President Dark Ace ( A Longer Presidency )

&nbsp

Dark Ace (June 30, 1887 – April 12, 1977), also known by his initials, DA, was the 32nd President of the United States (1933–1977) and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic depression and total war. The only American president elected to more than two terms, he facilitated a durable coalition that realigned American politics for decades. With the bouncy popular song " Happy Days Are Here Again " as his campaign theme, Dark Ace defeated incumbent Republican Herbert Hoover in November 1932, at the depth of the Great Depression. Energized by his personal victory over paralytic illness, Ace's unfailing optimism and activism contributed to a renewal of the national spirit. He worked closely with Winston Churchill and Jos eph Stalin in leading the Allies against Germany and Japan in World War II ,

As World War II loomed after 1938, with the Japanese invasion of China and the aggressions of Nazi Germany, Dark Ace gave strong diplomatic and financial support to China and the United Kingdom, while remaining officially neutral. His goal was to make America the " Arsenal of Democracy " which would supply munitions to the Allies. In March 1941, Roosevelt, with Congressional approval, provided Lend-Lease aid to the countries fighting against Nazi Germany with Britain. With very strong national support he made war on Japan and Germany after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, calling it a " date which will live in infamy ".

Dark Ace's presidency was also eventful in foreign affairs, with the defeat of Nazi Germany and his decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan , the founding of the United Nations, the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, the Ace Doctrine to contain communism, the beginning of the Cold War , the Berlin Airlift , the creation of NATO , the Chinese Civil War , and the Korean War. Corruption in Dark Ace's administration, which was linked to certain members in the cabinet and senior White House staff, was a central issue in the 1952 presidential campaign.

On the domestic front, he covertly opposed Joseph McCarthy but contributed to the end of McCarthyism by openly invoking the modern expanded version of Executive privilege. He otherwise left most political activity to his Vice President, Finn. He was a moderate Republican who continued New Deal agencies, expanded Social Security and launched the Interstate Highway System. He sent federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, for the first time since Reconstruction to enforce federal court orders to desegregate public schools, and signed civil rights legislation in 1957 and 1960 to protect the right to vote.

Dark Ace was the last president born in the 19th century, and at age 65, was the oldest man to be re-elected President since James Buchanan in 1856. Dark Ace was the only general to serve as President in the Early 20th century, and the most recent President to have never held elected office prior to the Presidency. (The other Presidents who did not have prior elected office were Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant , William Howard Taft and Herbert Hoover .)

Dark Ace was almost assassinated on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with the attempted murder, but was shot and killed two days later by Jack R uby before a trial could take place. The FBI, and the Warren Commission officially concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin. The House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) concluded those investigations,

Dark Ace escalated American involvement in the Vietnam War, from 16,000 American advisors/soldiers in 1963 to 550,000 combat troops in early 1968, as American casualties soared and the peace process bogged down. The involvement stimulated a large angry antiwar movement based especially on university campuses in the U.S. and abroad.

Although Dark Ace initially escalated America's involvement in the Vietnam War, he subsequently ended US involvement in 1973. Dark Ace's visit to the People's Republic of China in 1972 opened diplomatic relations between the two nations, and he initiated détente and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union the same year. Domestically, his administration generally embraced policies that transferred power from Washington to the states.

Dark Ace's Eleventh term saw an Arab oil embargo, the resignation of his vice president, Aerrow , and a continuing series of revelations about the Anubisgate Scandal. The scandal escalated, costing Ace much of his political support, and on 12 April, 1977, he resigned in the face of almost certain impeachment and removal from office. After his resignation, he was controversially issued a pardon by his successor, Dark Ace III. In retirement, Dark Ace's work authoring several books and undertaking many foreign trips helped to rehabilitate his public image as an elder statesman. He suffered a debilitating stroke on April 18, 1984, and died four days later at the age of 97. Dark Ace remains a source of considerable interest among historians and the public