WI/AHC: Washington is assassinated during his presidency. What happens next?

What would happen, if George Washington was to be assassinated during his presidency? What would his legacy be? How would the American populace react?

Now, for the AHC part of this. Before doing the above, please create a scenario which would cause someone to want to kill Washington.
 
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What would happen, if George Washington was to be assassinated during his presidency? What would his legacy be? How would the American populace react?

Now, for the AHC part of this. Before doing the above, please create a scenario which would cause someone to want to kill Washington.

A secret British loyalist would love to say he was the one to "execute" the "rebel" leader for "treason" against the crown, with the deluded fantasy of being honoured by the king for it.

Washington becomes a national (and later a global) martyr for liberty and independence. Washington is buried in a grand mausoleum in Washington DC.
John Adams becomes President.
 
A secret British loyalist would love to say he was the one to "execute" the "rebel" leader for "treason" against the crown, with the deluded fantasy of being honoured by the king for it.

Washington becomes a national (and later a global) martyr for liberty and independence. Washington is buried in a grand mausoleum in Washington DC.
John Adams becomes President.

Basically, a British JWB?
 
A secret British loyalist would love to say he was the one to "execute" the "rebel" leader for "treason" against the crown, with the deluded fantasy of being honoured by the king for it.

Washington becomes a national (and later a global) martyr for liberty and independence. Washington is buried in a grand mausoleum in Washington DC.
John Adams becomes President.

I believe we tried to bury Washington in a masoleum in DC but Washington and his will would have none of it. He demanded a simple masoleum in Mount Vernon.
 
The two-term precedent is never established, leading to interesting butterflies.

It might still be. If he's assassinated in his second term, his successors might decide that they aren't worthy of serving longer.

If he's assassinated in his first term, though, then it would not be established - and that would definitely change American politics.
 
John Adams becomes President.

no, we like to think that VP becomes President is a totally automatic thing, but that has less to do with whats written in the constitution and more to do with John Tyler's reaction to William Henry Harrison's death

the Constitution says:
In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President.

you'll note that it doesn't say anything like "The Vice President shall become the President" just that the powers of the President devolve onto the Vice President, Harrison's Cabinet met the day of his death and ruled that Tyler was "Vice-President acting President" Tyler had other ideas and on his own had himself sworn in at his hotel room with out asking any one, John Adams' Son John Quincy Adams who at the time was a member of Congress was very much against Tyler becoming President and he and others pushed for calling him "acting President" or just "Vice-President" and that he should be a caretaker government, Tyler held firm and refused to open any memos or letters addressed to him as Acting President and Vice-President, basically Tyler holding the line on this issue is the only reason America doesn't have acting Presidents, in general in the early Republic the thinking was that the Vice-President would acting as President for awhile, 6 months, a year, before a special election would be held, given Adams' personality I could see him going with that plan, he was very legal minded
 
If it is done by a disgruntled Republican angry about Jay's Treaty (one Virginia Republican is supposed to have proposed a toast to "a speedy death to General Washington" https://books.google.com/books?id=ibcfBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA148) there will be a huge surge of pro- Federalist and anti-Republican sentiment. There is no way Jefferson will get to be vice-president in 1796 and he probably will lose in 1800 as well.
 
The rum party :p

That's a funny way to end his term, because of rum

It would be very strange. Could it lead to earlier Prohibition talk decades down the line? Maybe even as part of the Second Great Awakening? The Civil War with Confederate operatives running moonshine into Union territory to disrupt their soldiers?
 
The rum party :p

That's a funny way to end his term, because of rum
My mistake,it was actually a Whiskey Party.:eek:

Those folks actually led a rebellion against Washington and Washington led troops in the field to personally quell the uprising.If one of the rebels fired upon Washington,that might be it.
 
Him dying during the whiskey wars would be ironic in a way being he made the finest rye ever they say.

Now I do believe John Adams would take control only till new elections.
 
Another possibility: Washington is assassinated while leading the militia against the Whiskey Rebellion. He never crossed the Appalachians himself, but I could imagine a deluded fanatic coming east to kill him. It would have to be a lone fanatic - the large majority of the rebels surrendered at the rumor of the militia coming against them - but that could have huge effects. President Adams is likely to be far less forgiving than Washington, who pardoned the few rebel leaders who were actually put on trial. Adams, backed up by a populace roaring for Western blood, will likely try to root out all the rebels throughout the West. In response, I can see many rebels fleeing west, maybe joining up with the Indians, or (more likely) trying to pull off Burr's plan of seizing Louisiana early. They just might succeed. Or, even if they fail, there's going to be significant Western-Eastern resentment, which might have large effects down the line.
 
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