North America (Progress, Decline and Hope)
April 20th, 2011: On the one year anniversary of the BP oil spill Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert hold their second rally in Washington D.C. With prices at the pump nearing $4 per gallon protesters demand alternatives forms of energy and an increase in funding for high speed rail and other forms of transportation. The California high speed rail project is hailed as an excellent start.
April 22nd, 2011: Former Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Howard Dean announces that, despite his non-candidacy announcement the previous year, has changed his mind and will challenge President Barack Obama in the Democratic primaries. Of course, the first polls show President Obama far ahead of Governor Dean in the polls; even so, Dean continues to campaign.
July 11th, 2011: Chelsea Clinton and husband Marc Mezvinsky announce that they are pregnant, much to the delight of former President Bill Clinton and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
July 23rd, 2011: Former Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) files for divorce from Todd Palin, after reports of an extramarrital affair erupt, as Shailey Tripp of Juneau, Alaska claims an affair with Todd Palin since 2008.
November 8th, 2011: Leland Yee (D-CA) is elected Mayor in San Francisco, California, becoming one of the first Asian-American Mayors of a major metropolitan area.
December 31st, 2011: Officially, all U.S. troops have been evacuated from Iraq. President Obama's approval ratings rise to a higher level for the month. Also on this day, Freedom Tower in New York City is completed, towering 1,776 feet above the 9/11 Memorial.
January 1st, 2012: For the first time, Cubans are allowed to buy and sell private property. There are strict limits on what type of property and the value of the transaction allowed - nevertheless, this is a significant step forward for Cuban reformers, led slowly by President Raúl Castro.
January 3rd, 2012: President Obama crushes former Governor Dean in the Iowa caucus with 69% of the vote to Dean's 31%. Dean states that, if he does not win the New Hampshire primary, he will drop out of the race.
January 11th, 2012: President Obama wins 58% of the vote to Dean's 42%. Keeping his promise, Dean withdraws from the race and endorses the President's candidacy.
March 5th, 2012: The groundbreaking ceremony for the future Transbay Terminal in San Francisco is attended by President Obama and Governor Jerry Brown. Construction on the California High Speed Rail system is expected to begin within the following months, with a target date of January 2019.
April 3rd, 2012: Jeffory William Clinton-Mezvinsky, is born the child of Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky.
April 16th, 2012: President Obama announces that in response to decreased violence in Afghanistan thanks to the 2009 troop surge, he will begin a phased withdrawal of troops, to be completed by 2015. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticizes Obama on “forcing a hasty withdrawal” on US forces, and offers a counter plan for a delayed withdrawal by 2018.
June 12th, 2012: Former US President Jimmy Carter passes away in his sleep at the age of 87.
July 2nd, 2012: Amidst the political reorientation in Mexican politics, Mexico State's governor Enrique Peña Nieto wins the 2012 Presidential election, regaining that office for the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) after a 12 year interregnum. The election highlights the failures of the Calderón Administration to deal with the ongoing Drug War, as well as the PRI's reorganization and resurgence as a major political force.
Enrique Peña Nieto (PRI): 41.78% Marcelo Luis Ebrard Casaubón (PRD): 35.15% Santiago Creel Miranda (PAN): 14.33%
November 6th, 2012: The Democratic ticket of President Barack Obama/Vice President Joe Biden is narrowly defeated by the Republican ticket of former MA Governor Mitt Romney/LA Governor Bobby Jindal. Many contribute Obama's loss to lack of an uptick in the economy in late '12 and a stagnant 9.3% unemployment rate.
Former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) / Governor Bobby Jindal (R-LA) - 273 EV - 49.6% PV President Barack Obama (D-IL) / Vice President Joe Biden (D-DE) - 265 EV - 48.9% PV
House of Representatives Republican - 250 seats (+8) Democratic - 185 seats
Senate Republican: 50 seats + VP (+3) Democratic: 50 seats
December 17th, 2012: Time Magazine makes the surprise choice of picking Vice-President-Elect Bobby Jindal as their Time Person of the Year, over President-Elect Mitt Romney. Time's stated reason for the choice is that, “The rise of Bobby Jindal, fallowing so shortly after the rise of Barack Obama is a sign that this country has changed. No longer are people limited from high office based only on the color of their skin. In many ways, Jindal represents the future face of the GOP, the future face of American politics, and the future face of America.”
June 9th, 2013: Riots erupt in Port au Prince, Haiti as reports of election fraud erupt over Senate elections, UN peace-keeping forces are deployed throughout the capital.
June 21st, 2013: Stephen Harper's Conservatives win a majority government with 162 seats. Michael Ignatieff resigns as Liberal leader to be replaced by Dominic LeBlanc at year's end.
July 8th, 2013: Cuban President Raúl Castro announces agricultural reforms that will take effect beginning in 2014. State farms, which account for 75% of Cuban agriculture, will be disbanded and replaced by co-ops, owned “directly by the people in the spirit of Socialism.” Farmers will have the option to split off from these co-ops and form co-ops of one, in effect legalizing private farming. Additionally, the state-run marketing association Acopio, which has monopolistic control over seeds, fertilizer and equipment, will be split into many regional firms with competitive practice. Farmers will be allowed to begin to bargain some prices for agricultural produce on the open market.
September 13th, 2013: Mexicans celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Congress of Anáhuac and the declaration of full independence by José María Morelos.
November 3rd, 2013: A referendum is held in Nicaragua on a constitutional amendment that would change it's system of government. Passing by a mere 50.88% of the popular vote, Nicaragua is slated to transition from a presidential system to a parliamentary system of government. Political analysts both within and outside Nicaragua decry the results, stating that the amendment is a ploy for former President Daniel Ortega to retain power via the newly created office of Prime Minister.
November 5th, 2013: US Representative Frank Pallone (D) defeats incumbent Chris Christie (R) in the New Jersey gubernatorial election.
November 14th, 2013: President Mitt Romeny publicly reaffirms American support for South Korea's recent operations in a speech from the Oval Office. While the South Korean troops push north, US ground forces remain behind the ceasefire line established on the 5th of November, both to avoid provoking China, and to begin undertaking humanitarian operations in rear areas. US air assets still operate in support of ROK operations during the brief push to the Yalu, but are rarely needed due to extremely sparse resistance.
November 22nd, 2013: A memorial service is held in Dallas,Texas, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States of America. Thousands attend the service, including many politicians, President Mitt Romney and all former living Presidents, memebers of the Kennedy family, and foreign dignitaries from around the world. In many parts of America, a minute of silence is held at 12:30 PM CST, the approximate time of the assassination.
January 1st, 2014: Fifty-five years to the day after he overthrew President Fulgencio Batista, former Cuban President Fidel Castro dies of pancreatic cancer. The communist dictator had been ill since 2006 and had stepped down in 2008, although he still retained great influence. His younger brother, current President Raúl Castro, announces a national week of mourning, and makes his brother's birthday, August 13th, a national holiday.
January 5th, 2014: Though sometimes included within the “Great Recession” that lasted from 2007 to 2009, this date is generally accepted to be the start of the “Second Great Recession”. Collapse of the US Dollar worldwide results in thousands of job losses across the US. Stocks open to crushing losses, and several investors commit suicide days after the Crash of 2014. President Mitt Romney's approval drops from 59% to 37%, in a mere 5 days.
January 28th, 2014: Justice Antonin Scalia dies at age 77, after serving more than 20 years on the Supreme Court of the United States. President Mitt Romney calls him a national hero in his eulogy, and begins the search for his replacement. On February 4th, Romney announces that he is nominating Ted Ullyot, former law clerk for the Justice and current general council to Facebook.
February 8th, 2014: Cuban President Raúl Castro, in a speech to the Central Committee of the Communist Party, calls for a Seventh Party Congress to be held in 2014, in order to enact more economic reforms. Castro's announcement, following the death of his elder brother Fidel Castro, comes at a time when he is slowly introducing economic reforms. However, there have been no political developments, and Cuba continues to be known for its repression.
February 13th-26th, 2014: The Detroit Riots; Hundreds take to the streets demanding federal action to ensure growth in Detroit, Michigan, after GM is forced to lay off hundreds of workers in response to the recent market crash.
February 14th, 2014: The Tea Party, still a potent force in the Republican Party, stage rallies in several states protesting the Romney administration, citing “fiscal insanity” in his negotiations with congressional Democrats over the federal budget.
March 5th, 2014: Ted Ullyot's nomination to the Supreme Court is confirmed by the Senate, 54-46. He is inaugurated the next day.
April 10th, 2014: After two relatively sleepy years, once again the worsening economic conditions lead to the widespread belief that the government will be forced to cut salaries and flexibilize the labour legislation.
May 1st, 2014: The International Labour Day is celebrated in Venezuela with many parades, but the headlines are won by the creation of the Independent Worker's Union (SIT), an explicitly anti-chavist union, which fights for better wages and work conditions in a year where most of the other (chavist) unions tell people to fasten their belts. In a movement that echoes the one that happened two years earlier, hundreds of thousand take the Plaza Bolívar.
May 4th, 2014: The Mayors of Macaraibo, Caracas and Mérida declare their support for the SIT, as does the Army for General Alvarado. American media starts calling the events in Venezuela “The Great SIT-in”.
May 5th, 2014: Captured by the Army during the night, most of the pro-Chávez militias surrender their weapons. Hugo Chávez' control of the country is now limited to a small area around and within Caracas.
May 31st, 2014: Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush dies in his sleep at the age of 89.
June 8th-12th, 2014: The Communist Party of Cuba holds its Seventh Party Congress in Havana. The conference produces a range of economic reforms, including two significant steps lauded by international observers. Firstly, international firms will be allowed to invest directly in the Cuban economy and employ Cuban workers. Secondly, broad financial reforms will open up the money supply and modernize Cuba's antiquated financial system. Chinese and Canadian investors and financial advisors are sought to help develop both aspects of the reform.
June 22nd, 2014: President Mitt Romney is briefed by the CIA and Department of Homeland Security that it cannot account for the loss of several North Korean nuclear weapons.
June 26th-27th, 2014: G-8 Saint Petersburg Summit; G-8 leaders launch bitter accusations against the United States for its “gunboat diplomacy” citing troubles in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Korean Peninsula.
August 11th, 2014: Famed Cuban political activist Jorge Luis García Pérez is arrested after an altercation with the police. News of the event quickly spreads and protests sprout up in Havana and García's hometown of Placetas.
August 12th, 2014: As the Cuban authorities try to quell the protests, more sprout up in Santiago de Cuba, Camagüey, Matanzas and Cienfuegos. President Raúl Castro allows for the immediate release of García, but that only emboldens the protesters even more, as García joins the protests with calls to the end of the Communist regime.
August 14th, 2014: Over 750,000 protesters gather in Plaza de la Revolución. Lead by Jorge García, the crowds of people chant “libertad ahora!” (liberty now!).
August 17th, 2014: Several prominent Cuban government officials defect to the protesters, including Defense Minister Julio Casas Regueiro.
August 20th, 2014: As the mass of people in Plaza de la Revolución grows to 1.5 million, as well as facing more defections, Raúl Castro resigns as President of Cuba. He is replaced by Ricardo Alarcón.
August 22nd, 2014: Cuban Communist hardliner José Machado attempts a overtake Alarcón's government, but after a clash between hardliner and moderate troops loyal to Regueiro, Machado is forced to stand down.
August 24th, 2014: Alarcón steps down as President of Cuba, giving into the protesters demands. General Regueiro takes over as Acting President. Elections are scheduled for January 2015.
November 4th, 2014: U.S. Midterm Elections; Democrats make massive gains in the midterms in response to recent discontent with President Romney's governing. The Democrats retake the House of Representatives and the Senate, gaining 41 seats and 2 seats (Harold Ford in TN, Jeff Abramson in KY), respectively. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) wins his bid for re-election against Former Rep. Rick Lazio (R-NY). Cuomo's victory fuels speculation that he may run for President come 2016.
House of Representatives Democratic: 236 seats (+51) Republican: 199 seats
Senate Democratic: 52 seats (+2) Republican: 48 seats
January 22nd, 2015: President Enrique Peña Nieto is shot and killed in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico whilst giving a speech condemning the violence plaguing the city. The assassin, Gerardo Ortiz is found to be part of the Sinaloa Cartel.
January 23rd, 2015: After an Extraordinary Session of Congress is held, Secretary of the Interior Beatriz Paredes Rangel is elected Interim President to fulfill the remainder of Peña Nieto's term.
January 27th, 2015: Mexican President Beatriz Paredes Rangel gives a nationwide televised speech where she formally states her grief over the late President Peña Nieto's death at the hands of the “barbarous cartels.” She outlines the intentions of her administration to conduct “Total War” (Sp. Guerra Total) on key drug havens throughout the country.
January 28th, 2015: President Paredes Rangel declares a state of emergency throughout the states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Baja California, Michoacán and Guerrero, stating that the violence in the country must be dealt with “by any means necessary.”
January 30th, 2015: Elements of the Mexican military attack various known cartel havens throughout northern Mexico, killing hundreds of drug traffickers and cartel collaborators, and arresting thousands more by the end of the month.
February 3rd, 2015: Formation of the Society Opposing Unholy Life (S.O.U.L.), a radical Evangelical Christian political group in response to recent advancements in gay rights, science, and rising discontent with the Romney administration on domestic, especially social, issues.
February 4th, 2015: Former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer declares his intentions to run for the Democratic Presidential nomination.
March 1st, 2015: After a period of transition the polls open in Cuba for the election of a constitutional commission to draft a new constitution for Cuba.
March 9th, 2015: Former Governor of Virginia and DNC Chairman Tim Kaine announces his bid for the Democratic Nomination for President, in Richmond, the capitol of Virginia. Early polls give Kaine a slim to moderate lead over incumbent President Mitt Romney.
March 11th, 2015: With the aid of American intelligence and military support, the Mexican military cracks down hard on la Familia Michoacana, managing to kill José de Jesús Méndez Vargas and capture large numbers of the cartel, including Servando Gómez Martínez and Dionicio Loya Plancarte.
March 26th, 2015: Der Spiegel and The Economist magazines report human rights violations by XE contractors in Basra and Baghdad, including the deaths of c.250 people in one apartment building. Iraqi government officials demand the prosecution of all private contractors involved in the violence. Republican leaders led by Minority Leader Cantor refuse to allow “American men and women to be subject to theocratic ideals…” angering many of the nations in the region.
April 1st, 2015: Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN-TV) shows footage of XE mercenaries brutally raping a 14yo girl suspected of carrying an improvised explosive device (IED). This further enrages the Muslim world to the presence of multinational troops.
April 6th, 2015: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) announces his intention to run for the Democratic Nomination for President of the United States, to challenge incumbent President Mitt Romney. In his first campaign speech, given in New York City outside the Freedom Tower, Cuomo says he is running to,“stop the President from leading this country down the wrong track,” and uses the Romney Administration's stance on Gay Rights as an example.
April 11th, 2015: Governor Sam Brownback (R-KS) makes rumblings about a possible primary challenge to President Romney while being interviewed on CNN's The Situation Room, reflecting discontent among the right toward Romney's handling of the economy and apathy on social issues.
May 9th, 2015: Junior New Jersey Senator Cory Booker declines to run for president. As the campaign goes in it's pretty clear, however, that his camp is generating buzz for the vice presidential nod.
May 22nd, 2015: Castro Riots; S.O.U.L. members attract national controversy after protesting outside the Castro District in San Francisco, California, sparking clashes with members of the LGBT community.
July 4th, 2015: The Mayor of New York announces that New York intends to reclaim the title of world's tallest building with the construction of the New York Tower. Designed to climb to 3,342 feet/1018m, the building will be located 9 blocks south of the Empire State Building.
July 5th, 2015: Midterm Elections are held in Mexico. The PRI increases its presence in Congress by a slight margin, for the most part holding it's majority. Many within the PAN and PRD cry foul, claiming the PRI is up to it's old tricks of vote stacking and election theft, though international observers are quick to note President Paredes' decisive action against the Cartels and sympathy for President Peña Nieto's death as reasons for the PRI's excellent performance at the polls.
Chamber of Deputies Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) - 267 National Action Party (PAN) - 112 Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) - 71 Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM) - 16 Labor Party (PT) - 10 Nueva Alianza (PNA) - 8 Convergence - 12 Independents - 4
July 8th, 2015: The Cuban Constitution of 2015 is signed and ratified. Among various changes, the new constitution provides for executive and legislative elections every 5 years. The first General Elections are scheduled for September 6th.
July 29th, 2015: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) announces her intention to run for the office of United States President against President Romney.
August 5th, 2015: President Romney's approval rating hits 36%, a new low, after a special report by MSNBC reveals some of the after-effects of the War on Terror in states such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
August 17th, 2015: In the Papal conclave that fallows the Death of Pope Benedict XVI, the College of Cardinals votes to have Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa,Honduras, to serve as the Next Pope. He takes the name of Pope George, after Saint George, the legendary dragon slayer. In his first address to the world, Pope George promises to the people that his first priority will be to work to help the poor and the suffering.
August 20th, 2015: In what would later be known as Jueves Sangriento (Bloody Thursday) a band of the Los Zetas Cartel massacre 10 children and injure 25 more playing in a school playground in Reynosa, Tamaulipas when inter-cartel disputes erupt in the streets with gunfire.
August 22nd, 2015: Mexican Troops occupy Reynosa and as per Martial Law begin to detain anyone whom they deem may be part of a cartel. By the end of the day several thousand persons are detained, as well as the deaths of about 90 known members of the Los Zetas Cartel in intermittent fighting within the city. The firefights between the Cartel and the Mexican Army continue for several more days, extending to the cities of Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo and Piedras Negras, prompting a temporary closure of all entry points along the Texas-Mexico border.
August 24th, 2015: Governor Sam Brownback of Kansas announces that he will challenge Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination, citing his “failed policies” and the need for a “true conservative” in the White House. Almost immediately, S.O.U.L. gains national prominence with its high-profile endorsement of Governor Brownback's presidential bid, calling him “the right candidate to restore moral values in America.” Over the past year, S.O.U.L. accumulated influence and omnipresence from the Evangelical movement, and was responsible for many protests across the nation.
September 6th, 2015: In Cuba's first elections since the end of Communist rule, political activist Jorge García receives a majority of votes over various other candidates for president. The elections also signify the first time in 56 years the government is not run by the Communist Party of Cuba, but rather the Christian Democratic Party of Cuba.
September 12th, 2015: After years of going back and forth on its territorial status, Puerto Rico finally votes on an island-wide referendum to join the Union as a full state. Its ascension adds 5 new members to the House of Representatives, as well as 2 new Senators.
September 30th, 2015: Intense gunfights erupt in the west Mexican city of Los Mochis, Sinaloa between the Mexican Army and the Sinaloa Cartel. The region had already seen spurts of violence for several weeks as President Paredes increased the troop presence in the region. As a simultaneous gunfight erupted in the state capital Culiacán, President Paredes signs an Executive Order demanding Federal Troops to “kill on sight.”
October 5th, 2015: US President Mitt Romney begins gearing up for re-election, albeit among poor approval ratings.
October 29th, 2015: Piers Morgan Tonight (CNN-TV) includes a guest appearance by former President Barack Obama, who responds to questions that he'll run again by saying that he would support whoever emerged as the Democratic candidate, but would rather help people on a closer scale than the national political scene allows.
November 3rd, 2015: Mayor Leland Yee (D-CA) of San Francisco, California wins re-election, becoming a “rising star” within the Democratic Party. Yee wins much of the LGBT vote after condemning S.O.U.L., calling on SFPD to prosecute members on charges of harassment and hate crimes.
November 15th, 2015: Meghan McCain declares her intention to run for Congress as a Republican in Arizona's 6th congressional district in 2016, coinciding with her father John McCain's retirement from the Senate.
November 17th, 2015: Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky announces that he will challenge Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination, citing his “failed policies” and the need for a “true conservative” in the White House.
November 18th, 2015: S.O.U.L. gains national prominence with its high-profile endorsement of Senator Rand Paul's presidential bid, calling him “the right candidate to restore moral values in America.” Over the past year, S.O.U.L. accumulated influence and omnipresence from the Evangelical movement, and was responsible for many protests across the nation.
December 18th, 2015: Proposition 9 is added to the 2016 ballot in California. If passed, the measure would repeal the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in the state, effectively overturning the controversial Proposition 8.
December 19th, 2015: S.O.U.L. condemns Proposition 9 as “an attack on the moral fabric of the nation, and an attack on God's will.” The group begins to organize a political campaign in opposition to the “Yes on 9” effort.
December 28th, 2015: Amnesty International releases a report detailing Mexico's apparent degradation of human rights as half the country remains under Martial law and the year 2015 being seen as the bloodiest on record.
December 29th, 2015: Vice President Bobby Jindal announces that he will not be on President Romney's re-election ticket, claiming that he needs to “spend time with his family”. When questioned by supporters more, he declares that he intends to return to Louisiana to help the affected there.
January 5th, 2016: Iowa Caucuses; In the Democratic contest, former Governor Brian Schweitzer (D-MT) wins an upset victory, immediately becoming the front runner. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) shocks many with her strong second place showing over Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY), respectively.
On the Republican side, Governor Sam Brownback (R-KS) claims victory over President Romney, claiming a 55 percent margin of victory bolstered by turnout from the Tea Party, S.O.U.L., and other conservatives.
January 8th, 2016: New Hampshire Caucuses: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) wins with 41% to Schweitzer's 26% and Kaine's 15%.
January 9th, 2016: New Hampshire Caucuses: On the Democratic side, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand wins with 41% to former Governor Schweitzer's 26% and Senator Tim Kaine's 15%. Gillibrand is quickly labeled by the media as the new front runner, noting her meteoric rise in the primaries from a no-name candidate to placing second in Iowa, and subsequently winning New Hampshire. Cuomo suspends his campaign after a poor showing and endorses his fellow New Yorker for the nomination.
On the Republican side, President Romney deals a heavy blow to the insurgent Brownback campaign, winning the Granite state with 58 percent of the vote.
January 11th, 2016: Baja California Sur becomes the first state to legalize cannabis. Over the next several months Sonora, Chihuahua and Tamaulipas follow suit.
January 16th, 2016: Students of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) lead a protest march along Paseo de la Reforma in México City against the near dictatorial powers the President is perceived to possess. The protesters gather in the Zócalo where they continue to cry out against the “New Dictatorship” imposed by “Doña Beatriz.” There are skirmishes with the police though on the whole the protests remain relatively peaceful.
February 4th, 2016: Governor Tim James (R-AL) announces his resignation in Birmingham, Alabama amidst rumors of an extramarital affair come to light.
February 23rd, 2016: Kirsten Gillibrand emerges as the presumptive Democratic nominee after winning the vast majority of delegates and states on Super Tuesday. Senator Tim Kaine and Governor Brian Schweitzer suspend their campaigns that night and endorse Gillibrand for the presidency.
On the Republican side, no clear front runner emerges from Super Tuesday, as both Romney and Brownback come out with roughly the same amount of delegates. However, Brownback has a slight edge and momentum from winning the crucial Ohio primary by a narrow margin (50.1-49.3).
April 2nd, 2016: The groundbreaking ceremony for the New York Tower begins. Construction is expected to take 6 to 7 years, with the building being done in time for the nearby Empire State Building's 100th anniversary.
April 3rd, 2016: The CIA releases a report stating that Cartel violence in north western Mexico has diminished by nearly half since combat operations began in 2006, going further by stating that many of the cartels in the country “have become shells of their former selves.”
April 9th, 2016: At least 50 people, mostly drug traffickers, are killed in a raid south of Navojoa, Sonora, near the Sonora-Sinaloa border.
May 5th, 2016: President Romney gives a speech and declares that he will raise funding for scientific laboratories (Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, etc.) so that an element is discovered in America again. They shall name said element after a president.
May 22nd, 2016: A coalition of PRD, Nueva Alianza and Convergence Deputies fail to pass a motion which would limit President Paredes' powers, as the overwhelming PRI majority obstructed the bill's progression.
May 23rd, 2016: In response to the failure of an opposition law in Mexico, and using the strongest language the United States has to date, Secretary of State Jon Huntsman says “I deplore a dangerous trend in Mexico seen today towards authoritarianism in the name of security, limited freedoms in the name of order. This is against the principles of democracy and the aspirations of the Mexican people to live in freedom and safety.” In response, Mexican President Paredes calls on President Romney to fire Huntsman, replying that “Mexican democracy has never been stronger, and will be made safer by our aggressive action against the murderous cartels.” President Romney puts pressure on Huntsman to apologize, and Huntsman moderates his statement in a press conference on the 25th.
June 1st, 2016: After over ten years as Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper steps down, saying that he feels he has “served Canada well,” and that he wishes to,“ See what the rest of my life has in store for me.” Harper is replaced by long time Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.
June 7th, 2016: Governor Sam Brownback (R-KS) wins the California primary, defeating President Romney 53-47 percent. Faced with an insurmountable delegate lead and ever-increasing opposition from the GOP establishment, Romney suspends his presidential campaign, and Brownback becomes the presumptive Republican nominee for president.
June 16th, 2016: Amidst the 2016 Presidential Election, Hollywood Actor and Director Ben Affleck muses in private and public about the possibility of one day running for public office himself. When asked why he would run, Affleck replies, “I don't like the direction I see my country going in.”
June 26th, 2016: The Governor of the Mexican state of Michoacán Silvano Aureoles, along with former governors Leonel Godoy and Lázaro Cárdenas Batel announce a new public works project to revitalize the states infrastructure. The plans include revamping roads, highways and rail lines. The plan also lays the foundations for a future High Speed Rail line connecting the cities of Zamora, Uruapan and Morelia with the intention to add a line from Morelia to México City.
August 19th, 2016: Governor Sam Brownback formally accepts the Republican nomination for the presidency at the party's convention in Indianapolis, and taps Senator Mike Lee of Utah as his running mate. President Romney had formally endorsed Brownback at the convention, dispelling fears that he would not back him after such a bitter primary fight.
August 24th, 2016: Rand Paul declares he will be an independent candidate for the Presidency, and chooses Tea Party Rep. Michele Bachmann as his running mate.
August 30th, 2016: At the Democratic National Convention, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is nominated for the office of President, and Muslim congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota is tapped for the office of Vice President. Though many see this as a positive step forward, S.O.U.L. members immediately begin protesting outside of Rep. Ellison's offices.
September 3rd, 2016: Rep. Ellison's office is broken into and damaged by S.O.U.L. members Harry Brime and Serrick James.
September 5th, 2016: In her annual State of the Union address, President Paredes highlights the successes her administration has had over the drug cartels by announcing the end of martial law in the states of Michoacán, Nuevo León and Baja California. She goes further by stating that civil government will return to all of Mexico before her term is over. This comes on the heels of extremely low approval ratings and increased opposition to her executive authority.
September 8th, 2016: Various Mexican politicians from the various left wing parties hold a forum in Mexico City titled The future of social democracy in Mexico, to discuss their inability to capture Los Pinos, citing how the centrist PRI and right of center PAN have both enjoyed executive power. The keynote address was given by senior PRD member Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, who urged the members in attendance to “stand united, or their prospect of leadership will only be a dream.” Many in attendance were moved by the speech given by Tlaxcala Senator Minerva Hernández Ramos, whom is thought to be a rising star in Mexican politics.
November 1st, 2016: The Democratic ticket of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand/Congressman Keith Ellison is elected overwhelmingly over the Republican ticket of Governor Sam Brownback/Senator Mike Lee. In congressional elections, Democrats increase their holds in the House and Senate, attaining a supermajority in the latter for the first time since 2010; Speaker and Vice President-elect Ellison is expected to be succeeded by House Majority Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid's retirement has led to expectations that he will be succeeded by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
In California, Proposition 9 is passed by a majority of 57.1-42.9 percent, repealing 2008's Proposition 8 that banned same-sex marriage in the state.
November 2nd, 2016: In response to Senator Rand Paul's presidential defeat and California's passage of Proposition 9, many S.O.U.L. supporters scream bloody murder. The group's Arizona leader, Sandra Roberts, infamously declares to “lay upon God's hand America.”
November 6th, 2016: In the Nicaraguan General Election, former President Daniel Ortega is elected by the National Assembly to become the nations first Prime Minister. The elections are noted for being unclean, raising protest from the United States, which are briskly brushed off by Ortega.
January 20th, 2017: Upon the inauguration of Kirsten Gillibrand as the 46th President of the United States, c. 325,000 supporters of S.O.U.L. and various other far-right groups protest on the National Mall, calling Gillibrand “an enemy of the state and God”.
January 23rd, 2017: First Vice-President of Cuba, as well as deputy to Cuban President Raúl Castro, José Ramón Machado, is hospitalized after suffering a stroke at his home in the city of Guantánamo. Despite managing to survive the stroke, Machado is feared to remain incapacitated for the foreseeable future.
January 25th, 2017: Second New Deal; In her first Joint Session of Congress, President Kirsten Gillibrand puts forth her legislative agenda to lift the country out of the recession, introducing four key pieces of legislation:
• The Visionary Infrastructure Stabilization and Transportation Advancement Act (VISTA), which called for $1 trillion in spending on infrastructure revitalization projects, grants for states to expand their public works, and subsidies for public transportation nationwide. • The Financial and Investment Regulations Expansion Act (FIRE), which would reinstate the provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill passed under Obama in 2010, and later repealed by the Romney administration. • The Federal Income, Business, and Entitlement Tax Reforms Act (FIBER), which would do several things**: lower the income tax rates for individuals making less than $250,000 annually, increase for individuals earning $250,000 or more, and create new specific brackets for millionaires; lower the corporate tax rate to 15 percent, replace the capital gains tax with a capital revenue tax, and close numerous legal loopholes in the tax code; remove the payroll tax cap for Social Security, and raise the minimum eligibility age to 67 years for those born after 1980. • The Establishment of a Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan Act (E-CHIP), which would expand the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed under Obama in 2010, to include a federally-sponsored "public option" to compete with private insurers.
February 1st, 2017: Former US President Barack Obama releases his new book, the Unabashed Dream, a political memoir detailing his life from the 2008 Presidential Election until the end of his Presidency. The book becomes a bestseller and begins to establish Obama as the elder statesman of the Democratic Party, what with Former President Bill Clinton becoming more of a recluse in his old age. Despite this, many copies of the book are burned by radical right-wingers across America for being what they call, “Islamic Propaganda.”
January 26th, 2017: United States Secretary of State Jon Huntsman announces that the US will provide a loan of $100 million to build 1,000 electrified schools with indoor plumbing throughout the People's Republic of Guinea. While some conservatives criticize President Gillibrand's administration for tacitly recognizing the revolutionary socialist state, officials in the State Department respond that building schools can hardly hurt American interests.
February 2nd, 2017: FIRE (Financial and Investment Regulations Expansion Act) is passed relatively easily by the Democratic supermajorities in Congress and signed into law by President Gillibrand.
February 5th, 2017: Tea Party Representative Parker Griffith (R-AL) announces his abrupt resignation in Morgan County, Alabama, after reports of an extramarital affair come to light.
After a drawn out closed session within Cuba's legislature, the National Assembly of People's Power, junior Vice-President of the executive Council of Ministers Marino Murillo Jorge is promoted to acting First Vice-President. Murillo's promotion is of consequence due to his age, as he is the youngest member of the Council of Ministers, at the age of 55.
February 12th, 2017: Early into President Gillibrand's term, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg announces her retirement. She is caught in a leak as saying privately, “I was just waiting for that damn Romney to get out of the Oval!”. After 2 weeks, President Gillibrand announces that she will be replaced by Diane Wood, a appellate judge based in the Seventh Circuit (Chicago, Illinois).
February 24th, 2017: FIBER (Federal Income, Business, and Entitlement Tax Reforms Act) is passed after a scrutinizing debate in Congress. The main point of contention was the revisions to Social Security, where Republicans supported a raising of the retirement age, and Democrats were against, but most ultimately supported it to maintain a semblance of bipartisanship.
February 28th, 2017: S.O.U.L. becomes violent in the aftermath of the 2016 election, beginning a rein of terror on “places of atrocity”. The first incident is the bombing of an abortion clinic in Philadelphia, claiming 12 lives. Bombings spread sporadically nationwide, with the most devastating attacks occurring in the fall.
March 5th, 2017: Following the election of President Gillibrand, the Communist Party of Cuba announces that the Migratory Law, which governs entrance and exit visas will be reformed. Specifically, the process for gaining an exit visa will be streamlined and eased, and up to 100,000 exit/return visas will be granted each year. President Castro also announces increases in the number of Cuban-Americans who will be granted entrance visas, and for the first time announces that non-Cuban Americans will be granted a limited number of entrance visas. However, the second provision is moot unless the United States allows its non-Cuban citizens to enter Cuba directly.
March 7th, 2017: In the 2017 Canadian Federal Election, Conservative Prime Minister Jim Flaherty is defeat by Liberal Leader Dominic LeBlanc, who becomes the new Prime Minister with a small majority government. Flaherty resigns as leader of the Conservative Party, and is replaced by Peter MacKay later in the year.
March 17th, 2017: VISTA (Visionary Infrastructure Stabilization and Transportation Advancement Act) is passed after a lengthy debate in Congress, and signed into law by President Gillibrand.
March 18th, 2017: President Gillibrand gives a major address on Cuba. In response to recent reforms, she says, our “failed embargo” will be partially lifted. American companies will be allowed to import some Cuban goods, and export American products (especially cars and consumer goods) to the island. American tourists will also be able to visit Cuba, although obtaining a visa will be a tricky process.
March 21st, 2017: The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act is signed into law by President Kristin Gillibrand after passing both the U.S. House and Senate the week previously. Proposed by Senator Daniel Akaka over a decade before, the bill was amended giving Native Hawaiians all the rights of mainland Sovereign tribes, including the operation of gaming casinos and access to monies set aside for mainland tribes for health, education, etc.
April 9th-12th, 2017: Across Canada, memorial services are held to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, fought during the First World War, in which Canadian forces captured VImy Ridge and defeated the up until then undefeated German forces. The battle is often seen in Canada as the nation's “birth by fire.” Likewise, to coincide with the Anniversary,the film, At Vimy Ridge is released to high praise from critics and audiences alike. The film details the events leading up to and during the battle, and stars Canadian Actors Paul Gross, Michael Cera, Sarah Polley and others.
April 13th, 2017: Minerva Hernández Ramos announces her candidacy for the Presidency in 2018. Her contenders include Humberto Moreira Valdés of the PRI and Manuel Espino Barrientos of the PAN.
April 15th, 2017: As part of the United States' pentannual Farm Bill, President Gillibrand signs into law the AIDS Funding Research Reauthorization Act, which increases government spending on HIV/AIDS research to $7 billion, up from $3 billion 10 years earlier.
April 20th, 2017: Developments in the Second Congolese Civil War add a third faction to the conflict. The leader of the Hutu terrorist group FDLR, Sylvestre Mudacumura, announces that the group will resume military activities, in light of the opportunity presented by the chaos in the country. The group quickly seizes military control of much of Nord-Kivu and Sud-Kivu provinces.
April 28th, 2017: E-CHIP (Establishment of a Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan Act), arguably the most controversial of President Gillibrand's legislative proposals, is finally passed by Congress after a fiery debate between Democrats and Republicans over charges of “tyrannical government intervention” into health care. Upon signing E-CHIP into law, President Gillibrand calls the landmark bill “the pinnacle of a hundred years' worth of efforts started by President Theodore Roosevelt to uplift the standards of living for Americans.” E-CHIP was intriguingly passed just one day shy of the end of the President's “First 100 Days”.
May 25th, 2017: Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán is killed in raid near the Sinaloa-Nayarit border. Over the summer various cartels begin to dismember as more raids arrest anyone suspected of harboring cartel sympathies.
May 28th, 2017: Diane Wood's nomination is confirmed by the Senate in a 75-25 vote. Despite her liberal tendencies, many Republicans voted for her because she was still slightly more centrist than Ginsburg had been, and thus would not noticeably change the balance of the court. She is inaugurated the next day.
July 1st, 2017: Canada celebrates it`s 150th Year since confederation in 1867.
August 20th, 2017: Birth of future Field Marshal Rory Michael David Windsor, eldest son of London financial analyst Freddie Windsor (Lord Frederick Michael George David Louis Windsor, b. 6 April 1979, the son of Prince Michael of Kent, grandson of King George V) and his wife the former Sophie Winkelmann.
September-November 2017: Autumn of Fire; Nearly 600 American civilians fall victim to S.O.U.L. and associate groups in bombings of abortion clinics, churches in support of same-sex marriage, scientific research centers, and even universities. President Gillibrand orders federal authorities to take action in response, and many S.O. U. L. supporters are arrested nationwide, though terror attacks still plague for years to come.
September 5th, 2017: Having been fallowed by rumors for months now that he is planning to run for public office, Actor and Director Ben Affleck confirms that he will indeed be running for public office. Affleck soon moves back to his home state of Massachusetts, so he can gear up for a run for the US Senate against incumbent Senator Scott Brown.
September 30th, 2017: The U.S. Secretary of the Interior appoints a nine-member commission to prepare a listing of everyone who qualifies as Native Hawaiian. The basic definition is someone of Polynesian ancestry who lived in Hawaii on 1 January 1893. The commission members are all Native Hawaiians and many are experts in Native Hawaiian genealogy.
October 17th, 2017: Former Vice President Bobby Jindal founds his new PAC, Troubleshooting America, one of whose primary goals is to fund Republican candidates for the 2018 midterm elections.
November 15th, 2017: President Gillibrand announces plans to dramatically slash the military budget and re-negotiate NATO treaties which will include closing all US bases in South Korea by 2020. Americans overwealmingly support the Korea plan as many are tired of the threat of war arising every time tensions arise in that region.
January 2nd, 2018: Former President Obama is appointed a goodwill ambassador to South Korea to oversea the transition.
January 21st-February 13th, 2018: Cuban General Election; Nationwide elections for the Presidency and National Assembly are held across the island. To the surprise of very few, Raúl Castro is re-elected to another term since taking office over a decade earlier. The confirmation of Marino Murillo to become First Vice-Preisdent does, however, sends reverberations the world over, as Murillo is now seen as Raúl Castro's designated successor.
March 8th, 2018: As agreed in the Nouméa Accord (1998), New Caledonia holds a referendum on the independence of the island. Despite the active Yes campaign, the anti-independence vote wins 57.5% of the total votes, while the pro-independence vote wins 43.6%. Pro-independence organizations and parties (as Caledonian Union and Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) claim that the referendum was rigged by the French authorities in order to keep a strategic island for any naval deployment in the Pacific Ocean. An international commission oversees the results and declares the elections free and fair, however the vote leads to severe problems in Kanak-dominated areas of the collectivité.
March 20th, 2018: In only a year since the American embargo of Cuba was partially lifted by President Gillibrand, American companies have invested and traded goods and services worth $18.2 billion, making Cuba America's 34th-biggest trade partner. Trade is expected to rise to over $25 billion by 2020.
April 4th, 2018: Across America, people remember the Assassination of famed Civil Right leader Martin Luther King, Jr., which took place 50 years ago on this day. At the Washington Monument, where King gave his famous, I Have a Dream speech, a memorial service is held, however it is hijacked by several S.O.U.L. members, who cause a disruption. Fights break out, and many are injured. Later that night, Former President Barack Obama notes that, “this was a sad day in our history, and it just got sadder.”
April 12th, 2018: Cuban President Raúl Castro dies of a heart attack at age 88. Castro had undertaken significant economic reforms, but had failed to allow any political reforms, and continued his elder brother's authoritarian tendencies.
April 13th, 2018: In an emergency session of the National Assembly, Marino Murillo is elevated to the Presidency of Cuba, becoming the third President of the Communist island nation, as well as the first individual not related to the Castro's to gain the office.
June 18th, 2018: Noted Atheist and Author Sam Harris releases his latest book, Holy Terror: The Rise of S.O.U.L. in America. The book details the events leading up to and after the groups formation, and includes an indepth look at the Autumn of Fire. The book becomes a bestseller, but S.O.U.L. itself puts a “divine ban” on the book, which results in many copies of the book being burned, and many people reading the book are attacked by hysterical members of the group.
June 30th, 2018: After 17 years at war, the United States finally withdraws from a ravaged and disunited Afghanistan, except for a military base near Kabul. The ravaged nation begins the long and uncertain process of centralizing power and stability, despite Taliban holdouts in the mountains.
July 2nd, 2018: Minerva Hernández Ramos is elected President of Mexico, becoming Mexico's first nationally elected female head of state (Beatriz Paredes having been elected by Congress).
Minerva Hernández Ramos (PRD): 45.96% Humberto Moreira Valdéz (PRI): 34.69 Manuel Espino Barrientos (PAN): 16.33%
August 13th, 2018: Pope George makes his first official visit to America, and meets personally with President Kristen Gillibrand. When asked in a press conference what he thought about the group S.O.U.L., the Pope tells reporters, “ In my lifetime, I have never seen a group get the message of Christ more wrong.” The Pope then goes on to attack S.O.U.L. for it's use of violence, much to the dislike of S.O.U.L. and it's Catholic members.
October 2nd, 2018: In México City, over 75,000 people fill the Plaza de las Tres Culturas to honor of the victims of the Tlatelolco Massacre, the date marking the 50th anniversary of the event. The mass of people also use the occasion to voice their discontent with the ruling PRI government, as the mass of people march the 4 miles from Tlatelolco to the Zócalo. There protesters jibe at President Paredes, stating that her term has been like “another '68.”
November 2nd, 2018: On the weekend of the 10th anniversary of the 2008 US Presidential Election, the film 2008:the Year Things Changed is releases to high praise from critics and movie-watchers. The film details the events of the 2008 Presidential Election, and stars Will Smith as Barack Obama, Harrison Ford as John McCain, and Jamie Lee Curtis as Hillary Clinton. Curtis would win Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars for her portrayal of Clinton, and both Smith and Ford were nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but the award ultimately went to Ford.
November 6th, 2018: U.S. Midterm Elections; Democrats benefit from a 3rd straight election of gains in Congress, mainly due to the hardline stance against continuing S.O.U.L. and far-right terrorism by President Gillibrand. Following a long election campaign, Ben Affleck manages to defeat incumbent Senator Scott Brown (R-MA), to be elected as a US Senator from Massachusetts, which he wins with 53% of the vote. State Senator Anthony Cannella (R) wins the gubernatorial election in California, defeating Superintendent Tom Torlakson (D) with 52% of the vote. In Illinois' 9th District, 26-year-old future President Ryan Kirkpatrick is elected to the House of Representatives; former Representative Jan Schakowsky had chosen to retire that year.
House of Representatives Democratic: 286 seats (+6) Republican: 149 seats
Senate Democratic: 62 seats (+2) Republican: 38 seats
November 15th, 2018: The still under construction New York Tower becomes the tallest building in New York as it reaches 1,778 feet/542m in height. Still, another 1,500 feet/500m are needed for it to reach it's final height.
January 1, 2019: For the first time since the copyright term was extended in 1998, the public domain grows in the United States, as the copyrights of all works published in 1923 officially expire. Several prominent websites that collect works in the public domain, such as Project Gutenberg and Wikisource, publicly celebrate and are busy throughout the year transcribing these new texts to their digital archives. Notable works entering the public domain this year include H.G. Wells' Men Like Gods and Robert Frost's poetry collection New Hampshire.
January 7th, 2019: The California High Speed Rail system is officially opened to the public, operating between San Francisco and Los Angeles at speeds of 200 mph. Initial ridership figures are higher than expected, with President Gillibrand calling the system “a symbol of America's future”.
February 7th, 2019: Mexican President Minerva Hernández gives a speech during a joint session of congress in where she announces her domestic policy objectives for her term. Among other things, she proposes reform for México's penal system (a process already stared under her predecessor), job creation via public works projects and greater investment towards education.
March 1st, 2019: The Crimea referendum shows overwhelming support for independence; however the Ukrainian government immediately cries electoral fraud. The Union State, which helped “oversee” the election, contends the results were legitimate.
March 3rd, 2019: Prime Minister Tymoshenko instates martial law in Crimea and sends in troops to quell pro-independence protests. The Union State claims to “defend the soveriegnty of the Crimean people,” and Vladimir Putin infamously gives an ultimatum to the Ukrainian government: withdraw from Crimea or face military intervention.
March 11th, 2019: Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) announces a surprise bid for the Republican Nomination for President of the United States, becoming the first major candidate to do so. Even so, many polls have Brown running behind incumbent President Kristen Gillibrand.
March 22nd, 2019: US President Kristen Gillibrand introduces the Dating Modernization Act (DMA) to Congress. The act seeks, as its name implies, to change America's dating system to the International Standard. The bill mandates that all federal government institutions switch from the Month/Day/Year dating format to the Day/Month/Year format by 2025, with state and local governments to follow by 2030 and 2035 respectively. Public schools and accredited private schools are required to switch over by 2033. In addition, the act gives tax credits to businesses that switch over to this format on legal and work-related documents.
April 13th, 2019: Former Vice President Bobby Jindal confirms speculation that he will not seek the 2020 Republican nomination or Mary Landrieu's Senate seat, but says “I have no intention of fading into the shadows. I will continue to remain active in public life, but at times of my choosing.”
April 17th, 2019: At the annual American Atheists convention in Chicago, Illinois, two S.O.U.L. members open fire on the crowd, killing 14 and injuring 31 before being wrestled to the ground by security. The gunmen are both convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
April 30th, 2019: The Northern Arapaho Nation votes to adopt the Amicus Arapahoviae DNA based system of identity (shortened to Amarap) for determining membership in the tribe becoming the first tribe to officially abandon blood quanta or proof of descent for the new system. Many tribes oppose DNA testing for religious reasons so the system is not universally adopted in Indian country.
May 28th, 2019: Mexican President Hernández signs into law the Infrastructure Construction and Restoration Act of 2019. It allows for the creation of a commission to oversee various projects intended to renovate ailing infrastructure as well as build new infrastructure across the country. The commission plans to renovate the water management systems in México's major cities, as well as renovation and extension of freight rail lines in southern México. Plans for a High Speed Rail line from México City to Guadalajara are also approved, with construction beginning in September 2019 and an expected completion time in mid to late 2023.
June 5th, 2019: The commission authorized by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to prepare a list of all people eligible for Native Hawaiian status submits its findings. It is determined that there are 487,123 people who are eligible for Native Hawaiian status. Only 385,345 people are eventually certified as eligible to vote because of various restrictions.
June 11th, 2019: Governor Rob McKenna (R-WA) announces his candidacy for the 2020 Republican presidential nomination.
July 26th, 2019: The Dating Modernization Act (DMA) is debated by the US House of Representatives. Some Republican congressmen accuse President Gillibrand of “selling out American exceptionalism to foreign interests,” but in general the bill is widely supported. After lobbying from various conservative interest groups, a minor change is made to the bill which allows the D/M/Y format to include an abbreviation of the month to avoid confusion (I.E. 2 Jan 2020 rather than 2/1/2020). The bill then passes the House of Representatives 374-100-1 and the Senate 54-46.
July 28th, 2019: US President Kristen Gillibrand signs the Dating Modernization Act (DMA) into law, thus mandating a switch to the Day/Month/Year format for official governmental and school purposes by 2025 and 2033, respectively.
August 12th, 2019: While at his home in Bethesda, Maryland, Chief Justice John Roberts suffers a severe heart attack at the age of 64. He is rushed to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center immediately, but dies there early the next morning at 3:12 AM. President Gillibrand calls the event a national tragedy and announces that she will begin searching for a worthy successor after his funeral. Congress is currently in their summer recess.
August 22nd, 2019: President Gillibrand, in a bold move, announces that she will nominate former President Barack Obama to the Chief Justice’s seat on the Supreme Court. The announcement draws widespread praise from nearly every major Democrat; Obama is regarded as an elder statesman within the party. Major Republican figures issue “wait-and-see” statements, with a few coming out in opposition to Obama’s nomination. S.O.U.L. denounces the nomination, calling former President Obama “a murderer of the unborn”.
September 17th, 2019: NSA reports that 75% of American personal computers can be accessed by Chinese hackers, during a security briefing
September 19th, 2019: While attending a political rally, Vice President Keith Ellison is shot four times in the chest by an unknown assassin. He is taken to the hospital and dies roughly 30 minutes after his arrival.
September 20th, 2019: Eric Nester Greene is arrested as the assassin of Keith Ellison. He will later be sentenced to death.
September 21st, 2019: S.O.U.L. Leader Jimmy Fitzgerald calls the assassination of Vice President Ellison a “regrettable, but necessary action” while on NBC's News Hour.
October 3rd, 2019: Former President Obama is confirmed as Chief Justice of the United States by a 68-30 vote in the US Senate. Two Republicans do not vote. The nomination process was contentious but fairly civil, at least within the bounds of the Senate Chamber. Chief Justice Obama is sworn in 2 days later, on October the 5th. He becomes the first African-American Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and at 68, the oldest appointed to the Chief Justice’s seat since Harlan Stone of the WWII era.
October 7th, 2019: President Gillibrand nominates Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) to replace the late Vice President Keith Ellison. Booker is swiftly confirmed in the Senate and sworn into office on October 20th.
November 19th, 2019: S.O.U.L. has for the most part been fairly quiet since the federal crackdown following the Autumn of Fire in 2017, but violence quickly erupts again in the wake of VP Ellison's assassination. The first attack is the deadliest by far committed by the far-right group, a car bomb detonated in San Francisco's Castro district that kills c. 52 people.
November 20th, 2019: President Gillibrand officially condemns S.O.U.L. as “a radical organization bent on spreading their message of hate through unjustified terrorism upon the American people.” Another, harsher crackdown takes place on S.O.U.L., resulting in arrests of thousands of members nationally in the next few months. Meanwhile, an estimated 150 American civilians are killed in the weeks following the Castro attack.
November 21st, 2019: Former Vice President Bobby Jindal, as well as presidential candidates Scott Brown and Rob McKenna, publicly condemn S.O.U.L. as “an illegitimate force of terror in the eyes of America.” Rand Paul, however, remains mum on the issue, further discrediting him in the eyes of the Republican Party outside of a fringe few.
December 26th, 2019: A electrical fire breaks out at Sandringham in Norfolk while most of the royal family is in the house. All of the houseguests escape unharmed except for Prince Andrew, the Duke of York who is trapped and unable to exit the building. Thinking his demise is imminent, he phones his ex-wife to make sure she is safe and to say goodbye. In an act of heroism the Duke’s flame-haired ex-wife drives a land rover through a burning wall and rescues the badly burnt Duke. She is uninjured and over the next several years faithfully nurses her ex-husband (whom she calls “her bestest friend”) through several skin graft surgeries and rehabilitation.
January 1st, 2020: The United States formally withdraws all military forces from the Korean peninsula following an agreement with Seoul, considering that North Korea as a existential threat had been removed several years prior.
January 7th, 2020: Iowa Caucus; Former Senator Scott Brown narrowly wins the Iowa contest, claiming a 33-31-27 victory over Governor Rob McKenna and former Senator Rand Paul, respectively.
January 20th, 2020: Marina Silva is killed by a bomb set by eco-terrorists while she gave a speech in São Paulo, on the ground of becoming “softer” for the purpose of gaining votes. Her death is mourned all across the world, especially in Brazil, and President Mantega declares two days of mourning.
February 3rd, 2020: The first budget of President Gillibrand's second term expands funding for NASA's New Frontiers program, which seeks to robotically explore the Solar System. $25 billion is allocated over fifteen years to fund the New Frontiers missions.
April 5th, 2020: S.O.U.L. leader Jimmy Fitzgerald is arrested at his home in Florida, after it was found that he approved of the Castro bombing to be carried out by organization members. S.O.U.L. is formally disbanded by the federal government shortly after, effectively ending the far-right's brief reign of terror in the United States, although some rogue units continue sporadic bombings over the next few years.
April 18th, 2020: Election for Native Hawaiian Interim Governing Council is held by Native Hawaiians.
August 10th-13th, 2020: Republican National Convention; Former Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) is nominated for President. He taps Senator Paul Ryan (R-WI) as his running mate, in order to ideologically balance the ticket.
May 28th, 2020: The New York Tower becomes the tallest skyscraper in the world as it passes the Burj Khalifa at 2,718 feet/828m. However, with 4 other 3,000 feet/900m + skyscrapers already under construction and many others close to construction, it is a title that won't be held for long.
August 23, 2020: The United States Supreme Court passes judgement on, among other cases, Anson v. ASCAP. The appellant, Arnold Anson, organised a small, non profit community festival in his home town, as part of which he had his friend Adam Jennings play music for free. Adam performed amongst a variety of songs, including two Muse pieces, “Citizens Erased” and “Plug In Baby.” ASCAP heard of the performance and demanded that Anson pay them license fees for the performance of the Muse songs.
In their ruling, the court held that Anson owed no fees as, under 'Fair Use', Jenning's performance did not otherwise constitute copyright infringement. In a 5-4 judgement, the Court ruled that under the first factor, nature of the work, it was enough that the infringing work be merely non commercial rather than specifically educational, thus Jenning's performance qualified for consideration. Under the fourth condition, effect on the market of the original work, it upheld the broad point of Princeton University Press v. Michigan Document Service that damage to potential licensing was sufficient to void 'Fair Use' status, but distinguished it by saying that the size and nature of the festival, and the substantial other areas of income for licensers, such as large festivals and mechanical licensing, meant that Jenning's performance did not constitute the same threat to their legitimate economic interest.
“When all of this is viewed through the prism of the Constitution, namely it's explicit mention of promoting the progress of science and useful arts,” the majority judgement read, “we can come to no other conclusion that the infringement constitutes 'Fair Use.'”
September 14th, 2020: President Minerva Hernández formally announces the creation of Alta Velocidad Mexicana (AVEMEX), a nationwide high speed rail service, at a press gathering at Los Pinos. Plans are also announced for future lines connecting México City with Puebla, Veracruz, Acapulco and Monterrey.
October 7th, 2020: Former US President Mitt Romney his Presidential memoir, the Times That Try Men's Souls, the title taken from the famous qoute by Thomas Paine. Though critics see the book as an attempt at sympathy after what many consider a failed Presidency, the book still goes on to be a bestseller, and helps to reestablish Romney's reputation.
November 3rd, 2020: President Kirsten Gillibrand and Vice President Cory Booker are comfortably re-elected over the Republican ticket of former MA Senator Scott Brown/WI Senator Paul Ryan.
November 6th, 2020: President Yevhenia Tymoshenko declares the hostilities with the junta government over in the Independence Square of Kiev. She announces the return to democratic normalcy and a series of processes of liberlaization and privatization, following the Slovak model to engage with memership talks with the EU.
President Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) / Vice President Cory Booker (D-NJ) - 442 EV - 60.1% PV Former Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) / Senator Paul Ryan (R-WI) - 96 EV - 39.7% PV
House of Representatives Democratic: 296 seats (+10) Republican: 139 seats
Senate Democratic: 60 seats (-2) Republican: 40 seats
November 30th, 2020: The New York Tower tops out at it's final height of 3,342 feet/1019,m. The building will still need roughly a year for it to be completed and opened.
January 2nd-10th, 2021: Over the past 20 years, relationships between the Republic of India and the United States have been growing steadily closer and friendlier. Reaching a low point during the second term of President Clinton with nuclear sanctions, Indo-US relations began to turn around during the terms of Presidents Bush and Obama. Obama's three visits to India gave him a lasting popularity there which still endures.
President Gillibrand, pushed by influential Congressmen such as Ryan Kirkpatrick, made close relations with India one of the planks of her campaign. By the time of her re-election, bilateral trade had reached 300 billion USD a year, making India the United States' fourth largest trading partner (after China, Canada, and Mexico). In January of her second term, she went on a state visit to India which, not coincidentally, coincided with three important events. Firstly, she designated India a Major Non-Nato Ally. Secondly, in conjunction with this, she and Prime Minister Rahul Gandhi signed the India and United States Partnership and Security Treaty (IUSPAST). IUSPAST established a non-binding military alliance and partnership between India and the United States, and also removed many remaining tariffs and trade barriers. Lastly, the full body of the UN voted during her visit to add Brazil and India as permanent UNSC members (albeit without vetoes).
January 27th, 2021: The “New Years Rebound” of 2021. Nearly a week after the second inauguration of President Gillibrand, the economy begins to undergo a drastic improvement. The Dow Jones Industrial Average opens at it's highest since February 2014. By March 2021, Unemployment has fallen to 7.3%, falling 1.8% since December of 2020.
February 8th, 2021: Chinese hackers launch attacks on CIA, FBI, NSA, and Department of Homeland Security computers, vandalizing the sites, and launching “denial of service” viruses onto the sites.
February 23rd, 2021: In the 2021 Canadian Federal Election, incumbent Prime Minister Dominic LeBlanc wins an huge victory and increases the number of seats the Liberal Party holds in the House of Commons. His opponent in the election, Peter MacKay, resigns as leader of the Conservative Party, who is later replaced by Harper Cabinet Veteran John Baird.
March 29th, 2021: President Gillibrand's approval hits 74%, the highest of any President since President Bush after the September 11th attacks.
July 4th, 2021: Mexican Midterm elections for the Chamber of Deputies give President Hernández a slim majority for the PRD, who have also formed an allaince with the PVEM and Convergence. The PAN is beginning to recover from the Calderón years while the PRI continues to reel from it's worst electoral performance since 2000.
Chamber of Deputies Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) - 251 National Action Party (PAN) - 102 Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) - 81 Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM) - 16 Labor Party (PT) - 10 Nueva Alianza (PNA) - 14 Convergence - 17 Independents - 9
Six years to the day the New York Tower was announced as a project, the building opens it's door. It is seen by the public as a monument to what America can still accomplish.
August 27th, 2021: President Gillibrand introduces the American High Speed Rail Act to Congress. The legislation seeks to establish a Continental Rail Network (CRN), connecting major cities via a system of high speed trains capable of reaching 400+ mph.
September 11th, 2021: America remembers the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks. A Memorial service is held in New York at The Freedom Tower, which is attended by thousands, and millions more watch on TV from around the world. President Kristen Gillibrand gives a small speech, but plays little role in the overall ceremony, instead allowing former President George W. Bush, who served as President during the attacks, to give the main speech, which many consider to be the best one given in his entire life.
November 3rd, 2021: Carmen Arteaga, a Mexican political activist from Chilpancingo, Guerrero founds the group Mexicanos para Reforma Electoral Verdadera or MREV (Mexicans for True Electoral Reform), a grass roots organization dedicated to allowing politicians to run for multiple terms. This comes soon after the 2021 Midterm elections, where Deputies are only allowed one three year term without reelection. Arteaga argues that this constant reshuffling of Congress fails to facilitate meaningful legislation from passing.
December 5th, 2021: The American High Speed Rail Act is passed by the Senate, formally establishing the Continental Rail Network. Construction is expected to start in 2023, with the first line completed between New York and Atlanta by 2029.
December 5th, 2021: Proposed rules of governance submitted to eligible Native Hawaiians passes by a large margin. The new entity calls itself the Kingdom of Hawaii. The constitution restores the monarchy in a severely limited form, calls its governing body the “legislature” and its head of government, the prime minister. It generally emulates the constitutions of the independent Kingdom of Hawaii in wording and form as much as is possible while remaining a legal Native American tribe under American law.
January 17th, 2022: Canadian Prime Minister Dominic LeBlanc, in cooperation with the provincial governments of Ontario and Quebec, announces plans for a high speed railway running from Hamilton, Ontario to Quebec City, Quebec. Thanks to his majority in the House of Commons, the plan is easily passed, though Opposition Leader John Baird bemoans the plan a “useless spending.”
January 25th, 2022: In her State of the Union address, President Kirsten Gillibrand unveils an ambitious plan for the United States to return to the Moon by 2030, as well as place a human on the planet Mars by 2040. NASA in the following months gets drastically increased funding for the “Apollo Project”.
March 13th, 2022: A 6.8 magnitude earthquake tears through western Guatemala, causing major damage to the city of Huehuetenango, killing over 1,000 people. The President of Guatemala declares a state of emergency and dispatches emergency crews to aid the survivors. Notable among the aid and rescue teams sent to the region from all over the world are México's world famous Topos (Spanish for Moles), expert earthquake rescue workers sent by President Hernández on the request of Guatemala.
March 17, 2022: A Republican Senator introduces the American Copyright Protection Act (ACPA), which would extend the copyright term in the US an additional 30 years. The bill is heavily lobbied for by The Disney Corporation, which is seeking to protect the copyright of Steamboat Willie (set to enter the public domain on 1/1/2024). Several social networking and encyclopedia sites, such as Wikipedia and Facebook, publicly announce their opposition to the legislation, with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales calling it “a shameful attempt to profit off the work of a man long dead to prevent it from benefiting the whole of humanity instead of a private corporation.” Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox and Warner Music Group announce their support of ACPA.
March 24, 2022: Numerous social networking sites publicly criticize the ACPA, accusing the Disney Corporation of greed and preventing the advancement of the public domain to protect their own profits. Several Congressmen and Senators, in the wake of public outcry against the bill, reverse their support of it.
March 31, 2022: ACPA is withdrawn from Congress, to the cheers of the public and jeers of the Walt Disney Company.
April 3rd, 2022: Elections held for the twenty-four seat lower house of the Native Hawaiian legislature.
April 12th, 2022: Elections held for the twenty-four seat House of Nobles, the upper body of the Native Hawaiian legislature. Six are chosen from the Island of Hawai'i', six from the islands of Mau'i, Moloka'i and Lana'i; nine from the Island of O'ahu; and three from the Islands of Kaua'i and Ni'ihau.
May 16th, 2022: A new study finds that an estimated 30% of Americans identify as “non-religious”, and that the number of Atheists and Agnostics in the country has also grown over the past decade. Many attribute the growing numbers to the reign of terror of religious fanatics lead by S.O.U.L. in the mid-to-late Twenty-Teens, which is suspected to have turned many people away from organized religion.
July 11, 2022: India and the United States sign the US-Indian Free Trade Agreement. This pact, also known as the Treaty of Mumbai, is considered one of the foundations of the growing American-Indian alliance.
September 11th, 2022: Former Hawaiian State Representative Quentin Kūhiō Kawānanakoa (b. 28 September 1961), is crowned king of Hawaii at Iolani Palace on the 98th birthday of former Hawaiian senator Daniel Akaka. The former senator is present as well as the governor and both U.S. Senators who had returned to Honolulu for the event.
November 3rd, 2022: In US midterm elections, the Democrats gain 2 seats in the House, while the Senate remains constant in terms of party. However, in Illinois, Democratic Congressman Ryan Kirkpatrick defeats incumbent Senator Mark Kirk. Congressman Kirkpatrick is the fist South Asian and mixed-race Senator to be elected from Illinois. He had become well known for his foreign policy suggestions, including a campaign to deepen relations with India. As the son of an Indian immigrant, Kirkpatrick had been instrumental in pushing the White House to designate India a MNNA (Major Non-NATO Ally).
In addition, Kirkpatrick was well known as a supporter of high-speed rail and green energy. As one of the co-sponsors of the American High-Speed Rail Act, he was a valuable spokesperson and helped get the bill through the House. The Congressman's rapid rise led him to be compared to Barack Obama; however, he dismissed all such comparisons, saying publicly that “If I were half the man Chief Justice Obama is, I'd be president by now.”
House of Representatives Democratic: 298 seats (+2) Republican: 137 seats
Senate Democratic: 60 seats Republican: 40 seats
December 2nd, 2022: Ownership of the island of Kaho'olawe, monies from the Native Hawaiian Trust Fund formerly administered by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and other real estate are transferred to the Kingdom of Hawaii tribal government.
February 26th, 2023: Despite widespread media speculation of a presidential run, Vice President Cory Booker (D-NJ) declines a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.
March 3rd, 2023: The Continental Rail Network (CRN) begins its planned two decade construction with a groundbreaking ceremony at Manhattan's Penn Station.
March 20th, 2023: Senator Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN) declares his candidacy for the 2024 Democratic nomination.
March 29th, 2023: Senator Ted Kennedy, Jr. (D-CT) declares his bid for President.
April 5th, 2023: Former Vice President Bobby Jindal (R-LA) surprises many when he declares his intention to seek the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
April 11th, 2023: In Hamilton and Quebec City, the ground is broken to begin the building of the new high speed railway, to be called the Central Canadian Speed Rail, or CCSR. The railway is planned to be completed and ready for use by 2030.
May 8th, 2023: Justice Stephen Breyer dies at the age of 84. President Gillibrand announces that the vacancy on the Court will be filled by Jeannie Suk, age 50, from the Fourth Circuit Appellate Court. If confirmed, Suk will be the first Asian-American woman on the high court. She was previously a tenured professor at Harvard Law, the first Asian-American woman in that position as well.
June 18th, 2023: Jeannie Suk's nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States is confirmed in the Senate by a vote of 69-29. She is inaugurated the next day. The composition of the court is now as follows (liberal wing bold, conservative italics):
Chief Justice: Barack Obama Associate Justice: Ted Ullyot Associate Justice: Anthony Kennedy Associate Justice: Clarence Thomas Associate Justice: Samuel Alito Associate Justice: Sonia Sotomayor Associate Justice: Elena Kagan Associate Justice: Diane Wood Associate Justice: Jeannie Suk
June 20th, 2023: The Florida High-Speed Rail system opens between the cities of Tampa and Orlando.
June 29th, 2023: Texas Governor Julian Castro (D-TX) announces that he will run for President in 2024.
September 29th, 2023: The first AVEMEX Line between México City and Guadalajara is completed, slashing the seven hour drive between the two cities to 2.5 hours. AVEMEX announces plans for further extensions to the cities of León, Apatzingán, Colima and Manzanillo. This is all part of AVEMEX's Plan 2035, or it's objective to complete these extensions by 2035.
November 21st, 2023: Son of revered former president Lázaro Cárdenas and thrice presidential candidate Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas dies in his sleep at the age of 89. President Hernández orders all flags be put at half mast and announces a week of mourning in his memory. At his funeral President Hernández eulogizes him as “a great man of our times who helped México return to democracy.”
January 3rd, 2024: Former Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passes away from congestive heart failure. President Gillibrand declares a day of mourning. Her funeral is attended by over 3000 people.
January 11th, 2024: Texas Governor Julian Castro wins a huge come from behind victory in the Iowa Caucuses, defeating Senator Ford by 5%, and Senator Kennedy by 14%.
March 13th, 2024: The Mexican newspaper El Universal releases a report on what they coin “el Milagro de Juárez” (the Miracle of Juárez). After an all time high homicide rate of 9 murders per day in 2015, authorities in Ciudad Juárez report a drop of nearly 80% in homicides in nearly a decade. Ciudad Juárez's Municipal President (equivalent to Mayor) claims the revitalization of commerce and business in his city as testament to the place once known as “the most dangerous in the Western Hemisphere.”
July 7th, 2024: General Elections are held in México. The Progressive Alliance (PRD, Convergence, Nueva Alianza) holds Los Pinos with it's candidate Silvano Aureoles succeeding President Hernandez. In Congress the Progressive Alliance barely holds it's majority in the Chamber of Deputies, with the PAN continuing its growth in that body, though the Progressives still hold a slim majority in the Senate.
July 22nd-25th, 2024: Democratic National Convention; Texas Governor Julian Castro is nominated for President. Ohio Senator Tim Ryan is tapped as Castro's running mate.
July 29th-August 1st, 2024: Republican National Convention; Former Vice President Bobby Jindal is nominated for President, and taps Colorado Senator Cory Gardner as his running mate.
November 5th, 2024: The Democratic ticket of TX Governor Julian Castro/OH Senator Tim Ryan is elected over the Republican ticket of former Vice President Bobby Jindal/CO Senator Cory Gardner, in the closest presidential election since 2012.
Governor Julian Castro (D-TX) / Senator Tim Ryan (D-OH) - 354 EV - 51.6% PV Former Vice President Bobby Jindal (R-LA) / Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) - 184 EV - 47.0% PV
House of Representatives Democratic: 308 seats (+10) Republican: 127 seats
Senate Democratic: 61 seats (+1) Republican: 39 seats
January 1st, 2025: In the United States, the Dating Modernization Act (DMA) takes effect for all federal institutions, requiring that they use the Day/Month/Year format for official purposes. By this date, nearly all institutions of the federal government had switched over, albeit with a version of the dating system that used abbreviated months rather than numbers (I.E. 2 Jan 2020 instead of 2/1/2020) to avoid confusion.
January 20th, 2025: Newly-inaugurated President Julian Castro outlines his New Initiative plan, calling for massively expanded public works programs nationwide. He sets a goal of having the CRN reach the West Coast by 2040, creating a truly continent-spanning railway. Republicans, however, are vehemently opposed to a high speed rail expansion despite widespread public approval of the CRN project.
March 8th, 2025: Prime Minister of Nicaragua Daniel Ortega suffers a mild concussion after a trivial slip at his home in Managua. He is immediately hospitalized, and after doctors stabilize his condition he is released several days later.
March 27th, 2025: In a traumatic turn of events, Daniel Ortega collapses to the floor of the Nicaraguan National Assembly while in session. Suffering what paramedics would later identify as a cerebral hemorrhage, Ortega dies en route to the hospital. He is immediately succeeded by Bayardo Arce Castaño, a close associate of Ortega.
May 1st, 2025: Justice Anthony Kennedy decides to retire from the Supreme Court at age 88. President Castro, after a week's contemplation, announces that he will nominate Nicole Stelle Garnett to fill the vacancy. If confirmed, Garnett will be the first African-American woman to sit on the court. She is a moderate independent from Iowa, who had previously clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas.
May 16th, 2025: British Home Secretary Monica Hardwicke announces that the O'Donnell Inquiry, headed by former Cabinet Secretary Lord O'Donnell will review British intelligence following the Randall Affair.
June 2nd, 2025: Nicole Stelle Garnett's nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States is confirmed by a 62-37 vote in the Senate. She is inaugurated the following day. The composition of the court is now as follows, ranked by seniority (liberal wing bold, conservative wing italics):
Chief Justice: Barack Obama Associate Justice: Clarence Thomas Associate Justice: Samuel Alito Associate Justice: Sonia Sotomayor Associate Justice: Elena Kagan Associate Justice: Ted Ullyot Associate Justice: Diane Wood Associate Justice: Jeannie Suk Associate Justice: Nicole Stelle Garnett
June 3rd, 2025: In the 2025 Canadian Federal Election, Dominic LeBlanc wins his third majority govenrment in a row, albeit with some loss of seats to the Conservative Party. The Convervative gains are enough for leader John Baird to convince the rest of the Party that he should stay on as leader, and he promises the victory in the next election.
June 10th, 2025: President Julian Castro introduces the Social Security Reform Act, which proposes the biggest changes to the entitlement program since it was conceived by Franklin Roosevelt in 1935. The bill's contents include as follows:
• Effective January 1, 2026, benefits will be indexed to inflation rather than wages. • The retirement age will be raised to 70, with early retirement preserved at 62. • Starting January 1, 2029, new recipients' benefits will be reduced by 3%. • Seniors under the federal poverty line who have worked for at least 30 years will receive at least 125% of the poverty line. • Benefits will be increased for seniors over age 85. • Benefits will be substantially decreased for upper-income retirees and modestly for middle-income retirees.
Republicans and Democrats alike criticize the bill: the GOP claiming the bill does not do enough in allowing for individuals to “opt out” of the system and open private savings accounts instead; Democrats decry the bill as “a corporate threat to Americans' hard earned retirement savings”.
July 16th, 2025: Senator John Kerry (D-MA), the Democratic candidate for President in 2004, dies of a stroke in his Boston home.
August 22nd, 2025: The U.S. and Canadian governments begin talks on constructing high speed rail connections between the CRN and the proposed Central Canadian Speed Rail by 2040.
May 30th, 2026: President Castro of the United States signs the AIDS Recovery and Purchase Act into law, granting USAID the power to use $1.1 billion to buy Erinle and distribute it throughout the world. Erinle, sometimes called the “miracle” drug, was first developed in 2021 and is over 98% effective both at stopping AIDS developing from HIV and at stopping AIDS symptoms from killing patients. However, the drug is still expensive, costing close to a thousand dollars per year.
July 2nd, 2026: With over a dozen MREV branches opened up all over México, it's founder Carmen Arteaga vows to run for her districts seat in the Chamber of Deputies as a PRD candidate in the 2027 Midterm Elections. As a sign of bipartisanship, she publicly endorses Chihuahuense PAN candidate Hiram Romney, himself the founder of MREV's Chihuahua chapter.
July 4th, 2026: America marks the 250th Anniversary since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, marking their break from the British Empire and 250 years of extraordinary history. Throughout the country, events are held to mark the event, with many historical re-enactments taking place, from the Boston Tea Party to the Battle of Gettsyburg. President Julian Castro himslef attends the celebrations in Washington, and many people note the spike in his approval rating to 70% around this time, the highest he would achieve while President.
July 29th, 2026: After a year of heated battles and debates over Social Security reform, President Castro suffers the harshest legislative defeat of his presidency when the Social Security Reform Act is defeated by a wide margin on the Senate floor. Many progressives voted against the bill, as well as conservative Republicans, in a rare moment of bipartisanship. Historians point to this defeat as the motivating factor for the massive GOP gains in Congress in 2026, Castro's electoral loss in 2028, and the schism between progressives and moderate-conservatives in the Democratic Party in 2032.
November 3rd, 2026:U.S. Midterm Elections; Republicans make massive gains in both houses of Congress in response to discontent with the Castro administration's policies and Democratic infighting. However, they fail to attain a majority in either chamber due to the depth of the Democratic supermajorities.
House of Representatives Democratic: 241 seats (-67) Republican: 194 seats
Senate Democratic: 53 seats (-8) Republican: 47 seats
December 3rd, 2026: Former Mexican President Miranda Hernandez is elected as UN Secretary-General for a five year term. She had won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2026 for her continuing efforts to combat the drug trade in Latin America. The former Secretary-General, Angela Merkel, retired at the end of her term.
January 30th, 2027: Florida Senator Marco Rubio declares his candidacy for the Republican nomination.
February 4th, 2027: Illinois Governor Adam Kinzinger declares his candidacy for the Republican nomination.
February 11th, 2027: Senator Kristi Noem (R-SD) declares her candidacy for the Republican nomination.
May 8th, 2027: At President Castro's urging, the United States Congress passes the Government Standardization and Clear Communications Act, which requires that all government work and publications be completed in metric units by January 1st, 2030. Imperial units are recommended but not required, as they are already omitted in most government scientific publications. The measure passes 52-48 in the Senate and by a larger margin in the House.
December 14th, 2027: On his 60th Birthday and his 10th year in office, Canadian Prime Minister Dominic LeBlanc retires as Prime Minister, saying in his final speech that he feels he has, “served Canada long enough.” He is replaced my Minister of Industries Justin Trudeau, who becomes the first son of a former Prime Minister to become Prime Minister. He quickly acquires the nickname, “Trudeau the younger.”
January 2nd, 2028: AVEMEX announces it's Plan 2040, with intended extensions to the cities of Puerto Vallarta, Tepic, Aguascalientes, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Saltillo and Monterrey.
January 4th, 2028: Adam Kinzinger narrowly defeats Marco Rubio in the Iowa caucuses.
June 4th, 2028: A narrow 51-47 victory over Kristi Noem in California clinches the Republican nomination for Marco Rubio.
June 23rd, 2028: On his 80th birthday, Justice Clarence Thomas announces his retirement from the Supreme Court of the United States. President Castro announces that “One of the great jurists of our time must be replaced by someone of equal greatness.”
July 1st, 2028: Julian Castro announces that he will nominate Ted Cruz, Attorney General of Texas, to fill Justice Thomas' seat. Cruz, a center-right Republican, would be the second Hispanic to sit on the Supreme Court. He graduated from Harvard Law School magna cum laude, and had run unsuccessfully for a Senate seat in 2012.
July 25th-28th, 2028: Republican National Convention; Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Governor Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) are nominated for President and Vice President, respectively, in Los Angeles.
July 29th, 2028: Just before Congress breaks for their summer recess, Ted Cruz's nomination to the Supreme Court is confirmed by the US Senate, 53-47. Many Democrats had felt uncomfortable voting for a conservative, but felt compelled to go along with President Castro's wishes. President Castro, a moderate himself, believed firmly in respecting the beliefs of the previous holder of the seat. Mr. Cruz is inaugurated the next day.
The members of the Supreme Court at this time are as follows, ranked by seniority (liberal wing bold, conservative italics):
Chief Justice: Barack Obama Associate Justice: Samuel Alito Associate Justice: Sonia Sotomayor Associate Justice: Elena Kagan Associate Justice: Theodore Ullyot Associate Justice: Diane Wood Associate Justice: Jeannie Suk Associate Justice: Nicole Stelle Garnett Associate Justice: Theodore Cruz
August 18th, 2028: A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes off the Pacific coast of Nicaragua, 110 miles southeast of Managua. The Nicaraguan capital suffers devastating damage, with 65,000 dying in the initial wave. The resulting tsunami kills thousands more along the coasts of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, and El Salvador, with damaging effects also felt in Guatemala, Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador.
September 18th, 2028: Former US President Kristen Gillibrand releases her autobiography, Trials & Triumphs. The book covers her life from her youth growing up in New York, to her early days in the US House of Representatives, her career in the US Senate, and of course the eight years she spent as the first woman President of the United States of America. The book is a massive success, and begins to establish Gillibrand's reputation as “the best President to serve so far in the 21st Century.”
November 6th, 2028: President Castro is defeated by Marco Rubio and Adam Kinzinger. In the congressional races, the GOP captures both houses of Congress, marking the first time the party has tricameral control in Washington since 2012.
Senator Ryan Kirkpatrick is re-elected from Illinois with 61% of the vote. Polls from a year earlier had shown him with approval ratings near 80%, but his numbers dropped after he revealed that he was an atheist. However, his strong campaign and impressive legislative resume helped support him, and he was re-elected with strong numbers. This makes him the first openly atheist Senator in the history of the United States. Senator Kirkpatrick had become well known for his green energy plan, which called for heavy investment into R&D for fusion, hydrogen fuel-cell, and other energy sources. The Green Energy Investment Act, costing 9 billion dollars, had passed in 2026, and progress had already been reported in achieving cold fusion.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) / Governor Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) - 279 EV - 50.4% PV President Julian Castro (D-TX) / Vice President Tim Ryan (D-OH) - 259 EV - 47.9% PV
House of Representatives Republican: 225 seats (+31) Democratic: 211 seats
Senate Republican: 51 seats (+4) Democratic: 49 seats
January 3rd, 2029: Following Julian Castro's defeat in the 2028 presidential election, infighting begins to brew within the Democratic Party between the progressive and moderate-conservative wings. This split is first highlighted during the swearing in of the 121st Congress, when moderate Representative Melinda Hayes (D-TN) attacks House Minority Leader Linda Sanchez (D-CA), disagreeing with the party caucus' proposed liberal-leaning agenda.
January 20th, 2029: On the same day as Marco Rubio's inauguration as President of the United States, former President Vladimir Putin of Russia passes away after suffering a massive stroke at the age of 76. Putin is remembered as a highly controversial figure, viewed by Russians as the man who returned Russia to its former glory as a great power, but to some international observers as a threat to stability in Europe and Asia with the establishment of the Union State during his second presidency.
February 24th, 2029: A unique meeting is held at the White House, in which President Marco Rubio meets with all his living predecessors as President, including Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Kristen Gillibrand and Julian Castro. This marks the first time the seven US Presidents have been alive at the same time.
March 12th, 2029: After several years of unprecedented growth in the aftermath of the Méxican Drug War, dubbed by economists as the “Second Mexican Miracle,” México experiences a mild economic downturn. It is severe enough to cause President Aureloes's approval ratings to take a beating. PAN Party President Jhonatan García takes advantage of this turn of events and paints the downturn as the fault of Aureoles and the PRD, blaming it on the PRD's “incessant need for wasteful spending.”
March 20th, 2029: President Marco Rubio presents his legislative agenda to Congress, calling for a substantial decrease in spending from the Gillibrand and Castro administrations. While many fear a dismantlement of many successful programs and projects, Rubio states that he wants to “reform, not repeal government,” apparently accepting of the new political reality of larger government.
May 19th-22nd, 2029: The New York Stock Exchange drops 14%, ushering in a short, but sharp recession in the wake of a decade of increased government spending. President Rubio, who maintained a healthy 60% approval rating since inauguration, experiences a sudden drop in popularity due to the American public's knee-jerk response to the recession.
June 29th, 2029: The Supreme Court issues it's opinions for it's spring session, in doing so ruling on what will be two of the most controversial of the Obama Court. In Jeffries v. Support America's Future PAC, the Court overturned Citizens United and Buckley; writing for the majority (6-3), Justice Sonia Sotomayor opined in her summary:
“Corporations may be regarded as persons in some regards. This is not at question. The issue before us is the extent to which those things we attach to individuals we also attach to these corporate bodies. That extent, however, has never and should never extend to the integral rights associated with citizenship of voting in elections and running for office. Thus it must be found that a corporation's right to free speech need not necessarily be allowed to exist to the same extent as that of the individual with regards to 'electioneering.'
“This Court must also challenge the precedent that has existed that absolutely equates political spending with any other kind of speech and thus deserving of unlimited protection. The expression of the kind and scope we are concerned with here today is of a very particular nature: it exists, purely and solely, not merely to purport an opinion or thought but to influence in a most deliberate and direct way the elections of our peers to public office. Such elections command a respect and an expectation of protection. They are the means by which the people express their collective will and exercise their power as a society, and even the appearance of corruption and the accompanying mistrust the public will place in those governing institutions cannot constitute anything but the most compelling interest. Thus by all standards of scrutiny there is an incumbent right of Congress to regulate the manner by which electoral campaigns should take place, including the financing of electioneering.”
In McToole and Adams v. Texas, the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage throughout the United States; on the basis of the Equal Protection Clause, the Due Process Clause, and the separation of church and state, the Court drew a distinction between civil and religious marriage. Writing for the majority (5-3, 1 abstaining), Chief Justice Obama ruled
“Religious institutions are free, as is their right, to hold any such definition of marriage as they wish, and to hold such private ceremonies as they will administer accordingly. However, such actions cannot have any bearing on the civil act of marriage. This is a partnership recognized by society and the law, earning those involved a distinct status in the eyes of the law with regards many matters and further conferring various benefits that government has granted in recognition of such a partnership. Further, we can find nothing whatsoever that would justify the consideration of same sex relationships as a matter of social or public concern or require it be distinguished from opposite sex relationships in any substantive way. Marriage being a fundamental right in our nation, by this court's own terms, sufficient justification for denial of such a right on the basis of gender can not be found.
“Therefore, this court is compelled to find that to deny same sex couples access to the institution of civil marriage is to violate the separation of church and state by using public policy to enforce religious definitions; it violates the guarantee of equal protection by failing to meet any standards of scrutiny as to the withholding of such a right; and that due process is denied by the arbitrary refusal of both marriage itself and of the associated legal, social and financial benefits it entails. Thus the Court must strike down all prohibitions on the marriage of same sex couples”.
June 30th, 2029: In the aftermath of McToole and Adams vs. the State of Texas, far-right groups, including the remnants of S.O.U.L., call for massive protests across the US. Approximately two million protestors turn out across the United States on July 4th against gay marriage, while approximately two million appear at counter-rallies. Meanwhile, armed former S.O.U.L. members break into 6 different gay wedding ceremonies across the country and open fire. 63 are killed in what far-right terrorist groups call the “Day of Warning.” In a statement, they announce that similar attacks will take place at as many gay weddings as possible.
July 1st, 2029: The first segment of the CRN is officially inaugurated between New York and Atlanta. Trains travel at speeds approaching 400 mph and fares costing about as much as a plane ticket.
July 6th, 2029: In the wake of the “Day of Warning”, another federal crackdown on right-wing terror begins. Over 100 violent extremists are arrested, and 3 more wedding massacres are nipped in the bud. However, at St. Phillips in the Hills Church (Tuscon, Arizona), 18 men, women, and children are killed when five former S.O.U.L. members attack the ceremony. Many gay couples begin to encourage wedding guests to arrive armed, which leads to the shooting death of R.SOUL (Real S.O.U.L., a remnant group) member Jerry Silvestre on July 14th. Polls find that 61% of Americans support the court’s decision in McToole.
August 13th, 2029: The Rubio Administration, in cooperation with the FBI and the CIA, in response to the recent uncovery of the underground cloning movement in the USA, launches the start of the Initiative Against Illegal Cloning, which promises to “Persecute all those acting in defiance of the law,” specifically the Black Market organization the New World Salesemen. Though the Initiative gains much support from Americans, critics on both side argue that the move comes “too late”, or that this will be a repeat of the “War on Drugs.”
August 20th, 2029: Right-wing violence has calmed down in the wake of the crackdown following the McToole case. However, Scott Williamson, leader of R.SOLAG states in a radio address that “This is merely the calm before the storm. The heavenly thunder shall rain down upon the accursed, and the world shall see our might.”
September 20th, 2029: R.SOUL’s plot is uncovered and the conspirators arrested. They had planned to destroy the CRN network at three points along the route (intending to derail the trains and kill thousands), while simultaneously bomb Planned Parenthood’s world headquarters in Washington, D.C. using a truck bomb. Two gunmen were also at hand to spread chaos after the bombing. Scott Williamson, the group’s leader, is among those arrested.
September 24th, 2029: The FBI, in cooperation with local police forces, as part of the Initiative Against Illegal Cloning, conducts several raids into illegal cloning facilities in such cities as New York City, Detroit, Miami and Chicago, among others. Millions of dollars of equipment are seized, and dozens of arrests are made. President Rubio himself would praise the day as “the first victory”, but those in support of legalization of human cloning claim the the President's actions in recent months will do “more harm than good.”
October 2nd, 2029: In the 2029 Canadian Federal Election, Prime Minister Justine Trudeau loses to Conservative John Baird, who manages to form a minority government. In response, Trudeau vows to stay on as Leader of the Opposition, much to the dismay of some Liberals.
December 12th, 2029: The Treasury Department and Federal Reserve release reports showing that the “Panic of 2029” will be over by 3Q 2030. Unemployment however increases slightly to 7.1%, though it too is expected to return to pre-recession levels of around 5% by 2031.
January 1st, 2030: As required by the Government Standardization and Clear Communications Act of 2027, the United States federal government officially uses metric units for all publications and government business. Imperial units are recommended but not required. Thirty-two states already have similar measures in place for their governments.
February 7th, 2030: The Mexican Congress narrowly votes in favor to amend Articles 51, 56 and 83 of the Mexican Constitution, namely abolishing the “no re-elections” rule for elected officials at the federal level. This comes after the same motion failed to pass in 2025 and 2027. Co-sponsor Hiram Romney tells the press he is “cautious but excited” as the amendment moves on to be voted on my the various state legislatures.
June 24th, 2030: Jeffory W. Clinton-Mezvinsky, graduates from the Albany Academy, and is chosen to represent his graduating class a Valedictorian. In attendance are Jeffory's parents, Chelsea and Marc, as well as his grandparents, Former President Bill Clinton, and Former Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton. Jeffory will go on to study law and business at the University of Cambridge in the coming fall.
July 7th, 2030: Former PAN Senator and Party President Luis Iñiguez is elected President of México by a healthy margin, the PRI still suffering from the Paredes years and the PRD's shaky damage control to the recession both contributing to the PAN's win. President-elect Iñiguez becomes the first PAN candidate to assume the presidency in 18 years and the third PAN President overall after Felipe Calderón.
José Luis Iñiguez Gámez (PAN): 40.11% Ariel Gómez León (PRD): 36.82% Héctor Ramírez Puga (PRI): 23.07%
September 1st, 2030: Former Méxican Deputy Carmen Arteaga, popular due to her progressive initiatives and the successes of her grassroots organization MREV, wins the Mayoral elections for her hometown of Chilpancingo, Guerrero.
September 2nd, 2030: Following years of preparation and hard work, America launches the Apollo Regenesis into space and lands it safely on the Moon, marking the first time an American has walked on the Moon in 55 years. Millions in America and around the world watch as astronaut Jake Sky sets foot on the Moon, saying famously, “Well, here we go again…”. The same day, President Marco Rubio gives a speech in which he says,“Today's achievements remind us that despite our ever changing world, in America, anything is still possible.” Soon after, talks begin of America developing a permanent base on the Moon, though China already has a head start on the matter. China, in response to the days events, promises that they will be the first nation to reach Mars, marking the growing tension in the second space race. In addition to America and China, India, Japan, Russia and Europe all announce ambitions to go to the Moon and onto Mars.
September 9th, 2030: The Central Canadian Speed Railway, or CCSR, is open for the public to use, with the first train leaving from Hamilton at 9:00 AM. The railway runs all the way to Quebec City, and includes stops in such cities as Toronto, Oshawa, Kingston, Ottawa, Montreal, as well as others. Elsewhere, the rest of the country looks on with curiosity, and tentative plans are drawn up for high speed railway systems elsewhere in the country.
November 5th, 2030: U.S. Midterm Elections; despite the ongoing recession, the Republican Party manages to increase their congressional majorities. This is due to the ongoing schism in the Democratic Party between progressives and moderate-conservatives. Some moderate-conservative incumbents who had been defeated by liberal primary challengers managed to get re-elected as “Independent Democrats”.
House of Representatives Republican: 231 seats (+5) Democratic: 186 seats (-25) Independent Democratic: 20 seats (+20)
Senate Republican: 52 seats (+1) Democratic: 42 seats (-7) Independent Democratic: 6 seats (+6)
December 1st, 2030: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito announces that he has been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, and will retire from the Court as soon as possible. President Rubio wishes the ailing jurist well, and begins to search for a successor.
December 12th, 2030: President Rubio announces that his choice to replace Justice Alito is Lilah Parvani, a conservative judge from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (based in New Orleans). If confirmed, Judge Parvani will be the first member of a non-Abrahamic religion (Hinduism) to sit on the Court. Several Republican Senators announce their unease about her positions on religious education and abortion, despite her well-established conservative credentials.
January 20th, 2031: Following the holiday recess, Judge Lilah Parvani's nomination to the Supreme Court is approved by the Senate, 54-46. Several Republicans voted against her, as well as many from the Democratic Party. She is inaugurated the next day. The members of the Supreme Court at this time are as follows, ranked by seniority (liberal wing bold, conservative italics):
Chief Justice: Barack Obama Associate Justice: Sonia SotoMayor Associate Justice: Elena Kagan Associate Justice: Theodore Ullyot Associate Justice: Diane Wood Associate Justice: Jeannie Suk Associate Justice: Nicole Stelle Garnett Associate Justice: Theodore Cruz Associate Justice: Lilah Parvani
January 23rd, 2031: Former President Bill Clinton dies after a fight with a sudden deadly case of pneumonia at a hospital in New York, at the age of 84. His death is mourned across the nation, and a state funeral fallows his death, with President Rubio in attendance. Clinton leaves behind his longtime wife Hillary, as well as his daughter Chelsea and his grandson Jeffory.
February 15th, 2031: Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) declares his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2032. He aggressively portrays himself to be the standard-bearer of the progressives, further exacerbating already-tense relations with the party's moderate-conservative wing.
March 13th, 2031: Former Senator Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN) declares his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2032. Ford, who lost his Senate seat after a liberal primary challenge and succumbing to the GOP wave in 2026, immediately becomes the choice of many moderate-conservatives in the party. Crowds are inspired by his aggressive message for “bringing centrism and fiscal sanity back to the Democratic Party”.
May 2nd, 2031: Detailed data from the 2030 US Census reveals that over 100 counties in the United States have population densities below .2 people/square mile. In 2000, only 27 counties had population densities below .2. Almost entirely mechanized agriculture, combined with the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer and other water sources, has resulted in virtual “population deserts” in large stretches of the American West and Plains states.
May 6th, 2031: In the 2031 Canadian Federal Election, Prime Minister John Baird manages to lead the Conservatve Party to a majority Government, the first in well over a decade. Liberal and Opposition Leader Justin Trudeau resigns, as is replaced by Adam Giambrone by the end of the year. Also in the election, Benjamin Harper, son of Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is elected to serve as a Member of Parliament. Prime Minister later appoints Benjamin to serve as the Minister of Transportation, a post Baird once held in the old Harper cabinet.
May 12th, 2032: In the United States, the Illinois General Assembly passes the Educational Standards Act of 2032 requiring that all schools throughout the state use metric units alone by 2035. The law is strongly opposed by teachers unions (because of the “undue hassle”) and many social conservatives.
May 25-26th, 2031: The “Friends of Somalia” meet in Rome to try and forge a unified strategy to deal with the Somali crisis. However, after two days of fruitless talks, the meeting is disbanded. The United States and Europe wished to fiscally and diplomatically continue to support the federal government, China wanted international recognition transferred to Puntland, India wanted more aggressive action taken to stop Al-Shabab, and Somaliland requested an international naval force to protect its shores from pirate raids. No parties were able to come to any agreement, except to meet again in 25 days, on June 20th, in Cairo.
June 20-22nd, 2031: The “Friends of Syria” group (America, Europe, China, India, Somaliland, Ethiopia, the East African Federation, and Russia) meet for the second time in Cairo. Here, some of the most frantic diplomacy since the Second Korean War takes place. India wants a limited intervention, and quickly wins the support of the EAF, and Somaliland, which agree to allow Indian planes and troops to be based out of their country. Ethiopia follows the Chinese line, and asks all sovereign nations to transfer their recognition of Somalia from the government in Mogadishu to the one in Puntland. After two days of fruitlessly trying to convince Indian PM Chakravorty not to take unilateral action, US President Rubio is forced to announce acceptance of India's plan, which calls for airstrikes on Shabab forces, and limited Marine and special ops raids throughout Somalia. Neither the United States nor Europe are willing to commit any support (military or financial) besides diplomatic, however.
August 6th, 2031: A further set of agreements by the “Friends of Somalia” (America, Europe, China, India, Somaliland, Ethiopia, the East African Federation, Turkey, Brasil, Indonesia, South Africa, Nigeria, Japan, and Russia) is signed in Istanbul. These will later be termed the 'Istanbul Accords'.They establish, with the consent of the UN Security Council, an international naval and drone force to prevent piracy off of Somalia (excluding Indian and Chinese forces), a joint development and free trade area between Somalia, Somaliland, and Ethiopia, and an international aid and training fund to aid Somalia in preventing an Islamist insurgency.
September 15th, 2031: President Rubio declares that the U.S. has exited the 2029-2031 recession, after several months of lowering unemployment and stock market recovery. Unemployment has declined to 5.8%, while Rubio's approval ratings have risen from its low at 43% to a healthy 56%.
Under considerable public pressure, the Illinois General Assembly modifies the Educational Standards Act it passed in May. The original bill required all schools to use only metric units by 2035. The revised legislation requires metric units to be used alongside imperial units in school by 2040. Over the next 10 years, fifteen states pass similar laws, including California, Oregon, Georgia, Virginia, and New York.October 8th, 2031: The Nobel Committee announces that Presidents Marco Rubio and Sahane Muftuoglu of the USA and Turkey will receive the Nobel Peace Prize for their “considerable efforts to alleviate the Somali Crisis and avoid potential conflict.” Rubio is the third American president to accept the Peace Prize, while Muftuoglu becomes to the first female head of state to be so honored.
November 2nd, 2031: In the Nicaraguan General Elections, relative unknown Brunilda Laparra is elected President under the banner of a new political party, Nicaragua Adelante! (es. Nicaragua Advance! or NA, officially Party for the Advancement of Nicaragua, or PPN). Her success is attributed to the extremely poor performance of the FSLN in rebuilding Nicaragua after the 2028 earthquake and tsunami.
November 18th, 2031: America is taken by surprise when leader of the Apollo Regenesis lunar mission Jake Sky, announces he will be running for the US Senate seat in his home state of Michigan. Although he says he enjoyed being an astrounaut, Sky also says the developments in the Democratic Party have inspired him to try his hand at politics.
December 8th-12th, 2031: A record 7.3 million Roman Catholics flood into Mexico City to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Juan Diego's famous sighting of the Virgin of Guadalupe. On December 9th, President Luis Iñiguez gives a nationwide address to nearly 100 million Mexicans, as well as millions more in the United States and other parts of the world in her honor, speaking of the Virgin of Guadalupe's “undying love as she has cared for our people through countless trials of misfortune.” In Vatican City Pope George gives his own speech in honor of the Virgin, which is heard by Catholics the world over.
January 6th, 2032: Iowa Caucuses; Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) crushes former Senator Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN) by a 59-40 margin in the Democratic contest. Despite his defeat, Ford vows to continue his campaign, despite polls afterward heavily favoring Murphy's candidacy.
February 2nd, 2032: Having seen the success of the CCSR in Ontario and Quebec, the provincial governments of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, announce their own plans to build a high speed rail system to be called the Maritime Provincial Speed Rail, or MPSR. Plans are made to complete the project by 2038.
March 2nd, 2032: After months of rumbling, the 4,750 meter Kluchevskoy Volcano located in Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula explodes in an eruption so powerful it destroys the mountain itself. With results similar to the eruption of Laki in Iceland in 1783, an estimated 120,000,000 long tons of sulphur are emitted. While only 2717 people die in the initial blast, there is much loss of wildlife on the heretofore pristine Kamchatka peninsula. The poisonous cloud dissipates over the Pacific Ocean before reaching North America although record thick fogs are reported at sea.
The winter of 2032-2033 is one of the most severe on record. While the world enjoyed spectacular sunsets, snowfall over North America was deeper than it had been in decades. Harbors froze from Maine to Charleston, South Carolina, as did the Mississippi River as far south as New Orleans. As a result of weakened monsoon cycles in Asia and Africa, there was much suffering in famine stricken areas on both continents. The lowering of mean temperatures around the world stopped the progress of global warming for several decades and weather patterns returned to mid- 20th Century norms as glaciers again advanced, ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland firmed up, and polar bear populations began to increase. The effects would wear off by 2060 when scientists again began to note record high temperatures and the loss of ice in Antarctica and Greenland.
March 28th, 2032: Gallup releases a poll showing President Rubio's approval rating at 61%, in light of the economic recovery and general approval of his “New Conservative” approach toward government spending, trimming the fat rather than axing entire programs.
May 17th, 2032: Former Justice Samuel Alito dies from Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma at the age of 82.
August 19th, 2032: Democratic National Convention; Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Alexander Boone (D-VA) are nominated for President and Vice President, respectively, in Seattle, Washington. Delegates supporting former Senator Ford stage a walkout of the convention, labeling Murphy and Boone as “liberal hacks”.
September 2nd, 2032: President Marco Rubio and Vice President Adam Klinzinger are renominated for President and Vice President at the Republican National Convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
September 5th, 2032: In a last ditch effort to remain relevant on the national level, moderate-conservative Democrats successfully draft former Senator Harold Ford, Jr (D-TN) to run on an “Independent Democratic” presidential ticket. In his announcement speech, Ford taps Senator Henry Cuellar (D-TX) as his running mate, and calls for “a return to centrist and sensible policies, not liberal and idealistic ones”.
October 3rd, 2032: Mt. Colima in south-central Mexico, one of the nation's most active volcanoes, erupts violently. 230 fall victim in the event. Pope George dies at the age of 89 when his plane is caught in the ash cloud caused by the eruption of Mt. Colima in Mexico which crashes with no survivors. The ailing Pope was returning to his native Honduras for a private visit.
October 11th, 2032: Former Presidents Kirsten Gillibrand and Julian Castro tour Gujarat as a part of the United States' relief effort in the region. While President Rubio is campaigning, he pledges closer relations with India as a counterbalance to a rising China and to increase economic ties.
October 13th, 2032: An attempted military coup against Nicaraguan President Brunilda Laparra is thwarted by loyalist elements of the army. Several hours after the attempt President Laparra suspends the constitution and places the entire country under a state of emergency.
November 2nd, 2032: President Marco Rubio and Vice President Adam Kinzinger are re-elected over the Democratic ticket of Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT)/Senator Alexander Boone (D-VA) and the “Independent Democratic” ticket of former Senator Harold Ford, Jr (D-TN)/Senator Henry Cuellar (D-TX). Former lunar astronaut Jake L. Sky (D-MI) is elected to the US Senate, winning by large margin of 70%. In his victory speech, Sky says one of his key missions in the Senate will be to see the NASA continues to get the funding that it needs.
President Marco Rubio (R-FL) / Vice President Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) - 362 EV - 51.0% PV Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) / Senator Alexander Boone (D-VA) - 176 EV - 37.5% PV Former Senator Harold Ford (I-TN) / Senator Henry Cuellar (I-TX) - 0 EV - 10.2% PV
House of Representatives Republican: 245 seats (+15) Democratic: 168 seats (-18) Independent Democratic: 23 seats (+3)
Senate Republican: 54 seats (+2) Democratic: 41 seats (-1) Independent Democratic: 5 seats (-1)
January 1st, 2033: All public schools and accredited private schools throughout the United States are now required to use the International Dating Format of Day/Month/Year, as mandated by the Dating Modernization Act (DMA). Although some conservative states had initially resisted it, by now most of the adult populace of the US, which grew up with the Internet, is used to the format, and it is ultimately accepted.
March 20th, 2033: Former US President Mitt Romeny dies at age 86 of a stroke at his home in New Hampshire. Though his Presidency was a controversial one, due to the rise of S.O.U.L. and his inability to stop the Great Recession, many mourn his death. At Romney's funeral, both current President Marco Rubio, and Romney's Vice-President Bobby Jindal, give passionate speeches about their longtime friend.
June 10th, 2033: Nicaraguan President Brunilda Laparra gives a speech in front of the rebuilt Presidential Residence, praising the “valorous sons and daughters of Nicaragua who made their nation a much better place.” Behind the scenes Laparra begins a slow purge of the political establishment, having already cleared the military of any “disloyal” elements after the attempted coup d'état the previous October.
March 23rd, 2034: At a press conference in San Salvador, Nicaraguan President Laparra and newly elected President of El Salvador Esteban Ortiz announce that their nations “stand united in the task of ridding Central America of squalor and destitution.” The recent outcome of the Salvadorian elections becomes indicative of a conservative, authoritarian resurgence in Central American politics, as Laparrista politicians take power in Guatemala and Honduras in 2035 and 2037 respectively.
October 13th, 2034: The Méxican state of Nayarit becomes the 16th state to ratify the electoral amendments to the Méxican Constitution, thereby reaching the required majority of states needed for the measure to become law.
October 24th, 2034: The Méxican Constitution is officially amended to include new electoral regulations. Namely, the Presidential term is reduced from 6 years to 4 years, with the possibility of reelection once. Borrowing heavily from the American model, Deputy terms are also reduced to 2 years, with unlimited reelection. Senators retain their 6 year terms, though unlike their American counterparts they can only be reelected once. The amendments also stipulate that if no presidential candidate receives a majority of the votes there will be a runoff election between the two runner ups. The new rules are set to be utilized for the upcoming 2036 General Elections.
November 4th, 2034: In Washington, Democratic State Senator Mark Helten defeats Republican Congressman Pete Johnson to become the second openly atheist United States Senator. He replaces outgoing Senator Patty Murray. He is sworn in next January, and at his private swearing-in ceremony, he chooses to place his hand on a copy of the U.S. Constitution.
House of Representatives Republican: 227 seats (-18) Democratic: 195 seats (+28) Independent Democratic: 13 seats (-10)
Senate Republican: 51 seats (-3) Democratic: 45 seats (+4) Independent Democratic: 4 seats (-1)
November 7th, 2034: Pascal Manaloto (D-AK) is elected governor of Alaska, the first nonwhite governor of that state and the second Filipino-American governor in the country. His victory came through uniting Alaskan natives, immigrant cannery workers, and an increasing environmentalist block.
December 11th, 2034: A catastrophic blizzard hits New England and Metropolitan New York, killing 57 and causing over $355 million in damage.
April 16th, 2035: In light of recent events in Central America, Mexico begins an immediate upgrading of its military. Amongst the several new planes and amphibious cruisers purchased from the Americans and Europeans, there is talk of Mexico acquiring an aircraft carrier of it's own. The Mexican Navy launches an exploratory commission for the possible purchase of carriers or of possibly building one domestically.
June 10th, 2035: CRN opens its second phase from New York to Chicago and from New York to Boston. On the west coast, the California High Speed Rail system is upgraded for eastward expansion of CRN from Los Angeles and San Francisco, with a goal of meeting the westward-moving segments in Denver by 2045.
June 20th, 2035: Vice President Adam Klinzinger declares his candidacy for the Republican nomination 2036, seeking to succeed on his boss' coattails.
June 22nd, 2035: An assassination attempt is made on President Rubio as an unknown gunman fires three shots at the presidents motorcade. The next day, the alleged assassin of the President is revealed to be Francis Lifante, a 35 year old man who has been unemployed for over a year.
June 27th, 2035: Senator Jared Polis of Colorado declares his candidacy for the Democratic nomination in 2036.
September 29th, 2035: Senator Alexander Boone (D-VA) declares his intention to run for the Democratic Nomination for President.
October 9th, 2035: In the 2035 Canadian Federal Election, Prime Minister John Baird is reelected to a minority government. Adam Giambrones Liberal party makes significant gains in traditionally Conservative ridings. Also, voter turnout was at a record low with only 52.1% of the electorate voting.
November 1st, 2035: One year before the highly anticipated 2036 presidential election, Gallup releases a new poll indicating President Rubio's approval rating to be at 63%, in part thanks to the healthy economy and successes in space and on the foreign policy front in India.
December 5th, 2035: National polls indicate a slight lead for Senator Alexander Boone (D-VA) over Senator Jared Polis (D-CO), 45-41. While in Iowa, Polis holds a slight lead of 47-44 over Boone.
May 24th, 2036: Former US Vice President, 2000 Presidential Election candidate, and environmental activist Al Gore passes away in his sleep at the age of 88.
July 6th, 2036: Méxican General Election; the PRI candidate Vicente Izaguirre commands a healthy lead over all the other candidates for President, though he fails to gain the majority of votes. A runoff election is scheduled for August 10th. Elsewhere, up and coming Chihuahuense politician Hiram Romney is elected Senator for his state.
August 5th, 2036: The Democratic National Convention. After a drawn out primary, the convention selects VA Senator Alexander Boone for President and IL Senator Ryan Kirkpatrick for Vice President. Upon this revelation, Senator Polis gives a heartfelt endorsement speech for Boone.
August 10th, 2036: Former Governor of Nuevo León Vicente Izaguirre narrowly defeats PAN candidate for President Silvia Alvarado, becoming the first PRI politician since Beatriz Paredes to gain the Presidency.
Juan Vicente Izaguirre Leonardi (PRI): 51.98% Silvia Alvarado Gonzales (PAN): 48.02%
August 18th, 2036: The Republican National Convention selects Vice President Adam Klinzinger for President and MO Senator W. Reade Granger for Vice President.
August 20th, 2036: Following the Republican convention, polls show the Klinzinger/Granger ticket ahead by an average of 15 points in the polls (45-30, with 15 percent undecided). However, the polls also show signs of trouble for the Republicans. Their support rested mainly on President Rubio's great personal popularity, and not upon their own appeal. In addition, voters prefer the Democratic positions on green energy, social issues, foreign policy, and economic issues.
September 2nd, 2036: A quote is leaked by the Huffington Post: a recording of Republican VP candidate W. Reade Granger calling Senator Kirkpatrick “that goddamn immoral atheist.” Granger went on to say that he didn't trust Kirkpatrick to make decisions without religious guidance, and professed his belief that true morality could not exist without spirituality. The comments spark a backlash in American society. Whereas 30 years previously a majority of Americans might have agreed with Granger, by this year the leak causes the Klinzinger/Granger ticket to drop in the polls. For the first time, polls begin to show the Boone ticket out front.
November 7th, 2036: The Democratic ticket of VA Senator Alexander Boone/IL Senator Ryan Kirkpatrick is elected over the Republican ticket of Vice President Adam Kinzinger/MO Senator Reade Granger.
Senator Alexander Boone (D-VA) / Senator Ryan Kirkpatrick (D-IL) - 322 EV - 51.3% PV Vice President Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) / Senator Reade Granger (R-MO) - 216 EV - 47.7% PV
House of Representatives Republican: 216 seats (-11) Democratic: 210 seats (+15) Independent Democratic: 9 seats (-4)
Senate Republican: 50 seats (-1) Democratic: 48 seats (+3) Independent Democratic: 2 seats (-2)
December 29th, 2036: Former Arizona Senator and 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain passes away at the age of 100.
January 1, 2037: After heavy lobbying by the tech industry and internet freedom advocates, the US Congress passes the Intellectual Property Reform Act (IPRA), which reduces copyright term to the classical 28 years, as originally outlined in the Copyright Act of 1790. In addition, the act declares all intellectual property to be jointly owned by the public and the rights holder, and reduces copyright restrictions in the context of the Digital Age. The most popular portion of the bill is the section repealing the infamous Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). As the Millennial Generation grew up, copyright was viewed as a hindrance and annoyance rather than a help, and the calls to reform it ultimately outweighed the lobbying from the remnants of the entertainment industry.
April 10th, 2037: President Boone creates the Department of Space, complete with a presidential cabinet position and administration over NASA. Former astronaut and Senator Jake Sky (D-MI) is appointed the first Secretary of Space.
January 18th, 2038: While in Seattle, campaigning for Senate candidate Scott Kimball (D-WA), several shots are fired towards President Alexander Boone's motorcade. One strikes him in the right arm, and lodges itself in his ribs. He is taken to the nearest hospital and saved by quick thinking surgeons who are able to remove the bullet with minimal damage and blood loss. The gunman, Roger Quincy, is taken into custody after fleeing to the Seattle Central Library.
January 29th, 2038: President Boone gives his first speech since the assassination attempt, and greets well-wishers after his speech.
March 13th, 2038: The US Department of Justice files suit against HydroFuel Solutions as being in restraint of free trade and commerce.
April 2nd, 2038: Former President George W. Bush dies at the age of 91 at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. Most historians rank his presidency in the lowest quartile of US Presidents, but the perception among some that he was “The Worst President Ever” has faded. His elder brother Jeb Bush, the former Governor of Florida, dies only a month and a half later, on May 20th.
May 25th, 2038: As the final tracks are being fitted for the AVEMEX line running from Saltillo to Monterrey ahead of schedule, Mexican President Izaguirre unveils AVEMEX Plan 2050 at a press conference in Mexico City. Plan 2050, also known as Corredor Norte, would extend HSR service to the northern Mexican cities of Mazatlán, Durango, Torreón, Monclova, Nuevo Laredo, Culiacán, Los Mochis, Navajoa, Ciudad Obregon, Hermosillo, Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Mexicali and Tijuana. At the same press conference Izaguirre hints at the eventual extending of rail lines north into the United States, in conjunction with the US's own HSR service.
June 5th, 2038: Alexandre Éric Stéphane Coste (born 24 August 2003) the illegitimate son of Albert II, Prince of Monaco and Togolese Nicole Coste is summoned from his villa in Villefranche to the Palace in Monaco by his cousin Prince Andrea. The Prince makes the 34 year old Alexandre Coste aware of the bequest and encourages him to seek it out. He offers to tutor him on how to be a proper limited monarch.
July 8th, 2038: President Boone's allies in Congress propose the creation of Buffalo Commons National Park out of parts of Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas within twenty years. Encompassing all or part of 26 counties in those four states, the area set aside for the park has a population of 30,185 and an area of 51,623 square mies, the largest National Park in the United States. Under the plan, farmers and inhabitants of the plan would be paid subsidies at agricultural prices to plant shortgrass prairie plants and remove fences, etc, for ten years. At the end of ten years, most inhabitants would be given economic incentives to relocate, although some could stay and work as rangers or gamekeepers. In addition, the die-hard who refuse to leave would not be forced to go, although they would be required to sign over their property to the Park when they die or move. For the following ten years, scientists would work with the remaining populace to reintroduce bison, wolves, praire chickens, pronghorns, and other flora and fauna, restoring the plains to the way they existed before Native American settlement. Part of the proposed area of the park covers Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Indian Reservations. Tribal representatives agree to the plan, with three conditions. First, tribal sovereignty would continue to be respected, and some land will be retained in a developed state by the tribes. Secondly, tribe members would have priority in park employment, so that Native Americans could act as the caretakers of the land. And lastly, the two reservations will annually receive 4% of park revenue, split evenly.
June 2nd, 2038: Sebastian Bodden-Hyde, a principal designer of the Artificial Analytical Unit (ANNA) and close associate of Dr. James Omar dies. A native of Barbados, Mr. Bodden-Hyde left a fortune of 1.8 billion dollars from his profits from ANNA. It is revealed that his fortune will be left to the first British Commonwealth Caribbean country that dethrones King William V and crowns a royal person of African descent as King in place of the British monarch.
July 17th, 2038: The Prime Minister of Barbados in cabinet, citing his small Caribbean island's moribund economy proposes asking King William V to abdicate the throne of his tiny country and searching for a suitable candidate of African descent to take the King's place. Word of this proposition soon leaks out.
July 20th, 2038: Alexandre Coste's name is brought to the Prime Minister's attention through back channels and he is invited to make a secret visit to Barbados.
July 27th, 2038: Alexandre Coste arrives and the Barbadian cabinet finds him eminently acceptable. In the meantime, the governments of Grenada and Antigua begin discussing proposals of their own.
August 5th, 2038: After calling a snap referendum the week before, Barbados' voters approve asking Alexandre Coste to be their new king.
August 7th, 2038: King William V abdicates as King of Barbados and King Alexander is duly sworn in. Riots break out in Grenada and Antigua and both governments fall because of anger that the Barbadians beat them to the Bodden-Hyde fortune.
October 3rd, 2038: In the face of rising tensions, President Boone renews plans for Prompt Global Strike, a system that would give the United States a 24-hour strike global strike capability. The system would include the deployment of X-51 Hypersonic Cruise missiles, and an orbital weapons station that would launch satellite guided 20 ft long 1 ft wide tungsten rods from orbit. He announces that the United States should have this system to respond to any imminent threat worldwide by the end of the decade.
November 8th, 2038: U.S. Midterm Elections…
House of Representatives Republican: 230 seats (-14) Democratic: 205 seats (-5)
Senate Democratic: 50 seats + VP (+2) Republican: 50 seats
January 1st, 2039: The Bodden-Hyde fortune is transferred to the accounts of the Barbadian government. King Alexander becomes a popular and effective monarch. He names his dynasty Grimaldi-Coste.
March 5th, 2039: A leak to the New York Times concerning the Indo-Pakistani War reveals that the CIA had provided to India a list of Pakistani nuclear sites and hiding places, which had enabled the Indians to destroy all but four of Pakistan's nuclear weapons. Had the Indians been acting on their intelligence alone, it is likely that several dozen Pakistani weapons would have remained, as well as functional launch mechanisms. The leak indicates the level of intelligence-sharing between India and the United States, now approaching the level of cooperation between British intelligence and US agencies.
March 15th 2039: By this point, unmanned drones have replaced manned fighters in most aerial roles.
June 22, 2039: On the heels of Europe and the United States, Canada passes the Copyright Act, which reduces copyright terms to 28 years from publication and legalizes non-profit filesharing.
August 29th, 2039: At Naval Shipyard 6 in Guaymas, Sonora, construction commences on Mexico's first aircraft carrier. The expected time of completion is slated for 2045.
May 7th, 2040: Agents from IFE (Mexico's electoral commission) uncover a major voting fraud scheme undertaken by members of the PRD, including the party president, in various states in Mexico's south. Despite the resignation and subsequent arrest of the party president and secretary-general, the party loses massive support, and in a matter of months is reduced to minor party status, leaving the PRI and PAN as the two main political parties in the country.
May 20th, 2040: President Boone speaks to the Ares Prima team via satellite communication after their arrival on Mars, congratulating them on their “endeavor to pursue the frontiers of humanity's imagination.”
June 25th, 2040: In United States v. HydroFuel Solutions, the Supreme Court of the United States rules 6-3 against HydroFuel Solutions as being in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act by coercively maintaining it's dominant market position. The court held that where the primary purpose of an action, as was HydroFuel's aggressive strategy of purchasing start up chains, was to eliminate competitors or potential competitors without regard to ordinary functional requirements of business (many of the acquisitions were loss making with HydroFuel never intending to credibly make them profitable) then that was enough to have such deemed as a coercive rather than innocent monopoly.
July 1st, 2040: For the first time in over a century, Mexicans vote for the reelection of their President, giving incumbent Vicente Izaguirre the majority of votes required to forestall a runoff election. He is largely credited with bringing Mexico back from the grips of recession, maintaining a healthy 70% approval rating among Mexicans. His victory was also made possible by the PRD's fall from grace as a viable political force, as many former PRD voters throw their lot in with the PRI.
July 26th, 2040: Mongolia expels the American ambassador, claiming that he was involved in the assassination attempt against him. The United States responds by doing the same.
August 5th, 2040: President Alexander Boone and Vice President Ryan Kirkpatrick are renominated at the Democratic National Convention in New York City.
August 17th, 2040: Michigan Senator Kirk Wythe and Oklahoma Governor James M. Rovenerou are nominated for President and Vice President, respectively, at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
August 15th, 2040: On the 96th Anniversary of the Japanese surrender in the Second World War, Chinese President Liu Linzhi delivers the “New Huanggutun” speech, comparing the United States to militarist Japan, and calls on East Asian countries to be united against the rise of American neoimperialism. In the speech, Liu Linzhi said the assassination attempt on Borjigin Narantsetseg is the modern Huanggutun Incident. US President Alexander R. Boone angrily denies US involvement in the Tsetserleg Incident.
August 18th, 2040: Republican senators call for the immediate suspension of all diplomatic ties with China, but President Boone maintains that the United States is willing to solve all disputes with China and Mongolia through diplomacy.
August 20th, 2040: Mongolia announces to expel all Americans from Mongolian borders.
October 8th, 2040: Icebreaking between China and the United States - Chinese premier Jian Lo and US President Alexander R. Boone meet in Tokyo, Japan. Premier Lo officially apologizes for President Liu's “New Huanggutun” speech and 9-11 inside job accusation. Both sides agress to resume talks on further cooperation in the development of renewable energy.
October 20th, 2040: A CNN poll finds that 57% of the American public favor stronger relations with Europe, India, Indonesia China, and Japan. This is largely seen as a victory for the Boone Administration's championing of Globalization.
October 22nd, 2040: Mongolia and the United States restore diplomatic relations.
November 3rd, 2040: In the US Presidential Election, incumbent President Alexander Boone (D) manages to defeat Senator of Michigan Kirk Wythe (R) to win a second term.
President Alexander Boone (D-VA) / Vice President Ryan Kirkpatrick (D-IL) - 398 EV - 55.1% PV Senator Kirk Wythe (R-MI) / General John McIntyre, Ret. (R-OK) - 140 EV - 42.9% PV
House of Representatives Democratic: 219 seats (+14) Republican: 216 seats
Senate Democratic: 52 seats (+2) Republican: 48 seats (-2)
November 13th, 2040: In response of the Sino-Mongolian agreement, US President Alexande Boone and Japanese prime minister Hirobumi Hosono urge China and Mongolia to ensure the stable supply of rare earth minerals.
February 21st, 2041: President Boone introduces the American Comprehensive Health Coverage Act to Congress, which aims to establish a single-payer system sponsored by the federal government. It is the most sweeping reform attempted since Kirsten Gillibrand's passage of E-CHIP in 2017.
February 25th, 2041: Congress begins debate on President Boone's American Comprehensive Health Coverage Act, which is seen as a continuation of the work that President Barack Obama started. President Obama's bill is widely viewed as bringing mixed results, succeeding in reducing deficits, but not in bringing down healthcare costs substantially.
March 17th, 2041: CRN construction at the Continental Divide in Colorado suffers a tragic setback when a tunnel collapses, killing 24 workers. This causes a significant delay in completion of the transcontinental route, with a revised completion date of 2049.
April 19th, 2041: The Thor Orbital Weapons Station goes online, American 24 hour global response is declared operational by President Boone.
April 28th, 2041: International response to PGS is negative and several countries announce either counters or their own global strike plans.
July 11th, 2041: The United States military begins highly-secretive research on genetically engineering viruses for bio-weapons purposes, codenamed the Ivanovski Project (after the Russian biologist who first classified viruses in 1892).
July 20th, 2041: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Barack Obama announces that he will step down at the end of the year, around October. The Obama Supreme Court has produced many important cases in US History, from McToole (legalizing gay marriage) to Jeffries vs. Support America's Future (overturned Citizens United and limited the rights of corporations) to Kidd vs. Utah and several others.
October 4th, 2041: After months of determined opposition from Republicans and the few Democratic members in Congress, the American Comprehensive Health Coverage Act is signed into law by President Boone. The establishment of a universal health care system would be the landmark domestic achievement of Boone's second term, which was mainly focused on foreign policy.
October 20th, 2041: A Gallup Poll shows that 69% of Americans now use the Day/Month/Year format for dating in everyday use. This switchover from the previously used Month/Day/Year format is viewed as a key success of the Gillibrand Administration in integrating the United States into the global community.
March 11th, 2042: Perennial Crop Sustainability Project begins in the U.S. and India to genetically modify perennial plants to yield adequate food. If annual crops could be converted to perennial counterparts, fertilizer use would be drastically reduced, as well as the need for vast amounts of land.
September 21st, 2042: Ares Prima captain Marc Syter and his team meet with President Boone and Space Secretary Jake Sky. It is a particularly emotional moment for both Syter and Sky, as they were the pioneers of America's return to the Moon and now America's mission to Mars, and are famously photographed embracing each other in hugs as former crewmates on the 2030 lunar mission.
December 27th, 2042: President Boone orders DEFCON 3 for US forces in the Pacific.
January 20th, 2043: A summit between the US, UK and China ends with an agreement that the Platform will not affect any areas of US territory on the condition that the US does not seek to arm.
April 5th, 2043: Vice President Ryan Kirkpatrick of the United States announces his intention to run for President in the 2044 election. The move, although widely anticipated for some time, came as a blow to Republicans, because both the outgoing President and the VP had high approval ratings.
August 1st, 2043: The city of Los Angeles announces an ambitious plan to install navigation systems on all city streets to assist with the growing number of automatic piloting vehicles in the US.
September 29th, 2043: President Boone declares the North Atlantic Diplomatic Pact, an economic and political alliance between the United States, Federal Europe, and Canada, during a conference with the European President and Canadian Prime Minister. The new alliance effectively makes NATO a powerless entity on the international stage, especially since Britain has moved away diplomatically from Europe and America in the past ten years and closer to China, though the organization will continue to exist primarily as an instrument for humanitarian operations in Europe and parts of Africa. Historians would later view this as the beginning of heightened tensions between the multiple power blocs of the world, known as the Globalization War. British Prime Minister Max Rodgers declares his intentions to move the United Kingdom further away from the powers of Europe, and towards closer relations with China.
April 28th, 2044: Indian and American intelligent agencies jointly make a covert offer to support the Sankarist Pan-African Convention in their violent struggle against the military junta in Burkina Faso. However, party leader Gnisso Konate turns them down, saying that Sankarist principles mean that Africans must work without outside interference to solve their own issues.
June 10th, 2044: Mt. Hood in the Cascades Range erupts unexpectedly and violently, in a manner similar to Mt. Saint Helens in 1980. Approximately 120 people fall victim and ash falls over much of the Pacific Northwest. Nicholas Medforth-Mills, a retired executive with the food giant Nestle and heir to the defunct Romanian throne is among the dead; his passing is barely noted in Romania.
July 25th-28th, 2044: Democratic National Convention; Vice President Ryan Kirkpatrick is unanimously nominated as the Democratic nominee for President. Kirkpatrick taps California Governor Antonin Solis as his running mate, the first Hispanic vice presidential nominee on the Democratic ticket.
August 14th, 2044: Popular former Senator from the Mexican state of Chihuahua, as well as devout Mormon Hiram Romney Morales, is elected President of Mexico, becoming the first Protestant President in that country's history, gaining the majority of votes in a runoff election against PRI candidate Guillermo Cazares. The young president is most famously known as a distant relative of former American President Mitt Romney.
Hiram Romney Morales (PAN): 52.33% Guillermo Cazares Cruz (PRI): 47.67%
November 4th, 2044: Incumbent Vice President James Kirkpatrick wins the American presidential election over second-time candidate Kirk T. Wythe of Illinois. Kirkpatrick is the first openly atheistic President, and the first of South Asian heritage. His atheism caused him to lose many states across the Southern US, including several Hispanic states such as Nevada and New Mexico. However, his election also marked the return of the Midwest from the conservative fold. The election leads to a temporary thaw in rapidly cooling relations with Britain as Prime Minister Max Rodgers praises the new President effusively, calling him “a global leader for a global age.” Chinese Premier Jian Lo also praises the new President, but warns that “neo-imperial ambitions in Asia will not be tolerated.”
In addition, Jeffrey Clinton-Mesvinsky (D) is elected as the junior Senator from New York State, while Parke Jeung (R), a young and charismatic Korean American, is elected from Oregon's 3rd District.
Vice President Ryan Kirkpatrick (D-IL) / Governor Antonin Solis (D-CA) - 345 EV - 52.1% PV Senator Kirk Wythe (R-MI) / Governor James Rovenerou (R-OK) - 193 EV - 46.5% PV
January 21st, 2045: In his boldest move in regards to his presidential cabinet, newly-inaugurated President Ryan Kirkpatrick appoints Malia Obama, a prominent Chicago lawyer and daughter of former President and Chief Justice Barack Obama, as U.S. Attorney General.
February 16th, 2045: Mexican Senator Carmen Arteaga, formerly an independent, announces the creation of a new political party at a press conference in Mexico City. The new party, named Partido del Progreso Democratico or PPD (en. Progressive Democratic Party), is a center-left party that many see as filling the void of the discredited PRD.
June 12th, 2045: US Attorney General Malia Obama, the daughter of the former President, announces that the long-serving US military camp Guantanamo Bay will be shut and dismantled by 2047, something her father failed to do.
September 16th, 2045: Amid jubilant crowds, Mexican President Hiram Romney christens the recently completed aircraft carrier ARM Lázaro Cárdenas at the Navy shipyard it was built in. American commentators note that this marks a crucial turning point in Mexican foreign policy, as it begins to exert itself beyond it's borders.
March 12th, 2046: Prime Minister Rodgers and President Kirkpatrick sign a new defense procurement treaty in Washington, the previous one expired in 2042 and was not renewed under the Boone Presidency.
July 1st, 2046: Mexican Congressional Midterm Elections are held. The PPD makes significant gains in the Chamber of Deputies, gaining 20 seats there, as well as 3 in the Senate.
September 1st, 2046: By this time, virtually all vehicles in the United States are free of gasoline engines, with nearly 75% being fully electric. In much of Europe, especially the Federated European States, hydrogen fuel cell technology is becoming a reality as hydrogen fuel stations are being constructed en mass.
November 9th, 2046: Awash in money from the Bodden-Hyde fortune, the Barbadian government is able to quickly procure hundreds of aircraft to evacuate most of the population of Barbados before the nation is struck by the South Atlantic Tsunami caused by a 9.2 earthquake in the South Atlantic Ocean. With the population temporarily living primarily in Texas, the island nation is quickly rebuilt using Bodden-Hyde money and most of its residents return by 2050. While living in Austin, Texas while his country is being rebuilt, King Alexander meets Aiyanna Jackson (b. 2011) and marries her in a lavish ceremony.
November 28th, 2047: As celebrations are held in Managua for President Laparra's 60th birthday, she gives a belligerent speech where she states that she would continue to do everything within her power to make Nicaragua “great,” and belittles the futile intimidation set forth by the “Yanqui puppets in Mexico City.” Despite the quality of life having improved somewhat in the 15 years Laparra has been in power, observers are quick to note Nicaragua has become the most authoritarian country in the western hemisphere.
July 5th, 2048: Mexican President Hiram Romney is resoundingly reelected, gaining over 54% of the popular vote. Despite his affiliation with the PAN, he's very popular with many Mexicans across the board for his advocacy of progressive measures such as universal healthcare as well as his commitment to job growth.
November 6th, 2048: President Ryan Kirkpatrick is comfortably reelected over his Republican opponents, Governor Andrew Lee of California and Senator Liz Clark of Texas.
President Ryan Kirkpatrick (D-IL) / Vice President Antonin Solis (D-CA) - 355 EV - 53.1% PV Governor Andrew Lee (R-CA) / Senator Liz Clark (R-TX) - 183 EV - 45.7% PV
January 25th, 2049: President Ryan Kirkpatrick introduces CRN Plan 2065 to Congress, the largest expansion of the Continental Rail Network since the high speed railway was first built in the 2020s. The legislation calls for:
• The purchase of the California and Florida high speed railways and incorporating them into the overall network, including infrastructure and equipment upgrades. • Development of Los Angeles and Sacramento as west coast hubs, with new lines from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and Salt Lake City, and Phoenix and Tuscon; from Sacramento to Portland and Seattle. • Development of Denver as a Mountain West hub, with a new line running from Cheyenne southwards via Denver to Albuquerque. • Development of Chicago as the "heart" of the system, with new lines to Milwaukee and Minneapolis/St Paul, Detroit, and Florida via Atlanta. • Bypass of Chicago on the transcontinental route, from Omaha to Nashville via Kansas City and St Louis. • New line from Atlanta to Dallas via Birmingham and Little Rock.
While opposition from the fiscally conservative GOP is high, Plan 2065 is passed the following March at an investment of several tens of billions of dollars.
May 2nd, 2049: Former President and Chief Justice Barack Obama dies at the age of 87. He was the first African-American President (indeed the first President from any racial minority) and the first man to serve in both offices in over 100 years. President Kirkpatrick calls him “one of the great Americans of our time”, while his funeral is attended by over 60,000 people, including 12 foreign heads of state.
March 9th, 2049: After over 2 years of negotiations, several leftist parties in Mexico agree to merge with the PPD, including the Labor Party, Convergence and the rump PRD.
September 17th, 2049: Representative Parke Jeung (R) declares his candidacy for the United States Senate seat in Oregon in 2050. Many consider the young Korean-American politician a rising star within the Republican Party.
January 25th, 2050: In his State of the Union Address, President Kirkpatrick calls for the advancement of a “Second Manhattan Project” to establish nuclear fusion as the United States' primary energy source within thirty years. Kirkpatrick directs the Department of Energy to put forward plans to construct the first nuclear fusion plant by 2060, as well as for NASA to negotiate with the European, Indian, and Japanese space agencies to establish plans to extract helium-3 from the Moon to power the reactors.
February 4th, 2050: CRN achieves its ultimate goal of connecting both coasts of the US when the eastward and westward segments meet in Denver. Transcontinental travel is now possible on high speed rail, and competes heavily with the declining Interstate Highway System. Extensions from Charlotte to Miami and from Atlanta to New Orleans and Houston are also opened.
May 10th, 2050: Wolves are reintroduced to the future site of Buffalo Commons National Park in the United States, beginning with 50 individuals in 10 packs. The population of bison in the park is estimated at 25,000 and rapidly growing. Over 1800 Native Americans and other former farmers have signed on to become employees of the National Park Service, while most people have moved to richer farmlands available in Nebraska and Kansas. About 300 people refuse to move from their farms, and will remain in place for the foreseeable future. The park is an ambitious attempt begun by President Boone to restore part of the American West to its original status.
November 2nd, 2050: US Midterm Elections; The GOP makes massives gains and captures the House of Representatives for the first time since 2036, ending tricameral Democratic rule in Washington. However, they fail to attain a majority in the Senate, where Vice President Solis keeps the Senate under Democratic control. Representative Parke Jeung (R) is elected the junior Senator from Oregon by a comfortable margin over his Democratic opponent.
January 6th, 2051: A report out from the United Nations indicates a steady rise in Nicaragua's HDI over the course of the previous five years. Though hovering around .611, Nicaragua is still much less well off than many of its neighbors. Despite this the existence of a burgeoning middle class is indisputable, with analysts praising the economic management of the country.
April 19th, 2051: Former President Boone hails the success of his Prompt Global Strike program on the 10-year anniversary of it going online citing that “America is safe because of the world's first non-nuclear deterrent.”
April 22nd, 2051: After former President Boone's declaration about Prompt Global Strike, Alexander Rodgers, now the Shadow Defence Secretary criticizes Boone over his foreign policy while in office sparking an international row over missile defence.
June 4th, 2051: Despite being very young and only in national office for a few years, Senator Parke Jeung (R-OR) declares his intention to run for President in 2052. However, he faces a uphill battle for the Republican nomination against the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, Senator Meghan McCain (R-AZ).
September 9th, 2051: In the race for the GOP presidential nomination, polls show a massive lead for establishment favorite Sen. Meghan McCain (R-AZ) over underdog candidate, Sen. Parke Jeung (R-OR), 48-26. Despite the massive deficit, Jeung refuses to drop out before the Iowa Caucus, declaring “this race isn't nearly finished.”
November 16th, 2051: During a debate between the Republican presidential candidates, frontrunner Senator McCain (R-AZ) is dealt a serious blow in the polls when Senator Jeung (R-OR) catches her in a bind in her response to a question on human cloning. McCain avoids giving a direct answer, stating “Cloning is a touchy issue, and while I do support it, I don't support what it stands for.” Jeung quickly pounces, stating “Well Senator? Exactly what do you support? It isn't hard to give a direct answer.” Polls afterward show a 20 point drop for McCain, leveling the GOP field for the first time in the campaign.
January 4th, 2052: Iowa Caucuses; In the GOP contest, Senator Parke Jeung shocks the political world by trumping Senator Meghan McCain, 44-38. The upset is attributed partly to Jeung's grassroots efforts to tap into the youth vote and McCain's high-profile flop in the November debate. On the Democratic side, Vice President Solis sweeps the caucus with 69% of the vote, blowing away token opposition from Governor Francis Wade (D-IN) and Senator Devin Chang (D-MN).
April 28th, 2052: Malia Obama resigns from her longtime post as United States Attorney General to run for the United States Senate seat in her home state of Illinois, the same seat once held by her father and by the current President Ryan Kirkpatrick.
August 11th, 2052: Former Mexican Senator and long time political activist Carmen Arteaga is elected President of Mexico, becoming the first PPD candidate to win, following a long, hard fought campaign against PAN candidate Eduardo Dávila.
María del Carmen Arteaga Gasco (PPD): 51.86% Eduardo Dávila de la Huerta (PAN): 48.14%
August 13th-16th, 2052: Democratic National Convention; Despite having been in power for sixteen years, the Democratic Party still manages to maintain a highly energetic atmosphere when nominating Vice President Antonin Solis (D-CA) as the presidential nominee in New York City. Solis picks Senator Chris Sparkman (D-NY) as his running mate.
August 21st-24th, 2052: Republican National Convention; After defying the political odds and his meteoric rise in the primaries, Senator Parke Jeung is nominated as the GOP's presidential candidate. To appease dissatisfied McCain supporters, Jeung taps McCain backer Senator Whitney Sinclair (R-CA) as his running mate.
November 2nd, 2052: After four terms of Democratic rule, the Republican ticket Sen. Parke Jeung (R-OR)/Sen. Whitney Sinclair (R-CA) defeats the Progressive ticket of Vice President Antonin Solis (D-CA)/Sen. Chris Sparkman (D-NY). Jeung is the youngest elected president at 38 years old, as well as the first Asian American President (Korean descent). Malia Obama is elected Senator from Illinois with 52 percent of the vote as a Democratic candidate, after a highly competitive campaign against the Republican candidate, popular Governor Glenn Forrester.
Senator Parke Jeung (R-OR) / Senator Whitney Sinclair (R-CA) - 272 EV - 49.1% PV Vice President Antonin Solis (D-CA) / Senator Chris Sparkman (D-NY) - 266 EV - 48.7% PV
January 20th, 2053: In his inaugural speech, President Jeung lays out his idea for America's future. He says America must be a leader for freedom around the globe, and work to hunt down the “last vestiges of tyranny and hatred”. In conjunction with this goal, he announces that the United States Air Force will begin taking part in the international intervention in the DRC, but firmly rejects the use of ground forces. In addition, he calls for closer ties with China, saying that “the differences of the past few years must be discussed and forgiven.”. There are rumors that he and Vice-President Sinclair disagree on both Congo and China, with Sinclair pushing for more aggressiveness in both areas.
August 9th, 2053: Former President Marco Rubio dies after suffering a massive stroke at his home in Miami, Florida; he was 82 years old. Rubio is remembered as the only two-term Republican president since George W. Bush, though the former is a fonder memory in most Americans' and historians' minds.
January 28th, 2054: Senator Jeff Clinton-Mesvinsky (D), regarded as a Democratic star, is elected to be chair of the United States Senate Finance Committee, a powerful position which will gain him increasing influence in Washington in years to come. Up for reelection in 2056 and only 52 years old, the Senator has approval ratings in the mid-70s.
May 17th, 2054: Former President Julian Castro dies after a long battle with liver cancer at the age of 79; despite significant advances in cancer treatment research and the advent of lab-grown organ and tissues, Castro's cancer was too advanced to treat effectively. He leaves behind a mixed legacy in many Americans' minds, being the first Hispanic president and attempting Social Security reform, but also his highly-publicized clashes with his own party's leadership over the ideological direction of the Democratic Party.
September 22nd, 2054: Addressing an enthusiastic crowd of Nicaraguan expatriates in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico, noted Nicaraguan-born journalist Abrahán Zúniga vows to return to his native home and run for president against the aging Brunilda Laparra. Family members and friends repeatedly warn Zúniga against doing so due to threats against his life. Zúniga remains resolute in his convictions, and leaves for Nicaragua several days later.
October 8th, 2054: President Parke Jeung starts having a series of severe migraines, which the young president blames on the stresses of the job he occupies. However, after several weeks of trying countless remedies to alleviate the headaches, Jeung's family and doctor pushes him to see a neurologist to check if there is something more concerning causing his condition.
December 24th, 2054: President Jeung is privately notified that the cause of his severe migraines were indeed neurological. After looking over test results, Jeung's doctor tells him and his family that the President has been diagnosed with brain cancer, caused by a malignant tumor, and that it is unknown whether the tumor is operable.
January 3rd, 2055: President Jeung consults his cabinet on the diagnosis with brain cancer. Vice President Whitney Sinclair is personally consulted on the possibility of dealing with a presidential succession if the incumbent were to pass away.
January 5th, 2055: President Jeung announces to the nation of his brain cancer diagnosis. Many are shocked about the youngest president in American history being stricken with a potentially fatal condition.
January 13th, 2055: Doctors at the George Washington Hospital inform President Jeung that his brain tumor is operable, and schedule an operation for the 20th of February.
January 30th, 2055: In his State of the Union address, President Parke Jeung announces that the United States will begin to contribute planes and drones to the international intervention in the Congolese Civil War, citing the recent massacre of 2000 Muslim civilians in Mpandaka. The intervention, while achieving some success, has not destroyed but only delayed the rebels. A humanitarian crisis is brewing in the west of the country, as refugees fleeing the rebels have settled, leading to severe overpopulation and food shortages.
February 20th, 2055: President Jeung emerges from surgery with a full recovery, his malignant brain tumor having been successfully removed.
June 28th, 2055: Despite official government polling on the upcoming Nicaraguan elections claiming otherwise, independent pollsters show Abrahán Zúniga leading the incumbent Laparra by 10 percentage points. An independent survey of people in the Nicaraguan capital also demonstrates people's desire for a “change of pace.”
March 19th, 2056: Jamie Gray, pastor of an Ohio mega church, announces the creation of Christian Progress, a christian-based anti-poverty movement that aims to work world-wide to fight poverty in all areas.
May 8th, 2056: At President Jeung's urging, the United States Congress passes the Nuclear Fusion Development Act, which provides funds to build twelve fusion plants across the United States. Once fully operational, the twelve plants will provide approximately 15% of the electric consumption in the United States*. The Act, passed two years after the first viable fusion reaction occurred, was delayed by Congress' safety concerns.
November 4th, 2056: President Park Jeung and Vice President Whitney Sinclair are re-elected over the Democratic ticket of North Carolina Governor Ann Blumenthal/Indiana Governor Francis Wade. The election is reflective of the mainly positive mood of voters in response to the relatively prosperous economic climate and perceived calm of foreign affairs, and attribute it to the mostly uneventful Jeung presidency.
President Parke Jeung (R-OR) / Vice President Whitney Sinclair (R-CA) - 360 EV - 53.3% PV Governor Ann Blumenthal (D-NC) / Governor Francis Wade (D-IN) - 178 EV - 44.9% PV
November 5th, 2056: After early exit polls in the Nicaraguan general election indicate Abrahán Zúniga the winner for the presidency, there is a sudden loss of communications with the National Electoral Committee counting the ballots. Roughly 36 hours later the incumbent Laparra is declared President-elect.
November 7th, 2056: Mass demonstrations erupt in Managua. Abrahán Zúniga, addressing a crowd of nearly 50,000 in the capital's Revolution Square, calls for a recount of ballots, on the condition it be done by independent observers. President Laparra rejects any such proposals, calling the results “free and fair.”
November 10th, 2056: As protest continue to grip Nicaragua, a series of explosions rip apart the facade of the Intercontinental Hotel in Managua, killing 114 people, many of them foreigners. Laparra lays blame on the protesters demanding her removal from power, while Zúniga, who is now the face of the Nicaraguan opposition, points the finger at Laparra's radical supporters.
November 12th, 2056: Using the bombing of the Intercontinental as a pretext, Laparra orders elements of the Nicaraguan Army to quell the protesters “by any means necessary.” By the evening much of Managua is pacified, with several thousand reported dead. Reports also surface that Zúniga was killed by the military in all the chaos.
November 13th, 2056: Suspicions are confirmed when video is leaked of Abrahán Zúniga's blood-soaked corpse being paraded by overzealous soldiers through the streets of Managua. Protest boils over into full scale rebellion, as the cities of León, Matagalpa, Chinandega and Jinotega are overrun by enraged citizens who refuse to recognize the Managua government. In Managua itself citizens protest any way they can, many resorting to long night time chants of “muerte a la perra!”, among the relative safety of their rooftops, along with other less savory names for the Nicaraguan leader.
December 4th, 2056: For the first time in its history, an American is elected to lead the United Nations. Former American President Ryan Kirkpatrick will be sworn in on January 1st. Many view this as a sign that America is no longer powerful enough that them holding the post of Secretary-General is a threat to global stability.
December 8th, 2056: President Jeung is afflicted with a second bout of migraines, despite the brain tumor that caused them previously having been removed a year earlier. After an immediate visit with his doctor, Jeung is notified that his cancer has relapsed, with a more malignant but still operable tumor.
December 11th, 2056: After conferring with his advisors, cabinet, and Vice President Sinclair, President Jeung announces to the American public he will be undergoing surgery once more to remove the relapsed brain tumor. During the one month period where Jeung will stay in the hospital under supervised care, he relinquishes his duties to Sinclair, who becomes Acting President.
December 28th, 2056: During surgery to remove the cancerous tumor from President Jeung, the surgical team accidentally severs a major artery, causing a cerebral hemorrhage. Doctors struggle to stop the bleeding, but the trauma from the mistake is too much, and the young president dies on the operating table. The nation is completely shocked by the situation, and Vice President Sinclair is sworn in as the 52nd President of the United States.
December 29th, 2056: President Whitney Sinclair declares a national week of mourning for the late President Jeung, stating, “America has lost a great leader, one with a vision that promised to take the nation forward into a new era. We must not let that vision die with President Parke Louis Jeung… we will strive, we will move forward.”
January 20th, 2057: President Whitney Sinclair nominates Governor Ike Davis (R-OH) to fill the vacancy in the Vice Presidency. The former Major Leaguer is later confirmed by the Senate.
February 5th, 2057: Due to continual violence from within Nicaragua, Mexican President Carmen Arteaga addresses Congress on it's first day of session for the year to lift immigration restrictions on Nicaraguans seeking political asylum in Mexico. In response President Laparra declares Mexican ambassador to Nicaragua Sergio Aceves persona non grata, demanding his immediate departure from the country. The next day Mexico follows suit and severs diplomatic relations with Nicaragua.
February 11th, 2057: A joint-speech by four world leaders (President Sinclair of the United States, Prime Minister Supré of Europe, Prime Minister Rajesh of India, and President Kiongozi of the EAF) announces that they have committed over 300,000 soldiers to an invasion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Their goals are to eliminate all genocidal and rebel forces, establish a new government, hold elections within eight years (as PM Rajesh says, “We're in for the long haul, and our commitment will not waver”), and to establish a precedent of humanitarian intervention. Or, as President Sinclair famously puts it, “We'd like it if they'd bloody well stop killing each other, and we're going to put a stop to it!”. Troops from South Africa, Nigeria, Brazil, and Egypt, and twenty-two other allies will also be joining the invasion force. André Lumbaya, leader of the SCZ, says that he will resist the “infidel invasion with all available force, and God shall rain strikes upon the sinners as he did at Sodom and Gomorrah!”.
February 28th, 2057: Mexican President Carmen Arteaga gives a speech near the skeletal hull of Mexico's second yet to be completed aircraft carrier at Naval Shipyard 18 in Acapulco, reiterating her commitment to ensure hemispheric peace and security, not being shy of blasting the Laparra regime in Nicaragua. American President Sinclair, who was in Mexico on a state visit, stresses the United States commitment as well, vowing to work closely with her Mexican counterpart.
March 10th, 2057: The United Nations officially issues economic sanctions against Nicaragua, as the violence from the election protests that previous January continue to escalate.
March 27th, 2057: The Army for a Democratic Nicaragua (FAND), an insurgent group formed from defected Nicaraguan Army units and regular citizens bearing arms, leaks video stating that they aim to overthrow Brunilda Laparra and her government. The men speaking in the video all wear masks and do not disclose their location.
March 29th, 2057: The Nicaraguan Departments of León, Matagalpa, Jinotenga, Nueva Segovia, Madriz, Estelí and Chinandega all declare their allegiance to the Free Nicaraguan forces. The governors of all the renegade Departments meet in Matagalpa where they proclaim the Council for a Free Nicaragua (CNL), claiming to represent the legitimate government. The elected Chairman of the CNL and governor of Matagalpa Alfredo Zamudio issues a statement, declaring that the people of Nicaragua “deserve good government and piece of mind, something Managua has yet to deliver.”
April 5th, 2057: With much of northwest Nicaragua in a state of rebellion against her authority, President Laparra orders military units still loyal to her to reign in the “traitorous provinces, by any means necessary!” As if to push her point further, Laparra begins aerial bombardments of Matagalpa, León and Chinandega.
May 27th, 2057: A report issued by Amnesty International claims that civil war in Nicaragua has displaced as many as 3 million people, with tens of thousands of refugees rushing into Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico and the United States.
July 14th, 2057: An intense shootout ensues in Mexico City's Chapultapec Park between six heavily armed gunmen and Federal Police. Two of the gunmen are killed, while the survivors are arrested and taken into custody. Later identified as Laparrista agents, they are purported to have gone on to try and assassinate Mexican President Arteaga. A firestorm erupts among nationalist circles, questioning the rationality of allowing so many Nicaraguan refugees into the country.
July 25th, 2057: In Mexico's Chamber of Deputies, a furor is roused over a proposed measure that would strictly reduce and control immigration into Mexico. Co-sponsor to the relating congressional bill, Deputy from Guanajuato David Fuentes of the PAN is not shy of his dislike for the surge of Nicaraguans entering the country. At a press conference at Los Pinos the following day, President Arteaga makes it clear that she would veto any immigration bill that made it to her desk that was designed to harm the political refugees entering the country.
September 23rd, 2057: After nearly six months of continuous seige and aerial bombardment, Matagalpa is overwhelmed by elements of the Nicaraguan military. Many members of the CNL trek north into Honduras, as the Laparristas close in from the south and the coast. Meanwhile, the FAND retreats into the dense jungle of eastern Nicaragua. Supreme Commander of the FAND General Abel Barajas releases a statement early the next day, vowing to “bury Laparra in due time.”
October 30th, 2057: Nicaraguan President Brunilda Laparra proclaims victory in what had been dubbed the Nicaraguan Civil War of 2057, claiming that the entire country was under her firm control once again. In reality, large swaths of eastern Nicaragua's Autonomous Territories are under Rebel control.
May 12th, 2058: Three suicide car bombers in Kinshasa attack the PEACECOM ground headquarters, targeting visiting dignitaries as they arrive. Former US President and United Nations Secretary-General Kirkpatrick is gravely injured, and dies before he can be taken to a hospital. Other deaths include Wilhelm Königswarter, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and Zhuang Xiaotian, the Chinese foreign minister. In total, 29 people are killed, and 137 injured.
May 15th, 2058: In response to the Kinshasa suicide bombing, US President Sinclair announces that the United States will send 15,000 more troops to the FSC, along with 15,000 additional international troops.
July 4th, 2058: President Whitney Sinclair of the United States officially opens Buffalo Commons National Park, the largest national park in the United States. Covering about 51,000 square miles (an area larger than seventeen American states), the park supports abundant populations of bison, wolves, antelope, and beaver, and is expected to attract over a million visitors in its first year. The first superintendent, Wakinyan Rousseau, a Lakota Indian, says that Buffalo Commons “will be the greatest national park in the history of the world.” The cities of Billings, Rapid City, and Bismarck act as gateways to the park, and all three have experienced a spurt of economic growth, as have two Native American reservations which make up part of the park.
November 2nd, 2058: U.S. Midterm Elections; The Democratic Party recaptures the House of Representatives for the first time since 2050, riding on a wave of popular frustration toward the growing military casualties in the Congo. The Senate narrowly remains in GOP hands, however, with Vice President Davis providing the tie-breaker vote. In California, Lt. Governor Norse Cavalier succeeds the popular Tom Cambell to become Governor, after the latter decided not to seek a second term due to being diagnosed with bladder cancer.
December 31st, 2058: A year-end round-up in the New York Times finds that so far, 381 Americans have been killed in the Congolese occupation. 1,293 PEACECOM troops have been killed, and André Lubaya, the leader of the Soldiers of Christian Zaire, has not yet been found. The article does note two bright spots; the Muslim population has settled down, and no longer is engaging in revenge attacks against Christians, and the Ba'hai militias have mostly been dismantled.
January 10th, 2059: Protest marches are held across the United States and Europe against the Congo intervention. Over 20,000 march in New York and Berlin, with smaller crowds in Paris, Chicago, LA, and Rome. The protestors demand a drawdown of coalition forces and nearly immediate democratic elections in the Congo.
May 19th, 2059: After reportedly suffering a heart attack, Nicaraguan President Laparra is placed under emergency care at a Managua hospital. Her eldest son, Edgardo Laparra, becomes acting President while his mother is incapacitated.
June 15th, 2059: Senator Malia Obama of Illinois declares her candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination, running on a platform of “withdrawal from a flawed intervention halfway across the world”.
June 22nd, 2059: In a surprise announcement, General Francisco Hernandez declares his intention to challenge President Sinclair for the Republican presidential nomination. Hernandez was previously commander of American forces in the Congo until he resigned over disagreements with the President of expanding the country's military involvement, calling the war “grossly misguided and mismanaged”.
July 1st, 2059: After supposedly suffering from complications of the heart, Nicaraguan President Brunilda Laparra, the only leader the country had known for over 27 years, dies while in emergency care. Her eldest son, Edgardo Laparra, is immediately elevated to the Presidency. It would only be revealed to the world nearly a decade later that Brunilda Laparra was actually poisoned by Edgardo while in her hospital bed.
November 15th, 2059: Regarding the Congo intervention, a report leaked from the European Armed Forces finds that more European and American troops have been killed in the last five months than in the previous two years of the PEACECOM mission. The report suggests that SCZ guerrillas are targeting Westerners to try and force them to withdraw. Additionally, the report cites a Foreign Ministry memo which suggests that coalition forces evacuate all remaining Muslims from the FSC when they depart. This sparks debate across the coalition countries.
January 5th, 2060: In the Iowa Republican Caucus, President Sinclair narrowly defeats challenger General Francisco Hernandez 52-47. Despite a large chunk of Republican voters being in favor of withdrawal from the Congo, many believed General Hernandez would humiliate the country in light of a “cowardly retreat”, as Chairman Stephen Harris (R-MO) of the Senate Foreign Relations committee labeled it.
March 1st, 2060: After several significant defeats to President Sinclair in the Republican primaries, General Hernandez suspends his presidential campaign, but refuses to give his support to his primary rival.
April 17th, 2060: Governor Norse Cavalier (R-CA) calls on President Sinclair to cease nation building in the Congo, and pleads for a return to nonintervention. When the President ignores him, he angrily resigns, and enlists in the military as a command officer.
May 21st, 2060: In a highly unusual move, the Federal Electoral Commission sets up a series of five presidential debates (two before the conventions, and three after) due to the ongoing debate over American involvement in the Congo War. Despite the Sinclair campaign's vehement opposition to an expanded debate series, public pressure forces them to accept the proposal.
June 3rd, 2060: In the wake of elections in the FSC, American President Sinclair's approval ratings have fallen to the high '30s. Polls now show that 81% of Americans support a paced withdrawal, and for the first time, a majority support immediate withdrawal. The United States has sustained 7,125 casualties in three years, with 1359 fatalities. Enrollment in the armed forces has dropped by 82%.
July 4th, 2060: Former President Kirsten Gillibrand passes away due to heart failure at the age of 93. Her legacy is a positive one, being credited with putting the United States on the path to recovery from the Great Recession of 2014-19, as well as laying the foundation for the alliance with India; her funeral is attended by over thirty heads of state and fifty thousand spectators in Washington, D.C.
July 20th, 2060: In the first presidential election debate, President Sinclair of the United States blurts that she would consider reinstating the draft in order to win the Congo War, stating: “We must win this war with discipline and honor, no matter what the cost. If we have to put a million men in the Congo to uproot the mass murderers, then so be it.” In the wake of her comment, Sinclair's approval ratings drop to 31%. European leader Maria Draghi is similarly in hot water for her recent suggestion that Europe take in all of the 9 million remaining Congolese Muslims.
July 21st, 2060: The night after the first presidential debates, General Francisco Hernandez shocks the political world once again by endorsing the Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Malia Obama. Hernandez states in his endorsement, “Our involvement in the Congo may have been for the best of intentions, but President Sinclair has thrown American lives away in pursuit of an enemy that evades us and will not engage in diplomacy. Senator Obama understands that we have completed the task at hand, and there is no need for us to prolong our occupation of a country that has successfully elected its own government. As she said so eloquently last night, let's bring our boys and girls home.”
August 15th, 2060: Former Political Science professor at the UNAM, as well as Mayor of Mexico City Nezahualcóyotl “Neza” Sepúlveda is elected president of Mexico in the second round of voting. Viewed as the political protoge to Arteaga, Sepúlveda vows to uphold his predecessor's foreign policy, especially in regards to relations in Central America.
August 16th-19th, 2060: At the Democratic convention in Seattle, Senator Malia Obama (D-IL) is nominated for president over token opposition. She taps Senator Jeffory Clinton-Mezvinsky (D-NY) as her running mate, marking the first time two descendants of former presidents have been nominated on the same ticket, Malia being the daughter of Barack Obama and Jeffory the grandson of Bill Clinton.
September 26th, 2060: Colonel (and former California governor) Norse Cavalier receives a Purple Heart after being wounded while fighting in the Congo, and is praised by many libertarians and Progressives for risking his life in the line of duty, rather than remaining a politician. He decides to continue his tour of duty, refusing a promotion to Brigadier General, saying “I don't want to hide behind a desk while our boys are out there getting killed!” Older Americans are reminded of Ron Paul, another anti-war Republican.
October 13th, 2060: In a surprising turn of events, elements of the Salvadorian military successfully launch a coup d'état against President Jaime Olivarez, detaining him in his home in San Salvador in the early morning hours of October 13th. The coup is relatively bloodless, though Mexico and the United States soon follow up on a fresh round of protests, no less for the fact that Nicaragua had a hand in the coup.
November 5th, 2060: The Democratic ticket of Senator Malia Obama of Illinois/Senator Jeffory Clinton-Mezvinsky of New York is elected in a landslide over the Republican ticket of President Whitney Sinclair of California/Vice President Ike Davis of Ohio. Obama's victory is interpreted as a mandate to end American involvement in the Congo War, and a rejection of Sinclair's determination to win the war.
Senator Malia Obama (D-IL) / Senator Jeffory Clinton-Mezvinsky (D-NY) - 353 EV - 52.9% PV President Whitney Sinclair (R-CA) / Vice President Ike Davis (R-OH) - 185 EV - 46.6% PV
February 20th, 2061: American forces begin withdrawal from the Federated State of the Congo. Of the 105,000 American troops, 20,000 depart in March, with the intention of having all American troops leave by the end of 2061. Meanwhile, President Obama of the United States calls a special PEACECOM head of government convention to discuss the plausibility of evacuating the Congo's 10 million Muslims.
March 5th, 2061: PEACECOM leaders agree to a plan, with the consent of the Congolese government, to dissolve the Federated State of the Congo. In the west, and along the coast, a mostly-Muslim country will exist, beginning on July 1st. On the same date, much of the west of the country will be absorbed into the Republic of the Congo and Angola. Meanwhile, the east will be left as a remnant, occupied by African and Indian troops until 2065.
April 18th, 2061: Col. Norse Cavalier is severely injured, losing his right arm, while defending a military outpost in the Congo. He saves the lives of everyone inside by attempting to disarm a bomb, and creating a diversion allowing civilians and military personnel to escape. After a cybernetic replacement and a blood transfusion, President Obama gives him a Silver Star for his bravery, and praises his courageous defense of America in the line of duty. He declines an appointment to Department of Defense, and asks her for a speedier withdrawal. Although they are friendly, both know he will be a serious contender for President in the future, should he decide to run.
April 24th, 2061: San Salvador Declaration of Free Association: At a summit between Edgardo Laparra and Salvadorian “acting President” General Ramiro Galdamez, both leaders sign the Declaration of Free Association between the Republic of El Salvador and the Republic of Nicaragua. The declaration, which will take effect on January 1st of the following year, stipulates a political union between the two nations, with the dismantling of trade and travel restriction between both countries.
December 20th, 2061: The last American occupation troops leave the Republic of Kikongo, in the Congo; the total number of PEACECOM troops has dropped to 156,000, from a peak of 384,000.
April 12th, 2062: Former Secretary-General of the UN and President of Mexico Minerva Hernández dies at the age of 92 at a hospital in Mexico City. President Sepúlveda orders 10 days of mourning, and her body to lie in state at the National Palace. At her funeral, which is attended by 21 heads of state from across the Americas and from other parts of the world, Sepúlveda eulogizes her as “the exemplary leader who brought Mexico from the brink and made it a greater place to live.” Indeed, in public opinion polls Hernández is seen as the greatest Mexican President of the 21st Century.
January 30th, 2063: President Malia Obama announces her full support for Jamie Gray's Christian Progress movement at a ceremony on the White House Lawn.
June 19th, 2063: Norse Cavalier is awarded the Medal of Honor by President Obama. He receives it in a private ceremony with only the President, Vice President Clinton-Mezvinsky, and Cavalier's family in attendance (he is very uncomfortable about over-exposing his family to the press).
September 26th, 2063: Former governor and Congo veteran Norse Cavalier announces that he will run for the United States Senate in his home state of California. Many consider him to be the favorite for the seat, and the California GOP kingmakers will quickly clear the field for the popular war hero. He will not campaign for the nomination while serving active duty, however.
November 6th, 2064: President Obama and Vice President Clinton-Mezvinsky are comfortably re-elected over former Vice President Ike Davis (R-OH) and Governor John Weld (R-MA).
President Malia Obama (D-IL) / Vice President Jeffory Clinton-Mezvinsky (D-NY) - 416 EV - 57.1% PV Former Vice President Ike Davis (R-OH) / Governor Jonathan Weld (R-MA) - 122 EV - 40.6% PV
Norse Cavlier is elected to the US Senate in California for the Republican Party.
November 5th, 2065: After over two years of publicity thanks to President Obama's public support, the Christian Progress organization has become a world-wide phenomenon. Similar to the World Vision group of the 20th and early 21st century, though more openly religious, the group fights poverty both in developed countries and undeveloped countries. This day, however, is the day Christian Progress begins to become a political organization. Whether due to Malia Obama's support, or due to Jamie Gray's own personal politics, the group begins to support political campaigns both financially and via the group's associated publicity.
December 4th, 2065: The bulk of CRN Plan 2065 is completed on this date, with all but the Atlanta to Dallas route open for business.
June 17th, 2066: The Atlanta to Dallas route of the CRN is open for business, after a slight delay due to political wrestling with the state government of Arkansas, who currently are still opposed to the system running through their state.
August 17th, 2066: Governor Maria Gomez (daughter of singer and actress Selena Gomez) of New York visits the opening ceremony of the Phoenix Towers in Manhattan. The twin buildings are the largest buildings in the world at 1457 and 1509 meters, far surpassing the Burj Khalifa, the previous record-holder, which is 829 meters tall. The towers were heavily influenced by the design of the World Trade Center, though with a more modern and sleek design. They were also influenced by the famous architect Donald Trump, whose designs for the New World Trade Center were passed over in favor of the Freedom Tower concept, which proved unpopular with NY state residents. She spearheaded the movement for a new and record-breaking structure to be erected to attract attention and business to New York. It worked, and business begins to pour in, and the Phoenix Towers' 237 floors are filled with cafes, apartments, offices, and more. The new buildings will become an iconic image of the New York City skyline for decades to come.
November 8th, 2066: U.S. Midterm Elections; the GOP sweeps both houses of Congress, building on their House majority and capturing the Senate for the first time since 2056. President Obama famously remarks that for the Democratic, “this is our 2010.” Also noteworthy in this cycle is the first Republican majority in the California State Assembly in over a century.
December 28th, 2066: Senator Norse Cavalier (R-CA) announces his candidacy for President of the United States, promising to restore America's economy and maintain friendly relations with both allies and rival powers.
May 23rd, 2067: Representative Bryan Wilson (P-CA) barnstorms through Virginia, New Jersey, Kentucky, and more in support of Populist candidates. He plans to claim the Populist nomination for himself come summer, and has been one of its main founders (and most loyal crusaders.) He is one of only five Representatives (and seven members of Congress), who supports the new party. He lauds it as “the new Bull Moose Party, but this time, people will make the right choice”.
July 22nd, 2067: Rep. Bryan Wilson barnstorms the northeast, quietly rounding up delegates for the Populist convention. He is the poster boy of the neo-Populist movement, which has flourished in the south and midwest. His fiery rhetoric and crisp skills as an orator make him an important spokesman for the party. Meanwhile, the off-year elections are coming up, and Wilson is working tirelessly for the Populist candidates, totaling an average of thirteen hours a day on the campaign trail.
November 7th, 2067: The Populist and Republican parties sweep the day, with the GOP taking 2 new governorships, the Farmer-Labor one. However, there are five legislatures with contested seats, and the Populists take over 20% of the Mississippi house seats and several in VA, as well as a few in NJ and KY. Meanwhile, the GOP handily wins all five legislatures, but everyone is paying attention to the Populists' historic gains.
February 19th, 2068: Senator Arabella Rose Kushner (R-NY) campaigns for Senator Cavalier in Florida. Cavalier has swept Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, the only Republican (or Democrat) to ever do so, and her activism is merely a formality, as he is projected to crush the former Vice President by a twenty-point margin. Kushner has cemented herself on Cavalier's shortlist for Vice President, and has plans to run for the presidency in 2076, 2080, or even 2072 if need be. She has also supported the growing libertarian wing of the GOP, using the growing movement to throw herself into the spotlight and defeat the popular incumbent only four years ago.
June 2nd, 2068: The Populist convention is held in Columbus, Nebraska as a homage to the Populist party of the late 1800s and early 1900s, and as a tribute to Wilson's political hero, William Jennings Bryan. To no one's surprise, the Convention easily nominates Wilson as its candidate for president (he was the only candidate, only a few scattering delegates were counted against him). Wilson also will essentially have full control over the party platform, and his Vice Presidential nominee. He selects Senator Kyle Jennings of Minnesota as his running mate, hoping to give him the edge he needs in the Midwest to establish a truly national party. Some polls show him in second place to Cavalier in a competitive three-way tace, but this lead is expected to disappear. Even Wilson himself believes he has no chance of winning, but “I choose to take up the banner of my party this year to help encourage the local effort. It's what Eugene Debs did as well. No matter what happens this year, be it victory or a third place finish, I would like to remind all of you that we still win this year!”
July 14th, 2068: Senator Norse Cavalier of California is easily nominated for President on the first ballot, helping steer the platform to pro-reform, including on elections: “I would like to remind you that so many hard-working Americans don't get to have their voices heard on election day, which is why I have proposed on numerous occasions, in the form of both legislation and my own opinion, that we either have a national holiday from work on election day or, in my opinion the better alternative, we have voting take place on both Saturday and Sunday so if you forget one day, you have the chance to get down there and cast the most powerful weapon in our great arsenal of democracy: the vote.”
June 2nd, 2068: The Populist convention is held in Columbus, Nebraska as a homage to the Populist party of the late 1800s and early 1900s, and as a tribute to Wilson's political hero, William Jennings Bryan. To no one's surprise, the Convention easily nominates Wilson as its candidate for president (he was the only candidate, only a few scattering delegates were counted against him). Wilson also will essentially have full control over the party platform, and his Vice Presidential nominee. He selects Senator Kyle Jennings of Minnesota as his running mate, hoping to give him the edge he needs in the Midwest to establish a truly national party. Some polls show him in second place to Cavalier in a competitive three-way tace, but this lead is expected to disappear. Even Wilson himself believes he has no chance of winning, but “I choose to take up the banner of my party this year to help encourage the local effort. It's what Eugene Debs did as well. No matter what happens this year, be it victory or a third place finish, I would like to remind all of you that we still win this year!”
July 14th, 2068: Senator Norse Cavalier of California is easily nominated for President on the first ballot, helping steer the platform to pro-reform, including on elections: “I would like to remind you that so many hard-working Americans don't get to have their voices heard on election day, which is why I have proposed on numerous occasions, in the form of both legislation and my own opinion, that we either have a national holiday from work on election day or, in my opinion the better alternative, we have voting take place on both Saturday and Sunday so if you forget one day, you have the chance to get down there and cast the most powerful weapon in our great arsenal of democracy: the vote.”
July 27th, 2068: At the end of the Populist national convention, Wilson blasts President Obama as “a war-monger” and “a pathetic excuse for a liberal.” His final speech is important, as it lays out the Populist Party's strategy: to attack the Republicans on the right for abandoning their social conservatism while he will attack the Democrats on the left as neoliberals and warmongers. It is largely working, as recent polling shows Cavalier with 41% to the Vice President's 35% and Wilson's 23%. However, these numbers are likely to change, and there are still three months left until election day.
August 1st, 2068: Democratic National Convention; Vice President Clinton-Mezvinsky accepts his Democratic presidential nomination amidst a deeply divided convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. In a weak attempt to appeal to the moderate-conservative wing of the party, he taps the youthful Senator Clyde Galloway of South Carolina as his running mate. While Galloway is highly popular with moderate-conservatives, polls show his presence on the Democratic ticket helps little in his home region of the South, and there are concerns about his inexperience with only two years as a Senator.
August 16th, 2068: Republican National Convention; Senator Norse Cavalier of California accepts the Republican presidential nomination at the party's convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. In a highly surprising move, Cavalier chooses someone outside the party as his running mate: independent Governor Maria Gomez of New York. While some party officials are disappointed at the unorthodox choice, many are optimistic of the prospect of GOP expansion into previously-thought unreachable regions of the country, especially given the current divide within the Democratic Party.
November 2nd, 2068: Senator Norse Cavalier (R-CA) is elected to the presidency in the biggest Republican landslide since Marco Rubio's re-election victory in 2032. Vice President Clinton-Mezvinsky (D-NY) and Congressman Brian Wilson (P-CA) split the respective bases of the Democratic Party, which contributed greatly to Cavalier's overwhelming victory.
Senator Norse Cavalier (R-CA) / Governor Maria Gomez (I-NY) - 379 EV - 48.8% PV Vice President Jeffory Clinton-Mezvinsky (D-NY) / Senator Clyde Galloway (D-SC) - 113 EV - 31.2% PV Congressman Bryan Wilson (P-CA) / Senator Kyle Jennings (P-MN) - 46 EV - 19.1% PV
January 20th, 2069: In his Inaugural Address, President Cavalier lays out his legislative agenda, the “Contract for America”, which will include tariff reductions, the consolidation of several cabinet positions into a total of 10 departments “as we enter the twenty-second century”, a private option in healthcare, across-the-board tax cuts, reduction of fraud in the entitlement programs, a Concert of Democracies which includes all of America's allies, and a balanced-budget amendment, as well as increased government transparency and civil liberties. Few living Americans recall the reference to a similar Contract with America promised by House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich in 1994. However, those who do are pleased with the President's similar agenda. The President retains his star power, entering office with a sixty-three percent approval rating as the president boldly declairs “We have the duty and honor of preserving this great nation for the next generation, as we rocket into space, try to touch the face of God, and strive for excellence. However, first and formost, we must remember how we have gotten here: because we are Americans.”
January 21st, 2069: President Cavalier gets down to work, laying out his agenda for his first 100 days in office: tax cuts, civil rights for Scions, and a Concert of Democracies. With Republican supermajorities in both houses of Congress, he will face little opposition on the first two items; however, the latter will pose a challenge. He quickly meets with House Speaker Liz Templeton (R-FL) and Senate Majority Leader Sean Hannity III (C-NY), as well as failed Vice Presidential candidate Senator Calloway (D-SC).
February 7th, 2069: President Cavalier rams through a comprehensive tax reform bill, which will phase out much of the IRS, lower rates greatly on businesses and personal income across-the-board, reduce the capital gains tax by 15%, eliminate deductions, and collapse the system into three brackets and indexing them to inflation, eliminating the need for most tax lawyers. It also features bold tariff reductions, which is immensely popular among both parties, save for the uber-populist Democrats and Populist party, the former still reeling from losses in the recent elections.
March 27th, 2069: A Massive EF5 Tornado Strikes Downtown Saint Louis, Missouri, Killing over 7 Thousand People, the most deaths caused by any Tornado ever, and causing Hundreds of Billions of Dollars in Property Damage. President Cavalier deploys FEMA and declares a National Day of Mourning in response.
June 29th, 2069: Seeing opposition from powerful interests within his own party and the opposition, President Cavalier takes his case to the people, urging for them to call their congressmen and demand an audit of the federal reserve, and to “allow these powerful bureaucrats to be fired for wrongdoing, just like everyone else.” By July 2, the Federal Reserve Reform Act is narrowly passed by Congress after arm-twisting by both the president and Senator Calloway (D-SC), however, the actions of the latter are much less noisy.
July 4th, 2069: President Cavalier is asked to give a speech during the Fourth of July celebrations, but declines: “I don't want to turn this day of national pride into political grandstanding, and God forbid something I do stain this most patriotic day of remembrance.” However, the president is back to his usual self the next day, this time for military reform.
July 5th, 2069: President Cavalier calls for a reform in military spending, streamlining the chain of command, and increasing space projects, including resurrection of the Star Wars Project, whose primary goal is to ensure the complete uselessness of nuclear weapons. However, this new version would be operated by the Concert of Democracies, and ultimately the United Nations, in order to ensure any nuclear warheads launched by any nation would be pulverized instantly, in theory that is.
August 21st, 2069: President Cavalier releases all details of the Kennedy Assassination; though initially supposed to be released seventy-five years after the assassination, the government still withheld nearly all information and tapes of the Warren Commission, as well as then-CIA Director George Bush's confidential tapes and diaries. The President declares, “Now we can finally begin to move on, and, over a century after this obscured and tragic event in our nation's history, we can begin to heal. As President Kennedy once said, 'Many of our goals will not be accomplished in the first one hundred days of this administration, nor will they be accomplished in the first thousand days, or perhaps even during the life of this administration. But let us begin.'” His advisors finally convinced him not to quote his predecessor using his albeit spot-on Kennedy impression, persuading him that it would come off as too uncaring.
August 7th, 2072: Several bombs are detonated at the G-13 summit at Nairobi, EAF. The building is devastated, 200 are believed to be dead and 341 more are injured. Among the casualties are such prominent world leaders as American President Norse Cavalier, UK Prime Minister Theodore Quartermain, FES Commissioner Kyriakos Amanatidis, President of the EAF Vincent Oliech, and President of the Union State Andrey Brezhnev. Chinese Premier Shao Chianglei barely survives. Suspicion immediately descends upon the remnants of the SCZ, in cooperation with other Christian Fundamentalists.
In the United States, Maria A. Gomez is sworn in as the new U.S. President, becoming the third female US president after Kirsten E. Gillibrand and Malia A. Obama. She swears to eradicate the SCZ at all costs.
August 8th, 2072: Newly sworn-in President Maria Gomez declares a national week of mourning for the fallen President Norse Cavalier. A state funeral is held three days later attended by the heads of state of over 40 countries including those of other fallen leaders. During her first speech as President, someone yells that he cant hear the quiet natured President Gomez. She responds by resoundingly proclaiming “I can hear you, sir, the cowards who killed our president can hear you, and you can bet they will hear all of us soon! We shall have justice!” Her speech is met with applause, and the older Americans recall the similar response of President George Bush at Ground Zero, days after 9/11. It wasn't a coincidence.
September 1st, 2072: President Gomez makes two historic decisions at a White House press conference; first, she announces that she will no longer be an Independent and joins the Republican Party and will run as their nominee in place of Cavalier in the upcoming presidential elections. Second, she nominates Senator Harold Faysal (R-PA) as vice president; Faysal is the first Arab American to be named to the executive branch, born to Lebanese Maronite parents in Philadelphia. Faysal is confirmed by the Senate swiftly and takes office five days later.
November 4th, 2072: President Maria Gomez and Vice President Harold Faysal are elected in the biggest popular and electoral landslide since Ronald Reagan in 1984. The sympathy vote from the late President Cavalier's assassination and progressive “ideological orgasm” (as stated off-record by Vice President Faysal) of the Democratic ticket are noted as the two main factors in Gomez's overwhelmingly decisive victory.
President Maria Gomez (R-NY) / Vice President Harold Faysal (R-PA) - 507 EV - 58.6% PV Congressman Geoffrey Yates (D-RI) / Former Senator Cynthia Vincente (D-MI) - 31 EV - 35.1% PV
Xavier D. Richardson is elected as a Senator from New Jersey for the Democrats. He is famous for being the youngest Senator in office, meeting the age requirements for office when being sworn in by just over a month. A senior prosecutor in the Trenton County Prosecutor's office, he ran as a dark horse anti-establishment candidate on a strong record of public service and riding on a strong wave of anti-establishment sentiment in the state after numerous corruption allegations damage his Republican predecessor.
Brother of the late President Norse Cavalier, Robert Michael Cavalier II has won his brother's former senate seat in a landslide election. He fell just short of the 50% in the blanket primary, and tonight has defeated former Governor Bryan Richardson by a nearly two-to-one margin, winning 61% of the vote, to take back the seat from the Democrats. The new Senator Cavalier is also sixteen years younger than his brother, and is already under fire for accusation of using the Senate Seat as a stepping stone to higher office. At his victory celebration, he “vehemently disavows any interest in seeking higher office at this time; I am going to spend the next six years on serving the people of California who tonight have spoken that this is where they want me, and working full-time as their senator.”
January 3rd, 2075: On the back of very strong results in the previous year's midterms, the Republican leadership in the new Congress move on President Gomez's civil rights agenda. The Civil Rights Bill is unveiled before press by the President, the President pro tempore, the Speaker and several prominent back benchers. It's principal effect would be to amend the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 and the Voting Rights Act to include “genetic identity or profile” as a protected class.
February 21st, 2075: The Civil Rights Bill gets stalled in committee in the House. While the Republicans have easy control of the committee, their is a cross party split on the issue. The Democrats are split between social libertarians and social conservatives on the issue of scions in general, while the Republicans are split three ways, between pro and anti scionists and by limited government-types who, 14th Amendment notwithstanding, view it as an over-reach of the federal government not in keeping with the work over the past 6 years to cut down on federal regulations. While the bill is not rejected entirely due to strong party discipline during Gomez's mid term honeymoon, they won't allow the bill to sail through either and they keep it there for a month before finally voting it through on a suprising one vote majority.
November 5th, 2077: Xavier D. Richardson is elected Governor of New Jersey for the Democrats by a margin of 8% over his Republican opponent. He runs on a platform of cleaning up government and “restoring the compassion and humanity to our state.” He studiously avoids the question of scions and transhumanist issues.
November 8th, 2078: Senator Cavalier has won the runoff with 67% of the vote to Rep. Bryan Jenning's 33%, though he sues the State for requiring the runoff after he won the blanket primary with more than a majority, attempting to overturn the runoff, which is estimated to cost over $20 million.