Andel Van Boelens (3000)

Andel Van Boelens held multiple offices in American politics during his 112-year lifetime. He was most known for being the first person in the Presidential Line of Succession below Vice President ever to assume the office of the United States Presidency.

Early Life
Andel Otto Roger Van Boelens was born on September 24, 2181, in the city of Provo, Utah, to Otto Roger Van Boelens and Cecilia Marie (Frank) Van Boelens. He attended the Provo Regional High School, were he graduated valedictorian in 2200. From there, he went on to major in history at Columbia University. He then applied, and was accepted, to Harvard Law School, were he studied legal and political history. He earned his Ph.D. in American history from Harvard Law School in 2207. He returned home just in time for the Gubernational elections in the country.

Political Career
When Van Boelens returned home to Provo City, he saw a vacant seat on the U.S. House of Representatives, and decided to run. He ran unopposed, and was easily elected as a member of the New Republican Party in 2208. He was sworn in in 2209, and immediately got to work. He was a very influential figure on many issues, and was best known during his tenure as a representative for swaying a liberal majority in favor of passing a conservative bill under independent conservative President Lisa McDevitt. President McDevitt personally met with Representative Van Boelens on many occasions to thank him for his hard work, and immediately threw her support behind him, helping him be named Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2221.

He had great respect for liberal President Madison Zwingli, and later Davina Smith, but his conservatism was often a check to the liberal policies proposed by Zwingli and Smith. They often worked together on many issues, and, both being influential figures, were able to sway large groups of people towards their cause, eventually growing large support groups that would someday clash, A conflict was inevitable.

On March 15, 2226, the Ides of March, Madison Zwingli was shot and killed at a press conference in Nova City. Both Vice President Smith and Speaker Van Boelens made drastic measures to apprehend the assassin, eventually arresting Jacoby Radburn, a radical conservative, in early 2227. President Smith continued to work with Speaker Van Boelens, and some say that the bond between the two grew so much that it surpassed that of Van Boelens' relationship with Zwingli. Then, disaster struck again.

On October 11th, 2227, President Davina Smith was onboard a space shuttle to the new colony of Whitnia, when the shuttle was targeted by one Manfred von Aster. Von Aster was a radical conservative, and was even kicked out of the Conservative America Party for being too radical. Von Aster died in colliding his one-man fighter with the presidential shuttle. Later that day, on Earth, Chief Justice Tulip swore in Speaker Van Boelens, as the first person beyond Vice President to be sworn in via the Line of Succession. The Senate President pro tempore, Victor Theodoro, took the duties of Vice President until the 2229 election.

Presidency
Andel Van Boelens served the most years possible in the presidency, ten years, after finishing President Zwingli's term, and earning two of his own. As president, Van Boelens was benevolent and bipartisan, uniting people under his presidency, winning over conservatives with his beliefs and liberals with his continuation of Zwingli's and Smith's actions. After finishing out Zwingli's second term, he ran for the office himself in the election of 2228. He took former Alaska governor Ryder Wyndham as his running mate, and easily won the election, and was sworn in for a second time in 2229. During his second term, he had a slightly more conservative agenda, but still won over the hearts of liberals with his refusal to eliminate many of Zwingli's executive orders. Van Boelens himself handed over many executive powers over to the legislative branch, including lessening the power of the Executive Order, and the Van Boelens Democracy lasted until the Treaty of Montreal in 2307.

Post-Presidency Political Career
When Van Boelens stepped down after his second term as President in 2237, he was a very popular figure in American politics. He was a very close friend to Anderson Tulip, his successor, who had previously concluded his term as Chief Justice. Van Boelens and Tulip worked closely together over the next administration. Once Tulip stepped down, Van Boelens focused his energy on the growing space colonies on Mars.

The Martian colony of Whitland was relatively new, and was not yet a state. Many other Martian colonies had already achieved statehood. Van Boelens took it upon himself to advocate for statehood for Whitland, and was very vocal. When Whitland finally achieved statehood in 2280, Van Boelens was appointed as an adviser to the governor of Whitland, Patrick McNaughton.

Van Boelens retired in 2292, and died the next year, in 2293, on May 12, in the city of Abernathy, on Mars.