55. Blythe
BlackentheBorg
Banned
55. Billy Blythe (Peace!)
2016-20??
Senator for Louisiana
fmr. Governor, State Attorney General, law professor at Georgetown University
VP: Huma Abedin of Michigan
House Representative, fmr. Chief of Staff to Jack Kennedy Jr., fmr. Political strategist
*
defeated Donald Rodham/Mike Gravel (Progressive Conservative), Kahlil Byrd/Joe Paul Trippi (New Frontier), Elizabeth Peterken/Reinhold Priebus (Liberty), Mindy Finn/Yair Rosenberg (Peoples), Margo Zuckerberg/Benjamin Crump (Independent)
After his father was killed during a Liberty League raid of a suspected Liberation Army foxhole, Virginia Blythe fled to the safe zone of New Orleans, Louisiana. Urban legends insist that Billy was born during the Battle of St. Charles Avenue, although this is as disputed as the idea that Prime Minister Lennon was born during an air raid. Growing up, Blythe seemed destined for politics, finding idols in fellow southerners Tennessee Governor Jesse Presley and Secretary of State (and eventual Vice President) George Leland. Blythe studied law at Georgetown University, where he would meet his wife Ellen Stanton, and eventually return in 2002 to teach law. After graduating, he'd work as a campaign coordinator for George McGovern's primary campaign, and consequently his split ticket, in 1976. This served as an excellent bed of building connections for his first run for governor in 1978. He would lose to Andrew Young, but not before making a subsequent bid for Louisiana Attorney General in 1980, then another successful gubernatorial campaign in 1992. Formerly a registered member of the Peoples Party (in part to McGovern), Blythe realigned as a Federalist during his time as governor, but soon re-registered as a Peace! Party candidate as he found himself returning to the further left (a saving grace, considering that the Federalist Party dissolved as of 2007). After a brief time teaching, Blythe was headhunted for a vacant senate seat, being seen as the strongest candidate in the entire Peace! Party roster, what with his dashing southern charm. It was this same charm that got him all the way to the White House -- well, that and his ideas.
In a rather experimental move, Blythe both increased taxes on higher classes while deregulating Wall Street, something no previous administration had actually done, thinking it too risky. This created an uncharacteristic boom in both the domestic economy and living standards, floating the average consumer price. Being a poster boy for the Peace! Party, Blythe immediately enacted a new isolationist humanitarian doctrine. Military forces were withdrawn en-masse (aside from those considered 'essential' security personnel) replaced with humanitarian aides and diplomats focusing on the rebuilding efforts, most of them already liaisons with the incumbent governments. This also coincided on a sizeable crackdown on gun ownership, with him stating "I support the right to keep and bear arms. I live in a State where over half the adults have hunting or fishing licenses or both. But I believe we have to have some way of checking the criminal history, the mental health history, and the age of people who are buying them." Ever the man of the people, Blythe was also brutally frank when it came to the truth. As he cleared nationwide commercial sale of marihuana products, Blythe revealed that he'd not only had the occasional jazz cigarette in his college days, but confirmed the rumour that former President Schieble had been microdosing on delysid during his time in office, his logic being that if tobacco and alcohol (with their inherent health defects) could be booming industries, then soft-class hallucinogens should be too. Whilst this initially brought him a fair amount of criticism, the strict purchasing laws as well as a subsequent three million dollar surplus in the budget all but quietened it. Somehow, his somewhat outlandish ideas pulled through.
As the 2020 elections approach, Blythe, the first elected Presidential Peace! candidate, currently sits with high approval ratings and is expected to easily win reelection. However, he does have a few interesting challenges on the way, in the form of presumptive frontrunners Rafael Cruz Jr. (L-CT), Anthony Kapel Jones (P-TN), Julie Anne Genter (NF-MN) and Dennis Kucinich (PC-CA). Of course, despite the fact he's pushing 80, the southern gentleman always has more than enough charisma left in him...
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