Charles W. La Follette

From Turtledove

Charles W. La Follette
Fictional Character
Southern Victory
Nationality:	United States
Occupation:	Speaker of the House, Vice President of the United States, President of the United States
Affiliations:	Socialist Party

Charles W. La Follette became the thirty-third President of the United States after the death of Al Smith, under whom he'd served as Vice President, in 1942. He had previously served as a U.S. Congressman from Wisconsin and as the Speaker of the U.S. House.

La Follette distinguished himself as Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1935. Al Smith, then Governor of New York, became the Socialist candidate for presidency in 1936. He tapped La Follette for Vice President. Many staunch Democrats acknowledged La Follette's formidible intelligence, especially compared with that of incumbent President Herbert Hoover's running-mate, William Borah. Smith and La Follette won handily. They were re-elected in 1940, after Smith had successfully concluded the Richmond Agreement with Confederate President Jake Featherston.

However, once the terms of the Richmond Agreement were met, including the return of the states of Kentucky and Houston to the C.S., Featherston began to demand more territorial secessions from the United States. Smith refused. After Featherston remilitarized Kentucky in the wake of the Frankfort Incident, Smith mobilized the US military. In 1941, Featherston launched Operation Blackbeard, a surprise attack on the United States, and the beginning of the Second Great War in North America. Smith did his best to rally the country, but in 1942, he was killed when a Confederate bombing raid hit Powel House. La Follette was immediately sworn in.

Very early on, La Follette decided that the best way for the U.S. to win the war was to allow the military to fight with minimal interference from the executive branch. In 1942, he tried to make peace with Mormon Rebels, but was rebuffed by their leadership. These negotiations were also heavily criticized by Democrats and Socialists alike in Congress. He would however accept the Mormons' unconditional surrender the following year.

La Follette did not distinguish his administration during the Second Great War until late 1943, when, with General Irving Morrell's army threatening Atlanta, Georgia and General Abner Dowling's Eleventh Army in possession of Camp Determination, Texas, he demanded Confederate President Jake Featherston's surrender before a joint session of Congress. Featherston refused to surrender and fired two massive rockets into Philadelphia to make it clear that the war was far from won.

Upon the revelation of the Freedom Party's efforts to exterminate its black population in 1943, La Follette announced his intention to issue an executive order immediately allowing blacks to serve in the United States Army on December 15, 1943. He prepared legislation that would protect all blacks within the jurisdiction of the U.S. He also announced that only when the Confederate States ceased to exist could the United States claim victory.

The United States triumphed in 1944. La Follette ran for election in his own right in 1944 against Thomas Dewey, his running mate was Congressman Jim Curley of Massachusetts. Despite having led the country through the Second Great War, Dewey's message that the Democrats would firmly clamp down on the former-C.S. and that the Socialists' policies had allowed the C.S. attack in the first place appealed to the American people. The La Follette-Curley ticket was defeated. La Follette wasn't even able to carry his home state.

La Follette was the first US President born after the Second Mexican War.

[edit] Literary Note

It had been previously assumed that this La Follette was the historical congressman from Indiana. However, the Southern Victory version is specifically identified as being from Wisconsin. Moreover, the Southern Victory version's middle initial is "W", whereas the historical figure's middle name was "Marion". Thus, the SV version is probably not the historical figure, but may be a close analog.

Political offices
Preceded by Al Smith	President of the United States (Southern Victory) 1942-1945	Succeeded by Thomas Dewey

Political offices
Preceded by A Period of Vacancy Following Hiram Johnson	Vice-President of the United States (Southern Victory) 1937-1942	Succeeded by A Period of Vacancy, then Harry Truman

Political offices
Preceded by Unknown; last known was Seymour Stedman	Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (Southern Victory) 1935-1937	Succeeded by Clarence Cannon

Political offices
Preceded by Hiram Johnson	Socialist Party Vice Presidential Candidate (Southern Victory) 1936 (won), 1940 (won)	Succeeded by Jim Curley

Political offices
Preceded by Al Smith	Socialist Party Presidential Candidate (Southern Victory) 1944 (lost)	Succeeded by Most Recent