No new states are added after Tennessee. Two centuries later, all sixteen states, even Rhode Island, have had Presidents elected.
 
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With a divergence/s no earlier than 1796, have every US state in the Union have at least 1 president to their name by January 20th, 2021.

EDIT; Bonus points if it's 50.

Considering that we're up to 45 Presidents (Cleveland is counted twice), 50 seems plausible. Assuming that there are still 50 states, of course. By the way, do you mean by birthplace or state of primary affiliation?

A few thoughts:

The easiest way is to have one President per state. Anything more than 50 is likely going to mean many more deaths in office, resignations, and impeachments than OTL. Or alternatively, fewer two-term Presidents.

Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe are all from Virginia, so pick one (maybe two).

We're going to have a lot fewer Presidents from Ohio and a lot more from the West.
 
We need to free up a few terms, either by Presidents not running for re-election or ending their terms early (so their VP from a different state can hold office). VP's filling out terms is probably your best way to get Presidents from small states. The problem, however, is that it would be very difficult to extrapolate everything else that happens in the country's history after you've changed a few early presidencies in order to get to the number.

Plus, what counts as 'home state' for this purpose? Where they're born, or where they're from for most of their life, or when they enter public life?
 
Attempt 1
Missing states, and possible President from that state (i.e. someone who was Vice President, or was President and could have been from that state, or or was a major-party candidate for President or Vice President with a halfway plausible chance of election ):

Alabama - William King
Alaska - Sarah Palin
Arizona - John McCain
Colorado -
Connecticut - Joseph Lieberman
Florida -
Hawaii - Barack Obama
Idaho -
Iowa - Henry Wallace
Kansas - Charles Curtis, Robert Dole
Maine - Hannibal Hamlin, James Blaine, Edward Muskie
Maryland - Spiro Agnew
Minnesota - Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale
Mississippi -
Montana -
Nebraska - William Jennings Bryan
Nevada -
New Mexico -
North Carolina - John Edwards
North Dakota -
Oklahoma -
Oregon -
Rhode Island -
South Carolina - John Calhoun
South Dakota -
Utah -
Vermont -
West Virginia -
Wisconsin -
Wyoming - Richard Cheney
 
If we're giving Obama to Hawaii, we can give Romney to Utah.

George McGovern for South Dakota. Have him stay out of the 1972 election so he isn't synonymous with losing bigly and he can be viable in a later contest.
 
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After the contentious elections of 1796 and 1800, the 12th Amendment greatly simplifies matters by having Presidents chosen by each State in round-robin fashion (in order of admittance to the Union), for a single four-year term.

Accordingly, Delaware appoints David Hall in 1804, Pennsylvania appoints James Ross in 1808, and so on, until Hawaii appoints Ben Cayetano in 2000 ; whereupon it is Delaware's turn again.
 
Presidents chosen by each State in round-robin fashion
That's an interesting idea.
Would it mean weaker Presidents, since states know they're going to get it a stronger President might mean special benefits.

If states get or think they get an advantage whenever it's their turn I could see refusal to allow new states.
 
Robert M. La Follette and/or Russ Feingold
Gaylord Nelson would also be a decent choice. And don't forget that Senate Irwin Lenroot was a contender for Harding's VP in OTL as well. Had he gotten the nod, and Harding died on scheule ... there you go. (though, let face it, it needs to be LaFollette :D )
 
Attempt 2
i kind of ran out of steam here. Does anyone else want to continue it? We need Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, North Caroina, Wisconsin, Alabama, and Florida East of the Mississippi, and 2 states have been wiped out West of it thanks to Burr, but you can give them 3 if you want since I do give others 2. And, you can fiddle around with where people run from, too.

I also have alreday used Iowa and - hinted at - Nebraska West of the Mississippi. Also edited to make Missouri one.

TLIAD – Burr in their Saddle – Or, A President from Every State

Based on an AHC, because I needed to let my brain go a b it.



Note: This US has more than 1 President per statre, but the rules don’t specify it has to be only one, I don’t think.

Note 2: I’m using state they campaign from or are most known for. This can get… interesting.



  • George Washington – 1789-1797 (VA)
  • John Adams – 1797-1801 (MA)
  • Aaron Burr, 1801-1805 (NY)
Burr won the Presidency when a few Electoral Votes went to him and someone else; basically, the planners for the D-R messed up.

He isn’t awful, but he definitely ushers in an imperial Presidency. Jefferson and Adams bury the hatchet as each feels troubled – Adams more so because, while Burr buys Louisiana, he acts like he’s ready to fight the British, too, and America isn’t ready for that.

To get aPresident in to replace him, an American folk hero is brought in; even Burr has to admit the man is a legend, so when the 12th Amendment is passed and he ends up losing a close election to the man, he doesn’t quibble. He just goes down to Louisiana and prepares to turn the state into a Utopia for Womens’ Rights and Equality.



  • Daniel Boone, (1805-1809 – MO
  • Technically he was living in Missouri, though the territory wans't called that, having just been bought from France; he was called back to serve; he promised that he would remain in the new Washington, DC for one term if elected. He was, so he made his way back East.
  • It was rather comical when the message took so long, and he then took so long getting there, that he arrived the morning of his inauguration, with James Madison (his VP) trying to calm peole down and promising that the VP can be President if the President dies, is incapacitated, or just… can’t be found.
  • As President, Boone follows a pattern set by Burr of keeping slavery out of Louisiana. He suggests that the state Burr is carving out have its northern border at the Arkansas River, which is a good idea since burr wants it to be the Missouri.
  • In foreign policy, Boon follows Washington’s policy of no foreign entanglements, and urges Americans to be self-sufficent, and not rely on foreign trade. He is disliked by the richer slaveowners in the South for his friendliness to the North and his support of poorer farmers, but at the same time, he wins the support of a lot of poor people, which annoys the Federalists some.
  • In the end, the best that can be said, at the end of his term, is that he got America’s inds off of Burr. And, getting the master politician out of D.C. at a time when statesmen were needed was a good thing to all.
  • There was one comical point of course. Eventually he would be seen as having run from Missouri even though Missouri was not the other state, though it would become one by his death and he did preside over Congress' creating of Missouri Territory. The joke often was that Aaron Burr had gone to Louisiana to buy a bunch of territory for himself, but Daniel Boone had happened to benefit.

  • James Madison 1809-1817 (VA)
  • After the craziness of the Boone years, Madison takes office with Thomas Jefferson happily ensconced in a position on the Supreme Court, where he can “write great things the rest of his life.”
  • The War of 1812 happens about as OTL, except the US is much better prepared militarily, given the lack of Jefferson’s Naval disarmament.
  • The only really interesting side note is that Andrew Jackson is sent down to fight the British, who were supposedly attacking New Orleans. However, when he arrived, he found hundreds of black soldiers in one of several platoons, men brought in from the river banks on the other side of the Mississippi. Aaron B urr is said to have answered Jackson’s look with a smug: “You’re too late, we whipped them British so hard they’ll be running till they get home to Britain.” Not realizing that part of Jackson’s shock is at seeing a bunch of black men armed and wondering what it would mean if word got back to the South. He made sure it didn’t – for a while.

  • William Crawford: 1817-1823 (GA)
While James Monroe was liked, word was getting around about the Blacks defending New Orleans under Burr’s direction by the time nominations came up, and people brought up the fact Monroe had allowed the Gabe Prosser uprising; sure he had crushed it but he was governor when it happened.

  • Hence, Crawford narrowly won, and promised to work hard to protect slavery where it existed; sure, Burr had prevented it from coming out West, not only with his massive land grabs in the new state of Louisiana (which did indeed have the Arkansas as its Northern border) but also through hos he had used his politicking to prevent slavery from gaining any kind of foothold in Missouri.
  • When the time came for Missouri to be admitted, with Louisiana also a free state, there was no wwkay the South could get back the balance, so instead, they figured Crawford would be an ideal leader to “make sure things stay calm and the states have the right to do as they choose.” Even if that was some “crazy utopian dream” like Burr had.
  • His end came early, though. He suffered a stroke, and his condition worsened when Daniel Tompkins, the Vice President (who spent much of his time outside Washington, DC due to his drinking and other problems) attempted to come and ended up missing. Jokes rang out about his drinking, but others reminded people that President Boone had arrived in the same way, just in time. Even as President Crawford died, it was expcted that Tompkins would get there.
  • However, while Chief Justice Marshall and Justice Jefferson, now quite aged, debated various political things to enteraint he crowd – a debate which could barely be heard thanks to Jefferson being about 80 – a messenger was spotted. Tompkins had died en route. Former President Madison, who had assured people regarding Boone, announced that President Pro Tempore Gaillard would, indeed be President.

  • John Gaillard – 1823-1825 – SC
  • President Pro Tem Gaillard was swept into power at a time when people were debating several things, including the discovery of gold in Georgia by landowners who might have moved West of the Mississippi instead.
  • Part of the problem was that Burr, sought to retain control of Louisiana, where he now had such extensive tracts of land that he owned almost the square footge of Rhode Island. Burr decided to invite the Indians to all come out there to live.
Gaillard had become President too late for them to have an 1823 election, which let Anderw Jackson and others prepare a campaign against the “loudmouth rich people who want to dominate everything.” He called himself a mixture of Boone nad Burr, a great frontiersman who believed in taking control like Burr. The fact Gaillard’s section is taken mostly talking about Jackson shows how little he did, though he did continue to set the stage for a big moment in Jackson’s Presidency.



Andrew Jackson –1825-1833 - TN

With Crawford not running, Jackson got just enough Electoral Votes to eke over the majority required for the Presidency. He spoke to the common people in ways Boone didn’t Boone’s people were at least cordial, while Jackson’s wrecked the White House with their first party, which caused him and his wife to have such a row that she proclaimed, “In some other universe, you’d really be sorry, I might have died before you got here; at least now you have a First Lady to pick up after you!”

Jackson not only ordered the Trail of Tears, he also crushed South Carolina and the Nullification Crisis, calling them a bunch of “whiners and crybabies” because their “accidental President” wasn’t President anymore.

Northerners began to assail him because he was yet another President who was catering to the needs of the South, leading to a resurgent anti-government party and the more “traditional” President as Jackson continued the Spoils System which burr had begun but which others had largely allowed to be dormant.



10. Martin Van Buren – 1833-1835 – (NY)

Despite problems connected with the economy, Vwhich came due to Jackson’s policies, Van Buren wasn’t around to see most of the downturn, having been felled by Richard Lawrence’s bullet. His Vice President took a lot of the blame and lost re-election



Richard M. Johnson – 1835-1837 – KY

Johnson is most known for a joke. “He’s the only man to be President based solely on his claiming to have killed someone,” that being Tecumseh. The joke then goes on that “It’s fitting because in his Party, one of the founders killed all kinds of people in duels, and would never have gotten to the White House were it not for his seizing Florida and his being friends with Burr, who had begun the Spoils System he relied on. The only shock is that Burr never killed anyone – that we know of.”



  • William Henry Harrison – 1837-1845 – OH
  • Led push for internal improvements which helped the North eventually to win the Civil War, and also blocked a lot of Southern attempts to expand slavery, such as pleas to buy Cuba from Spain. Others, of course, liked life the way it was; they just wished that Harrison would do something about the fact the lat eAaron Burr’s state kept helping slaves escape from Mississippi!

  • Lewis Cass – 1845-1850 – MI
  • Zachary Taylor -1850-1853 - MS
  • James Buchanan – 1853-1857 – PA
Known as the “do nothing Presidents,” they allowed the South to continue to refuse to accept more and more Northern laws, and a firefight in early 1850 between Mississippi and lOuisiana troops led to the hastily agreed-to Compromise of 1850, admitting California as a free state, enforcing the Fugitive Slave Law, and so on.

This of course drew the rage of Louisiana, which claimed they should have States Rights as well to refuse to accept it. The fight led to the Bleeding Arkansas River as Southern Missouri and Northern Louisiana were set upon by state militia from Mississippi and Tennessee. Only a personal visit by President Cass and a promise to try to expand kept war from breaking out.

However, back in Washington Cass wound up dying of Cholera, partly because of a horrible sewage system in the area. His vice president would have moved from Virginia to Louisiana but since slavery was not allowed he moved to Mississippi instead, right on the banks of the river. Zachary Taylor was a firm unionist but not political, therefore he had not sought any nomination. However, with tensions Brewing even in 1848 cast decided to choose the popular General as vice president instead of James K. Polk who had been his vice-president the previous term and such a workaholic he'd managed to find things to do even as Vice President," the joke went.. Taylor accomplished little, and because of his age also, did not run again.

Then, Buchanan’s term saw Cuba almost purchased, but a lot of Northerners were upset as the island was cut in two., with each side promised statehood. Buchanan also saw Texas, which had been admitted in 1845, have its own Civil war between slavery forces and abolitionists, a portent of things to come.



John C. Fremont 1857-1862 – CA

The civil war in Texas between a bunch of cowboys could wait/ there were important things to consider, as states had begun seceding even before Fremont was elected. South Carolina had thought doing so before Election Day would send a message, as they were the angriest, but it did the opposite.

With Fremont’s election for 4 months Mississippi troops pulled into Louisiana, and the Civil War was on. Fremont, a Radical, was determined to make his mark and end slavery, even though that got pretty much every Southerner mad at him. The North’s control of the Mississippi had to be weighed against the fact Kentucky and Maryland had also seceded by narrow votes bhy spring of 1857.

However, the North eventually won in a huge slugfest that saw wel over 700,000 men die, many in the South, and left the entire area dirt poor for years. Fremont was assassinated in 1862 by a Southerner a few months after the end of the war.



Abraham Lincoln, 1862-1869 (IL)

Fremont’s more moderate Vice President had become radicalized bit by bit, and realized that the Radical agenda needed to be given a chance. “Louisiana, as strange as they seem with their just having granted womens’ suffrage, must be seen as a great experiment which is, in some ways, working.”

More politically adept at handling Reconstruction, Lincoln still faced his doubters, and his 1864 pick of Vice President, Hannibal Hamlin, spoke often of the need to “put teeth into what was being passed.” Hamlin would get his chance.



Hannibal Hamlin – 1869-1873 – ME

Hamlin tried hard, but found himself awash in economic turmoil with a number of Panics involving gold, stock, etc., thanks to some runs on the banks. People were also tiring of Reconstruction, now that the worse vigilantes had all been cleaned up with the help of some of the best Generals.

This meant he lost re-election, but the Liberal Republicans and Democrats had nominated Horace Greeley before it was known how bad the economy would get. Greeley died, and suddenly the Electors had a problem. So they chose…



Thomas A. Hendricks – 1873-1877 – IN

The economy didn’t improve a lot, but more importantly, Hendricks was, well, really blah. He was the VP candidate for one party, the compromise candidate for another, and it was boudn to happen that he wouldn’t have much of a mandate to govern sicne not at many had voted for him. He was honest, which helped, and he tried to stop Tammany Hall from controlling the Democratic Party, but in the end, he couldn’t do much.

When he ran for re-election, Samuel Tilden,t he popular New York governor, almost unseated him for the nomination. This didn’t bode well.



Ambrose Burnside – 1877-1881 - RI

Since Fremont himself had been a general, and the war hadn’t seen 1 great general overpower another as far as top Union general, one who was very capable at the little things wound up becoming President. Ambrose Burnside had been a Democrat but shifted to the GOP when he saw they were fighting corruption and trying to help the “little guy,” whereas the Democrats seemed to be all too corrupt. Infact, Louisiana had quite a few RFepublicans in it now.

Burnside was good for the Gilded Age, as he tried to reform things, but ill health dogged him and he considered not running in 1880. He did anyway, and a angry office seeker names Guiteau shot and killed him. This was ironic, because doctors today say he had only months to live anyway. It did, however, spur Civil Servidce to finally get passed by the U.S. Congress.



John Sherman – 1881-1889 – OH

People were starting to notice very few states repeated as having Presidents from them. Ohio was one of few, and John Sherman became one of the greatest reformers, pushing through Civil Servidce and Antitrust legislation and the Lodge Bill, which guaranteed voting rights, partly as a response to continued corruption in Louisiana, which had as its Northtern border the Arkansas River all the way to Keystone Lake, where the City of Tulsa would be founded; on the Louisiana side, as it turned out, though some wanted it on the other side, which would apart of the state of Kansas. The border than went South to the Red River, with Texas having the rest. (Note – so Oklahoma and Arkansas don’t exist in this world. But, I don’t have a President from Louisiana yet, so one from one of those 2 paces would count.)

While not all of Sherman’s work last, he paved the way for the Progressive Era later.



Thomas Bayard – 1889-1893 – DE

A compromise as Grover Cleveland and David Hill kept splitting the balloting, Bayard had been lucky enough to start his career in Washington after the Civil War had begun, with the emergency government in Philadelphia. Bayard was a conservative who bested the scandal-ridden James Blaine in a close race.



William Phelps – 1893-1894 – NJ

When William McKinley backed out due to his wife’s ill health (and opposition from Blaine), businessman and Congressman William Phelps became the compromise candidate after qite a few ballots, unseating Bayard due to Bayard’s seeming attempts to mire the nation in international affairs too much. His ill health led to his death just over a year after he tok office.



William B. Allison – 1894-1897 – IA

The Iowa Senator was chosen to offset the rich businessman and give more Westerners a say in the GOP platform. A great balance to the ticket, he did help the nation some when Phelps’ illness and death was partly seen as the cause of the Panic of 1893 being as bad as it was. However, ultimately, he lost re-election to a very loud, bold Populist named William Jennings Bryan.

23. William Jennings Bryan – 1897-

-------------------------

Hmmm, some numbers aren't showing up like they should, maybe they're not seen int he copy and paste? Anyway, I'm at 23 Presidents, but we won't have Wilson, we have California taken care of, we *could* have more from another state, and so on. Anyone want to continue it and keep gong till we hit 50?

Oh, and again, if it has to be the exact 50 states, well, make it 3 from Louisiana or 2 there and 2 Texas (with one Oklahoman who is Texan TTL) to make up for it if you must.

Edit: Okay, I see, just bonus points if it's 50. So this will work. And, I have 3 from across the MIssissippi River already.
 
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Robert M. La Follette and/or Russ Feingold
Neither of them was ever a major party nominee, or even close to being such.

Bernie Sanders
Never a major party nominee, or even close to being such.
Burton K. Wheeler
Never a major party nominee, or even close to being such.

If FDR had announced his retirement at the 1940 DNC - Wheeler had quietly formed a campaign committee and would have been ready to move. In which case he might have been the nominee, and I've read that Willkie self-destructed.
 
Ambrose Burnside – 1877-1881 - RI
Interesting suggestion. He had political ambitions, and was elected governor post-ACW, despite his decidedly mixed war record.

If the "Crater" operation had succeeded, he'd look good, overall. The "Crater" success would have been achieved by USCT under his command, which could make him attractive to the Radicals. If Grant for whatever reason stood aside in 1868...
 
Three obvious ones to me--

Colorado-- Gary Hart
Mississippi-- Jefferson Davis, would be cool if he did it before 1860 and then played his historical role.
Kentucky-- John C. Breckenridge

And yes, if you keep the Democratic field divided longer in 2020 and then have the same Covid 'freeze' in Campaigns, there is a very good chance Sanders is President now.
 
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Never a major party nominee, or even close to being such.

In relation to LaFollette, this is only partially true. LaFollette was seen as a potential GOP Presidential candidate in '08 and, even more so, '12 and also '16. In both early cases, his feud with Roosevelt is what really doomed his chances while the latter was doomed by his preceived pacifism (which was unfair to an extent: LaFollette was not supposed to war in general, he was just really really REALLY opposed to the US engaging in THAT war. Which, in retrospect, was probably good sense) as well as a speech he made which was lampooned by the press for being incoherent and rambling. Which it was ... he was suffering from the Flu at the time. His '24 run on a third party had more to do with his frustrating with the Stalwarts regaining control of the party in the wake of WW1 as well as his dedication to national party realignment than it was being a non-major party gadly.

There are numerous ways in which to get LaFollette the GOP candidate for President at some time during the Progressive Movement. Hell, if he'd won his governorship one term before he did in OTL (which was very doable) he could conceivably have ended up on McKinley's VP in 1900 instead of Roosevelt (while both were in the House together, McKinley and LaFollette had gotten along well, and LaFollette had been a supporter of McKinley during his time in the wilderness).

As for Feingold ... he was actually being proposed as a potential candidate in '04 and '08 though he chose not to run for the nomination in either. He was also proposed as a potential VP candidate during those sametimes. It's kind of hard to be the major party candidate for President when you choose not to run. Which, of course, doesn't mean that with a different political climate or slate of candidates, that he may not choose to do so.
 
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