Michael R. Perry (Fester)

Words written in italics will eventually become separate articles. Michael Richard Perry (9 January 2005 - 8 April 2051), often referred to by his initials, MRP,  was an American politician who served as the 50th President of the United States from January 2045 until his assassination in April 2051.

He served during the Hot-Up and the very beginning of the Third World War, and the majority of his presidency was spent managing relations with China and reforming the country after the financial collapse of 2044.

A member of the Progressive Party, he was the first person who wasn’t a Republican or Democrat to be elected to the presidency since Millard Fillmore. He was also the youngest in the nation's history, being elected at thirty-nine years old. He previously served as the Governor of Oregon.

Perry is consistently ranked as one of the best presidents in United States history, along with his successor. He began an era of Progressive Party dominance that wouldn’t end until the 2080s.

Perry was shot in the head by Czech immigrant Arno Novák and died at the scene. His death was mourned across the world and was immediately replaced by Cadence Royson, who would become the longest serving president since FDR.

Early life and education
Michael Richard Perry was born on January the 9th, 2005, in Portland, Oregon, to Richard Perry, a middle school teacher, and Amanda Bryant, a hairdresser. Perry was their first child, and he would later have another brother and a sister, Maria Perry, who would later become the United States Secretary of State. Perry's family were middle class, and he attended public school all of his life. He attended Rosa Parks Elementary School, West Sylvan middle school, (where is father taught) and Lincoln High School. In 2021, his family won the Mega Millions jackpot of $103 Million, leading to the iconic slogan used by Ron DeSantis - "He gambled his way to power, don't gamble on the country"

Perry attended Yale University as a global business and society student. It was an area that has always been controversial for Perry, as how he got there has been debated. He got his master's degree at the age of 23.

Work at Sigma


In Perry's mid twenties, he founded Sigma, a technology company. He pioneered the hologlasses, the first smartglasses to be mass-produced. It was a hit, with 20 million sales on the opening weekend. It resulted in smartglasses replacing Virtual Reality headsets and smartphones in the near future. Perry's success with the hologlasses and the sp33k social network made Sigma a Fortune 200 company, and Perry became #1 on the 40 Under 40 list, and became a billionaire at the age of 27.

Soon after, Perry would put Sigma in a revocable trust throughout his political career.

2034 Oregon gubernatorial election
Perry had became an early backer of the Progressive Party; founded by New York senator Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; and the first Fortune 500 CEO to do so. Perry had previously signalled a desire to get into politics and announced a run for Governor of Oregon in July 2034, as a Progressive.

Abigail Brown, the incumbent Democratic governor, was hugely unpopular, and the Republicans had been all but wiped out. This opened the state up to a third party bid. Perry easily won the primaries due to the huge amounts of money backing him.

Perry would jet around the state, sometimes holding 4 rallies a day. He used social media effectively, with some alleging that he had illegally used the sp33k social network to aid in his campaign, as he handpicked his successor.

Perry would win with 56% of the vote, joining Senator Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and newly-elected Senator Sofia Sanchez of New Mexico as one of the first three Progressive nationwide office holders. The elections in 2038 and 2040 would lead to Progressives overtaking the Democrats in Governors and the House respectively.

Governor of Oregon (2035-2043)
Perry was inaugurated on January the 10th, 2035, the day after he turned 30, making him the youngest Governor of a state since Howard Stassen of Minnesota.

Perry's business would be source of great controversy throughout his governorship, as he put it in a revocable trust, not a blind one. The controversy would persist into his presidency.

Perry would quickly sign bills into law restricting carbon emissions and giving tax incentives to companies which lower them. He made Oregon the leading producer of hydro and wind electricity, earning him the nickname ''the Environer. ''

He would set higher standards for schools and reform the criminal-justice system, attempting to recreate the Nordic system. Along with this, he would legalise drug possession, instead sending people caught with dangerous drugs to rehabilitation centers rather than prisons.

The Democrats did not run a candidate in Oregon in 2038, which marked the beginning of their collapse. Instead they nominated Perry, who did not accept it and once again ran as a progressive. Perry would easily win re-election with 66% of the vote.

2040 Presidential Election
In 2040, the Progressives had funded enough to launch a national campaign. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was nominated with no competition. Perry was reportedly offered the Vice Presidential slot, however he apparently refused, likely because the odds of victory were extremely high.

However, he crossed the country with her in an attempt to even further raise his national profile, despite being a household name. During this time, he met fellow Governor Cadence Royson and struck a close friendship with her, being dubbed as the "people's ticket", much to the annoyance of Presidential nominee Ocasio-Cortez and Vice Presidential nominee Sofia Sanchez, to the point that people joked that they were seen more than the ticket.

The Progressives came third in the election, with 127 electoral votes. However, they had netted almost three million more votes than the Democrats, whose nominee was Vice President Julian Castro. Ron DeSantis won 139 more electoral votes than the Democrats, whilst they only had 136. However, he barely won a majority, which suggested vulnerability in the case of a unified left.

Remainder of Term
After the 2040 election, Perry quietly finished his term. He had been slowly setting the foundations for a Presidential Campaign.

During the last 2 years of his term, Perry was criticised for not being in Oregon often, as he had been trying to preserve his relevance by accepting almost every interview that was requested.

Perry's second term as Governor expired in January 2043. His Secretary of State, Laura Grant was elected his successor.

Progressive Party Primaries
Incumbent President Ron DeSantis was massively unpopular, with approval ratings near 34%, due to his handling of the hot-up, which involved worsening relations with China, and the faltering economy.

The Democratic party had collapsed in 2042, after losing almost all of its representation in the Senate and House, and losing every single one of its governors. Many of them defecting to the Progressives. Rather than risking splitting the vote, the party disbanded and was all but replaced by the Progressives. With a united left, DeSantis was seen to be extremely vulnerable.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez declined to be a candidate in 2044, and Perry entered the primaries as the clear frontrunner. 2040 Vice Presidential nominee Senator Sofia Sanchez ran for the nomination, but her chances were low, due to having virtually no charisma and little funding. A few minor candidates ran, but they were largely ignored by the media. Cadence Royson, another Progressive titan, declined to run and endorsed Perry early on, being at a suspiciously high amount of his campaign events.

The town hall between the two candidates was widely watched, with Perry widely being seen as the winner, mimicking the Bill Clinton technique of walking up to and personally answering people asking him questions. The 38-year old Perry was much more lively and humorous compared to his 65 year-old competitor and 78% of viewers thought he won the town hall.

A single debate was held between the two candidates, in which Perry was relentlessly on the attack, attacking Sanchez for her more centrist viewpoints and her work with the Republicans, while Sanchez, reportedly riddled with the flu, dodged questions, coughed and sputtered throughout and the entire debate.

Around this time, the controversy surrounding the state of Sigma and the revocable trust it was put in resurfaced. However, by now, Sp33k was the primary social media website, and Sigma also owned the world's most popular holographic broadcasting station. The controversy quickly and suspiciously died down.

In the run-up to Iowa, Perry visited every county in the fortnight before the polls closed, while the older Sanchez had all but given up, holding two rallies in the final week.

After winning the Iowa caucuses with 70% of the vote, the faltering Sofia Sanchez dropped out, making Perry the presumptive nominee. As expected by the media, Perry's close friend Cadence Royson, the Governor of New York, was selected as his running mate.

General Election campaign
At the Progressive National Convention in Miami, Florida, Michael Perry was nominated by his party for President of the United States, and Cadence Royson was nominated as Vice President.

Ron DeSantis was re-nominated, although he had faced a challenge from Senator Rena Haley, the daughter of popular former President Nikki Haley. The contest was not decided until the convention.

Perry started out as the clear favourite, although analysts thought that he may have difficulty in the south and midwest, which had became a Republican stronghold.

The media had heavily favoured Perry, with the sp33k holographic news station endorsing its founder, along with almost all of the Silicon Valley tech executives. In the far future, many would consider this to be part of a mass manipulation campaign by Perry's team.

The debates were some of the most watched in history, even being projected into the sky in New York. It was a repeat of the primary debates, with an energetic Perry relentlessly attacking President DeSantis whilst also cracking jokes. Despite being worth over 30 billion dollars, many people began to find Perry relatable. A particularly poignant moment was during the town hall debate, when a woman talked about how her 96 year-old mother with breast cancer couldn't afford healthcare. Perry responded with how the death of his mother affected him when she died of glioblastoma without medical help. He spoke about how we were talking about the exact same issues from when he was a child, and how this was unacceptable. He had remarked how it was unacceptable that we had the money to broadcast this debate in the sky, but not to pay for a 90 year-old woman's cancer treatment. Perry romped all three of the debates, and was on course for a landslide.

In late October, the economy collapsed, and Perry took advantage of this, campaigning in states hem never thought he would win, such as Indiana or South Carolina. The DeSantis campaign collapsed along side it, and instead tried to prevent a total wipe out in Congress.

On election day, it was clear that Perry was on track for a landslide with record turnout. DeSantis had conceded early in the evening, after dramatic losses in states like Pennsylvania and Minnesota, and tremendously narrow victories in safe Republican states like Michigan and Wisconsin.

Perry declared victory at midnight the next day, declaring this the beginning of a new progressive era. He was the first President to not be a Republican or Democrat in almost 200 years. The President-Elect declared it "that it was the day of the people, we, as one" and said that it was time to heal the country's divide. Perry's victory was celebrated by many across the country, hoping this would bring about the change started by Bernie Sanders 28 years ago in the 2016 election. This day would mark the beginning of Progressive Party dominance in U.S politics, which would not lessen until the 2090s. Perry would be the first of three consecutive Progressive Party presidents.

Transition
The day after the election, President Perry met with President DeSantis to discuss the transition. It was orderly and smooth, with he and First Lady-designate Alexis Perry given tours of their future residence, and Royson held multiple meetings with Vice President Elise Stefanik giving her fellow New Yorker tours of Number One Observatory Circle.

Inauguration
Perry started inauguration day by meeting with the outgoing President, before making the short drive to the Capitol.

Senator Ashley Simpson commenced the inauguration ceremony at 11:30 a.m. with welcoming remarks about the nation's "commonplace and miraculous" tradition of a peaceful transition of power. Three religious figures delivered invocations, although Perry himself was an atheist. After short remarks, House Speaker Troy Ridley ended his speech by asking everyone to stand for the swearing-in ceremony.

President Ron DeSantis Vice President Elise Stefanik, former Presidents Barack Obama, Nikki Haley, Gavin Newsom, and former Vice Presidents Kamala Harris, Dan Crenshaw and Julian Castro, along with their respective wives, attended the inauguration. (Former President George W. Bush did not attend the ceremony for health reasons)

At 11:53 a.m., Associate Justice Rick Eustice swore in Cadence Royson as the 53rd Vice President of the United States, with her hand on her copy of the United States Constitution. A performance of "America the Beautiful" by the Washington D.C Children's Choir followed. At noon Perry became the 50th president of the United States, taking the oath of office with Chief Justice Roy Anderson. Perry also swore on the constitution. After the swearing-in, the Marine Band performed "Hail to the Chief" and Perry received the traditional 21-gun salute in his honor.

Inaugural address
"“Chief Justice Anderson, President DeSantis, Vice President Royson, Vice President Stefanik, President Newsom, President Obama, President Haley, distinguished guests, and my fellow Americans:" The peaceful transfer of power is rare in history, yet common in our great nation. After two and a half centuries many people throughout the world still take this momentous occasion for granted; although it is nothing less than a miracle. I would like to thank President DeSantis on his graciousness, hospitality and his determination to make sure this transfer went smoothly. We may have disagreements, but the President is a distinguished public servant and a true patriot. We must wish for his success in the future. For the first time in nearly two hundred years, the President of the United States is not a Democrat, nor a Republican; and I know that many throughout the nation are scared and worried, I would like to use today to put those fears to rest. It does not matter what political party affiliation you have, as we are all Americans, we're all on one team." "- Excerpt from his address. More can be found at the bottom of the page, in the 'Further Reading' section."

Other events
After the inaugural ceremony, President Perry, First Lady Alexis Perry, Vice President Cadence Royson and Second Lady Erika Royson escorted former President Ron DeSantis and former First Lady Casey DeSantis to a departure ceremony on the east side of the U.S. Capitol. The Perrys exchanged remarks and bid farewell to the DeSantis family at the base of the helicopter that would transport them to Joint Base Andrews, and then returned to the steps of the Capitol building where they waved as the DeSantis' helicopter took off. Meanwhile, the Stefaniks took a limousine to their home in D.C. Before the luncheon and in keeping with tradition, President Perry signed his first presidential orders in the President's Room at the Capitol, and then signed the guest book for the luncheon.

Following the luncheon, Perry, Royson, and their wives reviewed an honor guard of troops at the East Front of the U.S. Capitol before beginning the parade. The inaugural parade route ran along Pennsylvania Avenue, NW from the U.S. Capitol, ending at the north face of the White House. During most of the parade, President Perry and First Lady Alexis Perry traveled in the armored limousine used by the President because of potential security threats. The President and First Lady exited their limousine twice, walking on Pennsylvania Avenue for portions of the parade, a longstanding custom. Vice President Royson and her wife Erika walked the parade route at several points as well. The parade lasted approximately two hours during the afternoon and early evening following the inaugural ceremony. Parade participants included more than 12,000 people, "representing fifty organizations including high school and university marching bands, equestrian corps, first responders, and veterans groups," according to the Joint Congressional Inauguration Committee. Each branch of the United States military was also represented.

President Michael Perry and First Lady Alexis Perry attended three official inaugural balls during the evening of January 20, 2045, titled "A New Era: The Official Presidential Inaugural Balls." The Presidentwore a classic black tuxedo, with a white button up shirt, and a black bow tie, in keeping with tradition.