AHC: Lafayette as national founder

This is a long shot, but I find the idea irresistibly cool, so is there any way for the Marquis de Lafayette to become the national founding father of a country in the Americas, in the same vein as George Washington or Simon Bolivar OTL? Bonus points if that country is French-speaking.

Keperry said:

This is a long shot, but I find the idea irresistibly cool, so is there any way for the Marquis de Lafayette to become the national founding father of a country in the Americas, in the same vein as George Washington or Simon Bolivar OTL? Bonus points if that country is French-speaking.

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Maybe a Canada that breaks away from French control, after an ATL French and Indian War?

If he had not been recognized by the Prussians trying to escape France early in the FR, his intended destination was the US. Technically he could run for President as he was awarded US citizenship by several states before the US constitution was ratified.

Not to say he would ever be President, I think he might pursue some political office.

Several of the French possessions in the Caribbean - San Dominique, Guadaloupe, Martinique - remain loyal to the crown in the French revolution.

Lafayette escapes France in the 1790's after being accused of being too soft on the monarchy and becomes a colonial governor (either under British auspices or via the order of a free Louis XVI).

He liberates the slaves, prevents the Haitian Revolution and allows the new nations to develop without major warfare.

His reputation has faded over time but once Lafayette was recognized as the equal of Washington in importance to founding the US and was incredibly popular. Had he not returned to France but instead stayed in the US and permanently cemented his role in US history Lafayette and Washington would probably be seen as co-fathers of the American nation.

I think he could definitely be placed into the same canon as the founders. Where i grew up (Central Kentucky, at the at the time of the Revolution, the farthest western edge of the United States) there are tons of French place names. Paris, Versailles, a Lafayette High school, so on. I always imagined he was very well received. Maybe just butterflying the Quasi War would change our entire perspective on the French role in the ARW