Presidents of Pacific Orange



''The President of Pacific Orange, according to the current constitution, is elected according to a popular vote held once every five years and is responsible for ensuring the implementation of all laws passed by the houses of parliament. Whilst the nation has experienced a rather turbulent and at times autocratic past, the office of the Presidency has survived throughout all four republics though its power has admittedly varied substantially from each rewritten constitution. Nonetheless Presidents have always retained the power of veto which they can exercise at their discretion. Similarly as the official head of state, Presidents have always been appointed as the commander in chief of the nation's armed forces both in times of peace and times of war.''

Ian W. Klinn ( "Pawws" )
Term of Office: 1947 - 1952, 1968 - 1979

Political Affiliation: Nationalist Party of Pacific Orange

Born into a moderately wealth middle class family in Saint Victoria on the 22nd October 1902 as 'Ian W. Klinn', Pawws is best remembered for his role in founding and uniting the nation of Pacific Orange following the disintegration of the Union of Pacific Blue in the aftermath of World War 2. Always an outspoken and at times headstrong personality, his role as a wartime leader, adopting a policy of no surrender and refusing to capitulate during the nadir of Pacific Orange fortunes in 1951, was instrumental in sowing the seeds for the nation's victory and survival in that war. Similarly, the years of the Pawws' presidency during the 1970's saw the institution of broad economic and political reforms: it was under Pawws that the debilitating stranglehold of the military over Pacific Orange politics was finally overthrown. Nonethless, these years were also marked by increasing corruption, authoritarianism and human rights abuse against political opponents, particularly as the Third Republic came to a close. Forced finally into exile by popular protests in 1979 after surviving two coups and a communist insurrection against his rule, Pawws fled to Taiwan settling later in Newton, Massachusetts, USA where he died in 2001 of an as yet undisclosed disorder.

Thus the legacy of Pawws has been debated continuously. Some view him as a brutal dictator, while others credit him for stopping Pacific Orange sliding towards instability and implementing economic reforms. After the suppression of the coup and insurrection by 1975, Pawws claimed that "All that I have done, has been to further the cause of democracy within Pacific Orange." His supporters have made similar claims. The President of Stalinstan, the_palm, has for example thanked Pawws for "his contribution to this region's stability and prosperity." However, there have been several detailed reports which describe the human rights abuses carried out by the Third Republic and veterans of the 1979 protests, remember vividly the bloodshed that resulted from Pawws' brutal suppression of the Saint Victoria National University revolt. Furthermore, Lee Kuan, Pawws' Deputy Prime Minister, has revealed that Pawws had embezzled over 40 million Wons in government funds.

Richard I. Tadget-Wraine
Term of Office: 1953 - 1958

Political Affiliation: Pacific Orange Country Party

A Saint Victorian who was similarly instrumental in the foundation of the Pacific Orange state in 1947, Tadget-Wraine was an active participant in farming organisations and the establishment of the Pacific Orange Country Party which he led in the period from 1949 - 1958. Successfully campaigning on the pledge of fiscal economic conservatism and higher tariffs to ameliorate the growing recession during the early 1950's, Tadget-Wraine came to power amidst widespread optimism regarding the potential for his presidency. During the First Great Patriotic War, he had enjoyed considerable success during his tenure as Minister of Armanents; an accolade which had garnered him substantial support. Unfortunately, the spiralling economic downturn and the political instability of the First Republic proved too much for Tadget-Wraine to handle and the years of the Tadget-Wraine Presidency was marked by high unemployment, increasing animosity between the states and the rise of militant left wing extremism. Rumours of embezzlement and supposed ties to the communist party was sufficient to spark a full blown party revolt against him in 1953 and the last years of his presidency were marked by Tadget-Wraine's struggles within the Country Party to retain his position and support. In the end swept out of office by a margin far larger than that which had originally propelled him to power, the presidency of Tadget-Wraine is widely regarded as an enormous failure, one of whose repercussions was the dissolution of the First Republic on the 15th October 1958.

John G. Martineau
Term of Office: 1958 - 1966

Political Affiliation: Pacific Orange Labor Party

Stepping into the executive power vaccum amidst the turmoil of the First Republic, Martineau showed almost immediately how "the hour and the man" had met. Quickly passing through measures designed to minimise inter-regional strife and quell the communist insurrection, he oversaw the return of order and stability to a deeply wracked country. But as Martineau soon realised, the country's woes went far deeper than the current political / social sitution. Announcing his decision to rectify the nation's structural flaws, Martineau successfully campaigned for the dissolution of the First Republic in favour of the more federally oriented Second Republic whereby the federal government was empowered with greater legislative and executive authority over the states. Under the new republic and constitution, Pacific Orange saw the first of its 'Golden eras' where stability at home and a boom in the international markets saw the nation soar to new heights throughout the 1960's. Similarly abroad, the Martineau presidency secured for Pacific Orange a range of regional agreements in which the nation looked set to solidify its economic and security links with other powers in the region.

Enjoying widespread popularity, Martineau was elected to a second term though was unable to secure control of the Senate. This was soon to present problems for him as the Nationalists began to use their Senate majority for less moral purposes - blocking the passage of the Supply Bills needed to fund the federal budget in a controversial bid to force a coalition government inclusive of the Nationalist opposition. Ultimately unable to secure the bills he required, Martineau decided to rule without supply; leading to political and financial chaos, causing many to speculate that a return to the anarchy of the First Republic. After governing for a period of 6 month, the mounting deficit and inflation forced Martineau to call a national election in order to avoid a full blown economic recession. The voters, no longer unsure of the Martineau presidency, decided against returning Martineau to power. Nonetheless, the Martineau era is seen often as an important turning point in the history of Pacific Orange and Martineau continues to be highly rated as one of the most influential presidents of Pacific Orange.

Leonhard A. Dzionara
Term of Office: 1966 - 1968

Political Affiliation: Nationalist Party of Pacific Orange

Whilst the Nationalists' blocking tactics in the Senate had successfully driven Martineau from power, it earned many of their senior leaders deep mistrust from a public outraged at this abuse of political power. Amidst a flurry of resignations as the Nationalists sought to restructure their leadership in time for the federal elections, the most unlikely candidate became the most likely - 64 year old Leonhard A. Dzionara, an ethnic German hailing from the Schauinsland. The nomination of Leonhard to the Nationalist presidential ticket was a first in many ways, primarily in that Leonhard as a Schauinslander marked a distinctive break from the previously Anglo-Saxon dominated political establishment. Indeed it was perhaps this perceived difference which was so appealing to voters, a 'breath of fresh air' from the stagnant state of Pacific Orange politics, which enabled Dzionara to be voted into office in an election which ironically gave the Labor Party the Senate majority Dzionara's predecessor had so long desired.

In a marked change from Martineau's emphasis on social policy, Dzionara increased the level of defence expenditure, almost tripling the size of the Pacific Orange military via the enacment of conscription measures and increased purchasing of equipment from overseas. This soon bore fruit in the outbreak of the Second Patriotic War where the army successfully fought a lengthy retreat into the Central Highlands suffering only minimal losses. Crushing Pacific Orange victory in the war seemed to ensure the success of Dzionara's bid for reelection and it seems likely that post war Pacific Orange would have been under a Dzionara presidency had it not been for his sudden death from a heart attack in the closing weeks of the war. Succeeding him, and campaigning now under the slogan of "You helped win the war, now help us win the peace", was Pawws in his bid for a second term as President.