How would Alexander Stephans have done as the president of the CSA? Would he have done better than Davis or worse?
Somewhat worse. His heart was never in the Confederacy and how he would have reacted to the ideological dilemma of the CS war effort is an interesting question. He pretty much was a Starscream-type as Veep, and it would not to me be improbable that under him the CSA really would "die of a theory."
There is a record of him saying that the war was about slavery. Curious to see how he would approach foreign relations with Britain and France.
OTOH from what I have heard he was more likely to dump real losers like Bragg, Hood and Pope. How likely do you think it is for him to change in office? It is easier to ideological when you are on the sidelines. When it is YOU in the hotseat the tendency is to be more flexible.
How would Alexander Stephans have done as the president of the CSA? Would he have done better than Davis or worse?
Britain and France already knew it was about slavery. Neither Queen Elizibeth or Napoleon were complete and utter fools. I think he would try to backtrack a bit if he were the one actually in charge.
Ironically, the most significant difference between Stephens and Davis would be that if Stephens was President rather than Davis in early 1861, there may have been no war at all. Stephens was a good friend of Abraham Lincoln, and would have been inclined to attempt to negotiate a re-entry of the South into the Union. It is unlikely he would have allowed the Fort Sumter incident (or another border conflict) to escalate as it did.
Yes, I must have accidently used the present queen instead by mistake.Did you mean Queen Victoria?
Negotiate how? The North will neither let the South secede or allow slaves to be taken west. The South won't give up secession unless allowed to take slaves west. What is there to negotiate about? His friendship with Lincoln helped him not at all in 1864.
Stephens may have been acceptable to the OTL radicals as Vice President in 1861. He would never have been acceptable as President. Therefore, for this to occur at all, some sort of alteration in the political landscape of the South has to have taken place, meaning we are looking at a South which is a good deal less radical than in OTL...a South which just may be willing to accept a compromise (the Corwin Amendment, or something like it) which would have been unacceptable to the OTL South.
Stephens may have been acceptable to the OTL radicals as Vice President in 1861. He would never have been acceptable as President. Therefore, for this to occur at all, some sort of alteration in the political landscape of the South has to have taken place, meaning we are looking at a South which is a good deal less radical than in OTL...a South which just may be willing to accept a compromise .
That depends on who exactly he replaces them with.
There are leaders who would be stubborn enough to self-destruct rather than admit they're wrong.
He pretty much was a Starscream-type as Veep, and it would not to me be improbable that under him the CSA really would "die of a theory."
Unless the butterfly is his death, I wonder what the relationship will be between Stephens and his top military commanders, which would likely include Jefferson Davis.
Can Davis serve effectively in a subordinate role, and on the battlefield?
Let's make him War Secretary. He did that already for the US government.
If winning the Presidency isn't a fait accompli, I don't see him accepting any position in Richmond. Davis will want to serve on the battlefield.
There's at least half-a-dozen men who would better fit the role of the Confederate Starscream. (Governor Brown of Georgia probably tops that list.)