United States Presidential Election 2056 (Donald King Timeline)

The US Presidential Election of 2056 saw a victory for Annie McPherson against democratic candidate Francesco Torres, who was the Secretary of the Interior under the Sean Wiley administration. Much like the previous election, debate focused on the relative political skills of the two candidates. Ultimately, Toress' failure is considered to be a result of his perceived lack of experience in government, having only established a position in the Department of the Interior.

Issues
As in the previous election, the Wave of Automation was a significant policy issue to the candidates. Annie McPherson's initiative, to provide a lump sum payment of 15,000 USD to every citizen every year, was seen as too insignificant to fight the rising issue of unemployment, with many suggesting that she follow through with the broader plans proposed by her predecessor Sean Wiley. Nonetheless, she was able to secure victory against the Democratic Party, largely due to her perceived political acumen.

A key issue in the election was US foreign policy, particularly with respect to radical environmentalist movements in West Africa. In 2055, the Guinean Earth Party took power in Guinea, with the Army of Terra threatening to launch a similar such revolution elsewhere in Africa. Bruce Industries lobbied the McPherson administration to intervene militarily, but the president refused. The Patriot Party campaigned on a platform of intervention against Ecocentrism, and received over 20% of the popular vote, despite receiving less electoral votes than in 2052.