Friday, May 28, 2010

Alternate history: five American presidents

At io9, David Daw came up with a few American presidents in alternate history. One alt-president from his list:
Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip

One of the first alternate history presidencies was the satirical fascist presidency of Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip in It Can't Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis. Published in 1935, the book centers on Windrip's presidency as he quickly rises to power after promising every American 500 dollars and then turns the US into a fascist dictatorship opposed by surprisingly few citizens. The story was popular enough to be adapted into a play and a 1960's TV movie and, after some network rejiggering, was actually the basis for the original 1980's V series.
Read about the other alternate presidents on Daws' list.

--Marshal Zeringue