Forest Ashworth

Official Portrait, 2349 	 	 	
7th President of the United States of Earth	7th President of the United States of Earth	7th President of the United States of Earth	7th President of the United States of Earth
In Office 	 	 	
January 20, 2349 - January 20, 2353 	 	 	
Vice President: Erasmo Madrigal 	 	 	
Preceded by: Septivius Corleone 	 	 	
Succeeded by: Manuel Bolívar 	 	 	
117th President of the United States 	117th President of the United States 	117th President of the United States 	117th President of the United States
In Office 	 	 	
January 20, 2349 - January 20, 2353 	 	 	
Vice President: Erasmo Madrigal 	 	 	
Preceded by: Septivius Corleone 	 	 	
Succeeded by: Manuel Bolívar 	 	 	
128th Governor of Alaska 	128th Governor of Alaska 	128th Governor of Alaska 	128th Governor of Alaska
In office 	 	 	
December 3, 2340 - December 3, 2348 	 	 	
Preceded by: Sir Jack 	 	 	
Succeeded by: Maple Appleleaf 	 	 	
Personal details 	Personal details 	Personal details 	Personal details
Full Name: Theodore Forest Ashworth 	 	 	
Born: December 31, 2311 	 	 	
Born: January 1, 2501 (aged 189) 	 	 	
Theodore Forest Ashworth (December 31, 2311 - January 1, 2501) is an American politician who served as the 7th President of the United States of Earth and also the 117th President of the United States of America concurrently from 2349 to 2353. A member of the Union Party, he served as the 128th Governor of Alaska from 2340 to 2348.
==Early Life==
Ashworth was born and raised in Barrow, Alaska to Randolph and Theodosia Ashworth. Upon graduating high school in 2330, he would take one gap year, before entering Fairbanks University in 2331. In 2335, he obtained a bachelor's degree in political science. While in college, Ashworth would additionally enlist in the United States Navy for 8 years. In 2335, he would attain the rank of Lieutenant. 
Upon leaving the Navy in 2339, Ashworth would be welcomed home by his family and friends in a celebration that became historic for the State of Alaska. During the party, Ashworth would explain that his next career ambitions would pertain to public service, and how he wanted to help people and serve society. Upon hearing this, his family and friends encouraged him to kickstart this career by doing a small campaign for Governor. While initially hesitant, Ashworth eventually agreed to this, as running a campaign for Governor would allot him name recognition. 
==Entry into Politics==
In 2340, Ashworth declared his candidacy for the Governorship. While he was a registered Unionist, he did not have nearly enough support to secure funding from the party. Thus, his campaign was largely grassroots-based, with most support coming from his home town of Barrow. For Independence Day of 2340, Ashworth traveled to Anchorage for the purpose of campaigning, as he did in Juneau ten days thereafter. These brief campaign events would allot him recognition in the larger cities, meaning that individuals across Alaska would recognize him as "the alternative" to incumbent Governor Sir Jack and state Senate Unionist Leader Mark Ling. 
In the Gubernatorial election, Ashworth secured only 245 votes, equating to just over 0.1% of the vote. Following the election, however, both Governor Jack and Senate Unionist Leader Ling conducted investigations into one another, as it was discovered that they had both colluded with poll workers to manipulate the results of the election. With that, both Jack, Ling, and all poll workers involved were arrested for electoral fraud, as Ashworth was inaugurated as Governor upon winning by default. 
==Governor of Alaska==
During Ashworth's first term as Governor, he would take full advantage of the Zamora Economic Delegation Program, and would use this to fund systems that Alaska had taken a laissez-faire approach to, such as the education system. He would work with municipalities to ensure they received the funding they needed, and would negotiate with the federal government directly for them to receive more money. 
Ashworth additionally noticed that much of government spending was allocated toward politicians' salaries, and that Alaskan politicians were some of the wealthiest individuals in the state. Because of this, Ashworth introduced the "Take Back Our Treasury Act", which would significantly reduce the salaries of politicians. While popular amongst the Alaskan public, this bill would fail in 2341, as those in the Alaska state government were not be keen on having their career pay reduced. 
Given that Ashworth was fighting alone in the battle against Alaskan government corruption, he accomplished little in reducing it in 2341 and 2342. This would give rise to a new political movement in Alaska, as the Boxer Party would begin operations on Alaska's state level. Given that the Boxer platform pertained specifically to global politics, the party had not conducted operations in the state government up until that point. Yet as the Ashworth Governorship was now exposing the Alaska Union Party's corruption, the Boxer Party emerged as an opposition to Alaska's one-party system. In the Midterm Election of 2342, Boxers obtained majorities in both houses of the Alaska Legislature. 
Alaska Boxers differed from Boxers on the national level, in that while members of the federal Boxer Party advocated for balances between governments, the Alaska Boxer Party embraced Bolivar's theory that any entity with power was a "government". With this, they advocated for the government to disperse funding amongst private Alaska family units, and for all of them to create different legal systems pertaining to their own properties, in addition to their own public service programs, through combining funds with other family units. Not all Alaska Boxers would support this extreme party platform, yet since the majority of the party did, it would be put forth as their official platform in the Alaska state government. 
Opposing this extreme party platform, Ashworth openly criticized this Boxer agenda for being too reactionary. Ashworth stated that shredding government involvement would not automatically reduce corruption, and instead alleged that it had to both fund the prosecution of corrupt government officials and ensure that the people of Alaska had guaranteed access to adequate public services. 
Despite his disagreements with the Boxers, however, Ashworth would work with them to forge policy, recognizing that the business of government had to be accomplished. In 2342, Ashworth and the Boxers created major tax breaks for individuals who started private businesses to provide public services for the Alaskan people. Ashworth tolerated the policy of keeping state government spending limited, yet insisted that it would fund services for individuals who would have no other way of accessing them. Noting that his corrupt predecessors did not guarantee this, Ashworth convinced a minority faction of the Boxers to support this government spending, thus allowing it to be enacted even with the libertarian-conservative Boxers in the legislature. 
Ashworth and the Boxers additionally worked together regarding increased funding for the Department of Justice. They both agreed that corruption in Alaska had gone too far, and that exploitative statesmen needed to be brought to justice. Thus, the Ashworth Administration conducted an extensive campaign on convicting corrupt government officials within Alaska. 
This policy continued over the course of Ashworth's Governorship. By the time Ashworth's two terms as Governor concluded, corruption in the state was reduced by 85%. Additionally, individuals reported quality of life to be significantly higher than it was prior to when he took office. Ashworth left the office of Governor with a 72% approval rating, and is largely remembered as the Governor who worked with both sides. 
==Presidential Campaign==
=== Union Nomination ===
During the national Presidency of Septivius Corleone, Ashworth would be one of Corleone's most vocal critics. Specifically, he detested how Corleone blatantly disobeyed a ruling from the Supreme Court, and how he was alienating a significant portion of the country with his refusal to compromise or even go through the legislature at all. Additionally, Ashworth called for the Zamora Economic Delegation Program to be re-instituted, citing how it helped Alaska when the state government was corrupt. 
For his disagreements with President Corleone and his track record as Alaskan Governor, Ashworth would become a frontrunner in the Union Presidential primaries. Ashworth additionally alleged that because he has proven himself to be able to work with Boxer politicians, he was more likely than Corleone to defeat Manuel Bolivar in an election. Although most Unionists supported Corleone by the time of his Presidency, the likelihood of defeating Bolivar persuaded many of them to instead support Ashworth for the nomination. 
As the primaries progressed, more and more moderate Unionists dropped out to support Ashworth, regarding him as the only candidate who could potentially defeat Corleone for the Union Presidential nomination. Yet although Ashworth was in the lead toward the end of the primary season, neither Ashworth nor Corleone conceded to the other. Thus, the primary election would come to a head in the Union National Convention, in which Ashworth finally defeated Corleone with 52% of the vote to Corleone's 48%. With that, Corleone conceded the Union nomination to Ashworth, and subsequently ended his own Presidential campaign. 
=== Campaign Against Bolivar ===
In the Presidential election, Ashworth faced prominent Boxer statesman Manuel Bolivar. In the election, Ashworth campaigned on being a figure who was more apt to unite the country than Bolivar, stating that unity was what the United States needed more than anything after the actions of President Corleone. Bolivar, meanwhile, stated that his plans would provide a direct remedy to Corleone's actions, and that the Boxer plan to enact Bolivarianism in full was the best solution to Corleone's "governmental monopolization." 
Ashworth and Bolivar additionally disagreed on the Zamora Economic Delegation Program. Ashworth pledged that if he were to become President, he would fight tooth and nail for the policy to be re-established. Bolivar, meanwhile, claimed that this granted too much power to the local governments, and that there needed to be a "proper balance between forces of power"; Bolivar wanted the local governments to have authority, yet he wanted the federal government to reserve its funds to keep corrupt local governments in check. Both Ashworth and Bolivar pointed to their own personal backgrounds when advocating for their respective stances. Ashworth pointed to how the local governments kept Alaska functioning during a period of state government corruption, whereas Bolivar pointed out how his own local government bred corruption, and how the federal government needed to step in to stop them; Bolivar elaborated by saying that had Angela Zamora's economic policy been enacted during the LeClair Administration, the fight against Belmopan corruption would have been far more difficult. 
In the final election, Ashworth's moderate nature appealed to more voters, thus seeing Ashworth successfully win the Presidency. 
==Presidency (2349 - 2353)==
=== Inauguration ===
Ashworth was sworn in as President at 12:00 PM on January 20, 2349. His inauguration speech told a story of unity and the need to find common ground on the largest issues. He pledged that the days of national contention would end with his Presidency, and that he would work toward solutions that both Unionists and Boxers would find favorable.
=== Work With Congress ===
When Ashworth assumed the Presidency, Boxers assumed control of both Congressional houses for the first time in history. Thus, Ashworth would once again have to work with those who opposed him during his time in office. To start, Ashworth and the Boxers successfully reduced military spending by a significant margin, alleging that the military was a large problem during the Corleone Administration, and that it took away from important funding in other areas. The Boxers largely agreed with Corleone on this policy, stating that reducing military spending would "counter the United States's monopoly." 
Another one of Ashworth's main ambitions would be to re-enact the Zamora Economic Delegation Program. He alleged that it allowed local governments to act when the larger governments would not, thus benefiting the common individual. In an attempt to persuade the Congressional Boxers, he additionally alleged that it fractured power across different governments, thus fulfilling the goal of Bolivarianism. The Boxers remained yet unconvinced by Ashworth's argumentation, for the sake reasons that Bolivar himself opposed the economic policy. With that, Congress voted against its enactment. 
=== Unrest in Developing Countries ===
Immediately upon taking office, Ashworth would repeal President Corleone's military directives that enforced the Common Law of Earth. Overnight, he ended its enforcement, and proclaimed that he had no intention to enact Corleone's policy into law. This move would largely be popular amongst most Americans. However, the United States military was largely ensuring governance across many underdeveloped regions, such as Africa and the Balkans. Therefore, the cease of all military action in these regions would create power vacuums.
In 2351, a military faction under the control of General Zoran Mokhan secured control over a large portion of the Balkans and was named President of numerous nations. That year, Mokhan demanded a meeting with President Ashworth to renegotiate the Balkans' deal with the United States of Earth. In the meeting, Mokhan expressed his desire to form a breakaway union known as the "United Balkan Brethren" and to sign a non-aggression pact with the USE.
As a Unionist, Ashworth supported the strength of the United States of Earth. He wished for it to remain a unified global endeavor, and did not wish for countries to fracture from it. Ashworth largely feared that if they did, the world would undergo a new Cold War, which would destroy the Pax Terra. With this philosophy in mind, Ashworth issued an executive order as President of Earth that prevented the Balkans from leaving. This action sparked major controversy in the Boxer Party, as they accused Ashworth of "extending the American monopoly." 
=== Terra Atmosphaera ===
In 2350, American scientists developed the technology for powering societies that would levitate off the ground. Humanity was no longer constricted to living on land, and could rather colonize the skies. Many saw this as a great achievement for the human race, with boundless opportunities. Given this technology's novelty, however, it was so expensive to the point where only a wealthy national government could properly fund it.
With this in mind, President Ashworth gave a speech on how this prospect was great for the United States and world as a whole, and thus pledged his administration to establishing "Terra Atmosphaera", an American colony in the sky. Meanwhile, this would be met with stark Boxer resistance.
Bolivar and the Boxer Party alleged that the colonization of Terra Atmosphaera would allot the American government "an even greater leverage to exploit others", as they would effectively control the colony for a large period of time. Because of this, they blocked the attempts Ashworth made over the next few years to see the funding for Terra Atmosphaera passed. By the end of the Ashworth Administration, the United States would be no closer to setting up this society than it was in 2350.
=== Re-Election Prospects ===
In 2352, Ashworth once again received the Union nomination for President. Ashworth asserted in his campaign that "the prospect of rebuilding our national affairs must progress forward", essentially meaning that his first term was meant to be a solid beginning. However, while voters generally favored the Ashworth Administration over the Corleone Administration, they viewed Ashworth as progressing things too slow. Seeing the unrest in underdeveloped regions on the world, tensions rising with the Balkans, and restriction being exerted upon foreign nations, Americans at the time viewed Bolivar as the man who would bring actual change, rather than simply diminishing negative effects of poor policy. 
With this, Ashworth lost re-election to Manuel Bolivar. Given that the Union Party would dissolve two years later, Ashworth would additionally be the final President from the Union Party. 
Upon leaving office, Ashworth carried a 41% approval rating. Today, he is generally remembered by historians as the President who was handed a bad situation and turned the United States away from extreme policy, yet who did not adequately fill the power vacuum created by his withdrawal from said extreme policy. Additionally, historians remember Ashworth as a President who had large ambitions, yet who was blocked by an unfriendly Congress in enacting them.