Who else could have been president other than Lincoln?

[Gentleman Johnny]

Who else would have been the President? Let's say for whatever reason, Abe Lincoln will not be the Republican nominee. Who would have been president instead? And what would Lincoln be doing since he isn't president? How would the alternate president have handled the Civil War? Would Hamlin still be Vice-President?

 

[Fiver]

Without Lincoln, Seward is hands down the most likely Republican candidate. Simon Cameron, Salmon Chase, and Edward Bates are possible, but much less likely. If Lincoln has a role in the government, Vice President or Attorney General seem the most likely positions. If Lincoln isn't VP, Hamlin is still the most likely for that position.

 

[Mikestone8]

Without Lincoln, Seward is hands down the most likely Republican candidate. Simon Cameron, Salmon Chase, and Edward Bates are possible, but much less likely. If Lincoln has a role in the government, Vice President or Attorney General seem the most likely positions. If Lincoln isn't VP, Hamlin is still the most likely for that position.

That would mean POTUS and VP were both from the Northeast.

If not Lincoln as VP, I'd have thought Lyman Trumbull. He was also from the West, and like Hamlin a former Democrat to balance Seward who was an ex-Whig.

 

[Alexander Hamilton]

I agree that Seward is the most likely choice. If Seward is the nominee, Lincoln would not be a good VP choice since he is also a former Whig and Trumbull is a good ticket balancer as an ex-Democrat and a Midwesterner. Chase is also an ex-Democrat and a Midwesterner but a Seward/Chase ticket might be considered "too radical" and Chase had a gigantic ego and might not accept the second spot.
If Trumbull is the VP nominee does Lincoln accept a cabinet position such as Attorney General or Secretary of the Interior or does he hope to be appointed to the Senate to replace Trumbull? Lincoln had already run for the Senate twice and had set that as his goal in life before running his long shot race for the Presidential nomination.
If Seward is the nominee and likely winner in a four way race, who would he nominate to be his Secretary of State? If Senator Charles Sumner is sufficiently recovered from his famous beating by Brooks he might be a likely choice as the GOP's acknowledged foreign policy expert but he was a difficult person to work with and Seward might shy away from him. Secretary of State was considered the number two position in the Federal Government at the time and Seward showed how critical it was both in dealing with foreign powers and acting as Lincoln's right hand man on many domestic matters. A bad choice, such as Simeon Cameron, could have disastrous effects on the Union's activities in the war.

 

[Galba Otho Vitelius]

Lincoln's likeliest career path during a Seward administration would have been the Supreme Court. Quite a few vacancies opened up during Lincoln's term. Other than Chase, none of the justices who were appointed IOTL were really more distinguished than Lincoln, a corporate lawyer whose profile would have been raised by coming in second for the Republican presidential nomination and by the Lincoln-Douglas debates.