The Rise of the Third Reich

The U.S. Congressional hearing system is an important part of U.S. domestic political life and can be roughly divided into four categories: legislative hearings, supervisory hearings, review hearings and investigative hearings. Generally, hearings are hosted by various committees of the Senate and are open to the media.

The hearing that President Roosevelt decided to hold was somewhat special, as it faced the entire Senate. It will also include public hearings and closed hearings - because many of the contents of the hearings involve military secrets and cannot be fully disclosed. Roosevelt hoped that through this hearing, Congress and the people would fully understand the difficulties facing the country and thus support his peacemaking line.

However, Roosevelt chose now to hold a congressional investigation hearing. The timing was actually not very good. Although German missiles have fallen on large cities on the east coast of the United States, the damage caused was not too serious. It only blew up dozens of houses and killed about a thousand Americans, some of whom were killed by random gunfire from the Americans themselves. The panic caused on the East Coast was even less severe than Japan's previous germ warfare.

After all, the German missiles can only cause one-time damage without subsequent damage, and they can still be avoided - although German cruise missiles are difficult to shoot down, they can still hide in air raid shelters. Therefore, the panic caused was not too great, but it angered a large number of Americans.

But Roosevelt had no time to delay, because early November was the time for voting in the U.S. presidential and congressional elections. Once the votes are cast and the president-elect is announced, Roosevelt will become the caretaker president. As a rule, the president who is a caretaker government cannot do anything major. If Roosevelt could not finalize the "reparations and peace" plan before the election in early November, he would be powerless after the presidential election.

Truman and Dewey are now shouting the slogan "Resist Germany and Massacre" loudly. After taking office, even if they want to delay the vote, they have to go through a process. This delay is likely to last half a year, and by then the war situation will definitely be worse than it is now.

If the Germans possess an atomic bomb that can be mounted on a missile and launched, then even if the United States agrees to pay 500 billion European marks in compensation, it will definitely not be able to buy peace.

Peace will appreciate in value to the United States! So the United States should have it sooner rather than later.

Moreover, from the perspective of maintaining the prestige of the future US president, Roosevelt must also bear the responsibility for the defeat himself. Otherwise, the United States will be led by a defeated president in the next four years.

So from this perspective, the Senate investigation hearing requested by Roosevelt was very beneficial to the Republican Party and Republican presidential candidate Dewey. He was fulfilling the behind-the-scenes deal reached with Hoover.

"Thomas, we're going to win!"

In New York City, at the campaign headquarters of Thomas Dewey, Robert Taft, the leader of the Senate Republican Party and a hard-line conservative leader, heard that Roosevelt was planning to use a congressional investigative hearing to persuade lawmakers and voters before the general election vote. , you know that Thomas Dewey has a very good chance of winning.

Then he looked at former President Herbert Clark Hoover, who lost to Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential election. Hoover lived in seclusion after losing to Roosevelt, and did not pay again until the 1944 election. , participated in the election as a veteran of the Republican Party, and came forward to negotiate a behind-the-scenes deal with Roosevelt before, and now he is one of the leaders of the conservative Republicans.

"There is no suspense in the presidential election," Hoover said. "I estimate that Truman and Buckley have also given up. However, the Democratic Party will not abandon Congress. This is the basis for them to maintain the so-called New Deal achievements. If we cannot win this year's election It is difficult for President Thomas to win the majority of seats in Congress, and it is impossible for us to repeal various New Deal bills.”

Although Dewey and the Republicans now have much higher approval ratings than Truman and the Democrats, neither of them has a majority. In the presidential election, due to the existence of the electoral system as a rule of the game, Dewey was already a sure winner. However, the rules for election of members are different. With an approval rate of between 30% and 40%, although the Republican Party can guarantee that it will become the largest party in both houses of Congress, it will not be able to win a majority of the seats.

Since the supporters of the National Fascist Party and the Bolshevik Party were relatively concentrated, it was possible to win the House of Representatives in certain districts. Therefore, after the election, there may be representatives from four parties on Capitol Hill: the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, the National Fascist Party and the Bolshevik Party. Among them, the National Fascist Party and the Bolshevik Party were "red flag parties." Even if they did not confront the Democratic Party, they would not be able to pass legislation that was "anti-labor movement" and "obviously beneficial to capitalists."

The Republican Party, which has less than half of the seats in the House of Representatives, will find it difficult to fulfill the instructions of the sponsors behind the scenes - to repeal various New Deal legislation. Therefore, the Republican Party is now not only fighting for the presidential election, but also fighting for a majority in the Congress.

Hoover smiled coldly and continued: "And we are very hopeful that we can achieve our goal now, because our Republican Party has the best candidate in history-Franklin Roosevelt! As long as Roosevelt can be in If we continue on the wrong path of surrender and betrayal, we will become the masters of the White House and Capitol Hill in the near future. However, other Democrats cannot just watch Roosevelt ruin their political future. They will definitely find ways to hinder it. .

From a certain perspective, Roosevelt is our president and not a Democratic president! "

Thomas Dewey interrupted at this time and asked: "Mr. Hoover, are you saying that we should support Roosevelt's peace line at the hearing?"

"Of course we are going to oppose it on the surface! But we can only sing high-pitched words, but we can't be serious about it." Hoover considered his words, "Thomas, I don't think you think that after you become president, you will be able to lead the United States to defeat the enemy." European Community?"

Thomas Dewey shook his head. As a presidential candidate, he has already begun to fully understand the war situation that is unknown to ordinary Americans. Of course we know that Roosevelt's summation line is correct.

"That's fine." Hoover shrugged. "Roosevelt has already shouldered the responsibility. Why should we stop his efforts to save the United States?"

"But the compensation of 500 billion European marks will still put us in trouble." Thomas Dewey seemed a little unwilling.

His thinking has changed now. He no longer regards himself as a presidential candidate, but as the president of the United States.

"The isolation of North America, the depreciation of the dollar, and the hard work of the American people will help us overcome all difficulties." Robert Taft, the leader of the Republican Senate and the son of former President Taft, took over Dewey's question and said in a teaching tone, "As long as we If you can repeal the New Deal laws that have led people to fall, America will surely become great again during your term, because we are a chosen country with the richest resources, the most fertile land, and the most convenient transportation. If the people are diligent enough, there will be no difficulty that cannot be overcome.

And Europe... has actually begun to fall! The Nazi Party's line and victory in the war will make Europeans even more depraved, so the future still belongs to the United States! "

Thomas Dewey nodded slightly. No matter how difficult it was, the president he chose must endure even with tears.

…

"The Republican Party is unlikely to cooperate with us." In the office of Senate Democratic Leader Buckley, the closed-door meeting continued, and now it was Truman who was speaking. "Now the president must be the favorite person of the Republican Party. With him here, Dewey could get into the White House even while lying down!”

He spoke with gritted teeth, obviously hating Roosevelt - electing a president is not easy, it involves a lot of money, energy, favors and backroom deals. It can be said that Truman used all the political resources he had accumulated over the years to reach this point. Moreover, in order to elect the president, Truman gave up the relatively certain Senate election. Now because of Roosevelt, he can't be elected as president, he has no senators, and he still owes a lot of debts and doesn't know how to repay them. Somersault is considered a homecoming!

Buckley and Garner both nodded, agreeing with Truman. Although the leaders of the Republican Party are busy criticizing Roosevelt every day, as if they hate him to the core, if they really have the opportunity to oust him, the Republicans will definitely not be able to bear it. Without Roosevelt, would they have easily won the election? Thomas Dewey couldn't help but be blamed for "traitoring his country and seeking glory"? Of course, the Republican Party wants this kind of opponent who can not only help the election but also help take the blame.

"So we have to rely on our own strength to stop him..." Truman said thoughtfully, "The president's health may be a weakness."

"The president's health?" Garner asked. "Harry, you mean the stroke the president had not long ago?"

"Yes!" Truman gritted his teeth and said, "The stroke has seriously affected the president's memory, thinking and judgment, making him no longer suitable to lead the United States."

"Is there any way to prove it?"

"Yes!" Truman nodded, "Senate investigative hearings on the president's health."

"Hold another investigative hearing?" Garner frowned. "Neither the president nor the Republican Party will agree, right?"

"You can reveal the president's stroke to the newspapers." Senator Buckley already had an idea. "The president's condition is a secret and the people don't know about it. Once they know the truth, they will have doubts about Roosevelt's leadership. And Roosevelt had to hold hearings to prove his ability to handle complex situations."

Truman took up the topic and continued: "Convening two hearings at the same time can at least achieve the purpose of delaying... As long as it can delay the election, we can pass the responsibility to Dewey!"