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It's quite well known here on AH.com that suggestions to turn the fledgling USA into a monarchy were raised by some. Obviously, these suggestions remained fringe proposals and were never too seriously considered (at least not by a sufficiently substantial number of powerful people). Yet there have been discussions and timelines that figure out ways to make it happen.

I have not seen a discussion or timeline about the possibility of introducing an electoral monarchy in the USA. Such a concept was hardly unheard of: the Holy Roman Empire had its elected emperor, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had been famous for its electoral monarchy. In fact, that latter example was regularly seen as a 'crowned republic'. (Needless to say, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had its failings, but those were associated with the liberum veto than with the electoral nature of its crown.)

Perhaps relevantly, electoral monarchy would be reminiscent in certain ways of ancient Rome. The Roman Emperors were not elected, of course, but it wasn't a typically hereditary office. Many Founding Fathers adored ancient Rome. One might imagine them not going with the title of 'king', but calling the elected monarch 'Princeps' instead, for instance.

If hereditary monarchy can be imagined for the USA, electoral monarchy may well be a viable alternative. One could opt for the briefly-considered-in-OTL Henry of Prussia without worrying about his lack of heirs. Or one could install George Washington as monarch without fearing a dynasty arising from the precedent. (Alexander Hamilton would no doubt support that latter option-- fondly imagining, one assumes, the possibility that he himself might one day be chosen as Washington's heir to the throne.) Electoral monarchy also leaves a lot of options open: does the monarch choose an heir, or does Congress elect a new monarch upon the former monarch's passing? Or does the monarch adopt an heir, but conditional on congressional approval?

It's certainly food for thought, which is why it surprised me that I'd never seen it discussed. (Admittedly, that might be due to myself; perhaps I just missed the relevant threads.) Anyway, could this have come about, or am I totally wrong to even consider the notion? I don't think it was ever discussed in OTL, but supposing someone had raised it as a more sensible alternative to 'just import a European dynasty'... could it have gained traction?
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