Presidents of the United States (Mercbl)

'''BTW please ignore the electoral maps for now. They are older maps and some elements of the scenario have since changed.''' This is a list of the presidents of the USA in the Mercbl scenario.

This is not intended to be entirely realistic, nor a reflection of my own political views.

46. Joe Biden-Democrat (2021-2025) VP: Kamala Harris (2021-2022), Ash Carter (2022-2025)
Joe Biden’s Presidency was defined by the Iran War. It also saw an increasing level of political division, spearheaded by former President Donald Trump. This lead to Biden surviving a number of assassination attempts including the 2022 Houston bomb plot which killed his first Vice President, Kamala Harris.

A major event during the Biden administration was the Houston bomb plot on 17 August 2022 that killed his Vice President, Kamala Harris. The bomb was planted behind where Biden was scheduled to give a speech, but a change of plans lead to Harris instead giving a speech and being killed by the blast. Following the death of Harris Biden nominated Ash Carter as his Vice President due to his support of the Iran War, following conformation by the Senate and House of Representatives, Carter was sworn in on November 2 2022.

An earlier attempt on Biden’s life occurred on the 1 year anniversary of the 2021 storming of the Capitol on January 6 2022, when a gunman attacked President Biden at an event where he was speaking to commemorate the day. The gunman hospitalised Biden, forcing him to undergo surgery and made Vice President Kamala Harris Acting President for almost a week.

During Biden’s term the USA lead a coalition of nations in an invasion of Iran, which was unpopular amongst a large number of Americans, who believed it to be an unnecessary move.

47. Bill Gates-Democrat (2025-2029) VP: Beto O'Rourke
William Henry Gates III, more commonly known as Bill Gates, secured the democratic nomination despite himself being an Independent, beating Ash Carter due to his unpopularity as a supporter of the Iran War, and then continued on to beat the Donald Trump and Josh Hawley ticket in the 2024 election due to a great split in the Republican party during the 2024 primaries, and the perception that as an independent senator he could bring change to the American political landscape. He won 414 electoral votes in a landslide victory following the split of the Republican party into the moderate, DeSantis and Trump factions following the 2024 Republican primaries.

Much of Gates’ first term was spent reforming America’s foreign policy and internal programs. Gates began an extensive program of rebuilding Iran following the brutal Iran war, sending Iran $20 billion annually in foreign aid.

Foreign aid wasn’t only sent to Iran, however, as foreign aid spending tripled between 2024 and 2029, greatly increasing America’s soft power globally, sorely needed after the previous two Presidents.

President Gates also revolutionised healthcare in America, establishing the single payer healthcare program “AmeriCare” in February 2026.

Military spending was greatly decreased during Gates’ Presidency with significant increases in spending on education, science and healthcare.

Gates received much praise, as well as the Nobel Peace Prize, for his swift and effective response to the Colombian invasion of Panama in 2025, as well as negotiating the Treaty of Panama City to end the war.

The USA went back to the Moon during Gates’ Presidency with Jocelyn White becoming the first woman to stand on the Moon.

Bill Gates’ Presidency is often held to be the beginning of of period of time in which America began to end its policies of interventionism and instead look towards either isolationism or internationalism.

Queen Elizabeth II died during Gates’ Presidency, and he was one of a group of many world leaders to attend her funeral.

48. Kim Reynolds-Republican (2029-2033) VP: Mike Pompeo
Kim Reynolds, former governor of Iowa, became the 47th President of the USA, as well as the first female president, on the 20th January 2029, having defeated all opposition, the Democratic nominee, Pete Buttigieg and Bill Gates, who had left the Democrats to form his own party, the True Progressives. This split allowed Kim to win 345 electoral votes despite the fracturing of the Republican party base following the tumultuous 2028 Republican primaries.

Reynolds followed a internationalist, bordering on interventionist, foreign policy, examples of which include supporting the Republic of Korea in the Second Korean War and imposing sanctions on Russia following the Volgograd Agreement.

Shortly after being inagurated as President, Reynolds had to deal with the outbreak of the Algerian-Tunisian War, in which the US ended up supporting Tunisia.

Possibly the largest foreign policy event in Reynolds’ Presidency was the abduction an later death of two US senators at the hands of the Nigerien organisation "Rabitat Muslimi 'Iifriqia Al'Ahrar" (RMIAA) or the "League of Free African Muslims", leading to a US-led international coalition against RMIAA, which would later be named the War Against RMIAA.

Reynolds successfully negotiated the Indo-American alliance in 2031.

49. Bill Gates-True Progressive (2033-2037) VP: Kyrsten Sinema
Following Gate’s split with the Democrats to form the True Progressive Party, the Republican Kim Reynolds was able to win the election. However, with President Reynolds' approval at an all time low following the deaths of US senators Amy Klobuchar and Micheal Bennet, from the Democratic and True Progressive parties respectively, the two opposition parties made an agreement to hold a joint primary for the 2032 election, on the condition that whoever won would chose a member of the other party as their running mate. True Progressive and former President Bill Gates won the primary, and chose Democrat and Arizona senator Kysten Sinema as his running mate. They then went on to defeat incumbent President Kim Reynolds and Vice President Mike Pompeo in the 2032 election.

Shortly following his second inauguration, Gates began working with the leaders of the other nations in the anti-North Korean coalition to create a peace treaty that the PRC would find acceptable. Following China’s agreement to this agreement, Gates met with said leaders in Pyongyang in June 2032 to sign the Treaty of Pyongyang.

The twenty-eighth amendment was introduced in 2034, introducing limits on corporations making political donations.

Gates’ focus on a neutral foreign policy lead to the USA not intervening in the Egyptian invasion of Sudan or the Greco-Turkish war although he offered a diplomatic channel to end the latter.

Following the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the 12 of May 2036, President Gates broke his policy of isolationism, working closely with Sergei Mikhailovich and the Russian Freedom Party to transition Russia to a democratic government.

Gates successfully negotiated free trade agreements with Korea and South Africa.

Interestingly, due to being a third-party candidate largely unaffected by bipartisanship and inoffensive to many in both the democratic and republican parties. At his highest approval, shortly after the Second Korean War, he reached a record approval rating of 91.2% and had an average approval of 69.5%.

Throughout Gates’ second term the True Progressive party gained ever increasing levels of influence and in the 2034 midterm elections in the House of Representatives and Senate, the True Progressives saw large victories.

50. Ben Shapiro-Republican (2037-2040) VP: Thomas B. Cotton
With Bill Gates having served his second term as president, the popularity of the True Progressive party greatly decreased, splitting the liberal vote again between two parties, the Republicans were then able to capitalise on this with political commentator Ben Shapiro successfully securing a slim victory of 271 electoral votes against True Progressive candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Democratic candidate Kyrsten Sinema. Ben Shapiro became the first Jewish President in American history.

Following the Chinese invasion of Mongolia, the USA along with a number of other countries including Russia, imposed sanctions against China, secretly the USA also worked with Russia to supply the Mongolian forces and separatist groups in Manchuria, East Turkestan and Tibet.

On the 20th of September 2040 Ben Shapiro was impeached by the United States House of Representatives for abuse of power, illegally gathering information on his possible political opponents, and on the 4th of October became the first president in history to be convicted by the senate and removed from office with all True Progressive and Democrat Senators voting for conviction as well as a number of Republicans crossing the party line to convict him.

51. Thomas Cotton-Republican (2040-2041) VP: Jackson Douglas
Vice President and former Arkansas Senator, representative for Arkansas' fourth district and Arkansas State Senator, Thomas Cotton became president on the 4 October 2040 following the conviction of Ben Shapiro.

Cotton became President during the mid stages of the 2040 Republican Presidential campaign and this took up much of his short term as President. While Cotton had been Ben Shapiro’s running mate having to deal with becoming the Republican nominee and the loss of reputation for the Republican party associated with the impeachment of President Shapiro proved to be an uphill battle and too much for Cotton.

Cotton selected the 35 year old Jackson Douglas, the Republican representative for Illinois' fourteenth congressional district. The freshman congressman became America’s youngest Vice President following his conformation by the senate on the 27 October 2040. Cotton selected Douglas as he was a moderate and not part of the Republican establishment, as such he was not affiliated with the impeached President Shapiro.

During the chaos following President Shapiro’s impeachment, the Second Volgograd Agreement, the Russian annexation of Estonia and Latvia, went largely unnoticed and unchallenged. This proved to be great ammunition against President Cotton in the 2040 election.

52. Patrick Murphy-Democrat (2041-2045) VP: Alyssa Groves
Florida Senator Patrick Murphy won a resounding victory in the 2040 election, beating both President Thomas B. Cotton and New York governor Brad Lander.

President Murphy followed an isolationist foreign policy stance, for example, refusing Australia’s request to intervene in the Indonesian Civil War.

In April 2042 the Second Great Depression began, and Murphy was largely unable to effectively combat its effects. This was the greatest financial catastrophe that America had faced in over 100 years, and millions of people became unemployed.

53. Saxon Musk-True Progressive (2045-2053) VP: Athena Salman
California Governor Saxon Musk became the youngest ever President at the age of 39, winning a victory of 296 electoral votes. Saxon chose former Arizona governor Athena Salman as his running mate to gain credibility through his much older and more experienced partner. Immediately after being inaugurated, Musk made his top priority combatting the Second Great Depression.

Musk also changed America's foreign policy to a more internationalist stance, and agreed to support Australia in the Indonesian Civil War, an action that initially caused criticism and drew comparisons to the interventionist Presidents of the early 21st century such as George W. Bush and Barack Obama, however following the wars swift conclusion it became a rallying point for Musk’s supporters.

54. Athena Salman-True Progressive (2053-2057) VP: Jocelyn Franklins
Vice President and Arizona governor Athena Salman won a surprisingly close victory as the incumbent Vice President in the 2052 True Progressive Primary. Her closest primary challenger was Douglass senator Muriel Bowser, who she defeated before going on to defeat Massachusetts senator Tagg Romney and former North Carolina senator Madison Cawthorn in the 2052 election. Salman pledged to only serve one term if elected.

Athena became the first openly atheist President and her win was praised as evidence that America’s longstanding bias against secular politicians was ending. With her running mate being Massachusetts senator Jocelyn Franklins, this also marked he first time that two women would simultaneously be holding the offices of President and Vice President.

55. Francisco Castro-True Progressive (2057-2065) VP: Jocelyn Franklins
Puerto Rican governor and former US general Francisco Castro won a close race in the 2056 Democratic Primary, defeating 6 other candidates, including the incumbent Vice President Jocelyn Franklins. Castro chose Vice President Jocelyn Franklins as his running mate however and went on ton become the first hispanic President in 2057, following his defeat of the True Progressive Ryan Dorsey and the Republican Isabel Griffiths. One of the main factors in Francisco’s victory was his incredible ability in Presidential debates, far outpacing that of his competitors.

56. Jocelyn Franklins-True Progressive (2065-2073) VP: Ernest Jones (2065-2070), Rose Andrews (2070-2073)
Vice President and former Massachusetts governor and senator Jocelyn Franklins became the unchallenged Democratic nominee for President in the 2064 election as President Castro was ineligible to run for a third term. Franklins was the first female African-American President.

The thirtieth amendment was introduced during Jocelyn Franklins' presidency, repealing the twenty-second amendment which limited Presidential term limits.

57. Micah Jacobson-True Progressive (2073-2077) VP: Ryan Dorsey
Los Angeles County sheriff Micah Jacobson won the 2072 True Progressive Primary, defeating The incumbent President Jocelyn Franklins. Jacobson selected Alabama Senator Ryan Dorsey as his running mate before defeating the Democratic ticket of Oregon circuit court judge Daksha Chetti and Maine governor Tiffany Smith in the 2072 Presidential election.

In the 2072 Presidential election campaign, Jacobson made a pledge to serve only one term as president if he was elected, and he stuck to that promise, choosing to not run for re-election in the 2076 election.

58. Samuel Sheen-Democrat (2077-2081) VP: Natasha Chapman
Tennessee governor Samuel Sheen won the 2076 Democratic Primary, defeating his two main opponents, South Dakota senator Lauren Rutherford and Douglass Governor Kendyl Allison. Sheen chose Miami mayor Natasha Chapman as his running mate. They then went on to defeat the incumbent Vice President, Ryan Dorsey, and Maryland governor Layla Higgins, in a surprise victory in the 2076 presidential election, winning 299 electoral votes to become the first openly gay President.

59. May Facciolo-True Progressive (2081-2085) VP: Fritz Flügel
Minnesota senator May Facciolo was the frontrunner for the 2080 True Progressive nomination, facing little primary opposition. She selected Louisiana senator Fritz Flügel as her running mate and they went on to defeat incumbent President and Vice President Samuel Sheen and Natasha Chapman in the 2080 election.

60. Zihna McCullens-Democrat (2085-2089) VP: Fabien Demaret
Zihna McCullens

61. May Facciolo-True Progressives (2089) VP: Fritz Flügel
After winning a close primary between herself and Arizona governor Kylie Stone, former President May Facciolo went on to challenge and then defeat incumbent President Zihna McCullens, who had previously defeated Facciolo in the 2084 Presidential election. She also defeated the Southern Socialist candidiate, Louisiana activist Kenneth Lyons, though 2088 marked the first time that a candidate from the Southern Socialist party had won any electoral college votes. This made Facciolo the third President in history, and the first since Bill Gates in 2032 to serve two non-consecutive terms as President of the United States.

Facciolo served only 5 months of her second term before being assassinated by Christian extremist Jack Delaney just a few blocks from the White House on the 18th of June 2089. A member of the extremist group “fils de lumière” (FDL) or “the sons of light” that has risen to power in Southern France following the Franco-British War, Delaney shot Facciolo in the head with a gun smuggled in by the FDL. Facciolo died instantly and Delaney was arrested the next day and was given a life sentence.

62. Fritz Flügel-True Progressives (2089-2105) VP: Venus Harvey (2089-2101) Darryl Mercer (2101-2105)
Vice President and former Louisiana Senator, Secretary of Labor and Representative for Louisiana's second district, Fritz Flügel became President on the 18th of June 2089 following the assassination of President Facciolo.

Shortly after he ascended to the office of President, Flügel would nominate Nevada Senator Venus Harvey for the office of Vice President and she was confirmed in a vote of 92 to 11 in the US senate.

63. Darryl Mercer-True Progressives (2105-2113) VP: Noya Madoka
Darryl Mercer, as the Vice President of the very popular Fritz Flügel, faced no major primary opposition in the 2104 True Progressive primary and chose Secretary of the Treasury Noya Madoka as his running mate. He then went on to defeat Rhode Island senator Sophia Gashkori and Southern Socialist candidiate, Texas senator Tanya Kirchner in the 2104 election.

64. Vernon Stark-Democrat (2113-2117) VP: Caroline Howard
Ohio senator Vernon Stark defeated a crowded primary field to become the Democratic nominee for the 2112 Presidential election. His opponents included Douglass senator Jay Rosario, Washington governor Mason Hall and the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, Caroline Howard who he would go on to select as his running mate. Stark defeated the True Progressive nominee, Vice President Noya Madoka and the Southern Socialist candidate, Harvard President Brodie Larson in the 2112 Presidential election.

65. Caroline Howard-Democrat (2117-) VP: Tatum Rosario
Following Vernon Stark's announcement that, at the age of 96, he would not be seeking a second term, Vice President and former Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force Caroline Howard faced very little primary opposition in the 2116 Democratic primary, due to being the Vice President of the popular Stark. Howard selected Douglass senator Tatum Rosario as her running mate and went on to defeat both the True Progressive candidate, Governor Adelaide Zaccaria of New Mexico and the Southern Socialist candidate, Texas senator Chris Davenport in the 2116 Presidential election.

Just 8 days after Howard's inauguration, Texan governor Reece Ross declared the state to have seceded from the United States. Fearing a war with the Empire of Mexico, Howard permitted the state to peacefully sever ties with the United States.