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On January 6, 1853, the train carrying President Elect Franklin Pierce, his wife and son crashed. His son was tragically killed but Mr, and Mrs Pierce survived. What if the President Elect had been killed? The Vice President Elect William King had a terminal illness. OTL he died on April 18, 1853, after he had gone to Havana for his health. ITTL he probably would have stayed in Washington and probably would have died sooner. Senate President Pro Tempre David Rice Atchison would have become President. He was a Missouri slave owner and a stronger pro slavery advocate than even Pierce was. In 1854, he would have endorsed the Ostend Manifesto and pushed Spain to war. I see a narrow majority for the declaration of war composed of Southerners and pro expansion Westerners. The war is very unpopular in the North and makes the sectional divide worse. The US wins the war and takes Cuba and Puerto Rico. There would have been an expansion of the Navy and when the ACW breaks out on schedule the US Navy has more ships in dry dock. When they are staffed, there is a more effective blockade and more success along the Mississippi River. The war ends earlier. In 1864, the Peace Democrats have no credibility and Lincoln wins by 63% and carries Delaware and New Jersey. There are some obvious later butterflies. I see that the heavily Catholic and therefore heavily Democratic Cuba and Puerto Rico become states during the administration of Franklin Roosevelt. We would have had Senator Fidel Castro Republican of Cuba. The one US Presidential election this TL effects is 2000. The electoral votes of Cuba and Puerto Rico elect Al Gore. Since there is no Spanish American War in 1898, Theodore Roosevelt does not become a national hero. He is not elected Governor of New York in 1898 and is not McKinley's running mate in 1900. When McKinley is assassinated, someone else is President. How progressive is he?
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