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Lists of Heads of Government and Heads of State

Sequel to the "TNO but based" list I posted earlier

FUHRERS OF GERMANY:
Adolf Hitler (NSDAP) - January 30, 1933-September 17, 1954
-Elected 1932 (32.9%/191 Seats)
-Re-Elected 1933 (40.5%/261 Seats)
-Re-"Elected" 1938 (89.1%/1,000 Seats)
-Re-"Elected" 1943 (92.4%/999 Seats)
-Re-"Elected" 1948 (94.0%/1,000 Seats)
-Re-"Elected" 1953 (99.9%/1,000 Seats) (This is when they just stop trying)
Died in Office
Albert Speer (NSDAP) - September 17, 1954-December 8, 1955
-Selected 1954 (981-10)
Deposed in the Winter Coup (December 5-9)
Heinrich Himmler (NSDAP) - December 8, 1955-April 4, 1958
-Selected 1955 (478-0)
German Reich defeated

(Under direct allied military rule from 1957 to 1958)

LEADERS OF THE UN RECONSTRUCTION COMMISSION:
Henry Morgenthau (UN) - January 1, 1958-January 1, 1963
Daniel Inouye (UN) - January 1, 1963-April 4, 1968

CHANCELLORS OF GERMANY:
Herbert Weichmann (SPD) - April 4, 1968-October 10, 1984
-Elected 1968 (38.2%/191 Seats)
-Re-Elected 1970 (49.6%/248 Seats)
-Re-Elected 1974 (64.1%/321 Seats)
-Re-Elected 1978 (70.8%/354 Seats)
-Re-Elected 1982 (73.5%/368 Seats)
Assassinated by former Nazi on October 9, 1984
Willy Brandt (SPD) - October 10, 1984-September 18, 1991
-Selected 1984 (381-104)
-Re-Elected 1984 (80.0%/400 Seats)
-Re-Elected 1988 (69.1%/346 Seats)
Resigned on August 2, 1991
Katharina Focke (SPD) - September 18, 1991-December 14, 1996
-Selected 1991 (360-121)
-Re-Elected 1992 (65.5%/327 Seats)
Retired
Manfred Lahnstein (SPD) - December 14, 1996-March 10, 2008
-Elected 1996 (63.0%/315 Seats)
-Re-Elected 2000 (64.3%/322 Seats)
-Re-Elected 2004 (61.5%/307 Seats)
Resigned on January 27, 2008
Oskar Lafontaine (SPD) - March 10, 2008-December 14, 2008
Lost Re-Election
Klaus Kinkel (FLP) - December 14, 2008-December 14, 2012
-Elected 2008 (23.0%/116 Seats, LPD, CDU & GRN Confidence)
Retired
Olaf Scholz (SPD) - December 14, 2012-October 27, 2019
-Elected 2012 (45.1%/227 Seats)
-Re-Elected 2016 (42.6%/213 Seats, LPD Confidence)
-Lost Re-Election
Annalena Baerbock (GRN) - October 27, 2019-Present
-Elected 2019 (26.2%/131 Seats, CDU &FLP Confidence)
-Re-Elected 2020 (36.0%/230 Seats)

POLITICAL PARTIES:
Social Democratic Party (SPD) - 40%
The SPD is one of the oldest continually operating political parties in Germany, and has been in government for the vast majority of its post-Nazi existence. While weakened, the UN Occupational Authority- most under American control, which was in turn run by a left-wing administration- began to develop the party for German independence.

Much of the modern German welfare state was established under the rule of Herbert Weichmann, the first post-independence Chancellor. His steadily increasing popularity throughout his tenure for rebuilding the country and reducing poverty was seen as a good way to reduce German anti-Semitism after over two decades of Nazism. Weichmann is seen as one of the greatest leaders in western history, and his assassination increased that even further. As for policy, the SocDems, the party support strong investments in the public sector, including the protection of universal healthcare and comprehensive public education. In recent years they have led the fight to protect the pensions and livelihoods of those in the rapidly-declining natural gas sector.
Green Party (GRN) - 30%
The Greens are a relatively recent phenomenon, and somewhat hard to place on the left-right spectrum. Their platform is (obviously) focused on environmental issues, such as the expansion of nuclear energy and other green sources. They also support a small increase in the minimum wage from €15 to €17 per hour. They follow the status quo on healthcare and education, along with foreign affairs (that is, pro-NATO/Israel). They are opposed to middle eastern refugees, however, due to "anti-western values".
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) - 15%
The CDU is another prominent political party, and the most right-wing of the major ones. They support tax cuts to generate growth and a reduction in the size of government. Owing to their Christian roots, the party supports reducing- but not eliminating- abortions. They also oppose letting middle eastern refugees into the country, although unlike the Greens' social concerns they believe such because they are assholes.

GERMANY UNDER UN ADMINISTRATION:
Following the surrender of the German Reich, there was no question that the former continental hegemon would be punished for its actions. When the western powers agreed on Henry Morgenthau as the first UN Administrator, the future of Germany became much more dark. Following the discovery and wide broadcast of concentration camps (which included captured soldiers) and other horrible things the Nazis did (such as the hundreds of thousands killed in the construction of Germania), public opinion around the world demanded vengeance.

Morgenthau- disappointed that President Humphrey vetoed his 'starve the entire country' plan- was nonetheless happy to comply. Over the next several years, virtually all of the two million who served in the SS were either sent before the firing squad or sentenced to a decades of slave labor rebuilding the country. Any Wehrmacht soldiers who were convicted of war crimes (roughly two million more) were sent to the same fate. The leadership of the Reich, including Himmler and Speer, were convicted and sentenced to death. The former was televised around the world while the latter was given the dignity of a private execution.

Unfortunately, Morgenthau's more... out there proposals were concerning to the 10-member UN governing board, which voted to remove him and replace him with the more moderate Daniel Inouye.
 
1968-1972: Pierre Trudeau (Liberal)
-68 (Maj.): Robert Stanfield (Progressive Conservative), Tommy Douglas (New Democratic), Réal Caouette (Ralliement créditiste), A. B. Patterson (Social Credit)
1972-1977: Robert Stanfield (Progressive Conservative)
-72: (Min.): Pierre Trudeau (Liberal), David Lewis (New Democratic), Réal Caouette (Social Credit)
-74: (Maj.): Jean Chrétien (Liberal), Lorne Nystrom (New Democratic), Réal Caouette (Social Credit)
1977-1979: John Turner (Liberal)
-77 (Min.): Robert Stanfield (Progressive Conservative), Réal Caouette (Social Credit), Lorne Nystrom (New Democratic)
1979-1987: Peter Lougheed (Progressive Conservative)
-79 (Maj.): John Turner (Liberal), Dave Barrett (New Democratic), Fabien Roy (Social Credit)
-83 (Maj.): Dave Barrett (New Democratic), Lloyd Axworthy (Liberal)
1987-1992: Dave Barrett (New Democratic)
-87 (Maj.): Peter Lougheed (Progressive Conservative), Frank McKenna (Liberal), Roch La Salle (Union Nationale)
1992-: Daniel Johnson Jr. (Progressive Conservative)
-92 (Maj.): Art Eggleton (Liberal), Dave Barrett (New Democratic)
-96 (Maj.): Art Eggleton (Liberal), Howard McCurdy (New Democratic), Rémy Trudel (Solidaire)
 
This was my entry for last month's List Challenge! The theme for this month is The Military, and there's still two weeks to get your entry in!

The Alternative To Voting
​
2010-2015: David Cameron (Conservative)
2011 AV Referendum: 56% YES, 44% NO
def 2015: (Coalition with Liberal Democrats) Ed Milliband (Labour), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP), Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrats)
2015-2020: Andrew Boff (Conservative)
2017: Single Transferrable Vote Act passes the House of Lords
def 2018: (Coalition with Liberal Democrats, de facto DUP support) Tristian Hunt (Labour), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP), Nigel Farage (UKIP), Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrats), Sian Berry (Green)
2020-2022: Stephen Twigg (Labour)
def 2020: (Coalition with SNP) Andrew Boff (Conservative), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP), Nigel Farage (UKIP), Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrats), Sian Berry (Green)
2020: Single Transferrable Vote Act repealed, replaced by Proportional Representation Act
2021 Scottish Independence Referendum: 52% YES, 48% NO
2022-2024: Douglas Carswell (Conservative)
def 2022: (Coalition with UKIP) Stephen Twigg (Labour), Nigel Farage (UKIP), Cleo Lake (Green), Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrats), Adam Price (Plaid Cymru)
2022: List threshold for proportional representation lowered to 5%
2024 European Union Referendum: 53% REMAIN, 47% LEAVE
2024-2025: Penny Mourdant (Conservative)
2025-0000: Cat Smith (Labour)
def 2025: (Coalition with Liberal Democrats, Greens, and Plaid Cymru) Penny Mourdant (Conservative), Danny Alexander (Liberal Democrats), David Kurten (UKIP), Magid Magid (Green), Elin Jones (Plaid Cymru), Paul J. Watson (TrueKIP), Ben Habib (Referendum)

[SCENE: A blank void, with a podium in the middle. Suddenly, the puppet of the TORTOISE flops over the central podium, a gold medal around his neck.]

TORTOISE: Finally! All my hard work has paid off. I'm the winner, because I came first!

[The camera pans over to the third place podium. The puppet HARE is standing there, looking cross]

HARE: Hey! Just because you came first doesn't mean you should get to be the winner! Lots of people liked me as well!

TORTOISE: Well, not enough of them did, then.

HARE: Nearly everyone thought I was the second-best. That should count for something. I demand you count the second-place votes!

[Black-and-white placard with "Some Time Later" on it goes up on screen. Maybe we could do one of those SpongeBob ones that are memes--can we do that without getting sued? Get legal to check]

TORTOISE: I've counted the second places. You've still lost.

HARE: Well, you should let more than one person be a winner, then!

TORTOISE: ...what?

HARE: You heard me! And since you were such a big meanie about my new system, I say you don't get to be one of the winners! I'm inviting all my friends to the top of the podium!

[Some Time Later placard goes here again, unless we don't want to emphasise how long vote counts take now as much]

[The SHEEP, UNICORN, and (WHATEVER WE DECIDED FOR THE GREENS--A FLOWER?) help lift the HARE on top of the podium]

UNICORN: Since I helped you guys get on top of the podium, it's only fair that I get to leave now with the ribbon.

FLOWER(?): I don't think it's fair that there's only one medal--I say we divide bits of it up between us!

SHEEP: Why don't we have more races? Lots and lots and lots, all the time!

DARREN (V/O): Do you think this is fair?

[DARREN walks on screen as the background fades out. I'm sure there's a way to do this so it looks nice--the effect guy keeps saying he can't do it, but I figure he's just workshy.]

DARREN: We've spent 15 years in a country run like this. Government agendas have been hijacked, again and again, by tiny minorities with radical beliefs, who can easily pass the buck when they fail. Democracy should mean "power to the people", but these days it seems like it means "power to the fruitcakes". Each set of shaky governments pays off their supporters with a new, even more ridiculous, voting system, making the next government even shakier and even more reliant on minnows. We can break this cycle of chaos. But it starts with you.

[Fade out on Darren--put up a bunch of panning shots and videos of activists etc.]

DARREN (V/O): My name is Darren Grimes, and I represent an organisation working to bring back the stability of first-past-the-post--one that needs your help. We're not just another political party. We're non-partisan and above tribalism [throw in Kwarteng speaking and Flint speaking here], we've got supporters all around the UK [remember that big speech Lee Canning did? Yeah, throw it in], and we're built on the backs of people like you. People who are fed up with Westminster's nonsense systems, where they hand the other politicians power just for showing up, and throw unncessary levels of government in just to create more gravy trains.

[Cut back to Darren, looking imposing on top of something--pref. with a flag behind him.]

DARREN: This May, we're going to strike the first blow against this crazy system. When you get your ballot papers for your "devolved parliament" elections, with their sprawl of boxes and elaborate numbering schemes, just...rip them up. Deface them. Refuse to fill them in. Every ballot spoilt in this way is a message to Westminster that we're not going to put up with their nonsense any more. That we don't want to be governed by people who can only get silver medals, and can't win fairly.

[Fade out a bit more here, and get the logo on screen, with phone number/website/ItMe handle or whatever.]

DARREN (V/O): Reform UK. Because you're only a winner if you come first.
 
40. Ronald Reagan/George H.W. Bush (R) - January 20, 1981-January 20, 1985
'80 def. Jimmy Carter/Walter Mondale (D), 307-231 EV/ 48.2%-45.0% PV
40. Ronald Reagan/Jesse Helms (R) - January 20, 1985-March 18, 1986
'84 def. Walter Mondale/Gary Hart (D), 286-252 EV/ 48.0%-47.6% PV
41. Jesse Helms/VACANT (R) - March 18, 1986-November 2, 1986
41. Jesse Helms/George H.W. Bush (R) - November 2, 1986-July 22, 1987
42. George H.W. Bush/VACANT (R) - July 22, 1987-January 20, 1989
42. George H.W. Bush/Dan Quayle (R) - January 20, 1989-January 20, 1993
'88 def. Michael Dukakis/Geraldine Ferraro (D), 270-268 EV/ 46.1%-48.9% PV
43. Elizabeth Holtzman/Al Gore (D) - January 20, 1993-January 20, 2001
'92 def. George H.W. Bush/Dan Quayle (R), 337-201 EV/ 52.6%-43.1% PV
'96 def. Dick Cheney/Antonin Scalia (R), 292-246 EV/ 49.3%-46.0% PV
44. Al Gore/Dick Gephardt (D) - January 20, 2001-January 20, 2009
'00 def. John McCain/Elizabeth Dole (R), 311-227 EV/ 50.2%-45.0% PV
'04 def. Elizabeth Dole/Jim Talent (R), 375-163 EV/ 53.7%-44.5% PV
45. Dick Gephardt/Bernie Sanders (D) - January 20, 2009-January 20, 2013
'08 def. Mitt Romney/Mike Huckabee (R), 278-260 EV/ 48.8%-48.1% PV
46. Gary Johnson/Condoleeza Rice (R) - January 20, 2013-January 20, 2017
'12 def. Dick Gephardt/Bernie Sanders (D), 289-249 EV/ 48.8%-49.5 PV
47. Bernie Sanders/Barack Obama (D) - January 20, 2017-Present
'16 def. Gary Johnson/Condoleeza Rice (R), 291-247 EV/ 51.1%-47.4% PV
'20 def. Bill Weld/David McCormick (R), 461-77 EV/ 60.3%-35.7% PV

FORMER PRESIDENTS CONVICTED OF CRIMES
Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911-2001), Convicted on charges of Lying to Congress, Obstruction of Justice, and Fraud, sentenced to 10 years in 1987 (Commuted in 1993)
Jesse Alexander Helms (1921-2005), Convicted on charges of Abuse of Power, Perjury, and Obstruction of Justice, sentenced to 20 years in 1987 (Commuted in 2001)
George H.W. Bush (1924-2022), Acquitted on charges of Abuse of Power and Perjury, convicted on Negligence, sentenced to 1 year of house arrest in 1996 (Pardoned in 2019)
 
A CONSENSUS REBORN
Thatcher loses the Malvinas

Part Three

1991 UK general election
⦁ Social Democratic (Shirley Williams)/Liberal (Paddy Ashdown): 234 seats (-23), 36% vote
⦁ Labour (Tony Benn): 209 seats (-6), 32.1% vote
⦁ Conservative (Cecil Parkinson): 169 seats (+19), 26% vote

Result: Social Democratic/Liberal short 92 of majority

Williams ministry (1991-93)
⦁ Prime Minister: Shirley Williams (Social Democratic)
⦁ Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Secretary: Paddy Ashdown (Liberal)
⦁ Chancellor of the Exchequer: David Owen (Social Democratic)
⦁ Treasury Secretary: Matthew Taylor (Liberal)
⦁ Home Secretary: Michael Heseltine (Social Democratic)
⦁ Defence Secretary: John Cartwright (Social Democratic)
⦁ Education Secretary: Mike Thomas (Social Democratic)
⦁ Employment Secretary: Simon Hughes (Liberal)
⦁ Energy Secretary: David Penhaligon (Liberal)
⦁ Health Secretary: Bob Maclennan (Social Democratic)
⦁ Industry Secretary: Malcolm Bruce (Liberal)
⦁ Trade Secretary: Ken Clarke (Social Democratic)

Owen ministry (1993-95)
⦁ Prime Minister: David Owen (Social Democratic)
⦁ Deputy Prime Minister: Paddy Ashdown (Liberal)
⦁ Chancellor of the Exchequer: David Penhaligon (Liberal)
⦁ Treasury Secretary: Vince Cable (Social Democratic)
⦁ Foreign Secretary: John Cartwright (Social Democratic)
⦁ Home Secretary: Ken Clarke (Social Democratic)
⦁ Defence Secretary: Michael Heseltine (Social Democratic)
⦁ Education Secretary: Charles Kennedy (Social Democratic)
⦁ Employment Secretary: Rosie Barnes (Social Democratic)
⦁ Energy Secretary: Malcolm Bruce (Liberal)
⦁ Health Secretary: Simon Hughes (Liberal)
⦁ Housing Secretary: Des Wilson (Liberal)
⦁ Industry Secretary: John Pardoe (Liberal)
⦁ Trade Secretary: Ming Campbell (Liberal)

Flagship policy
⦁ Strong drive to end Irish troubles
⦁ Industrial strategy across Britain
⦁ Income tax cuts & levy on top 1%
⦁ Mutualisation of public services
⦁ Radical housing & towns project
⦁ Disability & civil rights progress
⦁ Energy transition from coal use
⦁ Negotiated European Union entry

Cook shadow cabinet (1991-95)
⦁ Leader of the Opposition: Robin Cook (Labour)
⦁ Deputy Leader: Michael Meacher (Labour)
⦁ Shadow Chancellor: Bryan Gould (Labour)
⦁ Shadow Treasury: Chris Mullin (Labour)
⦁ Shadow Foreign: Neil Kinnock (Labour)
⦁ Shadow Home: Ken Livingstone (Labour)
⦁ Shadow Defence: John Prescott (Labour)
⦁ Shadow Education: Tony Blair (Labour)
⦁ Shadow Employment: Frank Dobson (Labour)
⦁ Shadow Energy: David Clark (Labour)
⦁ Shadow Health: Gordon Brown (Labour)
⦁ Shadow Housing: John McDonnell (Labour)
⦁ Shadow Industry: Margaret Beckett (Labour)
⦁ Shadow Trade: Mo Mowlam (Labour)

Tapsell frontbench team (1991-95)
⦁ Party Leader: Peter Tapsell (Conservative)
⦁ Party Deputy Leader: Gillian Shephard (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Chancellor: David Evans (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Treasury: Michael Ancram (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Foreign: Alan Clark (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Home: Douglas Hurd (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Defence: Leon Brittan (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Education: Kenneth Baker (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Employment: John Major (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Energy: Tom King (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Health: Michael Portillo (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Housing: Michael Howard (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Industry: Norman Lamont (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Trade: Malcolm Rifkind (Conservative)

[Note: have revised election numbers and Labour shadow cabinet in first two parts!]
 
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1945-1952: Harry Truman with Alben W. Barkley (Democratic): The European & North American Defence Organisation, The United States National Steel Company and the Trade Union Reform Act. Defeated Thomas Dewey/Earl Warren (Republican) and Strom Thurmond/Fielding Wright (Dixiecrat) 1948.

1952-1960: Harold Stassen with Richard Nixon (Republican): The Cold War, International Republicanism and Civil Rights. Defeated Adlai Stevenson II/John Sparkman 1952 & John W. McCormack/Estes Kefauver 1956 (Democratic)

1960-1968: Lyndon B. Johnson with John F. Kennedy (Democratic): National Health Insurance, National Sickness Insurance, National Disability Insurance, National Pension Plan, the CRA/VRA/FHA. The Space Race and the Great Society. Defeated Richard M. Nixon/Nelson E. Rockefeller 1960 & Henry Cabot Lodge Jr./Barry Goldwater 1964 (Republican)

1968-1976: George W. Romney with Ronald Reagan (Republican): Good Affordable Housing, Mass Transit and Nuclear Power. SALT, America-Yugoslavia Treaty, Nationality and Immigration Act 1969. The Equal Rights Amendment and the Stonewall Riots. National Right to Chose Act (Overriding Presidential Veto). Defeated Hubert Humphrey/Eugene McCarthy 1968 & Henry 'Scoop' Jackson/George McGovern 1972 (Democratic)

1976-1984: Robert F. Kennedy with Mo Udall (Democratic): The Moon, the Joint Mission to Mars, The Gulf War, Prison Reform, Policing Reform, Justice Reform and the 4th Enforcement Act. Solar and Wind Power and The African Security and Development Act (Frederick Douglass Act for Peace and Prosperity) Defeated Ronald Reagan/John Connally 1976 & George H. W. Bush/Phyliss Schlafly 1980 (Republican)

1984-1988: C. Everett Koop with John B. Anderson (Republican): HIV/AIDs, ‘The Moral Majority’, Slamming a Door in Phyllis Schlafly’s Face, Stabbed in the Back by his Own Party and Sabotaging Them in 1988 in Turn. The Maghreb War, the Artic War and the Albania Intervention. START I and the Sky Shield Programme. Defeated Gary Hart/Jesse Jackson 1984 (Democratic)

1988-1996: Geraldine Ferraro with Jerry Brown (Democratic): The Cult Wars, The National Health Service Act, The National Interstate Voter Compact, The Abolishment of the Filibuster, The House of Representatives Proportionality Act and the Love Act (Abolishment of Sodomy Laws). Defeated John B. Anderson/Dan Quale & Phyllis Schlafly/Pat Buchanan 1988 (Republican/American Conservative) & Lamar Alexander/Bob Dole 1992 (Republican)

1996-2004: Sam Elliot with John McCain III (Republican): START II, Withdrawal from the ENADO, Shuttle Diplomacy in Yugoslavia, Covertly Replenishing ECDO Stockpiles during the Serbia War, Coastal Highspeed Rail, Puerto Rico is the 51st State. The Disabilities Access Act. Defeated Paul Tsongas/Tom Harkin 1996 (Democratic) & Al Gore/Bill Bradley 2000 (Democratic)

2004-2012: Rodney Ellis with Hillary Rodham (Democratic): The South West High Speed Rail System (TexNewMexRail), Respect for Marriage Act (Legalised SSM), The Well Regulated Act (Contextualised Gun Ownership in the USA as being a collective right as part of a militia, heavily restricted ownership of firearms beyond handguns and shotguns outside of a ‘militia’ context), New Cults Act (Removed some of the harsher restrictions placed upon ‘Cults’ as part of the previous Cults Act), Supreme Court Expansion Act (to 11 members). US Membership of the Pacific and Asian Treaty Organisation confirmed. Defeated George W. Bush/Alan Keyes 2004 (Republican) & Sarah Palin/Mike Huckabee 2008 (Republican)

2012-2020: Jon Huntsman Jr. with Susan Collins (Republican): Joining the European & Canadian Defence Organisation (Renamed to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation), the New Militia Act (loosened the definition of militia created by the Well Regulated Act), The South West Solar Authority (Solar Towers and Farms across the West), The Permanent Settlement Act (Establishes the Martian Territory, Population at Establishment: 900. Capital and Only Settlement: New Dubuque), Religious Liberty Act (Further removes restrictions left by the New Cults Act), Transition Act (Presidential Transition Period set at three weeks maximum). Defeated Hillary Rodham/Joe Biden 2012 (Democratic) & Barrack Obama/Tim Kaine 2016 (Democratic) & Donald Trump/Sarah Huckabee Sanders 2016 (Independent)

2020-Present: Cory Booker with Alex Padilla (Democratic): The 5th Enforcement Act (In response to the January Days/Capitol Massacre/Helena Coup), State Funeral of President Robert F. Kennedy, Gender and Sexuality Equality Act, National Housing and Infrastructure Act. Defeated Marco Rubio/John Kasich 2020 (Republican) & Donald Trump/Mike Flynn (Make America Great Again)

A more developed and alternate list of US Presidents from Our Free and Happy Land.
 
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MAC161 said:
First time posting to this thread, so any pointers are welcome!

Timeline of U.S. Presidents in "Divided Worlds: An Alternate Space Race"

Franklin D. Roosevelt (D): 1933-1945 [1]
Harry S. Truman (D): 1945-1949 [2]
(Insert Staunch Anti-Communist GOP Prez Here): 1949-1953 [3]
(Insert 2nd Staunch Anti-Communist GOP Prez Here): 1953-1961 [4]
Richard M. Nixon (R): 1961-1977 [5]
John M. Ashbrook (R): 1977-1981 [6]
Ronald W. Reagan (R): 1981-1989
George H.W. Bush (R): 1989-1997 [7]
John S. McCain (R): 1997-1999 [8]

[1] Chose not to run for a fourth term on health grounds.

[2] Fought to maintain the New Deal coalition and programs, but solidly conservative in foreign policy; not enough for the GOP, Dixiecrats or a slim majority of the voters, though, in the face of the Comintern and its specter of "Permanent Revolution" advocated by GenSec Trotsky. Seen by some academics and politicos as the bridge to an era of uncompromising "bipartisan" anticommunism in the U.S. and the League of Democratic Nations generally.

[3] Eisenhower doesn't seem of the right temperament given the basically unending "Red Scare" by this time; thought about McCarthy, but that seemed a bit obvious. Currently thinking about Dewey, as one of the last "moderate" GOP types and the other end of the "bipartisan anticommunist bridge"; if anybody's got ideas, share away!

[4] Ditto.

[5] Defeated Kennedy by a fair though not outstanding margin in 1960. 22nd Amendment wasn't passed in Truman's time, though "principle"/"tradition" kept previous GOP presidents from trying for three terms. Nixon's doing so prompted a short-lived party rebellion that dissuaded him from running again in 1976, though he did manage to get a 22nd Amendment analogue shot down in Congress in 1967.

[6] The "traditionalist" wing of the GOP got their man into the White House; he then promptly decided not to run again in 1980, now that the "principle" was cemented :D .

[7] Last one to seriously consider a third term; internal party fighting prevented this. Saw the first construction begun on the League's sector of lunar base Terra Unum in 1993. Having former astronaut John Glenn as VP got even more funding and resources devoted to this and the League Aeronautics and Space Administration (LASA), and a flood of both beginning in '96 when construction of the Soviet sector looked to be making better progress.

[8] President at the time of the novella.
Click to expand...

MAC161 said:
Updated version, after suggestions and more musing:

Timeline of U.S. Presidents in "Divided Worlds: An Alternate Space Race"

Franklin D. Roosevelt (D): 1933-1945
Harry S. Truman (D): 1945-1949
Harold E. Stassen (R): 1949-1953 [1]
Estes Kefauver (D): 1953-1961 [2]
Richard M. Nixon (R): 1961-1977
John M. Ashbrook (R): 1977-1981
Ronald W. Reagan (R): 1981-1989
George H.W. Bush (R): 1989-1997
John S. McCain (R): 1997-1999

[1] Put in office largely out of voters' fears of Communism and desire to have a military man in charge. His moderate stance on social programs, however, soon brings on the ire of the Dixiecrats and the hardline GOP, and his lukewarm attitude towards segregation/civil rights as this debate boils over into further demos and violence causes his public support to wither. Infighting between his "liberal" faction and the hardliners under McCarthy and Nixon at the '52 GOP convention, plus the siphoning-off of other conservative voters by the Dixiecrats, leads to his defeat that year.

[2] Narrowly wins (with John McCormack as VP) on a platform combining anticommunism, continued New Deal-style reforms & governance, and pledges to settle the civil rights issue. Has decent success in the first two cases and somewhat less in the third, though variants of OTL's desegregation measures and earlier forms of the CRA and the VRA are passed on razor-thin margins; widespread anger at these in the South leads to Nixon winning on a "Southern strategy" much like that of OTL.
Click to expand...

Another update to this list, after some new ideas and noticing a term years gaffe; comments welcome, as ever!

Timeline of U.S. Presidents in "Divided Worlds: An Alternate Space Race"

Franklin D. Roosevelt (D): 1933-1945
Harry S. Truman (D): 1945-1949
Harold E. Stassen (R): 1949-1953
Carey E. Kefauver (D): 1953-1961
Richard M. Nixon (R): 1961-1973
Barry M. Goldwater (R): 1973-1977 [1]
Henry M. Jackson (D): 1977-1981 [2]
Ronald W. Reagan (R): 1981-1989 [3]
G.H.W. Bush (R): 1989-1997
John S. McCain (R): 1997-1999

[1] The "maverick" wing of the GOP gets its man in the White House, given internal anger at Nixon running for a third term, and with the condition of having John Ashbrook from the "traditionalist" wing as VP.

[2] Public wariness/weariness of continued GOP infighting leads to the "neocon" wing of the Dems very narrowly winning in '76; James Carter in the VP slot is seen as having pulled in enough moderate, otherwise GOP Southern votes to achieve this and make up for losses in liberal Northern areas.

[3] Wins with John B. Anderson (the effective moderate GOP standard-bearer in this TL) as VP, to avoid a split; their "correct"/often-fractious relationship leads to Reagan endorsing the eventual Bush-Kemp ticket in '88.

Possible side note: Fifth Party System lasts for nearly the entire period since Roosevelt, meaning Dems still hold both houses of Congress during this time, sometimes with razor-thin majorities. Plenty in both parties cross the aisle much more often than in OTL, however, esp. on space and military bills given the much-icier/tenser Cold War, rendering this control de jure-only on numerous occasions.
 
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1678877791272.png

Recorded host history of Cordyceps Cogitatus Host #█████

1893-1886: Private citizen, author, barrister's assistant
1887-1900: Prisoner, political exile
1900-1903: Private citizen, ranking member of the Iskra newspaper editorial board
1903-1917: Leader of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolshevik faction)
1917: Ranking member of the Mailitary Revolutionary Committee
1917: Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolshevik) candidate for the 1917 Russian Constituent Assembly election
lost to Viktor Chernov (Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries), Mykhailo Hrushevsky (Ukrainian Socialist-Revolutionary Party), Yuli Martov (Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Menshevik), others
1917-1923: Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom) of the Russian SFSR
Nominated by acclimation
1923-1924: Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union
Nominated by acclimation
1924-1926: █████ █████ ██ ████████████ █████████
1926-1927: Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets (disputed)
Nominated by acclimation, in contention with Joseph Stalin (as General Secretary of the Communist Party)
1927-1928: Leader of the All-Union Communist Party (Leninist faction)
1928-1930: Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets
Nominated by acclimation
1930-1931: First Chairman of the Union of Soviet Republics of Europe and Asia
serving with Xiang Zhongfa, Georgy Pyatakov, Vilhelm Knorin, Gazanfar Musabekov, Philipp Dengel
1931-19??: Emissary Progenitor of the Eurasian All-Mind
unopposed
 
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The Brutal Decade

Barrack Obama, 2008-2012

Obama's succesful economic stimulus packages, support for LGBT rights and children's Healthcare are well documented, and form an important part of the legacy of the United States' last civilian president.

Thomas E. T. Brutus, 2012-2019

In the aftermath of the assasination of Barack Obama in March 2012 in the FEAR militia multiple bombings that also killed the Chairman of the Jount Chiefs of Staff, and crippled Vice President Joe Biden, General Brutus somehow “persuaded” Biden not to take the oath of office.

Did the United States then have a President or not? A real “Constitutional Conundrum” the papers called it. Brutus created just enough ambiguity to convince everyone that as the senior military officer, he could—and should— declare himself Commander-in-Chief of the Unified Armed Forces, arguing that he “Had to fill the power vacuum.” And Brutus showed he really knew how to use power: he declared martial law, “postponed” the elections, got the Vice President to “retire,” and even moved into the White House! “More efficient to work from there,” he said.[1]

Martial law was initially used to break up opposition to Brutus' rule, but was also used to greatly expand the military's existing role in border security, narcotics interdiction, environmental cleanup, humanitarian relief, and other non-combat roles.

The joint forces' response to the 2017 Hurricane Maria in Florida and Puerto Rico is often cited as an example, and the rapid integrated response, from evacuations to short-term power supply is credited with keeping the death toll below 1,000. Brutus' has an enduring popularity on Porto Rico because of this and how he later oversaw the islands entry to statehood.

Brutus also used martial law to expand the military's role outside of emergencies, and it was common for large construction projects in the twenty-teens to be run by the Army Corps of Engineers. The high speed rail lines that link New York, Boston, and DC with Chicago, Miami and New Orleans, and San Diego with Seattle, are only the most prominent of such projects.

Brutus thus built up a military regime that can be credited with significant improvements in American quality of life, but remained strongly authoritarian. This meant he had continual opposition from the left, which sought a return to democracy, but far more so from the right, who hated his public works projects and ignoring of state rights even more than the cancellation of elections.

It is perhaps this which made the FBI (by now a defence agency, with a seat on the Joint Chiefs) focus far more on the rightist terror groups, and miss some from the radical left. So it was that on 19 November 2019, Brutus was assassinated during a visit to New York by a twenty year-old socialist activist, known only as AOC.

After his death, San Juan was renamed Port Brutus, following a popular movement in the youngest state.

General Donald "Donnie" McClintock, 2019-2021

General McClintock, who was head of the FBI, assumed power very quickly, brushing aside the senior Marine General Joseph Dunford with the mantra that our main challenges are domestic.

McClintock largely continued Brutus' domestic programme, but substantially increased the centralisation of the law and order apparatus, taking police forces that were under consent decrees into direct control through FBI Brigadier Generals and Colonels replacing Police Commissioners, notably in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Baltimore. The NYPD had already been brought under FBI control during the aftermath of Brutus' assassination. These moves were strongly opposed by rightist groups, but got conflicted reactions from the left, as police killings of black men dropped rapidly in federalised police forces.

However, it was COVID-19 that dominated McClintock's short administration. The well staffed and resourced operation, coordinated by the affable Army Surgeon-General, Billy Ford, was praised locally and internationally for the remarkably low mortality rates. Curfews and quarantines were less popular, but had been an occasional part of martial law life for many years, and anti-masking groups were dealt with fairly quickly by the FBI.

The vaccine issue was different - by late 2020, it was clear that the US was well behind other countries in vaccine development and rollout. Although provaxx conspiracy theories were out there, they weren't taken very seriously by and large, and the populace seemed to largely assume that Uncle Sam's efficiency would kick in sooner or later. It was therefore with some astonishment that Americans woke up on January 6, 2021, to the usually amiable Surgeon-General announcing that not only had he assumed power, but that McClintock was in custody.

During McClintock's court martial, which the new president took the unusual step of televising, evidence from Colonel Briggs, an aide of McClintock turned whistleblower, and Colonel Daniels, a virologist in the Surgeon-General's office, it turned out that McClintock had diverted work on vaccines to developing a weaponised form of COVID-19.[2]

McClintock was executed by lethal injection squad at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, on January 20th.

General William "Billy" Ford MD, 2021-

Dunford was bypassed once again, this times as our main challenges are medical, which few could argue with.

In addition to completely restructuring the vaccine programme, now led by Vice Admiral Tony Fauci, Ford began a programme of limited democratic reform, with plans for a congressional election in 2023. The new congress will have authority over the federal agencies and offices that are not part of the military, and play an advisory role in the development of a transition to an elected executive. It is perhaps fitting that the United States' second African-American president is leading the transition back to democratic rule that had previously ended with the death of the first African-American president - but it remains to be seen how quickly this will happen, and to what extent the deep-seated involvement of the military in all areas of American society will unwind.

[1] This scenario is inspired by The Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012 and the italicised paragraph is largely quoting that document.
[2] Yes, the rest of this is inspired by Outbreak
 
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Warthog said:
The Brutal Decade

Barrack Obama, 2008-2012

Obama's succesful economic stimulus packages, support for LGBT rights and children's Healthcare are well documented, and form an important part of the legacy of the United States' last civilian president.

Thomas E. T. Brutus, 2012-2019

In the aftermath of the assasination of Barack Obama in March 2012 in the FEAR militia multiple bombings that also killed the Chairman of the Jount Chiefs of Staff, and crippled Vice President Joe Biden, General Brutus somehow “persuaded” Biden not to take the oath of office.

Did the United States then have a President or not? A real “Constitutional Conundrum” the papers called it. Brutus created just enough ambiguity to convince everyone that as the senior military officer, he could—and should— declare himself Commander-in-Chief of the Unified Armed Forces, arguing that he “Had to fill the power vacuum.” And Brutus showed he really knew how to use power: he declared martial law, “postponed” the elections, got the Vice President to “retire,” and even moved into the White House! “More efficient to work from there,” he said.[1]

Martial law was initially used to break up opposition to Brutus' rule, but was also used to greatly expand the military's existing role in border security, narcotics interdiction, environmental cleanup, humanitarian relief, and other non-combat roles.

The joint forces' response to the 2017 Hurricane Maria in Florida and Puerto Rico is often cited as an example, and the rapid integrated response, from evacuations to short-term power supply is credited with keeping the death toll below 1,000. Brutus' has an enduring popularity on Porto Rico because of this and how he later oversaw the islands entry to statehood.

Brutus also used martial law to expand the military's role outside of emergencies, and it was common for large construction projects in the twenty-teens to be run by the Army Corps of Engineers. The high speed rail lines that link New York, Boston, and DC with Chicago, Miami and New Orleans, and San Diego with Seattle, are only the most prominent of such projects.

Brutus thus built up a military regime that can be credited with significant improvements in American quality of life, but remained strongly authoritarian. This meant he had continual opposition from the left, which sought a return to democracy, but far more so from the right, who hated his public works projects and ignoring of state rights even more than the cancellation of elections.

It is perhaps this which made the FBI (by now a defence agency, with a seat on the Joint Chiefs) focus far more on the rightist terror groups, and miss some from the radical left. So it was that on 19 November 2019, Brutus was assassinated during a visit to New York by a twenty year-old socialist activist, known only as AOC.

After his death, San Juan was renamed Port Brutus, following a popular movement in the youngest state.

General Donald "Donnie" McClintock, 2019-2021

General McClintock, who was head of the FBI, assumed power very quickly, brushing aside the senior Marine General Joseph Dunford with the mantra that our main challenges are domestic.

McClintock largely continued Brutus' domestic programme, but substantially increased the centralisation of the law and order apparatus, taking police forces that were under consent decrees into direct control through FBI Brigadier Generals and Colonels replacing Police Commissioners, notably in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Baltimore. The NYPD had already been brought under FBI control during the aftermath of Brutus' assassination. These moves were strongly opposed by rightist groups, but got conflicted reactions from the left, as police killings of black men dropped rapidly in federalised police forces.

However, it was COVID-19 that dominated McClintock's short administration. The well staffed and resourced operation, coordinated by the affable Army Surgeon-General, Billy Ford, was praised locally and internationally for the remarkably low mortality rates. Curfews and quarantines were less popular, but had been an occasional part of martial law life for many years, and anti-masking groups were dealt with fairly quickly by the FBI.

The vaccine issue was different - by late 2020, it was clear that the US was well behind other countries in vaccine development and rollout. Although provaxx conspiracy theories were out there, they weren't taken very seriously by and large, and the populace seemed to largely assume that Uncle Sam's efficiency would kick in sooner or later. It was therefore with some astonishment that Americans woke up on January 6, 2021, to the usually amiable Surgeon-General announcing that not only had he assumed power, but that McClintock was in custody.

During McClintock's court martial, which the new president took the unusual step of televising, evidence from Colonel Briggs, an aide of McClintock turned whistleblower, and Colonel Daniels, a virologist in the Surgeon-General's office, it turned out that McClintock had diverted work on vaccines to developing a weaponised form of COVID-19.[2]

McClintock was executed by lethal injection squad at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, on January 20th.

General William "Billy" Ford MD, 2021-

Dunford was bypassed once again, this times as our main challenges are medical, which few could argue with.

In addition to completely restructuring the vaccine programme, now led by Vice Admiral Tony Fauci, Ford began a programme of limited democratic reform, with plans for a congressional election in 2023. The new congress will have authority over the federal agencies and offices that are not part of the military, and play an advisory role in the development of a transition to an elected executive. It is perhaps fitting that the United States' second African-American president is leading the transition back to democratic rule that had previously ended with the death of the first African-American president - but it remains to be seen how quickly this will happen, and to what extent the deep-seated involvement of the military in all areas of American society will unwind.

[1] This scenario is inspired by The Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012 and the italicised paragraph is largely quoting that document.
[2] Yes, the rest of this is inspired by Outbreak
Click to expand...

America is a military dictatorship, but at least it can build infrastructure so who can say if it's good or bad. Or something. Well written too!
 
An extension of my wikibox with May 1968 as the French Revolution

Presidents of the French Sixth Republic (1968 - 1972)

1968 - 1968: Gaston Monnerville (PRRRS)
1968: Monnerville becomes acting president, appoints PMF as Prime Minister, formation of Sixth Republic​
1968 - 1972: François Mitterrand (FGDS)
1968 def. Georges Pompidou (UNR)
1972: Duclos government votes to abolish the presidency, de Gaulle tried posthumously in 1973​

Prime Ministers of the French Sixth Republic (1968 - 1984)

1968 - 1972: Pierre Mendes France (PSU)
1968: Named interim Prime Minister by President Monnerville, affirmed by Constitutional Convention of the Sixth Republic​
1971: Waldeck Rochet (PCF), Daniel Cohn-Bendit (Enragés)
1972 - 1973: Jacques Duclos (PCF)
1972: Pierre Mendès France (PSU), Daniel Cohn-Bendit (Enragés)
1973 - 1974: Daniel Cohn-Bendit (Enragés)
1973: Enragés lead student-led insurrection, Cohn-Bendit heads "People's Council"​
1973 Constitutional Referendum: Yes (99.4%)
1974: Cohn-Bendit arrested over pedophilia​
1974 - 1975: Bernard Kouchner (PCF)
1974: Kouchner heads counter-coup against Cohn-Bendit, reigns in revolutionary excesses ​
1975 - 1975: Jean-Paul Sartre (DVG)
1975 Constitutional Referendum: Yes (95.5%)
1975 - 1979: Alain Geismar (Soixante-Huitard)
1975: François Mitterrand (Common Program), André Malraux (Gaullist)
1977 (Class 1): François Mitterrand (Common Program), Gaston Deffere (FDS), Alain Geismar (Soixante-Huitard)
1978 (Class 2): Guy Debord (Enragés), Alain Geismar (Soixante-Huitard)
1979 (Class 3): Jacques Sauvageot (Enragés), Michel Rocard (Common Program), Leo Hamon (Gaullist), Robert Linhart (Extreme Left)
1979 - 1979: Pierre Victor* / Jean-Paul Sartre / Serge July (Gang of Three)
1979: Victor rallies militants to counter against alleged Enragés coup, bloodlessly rises to power​
1979 - 1984: Pierre Victor / Bernard Kouchner / André Glucksmann (Gang of Three)
1980 Constitutional Referendum: Approved (99.9%)
1982 Constitutional Referendum: Approved (99.8%)

* le nom de guerre de Benny Levy

Presidents of the People's Republic of France (1984 - 1995)

1984 - 1995: Pierre Victor (Marxist-Victorist)
1984 Constitutional Referendum: Approved (99.9%)
1994: Fall of Paris, resignation of President Victor, declaration of Seventh Republic ​
1995: President Victor returns to France, leads a "Long March" that retakes Paris​
1995 Constitutional Referendum: Approved (99.7%)
1995: Final defeat of the RPF and President Victor, who dies in exile in 2001​

Prime Ministers of the People's Republic of France (1995)

1995 - 1995: Roger Garaudy (Marxist-Victorist)
May 1995: Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (Republican), Tony Levy (Marxist-Victorist), Michel Rocard (Leftist)
 
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Critical Support for the US Military

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES:
33. Thomas Dewey/Earl Warren (R) - January 20, 1945-January 20, 1949
34. Dwight Eisenhower/Harry Truman (D) - January 20, 1949-January 20, 1957
35. Harry Truman/John Kennedy (D) - January 20, 1957-January 20, 1961
36. Barry Goldwater/Orval Faubus (R/SR) - January 20, 1961-May 29, 1964 (NSDAP Unity Ticket)
(-). David McDonald (M) - May 29, 1964-January 20, 1965
37. Henry Jackson/Hubert Humphrey (D) - January 20, 1965-January 20, 1973
38. Hubert Humphrey/James Carter (D) - January 20, 1973-January 20, 1977
39. Jesse Helms/James Carter (R/D) - January 20, 1977-October 8, 1978 (Contingent Election)
40. James Carter/VACANT (D) - October 8, 1978-December 14, 1978
40. James Carter/Elmo Zumwalt (D) - December 14, 1978-January 20, 1981
41. Barbara Jordan/Walter Mondale (D) - January 20, 1981-January 20, 1989
42. George H.W. Bush/Millicent Fenwick (R) - January 20, 1989-January 20, 1993
42. George H.W. Bush/Tom Kean (R) - January 20, 1993-January 20, 1997
43. Dick Cheney/Colin Powell (R) - January 20, 1997-May 15, 1997
44. Colin Powell/VACANT (R) - May 15, 1997-August 9, 1997
44. Colin Powell/William Cohen (R) - August 9, 1997-January 20, 2005
45. Ted Kennedy/Al Gore (D) - January 20, 2005-January 20, 2009
46. Joe Lieberman/John McCain (R) - January 20, 2009-January 20, 2013
47. Elizabeth Holtzman/Barack Obama (D) - January 20, 2013-January 20, 2021
48. Barack Obama/Terry Farrell (D) - January 20, 2021-Present

Throughout the 20th century the US Military has been a rather surprising bastion of progressiveness. This includes desegregating all military units in 1945, establishing equal pay for women in non-combat roles, and abolishing homosexuality as a dischargeable offense in the 1970s. The military has also played a major role in keeping the conservative movement down in America. Such notable battles include a crackdown on polygamy in the western US that led to thousands of arrests, the temporary implementation of martial law in the South to protect civil rights ("New Reconstruction") and firing live ammunition at a pro-fascist rally in Washington D.C.
 
A CONSENSUS REBORN
Thatcher loses the Malvinas

Part Four

1995 UK general election
⦁ Labour (Robin Cook): 238 seats (+29), 36.6% vote
⦁ Conservative (Peter Tapsell): 160 seats (-9), 24.6% vote
⦁ Social Democratic (David Owen): 116 seats, 17.8% vote
⦁ Liberal (Paddy Ashdown): 98 seats, 15% vote
⦁ Green (Sara Parkin): 13 seats, 2% vote

Result: Labour/Liberal majority of 10

Flagship policy
⦁ Massive investment in health service
⦁ University drive keeping free tuition
⦁ School building & new technical training
⦁ Crime prevention & rehabilitation
⦁ Evidence-based drug reform inquiry
⦁ STV system for all council elections
⦁ Progressive tax rises (esp. on top 1%)
⦁ Engagement with EU & euro vote

Cook ministry (1995-99)
⦁ Prime Minister: Robin Cook (Labour)
⦁ Deputy Prime Minister: Paddy Ashdown (Liberal)
⦁ Chancellor of the Exchequer: Bryan Gould (Labour)
⦁ Treasury Secretary: Chris Mullin (Labour)
⦁ Foreign Secretary: Ken Livingstone (Labour)
⦁ Home Secretary: Simon Hughes (Liberal)
⦁ Defence Secretary: David Penhaligon (Liberal)
⦁ Education Secretary: Tony Blair (Labour)
⦁ Employment Secretary: Michael Meacher (Labour)
⦁ Energy Secretary: Mo Mowlam (Labour)
⦁ Health Secretary: Gordon Brown (Labour)
⦁ Housing Secretary: Matthew Taylor (Liberal)
⦁ Industry Secretary: Ken Coates (Labour)
⦁ Trade Secretary: Clare Short (Labour)

Major shadow cabinet (1995-99)
⦁ Leader of the Opposition: John Major (Conservative)
⦁ Party Deputy Leader: Peter Lilley (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Chancellor: Michael Portillo (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Treasury: Gillian Shephard (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Foreign: Malcolm Rifkind (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Home: Francis Maude (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Defence: Michael Howard (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Education: William Hague (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Employment: Michael Ancram (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Energy: John Redwood (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Health: David Willetts (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Housing: David Davis (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Industry: George Young (Conservative)
⦁ Shadow Trade: Norman Lamont (Conservative)

Heseltine frontbench team (1995-99)
⦁ Party Leader: Michael Heseltine (Social Democratic)
⦁ Party Deputy Leader: Charles Kennedy (Social Democratic)
⦁ Shadow Chancellor: Ken Clarke (Social Democratic)
⦁ Shadow Treasury: John Smith (Social Democratic)
⦁ Shadow Foreign: Bob Maclennan (Social Democratic)
⦁ Shadow Home: Rosie Barnes (Social Democratic)
⦁ Shadow Defence: Mike Hancock (Social Democratic)
⦁ Shadow Education: Stephen Dorrell (Social Democratic)
⦁ Shadow Employment: Robert Kilroy-Silk (Social Democratic)
⦁ Shadow Energy: Vince Cable (Social Democratic)
⦁ Shadow Health: Norman Lamb (Social Democratic)
⦁ Shadow Housing: Polly Toynbee (Social Democratic)
⦁ Shadow Industry: David Sainsbury (Social Democratic)
⦁ Shadow Trade: Chris Patten (Social Democratic)
 
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Just as I warned, Part 2 (of 3) cometh. Brace yourself for weebery, and also spoilers for the latest season of My Hero Academia.

ATLF/B: All For The Sake of a Correct Society​
I'm a massive weeb--and what's worse, a normie weeb
Chairs of the NPSC's Special Subcommitte on Altered Individuals [1]
2051-2075: Tsuruoka Tatsumi [2]
2075-2078: Keito Nimoda [3]

Presidents of the Hero Public Safety Commission
2078-2108: Keito Nimoda [4]
2108-2113: Kitani Sayuri [5]
2113-2128: Orito Otojiro
2128-2150: Matsutani Shozaburo
2150-2178: Yasunaga Chisato
2178-2193: Iida Tenichi
2193-2219: Uon Akuta [6]
2219-2237: Hayashi In [7]

Walpurgisnacht said:
[1] It had started off as a rumour. An urban legend. A story for the silly season. Those Chinese tabloids, desperate to fill airtime after the economic slump and the troubles in Xinjiang--look, they're making up some story about a glowing baby! How ridiculous! Deepfakes sure look realistic these days. Most people moved on with their lives, and didn't ask any more questions about the incident. Until it happened again.

A year or two later, there were 40 different children with some kind of...ability. Not counting the ones (like the boy from Jeju with a flaming monster for a head) whose abilities had killed them. These "Talented", as the press were calling them, or "metahumans" as scientists had settled on, were otherwise total mysteries. May speculated on the answer to the questions they raised. Why were they only appearing in East Asia, their numbers decreasing in density as one left Keikei City? What connected these children, if it wasn't genetics, or diet, or location? How could they defy basic biology and physics as easily as breathing?

Ten years later, as the "Talented" children finally came of age, and with more and more appearing every day, it became clear that one important question had been missed.

How could ordinary humans hope to control them?

[2] Tsururoka remains a controversial figure in Japanese history. Everyone agrees on a small core of facts--he rose through the Japanese bureaucracy through hard work and zeal, he had a close (perhaps too close) working relationship with Prime Minister Kairo, and his career was defined by his attempts to deal with the "Talented problem" by any means necessary.

He has his defenders. His defenders have plenty of arguments.

His methods, though harsh, were effective at preserving the nation. Japan might have weathered a terrorist movement or two, but a few bombings hardly compared to the Tianjin Incident or the Second Hmong War, so clearly something he did worked. Many of the tactics he pioneered would go on to be widely used in both hero training and policing--he quite literally laid the foundations for Tartarus, one of the world's most secure prisons. He was surely a man of many virtues, a patriot who lived only to save his country and humanity. The primary sources that contradict this were, after all, largely written by unsympathetic foreigners or members of the brutal terrorist movements he opposed. Why should we assume Agent Hiragi wasn't eager to dump all her own misdeeds on her conveniently dead superior, and make him a scapegoat for her actions? He couldn't have known about all the massacres in his name, and anyway, most of the death tolls were inflated. He was better than having someone like Destro in charge. He was responding to a situation where the unthinkable was necessary, and we should judge him by the standards of his time.

Those who would condemn him have one argument, but it is a very effective one.

1.4 million dead metahumans. Condemmed as "Enemies of Humanity", massacred, conscripted, imprisoned in "re-education camps", or experimented on under the guise of schooling. A death toll far higher, per capita, than any other Asian nation.

50% of the dead were below the age of 20.

[3] By the time Tsuruoka passed away, officially from a stroke (his autopsy was never released), the international situation had changed. An estimated 20% of all new births worldwide were of metahumans--or "the quirked", as many metas now preferred, a term that sounded cheerfully innocuous instead of clinical--and their adult populations were large enough to be politically vocal. Civil strife had subsided, at least in the nations wealthy enough to find civil strife unusual. Something like an international order was emerging. In this climate, the draconian methods of the Special Subcommittee could no longer be justified. Japan's economy, already devastated by the rise of the Talented and overspending on law enforcement, couldn't take the hit of international pariah status. Things had to change--or they'd fall apart.

While another chair might have acceded to a new direction, it is unlikely they would have suggested it. Unlike the rest of the Subcommitte's old guard, whose backgrounds were in law enforcement, Keito Nimoda was a politician--a former governer of Kyoto Prefecture, whose effectiveness at dealing with metacriminals had won him a place as an advisor. To him, adaptability was a virtue.

The prisons were, arguably, emptied, though many political prisoners would disagree. The occupations were lifted, even if curfews took their place. One of the camps (and a paticularly unrepresentative camp at that) was publicly disbanded; the rest were quietly buried and forgotten.

Within three years, Japan had gone from a brutal pariah state and de-facto dictatorship to a modern nation ready to join the Era of Quirks. More to the point, the Special Subcommittee and its members had gone from bigoted war criminals to reformist bureaucrats, parroting the progressive terms of activists they'd signed the death warrants of. The ideal men to police this glorious new age...

[4] There were, of course, shadows over the proceedings. Destro's ongoing political struggle was shifting to an increasingly armed form, and was soon to become the bloody coda to the Dark Age of Quirks. Most of Tokyo's outlying suburbs was still being rebuilt, and even renamed (occasionally inappropriately). The 6/6 Incident, just a few days after the signing, helpfully reminded Japan's "quirked" citizens of how little had really changed for them. Still, looking up from the crowd at the ceremonies--the fireworks and cheers and, yes, the glitzy new heroes--you could, for a moment, ignore all of that, and pretend, as Keito Nimoda signed the Rhode Island Statue, that everything was alright now.

The hero system was, on a surface level, an odd thing for the newly-rebranded Commission to embrace. After all, it was based around handing massive power to those with strong Talents, the total opposite of their former mission, and started out as a way to legalise the cosplaying vigilantes that were one of their most persistent headaches. It took someone like Keito Nimoda--with his corkscrew mind and rat's heart--to recognise the benefits to them.

The Statute's compromise around quirk regulation gave government-sanctioned heroes a monopoly on quirk usage, ostensibly to prevent a caste system developing. Attempts to accomodate those who didn't want to disclose their identity created a whole category of "underground" heroes, whose identities were sealed by law. The newly minted heroes were required to be trained in the use of their quirks, and the only facilities in Japan that could be qualified to do so were Commission training facilities.

In other words, the new heroes didn't have to be those pesky vigilantes. The Commission, after all, had never been opposed to using Talented agents even from the start--indeed, before his death, Nakajima Nanao was all-but-officially being groomed as the heir to Tsuruoka. By the end of what was now euphemistically being called "the Special Period", the Commission had a private army of heavily-trained and heavily-restricted Talented agents. Ones who could now easily continue their secret warring uninhibited, with no need to disclose their former actions, and with carte blanche to pick off the more troublesome vigilantes. Let the cosplayers prance about in the limelight for the public--real business could go on, as usual, in the shadows.

There was another, more hidden, reason why Keito Nimoda was eager to comply with the new "World Heroes Association". One related to the reason why metacrime--sorry, it was "villainy" now--had declined to such a low (not zero) level in his prefecture. One related to the sheer speed of his political rise, and the large number of people who suddenly got out of Keito Nimoda's way. One related to the disappearance of many newly-released prisoners, whose dead bodies seemingly had been defaced by bigots--there seemed to be no signs of their quirks on them.

His patron wasn't quite happy that Japan's economy was recovering, and with it, a civil society not ruled by fear. He'd had his...differences with the vigilantes, as well. Still, he thought that Keito's outreach to the Rhode Island Statute was a brilliant idea.

After all, what kind of a Demon Lord didn't have any proper heroes to fight?
Click to expand...


[5] Japanese society went through plenty of upheavals over the next few centuries. At the same time, however, nothing actually changed.

Commissioner followed Commissioner, and, more publically but less importantly, Prime Minister followed Prime Minister. (An old vigilante trains and trains in the middle of a remote wood.) New villain movements, and new heroes to face them, came and went--the heroes often leaving more quickly than the villains. (A funky guy in a leather jacket stumbles down from the woods, having buried a teacher.) Smaller criminal organisations were devoured, their heavy hitters mysteriously disappearing. (A man hiding behind a high collar looks at his master's blood on his hands.) The quirkless, their numbers falling, joined the more divergent mutants and those with quirks powerful in the wrong way on the bottom of the social totem poll. (A young woman, cradling her friend's head, resolves to keep smiling through her fear.)

The same old men sat in smoky rooms, and made the same decisions about sending children to die, and no-one bothered to complain. Even if life was harsh and unfair, tomorrow was usually guaranteed to turn out like today. In a world of commonplace impossibilities, that was all one could hope for. Wasn't it?

(A young man grins in his teacher's face, and tells her that he'll be a new kind of hero. One that'll save everyone.)

[6] To a certain extent it's hard to blame Uon Akuta for setting Japan up for disaster two generations down the line. The HPSC, having inherited an already unaccountable and bloated system from their predecessors, had been handing themselves blank cheques for nearly two centuries. With no checks on their power from the outside, the departments of the Commission increasingly found themselves struggling against each other. Like his most immediate predecessors, Uon was a bureaucratic Galapagos finch--perfectly adapted to survive and thrive within the bowels of his institution, and totally rudderless anywhere else. His actions, idiotic though they might seem to someone on the ground, were masterstrokes of politics within the Commission's bubble.

The rise of All Might as the Symbol of Peace brought to Japan a stability it hadn't enjoyed since the Dawn of Quirks. Whether it was from his relentless work pursuing criminals, his easy charisma reassuring the masses, or his actual combatting of the secret immortal supervillain running a sizeable percentage of Japanese society, is unclear, but the point still stands--Yagi Toshinori was a human miracle. The problem with miracles, of course, is that they're rare.

The average layman on the street, if asked to think about it, might suggest that the Commission prepare for the death or retirement of All Might in some way. They could find and train a successor to his role, restructure hero society away from dependence on lone exceptional individuals, or even restructure society away from dependence on the pro hero. Without a constant emergency looming over their heads, the Commission could also experiment with costly but rewarding ideas like prisoner rehabilitation, and social outreach programs, preventing the villains of the future. Perhaps they could even work closely with All Might on these matters, leveraging his popularity against unpopular measures, given his track record with charity and anti-discrimination campaigns.

From Uon's perspective at the top of Keito Nimoda Plaza, the correct course of action was clear. With peace secured across Japan, now was the time for the Commission to do nothing more but double down. Fine ideas were all very well, but every penny spent on amenities in Tartarus was one that could be spent on more heroes on the beat, and finding ways to keep them under the Commission's control. Indeed, with someone as naive as All Might at the top of the heap, it was more important than ever that their grip on heroics remained tight, not undermined by his childish reformism. The Commission came before and would come after the Symbol of Peace. The Commission was what guarenteed this era of peace. The goal of the Commission was to protect Japan, and the best way to protect Japan was, therefore, to preserve the Commission. To ensure there was a place for everything in hero society, and that everything was in its place.

[7] Uon Akuta wouldn't live to see his own failures--the barrenness of his "special projects", the collapse of his carefully maintained hero system, the revalation that hero society could no longer survive without All Might. So right up until Lady Nagant blew his head off, he believed himself the hero of his own story. His successor would not be quite as fortunate.

Unlike many of her predecessors, Hayashi In's rise to the top took place within the public eye. Once a young rising star in the Diet, she parlayed an impressive track-record as Minister for Education into a role at the Commission overseeing Japanese hero schools. While she might not have quite brought U.A. to heel, neither had any of her predecessors--the fact that she came close, leveraging funding for the school's outrageous robots budget to get Nezu to accept a student recommendation system, was what caught the eye of her superiors. Fast-tracked into ever-more-powerful roles, her ability to toe the line between the anti-spending pragmatists and the experimental radicals was what let her fill Akuta's shoes. That, and her relatively high charisma--Lady Nagant needed to be scapegoated for the Commission's crimes, and for that the media needed someone visible to explain what the HPSC was and did.

Some optimistic initial reports described the new President as a reformer. She was, if only in the sense that she sought to make changes to the current system--changes to preserve it for the future. A replacement Symbol of Peace had to be found, since All Might was unwilling or unable to listen to the Commission's guidance. (And for when he retired, of course, but Hayashi was of a generation that could only dimly concieve of a world without All Might.) The assassin program should be slashed back, but as an overly expensive potential PR time-bomb, not as an ethical stain. The budget should be redirected away from internal bureaucracy, and towards Tartarus and hero agencies and the police--all things with actual, tangible, measurable results. The watchwords of the day were efficiency and speed, but they were deployed towards familiar ends. Like most leaders, Hayashi created as many problems as she solved, and despite her promises, she was nowhere near as adaptable to change as she needed to be.

Just as her "reform" meant nothing of the sort, Hayashi's promised "efficiency" only slimmed down the figures on the budget sheet. Instead of Uon's Byzantine schemes, the Commission's employees were encouraged to take the quickest, simplest, and above all cheapest approach to problem-solving. With a little strategic planning and foresight, this approach could have yielded dividends. Instead, it was applied without any forethought longer than a bugetary cycle. New Symbol of Peace training program? Lump it in with the new assassin program, and hope the contradiction doesn't break little Keigo. An underfunded heroics system? Just pump more money into the license-mill schools, and hope the new graduates fill the right places. Rising social stratification and widespread discrimination? Well, that doesn't affect anyone working here, so why do anything about it at all? Any of the developing long-term issues were simply ignored, from the ones as old as quirk society to the ones sprouting up under Hayashi's feet.

After centuries of dealing with the consequences of heroes failing, the Commission had no way to deal with problems caused by said heroes succeeding too much. The generations inspired by All Might were working their way through a much safer system, and there were simply not enough villains for every hero to make a decent living on their own. The solution the President favoured? None. Inter-hero competition, already at some of the highest levels in the WHA, was unleashed, with the promise of ensuring efficiency across the board and eliminating underperforming heroes. No-one considered the consequences of further disincentivising co-operation between hero agencies, or accelerating the commercial nature of limelight heroics, or reducing the ability of heroes to take on unsexy and lengthy missions such as, say, investigating potential front businesses for villains. That would, after all, take too long and cost too much.

Blaming a single Presidency in this manner may not be entirely fair. Nearly every President since Akuta had governed as if their only goal was to create problems for some future Commission President. It was merely Hayashi In's misfortune that the successor that had to deal with the problems she created was the Hayashi In of 20 years hence. So after the attack on the USJ, after Stain rose, after All Might fell, after a routine raid turned into an all-out war, when Yotsubashi Rikiya's double refused to go quietly, the only thought in Hayashi In's mind, as she bled out on the concrete, was this:

I failed.
 
Blackentheborg said:
the Career of Sir Topham Hatt, "England's honorary Prime Minister"

1894-1898: Apprentice Engineer, Great Western Railway's Swindon Works
1899-1901: Private citizen, clerk for Oxford City Technical School
1901-1909: Engineer, A. W. Dry & Co.
1909-1914: Engineer, Tidmouth, Knapford and Elsbridge Light Railway
1914-1918: Lance Corporal for the 58th Brigade, Wiltshire Regiment
1919-1923: Engineer, North Western Railway
1923-1936: General Manager, North Western Railway
1936-1945: Managing Director, North Western Railway
1931: Conservative Party candidate for Sodor East
lost to Handel Brown (National Liberal), Wilbert Awdry (New), Herbert Skimpole (Independent Labour)
1945-1948: Governor General of the Island of Sodor
- appointed by King Edward VIII
1948-1949: Governor General of the Island of Sodor (Government in Exile)
- declared in opposition of the English Socialist Government, host to the British Royal Family
1949-1950: First Controller of Sodor Island
- appointed by King Edmund III
1950-1951: Minister of Works and Planning for the Shelby War Ministry (Government in Exile)
- resigned following the collapse of the English Socialist Government
1951-1953: Chairman of the Regional Executive for the North Western Railway
1953-1956: Chairman of the British Railways Board
- nominated his son, Charles Hatt, to his position upon retirement
1955-1956: Private citizen, horticulturalist
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Thomas fans ... ON MY ALT HIST FORUM???
 
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