Taylor Rishi

Taylor Rishi was a major politician in the 24th century. He was the 5th President of the Federated States.

Background
Taylor Anharu Rishi was born in 2298 in Athens on Earth. He was the oldest son of Matheu Rishi, an investment and securities lawyer and Patricia O'Riordan-Rishi who was a major socialite. The Rishi family had remained supporters of the Federalist Political cause though in the Confederate Union it was a strictly regional Party.

Taylor Rishi is the descendant of two former Presidents: Taylor Rishi went to an exclusive prep school and was a top student and an excellent athlete. He represented his school in rugby, fencing and cross-country and briefly considered an Olympic career. He then attended Harvard where he studied Political science and a minor in history. He took part in Crew and was active in Harvard Crimson.
 * Anuj Rishi
 * Muray Rishi (2200-2210)

The Karkouri Regime invaded the Confederate Union in 2318 while Taylor was still at college. Taylor dropped out of college to join the resistance.

Resistance Operative
Taylor Rishi joined up with a resistance cell based on Earth and then moved off-world to Avalon where he took part in recruiting and arming. He was trained by Fleet operatives in close combat, firearms as well as trade-craft and he was deployed initially as an intelligence officer.

He later joined an active combat unit and was part of the heavy fighting on Avalon. He was wounded during the battle of Tintagel in 2319 and was lifted off-world to Furnace where he recovered. In 2320 he was deployed to Gaia where he was part of the hit and run raids on Karkouri lines.

When the war ended in 2321 he considered joining OMDA but rejected it to start a political career. He ran for a seat in the Senate and was elected in 2330 as a Federalist. He was lauded by many journalists as a future President.

Senator
Elected in 2330 aged 32, he became a powerful but somewhat fractious member of the small Federalist caucus. He was a close ally to Senator Alden Haer but often found himself at odds with centrists like Senator Omri Barrit. He clashed with his own Party more than once and was critical of President Kinnick's decision to unleash the Fleet on OMDA in the so-called Corporate War.

In 2335 there was even talk of him defecting to join the Progressive Union but he dismissed this. He settled into a role as a back bencher and was never able to become a committee chairman even while his Party had the leadership of the Senate.

Whilst Senator Rishi was in the Senate he completed his BA part time and "graduated" with a BA in political science in 2336.

In 2340 he was supportive of Vice President Braer McQaid and endorsed him at the Federalist Convention. When Vice President McQaid was elected President, he named Taylor Rishi as the new Secretary of Defence.

Secretary of Defence
Secretary Rishi took over the Department of Defence during an increase in the budget. He was a major proponent of fleet building but was also a supporter of the Marine Corps. He oversaw the transition from the M1931 Assault Rifle to the M2 Sabre as the Marine corps primary battle-weapon.

In 2343 the so called "Agile Spending Program" was put forward by TPE Senators and it was voted into law. This meant that military tenders would be put out for a fixed price and the corporations would be responsible for any shortfall in spending. This capped procurement budgets and meant that money went further. However this was unpopular in the military as it meant a loss of potential budget.

Secretary Rishi resisted the program and represented his military constituency. In 2344 he resigned as Secretary of Defence in protest of the program. Secretary Rishi took up a role as a consultant for the Federalist Party and was involved as a fund-raiser in the 2345 campaign.

He was a major surrogate for Roderick Strickland, the Federalist nominee in 2345 but the ticket was defeated. Taylor Rishi pivoted to a new role as a consultant to Federalists on military issues. He also took up a role as guest lecturer at Harvard, Princeton and Alexander University in Athens.

In 2349 he was spoken of as a contender for the Federalist nomination. He refused to confirm or deny and began to raise money and prepare a campaign staff. After a meeting in New York with Maya Abbot, however, he announced he had endorsed her for the Federalist nomination that essentially closed down the Federalist nomination.

The 2350 Campaign
At the 2350 Federalist Convention Taylor Rishi was named as Maya Abbot's running mate. The two were known to be rising stars in the Federalist Party and whilst they disagreed on some fiscal issues, they largely agreed on the big picture.

Taylor was a very active member of the 2350 campaign and was heavily involved in the campagin on the frontier. He was actually more popular than Abbot on some frontier worlds.

Taylor took part in the VP debate against Ebbert Keever and most pundits felt he had bested Keever. However the audience was low and most polls showed little change.

The 2350 Presidential election saw the AIS narrowly win thanks to a huge influx of money. Rumors swirled that Maya Abbot blamed Taylor Rishi, in part, for the tickets defeat. Most pundits felt that Taylor had been an asset to the campaign.

After the campaign ended Taylor went back to guest lectures with Harvard and Alexander. He was often seen at major Federalist fund-raisers. In 2354, Harper Abbot, the Federalist Party chairman, confirmed that Taylor Rishi and her cousin, Maya Abbot, hadn't spoken for 2 years.

Federalist Nominee
In 2354 Taylor Rishi made an early announcement that he would seek the Federalist nomination. A vibrant primary was contested though the colonial primary contests only sent 30% of the delegates. Most of the delegate count came from the core-worlds and Earth.

Taylor Rishi was very popular with the Party rank and file and the elites. He promised a liberal platform and to go after the corporations to make them pay their fair-share. He faced opposition from Maya Abbot, Governor Sholl Bruin and Governor Arie McQaid.

Ahead of the convention the delegate count was locked between Taylor Rishi and Sholl Bruin. However a deal was cut by Davenport Lee, the former Federalist Party chair, that put Arie McQaid on the ticket. And with that Taylor Rishi secured the Federalist nomination.

The 2355 election was a tough one but with the AIS crippled the spending was less extreme. A deal was cut after the first ballot that saw the AIS offer a shock endorsement to the Federalists. Taylor Rishi romped hom in the second ballot and was elected as President.

President of the Federated States
In June of 2355 Taylor Rishi was sworn in as President of the Federated States.

His cabinet was formed from: The Federalists, who were now the largest Party in the senate, were able to form a working majority. Prime-Minister designate Ephraim Dagget brought the AIS, the Wellfield Alliance and the Progressive Union into the coalition. The ensure that they had a full majority, the new Integrity and Justice Party were brought in too.
 * Olan Maquessa (AIS) as Secretary of State
 * Dr Reese Gordwood (IND) as Secretary of Defence
 * Reiko Tellar (PU) as Attorney General
 * Boyd Darrow (FED) as Treasury Secretary
 * Admiral (ret) Rebekkah Valane (IND) as Director of FSI
 * Anders Serrick (FED) as Chief of Staff

President Rishi's first major act was to sign a new military alliance with the Vatu Empire. The deal was less costly than the previous one with a condition that FS engineers would go to Vatu space to help their infrastructure. There was also a sweetner that meant that if the deal was renewed in 2365 then the FS would make up the shortfall in terms of aid. This deal was passed with a good majority in the Senate.

President Rishi also signed a new trade deal with the Gannid commonwealth that saw a huge amount of commercial goods come into the FS. The Gannid also agreed to lease an entire colony world, Arpad 103, which was currently inside the FS borders but uncolonized for 100 years.

President Rishi appointed two new supreme court jusitces: President Rishi was able to close tax loopholes and his treasury secretary, Boyd Darrow, cut a major deal in terms of tax and interest relief with the big five.
 * Justice Haley Haart
 * Justice Devis Adair

President Rishi was able to confirm the that the budget deficit had now been addressed and economists projected an end to the recession in 2360.

President Rishi was dogged by rumors, often unsustantiated as his first term wound down. Chief of Staff Serrick stood down in 2359 and was named as campaign chairman. Matej Rishi, the President's cousin, was named as the new Chief of Staff.

In 2359 the President announced his intention to seek a second term as the Federalist nominee.

2360 Campaign
President Rishi faced a challenge from centrist Deputy Miranda Karsic. The little-known Deputy was seen as a stalking horse for a more powerful challenger within the Federalist Party. President Rishi won 35% of the delegates during the Federalist Primaries but Karsic won 25%, meaning that neither could win the nomination during the first ballot.

A "Brokered Convention" took place in Artic City and President Rishi took 3 ballots to get the nomination. In the end a major deal had to be cut with Endruw Halsey, the chairman of the FSU and with Senator Bartlett Killian.

Having secured the nomination, President Rishi campaign hard against Admiral Stargher, though he refused to ever attack Stargher's record. He instead attacked his right wing coalition partners. Vice President McQaid was able to get the backing of the surging Universal Party in return for a power sharing agreement.

The 2360 Voting Reform Act was passed through the Senate before the election and despite clear indications that it would badly hurt the Federalist vote in 2360, President Rishi signed it into law. When the election came,President Rishi did well but a huge influx of money for Stargher saw him narrowly win the Presidency.

President Rishi conceded the race and called on the Federalists to keep working hard. But privately, President Rishi was a broken man.

Post Presidency
After his defeat, President Rishi returned to his home in Seattle and wrote his memoirs. He also did some guest lectures but generally kept a low profile. He refused to criticize President Stargher, even during the Mars crisis.

His memoirs "A Broken Highway" were a major best-seller. In them he was critical of Governor Sholl Bruin for hurting his chances in the 2360 election and of the "Big Five" who he claimed bought the 2360 election. He fell ill in 2364 and cut most of his public appearances.

Ahead of the 2365 election he refused to give an endorsement to any of the competing Federalist nominees, instead stating he would endorse the eventual Federalist nominee.

In 2369 he was involved in the evacuation effort on Earth.

In 2370 President Rishi again ruled out endorsing any Federalist for the nomination and instead said that he would support the Federalist nominee. He did some low key campaigning for Vice President Manolos.

Ahead of the 2375 election, President Rishi called for the Federalist Party to learn its lessons from the 2370 defeat. He also called on the Party to raise money and to bring the liberal wing of the Party to the fore. President Rishi ruled out offering an endorsement but did raise money for a liberal PAC. President Rishi then campaigned on behalf of the Federalist nominee, Senator Hastings.

President Rishi refused to condemn the actions of President Axxelson that lead to the start of indictment hearings in 2379.

President Rishi was horrified by the coup in 2380 and went into a quiet, self imposed exile in 2381. He was seldom heard of until 2387 when his family announced he had passed away after an illness.