Vincent Halfhyde

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Current revision as of 23:56, 20 March 2011

Vincent B. Halfhyde
Chairman of the Republican National Committee
In Office: 2017 - Present Vice Chair(s): Rayburn
Preceded by	David Gamble
Succeeded by	Incumbent
1st Governor of Dixie
In Office: 2009 - Present Lieutenant Governor(s): Gurlakis, Warren
Preceded by	Office Established
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Vice Chairman of the Republican National Committee
In Office: 2007 - 2012 Served under: Mitchell
Preceded by	Jo Ann Davidson
Succeeded by	David Gamble
Born	25 July, 1945 (age 94) Greenwood, South Carolina
Political Party	Republican
Spouse	Marylou Patton
Religion	Southern Baptist

Vincent Beauregard Halfhyde (born 25 July, 1945) is the Republican Governor of Dixie and Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Prior to being Chairman, he was the Vice Chairman of the Republican National Committee. He also previously ran for President in 2016

Biography

Vincent Halfhyde was born July 25, 1945 in Greenwood County, South Carolina, on what remained of the once-sprawling Greenwood plantation. Once one of the largest in South Carolina, the Halfhyde property was thoroughly Shermanized in 1864 and what remained of the Halfhyde property when Vincent was born was relatively modest. He attended public schools and earned average grades, but old family ties were enough to get Vincent into West Point right out of high school, in 1963. Besides West Point, Vincent has no other formal higher education.

Second Lieutenant Halfhyde was commissioned into the U.S. Army just in time for Vietnam, where he served several tours and would later remark that he was "close enough to communism to smell the cordite from Viet Cong AK-47s." Otherwise he has been quiet about his war experiences, although public records reveal several decorations and a recommendation for the Silver Star (which ultimately he did not receive). He remained in the Army after his war service, retiring in 1983 as a Lt. Colonel, and refers still to his 20 years in the Army as his "career". Those familiar to him often refer to Halfhyde as "the Colonel" to this day.

His retirement from the Army left him to pursue politics, which he had been reasonably active in local affairs after his return from overseas. A fervent Southern Democrat, he became first involved in politics after what he bitterly considered a "political defeat" in Vietnam. He left the Democratic Party in 1984, becoming a Republican, and predating by a few years the eventual collapse of the Democratic "Solid South".

Political Career

Halfhyde primaried a Democrat incumbent for a South Carolina House of Representatives seat in 1984 and lost. Upon becoming a Republican he tried for the South Carolina Senate in 1988, receiving the Republican nomination but lost again to a Democratic incumbent. A vacancy in the Senate and a special election in 1990 finally saw Halfhyde narrowly elected to the state Senate, where he would remain for 16 years.

In 2006, Halfhyde was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for the third congressional district of South Carolina, but would stay in Congress for only two years. Frustrated by partisan gridlock in Washington D.C., he frequently missed votes and freely admitted to those around him that running for Congress was a mistake. In 2008 he fought for, and won, the Republican nomination for Governor of Dixie. Running against Democrat John Mannion, Halfhyde won handily.

During his first term as Governor, Halfhyde was faced with an outbreak of malaria that threatened to quickly spread, and later, the solar flare that wreaked havoc in the West Coast. Under his leadership the malaria epidemic was snuffed out rapidly and the solar flare scarcely interrupted day to day life in Dixie. In 2010 he was challenged by Georgian Michael Anderson, the Minority Leader in the Dixie Legislature. Despite a substantial funding advantage, Governor Halfhyde was narrowly reelected for a second term.

Political Ideology

Halfhyde's extremely paleo-conservative ideology has proven somewhat of a hindrance, even in deep red Dixie. His personal views against abortion have led directly to several compehensive anti-abortion laws in Dixie, despite considerable protest. Halfhyde's passionate opposition to abortion is matched only by his fervent support of the Second Amendment, as highlighted by his brief employment in the mid-1980s by Gun Owners of America as a lobbyist. As Governor, he sees his duty to "protect the rights and liberties of the people of Dixie", a common theme in his campaigns, but one which many political analysts believe doesn't connect with 21st century voters. Halfhyde is controversially opposed to what he calls "special rights for homosexuals" and has strongly enforced Dixie's marriage and morality laws. It is this emphasis on enforcing the Dixie Moral Codes that has given rise to the nationally popular illegal in Dixie joke.

Governor Halfhyde has also expanded the death penalty in Dixie as punishment for crimes such as the rape of a child, or deliberately assisting terrorists. Even more controversially, he is an outspoken advocate for convict labor, and believes the "lawful use of convict labor reduces demand for illegal immigration, provides farmers and planters with economical labor, and compensates the government." Opposition to Dixie's convict labor lease system has been strong, with several bills in the Dixie Legislature to eliminate the program losing by a narrow margin.

A few have called the Governor "racist", and although Halfhyde admits attending a KKK rally with his father in the early 1950s and being a strong supporter of George Wallace in the 1960s, he denies any racist beliefs or associations today. Many accusations of racism, real or perceived, spring from the Governor's "quaint" veneration of the Confederacy and Southern heritage, which came to a head after he signed legislation making the Confederate motto "Deo Vindice" the Dixie Regional Motto, making "Dixie's Land" the Regional Anthem, and adopting as the Regional Flag a flag superficially similar to the "First National" flag of the Confederacy.

The Governor also maintains a strong Dixie Regional Militia, composed of the traditional Dixie National Guard but also volunteer citizen militia, who provide their own arms and equipment and volunteer their time. The Dixie Militia found itself in the national spotlight when a bomb exploded during a Militia parade in Sarasota, Florida, in early 2011, killing several militiamen and a young child.

Personal Life

Governor Halfhyde married Marylou Patton in 1974. Their only child, Vincent Jr., died in a motorcycle accident in 1997, at 21. Marylou Halfhyde keeps a low profile, detesting politics and the political lifestyle. She has appeared with the Governor only during his inaugurations, and also once, after the bombing in Sarasota, attending the funerals of the killed militia servicemen.

Although the Dixie Regional Capital is at Tallahassee, Governor Halfhyde spends a great deal of time at his Greenwood plantation home and rarely visits the Governor's Mansion. He keeps two dogs, Lee and Grant.

Electoral History