Hughes wins in 1916

An interesting fact that I read recently was that if Wilson lost the election he would have appointed Hughes as Secretary of State and then he, and his VP would have resigned, and Hughes would have succeeded to the presidency 34 months before he gained it by election.

There would be no lame duck period, and Hughes would be president officially from a few days after his eleciton victory

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
An interesting fact that I read recently was that if Wilson lost the election he would have appointed Hughes as Secretary of State and then he, and his VP would have resigned, and Hughes would have succeeded to the presidency 34 months before he gained it by election.

There would be no lame duck period, and Hughes would be president officially from a few days after his eleciton victory

Best Regards
Grey Wolf

When I found this out I was really surprised/fascinated by the idea. I guess it really sticks with the 'idealist Wilson'. Wonder if that would set up a precedent and/or just have an earlier "lame duck" amendment. The March 4 Inauguration date was already really late in even in 1900 (railroads certainly help). I have a hard time imagining how the rest of the Cabinet would have reacted to such a move, honestly most of them could not share Wilson's view but I guess they might go along for the sake of the nation.
 
When I found this out I was really surprised/fascinated by the idea. I guess it really sticks with the 'idealist Wilson'. Wonder if that would set up a precedent and/or just have an earlier "lame duck" amendment. The March 4 Inauguration date was already really late in even in 1900 (railroads certainly help). I have a hard time imagining how the rest of the Cabinet would have reacted to such a move, honestly most of them could not share Wilson's view but I guess they might go along for the sake of the nation.

The key question is would Vice President Marshall have resigned if asked/ told to?
 
The key question is would Vice President Marshall have resigned if asked/ told to?


David J Bennett relates an interesting story in Ch 7 of He Almost Changed the World.

In a speech at Terre Haute, Marshall commented that if, while the present European war continued, "any calamity" should befall Wilson "which would shift the burden of responsibility onto my shoulders, I should resign my office".

This attracted much press criticism, with the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel asking why Marshall had accepted renomination as VP if he was unwilling to accept the responsibility which went with that position. Marshall did not enlarge on his remarks, but Bennett interprets them as meaning that Marshall knew of the proposed early transfer of power, and had agreed to co-operate.

This would explain another minor mystery. President Wilson had a very low opinion of Marshall, and was widely expected to drop him from the ticket in 1916. He did not. Possibly, this was due simply to a fear of losing Indiana's electoral vote (in the event he lost it anyway) in a close election, but it would make sense if Wilson wanted Marshall's co-operation in a possible transfer of power to Hughes in November, so did not wish to antagonise him when his agreement would be vital.

Incidentally, it seems that Hughes himself did not learn of this proposal until after the election, and never indicated whether he would have gone along with it or not.
 
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