Presidency of Harvey Jones

The **presidency of Harvey Jones** began at noon EST on January 20, 1993, when Harvey Jones became the 42nd President of the United States upon his inauguration. Jones, a Republican, was the 46th Governor of Michigan at the time of his victory in the 1992 presidential election over Democratic nominee Hillary Rodham. His running mate, Governor Arlene Antonio-Song of Washington, took office as vice president on the same day. It ended at 8:00 AM EST on January 20, 2000, upon the inauguration of Antonio-Song following his resignation.

Political scholars say that the Jones presidency ideologically falls between moderate and conservative, with the administration producing conservative policies that will likely be altered and/or failed by the Democratic members of Congress and with Democratic members of Congress producing liberal policies that will likely be negotiated and/or vetoed by the administration.

Upon taking office, Jones became the youngest president in U.S. history at age 35, while Antonio-Song became the first female and first Asian American vice president in U.S. history. Jones was re-elected in a landslide victory in the 1996 presidential election, defeating Democratic senator Casey Booker, and was sworn in for a second term on January 20, 1997.

Jones resigned on January 20, 2000, to take office as Commissioner of Elections. He was succeeded by Arlene Antonio-Song, who in turn became the first female president of the United States.

## Nominations and appointments

### Cabinet

During the transition, Jones announced the first nominations of his presidency, many of which were to high-level positions. Although some nominations were met with controversy, most of his nominations easily passed the Senate.

The Cabinet saw many resignations during and after the 1994 midterm elections. These resignations include those of Greg Howard, Ailani Hudson, and Kay Brown. Despite this, these positions were filled with either confirmed or acting secretaries.

Jones' Cabinet saw many historical landmarks as well. Jones became the youngest president and Arlene Antonio-Song the first female and first Asian American vice president upon their inauguration in 1993. Ailani Hudson was the first female attorney general and the first Pacific Islander to serve in the Cabinet upon her confirmation in 1993. Likewise, Claire Serrano became the first female secretary of state and the first Latina to serve in the Cabinet upon her confirmation in 1994.

### White House staff

Jones had few members of his White House staff so as to focus on higher Cabinet nominations and keep activity levels high. At the start of his presidency, Felix Quintos served as his chief of staff, Will Thomas served as his press secretary, and Theresa Thaddeus served as both first lady and national security advisor.

Upon Quintos' nomination to the Supreme Court and subsequent resignation as chief of staff, Thomas was appointed to serve in that position. After Thomas' election to the House of Representatives in the 1994 midterm elections, Jerry McGarry was appointed to serve as chief of staff and served in that position until his appointment to the Senate in 1996; three years later, Bradley Scott began his service as chief of staff.

Thomas resigned as press secretary on April 29, 1993, following his appointment as chief of staff. Since his resignation, that office has remained vacant.

Jones appointed Jeb Wilson to chair the President's Council on Homeland Security and thus serve as homeland security advisor. Upon the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 1995, Wilson was nominated to serve as Secretary of Homeland Security; despite this, Wilson continued his service as homeland security advisor until his resignation from both positions in 1997.

### Judicial nominations

Because the simulation was new at the time Jones took office, there was no federal judiciary to take cases and therefore needed to be established with the confirmation of justices. Jones' first Supreme Court nominations were Bradley Scott for chief justice and Ainsley Bryant, Jake Bjorn, Avery Johnson, and Richard MacArthur for associate justice. Of those five, only Scott and Bryant were confirmed; their confirmations officially established the Supreme Court of the United States. After those failures, Jones nominated Felix Quintos and Harry Francis to serve as associate justices, and only Francis was confirmed.

In 1994, Jones nominated Kenny Dixon for the Supreme Court. Dixon was confirmed, creating a fourth seat. When Dixon resigned from the Supreme Court to take office in the House of Representatives later that year, Esther Farage was nominated and confirmed as his replacement.

At the beginning of 1995, he nominated Harper Moore and Sterling Johnson; Moore withdrew her name from consideration to serve as attorney general, and Johnson's nomination failed in committee. Jones nominated Don Kerry to replace Ainsley Bryant, who resigned to manage the presidential campaign of Casey Booker. Most recently, Jones nominated Will Thomas, who was sworn in on November 22, 1995.