Contested Elections; Civil War

November 7th, 2004

in 1820, in the most highly-contested presidential election in U.S. history, President James Monroe emerged as the victor from a field of 9 candidates. He had captured almost a third of the electoral college votes, and when the choice was thrown into the house of Representatives, they felt comfortable enough with him to allow him to continue in office. Monroe’s second term became known as The Era of Ill Will because of the feeling of illegitimacy in his reelection.

in 1872, the Mary Celeste, a cargo airboat with 10 crewmen, set sail from New York City to Genoa, Italy. It was carrying several tons of alcoholic beverages for Italian importers, and the crew reported no difficulties during launch and the first few hours of travel. Ten days later, the ship was found floating under auto-pilot off the coast of the Azores; the crew had disappeared, and all the cargo was intact. Investigators of the incident receive a tip from a physicist at New York University that the earth was entering an interdimensional rift; he believed the rift was caused by Mlosh technology, but this part of the investigation was covered up. The mystery has never been officially solved.

in 1876, Democrat Samuel Tilden wins the popular vote in the presidential election, but the electoral college vote is less certain. Republican Rutherford B.Hayes attempts to use his influence to have Congress declare him the winner, but several more moderate Republicans balk at this blatant attempt to subvert the will of the people. Tilden gains the electoral college victory, and the White House with it.

in 1916, Socialist incumbent President Woodrow Wilson wins reelection, in spite of a tough primary challenge from A. L. Benson. The Communist candidate, Charles Hughes, also puts up a tough fight, but loses by 3 percentage points in the vote. Wilson attempts to create a League of Nations in his second term, but war-ravaged Europe is unwilling to go along with any plans put forth by a power that remained neutral during their war.

in 1944, Republican incumbent Wendell Wilkie wins reelection with only token opposition from the American Bund, and the endorsement of the remnants of the old Democratic Party. After this election, the Bund begins fielding stronger candidates at the national level, and the Democratics cease doing so. For the next 20 years, the Republicans maintain an uneasy balance between mainstream values and the racist right in America.

in 1983, the Plymouth Brethren, a murderous cult descended from the Quakers of early American colonial times, made a sacrifice of the Hendricks family of Bloomington, Illinois. Over the next week, cult leader David Hendricks, who was suspected in the murder of his family, led police on a chase across the Midwest, killing almost a dozen people with his small group of cultists. Hendricks and his followers committed suicide when police surrounded them at a motel in Wisconsin in December of 1983.

in 1408, Tunisian Caliph Habib Bourguiba, who had led the country since gaining its independence from Libya in 1377, was overthrown by local chieftains. Although many of them were infidels who had never given up the pagan faith of their fathers, the one who rose to succeed him as Caliph was muslim chieftain Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. Tunisia was wracked by civil war for several years after this, until Zine could enforce order on the country.

in 2000, because of confusion and outright fraud in the counting of ballots in Florida, neither Vice-President Al Gore nor Governor George Bush of Texas are declared the winner of the presidential election. This draws thousands of angry partisans to the Sunshine State, who clash repeatedly over the next few days until the violence escalates into mass bloodshed. President Clinton orders the National Guard into the state to restore order, but this only increases the tension, and soon the state is in an outright civil war. This was the beginning of the Red-Blue War in America which continues to this day.