List of Presidents of the United States of America (The Kaiser's New Clothes)

The following is a list of U.S. Presidents in The Kaiser's New Clothes timeline. The list is identical to our own until 1921. Woodrow Wilson, ailing, does not seek a third term and abides by the conventions of office in 1920. His success in negotiating a peaceful settlement to the war, the lack of any U.S. casualties influences the election. Wilson's Secretary of State, Robert Lansing, is able to secure the Democratic nomination and defeats Warren G. Harding. In 1924, however, the philanthropist Herbert Hoover defeats Lansing and serves until 1933, when Franklin Roosevelt, who had been Lansing's Vice President, wins the White House on his second attempt. Because there is no war looming, Roosevelt feels no need to continue in office and abides by the convention, serving only two terms and finishing in 1941. He is replaced by Republican Wendell Willkie, who serves until 1944, when he dies in office, less than a month before the election. His Vice President, Thomas Dewey, assumes office and wins the 1944 election in a landslide. Dewey is re-elected in 1948. In 1952, the election is won by Democrat Henry Wallace. In our timeline, a Wallace presidency could have been disastrous (see The President is a Commie!, but since there is no cold war, Wallace is able to serve as President with distinction. There being no World War II, Dwight Eisenhower never comes to national prominance and never runs for President - Richard Nixon never makes it as far either, because he was never VP and because there was no Alger Hiss hearing. Wallace serves as President until 1956, when he is defeated by Republican former VP Earl Warren. President Warren introduces civil rights laws for the first time and ends public school segregation; this is despite his reputation as a good conservative. He wins re-election in 1960, but is 69 years old (the oldest man ever elected President) and in failing health. His second term is marked by increasing racial violence and civil unrest throughout the United States. The great reformer, John F. Kennedy, is elected President in 1964 on a platform of civil rights and national healing. Kennedy is a popular President, though a deeply flawed human being. A series of embarrasing personal scandals, including rumours of an affair with a Mafia moll, Judith Campbell, causes Kennedy to lose the 1968 election to Republican Barry Goldwater (there being no Cold War, Goldwater's "nuts" reputation is not present), who ends many of the reforms Kennedy started and again plunges the country into unrest. Goldwater nonetheless wins a second term in 1972 against Kennedy's Vice President, Eugene McCarthy. In 1976, former actor Ronald Reagan is elected President. Again, with no cold war, Reagan's reputation and persona are somewhat different - in this timeline, he is a strict isolationist who pursues a very different foreign policy agenda. Reagan, as popular in this timeline as in ours, serves until 1985. In that year, Democratic candidate Gary Hart is elected over Vice President Bob Dole, the first Democrat to hold the White House for sixteen years. Like Kennedy before him, Hart is plagued with personal scandal, and loses the 1988 election to Dole in a rematch. Dole, however, proves unable to govern effectively due to midterm losses in Congress, and in 1992 the young, dynamic Bill Clinton is elected President. Clinton is just as vulnerable to character questions as Hart and Kennedy before him, but is nonetheless able to secure a 1996 re-election, becoming the first two-term Democrat since FDR. Clinton's new agenda and reformism sparks a cultural revolution in the United States. In 2000, Clinton opts to seek a third term, which constitutionally he is able to do (since the 22nd Amendment was never passed) and defeats John McCain. Vice President Gore, denied the nomination he expected, makes a new career as an environmental activist. Clinton's VP in his third term is Howard Dean, who is assured the nomination in 2004. The September 11 attacks never take place due to a more isolationist foreign policy on behalf of Washington, and the "War on Terror" never begins. In 2004, with a strong economy and with President Clinton's coat-tails still flapping, Dean is elected President over Republican John McCain.