The ascension of Roscoe Conkling to the presidency at the head of a Republican trifecta four short years ago has transformed the relationship between the federal government and its people to an extent seemingly only bounded by the President's dreams and ambition. The onetime lawyer from Utica has wielded the federal government in the defense of civil rights for African-Americans, in promoting the rights of women, and in pursuit of empire.
But few presidents have been so controversial, with cries for civil service reform growing ever louder in response to a series of executive scandals. Rather than giving the people reform, Conkling has embarked on a campaign to centralize his own power. Desperate for a hero, the Democratic National Convention has turned to Civil War general, onetime Republican, and all-around maverick John M. Palmer to bear their standard and speak for those who feel crushed by the President's centralist policies.
- Conkling will need to defend his expansive, aggressive vision for the U.S. as the nation begins to creak under his heavy taxation and chafe under his consolidation of power.
- Palmer will have to assemble the various anti-Conkling voters behind him, and convince a suspicious population that the balance of power between state and federal governments must be restored.
The world watches as the centennial democracy grapples with two competing visions for the nation.
For the music, I've chosen:
- \"Hail Columbia\", an unofficial national anthem of the U.S. throughout the 19th century, which now serves as the entrance march for the Vice President, here performed by the U.S. Marine Band.
- \"The Battle Cry of Freedom\", an immensely popular pro-Union anthem that was frequently used in political campaigns, most notably Lincoln's in 1864 and Garfield's in 1880, here performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for Lincoln.
- Thalia overture, which was composed in 1883 by Massachusetts composer George Whitefield Chadwick, one of America's most prominent classical composers at the time, here performed by the Nashville Symphony Orchestra.
Before the modern age of paved roads, railroad lines, and electrical wires, John McAuley Palmer made a simple living as a lawyer on the Illinois prairie. When called to fight for his country, he did so, rising to the rank of Major General in the Union army, and serving Lincoln as military governor of Kentucky, where he effectively ended slavery in that state on July 4th, 1865. He went on to serve Illinois as its Republican governor soon after.
But the spirit of the prairie is untamable, and Palmer bucked his party in the wake of the Grant scandals, and became a supporter of the anti-corruption crusader, Samuel Tilden. While he never believed he would run for president, the domination of his former party by the Stalwarts has driven him to accept the nomination from a party that needed someone with both proven political experience and unimpeachable Unionist credentials. Frustrated with how the secessionists have poisoned the doctrine of states' rights in the public eye, Palmer seeks to restore the Framers' balance between state and federal governments, end Conkling's reign of corrupt centralism.