Based. Any man I trust with a third term, it’s Abe fricking Lincoln.Nah, I'm honestly expecting Lincoln to end up a 3 term president.
Yep, if Lincoln hadn't been killed OTL I think he would've ran in 68 just to see reconstruction entrenched enough not even a Democrat successor could end it.Based. Any man I trust with a third term, it’s Abe fricking Lincoln.
BASEDBetter yet, Lincoln may take Grant as his VP candidate for term three, not only would it be as close to an instant win button as you could get but he may decide that if Grant is his most likely successor maybe he should teach him a bit about politics. Could actually see Grant with decent political experience, and trustworthy allies, getting triple termed too which would firmly put Reconstruction* in place.
A little, OTL slip-up right here . Otherwise a terrific chapter. Can't wait to see how Grant and Sherman put the Rebs in their place“it would cause me more sadness than satisfaction to be ordered to the command of the Army of the Potomac”
As long as they keep the tune! But perhaps it comes in both Alabamian and Georgian flavors?So in this time line Sherman will be known for marching through Alabama. At Least the tune to Marching Ahrough Georgia only needs one extra up down beat (Or whatever it's called) on each line where that is sung.
Or to paraphrase TheKnightIrish, "We Want No Banks Here!" - perhaps one of the few things both Yank and Reb high command can agree on.Grant to Sherman: " You may think I am imitating President Lincoln with this quip, but when putting together your battle plans, pretend Banks is not there."
Even leaving aside the possible Marfam Syndrome, Lincoln was under a lot of pressure. I don't know if he would want a 3rd term health wise. However, maybe Lincoln with Grant as vice president would work. After all, If Lincoln has some times when he is ill then Grant can step in with Lincoln advising him on how to handle different things.
The proposed Grant-Lincoln ticket would ineligible to be on the ballot or receive electoral votes from the state of Illinois as it is both of their home state. They could just recruit some other Republican politician as Grant's running mate in that specific state and just risk the Vice Presidency being determined by the Senate in a contingent election.I'm afriad if this is too much of a galaxy brain idea, but is there anything stopping Lincoln in 1868 from encouraging Grant to run for President while Lincoln joins him on the ticket for Vice-President? It's less of an official workload for Abe, for the sake of himself and his family and also helping him stay around as a party grandee. Plus, after a few years of peace and Reconstruction the Northern deification of Lincoln might begin to be wearing out, as a peacetime press starts asking questions about the legality of some of his actions in war, and a peacetime Republican Party no longer feels there's such an emergency that they can't afford to switch horses. Lincoln being VP to Grant satisfies desires for a younger leader without so much controversy, while retaining Lincoln's excellence in oratory and political operation, and in a position where he could focus on protecting and tutoring Grant without having to fight so much with Congress.
Besides, by 1868 Lincoln should be finished with committing the most 'heinous' (from the South's perspective) measures of Reconstruction; he's hanged the people he's had to, got freedmen on their feet and (presumably) worked out the problem of supplying them land, and has crushed whatever attempts at organised white terrorism crop up in the aftermath of peace. All Grant needs to do then is have the patience to let people come to terms with it, and the South is probably more likely to let things go if the President is the general who bested them on the field, rather than still being the guy whose first election was the reason they rebelled. The South won't love any Republican President, but the remnant of the planter class, particularly the military men most qualified to start up any would-be Klan's, are more likely to respect (and/or fear) a graduate from West Point who showed brilliance, energy, and determination against his Southern counterparts.
I thought Grant lived in Ohio? Or was that post presidency?The proposed Grant-Lincoln ticket would ineligible to be on the ballot or receive electoral votes from the state of Illinois as it is both of their home state. They could just recruit some other Republican politician as Grant's running mate in that specific state and just risk the Vice Presidency being determined by the Senate in a contingent election.
-snip-
He could also be appointed to the Supreme Court.The American political system never fails to astound me.
In that case, maybe some Cabinet position for Lincoln? Grant IOTL founded the Justice Department, perhaps Lincoln could do it and then become attorny-general for Grant? But if they want to avoid the potential optics of Lincoln being Grant's effective enforcer of Reconstruction, what about Secretary of the Interior? His early career with the Whigs had a focus on 'internal improvements' that could make him fit neatly in that chair. And it can in a way act as the 'peacetime presidency' that he never got to have. It also seems like the sort of position that's a little further away from the major levers of executive power; if Lincoln was the State, War, or Treasury Secretary, there might be more of an image of him being Grant's shadowed puppeteer.
The American political system never fails to astound me.
In that case, maybe some Cabinet position for Lincoln? Grant IOTL founded the Justice Department, perhaps Lincoln could do it and then become attorny-general for Grant? But if they want to avoid the potential optics of Lincoln being Grant's effective enforcer of Reconstruction, what about Secretary of the Interior? His early career with the Whigs had a focus on 'internal improvements' that could make him fit neatly in that chair. And it can in a way act as the 'peacetime presidency' that he never got to have. It also seems like the sort of position that's a little further away from the major levers of executive power; if Lincoln was the State, War, or Treasury Secretary, there might be more of an image of him being Grant's shadowed puppeteer.
This.He could also be appointed to the Supreme Court.
Cheatham is widely considered the second best division commander in the Army of Tennessee, second only to Cleburne. He was a hard fighter and his career as corps commander was controversial. While he did have initiative in his first battle that only failed due to a lack of coordination on Hood's end (Atlanta, July 22), Hood's Tennessee adventure didn't offer many opportunities to distinguish any Confederate generals. There was the Spring Hill fiasco where Cheatham failed to block the critical road used by Schofield to escape an encirclement, but there was plenty of blame to go around. A more unforgivable event was Stone River, where Cheatham was allegedly drunk and got his division butchered in an attack.And with the removal of Johnston, I wonder how much better Cheatham will do? I know very little of this figure, but somehow feel that he will do worse, though perhaps not as badly as Hood in OTL when he fought Sherman.