Chapter 596 General Election

On November 5, the US general election began.

The US general election date is like a tongue twister, stipulating that the general election must be held on the "Tuesday after the first Monday in November."

Before the mid-19th century, the US general election was decided by each state on its own voting date.

It was not until 1845 that Congress considered it necessary to hold elections on the same day across the country and legislated to determine the date of the general election. At that time, the date selected by members of Congress was purely based on economic and religious factors and had nothing to do with politics.

In the 19th century, the United States was still an agricultural society, and everything was prioritized by farmers' work and rest. Farmers were busy sowing in spring, irrigating and weeding in summer, harvesting in autumn, and snowing in winter. Therefore, early November, when crops were harvested, the rainy season had passed, and the snowy season had not arrived, was considered the most appropriate time to hold elections.

When considering the election date, members of Congress first excluded Sunday because people had to go to church on Sunday. Since the main means of transportation at that time was horse-drawn carriages, rural residents took horse-drawn carriages to travel long distances to the city to vote, and the round trip usually took two days. Therefore, Saturday and Monday were also excluded, because if the election was held on Saturday, people might not be able to rush home to go to church on Sunday; and because they went to church on Sunday, they could not arrive in the city to vote on Monday. Wednesday is a fixed market day in many towns every week. People are busy going to the market, which is not suitable for holding elections, and Thursday is not suitable for rushing to the city to vote. Friday is the last working day of the week, which is also not suitable for elections. Therefore, in a week, only Tuesday is the most suitable for holding national elections.

Then why do we have to stipulate that the general election must be held on the "Tuesday after the first Monday in November" like a tongue twister, instead of simply stipulating the first Tuesday in November? The reason is also based on religious factors. Because November 1 is Halloween, an important religious festival in agricultural society, it is not suitable for holding elections. In order to avoid November 1 being on Tuesday, the Tuesday after the first Monday is stipulated, completely excluding the possibility of holding elections on November 1.

Maybe it was because of the extreme disappointment with Roosevelt and the Democratic Party, or maybe Yannick's words that Roosevelt wanted to be re-elected as president for life frightened the American people; Roosevelt's vote rate plummeted, and finally Wendell Willkie of the Republican Party was elected the 33rd President of the United States with an absolute advantage in votes.

"Poor guy." Yannick didn't know much about Wendell Willkie. He only knew that he represented the Republican Party in the 1940 US presidential election in the original time and space, competing with Roosevelt of the Democratic Party for the US president, and finally failed.

Moreover, he would die of a heart attack in 1944, and it was unknown whether his fragile heart could withstand this magnificent epic war.

The elected Wendell Willkie would not take office immediately, and would have to wait until January 20 next year to officially take office.

Before 1933, the inauguration day of the new president was set on March 4. Later, the 20th Amendment to the US Constitution stipulated that the date and time of the president's swearing-in was changed to noon on January 20, local time in Washington. The change was mainly due to the following considerations: First, the sooner the new president takes office, the sooner he can intervene in the handling of national affairs. During the Great Depression in 1933, the slow transfer of power between President-elect Franklin Roosevelt and President Hoover affected the United States' response to the crisis. Second, with the invention of new technologies such as steam locomotives, Congress could ensure that the counting of electoral votes would be completed in advance in January. In 1937, President Roosevelt became the first US president to be sworn in on January 20.

Interestingly, shortly after Wendell Willkie took office, the three-month "protection period" of the United States spending 1,500 tons of gold expired. It is unknown whether the new president will continue to pay the money obediently at that time.

This day, Yannick came to a secret flight base to inspect the test flight of a jet fighter.

In the original time and space, there were many aircraft manufacturing companies in Germany during World War II, and there were countless aircraft models.

Messerschmitt (Bavaria) Company, with Me (Bf) 109/110/262 as the typical representative, also produced large aircraft such as Me323 heavy transport aircraft, creating a series of models that changed history.

Heinkel Company, which focused on the He111 bomber during the war, had a wide range of products before the war. Since the He112 lost to the Bf109 and the He118 lost to the Ju87, it has been on the bench. The seaplane He115 is also very famous.

Junkers Company, in addition to the "Junkers Aunt" Ju52 and the "Screaming Death" Ju87, the most famous is the universal aircraft Ju88.

Dornier Company, which is good at seaplanes, Do18/24 and other classics, but its brilliance is often overshadowed by the Do17/217 series bombers (the latter is often used as an anti-ship missile carrier).

Focke-Wulf Company, in addition to the "Atlantic Plague God" Fw200, of course, is the famous Fw190.

Henschel Company, specializing in ground attack aircraft, Hs123 and "Tank Can Opener" Hs129 are his masterpieces.

Blomfuss (Hamburg) didn't build ships well, but instead made a classic Bv (Ha) 138 seaplane.

Arado's fame comes from the Ar95/196 seaplane and the Ar234 jet bomber.

Fieseler's reputation has won a place in history with the Fi156.

During World War II, the German army did not have as many types of aircraft as the United States, but one aircraft model could often evolve into many models with different uses in the hands of German designers and engineers, especially the German transformation of large and medium-sized aircraft, which was even more dazzling.

Yannick reduced the various types and models of aircraft in the original time and space to the extreme.

For example, the current German propeller fighters only have the BF109 series and FW190 series, and none of the Bf-110, Me-410, He-219, etc. have been produced; and the night fighters are modified from the Mosquito bombers.

There are only two types of ground attack aircraft, the Il-2 and the A1 attack aircraft; the bombers are mainly JU87 Stuka, Mosquito bomber, HE-177, and there are a few ME264 and a few B36 bombers.

Yannick recently considered adding another twin-engine medium bomber, but there are several bombers for him to refer to, such as the US B-25; German Ju-88, Do217 bombers; Soviet Pe-2, Il-4, etc.; He really hesitated and didn't know which one to choose.

Three jet aircraft were prepared at the flight base, which were developed by Yannick copying the jet fighters of later generations. The MiG-15 jet fighter developed by Messerschmitt, the F-86 fighter developed by Heinkel, and the B-47 jet bomber developed by Arado.

The MiG-15 fighter and the F-86 fighter are famous aircraft of a generation; the B-47 bomber is the first practical jet strategic bomber in the United States and the world in later generations, and the first mass-produced swept-wing jet bomber.