President Robert E. Lee?

In the event of a Confederate victory Robert E. Lee would surely be seen as a hero among the Confederate people.Would he of made a run for President as Grant did after the OTL Union victory?
 
On his own? Probably not. It would have taken someone asking him (begging, really) to serve his country once more. Remember, he died OTL in 1870 from a stroke, and was almost completely indifferent to politics pre-Civil War. An argument could be made that a Confederate victory would have caused less stress on General Lee, thus enabling him to live longer. If Lee is inaugurated in Feb 1868, his term would run til Feb 1874. An interesting possible development is the beginnings of true Confederate political parties. No party would dare risk going against the Hero of the Confederacy, thus whichever party Lee chose to lead would become dominant for at least a generation, the "Party of Lee". And he could well start a dynasty with Fitzhugh Lee becoming President a short time later. But I seriously doubt Lee would willingly choose to become President without major Confederate players asking him to. Now, I could see Lee holding a staff position within the Confederate government, kind of like a precursor to the Joint Chiefs. (I realize that I'm breaking the cardinal rule of A Southern Victory in saying that Robert E. Lee probably wouldn't become President, but whatever.)

But what it really boils down to, is do you want Robert E. Lee to become President? It's your TL. Your history.
 
He was still probably popular enough to be president.
Indeed; being popular enough to win the election isn't where things get tricky for Lee, it's the fact that he's fairly old, not in the best of health, and hasn't shown any real interest in politics. The CSA presidency is almost certainly his if he wants it, but it seems pretty likely that he won't.
 

Wolfpaw

Banned
(I realize that I'm breaking the cardinal rule of A Southern Victory in saying that Robert E. Lee probably wouldn't become President, but whatever.)
You're not breaking the cardinal rule, you're defying a silly and unfounded cliché, which is refreshing. Washington was no Lee.
 
Well If he could defeat the Union he deserved at least to be CSA president because he would look like a superhero ( or villain for the other side) ...

What about the other option, Virgina never secedes and he ends ( quite faster than OTL ) the rebellion, could he pull a Grant?
 

Wolfpaw

Banned
Well If he could defeat the Union he deserved at least to be CSA president because he would look like a superhero ( or villain for the other side) ...

What about the other option, Virgina never secedes and he ends ( quite faster than OTL ) the rebellion, could he pull a Grant?
Again, Lee had absolutely no political ambition and on top of that was sympathetic towards slavery, which means he's not getting the Republican nod, and I doubt people are going to vote in the Democrats if the Lincoln administration just won a war.

Just because Lee is on the North's side doesn't mean he"wins the war" in the way Grant did. Lee may actually be removed from command since he was an average offensive general at best. Longstreet or Beauregard could probably beat any offensive Lee launched. If Lee keeps messing up, he'll probably get sacked.
 
You're just bitter the only president PA has produced is James Buchanan.

And trust me...that causes me no end of heartache. Luckily in AH his fate can be modified and Buchanan can sow what he has reaped.

As for Lee...too old, too sick and lacking in political ambition. I don't see it happening.

Just for the record, even as Libertarian I rank Washington as our greatest President. He alone set the precedents that made this nation a functioning democracy.

Benjamin
 
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