1904 United States Presidential Election (Brothers No More)

United States presidential election, 1904
All 356 electoral votes of the Electoral College; 179 electoral votes needed to win
	Electoral College results
President before election; George Gray; Democrat	Elected President ; Charles W. Fairbanks; National American

This Brothers No More article is out of date with the current lore of the timeline and may seem inconsistent with other recently revised articles. It will be rewritten in the near future.

The United States Presidential Election of 1904, the 30th US presidential election, took place on November 8, 1904. National American candidate Charles W. Fairbanks defeated incumbent Democratic President George Gray to become the 25th President of the United States.

Background[]

The political climate entering this election was as confused and uncertain as at any other time in US history. The firm reelection of President William Jennings Bryan in 1900 had seemed to herald a new era of progressive politics in the country. Instead of implementing his progressive policies, however, Bryan was unfortunately shot and killed by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. This led to the conservative vice president, George Gray, inheriting the presidency and sending the country on an entirely different course. Over the next three years, Gray's solid leadership would slowly return leadership of the Democratic Party back to the conservatives. With an average economy and few serious domestic issues, the main focus of this election remained the future of progressivism and if a proper balance could be struck between the conservatives and "radicals."

Democratic Nomination[]

The 1904 Democratic National Convention was held from June 28-30 in New York City. Going into the convention, it was widely expected that President George Gray would be nominated. He did have major opposition, though, as the remaining progressive delegates united around William Randolph Hearst, a U.S. representative and newspaper publisher from New York. After Gray won just enough delegates to be nominated on the first ballot, Hearst was offered the vice presidential nomination in order to placate the progressive Democrats. He accepted after some deliberation.

National American Nomination[]

The 1904 National American Convention was held from July 6-9 in Milwaukee. While some party members advocated for a progressive candidate in the face of President Gray's conservatism, the National American Party was still firmly controlled by conservatives. The remaining progressives united around Theodore Roosevelt, a U.S. representative from New York. Roosevelt had served in President McKinley's administration and was elected Mayor of New York in 1894. He later ran for a seat in the House of Representatives and won, making him one of the foremost National American progressives in Congress. Despite Roosevelt's charisma, the conservative Senator Charles W. Fairbanks of Indiana won the nomination on the first ballot. Longtime progressive Representative Robert R. Hitt of Illinois became the vice presidential nominee by a slim margin. Hitt was more palatable to conservative delegates than Roosevelt, as he was seen as less outspoken and potentially disruptive.

The Campaign[]

With the candidates being seen as similar on the actual issues, this campaign was based on party politics and the personality of each man. Despite having a growing progressive wing of their own, the National Americans strongly denounced the "radical policies" of the Democrats. Even though the Democrats were now more conservative in nature than progressive, voters still associated the party and President Gray with William Jennings Bryan. Gray did not try to fight off this image, and he in fact tried to embrace the legacy of Bryan. While he agreed with virtually none of his policies, Gray tried to win the goodwill of progressive voters by praising Bryan as a man and leader. Fairbanks did not personally attack Bryan, as it would have been seen as unbecoming to attack a recently assassinated president, but he did pledge to return the country to normalcy and stability.

Results and Aftermath[]

Gray had been an acceptable president in the people's minds, and a sufficient substitute for Bryan, but he did not hold nearly the level of popular support and enthusiasm that his predecessor held. The younger, freshly-faced Fairbanks excited voters far more, as many voters felt that the time was right for his promised return to normalcy. Fairbanks won a solid victory.

The people ended up being right, as President Fairbanks and his protectionist policies seemed to bring in a level of economic prosperity not seen since before the Civil War. For the first time in generations, Americans truly felt a sense of pride in their nation and their standard of living. It felt as if everything had become right again, and the United States had woken out of its long post-war slumber. All of these factors made Fairbanks a very popular president. It also made conservatism very popular, as progressives found themselves being pushed out of both major parties. In that way, this election (and the death of Bryan) could be seen as a massive turning point for the country. As conservatism remained popular for the next 15 years, many much needed reforms were not made. Monopolies remained intact and corruption again found itself on the rise. Progressives which had failed to find a home with either major party found themselves being pushed even further left, which led to many of them joining the newly formed Socialist Party. These trends were likely a major catalyst for the rapid rise of socialism in the United States over the next two decades, and the major political upheaval that followed.