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The United States of America


National Anthem

Head of State: Michael Norman

Biography:

In early 1917, President Woodrow Wilson visited Capital Hill and addressed congress. He announced that a state of war existed between the United States and the German Empire, and that congress had only to acknowledge it. Wilson announced in glowing terms that the mission of the United States was to keep the world must be made safe for democracy. For the first time in its long history, the United States was close to going abroad in search of monster's to slay.

And then it wasn't.

A contentious faction in the US Senate, led by Henry Cabot Lodge, voted down the war declaration by the slimmest of margins. Wilson, defeated, took to poor health and died in 1918. Thomas R. Marshall assumed the presidency. Not prepared for the office and unwilling to do anything, he served as caretaker for the federal government until Republican Warren G. Hardin was elected in 1920. The 20's were one of prosperity for the United States. As Europe suffered from war, the United States reaped the benefit of supplying the warring nations, the Allies especially, with whatever they needed at cost. The US would flirt with prohibition of alcohol in the 20's, only for it to be repealed and deemed a failure. 

Harding's death in 1923 gave Calvin Coolidge the presidency, and he was elected in his own right in 1924. Coolidge stood down in 1928 and his successor, Herbert Hoover, seemed a shoe-in for the White House. And then in early 1928, it all went to hell. With the Great War's end, instability rocked the world and the US was caught in a massive economic depression that nearly bankrupted the US government. Hoover was beaten soundly in the election by New York Governor Al Smith, who would have won in a massive landslide had it not been for his Catholic background.

The Smith Administration went to work in passing legislation that would help ease the economic crises the US were facing. One of Smith's closest advisers was fellow New Yorker Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a former member of the Wilson Administration who had been struck by polio in the early 20's and was wheelchair bound. Roosevelt and other advisers began to push for more and more radical legislation that Smith opposed. Eventually, there was a falling out by the two men and FDR was fired and sent back to New York.

As the 20's became the 30's, the depression worsened and cracks began to show in the once stable American Union. A highly contentious 1932 election led to the House of Representatives having to elect the president after a deadlock in the electoral college and popular vote. Smith was reelected president by a razor-thin margin of two states over Hoover. The results led to protests and division in the country. Many of these protests were ended by force thanks to the intervention of the US Army and chief of staff Douglas MacArthur. The show of force stopped the demonstrations, but the resentment began to build through the country.

Economic stagnation had become the norm in 1936 when the next presidency was decided. Franklin Roosevelt, after two terms as governor of New York, ran a strong campaign against governor Alf Landon of Kansas, in which Roosevelt unveiled a vast plan of social that would help to rebuild the country. But Landon's unlikable personality, fear of Roosevelt's radical policies, and a low turnout by disgruntled voters led to another political deadlock. The deadlock with the voters was foreshadowing of the deadlock that emerged in congress. The representatives remained undecided well into 1937.

And that was when MacArthur sprung into action. With the military at his command, the general appointed himself president on a interim basis until a successor could be found. The move led to opposition from across the country, opposition that MacArthur silenced with the army. Roosevelt and Landon were soon arrested along with most of the politicians in Washington. The union began to crumble underneath MacArthur's bootheel. First in the south, where Senator Huey Long set up a populist powerbase. One of the few politicians to escape MacArthur's grasp, Long led Louisiana and ten other southern states seceded Southern United States of America. The SUSA was followed by the west coast radicals who formed the Syndicate States of America. With the two factions seceding, MacArthur declared war on them and the Second US Civil War began.

The war drug on for four years. Poorly trained troops, in-fighting, and division among the radicals in the west led to its surrender in 1939 after a heavy defeat in the Battle of Denver. The war in the south began to grind into a stalemate, but the end was in sight. In 1939, MacArthur was deposed by his second in command, General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower served as temporary president for a month, that was when Senator Burton Wheeler was appointed as president by the rump congress. Wheeler announced to the American people that war was soon to be over. He conferred with Eisenhower and other agents of the federal government to see it come to pass. Two weeks later, a Jewish dentist shot Huey Long. With long gone, the populist SUSA crumbled without his strong leadership. Gerald L.K. Smith signed a peace treaty with the US Federal government in 1940 and the south was absorbed back into the fold.

Wheeler served as a uniting figure in the aftermath of the war. He was heralded as the second coming of Lincoln. He ran for reelection in 1944 and won in a landslide. In 1948, after almost twenty years of strife and turmoil, a peaceful transition of power occurred in the United States when Thomas Dewey of New York was elected president. The 40's and 50's saw a renewed stability take hold of the United States. The economy finally rebounded and the US, though not a colossus of economic might it had been in the 20's, was able to manage unemployment and be one of the leading capitalist nations in the world.

In 1954, Colorado governor Michael Norman was elected president by a close margin. The Norman Administration hasn't been a major success in its almost four years. The country is economically flat and Norman is seen as an aloof leader who is not in touch with the everyday people. Questions of corruption inside the administration has led to a less than stellar approval rating from the people. As the summer conventions approach, there is a challenger in the form of Wisconsin senator Eric Fernandez, a leftist in the true sense and a man with a vision to help America.


Other:

Michael Norman -- 36th President of the United States
Russell Reed -- 40th Vice-President of the United States
Eric Fernandez -- Junior Senator from Wisconsin
Wilbur Helms -- Senior Senator from South Carolina
Elliot Shaw -- Private Eye/Hollywood Fixer
Jefferson Thomas -- LAPD detective
Jim Sledge -- Political operative
Roderick Marston -- Senior Senator from Arizona
Billy Carter -- Professional baseball player
Johnny Leggario -- Mobster
Lilian Mather -- Candidate for US Senate
Julio Lopez -- Cuban smuggler.
Stein -- Thief
Jessica Hyatt -- Agent Provocateur.
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