Great Oligarchy

The Great Oligarchy was a series of events which transpired over the course of 69 years between 2392 and 2461 that saw the government lose control over the American economy, terrorism become commonplace across the United States of America, and large corporations gradually become more and more influential over the nation to the point of eventually, in practicality, replacing the American government. 
By the time of the Pointdexter Administration, a group of corporation owners known as the “Owners of America” controlled the military, domestic services, the CIA, national taxation, party primary elections, voter IDs, Congressional votes, the Supreme Court, and national laws. Very few politicians in the United States, during the late stages of this time, challenged corporations, largely due to the fact that they were simply powerless against them; the corporations were what ruled the United States.
== American Economic Crisis ==
Come time for the start of the Kostaguard Administration, the United States was in economic turmoil. Because President Qu Scaramucci’s war on Terra Atmosphaera had wreaked havoc on the sky colony, President Piyush Ohmstede had taken on a great deal of debt to rebuild the wartorn society. By 2390, this debt had become so extensive 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…
== Commencement of the World War on Terror ==
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.
== Logans Real-Estate Deal ==
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%.
== Election of 2396 ==
In the election of 2396, both the Progressives and Boxers were split on what to make of the Logans Real-Estate Deal. 
In the Boxer primaries of 2396, classical Bolivarian Samuel Alson stated that granting power to the corporations was a terrible idea, as they were an entity with power that the federal government needed to keep in check. Meanwhile, President Kostaguard’s Secretary of Defense, Marek Natol, stated that now was the time for the government to accept any help it could get, and that rather than “keeping one another in check”, it was time for entities of power to cooperate with one another. In the Boxer National Convention, Alson secured 52% of the vote to Natol’s 48%. 
In the Progressive primaries, Senator Eli Roberstaff alleged that President Kostaguard was weak in signing power over the corporations, and that he would handle the bankruptcy crisis by simply cutting spending. Meanwhile, John Sargent Singer asserted that President Kostaguard was placed in a situation where he had no choice but to enact the Logans Real-Estate Deal, and that the United States needed the money to fund terrorism defense and Terra Atmosphaera’s infrastructure. In this election, Singer won with 51% of the vote to Roberstaff’s 49%.
In the General Election, Singer would largely use the same rhetoric from his primary campaign come time to face Alson, claiming that the Logans Real-Estate Deal was essential for the country, and that it had to be kept until the United States was back on its feet. In the election, Singer secured 53% of the vote to Alson’s 47%. Notably, there was less of a correlation between voting trends and party during this election. Instead, Progressives and Boxers who supported the Logans Real-Estate Deal voted for Singer, whereas those who opposed the Logans Real-Estate Deal voted for Alson. 
== Domestic Service Stabilization Act ==
During the early years of the Singer Administration, the United States would largely be stagnant. Although the economy was still in a bad condition and terrorists were still plotting attacks against the nation, the United States military could still counter them effectively without them securing control of cities for days on end. However, terrorist attacks still occurred, as in the Midterm Election of 2398, there was a large movement to increase funding for the CIA to take preventative action. 
Seeing this, President Singer worked with Congressional proponents of the movement to draft a new bill to grant corporations exclusive funding over domestic services such as social security, health coverage, and education, so that the government could divert its funds to the CIA. The corporations agreed, so long as they were entitled to charge money for the services as they saw fit. With that, Congress passed the Domestic Service Stabilization Act in March of 2399.
Following the bill’s passage, the government organized the corporations financing it into an entity known as the “Helpers’ Assembly of the United States”. As the Great Oligarchy progressed, the Helpers’ Assembly referred to themselves internally as the “Owners of America”, which is the name commonly associated with this organization by the general public. Upon being formed and granted control over domestic services, the Helpers’ Assembly began instituting their own private taxes on citizens as compensation for using these public services. Because of this, the average citizen faced an economic burden, all the while corporations profited. Wealth inequality gradually rose over the course of the next decade.
== World Liberation Army ==
Following President Singer’s re-election in 2400, a series of terrorist attacks once again occupied America’s largest cities in a manner that the military could not defend from. On October 12, 2401, the terrorists announced publicly that they were united in an organization known as the “World Liberation Army”, which had the express goal of bringing about the fall of the United States. 
When this occurred, many corporate spokesmen blamed the government’s handling of the CIA for the rise of the World Liberation Army, claiming that it was not equipped enough to properly fund the agency. Particular blame was placed on CIA Director Marcus Shadoa, whom the Owners of America alleged should have been able to stop the terrorists’ formation. Because of this, corporate lobbyists drafted a bill to place the CIA under the control of corporations. Influential lobbyist John Charlemagne made a speech about how the Helpers’ Assembly was simply more equipped to fund “such an important organization” as Charlemagne put it, and that this would lift a burden off of the government’s shoulders. To make the bill more appealing to Congress, the Owners of America even made it so the corporations would not be able to charge citizens specifically for the CIA’s service. In November of 2401, the bill passed Congress and would be signed by President Singer into effect. 
With the records available now, it has been revealed that the Owners of America funded the creation of the World Liberation Army specifically to gain control over the CIA; and with the CIA, the Owners of America would further solidify their power.
== Election of 2404 ==
In 2404, a new wave of populism arose across the United States. The American people took note of the fact that ever since the Helpers’ Assembly gained power, terrorists regained influence via the World Liberation Army, and wealth inequality surged. People were tired of the excessive fees the Owners of America levied against them, and they wanted a change. 
In the Progressive Party, voters recognized that Eli Roberstaff’s previous plan of reducing public spending in general would lead to lower economic levies from the corporations. Because of this, Roberstaff’s popularity saw him win the nomination. 
Meanwhile in the Boxer Party, most candidates were unaware of how to go about stopping the corporations while still providing funding to services. Most agreed that Roberstaff’s plan of eliminating public services and even reducing military spending would plunge the nation into instability that it did not need; yet they did not know how to prevent this without the aid of the Helpers’ Assembly. Because of this, the Boxer candidate who gained the most prominence would be Florida State Representative Neptuno O’Ryder, who stated that upon taking office, he would pull out of the Logans Real-Estate Deal and repeal the Domestic Service Stabilization Act. In its place, he would create tax incentives for corporations to fund domestic services with their own money. 
In this election, both parties had nominated those who would act as challenges to the corporations. Seeing this, the corporations hedged their bets on O’Ryder’s moderate nature, in addition to his youth and inexperience in DC politics. Discreetly, they reportedly hired successful military General Chananyah Nethaneel to support his campaign. Following the party primaries, Nethaneel offered O’Ryder a large sum of money to fund his campaign against Roberstaff. Unbeknownst to O’Ryder, this money was reportedly from the Owners of America.
In the General Election, O’Ryder’s campaign team branded Roberstaff as an extremist whose policy would never work, whilst O’Ryder was someone who could satisfy “all American people”. Given that the general public agreed with this, O’Ryder secured 60% of the vote to Roberstaff’s 40%. Thus, he was elected to the Presidency.
== O'Ryder Negotiations ==
Upon assuming the Presidency, O’Ryder established a conference between his Cabinet, the Owners of America, and influential populists, such as Eli Roberstaff and those he worked closely with. This conference came to be known as the “O’Ryder Negotiations”, and was one of the most influential events in progressing the Great Oligarchy. Although O’Ryder’s Vice President, Enoch Longstreet, advised against letting the corporations influence this policy, O’Ryder insisted on “Working with all sides to this issue.” 
In the negotiations, O’Ryder asked the corporations what would most incentivize them to fund domestic programs on their own volition. The response O’Ryder received was one which alleged that the corporations needed to levy economic fees from citizens because they did not control taxes themselves. The corporations reasoned that if taxes were collected via one system, they would decrease, since they would all go to corporations. Thus, the Owners of America asked O’Ryder for control over taxation. 
As this occurred, both Senator Roberstaff and Vice President Longstreet advised O’Ryder that this was a terrible idea, and that the corporations were simply vying for more power. Meanwhile, Chananyah Nethaneel, who was now Secretary of Defense for President O’Ryder, accused Longstreet of being a “traitor to the President’s cause”, and sweet talked O’Ryder by saying that the both of them “fought so hard against Roberstaff’s vision”, before questioning O’Ryder by saying, “Why give all of that up now?”. Trusting his supposedly loyal campaign partner, O’Ryder sided with Nethaneel and the Owners of America. Thus, President O’Ryder abandoned his campaign platform, and rather granted the corporations access to more power. 
In February of 2405, the O’Ryder Negotiations gave way for the “Economic Streamline Act” to be proposed, which abolished all federal taxes, and instead gave the corporations the chance to levy fees at their discretion. With this, O’Ryder stated in a press conference that he “[was] alleviating an economic burden from the American people; it’s just alleviating a burden from the government, rather than from private companies.” 
== Corporate Presence in Congress ==
In Congress, the Owners of America made public appearances in advocacy of the Economic Streamline Act. These Congressional hearings from the corporate owners are generally regarded as the Owners of America’s control over legislation. Following the passage of the Economic Streamline Act, the Owners of America and other corporate spokesmen were consistently invited to Congress to present opinions on bills.
In 2433, the Senate amended its rules and procedures specifically to accommodate this. These corporate spokesmen were given positions inside the Senatorial chambers known as “Wisemen”, and were given priority when speaking in Senatorial committees and debates. A year later, the House of Representatives followed suit, enacting the same thing for their own corporate spokesmen in 2434. 
== Control Over Party Primaries ==
Throughout the first year of the O’Ryder Administration, the Owners of America would conduct a campaign to rebound for the loss of both Presidential primaries in the 2404 Election. They noted how much parties spend on primaries and campaigns in a given election, and alleged that “If the parties are spending this much on elections, then what are they withholding from the American people?!”. Those running the corporations’ campaign elaborated by stating “If the parties have all these agendas, they ought to put their money where their mouth is!”. 
With this, leadership of the Progressive and Boxer Parties appeared increasingly unpopular to the general public. Because of this, they met with the Owners of America to discuss a solution to this alleged problem. The Owners of America suggested that they could host the party primaries, while the parties themselves contributed funds to “actually getting things done”, as corporate spokesman Teuna Prasad put it. This was agreed to come time for the 2406 Midterm Election. 
== Formation of the Bolivarian Party ==
From his retirement, former influential statesman and President Manuel Bolivar observed the rise of corporate influence, and associated the Helpers’ Assembly of the United States with the Slum Lords that effectively controlled Belmopan when he was a child. 
Now that the corporations controlled both taxes and who could even be nominated for elections, Bolivar founded a new political party which he simply called the “Bolivarian Party”; unlike the Boxers, which simply had the goal of opposing Septivius Corleone’s Common Law of Earth upon their formation, the Bolivarian Party would have the express goal of upholding Bolivarianism at all costs. Bolivar predicted that because those nominated by the two major political parties were elitist and the Bolivarian Party was populist, that the votes of the Progressives and Boxers would be split in a sizable amount of elections. With this, Bolivar in turn hoped that Bolivarians could secure enough Congressional seats to repeal the policies establishing the Great Oligarchy.
Two influential individuals in the founding of the Bolivarian Party would be Senator Eli Roberstaff and a small Filipino town’s Mayor, Obadiah Gorbachev XXVI. They worked alongside Bolivar to deliver the main speeches, especially in areas that Bolivar had difficulty traveling to. 
While campaigning for the Bolivarian cause, Bolivar described the condition of the United States under the Owners of America as a “Great Oligarchy” which needed to be put to an end. Bolivar accused the corporations of consolidating power in themselves, and subverting democracy in the process. Given Bolivar’s high popularity within the United States, the corporations knew that they could not insult Bolivarianism directly; rather, they could only challenge Bolivar’s allegations against them.
Thus, the Owners of America alleged that “President Bolivar’s age is clearly making him less than mentally well”, citing how Bolivar was nearly 123 years old come time for the start of 2406, and how he clearly had less stamina in speeches than he did during his political height in the United States. With this, many individuals believed the corporations that the Bolivarian Party was not the right movement, especially since the Economic Streamline Act did reduce their expenses for public services in the short-term. Because of this, the Bolivarian Party was not nearly as influential as Bolivar had hoped. While Senator Roberstaff retained control over his seat, and the Bolivarian Party won roughly 1% of the seats in the House of Representatives, both Gorbachev and even Bolivar himself lost their respective Senatorial elections, as did most Bolivarian candidates. With that, Bolivar was widely regarded as senile at the time, as other Bolivarian candidates were regarded as conspiracy theorists. The Bolivarian Party lost influence nearly as quickly as it rose. 
Following the defeat in the Midterm Election of 2406, Bolivar handed off control of the party to Gorbachev and Roberstaff. While Roberstaff was incredibly discouraged by the party’s failure, Gorbachev was optimistic that the situation could be rectified in the Presidential Election of 2408. Gorbachev suggested that the party should not divide its resources amongst Congressional elections, and that it should instead divert all of its resources to winning the Presidency. Although reluctant and pessimistic, Roberstaff agreed to this. Thus, Gorbachev became the Bolivarian nominee in 2408, as Roberstaff was his running mate. 
In the General Election, however, Gorbachev only obtained 9% of the popular vote, and did not even win a single state in the electoral college. Despite this, the Bolivarian Party continued this strategy over the course of the next 42 years, in the hopes that they might eventually secure enough influence to reverse the Great Oligarchy. 
== Control Over The Military ==
Over the course of the remainder of the O’Ryder Administration, in addition to all of the Prasad Administration, Chananyah Nethaneel remained Secretary of Defense. Through this, he became de-facto Head of the Military, as he was the individual who was strategizing key operations against the World Liberation Army. 
In 2420, this influence would lead Nethaneel to conduct his own campaign for the Presidency, citing how he significantly aided the nation by encouraging President O’Ryder to pass the Economic Streamline Act, and how he was loyal in military service to the United States. In the election, Nethaneel would be highly popular, thus seeing him elected to the position.
Toward the end of Nethaneel’s Presidency, he noted that he had led the US Military “essentially for the last 24 years”, and how upon his departure from office, there was no guarantee that the military would be managed as competently. Because of this, President Nethaneel issued an executive order creating the position of “Supreme Tactical Commander”, which was a military position which held the purpose of “relaying theoretical orders to troops on the ground.” The executive order made a distinction between “tactical positions”, which were responsible for creating plans, and “field positions”, which carried out the orders of the designed tactics. 
With this, Nethaneel relegated the position of Commander in Chief meaningless while still staying in line with the Constitution. The Commander in Chief was still technically the highest commanding officer in the US military, yet because the Commander in Chief was a field position, the President could only command soldiers while on the battlefield itself. This also meant that the Commander in Chief could only command a handful of soldiers at one time, which significantly limited the President’s authority. 
While still in office, President Nethaneel appointed himself as the first Supreme Tactical Commander. With this, Nethaneel had effectively established his permanent, absolute power over the military.
== Tensions between the Oligarchy and Nethaneel ==
Following the de-facto privatization of the US Military, Nethaneel joined the Owners of America in secret following the end of his Presidency. With this, there was largely a circular power dynamic between Nethaneel and the rest of the oligarchs. Upon joining, Nethaneel attempted to establish himself as “First Owner of the United States”, which would effectively make him higher than all other Owners, and which would require anything instituted by the Owners of America to be approved by him. 
This would be immediately stopped by the other Owners, who asserted Nethaneel could only be part of the assembly because they allowed it. Even though Nethaneel controlled the military, the Owners could end Nethaneel’s power simply by reducing funding for the military. Thus, Nethaneel remained as an equal to the other Owners, as tension rose between them.
Despite denying Nethaneel greater power than themselves and using a threat to keep him at bay, the other Owners were still leery of Nethaneel’s absolute control of the US Military. While none applied Bolivarianism on a moral level to help people, all part of the Owners of America acknowledged that more entities of power ensured that each individual entity had less. Because of this, the Owners of America decided to collectively fund the creation of a new military known as the “Armed American Alliance”, so that they would have a defense against Nethaneel if he tried anything. 
== Fourth American Civil War ==
Throughout the Prasad, Nethaneel, and Alcantara Administrations, the World Liberation Army gradually lost influence. The final nail in the coffin for the organization came in 2431, with the Battle of Manhattan, Kansas. In this battle, both the US Military and Armed American Alliance attacked the World Liberation Army, and completely obliterated their forces in the battle.
However, in the chaos of the fighting, neither military recognized when the World Liberation Army had been annihilated. Because of this, they began firing at each other once they had met. With that, the militaries recognized one another as enemies which needed to be fought for dominance. The Fourth American Civil War commenced.
The Fourth American Civil War is regarded as the longest civil war in American history. Spanning 30 years, the US Military and Armed American Alliance engaged in battles with one another whenever they engaged in contact. Although this war was not a battle between two governments, it still incurred a great deal of casualties, and ensured that the United States did not face peace.
== Abolition of Democracy ==
Come time for the Presidential Election of 2444, the Owners of America escalated their control over party primary elections. For four decades, the corporations allowed individuals to run in the primaries so long as they did not pose corporations a significant challenge. However, in 2444, the corporations decided that it would be safer for them to simply prevent other candidates from running at all, and to instead have an individual from their own ranks assume the Presidency. 
This commenced with the election of Oren Breedlove III. Now having the power to enforce laws, the corporations took their next move, that being to institute their own legal structure. In 2450, the Owners of America publicly stated that they owned the United States, and because they controlled both the economy and now the executive, there was nothing the American government could do to secure power back. Because of this, Congress did not attempt to take power back. Over the course of the next decade, they gradually met less and less, until it was simply a formality by 2460. 
Meanwhile, the Owners of America instituted the “New American Code” as their new policy to govern the United States. The code established an elitist social hierarchy, with the rich being seen as “superior” to the poor. Core functions of this code involved the contradiction of the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Thirteenth Amendments, in addition to various government regulations on businesses. Furthermore, the code notably allowed corporations to “conscript” individuals to work for them with no pay, effectively re-introducing slavery in the United States 585 years after its abolition.
Following this, corporations asserted their superiority further by effectively limiting who could vote. In April of 2452, the Owners of America enacted the “Electoral Security Act”, which required voters to purchase voter IDs in order to participate in elections. Because these IDs cost tens of thousands of dollars, this rendered voting in 2452 to be done strictly by the upper class. Upon passing this bill, the Owners of America proclaimed that they had “restored America to the Founding Fathers’ vision”, as they designed voting to be a privilege for landowners. 
== Control Over The Supreme Court ==
Upon the enactment of the Electoral Security Act, the Bolivarian Party filed judicial cases for both it and the New American Code to be rendered unconstitutional. Upon seeing this, President Breedlove swiftly fired the entire Supreme Court, as he directed Vice President O’Yama Zarate to assemble an emergency Senate session for confirming his new Supreme Court nominees. 
In the resulting session, the Owners of America’s spokesmen in the Senate advocated for the creation of a position known as the “Keeper of Senatorial Records”. Essentially, a vote would become official when announced by the Keeper of Senatorial Records. This essentially gave the Owners of America full power over the Senate without needing any Senatorial votes. While some Senators dissented to this plan’s institution, they had no choice to vote their concerns, because of the spokesmens’ monopoly over speaking in Senatorial debates. To increase the likelihood that this rule would be enacted, the Owners of America openly offered bribes to the Senators. While many Senators would not accept the bribes under usual periods of governance, it was widely regarded that the Senate was dead in function anyways; thus, the Senators decided to make the most out of their otherwise useless positions.
With that, this rule was enacted, as spokesman Frederick Godreich was elected as the first Keeper of Senatorial Records. With that, he made it appear as though President Breedlove’s nominees passed with a landslide of Senators’ votes in favor. As this occurred, the Owners of America controlled the judiciary.
Four out of the nine Supreme Court Justices consented to their removal, as they did not want to be arrested, tortured, or executed by the oligarchy that now controlled the United States. However, the remaining five decided that because their removal was unconstitutional, they would resist the Owners of America’s usurpation of the judiciary. Chief Justice John Writtenwatch assembled the five legitimate Justices in a cottage the court used while the Marble Palace was being rebuilt during Garret Columbia’s Presidency. With this assemblage, the Supreme Court issued a subpoena for the parties involved in Bolivarian Party V. Owners of America to appear before them. In response to this, President Breedlove issued an executive order arresting the Justices for “insubordination.” As this order was carried out, the five Justices would be subjected to torturous conditions. Over the course of the next decade, both Justice Matthew Rewea and Justice Paul Faremarsh died under the physical and mental stress they endured, thus leaving three legitimate Justices remaining by the end of the Great Oligarchy.
== Oppression of Bolivarians ==
In addition to securing control over the American judiciary, the Great Oligarchy suppressed those filing the case in the first place, so that it would not even reach a trial. Following his confirmation of the Puppet Supreme Court, President Breedlove issued an executive order arresting the case filers, and subjecting them to horrible conditions.
Meanwhile, the Owners of America passed the “Political Affiliation Recognition Act”, or “PARA” for short, which forcibly dissolved the Bolivarian Party, and made it so the only parties recognized on ballots were the Boxer and Progressive Parties. With this, the Owners of America secured even more control over elections. 
== Collapse of the Great Oligarchy ==
Over the course of the next nine years, the Great Oligarchy’s power remained absolute. Keeper Frederick Godreich was elected President in 2452, and served two full terms. During his Presidency, the Owners of America retained their totalitarian control over the nation. Following the Godreich Administration, the Owners of America nominated Zachariah Pointdexter as the Progressive nominee, whereafter Pointdexter obtained a majority in the electoral college.
Upon President Pointdexter’s inauguration, it seemed as though the Great Oligarchy would remain for the long term future, and that no one could overthrow the corporations. However, within four days, this mentality changed completely. As Earth was hit with a coronal mass ejection known as the Cameron Event, the American people’s perception of truth shifted. That day, they went from thinking the Great Oligarchy could never end, to seeing its end before their eyes.
Following the Cameron Event, many individuals believed that the coronal mass ejection was an act from God against the Owners of America. They believed that the Owners of America served as the anti-Christ, and that the Cameron Event was what was described in the Book of Revelation. These individuals are known as “Cameronists.” 
== The Great Oligarchy's Legacy ==
Many logicians, politicians, and historians use the Great Oligarchy as evidence that Manuel Bolivar was correct in his assessment of government; that it was not simply a public institution entrusted by a legal mandate to carry out the duty of governance, but could rather be any entity with power. Corporations, to Bolivar and his supporters, were not the equivalent of private individuals, but instead to entities which governed those individuals. To Bolivarians, the only way to keep corporations in check would be to institute measures to limit their power. Only then, Bolivarians claimed, would power be balanced between the various entities who wielded it; and only when power was balanced would the people attain a prosperous wellbeing.