1948IW

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"You've offended nobody, but also pleased nobody. There are whispers from some that you can't take a stand on any important issue." - 1976 Advisors

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1948IW
Creators	Efficient_Concert403 (Coder and Writer) lotrfanperson (Writer) Gardfeld (Helper) Jake Dionysos (Helper) ARC-7652 (Helper)
Genre	Alt-History
Candidates	Henry Wallace (D-IA) Robert Taft (R-OH) Strom Thurmond (SR-SC)
Canon result	266 D 198 R 67 SR

1948: Identity War (often abbreviated to 1948IW) is an Alternate-History mod created by Efficient_Concert403. The mod takes place in an alternative timeline where President Franklin D. Roosevelt does not replace Henry Wallace with Harry Truman as his running mate at the 1944 DNC. As is what happened in real life, Roosevelt dies in 1945 and Henry Wallace takes the office of President, he is subsequently renominated at the 1948 DNC following a primary challenge by Senator (and real-life Vice President of Harry Truman) Alben Barkley. The Republican Nominee is conservative isolationist Robert Taft, and like in real life, Southern Democrats run Strom Thurmond as a southerner splinter candidate under the States' Rights Party. Canonically the election is deadlocked, with Henry Wallace only winning with the defection of a single elector from Taft's home state of Ohio. The mod was coincidentally released on the same day as Tom's 1948Red, a mod with a similar premise of Henry Wallace not being replaced by Franklin Roosevelt in 1944. Both 1948Red and 1948IW were released on April 7th, 2023. 1948IW is often considered the most controversial mod in the history of TCT, attracting widespread criticism for the usage of censored slurs in Strom Thurmond's side of the mod, an uncensored anti-Japanese slur in Henry Wallace's side, and for the generally unrealistic portrayal of segregationists and Henry Wallace. Thurmond's side of the mod was removed from the mod loader two days after release for the usage of various censored slurs, and on May 24th, 2023, the entire mod was removed from the mod loader by Astro for the usage of slurs on Wallace's side of the mod. It has been promised that the mod will be put back on the mod loader in the case that all slurs are removed from the mod, although the creators of 1948IW have rejected these overtures.

Gameplay and features

Gameplay

Thurmond

Thurmond in 1948 IW was running under the States Right's Party banner, a splinter group of segregationist Dixiecrats dissatisfied with Henry Wallace's Presidency. Thurmond's running mates included Harry F. Byrd, Democratic Senator from Virgina, Fielding Wright, Governor of Mississippi, and James Colescott, former leader of the KKK. Thurmond's path revolved around trying to deadlock the election and force a compromise between Thurmond and Taft in the House of Representatives, with different ways of achieving such based on the running mate the player picks.

Controversies

After the initial release of the mod, attention turned to the controversial parts of the mod, in particular Thurmond's path. Thurmond's path was controversial due to giving you the ability to lynch MLK Jr., as well it's inclusion of racially charged language. Thurmond's (censored) use of the N-Word was controversial too due to Thurmond's use of "Negro" instead of the N-Word whilst making speeches, as was common for the era. Another issue with Thurmond's side was Thurmond's ability to perform well in Northern states in spite of Thurmond's segregationist ideologies, and it was even possible to win outright as Thurmond. IW was also criticized for somewhat outlandish writing, such as Taft's side of the mod opening with Taft's wife, Martha, having a stroke and being in the hospital, with the player given the choice to either leave Martha on her deathbed or stay with her, with the former giving the player a small boost in the polls. This aspect of the mod was considered unrealistic by some, as Martha Taft had not had a stroke in 1948 and infact had one in 1958.