President Benjamin Franklin

Lets say that in this time line George Washington refuses the offer of the presidency,saying he wishes to live out his life at Mount Vernon away from politics and public service. After much convincing Ben Franklin (who is healthier than in our time line) agrees to run. I can't see anyone beating Ben Franklin can you? Besides Washington he was the most beloved figure in the U.S. If he wins the election and serves one term how does this effect early U.S. policy? Do you see an early public education system? An early public university system? Do we have closer ties to France? What other polices will be effected?
 
Lets say that in this time line George Washington refuses the offer of the presidency,saying he wishes to live out his life at Mount Vernon away from politics and public service. After much convincing Ben Franklin (who is healthier than in our time line) agrees to run. I can't see anyone beating Ben Franklin can you? Besides Washington he was the most beloved figure in the U.S. If he wins the election and serves one term how does this effect early U.S. policy? Do you see an early public education system? An early public university system? Do we have closer ties to France? What other polices will be effected?

Loads of people will beat Benjamin Franklin. The guy was 83 by the time of the first inauguration. There's no way he would be in the frame.
 
He was old and died soon after Washington's OTL inauguration. This is like a George McGovern presidential run in 2012.
 
Last time (https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=255111) the general consensus was that a Franklin presidency would be extremely unlikely on account of his age.

By the time Washington ascended the Presidency Benjamin Franklin was unable to walk because of severe gout, suffered from syphilis, was likely going senile and blind. He was so infirm that he had to be carried into the Constitutional Convention on a sedan chair. Robert Morris complains Franklin, as President of Pennsylvania, left all his responsibilities to the state General Assembly. This is hardly a good track record.

Assuming Franklin miraculously manages to survive until 1792 he will not be doing any governing. What we will see is a United States where the President is more a figurehead and rubber stamp to powerful Congressional leadership. There will be nothing "policy wise".

To have something like a Franklin presidency, it seems to me that you would need either a much earlier revolution, which would butterfly everything beyond recognition; or, with a later POD, create a situation in which some protege or intellectual successor of Franklin is elected president. Some sort of posthumous movement based on his works would probably be the best way for Franklin's personal philosophy to have a big influence on the early development of the United States.

As a POD, I would suggest the early death of Jefferson, leading American republicanism to develop into a different form, with Franklin as its primary ideological source. He is remembered as the towering "idea man" of the revolution, and the major connection between the Revolution and the Enlightenment. He exerts far more influence on the country's foundational texts. This tilts the scale in favor of a more whiggish, urban, public-spirited and politically centralized nation, as opposed to Jefferson's agrarian autarkic model.
 
If some health butterflies could help him, or as suggested a successor figure took his 'movement' forward it would very interesting. The United States as a more parliamentary state could be a lot of fun.
 
What Franklin would be like is president is no doubt an interesting idea, but 83 is just too old no matter how healthy he was.
 
Perhaps have the Continental Congress, after declaring independence, decide they need a presidential figure in their new government and electing Franklin then when he is younger?
 
Perhaps have the Continental Congress, after declaring independence, decide they need a presidential figure in their new government and electing Franklin then when he is younger?

But he's busy being an ambassador in France, and is absolutely crucial in that role. The presidential figure would need to be home in the US.
 
Perhaps have the Continental Congress, after declaring independence, decide they need a presidential figure in their new government and electing Franklin then when he is younger?
They did decide that. They continued under President John Hancock, elected on 24 May 1775.

On a related note, a quick search brought up six President Benjamin Franklin threads before this. It appears the same ideas are discussed each time:


https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=4866
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=94406
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=118124
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=173980
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=250242
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=255111
 
He was old and died soon after Washington's OTL inauguration. This is like a George McGovern presidential run in 2012.

Yes I get that in OTL he was sick and would have died within his first term. However in the ATL he is healthier and say ends up living to 92. If he has his wits about him and is healthy why should it matter? Don't forget he was the President of Pennsylvania when hew was 82. He was also the most beloved figure in the country net to George Washington. With these modifications I don't see why he couldn't be elected president.
 
Yes I get that in OTL he was sick and would have died within his first term. However in the ATL he is healthier and say ends up living to 92. If he has his wits about him and is healthy why should it matter? Don't forget he was the President of Pennsylvania when hew was 82. He was also the most beloved figure in the country net to George Washington. With these modifications I don't see why he couldn't be elected president.

Because people can't predict the future? The United States was a young, fragile nation that desperately needed stability. There's no way they would risk its stability by electing a guy who would likely die in a few years. 92 is absurdly old for this time period.
 
Because people can't predict the future? The United States was a young, fragile nation that desperately needed stability. There's no way they would risk its stability by electing a guy who would likely die in a few years. 92 is absurdly old for this time period.

To be fair, John Adams lived to be 93 (not that anyone would know that). Then again, people would consider him living another 10 years implausible wouldn't they? Maybe if Presidential Terms were shorter, like 1 or 2 years (as some New England Governors served), could Ben Frank be in a sense awarded the title of First President, and after his time is up someone new could come in and either continue the figurehead role, or be an executive in their own right?
 
Perhaps they make the role of President to be just a figurehead instead of one with any power? So it becomes a retirement position for accomplished statesmen?
 
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