Alternate Princeton Disaster

Delta Force

Banned
What if in addition to President Tyler and his cabinet, the speaker of the House and president pro tempore of the Senate were also onboard the USS Princeton during a catastrophic boiler explosion? That would have eliminated everyone in the line of succession at the time, causing a constitutional crisis. It would also have killed many high ranking American officers only a few years before the Mexican-American War.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
It's not as bad as it would be today, since there are no nuclear weapons or terrorists on airplanes. I imagine that the House and Senate would pick someone to serve until a new election could be held. This would technically not be constitutional, but I think everyone would be happy to look the other way for a little while.
 
No need for a boiler explosion

the OTL gun explosion could easily do for the whole VIP party
The original intention was fro them to gather round on the upper deck for a demonstration

The president was delayed "glad handing" some minor passengers in teh salon below and survived.

However effect on history ... whether internal American or world wide ... probably negligible.

Someone would be named President ...
 
New elections are held asap but Congress and the federal government are perfectly capable of running the country without a president for a few months. There's a law passed extending the line of succession way out so that this situation doesn't happen again and the entire line of succession is forbidden from being in the same place at the same time. It's a disaster and a tragedy but the nation mostly forgets about it when the Civil War breaks out a few years later.
 
I've been researching the fallout of the Princeton disaster had President Tyler died. I think it's an awesome POD and I've been tinkering with a timeline. IIRC, the affair seemed to have many Democratic invitees and not too many Whigs. The House leadership might have been invited but I highly doubt Senator Mangum, the pro temp, would have attended. He was one of Henry Clay's closest allies.
 
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