United States Presidential Election, 1928 (Southern Victory)

The United States presidential election of 1928 was the third straight Socialist presidential victory over the Democrats. Vice President Hosea Blackford defeated Massachusetts governor Calvin Coolidge, but was made a lame-duck almost immediately after taking the oath of office when Wall Street crashed in June.

The Fall Campaign
Coolidge's supporters ran on a platform of building up the US military as well as having a strong foreign policy. The Socialists campaigned on the back of President Upton Sinclair's domestic policy successes, such as creating an environment conducive for the unprecedented prosperity enjoyed by Americans since 1924. Blackford promised to ensure continued prosperity even if it meant using more diplomacy and less force against neighbors such as the Confederacy. As it had in 1924, the dilemma of having to choose between the two parties' platforms weighed down on thousands of voters, though ultimately the memory of the Great War, over a decade old, as well as the undeniable fact of a booming economy convinced the majority of them to vote for Hosea Blackford.

Results
Blackford defeated Coolidge in November after finally taking Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The Socialists also carried New York City, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Colorado, and California; the Democrats captured Vermont and most of New England, Kentucky, Houston, Kansas, Montana, Idaho, and Nevada. It was a closer race than the 1924 election had been, but Coolidge ultimately conceded to Blackford over the telephone. The two would meet for a rematch in the following election.