TLIED-The Perfect Shuffle

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Ronald E. Paul (Republican)
1997-1999
Coming out of office in 1997, Jimmy Carter was fairly well liked. The president who succeeded him would not be as popular.

Ron Paul's political career began in 1968 when he was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. In 1982, Paul was elected governor of Pennsylvania, serving from 1983 to 1991. While governor, Paul became known for his socially conservative positions. He criticized Bryant v. Arkansas as infringing on states' rights and claimed the Single Mothers Support Act would encourage promiscuity among unmarried women. In 1987, he signed an act into law banning abortion after 20 weeks except in cases where the mother's life was threatened.

In 1992, Paul made a bid for the Republican nomination but was defeated by Dick Cheney. Yet Paul would not be discouraged. In 1996, he was able to secure the nomination. In the general election, Paul faced off against Carter's VP, former Arkansas Senator Bill Clinton. At first, things looked to be going well for Clinton. However, just two weeks before the election, a woman named Juanita Broaddrick came forward and claimed Clinton had sexually assaulted her 18 years earlier, when Clinton was a state senator. While Clinton was never formally charged due to the statute of limitations having passed, the damage to his reputation had been done, and Ron Paul was able to squeak past Clinton in the general election.

As president, Ron Paul was determined to fulfill his vision of a "small government" America. However, he quickly found that neither the Democrats nor many Republicans shared his vision. His attempts to dismantle the welfare state proved unpopular with the American people, and his plan to eliminate the Federal Reserve was blocked by Congress. He also stirred up controversy with several statements that were perceived as insensitive towards racial minorities, particularly his calling the anti-KKK campaign of the early 60s "a war on good, honest, hard-working whites."

On foreign policy, Paul preached a return to pre-WW2 isolationism. While he was unable to secure a total withdrawal of US forces from foreign soil, he still managed to cut down on the number of forces committed. Unfortunately, it was his foreign policy that would spell doom for his presidency.

On November 1, 1998, an anonymous source inside the state department revealed that Paul was in secret negotiations with several countries to sell off several of the USN's carriers in an attempt to downsize the US Navy. The fact that Paul had gone behind Congress's back for the deal sealed his fate. On January 20, 1999, Ron Paul became the first POTUS to be removed by impeachment. After his removal, Paul would retire to his home state of Pennsylvania. To this day, he continues to defend his decisions in the Flattop Scandal. His successor would be left to clean up the mess...
 
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George W. Bush (Republican)
1999-2005
After the disastrous end of Ron Paul's presidency, his vice president would take the reins and face the task of restoring trust in the Republican Party.

The eldest son of 40th president and former Texas governor George H. W. Bush, George Walker Bush followed in his father's footsteps and joined the Navy when the Vietnam War broke out in 1964. The younger Bush started off flying the Douglas A-1 Skyraider while stationed on USS Midway. On July 30, 1965, Bush shot down a North Vietnamese MiG-17 with his Skyraider's guns, becoming one of five Skyraider pilots to score air-to-air kills against North Vietnamese MiGs. In 1966, Bush graduated to the Grumman A-6 Intruder and was transferred to USS Coral Sea, serving until the end of hostilities in 1969. When the war started again in 1971, Bush signed back up and was once again flying from Midway.

On January 30, 1972, Bush suffered a ramp strike while landing his Intruder on Midway. The crash would leave Bush paraplegic.

In 1978, Bush was elected to the Texas Senate. In 1992, he was elected to the US Senate. In 1996, Ron Paul chose Bush as his running mate, hoping that recruiting a disabled veteran would disprove the idea that he was anti-military.

While Bush publicly supported Paul's policies, he was privately expressed doubt about Paul's extreme libertarianism. When Paul was impeached in January 1999, Bush stepped up to replace him.

As president, Bush was tasked with undoing the damage Paul had done. While Paul had been unsuccessful in dismantling the welfare state, he had nonetheless been able to shrink it significantly. Bush managed to restore the provisions that Paul had eliminated, such as financial support for single mothers.

Heading into the 2000 election, Bush had his work cut out for him trying to regain the trust of the American public after the Flattop Scandal. However, something would happen that would shock America.

On September 6, 2000, the United Nations held its Millennium Summit in New York City. Bush was unable to attend due to a case of pneumonia, so Vice President Donald Rumsfeld went in his stead. As the summit was being held, a hijacked airliner slammed into the UN headquarters building, killing dozens of world leaders. Minutes later, another hijacked plane struck the Israeli embassy in Washington DC. A third plane was also hijacked, but the passengers were able to overpower the hijackers, allowing a flight instructor who was on board to land the plane safely. The attacks were ultimately linked to Al-Qaeda, an organization of radical Islamists angered by America's support for Israel and secular governments in the Arab world.

The September 6 attacks would galvanize the nation and the rest of the world. Once he had recuperated, Bush embarked on a vigorous campaign, rallying the American people against the terrorists. On November 7, Bush was reelected by a comfortable margin over Democratic challenger Pete Stark.

On December 2000, the US led a coalition of nations into Afghanistan to remove the oppressive theocratic government that ruled the country since the end of Soviet occupation in 1988 and had supported Al-Qaeda. The coalition forces would remain in Afghanistan for eight years, stamping out the remnants of Islamist militias before finally withdrawing in the autumn of 2008.

In the spring of 2001, Bush would turn his attention to Iraq. After being defeated in Operation Desert Storm, Saddam Hussein had redoubled his brutality against the Iraqi people, especially the Kurds. Reports arose of the Iraqi military using chemical weapons against Kurdish villages in response to rebellions. Also evidence emerged that Hussein had been backing Islamic terrorism against the West in the years leading up to the Setepmber 6 Attacks. On September 10, 2001, the United Nations adopted a resolution that Iraq give up its chemical weapons. Hussein refused, so in November 2001, the United States spearheaded an invasion of Iraq to remove Hussein. The occupying forces uncovered stockpiles of chemical weapons. Hussein was captured trying to fleet to Syria. He would be tried and convicted of crimes against humanity by the provisional Iraqi government and executed in 2004.

Despite pressure from some in the US government to stay and prop up the new Iraqi government, Bush would ultimately withdraw all American forces by 2004, saying that the budding Iraqi democracy should not be propped up by foreign arms.

At home, Bush fashioned himself a moderate conservative in the vein of President Ford and the elder Bush. He signed the Sexual Crimes Justice Act into law in January 2002, forbidding sex offenders from obtaining parole. On the other hand, he signed the Waters-Frank Act the following month, making contraceptives purchasable by minors without permission from parents. In response to increased hate crimes against Muslims following the September 6 Attacks, he reached out to American Muslims, emphasizing the fact that the terrorists were merely a vocal minority and that most Muslims were perfectly peaceful, law-abiding people.

Despite being eligible for reelection in 2004 and having fairly high approval ratings, Bush decided against running for reelection. The Democrats were poised to recapture the White House in his absence...
 
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Every time i see the title thread, I think 'The perfect Shuttle' or 'The perfect Souffle'...........
 
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Hillary Clinton (Democrat)
2005-2013

The person who succeeded George W. Bush to the presidency would make history.

Hillary Rodham Clinton first came to prominence in the late 1970s as the First Lady of Arkansas when her husband Bill was elected governor in 1978. Bill Clinton would serve as governor until 1983. In 1984, Bill was elected to the US Senate.

When Bill Clinton ran for president in 1996, Hillary backed him all the way- and defended him when Juanita Broaddrick came forward with her allegations that Bill sexually assaulted her. In 1998, she ran for US Senate. Despite the taint attached to the Clintons caused by Broaddrick's allegations, Clinton was able to win.

In 2004, when Bush announced he was not running for reelection, both the Democrats and Republicans geared up to find a replacement. The Republicans nominated Texas Senator Rick Perry, while Hillary managed to snag the Democratic nomination.

Hillary was able to cruise to victory on November 2, becoming the first female president of the United States.

As president, Clinton continued to prosecute the War on Terror. In 2006, the FBI foiled a plot to smuggle bombs onto four airliners departing on trans-Atlantic flights out of New York. In 2007, American forces finally managed to capture Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda and mastermind of the September 6 Attacks. Despite calls to try Bin Laden in an international court, he would be tried in an American court and be sentenced to 180 years in prison.

Bin Laden's capture would not bring a complete end to Islamic terrorism. In January 2008, a bomb was exploded in a gay nightclub in Newark, New Jersey. The perpetrator, Jose Padilia, was sentenced to life in federal prison.

In 2008, Clinton managed to win a second term, defeating Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty. In her second term, Clinton focused more on domestic policy. In 2010, Clinton signed the Juvenile Justice Act into law, banning the sentencing of minors to life without parole.

One big issue confronting the Clinton administration was Russia. By the early 2010s, the former RSFSR had coalesced into three seperate republics. In January 2011, Clinton took a trip to Novgorod, the largest and most democratic of the three republics. During the trip, Clinton established a rapport with Novgorod president Dmitri Medvedev.

As Clinton prepared to leave office in 2012, both parties resumed their usual search for candidates. The president who followed Clinton would make history once again...
 
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Barack H. Obama (Republican)
2013-present
The end of Hillary Clinton's presidency would see another milestone in the history of the office.

Barack Hussein Obama Jr. was born in Kansas to a Kenyan exchange student and his American girlfriend. He became active in local state politics in 1992 when he was elected to the Kansas Senate. In 1998, Obama was elected Governor of Kansas, serving from 1999 to 2003. As governor, Obama generally identified with the liberal wing of the Republican Party.

In the 2012 presidential election, Obama succeeded in clinching the Republican nomination. In the general election, Obama was able to defeat Clinton's vice president Kurt Schrader, becoming the first US President of African descent.

In office, Obama has continued the fight against radical Islam. In the summer of 2013, the Imperial State of Iran, which had liberalized considerably since the premiership of Mohammed Mosaddegh in the 1950s, faced a full-scale insurrection from Islamist rebels. The United States would not get directly involved but has nonetheless supported the Iranian government in the Iranian Civil War.

On the domestic front, Obama has promoted clean energy sources, overseeing the expansion of nuclear power along with wind, solar, and hydroelectric power. In March 2015, he signed the Marriage Equality Act into law, legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.

Heading into the 2016 election, Obama maintains his popularity. On the Democratic side, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has emerged as his strongest challenger. It remains to be seen who will triumph come November...


And that is it. Despite dubbing this a "timeline in four weeks," I managed to finish it in eight days. Perhaps I should change the title.:biggrin:
 
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