Nicholas Lapord

         Nicholas Lapord is a Federation military commander and politician who served one term as the 8th President of the United Federation. A founding member of the Union Party who had previously served as the Vice-President of the Federation under Conner Zink, he took the oath of office on the 3rd of December amid much distress in the country. He was elected in a landslide election after the economic failures of Conner Zink's Presidency, with the largest landslide in Federation History since John Banks-George. Although he was succeeded by another 13 men and women, he is largely regarded as the Greatest President of the Federation. He is also the only person in the Federation to have a State of the Union named for him, an honor never before or since bestowed. 

        During the start his term in office, the Federation's economy was in a major recession. The situation was so bad that many were even calling for a breakup of the Union. In a conversation with John Banks-George, he reportedly told the newly-elected President "If you fail, you will be the worst President we've ever had." Nick responded with "No, if I fail, I'll be the last President we ever have."

       President Lapord instantly initiated multiple programs and reversals of the Zink Administration's policies, which began to halt the recession. While the economy began to recover, Lapord also initiated large research and development programs for the military.

       As his term entered it's third month, President Lapord was gaining popularity and the economy had begun to grow again. Lapord then initiated the largest military armament program in the Federation's history, bringing the fleet from 157 to 438 active aircraft. This bolstered the economy so much that the Federation's economy started to be even higher than it had been before Conner Zink took office. During this point, many began pointing to him as the Federation's greatest president. 

       With his final month seeing him beat the Patriamic Rebellion, Nicholas Lapord announced his bid for a second term in office. However, in what is largely regarded as the Federation's greatest upset, he lost to Christopher Fallis in the tightest Federation election in history. 

       Nicholas Lapord is regarded by many, from Jacob Monday to John Banks-George and Rydon Foldhazi to Christopher Fallis as the Federation's Greatest President. He is praised for his excellent handling of the economy, and his rebuilding of the Armed Forces. He has recieved little criticism on the opposition. In a Government Poll, he was tied with John Banks-George as the Federation's Greatest President. After he had left, he was named as 2018's Person of the Year. 

Service in the Military

          Nicholas Lapord enlisted into the Federation as a member of the Starfleet. He was the commander of a squadron of 4 Manona-class Frigates, with noted distinction. He continued in service, reaching the rank of Commodore. After the Federation Civil War, in which V.P. James Duval was voted off of the council, and thus stripped of his rank, acting-V.P (Secretary of Defense) John Banks-George nominated Nick for the vacant role, and President Zink accepted. He was sworn-in the following day.

AS Vice-president

        Nicholas Lapord served as a notable Vice-president, often commenting on Military Matters and was President Zink's primary interior director, continually being the last word on matters of security, economy, and other important matters. Towards the end of his term, he announced his candidacy for President.

Campaign

       Going against Admiral Rydon Foldhazi and incumbent Conner Zink, Nicholas Campaigned on a platform of peace and re-invigoration of the Federation. Conner's warring tendencies had left incredibly damaging impacts on the Federation's economy, including the bankruptcy of multiple  states. However, Rydon Foldhazi had much of the same ideas, leading to much debate over who would win in finality.

President of the United Federation

        Despite the similar campaigns of Rydon and Nick, the Rust Belt and outer territory voters overwhelmingly supported Nick, allowing him to sweep with a victory of 77% of the final vote. 

        As President, Nick reversed many of Conner's policies, specifically on economics. The Federation's economy increased at incredible rates, leading to a massive budget surplus, immediately swaying public favor for President Lapord. 

      As he had run on a platform of peace and security, and as such he had initially only replaced several ships in the Military with newer ones, but not increasing the fleet's size. However, with a massive amount of surplus, he put trillions of dollars into research and development of new and highly advanced warships for the fleets, and ordered massing amounts of these new warships in service.

Re-election Bid

      As the end of his term approached, President Lapord announced his re-election bid, alongside Rydon Foldhazi, Luke Gainey, and Christopher Fallis. His campaign had an incredible start, but some of Christopher's older friends stepped up the game as well. Despite an incredible early lead in the election, President Lapord just narrowly lost the vote by 52%. 

      After the election was called for Christopher Fallis, the Federation Navy announced it's plans to name a new submarine of the Carter-class for Nicholas Lapord. After the Carter-class was cancelled, this name was transferred to a Petri-class Frigate.

Public opinion

        Nicholas Lapord, even as president, was extremely popular. He has often been touted as "The Fed's best President" by both politicians and citizens alike. Former Presidents like John Banks George and Carson Clumpner have repeatedly said that they thought he was a "great president" (Clumpner), with president Banks-George even going so far as to say, "I think he was definitely the best President [in the Federation] . . . . far better than me, possibly even better than Ainsley [Wall]."