Some Markers for Others to Follow: Anderson 1980
John B. Anderson/Patrick Lucey (Independent, then Justice) January 20, 1981-January 20, 1985
1980: Def. Ronald Reagan/George HW Bush (Republican), Jimmy Carter/Walter Mondale (Democratic), Ed Clark/David Koch (Libertarian)
The election of John Anderson as President came as a shock to many, including Anderson himself. The 1980 election, amidst a backdrop of global instability and economic stagnation, put incumbent President Jimmy Carter on defense against Republican nominee, Governor Ronald Reagan. Anderson, a liberal Republican, mounted his independent run after the conservative Reagan seized the Republican nomination. Going towards November, Anderson was narrowly talked out of embarking on an overseas trip to bolster his foreign policy credentials, focusing on domestic campaigning and maintaining double-digit support going into the final months. It was the first debate that made the President. Anderson was invited to attend which lead President Carter to boycott the debate. Anderson, alone on stage with Reagan, could not have expected to break out when Reagan, in the middle of an answer, suddenly shifted from collected to confused and scared. Anderson’s move to comfort the distressed Reagan endeared him to the audiences and, when it came out Reagan was suffering early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, a still Carter-skeptic electorate ended up delivering Anderson to the White House. Anderson, as President, faced decent resistance from Congress, but was able to net some wins thanks to forming his separate Justice Party in 1981, which drew some incumbents to switch parties and in 1982 gained a total of 3 Senate seats and 37 seats in the House, which forced the two larger parties to cut deals with them. Anderson was able to get runoff presidential voting added to the US Constitution, as well as secure the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment when Congress extended the deadline once again to 1985. Many states would also pass runoff voting for Senate and gubernatorial races, with some even doing so for House races. These amendments were Anderson’s largest accomplishments. The economy going into 1984 did begin to grow again, but the economy was still experiencing high unemployment going into 1984. Anderson also drew criticism for sending troops to Lebanon in 1983 and getting over 50 US soldiers killed with little to show for it. Anderson ended up a one-term president, more notable for creating the Justice Party and securing runoff voting than anything else.
Edwin Edwards/Joe Biden (Democratic) January 20, 1985-January 20, 1989
1984: Runoff Def. Howard Baker/Paul Laxalt (Republican)
First Round Def. John B. Anderson/Patrick Lucey (Justice), Jesse Jackson/Ray Marshall (Rainbow Coalition), David Koch/Ed Crane (Libertarian) (first round)
Edwards, the flamboyant governor of Louisiana, won the most contentious Democratic Party primary since 1968. Nearly 2 dozen credible candidates entered the race, viewing President Anderson as vulnerable and the Republicans as lacking a clear frontrunner with Bush’s 1982 death in an airplane crash. Edwards’ charismatic presentation and ability to present himself as a populist without radical baggage and as someone who could win in the South enabled him to overcome the likes of Jesse Jackson, Walter Mondale, Mike Gravel, Gary Hart and John Glenn. The 1984 election was the first held under runoff voting rules and many were not sure who would advance to runoff between Anderson, Edwards and Republican Howard Baker. The Rainbow Coalition forming its own ticket threatened to lock the Democrats out of the race. However, ultimately, Edwards emerged ahead of both Baker and Anderson, advancing to a head-to-head with Baker which he won in part thanks to Anderson softly endorsing him in the week before the runoff. Edwards secured a number of major successes as president–the biggest being the passage of the American Healthcare Act, which created the AmeriCare system of universal health coverage. Edwards also raised the minimum wage, increased financial aid programs for college and passed the Americans With Disabilities Act. However, Edwards also had a more conservative streak on some issues, increasing border security funding and cutting legal immigration rates and cutting back some environmental regulations. Edwards would pursue a policy of detente with the USSR, seeking to reduce the threat of a nuclear war and encouraging democratization initiatives before leadership was usurped by the more hardline Yegor Ligachev. This cost Edwards a lot of face. Edwards additionally was accused of corrupting and obstructing investigations into personal friends and family. While none of these accusations were proven while he was President, the increase in the accusations in the leadup to 1988 almost certainly were the reason he failed to make the runoff. Edwards would be indicted on corruption charges in 1989 and be sentenced to five years in prison, though he would have his sentence commuted to time served in 1993.
Evan Mecham/Dan Quayle (Republican) January 20, 1989-December 4, 1992
1988: Runoff Def. John B. Anderson/Mike Gravel (Justice)
First Round Def. Edwin Edwards/Joe Biden (Democratic), Lee Iacocca/Neil Armstrong (Independent), Jesse Jackson/Tom Hayden (Rainbow Coalition), David Koch/Russell Means (Libertarian)
The firebrand Governor of Arizona emerged as the ultimate successor to the conservatism of Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater in 1988, triumphing over a dozen other candidates. Mecham, after defeating former President Anderson, would immediately attempt a hard-right turn. He sought to impose an immigration moratorium and repeal Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. While all of his predecessors had pursued some deregulation, Mecham greatly extended it, all but neutering the EPA and OSHA. Mecham also waged a war on public sector unions, attempting to impose federal right-to-work laws and encouraging states dealing with a large educators’ strike to ‘fire the commie teachers.’ Mecham also feuded with the press, refusing to attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner from 1990 onward and accusing reporters investigating corruption in his administration of being ‘insurrectionists’ or ‘agitators.’ Mecham’s Attorney General Robert Bork would launch several probes into newspapers who took a critical editorial line, including the New York Times and Washington Post. Mecham’s Justice Department arrested famed Gonzo reporter Hunter S. Thompson after he published an article they claimed contained classified information, leading to mass protests. Mecham additionally drew controversy for supporting David Duke in his successful 1991 gubernatorial bid and refusing to comment on his subsequent impeachment by the Louisiana State House. Mecham also launched a large-scale military buildup, including expanding the US nuclear arsenal, and launched a series of air strikes on Iran after a confrontation between a US naval vessel and an Iranian battleship in the Persian Gulf, which drew international condemnation. Mecham also successfully was able to chip away at Edwards’ AmeriCare program, using executive orders to place so many restrictions on funds it was rendered a lethargic mess. Mecham additionally used the FBI to heavily surveil progressive and left-leaning activists, especially African-American, Hispanic and LGBT ones. Mecham’s heavy-handed right-wing politics sparked a major backlash. In the leadup to 1992, the Justice Party, Democratic Party and Rainbow Coalition would talk with each other about forming some sort of unified bloc to oppose Mecham. While the Democrats ultimately pulled out believing the concessions demanded were too great, the Justice Party and Rainbow Coalition formally formed a unified front to oppose Mecham, which allowed them to advance to the runoff against him. Democrats largely (if reluctantly) rallied behind this coalition and anti-Mecham right-of-center candidates (including the socially liberal, fiscally conservative Libertarians and the hard-right Constitution Party who viewed Mecham’s hawkishness and abuse of executive power with disdain even if they supported much of his domestic agenda) largely either stayed silent and sat out the runoff or rallied behind the Justice Party ticket. Mecham did not take losing well, accusing the ‘pinko parties’ of rigging the election against him. He had his personal counsel Roy Cohn file lawsuits aimed at overturning the results in key states and when those fizzled privately made plans to declare martial law and secure a second term by force. However, he was stymied by an unexpected source.
Dan Quayle/vacant (Republican) December 4, 1992-January 20, 1993
To say Dan Quayle was an unlikely savior of American democracy is an understatement. Mecham had picked Quayle due to being conservative, but less rabid than he was-a sort of moderate whisperer. Quayle proceeded to spend the next 4 years largely irrelevant save for offering brief respite from Mecham’s more massive crises with more comedic gaffes like asking ‘is our children learning’ at an event designed to promote education or misspelling ‘giraffe’ while judging a spelling bee and causing a child to burst into tears due to believing they lost. Quayle largely flew under the radar during the bulk of Mecham’s term, but rose to a far greater role after the election. Amidst Mecham’s accusations of fraud and implied threats of instituting martial law, Quayle quietly began making preparations. When he got word of Mecham’s intent to declare martial law, seize ballots in key swing states and ultimately overturn the election, Quayle struck first by convening the cabinet and invoking the 25th Amendment. A majority of Mecham’s cabinet agreed to the maneuver and thus Mecham was removed from office–or more accurately dragged out kicking and screaming. Quayle would be a lame duck from day one, simply providing a smooth transition to the next administration. His presidency–the second shortest in history–is generally ranked highly by historians and he holds the distinction of having maintained an approval rating of greater than 60% for the duration of his term in office.
Paul Newman/Harold Washington (Justice/Rainbow Coalition, then Justice) January 20, 1993-January 20, 2001
1992: Runoff Def. Evan Mecham/Dan Quayle (Republican)
First Round Def. Joe Biden/Al Gore (Democratic), Bill Weld/Andre Marrou (Libertarian), Larry MacDonald/Ron Paul (Constitution), Hunter S. Thompson/Frank Zappa (Freak Power)
1996: Runoff Def. Joe Lieberman/Douglas Wilder (Democratic)
First Round Def. John McCain/Mitt Romney (Progressive Conservative), Clint Eastwood/Mike Curb (Libertarian), Evan Mecham/Trent Lott (Republican), Ralph Nader/Lenora Fulani (Peace and Freedom), Ron Paul/Chuck Baldwin (Constitution), David Duke/Willis Carto (American National Vanguard)
The actor turned Governor of Ohio Paul Newman was the first non-John Anderson nominee the Justice Party ever had. Newman had endorsed Anderson in 1980 and been inspired to enter politics by his victory. Newman as Governor pursued numerous progressive policies, raising the minimum wage, eagerly embracing AmeriCare despite partisan differences with Edwards and expanding civil rights protections for minorities, including LGBT people. Newman easily won the 1992 Justice Party nomination and was responsible for the tripartisan talks with the Democrats and Rainbow Coalition to unify against Mecham. While the Democrats, having held the White House as recently as 4 years prior, ultimately walked, Newman secured the Rainbow Coalition’s backing by selecting their Chicago Mayor Harold Washington as his running mate. Newman came in first in the initial round and after two weeks of campaigning easily defeated Mecham in the second. Mecham’s claims of fraud bolstered far-right sentiment and Newman’s Secret Service detail had to intervene against a would-be assassin targeting Newman during a Christmas tree lighting in Columbus in 1992. On taking office, Newman sought to roll back as much of Mecham’s hard-right policies as he could. AmeriCare was revitalized and environmental protections were reimposed over opposition from Republicans, Libertarians and even an increasing number of Democrats. Newman also pushed the American Higher Education Act, providing for two free years of community college, and the Labor Protection Act, which in essence repealed the Taft-Hartley Act and required imports from overseas meet certain safety and labor standards to be brought in. This did lead to a rise in inflation that helped bolster his opponents. However, Newman benefited heavily from the consequences of Mecham’s actions. The Republicans experienced a major rift over Mecham, with the RNC, after it passed into the hands of Mecham loyalist Shawn Steel in 1993, formally condemning President Quayle’s actions and affirming that the 1992 election had been rigged. This proved too much for Mecham-skeptic Republicans and the so-called ‘Group of 20’ moderate Republicans two weeks later announced the formation of the Progressive Conservative Party of America, which grew rapidly following its formation. A number of other Republicans would defect to the already-existing Libertarian Party, giving them their first sitting Governor in the form of actor-turned-politician Clint Eastwood. The growth of the Progressive Conservatives and the Libertarians helped both the Justice Party and the Democrats, the latter of whom increasingly began running candidates with conservative leanings on national security, immigration, abortion and even certain economic issues in previously Republican districts and states in the hopes of flipping seats while maintaining support from traditional constituencies. The 1990’s saw Democrats take on an increasingly center-right role in the American political landscape while more staunchly liberal Democrats began moving to the Justice Party. The 1996 election saw this most clearly reflected, with Democratic nominee Joe Lieberman–the first Jewish nominee of a major party–having a strong conservative streak on national security, crime, taxes, regulations and labor despite more liberal stances on civil rights and environmental issues. The disgraced ex-President Mecham reclaimed the Republican nomination despite an ongoing series of criminal trials over corruption and abuse of power, allowing the Progressive Conservatives to perform remarkably well in their first ever election. The 1996 election ended in a landslide for Newman, as well as tragedy when a white supremacist militia (motivated by the election coming down to a ticket with a black man on it running against one headed by a Jew) attacked polling places in Tennessee, killing over 50 people and wounding another 103. Newman in his second term began a major crackdown on white supremacists, ordering the FBI to infiltrate and destroy chapters of the Ku Klux Klan and opening numerous investigations into groups like the White Citizens’ Council, the John Birch Society and the American National Vanguard (the latter of which was forcibly dissolved in 1999 after a lengthy legal battle and a Supreme Court ruling in Duke v. US that the Vanguard had engaged in incitement to violence sufficient enough to warrant its dissolution). While some critiqued Newman’s actions as threatening the First Amendment, Newman’s actions had a strong approval. Newman also presided over the fall of the USSR, intervened in Rwanda to stop ongoing genocide and successfully brokered the Antioch Accords between Israel and various Palestinian groups, paving the way for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Newman left office with high approval ratings.
Rick Perry/Michael Bloomberg (Democratic) January 20, 2001-January 20, 2009
2000: Runoff Def. Harold Washington/Mike Gravel (Justice)
First Round Def. Dan Quayle/John Kasich (Progressive Conservative), Lincoln Chafee/John Mackey (Libertarian), Lenora Fulani/Brian Moore (Peace and Freedom), Dennis Hastert/Bob Barr (Republican), Pat Buchanan/Tom Tancredo (Constitution), Bo Gritz/Cliven Bundy (Sovereign Citizen)
2004: Runoff Def. Robert Reich/Larry Agran (Justice)
First Round Def. Jesse Ventura/Gary Johnson (Libertarian), Condoleeza Rice/Bill Clinton (Progressive Conservative), Pat Buchanan/Michael Peroutka (Constitution), Robert F. Kennedy, Jr./Cynthia McKinney (‘True’ Democratic), Lenora Fulani/Cornel West (Peace and Freedom), Bo Gritz/Alex Jones (Sovereign Citizen)
Perry was the first Democratic President in over a century who not only could legitimately be described as a conservative but chose to embrace the label-albeit labeling himself a ‘compassionate conservative’ as his way of distancing himself from the still-toxic Republicans (this choice may have helped him gain a number of votes when Republican nominee Dennis Hastert was accused of child molestation and GOP support collapsed). Perry advocated for ‘pro-business and pro-worker’ economic policies and advocated eliminating ‘three things from the budget-waste, fraud and abuse’ (the source of the first of many gaffes when he forgot the ‘abuse’ part and said ‘fraud’ a second time). Perry came in second in the first round of voting but managed to win the runoff by narrowly winning enough votes in California. As President, Perry would set the tone for the Democrats for years to come. Citing the importance of protecting coal and oil jobs, Perry rolled back major environmental initiatives, made major free trade deals with Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea & Japan, and blocked carbon tax proposals with his veto power. Taxes were drastically lowered, with the top income tax rate dropping from the 75% Newman had implemented to 55% which helped stimulate the economy along with the ongoing technology boom. Work requirements were added to select welfare programs and many of the savings were redirected to farm subsidies, scientific research and border security. Perry also was responsible for the Democrats becoming more cohesive on social issues. Democrats had disagreed on abortion and LGBT rights prior to Perry but becoming the first Democrat to win the White House in 12 years gave Perry control to define Democratic Party stances. Perry was personally pro-life, but accepted Roe as ‘settled.’ He did not make overturning it a priority for Supreme Court nominees like Merrick Garland, but he did pass restrictions on late-term abortions. On LGBT rights Perry charted a more conservative course, pushing the Marriage Protection Act to define marriage federally as between a man and a woman in response to 10 states legalizing same-sex marriage. The MPA was not as hardline as some ultra-right wingers wanted (allowing states to still define marriage at a state level and leaving open-ended the question of civil unions) but the MPA drew immediate controversy and would continue to loom over Perry’s administration. Perry’s administration would also intervene militarily in Sudan after the 11/9 bombing of the Empire State Building in 2003, which killed 300 people and wounded nearly 1000. The perpetrators were members of the jihadist group Al Qaeda led by Osama Bin Laden, who had been residing in Sudan since the 1990’s. The Sudanese government attempted to hand over Bin Laden to American authorities only for sympathetic factions in the government to abscond with him, sparking a bloody civil war that would cost nearly 90,000 Sudanese lives and claim over 3,000 American ones as well before it ended in 2007. Perry’s approval spiked to 88% after the 11/9 attacks, but dropped by the time of the 2004 election as the Sudanese Civil War became increasingly bloody. In his second term, the Justice Party took control of Congress and Perry’s more conservative policies (such as a bid to ban violent video games) stalled. Perry worked with the new Congress to invest in the space program, vowing the U.S. would land on Mars by 2020. Perry left office with decent approvals but controversial and often lampooned as clueless and gaffe-prone.
Elizabeth Warren/John Kitzhaber (Justice) January 20, 2009-January 20, 2013
2008: Runoff Def. Joe Manchin/Kay Ivey (Democratic)
First Round Def. Gary Johnson/Jon Huntsman (Libertarian/Progressive Conservative), Robert F. Kennedy, Jr./Dennis Kucinich (‘True’ Democratic), Cornel West/Lawrence Lessig (Peace and Freedom), Chuck Baldwin/Gary North (Constitution/Sovereign Citizen)
Pennsylvania Senator Elizabeth Warren made history as America’s first female president, a major milestone that even her opponents conceded was legitimately impressive. Warren had begun her career in academia and had a reputation as a policy wonk, winning largely off a platform of robust economic reforms she dubbed the ‘Just Society.’ This ambitious program called for a guaranteed minimum income, tuition-free college, a new Civilian Conservation Corps aimed at moving the U.S. to a carbon-neutral country in 15 years, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and making public funding of campaigns mandatory among many other things. Warren’s victory in the runoff was solid, but her coattails were comparatively weak. A Progressive Conservative-Libertarian coalition in the 2008 election paved the way for one for Congress where the two parties had the sway to be kingmakers in the race for Speaker of the House. The Democrats won them over and Warren found herself having to deal with Speaker Walter B. Jones, Jr. instead of her preferred ally of House Justice Party leader Jeff Merkley. Warren thus could only deliver some of her promises and those were only partial successes. She raised the minimum wage, but only to $12. She got a New Conservation Corps but it was only intended to do little more than clean up litter and plant trees in public spaces. Her more ambitious goals were dead on arrival. Warren worked to get more Justice Party seats in the House in 2010 and actually succeeded but in a cruel irony the ultimate arrival of Speaker Merkley was coupled with the ascension of Senate Majority Leader Richard Shelby, a conservative Democrat from Alabama. Going into 2012, many Justice Party members were dillusioned and some core constituents alienated-for instance LGBT rights activists felt betrayed by her failure to push a repeal of the MPA despite Libertarian support for it giving it a fighting chance in the House. In early 2012, the economy entered a recession. While much of the groundwork had been laid for some time-the Perry administration’s zeal for deregulation in the finance industry proved to have backfired-it was Warren as the incumbent who took the blame. While she was able to regain some voters’ respect with her push for an aggressive stimulus and accountability for bankers who stoked the crisis, she was not able to win a second term.
Drew Carey/Robert Gates (Libertarian/Progressive Conservative) January 20, 2013-January 20, 2017
2012: Runoff Def. Elizabeth Warren/John Kitzhaber (Justice)
First Round Def. Walter B. Jones, Jr./Kirsten Gillibrand (Democratic), Patrick Tillman/Faith Spotted Eagle (Peace and Freedom), Clay Higgins/Dorothy Moon (Constitution)
The rise of America’s first-and to date last-Libertarian President is a long road. The Libertarians first gained large-scale attention in 1980 when Ed Clark beat Anderson in Alaska, winning 3 electoral votes. The Libertarians’ presence at a state and local level had grown thanks to the rise of runoff voting, alongside many other minor parties. The path to Carey’s victory can be attributed to two things. First, Carey himself was a popular comedian and actor who had already played the President in the comedy series The Right House, about the well-intentioned but bumbling President Douglas ‘Dougie’ Howard. The show aired from 2003 to 2009 and received a very positive reception that meant, when Carey in 2010 indicated an interest in running for President, people were interested. Carey at times appeared in character as Dougie initially though he did drop it when the studio threatened to sue. However, the other factor was the Libertarian-Progessive Conservative alliance in 2008. The two parties were broadly similar-socially more liberal, economically more conservative-differing mainly on drug policy and foreign affairs. With foreign affairs on the back burner in 2008, the alliance was made possible and the role they played as kingmaker in the House kept the pact going into 2012, where the parties agreed to each pick a candidate and hash out who would lead the ticket layer. With Carey’s victory in the Libertarian primary, the Progressive Conservatives accepted the second billing, choosing former Virginia Senator Robert Gates as his running mate. Carey ran framing both Democrats and Justiceites as pro-big government just for diffeeent people and regularly polled in an unusually strong fourth place, his best result being 18%. However on elections day, Carey narrowly won a higher share of the vote than the Democratic ticket. In the runoff, Carey narrowly defeated Warren by just over 2,000 votes. Carey, as President, enjoyed high levels of personal popularity, but struggled greatly. His biggest triumph was a repeal of the MPA, which passed with support from 5 parties in Congress (the whole of the Justice, Libertarian and Peace and Freedom caucuses were joined by a majority of the Progressive Conservatives and a smattering of moderate Democrats). The economic recession worsened as Carey refused stimulus measures outside of a 10% cross-the-board tax cut and sparked a brief crisis when he tried to block the Federal Reserve from expanding the money supply out of fear of inflation. Carey thus was seen as well-meaning but naive-not unlike his fictional president. Carey also refused to intervene when Iran collapsed into a civil war between reformists and hardliners beyond expanding refugee programs. It was the Mars landing catastrophe that most definitely buried Carey in the end. Carey chose, as a way to demonstrate the power of free enterprise, to contract with Elon Musk’s company X to send people to Mars, a mission which was launched in December 2014. The mission successfully landed two astronauts on Mars, but failures in the mechanism of the lander meant that said astronauts were unable to return to their ship, leaving one traumatized survivor to return alone. This incident, rather than highlight the triumph of market forces as Carey had hoped, instead further demonstrated to many the flaws of Carey’s beliefs. This included among Progressive Conservatives, who pulled out of their compact with the Libertarians and ran their own ticket in 2016. Carey’s charm could only sustain him so much and in 2016, he was locked out of the runoff.
John N. Kennedy/Bob Casey (Democratic) January 20, 2017-January 20, 2021
2016: Runoff Def. Martin Luther King III/Norm Coleman (Justice)
First Round Def. Drew Carey/Gary Johnson (Libertarian), Robert Gates/Liz Cheney (Progressive Conservative), Faith Spotted Eagle/John Eder (Peace and Freedom), John Duncan/Thomas Massie (Constitution), Richard Spencer/Eric Harris (Patriot Front)
America’s second President Kennedy (no relation, as he often joked) had served as Senator from Louisiana since 2005. Kennedy ran as a self-described populist, promising to protect and revive jobs, get the economy going again and standing up for traditional values and the rule of law. Kennedy would end up facing Martin Luther King III, the song of the famed Martin Luther King, Jr., in the runoff. Kennedy notably declined to make race a key issue in the campaign, publicly denouncing threats and bigoted statements made about King and privately rejecting suggestions from aides to use dog whistles in campaign ads. Kennedy nevertheless did almost certainly benefit from racial backlash to King, winning the lowest share of African-American votes for a Democrat since the 1950’s with only 35% of African-Americans voting for him in the first round and 40% doing so in the second while also winning the opposite margin with white voters. Kennedy as President pursued a cautiously conservative course. He declined to pursue a reintroduction of the MPA, but promised to veto the Marriage Equality Act if it ever reached his desk, a threat he made good on in 2020. Environmental groups condemned Kennedy for opening parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge up to oil and logging projects and publicly denouncing calls to get off coal as threats to jobs. Kennedy sought to wed these positions with support for unions, hoping to regain historic Democratic strength with this faction. Many unions had become more split politically as the Justice Party rose and Democrats became more pro-business. Kennedy openly sought to appeal to unions by raising tariffs and on several occasions visiting striking workers, though success here was mixed owing to Kennedy’s other pro-business platform such as opposing increasing the minimum wage, imposing more stringent means-testing for welfare programs and cutting corporate taxes. Kennedy also saw conflict spark in the Korean Peninsula when North Korea invaded the South. Kennedy put together an international coalition that included not only traditional American Allie’s, but even Russia. The country, under President Alexei Navalney, had often had a tense relationship even post-Cold War but Navalney’s hostility to China and distrust of that country’s government meant he was willing to support toppling the North Korean regime in return for U.S. guarantees not to expand NATO. The Korean War was thus finally concluded in 2018 over half-hearted protests from Beijing and Kennedy enjoyed extraordinary approval for months afterwards. The usual midterm trends were not exactly thwarted but the 4 seat Justice Party majority in the House and net losses in the Senate did sting. Kennedy’s popularity would wane however in 2020. That year, an election looming, Kennedy sought to bolster his standing by making a massive gamble-openly calling for a national right to life amendment to overturn Roe v. Wade. Pro-life voters were often voting for Constitution Party candidates in the first round and then abstaining in the second. Kennedy hoped that this push would get him more support from these corners. Kennedy also hoped this would be popular with religious minority voters, whom he wanted to make gains with going into the new cycle. However, Kennedy’s gamble proved a miscalculation. While drawing some new support, many moderate Democrats balked at the proposal. Many also condemned Kennedy for pandering to the far-right. The backlash proved to intensify after the high-profile police killing of Chicago lawyer Barack Obama was filmed, sparking the ‘Hands Up’ movement against police brutality. Kennedy expressed sympathy for Obama’s family but declined to embrace wider reform to policing, drawing widespread criticism. The economy also experienced a recession in 2020, with unemployment spiking to 11% at its peak. However it was the right-to-life issue that dogged Kennedy the most, with women’s rights marches seeing thousands participate and nearly every other major party ticket nominating a woman for either President or Vice President. Kennedy made it to the runoff, but was easily defeated there.
Cynthia Nixon/Matt Gonzalez (Justice) January 20, 2021-present
2020: Runoff Def. John N. Kennedy/Bob Casey (Democratic)
First Round Def. Catherine Baker/Joe Scarborough (Progressive Conservative), Rupert Bonham/Karen Kwiatkowski (Libertarian), Krysten Sinema/Eric Flint (Peace and Freedom), Jack Hunter/Thomas E. Woods (Constitution), Marianne Williamson/John Hagelin (Transcendentalist)
Many jokes were made when the news officially projected the 2020 runoff election to be Nixon vs. Kennedy over 60 years after the first John Kennedy had dispatched Richard Nixon. Cynthia Nixon, however, made very clear she was no Tricky Dick. As the Justiceite Governor of New York, Nixon had invested heavily in education, clean energy and rehabilitative justice programs, which she promised to bring nationwide if elected. Nixon’s coattails brought Justice Party majorities to both chambers in Washington (albeit the one in the Senate needing Peace and Freedom Senator Kshama Sawant to secure). Nixon sought to take advantage of her majority to pursue an ambitious agenda. She had her allies (House Speaker Merkley and Senate Majority Leader Sherrod Brown) work to overcome all obstacles including the filibuster to push a whole slew of policies through. Nixon finally achieved Warren’s dream of a guaranteed minimum income, passed the Marriage Equality Act federally recognizing same-sex marriage and managed to catch the white whale of environmental activists by passing a carbon tax (though many in the Peace and Freedom party accused it of being much too delayed to be effective). The latter drew ire from Democrats and also from voters who ended Nixon’s trifecta in the 2022 midterm elections, handing the Senate over to Lindsey Graham. While Graham has proven a negotiating partner on some issues-being willing to engage in immigration reform talks and wanting to lower rather than eliminate the carbon tax and offering cap-and-trade as a consolation-much of the Nixon economic platform has stalled in his Senate. The 2024 primaries are about to begin and whether Nixon will win a second term or not remains to be seen. Hopefully she at least handles the election with more grace and less crime than the last President Nixon.
