Alternate Presidents

Alternate Anthologies #1

by Mike Resnick

An anthology of pieces, by such writers as Jack L. Chalker, David Gerrold, Michael P. Kube-McDowell, and others, speculates on what might have happened had the presidential elections over the years ended with different results. Original.

Genres: Alternate History, Fiction, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

466 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1992

About the author

Michael "Mike" Diamond Resnick, better known by his published name Mike Resnick, was a popular and prolific American science fiction author. He is, according to Locus, the all-time leading award winner, living or dead, for short science fiction. He was the winner of five Hugos, a Nebula, and other major awards in the United States, France, Spain, Japan, Croatia and Poland. and has been short-listed for major awards in England, Italy and Australia. He was the author of 68 novels, over 250 stories, and 2 screenplays, and was the editor of 41 anthologies. His work has been translated into 25 languages. He was the Guest of Honor at the 2012 Worldcon and can be found online as @ResnickMike on Twitter or at www.mikeresnick.com.

Reviews

[Olivia "So many books--so little time."" · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of the stories in this book are wonderful. Very interesting and informative. I would recommend this book to anybody interested in alternate history,

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with most anthologies this one is 'hit or miss' in terms of the quality or compelling interest of the various selections. That said, Mike Reznick's collection contains more 'hits' than 'misses' and I enjoyed many even if I didn't necessarily think the historical premise was accurate or plausible. Certainly imginative!

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite a few clunkers, this is the best of Resnick's alternate history anthologies.

[Dex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huge enthusiast of alternate history here where the divergence points are not the US Civil War or World War II. C'mon, writers, must alternate history always be about the US South or the Reich or the Rising Sun?

See Victoria Woodhull become President! See Adlai Stevenson get impeached! See Benjamin Franklin get elected instead of George Washington! See Dewey defeat Truman (oh, dear)! See President Dukakis in a mind-altering story regarding the Oval Office and extraterrestrial life! See Ike not liked!

For me, seeing the Democratic nominees from the past who didn't make it to the Oval Office actually making it to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was best. I never said I was non-partisan.

Some really wonderful stories, all of them so entertaining, all of them treasures, and so apropos for our time. What if the 45th President was (?) instead?

[Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some intriguing and interesting stories in this one.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of these (not all) are pretty good if you like the genre, which I do.

[Larry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually with anthologies I say something like "of course it's uneven but it's still pretty good 4 stars." With this one, the good stories were kinda the exception to the overall quality of the book. The premise is good enough that it kept me going through the whole thing, but overall don't recommend.

[Valerie]

I had not heard of the editor before, nor had I been aware that he was prone to editing alternate universe collections.

Most people realize that anthologies tend to be uneven and of widely variable quality, so I'll not belabor the point. I will however, mention that most of these writers were evidently not screened for knowledge of their chosen subjects, and that several of them repeat canards that are harmful in themselves (more detail under individual stories). I also note the insular nature of many of the stories. 'The entire country' is not the cosmos--it's not even the world. Discussions of (say) the role of Prince Albert in preventing British intervention in the American Civil War are almost entirely absent.

CONTENTS (arranged by election years), as in the book)

1789: The Father of His Country (by Jody Lynn Nye)--Benjamin Franklin is a volume in itself. It's not a criticism that a short story can't summarize his complexity. I wish, however, that other characters were better developed. I might suggest comparing the depictions of John Adams & Jefferson with Norton & Edgehill's presentation of both in their 'Lion in Waiting' series. I would also like to hear more in Abigail Adams' voice.

1800: The War of '07 (by Jayge Carr)--Several of these stories force people into partnership with their murderers in our universe. This one is a terrifying story of a Machiavellian Burr, successfully undoing the revolution to establish himself as dictator.

1824: Black Earth & Destiny (by Thomas A Easton), This is one of several stories that go nowhere near the White House. George Washington Carver decides where his destiny lies. Note that several of the mutant and hybrid plants are implausible at best. Carver's resentment of the possibility of his work being weaponized, however, is entirely credible.

1828: Chickasaw Slave (by Judith Moffatt)--This one contains President Davy Crockett at home in Tennessee. Crockett is presented as a more successful politician than the standard "Y'all can go to hell. I'm going to Texas" of our world. This timeline contains a few critical variations: The Trail of Tears doesn't happen, and the votes of First Nations people are critical in US politics; and the slaves of the tribes are not emancipated and merged with the tribes. The narrator apologizes for 'stealing' a slave and seeing him off to freedom--but he argues that he had no choice.

1848: How The South Preserved The Union (by Ralph Roberts) Too many authors in this volume have an obsession with wars and violence. This is one. There is also an odd belief that if the Confederacy had not seceded, the Northern States would have, in several of these stories. Not particularly plausible. Several stories also assume the absence of mediators (like the aforementioned Prince Albert), and push the date of the American Civil War significantly earlier. By 1848, neither the railroads nor the telegraph lines would yet have been complete--and the effects of these lacks are not well documented in any of these stories. In this story, what was going on in Europe in 1848 is also ignored.

1856: Now Falls The Cold, Cold Night (by Jack L Chalker, one of the few names I recognized) I've deliberately avoided learning the story of John Brown. I should probably not have read this story. It is, however, more believably peopled than several of the others.

1860: Lincoln's Charge (by Bill Fawcett) This one I refused to read. I should point out that many of these writers seriously underrate Lincoln.

1872: We Are Not Amused (by Laura Resnick) Not particularly realistic (?). By which I mean that the voice of Victoria is nothing like that of our world's Victoria. Victoria was a prime example of 'the Queen reigns, she does not rule'. She is always represented as being both more and less influential than she was. For example, she kept herself pregnant as long as she could, because she suffered terrible cramping when she was not pregnant (she was treated for the cramps with cannabis, btw). As for Woodhull, I admit that I know very little about her platform. But I DO know that the President has a 'bully pulpit'--but still, as we're beginning to realize, nothing like absolute power.

1876: Patriot's Dream (by Tappan King) I don't quite understand the fascination with Tilden. In this story, ex-President Tilden tries to prevent a second Revolution (?) with the help of his redoubtable wife and daughter. It's not entirely clear what the clairvoyant dreams really symbolize, but Tilden dreads them. Note that the journalist who interviews Tilden is WEB DuBois.

1880: I Shall Have A Flight to Glory (by Michael P Kube-McDowell) Another story in which a(n ex-) President finds himself perforce allied with the person who murdered him in our universe. Guiteau is represented as more honorable and moral than he probably was in reality--but the grievances he brings up are real. The spoils system (may) have been eliminated by our time--but the problems with the electoral college are still with us. I doubt, however, whether the proposed solution would work.

1888: Love Our Lockwood (by Janet Kagan) The use of legalistic (and constitutional) arguments to promote women's suffrage is somewhat interesting. I'm not sure how permanent it would have been, unless the constitution were amended as it was in 1920...

1896: Plowshare (by Martha Soukup) William Jennings Bryan's First Lady prepares to move out of their home, so that it can be turned into a museum. It's odd how, in these stories, most of the Presidential families seem to consist of one daughter only (sometimes with a surviving mother).

1912: The Bull Moose at Bay (by Mike Resnick (editor) Theodore Roosevelt prepares to lose the 1912 election. The depiction of a pre-Campobello FDR is somewhat caricaturish, and Eleanor is not even named, though she was TR's niece.

1920: A Fireside Chat (by Jack Nimersheim) Fantasies of killing Hitler need to be set to rest once and for all. Hitler SURVIVED a murder attempt--and it fed into his millenarian fantasies. Even if such an attempt had succeeded, Hitler himself was NOT the problem. He was an eloquent spokesperson for a form of madness that has existed for many years in one form or another. Frankly, I've always regarded Hitler as a good argument for more adequate but not brilliant artists. If Hitler could've been diverted into a less harmful career, would we really suffer more from more motel-room art than from the Third Reich?

1924: Fighting Bob (by Kristine Kathryn Rusch) Not being as versed in Wisconsin lore as I probably should be, I can't properly critique depictions of LaFollette. Likely there were KKK members among his followers. But whether they would've been allowed in decision-making positions...

1932: Truth, Justice, And The American Way (by Lawrence Watt-Evans) There was quite a bit of antisemitism in many societies in this period--it played an important part in the refusal to accept refugees, especially fleeing the Third Reich.

1936: Kingfish (by Barry N Malzberg--another one I've heard of) On the other hand, I HAVE lived in Louisiana. I can't speak for what Huey P Long would have done if he'd made it to the presidency. I do know one of the reasons the Long family continues in prominence in Louisiana politics. I went to several schools in Louisiana--and most of them had very cheap or even free lunches--which for many students was the main meal (sometimes the only meal) of the day. Like most machine politicians, Huey P Long was a complex figure. A short story is simply not long enough to do him justice.

1944: No Other Choice (by Barbara DeLaPlace) I read this, even though I recognized pretty quickly that it was based on a propagandistic fraud. I needn't go over it in detail: there's wide understanding that the Japanese leaders were TRYING TO SURRENDER in 1945. Why wasn't the surrender accepted? Because (a) they where trying to surrender to the Soviets, not the Americans, and (b) they wouldn't agree to unconditional surrender. Further, the 'one million' number for (American) casualties if the main islands were invaded was the extreme high range of an already fraudulent assumption that there would be such an invasion.

The worst falsehood in this story, however, might seem to be a minor one. Bikini atoll had not been 'uninhabited' in 1944 for more than 3000 years. In her book No Facilities for Women, Charlotte Ebener argues that the Bikini Islanders had no right to complain about their displacement because they were built houses better than those of the average American worker. This is irrelevant. Tropical houses MUST not be built the same way as Temperate Zone Houses--they're not livable in the tropics. But these houses were built for families that were NEVER going to be able to live in their destroyed home again. The survivors of the Marshall Islands are still dependent on medical care and other services, and not only because they were permanently displaced. In my cartoon collection I have two cartoons relevant to the coerced displacement of the Bikinites. One shows an American amphibious craft arriving at Bikini to be confronted by a spokesman who explains "The locals have voted 2 to 1 against you conducting your experiments in this vicinity". Another shows an American spokesman elaborately explaining what's going to happen. His companions are wondering "Why doesn't he just tell them there's going to be a hell of a bang, and leave it at that?".

The fact is that there was DELIBERATE injury done to the Pacific Islanders, and not only by the Americans. In at least one case, weather forecasters before a test blast were informed that the contemporary winds over the test area would result in fallout hitting an inhabited island. They didn't abort the test. They did move their own people out. They did NOT warn the islanders--but they did send in medical personnel to observe the victims after the 'accidental' exposure. It was only after the 'Lucky Dragon #5' incident that people in Japan and elsewhere began to take cognizance of the 'worse effects' that the author refers to in this story (see Hiroshima-shi Nagasaki-shi for details.)

1952: The Impeachment of Adlai Stevenson (by David Gerrold, author of "The Trouble with Tribbles") Really more about writing his resignation letter (and an alternate, crying defiance),

1960: Heavy Metal (by Barry N Malzberg--didn't have to enter his name in the spellchecker again, because he also wrote and earlier story in this volume) By 1960, Nixon had already had the nickname 'Tricky Dick' for years. It's unlikely that he'd've been any more successful as president in the early '60s.

1964: Fellow Americans (by Eileen Gunn) Goldwater has been maligned at least since the time of LBJ. Justly, some might say. Extremism is ALWAYS a vice. But he's been somewhat rehabilitated in late years, at least partly (alas) because he's been succeeded by even worse nutcases.

1968: Dispatches from The Revolution (by Pat Cadigan) This is beginning to impinge on personal memory. People's memories of this period tend to vary on a "What You Are Is Where You Were When" basis. I was a child. My view of the situation was that it wasn't anything like as chaotic as it was depicted--and not even CLOSE to as violent. COULD the events depicted have happened? It's hard to say. But it's likely that the resiliency of the populace is underrated, given what's happened since.

1972: What if They Gave A Peace... (by Susan Schwartz--another author I've heard of) I think the choice of a bigoted but not anti-war veteran as narrator was a mistake. I don't know if it'd been revealed by the time this book was published that a peace treaty was not signed in 1968 because Nixon deliberately sabotaged the talks. There's no reason to believe that peace would not be achieved on more or less the same terms as eventually happened earlier; indeed, better terms might've been won. But that's not the worst part. The narrator recommends things that were actually done in our world--and new victims are still being born, mostly in the US & Vietnam. The defoliants that were used (think Agent Orange) inflicted genetic damage on many who were exposed. Further, the destruction of the rainforests has devastated Vietnam and other areas since--to give only one example, erosion has significantly increased therefor. Based on one guest on What's My Line, there was a fair population of tigers in Vietnam as late as the early '60s. Presently there may be as many as 30--in Vietnam AND Laos.

One important note. The argument that 'the enemy' don't care what happens to their own people (so we needn't, either) is worse that specious. People's value as humans (and their capacity for suffering) is inalienable, no matter WHAT their leaders think of them. Further, the narrator has NO IDEA what the Viet Cong leaders thought.

All in all, a fairly silly set of presumptions. Even the (partial) redemption and (ambiguous)humanity of the narrator can't overcome the absurdity, not even on Ashleigh Brilliant's "If you make one or two ridiculous assumptions, you'll find everything I do or say completely justified" basis.

1972 (B?): Paper Trail (by Brian Thomsen) What if Watergate had come to light BEFORE the 1972 election? I won't spoil the ending, but I will say that the notion that anybody would've tried to murder Woodward & Bernstein is a LITTLE far-fetched, even for Watergate.

1976: Demarche to Iran (by Alexis A Gilliland) Frankly, I find the dialog in this story a bit improbable. And I doubt the idea that threatening people with nuclear annihilation would have any result other than what's happening now, with the people threatened racing to assemble a deterrent. When the Iranian agreement not to attempt to build nuclear weapons was signed, I remember, one young man (few Iranians remember 1979, because the median age in Iran is 29.4) shouted "Death to nobody! Long live life!"

I should point out that I didn't vote in the 1976, because, being in Australia, I knew I didn't know enough to make an informed choice. I don't regret this decision, because I was right. But I also don't regret that a lot of people who DIDN'T know that they didn't know enough to make an informed choice made the right choice for the wrong reasons, as I would've made the wrong ch0ice for the right reasons.

1984: Huddled Masses (by Lawrence Person) Wars in Mexico have never had the effect of causing Mexicans to take refuge en masse in the US. Not even when the US government has waged wars in Mexico. Which is not to say that Mexicans haven't come to the US--just not disproportionately, no matter how bad things got there. The narrator in this story is a sickeningly familiar stereotype (? or at least I'd like to HOPE it's a stereotype); if anything, a little more ambivalent than the loudest among this cadre.

1988: Dukakis And The Aliens (by Robert Sheckley) If I'd had to bet which of these stories was written by David Gerrold sight unseen, I'd've bet this one. I'd've lost. It's farcical paranoid xenophobia, exaggerated to the point of mere grossology. Gerrold would probably have done it better, based on The Flying Sorcerer (co-authored with Larry Niven).

My Summary: All in all, the basic premise might've been MUCH better handled. I don't regret that I read the book. There were some gems among the dross--but I don't plan to read it again, or to seek out the editor's other collections.

[Leah Coffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag, as most anthologies are. The best ones seem to take place in either the Revolutionary or Civil War eras. (The Aaron Burr presidency is certainly the most chilling, and "How the South Preserved the Union" is fascinating.) The further things go towards the eighties, though, the more ridiculous things get. A lot of people have complained about the "Dukakis versus the aliens" story, but I think the main problem is that you could have plugged in literally any other Presidential contender of the era and had the same story; it doesn't hinge on knowing anything about Dukakis at all, and that's why it's not convincing, or even terribly funny. Still, as a whole, this collection is definitely worth a read.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good collection for alternate history fans and for POTUS nostalgia and trivia buffs in general. I like the fact that the stories are arranged chronologically rather than by the traditional method of the putting the best ones at the end and the beginning. Resnick provides a brief and interesting introduction to each story explaining the context. My favorite is Resnick's own Roosevelt story.

[Matthew Kresal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every four years, American voters get the chance to elect a new President. The choices voters, and sometimes the House of Representatives, made on those occasions have been a rich vein from which alternate history writers have drawn to tell stories. The late but prolific writer and editor Mike Resnick certainly thought so, commissioning a volume with more than two dozen such tales. Published as the 1992 Presidential race was getting firmly underway, Alternate Presidents remain an intriguing collection to this day.

Across twenty-eight stories, Resnick assembled writers and their tales of different commanders in chief. There as wide-ranging as Benjamin Franklin as the first president instead of George Washington to Victoria Woodhull becoming America's first female president in 1872, to two very different presidencies for Thomas Dewey and Michael Dukakis's first day in office taking him to Dulce Base in New Mexico. As that description might attest, the anthology runs a wide gambit between plausible alternatives and downright ludicrous.

(Full review to be published on the Sea Lion Press blog.)

[Josh Morton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the most interesting alternate history book I’ve read. With the multitudes of different authors every story does feel completely different from the last with some overlaps, like the north starting the civil war in multiple stories. A lot of the stories lack realism, like Burr becoming an evil dictator that conquers the continent or John Brown leading a northern rebellion with Daniel Webster. Even if some lack the accuracy they make up for it in compelling stories that only make you longing for more pages. Particularly the McGovern Vietnam story puzzles me by its complete lack of alternate history with it following a father who’s son is serving in Vietnam and could 100% be a historical short story outside of one television scene. The alternate civil war covering a young aide to the president fighting a northern rebellion may be my favorite. I feel some of the scenarios were wasted like the Dewey winning not covering what a Dewey presidency would actually look. Overall still a solid collection.

[TJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Alternate Presidents" consists of a number of interesting "what if the other guy won?" stories covering approximately 25 or so Presidential elections. What would have happened if George Washington would have declined to run and the young country turned to Benjamin Franklin instead? And, what would the country look like with Abraham Lincoln as a Union General instead of Commander-in-Chief? What would have happened if FDR became President a couple of decades before he did? And, with more recent history in mind, how would the country operate under Presidents Barry Goldwater, Aldai Stevenson, and Michael Dukakis?

There are some duds in the anthology that I ended up skimming through, but more than half are thought-provoking and well-crafted.

[Leigh Kimmel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many theme anthologies, it's rather uneven, with some really great stories and some so meh that one wonders whether someone was Too Big To Edit. It's arranged by Presidential election, and looks at what might have happened had a different candidate been elected. For most stories, this means the historical winner's opponent, but in a few we have something completely off the wall, like the very first one, in which Ben Franklin rather than George Washington becomes our first President, with unsurprising consequences, given Ben's ornery character.

[Thistle · Rating 1 out of 5]

A collection of stories about what would happen if whichever president won had actually lost.

First story: 50 or so pages, all in italics. I couldn't read it.

Second story: About Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr (sir). It was the funniest experience attempting to read it. It was (of course) so different than the Hamilton musical, but apparently that Hamilton and Burr are forever in my head as the "right" characterization, so I couldn't read the story at all, because it was so "wrong". Sorry, author, my bad.

DNF from that point.

[Shanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

From 1789 to 1988, what if the other guy (rarely gal) won? Most of the stories were fairly predictable, taking the opposing candidate's program to an extreme to extrapolate what might have been. Lots of political rhetoric and shenanigans. The story I most liked was "Suppose They Gave a Peace" by Susan Shwartz, because of the character development.

[Christopher Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a VERY interesting book. I love alternate histories and love thinking up what worlds could have been like if one small thing changed an outcome to something else. Highly recommend!

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the idea of alternative history. This book tells about what might have been if different people won certain elections.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cheesy shlock. Some good shit imo.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and could not put it down at all! Very good mix of stories and it ended with a properly zany one. It’s fascinating exploring “what if?” especially when done so by good authors.

[Carole · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with most short story collections, this set is a little uneven, but for the most part, editor Mike Resnick has put together an excellent grouping. The premise behind each offering is "what would happen if the losing person was elected in X year?" What kind of president would Dewey have been? What would have been the course of the Civil War if Abraham Lincoln had never been president and instead, served as a general for the North? And what about the result of the first election I was able to vote in? What if Michael Dukakis had won instead of George Bush?

Mike Resnick has quite a few alternate timeline books to his credit. If this sort of literary conjecture is your cup of tea, do not miss out on this one.

[Unwisely · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was browsing the SF section, and saw this. I thought to myself, hey, I can totally discuss this with Daniel O'Brien, he'll love it! Then I remembered I don't actually know or hang out with him. But other than that it was a good plan. (Hey, DOB, hit me up if you're in town, we could nerd out.)

What I learned is I was not as well versed in American history as I thought I was. So I learned some things (particularly with a side of wikipedia). Like most short story collections, it was kind of uneven, but there were enough good or interesting could-have-beens to keep me reading.

[Joel Manuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of alternate history short stories about what might have happened if "also-rans" had won the presidency, from 1789 to 1989. Only a few clunkers; I particularly liked the ones in which Lincoln was a political general under Pres. Stephen Douglas, Pres. Huey Long has a special plan for dealing with Hitler, and the last one, in which President Dukakis learns the truth about aliens.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its been many years but I remember Resnick's Alternate series of books being a hell of a lot of fun to read! As has been said here, there were a few that missed the mark but the majority of the stories from all three were great!

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent collection of short alternate histories of American presidential elections. While a couple of the 28 stories in this volume were uneven, the majority of stories were rather good. Recommend reading for alt-hist fans and those interested in history of American presidents.

[Rob Rausch · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book on my shelf and re-read it about 20 years after I originally read it - it wasn't as good as I had remembered, but still had a few entertaining stories.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good collection that loses steam with a couple of ludicrously bad 1976 and 1980 scenarios.

[Peter Johnston · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly ordinary collection of essays masquerading as short stories.

[Douglas Berry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mixed collection of stories concerning different presidential outcomes. Generally a good read.