Patrick Tsongas

From Wikimerica, the United States encyclopedia
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
Official Portrait, 2377 	 	 	
12th President of the United States of Earth	12th President of the United States of Earth	12th President of the United States of Earth	12th President of the United States of Earth
In Office 	 	 	
January 20, 2377 - January 20, 2385 	 	 	
Vice President: Villarreal Almatov 	 	 	
Preceded by: Phoenix Von Hindenburg 	 	 	
Succeeded by: Qu Scaramucci 	 	 	
123rd President of the United States 	123rd President of the United States 	123rd President of the United States 	123rd President of the United States
In Office 	 	 	
January 20, 2353 - January 20, 2361 	 	 	
Vice President: Villarreal Almatov 	 	 	
Preceded by: Phoenix Von Hindenburg 	 	 	
Succeeded by: Qu Scaramucci 	 	 	
47th First Servant of State of Germany 	47th First Servant of State of Germany 	47th First Servant of State of Germany 	47th First Servant of State of Germany
In Office 	 	 	
January 20, 2353 - January 20, 2361 	 	 	
Second Servant: Karl Mainsburg 	 	 	
Preceded by: Phoenix Von Hindenburg 	 	 	
Succeeded by: Qu Scaramucci 	 	 	
Deputy Secretary of the Interior 	Deputy Secretary of the Interior 	Deputy Secretary of the Interior 	Deputy Secretary of the Interior
In Office 	 	 	
May 2, 2361 - January 22, 2369 	 	 	
Preceded by: Adam Eldvardus 	 	 	
Succeeded by: Margaret Escrit 	 	 	
Personal details 	Personal details 	Personal details 	Personal details
Full Name: Patrick Kingsman Tsongas 	 	 	
Born: March 7, 2330 	 	 	
Died: September 22, 2528 	 	 	
Patrick Kingsman Tsongas (March 7, 2330 - September 22, 2528) was an American politician who served as the 12th President of Earth and 123rd President of the United States from 2377 to 2385.
== Early Life ==
Patrick Kingsman Tsongas was born on March 7, 2330 to Oliver and Kristina Tsongas in rural Ontario. Tsongas lived a fairly comfortable childhood, and attended Annabelle LeClair High School from 2344 to 2348. During his final semester in high school, Tsongas aided Congressional incumbent Randolph Jakko in his re-election campaign. 
In the election, Representative Jakko was under heavy fire for his prior support toward Septivius Corleone and the Common Law of Earth. Ever since Corleone's controversial Presidency, his faction of the Union Party gradually waned in influence, and that impact extended to Jakko. Thus, Tsongas and the rest of Jakko's campaign team faced an uphill battle. This would prove to be difficult for them, as Jakko lost the election to Boxer nominee Mike Newhart.
== Career ==
From 2349 to 2353, Tsongas attended Boston University, at which he would major in human relations and minor in technology. For his senior thesis, Tsongas wrote a paper on how scientists had an opportunity to be reactive toward the needs of communities, and to develop technology in response to what would improve lives. In Tsongas's academic circle, this paper would prove to be impressive to employers. Tsongas would be hired by O'Shaghennessy Research & Technologies in 2353 as an anthropologist and scientist. Five years later, Tsongas continuously expanded his practice to eventually become the company's Chair of the Department of Societal Development in 2358.
Tsongas continued working at O'Shaghennessy Research & Technologies for the next three years, until Dr. Zeonora O'Shaghennessy himself ascended to the Presidency in 2361. With this, Tsongas saw an opportunity to advance his career. In 2361, Tsongas applied for the position of Deputy Secretary of the Interior, citing the work he did at O'Shaghennessy Research & Technologies, and his strong emphasis on merging political science and natural science. Both President O'Shaghennessy and Interior Secretary Alexander H'Abita were impressed by Tsongas, thus seeing him nominated to the position. On May 2, 2361, the Senate confirmed Tsongas to office.
As Deputy Interior Secretary, Tsongas largely aided in seeing Terra Atmosphaera established, and regularly took note on its condition pertaining to infrastructure, demographics, and general quality of life. Tsongas served as Deputy Secretary of the Interior until the conclusion of the O'Shaghennessy Administration in 2369. Since President Phoenix Von Hindenburg had a different agenda to President O'Shaghennessy, he opted not to keep Tsongas in the executive.
Because of this, Tsongas moved back to his home state of Ontario in 2370 and declared his candidacy for the Senate. Although popular, Tsongas lost the Progressive primary to incumbent Senator Cameron Norfolk. Following his defeat, Tsongas moved back to Massachusetts that year to reprise his role in O'Shaghennessy Research & Technologies. While his previous position as Chair of the Department of Societal Development had been filled, Tsongas was able to obtain a position as a Vice Chair for the department. Additionally, Tsongas would be hired as a professor for Boston University in 2371. 
== Presidential Campaigns ==
=== 2372 ===
In 2372, Tsongas saw an opportunity to once again advance his political career. President Von Hindenburg was unpopular amongst the Progressive Party, and the Progressive frontrunner, former Senate Majority Leader Graham Enseknol, had conceded Terra Atmosphaera's status as American territory. Because of this, Tsongas declared his candidacy for President. In his campaign, Tsongas alleged that Enseknol was too weak to lead the country, and that the nation rather needed someone who was involved in setting up Terra Atmosphaera. Tsongas additionally criticized Enseknol's emphasis on working with Boxers, as Tsongas alleged that because President Von Hindenburg was so damaging to the country, Progressives needed to put their agenda first to "fix what Von Hindenburg damaged", as Tsongas stated. 
However, Tsongas additionally noted that he would respect what President Von Hindenburg had already established. Tsongas stated that re-annexing Terra Atmosphaera was not necessary, and that he instead simply needed to work with the independent nation to ensure they received more American aid than they already were. Enseknol agreed with Tsongas in this goal, yet the two candidates differed on how the manner by which Terra Atmosphaera should receive this. Enseknol advocated for merely increasing H'Abita's funds for building the area, whereas Tsongas advocated for forming a treaty that would see the United States directly involve itself in building up infrastructure; a policy which historians call in retrospect, "unofficial governance" of Terra Atmosphaera.
Tsongas's message would resonate with Progressive voters, yet he simply did not have the influence to defeat a former Senate Party Leader. Thus, Tsongas conceded to Enseknol on June 5, 2372. For Tsongas's strong campaign in the primaries and his close proximatey to Enseknol in policy, Enseknol chose Tsongas as his running mate in the General Election. 
==== Vice Presidential Campaign ====
In his Vice Presidential bid, Tsongas would commence a rivalry with Vice President Heinrich Otto Cromwell. First encountering Cromwell in the Vice Presidential Debate of 2372, Tsongas criticized Cromwell for the Von Hindenburg Administration's decrease of Terra Atmosphaera's quality of life, in addition to how its contention brought about an internal government crisis. Meanwhile, Vice President Cromwell criticized Tsongas for "attempting to loophole his way around Terra Atmosphaera's independence", citing how in the Progressive primaries, Tsongas advocated for having the United States directly lead Terra Atmosphaera's infrastructure projects. In this first election between the two, Cromwell proved to be victorious, as the Enseknol/Tsongas ticket would be defeated on November 7, 2372.
=== 2376 ===
In 2375, Tsongas once again declared his candidacy for President. He stated that his platform was "the key to progressing America forward", and that it was therefore unfortunate the campaign was "cut short." That year, Tsongas once again faced Enseknol in the primaries. That year, Enseknol alleged that Tsongas was "actually running for Vice President", insinuating that he was only conducting his campaign for his own political advancement. Meanwhile, Tsongas responded by saying that he "only conceded based on the circumstances." Further, Tsongas once again alleged that Enseknol "[wasn't] tough enough" to assume the Presidency, and that the Progressive Party "deserved" Tsongas's platform, which was less moderate than Enseknol's. 
After eight years of Von Hindenburg, Progressive voters wanted a change. While they thought Enseknol was an improvement to Von Hindenburg, they preferred Tsongas's platform as a more firm plan to undo Boxer policy. Thus, in the Progressive National Convention, Tsongas obtained the official Progressive nomination for President. Enseknol conceded to Tsongas publicly at the convention.
In the General Election, Tsongas faced his former competitor, Vice President Cromwell. In the election, Cromwell alleged that President Von Hindenburg had "accomplished a great deal for the United States" and that he would essentially carry Von Hindenburg's torch if elected President himself. Tsongas, meanwhile, alleged that Von Hindenburg had "reversed insurmountable progress", and that the United States needed policy change to reach where it needed to be.
In this election, it was a running anecdote amongst the American public that Tsongas and Cromwell had a political rivalry, as this was the second time they were directly facing one another in an election. As the two went to shake hands come time for the First Presidential Debate of 2376, it was reported that Cromwell said to Tsongas "Our warmup's over." Whether or not these were Cromwell's exact words, however, is unconfirmed.
In the final results, Tsongas bested Cromwell with 53% of the vote. With that, Tsongas was elected as the 123rd President of the United States.
== Presidency (2377 - 2385) ==
Upon Tsongas's inauguration, Progressives controlled both houses of Congress. Thus, governing would be especially easy throughout Tsongas's first term. On January 30, 2377, the United States commenced negotiations with the Republic of Terra Atmosphaera. That year, President Tsongas successfully passed the "Treaty of New Washington", which would essentially allow the American government to develop Terra Atmosphaera's infrastructure.
Over the course of the Tsongas Administration, this development proceeded at a steady pace. Although Progressives lost control over the Senate come time for Tsongas's second term, the treaty was already in place, thus meaning Terra Atmosphaera was under American economic dependence. 
After serving two terms, Tsongas left office in 2385 with a 55% approval rating. He is generally remembered as a President who accomplished what he intended, and who extended American influence to build a foreign nation.