Oliver Dandridge

**Vice President: Muhammad Jackson**
**Branch/Service** U.S. Army
**Years of Service** 2030-2039, 2035-2080 (NL)
**Rank** Captain (US), General (Rev, NL)

**Oliver Cedric Dandridge** (April 25, 2006 - August 13, 2113) was an American revolutionary, politician and general who served as the 50th President of the United States from 2049 to 2057.

Dandridge was the Chairman of the National Union party and the founder of the National Legion. He also was the main leader during the American Revolution '49. He is often regarded as the greatest statesman in American history. He is the first president of the new order.

## Early Life

Born to Cedric and Heather (nee. Bradzlwinski) Dandridge, Oliver was raised in a middle class family. He is of English, Polish, German and Scottish decent. As a young child Dandridge was fascinated with animals. He would frequently visit the local zoo and originally wanted to work with animals. His life would drastically change in high school. According to his former classmate Ted Forrest, "he was considered a geek and a weirdo". During his senior year his classmate accused him of rape. However, this allegation was eventually dismissed due to there not being a sufficient amount of evidence. During this time he also had a growing interest in politics. He would join several Democratic party youth leagues and even joined a Republican youth league for a while. He would later attend Rutgers University.

## Military Career

### Iran War (2030 - 2036)

After the outbreak of the Iran war, Dandridge would immediately enlist into the Army. During his first year in the Army, he would be stationed to Kuwait. From there, he would be sent to southern Iraq where he first saw combat. He would later comment that "combat is a weird feeling. It is a high which you will never experience again". He would briefly return to the United States due to an injury. After returning, he would meet Sharon Collins, his future wife, on a blind date in 2031. Shortly after, he would return to the Middle East. This time he was sent to the United Arab Emirates. He would later be sent to Trinity Army base on the Iranian mainland. After the war concluded in 2036, he would continue to serve in the United States Army until 2039. He would marry Sharon Collins the same year.

### National Legion

Dandridge established the National Legion in 2035. The Legion's original purpose was to serve as an independent militia. Many people who would later serve as President would either join or associate with the National Legion. However, over the years the National Legion would serve more as a Junta or a secret society.

### Alleged Isfahan war crimes

On September 17, 2035, multiple women in the Iranian city of Isfahan were raped or killed. This was shortly after the United States occupied the city. At the time, Dandridge was in the unit which was occupying the city. Due to this, it was suspected that Dandridge had a hand in the atrocities committed against the people of Isfahan. On the 18th of May, 2037, after the war had concluded, a trial was held to see if Dandridge was of any suspect in the war crimes, However, due to inconclusive evidence these allegations would later be dropped.

## Congressional Tenure

### Congressional Race

After returning home, Dandridge decided to run for the United States House of Representatives in New Jersey. His main opponent was in the Democratic primaries. Donald Norcross was his main opponent in the 1st district Democratic primary. Whilst Norcross ran on a liberal establishmentarian campaign, Dandridge ran on a broader populist campaign. Dandridge will go on to win the nomination with 55% of the vote. He would also win against his Republican opponent Suzanne Harper with 67% of the vote.

### Congressional Carrer

Dandridge's time in Congress would go on to play a major role in the revolution. Dandridge's main goal was to improve the lives of the workers of New Jersey. Whilst a populist and a broad egalitarian, he was not a Socialist and had faith in Capitalism. Dandridge would also run on an anti-China campaign, citing that "China is the greatest threat to national security. China is like a plague which has gotten out of hand, and like any plague, the world needs to cooperate and destroy it." Dandridge would first get notoriety for leaving the Democratic party and instead joining the newly formed National Union party. He would cite a difference in values. He would vote for Jeffrey Warner to be the first Chairman of the party. He would get notoriety again due to the 2042 terrorist attacks commited by the revolutionaries. This marked a turning point for US stability. Many blamed Dandridge for his apathetic attitude towards the National Unionist aligned terrorists. As US stability started to fall after the 2044 recession, Dandridge decided to run for the Presidency. Although not winning, many in the party grew sympathetic towards him. So, in 2045 they selected Dandridge for the chairmanship. Dandridge, realizing how unstabe the United States was decided to start preparing the revolution.

## The American Revolution of '49

### The First Phase

On the 1st of February, 2046. It was officially declared from the cities of Cincinnati, Trenton and Chicago. The latter was made the de facto capital of the new revolutionary republic. Dandridge was made the leader of the revolution. This caused mass chaos in the United States upper chain of command. Many Generals of the United States wanted to enact a coup against the government. However, they settled on the resignation of Rebecca Rolfe, the 49th President. The new president was Jerry Strauss. Dandridge, afraid that the United States would use this opportunity to become a dictatorship, decided to make himself the "President of the Revolutionary Army" and designated Muhammad Jackson, a fellow National Unionist and former NAACP and Southern Poverty Law Center executive, as his Vice President. Dandridge also decided to designate himself as the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and later promoted himself to General. He would have a significant hand in logistics during the revolution. On the December 20, 2046 he would meet then Chinese leader Xi Jinping for a military deal despite Dandridge himself despising the Chinese for a multitude of reasons. After the deal was signed, China decided to send 10 thousand special troops for combat to the Revolutionaries. After returning to the United States, a disgruntled worker attempted to assassinate Dandridge using a sniper. It thankfully failed. However, this would be a long start of assassination attempts on Dandridge as there would be a total of 73 (although about 2/3 of the attempts would be committed by Loyalist agents).\

### The Second Phase

After National Unionist Revolutionary forces managed to capture the city of Seattle, Washington, Dandridge would give an infamous speech at the city. The speech was about American Sovereignty and National Unity. By this time the Revolutionaries would conquer around half of the United States. However, following the speech Strauss would convince the Canadian Prime Minister Richard Campbell to let Canada into the United States, citing that otherwise "the Revolutionary would morally and economically bankrupt the great nation and people of Canada". After Canada was admitted into the United States, Revolutionary forces were commanded to launch a naval invasion of Toronto across the Great Lakes. Dandridge believed that conquering just Toronto and Ottawa would destabilize the newly admitted Canadian States, which were not states yet but rather "Special Protectorates". Dandridge would face tragedy, however, because his brother David would be killed by Loyalist forces. Heartbroken, Dandridge decided to take a 3 day mental break. However, due to his brilliance and excellency, many top military advisors wanted him back as soon as possible. So after 1 day, Dandridge was back in office. He would later declare phase 3, the final phase, of the war.

### The Third Phase

Dandridge, who already knew that there was a low possibility the United States, which was morally destroyed, could coil back and retaliate, declared the third phase of the war on November 7, 2048. This final phase was the order to advance into the United States' new capital, Philadelphia. So the order was finally given. And later, on the 13th of January, 2049, the city was captured. The Loyalist Secretary of the Treasury, Naida Hurnes was captured. This was the final blow to the United States army, which started to mutiny. Later that year, the Revolutionaries would capture the final capital, Richmond, thus concluding the war. The following day, Strauss was deposed and Dandridge was declared President of the United States. Thus ending the old order and starting the new order.

## Presidency

After Dandridge ascended to the presidency, there was a trial for the major Loyalist politicians and government personnel. Some, like Hurnes and Dandridge would eventually be executed by firing squad. After Dandridge took office there was a major power re distribution of the top government positions. Dandridge would make Richard Ojeda the Secretary of Defence, and would make John Cottagroy the Secretary of State. Dandridge wanted to completely rework the United States. He would make healthcare universal, the military budget lower, tariffs higher, and college debt was negated. All of this would happen in the first 2 years of his presidency. He would get more done during 2 years than the past Presidents got done in more than half a century. These reforms and reworkings would make Dandridge extremely popular.

Dandridge also broke the military alliance with China and immediately made foreign policy with them hostile. Dandridge, however, would be friendly with the Russian Repubic, citing that they are a major potential ally. Dandridge would make Washington D.C. the capital again and grant it statehood along with Puerto Rico. All of this would make Dandridge's approval rating 74%, mainly due to the amount of reforms he did.

However, this does not mean Dandridge was a progressive. He would make many national police forces privatized, he would pardon many right wing militiamen and would do little to improve race relations, seeing racial friendliness as an extreme form of Neoliberalism. Dandridge, however, was more of a broad populist. He truly believed in the best of everybody.

Dandridge also decided to start construction of the Boston Catholic Mega Church. Dandridge himself being a Catholic felt that this was a personal task and duty. His Vice President, Muhammad Jackson, would independently create the American Grand Mosque in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Altogether though, the greatest achievement of the Dandridge Presidency was the Sovereign Act. This was the act signed after the Chinese Civil war started in 2050. It withdrew most corporations from China and moved them back to the United States. It would also prioritize employing American citizens instead of foreign labor. China, which was in a civil war, could not do anything to fight back.

Although his Presidency was mostly successful, there were some hardships. The Revolution caused so much damage that it would take years to repair. As stated before, Dandridge and the National Union party did not do much when it came to improving race relations. This would be one of the major reasons why the New African Republic rebelled against the United States. Due to fighting in the Revolution, a large number of men born during the 2010's fell casualty to the war (although usually just injured and not killed). Dandridge did not do much to compensate for the mass losses of the Revolutions. Dandridge also did not respect the freedom of speech much.

Nevertheless his approval ratings remained high. At the highest it was 91%.

On August 5, 2057, Dandridge decided to resign from the Presidency. The position was granted to his Vice President Michelle Dalanis. He would later state that he resigned due to not wanting to serve beyond 8 years.

## Post-Presidency, Death and Legacy.

Dandridge would live the rest of his life in Salem, New Jersey, making some public appearances. He would pass away in his sleep on August 13, 2113. He is one of if not the greatest American President in history. His courage, charisma, and cleverness is certainly not matched. The President at the time, Gary Hartwell invited several former Revolutionary officials and even some Loyalists for his funeral. Many world leaders would also attend.