This will be a combination of both a thought experiment and a game on the part of the Post-1900 forum. The first player, in this case myself, writes down the name of an alternate POTUS; the second player writes a brief biography of that POTUS, and then writes down the name of a second figure, and their term of office, party, etc. The third player repeats this, and so on, and so forth (This is inspired by Basilieus Giorgios' Future World Leaders thread, and by the recent sequel to the game created in that forum).
I will, however, be making a few modifications to the format:
1. The POD will essentially be the avoidance of William McKinley's assassination. After the end of McKinley's term,
no person who became POTUS IOTL can become POTUS ITTL. The person who does McKinley's entry will only have to concern themselves with his second term.
2. The Butterfly Effect will be noted. Persons born after 1900 IOTL likely won't be born, so keep that in mind when we get to the time period in which folks after this point start running for POTUS (Early 1960s)
3. Please, stick with
Duverger's Law, assuming we keep a FPTP system. I like a Socialist, Progressive, et al. President as much as the next AHer, but we want this to be realistic. If one party rises to prominence, one of the two major parties must
eventually be replaced by it.
So without further aideu, then, I'll post the first name (to be followed by someone else's entry) and we'll get this thing on the road.
William McKinley (R-OH): March 4, 1897 - March 4, 1905