Despite several years of virulent opposition, Barack H. Obama was re-elected in 2012, thanks in part to his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, having made a dramatic rightward shift in his rhetoric during the campaign (in an attempt to win over Palin supporters after a particularly brutal and divisive primary season) and an upswing in the economy over the year leading up to the election.

During his second term, President Obama became the first sitting president to meet with a President of Iran following the election of Mostafa Kavakebian, the opposition candidate, and the dissolution of the office of Supreme Leader. While the national economy continues to (slowly, tediously) improve, the Gulf Coast region sees a mass exodus as the effects of the 2010 oil spill continue to reverberate, hurting the President's approval ratings.

Meg Whitman of California, a moderate, easily won the GOP nomination after sweeping Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, citing her business savvy in her tenure as CEO of Ebay. She chose retired general Anthony Burkowski as her running mate and comfortably defeated the Democratic challengers, former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley and San Antonio's Mayor Julian Castro. During her first term she loosened regulations on the aerospace industry, allowing an expansion of US private spaceflight, and recognized the Republic of Somaliland as an sovereign nation. However, her critics saw her inaction on deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan and Pakistan following NATO's withdrawal as evidence of a weak foreign policy.

In 2020, President Whitman faced no primary challenge and went on to defeat Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) by a smaller margin than four years earlier. During her second term, she began an initiative calling for at least 60% of all cars in the US to be either hybrid or hydrogen based by 2040. The move was criticized by some for being too little too late, while others believed that it was too radical a shift in the country’s energy policy. Her critics blasted her for failing to address the deteriorating situation in Myanmar, the rise of violent eco-terrorism, and a weakening economy. Despite this, she remained relatively popular when leaving office in 2025.

Vice President Burkowski won the nomination in the 2024 GOP primaries, choosing two-term Senator John Ellem of West Virginia as his running mate, and went on to defeat Democratic nominees Governor Jason Lorber (D-VT) and former Senator Mark Warner(D-VA). Although his campaign largely touted the successes (and relied upon the popularity) of the Whitman Administration, Burkowski lost his popularity rather quickly. Critics claimed he was “all bark and no bite” on security as the August 23rd movement continued terror attacks across the US and Canada - particularly damaging being the King of Prussia post office bombing and the bombing of the Alaskan Governor's Mansion, both in the middle of the 2028 election season. Combined with a weak economy v. a perceived loss of wealth to China and India, President Burkowski really stood no chance in his failed re-election bid.

Although the 2028 election was the Democratic Party's election to lose, the party had a tough time selecting their candidate from a rather diverse field of Governors, Congressmen, and Business leaders. That Governor Gallagher ultimately won was seen by some as evidence of foul play, considering how many had bet against him. In an effort to bring the party together, Gallagher chose Congressman Kevin Oomori of Hawaii - a young and charismatic politician some had nicknamed “the Japanese JFK” - but, even still, won the election by only a narrow margin (although, overall, the Democratic Party did well and won both houses of Congress).

During his first term, President Gallagher faced some rather deep blows to America's pride: Chinese taikonauts become the first humans to land on an asteroid in 2029 and China became the world's largest economy in 2030, and was forced to roll-back some of President Whitman's environmental policies. However, Gallagher's victories far outweighed America's losses: he oversaw the ultimate recovery of the US economy from the Great Recession, the first privately-built Moon outpost (by Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace), took credit for defeating violent eco-terrorism (although it was, in fact, the Canadians, and even then didn't really defeat it), pushed for the legalization of same-sex marriage (with North Carolina becoming the 36th state to do so), and the admission of Puerto Rico as the 51st State.

In this year's Republican presidential primaries, Katheryn Boyer (R-AL) won the nomination. She chose one of her primary opponents, George Prescott Bush (R-FL), to be the Republican Vice Presidential candidate.

Riding on the improving economy and the growing Hispanic vote, President Gallagher was re-elected to a second term over Katheryn Boyer (R-AL). With Congress split again (the Dems having just barely lost the House), Gallagher found much of his agenda blocked by an uncompromising GOP, thwarting attempts to loosen business regulations and increase trade with Asia, with the only major success being the passage of an initiative for US Energy to be 50% nuclear by 2063 and green-lighting federal funds for the world's first commercial fusion power plant. The Democrats lose further ground in the midterm elections with many gubernatorial elections swinging in favor of the Republicans. To top it off, a global recession strikes in 2035 and America's recent economic recovery is largely lost - President Gallagher blames Congress’ failure to pass initiatives to speed America’s withdrawal from the oil economy, but his failure to respond substantially to the crisis causes his approval ratings to plummet. He leaves office at a dismal 39%.

In many ways, the Election of 2036 was a mirror of 1960: a young, handsome, charismatic Vice President faced off against an older, grizzled Senator. But, in this case, it was the Republican, Senator Alvin Halsey of Utah (and his running mate, former Federal Reserve chairman Larry Ibsen), who defeated Vice President Kevin Oomori (whose campaign failed to gain steam thanks to President Gallagher's unpopularity) and Rep. Ivan Regan (D-MA). President Halsey appointed former Vice Presidential candidate George P. Bush (R-FL) to serve as Secretary of State. During his single term, President Halsey's Justice Department filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Bigelow Aerospace (angering supporters who accused him of breaking a campaign promise to help businesses). Most important, however, was Halsey's decision to get involved in the South American Drug War (2031 - 2047) following a bombing in Quito, Ecuador that left 11 Americans dead. Under his direction, America would deploy 1,000 advisors and 10,000 soldiers by the end of 2040.

The election of Governor Agustin Torres to the presidency could only be described as “meteoric”, the best possible comparison being the “movement” which won President Obama the 2008 election. The excitement Torres generated was wide-spread and infectious, helped by President Halsey's unpopularity. Joined by Pennsylvania governor Walter Paul Irons, Torres defeated Halsey by the widest margin since Ronald Reagan defeated Walter Mondale in 1984. Torres faced a tough first term, dealing with the ongoing war in South America (sending another 2,000 troops in his first year), the continued usurpation of American businesses by Chinese rivals (with Brilliance superstore topping Wal-Mart as world's largest retailer in 2043), and a growing movement amongst social conservatives to ban the “designer babies” practice. Despite this, he maintained his popularity throughout the first four years.

After managing to win a re-election campaign against Kieth B. Connor (R-NV), his approval ratings plummetted from 61% in November 2044 to 46% in November ’45 and in 2046 he lost the Senate to the GOP. After the election, President Torres began pushing a “new strategy” to end the war in South America, an effort that would - against all critical expectations - result in the defeat of cartel guerrillas by the end of 2047 and the withdrawal of US troops by January 2049. His popularity skyrocketing back to 60%, Torres (building upon efforts by previous administrations) successfully managed to increase the share of hybrid and electric vehicles in America to 45%, a success popularized by the media and the Democratic Party as a major environmental victory, and set a new goal of 60% by 2060.

Torres would leave office very popular, but within only five years would become reviled when it was later revealed that his Administration had approved supplying and using chemical weapons against the cartel guerrillas during the 2047 offensive.

Despite President Torres' approval ratings still hovering around 60%, his popularity still wasn't enough to overcome voter dissatisfaction with the Democrats, giving Senator Meghan McCain of Arizona enough edge to beat Secretary of State Terrence Simmons (D-VA). Notable is that President McCain is the first president since Grover Cleveland to be elected from the same state as her predecessor (Arizona).

Having campaigned on a centrist platform, President-Elect McCain promised to build upon Torres' successes and increase ties with South America, grow the economy, and reestablish America's presence on the world stage. Unfortunately, only seven months into her administration it came out that the Torres Administration had secretly used chemical weapons in South America. This revelation seriously damaged America's foreign relations for years, hurting efforts to build closer ties with Europe and Russia. Even worse, McCain's attempts at centrism was seen by some conservatives as a betrayal, resulting in a serious primary challenge by the socially conservative Governor Alex Pittman of Oklahoma and was re-elected in large part to the Democratic vote being split between Bryce R. Erickson (D-RI) and Hector Bradford (I-OH).

Although the GOP won control of both houses of Congress, it was soon split amongst “Violet Republicans” (a moderate faction led by President McCain) and Social Conservatives, led by Speaker of the House Aiesha Noble. Violet Republicans and Social Conservatives battled each other over the issue of designer babies, climaxing when Speaker of the House Aiesha Noble and Senate majority leader Donald Krycek attempted to pass a Federal ban on human genetic modification despite opposition from President McCain. The months-long debate forced a wedge through the Republican Party and saw approval ratings for both Congress and the President plummet. With the ban's failure, President McCain was seen as a lame duck president and having done permanent damage to the unity of the Republican Party.

Unhappy with the political deadlock in Washington since the failed designer baby ban, the American public turned away from Senate majority leader Donald Krycek (R-IN) and elected a Democrat, Mark Borgnino of New Jersey - a veteran of the South American Drug War and one-term Governor, and the first openly homosexual Vice President, former Seattle mayor Charles Foyer. Although he faced stubborn opposition from the Republican minority in Congress, Borgnino remained relatively popular throughout his presidency. His greatest achievement was completing the recovery of the US economy: by Q4 2058, unemployment rates are at their lowest point in 20 years and Wall Street is trading at its highest since before the Great Recession.

After serving as House minority leader during the Borgnino Administration, Aiesha Noble ran practically uncontested for the GOP nomination. She chose the Senate Republican Conference Chairman, Dewayne Nicholson, as her running mate and ran a vigorous campaign that brought the issue of genetic modification and designer babies to the forefront, casting herself as the moral defender of children's rights and equality. She comfortably defeated President Borgnino, becoming the first African-American woman elected to the presidency. Her open support for the Purity Movement and fierce opposition to genetic modification emboldened anti-Genie groups, and within a year violence surged as anti-genie furor swept across the United States.

President Noble's most important and far-reach accomplishment during her first term was passage of the Credo-Hutley Act in 2062, which banned federal funding for any hospital or medical center that performed “unnecessary” genetic modification on an unborn child, unless the life of the child or mother would be threatened without such modification. The law would serve as the springboard from which Purity politicians began enacting legislation allowing employers to refuse hiring Genies over equally-qualified naturally-born Americans, beginning with Puerto Rico, Florida, and South Carolina in 2063. Noble would also leave a lasting mark, appointing two Purity-sympathetic justices to the US Supreme Court. Credo-Hutley was a major victory for the Purity Movement, but also was the last straw for the Violet Republicans. The mass defection of moderate Republicans to the Democratic Party post-Credo-Hutley cost President Noble the midterm elections, where the Democrats retook the Senate with a 51-49 majority.

On foreign policy, Noble was a relative isolationist. She applauded the normalization of Japanese and North Korean relations and the condemned the terrorist attack on Kashi in 2063. She fostered a good relationship with newly elected President Issac Nsungu of Congo-Kinshasa, despite domestic pressure to condemn his poor environmental policies.

Although popular with most Republicans, President Noble faced a serious Primary challenge by the remainder of the Violet Republican faction. Fiery campaigning by Noble and her opponent, Texas governor Eduardo Y. Gamble, completely overshadowed the Democratic primaries in Media coverage. When it became clear Noble would win the Republican nomination, Governor Gamble announced he would run as a third-party candidate, becoming the first serious third-party contender in decades. The move split the Republican vote, enough so that Florida governor Peter de Leon (D-FL) managed to beat out Aiesha Noble’s reelection bid, surprising many who had predicted an easy victory for the incumbent.

Though she left office, Aiesha Noble did not step aside. Early in 2065 she was elected Chairman of the Republican National Committee, still commanded the loyalty and effectively dictated the agenda of the Republican-controlled House and newly-won Senate, and made it clear she intended to run for office again in 2068.

Governor de Leon quietly and easily sailed into the Presidency, much to everyone's surprise. A quiet and unassuming man, few Democrats expected him to defeat the firey and charismatic Aiesha Noble. With the Republican vote split between President Noble and Governor Gamble, though, he managed the sneak up the middle for a narrow win. Although President De Leon promised to roll back his predecessor’s “discriminatory policies”, his chances didn't look good. The Republicans still controlled the House of Representatives, and had even managed to retake the Senate by a wide margine by forcing the few remaining Violet Republicans out of office. With Aiesha Noble all but certain to become the next Republican National Committee chairman – and certain to run again in 2068 – conservative pundits labelled President De Leon a lame duck before he even took office.

President de Leon's efforts were often for naught. Aiesha Noble and the Purity Movement continued to push through their anti-Genie agenda despite him, easily overriding the President's vetoes. By December 2067, he used his veto power 31 times, yet had a record number of them overturned by the Republican-controlled Congress (84%, beating the previous record-holders Franklin Pierce and Andrew Johnson by over 20% each). Following the Democratic Party's failure to take back the House of Representatives in the 2066 midterms, pundits declare President De Leon's administration to be “effectively Aiesha Noble's second term”, noting the former president and current RNC Chairman's seemingly iron grip over the Republican Party and Congress' agenda.

Unable to stop the Purity-controlled Congress, the President turned to legal action and his Justice Department filed suit against Indiana over the country's strictest Genie discrimination law. It was considered the biggest challenge by progressives against the Purity Movement, and was ultimately defeated in 2067 when the US Supreme Court narrowly ruled that it did not violate the 14th Amendment, but rather “reinforced the precept that all men are created equal by declaring that even men artificially created to be superior will not have the freedom to reign over the naturally inferior by virtue of their genetic superiority”. The defeat was a major loss for President De Leon, who afterwards was considered by many to be amongst the weakest and most ineffectual presidents in US history.

Outside his futile war with Aiesha Noble, de Leon's Justice Department also joined the European Union and filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Google in 2065, accusing the corporation of having formed a virtual monopoly over computer operating systems and software after purchasing Microsoft and having systematically phased out their competitor's products. He also oversaw the launching of the world's first interstellar probe, the Christopher Columbus, in 2066. The President also highly praised China's transition to democracy.

During De Leon's final year, the Democratic Party completely imploded during the primary season as the President faced two serious primary challenges from Oregon governor Ida Dale and Minnesota senator Hugh Sharpe, resulting in a spectacular mudslinging contest that resulted in a disastrous Democratic convention. In the end, Hugh Sharpe was selected as the candidate. Peter de Leon would leave office with the lowest approval rating since George W. Bush: 26%.

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• Factions and Organizations
• Glossary
• Notes on Africa
• Notes on the Americas, United States, and UNASUR
• Notes on China, India and Asia
• Notes on Culture
• Notes on Europe and the European Union
• Notes on Health and Medicine
• Notes on Japan and Japanese Emperors
• Notes on the Map
• Notes on the Middle East
• Notes on Russia
• Notes on Outer Space and Technology
• Wars, Conflicts, and Terrorist Attacks

A Revised History of the Future

Future History Timelines