Earliest Possible Non-White/Christian/Male/Straight POTUS?

Fred Douglas becoming Sec of State is hard but not impossible to imagine if Reconstruction had been done properly.

From the 1880s that was the next office in line
 
Assume a radical. successful reconstruction which has significant numbers of black Senators and Governors by the 1890s

Yeah IMO, this would have to be the key POD from OTL. Had reconstruction been successful and had Jim Crow segregation never existed, there would be so many massive butterflies that the United States would be a radically different country today. So different in fact that someone like Obama being President wouldn't even be a big deal. It's quite possible that we might have seen a black Presidential candidate by the 1920s or so (in contrast the 20s in OTL were a time of a particularly nasty Klan revival).
 
I believe he was referring to the fact that many of the Founding Fathers were Deists, IE they believed in a God, but that was about it.

Both identified as Christians, as they followed Jesus Christ as a moral teacher, however.
 
Non-white: Charles Curtis (Amerindian)
Non-Protestant Christian: Al Smith (Roman Catholic, 1928)
Non-Christian: George Romney (Morman, 1968)
Woman: Kay Bailey Hutchinson (1996)
LGBT: Never

For those who may ask why I include Mormans as non-Christians: one of their central tenants regarding the eternal age. They believe Morman men will become gods of their own planets. While I do honor them as being some of the most morally virtuous folks and they handle family in an admirable way, their theology
diverges on some tenants critical to Christian theology that all Christians agree on regardless of sect (Catholics, Protestants, Pentacostals, Orthodox)
 
An LGBT Prez is easy to pull off. Simply have someone run, then come out after the election.
 
An LGBT Prez is easy to pull off. Simply have someone run, then come out after the election.

Although that raises another interesting question, can a single (at least officially) person win the presidency these days?
 
Reagan's brain troubles start earlier, leading to a really embarrassing debate showing in 1984. Mondale wins and dies in whatever way you'd like, Ferraro becomes President. For non-Christians, same with Gore and Lieberman.

There was also some chatter about Nixon appointing Edward Brooke Vice President as kind of a "good ahead and impeach me, see how that works out for you" thing, but I doubt that would get past Congress. Same with Nixon ally Hiram Fong.

EDIT: Also, I don't really think you could get an openly LGBT person elected before today without some really big changes. I wouldn't be surprised to see one in the next 20 years, though.
 
Top