On the presidency and vice-presidency
I think I have Worth stepping down as Vice-President for the 1856 election - in OTL he was dead by then, but the very different circumstances of the ATL serve well enough to keep him alive *(he was only born in 1794).
Since Franklin Pierce was Secretary of State in the first term, he seems a fair bet to jump at the chance of being Vice President for the second term. Born in 1804 he is a good age for it (and hasn't suffered his OTL family trauma)
Thus the 1856 election is won by Kearny/Pierce
By 1860 Kearny is 64; now, this is not prohibitive of running. IIRC in this timeline, I had Burr go for his third term whilst in his early sixties. BUT that example might well not sit too well with the major figures of the American Party - Burr's third term led to his party's defeat in the subsequent election (I think ! I tried to remind myself of all this before leaving this morning, but couldn't easily chase down information, despite it being my own timeline !)
Interestingly, Phillip Kearny, the nephew of the president, is probably somebody pretty important in the US army by 1860. Born in 1815, in OTL he gave up his army career in 1851 due to lack of promotion prospects and buggered off to Europe for a while. But here he can well act as part of the Army of the South West, and probably has the joy of shooting revolting Spaniards in Chihuahua and chasing after Apache
Anyway, that was a digression
in case you didn't notice !
The question I guess is
-1- Who would be put up, or put themselves up, for the candidacy in 1860 ?
-2- Would the party decide not to rock the boat and keep Kearny, or go for one of these ?
-3- Would Franklin Pierce have a shot ? If not, would he be happy to be remain as VP, or would he only remain there if Kearny remains as president ?
-4- If not Pierce for VP then whom ? Going with military leaders upgrading to political ones, where does Robert E Lee (Sec of War in the 1850s here) fit in ? Could we see a weird Pierce/Lee presidency ?!
Best Regards
Grey Wolf
I think I have Worth stepping down as Vice-President for the 1856 election - in OTL he was dead by then, but the very different circumstances of the ATL serve well enough to keep him alive *(he was only born in 1794).
Since Franklin Pierce was Secretary of State in the first term, he seems a fair bet to jump at the chance of being Vice President for the second term. Born in 1804 he is a good age for it (and hasn't suffered his OTL family trauma)
Thus the 1856 election is won by Kearny/Pierce
By 1860 Kearny is 64; now, this is not prohibitive of running. IIRC in this timeline, I had Burr go for his third term whilst in his early sixties. BUT that example might well not sit too well with the major figures of the American Party - Burr's third term led to his party's defeat in the subsequent election (I think ! I tried to remind myself of all this before leaving this morning, but couldn't easily chase down information, despite it being my own timeline !)
Interestingly, Phillip Kearny, the nephew of the president, is probably somebody pretty important in the US army by 1860. Born in 1815, in OTL he gave up his army career in 1851 due to lack of promotion prospects and buggered off to Europe for a while. But here he can well act as part of the Army of the South West, and probably has the joy of shooting revolting Spaniards in Chihuahua and chasing after Apache
Anyway, that was a digression
The question I guess is
-1- Who would be put up, or put themselves up, for the candidacy in 1860 ?
-2- Would the party decide not to rock the boat and keep Kearny, or go for one of these ?
-3- Would Franklin Pierce have a shot ? If not, would he be happy to be remain as VP, or would he only remain there if Kearny remains as president ?
-4- If not Pierce for VP then whom ? Going with military leaders upgrading to political ones, where does Robert E Lee (Sec of War in the 1850s here) fit in ? Could we see a weird Pierce/Lee presidency ?!
Best Regards
Grey Wolf