Alternate Presidents

Going across Wikipedia..I came across a article about a book about Alternate Presidents. I know there are some really die hard people who know their history about American Presidents. What do people think about this list? Could these people have really become President of the USA? I did not know where to put this,in the Alternate History Before 1900 or the Alternate Book thread. If it's in the wrong place,please move it.


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The Father of His Country: Jody Lynn Nye ~Benjamin Franklin becomes the first President in 1789, and creates a more democratic society.

The War of '07: Jayge Carr~Aaron Burr is elected president in 1800, establishes an alliance with Napoleon Bonaparte, and creates a family dictatorship.


Black Earth and Destiny: Thomas Easton~Andrew Jackson is elected president in 1824, four years early. As a result, biological and chemical engineering are developed earlier.

Chickasaw Slave: Judith Moffett~ Davy Crockett is elected president in 1828, resulting in the Civil War occurring over the Compromise of 1850.

How the South Preserved the Union: Ralph Roberts~David Rice Atchison becomes President in 1849, resulting in the North seceding from the country.

Now Falls the Cold, Cold Night: Jack L. Chalker~Millard Fillmore is elected as the Know Nothing party candidate in 1856, resulting in ethnic tensions in New England over the fugitive slave laws. John C. Fremont becomes President of the New England Confederacy with William T. Sherman as his commanding general, opposed by the Army of the United States under Robert E. Lee.

Lincoln's Charge: Bill Fawcett~Stephen A. Douglas is elected President in 1860, resulting in Abraham Lincoln becoming a general in the Union Army during the Civil War.

We Are Not Amused: Laura Resnick~A constitutional amendment allows Victoria Woodhull to be elected President in 1872; the story is a series of letters from Queen Victoria to the new President.

Patriot's Dream: Tappan Wright King~Leila Morse agrees to marry Samuel J. Tilden, giving him the impetus to secure his 1876 electoral college victory.

I Shall Have a Flight to Glory: Michael P. Kube-McDowell~Tilden wins the 1880 election using underhanded tactics.Love Our Lockwood:Janet Kagan~Belva Ann Lockwood is elected in 1888, resulting in expanded democratic rights.

Plowshare: Martha Soukup~William Jennings Bryan is elected in 1896. He serves one term, during which Hawaii and the former Spanish colonies become independent nations, before retiring. Teddy Roosevelt never becomes President, female suffrage is passed in 1913, and the elderly Bryan opposes entry into World War I following the sinking of the Lusitania.

The Bull Moose at Bay: Mike Resnick~Theodore Roosevelt wins his Bull Moose Party election in 1912 due to his attempted assassin's bullet missing him. As President, he secures women's suffrage and wins the war against Germany within a year.

A Fireside Chat: Jack Nimersheim~James M. Cox is elected in 1920. In 1921, he is assassinated, leaving his Vice President, Franklin Roosevelt, to become President. Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany earlier, and the two of them establish an alliance to maintain the balance of power.

Fighting Bob: Kristine Kathryn Rusch~Robert M. La Follette, Sr. is elected President in 1924, but dies the next year.

Truth, Justice, and the American Way: Lawrence Watt-Evans~Al Smith runs as a third party in the 1932 election, ensuring Herbert Hoover's re-election. As a result, the Munich Agreement prevents World War II. Due to the continuing presence of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, totalitarianism and anti-Semitism grow stronger across the world well into the 1960s.

Kingfish: Barry N. Malzberg~Huey Long escapes assassination in 1935, and is elected President with John Nance Garner as his Vice President in 1936. World War II is averted when Long invites Hitler to Washington, and assassinates him.

No Other Choice: Barbara Delaplace~Thomas E. Dewey is elected President in 1944, and ends World War II by dropping the atomic bomb on Tokyo.

The More Things Change...: Glen E. Cox~Dewey wins the 1948 election against Harry Truman by playing to anti-communist fears.

The Impeachment of Adlai Stevenson: David Gerrold~Adlai Stevenson is elected in 1952 due to Dwight Eisenhower choosing Joseph McCarthy as his running mate. Stevenson is re-elected in 1956, but impeached in 1958. His vice president, John F. Kennedy, becomes President.

Heavy Metal: Barry N. Malzberg~A feud between John Kennedy and Richard J. Daley leads to Richard Nixon being elected President in 1960.

Fellow Americans: Eileen Gunn~Barry Goldwater wins the election in 1964 and uses nuclear weapons to win the Vietnam War. Also, Nixon becomes a popular talk show host, with his show running for over 20 years.

Dispatches From the Revolution: Pat Cadigan~Robert F. Kennedy avoids assassination, and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson runs in the 1968 Presidential election. As a result, the 1968 Democratic National Convention leads to an actual revolution and autocratic rule in the US.

Suppose They Gave a Peace...: Susan Shwartz~George McGovern is elected in 1972, and attempts a tricky immediate withdrawal from the Vietnam War.

Paper Trail: Brian M. Thomsen~McGovern is elected in 1972 after G. Gordon Liddy murders Carl Bernstein to cover up the Watergate scandal.

Demarche to Iran: Alexis A. Gilliland~Gerald Ford is re-elected President in 1976, and therefore threatens war with Iran over the Iran hostage crisis.

Huddled Masses: Lawrence Person~Walter Mondale is elected President in 1984. As a result, the Sandinista movement expands, causing a civil war in Mexico followed by a US invasion, and a swarm of Latin American refugees overrunning the American Southwest.

Dukakis and the Aliens: Robert Sheckley~Michael Dukakis is elected President in 1988, but is revealed to be an alien attempting to infiltrate Dulce Base. Men in black therefore rewrite history for George H. W. Bush to win the election instead.
 
The Father of His Country: Jody Lynn Nye ~Benjamin Franklin becomes the first President in 1789, and creates a more democratic society.

Franklin was too old (indeed, the man died in 1790 for Christ sakes), and had already begun to take a more passive and less active stance on the political goings on than he had in his younger days. Unrealistic.

The War of '07: Jayge Carr~Aaron Burr is elected president in 1800, establishes an alliance with Napoleon Bonaparte, and creates a family dictatorship.
Meh, maybe, but I have doubts of the family dictatorship deal.

Black Earth and Destiny: Thomas Easton~Andrew Jackson is elected president in 1824, four years early. As a result, biological and chemical engineering are developed earlier.
Not sure why that happened.

Chickasaw Slave: Judith Moffett~ Davy Crockett is elected president in 1828, resulting in the Civil War occurring over the Compromise of 1850.

It may be somewhat concievable for Crockett to achieve the Presidency at a point given some good PODs, but I really doubt this.

How the South Preserved the Union: Ralph Roberts~David Rice Atchison becomes President in 1849, resulting in the North seceding from the country.
Maybe one of the more realistic ones of of all of these I've seen on this list so far (this book seems like an amalgam of ASB's, the ever hateable "hey, what if these people suddenly had different behaviors and personalities for no reason and some crazy sh*t happened because I said so" and the equally hateable "hey, what if this happened with no explanation or account for reality"?

But the separation of the North from the nation, while interesting, is a bit mucky on realism.
Now Falls the Cold, Cold Night: Jack L. Chalker~Millard Fillmore is elected as the Know Nothing party candidate in 1856, resulting in ethnic tensions in New England over the fugitive slave laws. John C. Fremont becomes President of the New England Confederacy with William T. Sherman as his commanding general, opposed by the Army of the United States under Robert E. Lee.

Millard Fillmore would not win the election with the Know Nothing party.

Lincoln's Charge: Bill Fawcett~Stephen A. Douglas is elected President in 1860, resulting in Abraham Lincoln becoming a general in the Union Army during the Civil War.
Lincoln had shaky health (which was either melancholly or cancer), and no real military experience to speak of, nor especially anything to qualify being a general.

Similarly, Douglas would not cause a Civil war save one of blasting the hell out of South Carolina. The South seceded largely because of Lincoln.
We Are Not Amused: Laura Resnick~A constitutional amendment allows Victoria Woodhull to be elected President in 1872; the story is a series of letters from Queen Victoria to the new President.
As stated earlier, "hey, what if this happened with no explanation or account for reality". The American public will not elect a women in the Victorian age.

Patriot's Dream: Tappan Wright King~Leila Morse agrees to marry Samuel J. Tilden, giving him the impetus to secure his 1876 electoral college victory.
More reasonable, though that's not hard since its just "hey, what if this alternative happened which isn't bat sh*t unrealistic and stupid".

I Shall Have a Flight to Glory: Michael P. Kube-McDowell~Tilden wins the 1880 election using underhanded tactics.Love Our Lockwood:Janet Kagan~Belva Ann Lockwood is elected in 1888, resulting in expanded democratic rights.
Again, Victorian America will not elect a woman.
Plowshare: Martha Soukup~William Jennings Bryan is elected in 1896. He serves one term, during which Hawaii and the former Spanish colonies become independent nations, before retiring. Teddy Roosevelt never becomes President, female suffrage is passed in 1913, and the elderly Bryan opposes entry into World War I following the sinking of the Lusitania.
Plausible.

The Bull Moose at Bay: Mike Resnick~Theodore Roosevelt wins his Bull Moose Party election in 1912 due to his attempted assassin's bullet missing him. As President, he secures women's suffrage and wins the war against Germany within a year.
Plausible (though WW1 likely won't go that fast)
A Fireside Chat: Jack Nimersheim~James M. Cox is elected in 1920. In 1921, he is assassinated, leaving his Vice President, Franklin Roosevelt, to become President. Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany earlier, and the two of them establish an alliance to maintain the balance of power.
I highly doubt FDR would establish an alliance with Hitler, so I call it implausible.

Fighting Bob: Kristine Kathryn Rusch~Robert M. La Follette, Sr. is elected President in 1924, but dies the next year.
Plausible, if a stretch to elect the man to start with.
Truth, Justice, and the American Way: Lawrence Watt-Evans~Al Smith runs as a third party in the 1932 election, ensuring Herbert Hoover's re-election. As a result, the Munich Agreement prevents World War II. Due to the continuing presence of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, totalitarianism and anti-Semitism grow stronger across the world well into the 1960s.
Hoover lost rather hanidly so I'm not sure Smith could have done all too much damage, even if he ran as a third party candidate. But, its a grey area I think.

Kingfish: Barry N. Malzberg~Huey Long escapes assassination in 1935, and is elected President with John Nance Garner as his Vice President in 1936. World War II is averted when Long invites Hitler to Washington, and assassinates him.
Interesting, but I think implausible. Roosevelt will run in 1936. If Long runs, he will not win; he'll split the Democrats and give the GOP a good shot at winning. Long could run in the following election (that was his plan; to split the ticket, have a Republican win, have that Republican f*ck things up, and then sweep in and win the following election)

No Other Choice: Barbara Delaplace~Thomas E. Dewey is elected President in 1944, and ends World War II by dropping the atomic bomb on Tokyo.
Plausible.
The More Things Change...: Glen E. Cox~Dewey wins the 1948 election against Harry Truman by playing to anti-communist fears.
Plausible.

The Impeachment of Adlai Stevenson: David Gerrold~Adlai Stevenson is elected in 1952 due to Dwight Eisenhower choosing Joseph McCarthy as his running mate. Stevenson is re-elected in 1956, but impeached in 1958. His vice president, John F. Kennedy, becomes President.
Why is Stevenson getting impeached? And seeing how things are going with this as I scroll down, I'll bet my money it's probably something dumb that isn't realistically going to get an impeachment in the real world.

Heavy Metal: Barry N. Malzberg~A feud between John Kennedy and Richard J. Daley leads to Richard Nixon being elected President in 1960.
Plausible.

Fellow Americans: Eileen Gunn~Barry Goldwater wins the election in 1964 and uses nuclear weapons to win the Vietnam War. Also, Nixon becomes a popular talk show host, with his show running for over 20 years.
Implausible as a son of a b*tch. Goldwater was seen as a radical and reactionary at best, and nut at worst. There is no way in hell he could ever have won in 1964; period.

Dispatches From the Revolution: Pat Cadigan~Robert F. Kennedy avoids assassination, and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson runs in the 1968 Presidential election. As a result, the 1968 Democratic National Convention leads to an actual revolution and autocratic rule in the US.
Implausible. Kennedy can easily survive, but Johnson running is less likely as he was near a nervous breakdown from all the weight on him. And a revolution is just f****ing insane.

Suppose They Gave a Peace...: Susan Shwartz~George McGovern is elected in 1972, and attempts a tricky immediate withdrawal from the Vietnam War.
I'd say possibly implausible, possibly a grey area.

Paper Trail: Brian M. Thomsen~McGovern is elected in 1972 after G. Gordon Liddy murders Carl Bernstein to cover up the Watergate scandal.
I suppose plausible.

Demarche to Iran: Alexis A. Gilliland~Gerald Ford is re-elected President in 1976, and therefore threatens war with Iran over the Iran hostage crisis.
Plausible, though I'm not sure Ford would go to war.

Huddled Masses: Lawrence Person~Walter Mondale is elected President in 1984. As a result, the Sandinista movement expands, causing a civil war in Mexico followed by a US invasion, and a swarm of Latin American refugees overrunning the American Southwest.
Implausible. Mondale doesn't have a snowballs chance.

Dukakis and the Aliens:
Robert Sheckley~Michael Dukakis is elected President in 1988, but is revealed to be an alien attempting to infiltrate Dulce Base. Men in black therefore rewrite history for George H. W. Bush to win the election instead.
Fun.
 
Not to the member, just to the book, which is 90% drivel from what I can extrapolate.
I have a soft spot for that book as it was a well-regarded review in.... Entertainment Weekly I think, that really got me into Alt-History for the first time--not that I've ever read the book.
 
Lincoln had shaky health (which was either melancholly or cancer), and no real military experience to speak of, nor especially anything to qualify being a general.

Similarly, Douglas would not cause a Civil war save one of blasting the hell out of South Carolina. The South seceded largely because of Lincoln.

Actually, Lincoln's health was good. Doctors who examined his body after his assassination noted how good of physical condition he had been in.

The southern Democrats hated Douglas almost as much as they did Lincoln. They'd attempt secession anyway.
 
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