To have Horace Greeley win in 1872 is very difficult--yet perhaps not quite impossible. For while he lost the popular vote to Grant by 11.80 points, he would have won if he had just carried every state which he lost in OTL by 8.33 points or less. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1872 (That means that besides TX, MO, GA, KY, TN, and MD he would carry VA, DE, AR, WV, CT, AL, IN, NY, FL, OH and NJ--for a total of 188 electoral votes out of 366. [1]) All this requires, remember, is that 4.17 percent of the electorate changes its mind (assuming, probably unrealistically, that the change is more or less uniform throughout the states). What could cause this? Maybe the Panic of 1873 happens one year earlier. Also, have some Grant administration scandals that were fully exposed only during his second term in OTL become known by 1872.
But actually my question here is not what a Greeley administration would look like. Rather, it is what if--as in OTL--Greeley dies on November 29, 1872? In OTL his electors, knowing that their votes wouldn't make any difference since Grant had won, scattered their votes. 42 voted for Thomas Hendricks of Indiana, 18 for Greeley's running mate B. Gratz Brown of Missouri, 2 for Charles J. Jenkins of Georgia, and 1 for David Davis of Illinois. In addition, three Georgia electors tried to vote for Greeley despite his death, but their votes were not counted.
In this ATL, the Greeley electors know that their votes do count--and that unless they are cast for one man, the race will go into the House, where Grant will win. [2] But it seems very difficult to find one man who can get all their votes. There was evidently not that much sentiment for "bumping up" Gratz Brown, who as one historian notes, was thought to be "always under the influence of a newly discovered theory or a newly found bottle." https://www.google.com/search?q="or...7-_dAhUHUK0KHep2AdsQ_AUIFCgB&biw=1886&bih=790 Even if the Liberal Republican National Committee recommends someone, it is not clear that all the Liberal Republican electors--let alone the Democratic electors--will vote as they recommend. (The strong vote for Hendricks in OTL indicates the desire of many Democrats to vote for a "real" Democrat now that Greeley was dead.)
[1] Due to irregularities, the electoral votes of AR and LA (both of which went for Grant) were not counted; I am assuming they are counted in this ATL.
[2] In the House, it is the "lame duck" 42nd Congress which will decide, each delegarion having one vote. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/42nd_United_States_Congress I find Republican majorities in at least the following states: AR, CA, CT, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MA, MI, MN, MS, NE, OH, RI, SC, VT and WI--19 of the 37 states. In PA there were 11 Democrats, 12 Republicans, and one "Independent Republican"--but the Independent Republican, John V. Creely, mysteriously disappeared sometime in 1872... http://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/36586?ret=True https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_V._Creely
But actually my question here is not what a Greeley administration would look like. Rather, it is what if--as in OTL--Greeley dies on November 29, 1872? In OTL his electors, knowing that their votes wouldn't make any difference since Grant had won, scattered their votes. 42 voted for Thomas Hendricks of Indiana, 18 for Greeley's running mate B. Gratz Brown of Missouri, 2 for Charles J. Jenkins of Georgia, and 1 for David Davis of Illinois. In addition, three Georgia electors tried to vote for Greeley despite his death, but their votes were not counted.
In this ATL, the Greeley electors know that their votes do count--and that unless they are cast for one man, the race will go into the House, where Grant will win. [2] But it seems very difficult to find one man who can get all their votes. There was evidently not that much sentiment for "bumping up" Gratz Brown, who as one historian notes, was thought to be "always under the influence of a newly discovered theory or a newly found bottle." https://www.google.com/search?q="or...7-_dAhUHUK0KHep2AdsQ_AUIFCgB&biw=1886&bih=790 Even if the Liberal Republican National Committee recommends someone, it is not clear that all the Liberal Republican electors--let alone the Democratic electors--will vote as they recommend. (The strong vote for Hendricks in OTL indicates the desire of many Democrats to vote for a "real" Democrat now that Greeley was dead.)
[1] Due to irregularities, the electoral votes of AR and LA (both of which went for Grant) were not counted; I am assuming they are counted in this ATL.
[2] In the House, it is the "lame duck" 42nd Congress which will decide, each delegarion having one vote. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/42nd_United_States_Congress I find Republican majorities in at least the following states: AR, CA, CT, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MA, MI, MN, MS, NE, OH, RI, SC, VT and WI--19 of the 37 states. In PA there were 11 Democrats, 12 Republicans, and one "Independent Republican"--but the Independent Republican, John V. Creely, mysteriously disappeared sometime in 1872... http://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/36586?ret=True https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_V._Creely