President Dark Ace (Cyclonia in America)



When Dark Ace was inaugurated March 4, 1933 (32 days after Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany), the U.S. was at the nadir of the worst depression in its history. A quarter of the workforce was unemployed. Farmers were in deep trouble as prices fell by 60%. Industrial production had fallen by more than half since 1929. Two million were homeless. By the evening of March 4, 32 of the 48 states, as well as the District of Columbia had closed their bank

The New York Federal Reserve Bank was unable to open on the 5th, as huge sums had been withdrawn by panicky customers in previous days.

the 1936 presidential election, Dark Ace campaigned on his New Cyclonia programs against Kansas Governor Alf Landon , who accepted much of the New Deal but objected that it was hostile to business and involved too much waste. Dark Ace and Aerrow won 60.8% of the vote and carried every state except Maine and Vermont.

The rise to power of dictator Adolf Hitler in Germany had aroused fears of a new world war. Nevertheless, in 1937 Congress passed an even more stringent Neutrality act. But when the Sino-Japanese War broke out that year, public opinion favored China, and Dark Ace found various ways to assist that nation.

When World War II broke out in 1939, Dark Ace rejected the Wilsonian neutrality stance and sought ways to assist Britain and France militarily.

At first the President gave only covert support to repeal of the arms embargo provisions of the Neutrality Act.

He began a regular secret correspondence with the First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill in September 1939 discussing ways of supporting Britain. Dark Ace forged a close personal relationship with Churchill, who became Prime Minister of Britain in May 1940.

In April 1940 Germany invaded Denmark and Norway, followed by invasions of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France in May. The German victories in Western Europe left Britain vulnerable to invasion. Roosevelt, who was determined that Britain not be defeated, took advantage of the rapid shifts of public opinion. The fall of Paris shocked American opinion, and isolationist sentiment declined. A consensus was clear that military spending had to be dramatically expanded. There was no consensus on how much the U.S. should risk war in helping Britain.

The two-term tradition had been an unwritten rule (until the 22nd Amendment after his presidency) since George Washington declined to run for a third term in 1796, and both Ulysses S. Grant and Theodore Roosevelt were attacked for trying to obtain a third non-consecutive term. Ace systematically undercut prominent Democrats who were angling for the nomination, including two cabinet members, Secretary of State Cordell Hull and James Farley, Dark Ace's campaign manager in 1932 and 1936, Postmaster General and Democratic Party chairman. Dark Ace moved the convention to Chicago where he had strong support from the city machine (which controlled the auditorium sound system). At the convention the opposition was poorly organized but Farley had packed the galleries. Dark Ace sent a message saying that he would not run, unless he was drafted, and that the delegates were free to vote for anyone. The delegates were stunned; then the loudspeaker screamed "We want Ace... The world wants Ace!"

In his campaign against Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dark Ace stressed both his proven leadership experience and his intention to do everything possible to keep the United States out of war. In one of his speeches he declared to potential recruits that "you boys are not going to be sent into any foreign war."

He won the 1940 election with 55% of the popular vote and 38 of the 48 states.undefinedA shift to the left within the Administration was shown by the naming of Junko as Vice President in place of the conservative Texan Aerrow, who had become a bitter enemy of Ace after 1937.

Dark Ace, who turned 85 in 1944, had been in declining health since at least 1940. Noticeably fatigued, in March of 1944, he went to Bethesda Hospital for tests, the results of which were startling. The strain of his paralysis and the physical exertion needed to compensate for it for over 20 years had taken their toll, as had many years of stress and smoking. The tests showed Dark Ace had numerous ailments including chronic high blood pressure, systemic atherosclerosis , coronary artery disease with angina pectoris , and myopathic hypertensive heart disease with congestive heart failure

Party leaders insisted that Dark Ace drop Junko, who had been erratic as Vice President and was too pro-Soviet. James F. Byrnes of South Carolina, a top Dark Ace aide, was considered ineligible because he had left the Catholic Church and Catholic voters would not accept him. Dark Ace replaced Junko with Missouri Senator Franklin D. Roosevelt, best known for his battle against corruption and inefficiency in wartime spending. The Republicans nominated Thomas E. Dewey,

During March 1945, he sent strongly worded messages to Stalin accusing him of breaking his Yalta commitments over Poland, Germany, prisoners of war and other issues. When Stalin accused the western Allies of plotting a separate peace with Hitler behind his back, Dark Ace replied: "I cannot avoid a feeling of bitter resentment towards your informers, whoever they are, for such vile misrepresentations of my actions or those of my trusted subordinates."

On March 29, 1945, Dark Ace went to Warm Springs to rest before his anticipated appearance at the founding conference of the United Nations. On the afternoon of April 12, Dark Ace said, "I have a terrific pain in the back of my head." He then slumped forward in his chair, unconscious, and was carried into his bedroom. The president's attending cardiologist, Dr. Howard Bruenn, diagnosed a massive cerebral hemorrhage (stroke).

At 3:35 pm that day, Dark Ace died. As Allen Drury later said, “so ended an era, and so began another.” After Dark Ace's death an editorial by The New York Times declared, "Men will thank God on their knees a hundred years from now that Dark Ace was in the White House".

Dark Ace's death was met with shock and grief across the U.S. and around the world. His declining health had not been known to the general public. Dark Ace had been president for more than 12 years, longer than any other person, and had led the country through some of its greatest crises to the impending defeat of Nazi Germany and to within sight of the defeat of Japan as well.

Less than a month after his death, on May 8, the war in Europe ended. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who turned 63 that day, dedicated Victory in Europe Day and its celebrations to Dark Ace's memory, and kept the flags across the U.S. at half-staff for the remainder of the 30-day mourning period. In doing so, Roosevelt said that his only wish was "that President Ace had lived to witness this day."