[grumpygresh]

Most of the examples of peaceful succession cited are countries with relatively small populations at the time of succession. The most notable exception was the Soviet Union.
Our nation is huge and we of course have already had a bloody civil war. Any succession movement would likely be triggered by a hard tyrannical act by the Federal government such as martial law.
If all (an I mean all)our peaceful efforts fail, tyranny will harden in place over time. The only way to destroy it is through a relatively peaceful coup (as with the Soviet Union in 1991) or a bloody civil war/ second revolution.

[Jack Black]

If all (an I mean all)our peaceful efforts fail, tyranny will harden in place over time. The only way to destroy it is through a relatively peaceful coup (as with the Soviet Union in 1991) or a bloody civil war/ second revolution.That's an interesting point. We don't think about coup d'etat much in the USA, but it is the normal way that governments change elsewhere. I think due to our history it would be very hard to see happen here, but it could.