Playtest Presidents

[MrPotatoTed]

On 12/25/2023 at 7:39 AM, OrangeP47 said:

1840 Playtest Presidents

9th - William Henry Harrison (W-OH) 1841-1845:  Did not die in office as he did in real life, but did not win re-election.  Oversaw an early admission of Texas to the Union and war with both Mexico and Spain.  These wars would not be resolved for many years, and Harrison's incompetent overall administration soured many on the Whigs overall, leading to massive gains for the Democratic Party in both the 42 mid-terms and the 44 general elections.  Nearly all major accomplishments during Harrison's two half-terms focused on military matters or settlement of Westward territories, with the exception of the passage of an Amendment that required a vacancy in the Vice-Presidency to be filled should one arise.

10th - William Marcy (D-NY) 1845-1849:  Marcy was a key figure in the Democratic Party machine and was controversial because of alleged corruption.  He was able to end the war with Spain, but only late in his term, the Mexican war continuing on past the inauguration of his successor, though that would end in eventual victory as well.  Policy wise, Marcy actually wasn't that different from Harrison, merely more competent.  That made the 1848 election close, but he too failed to be re-elected.  The major policy accomplishment of his two-half terms that would be remembered would likely be the creation of the Department of the Interior.

11th - Millard Fillmore (W-NY) 1849:  Unfortunately, history will forget Millard Fillmore, except for the spectacular way he died.  At an event aboard the USS Princeton, a test firing of a new experimental cannon went awry, killing not only Fillmore, but Senator John Berrien and famed elder statesman Henry Clay as well.  Vice President Jacob Broom II ascended to the Acting Presidency.

12th - Jacob Broom II (W-PA) 1849-1853:  As the the first Vice President to ascend to the Presidency, Broom's legacy is largely legitimizing the practice.  He struggled greatly for recognition, and it was not until the very last days of his term when a deadlocked Whig National Convention considered him as their 1852 candidate did he really have any political clout.  He was unable to secure re-election, however. Ironically, he would have a hidden, lasting impact, as he named several justices to the Supreme Court which would remain firmly Whig controlled for the 1850s.

13th - James Polk (D-TN) 1853-1861:  Polk was a master political operator the likes of which America had not seen for some time.  He brought some stability to a chaotic system that saw rapidly swinging fortunes between the parties, and was the first President to be re-elected since Andrew Jackson in 1832.  This was all the more impressive because he often times had to work with a downright hostile Congress.  Polk's accomplishments focused on cementing control of the newly acquired Western lands as well as expanding the voting franchise (for white males), in the best of the Jacksonian tradition.  He would break precedent and attempt to run for a third term in 1860, but would not win that election.

14th - Francis Granger (W-NY) 1861-1873:  His election precipitated a crisis that resulted in Civil War, with the Southern States breaking away over the issue of slavery.  Granger won the Civil War in two short years, however, and while the Whig Party has continued to be internally fractious, Granger personally has long remained personally popular and even more of a beacon of stability than Polk was.  He has continuously passed civil rights legislation and maintained political control at a time when even a united front of Whigs is unable to get much done in other policy areas. Indeed, he has succeeded where no other has before, in 1868 he was elected to a third term.  The length of his time in office has meant that the Democrats have never had a chance to take back control of the Supreme Court either.  While overall the Whigs' division prevented his terms from being as productive as they possibly could have, in addition to the massive gains for civil rights Granger pushed Westward expansion harder than any President since the Mexican War, purchasing a huge swath of Mexico and engaging in several small "wars" against Native Americans and Mormons.

15th - Robert E Lee (W-VA) 1873-1877:  A former general and famous governor of Virginia (though he only had moderate success in the latter role), Lee was hugely popular as a key national figure from the South who remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War.  He was swept into office with a massive tide of support, but suffered a medical emergency and fall shortly into his first year in office.  He made a pretty remarkable recovery, considering 19th century medicine, but was not a great President.  He unilaterally ended Reconstruction, which was still largely popular in the North, and under his watch there were several major disasters with Native Americans defeating American troops in the West, greatly reducing the prestige of the army and stalling Westward settlement to some degree.  In the end, he was not renominated by the Whigs, who as a reaction to his social policies wanted a radical, so selected John C Fremont.  Fremont was a little too radical, however, and lost a close 1876 election campaign.

16th - Howell Cobb (D-GA) 1877-1885:  Cobb was a key figure in the Confederacy, but also a master of propaganda, pageantry, and public relations on par or greater than Granger, Polk, or Marcy.  This allowed him to maintain a stellar reputation despite it all.  He was a conservative and Southerner, but he knew how to throw a bone to Northern and liberal interests at just the right moments to give himself a reputation as a moderate.  Some might argue that is that reputation actually undeserved if he was actually, truly doing the moderate actions?  Notable examples include driving a moderate line on Workers' Rights at a time when many in both parties would like to see Big Business crush the nascent Labor Movement.  The cynics would say this was part of a ploy to industrialize the South over the North, which Cobb also largely accomplished in this time in office.  A good comparison to a Real Life President would probably be Nixon, if you removed Watergate from Nixon.  In that line, though, in Cobb's last two years in office he had a noted decline in commanding presence and sort of went off the rails.  Some blame him for the Democratic Convention spiraling to the level of chaos that is usually reserved for the Whig Convention, and thus the party's failure to hold the White House, but it's hard to say for of course if he's the cause.

17th - Benjamin Robbins Curtis (W-MA) 1885-1887:  Curtis is the least experienced man to rise to the nation's highest office by far, his main credentials being that he is an outspoken liberal intellectual of some note.  The nation was, perhaps simply, tired of Democratic rule after 8 years, especially after Cobb's machinations weakened in the final two years.  There is some precedent for this sort of candidate, as in 1860 James Speed, a legal theorist and professor was selected as the great Granger's running mate.  Though he was often a punching bag politically and failed to obtain the nation's highest office, Speed did have a very respectable career following that nomination by objective standards and was quite astute leading a wing of the party for many years.  Unfortunately, his lack of experience and advanced age made Curtis wholly unsuited for the nation's highest office, especially after his health took a downturn very early on in his first year.  Despite majorities in both houses , the Whig led 49th Congress was the most unproductive in United States history, the only accomplishments of notes being two procedural changes, namely the establishment of party leadership positions and a change in the line of Presidential succession.  Ironically, though an Amendment was in place that allowed a vacant Vice Presidency to be filled, the line of succession would get some use when Curtis died in 1887.

18th - Frederick Douglass (W-NY) 1887-1889:  A historic accomplishment, Douglass' ascent to the Presidency less than 30 years after the Civil War spoke volumes about the state of the nation, even if he had not been elected at the top of the ticket himself.  Unfortunately, so too did much of the opposition he faced.  Douglass proved an effective leader, or at least, an above average leader, but didn't have much time to work with and had many rivals.  Given what he faced, he was able to guide a remarkable slate of bills through a divided Congress that mostly focused on economic recovery, though to be fair nothing earth-shaking, all the while managing to retain a massive amount of respect within the Whig Party.  Unlike former Vice Presidents arose to the Presidency through vacancy, there was little doubt Douglass would run for a term of his own in 1888, and plenty of support for it as well.  It wasn't a sure thing though, and opposition was respectful (internally), because it was only fair to re-evaluate after Curtis' death.  The public at large, of course, was a lot less charitable towards the United States' first non-white President, so Douglass' failure to secure re-nomination wasn't a surprise, nor too was the Whigs' eventual loss in 1888.  The absolutely stounding margin, however, might have been, given Douglass' improvement in quality over Curtis.

19th - George H Pendleton (D-OH) 1889-1897:  President Cobb's Vice President was a reasonable choice for President among Democrats and Democratic supporters, albeit one that may be a bit conservative.  Though the last two years of Cobb's eight were a bit rocky, by and large the public liked Cobb's tenure, and Pendleton was a big part of that successful administration.  Though personally right-wing, he was a Northerner, and combined that meant he seemed like a safe choice that wouldn't rock the boat, a "return to normalcy" if you will.  Pendleton was a largely hands-off President at first, with his area of direct intervention being more foreign affairs.  That might seem risky in this era, but he was the standard-bearer for isolationism and nativism, or in other words, "no foreign affairs", which is what the American people looked for in foreign affairs.  This combined with the best economy on record to date made him quite popular, along with his bombastic style, despite a lack of substance.  Some "experts" feared the economy was actually doing too well, though, and the supercharged environment would just lead to a steeper fall.  In the latter half of his second term, Pendleton took a more hands-on approach to the economy, though for egotistical reasons.  While still objectively good, the economy wasn't as good as it had been earlier, and the people soured on him slightly, though he still had a good deal of popularity.

20th - James A Gary (W-MD) 1897-1901:  Gary was a nominee in the typical Whig mold, though with a bit more robust credentials than some of their past offerings.  He had spent a lifetime in the civil service, capped by high profile Ambassadorial appointments.  This was exactly the high-minded sort of politician the Whig base loved.  He was also from a key state for the Whigs to peel off, Maryland.  Like Curtis before him, Gary was incompetent and easily influenced by his advisors, but unlike Curtis, he was able to maintain a charismatic façade.  Despite blunders from the get go, his popularity was hard to dent.  As predicted, he was something of a foreign affairs focused President, a stark change after previous isolationists.  He will be remembered for a declining economy, drastically reduced relations with Mexico (which while nothing new, Gary really hammered home on and mishandled, despite public forgiveness), and most importantly, the start of the Third Spanish American War.  On paper, America's military should have won easily, especially with France siding with the United States, but Spain proved challenging.  Gary did not enjoy the task of chief administrator, and his blunders tolled on him personally even if the public cared less so, so he declined to run again in 1900.  With the war on, this ironically was seen as the biggest betrayal.  "They say don't change horses mid-stream, but our horse drowned."

21st - Richard Yates Jr (W-IL) 1901- A young, rising star in the Whig party, Yates was perhaps as "exciting" as a Whig candidate could possibly be, with youth, vim, and vigor.  He had traditional government experience, too, having been the governor of Illinois.  He was still a policy wonk as the Whig base tended to prefer, on the other hand, and after nomination, despite personally being more conservative, the Whig platform he crafted and promised was some of the most forward thinking the nation had seen.  As an added bonus, Yates was from the new heart of the nation instead of the East Coast like so many before him (The only states other than the original 13 colonies to have a President before Yates were Ohio and Tennessee).  A third party run originally thought to peel off Democrats and help the Whigs' chances ended up being a disaster for the Yates Campaign however, and Yates would suffer the ignominy of being yet the latest President decided upon by the House, tarnishing his power before he even had the chance to get started.  It would remain to be seen if he would be able to wield power effectively, though Congress was predicted to overall be fairly friendly to his agenda.

I love that this is a timeline in which Robert E Lee AND Frederick Douglass get to be President.

[OrangeP47]

The historic irony is a little less in-timeline, because Lee was a Unionist here, but yeah, from our perspective, it sure is something haha.

1 hour ago, MrPotatoTed said:

I love that this is a timeline in which Robert E Lee AND Frederick Douglass get to be President.

 

[Bushwa777]

This just in, in the 1772 Stamping out America's love for tea playtest, Ex-President Richard Henry Lee not only was elected to Congress but he was elected Speaker of the House! 

[Bushwa777]

Well President George Clinton not only fell in his bathtub hurting himself, but refused to resign but then a scandal broke out where it was revealed that as Governor of New York, George Clinton tried to keep Vermont from becoming a state by sending his citizens to Vermont Territory to buy up land and keep it from becoming a state.  Knowing that the House was controlled by the Federalists, he has resigned and been replaced by Benjamin Ogle!.  

[pman]

In the 1800 Playtest, Silas Wood had a history of losing elections. He ran for VP in 1816, the ticket got crushed. He ran for NY Gov in 1818 and he lost in the primary. In fact he never really did anything of note. Never had a cabinet position. Never had a military position. Yet in 1820, there Silas Wood stood with 4 command points, integrity, charisma and likability. He partnered with Representative Henry Clay to form the Pottery Barn ticket of Wood-Clay.  The ticket swept the electoral college in the first Red win of the play test. Even after the state legislatures had their say, the ticket still swept most of the states. Historians would say of President Silas Wood that he was the first politician to be known for failing upward.   

Edited February 17 by pman

[OrangeP47]

3 minutes ago, pman said:

In the 1800 Playtest, Silas Wood had a history of losing elections. He ran for VP in 1816, the ticket got crushed. He ran for NY Gov in 1818 and he lost in the primary. In fact he never really did anything of note. Never had a cabinet position. Never had a military position. Yet in 1820, there Silas Wood stood with 4 command points, integrity, charisma and likability. He partnered with Representative Henry Clay to form the Pottery Barn ticket of Wood-Clay.  The ticket swept the electoral college in the first Red win of the play test. Even after the state legislatures had their say, the ticket still swept most of the states. Historians would say of President Silas Wood that he was the first politician to be known for failing upward.   

Pottery Barn, A+

[OrangeP47]

You know Bushwa it's kind of customary to only repost a list when you have a NEW president to add, not to update a playtest via this list.

[Bushwa777]

19 hours ago, OrangeP47 said:

You know Bushwa it's kind of customary to only repost a list when you have a NEW president to add, not to update a playtest via this list.

1) I am only changing it after a new election and was asked by V to keep people updated. 

2) I looked and you did the exact same on page 3 repeating twice at least.  

3) You can simply ignore this like I do ignore many threads. If someone dies or something changes that is when I go back and make changes 

 

Edited February 24 by Bushwa777

[OrangeP47]

28 minutes ago, Bushwa777 said:

1) I am only changing it after a new election and was asked by V to keep people updated. 

2) I looked and you did the exact same on page 3 repeating twice at least.  

3) You can simply ignore this like I do ignore many threads. If someone dies or something changes that is when I go back and make changes 

 

I only post when there is a new President.  That is the generally accepted standard.  It seems as if you were updating the same guy over and over, which is what the main threads are for.

[Bushwa777]

8 minutes ago, OrangeP47 said:

I only post when there is a new President.  That is the generally accepted standard.  It seems as if you were updating the same guy over and over, which is what the main threads are for.

FINE I will simply update the thread and if there is a new pres make a whole new post.  Would that satisfy you?

[OrangeP47]

1 minute ago, Bushwa777 said:

FINE I will simply update the thread and if there is a new pres make a whole new post.  Would that satisfy you?

Look, I'm not mad or anything.  Since this is is kind of a shared/master thread we just want to keep it all in line, lists updated for new presidents and discussion thereof with the play by play in the individual threads.  It'd be great if some of the other tests could get their lists in here as well.  It's fair to say that the standard was unspoken so maybe not obvious, but this was just us making it a little more obvious.

[vcczar]

4 minutes ago, Bushwa777 said:

FINE I will simply update the thread and if there is a new pres make a whole new post.  Would that satisfy you?

That's what everyone else has been doing to my knowledge. I personally don't care either way, but I could see the arguement that continual edits as new posts will sort of flood out everyone else's list if they're done frequently enough. 

What I would do is open a word document or google doc, and do your updates in there. When you get to a new president, you can then just copy+paste it into a new post. 

[Bushwa777]

Well I wont do it here anymore.  If anyone cares I have a thread you can follow.  

[OrangeP47]

2 minutes ago, vcczar said:

That's what everyone else has been doing to my knowledge. I personally don't care either way, but I could see the arguement that continual edits as new posts will sort of flood out everyone else's list if they're done frequently enough. 

What I would do is open a word document or google doc, and do your updates in there. When you get to a new president, you can then just copy+paste it into a new post. 

Yeah I got a whole folder for this stuff, mostly census figures.  If we had custom user titles here I'd request "Census Bureau"

[Bushwa777]

There you go @OrangeP47 your wish is granted 

[OrangeP47]

You didn't have to delete them, just be a little more stringent going forward, that's all we were saying.

[Bushwa777]

1 minute ago, OrangeP47 said:

You didn't have to delete them, just be a little more stringent going forward, that's all we were saying.

Too late its gone and not coming back.  I will not visit this thread again.  

[Bushwa777]

Delated post per request 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 25 by Bushwa777

[OrangeP47]

Bushwa, you're even free to long form description them.  That's not the problem.  Just do a new post only when there's a new member of the list.

[Bushwa777]

3 minutes ago, OrangeP47 said:

Bushwa, you're even free to long form description them.  That's not the problem.  Just do a new post only when there's a new member of the list.

Problem is things happen after the original post. For instance lee did not run in 1800 but became speaker.   I put that in there no one sees it unless i do new post

[OrangeP47]

1 minute ago, Bushwa777 said:

Problem is things happen after the original post. For instance lee did not run in 1800 but became speaker.   I put that in there no one sees it unless i do new post

You can update that information at the time you add the new President (or Vice President) to the list.

It is ridiculous this thread is now being taken up with this spam instead of the other spam.  I am sorry if I failed to communicate what exactly the goal of having fewer posts was.  If you need me to clarify feel free to ask me in PMs.  The short answer is nothing was wrong with your posts at an individual level, and you can make more than one, just please only make one when there is a new politician being added to the list.  Updates to just the narrative without a new pol should be in the individual playtest thread.

 

[OrangeP47]

Changes:  Addition of two new Presidents, as Yates was assassinated late term so we snuck one in pre-election as well.

1840 Playtest Presidents

9th - William Henry Harrison (W-OH) 1841-1845:  Did not die in office as he did in real life, but did not win re-election.  Oversaw an early admission of Texas to the Union and war with both Mexico and Spain.  These wars would not be resolved for many years, and Harrison's incompetent overall administration soured many on the Whigs overall, leading to massive gains for the Democratic Party in both the 42 mid-terms and the 44 general elections.  Nearly all major accomplishments during Harrison's two half-terms focused on military matters or settlement of Westward territories, with the exception of the passage of an Amendment that required a vacancy in the Vice-Presidency to be filled should one arise.

10th - William Marcy (D-NY) 1845-1849:  Marcy was a key figure in the Democratic Party machine and was controversial because of alleged corruption.  He was able to end the war with Spain, but only late in his term, the Mexican war continuing on past the inauguration of his successor, though that would end in eventual victory as well.  Policy wise, Marcy actually wasn't that different from Harrison, merely more competent.  That made the 1848 election close, but he too failed to be re-elected.  The major policy accomplishment of his two-half terms that would be remembered would likely be the creation of the Department of the Interior.

11th - Millard Fillmore (W-NY) 1849:  Unfortunately, history will forget Millard Fillmore, except for the spectacular way he died.  At an event aboard the USS Princeton, a test firing of a new experimental cannon went awry, killing not only Fillmore, but Senator John Berrien and famed elder statesman Henry Clay as well.  Vice President Jacob Broom II ascended to the Acting Presidency.

12th - Jacob Broom II (W-PA) 1849-1853:  As the the first Vice President to ascend to the Presidency, Broom's legacy is largely legitimizing the practice.  He struggled greatly for recognition, and it was not until the very last days of his term when a deadlocked Whig National Convention considered him as their 1852 candidate did he really have any political clout.  He was unable to secure re-election, however. Ironically, he would have a hidden, lasting impact, as he named several justices to the Supreme Court which would remain firmly Whig controlled for the 1850s.

13th - James Polk (D-TN) 1853-1861:  Polk was a master political operator the likes of which America had not seen for some time.  He brought some stability to a chaotic system that saw rapidly swinging fortunes between the parties, and was the first President to be re-elected since Andrew Jackson in 1832.  This was all the more impressive because he often times had to work with a downright hostile Congress.  Polk's accomplishments focused on cementing control of the newly acquired Western lands as well as expanding the voting franchise (for white males), in the best of the Jacksonian tradition.  He would break precedent and attempt to run for a third term in 1860, but would not win that election.

14th - Francis Granger (W-NY) 1861-1873:  His election precipitated a crisis that resulted in Civil War, with the Southern States breaking away over the issue of slavery.  Granger won the Civil War in two short years, however, and while the Whig Party has continued to be internally fractious, Granger personally has long remained personally popular and even more of a beacon of stability than Polk was.  He has continuously passed civil rights legislation and maintained political control at a time when even a united front of Whigs is unable to get much done in other policy areas. Indeed, he has succeeded where no other has before, in 1868 he was elected to a third term.  The length of his time in office has meant that the Democrats have never had a chance to take back control of the Supreme Court either.  While overall the Whigs' division prevented his terms from being as productive as they possibly could have, in addition to the massive gains for civil rights Granger pushed Westward expansion harder than any President since the Mexican War, purchasing a huge swath of Mexico and engaging in several small "wars" against Native Americans and Mormons.

15th - Robert E Lee (W-VA) 1873-1877:  A former general and famous governor of Virginia (though he only had moderate success in the latter role), Lee was hugely popular as a key national figure from the South who remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War.  He was swept into office with a massive tide of support, but suffered a medical emergency and fall shortly into his first year in office.  He made a pretty remarkable recovery, considering 19th century medicine, but was not a great President.  He unilaterally ended Reconstruction, which was still largely popular in the North, and under his watch there were several major disasters with Native Americans defeating American troops in the West, greatly reducing the prestige of the army and stalling Westward settlement to some degree.  In the end, he was not renominated by the Whigs, who as a reaction to his social policies wanted a radical, so selected John C Fremont.  Fremont was a little too radical, however, and lost a close 1876 election campaign.

16th - Howell Cobb (D-GA) 1877-1885:  Cobb was a key figure in the Confederacy, but also a master of propaganda, pageantry, and public relations on par or greater than Granger, Polk, or Marcy.  This allowed him to maintain a stellar reputation despite it all.  He was a conservative and Southerner, but he knew how to throw a bone to Northern and liberal interests at just the right moments to give himself a reputation as a moderate.  Some might argue that is that reputation actually undeserved if he was actually, truly doing the moderate actions?  Notable examples include driving a moderate line on Workers' Rights at a time when many in both parties would like to see Big Business crush the nascent Labor Movement.  The cynics would say this was part of a ploy to industrialize the South over the North, which Cobb also largely accomplished in this time in office.  A good comparison to a Real Life President would probably be Nixon, if you removed Watergate from Nixon.  In that line, though, in Cobb's last two years in office he had a noted decline in commanding presence and sort of went off the rails.  Some blame him for the Democratic Convention spiraling to the level of chaos that is usually reserved for the Whig Convention, and thus the party's failure to hold the White House, but it's hard to say for of course if he's the cause.

17th - Benjamin Robbins Curtis (W-MA) 1885-1887:  Curtis is the least experienced man to rise to the nation's highest office by far, his main credentials being that he is an outspoken liberal intellectual of some note.  The nation was, perhaps simply, tired of Democratic rule after 8 years, especially after Cobb's machinations weakened in the final two years.  There is some precedent for this sort of candidate, as in 1860 James Speed, a legal theorist and professor was selected as the great Granger's running mate.  Though he was often a punching bag politically and failed to obtain the nation's highest office, Speed did have a very respectable career following that nomination by objective standards and was quite astute leading a wing of the party for many years.  Unfortunately, his lack of experience and advanced age made Curtis wholly unsuited for the nation's highest office, especially after his health took a downturn very early on in his first year.  Despite majorities in both houses , the Whig led 49th Congress was the most unproductive in United States history, the only accomplishments of notes being two procedural changes, namely the establishment of party leadership positions and a change in the line of Presidential succession.  Ironically, though an Amendment was in place that allowed a vacant Vice Presidency to be filled, the line of succession would get some use when Curtis died in 1887.

18th - Frederick Douglass (W-NY) 1887-1889:  A historic accomplishment, Douglass' ascent to the Presidency less than 30 years after the Civil War spoke volumes about the state of the nation, even if he had not been elected at the top of the ticket himself.  Unfortunately, so too did much of the opposition he faced.  Douglass proved an effective leader, or at least, an above average leader, but didn't have much time to work with and had many rivals.  Given what he faced, he was able to guide a remarkable slate of bills through a divided Congress that mostly focused on economic recovery, though to be fair nothing earth-shaking, all the while managing to retain a massive amount of respect within the Whig Party.  Unlike former Vice Presidents arose to the Presidency through vacancy, there was little doubt Douglass would run for a term of his own in 1888, and plenty of support for it as well.  It wasn't a sure thing though, and opposition was respectful (internally), because it was only fair to re-evaluate after Curtis' death.  The public at large, of course, was a lot less charitable towards the United States' first non-white President, so Douglass' failure to secure re-nomination wasn't a surprise, nor too was the Whigs' eventual loss in 1888.  The absolutely stounding margin, however, might have been, given Douglass' improvement in quality over Curtis.

19th - George H Pendleton (D-OH) 1889-1897:  President Cobb's Vice President was a reasonable choice for President among Democrats and Democratic supporters, albeit one that may be a bit conservative.  Though the last two years of Cobb's eight were a bit rocky, by and large the public liked Cobb's tenure, and Pendleton was a big part of that successful administration.  Though personally right-wing, he was a Northerner, and combined that meant he seemed like a safe choice that wouldn't rock the boat, a "return to normalcy" if you will.  Pendleton was a largely hands-off President at first, with his area of direct intervention being more foreign affairs.  That might seem risky in this era, but he was the standard-bearer for isolationism and nativism, or in other words, "no foreign affairs", which is what the American people looked for in foreign affairs.  This combined with the best economy on record to date made him quite popular, along with his bombastic style, despite a lack of substance.  Some "experts" feared the economy was actually doing too well, though, and the supercharged environment would just lead to a steeper fall.  In the latter half of his second term, Pendleton took a more hands-on approach to the economy, though for egotistical reasons.  While still objectively good, the economy wasn't as good as it had been earlier, and the people soured on him slightly, though he still had a good deal of popularity.

20th - James A Gary (W-MD) 1897-1901:  Gary was a nominee in the typical Whig mold, though with a bit more robust credentials than some of their past offerings.  He had spent a lifetime in the civil service, capped by high profile Ambassadorial appointments.  This was exactly the high-minded sort of politician the Whig base loved.  He was also from a key state for the Whigs to peel off, Maryland.  Like Curtis before him, Gary was incompetent and easily influenced by his advisors, but unlike Curtis, he was able to maintain a charismatic façade.  Despite blunders from the get go, his popularity was hard to dent.  As predicted, he was something of a foreign affairs focused President, a stark change after previous isolationists.  He will be remembered for a declining economy, drastically reduced relations with Mexico (which while nothing new, Gary really hammered home on and mishandled, despite public forgiveness), and most importantly, the start of the Third Spanish American War.  On paper, America's military should have won easily, especially with France siding with the United States, but Spain proved challenging.  Gary did not enjoy the task of chief administrator, and his blunders tolled on him personally even if the public cared less so, so he declined to run again in 1900.  With the war on, this ironically was seen as the biggest betrayal.  "They say don't change horses mid-stream, but our horse drowned."

21st - Richard Yates Jr (W-IL) 1901-1904: A young, rising star in the Whig party, Yates was perhaps as "exciting" as a Whig candidate could possibly be, with youth, vim, and vigor.  He had traditional government experience, too, having been the governor of Illinois.  He was still a policy wonk as the Whig base tended to prefer, on the other hand, and after nomination, despite personally being more conservative, the Whig platform he crafted and promised was some of the most forward thinking the nation had seen.  As an added bonus, Yates was from the new heart of the nation instead of the East Coast like so many before him (The only states other than the original 13 colonies to have a President before Yates were Ohio and Tennessee).  Sadly, Yates' ambitions were soundly blunted by the controversy of the Election of 1900, which saw the third party Labor Party come in second and throw the election to Congress, even going so far as saddling Yates with a Labor Party Vice President.  Much of his political capital spent, Yates muddled along, and actually had some successes, but every action was tarnished by a lack of mandate.  Yates would at least manage to get by by maintaining solid working relations with all parties, including his Vice President, Silas A Holcomb.  During a campaign stop for re-election in Iowa, Yates was tragically struck down by a left-wing radical.  Direct campainging was still new to the nation, and no one yet realized the potential dangers.

22nd - Silas A Holcomb (L/D-NE) 1904-1905:  Due to the idiosyncrasies of the 12th Amendment, Holcomb was the unlikely choice of the Senate for Vice President following the contingent election in the aftermath of 1900.  He ran under the Labor Party, but in a show of Unity largely plied back with the Democrats once in office, as his running mate had not been so lucky.  In the unstable situation, people came together for the good of the nation, and Holcomb had had a large amount of influence on President Yates, notably being responsible for the US withdrawal from Nicaragua in early 1904.  This would have likely been his legacy, had President Yates not been assassinated later on the campaign trail, elevating Holcomb to the highest office himself.  Out of respect, Holcomb did not rock the boat, but proved a highly competent administrator as he had always been.  Many are left wondering what the man could have done with a full term of his own, though of course he was not at the top of the ticket in 1900 either.

23rd - Robert E Pattison (D-PA) 1905-:  The 1904 Democratic field for President was crowded, but one man stood out and managed to sweep the field, Robert E Pattison.  Objectively, eight years of Whig rule had been decent enough for America.  The nation had expanded and ideas of fresh change were in the air.  On the other hand, the economy had taken its first downturn in nearly 20 years and many preferred stability to change.  Pattison was able to seize on a "Return to Normalcy" for a weary public.  Not only had the past eight years been full of change, but Whig rule was, to put it mildly, chaotic, full of drama.  Even those that disagreed with Democratic positions tended to at least concede that they had more decorum, the natural party of governance, if you will.  It was a winning argument come November, and Pattison was swept into office with a landslide the likes of which hadn't been seen in decades.  How he would preside was something of a mystery, however...

[Arkansas Progressive]

1776 CPU (Bushwa)

Presidents

Vice Presidents

[Bushwa777]

Thanks Ark.  So to put this together at this point we have (I will keep this short) 

Presidents: 

1) William Moultrie: Born 1730, General 1774-1778, Senior General 1778-1784, Governor of South Carolina 1784-1788, elected President 1788, died of plague 1791.

2) John Adams: Born 1735, Continental Congress 1774-1778, Governor of Massachusetts 1782-1786, elected VP 1788, succeeded to Presidency 1791, elected to own term 1792, did not run 1796, retired from politics 1797, came back to be key advisor 1802-1804, retired again 1804 (this can happen with ex-presidents who are retired per rules). 

3) Richard Henry Lee: Born 1732, elected Continental Congress 1774-1776, Governor of Virginia 1786-1788, House of Representatives for VA-1 (1788-1796), House Domestic Chair (1788-1790), Speaker of the House (1790-1796), elected President 1796, did not run 1800, elected to House of Representatives for VA-5 (1800-1803), Speaker of the House (1800-1803), retired from politics and died 1807.

4) George Clinton: Born 1739, Governor of New York (1778-1782, 1788-1790), US Senator from New York (1790-1796), elected VP 1796, elected President 1800, forced to resign 1801. 

5) Benjamin Ogle: Born 1749, elected VP 1800, succeeded to Presidency 1801, elected President 1804, did not run 1808 and retired later that year. 

6) John Page: Born 1743, elected to House of Representatives for VA-3 (1788-1802), Governor of Virginia (1804-1806), House Judicial Chair (1800-1802), elected to House of Representatives for VA-1 (1806-1808), Speaker of the House (1806-1808), elected President 1808.

 

VP: 

1) John Adams (see above)

2) James Armstrong: Born 1728, elected VP 1792, did not run and retired 1796, died 1800

3) George Clinton (see above)

4) Benjamin Ogle (see above)

5) John Jay: Born 1745, Governor of New York (1784-1788), House of Representatives for NY-1( 1788),  Secretary of State (1788-1792), Governor of New York (1792-1794, 1796-1798), Minister to France (1800-1804), ran for President in 1804, elected VP 1804-1808, ran for President in 1808. 

6) Aaron Burr: Born 1756, served on career track 1782-1802, ran for President 1808, elected VP 1808 

Edited April 8 by Bushwa777

[pman]

The 1948 Playtest has seen the USA turn itself into a liberal utopia (I guess the Baby Boom actually made the United States liberal in this version of reality).  A while back in the playtest, in large part in a desire to accommodate some high profile foreign-born pols like Arnold members of both parties passed the Foreign Born Presidents Amendment making it legal for people born outside the USA to become President.

Well, we just elected our first foreign born President and it wasn't anyone terribly high profile. Conservative, Canadian-born Stan Stephens and his running mate John Connally from Texas have just been elected President and Vice President in 1980. We'll see what impact these conservative Republicans have on the liberal America of this play test.