Joseph Thompson

Thompson Presidential Portrait

**Joseph Thompson** (June 23rd, 1921 - 2023) is an American politician and lawyer who served in the 101st Airborne during WW2 as a Sergeant for the United States. Thompson would serve 4 years in the army before receiving an honourable discharge upon the wars end, having received a purple heart from his involvement in D-Day, and the congressional medal of honour. Thompson, upon leaving the army, would be accepted into Yale College to study law, studying for a grand total of 4 years before passing the Illinois bar in 1948. In 1952 he would run for the mayors office of Chicago, winning the election with 53.7% of the vote. In 1959 he'd run in the Democratic primaries as a liberal candidate and would win in a shock victory over **Rikard Smolek**, who would later serve as Thompsons running mate. In 1960 he'd successfully beat **Bob Mijer** in the 1960 presidential elections and would become 35th President of the United States.

Born to Henry and Lowry Thompson. Joseph Thompson was raised a catholic and attended St Alphonsus Church in his youth. Thompson would attend Vernon Hills High school, graduating in 1938. Thompson shortly after graduation joined his father in working in the family Grocer until enlisting in the U.S Army in late 1941, joining the ranks of the 101st Airborne in early 1942. Thomspon would see scarce combat until 1944 during American landings in Normandy, he would be wounded during fighting southwest of Caen. In late 1945 Thompson would leave the army, having received the purple heart and congressional medal of honour for bravery shown during the D-Day landings.

Following Joseph Thompsons leave from the army, he had applied and would be accepted into Yale College to study law, studying for 4 years before passing the Illinois bar in 1948. During this time he would meet **Joselyn Harrier** marrying Joselyn in 1950.

In 1952 Joseph Thompson would run for the mayors office of Chicago, running on a campaign of rooting out crime, and mending deteriorating race relations within the city, facing off against Republican candidate Russel Root beating Root with 53% of the vote. During this time Mr. Thompson would be accused of dealings with the Chicago mob, though all allegations have never been confirmed or corroborated.

In 1959, finding the majority of Democratic candidates incapable of beating an incumbent Republican party, would run in the Democratic primaries. Thompson would be an unknown to many within the primary, and would face stiff opposition, with harsh criticism against his "freshness" being one of the youngest presidential candidates. He would fare well in the primary debates showing a strong policy of ending the war in Vietnam with a decisive victory against the communist Vietnamese, and largescale housing reform. Thompson would succeed in his big, gaining a shock victory in the democratic primaries. Thompson would allow Rikard Smolek, his primary opponent in the primaries, to run as his vice presidential candidate going into the 1960 presidential election.

Thompson would run a campaign on "hope", promising strong housing reform, stronger civil rights protections & enforcement, and finally ending the Vietnam war. He would face Bob Mijer, the Republican candidate, a old-right republican. In the 1960 election debates he'd be granted what many would consider a successful triumph over Mijer. By November Thompson would win a tight election gaining 273 Electoral votes compared to Mijers 245 with 19 undeclared electors granting Thompson the Oval office.

Thompson would be inaugurated on January 20th 1961 being the youngest president ever be elected, becoming president at a young 39 years of age. Through Thompsons 1st term, he would push for further housing reform, passing the national Housing act in 1961 and the Civil rights act of 1961. Only the housing act would manage to pass through congress. In 1962 the Bay Of Pigs Invasion would occur, with Cuban exiles managing to successfully secure a landing with the support of the American airforce, beginning another year of fighting on the island. By early 1963 the **Treaty of Singapore** would be signed by Thompson officially ending the Vietnam war after Chinese intervention threatened to end American occupation within Indochina, following the Hanoi offensive by American forces, Chinese forces would be crushed and humiliated forcing Chinese forces to retreat back into Chinese borders, while a blow in Laos prevented Chinese forces from securing ground in Laos.

In late 1963 Thompson would also abate the **Cuban Missile Crisis** which would see Soviet nuclear weapons moved into Cuba as a response to American nukes being moved into Turkey, and the Bay of Pigs invasion. In the end both sides would agree to pull nukes out of Turkey and Cuba, while Thompson would be forced to end air support for Cuban exiles fighting in central Cuba, threatening what remained of invading forces chances of toppling the Castro regime.

On the 22nd of November, during a visit to Dallas Texas, homestate of Vice President Smolek, Thompson would be shot and severely injured by gunman Fae Harvey Oswald, a known communist sympathizer, however would survive. His dear wife Joselyn would be shot and killed by a stray bullet and Vice president Smolek would also be injured. Joselyn Thompson, Joseph Thompson, and Smolek would be moved into ICU care in Dallas, with first lady Joselyn Thompson being declared dead at 7:45 Pm in hospital. Joseph Thompson and Rikard Smolek would both survive the ordeal.

Following the attempt on his life Joseph Thompson would mostly resign himself to lesser importance, taking the sidelines and allowing Smolek to take large swaths of the power of the office while he drowned his sorrows. He would bury Joselyn in Arlington national cemetary in a new family cyrpt, requesting the he himself be buried there as well once he died, and in a ceremony alongside his young son, Joseph Elijah Thompson Jr, and Vice President Smolek, say his final goodbyes to his wife. He would announce that he wouldn't run for a second term shortly thereafter, begrudgingly endorsing Rikard Smolek to become the next president of the United States, before going into recluse from public life.

Here he would remain mostly in silence for the next 4 years, in this time he would recover emotionally, re-marrying 3 years after the death of his wife, to the famed actress and supermodel Marilyn Addams. He would also open his presidential library in Chicago illinois, and continued to attend the St. Alphonsus Cathederal, maintaining his devotion to the Catholic faith. He would also conceive another child with Marilyn Addams shortly after their wedding, a daughter whom he would call Lowry after his beloved mother.

In late 1963 he would spark widespread rumours of a Thompson run for 1964 when he re-appeared in politics, speaking in the Illinois Democratic party convention in Chicago and speaking roles across the country on behalf of the Democratic party, though this would come to come and pass as 1963 came into 1964, and '64 to '65, though Thompson would continue his involvement in the democratic party, speaking occasionally in democratic rallys and conventions, most well known of which would be the Democratic National Convention in 1969 which would spark a riot that would ravage Chicago, these riots having been started in opposition to Rixons Anti-Sodomy law earlier that year.

For the next 20 years Thompson would continue this, having 2 more children both daughters, one Marilyn, and the 2nd Anna, he would also continue his efforts to campaign and speak on behalf of the Democratic party though would be noticeably silent for the 1980 presidential election in which David Garrison would be elected as the president of the United States. In a surprise announcement Thompson would declare his intentions to run for the Illinois governorship in 1982, though this would quickly be overtaken by another shock announcement from President-Elect Garrison, granting Thompson the role as Secretary Of State.

Thompson would accept this position, becoming the secretary of state on January 20th. In this time he'd quickly take to the position, heading up major ground in international affairs, going hard in against Iran and the soviet union, opening up contact with one Osama bin Laden to open up arms deals to counter Soviet aggression in the region. He'd also order several attempts to assassinate Ruhollah Khomeini, all of which would fail, and would recommend to president Garrison to attempt a coup of Khomeini, though this would also fail.

His more important contribution during this time would be the Iran-Iraq war. Joseph Thompson, after the failed coup of Iran, would fly to Basra to speak with Saddam Hussein in regards to a possible scenario of conflict between Iraq and Iran. Thompson would offer American air and material support in a fight against Iran, and would back Iraqi claims to Khuzestan in the event of a conflict. Saddam Hussein would accept, and Joseph Thompson would fly back to Washington. Days later the Iran Iraq war would begin though, busy preparing the presidents leave for space aboard the Challenger space shuttle, would delay the promised American support much to the chagrin of the Iraqi dictator.

Thompson would go on to speak about the Basra talks in his memoirs ( "Hope: Life And Times Of President Joseph Thompson" 2018)

***"Some vague promises here, a few bribes there, and Hussein was convinced, and on that day i knew blood shall stain the sands Red..."***

On February 12th, 1983, Joseph Thompson would attend the viewing of the Challenger shuttle taking off from the atmosphere with President Garrison, and the subsequent explosion that will kill the president, his remains would never be recovered. Joseph Thompson would later say in a ceremony honouring the fallen president alongside former president Charles Bonaparte-

***"We will never forget him, nor the last time we saw him, this morning, as he prepared for his journey and waved us goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'"***

In the aftermath he would declare his candidacy to become the democratic nominee of the United States of America, facing stiff competition from Fae Fortaxe, he would barely win the nomination and would be met by stiff criticism against him from Fortaxe throughout the rest of the campaign. Joseph Thompson would make Maylnne Carter his vice presidential nominee to stiff opposition from members of the DNC due to her being both an African American and a woman, though Thompson would refuse to budge, continuing the campaign alongside Carter.

In the 1984 election he'd barely win the white house, and to much contention by one George Went, the GOP presidential candidate, beating back 2 attempts to overturn the results of the New Jersey election.

Joseph Thompson, over 20 years after first becoming president in 1961, would become the president of the United States Of America yet again, and would provide the following address to the nation during the state of the union address.

***"My fellow Americans, Tonight, we gather together in the wake of a great tragedy. President Garrison's untimely death aboard the Challenger Space Shuttle was a loss not just for our nation, but for the world. He was a leader who embodied the values of courage, dedication, and service to others. We mourn his passing, but we must also honor his legacy by continuing the work he began. I pledge to you tonight that I will carry on President Garrison's vision for America, and work tirelessly to make our country an even better place. One of the hallmarks of President Garrison's presidency was his commitment to economic growth and prosperity for all Americans."***

***"I am pleased to report that our economy is on the rise, thanks to the innovative policies of trickle up economics. This approach has created new opportunities for entrepreneurs and small business owners, and has lifted millions of Americans out of poverty. But we must not rest on our laurels. We must continue to invest in education, research, and innovation in order to maintain our economic leadership on the world stage. As we look to the future, we face many challenges as a nation. The Soviet Union remains a formidable adversary, and we must be vigilant in our efforts to protect our national security. But we must also work to bring transparency to the election process and ensure that every American's voice is heard. This is essential to maintaining the integrity of our democracy, and I am committed to working with Congress to strengthen our election laws. In closing, I want to say that despite the challenges we face, I am optimistic about our future. We are a resilient people, and we have always risen to the occasion when our nation has needed us. Let us honor President Garrison's memory by working together to build a better, stronger America. Thank you, and may God bless the United States of America."***