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 contending 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 on 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 had 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 Precedency ended with the Herbert Hoover being elected into office. Hoover attempted to revive the American economy but the response was slow. He also attempted to "Return to Normalcy" by 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 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 furthered 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.

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.

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 complete his second term and also believed that he had little chance in 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 policy such as the "Home Rule Plan" which would allow for greater autonomy in certain areas in America but it was their economic policy that differs. Curtis and the conservative/moderate wing believed in a more protectionist economy while Alf Landon and the liberal wing wished to peruse 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 on the party began to 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 outsiders credentials worried some.