AHC: More Speakers of the House elected President

Amazingly only one man has ever been a Speaker of the House before he was President, James K. Polk, and he ran against the only other Speaker who ran for President, Henry Clay.

How can we get more Speakers elected President, not just the POTUS and VP dieing, but get OTL figures elected? (Also, even though this is Pre-1900, Post-1900 is fine too, I didn't know where to put this.)
 
The problem is that in order for Speakers to be capable to be regularly elected, the House has to be much stronger, however if the House is much stronger, why bother taking the risk to try and get elected President when you can keep getting elected to your house seat forever and rule the country as Speaker?
 
The problem is that in order for Speakers to be capable to be regularly elected, the House has to be much stronger, however if the House is much stronger, why bother taking the risk to try and get elected President when you can keep getting elected to your house seat forever and rule the country as Speaker?
Actually, the Speakership was the more powerful position at a few points in history AFAIK, and this may actually explain why there weren't many Speakers running for President to begin with. Ultimately, I think that the Speakership and the Presidency require such different temperaments, skill sets and personas that I don't think there's much chance of getting Speakers involved in Presidential politics in the US. It would be different if the Speakership was more akin to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet were chosen from Congress, but that would require a very, very different US, and a very different Speakership (appointed by the President as opposed to elected by his peers -- basically, the French system, where you DO get former PMs running for President).
 
OK, this is a little funky, but what if the constitutional line of succession became the informal party line of succession too. OTL it was the Secretary of State position originally and later just the Veep, but perhaps in an ATL it could be the vice-presidency and then the speakership. I.E., the president-in-waiting is the Veep, who will normally select the speaker of the house as his Veep when he runs for office. If he loses, the speaker/former veep candidate is the next presidential candidate.

This probably works better if you get rid of the prohibition on holding legislative and executive office at the same time. If the Speaker of the House is also the Secretary of War or something, having the Speaker be the President's natural successor seems more likely. In fact, you might organically develop a sort of cursus honorarium, where the Speaker/Secretary of Something becomes the President becomes the Veep/President of the Senate (the idea being that the old experienced emeritus hand belongs presiding over the Senate, which is supposed to be a repository of wisdom, but also able to step in to take the reins if an emergency happen).
 
OK, this is a little funky, but what if the constitutional line of succession became the informal party line of succession too. OTL it was the Secretary of State position originally and later just the Veep, but perhaps in an ATL it could be the vice-presidency and then the speakership. I.E., the president-in-waiting is the Veep, who will normally select the speaker of the house as his Veep when he runs for office. If he loses, the speaker/former veep candidate is the next presidential candidate.

This probably works better if you get rid of the prohibition on holding legislative and executive office at the same time. If the Speaker of the House is also the Secretary of War or something, having the Speaker be the President's natural successor seems more likely. In fact, you might organically develop a sort of cursus honorarium, where the Speaker/Secretary of Something becomes the President becomes the Veep/President of the Senate (the idea being that the old experienced emeritus hand belongs presiding over the Senate, which is supposed to be a repository of wisdom, but also able to step in to take the reins if an emergency happen).

I think this is the best route really. It sounds a little ASB on paper, butI don't find it hard to imagine.
 
If Zangara's aim had been better there would have been one more ex-speaker in the presidency. But I can not think of any other 20th century speakers other than Garner and Gingrich who were ever seriously in the Presidential mix. In general the senority system and the collegiality of the house caucuses led to the speakership going to entrenched members from rural or very urban single party dominated (and in the case of Democrats before 1961, Southern) districts. As noted, their skill sets and also their electoral experience were not conducive to national campaigns. In the 19th century there was much more churn in House membership and senority was not an issue, but it also meant that senior House members were also more linkely to move between the House and Statewide offices or the Cabinent. Clay was more noted as a Senator and Cabinent member than as Speaker and AFIK Polk had also been governor of Tennessee as well as a Speaker. The only other Speaker I recall becoming Vice-President was Schyler Colfax and he was the first coming of Spiro Agnew. For these reasons I don't see anyway the Speakership, as it has evolved over time, ever becoming an effective springboard to National Office baring exceptional individuals.
 
Actually, the Speakership was the more powerful position at a few points in history AFAIK, and this may actually explain why there weren't many Speakers running for President to begin with. Ultimately, I think that the Speakership and the Presidency require such different temperaments, skill sets and personas that I don't think there's much chance of getting Speakers involved in Presidential politics in the US. It would be different if the Speakership was more akin to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet were chosen from Congress, but that would require a very, very different US, and a very different Speakership (appointed by the President as opposed to elected by his peers -- basically, the French system, where you DO get former PMs running for President).

Except that it is the POTUS that's the closest equivalent to what in most European systems is the Prime Minister or whatever the office is called, as in, the Chief of the executive branch.
The Speaker has a very important role in the legislative branch in the US, and most European countries have a roughly similar role filled by somebody who is respected among the legislators. In some cases (used to happen a lot in Italy) a fellow first serves in the executive and then becomes Speaker in the House (or a rough equivalent). I understand that it would be difficult for such a thing to happen routinely in the US system.
Many European countries have an office of President that is actually more akin, although usually not equivalent, to the US Speaker, with relatively little (or none at all) executive power.
France is rather peculiar in this regard, as her President holds actual executive power, although not as much as the POTUS.
 
If Zangara's aim had been better there would have been one more ex-speaker in the presidency. But I can not think of any other 20th century speakers other than Garner and Gingrich who were ever seriously in the Presidential mix.


Champ Clark, Speaker 1911-1919.

He was the favorite for the nomination in 1912, led on the first 29 ballots, and had a majority (but not the required 2/3) on the 10th through 17th ballots.
 
Champ Clark, Speaker 1911-1919.

He was the favorite for the nomination in 1912, led on the first 29 ballots, and had a majority (but not the required 2/3) on the 10th through 17th ballots.


Yep.

Clark is very much the forgotten man of the 1912 election, discussion of which, esp around here, seems to get focused on the Republican side, which though full of sound and fury was never really more than a battle for last place. Clark, the only serious alternative to Wilson (Marshall and Bryan were both just possible, but very long shots) tends to get overlooked, though what I've dug up online makes him sound a very promising POTUS.
 
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