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"History will remember what I did here."

Forgotten No More: A Presidential TL is an election game on the forum AlternateHistory.com, originally created by Osk and expanded with the help of many people. As the name implies, history is retold through the lens of the US Presidency - although with a twist: None of the Presidents may have run for the office in real life, no matter how notable. So not only are George Washington or Abraham Lincoln barred from the White House, but also people like Al Gore, Eugene Debs, or Thomas Dewey. This has created a colorful and often dysfunctional cast of Presidents.

Forgotten No More has grown since May 2015 to become one of the more notable election games on Ah.com's Shared Worlds forum, with the timeline having just hit the year 1900 after a rather interesting three-term presidency. The main thread can be found here; as it is in the Shared Worlds subforum, you require an account to view it. However, there is a thread of only the main updates here, which can be viewed without an account. Most of the player-created content is in the main thread, unfortunately, as are the elections that actually push the history forward.


Contains examples of:

  • Bodyguard Betrayal: Played with, as the President in question had been impeached and accused of assassinating his political rival; the Presidential Guard accidentally assassinate Custer in the Oval Office while trying to arrest him.
  • Democracy Is Flawed: Hoo boy. The last President of the 19th Century openly and brazenly rigged the Electoral College in the face of a landslide defeat to grab an unprecedented third term, sparking a chain of events that led to his eventual humiliation, impeachment, and death.
  • Different States of America: Radically so.
  • Expanded States of America: While it doesn't have southern California, Texas, or much of the Louisiana Purchase, as of 1900 the US nevertheless controls all of modern-day Canada, Belize, and parts of Central America.
  • Fictional Political Party: Of course, given the nature of the game:
    • The Federalists are a subversion; they actually existed in real life from 1789 to 1824, before they were mostly supplanted by the Democratic-Republicans. In this world, however, not only did they survive, but they have evolved enough over the years to be considered this trope in effect. They are often referred to as the "Natural Party of Government," due to their longevity, electoral success, and reputation for centrist policies. The fact that their success is often due to less-than-honest means is conveniently lost on their leadership.
    • The Workers' Party is an unusual animal, fusing two ideologies (far-left populism/democratic socialism and Christian democracy) into a whole that has embodied the American anti-elite trend up until the "present day." The advent of the 20th Century saw a dramatic shift towards secularism and "industrial" socialism, due in part to the collapse of Soqualist Labor, the New Gloom of the Miles Presidency, and the victory of Jewish Andy Rabinovich in 1912.
    • The now-defunct American Party was a "radical liberal" party advocating small government and general libertarian policies. They got a few people into the White House before collapsing in the late 1800s in favor of the Workers. They teetered on the edge of oblivion as the Liberal Reform Party before finally succumbing in the 1880s, their base poached by both major parties and the Soqualists.
    • There are a number of other minor parties who are notably more powerful than real American third parties. They include the Soqualists, the Constitution Party, and the Prohibition Party. As of the turn of the 20th Century, the SLP has fallen apart due to suppression on the part of the Custer administration, and they have mostly been lapped up by the WP, while the Prohibition movement fizzled during the war and has not resurged since. As of 1917, this may be different - the CP beat the Federalists in both the electoral and popular vote, creating a potential upset in the American political scene.
  • Historical Villain Upgrade: Libby Custer assassinates Washington Gladden, Worker's Party Presidential nominee and the victor of the 1896 election, to ensure her husband's third term.
  • Landslide Election: Notably averted for the most part; very few Presidents even win a majority of the popular vote, and several elections have gone to Congress.
  • Our Presidents Are Different: Considering that the timeline is based on the US Presidency, this is a given.
    • George Custer (depending on your viewpoint of him) could be considered President Evil, President Corrupt, and/or even President Lunatic. Those with a more sympathetic view of him see him as President Action and President Iron, for his three-term leadership through the Great War against Britain. Without a doubt, he epitomizes President Jerkass.
    • Poor Frederick Frelinghuysen only occupied the White House for a single year before he became President Target, assassinated by a man he'd passed over for promotion.
    • Artemas Ward, the first President, was an early version of President Focus Group - he spent much of his time trying to hold together the squabbling young country.
    • Henry B. Whipple, the first Workers president, is widely considered the epitome of President Personable. He was excellent at building bridges, genuinely a pleasant and pious man, and oversaw an economic boom.
  • Praetorian Guard: The Presidential Guard, established as both bodyguard and garrison for the District of Columbia.
  • Putting on the Reich: The US Army has adopted many of the traditions and aesthetics of their allies the German Empire, most notably the iconic Pickelhaube.
  • Vote Early, Vote Often: A distressingly common occurrence. Usually a staple of the Federalists, although the Workers get in on it too.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: Presidents Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, Fernando Wood, and Arthur Pue Gorman.

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