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In the election of 1860, Abraham Lincoln chose Senator Hannibal Hamlin from Maine as his running mate. Four years later, with the Union winning the war, but not yet victorious, Lincoln chose to replace Hamlin with Andrew Johnson, one of the few southern leaders who had not supported secession. Suppose Lincoln had instead chosen to keep Hamlin, who had a decent record on opposing slavery, and likely would have taken an active role in ensuring the rights of freedmen after the war.

Now, perhaps Lincoln's assassination might not have happened, but either way, history has now changed. Johnson, who chose to rally the support of white southerners and viciously opposed granting equal rights to freedmen, is now removed from the political picture, with either Lincoln or Hamlin in charge during the immediate postwar years. Even without Lincoln's assassination, there is still the chance that he could die in office of natural causes, granting Hamlin the Presidency, or that Hamlin could choose to run for President on his own in 1868.

How would Hamlin deal with the disastrous aftermath of the Civil War, with the simultaneous needs of granting some protection to African Americans from their former slaveowners, providing aid to veterans, creating some semblance of stable government in the south, and reinforcing the idea of the United States as one, rather than two, countries? Would he make important steps toward racial equality and healing the wounds of slavery, or would he fail to change the politics of the south and allow Jim Crow to become the norm, as historical presidents sadly did?

What will be Hamlin's legacy, both in the United States and abroad, as the country emerges as a world power and, consciously or not, influences the events of Europe and Asia? What might America and the world look like today, 150 years after Lincoln's decision?
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