What if FDR didn't run for a third term?
The year is 1940. World War II rages on in Europe. In America, the economy is still recovering from disaster. Franklin Roosevelt, president since 1933 faces a tough choice on whether or not to run for a third term as president. In the end, he decides not to. Without his leadership, Nazi Germany overruns Europe, the Pacific turns into an imperialist's dream, and by the end of the 1940's, yet another disaster will be inflicted upon the United States of America.
The Decision not to run[]
At the Democratic convention in 1940, the delegates are screaming Roosevelt's name. They want him to run for President of the United States for a third time. However, Roosevelt does not want to become a dictator, and sticks to the tradition of a two term president. He feels he has done a good enough job helping the American economy recover. Acutely aware of the situation in Europe, he feels his successor will do a fair enough job to keep the Allies from losing. He retires to his humble abode in New York.
The election of 1940[]
The election of 1940 pits Secretary of State Cordell Hull of Tennessee against Senator Robert Taft of Ohio, who has managed to secure the Republican nomination for President. Running on a hardline isolationist stance, Robert Taft manages to sneak a win into the White House, grabbing most of the Northern and Western States while his opponent Hull grabs the Southern States.
The European Situation[]
Fall Gelb[]
Beginning with the invasion of Poland in September of 1939, Europe is plunged into warfare. In the east, Poland falls quickly as it is invaded on both sides by Germany and the Soviet Union. In the west, Britain and France have begun to mobilize their armies. In the middle of 1940, Hitler and Nazi Germany initiate Fall Gelb, the invasion of Western Europe. Within months, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, and France fall to the Wehrmacht. Britain is going to attempt to hold out.
The Fall of Britain[]
The air war known as the Battle of Britain begins over British skies. Needing a quick end
Operation Sea Lion
to the war on the Western Front, Wehrmacht generals and Kriegsmarine admirals boldly initiate Operation Sea Lion, the German invasion of Britain. On September 17,1940, Germany manages to invade Britain, with tremendous success. The British Army is obliterated, and by New Year's Day, 1941, all major British cities have fallen. There is no more Western Front. America is shocked by the news, but FDR does nothing about it as he does not want to plague his successor with a war.
The Pacific[]
Robert Taft, seeking cordial relations with the world, does not punish Japan with an embargo for its actions in China. In an attempt to return such cordiality, Japan promises not to attack the Philippines or any other American holdings in the Pacific. There is a somewhat strong peace between the United States and Japan, although Japan continues to takes chunks and pieces of China, and takes over French Indochina, Malaysia, and the Dutch East Indies.
The Eastern War - the struggle for Eastern Europe[]
Opening Moves (1941)[]
Fresh off his victory in Western Europe, Hitler orders the preparations for the invasion of the Soviet Union. In May 1941, a combined German, Romanian, and Italian Army invade the USSR. The initial invasion is very successful, with eastern Poland, the Baltic States, major cities such as Kiev and Kursk, falling quickly. The Red Army is not defeated however, and stubbornly stops the Wehrmacht at the gates of Leningrad and Moscow. Winter soon sets in, and the Axis offensive is stalled.
Renewed offensive (1942-3)[]
Hitler renews the offensive, this time aimed at the Caucasus. This offensive is halted too by the Red Army, as it continues to hold on to Moscow, Leningrad, and Stalingrad, which has turned into a bloody fiasco. The Battle of Stalingrad itself leaves well over a combined million dead and wounded, resulting in a defeat of the Axis Army.
Peace in Europe[]
Both realizing they cannot defeat one another, and that the Red Army could not hold off another offensive, Hitler and Stalin agree to a peace treaty in Riga, Latvia. In it the Soviet Union cedes the Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic States to Germany. In exchange, Hitler agrees to at least a 20 year peace. Both sides know peace will not last that long, and Stalin immediately begins rebuilding the Red Army. There is finally peace in Europe. However, Hitler begins preparing the German armed forces for another campaign. He begins preparing them for the trans-atlantic invasion of the United States.
The Holocaust[]
At first, the Nazis had herded most Jews into ghettos. As the war progressed, and Germany won victory after victory after victory, prominent Nazi leaders met and discussed the Final Solution at the Wannsee Conference. They came up with the idea on how to dispose of the "Jewish Problem". Over the course of 1942 to 1947, over 20 million Jews and other "unwanteds" are disposed of. These genocides are spread out from Britain to the Ukraine. Many millions manage to flee, but the majority are murdered in death camps.
The American Front[]
President Taft proves himself an ineffectual leader. Although the worst of the Depression
Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. 34th President of the United States
is over, the country continues to move ahead very slowly in terms of economics. Having accomplished very little, being blamed for the Allies' loss in the Great European War, and for trying to reverse many of FDR's New Deal programs, Taft loses the presidency in the 1944 election. He is trounced by Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., the Democratic nominee.
Kennedy's Presidency[]
Unlike his predecessor, Kennedy turns out to be a very good leader. He continues the New Deal programs, and creates many new ones too. These form part of his New Era, in which he believes the United States will enter a new period of prosperity. Militarily, he rebuilds the Army, and has Congress invest in new forms of weaponry, such as helicopters, new assault rifles, and jet aircraft. He is also contacted by prominent physicists Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer about building an atom bomb, a weapon they believe the Nazis have already begun to construct. Although he is intrigued by the idea, he is unable to come up with the funding for it.
A New War[]
1947 - Turning Point[]
As Kennedy's presidency comes to a halfway point, Hitler and the Nazi Party pull off the impossible: they manage a cross-Atlantic invasion in August of 1947. With the help of the the British Navy (now a German ally), and the extra troops of France, Italy, Romania, and Spain, the New Axis powers land over 5 million troops into the East Coast of the United States. New York City, Boston, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Charleston, along with most of the seaboard fall. Fierce resistance is put around Philadelphia,but it too eventually falls. President Kennedy flees to Chicago, and decides to run the country from there and declares that the United States will not be knocked out in a single blow.
The Drive West[]
Finding out they're wrong about the USA surrendering quickly, the Axis decides to drive West to try to force a surrender. As they reach Pittsburgh, the more technologically advanced American Army puts a stop to the advance.Using M16s, Jeep Helicopters, and jet engine-powered B-45 Tornados, they turn the tide on the Nazis. By Thanksgiving, 1947, the Axis army is in full retreat east across Pennsylvania.
Old Allies[]
Canada, fearing the collapse of its important neighbor, enters the war on the side of the Americans, sending in 3 divisions into New York State to help push back the Axis. The combined Canadian and American Army manage to take back New York City and much of New England by March 1948.
Operation Retribution[]
President Kennedy authorizes Operation: Retribution in order to take back Philadelphia, which has turned into the linchpin of the Axis' occupied areas, due to its location on the Delaware river. Paratroopers drop behind the lines into occupied New Jersey, and with the help of already establish guerrilla groups, take Trenton, New Jersey. While the Axis is distracted with the situation in New Jersey, the American Army launch a full scale attack against Philadelphia. In about a three-month campaign, from April,1948 to July, 1948, Philadelphia is retaken, along with New Jersey, and Baltimore. American guns now bear on occupied Washington D.C.