President George Marshall

[David Tenner]

Have we ever had anything about George Marshall becoming POTUS in 1947? The
1947 Presidential Succesion Act was signed on July 18, and Marshall had been
Secretary of State since January 21. So that leaves almost six months when he
was next in line.

No doubt he would see himslef as a tempotaty caretaker non-partisan
president, and would not run in 1948, but could still make an impact--e.g.,
on the Palestine issue.

[Robert Woodward]

Post by David Tenner
Have we ever had anything about George Marshall becoming POTUS in 1947? The
1947 Presidential Succesion Act was signed on July 18, and Marshall had been
Secretary of State since January 21. So that leaves almost six months when he
was next in line.
No doubt he would see himslef as a tempotaty caretaker non-partisan
president, and would not run in 1948, but could still make an impact--e.g.,
on the Palestine issue.

But, in OTL, how important was Truman's recognition? If Israel survived
the multiple invasions, would Marshal recognize it anyway? Or would he
leave that to the next president? Who would be the Democratic Party
candidate anyway? Would the party bosses swallow Wallace? The northern
liberal wing would probably oppose James Byrnes.

[Rich Rostrom]

Post by David Tenner
Have we ever had anything about George Marshall becoming POTUS in 1947? The
1947 Presidential Succesion Act was signed on July 18, and Marshall had been
Secretary of State since January 21. So that leaves almost six months when he
was next in line.
No doubt he would see himslef as a tempotaty caretaker non-partisan
president, and would not run in 1948, but could still make an impact--e.g.,
on the Palestine issue.

Indeed. And one way he could become President would
be if Truman was assassinated by Lehi (Lohamei Herut
Israel), better known as the Stern Gang of ultra-Zionist
terrorists.

There are reports that Lehi sent letter bombs to the
Truman White House.

It would be highly ironic if Lehi succeeded in killing
the pro-Israel Truman and putting pro-Arab Marshall into
the presidency.

The US would thereafter vehemently oppose the UN plan to
partition Palestine and create a Jewish-controlled zone.
Since US pressure was key to several nations' votes for
partition, it is quite likely that the vote fails. The
Zionists might still go ahead, and could still possibly
defeat the Arabs, but it would be much harder, with no
legal basis for Zionist authority.