Survive as a World War II Soldier - Chapter 76



Only Noblemtl

#076

“What about Willis?”

“Willis? Henry A. Willis?”

“Yeah. I got to know him through Vice President Curtis a while ago, and he seems to have quite a progressive mind.”

“A capable person.”

Even though he was a Republican, Roosevelt gave him a favorable review as if he knew everything about him.

“Then I don’t think I would oppose your New Deal policy.”

“That may be true, but… it’s the Republican Party.”

“So isn’t that better?”

If Garner were to be the vice president, it would bring the Dixies within the Democratic Party into its fold.

Of course, I understand that you are having trouble because you don’t particularly like their argument, but they are the traditional supporters of the Democratic Party at present.

Conversely, if you bring in Willis and make him your vice president,

“You could argue that the New Deal policies were sound enough that even the Republican Party would agree with them.”

“So you could say that even the enemy was impressed.”

“Yes. There must be quite a few Republicans there who think you’re right, like Willis. You can accept them as your new supporters.”

“Hmm.”

It wasn’t without its problems.

Even in 21st century Korea, where changing party affiliation is commonplace during elections, people are criticized as “geese,” but in the United States, which has a two-party system, changing party affiliation is a huge event.

It is common for family members to support different political parties, but it is rare for them to switch from one party to another in the middle of their support.

“Will he accept my offer?”

“I guess that’s up to you.”

Willis was a politician who enjoyed the support of farmers at the time.

His father was once the Secretary of Agriculture.

The two men worked hard to save America’s declining agriculture in the 1920s.

Senators McNary and Haugen, who joined their cause, introduced and passed a farm relief bill, but then-President Coolidge vetoed it.

The same was true for Hoover, who later became president.

The bill passed on your behalf is the Tariff Act.

However, the tariff law, which seemed to have a temporary effect, actually caused the panic to become even more serious.

As a result, there was considerable opposition from progressive figures like Willis within the Republican Party.

“I guess I need to think about it properly first.”

I nodded and added to Roosevelt’s words that it was not without risks, but it would not be a bad thing if we tried and succeeded.

“And if that doesn’t work out, let’s take a few family photos.”

“Family photo?”

It’s been over a year since Anna’s photo made waves across the country.

Anna, who had received a lot of attention because of her marriage to me and that photo at the time, had become somewhat dull now.

This was because Mary’s pregnancy and childbirth had kept her exposure to the media to a minimum.

But if we turn that around,

“You haven’t been in the media for a while, so if you do come forward, wouldn’t you get a lot of attention?”

At my words, Roosevelt shook his head.

“I don’t want to go that far.”

He said that it was not worth selling his married daughter and young granddaughter.

And as if that confidence was not empty, Roosevelt went on to win the Democratic primary.

##

The big event of 1932 was not just the presidential election scheduled for November.

The 10th Summer Olympics opened in Los Angeles on July 30.

It was Vice President Curtis who made the opening declaration.

When the decision was made to host the 1923 Los Angeles Olympics, America was in the midst of a golden age.

But in 1932, the United States was in the midst of a depression. It wasn’t just the United States that was suffering from the depression.

Countries around the world were struggling with recession, and many people doubted the success of the Olympics.

That is understandable, as the number of participating countries was reduced by 9 compared to the 46 countries in the previous Amsterdam Olympics, and the number of participating athletes was only around 1,300.

Perhaps because of that, Hoover made the worst choice this time too.

“Vice President Curtis is giving the opening remarks?”

“Yes. That’s why I talk a lot.”

“I guess so.”

“Oh, right. Do you still get calls these days?”

“uh.”

“Well, you really impressed me last time.”

The sports world, remembering the great success of the last Olympics, desperately wanted my help.

In particular, players and coaches who were familiar with me at the time would constantly send letters and ask for help.

However, I declined the offer, saying that I was already too busy performing my duties as the Army Chief of Staff.

The Olympics have finally opened.

The Olympic Games, which began with Vice President Curtis’ opening address, were an unexpectedly great success.

More than 1.5 million spectators flocked to the games, and technological advances allowed news of the Olympics to spread quickly around the world.

Rumor has it that the Olympic Organizing Committee made a profit of over $1 million.

Hoover tried belatedly to hold an Olympic Committee event at the White House on October 1, but it was no use.

And finally, November.

The results of the presidential election were exactly as I expected.

##

After becoming president, Roosevelt attempted to implement the New Deal policies he had implemented in New York nationwide.

In particular, I was impressed by the camp where I operated the Bonus Army in the military unit, so I created a camp for the unemployed that benchmarked it.

It was a civilian conservation group called the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

Unemployed, unmarried men aged 18 to 25 could do physical labor related to the conservation and development of natural resources on government-owned rural land and receive a certain wage and food, clothing, and shelter.

In addition, I was able to receive some training, and the content of which had the greatest influence was, of course, our army’s existing program. Naturally, I included basic military training content that would not arouse suspicion.

And some of them raised people’s doubts.

“Metric? Why is this included?”

“We use yard pounds, don’t we?”

The time we’ve been waiting for has finally come.

I made a formal proposal to the cabinet regarding the metric system.

“Are you saying we should adopt the metric system?”

“yes.”

Not only Roosevelt but also the other ministers tilted their heads in puzzlement at my unexpected claim.

“First of all, you know that the metric system is the world standard, right?”

We are all educated people, but this damn 20th century hits us so hard in the back of the head that we have to be sure.

“I heard that it is widely used in the Old World.”

“Not many, but they use it everywhere except England. Even Russia adopted the metric system quite a while ago.”

It wasn’t all that surprising that there were a few people who were wide-eyed at my explanation.

“Our army had already adopted the metric system during the last war.”

“Yes? Why?”

Why, why would I? I had no choice but to use all French-made weapons.

Of course, there were some who received British products from time to time, and I heard they almost went crazy.

The yard pound we use is different from the one the British use.

“What’s the difference between ours and the British one?”

As expected, I nodded and gave a simple explanation to someone’s question that did not disappoint expectations.

“After we became independent, Britain had the yard-pound reform in 1824. That’s why we are a little different.”

“···”

“So, what General MacArthur is saying is that there is no country that uses the yard-pound system that we use now?”

“The only difference is that the yard pound used by the UK is different from ours, even though the name is the same. And I think that with most countries adopting the metric system, we shouldn’t fall too far behind.”

“Certainly, from my perspective, the problem with this unit is one that cannot be separated from the economy.”

Fortunately, the people gathered here are intellectuals.

I was not unaware of the necessity and importance of standard weights and measures.

But that doesn’t mean I’m in favor of introducing the metric system.

It was just a simple suggestion that we should adopt the metric system, but it immediately threw American politics into a debate.

“Changing a single unit requires a huge budget.”

“That’s right. The economy is already bad···.”

“Where is the budget to invest here?”

One of the main reasons put forward by those opposing it was budget.

In fact, the yard-pound system has been used in the United States for nearly 150 years.

To change this suddenly would require a huge budget.

“And you’ve lived without any inconveniences until now!”

“That’s right. What does it have to do with us how foreigners live?”

In particular, isolationism, a chronic disease among Americans, also acted as one of the obstacles to the introduction of the metric system.

And there were authors who cheered this situation, the first being Garner, who lost the last Democratic primary.

“Haha. I guess they wouldn’t have nominated me as their vice presidential candidate either.”

Because he had the support of the Dixies, Garner believed he would be more than capable of becoming vice president even if he lost the primary.

But guess what?

Roosevelt’s choice was a migratory bird from the Republican Party.

That’s why Garner, who had been gritting his teeth, thought this was the perfect opportunity to make his presence known to Roosevelt.

“Roosevelt is undermining the traditional American values. Freedom. Isn’t that the irreplaceable freedom that runs through the veins of our American people?”

“Why should we blindly follow what foreigners do?”

“Does using meters instead of yards make crops grow better?”

The conservative Dixies took Garner’s argument at face value.

And the second one was, of course, the Republican Party.

“If Roosevelt does it, we must first oppose it.”

“It was even General MacArthur who brought that up.”

“Hoo. Doesn’t this sound like it’ll lead to a story?”

“Oh.”

The fact that the US Army already used the metric system and that it was I, MacArthur, who first proposed the adoption of the metric system was a more tempting prey to the Republican Party than anything else.

in result,

“Where has civilian control gone, and the military is now shaking the country.”

“Why does the Army Chief of Staff interfere with weights and measures?”

“If you look closely, there is a real power behind the scenes that is shaking the president?”

I had to hear the real story of the Roosevelt administration out of the blue.

“Oh, who is this? Isn’t that the dog that holds the president in one hand and shakes him?”

“If you’re going to talk nonsense, then get out.”

“Yes, yes. That’s enough for a penniless and incompetent seal pup…”

King was excited to tease me because he thought this was the right time.

“You wouldn’t have come here to tease me, would you? What’s going on?”

“I heard you forced the metric system on the Newport guys too.”

“Yeah. I don’t know what you’re using for things like measuring distances at sea, but aren’t the weapon specifications different?”

“Hmm.”

“Even in our army, the errors that occur when copying weapons from other countries have been greatly reduced.”

“Well. Arthur III in Newport will take care of that.”

“Then why did you come?”

“See the real famous real-life figures?”

“what?”

Well, actually, I stopped by to see my daughter Mary and do some other things…

No matter how I looked at him, I thought he was just trying to tease me.

Anyway, the real controversy over the real power was just as dangerous as the Napoleon theory that had been going on before.

And unlike Roosevelt, who said that there was no need to sell his daughter or granddaughter, I, an incompetent father, had no choice but to sell Mary.

“The real power? There is. The most powerful person in our family is none other than this kid.”

Mary laughing while grabbing Grandfather Roosevelt’s hair.

Mary riding on her father MacArthur’s back, swinging her riding whip.

She turned people’s attention with a cute and lovely photo of Mary.

And then,

“The authors who talk about me being the real power broker or something like that are the ones who see the citizens as pigs and dogs. Who is Roosevelt? He is the president directly elected by the citizens.”

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

When it comes to controversy over real power, there is nothing as bad as a pig.

To 21st century Koreans, this level of political strife was like chewing gum.

“How can you bring up such a ridiculous story about shaking the president without thinking that the people are as ignorant as pigs and dogs?”

At the same time, the Republican Party’s trickery in trying to brand me a communist during the last Bonus Army incident has resurfaced.

And then I delivered the final blow.

“I repeat, I am ready to step down at any time. If my presence as Army Chief of Staff is no longer beneficial to this country, and there is a better person than me, I will step down at any time.”

At this point, the important issue in introducing the metric system was not whether to introduce it or not, but whether MacArthur would continue as Army Chief of Staff.

And this was a blessing for me.

Because the position of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff could have been thrown away to me at any time.

When the issue was flowing in such a strange direction, people started talking about the metric system again.

This time it was the proponents.

The full range of metric systems