alternatehistory.com

In OTL there has never been an instance of a Presidential succession going beyond the VP. With the 25th amendment's provision for replacing a VP it would require something very dramatic of VERY bad luck.

I am inclined to think that the US managed to duck actuarial odds from 1787 to 1967 (when the 25th Amendment was ratified)

In the 19th Century :

Madison, who was not a well man lost his VP.

Booth had planned for the murder of both Lincoln and Johnson (as well as others. ) Andrew Johnson was very nearly convicted following his 1868 impeachment.

I believe that Chester Arthur, who succeeded the murdered President Garfield had health problems.

Grover Cleveland was treated for throat cancer in the 1890s and his first VP also I believe died in office.

Had there been a couple of cases of succession going beyond the VP, what effect would it have had?

One possibility is that the Presidency might have ended up with less prestige. Another is something like the 25th Amendment coming in much earlier.


Also up to the 1880s the law provided for a special Presidential election, for a full 4 year term, in the event of a double vacancy with much more than a year to run in the previous term.

This could have created a Presidential election in the middle of the 1812 war and or in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War.

Any thoughts?
Top