Great presidents are the wampum and butter of American chronicle . But for every Lincoln or Washington , there ’s a gross ton of poor saps who did n’t even make the primary quill . In this workweek ’s alt - fiction column , story ’s losers take over the White House .
Charles Lindbergh : Famous aviator Charles Lindbergh was considered and courted for the Republican nominating speech for president through the 1930s and other ’ 40s although he never ran . He was also wide suspected to have been anti - Semite and to have been a Nazi sympathizer . give those facts it ’s little wonder that a fancied Charles Lindbergh presidency is the assumption of two separate books K is for Killing , by Daniel Easterman and The Plot Against America , by Philip Roth . While Lindbergh ’s presidency is anti - semitic in both alternate timelines , Easterman ’s account book has Lindbergh descend in full into fascism as his administration , supported by the KKK , sets up Koncentration Kamps all over the United States and almost ally with Hitler in WWII .
Berzelius “ Buzz ” Windrip : One of the first substitute history presidencies was the satiric fascist presidency of Berzelius “ Buzz ” Windrip in It Ca n’t pass Here , by Sinclair Lewis . issue in 1935 , the book centers on Windrip ’s presidency as he promptly rises to power after promise every American 500 dollars and then bend the US into a fascist one-man rule opposed by amazingly few citizen . The narrative was popular enough to be adapted into a play and a 1960 ’s idiot box moving-picture show and , after some electronic web rejiggering , was actually the basis for the original 1980 ’s V series .
Eugene V. Debs : Prominent matrimony leader and five time Socialist Party candidate for Chief Executive Eugene V Debs did not have a particularly happy life . In addition to his Socialist Party runs at the White House go about as well as you ’d expect he was imprisoned by the espionage bit during WWI . Debs was subsequently excuse in the early twenties but kick the bucket a few years later after he was committed to a sanitarium .
Alternate Eugene V. Debs however actually becomes the leader of an American socialistic state in Back in the USSA , a series of short stories by Eugene Byrne and Kim Newman . The series , which blend characters from fabrication with historical personages , sees an American communistic revolution run by Debs in chemical reaction to an oppressive presidential term of Charles Foster Kane . Debs still does n’t savor the happy of lives however , as the American communistic stand - in for Lenin he ’s inevitably supplant by an American adaptation of the thuggish Stalin : Al Capone .
Dukakis : Poor Michael Dukakis , absolutely destroy at the poll parrot and remembered mostly for mirthful looking photo . Still if you trust Alternate History fiction maybe he deserved it . The anthology Alternate Presidents , redact by Mike Resnick , boast story of almost 30 alternate presidencies include Davy Crockett and Victoria Woodhull . In Robert Sheckley ’s Dukakis and the Aliens the foresightful suffering democratic candidate wins in a landslide , but is revealed to be an alien undertake to infiltrate classified government facilities . In the last the MIB have no option but to change history create our timeline .
Aaron Burr : In another story from Alternate Presidents we examine the possible alternate life of Aaron Burr . Already one of America ’s most controversial founding fathers Burr not only famously shot Alexander Hamilton but was later adjudicate for treason after rumor sprung up that he was going to institute his own monarchy in the western United States . But as a president … actually as a president he ’s still pretty terrible .
In Jayge Carr ’s The War of ’ 07 Aaron Burr becomes prexy in 1800 after the electoral college is split and he quickly establishes himself as Chief Executive for life . Burr also strikes up a rather natural confederation with Napoleon and kick - starts the US elaboration westwards a few decades early .
[ Illustrations byKatherine Ramos ]
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