Jerry Strauss

**Branch/Service** U.S. Navy
**Years of Service** 2017-2039
**Rank** Rear Admiral (US)
Commander of the Armed Forces

**Gerald Daniel Strauss** (November 15, 1995 - February 2, 2050) was an American Naval Officer and politician who served as the 50th President of the United States from 2046-2049, until the conclusion of the American Revolution of 2049.

Strauss was the last President of the old order. He is also the only president who was executed.

Before becoming president, he served as a Navy Rear Admiral and even served in the Iran war. He would win 2 purple hearts and would be rewarded with the medal of honor in 2036.

## Early Life

Strauss was born on November 15, 1995 in Boston, Massachusetts to Edward and Alice (nee. Wolff) Strauss. As a child Strauss was bullied for his height and noticeable stutter. Strauss also grew up lower class and wasn't able to pay for his own lunch money. Due to this experience, Strauss aspired to join the military. He felt that it was the only way to become successful. After befriending future Rear Admiral Jackson Middleton, the son of Naval officer Bernard Middleton, Strauss would enter the United States Naval Academy.

## Naval School and Military Service (2013-2049)

### United States Naval Academy

Strauss entered the United States Naval Academy in 2013. At first, he only got along with Middleton. However, he started to get along with Cuban-American Rodrigo Cortez. His University life, however, was apparently difficult, Strauss had issues socially and had one of the lowest grades in his class.

### Military Service

Strauss entered the United States Navy in the year 2017 as was commissioned as an Ensign. The following year he was stationed in Qatar and stayed there for 4 years. During the stay, He met his future wife, Fatima. He would also have his first child, Zachary. Later, he would serve in Japan, Korea, Germany and the U.K. This experience made him realize that people from different countries aren't so different, thus Strauss became a liberal despite his parents being staunch conservatives. When the Iran war began, Strauss was one of the first Naval officers to be sent to the Persian Gulf. The commanding general of the Navy at the time was Lester Werner, who was also from Massachusetts. Strauss was mainly involved in torpedo strikes during the beginning of the war. However, in late 2030 he decided to serve as a Navy SEAL. After getting injured in Bushehr, he was awarded the purple heart. After returning to combat, he got injured again during the Yazd invasion in 2034 when he was trying to assist a fellow Navy SEAL. This show of bravery earned him a medal of honor in 2035.

## Senate Tenure

Strauss decided to run for the Massachusetts Senate election in 2038. He had to run against the two-term senator Alexis Diori, a Harvard educated lawyer who also was a corporate Democrat. Strauss managed to get 53% of the votes and won the election although it was mostly because of Diori's unpopularity. While Strauss was progressive, he was disliked by the majority of the progressives and democratic socialists in the Democratic party due to his pro war stances. Strauss also faced controversy because his military connections got Zachary, his son to get into Harvard despite his poor test scores. These factors made Strauss' time in the Senate strenuous to say the least. He even was shipped a package with Anthrax from an anonymous terrorist.

## Vice Presidency

### Rolfe's running mate

After Rebecca Rolfe won the Democratic primary for the 2040 election, she had trouble selecting her running mate. However, after much consideration, she decided to select Strauss as her running mate. He infamously debated the Republican nominee Aaron Raskill's running mate Eric Arnquist (the future revolutionary). Although the debate went poorly for both sides, the populace perceived Strauss as the winner of the debate. Rolfe and Strauss would eventually win the election.

### Vice Presidency

Strauss was sworn in as the Vice President on the 20th of January, 2041.

During his Vice Presidency, he did not do much except a few diplomatic and administrative roles. One of these major roles was being involved in the tracking of the National Unionist revolutionaries or as they called "insurrectionists". However, this was mostly unsuccessful. Due to this and many other factors, the National Unionists were able to amass enough power to successfully declare a revolution against the United States government. Do to this and other major factors, President Rolfe announced her resignation. Strauss was first in line for the presidency.

## Presidency

Strauss was sworn in on the 11th of June, 2046. To say he took over during difficult times is an understatement. The revolution was declared in many major cities and captured major American assets. Not only that, due to Washington D.C. being captured Strauss had to move the capital to Philadelphia, the old United States capital. Nevertheless, the United States federal government managed to stay afloat, although the stability of the government was on thin ice. Strauss decided to send a peace offer to the leader of the revolution, Oliver Dandridge to no avail. Strauss, desperate, decided to declare martial law and became the Supreme Commander of the United States. He also temporarily dissolved Congress.

In November 27, 2046 Strauss decided to Suspend the United States Constitution. This was heavily criticized at first, especially from the Republicans. However, after the Republicans saw how dire the situation was they decided to join the Democratic party, thus ending the Republican party in 2046. This caused some of the members of the Republican far-right to join the National Unionists.

Many countries supported the United States and Strauss, such as the NATO nations and Russia. However, nations like China funded the revolutionaries in the hopes of destabilizing the United States and the west.

The armed forces suggested that Strauss give the Secretary of State position to Alexander Steinbeck. Strauss accepted this proposal and decided to make Steinbeck the Sec of State at the end of 2046. At the beginning of 2047, Strauss decided to sign a treaty with Canada that united the two countries. The Canadian Prime Minister at the time, Richard Campbell, was made the Vice President. During this time, Strauss decided to send his son Zachary to the United Kingdom to keep him safe. On February 20, 2047, Strauss was shot in the stomach. Although not killing him and not damaging any major organ, he was furious. Enraged, Strauss ordered the launching of 10 nuclear missiles at 10 separate major cities. Although it did not pass, this destructive approach that Strauss decided to take in the war never ended.

During the new year address in 2048, Strauss started to collaborate with the corporations who are operating in the revolutionary territory. At first, this was a success. The Silicon Valley corporations managed to independently declare war on the revolutionaries and bought mercenaries from India and Indonesia. Despite of this, the Silicon Valley corporation states were captured in a month and the corporations were nationalized by the revolutionaries and the CEOs were tried and many were executed. Mark Zuckerberg, the longtime CEO of META, managed to escape to Brazil, which would become a Country with many former Loyalists (the old order politicians and their relatives).

However, on January 13 of 2049, the last year of the old order, Philadelphia was captured. Strauss decided to move the capital to Richmond, one of the last major eastern cities in the United States that had not yet been captured. In the end, however, the revolutionaries managed to capture Richmond on the 12th of November, 2049. The following day, Jerry Strauss was forced to resign and was replaced with the National Unionist leader Oliver Dandridge, the first of the new order Presidents. The Democratic party was forcefully disbanded the next day.

Strauss was captured and moved to his home in Boston where he was in house arrest.

## Post-Presidency

Strauss was kept in house arrest until his death. His wife was deported back to Qatar because she was not a United States citizen. Until his death, Strauss was not allowed to meet anybody besides his house arrest guards. Back at the newly re-established Supreme Court, the punishment for Strauss was being determined. The Chief Justice, Winston Arnquist, the brother of Eric Arnquist, determined that the only punishment fit for Strauss was execution. So on the 1st of February, 2050, Strauss was forced onto a helicopter, which would take him to DC. Finally, the following day, Strauss was executed by firing squad. To this day, he is seen as a martyr by the Loyalists. His last words were "I have taken the mantle of the sublime commander of these United States. However, it seems that these United States have decided to side with rebels and traitors against my ideals and now is going to execute me. May the hand of Satan strike the rebels and traitors from behind." He would be executed shortly after that.

Strauss is often regarded as a mediocre President by historians. Right after the end of the revolution, the new order tried controlling education to paint a much more negative image of Strauss, to the point that academics and historians had to intervene. In reality, Strauss was a moderate progressive who couldn't defeat the revolutionaries. His son, Zachary returned to the United States in 2089 and tried to run for the Presidency to continue the legacy of his father.