The Republican Party's plan does not fundamentally conflict with the Democratic Party's proposal, and many rational Democrats have chosen to support it.
Because their vision is not limited to the current transitional government, but also looks at the succession order of future Presidents.
History, in some aspects, has its inevitability. After the Republican Party proposed its plan, the ranking order for Presidential successors was finally officially approved.
That is, they are ranked sequentially from the Vice President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, President pro tempore of the Senate, Secretary of State, and other ministers.
The reason why the Speaker of the House of Representatives ranks after the Vice President but before the President pro tempore of the Senate is a well-known fact: the Vice President serves as the official President of the Senate.
Only when the Vice President is absent is a President pro tempore elected to serve as the Senate leader.
This President pro tempore's power naturally cannot be compared with that of the Vice President or the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Previously, the President pro tempore was always temporarily elected by the Senate.
Now, by granting the President pro tempore Presidential succession rights, it has brought another change to Congress: the need for a formal President pro tempore of the Senate, specifically to exercise the Speaker's powers when the Vice President is absent, and to directly assume office without an election in the event of a Presidential emergency.
When the bill was officially read and passed by the President pro tempore of the Senate, a warm round of applause erupted throughout the chamber.
Immediately, an oath-taking ceremony was held, presided over by the official who had arrived early.
Charles, with his hand on the Bible, directly took his oath of office in Congress.
"Congratulations, Your Excellency, we should now address you as Mr. President!"
The official retrieved the Bible and shook hands with Charles, smiling.
At the joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the "Presidential Succession Act of 1786" was officially passed.
President pro tempore of the Senate Bonis also hastened to officially congratulate Charles, on behalf of all members of Congress, after Charles' oath.
"Congratulations, Mr. President!"
His smile was very sincere, but it's unknown if he had a change of heart. If Charles failed to become President, he would have the opportunity to smoothly take over.
"Thank you! I believe I will fulfill the duties of interim President well and ensure that the new Presidential election is held on time," Charles promised with a smile, extending his hand to Bonis.
Seeing Charles and the President pro tempore of the Senate shake hands tightly, the members below immediately burst into even warmer applause.
"Let's cheer for Mr. President, gentlemen!" Bonis, also a Republican, announced with a smile.
A round of cheers immediately followed.
This change in the Presidential office did not directly impact the upper echelons, nor did it bring much change to the entire America.
Charles still retained the original cabinet members and did not immediately arrange his new policies, but continued to refine some policy outlines formulated by Madison.
Madison, who had already moved out of the White House, saw this but did not comment.
Retaining cabinet members was a given; the current cabinet members were basically all Republicans, and in this confrontation between Madison and Charles, Monroe and Hamilton acted as intermediaries, causing all cabinet members to side with Charles.
Now that Charles had become the interim President, he naturally would not take action to purge them.
As for policy matters, Madison's overall policy direction was not wrong.
Although Charles had many medium- and long-term plans, he was too busy with Madison's already initiated actions to possibly arrange new affairs.
Madison was very relieved that Charles did not negate his policies.
This way, no matter how people now evaluate his failed resignation, as long as his policies could be implemented, future generations would always remember his good deeds.
After Charles extended an invitation to Madison to join the cabinet, he still chose to decline, stating that he had decided to return to his hometown and participate in the next senatorial re-election.
As for the next Presidential election, he had completely given up hope and would not participate.
When Madison next arrived in Philadelphia, he would be a member of Congress.
While Madison sadly left Philadelphia and returned to his hometown, Charles officially presided over the passage of a bill to hold an early general election.
Although he was now the interim President, fully meeting his demands for power, he was unwilling to violate the established policies formulated earlier.
The bill for an early general election was still brought up.
The vote went very smoothly. The Federalist Party, which had caused a lot of trouble for nothing and gained no benefits in the past few days, finally lowered its flags and silenced its drums this time.
Adams had no ideas and directly tacitly allowed the Federalist Party's members to vote freely.
The Federalist Party's members, who were good at assessing the situation, naturally would not continue to oppose the Republican Party at this time.
Anyway, they had already prepared for an early election, so there was no reason not to agree.
After seeing the early election announcement signed by the Election Commission, Charles breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Next, it was time to truly fulfill Presidential duties and prepare for the election.
The demanding work would leave him no time to ponder this or that.
He even fully entrusted the matter of delivering aid supplies to the French to Finance Minister Hamilton, no longer personally intervening.
His only requirement for this matter was that Louisiana must be acquired.
Time quickly entered late 1786.
According to the normal sequence, the Presidential election, which would have been held next year, had been officially moved up to the end of this year.
Although the President would still have to wait until next year to officially take the oath of office, the election itself was moved up to the end of this year.
The Republican Party's Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates were Charles and Monroe.
The Democratic Party's candidates were Jefferson and Samuel Adams, and the Federalist Party's candidates were John Adams and the French-born wealthy Victor.
The Presidential candidates of the three major parties were all prominent figures.
Charles of the Republican Party needs no introduction: Chairman of the Continental Congress' Military Committee, protector of Philadelphia, and consistently Speaker of the House of Representatives since the nation's founding.
Although he was a bit young, both his reputation and official position were the best and highest.
His running mate, Monroe, the current Vice Secretary of State and a former war of Independence hero, was also very popular among the younger generation.
Jefferson of the Democratic Party, the official drafter of the Declaration of Independence, a leading member of the Continental Congress, former Secretary of State, and now the leader of the Democratic Party and the Southern faction, was also a figure of immense influence.
Even his running mate, Samuel Adams, was one of the main leaders of the Continental Congress and held great influence in Philadelphia's political circles.
As for John Adams of the Federalist Party, the uncrowned king of the Continental Congress, former Chairman of the Military Committee, one of the drafting members of the Declaration of Independence, and a close friend of Continental army Commander-in-Chief Washington, although he was slightly less prominent than the previous two by comparison, he was also a figure whose reputation spread throughout all of America.
And while his running mate, Victor, was not as well-known, he possessed enormous personal wealth and held great prestige among the French-Americans, making him not to be underestimated either.
The impact generated by these three great figures entering the election together was no less than the Presidential contest between Franklin and Washington before.
In fact, the influence and intensity of this election surpassed the previous two.
After all, Franklin and Washington were both relatively gentle and approachable people.
Although political parties were pushing them from behind, their inherent nature was not one to contend for every advantage, so no matter how fierce the competition, the two were still very polite when facing each other.
But the current three candidates, although they tried to be humble and courteous when on the same stage, could not fundamentally hide the conflicts behind them.
During speeches, they would basically end up with one accusing the other, and various dirty tricks and negative tactics for the election emerged endlessly.
Fortunately, since it was already the third election, both the major Presidential candidates and ordinary voters were already familiar with all the procedures.
Watching the candidates on stage play various tricks, no conflicts arose due to unclear procedures.
Although there were no public opinion polls, major newspapers, including those under Charles, all published their assessment reports by surveying passersby and prominent social figures.
The Republican Party remained strong and was generally favored in the comments of major newspapers.
However, the Democratic Party's situation was also very good, with many newspapers believing that the Democratic Party's strength was not far behind the Republican Party, and if they performed well, there was a possibility of winning.
As for the Federalist Party, although Adams' personal ability was very strong, constantly giving speeches and building momentum, which attracted many staunch supporters, Victor's large-scale spending actually left a very negative impression on the American voters at this time.
As for French-Americans, they leaned more towards Charles, a candidate who also had French blood.
Thus, most newspapers still commented that the Federalists would not only be ineffective in the Presidential election but might also lose their last seat in the concurrently held senatorial re-election.
The only minor hiccup in the campaign process was caused by the Southern slave owners.
After the announcement of the early general election, these slave owners also put forward their own Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates: a prominent Richmond slave owner and a local councilor.
The reputations of these two individuals were only well-known among the slave owners' circles throughout Virginia, and naturally, it was impossible for them to be accepted by all American people.
Moreover, after the slave owner candidates visited Pennsylvania for campaign speeches and were booed by free citizens, they also gave up campaigning in other states.