The Plot Confronting America unfolds in a world much like our own. Ready in Newark, New Jersey, on the eve of World War II, Philip Roth'due south 2004 novel finds its protagonist, a fictionalized version of the 7-year-old author himself, leading a bland existence punctuated by nightly radio news broadcasts, dinners with his all-American Jewish family unit and neighborhood excursions undertaken to fill the halcyon hours of summer vacation. So, the writer-narrator recounts, "[T]he Republicans nominated Lindbergh and everything inverse."

What follows is an alternating history penned in the same vein as Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle, a 1962 novel recently adapted for tv set by Amazon Studios. Similar Loftier Castle, The Plot Against America—the field of study of a new HBO limited serial of the same name—poses the age-old question of "What if?" Only while the former depicts a globe in which the Centrality powers won the war, the latter places its divergence from the historical tape prior to the conflict'south peak, envisioning a virulently neutralist United States that withal ends up entangled in international affairs.

Seamlessly blending truth and imagination, The Plot Confronting America pits aviator Charles A. Lindbergh against incumbent Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1940 presidential ballot. Voters' choice, argues the Spirit of St. Louis pilot and fervent "America Firster" in a trailer for the series, is non between Lindbergh and Roosevelt, just "betwixt Lindbergh and war."

Roth's business relationship of a celebrity-turned-politician winning the presidency on a platform of fearmongering and "othering" proved more prophetic than he could accept predicted.

"Information technology's a story of an American dystopia," explains "The Plot Against America" showrunner David Simon to Variety's Will Thorne. "It seems startlingly prescient in that it anticipates a political leader who seizes upon a very simple message and is able to actuate the worst fears and impulses of a meaning number of Americans. He gets them to relinquish not merely ability, but some of the most essential bulwarks of self-governance."

While the Roth family, renamed the Levins in the HBO prove, and many of the characters mentioned in The Plot Against America are based on real people, much of the narrative is entirely contrived. From the true extent of Lindbergh's anti-Semitic views to the rise of the "America First" movement, here's what yous need to know to separate fact from fiction ahead of the vi-part series' March 16 premiere.

Is The Plot Against America based on a truthful story?

Philip and Sandy Levin
Philip (left, portrayed past Azhy Robertson) and his older brother, Sandy (right, portrayed past Caleb Malis) HBO

As Roth wrote in a 2004 essay for the New York Times, "To alter the historical reality past making Lindbergh America'southward 33rd president while keeping everything else equally close to factual truth every bit I could—that was the job equally I saw it."

The master conceit of The Plot Confronting America is a fictional Lindbergh presidency. Set between June 1940 and October 1942, the novel opens with the aviator's unexpected bid as the Republican Party's nominee and gain to envision how the war would accept unfolded if the United states had not only stayed out of the fight, but colluded with the Axis powers and instituted Nazi-inspired restrictions on Jewish Americans' freedom.

Roth'due south volume features prominent public figures—including Roosevelt, gossip columnist Walter Winchell, non-interventionist Democratic senator Burton Thousand. Wheeler, New York Urban center Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia, industrialist and avowed anti-Semite Henry Ford, and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop—in roles ranging from primal players to cameo appearances. In line with the author's goal of adhering to reality whenever possible, sentiments shared past these individuals are actual quotes or plausible fabrications built on the existing historical record.

Philip Roth
Author Philip Roth in the Newark, New Jersey, neighborhood where he grew up Photograph by Bob Peterson / The LIFE Images Drove via Getty Images

Lindbergh, for example, actually did accuse Jews of being "war agitators." He also cautioned against "the infiltration of inferior claret" and "dilution past foreign races." He did not, notwithstanding, declare, equally he does in the volume, that with the German invasion of the U.S.South.R., "Adolf Hitler has established himself as the world's greatest safeguard against the spread of communism and its evils."

Of the piece of work'due south central characters, near are dramatized versions of real people. Young Philip (played past Azhy Robertson in the HBO series) and his immediate family members borrow their names from Roth'south bodily relatives: Herman (Morgan Spector), family unit patriarch and insurance salesman; his female parent, Elizabeth, or "Bess" for short (Zoe Kazan); and older blood brother, Sandy (Caleb Malis). Only while Philip's cousin Alvin (Anthony Boyle) and aunt Evelyn (Winona Ryder) play major roles in both the book and the show, neither has a direct real-life counterpart. Lionel Bengelsdorf (John Turturro), a conservative rabbi who attracts the Jewish community's ire for his steadfast support of Lindbergh (Ben Cole), is also fictional.

What fourth dimension period does The Plot Against America encompass?

The novel'due south alternate timeline is fairly straightforward, peculiarly toward the cease of the novel, when Roth shifts from a first-person narrative to a day-by-day, newsreel-manner business relationship. Lindbergh soundly defeats Roosevelt in the November 1940 presidential election and, simply weeks later on his inauguration, meets Adolf Hitler to sign a so-called "Iceland Understanding" guaranteeing peaceful relations between the U.S. and Deutschland. A similar "Hawaii Understanding" paves the way for Japan's unimpeded expansion across Asia.

The Jews of America find themselves subjected to increasing anti-Semitism and thinly veiled restrictions on their livelihood. The Role of American Absorption, established to encourage "America's religious and national minorities to become further incorporated into the larger lodge," indoctrinates Jewish teenagers past sending them to the country's rural heartland for summertime "apprenticeships"; an initiative dubbed Homestead 42 similarly relocates urban Jewish families, framing forced relocation every bit a "one time-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Some, like Philip's parents, are convinced the government is attempting to "lull [Jewish Americans] to sleep with the ridiculous dream that everything in America is hunky-dory." Others, similar his aunt Evelyn and older brother, decry these fears as the upshot of a "persecution complex." Needless to say, the Roth parents prove correct in their assessment of the state of affairs, and before the end of the book, readers are treated to a dystopian vision of a state plagued by pogroms, fascist totalitarianism and the unmitigated reversal of the very rights Herman Roth previously cited as exemplars of America.

Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf
The fictional Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf (John Turturro) attracts the Jewish customs's ire for his support of Charles Lindbergh. HBO

Just The Plot Against America's break from history is merely temporary. Past December 1942, Lindbergh has been vanquished, FDR is dorsum in office, and the U.South.—reeling from a surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor—has entered the war on the Allies' side. Despite this late arrival, the Americans nonetheless manage to secure victory in Europe past May 1945.

In truth, the "America First" mentality that enables Roth's version of Lindbergh to win the presidency was fairly widespread prior to Pearl Harbor. At its summit, the America First Committee, founded by a group of isolationist Yale University students in 1940, swelled to 800,000 members recruited from all regions of the country. Lindbergh emerged every bit the movement's biggest proponent, but other well-known figures were as well involved with the committee: Among others, the list includes Walt Disney, Sinclair Lewis, hereafter president Gerald Ford and future Supreme Court justice Potter Stewart.

America Firsters argued against U.S. involvement in the state of war, presenting themselves every bit the "summit of American patriotism and American traditions," says Bradley West. Hart, author of Hitler's American Friends: The Third Reich's Supporters in the The states. Members emphasized defense over offense and attempted to paint themselves equally patriots "interested only in preventing" the number of "gold star mothers"—those whose children died in service—from growing, according to Hart. Though many members held anti-Semitic sentiments and sympathized with the Nazis, such opinions became an increasing liability as the state of war in Europe raged on.

America First Committee meeting
Full general view of a large crowd attending an America Showtime Committee (AFC) rally circa 1941 in New York Urban center Photograph by Irving Haberman / IH Images / Getty Images

During the first half of the 20th century, anti-Semitism was fairly widespread across the United States, manifesting at "every level of social club and across the land," writes historian Julian E. Zelizer in the Atlantic. Automotive titan Henry Ford published a propaganda paper blaming "the Jews" for all of society'south ills, while radio personality Male parent Charles Coughlin regularly spouted anti-Semitic sentiments to his audience of some 30 meg weekly listeners. Fifty-fifty institutions similar Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Princeton enacted anti-Semitic policies: As Zelizer writes, all four universities imposed quotas on the number of Jewish students admitted.

The America First Committee'southward efforts culminated in a 1941 spoken language Lindbergh delivered at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa. The aviator accused three groups—the British, the Roosevelt administration and American Jews—of "agitating for war." Predicting that the "Jewish groups in this country … volition be amid the kickoff to feel [war's] consequences," he argued that the "greatest danger to this state lies in [Jews'] large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio and our government."

Critics roundly condemned Lindbergh'due south words every bit anti-Semitic. Writing for the New York Herald Tribune, columnist Dorothy Thompson expressed an stance shared by many, declaring, "I am absolutely certain that Lindbergh is pro-Nazi." Republican presidential nominee Wendell Willkie called the speech "the about un-American talk fabricated in my time by any person of national reputation."

The America Get-go Commission officially disbanded iii days subsequently the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Why Charles Lindbergh?

In May 1927, 25-year-old Charles A. Lindbergh skyrocketed to fame subsequently completing the start successful non-stop, solo transatlantic flight. (As Bess tells her husband in a "Plot Against America" trailer, "To virtually people, there'due south never been a bigger hero in their lifetime.") Dubbed "Lucky Lindy" and the "Lone Hawkeye," he became an international celebrity, garnering his influence to promote the field of aviation. In 1929, he married Anne Morrow, girl of a prominent American financier and diplomat; shortly after, the couple welcomed a babe boy, whose kidnapping and murder three years afterward sparked a media circus.

Overwhelmed by the publicity, the family fled to Europe. While living abroad, Lindbergh, acting at the U.South. armed forces'south asking, fabricated multiple trips to Frg to appraise the country'south aviation capabilities. He was impressed past what he encountered: As historian Thomas Doherty says, Nazi Germany shared Lindbergh's adoration of "Spartan physicality" and aviation-centric militarism. In 1938, the American hero attracted intense criticism for accepting—and later declining to return—a medal from Nazi military and politico Hermann Göring.

After moving back to the U.S. in Apr 1939, Lindbergh became a key figurehead of the America Outset move. He spoke at rallies, denouncing the state of war every bit a European affair with no relevance to the U.S., and soon shifted from isolationism to outright anti-Semitism. Amidst his most patently bigoted remarks: Western nations "can take peace and security simply and so long as we band together to preserve that most priceless possession, our inheritance of European blood" and "It seems that anything tin exist discussed today in America except the Jewish trouble."

Radio broadcaster Walter Winchell emerged as one of Lindbergh'south nigh steadfast critics, updating Lindy's "Alone Eagle" nickname to the "Alone Ostrich" and arguing that the aviator gave upwardly the country'southward goodwill to become the "star 'Shill' for the America Beginning Committee." Roth'south fictionalized Winchell takes a similarly irreverent approach, decrying Lindbergh as "our fascist-loving president" and his supporters as "Lindbergh's fascists." But while The Plot Against America'due south version of Winchell defies the reviled commander-in-principal by staging his own presidential bid, the existent journalist never ran for office.

Charles Lindbergh and Burton K. Wheeler
Charles Lindbergh (right) and Senator Burton M. Wheeler (left) at a May 23, 1941, "America First" rally in New York Getty Images

During the 1930s, Lindbergh and his other Plot Confronting America presidential rival, Franklin D. Roosevelt, were arguably the 2 most famous men in the country. Just while many respected the pilot, few viewed him as a viable political candidate. Co-ordinate to Hart, an August 1939 poll found that just nine per centum of Americans wanted Lindbergh, whose name had been raised as a potential alternative to Roosevelt, to run for the nation's highest part. Of these individuals, less than three-fourths (72 percentage) idea he would really make a good president.

Though Roosevelt personally supported America inbound the conflict, he "hedged and waffled on war" while candidature during the 1940 presidential race, says Susan Dunn, author of 1940: FDR, Willkie, Lindbergh, Hitler—The Election Amid the Storm. "At the aforementioned fourth dimension that he was speaking against American involvement in war," adds Dunn, "his assistants was preparing for possible war" by instituting a peacetime typhoon and formulating lists of priorities in the event that state of war broke out. Like Roosevelt, his existent-life Republican opponent, man of affairs Wendell Willkie, was an interventionist and anti-fascist, though he, too, toned down these views on the campaign trail.

At that place was no love lost betwixt Roosevelt and Lindbergh: The president likened the pilot to the "Copperheads" who had opposed the American Ceremonious War, labeling him a "defeatist and appeaser." Lindbergh, in turn, called the Roosevelt administration one of iii groups "agitating for state of war" and accused it of practicing "subterfuge" to force the U.Due south. into "a strange war."

The president'due south distaste for Lindbergh connected well across the United States' 1941 entry into the state of war. Though the pilot attempted to volunteer for the Ground forces Air Corps, he was blocked from doing so and forced to settle for a consulting position with Henry Ford'south bomber development programme. Later in the war, nether the auspices of United Aircraft, he was stationed in the Pacific theater, where he participated in around 50 combat missions despite his official status every bit a civilian.

Lindbergh'due south reputation never fully recovered from his pre-war politics. Once the aviator accepted a medal from Göring, says Doherty, "the universal affection Americans had for Lindbergh dissipates, and people divide[d] into camps. There are still a lot of Americans that volition ever love Lindbergh, … only he becomes an increasingly provocative and controversial figure."

Charles Lindbergh enrolls in America First Committee
Charles Lindbergh (left) enrolls as a member of the America First Committee. Getty Images

Whether the pilot actually came to regret his comments is a point of contention among scholars. Though his wife later on claimed as much, he never personally apologized for his comments. Roth, writing in 2004, argued that "he was at heart a white supremacist, and … did not consider Jews, taken as a group, the genetic, moral or cultural equals of Nordic white men like himself and did not consider them desirable American citizens other than in very small numbers."

Though Lindbergh is The Plot Confronting America's clearest antagonist, his actual actions, co-ordinate to Roth, thing less than what "American Jews suspect, rightly or wrongly, that he might be capable of doing"—and, conversely, how supporters interpret his words as permission to indulge their worst instincts.

As Roth concludes, "Lindbergh … chose himself every bit the leading political figure in a novel where I wanted America's Jews to feel the pressure of a genuine anti-Semitic threat."

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