Eric Fernandez

 [THIS CHARACTER IS CONSIDERED NON-CANONICAL/DISPUTED CANON]

Eric Fernandez - born Eric Joseph Fernandez - is the two-term American democrat president of the US winning the '72 election and '76. He replaced former US president republican Nathan Howe after his disasterous management of the First North American war, the collapse of the US economy, in addition to loosing the US territory in the Philippines to revolt.

Fernandez's career has seen a mass reformation of the US economy, reconicliation with the former Republic of Northern Florida states, reform of, and modernization of the US military as well as the controversial renaming of the nation and federal institutions and the alteration of the US flag. In addition to making the decision to join the Asian Socialist Bloc as a continuation of his policies.

Early Life
Eric Joseph Fernandez was born in Greenbay Wisconsin on August 13, 1924 to a working class family tracing their roots to the Americas to the 19th century when they came over from Spain.

His father was a hard-working blue collar man who worked in the area papermills. Fernandez's mother was a left-leaning lawyer, making much of the money for the family. Fernandez recalls being rather close to his mother whose politics rubbed off on the boy. Where his father wanted the boy to join the military, Fernandez enrolled in the University of Wisconsin to begin his study of law and politics.

In the liberal atmosphere of the college campus Fernandez's joined several student democrat movements become a figurehead in each, and often joined many community service programs to help the unemployed and homeless.

Political Career
After graduating from his studies in 1950, Fernandez joined the political scene in Madison. In the mid-50's, Fernandez was elected representitive for the Greenbay area in the state House of Representatives and later Senator. By the 60's, Fernandez had been elected senator for the Greenbay area in Washington DC. For the election of 1972 he registered as the Democrat candidate from Wisconsin and won the party's nomination, culminating in a land-slide victory over Nathan Howe's second bid for office.

Reforms
As the standing president for the United States Fernandez began to spear-head a movement of reform from primarily the left. Early programs of self and internal investment and cross national campaigns to employ underpaid or unemployed workers to help rebuild the American infrastructure met with success. By 1973 Fernandez and the Democrat-controlled Congress passed a sweeping reforms based largely in Socialist theory.

The 1973 Manufacturing Employee Rights Act delegated factory control to the employees working there. The law gave worker control of manufacture and distribution with contracts being accepted or denied passed on by worker vote.

In 1974, with steady rise and revival of American internal buisiness the Federal government voted to purchase stocks in American buisiness and pledged to invest in 25-48% of the nation's corporate stocks.

Military Reform
Shortly after being elected to office, Fernandez set out to reform the American military to make it a more capable and modern fighting force. The reform saw increased budgeting to the military's research and development and concentration on studying the Canadian attack during the First North American war, as well as the Floridian republic during this war and their rebellion. The recruitment standards were also liberalized to bring in more recruits and opened the army to women as well as examined allegations of racial discrimination within units.

Training regimines were made more difficult as an effect, and it was demanded that units practice more with live-fire weapons than mock-ups made of wood and bags of flour, as had been the norm prior.

Reconciliation with the South
In tow with internal reconstruction efforts Fernandez and Congress asked for a conference to be drawn up with the Southern senators, representatives, and governors to organize a plan for social welfare of the region and the degree of reconstruction needed for the south. Invited to the conference were the former governors of the Republic of Northern Florida who shortly agreed to pledge to the United States following the fall of the earlier Republic.

The conference agreed to draw funds for the south worth 2.5 billion USD as well as achieved goals to set standards which the southern states would act to settle social unrest in the region by 1980.

Seccesion of New England
Though as seems the norm for North America, the policies of Fernandez did not settle entirely well and in 1976 a faction of governors and congressmen from New England voted to seccede from the United States and form their own independent Republic. This has drawn fire of criticism towards Fernandez accusing him of being too weak on the matter and not putting the rebellion down.

The cause of the seccession has been cited as being: "American stemming too far from what the original Founding Fathers would have wanted". It is perchance the biggest mode of criticism fired at Fernandez and Washington for delegating the renaming of its institutions - such as the US Army - and repainting of the US flag.

Oppinion
Unlike most Socialists, Fernandez doesn't hold capitalism up as being entirely evil or wrong, though is in the oppinion that a society built entirely on the basis of corporate growth is unfounded and dangerous. And contrary to the regular oppinion in the western societies his oppinions of the Chinese communist dragon is not ill.