No New Deal

The New Deal refers to a series of government programs pursued by the United States government throughout the 1930s and 1940s under the administration of US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The New Deal programs remain some of the most defining government policy in US history with everything from the current party system to bureaucratic function to civil rights allignment all tracing their current positions back to the New Deal. However, despite how transformative the New Deal was, there were several points throughout the 1930s where the New Deal almost never came to be. This was due to opposition from both Republicans and internal oppositions from pro-business northeastern Democrats such as Al Smith and his Liberty League.

FDR — Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States (1933 - 1945) never becomes President in this timeline. The New Deal doesn't come into fruition

The point of divergence in this timeline occurs on July 2nd, 1932 at the Democratic National Convention. Al Smith is able to utilize connections with party bosses and insiders to ultimately edge out Roosevelt and secure the 1932 Democratic nomination. Al Smith, being pro-business, never pursues programs resembling the New Deal.

Outcomes[]

Party alignment: A drastic altercation of the New Deal was the solidifying of the Democratic Party as the party of "big government" or the "progressive party" while Republican rhetoric would be solidly "small government". Prior to this, there were economically progressive Republicans, such as Fiorello LaGuardia and Robert M. La Follette Jr., and economically conservative Democrats such as the aforementioned Al Smith as well as John W. Davis and John Nance Garner. A New Deal not occurring means that these party factions will continue to exist well into the 1940s with the parties solidifying stances on economic issues much later on.

Civil rights and racial realignment: Another impact that the New Deal had was the drift of African Americans into the coalition of the Democratic Party, which would have the long-term impact of a Democratic administration signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 decades later. The reason the New Deal resulted in this shift was the promise of the welfare programs assisting lower income Americans. Due to discrimination against them, African Americans were largely low income and were receptive to the messaging of the New Deal programs, even if the programs themselves did not benefit African Americans and were often exclusionary towards them.

World War 2 and the post-War world: Without Roosevelt leading the country through the second world war, a different president may have a different strategy to handling the war which has impacts on the Cold War and long-term impacts on 20th century geopolitics.

Portal - Important Pages[]

The following is a link to a list of important pages within the timeline. To see all pages, visit the No New Deal category.

Important Pages[]

1932 Presidential Election (No New Deal)
Al Smith (No New Deal)
World War 2 (No New Deal)
Cold War (No New Deal)
List of Presidents of the United States (No New Deal)
Progressive Union (No New Deal)

Writers[]

Other contributors:

IndyWasTaken (Germany partition)

Sources Cited for this timeline[]

(In no particular order)