Emesta Kostaguard

Official Portrait, 2389 	 	 	
15th President of the United States of Earth 	15th President of the United States of Earth 	15th President of the United States of Earth 	15th President of the United States of Earth
In Office 	 	 	
May 25, 2386 - January 20, 2389 	 	 	
Vice President: Cornelius Kirkman 	 	 	
Preceded by: Piyush Ohmstede 	 	 	
Succeeded by: John Sargent Singer 	 	 	
126th President of the United States 	126th President of the United States 	126th President of the United States 	126th President of the United States
In Office 	 	 	
January 20, 2385 - May 25, 2386 	 	 	
Vice President: Cornelius Kirkman 	 	 	
Preceded by: Piyush Ohmstede 	 	 	
Succeeded by: John Sargent Singer 	 	 	
50th First Servant of State of Germany 	50th First Servant of State of Germany 	50th First Servant of State of Germany 	50th First Servant of State of Germany
In Office 	 	 	
January 20, 2385 - May 25, 2386 	 	 	
Second Servant: Victor Stabb 	 	 	
Preceded by: Piyush Ohmstede 	 	 	
Succeeded by: John Sargent Singer 	 	 	
128th Vice President of the United States 	128th Vice President of the United States 	128th Vice President of the United States 	128th Vice President of the United States
In Office 	 	 	
June 7, 2386 - January 20, 2389 	 	 	
Preceded by: Piyush Ohmstede 	 	 	
Succeeded by: Cornelius Kirkman 	 	 	
United States Representative from West Virginia	United States Representative from West Virginia	United States Representative from West Virginia	United States Representative from West Virginia
In Office 	 	 	
January 20, 2333 - January 3, 2375 	 	 	
Preceded by: John Hamilton 	 	 	
Succeeded by: Adrian Newhart 	 	 	
West Virginia State Delegate 	West Virginia State Delegate 	West Virginia State Delegate 	West Virginia State Delegate
In Office 	 	 	
January 3, 2327 - January 3, 2333 	 	 	
Preceded by: George Williams 	 	 	
Succeeded by: Mari Cofouret 	 	 	
Personal details 	Personal details 	Personal details 	Personal details
Full Name: Emesta Julius Kostaguard 	 	 	
Born: February 28, 2298 	 	 	
Died: December 19, 2400 (aged 102) 	 	 	
Emesta Julius Kostaguard was an American politician who served as the 126th President of the United States from 2389 to 2397. He also previously served as the 128th Vice President of the United States from 2386 to 2389.
== Early Life ==
Kostaguard was born on February 28, 2298 to Marcus and Charlotte Kostaguard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a child, Kostaguard would live a life toward the lower end of the economic spectrum, as both of his working parents would live paycheck to paycheck. At age 16, Kostaguard himself would work a series of odd jobs to provide for his family. Upon graduating high school, Kostaguard would attend Temple University from 2316 to 2320, from which he would obtain a pre-law degree. Following this, Kostaguard attended law school at Pennsylvania State University from 2320 to 2323. Upon graduating from such, Kostaguard would be hired as a public defender that year.
== Entry Into Politics ==
A year into his endeavors as a public defender, Kostaguard moved to West Virginia in 2324 for the purpose of involving himself in part-time government. Kostaguard declared his candidacy for West Virginia's House of Delegates that year, yet would lose the Union Party primary to incumbent Sarah Joess. Two years later, Kostaguard once again ran for the legislature, this time in a different district. This time, because Kostaguard had more traction in the state in addition to the fact that he was not running against an incumbent, he experienced more success. In the Union Party primary, he defeated his only competitor, Abraham Sammulson, with 51% of the vote. In the General Election, he ran unopposed, thus being inaugurated in 2327. 
For the next three years, Kostaguard served in the West Virginia House of Delegates whilst simultaneously working as a public defender. Kostaguard was largely respected in West Virginia as a hardworking man who was a servant to the justice system.
== Congressional Campaign (2332) ==
In 2332, Kostaguard saw a new opportunity to advance his political career. West Virginia's northern incumbent Representative, John Hamilton, was a Corleone Unionist, having expressed his support for the Common Law of Earth and its primary proponent, Global Representative Septivius Corleone. Because of this, Kostaguard declared his candidacy for Hamilton's seat as a moderate Unionist.
In the Union primary, Kostaguard received enough support to pose a legitimate challenge to incumbent Representative Hamilton. Because of this, the Union Party made the decision to split party funding between the candidates, given that the seat would otherwise be unopposed. The final election would be close, yet Kostaguard just barely unseated Hamilton, obtaining 50.8% of the vote to Hamilton's 49.2%.
== Congressman (2333 - 2375) ==
=== Allegiance to the Boxer Party ===
In Congress, Kostaguard would form a close relationship with many Boxer politicians, as he often agreed with the newly formed Boxer Party on many issues. While he supported the United States of Earth, he also supported power being fractured amongst many different entities, and found Manuel Bolivar's philosophy on power to be reasonable. Because of this, Kostaguard often voted in tandem with Boxers, as influential Boxer leadership deemed his seat "safe" for opposing the Common Law of Earth. Thus, they agreed to divert Boxer Party funds to Kostaguard's re-election campaigns, so that Kostaguard would receive both half of the Union Party's money in addition to that from the Boxers.
In 2334, this plan went into effect, thus seeing Kostaguard's re-election campaign proceed especially easily. As John Hamilton attempted to take his seat back, he would only receive 38% of the vote to Kostaguard's 62%. Following his re-election campaign, Kostaguard joined the House Boxer Caucus, despite still being a registered Unionist. That year, Kostaguard adopted voting tendencies near identical to Senator Manuel Bolivar, as both individuals opposed Greek Representative Angela Zamora's economic delegation plan.
Kostaguard's next two re-election campaigns transpired especially favorable for him, as he obtained 64% of the vote in 2336 and 61% of the vote in 2338. Come time for his third term in Congress, Kostaguard would face even more success, as the Boxer caucus elected Kostaguard as the Party Whip following former whip Henry Smithe's election to the Senate. Despite not even being a registered Boxer, Kostaguard had forged a major political alliance with this minority party; and the following year, the Union Party took note of this.
Seeing that Kostaguard did not align himself with the rest of the Union Party, neither with Angela Zamora's moderate faction nor Septivius Corleone's globalist faction, the Union Party decided that he was no longer entitled to any funding from the party in West Virginia. This reportedly incited fear amongst Boxers for Kostaguard's seat, as Union Party funding combined with Boxer funding was theorized to make Kostaguard's seat safe in elections. Regardless, Kostaguard shifted his allegiance toward the Boxer Party in 2340, and received the Boxer Party's nomination for his seat that year. In the election, Kostaguard faced Corleone Unionist Marek Hearst, who criticized Kostaguard for remaining in the Union Party up until that year. Yet even with all the tension pertaining to Kostaguard's seat, the final election saw Kostaguard obtain 55% of the vote to Hearst's 45%. With that, Hearst conceded to Kostaguard, as Kostaguard commenced his first term in Congress as a registered Boxer.
=== Bolivar Administration ===
Kostaguard continued serving as the Boxer Whip over the course of the next 12 years, until presented with a new opportunity in 2353. As House Boxer Leader Innokenty Anatoli was elected as Manuel Bolivar's Vice President, the position of House Majority Leader was now vacant. Being influential within the party's ranks, Kostaguard declared his candidacy for the position that year. Kostaguard was easily elected, thus seeing him become the 2nd House Boxer Leader.
As House Majority Leader, Kostaguard supported President Bolivar in all of his endeavors. He voted in favor of the Global Restoration Act, opposed the establishment of Terra Atmosphaera, and voted in favor of President Bolivar's 2357 scientific funding deal with House Minority Leader Marie West and Senate Minority Leader Graham Enseknol. 
As the Boxers lost the House majority in 2358, Kostaguard would become Minority Leader. He retained this position leading into the O'Shaghennessy Administration, as Progressives controlled both houses of Congress. However, just because Boxers did not control any majority, did not mean that Kostaguard was not influential. 
=== O'Shaghennessy Administration ===
In 2361, Kostaguard listened to President Zeonora O'Shaghennessy's State of the Union address. In it, Kostaguard was surprised to hear President O'Shaghennessy appeal not only to his Progressive agenda, yet also to Boxers. O'Shaghennessy acknowledged the importance of Bolivarianism, and noted something that Kostaguard had never considered before: The fact that Terra Atmosphaera was a new regional government for citizens to move to, thus meaning it could fracture power amongst regional governments; having a new region to move to, after all, was an effective way of escaping an inadequate government. 
With this, Kostaguard's mindset on Terra Atmosphaera shifted, as he began working with President O'Shaghennessy and the other Progressives to see it enacted. Kostaguard referred to Terra Atmosphaera as something Boxers and Progressives "didn't need to fight over", alleging that there was inherent common ground, and that it was the choice of those in Congress whether or not to pursue it. With this, Kostaguard persuaded a sizable faction of the Boxer Party to support the establishment of the sky society. This not only meant that Kostaguard would aid President O'Shaghennessy in establishing the territory, yet also that even as Boxers retook the House majority in 2366, opposition to Terra Atmosphaera was not large enough in the House to repeal its establishment.
=== Von Hindenburg Administration ===
Upon assuming the Presidency, Phoenix Von Hindenburg began threatening a government shutdown if Congress did not pass a bill granting Terra Atmosphaera independence. Upon Progressive Senate Majority Leader Graham Enseknol's cave to President Von Hindenburg's demands, Kostaguard proceeded to vote in favor of the compromise between the two individuals. If the bill was not passed, Von Hindenburg would not let any funding reach the territory, meaning its infrastructure would deteriorate. Not wanting this, Kostaguard took the course of action to prevent the government's internal crisis from escalating, and to prevent livelihoods in Terra Atmosphaera from worsening.
Following President Phoenix Von Hindenburg's use of hardline tactics to grant Terra Atmosphaera independence, the Boxer Party was viewed upon as less than favorable by both Progressives and moderates. Because of this, Boxers once again lost the House majority in 2370. Come time for the inauguration of the new Congress in 2371, Kostaguard faced competition for the Minority Leadership, as hardline Boxer Representative Santiago Major ran against him that year. In the election for the House Boxer Leadership, Major levied many of the same criticisms against Kostaguard that Von Hindenburg did during the 2368 Boxer Presidential primaries. However, Kostaguard pointed out that his style of governance was better at seeing policy instituted than President Von Hindenburg's was. Given that seeing policy passed resonated more with sitting Congressmen than with voters who carried high ideals, Major failed to unseat Kostaguard. Thus, Kostaguard continued his tenure of leading the Boxers in the House of Representatives.
== Failed Presidential Campaigns ==
=== 2368 ===
In 2368, Kostaguard declared his first candidacy for the Presidency. In the Boxer primaries, Kostaguard ran on a platform that emphasized his loyalty to the party in the House of Representatives, his leadership experience as House Boxer Leader for 15 years, and his moderate nature that "brought about solutions for all sides." However, Kostaguard's largest opposition in this election would be from former New York Representative Phoenix Von Hindenburg. In the Boxer primaries, Von Hindenburg criticized Kostaguard for straying from Manuel Bolivar's stance on Terra Atmosphaera, and accused Kostaguard of being a "Progressive puppet" who "[gobbled] up O'Shaghennessy's twisted version of Bolivarianism." Von Hindenburg, meanwhile, pledged to go by "Original Bolivarianism" during his Presidency, and to stick to hardline Boxer policy as envisioned by Bolivar. 
Von Hindenburg additionally accused Kostaguard of crafting his political stances around what would grant him the most power. To do so, Von Hindenburg noted that Kostaguard's support of O'Shaghennessy's policy made him and other moderate Boxers more appealing to Progressive voters, thus making elections safer for Kostaguard. Additionally, Von Hindenburg noted that Kostaguard was high-ranking in Congress, meaning he was not shy in regards to obtaining power.
Von Hindenburg's firm stance on maintaining the original Boxer platform was appealing to Boxer voters. In the primary, Von Hindenburg seemed more dedicated to the party's cause than Kostaguard. Because of this, Kostaguard only obtained 37% of the vote to Von Hindenburg's 63%. In the Boxer National Convention that year, Kostaguard conceded to Von Hindenburg with a defeat speech.
=== 2372 ===
In 2372, Kostaguard challenged Von Hindenburg in the Boxer Presidential primaries. Kostaguard criticized President Von Hindenburg for inciting an internal government crisis, and for nearly causing the government to shut down. Additionally, Kostaguard not only alleged that Von Hindenburg was damaging to the country, yet also to the Boxer Party itself. To illustrate this, Kostaguard pointed to the fact that Von Hindenburg's hardline tactics caused Boxers to lose their House majority in 2370, as it was now less appealing to Progressives and moderates.
Despite Kostaguard's criticism, Boxer voters still preferred Von Hindenburg's loyalty to the original Boxer platform, and how he was reducing the impact of the Progressive Party on the nation. Because of this, while Kostaguard was more popular than Von Hindenburg on a nation-wide level, he only obtained 31% of the vote to Von Hindenburg's 69%. Thus, Kostaguard once again lost the Boxer Party primaries for the Presidency.
== Congressional Electoral Defeat (2374) ==
Throughout his administration, President Von Hindenburg shifted the Boxer Party's agenda away from Kostaguard's moderation, and back toward what it initially supported under Manuel Bolivar. Because of this, moderates such as Kostaguard gradually became less and less popular amongst the Boxer Party over the course of the late 2360s and early 2370s. For Kostaguard, this came to a head during the Midterm Election of 2374. In the election, hardline Boxer Adrian Newhart ran against Kostaguard for his Congressional seat. Newhart presented a campaign platform that criticized Kostaguard for his "spinelessness" and "disloyalty to Bolivar's cause." 
While Kostaguard was generally more popular than Newhart amongst all voter demographics, Boxers in Kostaguard's Congressional district favored Newhart's stances. Thus, in the final primary results, Kostaguard only obtained 49% of the vote to Newhart's 51%. Not wanting to split the vote, Kostaguard conceded to Newhart, yet also endorsed his competitor, Progressive nominee Jane Hamad.
With that, Kostaguard left Congress on January 3, 2375, after 42 consecutive years in the House of Representatives.
== Law Firm ==
Following his electoral defeat in 2374, Kostaguard rescinded himself from politics over the course of the next decade. During this time, he founded his own private law firm, and worked as a lawyer across West Virginia from 2375 to 2386. During this time, Kostaguard reported his life to be one of peace, and in "stark contrast to Von Hindenburg's management of the government", as Kostaguard stated in an interview.
== Vice Presidency (2386 - 2389) ==
After 11 years of being retired from politics, Kostaguard would be approached with an offer by President Piyush Ohmstede. Essentially, Ohmstede was attempting to distance both the Boxer Party and United States as a whole away from divisive politics, and put forth the stance that people's wellbeing needed to be aided above political philosophy. Given that Kostaguard was a prominent moderate Boxer throughout the 2360s and early 2370s, President Ohmstede thought Kostaguard would be an ideal candidate to "contribute to a government that works for all", as Ohmstede stated. Agreeing with Ohmstede's statements and goals, Kostaguard accepted the position, and was confirmed to office on June 7, 2386.
In Kostaguard's nomination to the position, questions would arise as to where Kostaguard's loyalty stood, as many looked upon his holding of a Congressional seat for 42 years as an act of power hunger. Kostaguard and Ohmstede largely responded to these allegations with the fact that Kostaguard had been out of politics for the last 11 years, and willingly conceded when defeated in primary elections. Kostaguard himself also noted that he did not stray from his moderate stances even as they cost him popularity amongst the Boxer Party, thus highlighting, according to Kostaguard, that he supported what he genuinely believed.
As Vice President, Kostaguard supported President Ohmstede in re-annexing Terra Atmosphaera, and for dedicating extensive funds to rebuilding the territory. In press conferences, Kostaguard took the opportunity to criticize Presidents Phoenix Von Hindenburg and Qu Scaramucci for "letting their ideology cause this much destruction". Kostaguard often stated in interviews that "Our current government is the manner by which we should have continued operating since 2369", referencing how the Boxer Party could have accepted O'Shaghennessy's policy, yet did not out of extreme loyalty to a party platform.
== 2388 Presidential Campaign ==
In 2387, President Ohmstede announced he would not run for a second term. Upon this announcement, many questioned whether Kostaguard would run for President, given that he was the second most influential Boxer of the time. That year, Kostaguard fulfilled these calls, and announced that he would indeed run to succeed Ohmstede. In his Presidential campaign, Kostaguard ran on a platform of "doing what we should have done 20 years ago", and repeatedly made references to how if he had simply won the 2368 Boxer primary, the United States would be in a much better condition. In this campaign, Kostaguard carried a great zeal, as his message would finally resonate with the Boxer Party. In the Boxer primaries, Kostaguard secured a total of 88% of the vote, thus seeing him become the Boxer nominee for President.
In the General Election, Kostaguard faced Progressive nominee Victoria Alfire. The issues in this election pertained not to policy, but rather to style of governance. Kostaguard and Alfire were practically the same in the policy they wanted to enact, yet the electoral debate centered on who was best to implement the policy in question. Alfire blamed the Boxer Party as a whole for the Scaramucci Administration and destruction of Terra Atmosphaera, claiming that if the nation had just enacted Progressive policy, it would not be in this mess. Meanwhile, Kostaguard criticized Alfire for her partisanship, and famously remarked in the election that "Loyalty to party platforms was what got us into this mess. Why should it now be the Progressives' turn to go through that?". In his campaign, Kostaguard emphasized working with everyone regardless of political party or ideological agenda. Kostaguard emphasized wellbeing as the most important goal to achieve. In the final results, Kostaguard's moderate nature, in addition to his appeal to all political sides, saw him win the election with 59% of the vote to Alfire's 41%. Thus, 20 years after his first attempted run, Kostaguard was finally elected to the Presidency.
== Presidency (2389 - 2397) ==
During the Ohmstede Administration, the United States had taken on a great deal of debt. By 2390, this debt had become so extreme to the point where the United States was having difficulty paying it off. Because of this, there was pressure from both Progressive Senate Majority Leader Timothy Natlao and Progressive Speaker of the House Amos Ole to obtain aid from the outside world. Ole and Natlao emphasized the fact that the United States was on the verge of bankruptcy, and how Terra Atmosphaera could not afford for the United States to go bankrupt. They additionally noted that Kostaguard was President of Earth, meaning he had influence over not only the United States, but every country in the world.
Initially, Kostaguard was hesitant to go about Ole and Natlaos' plan because of his belief in Bolivarianism. Kostaguard found it unethical for the United States to exert its problems on other nations, and argued that different governments should keep each other in check, rather than having one exploit all the others for its own benefit. However, no one had another feasible plan, and bankruptcy was drawing nearer and nearer for the United States. Because of this, Kostaguard eventually caved. 
In 2391, Kostaguard proposed the "Crisis Aversion Act" to the World Congress, and directly presented a speech on its importance to both houses of Earth's Congress. In his speech, Kostaguard stated that levying a new tax for USE members to pay would benefit not only the United States, but other countries in need, as the bill was not exclusive to the United States's particular crisis. However, this bill would be blocked by both Earth's Senate and House of Representatives, as it was seen as America attempting to use its power to exploit other nations, and doing so because it was irresponsible with its own economy. This was amplified too by the fact that the United States took on this economic turmoil because it had destroyed another country, and now needed to pay to amend its destruction. With that, the Crisis Aversion Act failed to pass Earth's Congress, as other nations withheld aid from the United States.
President Kostaguard's proposal of the Crisis Aversion Act was the final straw that caused many nations to distrust the United States. Over the course of the next year, there would be various proposals to declare war on the United States of America and leave the United States of Earth. None of these bills passed, thus leaving foreign governments neutral on the issue. Although the issues would not be enacted, however, their sentiment would be strong amongst various peoples. On July 13, 2392, the first terrorist attack was launched against the US capital of Washington DC. With that, the World War on Terror began...
Following the DC Attack of July 13, many more anti-American sentiments began forming across the world, as the July 13 terrorists were viewed as international heroes by a vocal minority of the global population. This led many more terrorist groups to form and commit attacks against the United States. Because of this, the United States now not only had to pay for the rebuilding of Terra Atmosphaera and the reduction of its debt, but also to fight a war against terrorism. In August of 2392, President Kostaguard recognized that these were feats that the United States could not afford, and thus filed for bankruptcy.
With that, the United States was in a time of economic crisis. It was facing rampant terrorist attacks, and could no longer borrow money due to its bankruptcy. In the buildup to the Election of 2392, Kostaguard faced criticism from Progressive nominee Edward McSeanson, who alleged that Kostaguard did not act quickly enough to stop the economic crisis, in addition to his criticism of Kostaguard for declaring bankruptcy. Kostaguard, meanwhile, defended himself by saying that it was actually the Progressives' plan to go to the United States of Earth for help, which is what led to the terrorism in the first place. Kostaguard additionally noted that the Progressives' plan failed, since the World Congress rejected their plan. Kostaguard branded himself as someone who could work with all people, even those who he disagreed with, just as he had been doing for the last few decades. 
However, the poor economy still commenced under Kostaguard's leadership, and many voters took note of this. Because of this, a corporation known as "Logans Real-Estate" contacted Kostaguard in October of 2392 with an offer to alleviate the United States's economic crisis. Essentially, Logans Real-Estate would provide the United States with funds it needed, in exchange for receiving power to determine 10% of the United States's budget. This plan was radical, as granting budgetary power to a private entity was something that had never been accomplished before. Yet the United States needed a way to fend off terrorists, among other expenses it needed to endure. Thus, Kostaguard signed this deal with Logans Real-Estate on October 25, 2392. Kostaguard used this as last-minute campaigning in the 2392 Presidential election, stating that he was finding genuine solutions to counter problems incurred by Progressive plans. It is widely believed that this deal with Logans Real-Estate saw Kostaguard win re-election, as Kostaguard obtained 51% of the vote to McSeanson's 49%.
In the short-term, Kostaguard's deal proved to be effective. The United States could finally counter terrorist attacks, which it proceeded to do starting from November of 2392. This largely convinced more and more Americans that Kostaguard was correct in his assessment that the terrorism against the United States was the fault of the Progressives. Because of this, the Progressives lost the House majority in the 2394 Midterm Election.
Three years following President Kostaguard's signature of the Logans Real-Estate deal, however, cracks began to show. While the deal provided the United States with more funds than it would otherwise possess, the situation was far from ideal. Because of this, Kostaguard requested more from Logans Real-Estate. In response to this, Logans Real-Estate claimed that it would be willing to increase funding for the United States in exchange for a higher percentage of its budget. Given Kostaguard's Bolivarian nature, he did not want to grant Logans Real-Estate excessive power over policy. With this in mind, he formed a deal with Logans Real-Estate that would see them control 15% of the budget in exchange for more money. A 5% increase, however, was not enough for the United States. So, to maintain Bolivarianism, Kostaguard rather went to other corporations, so that power would be fractured amongst them. By late 2395, the United States only controlled 55% of its budget compared to corporations' 45%.
Kostaguard left office in 2397 with a 49.9% approval rating. His Presidency is generally remembered as the commencement of the infamous Great Oligarchy, in which corporations secured large-scale power over the United States government. However, most historians do not deem this as Kostaguard's fault, and rather assert that he had exceptionally difficult circumstances. They theorize that had he taken office sooner, many of the United States's problems over the next quarter century would not have transpired.
== Post-Presidency and Death ==