The young George Washington may never have hacked up his father’s cherry tree and refused to lie about it, but his life nevertheless offers plenty of deeds both virtuous and adequately documented. It was no small thing, for instance, to refuse to seek a third term as the first President of the United States of America — much less to exchange that title for “King of the United States of America.” As every enthusiast of American history knows, this set the precedent, only once violated and thereafter written into law, of a two-term limit. But as every enthusiast of alternate American history has wondered, what would have happened had Washington become king? And if the U.S. monarchy had remained intact for the past 227 years, who would rule it today?In the UsefulCharts video above, Matt Baker explains a series of different succession scenarios. While none is highly plausible in itself, they together give an idea of the lines along which American monarchical history could have played out, at least assuming that every other event played out exactly the same way as it has in our reality.One of the first complicating factors is that Washington himself had no biological descendants. Given that, we can trace down a theoretical royal lineage starting with his adopted son, born from his wife Martha’s first marriage; with the nephew he selected as the primary heir of his estate; or with the senior-most heir of his father (owner of the notional cherry tree). Not that any of those major paths through the chart of Washington’s indirect descendants is necessarily straightforward either.The whole matter seems at least as complicated as figuring out who would be the Roman emperor if Rome had never fallen, an exercise Baker works through in another UsefulCharts video previously featured here on Open Culture. The possibilities for the American monarch in 2026 come down to King Robert III, or Robert E. Lee V (and great-great grandson of Robert E. Lee); Queen Brynda, or Brynda Hansen; King Richard, or Richard Washington; and King Larry II, or Lawrence Shaffner, the descendant of George Washington’s nephew Bushrod. Baker finds that Shaffner is the most convincing candidate for the job, which is hard to deny. Even apart from the relevant familial, political, and legal factors, consider that name again. King Larry: apart from the title, how much more American could it possibly sound?Related content:Who Would Be Emperor If the Roman Empire Still Existed Today?How George Washington Became President of the United States: It Was Weirder Than You ThinkGeorge Washington’s 110 Rules for Civility and Decent BehaviorWhat We Can Learn from Past PresidentsA Japanese Illustrated History of America (1861): Features George Washington Punching Tigers, John Adams Slaying Snakes & Other Fantastic ScenesA Visual Timeline of World History: Watch the Rise & Fall of Civilizations Over 5,000 YearsBased in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities, language, and culture. He’s the author of the newsletter Books on Cities as well as the books 한국 요약 금지 (No Summarizing Korea) and Korean Newtro. Follow him on the social network formerly known as Twitter at @colinmarshall.