The White House Press Room (OSA Inductees)

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

"Well it is time for me to go, but I would really rather have stayed" - paraphrase of Abraham Lincoln before going to Ford's Theater


This journey began last fall. I spent most of September out of sorts, I came back though, secured my Chairmanship and did all I could to assist Senator Tmthforu94 in becoming President. On Saturday Morning, October 1st, I woke up to find him gone. Several years ago, he once told me I needed to be President. My response then and ever since had always been "No, I don't". I will admit there was some anger as well as some frustration that helped break down that wall of resistance. But it was also a matter of faith, faith that Atlasia could be better, faith that Atlasia could be stronger, faith that Atlasia could be more welcoming for all. We had reformed the structure of the game, but we had failed to reform how we had played the game.

I made the decision that day, but I slept on it and then went to work and I realized I would be forever mad at myself, if I did not declare on October 2nd. And I made it at 11:59 PM. That first week was one of the worst I had dealt with in years. I got inured at work, we nearly got out flooded out by a Hurricane and I was unable to access the Atlas for five days. I had started out way behind because I had started so late, and figured I would lose in a landslide. Things began to turn around though, once Rpryor and dkrolga joined our team. We began to unify, we continued to reach out and we began to expand our support creating a diverse coalition of voters.

Then we tied in the regular election and then again in the runoff ending on Halloween. A month of court cases and finally the Potomac Agreement brought an end to the October election saga. Though Blair and I ended up splitting the term under that agreement, it is not inaccurate to say that I declared on Richard III's birthday and was elected on Halloween, what could possibly go wrong?

Losing half of the term was a setback, but let no one be mistaken, I enjoyed serving as Blair's Vice President. I had campaigned on an ambitious agenda, and I did my best to try and push forward on it before the election season drowned out my administration and even retiring, didn't preserve forward progress to the extent I would have liked. I accepted that I would not get close to everything when I took office. But my hope was to help Fremont recover, complete the Foreign Relations Review, start the Budget process, pass all the bills and amendments resolving the problems that occurred in October, Pass Healthcare, strengthen the National Security Council using intelligence and foreign stories from the Game Moderator, establish a Domestic Policy Council to assist with the Budget and Healthcare, and finally to establish question time periods for both Congress and for the people directly. Towards the end, working to assist the Congress improve their rules became the biggest priority.

At the close of this administration, here is where things stand:

-Fremont is back up and running thanks to its Special Elections Commissioner Rpryor, Governor/Prime Minister Truman, and the regional legislature/Commons. More work has to be done particularly in the advancement of debate on issues and engagement of new/existing citizens into the political process, both there and in every other region.

-The Foreign Relations review is one continent away from completion and should be before Congress very soon in the next administration. The work of the National Security Council was superb, but more work has to be done to strengthen that institution, to better integrate the work of the Game Moderation into its operations.

-The Domestic Police Council was less successful, because some participants were lost over the course of two month interim and another became more involved in Foreign Policy over that same period. The budget was thus too complex to complete over the course of this short one month action period and difficult to commence prior to passing healthcare. As for healthcare some progress was made and ultimately, the biggest holdup now is the cost analysis.

-We signed one of the laws relating to resolving the October mess to restore faith in the electoral institutions and I kept my promise to appoint Laborites to administer the process with Peebs as Secretary of Federal Elections and then Truman as Acting Elections Administrator. The two amendments remain stuck in Congress though, and the one on tied elections really should be passed and ratified and the amendment clarifying voting rules should be restarted and passed and ratified also.

-As for other reforms, we did establish a Press Briefing for both the press and public and also created a Question Time process for the Congress as well. Lastly, I worked closely with Speaker NeverAgain to reform the rules of the House and encourage the Senate to work likewise so that both chambers can function as part of a whole and not siloed entities.


In closing, I would like to start by thanking so many people who did an amazing and fantastic job. I want to thank Vice President Rpryor and Deputy GM Dkrolga for their support, I would not have been President without them. I want to thank Leinad who took over as Acting Chief of Staff and also became Senate PPT to get things moving again. I want to thank NeverAgain for his work on improving the House rules. Governor Dfwlibertylover for although he always manages to stress me out beyond belief, this game is always better when we have more wild Texans and I am confident he will make a great President.

A More Welcoming Atlasia, is not something that you sign and say, "is done". It is an on-going effort to integrate more people in the process, to bring more people in and to create an environment that fosters both participation and creativity. I am confident Atlasia will move forward on this, but like with all things I am sure it will also stumble at points, because if you want to keep something, you have to fight for it. That is why, with all the best wishes of luck and success to my successor(s), I will echo President Grover Cleveland in saying, "We'll be back".