Jacob Strickland

Jacob Strickland (Born August 3, 1965) is a highly decorated Navy Admiral and former Secretary of Defense. Having served for the past 20 years, and across 3 presidents, he was the longest serving cabinet member in history. His actions during the 2011 intervention in Libya, in addition to his excellent grasp of Chinese naval doctrine, made him a natural choice for Secretary of Defense. 
== Personal Life and Ideology ==
Strickland is a conservative, a registered Republican, and a former member of the Traditional Conservative Party. However, he believes in a stark separation of politics and military service, which he enforces as a strict matter of policy both in his fleet and the executive department.
== Military and Political Career ==
Strickland has had a long, storied military career, having encountered success after success from the day he enlisted. Due to his impeccable track record, it was no surprise that Levi Starkin chose Strickland as his nominee for Secretary of Defense, despite both coming from different parties and ideologies.
=== Tenure as Secretary of Defense ===
==== Under Levi Starkin ====
Strickland was nominated by President Starkin to serve as his Secretary of Defense in 2021. He was quickly confirmed by the Senate with great support from both parties. He would be nominated again in 2025, after Starkin won reelection.
The main challenge faced by both Starkin and Strickland during Starkin's presidency was the Russo-Ukraine War. In 2023, Russia launched a "Special Military Operation" in Ukraine, despite warnings from several world leaders not to do so. This soon escalated into a full-scale war, with many casualties on both sides. President Starkin, on the advice of Strickland, passed a flurry of Executive Orders aimed at choking the Russian economy and military, as well as supporting Ukraine. Due to the combined efforts of the United States Government, NATO leadership, and the United Nations, Russia began to lose the war to their far smaller neighbor. In the end, a peace treaty was reached, helping to resolve the conflict.
==== Under North Mandela's first term ====
Starkin was succeeded by his vice president North Mandela, who renominated Strickland for Secretary of Defense.
==== Under Corn Pop ====
After North Mandela was defeated by Corn Pop in the 2032 election, Corn Pop renominated Strickland once again. As usual, he was swiftly confirmed by the Senate
===== The TAP =====
The main challenge of Strickland during the Corn Pop Presidency was the rise of a militant, extremist group known as the True American Patriots (TAP), who sought to destabilize the US government to rid it of corruption. Strickland identified TAP as a threat almost instantly and took great pains to reduce its power and effectiveness, most notably in his speech given on the USS Gerald R. Ford titled "A Patriot's Choice". When that proved insufficient in curbing the TAP's power, Strickland invested heavily into the military's infrastructure to deter an attack, and placed a mole inside the TAP to monitor its activities and identify its members. 
When Washington D.C. was invaded by a huge TAP force, Strickland took charge of the defense of the city. His tactics in dealing with the enemy and his troop's loyalty to him helped lead American forces to defeat the TAP and reclaim the capital. Soon afterward, he sent a full list of every TAP member to then Director of National Intelligence Ulysses S. Grant, who began rounding them up immediately, severely weakening the TAP and causing it to fall into obscurity.
==== Under North Mandela's Second Term ====
North Mandela returned to the Presidency in 2036 and renominated Strickland in an unprecedented move. During the second Mandela Administration, Strickland worked hard with Mandela to improve America's military capabilities. He helped deal with the Houthi threat, which resulted in the Houthi extremists becoming severely weakened
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