The election of 1916 was a very close election. The closest state, Minnesota went voted Democratic by .1%. Lets say that they swing over to the Republicans, for whatever reason. What would a Hughes presidency be like? Genocide link.
For starters, Hughes would enter office in November 1916, as Wilson planned to demand the resignation of his Vice-President and Secretary of State, then appoint Hughes as Secretary of State, and then resign, leaving Hughes as his successor and President four months in advance.
Wow! Really? why?![]()
He was throwing a silly little tantrum about people not approving of his brilliant ideas. Literally.
For starters, Hughes would enter office in November 1916, as Wilson planned to demand the resignation of his Vice-President and Secretary of State, then appoint Hughes as Secretary of State, and then resign, leaving Hughes as his successor and President four months in advance.
Hughes, IIRC, was in favor of intervening on behalf of the Entente in Europe, so expect the Americans to declare war on Germany three or four months in advance of OTL. There may be more than a handful of American divisions in France when the last gamble of 'Michael' is launched by the German high command.
Ooops. I didn't catch that...I don't have much on the actual topic, other than that it's an interesting hypothetical, with a very intriguing codicil (the resignation plan). However, it's worth noting that Wikipedia's actually using red for Republican and blue for Democrat here. Minnesota already went for Hughes; you'd want California as the swing state, which Wilson won by some 3,700 votes total. (New Hampshire was won by a grand total of 54 votes, but that doesn't carry enough electoral votes to swing the Presidency to Hughes.)
If you're looking for a POD to make this happen, the Wiki page also indicates that Hughes failed to call on CA Governor Hiram Johnson when they were staying at the same hotel on a campaign swing, and Johnson got ticked. Switch that, get Johnson more involved in the campaign, and Hughes may well have driven up Republican turnout and won the state, and thus the Presidency.
For starters, Hughes would enter office in November 1916, as Wilson planned to demand the resignation of his Vice-President and Secretary of State, then appoint Hughes as Secretary of State, and then resign, leaving Hughes as his successor and President four months in advance.