AHC: Admirals for POTUS

We have had generals as POTUS, but never any admirals. Some possibilities (from both before and after 1900):

(1) David Farragut (Lincoln decides he needs a Southern War Democrat on the Union Party ticket in 1864, and Farragut has a lot more popular appeal than Andrew Johnson...)

(2) George Dewey ("Dewey explored a run for the 1900 Democratic presidential nomination, but he withdrew from the race and endorsed President William McKinley." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dewey)

(3) Elmo Zumwalt if he had been elected to the Senate from Virginia--though he lost rather badly to Harry Byrd, Jr. in OTL. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_United_States_Senate_election_in_Virginia (Maybe if Byrd had decided to leave the Senate in 1976 rather than 1982, feeling that his victory as an Independent in 1970 was sufficient vindication, Zumwalt would have had a better chance.)

(4) Joe Sestak--his current candidacy is being treated as a joke but if he had defeated Toomey in the close 2010 Senate race and then gotten re-elected in 2016 (both of which are plausible--or he might even have been elected in 2016 for the first time if he had won the Democratic primary that year) he would presumably be taken more seriously. But this is current politics.

(Of course there's always Larry Niven's Admiral Heinlein!)
 
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Kaze

Banned
Chester W. Nimitz - have him instead of Ike. Basically Ike saying, "I do not wish to run, if nominated I will not run, and elected I will refuse the office. I did my duty as Cincinnatus, now let me return to my plow." Nimitz steps forward as alternate candidate, he wins.
 

nbcman

Donor
Admiral Leahy was the Governor of Puerto Rico and Ambassador to France in the early 1940s. Maybe he could run for office after retirement?

Admiral Hart was appointed Senator for Connecticut in 1945-1946. If he decided to keep the seat, maybe he could make a run later?

Senator McCain retired as a Captain - but he could have potentially made Rear Admiral if he held on for a few more years.
 
Senator McCain retired as a Captain - but he could have potentially made Rear Admiral if he held on for a few more years.

Not without changing the Forrestal fire. Hanging out in the ready room while the ship burns does not garner you flag rank even with dad and tennis lol.

But the broader point is well taken, find a veteran who retired before flag rank but had a chance for it and later politics. A quick look is not promising though, tons of career people joining and then leaving over WWII. Not a lot of lifers winding up in politics.

As mentioned Senator Zumwalt would be super-interesting for his influence in the Senate on the military budget and priority—hopefully he can screw the Air Force haha.
 
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Admiral Leahy was the Governor of Puerto Rico and Ambassador to France in the early 1940s. Maybe he could run for office after retirement?

Admiral Hart was appointed Senator for Connecticut in 1945-1946. If he decided to keep the seat, maybe he could make a run later?

Senator McCain retired as a Captain - but he could have potentially made Rear Admiral if he held on for a few more years.

Part of the reason McCain retired is because his injuries kept him to limited duty and he therefore never command a carrier (O-6 billet) and then advance to flag rank as a carrier group commander (O-7). At least according to him, he said that in an interview I saw.
 
Admiral James G Stavridis was on HRC's VP list.

Jim Webb was Navy Secretary, which is sort of close.

Ross Perot could win in 1992 and then fall down a flight of steps, resulting in President James Stockdale.

In 2016 Bloomberg had apparently already chosen Admiral Michael Mullen as his running mate before opting not to run.

Admiral McRaven could be running mate in 2016 or perhaps Obama decides to swap our Biden for the Admiral who killed bin Ladin so that he can secure a wave of a victory in 2012. Then just have something to Obama or have McRaven run in 2016 and win.
 

SsgtC

Banned
Part of the reason McCain retired is because his injuries kept him to limited duty and he therefore never command a carrier (O-6 billet) and then advance to flag rank as a carrier group commander (O-7). At least according to him, he said that in an interview I saw.
Wasn't McCain on the shortlist for Flag Rank though when he retired?
 
Jimmy Carter if he was able to stay in the Navy, he was slated to command a nuclear power submarine when his father died and he had to leave the Navy to run the family farm and business.
 
"Some people believe that when I am quiet that I am thinking some deep and important thoughts, when the fact is that I am thinking of nothing at all. My mind is blank." — Admiral Raymond Spruance

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Yes We Blank
Make America Blank Again
It’s the Blank, Stupid
 
Have Clinton pick retired Admiral William Crowe to be his VP. Crowe did endorse Clinton and he was then made Ambassador to Great Britain.
 

SsgtC

Banned
Jimmy Carter if he was able to stay in the Navy, he was slated to command a nuclear power submarine when his father died and he had to leave the Navy to run the family farm and business.
Carter was never slated for command. He was qualified for command and served as Executive Officer while on a diesel boat, but he requested, and was approved, to train for nuclear boats. He was slated to serve on USS Seawolf, I believe as the Engineer. He was only a Lieutenant when he transferred to the Reserves and, as far as I know, was never promoted again.
 
Farragut would make an interesting VP candidate for Lincoln. Though his views on race remain under researched, it is notable that he was far less racist than his contemporaries like Porter in his regulations and reports regarding black sailors. He also loaned a sizable amount of money to one of them after the war to establish a homestead, allowing the debt to be paid off with little interest.
 
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