Alternate Presidents Thread (What if Lincoln Lived)

This is a thread where we discuss what changes the presidency would have had if Lincoln hadn't been assassinated. So just give the President, and a brief overview of his/her first term. You can include who they beat to gain the presidency and at a certain point can include fictional characters. I'll start

Abraham Lincoln (R) : 1864-1868

After the Civil War ended Lincoln focused on continuing his plan for southern reconstruction, and improving relations with the reinstated Southern states, he would not finish it however and the task of reconstructing the Union would fall to his successor...
 
After Lincoln's second term, and he won't break the two term tradition, the Republicans are still going to thrash the Democrats like OTL as the democrats are still tarred with the "copperhead" brush and the southern states are not in the mix yet. IMHO reasonable odds that Grant will be nominated, and will win although another republican is possible. Assuming Grant, he should do 2 terms. After that...hard to say. I expect that like OTL the Republicans will have a lead for some time until all the southern states are readmitted, and Union veterans will have a leg up on getting nominated like OTL. While Grant is probably going to happen, the butterflies after him are huge, as reconstruction will be very different, so predicting beyond generalities...
 
Ulysses S. Grant (R) : 1868-1876

After easily winning the presidency, civil war hero, Grant, had a largely uneventful two terms in office. His only action of note was continuing Reconstruction.
 
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I think a more moderate Recostruction, as Lincoln wanted in his Reconciliation dream, would allow Democrats to win 1876, where they narrowly lost thanks to continued Republican influence in South. So Tilden would become President but his term would be ruined when his electoral corruption would came out as OTL. As consequence 1880 seems a pretty GOP year.

16 Abraham Lincoln (R-Illinois)/ Hannibal Hamlin (R-Maine) 1861-1865/ Andrew Johnson (D-Tennessee) 1865-1869
17 Ulysses Simpson Grant (R-Ohio)/ Henry Wilson (R-Massachusetts) 1869-1875/ Vacant 1875-1877
18 Samuel Jones Tilden (D-New York)/ Thomas Andrew Hendricks (D-Indiana) 1877-1881
 
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I thing a more moderate Recostruction, as Lincoln wanted in his Reconciliation dream, would allow Democrats to win 1876, where they narrowly lost thanks to continued Republican influence in South.

Not necessarily. At least part of Tilden's vote stemmed from Northern weariness about "the annual autumnal outbreaks in the South", which presumably won't happen TTL.

And some of Tilden's wins in the North were very close. He took CT and IN by only just over one percentage point. Had they switched columns then Hayes (or whoever) would gain 21 Electoral votes, enough to win even without any votes from the South.
 
Not necessarily. At least part of Tilden's vote stemmed from Northern weariness about "the annual autumnal outbreaks in the South", which presumably won't happen TTL.

And some of Tilden's wins in the North were very close. He took CT and IN by only just over one percentage point. Had they switched columns then Hayes (or whoever) would gain 21 Electoral votes, enough to win even without any votes from the South.
Who does everyone propose the Republican nominee would be, and we'll have a vote ‍♂️
 
Who does everyone propose the Republican nominee would be, and we'll have a vote ‍♂️

Any particular reason why it shouldn't still be Hayes? He is from Ohio (a favourite source of Republican nominees) and is untouched by the scandals of the Grant Administration, many of which probably still happen.
 
Any particular reason why it shouldn't still be hayes? He is from Ohio (a favourite source of Republican nominees) and is untouched by the scandals of the Grant Administration, many of which probably still happen.
Not having Schuyler Colfax as his vice president ITTL would probably help the Grant Administration, from what I've heard of him.
 
"In 1878, Democratic Congressman Clarkson Nott Potter convinced the House of Representatives to create a committee to investigate allegations of fraud and corruption in the 1876 election. Potter was appointed as the head of the commission, which Democrats hoped would implicate Hayes and damage the Republican Party in the next presidential election.[61] Rather than produce conclusive evidence of Republican malfeasance, the committee uncovered conflicting evidence that reflected poorly on election and campaign officials of both parties. For ten months beginning in May 1878, the Potter Committee subpoenaed all telegrams sent by political operatives during the election dispute. 29,275 telegrams had been sent, but all save 641 had been routinely destroyed by Western Union. The remaining telegrams were in cipher, as was common with business and political communication in the telegraph era. New York Herald Tribune editor Whitelaw Reid obtained and deciphered many of the telegrams and, in October 1878, he published the story of the Democratic efforts to sway election officials through bribery and other means. The revelation of the bribery attempts undercut the Democratic Party's argument that Tilden had been cheated out of the presidency.[62] Tilden himself was not implicated of any wrongdoing, but the investigation into the Cipher Telegrams damaged his national standing.[63]"

Hayes was only lucky enough to have an Electoral Commission narrowly favorable to him (mainly thanks Democrats who elected David Davis to the Senate, a move that backfired, as Davis was probable a pro-Democrat voter). Tilden, or better the Party organizations under him, engaged in an extensive electoral bribery that at end proved not enough (but almost successful).
With less corruption (no Colfax scandals), maybe James Blaine could clinche the nomination in 1876 and lost against Tilden.
In 1880, with Blaine out of the race, the anti-Grant, anti-Stalwart coalesces around Senator John Sherman, who quietly wins nomination and election (with Levi Morton as VP?).
 
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