In 1861, on this day Lincoln called on the militias of all the states to muster 75,000 troops to recapture forts, and "preserve the union". This forced other southern and border states to make choices. Many chose to secede. The next four years would prove to the world that Lincoln's war, with his dream of a perpetual union would prove to be both a desperate hope and a nightmare.

A Rival Nation arisesThe election of 1860 split the nation into "two Americas", as seven of the fourteen slave states declared themselves a separate nation, the Confederate States of America, in 1861. By the time Lincoln took office, the CSA was a fact. President Buchanan was of a mind to let the states secede, but his cabinet did not go along. And so it was, five weeks after being sworn in (under heavy security), and federal troops of the USA that refused to leave a fort they maintained in South Carolina were fired upon by Confederate gunboats. Lincoln held this to be an act of war.

From the two Americas thread on Alt WikiaThe Second American Revolution

Lincoln had set the stage for the death of the nation as he knew it. And ultimately to his own death as well. His whole term in office was defined by a war between equal forces, battles fought in the southern states tended to go to the self-proclaimed Confedarate States of America. The CSA had grown from the seven original states were joined by five others, leaving only Maryland and Delaware to remain neutral "border states". Battles fought in the northern states were overwhelmingly won by the home forces. In the north, also, the nation was rift with anti-war demonstrations.

Though he loved liberty, Lincoln found himselves running the nation in a perpetual state of martial law. The jails were full of what detractors called "political prisoners" as the Lincoln administration attempted to keep the unrest to a minimum. The Supreme Court was hampered by the "War Powers Act" which re-enforced the President's power in time of war. The legislature, with loyalists from all but the southern states but Mississippi and Texas, was largely on Lincoln's side. When a debate would begin to go against the president, the majority leaders were able to stop debate by various procedural moves.

Early in the war, the Union forces had occupied territory in central Tennessee. This occupation, though had been defeated in the very bloody battle for Murphreesboro. On December 31, 1862, Col. Phillip Sheridan and all three of his brigade commanders were killed as the Confederates began to retake Tennessee.

By mid 1864 the war looked like it was going in the union's favor. But then General U.S. Grant's campaign to conquer Virginia went from bad to worse in June of 1864. Having lost the battle of New Market on May 15th, Grant had replaced Gen. Fanz Sigel with Gen. David Hunter. On June 5th, Hunter would be killed in an attempt to take Staunton, Virginia. Their new leader dead, the slightly larger union forces were turned back by those under the command of Gen. William E. Jones of the Confederacy.

The campaign lead by Confederate Gen. Jubal Early had been largely a success, defending the Virginian border from the Union's advances. The union forces under Gen. George Cook had been soundly defeated as they attempted to take Kernstown, Virginia. Early had pursued the fleeing only as far as the Pennsylvania border, not wishing to be ambushed in enemy territory. Realizing the failure on this front, General Grant sent re-enforcements down the Mississippi River on the far western front. The re-election of Abraham Lincoln, which Grant had hoped would be secured through a "scorched earth" destruction of support structure in the south, seemed in jeopardy.

In 1881, on this day the sixteenth Union President Abraham Lincoln died of consumption in New York City. He was seventy-two years old and had suffered health issues dating back to his two-terms of office at the Washington White House.

Abraham Lincoln
16^th Union President
March 4, 1861 - 1869Abraham Lincoln was the last president of the united nation founded by Virginians and New England patriots. Events leading to his election as president had caused political descent in the states which resulted in an official secession of several southern states. Reacting to this as an act of rebellion, Lincoln had asked for and got a declaration of war. Failing to secure the loyalty of Virginia, the remaining United States were locked in a war that lasted for most of his two terms. After a propaganda campaign to defeat a popular General in the 1864, he was to live in seclusion for fear of Confederate assassins rumored to be in the Washington. In 1865, he saw the CSA hold its boundaries secure and sue for armistice after his failed attempt to "slash and burn" the farmland of the deep south.

After the ceasefire, Lincoln worked with the generals in his army to secure border cities to assure a peaceful transition and rebuilding of his beloved Union. He worked to assure that the Republican Party would hold office in what were certain to be tumultuous years ahead. A new article from the "Two Americas" thread on Althistory WikiaHaving successfully abolished slavery within the United States, Lincoln began a campaign to abolish what he saw as another great evil -- the manufacture and distribution of alcoholic beverage. The hero of the western campaign, and one time head of the whole Union Army, General U.S. Grant, was opposed to this campaign, painting it as an attack on free enterprise and civil liberties.

In March of 1869, Lincoln left office, turning over the reins of a much smaller nation to Ulysses Grant. He was a broken man, in failing health, and with very few friends. The New York Temperance League, with whom he had worked for the later part of his presidency, promised him and his family a place to stay in New York City, where he died in June 19, 1881, of what was called "consumption" (a form of cancer, according to forensic experts of today) at the age of 72.

In 1948, on this day the twenty-fifth President of the Confederate States Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. was born in the Federal District of Richmond.

Al Gore
25th Confederate President
March 4, 1999 - 2005A life-long and well groomed political career included service as CS Representative, Senator and Vice President. He was the son of former Tennessee Congressman and Senator Albert A. Gore, Sr., first winning election to is father's former House seat when it became vacant in 1976 with the unexpected retirement of Rep. Joe Evins. He would remain in that position for three terms until winning a Senate seat in 1984. He would leave the Senate in 1989 to serve as Vice President under Bill Clinton. As Vice President, he had a written agreement to be an active part of the administration and became as visible as the president in national and international affairs. His most impressive contribution was in the field of interactive media, being an advocate for new technology going all the way back to his first days in the House. As a result of this interest, he attracted a large following in the younger generation. This lead to a close race against fellow Tennessean, sitting Constitutionist Senator Lamar Alexander, Gore became the 25th President of the Confederate States.

From the two Americas thread on Alt WikiaIn his first nine months as president, Gore's history with the computer age (some had begun to call him "Geek-in-Chief") provided him with an unusual challenge. It had come to his attention as Vice President that early computer programmers, both American and Confederate, had made an error in a crucial component of many programs -- the date. Many experts as far back as 1984, in the dawn of the "world-wide web", had begun warning that computers that used the two last digits of the year as a date would malfunction as dates began to register "00". Fixes had been devised, and the Clinton administration had worked with American, Canadian, and European experts to assure that everything would make the transition without problems. However, as one of the most visible spokesmen for the technology, Gore was the one who was most "tested" as the calendar year (and digital counters) moved into 2000. With only a few glitches, the world survived.

Gore's number one issue as president, though, was to curb what he saw as the most dangerous problem the world faced in the twenty-first century -- the production of "green house gases" in the continued use of carbon-based fuels. The Confederate States was the second largest producer of oil in the world, making it also quite stable as an economic superpower. But the use of that product was seen by Gore and his compatriots as the number one producer of carbon dioxide, a major contributor to the heat-trapping effect of carbon by-products in the atmosphere. Having first learned of the theory of "global warming" in college, Gore had been an amateur scientist, learning everything he could to support the theory. The theory had support around the world, and Gore lobbied Congress throughout his term as president to support the Kyoto Protocol of 1997. However, even members of his own party had warned that riding this issue too far would result in a backlash. Gore would lose both the House and Senate by the end of 2004, and the Democrats would then lose the White House in 2006 with the election of Mike Huckabee - the second Arkansas governor in as many decades to sit at the President's desk.

In 1812, on this day the second Confederate President Alexander Hamilton Stephens was born in Crawfordville, Georgia.

Alexander H. Stevens
2^nd Confederate President
March 4, 1867 - 1873 Alexander Hamilton Stephens (February 11, 1812 - March 4, 1883) was an American politician from Georgia. He was President of the Confederate States of America immediately following the American Civil War. He also served as a U.S. Representative from Georgia before the Civil War and as the 50th Governor of Georgia from 1882 until his death in 1883.

Early Life and Career

Born Alexander Stephens to Andrew and Margaret Stephens in Crawfordville, Georgia, Stephens grew up poor. But thanks to the generosity of Rev. Alexander Hamilton Webster, a Presbyterian minister, he was educated at Franklin College (later the University of Georgia), where he graduated at the top of his class in 1832. He went on to study law on his own, being admitted to the bar in 1834.

A new article from the "Two Americas" thread on Althistory WikiaStephens was a very successful lawyer and land owner in his native Taliaferro County, becoming wealthy and subsequently generous with that wealth. Though a sickly man, weighing only 96 pounds, his intellect and strength of character gained his the compliment from a northern newspaper as "the strongest man in the south". He was known as an able defender of the falsely accused, and generous to a fault with his home and wealth.

Early on, Stephens gained the respect of his fellow Georgians, being first elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1836 and then the Georgia Senate in 1842. In 1843, he resigned the State Senate when he was elected in a special election to fill a vacant seat in the US House of Representatives.

Congressional Career

In 1843, Stephens was elected U.S. Representative as a Whig, in a special election to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Mark A. Cooper. This seat was an at-large seat, as Georgia did not have House districts until 1844. In 1844, 1846, and 1848, Stephens was re-elected Representative from the 7th District as a Whig. In 1851 he was re-elected as a Unionist, in 1853 as a Whig (from the 8th District), and in 1855 and 1857 as a Democrat. He served from October 2, 1843 to March 3, 1859, in the 28th Congress through the 35th Congress.

As a national lawmaker during the crucial two decades before the Civil War, Stephens was involved in all the major sectional battles. He began as a moderate defender of slavery, but later accepted all of the prevailing Southern rationales used to defend the institution.

Elected as a Whig, Stephens was instrumental in the creation of the Constitutional Unionist party in Georgia in 1850. The party replaced the Whig party in the 1850 congressional elections, and he fought hard to save the party before it dissolved in 1851. A Whig once more, he fought for the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which proved the undoing of the Whig party. Elected as a Democrat in 1854, he became a rising voice of sanity from the south. Leaving office in 1859, he worked for the election of Stephen Douglas in the 1860 presidential campaign. When elected a member of the convention to decide on secession, he voiced his objections, likening the national union as a leaking ship that only needed mending.

National politics in the Confederacy

In spite his opposition to secession, Stephens was selected by the Congress of the Confederacy to be the vice president of the provisional government, being sworn into office on February 11, 1861 (his 49th birthday). The President, Jefferson Davis, was to be sworn in February 18th, meaning Stephens would be the longest serving executive in Confederate history. The Constitution would establish the date of March 4th as inauguration day after standard election. Elected to fill the same post, he would serve along side Davis during the whole active war against the US. He would, though, be a constant voice for peace from his office in Richmond and on more than one occasion in Washington.

On February 3, 1865, he was one of three Confederate commissioners who met with Lincoln on the steamer River Queen at the Hampton Roads Conference, to discuss measures to bring an end to the war. Lincoln had predetermined that no agreement short of a restoration of the union with the abolition of slavery would be reached. The report from that conference would result in a covert operation to assassinate the US president. This was to be a shock to Stephens, though he suspected that Davis may have known of the plan.

In spite of the tension between Stephens and Davis, the president supported his vice president as the best man to heal the nation after the ceasefire in 1866. The opposition was futile in November of that year as Stephens' reputation preceded him. In 1868, his vice president, Gen. Robert E. Lee, made a passionate plea for the abolition of slavery in the Confederacy. Stephens had been a staunch supporter of the institution, but understood the plight of the slave, having defended many of them in court in the years before the war.

The primary accomplishment of the Stephens' administration though, was the attempted liberation of Cuba from the domination of Spain. As word from refugees reaching Key West and mainland Florida, Stephens ordered the Confederate Navy to blockade the island in November of 1868, just weeks after the "10th of October Manifesto" that declared independence from Spain. With the recognition of the rebellion, the Confederacy was embroiled in an unpopular war that was costing the Confederacy lives and money they could not afford. Near the end of his administration Stephens would have to withdraw the Confederate forces to defend the border with Mexico due to that country's political unrest.

After leaving office, Stephens was appointed to be Ambassador to Mexico in 1874. Being recalled after the coupe in 1876, he would be sent to Cuba in an attempt to mend the broken relations with Spain. Having little success in that venture, he would return to Georgia for a slight reprieve from public service.

Governor of Georgia

In a move unusual for a former President, Stephens would run for governor of his home state. He would be elected and serve from the capital at Milledgeville from 1878 until his death in 1883.

In his first term, He would oversee the plans to move the capital to the modern city of Atlanta, which had suffered damage in Sherman's attempts to disrupt the economy of the Confederacy in the "scorched earth" policy on 1865. Confederate forces had brought that campaign to an end in the Battle of Atlanta. US President Johnson had withdrawn all forces to the border soon after that. By the end of 1880, the foundation of the new capitol building had been lain. 1881 would see the International Cotton Exposition would draw attention to the vital textile industry. Mechanization had largely reduced the need for slave labor, promoting the late Vice President Lee's dream for emancipation of slaves.

After being re-elected in November of 1882, he would be injured in an accident on his estate in Taliaferro County, dying of complications on March 4, 1883. At his death, James S. Boynton, president of the Georgia senate, became governor until a special election could be held.

In 1808, on this day the sixteenth Vice President of the United States Andrew Johnson was born in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Andrew Johnson
16th Vice President of the United States
March 4th, 1865 - March 5, 1868When the Southern states seceded, Johnson was a U.S. Senator from Greeneville in East Tennessee. As a Unionist, he was the only Southern senator not to quit his post upon secession. He became the most prominent War Democrat from the South and supported Lincoln's military policies during the American Civil War of 1861-1865.

In 1862, Lincoln appointed Johnson military governor of occupied Tennessee, where he was energetic and effective in fighting the rebellion and beginning the transition to Reconstruction.

A post from the Two Americas Timline on Alt WikiaJohnson was nominated as the vice presidential candidate in 1864 on the National Union Party ticket. He and Lincoln were elected in November 1864 and inaugurated on March 4, 1865. Johnson succeeded to the presidency upon Lincoln's assassination on April 15, 1865.

In an attempt to bring peace to the region the United Kingdom and France intervened in the civil war during early 1866. On August 8 the Union and the Confederacy agreed to a ceasefire. The states of Missouri and Kentucky retained U.S. troops, and are claimed by both sides. The Confederacy kept troops in parts of Maryland and New Jersey, though not claiming them.

Being from Tennessee, Johnson was a "foreigner" in the white house after the cease fire. Factions from both the CS and the US attempted to remove him from office. After an attempt on his life by a disgruntled Tennessan on November 21, 1867, Johnson remained out of sight for months.

His lack of activity, though, did not keep his enemies in the US Senate from accusing him of being soft on the CS. This was trumped up as treason, and articles of impeachment were drawn up. As Congress debated, but before the House was able to impeach him, Johnson resigned the office, leaving Washington on March 5, 1868 for retirement in Maine.

In 1861, on this day the Confederate States of America was formed. The nation comprises of 21 states and several territories within the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. The nation was officially recognized globally on November 28, 1947. The Confederate States is the only modern and developed nation continuing to have some limits on human rights to minorities.

Birth of a NationThe Confederate States formed on February 8, 1861, with the reunification of seven states that previously made up the southern United States. In part of this, the United States and the Confederate States would go into a Civil War. By 1866, France and the United Kingdom began to throw themselves into the war in order to bring peace. In 1885, the four would sign the London Treaty, in which the Confederate States would be recognized by France and the United Kingdom as an independent nation from the United States. The United States never officially recognized this, and would continue to declare the CSA a rogue territory of the US until 1947.

A new article from the "Two Americas" thread on Althistory WikiaWorld War II and the Axis

Several politicians in the Confederate States gave support for the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany, and claimed that the CS should show stronger alliances with the new Germany. Presidents Huey Long and John N. Garner wished to remain neutral on the topic, though wished to gain better relations with Germany and the former Central powers of World War I. In 1936, Adolf Hitler would travel to both Argentina, and than the Confederate States, attempting to gain support from both nations on what will soon become a world war. Despite gaining a diplomatic and warm welcome from the CS and its citizens, President Garner showed very little support for Hitler. With the beginning of World War II in Europe in late 1939, the Confederate States wished to remain neutral on the matter.

In late 1940, the "United Brothers under God bill" was spread around Congress. If passed, it would turn the Confederate States into a stronger alliance with Germany and Italy, and would have most likely lead to a four-way alliance with the three and Japan. The bill would be voted against the idea, and the CSA remained neutral, to the relief of the Allies.

With the Japanese sneak attack at Pearl Harbor in US Hawaii on December 7, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan and Germany. Though the CS had no relationship with the United States, they still considered this an act against the Americas, and the CSA would declare war solely on Japan. The CS would officially declare war on Germany in mid 1943.

The Confederacy would place most of its efforts in the European theater, while the Union fought in the Pacific. On June 6, 1944, an allied invasion of Normandy took place in what would become known as D-Day. The liberation of France and the defeat of Germany would take place months later. Several key CS officers and solders would later volunteer to assist the United States in Japan. The war in Japan would end in August 1945 with the dropping of two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In 1863, on this day in Mississippi, the two Corps of the Army of the Tennessee led by Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant were defeated by the six thousand men of the Jackson City Garrison which was under the command of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston.

Confederate Victory at Jackson CityThe Confederate win at the Battle of Jackson prevented the Siege of Vicksburg, prolonging the war in the west, while the Union won at the Battle of Gettysburg. .

Both of these victories meant the continuing success of each government, and prolongs the war into a bloodier war in the once united nation. Fearing that the war would soon involve other nations, the United Kingdom and France get involved as an intermediaries, leading to a ceasefire and the conclusion of the Civil War. Both the United States and the Confederate States would sign the Treaty of London, which recognized the Confederate States as an independent nation. Not until 1947, though, would the United States recognize the southern states as anything but a part of the US but under a rogue government.

From the two Americas thread on Alt WikiaUnited States:

Without the burden of the Reconstruction of the southern states, the United States progressed in technology and domestic prowess. The states became bound with a sense of destiny and greatness. The borders were wide open to anyone who would come through in good faith. In the twentieth century they would gain tremendous financial power in the world.

Confederate States:

For the rest of the nineteenth century the new nation would seek recognition from the rest of the world while being denied it at home. The Confederate States would become strong militarily, while simultaneously becoming the 'breadbasket of the world' with its strong agricultural base. The states acted in union, but each was sovereign over its internal affairs. Interstate commerce was largely in goods and services, with international commerce mostly in the export of food and textile goods. They would mostly be dependent on imports for any technological advances.

Soviet Union:

With both the Confederate States and the United States not developing into a major power as two separate entities, the Soviet Union was able to become the sole superpower, superseding the United Kingdom. With less resistance on the Soviet bloc, more nations becoming communist and the Soviet Union shows no signs of collapsing. There is still a defiant border between the democratic and capitalist world, and the communist world.

In 1973, on this day the forty-fifth President of the Republic of Texas, Lyndon B. Johnson died in Stonewall, the census-designated place he had represented as a Nationalist Party Candidate for three decades. He served as President during the critical period December 9th 1962-December 9th 1965.

Death of Texan President Johnson (N-Stonewall)As a young man he enrolled in the Future Leaders of America programme, an expense bursary for gifted young leaders to serve in the armed forces of the Union and the Republic of Texas, and for their talented officers to serve with the Confederates. However despite FLoA his bitter experience of the un-coordinated American commands during World War forced him further into the arms of the Nationalist Party established by Mireabeau Lamar in 1843.

Neverthless at his personal invitation, Union President John F. Kennedy visited Dallas in November 1963. The last minute arrest of lone gunman Lee Harvey Oswald narrowly avoided an assassination attempt. At the press conference, Johnson built some important bridges with the Union with his memorable off-hand comment "Mr President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you" [2]. Twenty years later, Union Presidential Candidate Edward M. Kennedy would reflect upon this event during his "Dream that Never Dies" speech in which he called for the re-establishment of a contiguous United States [1].
This article is part of the Two Americas thread

In 1958, on this day the twenty-seventh Confederate President Richard ("Rick") Santorum was born in Winchester, Virginia.

Down to EarthHe was the first second-generation immigrant to occupy the Richmond White House and also the first Roman Catholic since John F. Kennedy to become President in the Two Americas.

Of Italian origin, his father Aldo (1924-2011) was a career serviceman that succeeded in enrolling his academically gifted son on the Future Leaders of America programme. Raised in the conservative environment of a military base, and a charismatic lawyer by professional, he naturally attracted a great deal of prospective interest from the Constitutional Party. As a result of his participation in FLoA he was vigourous advocate of deeper economic integration across the region, a proposal he was able to promote with some ease due to his disassociation from the tragic history of the 19th century.

Like his Catholic predecessor he looked to Space, but his northern neighbor had a divisive counter proposal that threatened to tear apart the careful stitching of his candidacy. Because although Mexican President Mitt Romney wanted an open border, Union President Newt Gingrich advocated the construction of an armed separation barrier.
This article is part of the "Two Americas" thread.

In 1969, on this day the seventeenth Confederate President Dwight D. Eisenhower died of congestive heart failure. He was seventy-eight years old and had suffered health issues for over a decade.

Dwight Eisenhower
17^th Confederate President
March 4, 1951 - 1957Born in Texas during the administration of P.G.T Beauregard, "Ike" never moved to Kansas as in our time line. Instead, he grew up in Oklahoma.

Since West Point Military Academy is deep into Union territory, Eisenhower graduated from the premier military school in the CS - Virginia Military Institute. From there he would go on to become a General of the Army (5-star) in leading the CS forces in Europe during the Second World War. A new article from the "Two Americas" thread on Althistory WikiaAs a result of operations in the closing days of that war, the CS was able to "rescue" German rocket scientists who would later help the North American Allies (CS-US-Canada) in their efforts in what became known as the "Space Race" with the USSR.

As president, he pushed for troops to be sent to help the UN hold on to South Korea, but the CS Congress would not go along. When the US president asked for assistance in the mounting tensions in French Indochina, again, the CS Congress stood in the way. Both Korea and Vietnam would fall to the Communists.

In 1961, on this day Five-star Confederate General Dwight David ("Ike") Eisenhower delivered his famous farewell address at the Virginia Military Institute, the premier officer training college of the CSA.

General Eisenhower calls for a Military-Industrial Complex By Ed & Jeff ProvineReflecting upon the dreadful shortcomings of the un-coordinated American commands that he had experienced during World War Two, the General expressed a brighter hope for future overseas conflicts. Specifically, that the Corps might work in military partnership with their peers in both the Union and also the Republic of Texas to share a common fabric of integrated infrastructure.

Of course the futuristic concept of a "military industrial complex" was beyond the consideration of the electoral cycles imposed upon the authorities in the Confederate Government. Even if the public imagination could conceive of an International Highway System, such developments were surely decades away. And yet amongst the political elite there was a willingness to embrace the core leadership issue that Ike was addressing, particularly at the sentimental occassion that the General had chosen to raise it. Accordingly, his successor George Patton would be provided with funding for a "Future Leaders of America" programme, an expense bursary for gifted young leaders to serve in the armed forces of the Union and the Republic of Texas, and for their talented officers to serve with the Confederates. And events in a faraway country in south-east asia would soon demonstrate that FLoA was an idea whose time had come around.
This article is a part of the Two Americas thread.

In 1919, on this day the twentieth President of the Confederate States George Corley Wallace, Jr. was born in Clio, Alabama.

George C. Wallace, Jr.
20^th Confederate President
March 4, 1969 - 1975Wallace served as the 45th governor of Alabama (1964-1968) before his election as 20th president of the Confederate States of America. He would go on to return to politics as associate justice of the CS Supreme Court, having been nominated by president John Connally in 1982.

Wallace would be best remembered for his efforts for the Nationalist cause which successfully forestalled efforts toward reunification of the Americas for over thirty years. The continued policies of segregation, bordering on racism, were linked to Nationalism due to the concurrence of the Civil Rights Movement in the Confederacy. However, historians have argued, based on Wallace's years as a NAACP supported judge, that Wallace was truly just in favor of separate and equal segregation. These historians hold that the true cause that drove the man was the continuance of the CSA as a "separate and equal" nation. Wallace's subsequent years on the Supreme Court would bear out the truth of these suppositions. A new article from the "Two Americas" thread on Althistory Wikia

Significant international achievements during Wallace's time in Richmond included an end to the Nicaraguan war that had waged since insurgencies in the mid-1950's, and the completion of the manned missions to the moon. In the midst of his term, he was nearly killed by an assassin's bullet while campaigning on behalf of Nationalist party candidates for the Senate in 1972. As a result of the attempt, Wallace would be wheel-chair bound for the rest of his life. Upon leaving Richmond, Wallace would join the board of the Confederate Cancer Society in the wake of his wife's death to the disease during his campaign for president. He would remain unmarried the rest of his life, being an advocate for Cancer research even after joining the Supreme Court in 1982.
The whole alternate biography is available Althistory Wiki.

In 1880, on this day the sixteenth President of the Confederate States George Catlett Marshall, Jr. was born in Lexington, Virginia.

George Marshall
16^th Confederate President
March 4, 1952 - 1958He was a Confederate Army officer, former Secretary of State, under President Byrnes and the last Whig Party candidate to be elected president before the party broke up.

As President, Marshall kept up the pressure on the Soviet Union during the Cold War, made nuclear weapons a higher defense priority, began the Interstate Highway System and saw the start of the Confederate Civil Rights Movement.

At a time when the majority of the Whig party had grown more fiscally and socially conservative, Marshall was a Leeian Whig who gained support from moderates of both the Democrat and Whig party's. A new article from the "Two Americas" thread on Althistory WikiaHis push for an Interstate Highway System and his passing of the Confederate Civil Rights Act of 1955 were both popular with Liberals; however, these acts would eventually lead to a complete political realignment, with Conservatives from both the Whig and Democratic party's breaking away to form the Confederalist Party, while the remaining Democrats would eventually reshape themselves into the Liberal Party.
The whole alternate biography is available Althistory Wiki.

In 1943, on this day Newton ("Newt") Leroy McPherson was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He later adopted the surname of his step-father Robert Gingrich, a Union serviceman.

Gone OverRaised on the Hummelstown military base, he demonstrated a formidable intellect, excelling in history at the University of Pennsylvania before accepting the draft in 1965. Unsurprisingly, the stark contrast of governance in theory and practice was mindset-changing. In particular his miserable tour of duty on the Federal Zone of Cuba was a transformative experience that profoundly affected his strategic thinking.

Motivated by a grand desire to put the Union back on the path to greatness, he enrolled in the Future Leaders of America programme. Admired for his patriotism and respected for his political genius, he blazed a path to the Presidency. In office, he reached out to Confederate President Rick Santorum, believing that Mexican border control was the convergent "hot button" issue that could bring the Two Americas together. Trouble was, Santorum saw more opportunity in extending the hand of friendship to Mexican President Mitt Romney.
This article is part of the "Two Americas" thread.

In 1884, on this day the sixteenth President of the Confederate States Harry S. Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri.

Harry S. Truman
16^th Confederate President
March 4, 1945 - 1951He became president on March 4, 1945, but only after a close vote in both houses of Congress on the request of outgoing President James F. Byrnes to remain in office until the end of the war. The secret work on the atomic bomb, based on the research of German physicist Albert Einstein (living in Atlanta and professor at Georgia Institute of Technology), had been finished, and the code words from the US and CS presidents were the only thing keeping it from being deployed against Japan. Byrnes had worked closely with Roosevelt throughout the war and wanted to authorize the use of the bomb that had largely been developed in the CS. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt had just begun an unprecedented fourth term. The Congress of the C.S., though, would not violate their constitution even in the case of war.

A new article from the "Two Americas" thread on Althistory WikiaDuring World War I, Truman served as an artillery officer, making him the only president to have seen combat in World War I (his successor Eisenhower spent the war training tank crews in Pennsylvania). After the war he became part of the political machine of Tom Pendergast and was elected a county commissioner in Missouri and eventually a Democratic Confederate States senator. After he gained national prominence as head of the wartime Truman Committee, Truman was chosen as the Democratic candidate for president in 1944.

Truman faced challenge after challenge in domestic affairs. The disorderly postwar reconversion of the economy of the Confederate States was marked by severe shortages, numerous strikes, and the passage of a strong labor management act over his veto. Before leaving office in 1951, he was able to pass only one of the proposals in his Fair Deal program. He used executive orders to begin desegregation of the military and to create loyalty checks which dismissed thousands of communist supporters from office, even though he strongly opposed mandatory loyalty oaths for governmental employees, a stance that led to charges that his administration was soft on communism. Truman's presidency was also eventful in foreign affairs, with the end of World War II and his decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan, the founding of the United Nations, the Johnson Plan to rebuild Europe, the Truman Doctrine to contain communism, the beginning of the Cold War, the Berlin Airlift, the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Chinese Civil War, and the Korean War.

Truman, whose demeanor was very different from that of the patrician Roosevelt, was a folksy, unassuming president. He popularized such phrases as "The buck stops here" and "If you can't stand the heat, you better get out of the kitchen". He overcame the low expectations of many political observers, who compared him unfavorably with his highly-regarded predecessor. At different times in his presidency, Truman earned both the lowest public approval ratings that had ever been recorded, and the highest to be recorded for a Confederate president. Despite negative public opinion during his term in office, popular and scholarly assessments of his presidency became more positive after his retirement from politics and the publication of his memoirs.

In 1893, on this day thirteenth Confederate President Huey Pierce Long Jr.was born in Winnfield, Louisiana.

Huey P. Long
13^th Confederate President
March 4, 1933 - September 9, 1935Huey Pierce Long Jr. (actor pictured in the movie "Kingsmen") was a the thirteenth president of the Confederate States of America. From one of the largest political families to ever be seen in either of the Americas, he rose to prominence as a lawyer defending the "little man" from the abuses of corporate monopolies in Texas and Louisiana, the chief of which was Standard Oil Company.

A new article from the "Two Americas" thread on Althistory WikiaA Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. As president Long created the Share Our Wealth program in 1932, with the motto "Every Man a King," proposing new wealth redistribution measures in the form of a net asset tax on corporations and individuals to curb the poverty and crime resulting from the Great Depression. To stimulate the economy, Long advocated federal spending on public works, public education, old age pensions and other social programs. He was an ardent critic of the Federal Reserve System's policies to reduce lending. Charismatic and immensely popular for his social reform programs and willingness to take forceful action, Long was accused by his opponents of dictatorial tendencies in his hands-on control of the federal government.

At the height of his popularity, Long was shot on September 8, 1935, at the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge. He died two days later at the age of 42. It is unclear whether he was assassinated, or accidentally killed by bodyguards who believed an assassination attempt was in progress. His last words were reportedly, "God, don't let me die, I have so much left to do".

Presidency - 1933 to 1935

In 1932, Long parlayed his popularity in Louisiana into a national campaign for president of the CS. The 1929 crash of the New York Stock Market had caused the US to go into a deep recession, and the economies of Canada and the Confederacy followed suit. Long had begun pushing for policy of radical redistribution of the wealth of millionaires that made any income over a million dollars a year the property of the government. Since there were not many millionaires, and hardly anyone who had a personal income anywhere near that, his "Share the Wealth" campaign made him incredibly popular.

It was no surprise to the citizens of Louisiana when Long announced his candidacy for the presidency of the Confederacy. It was not to be easy, however, because the opponent in the Democratic primaries was John N. Garner, speaker of the House and thirty-year veteran politician. But using the national media proved as easy as using Louisiana media, and the Long political machine had its fingers in every level of state and federal government. In the end, Garner chose to accept the Vice Presidential nomination. Both men agreed that the economic policies of President Hugo Black were not getting the nation out of the deepening recession. As usual, a win in the primaries was as good as a win in November and the Long-Garner ticket won handily. On taking office, Long was only 39 years old. Garner, on the other hand, turned 66 two weeks after the election.

When he took office in 1933, though, Long found Congress to be resistant to his grand economic plan. Most who had been there for any time knew that the wealth of the richest ten percent of the country is what kept them in office. Economists argued that the wealthy were the ones who actually hired people, providing a built in "share the wealth" program. But he continued to push these policies, vetoing every bill that came to his desk that he felt was "friendly" to the wealthy. As a result, the recession in the Confederacy slipped into a depression.

In November of 1933, Long and some of his cabinet met for a retreat and conference on Jekyll Island, Georgia. A young German immigrant had won an audience with them with word as to the conditions in his homeland. That man was a physicist by the name of Albert Einstein, who had become famous with his theories on the nature of gravity and its relationship with light. Long went back to Richmond profoundly affected by the developing situation in Europe. Einstein sought the relative obscurity as a professor at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. The war would have to wait, but Long began an active campaign to build the standing army, and to an extent the navy, forseeing the rise of hostilities.

While in Richmond, Long pushed federal controls on Standard Oil and other monopolies he had fought as a lawyer and a politician for over a decade. Such controls, though, cost jobs in not only the oil industry but also in many of the supporting industries as well. This began to make the very popular president enemies among the very rich and the unemployed. In his campaigning in the 1934 Congressional elections, he made more enemies among the established party leaders as he tried to get "new blood" into politics. Threats were made against his life, and even organizations arose to actively seek his impeachment on spurious charges.

In July of 1935, federal agents in Baton Rouge, where Long had served as governor, uncovered evidence that a conspiracy had been uncovered to assasinate him on his visit to the state later in the year. Immediately appointing a commission to investigate the alleged involvement of several Louisiana politicians, Long went ahead with his plans. As it turned out, though, he had made other enemies as well. On September 9, 1935, he was felled by two shots from a disgruntled politician in the state house in Baton Rouge. His Secret Service detail immediately opened fire on the assailant, Carl Weiss, in a barrage of gunfire not seen since the wild west gun battles. Weiss died on the spot, but Long lived until the next day, after an operation in a local hospital failed to save his life.

In 1886, on this day twelfth Confederate President Hugo LaFayette Black was born in Ashland, Alabama.

Hugo L. Black
12^th Confederate President
March 4, 1927- 1933He was the youngest of the eight children of William Lafayette Black and Martha Toland Black. He was born on February 27, 1886, in a small wooden farmhouse in Ashland, Alabama, a poor, isolated rural Clay County town in the Appalachian foothills. Because his brother Orlando had become a medical doctor, Hugo decided at first to follow in his footsteps. At age seventeen, he left school and enrolled at Birmingham Medical School. However, it was Orlando who suggested that Hugo should enroll at the University of Alabama School of Law. After graduating in June 1906, he moved back to Ashland and established a legal practice. His legal practice was not a success, so Black moved to Birmingham in 1907 to continue his law practice, and came to specialize in labor law and personal injury cases.

A new article from the "Two Americas" thread on Althistory WikiaHe was elected to the Birmingham City Commission in 1911, serving as a police court judge, an experience that would be his only judicial experience prior to the Supreme Court. In 1912, Black resigned that seat in order to return to practicing law full-time. He was not done with public service; in 1914, he began a four-year term as the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney.

Three years later, during World War I, he resigned in order to join the Confederate Army, eventually reaching the rank of captain. In 1921, Black would gain popular attention by defending E. R. Stephenson in the trial for the murder of Fr. James E. Coyle.

Black would first serve as the twelfth president of the CSA before going on to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the CSA. As in our time line, he would be a textualist when it came to the CS Constitution. For this reason, full civil rights of black Confederates was not possible until after his death in 1971.

In 1971, following the stroke he suffered two days before, twelfth Confederate President Hugo LaFayette Black died at the age of eighty-five.

Hugo L. Black
12^th Confederate President
March 4, 1927- 1933He was the youngest of the eight children of William Lafayette Black and Martha Toland Black. He was born on February 27, 1886, in a small wooden farmhouse in Ashland, Alabama, a poor, isolated rural Clay County town in the Appalachian foothills. Because his brother Orlando had become a medical doctor, Hugo decided at first to follow in his footsteps. At age seventeen, he left school and enrolled at Birmingham Medical School. However, it was Orlando who suggested that Hugo should enroll at the University of Alabama School of Law. After graduating in June 1906, he moved back to Ashland and established a legal practice. His legal practice was not a success, so Black moved to Birmingham in 1907 to continue his law practice, and came to specialize in labor law and personal injury cases.

A new article from the "Two Americas" thread on Althistory WikiaHe was elected to the Birmingham City Commission in 1911, serving as a police court judge, an experience that would be his only judicial experience prior to the Supreme Court. In 1912, Black resigned that seat in order to return to practicing law full-time. He was not done with public service; in 1914, he began a four-year term as the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney.

Three years later, during World War I, he resigned in order to join the Confederate Army, eventually reaching the rank of captain. In 1921, Black would gain popular attention by defending E. R. Stephenson in the trial for the murder of Fr. James E. Coyle.

Black would first serve as the twelfth president of the CSA before going on to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the CSA. As in our time line, he would be a textualist when it came to the CS Constitution. For this reason, full civil rights of black Confederates was not possible until after his death in 1971.

In 1882, on this day the fifteenth Confederate President James Francis Byrnes was born in Charleston, South Carolina.

James F. Byrnes
15^th Confederate President
March 4, 1939 - 1945Byrnes' mother was an Irish-American dressmaker; his father died shortly after Byrnes was born. At age fourteen he left St. Patrick's Catholic School to work in a law office, and became a court stenographer. In 1906 he married Maude Perkins Busch of Aiken, South Carolina, and became an Episcopalian. Though they had no children, he was the godparent of James Christopher Connor. Byrnes never attended high school, college or law school, but apprenticed to a lawyer - a not uncommon practice then - and was admitted to the bar in 1903.

A new article from the "Two Americas" thread on Althistory WikiaHe served as president during most of World War Two. The supreme court, lead by former president Hugo Black, ruled against special laws that had been passed Congress to allow him to remain in office until the end of the war (Black served as the twelfth president of the CSA before going on to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the CSA). Before being elected president, he served as a member of the House of Representatives from the state of South Carolina (1911-1925) and as a Senator (1931-1938). After the war, he would be appointed to the very court that had ruled against him.

In 1889, on this day the first President of the Confederate States, eighty-one year old Jefferson Finis Davis died in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Jefferson F. Davis
1^st Confederate President
February 18, 1961 - March 4, 1867He took office on February 18, 1861, and was elected as first president of the CSA in that election. His first official act was to appoint a Peace Commission to go to Washington. The plan was to offer payment for all federal property within the CSA and the portion of the national debt that the states owed. The Commission was not authorized, however, to discuss reunion. At the same time, though, he had made sure that federal troops stationed within Confederate borders were put on notice to vacate those posts.

A new article from the "Two Americas" thread on Althistory WikiaWhen US Army Major Robert Anderson abandoned Fort Moultrie and secretly moved into the unfinished Fort Sumter (both near Charleston, South Carolina), he had not intentions of surrendering to the new governments demands. By April, 1861, though, the fort was running out of supplies. When President Abraham Lincoln sent re-enforcements, the Battle for Fort Sumter began the War Between the States.

Part TwoThis War for Independence would wage for most of Davis' term as president. It saddened him as he saw men with whom he had served in politics and in battle fight each other to the death. He made frequent trips behind the lines to visit the troops and confer with his generals. Some analysts have even concluded that his decision to move the government to Richmond, Virginia, was the deciding factor in saving the Confederacy from destruction. His presence near the front lines would indeed prove the strongest factor in the determination and drive that kept the war out of the deep south until May of 1865 after the death of President Lincoln at the hands of John Wilkes Booth.

When General William T. Sherman had begun his march through Mississippi, however, he had stepped on "sacred ground" in the eyes of President Davis. The defense of Jackson became a priority as Davis personally traveled to within a hundred miles of the front. With General Robert E. Lee firmly in command of Virginia, and the Confederacy's best commanders facing Sherman in Mississippi, the Union forces were spread thin. Davis' choice to avoid crossing into US territory stood him well throughout 1865, though, and President Andrew Johnson began to send representatives to Richmond in January of 1866 to negotiate a cease fire.

Ambassadors from both England and France began to mediate between the warring Americans in March, and hostilities began to slow considerably throughout 1866. On August 8th, a ceasefire was declared, and all US troops withdrew across the borders that had been established by the individual states at the time of their joining of the Confederacy. An uneasy truce would hold for decades before an official "peace treaty" would be signed on May 8, 1885.

In 1861, on this day in Richmond, Virginia, Jefferson Finis Davis officially began his term of office as the first President of the Confederate States.

Jefferson F. Davis
1^st Confederate President
February 18, 1961 - March 4, 1867Jefferson Davis was a graduate of West Point Military Academy (class of 1828) and a veteran of the US Army. He would serve in the US House of Representatives, resign to fight in the Mexican-American War, and then return to Washington as a Senator. He was Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce. When his home state of Mississippi seceded from the Union in January of 1861, Davis resigned only to be appointed and then elected the first president of the Confederate States of America.

A new article from the "Two Americas" thread on Althistory WikiaEarly Life

Born the tenth child of Samuel E. Davis and Jane Cook on June 3, 1808, young Jefferson was only a toddler when three of his older brothers fought in the Battle for New Orleans under General Jackson in 1812. He would go on to a career in the army himself, though, graduating from West Point in 1828. As a young soldier, though, he would not see battle.

Part OneWhile serving under General Zachary Taylor he would meet and fall in love with Sarah Knox Taylor. Since the general did not approve of the relationship, Davis resigned from the army (not having yet seen battle) and married Sarah. The two would contract malaria in Louisiana. Sarah died of the disease only three months after the wedding.

After eight years as a recluse, Davis emerged from obscurity to enter politics, becoming the Representative of the at large district of Mississippi. He served almost two terms, during which he met and married Varina Howell of Nachez. They were to have six children, only one of which would present him with grandchildren. He resigned his seat in Washington to fight in the Mexican-American War. After Davis had been injured in the Battle of Buena Vista, President James Polk offered him a post over a militia brigade. Davis refused on constitutional grounds, believing that such a post was the state governor's to confer. It was that governor, in fact that returned him to political office.

Senator from Mississippi

The governor of Mississippi appointed Davis to fill a vacancy in 1846, and the legislature of Mississippi elected him to the seat in January of 1847. He rose in the ranks, and was appointed chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs in 1849. However, he resigned his Senate seat to run for governor of Mississippi, losing by only 999 votes.

His political career was not over, however, for his campaigning for Franklin Pierce earned him the post of Secretary of War under that one-term president. At the end of those four years, in 1856, he won election once again as Senator from Mississippi. During this term, he was a voice of reason against talk of secession coming from other southern politicians. However, when Mississippi seceded from the union in January of 1861, he resigned and returned to Mississippi where the governor commissioned him to be a major general in the Mississippi army.
Alt Biopic continues

In 1917, on this day the twentieth second President of the Confederate States John Bowden Connally, Jr. was born in Floresville, Wilson Co., Texas.

John Connally
22^nd Confederate President
March 4, 1981 - 1987Connally was the 39th governor of Texas (1963-1969), Secretary of the Navy (1957-1962), Secretary of the Treasury (1975-80) and 22nd president of the Confederate States (1981-1987).

Suffering serious wounds from one of three bullets fired on visiting US president John F. Kennedy, governor Connally would go on to serve the treasury department under Jimmy Carter in an attempt to bring the nation out of a recession.

While in Richmond he had been visited by agents from the US FBI seeking aid in solving the open case of the Kennedy assassination. The Jackson administration had "dropped the ball" in pursuing the case in Texas in 1963. The assassin had eluded even the elite Texas Rangers as his trail disappeared in to US territory.

As president - he was 64 upon taking office in 1981 - Connally would convene an international commission which finally would solve the case.
The whole alternate biography is available Althistory Wiki.

In 1936, on this day the twenty-seventh President of the Confederate States John Sidney McCain III was born in the Federal District of Richmond, Virginia.

John S. McCain III
27^th Confederate President
March 4, 2011 - presentAs the senior Confederate States Senator from Arizona, he was the Constitutionist nominee for president in the 2010, winning against a tight race against Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas who had sought to become the third straight president from that state.

McCain followed his father and grandfather, both four-star admirals, into the Confederate States Navy, graduating from the C.S. Naval Academy in 1958. He became a naval aviator, flying ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers. During the Nicaraguan War, he nearly lost his life in the 1967 CSS Louis A. Johnson fire. In October 1967, while on a bombing mission over Managua, he was shot down, seriously injured, and captured by the Nicaraguan Contra. He was a prisoner of war until 1973. McCain experienced episodes of torture, and refused an out-of-sequence early repatriation offer. His war wounds left him with lifelong physical limitations. A new article from the "Two Americas" thread on Althistory Wikia

After returning to the C.S. McCain eventually followed his father, who had died in 1981, into the Admiralty of the Navy. He became Secretary of the Navy under President Al Gore in 1999 after an impressive career leading the Caribbean fleet in keeping peace from Trinidad to Texas. In 2002, he resigned to fill a Senate seat upon the death of a long time senator. With his resignation, he also retired from the Navy. After just two years, as a senator, he began a duel campaign for re-election and the nomination for CS president with the Constitution party.

After losing the nomination to Mike Huckabee in 2004, he went on to win re-election in Arizona for the seat he would have vacated as a successful nominee. He worked with the Huckabee administration admirably, leading to a successful campaign in 2009 to replace vice president Inglis, the presumed candidate. With a campaign that sought to reach across ideological boundaries, McCain was able to succeed in unseating the "heir apparent" to the presidency, leading to a victory over Blanche Lincoln, a Democrat 24 years his junior, who was trying to become the third president in a row from Arkansas.
The whole alternate biography is available Althistory Wiki.

In 1809, on this day Abraham Lincoln the last president of the united nation founded by Virginians and New England patriots was born in the Hardin County, Kentucky (then USA).

Last President of an Undivided USWhen he was ten his family moved to Illinois where he was home schooled and then elected to the State Legislature. While working as a self taught circuit lawyer he was elected to the US House of Representatives, however when he ran for the US Senate he was defeated twice. However, in the process of the campaigns, he had proven a formidable opponent to the expansion of slavery in the United States. When the Republican party was created to combat slavery, Lincoln was a delegate to the first statewide convention (in neighboring Illinois)in 1854. In 1856, the party nominated John C. Fremont for president. Though Fremont lost, the party became a movement to be reckoned with. In 1860, Lincoln was selected as nominee for president, and was elected to be the last president of an undivided United States.

Events leading to his election as president had caused political dissent in the states which resulted in an official secession of several southern states. Reacting to this as an act of rebellion, Lincoln had asked for and got a declaration of war. Failing to secure the loyalty of Virginia, the remaining United States were locked in a war that lasted for most of his two terms. After a propaganda campaign to defeat a popular General in the 1864, he was to live in seclusion for fear of Confederate assassins rumored to be in the Washington. In 1865, he saw the CSA hold its boundaries secure and sue for armistice after his failed attempt to "slash and burn" the farmland of the deep south.

A new article from the "Two Americas" thread on Althistory WikiaAfter the ceasefire, Lincoln worked with the generals in his army to secure border cities to assure a peaceful transition and rebuilding of his beloved Union. He worked to assure that the Republican Party would hold office in what were certain to be tumultuous years ahead. Having successfully abolished slavery within the United States, Lincoln began a campaign to abolish what he saw as another great evil -- the manufacture and distribution of alcoholic beverage. The hero of the western campaign, and one time head of the whole Union Army, General U.S. Grant, was opposed to this campaign, painting it as an attack on free enterprise and civil liberties.

In March of 1869, Lincoln left office, turning over the reins of a much smaller nation to Ulysses Grant. He was a broken man, in failing health, and with very few friends. The New York Temperance League, with whom he had worked for the later part of his presidency, promised him and his family a place to stay in New York City, where he died in June 19, 1881, of what was called "consumption" (a form of Tuberculosis, according to forensic experts of today) at the age of 72.
The whole alternate biography is available Althistory Wiki.

In 2013, the secret justification for a joint American-Israeli Strike on Iran was openly revealed by a Wikileak publication of top secret diplomatic cables originating from the Confederate State Department in Richmond, VA.

Mullah-ed, Part 2 In which Rick Santorum drops the bomb for JesusThe national intelligence agency of Israel (Mossad) reported that Hezbollah had discovered the body of the unrisen Jesus in a Syrian grave marked with the unambigous inscription "I, Jospeph of Arimathaea, took the body of Jesus, the Nazarene, from the tomb where it was first laid and hid it in this place". Details of the location of the tomb were held by their Iranian sponsors.

Understanding that such a revelation (even if proven false) would be a prize to radical Islam, the Israeli Government had engaged with the sympathetic Confederate President Santorum who immediately set about building an alliance of the willing with his counterparts in the Two Americas. A secret plan was devised to destroy both sites. Santorum also received strong backing from a "Christian brother", his occasional ally the Confederate Governor of Texas (partly because thirty-five years before Rick Perry had been selected as a CSA observer on Operation Eagle Talon during his participation in the Future Leaders of America program). But despite their conviction in this compelling "inside" story, the outside story had remained un-changed, that the Iranian Government was close to achieving nuclear launch capability and needed to be stopped at all costs.
This article is part of the Two Americas thread. in the variant Mullah-ed, Part 1 God intervened to prevent the destruction of Iran's atomic research facilities.

In 1950, on this day three-term Confederate Governor James Richard ("Rick") Perry was born to ranchers Joseph Ray Perry and the former Amelia June Holt in the unincorporated community of Paint Creek in north central Texas. With an ancestry that was almost entirely Anglo dating back to the original thirteen colonies, his family had lived in the region even before the Civil War.

Rick v RickAfter graduating with a degree in Agriculture from Texas A&M University, his political connections and leadership abilities gained him a place on the Future Leaders of America programme. But fate intervened when he was selected as CSA observer on Operation Eagle Talon; his outlook was profoundly transformed by the tangled mass of helicopters that he witnessed on that day in the Iranian desert.

After his return to Texas, he campaigned for the executive position of Secretary of Agriculture, before running for office as Lieutenant Governor and then Governor. At the age of sixty, he decided to undertake one more mission for his country, challenging Rick Santorum for the Confederate Presidency. He lost, but the fiery debate issues would resonate for the remaining of his third-term. The hot button issue was the offer from Union President Gingrich to collaboratively build a separation barrier. But Santorum, a second-generation immigrant unyoked from the Confederate past favoured the bold open border proposal from Mexican President Mitt Romney. This indication prompted Perry to upgrade his "Don't Mess with Texas" warning to an outright threat of secession.
This article is part of the "Two Americas" thread.

In 1807, on this day the second President of the Confederate States Robert Edward Lee was born in Stratford Hall, Virginia.

Robert E. Lee
2^nd Confederate President
March 4, 1867 - October 12, 1870 (died in office)Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 - October 12, 1870) was a career United States Army officer, a combat engineer, and among the most celebrated generals in American history. He served as the second vice president of the Confederate States of America, dying in office on October 12, 1870. One of the very few generals in modern military history to ever be offered the highest command of two opposing armies, Lee was the son of Major General Henry Lee III "Light Horse Harry" (1756-1818), Governor of Virginia, and his second wife, Anne Hill Carter (1773-1829).

A top graduate of West Point, Lee distinguished himself as an exceptional soldier in the U.S. Army for thirty-two years. He is best known for commanding the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War.

In early 1861, President Abraham Lincoln invited Lee to take command of the entire Union Army. Lee declined because his home state of Virginia was seceding from the Union, despite Lee's wishes. When Virginia seceded from the Union in April 1861, Lee chose to follow his home state. Lee's eventual role in the newly established Confederacy was to serve as a senior military adviser to President Jefferson Davis. Lee's first field command for the Confederate States came in June 1862 when he took command of the Confederate forces in the East (which Lee himself renamed the "Army of Northern Virginia").

Lee's greatest victories were the Seven Days Battles, the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, and the Battle of Cold Harbor but both of his campaigns to invade the North ended in failure. Barely escaping defeat at the Battle of Antietam in 1862, Lee was forced to return to the South. In early July 1863, Lee was decisively defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. However, due to ineffectual pursuit by the commander of Union forces, Major General George Meade, Lee escaped again to Virginia.

From that point on, Lee would not lead an invasion force into the United States. For the next three years he would command his forces to vehemently defend all of Virginia and points south of the line extending from its southern border to California. The border states of Kentucky and Missouri, claimed by the Confederacy, but with occupying forces, became the main battlefield in the latter half of the war. As a result, it was from the western front that US General William T. Sherman was called in the spring of 1865 to begin his assault on the southern heartland. Though US General Grant had sent his best men into Virginia in 1864, he had been repelled time and time again. In December of 1863, Lee had begun training slaves to fight the invading armies, with battalions from Virginia and North Carolina on the field in April of 1864. These brave soldiers, fighting for the freedom of their homeland as well as themselves and their families, were pivotal in the eventual decision to call for a ceasefire. The ceasefire was declared on August 8, 1866.

After the ceasefire, outgoing vice president Alexander Stephens became the assumed successor of Jefferson Davis. With the fighting over, Stephens drafted Lee into political service as his running mate. The Stephens-Lee ticket proved unbeatable, leading to a post-war team that set the course for recovery that would result in the Confederate States surpassing the United States as an international military power.
The whole alternate biography is available Althistory Wiki.

In 1867, on this day in Richmond, Virginia, Robert E. Lee officially began his term of office as the second Vice President of the Confederate States.

Robert E. Lee
2^nd Confederate Vice President
March 4, 1867 - October 12, 1870Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 - October 12, 1870) was a career United States Army officer, a combat engineer, and among the most celebrated generals in American history. He served as the second vice president of the Confederate States of America, dying in office on October 12, 1870. One of the very few generals in modern military history to ever be offered the highest command of two opposing armies, Lee was the son of Major General Henry Lee III "Light Horse Harry" (1756-1818), Governor of Virginia, and his second wife, Anne Hill Carter (1773-1829).

A new article from the "Two Americas" thread on Althistory WikiaA top graduate of West Point, Lee distinguished himself as an exceptional soldier in the U.S. Army for thirty-two years. He is best known for commanding the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War.

In early 1861, President Abraham Lincoln invited Lee to take command of the entire Union Army. Lee declined because his home state of Virginia was seceding from the Union, despite Lee's wishes. When Virginia seceded from the Union in April 1861, Lee chose to follow his home state. Lee's eventual role in the newly established Confederacy was to serve as a senior military adviser to President Jefferson Davis. Lee's first field command for the Confederate States came in June 1862 when he took command of the Confederate forces in the East (which Lee himself renamed the "Army of Northern Virginia").

Lee's greatest victories were the Seven Days Battles, the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, and the Battle of Cold Harbor but both of his campaigns to invade the North ended in failure. Barely escaping defeat at the Battle of Antietam in 1862, Lee was forced to return to the South. In early July 1863, Lee was decisively defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. However, due to ineffectual pursuit by the commander of Union forces, Major General George Meade, Lee escaped again to Virginia.

From that point on, Lee would not lead an invasion force into the United States. For the next three years he would command his forces to vehemently defend all of Virginia and points south of the line extending from its southern border to California. The border states of Kentucky and Missouri, claimed by the Confederacy, but with occupying forces, became the main battlefield in the latter half of the war. As a result, it was from the western front that US General William T. Sherman was called in the spring of 1865 to begin his assault on the southern heartland. Though US General Grant had sent his best men into Virginia in 1864, he had been repelled time and time again. In December of 1863, Lee had begun training slaves to fight the invading armies, with battalions from Virginia and North Carolina on the field in April of 1864. These brave soldiers, fighting for the freedom of their homeland as well as themselves and their families, were pivotal in the eventual decision to call for a ceasefire. The ceasefire was declared on August 8, 1866.

After the ceasefire, outgoing vice president Alexander Stephens became the assumed successor of Jefferson Davis. With the fighting over, Stephens drafted Lee into political service as his running mate. The Stephens-Lee ticket proved unbeatable, leading to a post-war team that set the course for recovery that would result in the Confederate States surpassing the United States as an international military power

In 1938, on this day the twenty-third President of the Confederate States Samuel Augustus Nunn, Jr. was born in Macon, Georgia.

Samuel A. Nunn, Jr.
20^th Confederate President
March 4, 1987 - 1993Sam Nunn is an Confederate lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd President of the Confederate States. Currently the co-chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a charitable organization working to reduce the global threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, Nunn served for 14 years as a Confederate Senator from Georgia (1972 until 1986) as a member of the Democratic Party before switching to the Constitution Party to run for president in 1986. His record as a moderate Democrat in a party shifting to the ideological left had lead him to believe he could do more good as a Constitutionist. To the surprise of many he succeeded, and was elected in November of 1986. A new article from the "Two Americas" thread on Althistory Wikia

As president he was known for his efforts to keep the southern border of the CS clear of criminal efforts of Mexican drug traffickers. The largely Hispanic population of the border states had made them a destination for a constant flow of immigrants from Mexico and other Central American countries. As a result of their formerly Mexican heritage these states retained over 90 percent of the immigrants, providing a temperate climate for a thriving tourist business. However, there was a thriving drug trade as well! With hostilities in Central America reduced considerably in the 80's, the drug trade had picked up in the Hispanic states. Because of his duty in the CS Coast Guard during the War, Nunn had knowledge of the danger of drug runners on the Gulf of Mexico. The use of the standing Armed Forces, though, proved an even better deterrent than the Coast Guard. Nunn had been able to convince his Chiefs of Staff that Confederate troops were of better use at home than abroad, leading to a shift in international responsibilities in the rest of the world.

In the US, president George Bush would direct the movement of troops in the Arabian and Mediterranean theaters to move in to replace Confederate troops as they withdrew. As a result of these changes, the flareups in the Middle East became an "American" problem. When oil supplies began to be a problem, Nunn provided incentives for greater activity in the CS Southwest and in the Gulf. Oil trade with the US would suffer a bit, but by 1995, world oil prices had stabilized and the economies of both countries were on the rise again.
The whole alternate biography is available Althistory Wiki.

In 1865, on this day President Abraham Lincoln sent word to Gen. William T. Sherman, his commander of the Western army, ordering him to "take Atlanta," deep in the heart of the Confederacy.

Take Atlanta!Though he had won the election, the war in the east had come to a standstill. The war Union forces were largely successful in occupying Confederate lands west of the Mississippi, though. Texas, though, had resisted invasion from the north and east, and had succeeded in defending lands to its east from attacks coming from California. On March 4, 1865, Lincoln took the oath of office under heavy guard within the chambers of the Supreme Court building, for rumors of assassination plots were being taken very seriously.

On March 15, 1865, Lincoln had sent word to Gen. William T. Sherman, his commander of the Western army, ordering him to "take Atlanta," deep in the heart of the Confederacy. A plan to amass forces in an assault of major southern population centers was to begin within weeks. Such a threat, aimed at the people of the south and not just the troops along the border, was too much for the Davis administration in Richmond. A direct order from his office authorized the assassination of his rival president. Subsequent investigation would show, however, that Jefferson Davis had not given the order himself.

A new article from the "Two Americas" thread on Althistory WikiaThe services of John Wilkes Booth were procured and the rebel spy network in Washington began to look for opportunities to remove the "threat" to peace, that Lincoln had become. The opportunity appeared to have come when Lincoln took his wife to in a night at the theater. It was a trap, for the Confederate spy ring had double agents embedded deep in its operations.

On the evening of April 14, 1865, Booth at successfully made his way to Ford's Theater and past a surprisingly lax security, into Lincoln's balcony seat. As Booth raised his derringer to take what looked like a sure shot, another shot rang out, striking the would-be assassin in the left temple and lodging behind his left eye. The next day, the body of John Wilkes Booth was hanged publicly as a warning to all other conspirators. Lincoln's anger burned toward the rebel forces as he dispatched new orders to Sherman.
The whole alternate biography is available Althistory Wiki.

In 1865, on this day Lincoln sent word to Gen. William T. Sherman, his commander of the Western army, ordering him to "take Atlanta," deep in the heart of the Confederacy. A plan to amass forces in an assault of major southern population centers was to begin within weeks.

Threat to PeaceSuch a threat, aimed at the people of the south and not just the troops along the border, was too much for the Davis administration in Richmond. A direct order from his office authorized the assassination of his rival president. Subsequent investigation would show, however, that Jefferson Davis had not given the order himself.

The services of John Wilkes Booth were procured and the rebel spy network in Washington began to look for opportunities to remove the "threat" to peace, that Lincoln had become. That opportunity came when Lincoln made the ill-advised decision to take in a night at the theater. With the war at a standstill near home, Lincoln had thought it safe to enjoy a night out with his wife. He had been assured by Sherman that Atlanta would be in Union hands by June. They both had been wrong.

From the two Americas thread on Alt WikiaOn the evening of April 14, 1865, Booth at successfully made his way to Ford's Theater and past a surprisingly lax security, into Lincoln's balcony seat. A single shot to the back of Lincoln's head began a day-long death watch in a nearby inn. On April 15, 1865, the sixteenth president of the United States was dead.

In 1907, on this day George Wilken Romney was born in Colonia Dublán, Galeana Chihuahua. His paternal grandfather and three wives had fled to Mexico in 1886; the family briefly returned to the States during the revolution of 1912.

UnyokedA successful businessman, he eventually became the CEO of Volkswagen's production facility in Mexico City. His son Willard Mitt Romney was born when he was almost forty.

He died in 1995 by which time Mitt had firmly established himself as a member of the political elite. Ten years later, he became the first Mormon President of Mexico. In Confederate President Santorum, he encountered a fresh thinking potential ally who was similiarly unyoked from the tragic past of the Two Americas. But in Union President Gingrich, he found nothing but hostility from a patriot who was absolutely committed to a separation barrier that he believed would prevent the rise of Amexica.
This article is part of the "Two Americas" thread.

In 1856, on this day the tenth President of the Confederate States, Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born in Staunton, Virginia.

Woodrow Wilson
10^th Confederate President
March 4, 1915 - March 4, 1921Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 - February 3, 1924) was the 10th President of the Confederate States. A leading intellectual of the Progressive Era, he served as President of the University of Virginia from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of Virginia from 1911 to 1913. In a surprisingly close race against Constitution Party candidate Oscar Wilder Underwood. Wilson was elected as a Democrat in 1914.

A new article from the "Two Americas" thread on Althistory WikiaWilson persuaded a Democratic Congress to pass the Federal Reserve Act, Federal Trade Commission, the Clayton Antitrust Act, the Federal Farm Loan Act and a progressive income tax in the Revenue Act of 1917, as he saw the inevitability of the Confederacy entering into the hostilities in Europe. Though much of his election campaign around the slogan "he will keep us out of the war," CS neutrality was challenged in early 1917 when the German government proposed to Mexico a military alliance in a war against the CS, and began unrestricted submarine warfare, sinking without warning every American merchant ship -- both Union and Confederate - its submarines could find. Wilson in April 1917 asked Congress to declare war.

He focused on diplomacy and financial considerations, leaving the waging of the war primarily in the hands of the Army. On the home front in 1917, he began the first draft since the war for Confederate independence, raised billions in war funding through Liberty Bonds, set up the War Industries Board, promoted labor union growth, supervised agriculture and food production through the Lever Act, took over control of the railroads, enacted the first federal drug prohibition, and suppressed anti-war movements. Though national women's suffrage was already achieved in the U.S., Wilson was unable to persuade Congress to consider a similar amendment to the C.S. constitution.

In the late stages of the war, Wilson took personal control of negotiations with Germany, including the armistice. He issued his Fourteen Points, his view of a post-war world that could avoid another terrible conflict. He went to Paris in 1919 to create the League of Nations and shape the Treaty of Versailles, with special attention on creating new nations out of defunct empires. Largely for his efforts to form the League, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1919, during the bitter fight with the Constitutionist-controlled Senate over the C.S. joining the League of Nations, Wilson collapsed with a debilitating stroke. He refused to compromise, effectively destroying any chance for ratification. The League of Nations was established anyway, but the Confederate States never joined. Wilson's idealistic internationalism, now referred to as "Wilsonianism", called for the Confederate States to enter the world arena to fight for democracy.

While "making Europe safe for democracy," back home Wilson's administration was occupying much of the Caribbean in attempts to put democratically minded leaders in unstable areas. Decisions made in Nicaragua, for instance, would lead to Communism - which arose as an indirect result of the "Great War" in Europe - getting a stronghold in the western hemisphere. The stress of the peace process worsened the president's health, and he spent several months out of the public eye after his stroke. He was assisted by his second wife through this tough time.

After leaving office, Wilson retired to his home in Richmond, where he died on February 3, 1924. In his six years he had lead the Confederate States onto the world scene as a powerhouse militarily and economically. Though the CSA had not become a member of the League of Nations, he died knowing that his nation had made a difference in the world.

In 1924, on this day the tenth President of the Confederate States, Thomas Woodrow Wilson died in Richmond, Virginia.

Woodrow Wilson
10^th Confederate President
March 4, 1915 - March 4, 1921Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 - February 3, 1924) was the 10th President of the Confederate States. A leading intellectual of the Progressive Era, he served as President of the University of Virginia from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of Virginia from 1911 to 1913. In a surprisingly close race against Constitution Party candidate Oscar Wilder Underwood. Wilson was elected as a Democrat in 1914.

A new article from the "Two Americas" thread on Althistory WikiaWilson persuaded a Democratic Congress to pass the Federal Reserve Act, Federal Trade Commission, the Clayton Antitrust Act, the Federal Farm Loan Act and a progressive income tax in the Revenue Act of 1917, as he saw the inevitability of the Confederacy entering into the hostilities in Europe. Though much of his election campaign around the slogan "he will keep us out of the war," CS neutrality was challenged in early 1917 when the German government proposed to Mexico a military alliance in a war against the CS, and began unrestricted submarine warfare, sinking without warning every American merchant ship -- both Union and Confederate - its submarines could find. Wilson in April 1917 asked Congress to declare war.

He focused on diplomacy and financial considerations, leaving the waging of the war primarily in the hands of the Army. On the home front in 1917, he began the first draft since the war for Confederate independence, raised billions in war funding through Liberty Bonds, set up the War Industries Board, promoted labor union growth, supervised agriculture and food production through the Lever Act, took over control of the railroads, enacted the first federal drug prohibition, and suppressed anti-war movements. Though national women's suffrage was already achieved in the U.S., Wilson was unable to persuade Congress to consider a similar amendment to the C.S. constitution.

In the late stages of the war, Wilson took personal control of negotiations with Germany, including the armistice. He issued his Fourteen Points, his view of a post-war world that could avoid another terrible conflict. He went to Paris in 1919 to create the League of Nations and shape the Treaty of Versailles, with special attention on creating new nations out of defunct empires. Largely for his efforts to form the League, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1919, during the bitter fight with the Constitutionist-controlled Senate over the C.S. joining the League of Nations, Wilson collapsed with a debilitating stroke. He refused to compromise, effectively destroying any chance for ratification. The League of Nations was established anyway, but the Confederate States never joined. Wilson's idealistic internationalism, now referred to as "Wilsonianism", called for the Confederate States to enter the world arena to fight for democracy.

While "making Europe safe for democracy," back home Wilson's administration was occupying much of the Caribbean in attempts to put democratically minded leaders in unstable areas. Decisions made in Nicaragua, for instance, would lead to Communism - which arose as an indirect result of the "Great War" in Europe - getting a stronghold in the western hemisphere. The stress of the peace process worsened the president's health, and he spent several months out of the public eye after his stroke. He was assisted by his second wife through this tough time.

After leaving office, Wilson retired to his home in Richmond, where he died on February 3, 1924. In his six years he had lead the Confederate States onto the world scene as a powerhouse militarily and economically. Though the CSA had not become a member of the League of Nations, he died knowing that his nation had made a difference in the world.