Joe Steele (novel)
This article consists almost entirely of a plot summary. (August 2015) |
LC Class | PS3570.U76J64 2015 |
Joe Steele is an alternate history novel by Harry Turtledove, first published by Roc Books/New American Library in hardcover and ebook form in April 2015.[1] It is an expanded version of the author's 2003 short story of the same name.[2]
The original concept comes from a line in
Plot summary
The novel explores what might have happened had Joseph Stalin been raised in the United States, postulating his parents having emigrated a few months before his birth, instead of remaining in the Russian Empire. It depicts Stalin (in this history, taking the name Joe Steele) growing up to be an American politician, rising to the presidency and retaining it by ruthless methods through the Great Depression, World War II, and the early Cold War. The president is depicted as having the soul of a tyrant, with Stalin's real-world career mirrored by actions taken by Steele.
During the 1932 Democratic Convention in Chicago, Illinois, the party had decided on two front runners: California Congressman Joe Steele, and; incumbent Governor of New York Franklin D. Roosevelt. However, after two days of votes, neither candidate has the needed two-thirds majority, although Roosevelt had a slight edge. Realizing he might lose after another day of voting, Steele directed one of his aides Vince "The Hammer" Scriabin to have Roosevelt burned alive at the New York State Executive Mansion in Albany. Steele's other assistants Lazar Kagan and Stas Mikoian were not privy to the initial planning. However, Charlie Sullivan, by happenstance, overheard Scriabin on the phone giving the order for the arson. Steele never knew this. However, in light of Sullivan's "fairness" in his reporting, Steele personally met with Sullivan and promised that Sullivan would always have access to Steele's camp.
When the New York State Executive Mansion was set ablaze, Roosevelt is burned alive in the fire since he could not escape in time due to him being rendered immobile by
With Roosevelt dead, the Democratic Party has little choice but to nominate Steele as their candidate for the 1932 Presidential election with John Nance Garner of Texas as his running mate, with whom Steele had reached an early arrangement. Steele would go on to defeat Republican incumbent Herbert Hoover in a landslide and become the 32nd President of the United States.
Rather than Roosevelt's
In 1936, Steele and Garner are reelected in a landslide against Republican candidate Alf Landon and his running mate Frank Knox, who only carry eight electoral votes from Maine and Vermont. Steele and Garner would also go on to defeat Wendell Willkie in 1940, Thomas E. Dewey in 1944, Harold Stassen in 1948, and Robert Taft in 1952.
In this timeline,
Minus MacArthur, the war follows much the same path as in the real world with the notable exception of the
In the aftermath of Japan's surrender, the Soviets occupy the island of Hokkaido and the northern part of Honshu, under Fedor Tolbukhin with some Japanese Communists acting as his puppets in the new "Japanese People's Republic" (North Japan). Similarly, the U.S. establishes the "Constitutional Monarchy of Japan" (South Japan) in southern Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku. Hirohito's 12-year-old son Akihito becomes the new emperor, although he acts as a puppet to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who is the one to actually run the country. The Agano River acts as the border between the two states with a demilitarized zone of three miles in either direction.
Meanwhile, the Soviets liberate the
Evidence of
The
On March 6, 1953, Steele dies from a stroke at the age of 74. Garner assumes the presidency of a shocked cabinet made up of Steele's cronies, and has virtually all of them removed. However, a newly courageous Congress impeaches Garner for the sins of Steele, and the executive branch becomes vacant. In the political vacuum, GBI (Government Bureau of Intelligence) director J. Edgar Hoover assumes political control and becomes Director of the United States. It is then revealed that his rule over the country is even more ruthless and tyrannical than Steele's.
See also
- Back in the USSA
- The Coming of the Quantum Cats by Frederik Pohl - one of the timelines in this novel also involves an Americanized Stalin.
References
- ^ "Uchronia: Joe Steele". www.uchronia.net.
- ^ Joe Steele title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database