Ariel Rubenstein (Populist America)

Ariel Rubenstein served as the 50th President of the United States from 2045 to 2049, the first Jewish-American ever to hold the office. Rubenstein ran on a campaign as the first New Republican, having been a leader of the party during the Edwards and Toldson years who gained recognition for modernizing the GOP. Winning a plurality in the election of 2044 Rubenstein forged a coalition government with the Green Party, and brought an end to the Edwards Coalition that had dominated the White House for 16 years.

As President, Rubenstein ended America's presence in the Middle East and sought greater autonomy from POTA, increasing defense spending for domestic forces. She ramped up support for a number of People's Deal programs, however the investment resulted in almost no political returns as the economy was already growing rather healthily. Her most succesful policy decision was actually one completed with POTA, the creation of the SHEILD laser defense system, a network of land based lasers intended to push oncoming NEOs away from the planet. In spite of what historians now recognize as a fairly succesful presidency, Rubenstein's commitment to the occupation of Baja proved to be her undoing, and in 2048 she decided not to run for re-election, instead former Governor of Georgia Clark Taylor Duncan, an Independent/Libertarian won the presidency.