Luis Willson

Luis Willson (14th of January 1890 - 25th of November 1955) was an Antanosian politician and columnist who served as president of the Federation of Antanos from 1930 to 1934. Willson served as vice president from 1922 to 1930 and then went on to run and win the presidency in the 1930 presidential election. Willson was responsible for a successful recovery from the Great Depression, using interventionist policies to make it happen and was known as being a Berogist. Wilson went on to serve as Governor of Whuchigan four years after his election defeat in the 1934 presidential election and then served four years as a representative in Whuchigan until 1950, dying five years later in 1955.
== Early Life: 1890 - 1922 ==
Wilson was born in New Buffalo, Utsota, in Antanos on the 14th of January 1890 to Davis Wilson Tochery and Marie Wilson Tochery. Wilson grew up in a middle class neighbourhood in New Buffalo, experiencing an untroubled childhood. Wilson's parents came from the United States in 1888 to settle in the territory as they assumed that Antanos would eventually become a state in the US. Wilson attended Grenharper Elementary from 1895 to 1902 and received an A- in his elementary graduation test. Wilson attended Genharper & Coghley High School from 1902 to 1908 where Wilson studied further on social issues and found a keen interest in politics and current affairs.
=== Chronicle & Mirror/New Buffalo Chronicle ===
After graduating high school, Wilson decided to start his own newspaper called the Chronicle & Mirror, centring around politics and current affairs. It was established in November 1908 with its only employees being Wilson and his dad, Davis W. Tochery, who had agreed to help write and edit articles until the newspaper kicked off. Wilson struggled to get the paper out of its local area as there was little interest in its publication outside his local community in New Buffalo, only holding a couple 1,000 weekly readers.
Wilson was approached by Read & Radio (R&R), one of the largest newspaper and radio companies in the country, in April 1911 to buy the newspaper and rename it as the New Buffalo Chronicle for $300 ($9,900 in 2024). Wilson was reluctant to do so until he was offered the position of chairman of the company and an extra $50, leading to him accepting the deal in late April 1911.
Wilson was chairman of the company until 1918 when he resigned and decided to only keep the position of writer. He slowly but surely distanced himself further from the company, becoming tired of the position he held for nearly 7 years at that point. He officially retired from the company in 1920, leaving just as a shareholder of the company but later selling his share in 1925.
== Entering Politics & 1922 Presidential Election: 1920 - 1922 ==
Wilson took an interest in electoral politics after Adam Berogi was elected governor of Antanos in 1919. Wilson decided to join A New Democracy in November 1920 and contested a seat in the 1921 legislative election but failed to win his seat, winning only 45% of votes compared to the Statehood Party's 48% of the vote and other parties holding 7% of the vote. Wilson gained a new fame of popularity in New Buffalo and some parts of the country for his campaign in the election, garnering him fame and attention from Governor, Berogi.
Berogi and Wilson became close after the election, leading to Berogi appointing Wilson as vice chairman of A New Democracy and later United Front. After the calling of the 1922 presidential election, Berogi was picked to be the vice president candidate for the election by Adam Berogi himself. Berogi believed that Wilson was a promising figure in politics and cited the similarities between their ages as another reason for his choice. Wilson campaigned alongside Berogi during many events, sharing similar ideas with Berogi, leading to Wilson becoming a Berogist. 
== Vice President: 1922 - 1930 ==
Berogi and Wilson won the 1922 presidential election with 19 electoral votes compared to the Socialist Party's 11 electoral votes. Berogi congratulated Wilson on his "admirable efforts to win the election" and remarked their "true friendship." Wilson attended President, Berogi's, inauguration on the 25th of March 1922.
Wilson was known for making lots of speeches across the country during his time as vice president and was considerably more enticed by foreign affairs than President, Berogi. Berogi's first out-of-state visit was to New Zealand in April 1923 where Wilson met with Prime Minister, William Massey, and discussed the possibility of a economic trade deal between Antanos and New Zealand. The deal was unsuccessful but Massey remarked his fondness of Wilson, calling him a "friendly, real man, with a passion for the people of his nation."
Wilson was a key figure in stopping the Stone Railway Rebellion from becoming a 40-day strike. Berogi's comments about the large pay rise demand from railway workers that mocked the large rise made NARU call for their workers to go on strike, resulting in a 38-day strike of railway workers in the country. Wilson talked to NARU on the 14th and 15th of March 1927 in the place of Adam Berogi due to a harsh cold. NARU was much more willing to come to a conclusion with Wilson than they were with Berogi. The two meetings were successful and led to Wilson reporting back to Berogi that NARU were willing to end the strike if they received a smaller 18% pay rise for all railway workers. Wilson spent a lot of time attempting to convince Berogi that the deal was good and so eventually it was signed and no more strikes were held after the 17th of March 1927.
Wilson met with presidential candidate, Herbert Hoover, in August 1928 in the run up to the 1928 presidential election. He pledged his support for Hoover's election in November and promised support to Hoover if elected.
Wilson was generally very liked as vice president, with public approval of high sky high. This position allowed him to be picked as the candidate for president in the 1929 United Front primary and was a key figure in the 1929 United Front Convention. 
=== 1929 United Front Convention & 1929 United Front Primaries ===
Wilson was a frontrunner in the 1929 convention, bolstered by his support during his time as vice president, but there were still competitors. Davis Alytt, Richard Mullaney, and current secretary of the treasury, Walter Freeman, were all major candidates in the ballot. Wilson ended up winning 48.4% of votes, Davis Alytt won 38.7% of votes, Richard Mullaney won 8.4% of votes, Walter Freeman won 3.3% of votes, and 1.2% of votes were cast to other candidates.
After ballots were cast, the primary took place to pick the presidential candidate for the 1930 presidential election in November 1929. The 1st round of voting in October saw Wilson win 47.3% of votes, Alytt win 40.4% of votes, Mullaney win 9.0% of votes, and Freeman win 3.3% of votes. A second round of voting took place between all candidate that received 25% of votes or more and so only Wilson and Alytt went on the to 2nd and final round. The 2nd round saw Wilson win 57.3% of votes and Alytt win 42.7% of votes, claiming the victory for Wilson. Alytt went on to congratulate Wilson on his victory. After a careful selection process, Wilson decided to picked Davis Alytt as his vice president candidate due to his popularity among more right-wing voters.
== 1930 Presidential Election ==
Main Article: 1930 Antanos Presidential Election
Wilson faced off against Socialist party candidate, Grover Kirk, who was an odd candidate for the Socialist Party, He was an ex-businessman and was a businessman during the time of the wall street crash. Wilson was socially somewhat conservative but economically left-wing. Kirk did not believe in major nationalisation and public-ownership projects, dropping many of those ideals of the previous two socialist candidates, and instead focus on economic reparations for those affected by the depression. Kirk's campaign was odd and many were confused on his stances due to be somewhat against nationalization projects, socially conservative, but left-wing in terms of social services, benefits, and welfare. His stances, however, were very popular among the working class and other groups that were affected by the depression. This, however, made up his only major policy and made voters unenthusiastic over voting for Kirk.
Wilson's campaigned centred around helping those affected by the Great Depression, expanding the country's foreign relations, and introducing new welfare programs. Wilson spoke out against Kirk's abhorrently confusing policies, attacking them during many speeches early on in his campaign. When asked, Kirk declined an offer to hold a debate, stating that the 1926 debates were "once in a lifetime events." Wilson gained a lot of support for meeting with a community of people who's lives had been destroyed by the Great Depression, most of them homeless, in poverty, or unemployed in some way. He remarked that the conversations he had with the people in that community "moved [him] greatly." Many people felt happy to see Wilson engaging with poorer communities and many believed that Wilson showed off more empathy towards the poor than the Socialist Party candidate himself. Wilson's visit of the slums became known as the Wilson Slum Visit and led to him promising to clear slums, gets the economy back on track, and build affordable housing.
The election took place on the 7th of June 1930 and results quickly came in the early morning of the 8th, completing fully by the 10th, showing that Wilson had won 17 electoral votes and Kirk had won 13 electoral votes. Wilson celebrated his victory against Kirk and promised Antanosians to deliver his promises and "rebuild Antanos." Kirk refused to accept the result of the election, calling for a recount, but the Electoral Commission refused to do so, citing that the election was "not close enough for a recount." Kirk conceded victory to Wilson a week before being inaugurated on the 7th of July 1930 and congratulated him on his victory, apologising for his behaviour.
== Presidency: 1930 - 1934 ==
Main Article: Presidency of Luis Willson
=== Formation & Cabinet ===
Wilson became president on the 7th of July 1930, being inaugurated the same day, delivering a speech, calling for the nation to "hold the house together during the storm," remarking the worsening situation of the depression. Wilson was joined by his vice president, Davis Alytt, members of his family, close friends, media, and other celebrities.
=== Agriculture ===
Wilson had been insistent on helping farmers get out of the turmoil that they had been in since World War I, promising farmers more fair conditions and a federal law to help farmers. Wilson pushed for the Agricultural Subsidies Act 1930 that would create the Farming Reserves Board, which would give out loans of money to farmers to control crop prices which in turn would control surpluses. The bill was very supported by the Socialist Party, but received overall opposition from members of his own party. This was due to the party's shift to the right among its members, with Vice President, Alytt, showing opposition to the subsidies. It took until late 1930 for the bill to get through the Assembly, finally being passed in November 1930 and signed into law in the same month.
Farmers experienced an upturn financially after the act, even through the effects of the Great Depression, leading to a large portion of farmers defecting their support from the Socialists to the Front. Economic turmoil throughout the early 30s worsened, however, and led to farmers turning back to the Socialist Party by 1932, showing the failure of the act.
=== Labor ===
Strikes were abundant in the very early 1930s, but the large amount of them gradually phased out by 1932 due to the effects of the Great Depression becoming to hard for people to strike and lose money because of it. Strikes reached their lowest point in the country's history between 1932 - 1933 due to the hard-hitting effects of the depression.
Railways were on the decline during the 1920s and int continued into the 30s as well, causing NARU to become worried about the end of the railway sector of unionism. NARU called upon railway workers to strike in May 1932 against Wilson's policies on helping workers but a record low number of workers came out to strike, leading to to a short two-day strike. Wilson commented on the strike by saying that "people are just fed up, they can't afford to strike and that's okay, they just want their life back." Further strikes took pace among factory workers between the 24th of February 1933 to the 1st of March 1933, construction men went on strike for five days in July 1933, and police men went on strike in October 1933.
A Plethora of strikes took place in early 1934 as well, showing the rise of strikes in the country as the effects of the Great Depression began its easing process. Wilson's government became embroiled in mini scandals and major strikes that did not benefit his campaign in 1934.
=== Welfare ===
The Great Depression caused havoc in Antanos by destroying the country's economy, pushing nearly 1/3 of the population into unemployment at its height, and broke businesses. In an attempt to curb the effects of the depression, President, Berogi, called for measures to be taken to help people and businesses back on their feet, and this included the expansion of welfare. The Unemployment Act 1932 set up the first version of unemployment benefits in Antanos. The unemployment fund was given to people who were actively seeking employment but being turned down, receiving $1 ($23 today) every week to survive. The tiny amount of funds being given to the unemployed was mocked by many but Wilson assured the public that the small number was "temporary" and that a larger increase would be "on the way."
The Workers' National Corps was a government program for those who had become unemployed, mostly for those who had become unemployed via the depression. The workforce offered basic housing for families in "poor houses" to accommodate the needs of those who had become unemployed. The program was very popular, attracting 100,000s of unemployed individuals into the program in an attempt to have housing accommodation and other amenities.
==== Housing ====
The government released their New Nation Housing Plan in September 1932 that aimed to build 50,000 homes in Antanos, replace the slums with those houses, reinvest in cities to create better housing and promote this housing, set caps on the amount that a person can be charged for housing, and introduce new housing inspections to curb landlords failing to deliver on their promises.
The plan which was put into the Housing Act 1932 came as a surprise to the Socialist Party who saw the bill as "innately socialist-like" according to James M. T. Matthews. The bill was one of the first bills by the Front that received a minority of support from the party. Most of the party were situated on the centre-right, some in the centre, and a minority in the right after the 1930 elections and thus support for such a bill was not there. The bill voted in the National Assembly and saw 23 Socialist representatives voting in favour of the bill and 3 against and 13 National Front representatives voting in favour of the bill and 21 against it, giving the bill 36 reps in favour and 24 against.
The implementation of the bill began as early as January 1933, with housing being built quickly and slums being swept away quickly in big cities. Wilson's housing reformation policy was massively popular according to modern day polls in 2018 and 2019 that showed public support of the policy to by 76% and 78% respectively. The 50,000 houses were built in three and a half years, ending midway through the presidency and helping many get into housing and out of homelessness.
=== Great Depression ===
Wilson picked up the effects of the Great Depression from the previous president, Adam Berogi. Berogi was pushed into the economic collapse in his late presidency in 1929 and early 1930, attempting to help people from spiralling into homelessness and poverty. Berogi was generally disliked for not doing enough to combat the early effects of the depression, leaving voters hopeful of Wilson being a much better president to combat the Great Depression. The hope from voters was that Wilson was more competent due to being left in the background of politics and probably knowing just as much as President, Berogi, did. 
Early effects of the protests led to strikes by workers who felt that they were in need of compensation and higher pay to keep up the work they were providing. Strikes began levelling out in 1931 and became very few in 1932 and 1933 due to the effects of the Great Depression being too high to strike for and many lost their jobs in general, with the unemployment rate being at 31% at its worst in 1933, nearly 1/3. The unemployment rate dropped to 27% in the following year, 1934, showing one of the first signs of success. 
=== Immigration ===
=== Civil Rights & Segregation ===
=== Foreign Policy ===
=== 1934 Presidential Election ===
Main Article: 1934 Antanos Presidential Election
== Governor of Whuchigan: 1938 - 1946 ==
== Representative of Whuchigan State Assembly: 1946 - 1950 ==
== Retirement & Death: 1950 - 1955 ==