The Rivers Presidency (Rank)

The Rivers Presidency is a rank created by the admins of January 2016 in the pursuit of giving certain players a chance to spread their influence across the server through campaigns, speeches, fundraisers, and other means. The first election began in late January 2016, and the final election was dated to begin in 2018.

## Background

In early January, Rivers SMP suffered a major decrease in player activity. For two and a half weeks, stretching from late December to early January, only about two to three players were online for at most three hours a day. These players included Greatness685 (an admin at the time), Heir\_Of\_Neptune, ItsEntriix (owner), and Elliephant2 (an admin at the time). In hopes to grant players more influence and stimulate player activity, the admins (as well as the owner), created a new rank: President. This rank was to be reached by campaigning, fundraising, speech-giving, and other means used by real life Presidential candidates in the United States of America. The process of election and eliminations was also the same as in the U.S., using votes cast during primaries to narrow down the candidates to only two final competitors. This rank was equivalent in influence and power as to the Owner of the server, which is why the rank had a limit of two terms (each of which lasting 2 months long). After the rank was established and some of the wrinkles were being ironed out by staff, the first Presidential election began. This election did have some mistakes, one of which included the miscounting of votes, as well as disorganization of voters. These problems were fixed by the time the second election rolled around. Immediately, the server saw a great jolt of player activity to vote for a candidate they believed in, as well as some players choosing to enroll and become a candidate themselves. The second election saw less participation, but still enough to keep the rank of Presidency going. By the time the third election rolled around, it was a time period of the greatest growth in Rivers. While it is unknown what really sparked such energy and excitement during the third election, many believe it was from the likeness the election in Rivers had to the real-life USA election happening simultaneously. In Rivers, the third election entailed a battle between a rich outsider and a group of 'insiders' that were believed to control too much power in Rivers. The third election brought many benefits to the server, but it also introduced the first form of opposition to the outcome of an election. The nearly finished Rivers White House was vandalized by opposition to the election outcome. After weeks of investigation, recounts, staff meetings, and referendums, the verdict was that Greatness685 won the Presidential election fairly. After the verdict was decided by staff, opposition to the current administration in power was dissolved, and Rivers moved into a time of unforeseen prosperity and growth. After much time with the same administration in power (the first two term Presidency), a new election rolled around, and with so many new players that joined over the course of the past four months, a wide variety of new players with new values and new visions were at hand. The next elections thrived with the same repeating effect of prosperity and growth. Every President and Vice-President brought something new to Rivers. Even the losing candidates had their share of influence and long lasting reputations. In the end, even after the most divisive election, which was undoubtedly the sixth election, players united and collaborated to move forward after victory or loss.

### Election History\*

##### The First Election

Candidates

* TheOmegaArcher
* mthebeastOG

* TriggeredBleach

Victor: TheOmegaArcher

##### The Second Election

Candidates

* mthebeastOG
* (unknown)

Victor: mthebeastOG

##### The Third Election

Candidates

* mthebeastOG
* TheNikosaurus
* TriggeredBleach
* Greatness685

Victor: Greatness685

##### The Fourth Election

Candidates

* Richman7\_
* PhloxXxy (aka trumpsausage)
* Greatness685
* BillCipher3 (aka Kitty\_Guts)

Victor: Greatness685 (re-election)

##### The Fifth Election

Candidates

* GameBoyPower
* JacksonRFW
* Richman7\_
* Pickraft

Victor: Pickraft

##### The Sixth Election

Candidates

* JacksonRFW
* Pickraft
* GameBoyPower
* mthebeastOG
* HandsomeDak
* BossBoy42
* Kitty\_Guts
* p\_hardd (aka ZeldaKing414)

Victor: p\_hardd (impeached)

Successor (VP): BossBoy42

##### The Seventh Election

Candidates

* BossBoy42
* SteveDender
* TriggeredBleach
* mthebeastOG

* BMWSurfer

Victor: BossBoy42 (re-elected)