Victoria Cortez (2040-2048)

Victoria Cortez, 50th President of the United States

Victoria Cortez, also known as the "American Thatcher" was the first Hispanic to be elected president, and the 2nd woman. She is usually regarded as either a Dictator, Necessary Evil, or one of the greatest Presidents that's ever lived. She is without a doubt one of the most controversial president in American history, with people either loving or hating her, with little in between.

She is known to be one of the most extreme conservatives to have ever been elected into the office of President, during a time of a completely united House and Senate behind her, in the midst of a great religious awakening. It is no doubt Victoria Cortez's legacy lives on in the very culture of modern United States, becoming the unexpected harbinger of intense Conservativism, racial tensions, and an even more politically divided nation than the one that left WW3.

Whatever one's opinion of her, she was one of the most consequential presidents in America history, for better or for worse.

## Background

Born May 20th, 2001 in Dallas, Texas. Victoria was raised in a wealthy family, whose Father, Vinicio Cortez was a top executive of the major Mexican pharmaceutical company Sanfer. Victoria's family was forced to immigrate to the US due to an attempted assassination of her father in 2000 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, suspected by the Los Zetas Cartel. The reasons for such an attempt are still unknown, but many speculate that Vinicio had ties to the Los Zetas in supplying the Los Zetas Cartel with chemicals required for the production of narcotics, with some former top Los Zetas Cartel members coming out and supporting this theory, but remain unproven.

The Cortez family eventually settled in Dallas, Texas, and her parents would use their extensive wealth to ensure both her and her two brothers would have the best education possible in the area. Throughout her teenage years, around the 2016 election, she would make a decision that would prove to be a fatal mistake: Get involved in internet politics, watching many populist, and skeptic youtubers. At the age of 18, Cortez had become a diehard supporter of Donald Trump, and voted for him that same year in her first election. Mesmerized by his bullish personality, she became determined to become the President too, one day. She never touched grass again.

After winning election as mayor of Dallas, she became an outspoken supporter of some of the most most staunchly conservative policies at the time. She ran Dallas effectively, and through a series of reforms, created the Silicon Prairie in Texas as we know it today, filling in the void which Silicon Valley had left. Revitalizing the Big Tech industries, moving the concentration of talent to Texas, and creating a new culture of pro-capitalist entrepreneurship among the new Tech Giants, tilting the institution of tech towards the right.

Turning Dallas into the center of technology for America immediately caught the attention of the greater Republican Party more broadly, and President DeSantis himself congratulated Dallas for being a model for all American cities to follow, and congratulated Cortez for being a outspoken conservative in what was one of Texas's most liberal cities. This propelled Cortez to national celebrity status, as she eventually ran for governor of Texas. Reportedly, DeSantis met up with the young Cortez, and saw the young fire in her eyes, and he knew then and there that she was presidential material, but didn't know if she would be one of hundreds of failed candidates, or the one that pulled it off.

Under her governorship, Texas solidified itself as a technological and innovative hub on par with California in importance and prestige. Though many point to a series of already present trends which had been moving Silicon Valley to Texas for decades, Cortez has been more than willing to take the credit, and though many are dubious of her being the only reason, her reforms are cited as speeding up the process.

Following this, she became even more of a political celebrity figure and became an immediate frontrunner for the 2040 presidential election. During World War 3, she repeatedly lambasted President Buchanan for failing to handle the war, endearing herself to hardcore conservatives. What helped even more was receiving the endorsement of former President DeSantis, who called her a fresh new alternative to the decaying liberalism of Buchanan. In some ways, DeSantis was like the father she never had. She beat out all of her competition in the 2040 primaries, and was in a strong position going into the election.

Then President Buchanan signed the peace on World War 3, humiliating America on the world stage, and signing away much of the free world to Russian and Chinese tyranny. Already hated for bungling the war, his approval ratings crashed into the single digits. Last minute, the Democratic party was able to swap him out for his vice president, but the damage had already been done.

It was during this time she became a born-again Christian, and endeared herself to the growing evangelical movement, hoping to cash in on the popularity of the latest Awakening, to further pick up even more states. She was ready to create the biggest landslide in 21st century American politics. She had been able to keep the populists in line by emphasizing her commitment to reforming big tech, and stirred the evangelicals into a enthusiastic frenzy by promising a complete array of socially conservative reforms.

The election was a bloodbath, not even close. She won her home state of Texas by nearly 40 points, Democratic turnout had crashed into the floor, and the vote splitting by the newly formed Progressive Party didn't help. All in all, the Democrats had their worst showing since the 1984 presidential election.

Many moderates had voted for Cortez in showing their dissatisfaction with the Democrats and the Buchanan administration more broadly. They didn't see eye to eye on policy, but they wanted to send a message. But they had hoped that Cortez would tone down a few of her policies once she got into office.

## Presidency of the American Thatcher

After the worst electoral defeat in history for the Democrats, Cortez entered the presidency not only with a majority, but a filibuster proof majority. 70% of all the seats in the House, and 62 seats in the Senate. The party was completely aligned behind her, as she was the new shining star of the conservative coalition. From mayor, to governor, to president, she had fulfilled her lifelong dream of being president. And now there was nothing stopping her from remolding the nation in her image.

First to fall was the welfare state. With nothing stopping her, she phased out welfare in a series of reforms, instead elevating churches and community programs to fill in the gap which welfare had provided with generous tax breaks and subsidies. This disproportionately helped the communities of those who had many churches, and were more religious, while damaging communities which were more secular, and now didn't have as much support as before. Some have called this blatant favoritism, while others called it a bold move to cut back on the bureaucratic inefficiencies of the welfare system.

A complete revamp of the American education system was made, instead boldly proclaiming a beautiful founding myth of America as land of the free, "patriotic education" it was called. Prayers were instituted in schools, and Catholic and other Christian schools were given support from the government. Private education was encouraged and subsidized, as the number of Christian schools swelled. A Ministry of Misinformation was set up, doing official government fact checks on news articles, science papers, and Wikipedia articles. The American truth was beginning to diverge from the Worldwide truth, as history was redacted, and millions came to learn the "American" version of history.

Roe V. Wade was overturned, after a tsunami wave of pressuring from the right, and a divided left unable to respond, the necessary judges were finally put in place to overturn the ruling. Almost immediately following this, 35 states in a row banned abortion in some form, with continuing pressure mounting on another 10. During this time, she was good friends with an aging Ron DeSantis, who often acted as her mentor, and gave her advice on how to implement policy, and how to fight insubordination from the Democrats.

The entire American political scene was rapidly shifting to the right, like a stretched spring which had finally snapped, a torrent of reforms were coming. In 2041, Cortez briefly commented that a marriage should be defined as being between a man and a woman, greatly increasing anxiety among the LGBT community. Thousands fled north to Canada, though Canada was going about their own Great Awakening, albeit with a 5-10 year delay. Those who saw the writing on the wall eventually migrated to Bolivia, a libertarian socialist regime which continued to uphold the right of gay marriage. Others fled to France, a fascist state which was now more accepting of the LGBT community than the land of free.

Religious liberty was greatly expanded, with Cortez guaranteeing the right for anyone to refuse to do work based on religious convictions, though at this point, it was rather pointless, as the majority of American culture was highly religious at this point. Using her contacts in Silicon Prairie, the entire American tech scene was oriented to support free markets, free speech, and the promotion of American values. She also expanded Voter ID laws, with the blessing and endorsement of her mentor, DeSantis, but made them even more strict and more secure to protect the integrity of the elections.

Critics say this was blatant voter suppression, while others stated that nations like Canada and Britain already had similar protections. Though Canada would probably not be the best comparison in this case, as Canada was descending into its own brand of authoritarianism by 2040.

In 2041, Cortez also became entrenched in a foreign policy battle as well, as the Mexican Republican government had fallen into civil war between the communist insurgents and the republican government. During this time, Cortez supplied money and many weapons to the Republican government, but seen as largely corrupt, incompetent, and overall unpopular, they were quickly ousted by the popular support of the people, and the homegrown communist movement. Though the several boatloads of weapons from China, fanning the flames may have also had something to do with it.

This first war took a toll on Cortez's approval rating, as America was now losing yet another war, this one a proxy battle against China. For a few weeks, it looked like Cortez would be the next Buchanan. But then in 2042, the Shanghai Market Crash occurred, and China suffered an extraordinary economic meltdown, forcing them to pull out of the war. Seizing the opportunity, Cortez secured the American-backed Republic of Mexico in the north, and declared a war on communism around the globe.

The perception being that Cortez had landed the first successful counter-punch against China since World War 3, her approval rating spiked as news of China's economic calamities reached American shores. From that point onwards, Cortez would sponsor a number of coups and counter-coups in Latin America and Africa, containing the threat of communism where ever it tried to seize control.

The 2042 midterms were relentless, a united hatred had grown on the left for Cortez, and the progressives and the Democrats were put aside their differences long enough to push for a united effort to topple Cortez's majority. But due to a combination of strategic Voter ID laws, higher right wing turnout, and straight up apathy among the youth, who didn't bother to vote after the new requirements were put in place, Cortez was able to maintain a healthy majority in the House, and a smaller but doable majority in the Senate.

Many less informed voters had still not forgiven Buchanan for his failures during WW3, and many people really liked Cortez's reforms, even among the moderates. It was over, the rest of the dominos would come crashing down. She would greatly open the door to the new wave of Mexican migrants in 2043, one year after the Mexican Civil War, and thousands of refugees poured across the border. These refugees were overwhelmingly Christian, traditional, and conservative, where Cortez knew this would secure a Republican majority for generations to time. However, this greatly alienated her among the populists of the Republican Party, who were never comfortable with immigration.

Cortez would institute a series of free-market and deregulatory policies following 2044, trying to model her reforms on her home state of Texas on the entire nation. While this created enormous economic growth, this inflamed class relations, increased inequality, and along with the open borders immigration policy, soured relationships between her and the populist wing of her party.

In 2044, a growing number of populists were beginning to become unsatisfied with Cortez's rule. They saw her as being in bed with the Big Tech companies she helped create, regardless of whether they were left or right leaning, they were still oligarchs. As well, they disliked her importing masses of Mexican refugees, even if they were Christian, and they were integrating. This ended up in a full on schism, where the Populists eventually left to form the Patriot Party, with emphasis on national security, border security, and Making America Great Again.

This led to a chaotic, 4-way election between the Progressives, the Democrats, the Republicans, and the Patriot Party. Despite all the odds, Cortez was able to win again, able to rely on her steadfast support base of Evangelicals, and her strategy of endearment to traditional Catholic Hispanics, now a solidly Republican camp. Though due to the liberal flavor of the Catholic Church in America, many of them were rapidly converting to Evangelical Protestantism, an even more solidly Republican camp.

She promised to the Rust Belt to build up factories. A grand plan to not only rebuild the Rust Belt to its former glory, but to turn it into the center of American manufacturing, and massive grants to the communities left behind. Enticed by her promises, backed with her experience of turning dreams into reality, parts of the Rust Belt defected back, and gave her their support. She had plans to revitalize both the factories in the Rust Belt, and build a new industrial center in the growing Deep South.

Three, the new waves of Hispanic immigration greatly boosted her election chances, as they were the traditionalist, Christian types who were her main support base. Using immigration as a weapon, she finished the solidification of the Hispanics as a solid Republican voting group.

Entering 2044 with a divided Congress, with her governance only happening with the cooperation of the Patriots, Cortez's 2nd term had a weaker majority, but no less influential. She had finished her first 4 years already as one of the most consequential American presidents in American history, if she was going to write her name in immortal history, she had 4 more years to do so.

Working closely with the Patriots, she passed an enormous bill to revitalize America's industries, and give more freedom to America's tech giants, to innovate and create at a speed never seen before. This brought incredible speed to the American economy, as it soared higher and higher, though this would have consequences down the line.

In 2045, she made even further strides in promoting social conservatism. In 2045, alongside a deeply conservative legislature, laws were passed stating abortion was outlawed across the nation, with exceptions in cases of rape, incest, or risking the life of the mother, arguing from the "right to life" in the Constitution. In under 5 years, America had transitioned from somewhat liberal to deeply conservative on the issue of abortion.

A year later, she officially defined marriage as between a man and a woman in law, completely erasing the progress made on LGBT rights since the late 20th century. All gay marriages were henceforth nullified, in a massive blow to social progress. To add insult to injury, the announcement was made on June 1st, 2046, right before the start of Pride Month, leaving companies to scramble on how they were going to sell overpriced rainbow merchandise now. In the final years of her presidency the economy ballooned, and innovation was churned out of American companies through a system of Cortezonomics.

This would come with a downside, for the companies had automated many of the jobs. Though the economy continued to grow during the last years of her presidency, automation meant that her promise to the Rust Belt could never be accomplished, as the line of what was being automated was now moving too fast for them to catch up. Unemployment skyrocketed, and the last years of her presidency were plagued with riots of the unemployed.

The 2046 midterms would see her lose her majority in Congress, even with the help of the Patriot Party. In 2048, she unleashed one last plan to help bolster the popularity of her successor Barry Alderman. The "Bring America Back" plan, a grand sweeping plan to rejuvenate the American industrial scene, keeping the economic growth, and bringing Americans back to work. But truth be told, after 8 years of rapid, nation changing reform, people wanted to calm down and allow the nation to cool off. They needed a break from grand reforms.

In the 2048 election, her approval rating had dipped below 45%, in large part due to the unemployment rate (now at 10%), and the Republican Party was beaten out by the Democrats, who managed to rally back the union workers and business owners under one roof. She left the office after 2 pivotal, nation changing terms.

## Legacy

Cortez has been nicknamed "the American Thatcher" in the way they redefined an entire political party, as well as the fate of a nation for a generation. To this day, she remains deeply controversial and divisive as a leader. Supporters will point to the booming economy, the rapid and successful reforms which she made to the nation, and the way she was able to restore America's power and prestige after losing so badly in World War 3. Detractors will point to the rollback of civil rights, the ballooning unemployment rates at the end of her term, and the extent which she gave the hard right complete reign over the nation.

Regardless of whether she was a hero or villain, whether she brought America forward or set it back, or something in between, one thing that everyone can agree on was that she was one of the most consequential presidents in American history. Her legacy has completely reshaped American law, morality, and the direction which the nation was heading. She was instrumental in the integration of Hispanics into the broader American "white" category, aggressively assimilating them into American culture, or perhaps assimilating American culture to be more suitable for Hispanics.

Also of note is the baby boom. Under Cortez, American birthrates peaked above 2.1 for the first time since the 20th century, including for the white population, peaking at 2.9 births a woman by 2043. This can largely be attributed to either a growth in social conservatism promoting women to stay at home, the aftermath of WW3 promoting fertility, or the heavy promotion of family values during this time. American birthrates would remain higher than most of the Western world for many decades to come.

Love her or hate her, she managed to do one thing, leave a permanent mark on the entire nation as a whole.