Question for Americans: Mini-Scenario idea

[ffutures]

Had a weird idea for a mini-scenario for the time travel thing based on US politics, but I don't know US political history well enough to be sure it works. About all of the background you need is that it is possible to remove someone from the past without affecting the present.

Take a look, let me know what you think:

Scenario Idea: Saving President Lincoln
One of the most thoroughly documented leaders of recent years was President Lincoln. Historians know when he lived and exactly when and where he died. Wealthy members of the Republican Party have had the idea of rescuing him from assassination and bringing him to the present to endorse their next candidate for the presidency. While there is currently a Republican President, Theodore Roosevelt, he's refusing to back the idea or supply any help - while he has nothing against Lincoln, his stated position is that he doesn't wish to set a precedent that will lead to officially-sanctioned "retrieval" of people from the past, in contravention of America's laws against involuntary temporal transportation. He doesn't believe that Lincoln would come willingly. An unstated reason is that Roosevelt is also a little worried that the party might select Lincoln as its candidate at the next election if he proves unpopular, since there's nothing to stop either of them running for a third term of office.
  Despite the lack of Presidential support the plan is going ahead, but to minimalise government interference will be mounted from a British ship. All of the Republicans involved have promised that Lincoln will only be brought to the present if he comes voluntarily.
  The adventurers (who should be reasonably well-connected Britons) are asked to accompany the expedition as witnesses, to make sure that Lincoln is not coerced. At least one should be working for the British Secret Service, making sure (at the request of President Roosevelt) that the mission fails.

Comments

[elementalv.livejournal.com]

That's a beautifully twisted bit of RPG you have there. I'd love to play it myself.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I aim to please...

[captboulanger.livejournal.com]

Note that, until 1940, it was customary (in respect to President Washington, who as the first president set this precedent) that the President retire after two terms. Since President Lincoln was re-elected, and in fact sworn in for his second term a few weeks before being assasinated, he would probably not run again anyway, because he would have already been serving his second term. (This custom was broken by FDR in 1940, and then amended into the Constitution as law a couple decades later.)

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Customary yes, a legal requirement no. Given that Lincoln only served a few weeks, and might be the overwhelming popular candidate, politicians could be tempted to suggest to him that he should take his second term. I'll change the wording slightly re Roosevelt, since I think he would follow custom, to make it clear that this is his first term.

How does this sound?

Scenario Idea: Saving President Lincoln

One of the most thoroughly documented leaders of recent years was President Lincoln. Historians know when he lived and exactly when and where he died. Wealthy members of the Republican Party have had the idea of rescuing him from assassination and bringing him to the present to endorse their next candidate for the presidency. Recently-elected Republican President Theodore Roosevelt is refusing to back the idea or supply any help - while he has nothing against Lincoln, his stated position is that he doesn't wish to set a precedent that will lead to officially-sanctioned "retrieval" of people from the past, in contravention of America's laws against involuntary temporal transportation. He doesn't believe that Lincoln would come willingly. An unstated reason is that Roosevelt is also a little worried that the party might select Lincoln as its candidate at the next election if his first term proves unpopular, since there's no law to prevent Lincoln running for a third term of office; while there's a custom against it, Lincoln served such a short part of his second term that he might be persuaded that it doesn't count.

  Despite the lack of Presidential support the plan is going ahead, but to minimalise government interference will be mounted from a British ship. All of the Republicans involved have promised that Lincoln will only be brought to the present if he comes voluntarily.

  The adventurers (who should be reasonably well-connected Britons) are asked to accompany the expedition as witnesses, to make sure that Lincoln is not coerced. At least one should be working for the British Secret Service, making sure (at the request of President Roosevelt) that the mission fails.

[captboulanger.livejournal.com]

Looks reasonable. It's interesting to note, also, that in his first term, (1901 I think) Teddy Roosevelt was also in an interesting legal position, having taken over from a president (McKinley) assassinated very early in his second term. Thus, come 1908, he could have argued that he had not been *elected* to two terms... and in fact he did run as a third-party candidate in 1912 using exactly that argument. However, as he had served nearly all of that 1901-05 term, and being elected to the following one in 1904, he did not run in 1908.

[armb.livejournal.com]

> About all of the background you need is that it is possible to remove someone from the past without affecting the present.

What if they don't remove him? To get him to come voluntarily can they tell him what will happen to him if he doesn't? What if he then decides to stay but take additional precautions? Even if they don't tell him, what if he guesses that time-travellers would only risk taking someone about to die?
Or can they just make it as if the encounter never happened if he says no?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I can't really discuss this without going deep into (a) how people think time travel works in this setting and (b) how time travel really works in this setting. Which, strangely enough, are two very different things. Since working this one out is going to be a major stage of the campaign I'd prefer not to go into it here.

[captboulanger.livejournal.com]

Even without telling anyone anything, they could create quite the paradox simply by preventing the assassination. In Lincoln's case, he was shot from the back of the Presidential Box at the theater - by a well-known actor who frequently performed there and thus was let through security, even though he had no connection to the performance the President was there to see. Thus, the assassination could possibly be prevented simply by properly enforcing building security...

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Again, this is getting into the stuff I don't want to discuss.