1916 United States presidential election

The 1916 United States presidential election was held on Tuesday November 7th, 1916. Incumbent Progressive President Nelson F. Edwards was defeated by Federalist challenger Frederick R. Hamilton. The election resulted in what was considered a landslide victory for the Federalist Party. Hamilton ran on a platform of economic liberties, laissez-faire economic policies and social conservatism. Edwards, in contrast, ran on a platform of a more regulated economy, and socially progressive policies. The election was extremely divisive, seeing the North-South divide, as a whole, continue. This election was said to be based more on the personalities of the candidates than their policies. Edwards had become unpopular over his term as the 39th president, primarily thanks to the poor state of the economy and continued failure to pass legislation through congress, and was seen to represent the stuffiness of the old Whig Party (which had been one of the parties to lead into the Progressive Party). In contrast, Hamilton was younger (at 39) and more charismatic, which were ultimately major factors leading to his election.

The results of the election were considered one of the greatest political upsets in Vesperian history. Almost all polls at the beginning of the campaign had led to the expectation that President Edwards would narrowly win a second term. The President's lead began to narrow throughout the campaign, and Hamilton began polling ahead by late in the race. The election was considered a particularly important one, due to ongoing events in the world such as the Great War and the Mielacesian Revolution. The Edwards campaign ran with the idea that Vesperia could not afford a change in leadership during such tense times for the world, and sought to paint Hamilton as a warmonger who would drag Vesperia into these conflicts. The Hamilton campaign, on the other hand, sought to portray Edwards as a dithering and indecisive fool who would allow the rest of the free world to fall to imperialist aggression. Foreign affairs would ultimately dominate the election, with both candidates attempting to run campaigns of fearmongering.

Federalist Party nomination
Federalist candidates:


 * Frederick R. Hamilton, Governor of Totford (became nominee)
 * Walter T. Thompson, former Vice President of the United States (withdrew during primaries)
 * Abraham U. Jackson, Governor of Pencia (withdrew at convention, became VP nominee)
 * Joseph R. Lewisham, US Senator from Birmouth (defeated at national convention)
 * William G. Avery, former Governor of Presteria (withdrew during primaries)
 * Francis P. Baker, Mayor of Watkinton (defeated in primaries)

National Convention
The 1916 Federalist National Convention was held in Stapton, Winhesia between June 14th and June 20th. By the time of the convention, Hamilton was leading in the primaries, but lacked the required number of delegates to become the nominee. Still in the race were Pencia Governor Abraham U. Jackson, with the second highest number of delegates, and Senator Joseph R. Lewisham in third place. By the time of the convention, the party had become polarised - Hamilton had become the candidate for the moderate, liberal wing of the party. Jackson had become the candidate for the further right, conservative wing of the party. Lewisham was seen as a potential compromise candidate, as he was seen to be in the middle of Hamilton and Jackson ideologically. Another proposal was that Hamilton would become the nominee for president with Lewisham as the vice presidential nominee by enticing some of the Jackson delegates to switch over, as well as bringing Lewisham's own delegates to the ticket. This was rejected, however. It was believed that if the ticket were Hamilton-Lewisham, the further right wing of the party would feel alienated. As a result, on June 19th, as Hamilton neared the required delegate number, it was proposed that the ticket would be Hamilton-Jackson, allowing Jackson to become the vice presidential nominee. On June 20th, this was accepted, and with Jackson's delegates, the two passed the threshold. As a result, the Federalist ticket for 1916 was composed of Frederick R. Hamilton for president and Abraham U. Jackson for vice president.

Progressive Party nomination
Progressive candidates:


 * Nelson F. Edwards, President of the United States (became nominee)
 * Thomas P. Travers, former Governor of Pencia (defeated at national convention)
 * Alexander B. Darnell, businessman and philanthropist (withdrew during primaries)

National Convention
The Progressive National Convention was held in Mitesbury, Granham from June 23rd until June 29th. The nominating process was rather unorthodox, in that an incumbent president received significant opposition in his quest to be renominated. The largest anti-Edwards base was behind former Governor of Pencia Thomas P. Travers, who presented an extreme challenge to Edwards during the primaries. Travers carried Pencia during the Progressive primaries, as well as Witon and Birmouth. Another opponent was Alexander B. Darnell, who had no prior political experience but was popular with some people as a result of his philantrophy. Darnell failed to carry any states in the primaries, and withdrew prior to the national convention. The convention itself was essentially a battleground between the two factions. Edwards was leading in delegate count, but the tenacity of the Travers supporters began to sway some of the delegates toward him. The momentum behind Travers was helped largely by Edwards' own unpopularity with the country, as well as the argument that Edwards, aged 70 in 1916, was too old to be renominated and to serve another full term as president. Despite the challenges and the opposition, a rousing speech by Edwards at the convention helped to shore up his support, but the most stalwart of Travers' supporters remained behind him. After six days of deadlock and revoting, Edwards finally passed the threshold required to become the nominee, and became the official nominee of the Progressive Party. Incumbent Vice President Colin F. Scott was also renominated.

By State
Even though early polls predicted a narrow victory for the president, the Federalists managed to sweep the swing states of Sarenia, Mancehamia, Winhesia and Pencia (represented in bold). The results were especially close in Pencia. [WIP]