AHC: Have Robert T Lincoln run for president

Robert Todd Lincoln was spoken of as a possible candidate for president, though he never took steps to mount a campaign. The closest he came was considering running for vice president if Chester A Arthur was renominated. The challenge here is to think up a plausible situation that would motivate the younger Lincoln to be interested and seek out the presidency. The POD in his life occurs after his father's death, and afterwards its up to you to decide to point in time where even beyond the name he'd stand a good chance of winning it
 
Lincoln would have a decent chance in 1880 if the Convention didn’t find Garfield as an acceptable dark horse and they remained deadlocked. From 1880 until 1912 he was always in the running and would be picked in a heartbeat.
 
I could see the Republican Convention choosing him in 1892 as Harrison was not overwhelmingly popular and Lincoln was in London serving as US Minister to the UK. The nomination could have been presented to him as a fait accompli perhaps overcoming Lincoln's reluctance to run for the office.
 
I would like to see Lincoln's face when he gets the telegram in London telling him he's the party's nominee.
 
Having Lincoln's son as the nominee will definitely help the Republican prestige, but would it be enough for them to win? The Republicans had a pretty big upset in the 1890 midterms, and plenty of people weren't happy with the incumbent administration.
 
To quote a post of mine from 2015: "...there was some talk of nominating him for president in 1888, and conceivably he could have gotten the nomination if he wanted it--and would probably have beaten Cleveland had he been nominated--but he made it clear that he did not want it, and again got very few votes. To get a Robert Todd Lincoln who would actively seek the presidency requires so great a transformation of his personality that I am convinced that only his feeling of loyalty to Arthur in 1884 could put him on a national ticket and thus make a Robert Lincoln presidency likely (assuming that the Arthur-Lincoln ticket wins in November)." https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...coln-possibly-president.350654/#post-10604233

Whether he was right or wrong, Robert Todd Lincoln was probably sincere when he said, "My father was a great man, but I am not." https://books.google.com/books?id=tPqgC3RS-7sC&pg=PA421
 
I agree with @David T in that the only realistic chance of making Robert Todd Lincoln President is to have him become VP first. If Blaine hadn't run in 1884 then perhaps* Arthur would've been nominated for a full term and perhaps Lincoln would've been chosen by the convention. I believe Arthur would've beaten Cleveland, and when he dies in late 1886 that makes Lincoln the President. Lincoln would've most likely assumed his duties reluctantly, and he would be burdened by the shadow of his father's legacy. He'd probably run for a full term in 1888 out of a sense of duty and perhaps be seen as a successful president, but after that he'd step down in 1892.

*You'll notice I use the word "perhaps" a lot in the post. That goes to show just how much Lincoln didn't want to be President, and how dependent his hypothetical Presidency is on the right circumstances pushing him to the oval office.
 
Top