Why Tillman might promote enormous carriers

What would a Tillman-demanded carrier look like if Senator Benjamin Tillman became interested in naval aviation?

He would likely demand an enormous prestige carrier because its escort needs could steer cruiser funding and jobs toward Charleston Navy Yard.

Benjamin Tillman's skill as a political operator did not extend to naval construction. He was a deeply racist and corrupt politician who nevertheless understood back-room bargaining and the value of federal spending to his constituency. Charleston Navy Yard could build cruisers more readily than capital ships, so Tillman had an incentive to promote fleet plans that generated cruiser orders and local employment. If carriers became his chosen prestige project, he would demand the largest and most impressive examples because those ships required protective cruisers. Naval architecture is secondary to the patronage chain connecting a capital-ship program, yard work, jobs, and votes.