Here is a wonderful (if I don't say so myself) What-If scenario that I cooked up for a What-If website that I used to visit. It shows how closely we came to having a much different world today. It could ha e been a world with a totally Nazi Europe, a totally Communist Asia, and an America partitioned between the two. I call it the Wally/Wallace scenario. Here it is, in three parts:

Case one (Wallace): When Franklin Roosevelt was about to enter his fourth term, he dropped Henry Wallace, his VP, from the ticket because he was a Communist. There is some doubt as to whether he was an actual card-carrying Communist, but there is no doubt that's where his loyalties lay. Now, Vice-Presidents often make out a list of men they would make cabinet ministers should they become president suddenly and Wallace made such a list. He was so pro-Soviet that his list included only seriously pro-Soviet people, and two actual card-carrying Communists, members of the CPUSA. One was later fingered as being involved some real Soviet espionage. Anyway, on outside advice, FDR dumped Wallace and picked Harry Truman. But was a very near thing. So that's how close America came to having a totally pro-Soviet Presidency.

Imagine what the outcome of Yalta would have been if we had two Communists, Wallace representing the West, and Stalin representing the East, carving up Europe, not that it wasn't pretty one-sided as it was. OK, now keep Wallace in mind while I describe the other near miss:

Case Two (Wally): In 1936, the King of England was Edward VIII. He was a very pro-Nazi, especially pro-Hitler personally. Then along came Wally Simpson. Then Edward VIII, while king, fell in love with her, and as everyone knew then, Edward abdicated in favor of marrying Wally Simpson. So this second What-If-Scenario says that if it weren't for Wally Simpson, England would have had a very pro-Hitler King, all throughout the war, and well beyond.

Case End: So you can see, both events almost came true. I mean, it was a VERY near thing. And both events were probably decided in only a few hours, FDR deciding to drop Wallace, and Edward VIII falling in love with Wally Simpson.

So what could have happened if these two things happened as I've described? Simply that America would have entered WWII with a very pro-Soviet President, and England would have entered WWII against Germany with a very pro-Nazi King. And how would that have made a difference?

America was strongly isolationist then and against entering the new war, or any other war, for that matter. We had no heart for it, nor did most Americans want to bail Europe out of yet another mess, not after 1918 anyway. Pearl Harbor changed that in a hurry, of course, but we could easily have taken on a one front war against Japan alone if we chose. After all, that option would clearly have been highest in our own near-term self-interest.

Only through Roosevelt's personal opinion and persistence did we help England at all, and so on England's behalf, FDR violated our Neutrality Act repeatedly. Under another president, our crucial help to England would simply not have existed at all. Certainly Wallace would not have wanted to, nor could he have convinced the Congress to help England, for which there was still a great deal of hostility as most Americans traditionally hated all colonial powers and European involvement again in particular.

What Wallace would have done would have been to help the USSR with the same passion and degree that Roosevelt helped England. His loyalties blurred from the start, common among Leftists, he would have helped Russia even to the extent of depleting America's readiness for war.

With a pro-Nazi King, England would not have intervened after Hitler's conquest of Poland, but instead would have agreed to the next Hitler-ultimatum, and the next, and the next. Seeing as how in the early days, the victors of WWII could have gone either way but for a little luck this way or that, Hitler would probably have won the war. As it was, it was a near thing in a lot of ways, but more about that later.

So What-If events would have left a Nazi England, a very strong Nazi Europe, a demoralized and weak America, and a vastly strengthened and determined USSR. The world would have separated into two blocs, Communist and Nazi. More disturbed by European entanglements than ever, America would have retreated back into our traditional isolationism. Not that that would have helped us. After all, with such a huge prize awaiting them, and with very strong standing armies and nothing better to do with them, America would soon be attacked again and be fighting a four front war, which we would lose. America would then be divided up into zones, just like postwar Germany was.

So, there is not only a chance, but a good chance, that if it weren't for those two seemingly small decisions, the Wally/Wallace events, this is how the world would look today.