In the Prologue of SM Stirling's Black Chamber and in the 1912 of divergent timeline (B), Theodore Roosevelt is informed of the premature death of President Taft... The rest is alternative history.
Stirling's Roosevelt reflects that Taft had resembled a walrus. The photograph on the Wiki article confirms this.
Reading about alternative histories obliges us to learn some real history. I had not known (much) about Taft. His premature death has to be one of the most abstruse of alternative history premises but such premises are infinite. Any ruler or leader might have lived longer or shorter than he did. Anderson has a story with Alexander living longer than he did and a DC Comics Elseworld had Cromwell living longer than he did.
The airship in Chapter One reminds us, or at least me, of the airships in Stirling's Angrezi Raj. We are in for another adventure in another world...
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I remember reading (and seeing pictures) of how, ahem, "hefty" President Taft was. But it's only right to say that soon after he assumed office Taft listened to his doctors and began a serious program of reducing his weight. Which almost certainly prolonged his lifespan by nearly 20 years.
I agree with what you said about "abstruse" premises. Anything might have changed for the better or worse due to rulers living longer or shorter lives than what we have seen in our time line.
Sean
Taft gained about 60 pounds during the 1912 campaigns — he found fighting Roosevelt very stressful because they’d been close friends once. He actually didn’t much want to be President, and his later career on the Supreme Court was his real desire. In 1912 he hung on to deny Roosevelt power, because he (and many others in the Old Guard) were convinced that Roosevelt had become a dangerous radical who threatened the Constitutional system.
Dear Mr. Stirling,
I knew of how the estrangement between him and Roosevelt grieved Taft. But not of how stress and anxiety again caused him to put on too much weight. Yes, Taft's real ambition was to serve on the Supreme Court. And he was right about how TR had become a dangerous radical. Fortunately, President Taft did not die in our timeline in 1912!
Sean
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