United States Presidential Election, 1944 (Joe Steele)

The United States presidential election of 1944 was the first election since 1820 that saw the incumbent president run unopposed. Unlike 1820, 1944 was not part of an "era of good feelings", but rather the final admission that the tyrannical policies of Joe Steele had triumphed.

The Candidates
Joe Steele, his absolute power certain, made a bid for a fourth term.

The Campaign
Steele did little campaigning beyond assuring the American people that he would lead the country to victory over the Axis during World War II. The war ended the next year with the costly invasion of Japan.

At home, Steele maintained his strong hold over the country. While his bid for a fourth term was unprecendented, it was not against the letter of United States Constitution or any law. Neither, strictly speaking, was the fact that he ran unopposed. The fact that he'd eliminated his opposition through a variety of questionable means ensured that the population was cowed.

The Election
Steele won.

OTL Campaign
Like Steele, incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt sought an unprecendented fourth term. He was joined by Harry Truman as Vice Presidential candidate. Thomas Dewey emerged as the Republican Party's nominee from a crowded field that also included John Bricker, who would become his running mate; General Douglas MacArthur; Senator Robert Taft; the previous Republican candidate, Wendell Willkie; and Harold Stassen, who launched his first presidential campaign this year; he would launch his final one in 1992, and he never did secure the Republian nomination.

The campaign was surprisingly vicious considering the unity which had been demonstrated across the political spectrum during World War II. Dewey-Bricker campaigned against the New Deal and called for economic deregulation as the war ended. They also accused Roosevelt of ties to both corrupt urban political machines (an accusation that was not entirely baseless) and communism, and accused Roosevelt's administration of rampant corruption. Roosevelt, seeking to dispel rumors of failing health, campaigned publicly and vigorously, and openly mocked Republican criticism.

Despite Roosevelt's popularity, which was continually being buoyed by news of major battlefield victories such as Leyte Gulf, Dewey came closest of any of Roosevelt's four opponents to defeating him. He pulled within 7.5% of Roosevelt in the popular vote and had the satisfaction of winning in both Democratic candidates' hometowns: Hyde Park, New York and Independence, Missouri. Nonetheless, Roosevelt won 36 of the 48 states (including every southern state; as of 2008, he was the last Democrat to sweep that region).

Roosevelt died in April 1945 and Truman served most of the term. Roosevelt did not live to see the end of the war.