Lists of Heads of Government and Heads of State

[claybaskit]

He says china country would make a great parking lot.

 

[gentleman biaggi]

He says china country would make a great parking lot.

least sinophobic 1950s AH TL

 

[Catalunya]

The Human Condition

There’s a scene about 515 minutes into the Human Condition where our protagonist, Kaji - having fully made the transition from manager of a Japanese prison labor camp to POW of a Soviet prison labor camp - comes before the Russian management of the camp to answer for his attempts at democratizing the POWs.

Kaji is, as far as he knows himself, a socialist. Many times throughout the six part filmic cycle he is referred to as a “Red”. At the very least he’s actively against the monarchical fascism of his own country, Japan, who he has been forced to go to war for. But here in the labor camp he has seen none of the class equalization that he admires about Soviet rhetoric. (And this is a buried theme in the work, no ISM will save us as long as humanity remains base and greedy and vindictive. What needs to change is not our form of governance, but the compassionless nature of our institutions and the leaders they enable.)

And now here, finally, is Kaji's chance to make this profound moral argument to his Russian captors. To engage in dialogue about the arc of human governance. To appeal to the angels of their own socialist rhetoric which, in theory, lean towards humanism.

And then he’s given a shit translator.

He is not understood. He is in fact misunderstood. And he cannot understand them. Language, Russian and Japanese, is all just sounds without meaning. He’s a mute child before his Russian overlords. Wet-eyed and desperate and imploring and angry. A gesticulating buffoon.

Everything he has experienced across all these years of war, all the lessons of leading human beings in times of crisis and hardship. His struggle to treat the human beings in his care with some kind of greater grace. His assertions that being kind is actually the most productive strategy of all. It’s all meaningless. He is not heard. He has never been heard, not in any real sense.

He looks like a beggar in his makeshift gunnysack clothing. His ethical code, honed to perfection; his belief in humanity; his elevation as a moral hero; nothing, nothing. Meaningless. Meaningless. Before the Russians he is a caricature. A dirty “fascist samurai”.

It is the apex scene to Masaki Kobayashi’s sprawling masterwork. Though we have seen enslavement, rape, murder, war, dehumanization, theft of livelihood, and more, this... the not being heard; the negation of all Kaji has learned and believed and struggled to implement... this is the darkest event of all. Because filmmaker Kobayashi himself has spent huge amounts of resources and many years making an almost ten hour dramatic moral mountain top of a movie and now Masaki is telling us that it all amounts to nothing. Those who need to hear the message will not.

You. Me. Him. His fictions. All that we invest in. We are unheard.

Is it any wonder it ends as it does? We may ask ourselves, why have we come all this way for this ending? We may be left soul sick by it. But we know in our hearts... it’s the only true ending for a man like Kaji. And we also know that it doesn’t lessen Kaji, this ending.

Because, still, after all this, it is better to die because you believed in humanity, than to live as if you did not. Such a belief may not save one human life, but in the arc of history, it will save lives.

List of Prime Ministers of Japan:

1931 - 1932: Inukai Tsuyoshi (Rikken Seiyukai)
1932: May 15 Coup, assassination of PM Tsuyoshi, Makino Nobuaki, and English film star Charlie Chaplin. Coalition of IJN, IJA, and remnants of League of Blood take over government, led by writer Shumei Okawa. General Ugaki installled as PM as a figurehead.
1932 - 1933: Kazushige Ugaki (Rikken Minseito)
1932: US declaration of war against the Japanese Empire, starting the First Pacific War (1932-1935).
1933: German Civil War, Nazi-led Right-wing Opposition defeats von Schleicher regime, and Iron Front in three-way civil war.
1933: Ugaki purged due to opposition to ‘fascizification’ of Japan.
1933 - 1935: Jinzaburo Mazakai (Independent)
1934: IJA increases backing of Chiang Kai-Shek led Guomintang.
1934-1935: Dust Bowl ravages through Central America, worsening economic situation, and almost destroying supply lines between the East and West.
1935: Zaibatsu led coalition of civilian forces push the Emperor to reinstalling Ugaki as PM, and enter peace talks with the American government.
1935 - 1936: Kazushige Ugaki (Independent)
1935: Bangkok Peace Accords, President Hoover and PM Ugaki sign peace agreement to end the First Pacific War. The latter would resign and be trialed upon return to Japan.
1935 - 1936: Tetsuzan Nagata (Toseiha ‘Control Faction’)
1935: Start of Biological Warfare Experimentation Program on directions of PM Nagata.
1936: February 26 Coup, Radical Kodoha-aligned Young Officers’ led ‘Righteous Army’ takes over Japanese government, and install general Araki as PM.
1936 - 1937: Sadao Araki (Kosoha ‘Imperial Way Faction’)
1937-1943: Second American Civil War.
1937: Hokushin-ron proposal by PM Araki accepted, start of Soviet-Japanese War (1937-1942).
1937: PM Araki resigns to take active role on the front, and is succeeded by self-proclaimed National Socialist, and close ally, Seigo Nakano, as part of ‘democratic return’.
1937 - 1938: Seigo Nakano (Tohokai)
1937-1938: The Great Purge, numerous moderate military officials, bureaucrats, and politicians given death sentence following showcase trials. Eventually, PM Nakano would meet the same fate.
1937: Japan, Germany and Italy form Tripartite pact.
1938: Start of Shadow War between Germany and UK/France in Spain.
1939 - 1941: Kingoro Hashimoto (Emperor’s Association)
1939: IJA-IJN declares ‘full uncompromising’ control over governance of Japan. Claim to have mandate of the Emperor.
1940: Start of Great European War, as Germany invades the low countries, and later France.
1940: IJN occupies Hawaii on request of former Japanese foe ‘Acting’ President MacArthur (Honolulu regime).
1941: Japanese government attempts to court support of Franco-British forces by stating support for Felix Eboué’s ‘anti-imperialist war in Africa’. The attempt fails to gain traction. Hitler announces end to Tripartite Pact, with both Japan and Germany turning their back to Germany.
1941: Liberation of Vladivostok, USSR forces cause massive casualties, including former PM Araki. Kingoro Hashimoto resigns, and goes to Korea to attempt to stop Soviet juggernaut.
1941 - 1942: Kuniaki Koiso (Emperor’s Association)
1942: Soviet-Japanese Peace Agreement, PM Koiso-led group agrees to USSR’s peace proposals. Japnese Empire agrees to cease support for Nationalist China, cede Manchukuo to Communist Party of China, pull forces out of Chinese territory, divide Korea along the 38th parallel, and pay Soviet Union reparations. USSR sends most forces to Eastern front, in preparation of invasion of Nazi-occupied East Europe.
1942 - 1943: Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu (Imperial Family)
1942: Nobuhito takes over governance of Japan, appoints numerous civilian officials to cabinet positions, and fills the rest with moderate IJN members.
1943: Blue-Bright Red-Khaki coalition proclaims victory in American Civil War, against Longist Whites, and Forsterite Reds. President John L. Lewis and Vice President Earl Browder enter power-sharing agreement. Japanese Empire continues to recognize MacArthur government in Honolulu.
1943: 17 September Coup, Ultra-National Socialist New Cherry Blossom Society, led by former General Kenji Hatanaka, coups Nobuhito Government.
1943 - 1946: Kenji Hatanaka (New Cherry Blossom)
1943: Mao Zedong declares the Chinese Civil War to be over.
1943: Korea Ultimatum, PM Hatanaka threatens USSR to pull out of North Korea within 15 days, or face Japanese aggression. Stalin ignores the ultimatum, starting the Japan War (1943-1946).
1944: War in Europe over following British invasion of Berlin. Europe split on Oder-Neisse line.
1944: American President Lewis opportunistically joins Japan War to liberate Hawaii.
1945: Soviet forces invade island of Hokkaido.
1946: Great March South, USSR forces and allies invade island of Honshu, and fight their way towards Tokyo.
1946: PM Hatanaka commits harakiri.
1946 - 1946: Jiro Shiizaki (New Cherry Blossom)
1946: Japan unconditionally surrenders to USSR. American Naval Forces liberate Hawaii.
1946 - 1947: Sanzo Nosaka (Communist)
1946: Establishment of the Workers’ Republic of Japan as a Soviet-puppet state, confirming the end of the Koshitsu.
1946: PM Nosaka’s proposal for ‘Japanese NEP’ vetoed by Russo-Japanese Advisory Board.
1947: Nosaka forced to resign following failure of push for popular democratic elections.
1947 - 1952: Kyuichi Tokuda (Communist)
1947: Second constitution of Workers’ Republic of Japan passes, Marxist-Leninism enshrined in constitution.
1947: Pro-democracy protests quashed by Red Guards.
1948: French government removes CPF deputies out of parliament. Relations between Western Europe and USSR increasingly worsen.
1949:
1949: Japan, Korea, China and USSR sign Friendship Accord, promise to defend one another in case of warfare with capitalist powers. Move largely seen as a response to the intensification of Vietnamse Independence War.
1950: 10.000 Japanese ‘volunteers’ enter Vietnam through Chinese border.
1951-1957: Start of Vietnam War between France, UK, and capitalist allies, and China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnamese Liberation Army. USA proclaims neutrality, while USSR does the same, but allows volunteers to fight in Vietnam.
1952: May Day Massacare, over a 100 anti-war protesters killed by Japanese officials.
1952: PM Tokuda passes away from natural causes.
1952 - 1960: Shojiro Kasuga (Communist)
1953: Young Japanese writer Yukio Mishima releases his poem ‘From Filthy Tongues of Gods and Thieves’, a anti-communist story that would spark the revival of Japanese anarchism.
1955: Stalin passes away, is succeeded by Beria.
1956-1958: Anzen Hosho protests, anarchist student associations across Japan protests against lengthening of USSR-occupation of the Workers’ Republic of Japan.
1957: Vietnam joins Comintern.
1959: July 5 Bombing Spree, Anarchist organizations assassinate multiple Communist Party officials and two cabinet members, though fail to take out PM Kasuga.
1960 - 1968: Hotsumi Ozaki (Communist)
1960: Hotsumi Ozaki replaces Kasuga as PM following power struggle after the latter lost the support of Beria.
1961: Thousands of Japanese volunteers travel to Kenia, and other African countries to fight in the Great African Independence Wars.
1963: Mao Zedong is assassinated by a 19-year old Japanese Ultra-National Socialists. Suspected involvement of Beria.
1964-1973: Trieste Border Crisis sparks leads to war between the Kingdom of Italy and People’s Union of Yugoslavia, and quickly snowballs into a wide-scale war between the Western powers and Comintern, with the USA remaining independent. Most Japanese troops serve on the Himalayan front, and in Indochina.
1965: Numerous anti-war anarchist activists arrested, Mishima narrowly escapes capture, and goes underground.
1967: Full conscription in Japan, as Western forces near Leningrad.
1968: Free People’s Uprising, protests and civil disobedience across Japan nearly puts the country to a halt. Communist government promises minor concessions, but is put down by USSR. PM Ozaki forced to resign.
1968 - 1970: Kobo Abe (Communist)
1968: Mongolian troops placed in Japan in order to avert anarchist revolution.
1969: Government forced to evacuate Tokyo due to Anarchist protesters taking over train station and airport, flee to Morioka.
1970: Comintern concludes Japan to be a lost cause, and allows Marxist-Leninist government to be overthrown.
1970 - 0000: Yukio Mishima (Libertarian)
1970: Establishment of the Free Territory of the Japanese Isles. Poet Yukio Mishima installed as temporary leader during transition away from statism.

 

[Qaz_plm]

1997-2001: Pat Buchanan / Carrol Campbell (Republican)
1996: Bill Clinton (Democratic), Ross Perot (Reform)
2001-2005: Joe Lieberman / Dick Gephardt (Democratic)
2000: Pat Buchanan (Republican), Howard Stern (Reform)
2005-: Rick Santorum / Frank Keating (Republican)
2004: Joe Lieberman (Democratic), Jesse Ventura (Reform)

1997-2005: Robin Cook (Labour)
1997: John Major (Conservative), Ming Campbell (Liberal Democrats)
2001: Michael Portillo (Conservative), Ming Campbell (Liberal Democrats)
2005: David Davis (Conservative), Charles Kennedy (Liberal Democrats)
2005-2005: John Prescott (Labour)
2005-: Jack Straw (Labour)

1993: Jim Ross becomes WCW president
1994: The Rwandan genocide takes place
1994: Labour party leader John Smith dies of a heart attack
1994: Labour party members Tony Blair and Gordon Brown die in a restaurant explosion caused by a gas leak
1994: Robin Cook beats Jack Cunningham for the leadership of Labour party
1994: Nelson Mandela elected president of South Africa
1995: Quebec narrowly votes for independence after a elderly man is mugged by an Anglo youth at the 'Unity Rally'
1995: Liberal Democrat Paddy Ashdown is killed in altercation with youths
1996: Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin narrowly wins re-election over Benjamin Netanyahu
1996: Pat Buchanan wins the presidential election over Bill Clinton and Ross Perot
1997: John McCain switches his political allegation after President Buchanan's failed "holocaust denying" education bill
1997: Robin Cook's Labour party wins the general election
1997: Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky found dead in hotel room
1997: Democrat Al Sharpton wins the New York City mayoral election
1998: Good Friday Agreement ends The Troubles
1998: Comic writer Garth Ennis sparks controversy after killing President Buchanan in an issue of his Guy Gardner run
1998: Oskar Lafontaine becomes Chancellor of Germany
1998: The Republicans suffer heavy looses in the midterms
1999: Marilyn Manson and Andy Dick arrested on drug charges
1999: Benjamin Netanyahu elected Israeli prime minister
1999: Buchanan's approval rating sinks to record lows after refusing to intervene in Yugoslavia. Prime Minister Robin Cook gains a reputation as the "real leader of the free world"
1999: Democratic front runner New York Governor John Kennedy Jr. resigns and drops out due to a sex trafficking scandal
2000: Radio host Howard Stern starts 'serious' campaign for Reform nomination due to feeling both parties nominees being equal bad
2000: Joe Lieberman wins the presidential election
2001: Attempted assassination of President Lieberman by Luke Helder
2001: Al Sharpton wins re-election as mayor of New York
2002: American forces invade Somalia and Afghanistan
2003: Intervention in countries like Iraq,Sudan, Libya,Syria, North Korea, and Iran polls negatively with the American public as the re-building process in Somalia and Afghanistan are faced with set back upon set back
2004: Jeb Bush drops out of the primaries after advisor accidentally forwards email to journalist
2004: Republican Rick Santorum wins presidential election. Jesse Ventura's candidacy under performs
2005: Prime Minister Robin Cook dies from a heart attack

 

[gentleman biaggi]

1995: Quebec narrowly votes for independence after a elderly man is mugged by an Anglo youth at the 'Unity Rally'

least violent anglo canadian

1997: John McCain switches his political allegation after President Buchanan's failed "holocaust denying" education bill

the World Anti Communist League is gonna HATE this

1998: Oskar Lafontaine becomes Chancellor of Germany

utopia

1999: Buchanan's approval rating sinks to record lows after refusing to intervene in Yugoslavia. Prime Minister Robin Cook gains a reputation as the "real leader of the free world"

wesley clark gonna deflect to britain

2000: Radio host Howard Stern starts 'serious' campaign for Reform nomination due to feeling both parties nominees being equal bad

my mom would be a member of the 2,000 mules for stern

2003: Intervention in countries like Iraq,Sudan, Libya,Syria, North Korea, and Iran polls negatively with the American public as the re-building process in Somalia and Afghanistan are faced with step back upon step back

2004: Republican Rick Santorum wins presidential election. Jesse Ventura's candidacy under performs

doesn’t have that dawg in him

 

[allthepresidentsmen]

Just something I thought of randomly - maybe the POD is that FDR starts his Liberal Party (eventually Liberty Union) with Wendell Wilkie?

Presidents of the United States of America
1981-1989: Robert Redford (Liberty Union)

-80 (with Gary Hart): def. John B. Anderson / John Connally (Republican), Jimmy Carter / Fritz Mondale (People's)​

-84 (with Gary Hart): def. Ralph Yarborough / Birch Bayh (People's), Robert Taft Jr. / John Warner (Republican)​

1989-1993: Gary Hart (Liberty Union)

-88 (with John Kerry): def. Jim Hunt / Frank Church (People's), Bill Clinton / Ed Koch (Republican)​

1993-2001: Jay Rockefeller (Republican)

-92 (with Slade Gorton): def. Gary Hart / John Kerry (Liberty Union), Carl Levin / Dale Bumpers (People's)​

-96 (with Slade Gorton): def. Mark Warner / Skip Humphrey (People's), Nancy Pelosi / Mickey Leland (Liberty Union)​

2001-2009: Joe Sestak (People's)

-00 (with Mitch Landrieu): def. Slade Gorton / Joe Scarborough (Republican), Hillary Rodham / Ron Reagan (Liberty Union)​

-04 (with Mitch Landrieu): def. Paul Wellstone / Jesse Jackson Jr. (Liberty Union), Richard Mourdock / John Kasich (Republican)​

2009-2013: Eliot Spitzer (Liberty Union)

-08 (with Sherrod Brown): def. Gary Johnson / Bill Frist (Republican), Mitch Landrieu / Howard Dean (People's)​

2013-2015: John Edwards (People's)

-12 (with Lori Swanson): def. Tom Ridge / Cory Gardner (Republican), Sherrod Brown / Bobby Scott (Liberty Union)​

-15: Resignation of John Edwards amidst federal investigation into campaign fund misuse, etc.​

2015-2017: Lori Swanson (People's)

-16: Confirmation and swearing-in of Ron Kirk as Vice President.​

2017-2021: Danny Tarkanian (Republican)

-16 (with Bill Schutte): def. Gary Hart / Nina Turner (Liberty Union), Lori Swanson / Ron Kirk (People's)​

2021-0000: Richard Ojeda (Liberty Union)

-20 (with Mark Parkinson): def. Jason Carter / Stephen Lynch (People's), Danny Tarkanian / Bill Schutte (Republican)​

Essentially the Liberty Union are populist progressives, People's are sometimes-populist centrist-liberals, and the Republicans are moderate-to-conservative.

 

[rosa]

Just something I thought of randomly - maybe the POD is that FDR starts his Liberal Party (eventually Liberty Union) with Wendell Wilkie?

Presidents of the United States of America
1981-1989: Robert Redford (Liberty Union)

-80 (with Gary Hart): def. John B. Anderson / John Connally (Republican), Jimmy Carter / Fritz Mondale (People's)​

-84 (with Gary Hart): def. Ralph Yarborough / Birch Bayh (People's), Robert Taft Jr. / John Warner (Republican)​

1989-1993: Gary Hart (Liberty Union)

-88 (with John Kerry): def. Jim Hunt / Frank Church (People's), Bill Clinton / Ed Koch (Republican)​

1993-2001: Jay Rockefeller (Republican)

-92 (with Slade Gorton): def. Gary Hart / John Kerry (Liberty Union), Carl Levin / Dale Bumpers (People's)​

-96 (with Slade Gorton): def. Mark Warner / Skip Humphrey (People's), Nancy Pelosi / Mickey Leland (Liberty Union)​

2001-2009: Joe Sestak (People's)

-00 (with Mitch Landrieu): def. Slade Gorton / Joe Scarborough (Republican), Hillary Rodham / Ron Reagan (Liberty Union)​

-04 (with Mitch Landrieu): def. Paul Wellstone / Jesse Jackson Jr. (Liberty Union), Richard Mourdock / John Kasich (Republican)​

2009-2013: Eliot Spitzer (Liberty Union)

-08 (with Sherrod Brown): def. Gary Johnson / Bill Frist (Republican), Mitch Landrieu / Howard Dean (People's)​

2013-2015: John Edwards (People's)

-12 (with Lori Swanson): def. Tom Ridge / Cory Gardner (Republican), Sherrod Brown / Bobby Scott (Liberty Union)​

-15: Resignation of John Edwards amidst federal investigation into campaign fund misuse, etc.​

2015-2017: Lori Swanson (People's)

-16: Confirmation and swearing-in of Ron Kirk as Vice President.​

2017-2021: Danny Tarkanian (Republican)

-16 (with Bill Schutte): def. Gary Hart / Nina Turner (Liberty Union), Lori Swanson / Ron Kirk (People's)​

2021-0000: Richard Ojeda (Liberty Union)

-20 (with Mark Parkinson): def. Jason Carter / Stephen Lynch (People's), Danny Tarkanian / Bill Schutte (Republican)​

Essentially the Liberty Union are populist progressives, People's are sometimes-populist centrist-liberals, and the Republicans are moderate-to-conservative.

Always interesting to see a list where I'd be an actual swing voter

 

[allthepresidentsmen]

Always interesting to see a list where I'd be an actual swing voter

Even for Tarkanian?

 

[Charles EP M.]

Americanisation of Politics

1960 - 1963: Jonathan O'Kennedy (Liberal leading coalition)
1963 - 1969: Lyndon Johnson (Labour leading coalition, then majority)

O'Kennedy was seen as the new dawn after Suez - the old empire and its ways had been humiliated, but here was change, a handsome young man with a heroic wartime record and a Northern Irish Catholic background. This is where Swinging London started, this was the era overly-excited American journalists called "the new Camelot", this was hope for catholics in Ulster. O'Kennedy planned equality in Ulster, for Britain to enter the space race with NASA and the USSR, for new works, and for the Commonwealth to remain together.

His charm and his assassination mean a lot of the grubby aspects of O'Kennedy's time in office were overlooked. First, that he was leading a fractuous coalition; second, that he benefitted a lot from his family's money and the connections of his father, Lord O'Kennedy; third, that he was behind many dirty tricks worldwide with MI6 and Britain's remaining overseas bases (including a series of small-scale colonial conflicts); fourth, his own brother Robert being his Home Secretary and quiet word to the police forces; and fifh, his sleazy private life that every press baron knew about but also knew his father down at the right clubs. But none of it mattered after he was shot by an ultra-unionist during a visit to Derry.

Johnson was a very different man, a hard-bitten former farm boy from the West Country who'd clawed his way into grammar school and then into the unions and then into the Labour Party, rising to be part of Attlee's Cabinet and trying to rebuild chunks of Britain. He had a reputation as a hard man, a party man, a man who knew where the bodies were buried, and became a powerful Labour whip under O'Kennedy who kept the MPs behind the coalition. Once O'Kennedy was killed, Johnson moved fast to put in charge the only other person who might keep the coalition together: himself. He then called a snap election as soon as possible, creating a majority Labour government.

The sweeping social reforms of the 1960s are due to him, and so are sweeping civil rights reforms for Northern Ireland that put a lid on potential carnage & the successful integration of the Indians expelled from former African colonies. What he also did was take Britain to war against Rhodesia, Indonesia, and Aden as part of his desire to preserve the Commonwealth and prevent a 'domino effect' of new Suez's. Thousands of British soldiers were killed and crippled, and the wars dragged on: Indonesia fell into chaos after the regime was humiliated and Johnson had to keep forces in the area to prevent communist takeover, and Rhodesia remained under occupation to keep a lid on the "Troubles". The cost damaged the British economy and caused growing youth protests at home, and Johnson lost the subsequent election.

1969 - 1974: Richard Nixon (Conservative)

1974 - 1976: Leslie Ford (Conservative)

The Conservatives came storming back into power under Richard Nixon, another rural grammar-school boy and one with a very pious, Church of England upbringing, rumours of a brief MI5 career out of Cambridge, and a worthy wartime record. He proposed to bring the troops home, to get a Briton into space, come to a new accord with China, tighten immigration laws, and pass tough laws on crime, all of which he did - except in Rhodesia-Zimbabwe, where he feared a collapse of a former colony and 'white flight' would lose him the party. The unions, used to patronage from Johnson, pushed but Nixon pushed back hard. The economy wobbled and violent clashes were rampant, but for Nixon's voters that was a sign of strength.

Problem was, Nixon was severely paranoid. The "Cambridge Five" had preyed on his mind for years and he was sure, as a former MI5 agent, there must be others out there. He found men like Peter Wright and Lord Beaverbrook willing to indulge him, until finally he was convinced his Labour counterpart Harold Wilson was a Soviet spy. Shortly after the 1974 general election, it came out that Nixon had sent in the men in grey suits to spy on Labour's offices to 'find proof' - and while Nixon hadn't rigged the election, a sizeable minority of people assumed he'd tried. The unions struck hard: the Summer of Discontent brought Britain to its knees and forced a vote of no confidence that Nixon lost. His former Home Secretary, Leslie Ford, failed to keep a grip of the collapsing economy, growing chaos, or low-level terrorism in Rhodesia-Zimbabwe, and he tried (and failed) to get out of it with an early election.

1976 - 1981: James Carter (Labour)

Carter grew up overseas in the colonies, with a father who believed in White Man's Burden but allowed his son to befriend the servant's children - and then as a young man had to flee Singapore and sign up with the Royal Navy as the Japanese tore through the Pacific. After the war, he tried to start a farm in Malaya but the ongoing emergency, and the methods used, saw him leave for Britain in disquiet where he became a Labour Party backbencher and voice against racial discrimination. He didn't expect to ever make it to Cabinet. But in the chaos of the mid-seventies, he was talked into running for leadership and made a suprise Labour leader, then a surprise Prime Minister who inherited a sweeping landslide.

Unfortunately, he hadn't got the money to do all the big left-wing changes he wanted to do and was humiliatingly forced to take out an IMF loan. Despite his big reforms to the NHS and education, and his attempts to bring peace in Rhodesia-Zimbabwe, he was popularly seen as a decent but naive man who wasn't able to handle the state of things, and he struggled with his own party (full of factions not happy that he'd "cheated" somehow in becoming leader). The election was lost.


1981 - 1990: Ronald Reagan (Conservative)
1990 - 1992: Lord Bush (Conservative)

Reagan's big claims to fame as playing Doctor Who companion Steve Trevor and being the most powerful & transformative Prime Minister since Johnson, but the way he did it has greatly upset left-wing Doctor Who fans. Britain faced a wave of deregulation, high-up tax cuts, renewed wars on crime, a boost in defence spending, and a "Back to Basics" morality focus. Many benefitted under the economy, especially thanks to the exploitation of North Sea oil and the UK entering the EEC, but many others suffered a loss of welfare or lost their jobs to 'streamlining'. The social conservatism of the time would lead to fierce cultural warfare, and it's come out that the Prime Minister's sloppy fight against AIDS - which mostly focused on Just Say No and quarantining the sick - was mostly concerned with stopping the NHS needing to spend too much.

He also used MI6 and the army to wage a series of covert 'dirty wars' in Africa, often alongside Praetoria, to contain communism there and to 'secure' Rhodesia-Zimbabwe (which saw an increase of British troops). Relations with America became awkward during the second half of the 80s, as despite Reagan's closeness with President Thatcher and their similar views, it was a problem if the African-American population viewed a close ally as starting the empire up again.

Reagan is still a popular PM with most Britons and an icon of 80s moneymaking despite all that. This may say something about Britain.

Reagan also began to suffer from dementia while in his last years of office, and it's commonly believed that Foreign Secretary Bush was running the country unofficially before, after a series of Cabinet members had a quiet visit to Reagan in 1990, he officially became party leader.

Bush looked like a daffy old granddad and had a soft Edinburgh accent. Bush was a decorated Battle of Britain pilot and then SOE man, and a key man in Reagan's wars in Africa, and had a peerage (which he gave up partway through his term to run for a safe seat and enter Commons) granted to his father by Lloyd-George. Political cartoonists had a field day with drawing him as a Celtic warlord. He even started to live up to it with the Gulf War and start of the fall of Yugoslavia, but with the Cold War ending everyone was getting sick of conflict and wanted something new.

1992 - 2001: Bill Clinton (Labour)

Labour continued to war with Labour until Clinton was the last potential leader standing. Despite his time at Oxford and his long term as a 'big man' in London politics, he was greatly underestimated because of his strong cockney accent, family ownership of a used car dealer's, and rumours of affairs. This left everyone surprised when he fought his way to victory in the 1989 Labour leadership and continued to forcibly impose the centre-left's will on the fractuous party - "I'm going to talk and you're going to listen," he calmly said at a party conference where he tore into Militant. In contrast to a tired and war-focused Tory Party, the new 'moderate' Labour Party looked like the government needed for the 90s.

With his majority, he was able to reform the NHS after a decade of Reaganism, had greater integration into the EU and adopted the euro, and brought in new rights for gay citizens - all things that were further than expected. He also still took Britain to war in Eastern Europe, albeit reluctantly, to show Britain was indeed a player in Europe and saw this as its future. The Conservatives tried hard to war against him but with declining crime & growing wealth, what angle did they have?

The answer: sleaze. There turned out to be quite a bit of it and a lot of it was coming from Bill. Labour's majority meant he could still govern without a problem but the creeping stench & the laser-focus of the Tories on this was steadily cutting Labour's knees from under it. Clinton would rather talk about how a peace agreement was finally achieved in the Republic of Zimbabwe in '98, but the writing was on the wall and he agreed to resign so a new leader could win Labour a third election.

Gore narrowly lost to:

2001 - 2009: The Right Honourable George Bush Jnr (Conservative)

"Georgy" was an unlikely politician, a playboy aristocrat in the Scottish oil industry and frequent appearance on comedy shows like Have I Got News For You. When he gained the safe seat of Henley, people wondered what he was up to. Why did he want to be an MP? He could hardly be a Prime Minister in today's Britain! Look how dopey sounding and Scottish he is!

While "Georgy" could often be lazy and crass, he was a cunning man who played up his accent and toff nature, as well as his clean boy nature, to seem unthreatening and so much more nice than Willy. Once in, Bush planned to bring back the good old days of Reagan and reshape Europe with his fellow 'eurocons'. He didn't expect a terrorist attack on New York City. Suddenly there was a war on, security had to be tightened up, and President Blair needed to be supported. This would be the problem for Bush's legacy: Blair was invading Afghanistan, Blair was using threats and bribes on the Middle East to shake the region up, Blair was waging a campaign of diplomatic isolation and threats against Saddam Hussein... and Bush was having Britain go "YEAH!" behind his back. Instead of a leader, he seemed a follower, and his 'eurocon' plans were abandoned and allies lost by the desire to help the Atlantic alliance.

Bush's economic policies also cratered the markets and caused global contagion, which was the other big killer of his legacy. Against his instincts, Bush threw money at the problem - but he could only do so much under EU rules. The next guy had to fix that:

2009 - 2017: Barry Obama (Labour)

Many a comparison was made to O'Kennedy: in a time when Britain seemed to be collapsing, along came a figure that seemed to point the way to the future. The charismatic mixed-race son of an immigrant and a former lawyer turned Manchester MP, Obama's success was seen as a sign that the sins of empire was over, that New Camelot was back on, and Labour could indeed bring change. With his majority, there was another wave of NHS changes & civil liberties and he was also able to force through some prison reforms. Internationally, he made Britain 'cool' again and Anglophilia swept the world. He also pivoted more into Europe again and joined the growing rapproachment towards Putin's Russia - a policy that would prove to be his greatest mistake. Military action was dialled down to the use of drones alongside other nations.

But a rolling problem he had was Europe. Britons were questioning if being in the eurozone had been the right thing or made the recession worse; immigration continued to be a hot button issue; Britain seemed a follower still, but one that had to listen to smaller countries. On the other side of things, EU membership had supercharged the nationalist parties who felt if various small countries could be independent in the EU, why not them? This would be the way the next PM would win:

2017 - 2019: Donald Trump (Great British Party-Conservative coalition)
2019--: Joe Biden (Labour)

Trump was one of the great wheeler-dealer business figures of the 80s, a symbol of yuppy culture, wealthy and happily crass and successful (because he could bury all his problems). The Conservatives wooed him and he was a member for years, but Bush's 'eurocon' views drove him out. The EU imposed extra regulations. The EU had immigrants. The EU was a threat. And so in the 2000s, Trump went to the small UK Independence Party and ended up taking it over & rebuilt it in his own image. Through aggressive marketing and by winning defections from eurosceptic Tories, he took the party into being the largest third party after several elections.

The 2017 election was his time: he promised if he became PM, he'd take the UK out of the EU "on day ONE" rather than do a referendum. Through heavy media manipulation, this turned 2017 into The EU Election. Voters flipped from all manner of parties, and the GBP managed to win seats in nationalist strongholds out of unionists. He didn't win enough to run a majority government but he had enough to lead a coalition with the cowed Tories.

Problem was, Trump was a venal petty nasty bastard who didn't care about details. Leaving the EU being more difficult than he thought led to rages. Everything hard led to rages. Add in the Tories didn't want to be a junior partner and the GBP were almost all newbies, and the government was a mess of infighting, leaks, corruption, and incompetence. The economy buckled and the streets got harsher. In a fit of pique, Trump announced a snap election: "put them up or shut it", he told his opponents.

Trump didn't expect to lose. He certainly didn't expect to lose to "Sleepy Joe", having forgotten (as many others had) that Biden was a long-term Labour Party and union warrior with a lot of connections. Trump's legacy was ruined as he went to meet the Queen and get her to make him PM again anyway, claiming there'd been election fraud - and he got a mass of supporters to march to Buckingham Palace with him. It was an embarrassment (and parts of the protest peeled off to break windows and burn cars elsewhere in London), and Biden made great hay of it.

Now Biden has to fix the mess and figure out what to do about his odd flu happening in China.

 

[rosa]

Even for Tarkanian?

No, between Liberty Union and People's. I think my votes would look something like

1980: Redford
1984: Yarborough
1988: Hunt
1992: Levin
1996: Rockefeller
2000: Sestak
2004: Wellstone
2008: Landrieu
2012: Edwards
2016: Swanson
2020: Ojeda

 

[allthepresidentsmen]

1980: Redford
1984: Yarborough
1988: Hunt
1992: Levin
1996: Rockefeller
2000: Sestak
2004: Wellstone
2008: Landrieu
2012: Edwards
2016: Swanson
2020: Ojeda

Ah, I see. Though honestly I could imagine someone just voting for all three parties at complete random.

 

[Catalunya]

Ah, I see. Though honestly I could imagine someone just voting for all three parties at complete random.

The Canadian special

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

Reagan's big claims to fame as playing Doctor Who companion Steve Trevor

Charles Ep M level: substantial.

 

[Time Enough]

1931-1933: Winston Churchill (Reform)
1931 (Minority) def. Eric Geddes (Conservative & Unionist), Max Aitken (Action), Ramsay MacDonald replacing Victor Grayson (Social Democratic), Herbert Samuel (Liberal)
1933-1934: Max Aitken (Action leading Technocratic Government of All Talents)
1934-1943: Victor Grayson (Action)
1937 (‘Technocratic Government’) def. Scattered Independents
1940 (Majority) def. Hastings Russell, 12th Duke of Bedford (Social Credit), Scattered Independents
1943-1944: William Richard Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield (Action leading War Government)
1944-1948: Noel Skelton (Constitutional)
1944 (Majority) def. Harold Macmillan (National), Stafford Cripps (Social Democratic)
1948-1954: Harold Macmillan (National)
1949 (Majority) def. Noel Skelton (Constitutional), Cecil Malone (Social Democratic), George F. MacLeod (Fellowship)
1952 (Majority) def. Alfred Edwards (Constitutional), Cecil Malone (Social Democratic), George F. MacLeod (Fellowship)
1954-1956: Kenneth Lindsay (National Majority)
1956-: Selwyn Lloyd (Constitutional)
1956 (Majority) def. Kenneth Lindsay (National), Robert McIntyre (Social Democratic), George F. MacLeod (Fellowship), Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury (National Unionist)
1960 (Fellowship Confidence & Supply) def. Donald Johnson (National), John Loverseed (Fellowship), Robert McIntyre (Social Democratic), Duncan Sandys (National Unionist)

Victor Grayson occupies an odd temporal space within British Culture and Politics. Indeed the former Radical Socialist orator sudden shift towards Authoritarian National Populism baffles many. But signs had been there, his enthusiasm for the British Entry into World War 1 can be compared to figures like Alceste De Ambris and the National Syndicalist movements that appeared in Italy, France and Iberia. Grayson’s support for a Corporatist, Technocratic compromise to the General Strike of 1927 soured many in the Social Democratic Party on his leadership but despite his replacement by Bertrand Russell in 1929, Grayson would manage to worm his way back into the party leadership.

When Max Aitken, a former ally of the David Lloyd George, Reform Party spurned his former allies when they despite talking about cracking down on Aitken’s media monopoly his proposal for a ‘United Front of Believers in Efficiency’ attracted Grayson who called upon the Social Democratic Party to join. This didn’t happen and as the election was under way, Grayson would be cast out. Campaigning as a ‘Socialist’ Action Candidate, Grayson would become the star of the 1931 election.

Whilst Aitken was the leader of Action, Grayson was the mouthpiece, the Populist figurehead for the movement. When Churchill gained a minority, Aitken and Grayson saw there time. Using the connections within the worlds of Business, Trade Unions and the Establishment the pair would essentially produce a Democratic Coup using the parliament to there advantage. Able to form a coalition of like minded individuals and arresting members of the Left Wing parties and dissidents, Aitken would cement himself as Prime Minister.

But the limelight didn’t suit him, someone more at ease behind the scenes than talking to the people or fellow Parliamentarians, Aitken quickly stepped down and replaced himself with Victor Grayson.

Grayson was popular, in touch with the people, for every popular Reform he was the creator, for every bad action he would punish those that caused it. Despite the crackdowns and arrests, Grayson manage to keep his popularity, understandable after decades of turmoil and austerity.

When often comparing Grayson to other leaders various comparisons are thrown about; Cárdenas, Kemal, Laidoner and Piłsudski are often named dropped as figures who Grayson was either like or sought inspiration in. He enjoyed the pageantry, often swanning around in expensive suits or military uniforms, he enjoyed the fiery speeches, he enjoyed seeing the fruits of his Protectionist, Keynesian policies.

Grayson believed he was building a better Britain, Democracy be dammed.

Of course, Grayson was aloof to the corruption in his midst, ironic for a many who had spent the early 20s seeking out the various troughs that Lloyd George had been dipping in for himself and allies. Additionally Grayson’s increasing use of Anti-Irish and Anti-Semitic tropes in his speeches and writing would lead to a series of pograms and riots carried out by more active underlings who saw it as a useful control mechanism. This alongside the tightening of the police state, the murders or forced labour of dissidents and using the Army to break up ‘unsanctioned’ strikes leaves a bad taste in the mouth when discussing Grayson.

By 1941, the wheels were coming off. Grayson’s friendships with Soviet Premier Sergei Kirov and German Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher would come to ahead when the Anti-Bolshevik war occurred. Grayson after some pondering decided to stay neutral initially, but offers of German support in securing the occupation of Ireland in return for dealing with the Thorez Government was tempting.

Now with incredibly dependent on alcohol and with a cabinet filled of Yes Men, Grayson would declare war on the Comintern and Ireland.

This would go poorly.

The British Army, more suited to beating up Striking Miners or rebellious imperial subjects was unprepared for either the well trained guerrillas of Jack White’s Ireland or the organised efficiency of the French Communists. By 1943 the War was turning against Britain and only the intervention of American backed Commonwealth forces stopped Britain falling to the forces of Communism. Soon after Britain would see it’s democracy reappear, based upon Mutualist, Cooperative and Neutral grounds.

As for Grayson, he was in Rhodesia, one of the last bastions of the Action order, slowly wasting away from alcoholism. Attempts by the Macmillan Government to return Grayson after the collapse of Rhodesia in 1952 would collapse when Grayson was shown to be too incompetent to stand trial. Grayson would die in 1953 in a prison cell in Capetown.

Despite the controversy of the man, his influences can be felt still today. The Industrial Senate is a strange remnant of that period and Macmillan ‘Rationalisation’ program of ‘British Social Democracy’ program bears a resemblance to the Action Political Program of 1931 (Macmillan was a brief Action member before resigning in 1933 over Aitken’s self coup) with Macmillan’s Industrial Democracy and National Health Corporation still being firmly fixtures even today.

Victor Grayson often occupies a place as a cautionary tale, of the allure of power and the corruption it leads to. But it’s more fair to say that Grayson coincides with trends that Europe was going through at the time and how even someone with good intentions can walk towards a dark path if given the right chance.

 

[allthepresidentsmen]

https://www.denverpost.com/2015/06/05/tankersley-john-edwards-lost-2008-but-hes-already-won-2016/

Taking this article's headline at face value, but making a hard dystopia out of it:

Presidents of the United States of America
1981-1981: Ronald Reagan † (Republican)

1980 (with George Bush): def. Jimmy Carter / Walter Mondale (Democratic), John B. Anderson / Pat Lucey (Independent)​

1981: Assassination of Ronald Reagan​

1981-1981: George Bush † (Republican)

1981: Air Force One disappears after Bush is sworn in en-route from Dallas to Washington, D.C.; Bush presumed dead​

1981-1982: Alexander Haig (Republican)
1982-1991: Alexander Haig (National Union)

1984 (with Paul Laxalt): def. George McGovern / Frank Church (Democratic), John B. Anderson / Walter Mondale (Independent)​

1991-1995: Paul Tsongas † (Democratic)

1990 (with Jerry Brown): def. Paul Laxalt / Clayton Williams (Republican), Ross Perot / Jack Kemp (Independent)​

1995: Death of Paul Tsongas from state-four pancreatic cancer​

1995-1996: Jerry Brown (Democratic)
1996-1997: Jerry Brown (Progress)
1997-1999: Pat Buchanan † (Republican)

1996 (with Carroll Campbell): def. Jerry Brown / Mickey Leland (Progress), Dick Gephardt / Jim Hunt (Democratic)​

1999: Assassination of Pat Buchanan​

1999-2000: Carroll Campbell (Republican)

2000: Resignation of Carroll Campbell over Alzheimer's diagnosis​

2000-2004: Oliver North (All-American)

2002 (with Lindsey Graham): def. Ralph Nader / Al Gore (Democratic), John Sununu / Mike Crapo (Republican)​

2009-2011: Jesse Ventura (Democratic)

2008 (with Elizabeth Herring): def. Oliver North / Lindsey Graham (All-American), Mike Bloomberg / Gordon Smith (Republican)​

2011: August Coup removes Ventura, Herring, etc from power, re-instating Oliver North as president​

2011-2012: Oliver North / Dick Cheney † / Paul Wolfowitz / Michael Hayden / others (All-American supported by military junta)

2012: Death of Dick Cheney from a heart attack​

2012-2013: Oliver North / Paul Wolfowitz / Michael Hayden / others (All-American supported by military junta)
2013-2021: Oliver North † (All-American)

2012 retention referendum: 87.7% YES ​

2014: Election delayed by two years due to "extraneous circumstances"​

2016 (with Erik Prince): def. John Edwards / Kamala Harris (People's), Eric Greitens / Randy Credico (Democratic) [disputed]​

2020 retention referendum: 67.1% YES ​

2021: Death of Oliver North due to a "heart stroke"; whistleblowers allege palace coup and subsequent detention / murder​

2021-2025: Erik Prince (All-American)

2024 (with Kris Kobach): def. Mark Cuban / Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Independent-People's-Democratic), John E. Bush / Lee Carter (People's Front) [disputed]​

2025: Second American Civil War begins following the Washington Siege by the "New Bonus Army" led by retired General Mark Milley​

2025-20__: DISPUTED; beginning of the Second American Civil War

2025: Disputed between Mark Milley / John Edwards / Kathy Hochul (Restore Democracy Compact), Erik Prince / Ken Cuccinelli (Patriot Front), John E. Bush / Brace Belden / Lee Carter (American Liberation Front)​

I'm proud of how I made Jeb! a socialist revolutionary.

 

[Bolt451]

Monarchs in my Cards of Fate TL


King's of England

1485-1494: Henry VII (Tudor)
1494-1524: Arthur I (Tudor)

Monarchs of England and Ireland

1524-1561: Eleanor I (Tudor / Seymour)
1561-1578: Henry VIII (Seymour)
1578-1588: Arthur II (Seymour)
1588-1618: Margaret (Seymour / Lorraine) / Francis I (Lorraine)
1618-1647: Henry IX (Lorraine)
1647-1681: Francis II (Lorraine)
1681-1711: Charles I (Lorraine)
1711-1723: Eleanor II (Lorraine / Braganza)
1723-1788: Henry X (Braganza)
1788-1799: Edward VI (Braganza)
1799-1831: Elizabeth I (Braganza)
1831-1855: Edward VII (Braganza), from 1834 in exile

Emperor/Empress of the English Empire.

1855-1900: Elizabeth II (Tarontha), in exile
1900-1901: Charles II (Tarontha), in exile
1901-1923: Henry XI (Tarontha), in exile
1923-1974: Anne (Tarontha), in exile
1974: Arthur III (Tarontha), in exile
1974-1985: Elizabeth III (Tarontha), in Exile

Emperor/Empress of the English Empire. King/Queen of England

1985-Present: Elizabeth III (Tarontha)

 

[Blackentheborg]

1939-1943: Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax† (Conservative) (War Ministry)
[replacing Neville Chamberlain] with Clement Attlee (Labour), Ernest Brown (Liberal Nationals), Malcolm MacDonald (National Labour)
1943-1945: Stafford Cripps (Labour) (War Ministry)
[replacing Edward Wood] with David Margesson, 1st Viscount Margesson (Conservative), James Henderson-Stewart (Liberal Nationals), Michael Marcus (National Labour)
1945-1948: Oliver Stanley (Conservative)
defeated Stafford Cripps (Labour), Edgar Granville (Liberal), John Beckett (English Socialist)
1948-1952: Harold Wharton† (English Socialist) (National Government)
[replacing Oliver Stanley], opposition parties suspended from Parliment
1952-1957: Gerald O'Brien (English Socialist, then New Ingsoc) (National Government)
[replacing Harold Wharton]
1957-1959: Topham Hatt, Baron Ffarquhar† (Conservative)
defeated Gerald O'Brien (New Ingsoc), Joe Astell (Labour), Reginald Leslie Pinner (Liberal)
1959-19XX: Jack Clayton IV, Baron Greystoke
[replacing Topham Hatt]

 

[Time Enough]

Presidents of the European Commission:

1973-1977: Edward Heath (ECG-Conservative)
1977-1981: Claude Cheysson (SOC-Socialist)
1981-: Molly Geertsema (ELDR-People's Party for Freedom and Democracy)

Presidents of the European Parliament:
1979-1982: Bettino Craxi (SOC-Italian Socialist Party)
1979 def. Giorgio Amendola (COM-PCI), Simone Veil (ELDR-UDF), Seán Flanagan (EPD-Fianna Fáil), Else Hammerich (TGI-FMEF)
1982-: Shirley Williams (ELDR-Democratic)
1982 def. Eileen Desmond (SOC-Labour), Egon Alfred Klepsch (EPP-CDU), Maxime Gremet (COM-PCF), Emma Bonino (TGI-Radical)

After much effort and heartache, Britain on the 1st of January 1973 would formerly join the European Economic Community. The hard work of Prime Minister Barber and his right hand man, Foreign Secretary Ted Heath would pay off. Indeed the combination of Barber’s personal victory and the economy performing well would see Barber win an substantial majority in May 1973, throwing off the turmoil and controversy of the Maudling years in a single stroke.

But Heath wouldn’t be by his side, having applied to become the new President of the European Commission. As a true believer in the European Project, an Economic Moderate and having made a number of connections in Europe during his time as Foreign Secretary, the Commission would begrudgingly allow this newcomer to become President.

Heath’s time in office would be tough, ten months into his Presidency, the Yom Kippur War and the subsequent oil price raises instituted by OPEC in response lead to economic turmoil in Europe. Whilst back in his home land, Heath’s Conservative’s had to deal with strikes and civil disobedience in response to Barber use of austerity measures, Heath instead had to deal with effects on the wider community.

Heath is often credited as a result as ‘The Father of the European Union’, keeping European Economic Community together during the upheaval of the 70s, instituting the ‘European Monetary Commission’ to seek about the creation of a single European Currency and being on the negotiation table during the Brussels Summit of 1975 in which he he tried to negotiate an independent European position with OPEC over Israel.

Several Conservative MPs would admonish themselves for not having voted for Heath in 65’ as he would be in 1977 the second most popular British Politician after soon to be British Chancellor Peter Shore.

Despite all three being Socialists, the trio of Silkin, Cheysson and Craxi had a frosty relationship. Much of this can be positioned due to political differences, Silkin was a Eurosceptic, Cheysson came across the image of a European Centre-Left Technocrat but both would be united in the utter indifference to Craxi, who would rapidly be seen as trying to shore his future political career in Italy as much as being a dedicated Pro-European figure.

The highlight of the tensions would be the 1981 Referendum with Silkin campaigning with much of his cabinet on leaving Europe. Whilst Cheysson would stay out of campaigning, realising his presence would likely inflame issues, Craxi would decide to campaign for the Pro-European camp issuing a series of broadcasts in which he proclaimed support for the Pro-European Campaigners. This didn’t go particularly well, the image of an Italian telling British people how they should vote had the effect of making more on the fence voters turn towards the Anti-EEC camp.

Whilst the Pro-EEC camp won with Fifty-Six percent vote to remain within the Community, the campaign had ripped apart the Labour Party, as the more ardent Eurosceptics resigned from the cabinet and the Pro-Europeans would soon disembark for the emerging Democratic Party. Among them was MEP Shirley Williams, having lost her seat in 1974 and seeing herself as an outcast in the increasingly Left Wing Labour she briefly drifted towards academia, before becoming a Labour MEP candidate as certain portions of the party decided against competing in the European Parliament elections allowing a number of Pro-European Labour members to become MEPs.

A well appreciated member of the Parliament and a campaigner on reform and strengthening the European system, Williams ingratiated herself with the European Parliament. As Craxi took his leave, his term running out and seeing opportunity once again in Italy, Williams now of the newly made Democratic Party would put herself forward as to become President of the European Parliament, a high point in Williams’s career and the Democratic Party as a whole.

As Younger won a significant majority in the Autumn of 1982, and Europe began to shift Rightward as the decade began in earnest, a quieter shift of Pan-European Liberalism was also taking shape with outcomes for the continent as the decade continued...

 

[claybaskit]

1984: Lawrence Wayne Fischer Democratic John Glenn
Defeated: Ronald Wilson Reagan Republican George H. BUSH
1988: Lawrence Wayne Fischer Democratic John Glenn
Defeated : George H.BUSH Dan QUAYLE

1992: Robert Dole Republican Patrick Bucannon
Defeated William Jefferson Clinton Albert Gore Junior

1996: Robert Dole Republican Patrick Bucannon
Defeated: Albert Gore Junior Democratic Bill Bradley


2000 John McCain Republican Pete Wilson
Defeated : Bill Bradley Democratic Ralph Nader

2004: John F. Kennedy junior Democratic Sarah Palin
Defeated: John McCain Republican Pete Wilson


41. president of the united states. released novelty album in 1960s before being elected to congress in California. then governor.

 

[theflyingmgoose]

World Leaders from my 10 Years Down The Line project (December 31, 2032):

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
Joe Biden/Kamala Harris (D): January 20, 2021-January 20, 2025
2020 def. Donald Trump/Mike Pence (R); 306-232 EV/51.3%-46.9% PV
Ron DeSantis/Tim Scott (R): January 20, 2025-January 20, 2029
2024 def. Kamala Harris/Gary Peters (D): 278-260 EV/ 47.0%-50.4% PV
Jared Polis/Stacey Abrams (D): January 20, 2029-Present
2028 def. Ron DeSantis/Tim Scott (R): 319-219 EV/ 52.3%-45.0% PV
2032 def. Tom Cotton/Harriet Hageman (R): 492-46 EV/ 60.5%-37.8% PV

President Joe Biden's time in office was quite rocky. The administration was reinvigorated from a string of successes in the fall of 2022, including the Inflation Reduction Act and the killing of al-Baghdadi. His Democratic party avoided a severe midterm defeat, actually gaining a seat in the Senate and losing only 10 seats in the House. But that was enough to shift the speakership to Kevin McCarthy. Still, the retirement of John Roberts during the lame duck period (he was mad at losing influence on the court) and replacement with Elena Kagan (who was herself replaced by Noah Feldman) and a repeal of the Trump tax cuts for those earning more than $400,000 made most Democrats optimistic. But a slowing economy and the arrest of Donald Trump cost the Democrats popularity, and Biden was narrowly defeated by Ron DeSantis in 2024. Democrats also lost two seats in the Senate, losing control, while gaining only one seat in the House.

Ron DeSantis shared a name and agenda with Ronald Reagan. He would not reach the latter's level of success. DeSantis had narrow majorities, and he did not have Biden's legislative experience. He did manage to pass a tax cut (what amounted to the pre-2022 levels) and appoint two insane clowns to the bench to replace Alito and Thomas, but otherwise his term was full of threatening various organizations and wading in to the culture war waters. But what actually caused DeSantis's landslide defeat in 2028 was the recession that began that year. With unemployment at 7.1% on election day, former Governor of Colorado Jared Polis ended DeSantis's time in office.

Some people are so competent at their jobs you have to resort to insane BS to attack them. Jared Polis fit that description. Experienced from both the private sector- where he built himself a business empire worth nearly half a million dollars- and his time as Governor of Colorado, Polis was exactly the person to tackle the recession. President Polis signed legislation increasing the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour, cut red tape, and allowed small businesses to pay the corporate tax rate within his first one hundred days. Over the rest of 2029, he signed legislation mandating eight weeks of paid family leave, a small carbon tax, legalized and taxed marijuana, and with the help of Mitt Romney established a proto-UBI program where families would get $250 per month for each child (with a maximum of four). 2030 was mostly filled with negotiations on health care, which eventually resulted in a public option and government negotiation for non-orphan drug and medicine prices along with patent reforms to increase competition, making the plan more than deficit neutral. Pushback in the midterms was inevitable despite Polis's relative popularity (~53-55% throughout most of 2030), and the Democrats lost three Senate seats, and Jason Kander- elected in 2024 over Eric Greitens- narrowly won a rematch. But the economy had recovered by 2032, and President Polis's approvals often torched 70% or higher. He won re-election this year by the largest popular vote margin since 1972, and the largest raw vote margin in history of nearly 42 million votes. Polis will take the oath of office for his second term late next month. His second term agenda includes further reduction of the deficit (already down from $900 Billion to $400 Billion) and expansion of social services/climate action

UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT:
CJ: Elena Kagan (2024, Biden)- Liberal
AJ: Neil Gorsuch (2017, Trump)- Conservative
AJ: Brett Kavanaugh (2018, Trump)- Conservative
AJ: Amy Coney Barrett (2020, Trump)- Very Conservative
AJ: Ketanji Brown-Jackson (2022, Biden)- Liberal
AJ: Noah Feldman (2023, Biden)- Moderate Liberal
AJ: James Ho (2025, DeSantis)- Batshit Conservative
AJ: Amul Thapar (2025, DeSantis)- Very Conservative
AJ: Lucy Koh (2031, Polis)- Liberal

UNITED KINGDOM:
Liz Truss (C): September 6, 2022-November 17, 2023
Boris Johnson (C): November 17, 2023-November 20, 2023
Theresa May (C): November 20, 2023-December 30, 2023
Penny Mordaunt (C): December 30, 2023-January 29, 2025
Keir Starmer (L): January 29, 2025-May 4, 2031
2025: (37%/284) def. CON (37%/266), LDM (16%/26), SNP (4%/50), GRN (3%/1)
2027: (42%/318) def. CON (31%/219), LDM (21%/40), SNP (3%/27), GRN (3%/2)
Rebecca Long-Bailey (L): May 4, 2031-September 18, 2032
2031: (35%/255) def. CON (36%/281), LDM (24%/28), GRN (4%/3), SNP (3%/41)
Kemi Badenoch (C): September 18, 2032-Present
2032: (41%/330) def. LAB (32%/216), LDM (23%/52), GRN (4%/4), SNP (2%/11), ESP (3%/5)

Liz Truss's premiership didn't last long, as foreseen by nearly everyone. Her downfall came in early November 2023, when a landmark bill to change how dairy and meat products were taxed from overseas, particularly in China. Truss resigned rather than wait a few months for a replacement, and the party selected Boris Johnson as interim Prime Minister. However, just hours into the job, new revelations came out about Boris's shenanigans, and he was ousted and replaced with Theresa May, who led the government for the next month.
Penny Mordaunt was narrowly elected by the party faithful, and became Prime Minister. She presided over Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica, and Grenada becoming republics (cutting the total number to 12), along with various tax cuts and entitlement reforms. Prime Minister Mordaunt called the general election on the last possible day- January 24, 2025- and left office upon the coalition agreement between the SNP.
After 15 years of Tory rule, Keir Starmer had a lot of work to do. Following his appointment by King Charles III, the new PM instituted a windfall tax on oil profits, along with devolving 50% to Scotland and re-nationalizing the rail system. Starmer also made strong efforts to rebuild the NHS, authorizing an increase in the budget from £140 Billion to £175 Billion. Labour also enacted several long-time party goals, such as the creation of a National Education Service (albeit scaled down from Corbyn's proposal) and re-introducing the 50% top tax rate. Labour came close to a majority in 2027, and the government passed other measures like introducing a National Eyecare Service, capping prescription costs at £50 per year, and abolishing tuition fees. But some wanted more. On March 13, 2031, several Labour MPs tabled a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Starmer. After two months of chaos-which also included Australia and the Bahamas becoming republics-, Rebecca Long-Bailey assumed office as the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after being appointed by King William V. Bailey almost immediately called an election, which resulted in another year and a half of gridlock.
Kemi Badenoch had served as President of the Board of Trade under Truss and Minister for Foreign Affairs under Mordaunt, and easily won the 2031 leadership election. After coasting to a majority, Badenoch began undoing Labour's acheivements. Though she has only been in office for a few months, Badenoch and her husband, fellow MP Hamish Badenoch- are joined by a fine array of ministers, such as Suella Braverman, Jacob Rees-Mogg, and more.

FRANCE:
Yaël Braun-Pivet: May 7, 2022-May 5, 2027
2022 def. Marine Le Pen, 57.6%-42.4%
Marion Maréchal: May 5, 2027-Present
2027 def. Yaël Braun-Pivet: 50.3%-49.7%
2032 def. Elisabeth Borne: 52.5%-47.5%

Emmanuel Macron's retirement caught the nation off guard. Fortunately for En Marche! a new leader emerged. Yaël Braun-Pivet was elected President in April of 2022, becoming the first Jewish and first female President of France, defeating moderate fascist Marine Le Pen. Braun-Pivet governed somewhat to the left of Macron, enacting stricter emissions standards and investing more in public services, but otherwise maintained the course. Despite being extremely popular most of her term, a small recession just before the election and (ironically for her opponent) a scare campaign among immigrant voters (not unlike the American one among Cubans in 2020) caused her to narrowly lose, despite sites like PredictIt showing up to a 95% chance of victory for the President.
Marion Maréchal is in many ways worse than her aunt, Marine Le Pen. Following her narrow victory in 2027 (which reportedly surprised even her), and ran on such gems as accusing her Jewish opponent of being anti-Semitic for allegedly 'supporting terrorism', President Maréchal began implementing her agenda, which was much worse than her reputation as merely a female and neofascist Justin Trudeau. Unlike some of her fellow right wing lunatics, Maréchal was actually willing to enact several leftist economic measures. These included a €15 Billion jobs program and an abolition of school fees. But she also implemented a 'shared values test' (which she would probably fail) that banned refugees that had the social views of the average person in their home country, which was of course the point and kicked out thousands of current refugees via executive action after the courts blocked her unilateral order demanding existing refugees to take the test.

CANADA:
Justin Trudeau: November 4, 2015-July 31, 2027
2015: (39%/184) def. CON (31%/99), NDP (19%/44), BQB (4%/10), GRN (3%/1)
2019: (33%/157) def. CON (34%/121), BQB (8%/32), NDP (16%/24), GRN (6%/3)
2021: (33%/160) def. CON (34%/119), BQB (8%/32), NDP (18%/25), GRN (2%/2)
2025: (32%/149) def. CON (35%/131), BQB (7%/27), NDP (19%/27), GRN (3%/4)
Mélanie Joly: July 31, 2027-April 3, 2028
Pierre Poilievre: April 3, 2028-Present
2028: (38%/152) def. LIB (30%/125), NDP (22%/37), BQB (4%/13), GRN (4%/5)
2030: (40%/172) def. LIB (27%/95), NDP (24%/47), GRN (7%/7), BQB (2%/7)

Speaking of Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister continued with his agenda, whatever the hell it was (would you like a teaspoon of anti-Americanism to go with your free childcare?), for five more years into the decade. Trudeau resigned after nearly twelve years on the job and was replaced by Foreign Minister Joly, who lost in 2028.
Pierre Poilievre took office in 2028, promising to be a mildly less racist Doug Ford. His administration was somewhat held back in his first term, although he did manage to pass legislation reducing income and corporate taxes, increased military spending, and cut abortion funding. His second mandate is larger, and the Prime Minister has promised to enact more long-time priorities.

ISRAEL:
Yair Lapid: July 1, 2022-December 6, 2023
2022: 62 (YA, NU, LB, MZ, RM)
2023 (May): 61 (YA, NU, LB, MZ, RM, IN)
Benjamin Netanyahu: December 6, 2023-May 14, 2025
2023 (Nov): 61 (LK, SS, UT, YB, RZ)
2024 (May): 59 (LK, SS, UT, YB, RZ)- Caretaker
2024 (Aug): 61 (LK, SS, UT, YB, RZ)
2025 (Jan): 59 (LK, SS, UT, YB, RZ)- Caretaker
Benny Gantz: May 14, 2025-Present
2025 (May): 62 (NU, YA, MZ, LB, IN)
2026: 68 (NU, YA, MZ, LB)
2029: 70 (NU, YA, MZ, LB)
2031: 71 (NU, YA, MZ, LB)

One constant about Israel is that there will be an election virtually every year. While Prime Minister Yair Lapid had managed to right the ship for 2022, his coalition collapsed as Labor demanded a mandate before backing Lapid's proposed settlement reforms. The governing coalition was returned to power, with the help of an independent, but the government fell mere months later. Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned, much to the displeasure of the Israeli not-far-right. Fortunately for them, Netanyahu was leading caretaker or interim governments for nearly twelve of his fourteen months in office.
A newly reinvigorated Benny Gantz brought the opposition into power. Gantz enacted several key priorities, such as expanding the welfare state and increasing funding for infrastructure. After winning a larger mandate in 2026, Gantz finally began working on the peace issue. All of Netanyahu's policies were turned back to how they were in 2023 when Gantz took office, but more had to be done. The government began the process of closing 60% of settlements, and imposed higher tax rates on those in the remaining ones and removed checkpoints from A/B areas from the Oslo Accords. After winning in 2029, the government eliminated all restrictions on movement in A/B areas, granted more land to Palestinian civil authorities, increased foreign aid, and signed treaties over sovereignty in exchange for Palestine teaching about the Holocaust in schools to reduce anti-Semitism. As of right now, Prime Minister Gantz is in the air en route to Casablanca for negotiations.

UKRAINE:
Volodymyr Zelenskyy: May 20, 2019-May 20, 2029
2019 def. Petro Poroshenko: 73.22%-24.45%
2024 def. Petro Poroshenko: 89.67%-9.19%
Iryna Vereshchuk: May 20, 2029-Present
2029 def. Yulia Tymoshenko: 70.00%-29.39%

Volodymyr Zelenskyy had done the impossible by the end of 2022- beat the Russians. While fighting would continue and the Russians would continue to hold Crimea and the Donbass republics (even annexing the latter), the Ukrainians won. Zelenskyy's next priority was rebuilding the nation. During the lame duck period, the United States Congress passed an aid package worth $50 Billion in civilian aid. Allies around the world pitched in another $50 Billion. Businessman Andrew Yang was also hired to ensure the funds were spent with minimal corruption. Rebuilding also generated thousands of jobs, and Ukraine's economy has fully recovered.
It was therefore virtually certain that Zelenskyy's chosen successor would be the next President. In the end, the honor went to Iryna Vereshchuk, the former Foreign Minister. Vereshchuk has continued Zelenskyy's policies in most areas, finishing the application process for EU membership and finally rolling out the Euro.