AHC/WI: All of the Great Triumvirate become President at one point?

Nofix

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to get the men of the Great Triumverate to be President, elected or ascended. What sort of world would we live in if Henry Clay of Kentucky, Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina all, in any particular order, were to hold the office of Chief Magistrate in one lifetime?
 
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Tonifranz

Let's see. Henry Clay gets a few more electoral votes in 1824 and Crawford a little bit less, that gets him third place and in running for the House. Since Clay is very powerful as Speaker, that's enough to get him elected in the House. Calhoun is Vice President as OTL.

Clay suddenly dies in 1828, and Calhoun becomes President. He loses to Jackson later that November.

In 1848, Webster consents to be the Vice President to Zachary Taylor, accepting his "burial" before he died.

He becomes President upon Taylor's death.
 

Nofix

Interesting idea for the first part, but I would think a Clay/Calhoun Presidency would butterfly away the Mexican American War, which would lead to a Taylor nomination. Hell the Whig Party might not even form here as we know it with a dead Clay and a probably antagonistic to Jackson Calhoun.
 

DTF955Baseballfan

How's this?

The guy who tried to shoot Jackson goes insane a little early and kills him in early 1832; Calhoun becomes President. Horrified, lots of voters in the North swing to Clay, enough to get him nominated, but Calhoun has sown the seeds of Nullification in his time as President. Clay is able to work through things with compromises for a while, but anger from some Southerners becasue he hasn't removed Indian tribes, plus a recession (though not as bad as OTL's just a normal market forces one) plus a South intent on expanding salvery elects a Democrat in 1840, Lewis Cass, who pledges to kick out the Indians and also expand popular sovereignty as espoused by former President Calhoun, now back in the Senate.

Cass annexes Texas in 1841, then gets the US into a war with Mexico over it in 1843, winning re-election, but pushes through so much pro-slavery stuff that the Whigs nominate Daniel Webster in 1848; he wins with Winfield Scott as his VP to balance the ticket, as General Taylor had been appointed Secretary of War in the Cass Administration after coming home from the war.

Scott becomes President on Webster's death, and the U.S. moves slowly toward Civil War similar to OTL.
 

Imperator Maximilianius

Banned
DTF955Baseballfan said:
How's this?

The guy who tried to shoot Jackson goes insane a little early and kills him in early 1832; Calhoun becomes President. Horrified, lots of voters in the North swing to Clay, enough to get him nominated, but Calhoun has sown the seeds of Nullification in his time as President. Clay is able to work through things with compromises for a while, but anger from some Southerners becasue he hasn't removed Indian tribes, plus a recession (though not as bad as OTL's just a normal market forces one) plus a South intent on expanding salvery elects a Democrat in 1840, Lewis Cass, who pledges to kick out the Indians and also expand popular sovereignty as espoused by former President Calhoun, now back in the Senate.

Cass annexes Texas in 1841, then gets the US into a war with Mexico over it in 1843, winning re-election, but pushes through so much pro-slavery stuff that the Whigs nominate Daniel Webster in 1848; he wins with Winfield Scott as his VP to balance the ticket, as General Taylor had been appointed Secretary of War in the Cass Administration after coming home from the war.

Scott becomes President on Webster's death, and the U.S. moves slowly toward Civil War similar to OTL.
Click to expand...

I could see that happening.
 

Nofix

Interesting, but a little too convergent. Is there any precedent for an important military man, like Scott would be, taking a VP spot? I know there were some third party attempts, but those both panned out heavily.
 

Nofix

Bumping this. I have to wonder if these men, even if they became President at one point, would they be content with retirement? Whether they serve out 2 terms, retire after one, or are even mercilessly beaten for a second, would they ever try returning to Congress? Adams did, Calhoun did after his term as Vice-President (doing so early by resigning his seat), I just have to add this little extra at the end.
 
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