1920 United States presidential election

The 1920 United States presidential election was held on November 2nd, 1920. Incumbent Federalist President Frederick R. Hamilton was renominated by the Federalist Party, seeking re-election. He was challenged in the Federalist primaries by Former President Christopher D. Hawkins and former Totford Senator Alven L. Abbott, both of whom launched their own campaigns for the Federalist nomination. Ultimately, Hamilton emerged dominant within the party and was considered the presumptive nominee following several major victories in primaries. Within the Progressive Party, the two main contenders for the nomination were Sarenia Senator Thomas R. Wilson and Merland Senator Richard M. Wallace, representing the two major factions of the Progressive Party - Whigs and Reformists respectively. Several more minor candidates of the Progressive Party also ran, though none garnered as much support as Wilson and Wallace. Ultimately, Wilson would barely emerge victorious in the primaries and became the party's nominee. In April 1920, a shock announcement was made by Major-General Frank H. Cassidy, who announced he would be running as a third-party candidate against both Hamilton and Wilson. Cassidy founded the National Democratic Party in April 1920 to run under.

Immediately after election day, there was an electoral college deadlock as none of the three major candidates received the required number of electoral votes to win, 123. Although President Hamilton had won the most states and the most electoral college votes, Senator Wilson had won the popular vote and the result in Mancehamia was extraordinarily close. As a result, the President sought a recount in the state of Mancehamia, while Senator Wilson wished for a recount in the state of Pencia, both in hopes of breaking the deadlock. After a tense period with the recount in Mancehamia, the recount showed that the state flipped to the President's column, giving him 165 electoral votes, more than the 151 required to win the election. The final tally showed President Hamilton with 165, Senator Wilson with 119, and Major General Cassidy with 18 electoral votes.

Post-War Economic Crisis
President Hamilton and the United States Congress formally brought the United States into the Great War in June 1917, Vesperian troops shipping to Europe to fight on the side of the Entente powers. In November 1918, the Entente powers were victorious, but this only created more issues. In the aftermath of the war, Vesperian troops were left stranded in Europe for the most part while the Department of War and Department of Labour struggled to find a way to effectively demobilise the troops without crashing the economy and causing mass-unemployment and poverty. Soon after the end of the war, there would be a worldwide recession which hit particularly badly in the United States. Economic growth crashed by huge amounts, unemployment rose as several businesses failed, and the federal government was seen as almost helpless in the matter.

Primary Campaigns
President Hamilton was the first to launch his primary campaign for renomination, in mid-1919. Throughout Hamilton's term, a few high profile Federalists had become disgruntled with the Hamilton administration's lack of compliance with characteristics typical of former Federalist administrations, most recently that of Christopher D. Hawkins. Hawkins himself had grown to dislike Hamilton, and a group of anti-Hamiltonian Federalists had been attempting to convince him to run against the president in 1920. As there exist no term limits for the President of the United States, Hawkins remained constitutionally eligible to run for a third term as president in 1920. In late-1919, after it was thought for some time that Hamilton would be unopposed for the Federalist nomination, the political world was taken aback when Former President Hawkins announced that he was running for president once more, standing in the Federalist primaries. President Hamilton himself brushed off the challenge from Hawkins - he said in an interview, "I am not worried about this baseless challenge from the former president. He may disagree with my methods, but I have every confidence that the Federalist Party will side with me and recognise that my way of governance is superior to President Hawkins's. I have not forgotten how he was responsible for ripping this party apart in 1912, and I'm sure that many of my good friends have not forgotten it either. I had also thought there had long existed an, albeit unofficial, custom that former presidents ought not to so openly and bluntly criticise their successors. I am not entirely surprised though - President Hawkins has never been a man to follow common convention after all - everything about him is unorthodox."

Hamilton dominated in the first seven primaries, winning all of the delegates in these states, as Hawkins consistently won less than 15% of the vote in the states. Hawkins was able to win 23.9% of the vote in his home state of Winhesia, though Hamilton still earned the vast majority of the vote and the delegates. As a result, following a disappointing finish in the Winhesia primary, Hawkins suspended his campaign and Hamilton officially became the presumptive Federalist nominee for the President of the United States in 1920. Soon after, he nominated Bennett for Vice President.

Vice Presidential Selection
Several rumours surrounded the state of the Federalist ticket after it became clear that Hamilton would defeat Hawkins and remain the party's nominee for President of the United States. It has been speculated that the President has been considering replacing incumbent Vice President Abraham U. Jackson, with whom he has had several notable disagreements throughout the term, on the Federalist ticket. There are several notable names being discussed by many in Federalist circles as potential running mates. In the end, Governor Bennett was chosen as the running mate. The frontrunners were:


 * Abraham U. Jackson: The incumbent 40th Vice President of the United States, Jackson is popular among the religious wing of the Federalist Party and was the party's vice presidential nominee in the successful election of 1916. President Hamilton and Vice President Jackson have had several notable high-profile disagreements over the course of their term in the White House, which has lead to speculation that the ticket is shaky and that Hamilton may refuse to renominate Jackson for Vice President. However, Jackson remains popular with Federalist groups in the southern states, leading to some belief that Jackson may in fact be renominated for Vice President after all.
 * Alexander W. Bennett: The 71-year-old former three-term 48th Governor of Winhesia from 1885 until 1897 and Senator from Winhesia from 1897 until 1915, Bennett has been a name which has been adopted enthusiastically by the Hawkinsian wing of the Federalist Party in the aftermath of Hawkins' own campaign suspension. Bennett is a popular figure in Winhesia due to the success of his term as governor and his long service to the state. He is also considered to be a pragmatic Hawkinsian open to compromise and dialogue, which has led to popularity amongst most wings of the party. However, there remain obstacles in choosing Bennett - his age is considered an issue by some, as well as the fact that he had decided to retire after leaving the senate in 1915. It has been said, however, that Bennett could be persuaded to accept the vice presidency as a final stop for his long and distinguished career. Ultimately, it would be Bennett who was chosen as Hamilton's running mate.
 * Sebastian R. Olson: The junior Senator from Merland who has been known to hold the personal favour of President Hamilton as a political protégé, Olson is believed to be the president's personal preference for his running mate. Olson is popular with the liberal wing of the Federalist Party, and is considered to have more of an appeal with young voters due to his personal youth, being just 39. However, there are several drawbacks to Olson's candidacy - firstly, two northern moderate Federalists on the party's ticket is considered unacceptable to some, and his youth and inexperience (being just a one-term senator) has led to reluctance to allow Olson to assume the vice presidency.

Primary Campaigns
The Progressive primaries were far more open in the beginning - the two leading candidates were Sarenia Senator Thomas R. Wilson and Merland Senator Richard M. Wallace. Wilson and Wallace represented the two major wings of the Progressive Party - the moderates and the reformists respectively. Polls fluctuated in the beginning of the Progressive campaign, but Wilson soon established a small, lasting lead over Wallace. Another high profile candidate was former Vice President Colin F. Scott, who had been the running mate of Nelson F. Edwards in both of their campaigns. However, Scott was soon forced to drop out after failing to gather any real momentum against Wilson and Wallace. Several other minor candidates arose, including Winhesia Congressman Philip M. Lansford and former Secretary of State William H. Payne (who had, incidentally, served under the Hamilton administration but had defected to the Progressive Party after several high-profile policy disagreements with the president, ultimately ending in Payne's forced resignation in 1919). As a former Federalist, however, and even more controversially a former member of the Hamilton administration, Payne too failed to gather support. Lansford had more luck - his charisma helped him garner support, which turned the race into a three-way race by the time of February 1920. Lansford was, however, still significantly behind both Wilson and Wallace.

The primary campaign slowly began to shift in favour of Wilson in the middle of the primary elections, which led to several high-profile reformists, including U.S. Representative Joseph C. Hartley, giving their endorsements to Wilson in the hopes of preserving party unity. The primary campaign between Wilson and Wallace has been notably ugly, with Wilson accusing Wallace on several occasions of being a "socialist", Wallace sparking controversy over pro-Confederate comments and challenging Wilson to an unorthodox impromptu second debate. Ultimately, Wilson emerged victorious and became the party's nominee. Joseph C. Hartley, U.S. Representative for Winhesia's 3rd District, was nominated for Vice President.

Party Creation and Nomination
The National Democratic Party was founded in April 1920 by Frank H. Cassidy, who had announced his presidential run as a third-party candidate. Referred to as Democrats for short, many of his supporters would flock to the newly created party, which sought to propel Cassidy to the White House and break the existing two-party system of Federalists and Progressives. The party was founded after Cassidy, who had announced his campaign as an independent, was encouraged to run under a party label to help with fundraising and marketing, so created the National Democrats. Cassidy was instantly nominated for president by the National Democratic Party, as was expected. His Vice Presidential nominee has been the source of considerable speculation.