1936 United States presidential election (Kaiserredux)

'''Note: All of this is based off the lore from Kaiserredux (a A Kaiserreich Expansion). These ideas are not mine.'''

Unfinished

The 1936 United States presidential election was the 38th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 1936. Incumbent President Herbert Hoover sought a third term while contesting against IWW leader Bill Haywood, Governor of Oklahoma William Murray, Speaker of the House John Nance Garner, Senator of Louisiana Huey Long, and Senator of Nebraska George Norris.

The election was seen as the most controversial election since 1860, mainly due to the rise of radical third parties and paramilitaries across America in response to the American Recession of 1925, the Great Panic of 1929 and the collapse of the Berlin Stock Exchange in 1936.

The election result was inconclusive with no candidate reaching a minimum of 266 electoral votes. Because none of the candidates for president garnered an electoral vote majority, the U.S. House of Representatives, under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment, held a contingent election. Herbert Hoover was reelected President of the United States after making a deal with the Democratic Party and a number of Progressives. This is despite the fact that he didn't have most electoral votes making this the second time a U.S. President was elected while not having a majority of electoral votes. This was the third time in American history that an election went to the House with the others being 1824 and 1932. It was also the election in which third parties had the highest showing in American history with a combined 61% of the popular vote and 338 electoral votes coming from third party candidates.

Background
After avoiding the horrors of the 1st Weltkrieg, the United States remained relatively peaceful. President Woodrow Wilson won an unprecedented third term in office with his new running mate: Alexander Mitchell Palmer. This victory was short lived as Wilson suffered a stroke in office in late 1923. This set off a constitutional crisis and power struggle in his cabinet and the Democrat party itself. Palmer ascended to the Presidency.

When Syndicalist revolutions of Britain and France came about, the Palmer administration clamped down hard on left wing organizations in what is known as the Red Scare. This greatly hurt the American economy as American had just lost their most valuable trading partners, along with massive strikes across the nations and political instability.

Palmer's controversial Presidency ended with Herbert Hoover being elected into office. Hoover attempted to revive the American economy but the response was slow. He also attempted to pass the "Return to Normalcy" legislations which would re-legalizing non-violent left-wing organizations like the AFL-CIO and the IWW. In 1929, the U.S. economy took a further downturn with the Great Panic as Wallstreet's influence within the world market began to be replaced by the Berlin stock exchange.

In the 1932 U.S. Presidential election, the results were inconclusive leading to the House of Representatives electing incumbent President Herbert Hoover. This comes after public upset over Hoover's failed promise to overturn the U.S. economy after the 1925 depression and the 1929 "Great Panic." Americans began to become disenfranchised with current American politics and began turning to more radical options. During his second term Hoover oversaw the rise of the Socialist Party, the split of Southern Democrats into the Old Democrats, and the creation of the American First Party.

Things got worse when in January 1936, the Berlin Stock Market Crashed in what is known as "Black Monday." The U.S. economy further plunged into turmoil. Both major parties pledged to revive the economy while Haywood, Murray, and Long lambasted the establishment for getting the U.S. to this mess in the first place.

Republican Party nomination
Initially President Hoover wished not to run for a third term. He believed that he should follow the precedent followed by George Washington after he completed his second term and also believed that he had little chance of winning the presidency again due to his unpopularity. Hoover initially backed his Vice-President Charles Curtis who led the conservative/moderate wing of the party. The other major candidate in the race was famed businessman and Governor of Kansas Alf Landon who had support of the more Liberal wing of the party. Both Curtis and Landon agreed on policies such as the "Home Rule Plan" which would allow for greater autonomy in certain areas in America but it was their economic policies that differed. Curtis and the conservative/moderate wing believed in a more protectionist economy while Alf Landon and the liberal wing wished to pursue a free trade economy.

With the support of the President it seemed that Curtis would win the primary. But then many people within the Republican Party began to question Curtis' health, believing he was unfit for the presidency. Many on the liberal wing of the party began a push to switch Curtis for Landon. Many on the conservative wing objected to this idea and with the recent success of the “Garner-Wagner Bill" they began a movement to draft Hoover for a third term. This draft would succeed, much to the dismay of the liberal wing.

On May 22, 1936, President Herbert Hoover accepted the Republican nomination for the President in Sacramento, California. His running mate would be Frank Knox who would replace Curtis due to his health. Knox was the publisher for the Chicago Daily News and held no political experience. He offended no particular wing of the party but his outsider credentials worried some.

Democratic Party nomination
After the presidency of Palmer, it seemed that it would take decades for the Democrats to take back the White House. Yet after the failure of Hoover's presidency and the surprise result of 1932, it seemed like the Democrats chances in taking back the Presidency were more likely than ever. This was until many Democrats began to break ranks and form splinter parties such as the Old Democrats in the South or the AFP in the West. Though divided, the main party still hoped to pull off a strong performance this election cycle and preserve the party for years to come.

There was very little competition within the Democratic primary as Speaker of the House John Nance Garner was nominated for President a second time (with the first being in 1932). Garner campaigned upon restoring law and order in America stating that he would not tolerate extremist groups like the Red Guard or the Minutemen in American society and went on to condemn the Republican Party's "Home Rule" Plan. He also promised to revive many of Wilson's economic policies and continue his legacy.

The Democrats nominated Al Smith, Former Governor of New York, as Vice-President. He was mainly selected in order to unite the party and Smith's appeals to working class voters can cut into both the Republicans and the Socialist's thresholds in places like New York. But Smith's Catholicism was something many voters feared with many Protestants in the Democratic Party switching over to Murray due to this fact.

Progressive Party nomination
Progressives in America have had a long and proud history yet the Progressive Party haven't seen major electoral success when it came to Presidential history. The closest the party ever got was in its inception when Former President Theodore Roosevelt ran in 1912. The only other time the Progressive Party did relatively well was in 1924 with Robert M. La Follette. But with dissatisfaction with the two major parties and the rise of radical parties, the Progressive Party hopes to take advantage of the chaos by portraying themselves as moderate liberals.

Initially it seemed that the primary for the nomination was to be competitive. Yet in the end Senator George Norris was given the nomination after Senator Hiram Johnson and Henry Wallace dropped out and endorsed Norris.

Norris campaigned in opposition of the Republican "Home Rule" Plan believing that it would cave to radicals. He instead insisted on implementing Roosevelt's Fair Deal legislation and fund massive projects into poor communities. He also wanted to work with Union leaders in order to further stabilize the nation and make a "truly fair" society. His candidacy attracted the attention of many liberal Republicans and Democrats who were dissatisfied with the nominations of Hoover and Garner.

The Progressive Party nominated former WW1 pilot and son of former President Theodore Roosevelt; Quentin Roosevelt. This came as quite a shock across the political world. Many Progressives were skeptical over the fact that he has never held public office. Yet his emphasis on implanting his father's policies put the mind of party leaders at ease. Many in the Republican Party were disappointed believing that he would have had a good career within the GOP.

Socialist Party nomination
Unlike other political parties, the Socialist Party is the political wing of the much larger Combined Syndicates of America. The Party was originally founded in 1901 as it's own political party with Eugene Debs as its leader. In its early years the party was heavily divided between the moderate and the radical wings of the party. The party took a turn in 1920, during the May Day celebrations, when it supported the radical Syndicalist revolution in France leading to the radical wing of the party being the dominant force. On 12 July 1925, the Philadelphia Pan-Union Congress was held in which several party leaders proposed the creation of the CSA. It would create a large umbrella organization featuring the many unions across the United States, including the moderate AFL and the radical IWW, to coordinate union union activity and bring a syndicalist revolution to the United States. The Socialist Party was reorganized into the political wing of the CSA.

Bill Haywood was the General Secretary of the CSA meaning he is automatically nominated for the Socialist Party nomination. Being the founder of the IWW, Haywood represents the SPA's more radical faction. Campaigning on bringing the same revolutions in Britain and France to the Americas, he was seen as a major radical in the race for the presidency. Before the nominations, many party leaders were concerned about Haywood's age, with some suggesting that someone should have the nomination. But Haywood insisted that he was well enough to serve the presidency.

When it came to his running mate, they chose New York Senator John "Jack" Reed. With his role in forming the CSA and his upset win in New York in 1928, Reed was elevated to the high ranks of the CSA. He was mainly chosen due to being the safe pick that would offend the other factions of the party.

Old Democratic Party nomination
The Old Democrats were originally seen as a fraction of the main Democrat Party. It mainly advocates on being anti-socialist, anti-banks, and anti-corruption while promoting White Nativist policies. The faction splintered off after the Republicans were elected in 1928 and eased the pressure on leftist organization with little push back from the mainstream Democratic Party.

The party is mainly concentrated in the South with many state-affiliated Democratic Parties switching their national affiliation to the Old Democrats. Certain state-affiliated Republican parties even joined the Old Democrats including the Indiana Republican Party. Notable figures such as Charles Lindberg and Henry Ford had thrown their support behind the new party. The Party also has the support of the National Democratic White Leagues which is made up of numerous White supremacist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan and the the Black Legion.

William H. Murray is seen as the leader of the movement with many people expecting to win the nomination easily. The only person that could've been a threat to Murray's nomination was famed aviator Charles Lindberg who was backed by the northern faction of the party but he declined in order to run for the New Jersey Senate seat.

Murray and his running mate John Rankin ran on a campaign which fought against "Communist, Corporations, and Miscegenation." His candidacy was supported by all factions of the Old Democratic Party but was seen as another radical candidate in the race by other parties.

America First Party nomination
The America First Party was another new party in American politics. The party was founded by former Democratic Louisiana Governor turned Senator Huey P. Long based on his "Share the Wealth" program. The party's platform focused on wealth distribution, nationalism, isolationism, anti-establishment, and big-tent populism. Despite its rapid growth in popularity, the AFP has only found ground in the Great Plains, the Rockies, the South, and the Midwest.

In March, Senator Long announced his run for the presidency under his new party. He chose North Dakota representative William Lemke to be his running mate. His candidacy received support from the La Follette family, Senator William Borah, Senator Burton Wheeler, Senator Gerald Nye, Gerald L. K. Smith, and Father Charles Coughlin. It also received support from groups like the "Share the Wealth Society," "National Union for Social Justice," " the Minutemen," and the "Silver Legion."

Winter Campaign
The election year began with the re-introduction of the "Garner-Wagner Bill" after President Hoover assured that he would not veto the bill like last time. The bill sought to give unemployment relief to many Americans in need. The bill was opposed by both Socialist and America First congressmen who believed the bill didn't go far enough. Negotiations over the bill almost fell apart when many Republican and Democrat Senators broke ranks including one of the bill proposer Robert Wagner. Eventually President Hoover pressured the establishment Senators to come up with a compromise with the Socialist Party. These compromises saw provisions that included worker protections and helped boost Haywood and other Socialist in the polls. The bill was eventually passed by a narrow vote with Hoover seeing a bump in the polls.

In late January, Governor Eugene Talmage of Georgia officially switched parties from the Democrats to the Old Democrats followed by several other Democratic members flipping. Seeing this, many members of the Republican and Democratic parties came together to form a National Unity Agreement which would see Republicans not putting up candidates in the Democratic "Solid South" while the Democrats won't put up candidates in progressive areas in order to prevent radical parties from gaining power. President Hoover endorsed the agreement believing it would secure a more moderate congress.

February saw greater economic turmoil with the U.S. economy as the Berlin Stock Exchange collapsed in what is known as "Black Monday." Establishment parties began to lose ground in the polls as Haywood, Murray, and Long started to gain ground in the race.

Public outrage came about after the U.S. government suppressed the broadcast of controversial speaker Father Charles Coughlin. His conspiracies about how the syndicalist revolutions and "Black Monday '' were all a plot by German elites caused the Pope to request the U.S. government to shut him down. This had the unintended effect of the AFP getting a bump in the polls, especially in the Midwest and Great Plains.

Spring Campaign
On March 16th, massive floods occurred near Pittsburg in what's known as the "Saint Patrick's Day Flood." The government made little effort to bring in federal aid leading to backlash against President Hoover's government.

In late March a scandal broke out in Ohio in which the "Ohio Gang'' led by Governor Harry M. Daugherty was found to have been selling firearms to local militia. The "Springfield Scandal" furthered upset the establishment political class especially after President Hoover didn't comment on the matter. The scandal furthered escalated when one of the suspects in the case Jess Smith was found dead in his apartment by supposed suicide. Many conspiracy theories came about from people like Charles Coughlin and Gerald Burton Winrod began to speculate if Smith's death was part of a much larger conspiracy. Despite this, President Hoover still refused to get involved with the scandal.

With the economy in shambles, President Hoover sought for Canada, who was holding the exile government of Britain, to repay its debts. Canada refused saying that the debts were taken under the British government which was now in exile and cannot be repaid until they retaken the homeland. Congress also passed the Hawking Plan which would see relief efforts funded by corporations across American communities. The plan was opposed by Socialist and Old Democrats alike.

During this time two special elections were held. One in Washington following the death of Senator Wesley Lloyd in which Socialist candidate John F. Mckay defeated Democratic candidate John Main Coffee. Another in New Jersey following Senator A. Harry Moore's resignation in which Old Democratic candidate Charles Lindberg defeated mainstream Democratic candidate John Gerald Milton. These victories led to speculations that radical parties were rising in America and that it would be a tough year for establishment parties.

Crime became more prominent throughout America mainly thanks to paramilitary groups like the National Democratic White Leagues, the Red Guard, and the Minutemen along with gangsters and bank robbers like Al Capone and Bonnie and Clyde. In order to combat this, President Hoover increased the funding of the FBI and started using the National Guard more often. During International Workers Day or May Day, riots occurred across the country between socialist and police. The police were backed by both the ODP and the AFP with eventually establishment parties backing up the claim that the riots were caused by the socialist. Several assignation attempts against politicians occurred across the country. Most notable was when Vice-Presidential candidate for the ODP John Rankin was fired upon by an Anarchist. Several attempts have been made against Huey Long and Bill Haywood. This marked the point in which the election cycle turned violent across the country.