Jared Coleman

== Jared Coleman ==
Jared Coleman was an American lawyer and political leader. Coleman was a prominent attorney and the owner of a law firm centered in Detroit, Illinois. After the Great Collapse, he helped form the Great Lake States and served as its President until 2024. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Coleman lived in different midwestern regions his entire life. With the help of student loans, he went to law school, quickly rising to become a young but precocious defense attorney. Involved in political activism on the side, he later became a well known legal figure in Chicago.
In the years prior the outbreak of the Jinanvirus, Coleman was a lead defense attorney for Seaboard Technologies when government and class-action led lawsuits were filed against them. He was favored by Michael Sisk due to his ability to work cunningly within the system, amassing various powerful connections within the corporate and legal world. Coleman was well aware of Sisk's role in developing the Jinanvirus and his future ambitions. He used this knowledge to prepare himself and his children, including Paul Coleman.
During the Great Collapse, Coleman was promised a position of power within Illinois as soon as Seaboard forces took control of the state, which, according to Sisk, would be by 2020. After time passed, Coleman took matters into his own hands, moving to Detroit, where the Midwestern Reconstruction Coalition was centered. Early in 2019, Coleman began campaigning and building support by the citizens of Michigan. After a few months, he had helped form the Great Lake States, for which he proclaimed himself president.
The Great Lake States grew in size at a exponential rate, until hitting other organized territories like the Phoenix Union and Confederate States. Under Coleman's leadership, the territories had from ten to twelve prior US states within its leadership, until the Midwestern Civil War was started due to power struggles within the states. At his height, Coleman controlled Michigan, Illinois, India, Wisconsin, and sections of Ohio, Kentucky, and Minnesota. The rest of the Midwest region formed the Midwest Coalition, a set of republics.
After defecting from service following the Second Battle of Harrisburg, Seaboard Brigadier Wei Zhi allied with Paul Coleman and took refuge in Detroit. Due to his own advances in leadership, there was a tense power struggle between the intelligent and charismatic Wei Zhi, who was an expert in strategy and militarism. In the spring of 2024, Wei Zhi successfully usurped Coleman's position, killing him without objection to the late President's top officials.