It Can't Happen Here

This chapter takes place in June 1936, six weeks before the national conventions. Jessup anxiously awaits Bishop Prang’s radio broadcast on Saturday, where he is expected to endorse Windrip, which would give Windrip a clear path to becoming the Democratic nominee, with Windrip’s “satanic secretary” (27), Lee Sarason, as the brains behind him.

As he sits in his office, Jessup reflects on Windrip’s rise to power. After graduating from a minor law school, Buzz settles down to practice in his home state. Windrip is described as charismatic and good at winning over politically-powerful groups. Though he never becomes governor himself, he rules through a puppet and “he was an absolute ruler of his state as ever a sultan was of Turkey” (28). Windrip’s most effective political move is quadrupling the size of the state militia, whom he then rewards handsomely. When Windrip is later indicted on graft charges, the militia occupies the legislative chambers and runs his enemies out of town.

Windrip becomes a senator, and then a presidential candidate, where his most popular campaign promise is that everyone in the country would receive an income of several thousand dollars per year. (The exact amount occasionally changes throughout the novel).