BlockGuy44

**In office**
7/9/21 – 8/6/21

**In office**
4/30/21 – 7/9/21

**In office**
3/19/21 – 7/9/21

**In office**
7/31/21 – 8/6/21

**In office**
3/5/21 – 7/9/21

**BlockGuy44** is an Alverian political strategist who served as the 6th President of Alveria from 7/9/21 to 8/6/21. He previously served as the Senate Majority Leader and an Alverian Senator from District 4, taking his seat in the 3/19/21 Election and holding it until being elected President in the 7/9/21 Election. He was previously the Chairman of the National Alliance until he took office as President, and was the longest serving Chairman for the NA.

## Political Career

On March 5th, 2021, BlockGuy44 was selected by Beech93 to succeed him as Chairman of the National Alliance. BlockGuy44's first act as Chairman was to draft an official party platform for the National Alliance. The platform was published on March 15th, 2021.

BlockGuy44 ran for the Alverian Senate Election on 3/19/21 for District 4. He ran on a ticket with Captain Coolkidz. They defeated the Ba'ath Party candidates, incumbent Senator Clinton Gaming and OrangeJelly6399. This was the first time in District 4's history that both of its Senate seats were held by The National Alliance. Additionally, in his capacity as Chairman, BlockGuy44 oversaw the successful defense of all 5 of the party's seats in The Alverian Senate in the March Midterm Elections.

BlockGuy44 ran for re-election to The Alverian Senate in the 4/2/21 Election, running once again on a ticket with Captain Coolkidz. They faced a re-match against Clinton Gaming. Both BlockGuy44 and Captain Coolkidz were re-elected.

Upon Captain Coolkidz's resignation to become Secretary of Justice, BlockGuy44 became District 4's senior Senator. Dangleoof was appointed to replace Captain Coolkidz and subsequently won a special election to replace him.

BlockGuy44 joined Dangleoof on The National Alliance ticket for District 4, running unopposed in the 4/16/21 Election, 4/30/21 Election, 5/14/21 Election, 6/11/21 Election and 6/25/21 Election.

BlockGuy44 ran for re-election to a sixth term in the 5/28/21 Election, joining Dangleoof once more on The National Alliance ticket. They were opposed by former Senator Izac1110. Both Block and Breh were easily re-elected.

After the 4/30/21 Election, upon the retirement of Acecombat101 from the Senate and his election as President, and with The National Alliance having retained their majority, BlockGuy44 was unanimously chosen among The National Alliance Senate Conference to replace Ace as the next Majority Leader.

On July 4th, 2021, BlockGuy44 announced that he would run for for president to succeed Ace, choosing Beech as his running mate.

With the server reset and creation of the new world, Alveria's districts were altered. BlockGuy44 was ultimately succeeded by JackCooperPlays, who also succeeded him as Senate Majority Leader.

In The Presidential Election, Block and Beech faced off against The Ba'ath Party Ticket, GrassyPizza9 and Baconman1120 and The Biodome Party Nominee Clinton\_Gaming. The election was noted for being much more calm and civil than previous elections. Block and Beech went on to easily prevail over their opponents, earning 12 votes, or 57.1% of the vote, to Grassy's and Bacon's 6 votes, or 28.6% of the vote, to Clinton's 3, or 14.3% of the vote. Block was officially sworn in as President later that day.

BlockGuy44 ran for re-election in a re-match against GrassyPizza, whom he had beaten a month prior. Due to Beech's decision not to seek a 4th term as Vice President, BlockGuy chose Senator Thestarmacker as his running mate, while Grassy selected SwissMercenary3 as his.

The creation of the Phalanx Party by Beech, his Vice President, complicated BlockGuy's path to re-election. While initially relations were friendly between the two parties with an alliance of sorts being privately discussed, Phalanx embarked on an increasingly aggressive campaign against Block and The National Alliance, joining The Ba'ath Party in criticizing him for the pace of progress and the lack of economy in the new world. During the campaign, Beech and Boom openly threw their support behind Grassy, further complicating Block's chances for re-election.

BlockGuy defended the pace of progress and criticized Beech and Boom for what he saw as "attempting to maintain their power in Alveria" and using Grassy as an "empty suit" in order to try to defeat him. The re-election campaign was noted for his heated rhetoric and at-times, personal attacks.

The Economy became the central issue of the campaign. BlockGuy pushed back at proposals by Grassy, Beech and Boom to establish a national bank and officially create a Secretary of Treasury (which had been discussed in the past), as well as officially creating "the diamond standard", and instead proposed giving monetary value to mineable items. BlockGuy further stated that he would oppose any attempts as President to expand the government's role in the economy and sought to potrary the issue as Phalanx and The Ba'ath Party intruding into one's economic freedoms.

BlockGuy was ultimately narrowly defeated for re-election, making him the first President to lose re-election. BlockGuy and Star earned 9 votes, or 45% of the vote, to Grassy's and Swiss's 11 votes, or 55% of the vote. The National Alliance also slipped into minority status in the Senate for the first time in history, marking a low point in the party's history.

BlockGuy conceded the election and has since stated he has no interest in returning to politics at the present time, but has expressed some interest in potentially re-joining the Senate at a later date.

## Alverian Senate

### Tenure

In The 8th Session of The Alverian Senate, BlockGuy44 introduced legislation to enact events in Alveria. The legislation would give BlockGuy44 give The President of Alveria authority to appoint an events czar or committee who would handle creating and administering events on the server.

In the 9th Session of The Alverian Senate, BlockGuy44 introduced legislation to establish Luferia and The Original Spawn Point as historical sites, as well giving The Secretary of Interior the authority to designate future sites, and established a process for townships outside of Alveria's immediate city limits to become their own cities. Additionally, BlockGuy44 proposed one of AceCombat101's banner designs as the official flag of District 4 that was ultimately approved.

BlockGuy44 was a major opponent of Ba'ath Party sponsored legislation. BlockGuy44 criticized and voted against legislation to establish departments of Treasury and Labor, establishing national holidays that would've forced businesses to close on days designated as holidays, establishing a public farm and a trading post, establishing additional national parks, and establishing additional public mines. BlockGuy44 voted against the legislative proposals on the grounds that it was either unnecessary, redundant, an unwarranted expansion of government power, not suited for the present moment or lacked proper enforcement.

BlockGuy44 voted in favor of Boomdoger's Constitutional Amendment affirming Alverian's rights to possess anything crafted from vanilla Minecraft, mine any resource in the world without regulation, with the exception of it being on someone else's private property or on public property and to build whatever they desired within the boundaries of their own private property or beyond public property.

In the 11th Session of The Alverian Senate, BlockGuy44 introduced a number of reforms to the election system, such as setting a hard date for when candidates can switch districts and reinforcing a ban on candidates switching parties during an election cycle. BlockGuy44 also introduced legislation to make Senate sessions open to the public and to establish an official censure process. BlockGuy44's proposals were approved by the Senate and signed into law.

BlockGuy44 unsuccessfully attempted to defeat GrassyPizza9's legislation to repeal The Alverian ID Act, citing the slow implementation and other factors. The legislation unexpectedly passed by a 4-3 margin when Boomdoger crossed the aisle to vote in support of the legislation, but the bill was later vetoed by President AceCombat101.

In the 15th Session of The Alverian Senate, with the creation of the new world, BlockGuy44 put forth legislation to protect the Forest Biome Village from being looted and destroyed, citing the fact that villages were a rare commodity in Minecraft and at least one should be protected. The legislation passed The Senate on a 6-1 vote and was signed into law by President Ace.

## Chairman of The National Alliance

### Tenure

As The 2nd Chairman of The National Alliance, BlockGuy44 prioritized formulating and strengthening the party's organization structure and message. As Chairman, BockGuy44 wrote The first-ever official platform for The National Alliance, as well as writing official bylaws that govern the party. The party bylaws also detail the responsibilities and powers of The Chairman and The Executive Committee, establish a Code of Ethics, detail the process for contested primaries and the explains the process for disciplining members.

BlockGuy44 presided over the party's successful defense of The Alverian Senate in the 3/19/21 Election, where the party gained an additional seat, forming a majority without the need for a tie-breaker. BlockGuy44 further presided over the party's continued success in every election since the 4/2/21 Election. The NA has continued to maintain their hold on The Presidency and their majority of 6 seats in The Senate up until the 7/9/21 Election. While The National Alliance held The Presidency, they lost a seat mostly due to re-districting with the creation of the new world, bringing The National Alliance's Senate Majority back down to 5 seats.

With his election as President, BlockGuy44 officially stepped down as Chairman and appointed Boomdodger to succeed him.

On July 31st, in the leadup to the 8/6/21 Election, Boomdodger resigned to join the new Phalanx Party with Beech. Block then re-assumed the Chairmanship.

Following The National Alliance's defeat in the 8/6/21 Elections, BlockGuy44 stepped down as Chairman again and appointed JackCooper, who had become Minority Leader in The Senate in light of the National Alliance losing an additional seat, to succeed him.

## President of Alveria

### Tenure

BlockGuy44 was sworn in as President on the night of July 9th, 2021. He selected his predecessor as President, AceCombat101, to be the next Secretary of Justice, and renowned builder Burgerfoot, to the the next Secretary of Interior.

In his inaugural address, BlockGuy44 put forth his proposals for constructing a cross-continental railroad, revitalizing the police force and revitalizing the events committee.

#### Inauguration Speech

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> *Presidents Obama, Beech, Boomdodger, Ace, and my fellow Alveirans: good evening!*
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> *Tonight, I stand before you as our nation’s 6th President. This is an honor and responsibility that I take with humility, optimism and a commitment towards building a brighter and better future for all Alverians. I do not take the responsibilities I have just accepted lightly, nor will I take it for granted. Being elected to the presidency is the highest honor anyone could hope to achieve in Alveria, and I acknowledge and understand the many hours of love and self-sacrifice of those who have come before me, who put their time and effort in making Alveria a truly welcoming place for all.*
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> *I also wish to acknowledge and thank Senators GrassyPizza9, Baconman1120 and Clinton\_Gaming for the time and dedication that they have put into seeking this office and sharing their vision for what Alveria in our new world should look like. I may not see eye to eye with them on many issues, but I do commend them for their dedication, passion and for running what I believe to be the calmest election campaign in quite some time. They are truly phenomenal public servants and I hope to work with them as we look towards the future.*
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> *As we Alverians come together to unify and look to what the future holds for us, I believe we should take a brief moment to remind ourselves where we’ve come from and everything we’ve done to help us get to this point. Alveria started off as a small town of a handful of people, slapped in the middle of a snow biome on a random continent. We turned that small town into a bustling metropolis of dozens of people, another additional town. We built skyscrapers, constructed beautiful buildings, built ports, and pushed the boundaries of travel and innovation as we sought to conquer this game! It could not have been done without the work ethic and spirit of so many of you here tonight. We built Alveria from the ground up and we are going to do it again!*
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> *To me, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been here, what player skin you have, what political party you identify as, that doesn’t matter. What matters the most is your drive, your energy and your willingness to roll up your sleeves and to be the best that you can be!*
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> *I believe that is the mindset we need to be successful in this new world. Our future is on the horizon and every person that is a member of the server has a stake in it. As such, it’ll be a priority of my administration to ensure that every Alverian gets a fair shake, that they are able to have a voice, and that they are able to actively participate and help make Alveria the shining city on a hill that it so rightfully deserves!*
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> *To do that, we need a cabinet that shares this mindset that we should do everything we can to include the community in projects and events and that we will do everything we can to reach our full potential. With that being said, I’m proud to announce that my first act as President of Alveria is to appoint my dear friend, President AceCombat101, as our next Secretary of Justice, and BurgerFoot, to be our next Secretary of Interior. Both of these fine gentlemen have shown time and time again that they are willing to go the extra mile to make Alveria better. They are both seasoned professionals in their areas of expertise and I am confident that with Vice President Beech, we will work together to deliver on our promises for the Alverian people.*
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> *My first priority as president is to work to ensure that Alverians are able to traverse our new home safely and quickly. As I said in the campaign, geographically, many of us are spread out to all different corners of the continent. While the roads that we currently have are useful and certainly ease transportation, I believe that implementing a railroad system going from one end of this biome to the other will ensure that we are able to get from one point to another in a speedy fashion, while also taking in the beauty of biome that we’ve chosen to call our home. I will work with the Vice President, Secretary Burger and the senate, as well as all members of the community, implementing this project.*
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> *I also recognize that we have some unfinished business. Presently, we do not have an active police force ensuring the security of our citizens. While we are proud that crime is next to non-existent, I believe it is prudent to ensure that members of the public are able to have some form of public safety in their lives to protect us from mobs, pillagers, and any other environmental or external threat that we may face in the future. I am excited about the prospect of revitalizing our police department with Secretary Ace and I look forward to engaging members of the public on this issue.*
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> *Finally, it will be my administration’s focus that we also revitalize our events committee to ensure that Alveria remains a tight-knit community and that we are able to continue to make fun memories together. Furthermore, my administration will work to ensure that all our laws passed in the old world are properly reviewed to see what can work well here in the new world or what we should modify or change. I look forward to having those discussions with the senate.*
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> *Alveria, the time to seize our future is now! We will reach our new horizon and fulfill our destiny to make Alveria bigger, better and more beautiful than ever before! I intend to be your torch bearer for the next chapter in the ever-telling story of Alveria, and I intend to see our greatness through!*
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> *Beech, Burger, Ace and I are excited about this next chapter for Alveria, and we will work our hardest to make our promises to you a reality!*
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> *Thank you Alveria, for putting your trust in me, and I look forward to being a president for all Alverians!*
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#### Actions as President

BlockGuy's Presidency focused on establishing The Alverian Railroad System, a trans-continental railroad that spanned the width of Alveria. BlockGuy also made reforms to the Police Department's structure and created an application process, as well as reforming The Events Committee, by appointing Baconman1120, Bruh\_by and Izac1110 to the events committee and began laying the groundwork for events to return.

BlockGuy also filled the position of Press Secretary, which had been vacant since it had been signed into law by President Ace. BlockGuy appointed his Vice President, beech, to fill the role. Block issued an Executive Order amending the legislation to allow Beech to serve as both Vice President and Press Secretary simultaneously.

BlockGuy was successful in getting legislative approval for The Alverian Railroad, with the ground for it being cleared for a period of several days and construction beginning shortly thereafter. The main station was mostly completed by the time Block's presidency ended.

In the lead up to campaign for re-election, Beech formed the Phalanx Party with Boom and Former President Obama\_gameing. While relations between the two were at first friendly in the light of creation of the new party, Beech immediately launched an offensive against Block, criticizing what he saw as "overpromises" and "failings", and the slow pace of the railroad construction. When BlockGuy fired back that construction on the railroad would've started sooner had Beech scheduled the vote for it at an earlier time, Beech immediately resigned, stating that he didn't want to be a "scapegoat". Relations between the two quickly soured as the two traded increasingly personal blows during the course of the campaign.

The day of the election, BlockGuy issued 4 executive orders officially naming Alveria's city streets, the railroad stations, recognizing certain indviduals for their contributions to Alveria and declaring the Mushroom Forest to the south of the city as a national park. Following the elections however, the newly elected Phalanx Senators put forth legislation repealing those orders.

#### State of Alveria Address

BlockGuy delivered the second ever State of Alveria address on August 3rd, 2021.

*Secretaries Ace and Burger, Senate Leaders Jack and Swiss, members of The Senate, my fellow Alverians: Tonight, I come before you to continue the tradition of speaking before you to address the state of our nation and the progress that this administration has made in the pursuit of our new horizon! When this administration first started, we set out with a few key priorities: build a modern transportation system, reform a police department that had been defunct and forgotten and reinvigorate server activity by re-booting the events committee.*

*I’m proud to report that tonight, we have made significant progress on these fronts over the last few weeks! I’m pleased to report tonight, thanks to the hard work of our Interior Secretary, Mr. Burger, the former Vice President, and so many others, we’ve leveled off the land for the main station and construction has already begun! The main station will serve as the central hub for the entire railroad system and is conveniently located right outside town. The railroad will ultimately be able to take you from just outside the north end of town all the way out to the western reaches. The railroad will be both above and below ground, so you will be able to admire the beauty of our nation, and to enjoy the interior designs of a modern tunnel. As I’ve been informed, the main station should be completed by this weekend! This railroad will be the capstone of the architectural achievement of this administration! A testament to our hard working spirit! Bringing all Alverians closer together and pushing the limits of design and innovation! I was pleased to see the legislation authorizing this project to pass with flying colors with cross-party support, and I hope that this spirit of cooperation will continue on into the new term.*

*This administration has also prioritized ways to bring back the relevancy of our long defunct police department. Working with our esteemed Secretary of Justice, Ace, we’ve been able to restructure the department and begin the application process for hiring new, hard working and ethical public servants to safeguard our community. We hope that with reinvigorated activity in the server, we will be able to continue to push and implement a proactive and community-oriented police department, and we will begin to tackle the question of outlining their job responsibilities in a modern Alveria. Speaking of the community, this administration has taken steps to re-energize interest in the server so that more people may continue to play. At the start of this term, I rebooted the events committee and appointed a new slate of members who have a burning passion for Alveria and who would love nothing more than to see us be fun and active. If re-elected, we have an event that we’re working on that I hope to unveil sometime next week, and I believe that this will serve as a good launching point for bringing about consistent and fun events for Alveria! This administration has been successful in the pursuit of these goals, and I couldn’t be prouder of the work we’ve done and I myself look forward to the day each of these goals reaches completion. Now, it is not lost on me that we’re in the middle of campaign season! And I’m sure we’ve all seen the debate that’s been raging on, the accusations and the mischaracterizations about this and that and everything in between. While I’m no stranger to the rough-and-tumble of the campaign trail, there is a point where it borders on and becomes toxic. When I ran for President last month, I was proud to have run a calm and clean campaign, and in spite of all, I have continued to try to do so.*

*This speech is not meant to act as a giant campaign ad, but I will use the opportunity to address the state of the political discourse. We as public servants, or inspiring public servants, all have a duty to act with civility. To be kind to one another. For it is the voters who are watching and listening to every word we say and who may draw the wrong conclusions about someone. Let me be clear: there is no candidate for office right now who is a bad person, and nobody has failed anybody. Everyone that is on the ballot cares about Alveria and wants to see us do better and be stronger. In the pursuit of power, sometimes we lose sight of who we are and how we view our friends who have disagreements. They are not a bad person, they just have a different point of view. You don’t have to go out and paint them as something they’re not, or accuse them of something that they may not have total control over, or sensationalize the issue to the point of absurdity. We also sometimes lose sight of the fact that this is Minecraft! This is a sand-box game, and we’re able to do some incredible things with our friends, and I want to continue to ensure that everyone has that incredible and positive experience! A lot of what I just said stems from the debate about our economy. The economy is an important issue, and I think it is past time we update it and bring it to the new world. We need to update our currency and give it real in-game value, make sure it maintains its intended value, and explore ways together to make this aspect of our simulation more exciting and engaging for everybody. I understand that there is a pressing desire to address it, and I’m looking forward to doing that in the second term of this administration along with finishing the work we’ve done over the course of the first!*

*Finally, a small matter that I would love to see finished in the next session is the approval of the new district flags. We’re in a new world, and I think the change marks an appropriate circumstance for the changing of the flags! I look forward to seeing what the Senate comes up with so we may all rally behind something that we can all be proud of! My friends, contrary to the political rhetoric and rancor of the campaign trail, this administration has been a success and we’re on target to reach our new horizon. I look forward to continuing to work with all of you as we achieve a stronger Alveria for everyone!*

*Thank you!*

#### Concession Speech

BlockGuy ultimately lost his re-match against Grassy and released a short statement conceding the election and thanking Alveria for the opportunity to serve as President.

*Obviously tonight was not the night I was personally hoping for. We had a lot going against our campaign, and at the end of the day, the voters chose a different direction. I’m proud of the campaign we’ve run. I’m proud of my team, and we left it all on the field tonight, and sometimes, that’s really all you can do.*

*I was proud to make it as close as I did, and we went all out during this campaign.*

*In spite of the circumstances of this defeat and as much as I personally disagree with the outcome, I accept it. I wish the incoming administration all the best.*

*I also recognize that the senate will have a starkly different make-up than before, and I think that this marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter in Alverian politics. From the bottom of my heart, thank you Alveria for letting me be the 6th President and for entrusting the National Alliance to lead you for most of our sim’s history.*

## Post Presidential Activites

Following the election, BlockGuy has stated that he does not want to return to politics at the present time, but has expressed passing interest in returning to the Senate at some point.

BlockGuy did not attend the inauguration of Grassy due to scheduling conflicts, but also stated that even if he was able to attend, Grassy's inauguration was the last place he'd want to be.

## Electoral History

8/6/2021 Presidential Election

7/9/2021 Presidential Election
 Biodome Party | Clinton\_Gaming | 3

6/25/21 District 4 Senate Election

6/11/21 District 4 Senate Election

5/28/21 District 4 Senate Election

5/14/21 District 4 Senate Election

4/30/21 District 4 Senate Election

4/16/21 District 4 Senate Election

4/2/21 District 4 Senate Election

3/19/21 District 4 Senate Election
 Ba'ath Party | OrangeJelly6399 | 1