Theodore Vogel

From Wikimerica, the United States encyclopedia
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
Official Portrait, 2257 	 	 	
99th President of the United States 	99th President of the United States 	99th President of the United States 	99th President of the United States
In office 	 	 	
January 20, 2257 - January 20, 2261 	 	 	
Vice President: Valentine Cato 	 	 	
Preceded by: Henry Doss 	 	 	
Succeeded by: Quezon Picaso 	 	 	
23rd First Servant of State of Germany 	23rd First Servant of State of Germany	23rd First Servant of State of Germany	23rd First Servant of State of Germany
In office 	 	 	
January 20, 2257 - January 20, 2261 	 	 	
Second Servant: Joe Chill 	 	 	
Preceded by: Henry Doss 	 	 	
Succeeded by: Quezon Picaso 	 	 	
Governor of New Hampshire 	Governor of New Hampshire 	Governor of New Hampshire 	Governor of New Hampshire
In office 	 	 	
January 1, 2231 - January 1, 2237 	 	 	
Personal details 	Personal details 	Personal details 	Personal details
Full Name: Theodore William Vogel 	 	 	
Born April 17, 2197 	 	 	
Died June 20, 2298 (aged 101) 	 	 	
Resting place: The Hall of the Presidents	 	 	
Theodore William Vogel (April 17, 2197 - June 20, 2298) was an American politician who served as the 99th President of the United States. He is known for being the first Atomicist President. His Presidency is ranked as slightly above average by most historians. Most credit him as a democratic President for ensuring that both parties had their will within the executive, and for taking new measures to pursue the Commawatch-Liberty Collaboration.
==Early Life==
Theodore William Vogel was born on April 17, 2197, to the upper-class family of George and Alexandria Vogel in rural Massachusetts. When Vogel was only four years old, his father was found and executed by The Empire's Hand, the totalitarian police force Emperor Thorton used to silence his political opposition. Due to this tragedy, Vogel's mother would move the both of them to New Hampshire, in which the Emperor possessed much less influence, and where Vogel would work as a propaganda artist for the New English Independence Movement, a rebel faction in the Second American Revolution. 
== New Hampshire State Official ==
Upon the conclusion of the Revolution in 2215, Vogel would act as Chief of Staff for his mother, who was elected to New Hampshire's Executive Council. The Vogels would be members of Commawatch ever since its creation and would advocate, during this time, for maintaining a strong State Guard in distrust of what might happen to the federal government. Vogel would serve in this position until 2220, whereafter he would run for a position in, and successfully be elected to New Hampshire's state House of Representatives on the basis of keeping New Hampshire's defenses strong. Vogel would even propose a law which would restrict how much one can charge for a gun-sale, on the basis of Second Amendment protection; although this bill did not pass, it would be popular amongst many in the New Hampshire General Court. More successfully, Vogel passed a reform limiting the tenure of New Hampshire public officials, both state and federal, to no more than 12 years in office; Vogel argued that term limits were a necessity for keeping individuals in check. In 2230, Vogel announced that he would be using this logic to not run for a sixth term in the General Court, and instead declared a candidacy for Governor.
In his campaign, Vogel ran on a platform of united defense of the former states part of the New English Independence Alliance (New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine) for better defenses for the states against foreign and domestic tyranny. Due to his track record and policy, he would successfully be elected.
In addition to successfully forming this interstate alliance, Vogel also renounced the use of the veto, similarly to President Sanford Frost and many Governors across the United States. Vogel signed all legislation which came to his desk, even if he did not agree with the policy in question. After serving three terms as Governor, Vogel would announce that he would not run for re-election, having been offered the position of Secretary of State by Commawatch Presidential nominee Normand Rafferty, who was impressed with Vogel's interstate alliances; upon Rafferty winning the Presidency, Vogel was nominated and successfully confirmed to the Cabinet position.
==Early Federal Career==
Vogel would serve as Secretary of State for the next four years, before losing his position when the Rafferty Administration lost re-election. Following this, Vogel would successfully be elected to the national Senate in 2242, running on his experience and claiming that he would serve the nation to protect democracy, the bill of rights, and the citizens' defenses. Being highly popular in New Hampshire, he would successfully win the election. During his time in the Senate, Vogel would serve on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Armed Services Committee. 
In particular, Vogel's second term in the Senate marked his rise to high prominence within the Commawatch Party. Upon the institution of the Doss Law Enforcement System, Vogel proposed a bill which would create positions known as "Shadow Secretaries", who were essentially individuals from the opposing party that provided their respective Cabinet Secretary with advice, and held them accountable to ensure they did what was best for both parties. Vogel additionally created and chaired the "Senate Committee on Bipartisanship" to conduct hearings on various government officials to ensure they governed in a bipartisan manner. Vogel worked with news agencies to publish his results. 
For his newfound influence, Vogel was encouraged to run against President Henry Doss in the Presidential Election of 2252. Vogel declined these calls, however, given that he "respect[ed] the Doss Administration", and didn't want to be the one to bring it down. Instead, Vogel ran for President in 2256 and successfully won this election. 
==Presidency (2257 - 2261)==
As President, Vogel would dissolve the Doss Law Enforcement System and replace it with the "Bipartisan Executive Office", which was composed of two "Executors" nominated by Vogel and confirmed to office by a simple majority of the Cabinet, one being from each political party. Vogel would successfully appoint his Vice President, Valentine Cato, as the Commawatch Executor. He offered the Liberty position to former President Doss, yet faced Doss's decline on the basis of him "serving enough time in the executive". Thus, Vogel instead appointed Virginia Governor Thomas Frederickson as the Liberty Executor. With this, Vogel would leave law enforcement to the two Executors and would allow his Cabinet to vote on issues of dispute; Vogel himself would remain largely passive throughout the course of his administration, claiming that the job of a nation's leader was to only step in during emergencies and to ensure everyone else was performing their job. 
==Re-election campaign==
In the Presidential Election of 2260, Vogel would face scathing criticism from Liberty Presidential nominee Quezon Picaso. Picaso accused Vogel of worsening the Filipino Discrimination Crisis with his hands-off approach to governing. Picaso additionally noted that the bills Vogel signed were heavily Commawatch-based, and "upheld the federal intervention ruining Filipinos lives", as Picaso put it. President Vogel defended himself by saying he was pursuing ideals of democracy and bipartisanship, which was what empowered the people the most. To this, Picaso responded by saying this could only be true if the people were not facing active discrimination; which, ever since the Alighieri Administration, Filipinos had been. Picaso famously stated in this election that "No system will ever be democratic for a people, if that people is held as inferior." In his defeat speech, Vogel conceded, claiming that the democratic process had deemed his time for the Presidency to be concluded and that he would not run for the position in the future. He announced, however, that he would still serve the American people in other positions. 
==Second New Hampshire Governorship (2263 - 2267)==
In 2262, Vogel ran for a fourth term as Governor of New Hampshire, claiming that "the good [he] did for the federal government must now be done for [his] state." He proceeded to win by a landslide, and would immediately commence work in regards to ensuring the state was more bipartisan. He created the Bipartisan Executive Office on the state level, and additionally worked with state Senate Majority Leader Henry Theo and state House Speaker Margaret Alia to create Committees on Bipartisanship.
== Representative (2267 - 2275) ==
After two terms as Governor, Vogel announced his candidacy for the federal House of Representatives, for the sake of establishing a Committee on Bipartisanship therein. Once again, Vogel won by a landslide in the Election of 2266. Upon obtaining the position, Vogel was encouraged by his peers in the Commawatch Caucus to run for Speaker against incumbent Augustus Julius. However, given that Vogel both respected Speaker Julius and wanted to set up the House Committee on Bipartisanship, Vogel opted not to do so.
In his first term as Representative, Vogel successfully created the House Committee, and functioned as its chair in the same manner that he did during his time in the Senate. After four terms in the House of Representatives, Vogel announced his retirement from politics, and that it "time to hand power over to a new generation."
==Retirement and Legacy==
For the next 21 years, Vogel lived a peaceful life of retirement, before dying in 2298 at age 101. Vogel is generally remembered fondly for his work in maintaining the Commawatch-Liberty Collaboration, and for his work in ensuring both parties had their voices heard in government. 
Category:U.S. President
Category:U.S. Governor