Guest Post: Presidents Dewey and Bricker

This article first appeared on Today in Alternate History, a variant of Allen Mc.Donnell's Japan First scenario.

"We need not be afraid of the future, for the future will be in our own hands" - OTL Thomas E. Dewey

By mid-June 1945, the thirty-third US President Thomas E. Dewey had served in the long shadow of his late predecessor FDR for six underwhelming and frustrating months.

Having asked voters "Dewey or Don't We?", it seemed like the inglorious focus of his administration had been to help America lick her wounds. This was inevitable and indeed part of the Democrats' electoral calculations. Prior to his well-earned but brief retirement, FDR had delivered a hard-fought triumph over Japan. The victory was distinctly American with limited assistance from Commonwealth and Dutch Colonial forces. But the seeds were bitter: 230,000 Americans dead, 1.5 million wounded and an occupation force of 700,000 stationed on Honshu and the five smaller Japanese islands. These staggering human costs, combined with the exclusive commitments of the Japan First strategy, were arguments that stood against a continuation of war with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Where FDR had needed Pearl Harbor to bring isolationist American opinion around to war, four years later, Dewey had exactly the same problem. He also had the further complications that his armed forces were committed to the Pacific and the nation was exhausted by war.

Although a similar victory had not been declared in Europe, the undefeated remaining members of the Axis powers shared many of the same legacy issues. Churchill had avoided the Carthaginian peace favoured by members of his Tory Caucus, but instead had only achieved the honour of an unofficial ceasefire which existed between Great Britain and the Third Reich. Even this stalemate was largely because German resources were over-extended on the Eastern Front where a rump Soviet state continued in Siberia. The Nazi's rebuilding efforts would take years if not decades to come to fruition. Although some hawks, including Dewey himself, preferred a continuation war before the remaining Axis powers became too powerful, potential allies were so weak as to require America to grind down the Germans and Italians as they had the Japanese.

The Trinity Test of the new atomic bomb was still a month into the future. But it was hard to imagine how this weapon could be used unless America was a full belligerent. Certainly, the Dewey Administration could not directly gift the Soviets or British an atomic bomb under lend-lease. Only two foreseeable resolutions were possible: America coming to the aid of Great Britain during an Operation Sealion-style amphibious invasion or an Axis attempt to sabotage the Manhattan Project.

There was a decidedly hollow ring to the American victory if it was to be followed by a German attempt at world domination. Dewey had no intention of being viewed by history as the undertaker to follow FDR's victor. Where FDR had decided to deploy the US Pacific Fleet from San Diego to Pearl Harbour, Dewey chose to deploy two atomic bombs in the British Isles under American command. The weapons themselves were secretly delivered in parts and assembled on the Firth of Clyde in West Scotland.

Dewey flew to London in early August for a fateful meeting in Downing Street with Winston Churchill. Churchill's thinly disguised British Empire First attitude had scarcely changed in four years, but the problem was the defeat of the remaining Axis powers requiring a rollback in the Soviet Union. Ironically Dewey got the provocation both men were looking for. The Germans, who were fully aware of the shipments across the Atlantic, intercepted and shot his plane down, and he never even made it to London. As a result, incoming President John W. Bricker inherited an even more dangerous situation than his ill-fated running mate in the 1944 election. What was even worse was that Dewey had not even taken Bricker into his full confidence with his dangerous plans for the future.

Author's Note: In reality, Europe First was the grand strategy agreed by the Western Allies. FDR won a fourth consecutive presidential election but died shortly into his new term. In the TL we imagine on the same timing, although arguably he could have died earlier from more stress or later as a result of resting out of office.  

Provine's Addendum:

While atomic weapons helped bring an end to the war in Europe, Bricker saw their deployment as American assistance with great cost as seen in the death of Dewey. Echoing his negative opinion of the New Deal, Bricker said that "War overseas has depleted our resources, recklessly spent our money, and undermined the very spiritual foundations of our government." Bricker spent his time in office focusing on dismantling federal power in favor of local government, ending the Japanese occupation as quickly as possible, and ensuring that the new United Nations was a humanitarian and diplomatic forum rather than a governing body that might supersede the U.S. Constitution. Many called Bricker's actions backward movements, but a failed assassination attempt in 1947 won him enough favor to ensure a second term in 1948.

Hero of the Pacific War Douglas MacArthur handily won the 1952 presidential election, having been courted by both parties. MacArthur had been Supreme Commander during the occupation of Japan as well as overseeing the UN's Evacuation of Korea as the country fell to communism. Much of MacArthur's time in office was spent saber-rattling with threats of atomic warfare in any overt communist invasion of America or American Allies. His domestic policies, while harsh toward communism, were surprisingly liberal with avid support of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 (in speeches, MacArthur cited his own work with the constitution for occupied Japan, which outlawed racism and enfranchised women). As Russian advances in space technology became clear with Yuri Gagarin becoming the first human in space, MacArthur's campaigns for private enterprise in scientific development rather than federally funded research fell out of favor. The 1960s would see a return of increasing federal power, which had been waning since the days of FDR.