Benjamin Bryant

Benjamin A. Bryant is an American politician and jurist, who served as the 5th and longest-tenured President of the United States of America from December 2020 to March 2021, and who currently sits as an Associate Justice on the U.S Supreme Court. Bryant previously served as the First Speaker of the House of Representatives in D.E.S history for two terms, and as the congressman for District 6 in the U.S House for two terms.

Bryant has described himself as a "compassionate conservative", and has been an advocate for right wing policies such as smaller government and debt control. Bryant is widely recognized for historic achievements, namely securing the independence of Tibet from China, the end of Uighur concentration camps, the implementation of BryantCare, and Universal Pre-K, and launching the 3/19 Drone Strike which killed many top level ISIS Leaders. Bryant has implemented a "peace-through-strength" foreign policy and the Bryant Doctrine of defending allies at all costs. Bryant also has overseen free trade negotiations with the European Union, Canada, and Mexico. On the domestic front, Bryant has advocated for Infrastructure investment, same-sex marriage to return to the state level, the merging of similar departments, the cutting of unnecessary government spending, pro-life policies, cutting taxes, and the protection of Defense spending, Homeland Security, Veteran's Affairs benefits.

Bryant was elected as President of the United States on December 11, 2020, defeating Democratic opponent Amber Rudd with a final total of 324 Electoral votes to Rudd's 214. On January 31st, Bryant won a historic second term defeating former President Hillary Riley Cunningham with 288 electoral votes to her 232. Bryant left office on March 19th, 2021 with the approval ratings in the mid-nineties, the highest of any sitting president in American history. Bryant was confirmed to the Supreme Court unanimously on March 29th, 2021 following his nomination by President Cunningham.

### ***Speakership***

Bryant was selected as the first Speaker of the House in the early days of D.E.S unanimously. Just days into office, President Edwin House unilaterally declared war against Hamas and invaded Afghanistan without Congressional approval. This act led to the Speaker opening an impeachment inquiry into President House. Following the beginning of the inquiry, President House tried to revert the actions he had made by withdrawing the troops from Afghanistan, however due to the President not informing the Afghanis of the deployment, the Afghanis shot down a U.S helicopter, resulting in the deaths of several U.S soldiers. Following this, Speaker Bryant got Acting Secretary of Defense David Berger and Vice President Joey to testify before congress where they denounced House's inactivity and his "power grabs". Acting Secretary Berger went as far to say that the blood of the soldiers was "on the hands of the President". Bryant moved to impeach House on the charge of Abuse of Power and after the passage of the article through committee, it appeared as if the president would be impeached with little fight due to the supermajority of Republicans in

the House of Representatives. However, in a turn of events, House resigned the Presidency to avoid a full impeachment, and a trial in the Senate where he was likely to be found guilty. Bryant applauded House for doing what was best for the country and afterwards, the two became close allies.

   Following the resignation of President House, Joey took office as the 2nd President in American history. Bryant and the House of Representatives attempted to work with the newly inaugurated President, however Joey's inactivity led to the Speaker and the rest of congress being forced to pursue legislation largely on their own. Speaker Bryant passed the Secure Elections Act, which he authored, in order to protect U.S elections from outside interference. Additionally, Bryant and President Pro-Tempore Harry Bennett worked to deliver a budget through negotiations with Vice President Hillary Cunningham. The speaker and PPT secured a budget that was widely viewed as extremely favorable for the Republicans, ensuring cutting of government spending, adding a budget amendment proposed by Vice President Cunningham that implemented Don't Ask Don't Tell, and that ensured that any funding for Planned Parenthood shall not be used to perform abortion operations. The budget was passed with little opposition, and was signed with reluctance from President Joey. The budget amendment was later signed by Hillary Cunningham in the next administration due to it not being signed by Joey. Bryant and the House Republicans also passed a piece of legislation trying to state that it was the opinion of the federal government that the definition of marriage should be a union between "one man, and one woman". The aim of this legislation was for it to trigger a case in the Supreme Court in order to return the issue to the state level. This legislation was passed by the House, but was dead on arrival in the Senate.

On November 23, 2020, President Joey resigned from office citing a death in his family, and Vice President Hillary Cunningham took office as the third President of the United States. By this time, it was largely assumed that Speaker Bryant would mount a run for President himself and as such, Speaker Bryant became a target of the new President.

### ***Presidential Campaign***

On November 25, 2020, Bryant declared his candidacy for the Presidency of the United States and tapped fellow Representative Jakob Ainsley as his Vice Presidential running-mate. Following the attacks of Cunningham, Bryant ran an aggressive campaign against the incumbent, using the slogan "Not Worth The Risk" and "Missing in Action" to label her as an unready leader who lacked the ability and attentiveness to hold the highest office in the world. Bryant campaigned hard and frequently across the country, targeting the electorally rich states such as California, and Florida. The Republican field quickly unified behind Speaker Bryant, and he won the Republican nomination unopposed, while Cunningham faced a challenge from Massachusetts businesswoman, Amber Rudd. Democratic Party Chair Benjamin Venus published the results of the primary which showed Cunningham won in a landslide. This was viewed by many as unlikely due to several pledging public support of Rudd leading to many, including Bryant, raising concerns regarding the integrity of the primary. This led to Rudd refusing to concede and a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the nominee of the Democratic party.

On December 1, 2020, right-wing extremists in the Unite-The-Right campaign gathered in the city of Richmond, Virginia following the ban of several types of quick firing assault-style weapons. Counter-protesters gathered to voice support for the measures, and this ended in confrontation and violence as a far-right extremist and member of the Ku Klux Klan drove a vehicle through a crowd of hundreds of counter-protestors. In response to this, violence broke out in many major U.S cities. Speaker Bryant condemned the attacks and visited the city of Richmond to meet with the mayor. He called on President Cunningham to "Step Up or Step Aside" regarding the attacks. President Cunningham failed to respond in any substantive way, and was roundly attacked for doing a re-election rally on Climate Change in Richmond the day after the attack in which she never addressed the crisis or the victims. As a result of this, Cunningham's approvals dropped steeply leaving most to rightly consider her chances of winning re-election dead. Following over ten days of largely inactive leadership, President Cunningham resigned the presidency, leaving the office to her Vice President, Kenneth Allen. Allen refused to seek a full term, and this allowed the re-entry of Amber Rudd into the race for the presidency. However, though the late run by Rudd outperformed expectations, on December 11, 2020, Bryant was elected to the presidency in a decisive victory, that saw him carry the historically democratic state of California, in addition to states such as Florida, Texas, Washington, Maryland, Georgia, Missouri, and other less populous states. Rudd conceded the race and Bryant thanked her for her graciousness.

### ***Transition***

On December 12, 2020, President Allen congratulated President-Elect Bryant on his victory and pledged his commitment to a smooth transition of power. Bryant began nominating individuals for cabinet and court vacancies, and his nomination came on December 12, 2020, when he announced his intention to nominate his former rival, Amber Rudd, for Associate Justice to the Supreme Court. This pick was widely applauded by many across the political spectrum. Bryant then proceeded to nominate others including Brett Cawthorn for Secretary of State, George Pompeo as Attorney General, Rickey Adams for Secretary of Health and Human Services. Bryant and President Allen had a public spat over whether the president had the ability to unilaterally declare a joint session without invitation, while the congress was not in recess. The argument fizzled out shortly afterwards, and Bryant continued to work with Allen towards the inauguration.

### ***Presidency***

#### **First-Term:**

Benjamin Bryant was sworn in as the 5th President of the United States on December 18th, 2020. In his inaugural address, he stressed the importance of unity and bipartisanship, stating that *"when we work together, arm-in-arm, hand-in-hand, only then can we carry the torch of democracy forward on the world's stage, to ensure that its flame not only never dies out, but that it remains strong!"* On Bryant's first day in office, he issued several executive orders that revoked President Allen's executive actions from the week prior, deployed the national guard to tackle the unrest across the country, rejoined the Iran Nuclear Deal, created a National Gun Database, and pardoned DNC Chairman Benjamin Venus. These actions were widely viewed as important steps in healing the country following a divisive campaign.

On Bryant's second day in office, he secured one of the most historic foreign policy achievements in Presidential history by signing the Lhasa Pact with the government of China, freeing the people of Tibet and making them an independent country. Bryant was widely applauded for securing this deal, however some criticized his willingness to work with the Chinese, even going as far to calling him a traitor for agreeing to lower sanctions against the PRC. Bryant rebutted these criticisms in his State of the Union Address. "*My administration will stand with China wherever possible, but against them wherever necessary. For instance, when we have the opportunity to pursue a free trade agreement and lower sanctions mutually, it would be absolutely illogical to not pursue that. However, where China steps out of bounds; where they abuse human rights, challenge democracy, interfere in our elections, and damage our national interests, we will unapologetically stand up against them.*" President Bryant followed this by announcing his intentions to permanently deploy troops to Tibet to protect them in case China was to go back on their word. Bryant flew to Tibet to meet with the Dalai Lama days later, where the Dalai Lama thanked Bryant for his work. Bryant is the first U.S President to ever step on Tibetan soil.

Following the securement of this deal, there was hope among some that this would open the door to better relations with the Chinese government, however this optimism was not shared by the President. Bryant said that although he was hopeful foe progress on a trade deal and a easing in tension, he still believed that China should be kept at a "diplomatic arms length" due to human rights violations and aggressive acts in the South China Sea. On December 24th, 2020, reports began to arise that China had begun to launch attacks against the island of Taiwan. The small island off the coast of mainland China has long been recognized by most global powers as a part of the PRC due to the Chinese government's "One-China Policy", however in practice, the PRC does not occupy it. President Bryant condemned the actions by the Chinese government and stated that although the U.S recognizes Taiwan as a part of the PRC, the Chinese were on thin ice with the U.S government, and that if the Chinese seized Taiwan, the United States would not pursue a free-trade agreement or sanction relief for the "foreseeable future", which were priorities for China.

Bryant delivered on a campaign promise on December 26th, 2020 when he announced the signing of the United States-European Trade Agreement (USETA). The deal was hailed by many as a major step in expanding the U.S' access to a largely untapped market for America. Furthermore, the deal would create more options for the American consumer and drive prices down in monopolized markets. President Bryant praised Representative Bush and Vice President Ainsley for their work on the agreement and said that the nation owes them a "great debt". The deal was ratified by congress by unanimous consent in a voice session soon afterwards.

On December 28th, 2020, President Bryant signed the Official Secrets Act into law, ensuring that issues of national security could be more easily protected from leaking to the masses. This legislation was widely approved of. Afterwards, President Bryant made the major announcement of the introduction of the Better Way Act of 2020 to make housing more affordable and lower homelessness around the country. Bryant wrote the legislation with the assistance of Representative Tom W. Bush. The bill was a major step in completing one of Bryant's major campaign promises of beginning to tackle homelessness in America. The bill was signed less than two weeks later by President Bryant.

On January 1st, 2021, President Bryant became the first president to take DES into a new year. On January 1st, the House Elections were held and Speaker Everett Terry decided to not seek re-election in order to take on a more impartial role as Manager of the DES Staff. In response to this, President Bryant publicly endorsed Representative for District 5 and long-time political ally, Tom W. Bush to take the post over. The Republicans went on to win a majority of 6 seats to the Democrats 5 and Bush won the position in a private vote. Hours later, President Bryant announced that his Secretary of Defense, Benjamin Venus, resigned which President Bryant said was mutual and amiable decision. Bryant announced he would replace him with Trey Cranfield, who served on a temporary basis as Acting Secretary of Defense until he won a special election to the senate.

On January 3rd, 2021, Bryant announced that he would be de-classifying the Roswell Files. Bryant stated that "Too many presidents have failed to do this, and I will not be another one of them." The Roswell Files had long been believed to hold proof of extra-terrestrial life, however the President showed that they did not. Two days afterwards, Bryant announced that he would be nominating Everett Terry to be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

On January 7th, President Bryant made history with the announcement of the Bryant-Bush-Meyer Amendment which would amend the Constitution to reflect the changes outlined in the Bryant Proposal. The Bryant Proposal was written by President Bryant and changed the constitution to make it more relevant to the rules of D.E.S, such as Term lengths, repealing Age limitations, amount of Supreme Court Justices, and the Constitutional Amendment process.

The same day as the announcement of the B.B.M Amendment, Bryant was informed that his Acting Secretary of Human Services, Rickey Adams (last name since changed to Fitzpatrick), had privately been supporting a primary challenger against him for the presidency in Season 3's presidential election. Bryant subsequently fired Adams and told him in his letter of dismissal that he no longer had confidence that Adams would put the interests of the administration ahead of his own political ones. On January 10th, President Bryant officially announced that he and Vice President Ainsley would seek re-election in the season 3 presidential election, and stated that he looked forward to once again earning the support of the American people. Two days later he was announced as Time Magazine's *Person of the Year.*

On January 12th, three Republican Senators, PPT Bennett, Former President House, and Senator Harper, defected from the Republican Party to become independents. Bryant expressed disappointment at this decision, however they maintained that they were fervent supporters of the administration and would continue to work with the president to advance his agenda. Regardless of this, the move meant that the Republican senate majority was downgraded to a plurality.

While Bryant was concerned regarding his party's stance in the senate, he also had to keep an eye on the presidential field and it widened on January 12th following the announcement that Representative Hillary Cunningham was forming an exploratory committee for the top job. Cunningham had served as the third President of the United States and her tenure was filled with controversy. She took over the position after the resignation of President Joey, who had in turn taken over after President Edwin House's resignation. Cunningham criticized Bryant as too far right, and she said that it was time for America to have a president who "puts America first." Bryant responded by saying that he would "take no lessons from Ms. Cunningham on putting America first", calling her presidency a failure and a disaster, and that her inaction on Baltimore and Richmond should be disqualifying for holding the Presidency again.

On January 16th, the Republican Party was thrown through a tailspin when a self-described Fascist won the District Nine nomination. President Bryant took a firm stance against this and immediately denounced the member and "everything he represents." Bryant stated that he abhors fascism and white supremacy, and called on the staff team of D.E.S to ban him for touting his "White Pride", and using Nazi and White Supremacist symbols as profile pictures. Bryant contacted the staff team directly, and lodged a formal complaint with them. He also urged the GOP Leadership to strip him of the nomination. The GOP Leadership did just that, and after Bryant pressured the staff team to do so, the member received a permanent ban.

On January 17th, 2021, Bryant was faced with one of the defining challenges of his presidency when the Capitol Building was raided and attacked by members of the terrorist organization known as ISIS mere hours before he was set to deliver his State of the Union Address. 3 guards were killed by a small explosive which cleared the entry to the building which they rushed with automatic weapons. The senate and house were almost entirely evacuated, with the exception of Senators House, Senator Meyer, and Representative Hunt. Each of them were shot, but luckily survived. President Bryant took immediate action, grounding all flights closing all government buildings, federalizing the DC National Guard, and shutting off all travel in and out of the District of Columbia. President Bryant suspended all campaigning and urged all other candidates to follow suit. Despite many expecting otherwise, Bryant insisted that it was important to show that the attack had not halted the duties of the U.S government, and as such the State of the Union proceeded at the demand of President Bryant, which Speaker Bush completely supported. Many speculated that Bryant would declare War on ISIS, with Senator Kenneth Allen accusing the president of planning to re-ignite the "War-on-Terror", which Bryant afterwards called out as a move that would lend legitimacy to the Islamic State. Bryant delivered what many consider to be the speech of his political career, in which he rallied the country to support a recommitment to the Battle Against Terrorism. Bryant spurred on members of Congress to support a resolution that would have granted Bryant more authority to deal with the situation saying "Many may call into question my decision to seek a recommitment to the destruction of Terrorism. To them I ask one thing; WHAT WILL IT TAKE?! How much innocent American blood must be spilled before you stand up and do what must be done? How many bodies must fall needlessly before you stop cowering to ISIS? Many may regret what I have done today, but I am not one of them. I regret only two things; first, that we face the prospect of living in a nation that our Capitol, our people, our way of life, can come under attack and members of the congress sit back instead of standing up. But secondly, and more importantly, I regret that I only have one life to give to the United States of America." The resolution passed with near unanimous support.

The day after the attack, many had believed that this may have paved a path for increased bipartisanship, however this was thrown out the window following the defection of Representative Ed O'Donnell from the Republicans to the Democrats, granting the democrats their first majority in D.E.S History. In response to this, Representative Hillary Cunningham, now the Majority Whip, put forward a resolution to recall Speaker Tom W. Bush. This move was met with disgust from many including the president as it was seen as a political power grab, less than 24 hours after a terrorist attack on the capitol. The resolution was failed, with Cunningham and other congressional Dems who supported the move subsequently being roundly condemned. Days later on January 23rd, the Republicans won the largest House Majority in DES History with 9 seats to the Democrats' 2, and 1 independent, which was largely viewed as a stark rebuke of Cunningham's actions. The same day as the attempted removal of the Speaker, President Bryant signed the Access to Rural Farm Stress Assistance Act into law. Days later, President Bryant signed H.R.1423, otherwise known as the Bush-Bennett Buy American Act. This bill was heavily supported by the President and Vice President because it established a discount program that encouraged consumers to purchase American made automobiles. He also signed the Assisting America's Manufacturers Act into law on the same day, a bill that was written by Vice President Ainsley and delivered another major accomplishment for the administration.

With a divided congress still in power until the swearing in of the new elected house, President Bryant and Congressional Republicans now had to be even more bipartisan to pass legislation, and this went especially for the budget. Speaker Bush, Vice President Ainsley, President Pro-Tempore Bennett, and President Bryant reached out to congressional democrats to reach a budget deal. After weeks of consultations, Bryant and the GOP worked out a bipartisan budget which increased defense spending, cut middle class taxes, and cut excess government spending.

On the 25th of January, Bryant and Cunningham, who had both won their party nominations, agreed to have two debates on the following Wednesday and Thursday, the first of which was cancelled due to staff team complications. The Thursday debate was confrontational, with Bryant continually attacking Cunningham's inaction after the attacks on Richmond, with Cunningham focusing on Bryant's support of Don't Ask Don't Tell, which Bryant pointed out she signed into law. Bryant was largely viewed as winning the debate following attacking Cunningham as weak on terror, and incompetent.

On January 27th, Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Kenneth Allen came forward with accusations of corruption against President Bryant, alleging Bryant had purposely edited a bill which had already passed in order to prosecute Allen. The senate investigated the claims and quickly cleared the President of all wrongdoing, which many think may have gotten more Republicans fired up to vote for the President and against what many saw as a petty political attack.

The same day as the allegations made by Allen, the Chinese Military began to invade Tibet, which Bryant had freed earlier in the term. Bryant released a statement that gave the Chinese 24 hours before the United States would retaliate, using whatever force necessary. The Chinese ignored this threat by Bryant, and then sank the U.S.S Roosevelt, leading to Bryant taking one of the strongest targeted military responses in recent American history; the destruction of the Yulin Naval Base in the South China Sea. Bryant also stated that if China did not withdraw troops from Tibet and Taiwan in 24 hours additional hours, he would take further responses including sanctions and the deployment of 400,000 troops to the nations of Tibet and Taiwan. Hours later, Bryant brokered a deal to de-escalate tensions with China, and end the invasions of Tibet and Taiwan by the PRC. Bryant was widely lauded for delivering a peace in the situation.

On January 30th the 3rd DES General Election was held and it was the largest turnout in the history of the community. After hours of there being no clear frontrunner, Bryant lost the state of California, throwing his re-election into serious doubt. Many networks began to state that a Cunningham victory was imminent. However in the hours that followed, several races tightened, including the state of New York, which Bryant lost in season 2. After much anticipation, Bryant carried Washington state and the crucial state of New York, delivering him re-election.

Following the election being called, Cunningham called Bryant to concede the election. Bryant delivered a victory speech which called on the Democratic party to respect the will of the people and unify behind what they voiced support for. Bryant called for an end to "cutthroat political toxicity" and asked for the chance to lead based on what he had been re-elected on.

Bryant and Secretary of State Patrick announced the day after the election that America would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and move its embassy to the city. This was a historic announcement which was met with bipartisan praise. The day after this announcement, Bryant announced pardons of Vice President Ainsley and Senator Kenneth Allen in an attempt to stop all political investigations into opponents. He called on the staff team to investigate all allegations objectively.

On February 2nd, several top officials left the community, including Majority Leader Meyer, Speaker Bush, and Vice President Ainsley. They cited an increase in toxicity in DES which had been "brought on by political opponents". Ainsley was later impeached and banned from running from office ever again. Bryant stated his disappointment at the situation, but pledged his support to working with the new speaker, and former rival, Hillary Cunningham. Bryant then announced his nomination of Senator Trey Cranfield as Vice President. On February 4th, Bryant announced a push to pass a 14-week ban on abortion nationally. This was widely condemned by liberals, with conservatives and many moderates seeing it as an opportunity to halt late-term abortion and a cashing-in on the promises Bryant had made in the campaign to the right-wing of the community. Bryant also signed a bill to ban conversion therapy, which was widely praised as a step forward. Bryant then vetoed a proposed repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell in order to ensure a protection of discrimination protection of minorities, and an asexual military.

#### **Second-Term:**

Bryant began his second term and delivered his inaugural address on February 6th, 2021. Bryant outlined his priorities for a second term which included infrastructure, education, healthcare, and tax reform. Bryant also outlined what he considered to be *the Bryant Doctrine*; "A policy of Peace through Strength, and that defense of allies shall not be a matter of convenience, but of conviction." Bryant said that when it comes to the Bryant Doctrine, "Our allies deserve no less from America and America deserves no less from itself." On February 7th, President Bryant announced he would pursue implementation of a Universal Pre-K program in the coming days. On February 12th, 2020, a tropical storm began to form in the Atlantic Ocean, and President Bryant announced a proposal to unprecedentedly triple funding to the Disaster Relief Fund in order to prepare for what many predicted would become the storm of the century. Bryant immediately declared a state of Emergency, and grounded all flights in the region. Bryant was widely applauded for his work to protect the American people during this period.

On February 14th, President Bryant announced that he would be taking a temporary leave of absence after the diagnosis of a family member with an aggressive form of cancer. Bryant invoked the 25th Amendment for 3 days and handed the reigns to newly confirmed Vice President, Trey Cranfield. Cranfield was applauded by Bryant as a "steady-hand at the helm of the ship of state." Bryant returned on February 18th, 2021, and immediately flew to Puerto Rico to survey the damage and pledge his support to the rebuilding of the Island. Bryant sent a formal request the following morning to the Speaker of the House to postpone the State of the Union in order to adequately address the ongoing disaster. Speaker Cunningham granted the request. Bryant was widely lauded for his efforts during the crisis, and he devoted extensive resources to the recovery of the impacted region.

On February 20th, Bryant returned to Washington D.C and to the White House for the first time in nearly a week. Bryant immediately signed an executive action on refugee acceptance rates, bumping the number from 15,000 to 180,000. The same day, Bryant signed an executive order designating the so-called "Martinez Mafia" as a terrorist organization, effectively banning them from joining D.E.S. On the 20th of February, the midterm elections also occurred and while the Republicans held onto the Senate, the GOP lost control of the House via several nail-bitingly close races. Bryant congratulated Speaker Cunningham, but expressed deep concern that the election turn-out had been so low.

On February 21st, Bryant filled several cabinet vacancies such as Attorney General and Secretary of Defense with Roman Sasse and Ryan Hermlock, respectively. The following day, Bryant nominated Former Representative Chris Baker to fill one of the two remaining vacancies on the Supreme Court. Later that evening, President Bryant delivered his third State of the Union Address. It was widely applauded as a unifying, but honest message. Bryant called out the inactive members of congress, telling them to "Do their damn jobs", while simultaneously reaching out to those "with good intentions on the other side of the aisle to come to the middle and help lead America forward."

On February 23rd, 2021, President Bryant made world-wide headlines when the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded Bryant the Nobel Peace Prize for freeing the nation of Tibet and the closure of detention centers in Xinjiang, which were widely suspected of being extermination camps for regional Chinese-Uighurs. The press release announcing Bryant as the recipient of the award called his ability to free Tibet and the Uighurs a "master-class in negotiating." The committee also made reference to his work to end homelessness in America, invest in the American Education system, and expand international relations. Bryant later released a statement saying that his selection as the recipient was surprising, but deeply appreciated, and that he looked forward to accepting the award soon. Perhaps the most infamous part of Bryant's statement was what he believed the award represented. "This award is not just for me" he said, "this is a symbol of the progress America has made in just the past few years. It is a testament to the never ending work that America does on the world's stage to protect Democracy. And it is a sign of support from the rest of the world for America to continue to strengthen bonds around the world, and move forward carrying the torch of freedom. This is also yet another reminder of the fact that as our knowledge expands, and our connections grow, our world shrinks. And that is a good thing. Because the smaller the world is, the more connections made, the better off we will be as a species. No matter where we are, what god we worship, when we were born, or what we believe, the one thing that unites us all is the common desire to make the world better for our children; and that cannot happen unless we unclench our fists in order to reach out our hands."

On February 24th, Bryant signed into law the Universal Pre-K Enactment and Reform Act of 2021. This bill created a national Universal Pre-K program for all children ages 3-4. This is perhaps the most progressive piece of education law in American history. Bryant coincided this announcement with the announcement that he would be canceling $50,000 of student debt for every U.S Student. Bryant called this the "largest economic stimulus that has ever occurred through executive order." Bryant was widely exalted for this.

During this time the race to be Bryant's successor had begun to heat up with the Democratic contest featuring Speaker Cunningham and Senator Kenneth Allen, the GOP race pitting VP Cranfield against Senator Charlie Williams, and Senator Rachel Harper running as an independent candidate. Bryant pledged to stay out of the electoral process until the Republicans chose their nominee for the Oval Office. Seeing no viable path to the nomination, Senator Williams dropped out making Cranfield the presumptive nominee and on February 28th, President Bryant endorsed him for the Presidency. Allen, seeing no path to defeat his former ticket-mate, crossed the aisle and joined Senator Harper on an independent ticket.

On March 1st, President Bryant announced that he would nominate his Secretary of State, Brett Cawthorn to serve on the Supreme Court. Cawthorn was met with bipartisan support, however Senator Kenneth Allen attempted to obstruct the process in committee. This failed and Cawthorn was confirmed by a wide margin. On March 2nd, Bryant announced that longtime friend Jeanne Shabeen would replace Cawthorn as Secretary of State, a position to which she was easily confirmed.

On March 3rd, President Bryant announced that he would be pursuing a "common sense" abortion reform to outlaw sex-selective, coerced, and forced abortion. This was met with backlash from leftist members of the community. Meanwhile, there had been an effort to pass the Floyd-Taylor Act, a criminal justice bill by Senator Williams which the president stated his support for, however he stated he would not sign it if it legalized marijuana use across the board, which it did. The same day President Bryant brought it forward, the Equal Rights for the Unborn Act gets failed in the Senate, which many Republicans are outraged by. In response, the GOP House caucus, aided by two independents, threaten to torpedo the Criminal Justice Reform in retaliation. The President invites Speaker Cunningham, Senator Allen, and Senator Williams for a late night meeting with him and the Vice President at the White House. Bryant offered to sign the Floyd-Taylor Act, which he already largely supported, and get the bill passed if the Congressional Democrats agreed to pass his abortion reform. This was agreed to, and both landmark bills were signed into law by President Bryant. Bryant also announced a pardon of all individuals serving or pending prosecution for marijuana possession charges, which was widely lauded.

On March 6th, 2021, Vice President Trey Cranfield suspended his campaign for president citing personal issues, leaving the GOP with no nominee. President Bryant began to weigh his options, as he was tasked between supporting Cunningham for President, or Allen for Vice President. In a lengthy statement, Bryant made the shocking decision to endorse his former rival, Speaker Hillary Cunningham, for the presidency. Bryant made clear that although he had many differences with Ms. Cunningham, that he believed he could trust her to set aside politics and personal differences for the good of the community. In his statement, Bryant made clear that although he respected Senator Harper, he could not "in good faith" support a ticket with Senator Allen on it. "Ms. Harper is a good person," Bryant said, "but she is putting our nation in the crosshairs of disaster by trying to put Kenneth Allen a heartbeat from the presidency."

On March 7th, 2021, it was reported that a caravan was headed towards the U.S. Southern border and that an unknown disease was spreading among them. Bryant made clear that the caravan would be treated humanely and given the chance to seek asylum, but that they would not be permitted to enter until they were quarantined and cured of their disease. Bryant declared a State of Emergency to unlock emergency funds to combat the situation.

On March 8th, President Bryant announced the introduction of the Better Care Act of 2021, also known as BryantCare. The bill was a two-tier system with a public option, and a guarantee to free birth control for all American women. The House quickly passed the agreement with only one vote against, however the Senate caused a larger obstacle as Senator Allen was attempting to gut a part of the bill and add an amendment. Bryant called a joint-session to address the issue, making a pitch for the bill, calling on the Senate to take action. In the subsequent session, Senator Allen dragged out the process, continuously objecting to cloture votes, proposing amendments, and purposely dragging out his statements. President Bryant released a scathing statement during the session, saying that the senator's actions were "disgusting", and not in good faith. Bryant took the unprecedented step of threatening to grind the entire U.S Government to a stand-still if the senate didn't pass the bill without amendments, saying he would purposely let all other legislation rot if the B.C.A wasn't passed. After hours of what the President called "blatant obstructionism", the senate passed the bill 6-2. Bryant signed the landmark bill into law the next day, expanding healthcare coverage to millions of Americans.

On March 12th, polls opened across America and the American people elected Hillary Cunningham president by a margin of just 15 Electoral Votes, making it the closest Election in D.E.S History. The Bryant endorsement of Cunningham was widely viewed as instrumental in electing her as the 6th President in DES History. Bryant congratulated her and immediately signed the declaration of transition of power. Bryant pledged that this would be the smoothest transfer of Presidential authority in D.E.S history. Bryant held a meeting with Cunningham in the following days in the Oval Office, and told her that she would be kept up to date with every decision that he made until she was sworn in, which he honored.

In the waning hours of Bryant's presidency, the joint chiefs alerted him of a suspected ISIS compound in the Middle-Eastern nation of Jordan that they believed housed ISIS leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, and senior ISIS Leader, Sami Jasim Muhammad al-Jaburi. These were the masterminds of the terrorist attack on the U.S Capitol that occurred two months prior, just before Bryant's State of the Union Address. Bryant ordered the congressional leaders to assemble in the late hours of March 17th, 2021. Invited to the classified meeting were President Bryant, Vice President Cranfield, President-Elect and outgoing Speaker Hillary Cunningham, Representative Jamaal House, Senator Charlie Williams, Vice President-Elect and outgoing Senator Lucas Underwood, and an absent PPT Harry Bennett. Bryant told informed them of his intention to launch the strike and asked if anyone had objections. Despite concerns from several members, Bryant proceeded and launched the strike in the early hours of the next morning. The strike was extremely successful, killing no civilians, and taking out 42 ISIS fighters and sympathizers, including al-Qurashi, and al-Jaburi. Bryant's decision to launch the strike was met with nearly unanimous praise, with some calling it "a ballsy move", and a "necessary act of courage".

Bryant delivered his farewell address later that evening, in which he formally announced the drone strike and the deaths of the ISIS Leaders. He also reflected on his time in office, touching on the accomplishments that had taken place under his administration. He called on Americans to protect and defend liberty, and to "see the humanity in those you don't always agree with."

On March 19th, president Bryant used his final executive action to re-enter the United States into the Paris Climate Accord, which he called "imperfect but improvable." President Bryant left office when President-Elect Hillary Cunningham is sworn in as the 6th President in DES history. Bryant used his final call in the Oval Office to call the 14th Dalai Lama. Bryant thanked the spiritual leader for his tireless leadership and personal friendship. Bryant said that the Lama was a "*testament to the fact that America must always stand with its friends. No matter what the situation. Because if we don't lead by our principles, we can't lead at all*." Bryant left a long letter in the Oval Office for his successor giving her advice on the challenges that she will face in the office. Bryant is the first president in DES History to leave a letter to his successor and President Cunningham publicly thanked her predecessor for the kind words. The following is a text copy of the letter that Bryant left for Cunningham;

***"Dear Madam President,***

***Congratulations on your inauguration as the 6th President in DES History. Every presidency is unique from all others and so the guidance that I offer you may prove to be not as useful as one might think. Regardless, I hope that the past two terms in office that I have experienced can enable me to give you some advice that may help you as you begin this journey.***

***First of all, you are going to have a lot of challenges in your time in this office both at home and abroad. To be quite frank, many are already hoping to see you fail. Ignore them. There are always going to be those who try to attack you over stupid things like magazine covers and other tedious and petty issues. One of the larger mistakes I made during my time in office was dignifying their statements with a response. These people crave attention, and there is no bigger and better attention than to get into a spat with the President. So I'd advise you to try and stay above the fray on that front.***

***Second; the responsibility you now have is immense. To succeed, DES needs to grow, and for that to happen toxicity needs to remain relatively low. We both remember the dark days of MEC, and I'm sure both of us and many others lost a lot of sleep and brain cells over the hours of scrolling through the lethal sludge of pettiness on MEWE. I’d advise you to work across the aisle wherever possible and not be afraid to compromise. If the community sees their elected officials working together, it's more likely that they'll stop seeing those they disagree with as enemies.***

***Third; America needs to stand up for its values around the world. The cornerstone of a strong United States is a strong foreign policy, and while we should always seek peace, we must make sure that we don’t shy away from standing by our friends and protecting them. Nations like Tibet, Ukraine, Taiwan, and others are essential to protect, and it is your responsibility as President to do so. They count on us as a nation, and now they’re counting on you to continue to stand with them.***

***Four; you are going to make mistakes. Lord knows I have made my fair share. So when you inevitably feel like you've messed up and made a mistake, the best way to fix it is always to apologize. The denial of an objective blunder will cause people to lose confidence in your judgement. So if you feel like you've done something wrong, tell the American people that you're sorry. You're president, but you're also human and you are entitled to make mistakes from time to time.***

***Five; you will catch a lot of flack that you think isn’t fair or in good faith. The best piece of advice I can give you for this is simple; just do what you think is right. Right for the moment, and right for the country. There will always be people who disagree with you, but if you do what you genuinely believe is right, people can still attack the results of your actions, but they can’t question your motives and integrity.***

***Last of all, and most importantly; We have both followed an extremely similar path in DES. We have both had the honor of serving as a Representative, the Speaker of the House, and as President. However, the most important title that we both will ever hold is "American”. Let the people know that... let them know that you lead them not because you’re better than them, but because you’re one of them. It’s important that regardless of whether they support you or not, that they see themselves in you and in the presidency as an institution.***

***I wish you nothing but the best as you start this journey. Despite our political differences, I am very proud to call you a friend. I am here to help you in any way that I can prove useful. You're in my prayers, and I'm pulling hard for your success. Godspeed and good luck.***

    ***Sincerely,***

***Your friend,***

***-Ben"***

On Bryant's final day in office his approval rating was in the high-90's with 70% strongly approving of his job performance as President, making him the most popular president in DES History at any point in their time in office. Bryant's chief legislative accomplishment; BryantCare, had an approval of 96%. In the same poll, Bryant was ranked as the best President in DES History by an extremely wide margin of over 45% over the second place Cunningham.

### ***Post-Presidency***

Bryant read a prayer at the inauguration where he asked God to protect the new president and guide her and all elected leaders. He prayed that the leadership of the new administration would be "rooted in morality, strength, courage, love for our people, and a desire to make tomorrow better for every American." President Bryant left Washington following the inauguration and returned to his home state of Alabama. Following the inauguration, Everett Terry asked Bryant to join the DES Admin team as Events Czar, which he accepted.
Upon his return to Alabama, Bryant announced the creation of the Bryant Presidential Library and Institute for Global Democracy. Bryant also announced that he would be releasing a book entitled "Faith in our Future." President Cunningham wrote the foreword.

Cunningham wrote ***"In this candid and gripping memoir, President Benjamin A. Bryant describes the critical decisions that shaped his presidency and America under his leadership.***

***Bryant served as president of the United States during eight of the most noteworthy years in American history. The problems that reached his desk impacted people around the world and defined the times in which we live. The former President brings readers behind the scenes and explains the work that went into securing Tibetan independence, ending the Uighur concentration camps in Xinjiang, passing BryantCare, the drone strike that killed the leader of ISIS and many other senior ISIS officials, the implementation of the Universal Pre-K program, the crafting of a new DES Constitution, the revitalization of the American Economy, the protection of Tibet and Taiwan from China, and many other momentous decisions that were made under the administration of America’s 5th president.***

***Faith in Our Future gives readers an close up and personal look into Bryant’s early time in DES, his Speakership, his runs for the Presidency, his tenure in office, the lasting legacy of one of the most consequential presidencies in American history, and why Benjamin Bryant still believes that there's reason to be optimistic for the future.”***

On March 20th, 2021, President Cunningham announced that President Bryant would be her nominee for the final vacancy on the U.S Supreme Court. Bryant released a statement saying that he was surprised and humbled to be chosen. Bryant said as author of the DES Constitution that he had the ability to interpret the constitution as accurately as possible. Bryant was confirmed unanimously by the U.S Senate on March 28th, 2021. Following the Supreme Court rejecting a "partisan" injunction by Senator Allen, Bryant was sworn in on March 29th, 2021. Since taking his spot on the court, Bryant has overseen a lot of change. Once confirmed, Bryant was a member of a filled court for only a few weeks before both Everett Terry and Brett Cawthorn resigned from the bench, leaving Bryant as the sole Justice. Bryant made history on June 18th, 2021, when he became the first Associate Justice to swear in the President, and the first Justice to swear in the President and Vice President in the same inauguration.

Bryant has made extremely significant rulings on cases before the Court. He was led the majority opinions in the case which overturned Roe V. Wade, the Equal Rights Amendment, the National Assault Weapons ban, reinstated Ryan Hermlock as a Congressman, among much else. Bryant continues to be the foundation of the Conservative Majority on the judiciary.