Confederate States Presidential Election, 1921 (Southern Victory)

The Confederate States presidential election of 1921 was the first presidential election in the CSA contested by the Freedom Party; the campaign that autumn was held with unprecedented ferocity as the Freedom Party, using the issues of hyper-inflation and a dictated peace from the USA, attempted to gain the presidency for its leader and presidential nominee, Jake Featherston.

Nominations
The Whig Party nominated Wade Hampton V of South Carolina as its candidate, and Burton Mitchel of Arkansas as his running mate. The Radical Liberal Party nominated Ainsworth Layne. The Freedom Party, in a secured convention in New Orleans, nominated Jake Featherston and party secretary Ferdinand Koenig, both from Virginia.

The Issues
Hyperinflation and the peace with the USA dominated the issues of the campaign. The Whigs campaigned on what they had been doing all along, which was to maintain the status quo until better times came. The Radical Liberals sought to loosen barriers and tensions and ease relations with the United States, so that prosperity could come that way. The Freedom Party, on the other hand, stood for rearmament, gaining its lost states back, and restoring the Confederacy to its pre-war status.

The Fall Campaign
The fall campaign was marked with violence. Freedom Party Stalwarts brawled with Whigs and Radical Liberals on the streets and at rallies and meeting halls; in October, at a Radical Liberal rally in Charleston, South Carolina, a Freedom Party assault squad led by local party leader Roger Kimball attacked Layne's audience and almost killed the presidential candidate.

Results
Election Day was Tuesday, November 8, 1921. Layne was knocked out not long after results started coming in; the real battle was between the Whigs and Freedom. Hampton ultimately won the election, but Freedom did exceptionally well for its first presidential election; Featherston won Florida, Tennessee, and Texas, among other states. The fact that he did so well for his first try frightened many moderate Confederates used to seeing the Whigs safely defeating the Radical Liberals every six years. To some, 1927 threatened to be an even tighter match, though the assassination of Hampton the following June, the ending of reparations and better relations with the USA hurt the Freedom Party's chances for most of the remaining decade.