The Man Played Football for That Team Up North. This was never the Timeline for Him.
The Cradle of Presidents: A Buckeye Flavored Timeline in a Week
- Thread starter King of the Uzbeks
- Start date
Howard Metzenbaum
Howard Metzenbaum (D-OH)
1985-1993
However Metzenbaum would be unable to find work at the major Jewish law firms on account of being Jewish. (Contrary to popular belief, Newman, not Metzenbaum was the first Jewish President. Metzenbaum was the first to practice however, as Newman once said he was Jewish only because “it made things more challenging.”) Metzenbaum thus carved out a niche for himself as labor’s lawyer in Cleveland. In the 1940s and 50s he served time in the Ohio House and Senate, but would focus more on his business career. He was a founder of Airport Parking Company of America, Inc. The business model was self-explanatory but successful, and made Metzenbaum a multimillionaire, all while he managed campaigns for Senator and Governor Stephan Young.
Wealth did not change Metzenbaum’s liberal outlook on life, although it did make him a hypocrite at times. Several times he avoided income taxes with business write offs and although he billed himself as “labor’s biggest friend” he did not run union shops as a business owner.
Still, his finances secure, Metzenbaum returned to politics with a bang in 1968, riding the Glenn Wave to the United States Senate. This was somewhat ironic, as Metzenbaum had never forgiven Glenn for essentially forcing Stephan Young out of the race in 1964. Deeming his supporters “Metz Fans” Metzenbaum was elected as an unabashedly progressive candidate, hitching himself to organized labor in particular.
In the Senate, Metzenbaum quickly emerged as one of the most colorful characters in an already colorful body. His poor eyesight required thick glasses, and extra-large type on his speeches and bills. An avid tennis player, Metzenbaum also delighted in showing guests his collection of pop-art and sneaking chocolate for himself.
Metzenbaum was a prickly man, and often rubbed his opponents the wrong way. He threw barbs at Republicans and Democrats alike, becoming “the only man Glenn ever got mad at in front of the public.” During the Saxbe years he earned the nickname “Senator No.”
Yet this exterior hid a genuine political skill. His efforts helped guide bills such as the RICO Act, Saxbe’s Healthcare reform and other noble causes to the floor. Metzenbaum was one of the few Progressives to ever master the arcane dark arts of the Senate Rules. Typically the world of filibusters and other delaying tactics was the domain of the Dixiecrats, but Metzenbaum learned the game well. Despite his feud with Glenn, he advised Kennedy on the methods needed to pass the Civil and Voting Rights act. And his own filibusters were a sight to behold, blocking Christmas tree bills and pork barrel spending. When “Senator No” said no, he meant it.
Having grown only more prominent during the Dean Administration, Metzenbaum threw his hat into the ring. Initially a mid-tier candidate, not a dark horse but not a front runner like Udall or Church, Metzenbaum gained momentum with a strong stump presence. And in a race initially dominated by westerners, his eastern union ties proved. Metzenbaum was also the first to truly get the guts of a primary system, which he parlayed into momentum and then the nomination, with Leo Ryan eventually coming on board as the Vice Presidential nominee.
On the Republican side, Reagan saddled up for one last ride. But the Gipper was old and showing it, and the nation still wished to see what Newman’s new dream had to offer. Metzenbaum was generally seen to be the winner of the debates, and wound up winning by a wide margin, alongside solid Democratic majorities, and solid liberal Democratic majorities to boot.
Metzenbaum would embark on an ambitious agenda. At heart a great lover of FDR’s new deal Metzenbaum’s legislative approach would be relentless.
Building on Saxbe’s work, Metzenbaum would shepard through Congress a national healthcare system, bringing the United States in line with other western countries on the issue. Metzenbaum would also increase infrastructure spending, building new roads and train tracks to tie the country together more than ever before. A series of Housing Acts pursued urban renewal. Social Security was expanded, and a series of programs created to fight poverty at a local level. Welfare spending increased drastically.
Other areas were not excluded from his ambition. A National Endowment for Arts was created, with programs modeled after New Deal Work programs. The Smithsonian received increased funding.
All of this money had to come from somewhere, and that somewhere was higher taxes and deficit spending, much to the fury of fiscal conservatives.
The final jewel in Metzenbaum’s crown was one near and dear for his North Ohio roots. To Organized Labor he gave the promised land: a repeal of Taft-Hartley, accompanied by vigorous new labor protections.
Abroad, Metzenbaum would struggle to get oil flowing from the new Republic of Arabia. Matters in the Middle East were not helped by his support of Israel. In th end domestic drilling, and sources such as Venezuela and Nigeria would be what forced prices down, although they remained somewhat high.
Metzenbaum’s foreign policy elsewhere would see mixed results. He was unable to make any headway in the Central American Wars. America’s deepening relationship to India was strained when India tested its first nuclear weapon, although this was eventually smoothed over. Metzenbaum would try to continue the recent trend towards decent relations towards the Soviet Union, but with the crushing of the Bucharest Bloom the Cold War got colder. He was, however, able to normalize relations with the Congo for the first time since the war.
Metzenbaum’s decision to run for re-election surprised literally no one. Conservatives raged and roared, with Justice Nixon handing down dissent after dissent proclaiming his policies unconstitutional. But among the broader public Metzenbaum was popular. Paul Laxalt was defeated in a historic landslide, although one that confirmed the South was slipping out of reach for the Democrats.
Metzenbaum’s second term was perhaps less of a legislative revolution than his first, but nonetheless still held some highlights. With the country still reeling from high oil prices, investment was made in domestic production but also alternative forms of energy. New dams were constructed where possible, along with turbines and solar panels, with Metzenbaum ensuring these new industries.
Metzenbaum would also make the United States party to the historic Wellington Agreement, which aimed to stop the harm being done to the Ozone Layer by Human activity. Regulation of GMOs would also follow, under the auspices of Vice President Ryan.
Metzenbaum would also be instrumental in passing the Broadcasting Act of 1990, which established America’s answer to BBC, the Federal News and Entertainment Service. FNES would be more decentralized than its overseas counterparts, but remains a part of American life.
Gun control was also an issue important to Metzenbaum. Although his dreams of confiscation went down in flames, he was able to greatly expand the scope of the National Firearms Act to restrict more weapons.
Abroad Matzenbaum faced a resurgent Soviet Union. Seeking to regain credibility in the Middle East and stall Communism from spreading out of Iran and the Caucuses, he hosted the 3 States + 1 People Conference in Canton, which managed to negotiate Kurdish Autonomy and ensure Iraq, Syria, and Turkey would be a bulwark against Soviet influence. He would also earned praise for pressuring Cuba towards Democratizing, although that is more than offset by his sponsorship of the firmly anti-Communist Burma Junta that would soon be accused of massive human rights violations.
Metzenbaum would leave office with high approval ratings and a long list of accomplishments. “Metz Mania” had swept the Nation for 8 years, and left it transformed. Historians still struggle to name the sweeping changes he made. “New Deal 2” or “Newer Deal” has been floated but lack a following, “The Metzenbaum Reforms,” is a bit of a mouthful, and places perhaps too much credit on one man for things passed by Congress, but is currently in vogue.
Metzenbaum would remain an active commentator on politics until his death in 2010, even patching up his relationship with fellow ex-President John Glenn.
Among Conservatives Metzenbaum is often seen as the root of modern America’s problems, a crypto-communist who raised the debt and enabled unions and welfare queens to run wild. Other critique his lack of foreign policy chops and the fact that many of his energetic policies, domestic oil and dams in particular, have had negative environmental impacts. In addition his programs were primarily conceived of and implemented for the interests of the white working class Metzenbaum himself emerged from, and while not overtly discriminatory did not always take into account the needs of minorities.
However for most Americans Metzenbaum is a hero who created the modern nation. After the Savage Sixties and Stagnant Seventies he once again sent the country on the path of progress. He is often ranked as the best post-World War II President, if he is not ranked above Roosevelt.
Metzenbaum would also be the first President since Roosevelt and Truman to hand the Presidency off to a fellow party member. A man whose origins were similar in many ways to Metzenbaum, but also very different. A man who had no less a grip on legislative procedure, but wielded it as an axe, rather than a rapier. A man who was above all else, in control.
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Haven't gone into too much detail on it tbh. Started out more Conservative, Bricker being more careful than Like. But Lauche gets his fill, Glenn gets lucky and nabs more than his share, and Saxbe appoints relative moderates. So mildly liberal but no Warren Court style revolution.
"I am in control here..."
Could it be Alexander Haig?
Nice timeline, by the way.
Very interesting!
Maybe but the next president is likely from Ohio and is explicitly stated to be a Democrat which Haig wasn’t.
Vern Riffe
Vern Riffe (D-OH)
1993-1997
Growing up in Appalachia, Riffe saw the continued poverty in the region first hand. The region at the time remained heavily Democratic, and Riffe flowed naturally into the party, becoming active in politics. This eventually became the launching point for his entry into the Ohio House.
Riffe quickly became an effective legislator, working on behalf of his constituents, and Southeast Ohio in general, to gain meaningful aid from the state government. Education and infrastructure were his top priorities, hoping to close the gap between Appalachia and the rest of the state. Riffe was known as a fairly moderate Representative, willing to work across the aisle with Republicans to get his bills passed. On the other hand, this meant his power also snaked into the Republican Party, with threats of campaign funds being poured into Democratic opponents being a common tactic.
After a failed run for State Treasurer in 1970, Riffe would pursue a Senate Seat in 1974, running a well funded, well managed campaign that saw him to Washington, becoming the Junior Senator to Howard Metzenbaum’s Senior. Riffe learned much from Metzenbaum including a deep knowledge of the Senate rules and the art of federal politicking, subtle differences from the Statehouse. However Riffe would not always see eye to eye with Metzenbaum. Metzenbaum was a great opponent of pork barrel spending, while Riffe reveled in delivering unto his constituents lavishly. Portsmouth, the anchor of his old legislature district, would receive massive investments that helped it wind up the East’s answer to Silicon Valley.
Less standoffish than Metzenbaum, Riffe would worm his way in Leadership, initially the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Chairmanship, which gave Riffe substantial leverage in the rat race for seats. With the Senate Majority that accompanied Newman’s election, Riffe would wind up Majority Whip, and was a major player in what little the Dean Administration got done. In 1985, after a wildly successful campaign season and the retirement of his predecessor, Riffe would ascend to the position of Majority Leader.
Not since Lyndon Johnson had a majority leader become so powerful. And perhaps Riffe even surpassed the old master Riffe centralized power in a way that offended many in the ‘world’s greatest deliberative body’ doling out Committee assignments on a whim. The Senate’s walls against change had cracked with the “Kennedy Manoeuvre” undermining the filibuster, but Riffe would tear them down still further. Previously such actions had been limited in scope, but Riffe was willing to use them with such regularity the filibuster was curtailed into practical nothingness. Riffe also seized the title of “President Pro Tempore.” Tradition dictated the title, and it’s place in the line of succession, would go to the most senior majority Senator. But Riffe’s rule changes had made presiding over the Senate a much more powerful position. And so President Pro Tempore became synonymous with the majority leader, just as Speaker of the House was.
Most of these changes were wrought as Riffe pushed through Matzenbaum’s ambitious agenda, sending the massive changes down the line by hook and by crook and carrot and stick. Riffe’s tendrils spread into the Republican Party and even the House. Riffe was the spider at the center of a web, ensnaring Congress to deliver healthcare, unions, and infrastructure.
Riffe’s power and association with Matzenbaum made him a natural front runner in the 1992 election to succeed him. Some, perhaps rightly, accused him of being the ultimate insider, the Washington rat. But flush with the popularity of recent reforms and flush with cash from Unions and businesses alike, Riffe would steamroll his way through the primaries. By the time the First Five were finished, all of Riffe’s opponents had dropped out and he faced no opposition on Decision Day.
Riffe made history by selecting Congresswoman Pat Schroeder of Colorado as the first ever female Vice Presidential nominee. His Republican, Pete du Pont, had plenty of money but little momentum and the rich heir of a chemical company was not what America wanted in this era of heady liberalism. Riffe won in a landslide.
Riffe would not prove as sweeping as Metzenbaum. Some of this was simply that Metzenbaum had already accomplished the basic wishlist of many Democrats, but some of it was that Riffe was temperamentally more moderate. A sausage maker, not an idealist.
And there was plenty of sausage to be made. There was no particular reason why the Elementary Research Reactor should have been made on the Ohio-Indiana Border near Greenville. In fact there were compelling reasons not to. But it was anyway. Infrastructure continued to be built, and if areas with close allies of the Riffe administration happened to become hubs, where was the harm in that? And sure, the AFL-CIO was a major contributor to the Riffe campaign but hey we’re the largest union in the nation! What were they supposed to do, not involve them in the Smithsonian’s Museum of Labor?
It was not all cronyism however. Riffe would oversee the first successful Mars landing, welcoming Judy Resnik and her crew aboard the “Buckeye Clipper” back home in 1995. Further missions would follow.
Riffe’s signature domestic accomplishment was undoubtedly his American Education Acts. Always a passionate supporter of education, Riffe pushed hard for the legislation. Funding and standards for the Department of Education were increased, while a new Universal Pre-K system introduced, along with generous credits for families with children. Riffe also personally pushed for the “New Morrill Act,” which vastly expanded the number of schools available for Land Grant funding. And finally his crowning achievement, which granted free college to any American student who wanted it. Critics railed about the debt, but the nationwide higher education system Riffe ushered in remains one of the best in the world.
Through it all, Riffe maintained an ironclad grip over Congress with solid majorities. So long as he had control there, he reasoned, nothing would be amiss.
But there are things outside of Congress.
Abroad things seemed to be looking up for the Riffe Administration. 1993 was the Great Year of Revolution. Years of reforms had perhaps strengthened the Eastern block’s economy, but emboldened opposition movements and dissidents. The Berlin Wall fell, and soon much of the Warsaw Pact followed. Yugoslavia would lose Slovenia and Croatia, but would otherwise undergo “Belgiumification” and become the Byzantine democracy known today. In Asia the Chim Lac Revolution in Hanoi would bring about the peaceful reunification of Vietnam. With major reform movements in China and the USSR, it seemed as if Communism was on its way out.
But it was not to be. A coup in the USSR crushed the reformers and proclaimed ‘neo-Communism’. In Bulgaria and Romania as well, the Communist Party remained absolute, with Iran, Mongolia, Korea, and more remaining in Moscow’s orbit. The Iron Curtain had not felled, merely been pushed back. In Czechoslovakia the Great Slovak uprising began, and was brutally suppressed, launching Eastern Europe’s answer to the Troubles.
China, at least, moved beyond Communism. But the provisional government was so chaotic the Army stepped in. The authoritarian National Chinese State was declared, which was enough to bring the KMT dictatorship in Taiwan back into the fold. China began to draw closer with Pakistan and Burma. Much to the concern of India.
All of this made Riffe’s infamous Rotterdam Statement, declaring an end to the Cold War ring hollow, and badly damaged his credibility on foreign policy.
One area that did not see peace was Central America, where the slaughter continued and refugees flooded out. Many were making their way through Mexico to the American border and entering the country. This had been happening for years, but rioting in Brownsville exploded immigration into a national issue. Caught between ‘protecting American jobs’ on one hand and the progressive instincts of the party on the others, Riffe dithered and in doing so lost popularity.
In 1995 a major investigation was launched into the executive branch by members of the House. Although the President was cleared of any direct wrongdoing, the investigation did result in the resignations of several members of his staff and cabinet, and an official resolution that managed to break through Riffe’s control decrying a “culture of insider decision making” inside the White House.
1995 also saw the Nation enter a recession, the first in a decade. Critics alleged it was the result of too much government involvement in the economy. The President stridently denied it. Whatever the cause, the recession badly ate into the President’s support.
When a clearly exhausted Riffe announced in January 1996 he would not be pursuing a second term, many thought this a sure sign he was convinced he would lose. Perhaps this is somewhat true, but the most probable cause was seen just over a year later, when Riffe died at his home in South Ohio, less than 6 months after leaving the Presidency.
Riffe’s presidency is complex. Many remember him more for his efforts in the Senate than as President. His foreign policy is generally regarded as having missed the moment, and domestically his inability to change course in response to recession, scandal, or immigration do not speak well of him. Unlike most other Presidents, Riffe did not have a significant post-Presidency to frame or define his time in office. But perhaps one of the countless students emerging from the university system he rebuild will do so for him.
Riffe did live long enough to see his successor, who was not Pat Schroeder as he had hoped. Nor was it her Republican opponent.
It was an independent. A Democrat who had broken from his party in pursuit of power and who had obtained it, the first person to break the duopoly since Washington.
He would also make the allegations of corruption in the Riffe administration seem trivial.
All of these people are some of the bright stars of Ohio Politics and certainly have their fated roles to play. On the other hand I also want to start diving a little deeper into Ohio Lore for this final stretch.
Indiana Beach Crow
Monthly Donor
Oh no. Oh god not who I think it is. Even Illinois governors looked at him and thought "Wow that guy is really corrupt."
And what poorly bewigged beast,
His hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Washington to be born?
I'm assuming this is a retcon?
Not trying to nitpick (and the rest of the stuff with the Cold War ending is great) but could you give a bit more insight into what caused this to happen? My gut says the KMT elites would still guard their power regardless of the ideology of the mainland, but I'm open to all possibilities.
Similar structures of Nationalist Authoritarianism.
But Now that I say it again and think about it you have a point. I'll change it to something more along the lines of Hong Kong or event just a joint commitment to reunification. Not full reunion but enough to still get a win for the New Government.
Even with the main focus being on the United States and its slew of Ohioan presidents, I enjoy the international aspect as well, so thank you for humoring me. I don't think I've seen any timeline do something like this with a partial, but not total, US victory in the Cold War, so kudos for that!
Okay, this is the first one that I didn't know. In fact I was one moment away from shouting out "Who?" when I read it. As a wrestling fan, I've come to hear the term 'carny' thrown around a lot, not necessarily in a negative or a unimpactful kind of way. Reading about this man screams 'carny' to me, and that makes him a really fascinating President.
An Independent, eh? I mean my brain goes to Traficant but I'm not sure if that's accurate or not.
An Independent, eh? I mean my brain goes to Traficant but I'm not sure if that's accurate or not.