Chapter 1149 No Way to Reconcile

The term of the President of the United States of America is 4 years, the term of Senators is 6 years, and the term of Representatives is 2 years. Due to the difference in term of office, elections in the United States are divided into "general elections" and "midterm elections." General elections are held every four years to elect the President, Vice President, House of Representatives and one-third of the Senators. Midterm elections are held every two years to elect the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate.

Or it can be seen as an election in the United States every two years to elect all representatives and one-third of the senators, and the president is elected every four years.

In addition, the elections for governors, state legislators, and some public offices and judges in various states in the United States are also held together with the "general elections" and "midterm elections" at the federal level. In some states, the gubernatorial elections are held at the same time as the general elections, while in some states the governors are held at the same time. and the midterm elections. The rules for municipal and political elections below the state level are also similar to those for state elections. In short, it is very complicated.

The so-called general election was held in November 1944. At the federal level, the president, vice president, all members of the House of Representatives, and one-third of the senators were elected. At the same time, a considerable number of states also held general elections. It's basically a reshuffle of American power.

But this time the reshuffle has produced a result that is different from most previous elections - a third party and a fourth party have emerged in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives!

Representatives of the National Fascist Party and the Bolshevik Party both entered the Senate, and each party won 4 seats (a total of 33 seats were re-elected). In the House of Representatives, the National Fascist Party won 38 seats and the Bolshevik Party won 32 seats. The two parties won a total of 70 seats, accounting for almost 16% of the total 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

This is a political landscape that has never been seen since the era of two-party monopoly politics in the United States in the 1850s!

However, what really worries the knowledgeable people in the United States is not the emergence of two small parties with very few seats in Congress - elections in the United States are very expensive, so they are not conducive to the survival of small parties - but The two small parties that appeared in the Congress were called the National Fascist Party and the Bolshevik Party! These are two extremist parties!

Most of the time, American politics has been on a more middle-of-the-road path. Routes to the left or right are not popular. In fact, the political views of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, which have been rivals in the American political arena for the past 100 years, are very similar. Therefore, in most cases, the results of the U.S. election can be accepted by voters and will not cause turmoil in national politics. However, the 1860 election was an exception. At that time, American politics had serious conflicts over the two major issues of "abolition" or "slavery", and "trade protection" or "trade freedom." Therefore, the outcome of the election was not determined by the losing side. Accepted, triggered the Civil War!

Now, the same situation occurs again! The rise of the two extreme parties, the National Fascist Party and the Bolshevik Party, is only a superficial phenomenon. The deeper reason is that the mainstream domestic political factions in the United States were divided and weakened due to the war and peace issues of the world war, which gave the extremist factions the opportunity to take advantage of the situation. opportunity.

For Truman, who is about to be elected (actually already elected, but still needs to go through the Electoral College vote in mid-December) as President of the United States, the first problem posed by the divided American politics is that there is no way to seek peace!

Because the Democratic Party that supports him currently ranks second in both houses of Congress, there is no majority at all. Even counting the seats of the Bolshevik Party, there is no majority. Moreover, although the Bolshevik Party supported the Democratic Party during the election, it made it clear after the election that it would not join the federal government.

This also means that the Bolshevik Party will not endorse the Democratic Party's "traitory", and their members will naturally not vote for the "traitorous treaty" in parliament. It cannot be ruled out... No, it should definitely launch large-scale protests when the Democratic Party betrays the country! Even voted for the vote to impeach Truman!

That’s right, impeachment!

Truman was probably the first president in American history to face the risk of impeachment before he was officially elected. Because now the three opposition parties, including the Republican Party, the National Fascist Party and the Bolshevik Party, control 61% of the seats in the House of Representatives and 55 seats in the Senate. Although neither achieved an absolute majority of two-thirds, the distance was not very far. As long as a few leading Democratic congressmen defected, Truman's presidency would be taken away.

And these three opposition parties are now raising the banner of "anti-Germany" high, and they are firmly opposed to a peace that loses power and humiliates the country. The leaders of the National Fascist Party and the Bolshevik Party, the most vocal among them, even stated in their recent election victory speeches (for them, the result of this election is of course a victory): If President Truman agrees to pay huge war reparations to Germany, they will Impeachment proceedings will be launched in Congress.

Although the leaders of the Republican Party, who were defeated by the Democratic Party in a high-profile manner, did not express their support for impeachment, they also made it clear that they were firmly opposed to any peace treaty that betrayed the interests of the United States...

In addition, there are now quite powerful forces within the Democratic Party that oppose peace negotiations with Germany. They are the main militant faction of the Democratic Party headed by current President Wallace. Because of their great contribution to the Democratic Party in the just-concluded general election, Wallace's popularity has greatly increased, and factions have emerged to support him. Although the number is small, it is a "critical" minority. If these men defected from the Democrats or voted in favor of a possible impeachment vote, Truman's presidency would be on the line.

"Harry," President Wallace said to Truman in the Oval Office of the White House at noon on November 8, "I think from now on, you should participate in all important decisions of the White House. Let's work together to defeat the German Nazis, okay?"

Is there really such a way?

Faced with Wallace's suggestion, Harry Truman could only smile and nod: "Of course, let's think about it together... We can definitely win a favorable peace treaty for the United States, right?"

"Yes, yes, we must win a favorable peace treaty for the United States." President Wallace said, "Given the current minority status of our Democratic Party in Congress, we should first reach the greatest common denominator of the two houses of Congress on the terms of the peace treaty, and then conduct open peace talks, rather than engaging in secret diplomacy through Mussolini."

"..."

Truman looked at Wallace speechlessly, not knowing how to reason with him. In fact, there was no reason to talk, because what Wallace said was not wrong... Under the current circumstances, the peace treaty must be supported by most members of both houses of Congress!

Otherwise, he, as the president, will face impeachment, so what peace can he talk about?

But what is the greatest common divisor of Congress?

"Harry," Wallace said, "I think we should adhere to the following principles in future peace talks:

The first is no cession of territory and no compensation;

The second is the principle of self-determination of the American and Australian nations. The United States does not seek to colonize any American and Australian country, and Europe cannot seek to colonize American and Australian countries;

The third is to establish international tariffs and trade alliances between America, Australia, Africa and Europe after the war, and gradually realize the liberalization of trade and investment;

The fourth is that the United States can help Europe rebuild, provide low-interest loans and food and energy assistance, but it must ensure that the assistance provided by the United States is not used for military purposes;

The fifth is comprehensive disarmament and arms restriction."

Truman thought: Who has the missiles and atomic bombs? The United States... or Germany?

"Henry, I'm afraid this can't be done?"

"How can it be done?" Henry Wallace smiled, "The new Congress will definitely support these five peace principles."

Truman rolled his eyelids. What's the use of the support of the US Congress? The German Congress must agree!

"But the Germans will not agree to such peace terms..."

"Then we will fight until they agree!" Wallace said confidently, "Harry, the current war situation is turning in our favor. We have won victories in the ports of Chile and Buenos Aires, Georgetown in British Guiana is still in our hands, and Oahu is also completely under our control. And we also have the means to counterattack the European mainland. Our B-29 has the ability to break through the European air defense system, and we also have powerful biological and chemical weapons, which are enough to counter the German atomic bombs.

So, we Americans are fully capable of carrying the war to the end and dragging the Germans down!"

Before being elected president, Truman was just a senator in charge of a committee to review military spending, and he didn't know much about the war situation. And his judgment that the United States could not beat Germany actually came from Roosevelt.

Now listening to Wallace's analysis, he muttered in his heart: Maybe Roosevelt was really wrong?

"Harry," Wallace stood up and said to Truman, "these five peace conditions are just my suggestions. You can take your time to consider them... At the same time, consult with the Republicans and the Bolsheviks. But before that, I think you should listen to the military's opinions first."

"Okay, okay, I also want to hear their opinions."

Truman agreed with Wallace's suggestion and stood up from his chair.

Wallace smiled and said, "Let's go to the Cabinet Meeting Room. General Leahy, General Marshall, General King and General Arnold are waiting for us there. I think they will give you some very useful advice and let you fully understand the real situation of the war... The situation is really not that bad. If the Germans want to keep fighting, we can also accompany them."