USGovSim history
From Usgovsimulation
Modern USGovSim history began in July 2004, when after a break of many months, Will Caldwell restarted the United States Government Simulation. Along with USGovSim founder, Joffey, the two ran the game almost single (or should that be double) handedly for most of Reset 4. Though neither is active anymore, we recognise their place in USGovSim history.
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Reset 4 (July 2004 - December 2005)
Begins in 2007, with Senators elected in 2008 and Governors elected later on (2010?). Governors initially write their own bills and sign them into law, with few ever failing. Towards the end of the reset, two Governor admins are appointed, who amend and reject some bills, but for the most part Governors are just elected dictators. This reset sees regions expanded from an original 7, through to 15. Defaults are normal, and at one point result in a mid-reset reduction in regions. House control is determined by a roll call vote at the beginning of each session, in which a few days are allowed for each party to have as many party members sign in. It is commonly seen as a battle for drones. A supreme court is introduced in this reset, with justices being player controlled multis. Towards the end of the reset (right after the 2018 elections), Joffey hires a large number of new admins (Teddy Grant, Anderson Harris, James Cross, Seth Wellbourne, Baker, amongst others), and so begins the era of the large admin team.
2007-08
Houston Ambrose (I) is the admin controlled President for this period. This first session of Congress is House of Representatives only, with a rubber stamp Senate and President. Full Senate and Presidential elections are held at the end of this session.
2008-12
R.E. Snider (D-MT) defeats Greg Redford (R.) in the 2008 Presidential election. Snider's VP quits mid term and he appoints his Attorney General, Whitney Mason (D-GA), as his new Vice President. Mason will go on to become Governor of the South-East, with plans to run for President himself in 2020, but becomes inactive and fails to do so. He will eventually become President in Reset 6.
2012-16
Jack Thompson (D-KY) defeats Representative Christopher Langdon (D-VA) in the Democratic primary, later defeating House Speaker Eric Smith (R-OH) to become President. He kills off his character soon after the 2014 election, resulting in his Vice President, John Mannion (D), being elevated. Mannion appoints Keith (D), former GOP nominee Redford's new character, as his Vice President. Thompson and Mannion are often cited as two of the least effective Presidents in recent USGovSim history, and Mannion is successfully painted as a "do-nothing President" by the Kissling campaign in the general election in 2016. The 2014 election also sees the House become controlled by Democrats, and the Senate controlled by Republicans, the opposite having been the case all reset. It does not last long, with Kara West (R-HI) defecting to the Democrats giving control of the Senate to the Democrats and a mid-session roll call returning control of the House to the Republicans.
In early 2016, the forum moves, requiring a massive operation in moving archives over. Anything that was not moved was lost mid-reset. No server move since has occurred mid-reset. Around this time, a merger was attempted between USGovSim and the True World Simulator, a geopolitical sim focused on foreign policy. USGovSim needed international news, TWS needed a reasonable superpower, so it initially appeared to be a good idea. However, the sluggishness of USGovSim, combined with the erratic nature of TWS meant that the joint venture was soon abandoned. In its place, news admins were hired to provide such international news, as admins at this point focused mainly on forum maintenance and elections, and little else.
2016-20
President Mannion is challenged in the Democratic primary by a slew of Democrats, chief among them is Senator Seth Wellbourne (D-MI), who wins the New Hampshire primary. Others included Senator Layna Knightley (D-AZ), who drops out after a second place in the Iowa Caucus, Senator Scott Harris (D-CT), who enters the race after the first debate. Mannion eventually wins, but the primary wounds his campaign efforts. On the Republican side it is a battle between moderate Governor Hugh Kissling (R-IL) and conservative Governor Tyler Campbell (R-TX), with Kissling eventually winning. Mannion keeps Keith as his running mate, Kissling taps Senator Dan Ballentyne (R-PA) to be his Vice Presidential candidate. Kissling defeats the fatigued Mannion by painting him as a do-nothing President, handing the White House to the GOP for the first time all reset.
The 2018 election sees the beginning of money in elections, along with ORG, PACs and demographics. Though elections have changed since then, they are still based on the basic concepts set down by Joffey in 2018.
In the House, there is 2 years of Republican control under Speaker Teddy Grant (R-TX), followed by 2 years of Democratic control under Speaker Michael Rubenstein (D-CA). Each is considered extremely partisan, and tensions in the House between both parties is strained. Meanwhile, Senator Alexander Shackleton (D-NY), Governor Whitney Mason and Senator Joey Cudicini (D-IL) are the front-runners for the 2020 Democratic nomination to face President Kissling, but Mason and Cudicini leave USGovSim, leaving Shack as the clear front-runner.
The game resets in early 2020, and Kissling offers to step down as President for the next reset. Admins had originally planned to reset in 2024, but did so 4 years early in order to catch players unaware.
Reset 5 (January 2006-December 2006)
2006-08
A mini session is held in the House in 2006, with 6 bills put up for debate and voting directly on the House Floor. This was followed by a roll call vote and elections for all senate and governor spots, allowing this reset to hit the ground running. George W Bush (R-TX) remained President, and was admin controlled, until a player President was elected in 2008. Unlike with Ambrose in Reset 4, admins role played him like the RL Bush, causing some grumblings in the Democratic Party.
2008-12
Alexander Shackleton (D-VA) was the Democratic nominee in 2008, facing Republican Jackson Watkiss (R-AL). Watkiss picked Senator Adam Knox (R-NY) as his running mate, Shack picked Karen Dayton Devereaux (D-PA). Shack won the election. His term is most remembered for strained relations with Canada. KDD resigned soon after the 2010 election, and Shack nominated Governor Jaxon Liberio (D-FL) to be Vice President, only to resign himself soon after Liberio was confirmed. Liberio then nominated Celeste Monroe (D-RI) to be his Vice President, and she was confirmed shortly before the 2012 election. Relations with Canada had continued to deteriorate, and when Quebec attempted to succeed against Canada's wishes, the Liberio Administration sided with Montreal over Ottowa. This led to the mobilisation of troops on the US-Canadian border. Though no shots were ever fired, the 2 nations did come close to it.
The major domestic issue around this time was healthcare, with each party putting forward their own respective plans. The Democrats had AmeriCare, Republicans had FreedomCare. The Republican controlled Congress (including a filibuster proof majority in the Senate) rejected AmeriCare, but moderate Republicans Senators sided with the Democrats to filibuster FreedomCare. Ultimately, neither reform managed to reach President Shackleton's desk.
On the Republican side, Senator Knox ran for Governor in 2010, challenging incumbent Governor McDonald (D-NY). Knox won, in what was probably the most expensive race in USGovSim history (over $100m spent in total by both sides), and also the first time since the start of Reset 4 that someone elected to Governor or Senator served a full term and then lost re-election. Knox was at this point the front runner for the GOP nomination. However, due to a number of OOC confrontations with the admin team, culminating in an incident over the Auto Workers Union, he quit soon after being elected Governor. This immediately made RNC Chair and Senator Rick McLaughlin (R-AZ) the front runner. He was infamously nicknamed "Ottowa Rick" during the confrontation between the US and Canada due to his siding with the Canadian federal government.
Rick had become Chair of the GOP Party following a disastrous result in the 2008 election, and had embarked on a number of internal party reforms. Much like Shack did during his 8 year chairmanship of the DNC during resets 4 and 5, Rick's 4 years as Chairman of the GOP was seen as a re-awakening of a beaten and demoralised party, leading to a golden age of conservatism in USGovSim history.
2012-14
With President Liberio not seeking re-election, a number of candidates from both parties sought their party's nomination. The Democratic Party nominated Tomos Peters as its candidate. Four Republicans ran in the GOP primary: Rick McLaughlin, the frontrunner and party favorite, Jon Meyer (R-FL), Oliver Wendell Douglas (R-OH) and Andrew Stephenson (R-CT). Rick became the presumptive nominee after all his opponents withdrew following Super Tuesday, Meyer was picked to be his running mate. Rick defeated Peters in the general election, and was joined by a strong Republican majority in Congress.
The next 2 years saw a strong and disciplined Republican Party pass a raft of Republican measures. To the point where many felt there was nothing left to pass. The feeling that the game had run its course, possibly even become unbalanced towards one side, was one of the factors that led to a reset occurring prior to the 2014 election. Due to only having served 2 years as President, Rick was allowed to continue as President into the next reset.
