John W. Ashikaga

John Williamson Ashikaga (born 04/07/2601) is a Terran politician and the current Chancellor of the Republic since he took office in 2715. As a member of the Federalist faction, he previously served as Minister of IEEF from 2687 to 2697 and as Minister of Diplomacy from 2697 to 2703. Before his cabinet positions, he had been elected Chief Administrator of Mars and served from 2661 to 2685. Until his election as head of the Martian Administration, he served as Legislator since 2643. 
He was born on July 4th 2601 in New Jamestown to the Ashikaga family, a branch of the notorious Kobayashi family. He studied at the New Jamestown Academy of Arts before enlisting in the Olympus FAC hoping to become a technocrat. He ended up dropping out in third year following a disappointing streak of exams and the death of his paternal uncle. During his years at the FAC, he proved to be a competent orator and he decided to enter politics following his dropping out. He joined the Federalists in 2631 and progressively took on higher positions within the Martian government, first becoming an assistant to the mayor of Neurb in 2633 and eventually a councillor of the New Jamestown Council in 2638. He would go on to become a Legislator in the Assembly of the People in 2643. He became Mars' Chief Administrator in 2661 and attained several senior cabinet positions within the Federal Chancellery afterwards. 
His tenure as Chancellor has been marked by a return to confrontational diplomacy but with a more open economy than his predecessors. He has removed many protectionist policies such as tarifs, resulting in the Free Trade Act of 2719. Hus government has heavily encouraged Terran corporations to expand further abroad through acquisitions. He also resumed the New Horizons Initiative which had been initiated by the Social-Liberal government of 2703, which aims to attract young alien talent to study and work in skilled positions in the Federation. This has significantly increased immigration to Terran core worlds. He has also continued the Social-Liberal agenda of further closing the gap in rights between aliens and humans within the Federation, in particular by loosening citizenship requirements. This policy has proven to be immensely popular among a majority of the human population, including both previous Federalist members and the opposition, as well as the new alien citizenship.