What if instead of a pretty quick split into Federalists and Anti-Federalists/Democratic-Republicans in the post-revolutionary US, movements based on key Founding Fathers became common instead and lasted in some form all throughout American history up until this day?
Washingtonians, Jeffersonians, Franklinites, and so on.
Would Adams be integrated into the Washingtonian legacy? Hamilton? Or would Hamilton and/or Madison be a legacy movement unto themselves (I think this is likely)?
How far would it go? Would it extend further down in time to the Burr/Jackson legacy (Jacksonians?)?
If such groups as these existed, as cohesive movements if not each their own political party, what principles might they each be founded upon and how might these principles change over time as interpretations of philosophy and politics tend to do?
I find this line of inquiry very interesting because each of the Founding Fathers present such contradictions. Washington the Cincinnatus who helped set an example against dictatorship, but also a general-president who didn't really understand the notion of "loyal opposition". Franklin the puritan hedonist, Jefferson whose legacy lived on in both abolitionism and the Confederacy's interpretation of states rights, even Adams the moderate who was accused of being a monarchist.
An alternate history that delved into the principles of the Founding Fathers and those of the United States throughout it's history in this manner would be very appealing.
So, thoughts? How would the early Washingtonians interpret Washington's principles (and in what contrast to the actual principles of the man?) and what would their principles be like a hundred years later? Two hundred? Today? Those sort of questions are what I am thinking on here and would appreciate commentary upon.
Finally, are there any precedents for nations where long-lasting cults of personality based on the differing founders dominate the political landscape (at least in terms of political philosophy, if not each representing their own party)?