Plenty of presidents have had military experience but only 4 moved directly from the military to the Presidency (Washington, Taylor, Grant, and Eisenhower), they all came from the army. When alt history military presidents are suggested (MacArthur, Patton, Powell) they are also from the army. Interestingly though of all the WWII veteran presidents only 2 came from the army (Eisenhower and Reagan) the rest were all in the navy. It made me wonder if a high ranking naval officer could go from the Navy directly to the presidency. Are there any Admirals who could make for particular good, bad, or interesting presidents?
Admiral turn POTUS
- Thread starter Chillvillain
- Start date
I didn't count them because they did have brief political careers between the end of their army service and the beginning of their presidencies.
A post of mine from 2019: https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/ahc-admirals-for-potus.470030/#post-19098464
***
We have had generals as POTUS, but never any admirals. Some possibilities (from both before and after 1900):
(1) David Farragut (Lincoln decides he needs a Southern War Democrat on the Union Party ticket in 1864, and Farragut has a lot more popular appeal than Andrew Johnson...)
(2) George Dewey ("Dewey explored a run for the 1900 Democratic presidential nomination, but he withdrew from the race and endorsed President William McKinley." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dewey)
(3) Elmo Zumwalt if he had been elected to the Senate from Virginia--though he lost rather badly to Harry Byrd, Jr. in OTL. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_United_States_Senate_election_in_Virginia (Maybe if Byrd had decided to leave the Senate in 1976 rather than 1982, feeling that his victory as an Independent in 1970 was sufficient vindication, Zumwalt would have had a better chance.)
(4) Joe Sestak--his current candidacy is being treated as a joke but if he had defeated Toomey in the close 2010 Senate race and then gotten re-elected in 2016 (both of which are plausible--or he might even have been elected in 2016 for the first time if he had won the Democratic primary that year) he would presumably be taken more seriously. But this is current politics.
(Of course there's always Larry Niven's Admiral Heinlein!)
***
We have had generals as POTUS, but never any admirals. Some possibilities (from both before and after 1900):
(1) David Farragut (Lincoln decides he needs a Southern War Democrat on the Union Party ticket in 1864, and Farragut has a lot more popular appeal than Andrew Johnson...)
(2) George Dewey ("Dewey explored a run for the 1900 Democratic presidential nomination, but he withdrew from the race and endorsed President William McKinley." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dewey)
(3) Elmo Zumwalt if he had been elected to the Senate from Virginia--though he lost rather badly to Harry Byrd, Jr. in OTL. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_United_States_Senate_election_in_Virginia (Maybe if Byrd had decided to leave the Senate in 1976 rather than 1982, feeling that his victory as an Independent in 1970 was sufficient vindication, Zumwalt would have had a better chance.)
(4) Joe Sestak--his current candidacy is being treated as a joke but if he had defeated Toomey in the close 2010 Senate race and then gotten re-elected in 2016 (both of which are plausible--or he might even have been elected in 2016 for the first time if he had won the Democratic primary that year) he would presumably be taken more seriously. But this is current politics.
(Of course there's always Larry Niven's Admiral Heinlein!)
I would love to see a Farraguat presidency ngl. "Damn the torpedoes, Full Steam Ahead!!!"
Oh now thats an interesting one too.
Deleted member 139407
There was a brief period in the 2020 race where William McRaven pushed as a good candidate. There was even a push to have an independent Andrew Yang/William McRaven ticket going into the election by Bret Weinstein (there was even a Change petition).
Sekhmet_D
Kicked
Halsey as POTUS, now that would've been something. Only Patton as POTUS would eclipse such a prospect.
Robert Anson Heinlein.
We can't be letting the Soviets build spacecraft, after all.
We can't be letting the Soviets build spacecraft, after all.
From the War of 1812 John Rodgers or maybe Stephen Decatur.
From the ACW Farragut or maybe Samuel Lee, for commanding the North Atlantic blockade.
From the Spanish-American War, Dewey actually considered a run.
From WW2 the most obvious choice would be Nimitz, if you could convince him to run. Spruance could probably do it too. Halsey could be viable too if you convince him and avoid "the world wonders."
From the ACW Farragut or maybe Samuel Lee, for commanding the North Atlantic blockade.
From the Spanish-American War, Dewey actually considered a run.
From WW2 the most obvious choice would be Nimitz, if you could convince him to run. Spruance could probably do it too. Halsey could be viable too if you convince him and avoid "the world wonders."
Jackson was active in politics long before his brief military command: he was a US Representative and Senator in 1796-1798. He returned to the Senate in 1823, serving until 1825.
Harrison was a soldier from 1791 to 1798 (as a junior officer), and again in 1811 to 1814 (as an army commander).
His political career was far more extensive. In 1798 he was elected Congressional Delegate from the Northwest Territory. In 1801 he was appointed Governor of Indiana Territory, serving until 1812. After resigning from the army in 1814, he moved to Ohio, and was elected US Representative in 1816. In 1819 he was elected to the Ohio state senate; in 1820 he ran for governor; in 1822 he ran for US Representative; and in 1824 was elected US Senator, serving until 1828, when he was appointed US Minister to Colombia (where he stayed only three months).
From 1829 to 1836, he was a private citizen. In 1836 he was appointed Clerk of Courts for Hamilton County - because he was nearly broke and needed a job. At the same time, he retained a national reputation, and was one of three regional candidates nominated for President by the new Whig Party in 1836. He carried nine states.
So by 1840, he had been active in politics for about 25 years, which is hardly brief.
Seriously? How would it NOT be "Damn the Democrats! Full Steam Ahead!"
And yes I'd like to see that explored as well
And there's a 'ticket' you'd like to see... But who would be VPOTUS between the two
Randy
i mean that would definitely be the timelines/story's title. I was just quoting his most famous order/quote.Seriously? How would it NOT be "Damn the Democrats! Full Steam Ahead!"
IDK how political he was, but I'd have love to see Lockwood as POTUS. (If you want political, look at Kelly Turner.)
And if I can tout a low-probability candidate (if only because he did run for office after the war; I can't recall if he won): George Grider (who served aboard Wahoo and wrote a book about his experience).
POTUS RAH may not be as impossible as it sounds. He was a very political guy in private. (OTOH, he had some pretty radical ideas that would more/less make him unelectable...& I don't mean the usual charges of fascism.)
And if I can tout a low-probability candidate
(if only because he did run for office after the war; I can't recall if he won): George Grider (who served aboard Wahoo and wrote a book about his experience).POTUS RAH may not be as impossible as it sounds. He was a very political guy in private. (OTOH, he had some pretty radical ideas that would more/less make him unelectable...& I don't mean the usual charges of fascism.)
Any chance of getting an admiral as either Harding's VP in 1920 or FDR's VP in 1944?
He actually did run for a California state legislature seat in 1938, though failed to make it out of the Democratic primary. He abandoned politics because of a need to feed himself. So the idea of Heinlein running for office isn't outlandish. But if you want Admiral Heinlein running for high office, you first need to keep him in the Navy long enough to become a flag officer.
Your usage of time-traveling Senators may vary in accomplishing this, however.