What if~Charles Evans Hughes became President?

This is a man; his name was "Charles Evans Hughes," he was a lawyer who was the Governor for the state of New York and was appointed the US Supreme Court's Associate Justice in 1910. But in 1916, he would run for President against Woodrow Wilson but would lose in the end.

But what if, in an alternate reality, Mr. Hughes actually \*won\* the 1916 Presidency? This is what this page will try to cover. But first, some historical context. Just scroll down to the "what if" segment of this page if you want to read about the alternate scenario.

## Real History

Hughes became a lawyer in 1905 after graduating law school and became a lawyer who oversaw the investigation of both public utilities and the life insurance industries, and then became the Governor for New York. During his time as Governor, he would implement several progressive reforms; when Taft became President in 1910, he was appointed the US Supreme Court Associate Justice, where he would serve this position until 1916 when he announced his campaign for President 1916.

After winning the primaries in the summer, Hughes was effectively Wilson's opponent. Because Hughes was a moderate Progressive, he was seen as the favorite to win the 1916 Presidency. But he would make a fatal mistake.

During his campaign, Hughes was supposed to meet "Hiram Johnson," the Governor of California. But because Hughes was against some issues like the "Adamson Act" (which gave us the 8-Hour Work Day) and the 16th Amendment (which allowed the US Government to levy some income taxes among certain States), so he decided to not meet with Johnson.

Unfortunately, for Hughes, this decision would sound the death knell for his campaign as come Election Day. Wilson would defeat Hughes in one of the most lopsided electoral victories in US History.

But Hughes would then become Secretary of State under President Harding in 1920 and would be the Chief Justice in 1930, before retiring in 1945.

## What if?

Now, here's your favorite question. What if Hughes won the 1916 Presidency? Well, a few things to think about first. If he won the presidency in 1916, he would be a wartime President as it'll be around the time of World War 1. Let's say that Hughes does decide to meet with Governor Johnson, and the meeting goes fairly well for Hughes and has support from California, and Hughes wins the Presidency.

But let's talk about what he would do in the US first.

Well, the USA under a "Hughes Administration" would not see the 8-Hour Workday since Hughes opposed such acts; he would, however, keep the US Government integrated, meaning non-white politicians would be able to run for either the Senate or the house of representatives as well as other positions in government.

### World War 1

Now, here comes World War 1.

In this Alternate Reality, the Germans still sink the RMS Lusitania. But unlike Wilson, who scoffed at having the US getting involved in a foreign war for a few months until he had no choice but to declare war on the Central Powers. Hughes would immediately declare war on the Central Powers once he got word of the Lusitania disaster.

Even with this, there is still a delay in deploying US Troops to Europe as they would need to be ready for war, train, supply, and then be deployed. In this Alternate Reality, the US Troops would take around 5 months, not a year, to reach Europe.

The biggest change would be the leaders in the American Expeditionary Force. Instead of Alan J. Pershing, Hughes would appoint US General "Leonard Wood" who is said to be a more capable military leader than Pershing and make better decisions.

Just like in our reality, the war would end on November 11, 1918, and the warring nations would agree to a ceasefire.

But what would change again is the Peace Negotiations.

### Post-War

It's 1919, and instead of Wilson at the negotiating table, Hughes and David Lloyd George and Georges Clemenceau. Because of no Wilson, there are no "14 Points", and due to Hughes' experience as a lawyer, he would base his decisions on facts rather than his own opinion. There's also a possibility where he would George and Clemenceau to go easy on punishing Germany, so Germany's reprimands would be a bit less severe than it was in this alternate reality.

There's also a question about what to do with the "League of Nations." In our reality, Hughes tried to help Wilson set up this League and even tried to get him and the US Senate to compromise but failed. Hughes would try to make the League and even have the US be one of the original members so that the USA would be a part of the LON in this alternate reality.

Even with Hughes as President, things around the world wouldn't be any better. The Russian Revolution/Civil War would still happen. Only this time, Hughes will refuse to send help and other aid forms to the White Army. It is unclear whether this would help or hurt the USA's relationship with the Russians, more than likely, the Red Army would still win, and thus the USSR would still exist.

Because the USSR would still exist, Stalin would still rise to power; likewise, Benito Mussolini in Italy since Europe's social and economic state would be basically the same as it was in our reality after the war. However, it's unclear if Hitler would still rise to power as he did in our reality. It's also possible that his rise to power may be different since Germany didn't get as wrecked by this alternate Treaty of Versailles thanks to Hughes, but you never know.

Wait a minute. I forgot to mention something. Hughes was asked to run for President again in 1920, but what prevented him was his daughter dying of Tuberculosis. In this alternate reality, this could still happen and make Hughes choose not to run for re-election. But for the sake of this scenario, let's say this doesn't happen.

More than likely, Hughes' 2nd Presidency would be similar to Truman after WW2 in our reality, and he would focus on the LON as well as other international affairs such as trying to make peace and economic relations with other nations such as Latin nations (e.g., Mexico) and Japan.

But, it remains unclear if this would prevent WW2 or not. Or perhaps it happens at a later time with more advanced weapons, making the carnage more catastrophic. But this is one possibility.

For sure, there would be more racial equality that can last for generations to come. This may sound similar to my other "What if" scenario without a "Wilson Administration" click here if you wish to read it.

That'll do it for this page. What do you think would happen if Charles Evans Hughes became President? Don't forget to check out my Games and Movies wikis too. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.