya, Madagasacar, Morocco, and South Africa are all free.
BritishImperial: The more things change, the more they remain the same (or something like that).
El Pip: Historically, Truman vetoed the Taft-Hartley Act but the Republican-controlled Congress over-rode his veto. In this timeline, Dewey signs it into law as soon as he gets it.
Which is why I am scratching my head wondering what Paradox was thinking when they decided to make Allen Tate a candidate for Foreign Minister. However, having lost Nye and Marshall, at this point a poet seems good enough for the President.
Kurt_Steiner: True. :rofl:
TheVenetian: I see the Middle East developing more-or-less as it did historically.
Enewald: It's just that...it seems totally random.
4/29/10: Due to good points made by my readers, and my revision decision to keep Berlin intact and let FRG take care of the former German capital, I have deleted "The Berlin Blockade". It simply didn't work out. Instead, this update will wrap up 1950. It won't be long until this revision is completed and I start a new AAR.
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The Assassination Attempt
For Dewey, one of the most unforgettable events of his Presidency was the 1950 attempt on his life. The road to the assassination attempt began innocently enough in 1948 over architecture. Looking to leave a physical mark on the White House, the President announced a plan to add a new second-floor balcony to the South Portico. The balcony, when completed, would extend from the Yellow Oval Room and give the First Family private outdoor breathing space. It would be the first major change in the Executive Mansion since President Andrew Jackson added the North Portico in 1829.
The media’s reaction was a mixture of disapproval and ridicule. To the delight of the Democrats, editorials criticized the decision as being wholly unnecessary. Dewey ignored the opposition…partly because he had a more pressing problem to deal with. As construction on the balcony began, engineers made a disturbing discovery: the entire second floor of the one-hundred-fifty-six-year-old White House was on the verge of collapse. The ceiling of the State Dining Room alone was staying in place purely out of “force of habit” while the President’s own bathroom was declared “off limits”.
By late 1948, the structural problems had gotten so bad that Dewey and his family were forced to vacate the White House and take up new residence across the street in the four-story Blair House. After six months of planning, the renovation of the White House began on December 13th, 1949. The Executive Mansion underwent a massive internal overhaul – rebuilding the interior while leaving the exterior a hallow shell. The project would last two years and cost over five million dollars. Two-hundred-fifty men worked six days a week to restructure and strengthen the White House.
Until he could return to the now-gutted mansion, the President made the daily trek across Pennsylvania Avenue to his office in the West Wing – flanked by the Secret Service. The Presidential bodyguards had reasons to be worried about this new arrangement. Whereas the White House was gated and well-guarded, there was no such protection at Blair House. Anyone could walk pass the building at any time; if someone wanted to, they could easily attack the President whenever he made his way in or out of Blair House. This fear the Secret Service had about a potential assassin played out in horror on November 1st, 1950.
Early that sunny, sweltering afternoon, the President sat inside Blair House looking over economic reports. He was very pleased; the reports, all positive, indicated that he would be able to balance the Federal budget for 1951 (throughout his Presidency, Dewey always strived to keep his budgets as balanced as possible). Outside, three White House police officers stood watch, monitoring the street for any potential signs of trouble. The afternoon peace was abruptly shattered when a pair of fanatical Puerto Rican nationalists (people who believe the American-controlled island of Puerto Rico should be independent) approached Blair House from opposite directions. Their mission was simple: to bring world attention to their cause by assassinating the President. They carried with them sixty-nine rounds of ammunition. Approaching the front steps of Blair House, the two men opened fire at the three guards. A gunfight broke out, prompting Secret Service and local police officers to rush to the scene to provide reinforcements. Innocent bystanders screamed and ran for cover as bullets flew through the air. In two minutes of mayhem, twenty-seven shots were fired. When the shooting died down, one police officer and a would-be assassin were dead while the other assassin (who would be convicted on four counts and executed in the electric chair; a strong supporter of the death penalty, Dewey refused to lessen the sentence) and two police officers were wounded (both would recover and return to their jobs). In response to the shooting, the Secret Service increased its’ security enforcement and made sure people simply couldn’t walk around armed with weapons in the presence of the Chief Executive. Needless to say, the President was quite shaken by the attempt on his life. Recalling the last assassination effort – in February 1933 against President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt – Dewey observed, “There is always someone out there who believes killing high profile people will solve problems. It almost never does, but that does not matter to them. I think that if you are the President, you have to expect someone out there wants you dead.”
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The 1950 Midterm Election
With the White House and Congress fighting over the domestic agenda, business in Washington, D.C. greatly slowed down. Soon, only a few bills were being passed. With the back-and-forth stretching into 1950, the American people were growing increasingly fed up with the Republicans. With the country preparing for the midterm election, polls indicated that the G.O.P. was in serious trouble. Taken at the beginning of 1950, the Roper Poll showed that only twenty-two percent approved of the Eighty-First Congress; as for the President, his approval rating stood at forty-five percent. What prevented it from reaching down into the 30s was the state of the economy. Exercising fiscal responsibility, Dewey had managed to spend money efficiently (for example, his position on defense spending was to get the biggest bang for the smallest budget possible) and keep down the national debt. With taxes low, it was easier for businesses to hire people and to pay them good. This resulted in a strong annual rate of production growth and higher consumer consumption.
However, in 1950, the roaring economy could only benefit the G.O.P. so much. Furthermore, they couldn’t escape a basic fact: an President’s party usually suffers a significant beating during the second term. Gravely concerned about their bleak chances in November, Republican candidates and incumbents across the country attempted to distance themselves from the Dewey-Taft Feud (some being better at it than others). Democrats, of course, loved every moment of it. After several years of being out of power, the tide appeared to be heading in their direction. They spent 1950 campaigning on an “it’s time for a change” message. For Democrats, like Washington Senator Warren G. Magnuson (seeking a second term), November held bright promises.
On November 7th, the American voters declared in a loud voice that they demanded change. They handed the Democrats majority status in both Houses of Congress. The Democrats picked up fifty-six seats in the House of Representatives and eight seats in the Senate. The composition of the new Congress:
-House of Representatives: 235 Democrats; 199 Republicans; 1 Independent
-Senate: 51 Democrats; 45 Republicans
With the Democrats back in power on Capitol Hill, the leadership of the Eighty-Second Congress obviously changed. On the House side, Democrat Sam Rayburn of Texas and Republican Joseph William Martin, Jr. of Massachusetts switched jobs. Six years after swapping seats, Rayburn returned to the Speaker of the House role while Martin was demoted back down to Minority Leader.
Among the freshmen Democrats in the Senate was John A. Carroll of Colorado. A veteran of both World Wars, Carroll was a lawyer who had served as Denver’s District Attorney. After a brief stint in the House of Representatives, he defeated Republican Senator Eugene Millikin to win a six-year job in the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress.
Another new face was Thomas E. Fairchild of Wisconsin. A lawyer whose education included Cornell University, the University of Wisconsin Law School, and Princeton University, Fairchild was the Attorney General of Wisconsin when the Democratic wave swept him to victory over Republican Senator Alexander Wiley.
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Since I deleted the "The Berlin Blockade", it's going to make the readers' following responses on that topic seem out of the blue. I apologize for any confusion.o
Teep: The Americans support the decolonization of Africa. By the end of my game Egypt, Ethiopia, Liberia, Libya, Madagasacar, Morocco, and South Africa are all free.
BritishImperial: The more things change, the more they remain the same (or something like that).
El Pip: Historically, Truman vetoed the Taft-Hartley Act but the Republican-controlled Congress over-rode his veto. In this timeline, Dewey signs it into law as soon as he gets it.
Which is why I am scratching my head wondering what Paradox was thinking when they decided to make Allen Tate a candidate for Foreign Minister. However, having lost Nye and Marshall, at this point a poet seems good enough for the President.
Kurt_Steiner: True. :rofl:
TheVenetian: I see the Middle East developing more-or-less as it did historically.
Enewald: It's just that...it seems totally random.
4/29/10: Due to good points made by my readers, and my revision decision to keep Berlin intact and let FRG take care of the former German capital, I have deleted "The Berlin Blockade". It simply didn't work out. Instead, this update will wrap up 1950. It won't be long until this revision is completed and I start a new AAR.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Assassination Attempt
For Dewey, one of the most unforgettable events of his Presidency was the 1950 attempt on his life. The road to the assassination attempt began innocently enough in 1948 over architecture. Looking to leave a physical mark on the White House, the President announced a plan to add a new second-floor balcony to the South Portico. The balcony, when completed, would extend from the Yellow Oval Room and give the First Family private outdoor breathing space. It would be the first major change in the Executive Mansion since President Andrew Jackson added the North Portico in 1829.
The media’s reaction was a mixture of disapproval and ridicule. To the delight of the Democrats, editorials criticized the decision as being wholly unnecessary. Dewey ignored the opposition…partly because he had a more pressing problem to deal with. As construction on the balcony began, engineers made a disturbing discovery: the entire second floor of the one-hundred-fifty-six-year-old White House was on the verge of collapse. The ceiling of the State Dining Room alone was staying in place purely out of “force of habit” while the President’s own bathroom was declared “off limits”.
By late 1948, the structural problems had gotten so bad that Dewey and his family were forced to vacate the White House and take up new residence across the street in the four-story Blair House. After six months of planning, the renovation of the White House began on December 13th, 1949. The Executive Mansion underwent a massive internal overhaul – rebuilding the interior while leaving the exterior a hallow shell. The project would last two years and cost over five million dollars. Two-hundred-fifty men worked six days a week to restructure and strengthen the White House.
Until he could return to the now-gutted mansion, the President made the daily trek across Pennsylvania Avenue to his office in the West Wing – flanked by the Secret Service. The Presidential bodyguards had reasons to be worried about this new arrangement. Whereas the White House was gated and well-guarded, there was no such protection at Blair House. Anyone could walk pass the building at any time; if someone wanted to, they could easily attack the President whenever he made his way in or out of Blair House. This fear the Secret Service had about a potential assassin played out in horror on November 1st, 1950.
Early that sunny, sweltering afternoon, the President sat inside Blair House looking over economic reports. He was very pleased; the reports, all positive, indicated that he would be able to balance the Federal budget for 1951 (throughout his Presidency, Dewey always strived to keep his budgets as balanced as possible). Outside, three White House police officers stood watch, monitoring the street for any potential signs of trouble. The afternoon peace was abruptly shattered when a pair of fanatical Puerto Rican nationalists (people who believe the American-controlled island of Puerto Rico should be independent) approached Blair House from opposite directions. Their mission was simple: to bring world attention to their cause by assassinating the President. They carried with them sixty-nine rounds of ammunition. Approaching the front steps of Blair House, the two men opened fire at the three guards. A gunfight broke out, prompting Secret Service and local police officers to rush to the scene to provide reinforcements. Innocent bystanders screamed and ran for cover as bullets flew through the air. In two minutes of mayhem, twenty-seven shots were fired. When the shooting died down, one police officer and a would-be assassin were dead while the other assassin (who would be convicted on four counts and executed in the electric chair; a strong supporter of the death penalty, Dewey refused to lessen the sentence) and two police officers were wounded (both would recover and return to their jobs). In response to the shooting, the Secret Service increased its’ security enforcement and made sure people simply couldn’t walk around armed with weapons in the presence of the Chief Executive. Needless to say, the President was quite shaken by the attempt on his life. Recalling the last assassination effort – in February 1933 against President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt – Dewey observed, “There is always someone out there who believes killing high profile people will solve problems. It almost never does, but that does not matter to them. I think that if you are the President, you have to expect someone out there wants you dead.”
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The 1950 Midterm Election
With the White House and Congress fighting over the domestic agenda, business in Washington, D.C. greatly slowed down. Soon, only a few bills were being passed. With the back-and-forth stretching into 1950, the American people were growing increasingly fed up with the Republicans. With the country preparing for the midterm election, polls indicated that the G.O.P. was in serious trouble. Taken at the beginning of 1950, the Roper Poll showed that only twenty-two percent approved of the Eighty-First Congress; as for the President, his approval rating stood at forty-five percent. What prevented it from reaching down into the 30s was the state of the economy. Exercising fiscal responsibility, Dewey had managed to spend money efficiently (for example, his position on defense spending was to get the biggest bang for the smallest budget possible) and keep down the national debt. With taxes low, it was easier for businesses to hire people and to pay them good. This resulted in a strong annual rate of production growth and higher consumer consumption.
However, in 1950, the roaring economy could only benefit the G.O.P. so much. Furthermore, they couldn’t escape a basic fact: an President’s party usually suffers a significant beating during the second term. Gravely concerned about their bleak chances in November, Republican candidates and incumbents across the country attempted to distance themselves from the Dewey-Taft Feud (some being better at it than others). Democrats, of course, loved every moment of it. After several years of being out of power, the tide appeared to be heading in their direction. They spent 1950 campaigning on an “it’s time for a change” message. For Democrats, like Washington Senator Warren G. Magnuson (seeking a second term), November held bright promises.
On November 7th, the American voters declared in a loud voice that they demanded change. They handed the Democrats majority status in both Houses of Congress. The Democrats picked up fifty-six seats in the House of Representatives and eight seats in the Senate. The composition of the new Congress:
-House of Representatives: 235 Democrats; 199 Republicans; 1 Independent
-Senate: 51 Democrats; 45 Republicans
With the Democrats back in power on Capitol Hill, the leadership of the Eighty-Second Congress obviously changed. On the House side, Democrat Sam Rayburn of Texas and Republican Joseph William Martin, Jr. of Massachusetts switched jobs. Six years after swapping seats, Rayburn returned to the Speaker of the House role while Martin was demoted back down to Minority Leader.
Among the freshmen Democrats in the Senate was John A. Carroll of Colorado. A veteran of both World Wars, Carroll was a lawyer who had served as Denver’s District Attorney. After a brief stint in the House of Representatives, he defeated Republican Senator Eugene Millikin to win a six-year job in the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress.
Another new face was Thomas E. Fairchild of Wisconsin. A lawyer whose education included Cornell University, the University of Wisconsin Law School, and Princeton University, Fairchild was the Attorney General of Wisconsin when the Democratic wave swept him to victory over Republican Senator Alexander Wiley.
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Since I deleted the "The Berlin Blockade", it's going to make the readers' following responses on that topic seem out of the blue. I apologize for any confusion.
o
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How the hell did Stalin manage that? Because to get any kind of proper blockade in place he would have to push troops across the border into FRG. That's an act of war in any book, especially if they then go on and then set up checkpoints inside the FRG!
I know your aiming for second order alt-history, but that's just madness. In the historic Berlin Airlift Stalin just had to stop the West moving through East German territory. To make this work he has to stop Germans moving around inside their own country.
Sending hostile troops into a foreign country un-invited to do something the host country doesn't want done is a pretty good description of invasion and occupation. That would not get a peaceful response.
I know your aiming for second order alt-history, but that's just madness. In the historic Berlin Airlift Stalin just had to stop the West moving through East German territory. To make this work he has to stop Germans moving around inside their own country.
Sending hostile troops into a foreign country un-invited to do something the host country doesn't want done is a pretty good description of invasion and occupation. That would not get a peaceful response.
5/6/10: You are absolutely right, El Pip. That's why I got rid of it.
Faeelin: But it is constitutional. Congress is allowed to limit the power of labor unions. The Taft-Hartley Act is still in effect today.
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1951 Overview of the Dewey Administration
Army
Infantry: 40
Cavalry: 16
Motorized: 12
Mechanized: 6
Armored: 25
Paratroop: 8
Marine: 15
Mountaineer: 15
Garrison: 5
Headquarters: 9
Militia: 11
Navy
Battleship: 29
Light Cruiser: 48
Heavy Cruiser: 23
Battlecruiser: 11
Destroyer Group: 48
Carrier: 17
Light Carrier: 9
Submarine: 15
Transport: 29
Air Force
Fighter: 8
Interceptor: 12
Strategic Bomber: 9
Tactical Bomber: 12
Naval Bomber: 9
Close Air Support: 9
Transport: 9
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The Eighty-Second Congress
On January 3rd, 1951, the Eighty-Second Congress convened for its’ opening session. For the first time since 1945, the Democrats held majorities in both chambers – a thirty-six seat margin in the House and a six seat margin in the Senate. Five days later, Congress customarily invited the President to deliver his 1951 State of the Union Address. With Speaker of the House Rayburn and Vice President Bricker sitting behind him, Dewey mounted the Speaker Rostrum. This was the first time in his Presidency that a Democrat sat behind him. He started off his address by acknowledging the Democratic majority and expressing his desire for bipartisanship. One of the topics he covered was a recent speech made by former President Herbert Hoover (the only living ex-President) in which he declared that air and sea support alone should replace American ground forces in Europe. Furthermore, according to him, North and South America should unite as a “Western Gibraltar” against Communism. In reaction, Republican Senate Minority Leader Kenneth S. Wherry of Nebraska proposed legislation which would allow Congress to help decide where American soldiers could be stationed and how many. Taft added an amendment to it which would place a formal ceiling of twenty-percent of America’s ground forces that could be assigned overseas. In firm language, Dewey rebuked the Wherry Bill, asserting that mandating Congressional sanction on military decisions was unconstitutional because it undermined the President’s ability to make military decisions as Commander-in-Chief:
“It is the utmost folly to believe that air and sea power alone can win a modern contest. That we Americans can negotiate as equals with Stalin so long as Russian troops outnumber our own ten-to-one in Europe is a stupid isolationist idea. This bill, in fact, is the last gasp of effort of those who really hope that America might withdraw from the entire world to our own shores.
Operation withdrawal is operation suicide. The day of decision is upon us. Passing this bill would be a simple, direct notice to Stalin that we do not intend to back up our men in Europe and that they and Europe is his for the asking.
Fortress America is an illusion. The free world is indivisible. The loss of any part of it is the loss of a vital living organism of human freedom. The defense of America is in Europe and Japan.
Freedom was never bought in a bargain basement. Freedom was never saved by timidity, selfishness, half-measures, or appeasement. Our message to the non-Communist world should be, ‘Take courage; America is coming. Be strong; you can remain free.’”
In one of its’ first moves, the new Congress rejected the Wherry Bill. Encouraged, the President submitted the North Atlantic Treaty to the Senate for ratification. Throughout his Presidency, Dewey was a staunch supporter of aiding other nations militarily and economically. However, there was a price the other nations were expected to pay. In exchange for receiving American aid, the other nations were expected to stand loyally behind the United States. In early 1951, this loyalty manifested itself into a new military alliance led by America. On January 4th, the North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington, D.C. by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, FRG, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Setting up the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the twelve founding members agreed “that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all. Consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense will assist the Party or Parties being attacked, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.”
In other words, if the Soviet Union went to war with the United States, then the NATO members would be mandated to help defend America. For the Americans, NATO meant an additional layer of protection against the Communist threat. Moscow, it was hoped, would be deterred from being aggressive in the face of a united Democratic front. With only mild opposition, the Senate handily approved the broadly-popular treaty on April 21st. Of course, NATO played into the Dewey-Taft Feud. On the floor of the Senate, Mr. Republican objected to the treaty:
“I dread a new and expensive arms race. What purpose does the United States intend to arm our European allies? The Soviets are already checked by the atomic bomb. A few more obsolete arms in Europe will not concern them in the least. Besides, ringing the Soviets with hostile countries, as this treaty intends to do, might actually provide a goad to combat. I fear that this nation is slipping towards imperialism, and an attitude in which war becomes an instrument of public policy rather than its last resort.”
Addressing Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts on March 19th, the President took an opposite view:
“A close race is being run between the forces of economic recovery and freedom on the one hand and of economic stagnation and slavery on the other. The race will not be run and ended in a few weeks or in a few months or even in a few years. It is an epochal struggle – perhaps the greatest of all history – in which every human being on Earth is involved for the first time in history. It is a struggle for table stakes representing the whole world.
We cannot keep the peace by denying that there are those who would destroy it. To ratify the North Atlantic Treaty with anything less than real enthusiasm will be abandonment of freedom’s cause at a critical juncture. We must not return to the dreary road that led to World War Two.”
With the Wherry Bill dead and NATO established, Dewey decided to test the water with the Democrats by once again bringing up his stalled domestic agenda. Much to his delight, Rayburn and Senate Majority Leader Alben W. Barkley shared his eagerness to pass Progressive measures. Ironically, Dewey found it easier to work with the opposition than with his own party. The record of the Eighty-Second Congress:
-Congress raised the minimum wage, increased unemployment compensation, and expanded Social Security. More important to Dewey was finally getting the creation of an agency to coordinate unemployment insurance between the states – something he had been struggling to achieve since the day he took office.
-On the other hand, Congress took a pass on health care and Civil Service reform.
-Of course, Southern Democrats continued to block Dewey’s aggressive civil rights program. A Federal anti-lynching law (a Presidential priority since the Willkie Administration), a more effective statutory protection of voting rights, the abolition of the poll tax, establishing a permanent Fair Employment Practices Commission, ending discrimination in interstate travel, and enacting a constitutional amendment guaranteeing equal rights were all filibustered to death.
-Congress approved the President’s proposal to increase American aid to four friendly Middle Eastern nations: Iran, Iraq, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.
As glad as the President was to make sizeable gains in the domestic field, 1951 saw his attention increasingly shifting over to the political field. He had one more battle to wage as Head of State in the struggle for the soul of the Republican Party: the 1952 Presidential election.
Faeelin: But it is constitutional. Congress is allowed to limit the power of labor unions. The Taft-Hartley Act is still in effect today.
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1951 Overview of the Dewey Administration
Army
Infantry: 40
Cavalry: 16
Motorized: 12
Mechanized: 6
Armored: 25
Paratroop: 8
Marine: 15
Mountaineer: 15
Garrison: 5
Headquarters: 9
Militia: 11
Navy
Battleship: 29
Light Cruiser: 48
Heavy Cruiser: 23
Battlecruiser: 11
Destroyer Group: 48
Carrier: 17
Light Carrier: 9
Submarine: 15
Transport: 29
Air Force
Fighter: 8
Interceptor: 12
Strategic Bomber: 9
Tactical Bomber: 12
Naval Bomber: 9
Close Air Support: 9
Transport: 9
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The Eighty-Second Congress
On January 3rd, 1951, the Eighty-Second Congress convened for its’ opening session. For the first time since 1945, the Democrats held majorities in both chambers – a thirty-six seat margin in the House and a six seat margin in the Senate. Five days later, Congress customarily invited the President to deliver his 1951 State of the Union Address. With Speaker of the House Rayburn and Vice President Bricker sitting behind him, Dewey mounted the Speaker Rostrum. This was the first time in his Presidency that a Democrat sat behind him. He started off his address by acknowledging the Democratic majority and expressing his desire for bipartisanship. One of the topics he covered was a recent speech made by former President Herbert Hoover (the only living ex-President) in which he declared that air and sea support alone should replace American ground forces in Europe. Furthermore, according to him, North and South America should unite as a “Western Gibraltar” against Communism. In reaction, Republican Senate Minority Leader Kenneth S. Wherry of Nebraska proposed legislation which would allow Congress to help decide where American soldiers could be stationed and how many. Taft added an amendment to it which would place a formal ceiling of twenty-percent of America’s ground forces that could be assigned overseas. In firm language, Dewey rebuked the Wherry Bill, asserting that mandating Congressional sanction on military decisions was unconstitutional because it undermined the President’s ability to make military decisions as Commander-in-Chief:
“It is the utmost folly to believe that air and sea power alone can win a modern contest. That we Americans can negotiate as equals with Stalin so long as Russian troops outnumber our own ten-to-one in Europe is a stupid isolationist idea. This bill, in fact, is the last gasp of effort of those who really hope that America might withdraw from the entire world to our own shores.
Operation withdrawal is operation suicide. The day of decision is upon us. Passing this bill would be a simple, direct notice to Stalin that we do not intend to back up our men in Europe and that they and Europe is his for the asking.
Fortress America is an illusion. The free world is indivisible. The loss of any part of it is the loss of a vital living organism of human freedom. The defense of America is in Europe and Japan.
Freedom was never bought in a bargain basement. Freedom was never saved by timidity, selfishness, half-measures, or appeasement. Our message to the non-Communist world should be, ‘Take courage; America is coming. Be strong; you can remain free.’”
In one of its’ first moves, the new Congress rejected the Wherry Bill. Encouraged, the President submitted the North Atlantic Treaty to the Senate for ratification. Throughout his Presidency, Dewey was a staunch supporter of aiding other nations militarily and economically. However, there was a price the other nations were expected to pay. In exchange for receiving American aid, the other nations were expected to stand loyally behind the United States. In early 1951, this loyalty manifested itself into a new military alliance led by America. On January 4th, the North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington, D.C. by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, FRG, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Setting up the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the twelve founding members agreed “that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all. Consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense will assist the Party or Parties being attacked, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.”
In other words, if the Soviet Union went to war with the United States, then the NATO members would be mandated to help defend America. For the Americans, NATO meant an additional layer of protection against the Communist threat. Moscow, it was hoped, would be deterred from being aggressive in the face of a united Democratic front. With only mild opposition, the Senate handily approved the broadly-popular treaty on April 21st. Of course, NATO played into the Dewey-Taft Feud. On the floor of the Senate, Mr. Republican objected to the treaty:
“I dread a new and expensive arms race. What purpose does the United States intend to arm our European allies? The Soviets are already checked by the atomic bomb. A few more obsolete arms in Europe will not concern them in the least. Besides, ringing the Soviets with hostile countries, as this treaty intends to do, might actually provide a goad to combat. I fear that this nation is slipping towards imperialism, and an attitude in which war becomes an instrument of public policy rather than its last resort.”
Addressing Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts on March 19th, the President took an opposite view:
“A close race is being run between the forces of economic recovery and freedom on the one hand and of economic stagnation and slavery on the other. The race will not be run and ended in a few weeks or in a few months or even in a few years. It is an epochal struggle – perhaps the greatest of all history – in which every human being on Earth is involved for the first time in history. It is a struggle for table stakes representing the whole world.
We cannot keep the peace by denying that there are those who would destroy it. To ratify the North Atlantic Treaty with anything less than real enthusiasm will be abandonment of freedom’s cause at a critical juncture. We must not return to the dreary road that led to World War Two.”
With the Wherry Bill dead and NATO established, Dewey decided to test the water with the Democrats by once again bringing up his stalled domestic agenda. Much to his delight, Rayburn and Senate Majority Leader Alben W. Barkley shared his eagerness to pass Progressive measures. Ironically, Dewey found it easier to work with the opposition than with his own party. The record of the Eighty-Second Congress:
-Congress raised the minimum wage, increased unemployment compensation, and expanded Social Security. More important to Dewey was finally getting the creation of an agency to coordinate unemployment insurance between the states – something he had been struggling to achieve since the day he took office.
-On the other hand, Congress took a pass on health care and Civil Service reform.
-Of course, Southern Democrats continued to block Dewey’s aggressive civil rights program. A Federal anti-lynching law (a Presidential priority since the Willkie Administration), a more effective statutory protection of voting rights, the abolition of the poll tax, establishing a permanent Fair Employment Practices Commission, ending discrimination in interstate travel, and enacting a constitutional amendment guaranteeing equal rights were all filibustered to death.
-Congress approved the President’s proposal to increase American aid to four friendly Middle Eastern nations: Iran, Iraq, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.
As glad as the President was to make sizeable gains in the domestic field, 1951 saw his attention increasingly shifting over to the political field. He had one more battle to wage as Head of State in the struggle for the soul of the Republican Party: the 1952 Presidential election.
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As NATO arrives those pesky Puerto Ricans strike. I had no idea they were an issue postwar.