Altus Kinnick

Altus Kinnick was a major politician in the early 24th century. He was the second President of the Federated States

Background
Altus Kinnick was born on the Juno Colony in the Asteroid belt in 2267. His parents were mining execs working for Esprit du Nacional. Altus was initially raised on Juno but moved aged 10 to a boarding school on Mars where his parents felt he would have a more stable up-bringing.

Altus was a decent student and known to be serious and hard working. He graduated high school in 2285 and then attended college on Mars at the Olympus College, graduating with a BA in Economics in 2289. He then attended Courier Law School on Earth where he graduated in 2291, 2nd in his class.

He joined private law firm "Rahda, Worth and Duckfield" where he was an associate counsel for two years. He then moved in 2294 to the Jovian belt, based on Titan, as a prosecutor.

Prosecuting Attorney
Altus Kinnick became a highly regarded criminal attorney, taking down smugglers, pirates and criminals. He was known for his stern attitude, his tough cross examination and his incredible work ethic. His boss, the Attorney General Hall Bowen, called him the backbone of the department and backed him to take the job when he retired.

Altus also made an impression on the local corporations and he was courted for highly paid corporate law roles. He turned these down as he wanted to gain more court experience. After six years as an attorney, he went into the private sector again, joining West-Corp as a legal counsel. He spent five years on the books with West-Corp and worked briefly as a consultant for politicians before returning to criminal law when he was approached to take over from the retiring Hall Bowen as Attorney General of the Jovian colonies.

Attorney General
Altus Kinnick took up the post of Attorney General for the Jovian Colonies in 2304. He came into a department that had a severe budget deficit so he spent much of his first 5 years just trying to hire staff, cultivate and keep good lawyers and prosecute financially efficient cases.

Altus made good political connections with the corporations and was considered a friend to the business sector.

In 2309 his first term ended and the Chancellor agreed to extend his term for a further five years. He managed to get some budget increases from corporate allies and managed to improve the departments arrest and clearance rate.

In 2313, near the end of his second term, he considered a run for the Senate. However he was persuaded instead to take up another private sector role, He became a consultant for West-Corp and served also as a lobbyist. He became very wealthy over these three years.

In 2319 he was approached to come back to his old role as Attorney General. He agreed to do so to help keep the peace. The Provisional Earth Government gave him a wide amount of latitude. Later, Altus revealed that he used the post to channel information to the resistance.

He was arrested briefly by the Karkouri in 2320 but was released after just two months.

Vice President of the League -1st Term
see The League Presidential Election 2325

Altus Kinnick was surprised to be approached by Governor Pierce Colby to be on the ticket with him to seek the Presidency of the League in 2325. He agreed to join the ticket and was an active presence on the campaign. His choice was a surprise as he wasn't a very well known politician.

The ticket won and Altus was sworn in as the Vice President. President Colby gave Altus weekly meetings and allowed him to brief the cabinet. Vice President Kinnick was often seen as a very powerful figure within the administration, the "hitman" or "enforcer" for the President.

Vice President Kinnick named Errol Dayne as his chief of staff during the first term.

In 2330, President Colby was seeking re-election and there was some talk that Kinnick may be dropped from the ticket. However President Colby squashed this by confirming he would keep Kinnick on in the 2nd term.

Vice President of the League -2nd Term
With the victory of the Colby / Kinnick ticket in 2330, Altus Kinnick was sworn in for a second term as Vice President. He expanded his brief to take on more military and foreign policy matters and made a visit for information gathering to the Tazzyn Empire in 2331.

Errol Dayne had been poached by the President's staff during the campaign but returned as chief of staff. He stood down in 2333.

Vice President Kinnick worked hard behind the scenes to keep the wheels turning for reunification and was considered a key part in delivering the newly reunited Federated States in 2333. He was sworn in as Vice President of the Federated States.

Vice President of the Federated States
As the Vice President of the Federated States, Altus found his portfolio somewhat reduced by the reach and power of the new Prime Minister, Sotaru Ayada. Altus instead began to build up his network of allies and supporters in the Senate.

Vice President Kinnick appointed Satoshi Arukami as his chief of staff in 2333.

In 2334 he formally joined the Federalist Party and announced that he would seek the Presidency in 2335.

Federalist Nominee
Vice President Kinnick faced some opposition at the Federalist Convention in 2335 as they felt he had only just joined the Party. However he was triumphant and won the nomination, choosing former Secretary of State Braer McQaid as his running mate.

Vice President Kinnick named former West-Corp advertising exec Lloyd Walton as his campaign manager.

The campaign was forced to re-evaluate its strategy after the Executive committee vetted the list to Vice President Kinnick and Independent Senator Etan Ben Urris. The two were considered very similar but Senator Ben Urris could stand as a reformer. He picked Progressive Union Mayor Roy Dekker as his running mate and initial polling saw him surge into the lead.

Vice President Kinnick worked hard to get ahead, making key deals with the centrist Wellfield Alliance and then reaching out to the newly formed Universal Party. His master stroke, orchestrated by Federalist Party chairman Galen Russo was to win over the Progressive Union by offering them the office of Prime Minister.

Vice President Kinnick won the election with 48% of the vote to Senator Urris 35%.

President of the Federated States
President Altus Kinnick was sworn in as the first President of the Federated States to be elected by the entire population. He promised an administration based around fairness and prosperity.

He named Federalist former ambassador Roderick Strickland as Secretary of State. He named former Admiral Kya Valane, the recently defeated Governor of Mars, as the Secretary of Defence. He then shocked the political and corporate world by naming Senator Valeri de Bruyne as Treasury Secretary. He named veteran lawyer and constitutional expert Godfrey Urqhaurt as Attorney General.

As per his agreement with the Progressive Union, Lucie Tellar was named as Prime Minister and was confirmed by a majority vote in the Senate.

Galen Russo was named as Chief of Staff, standing down as Federalist party chair.

President Kinnick agreed to peace talks with OMDA on the condition that OMDA cease-fire and prepare to disarm. Initially he wanted Business Secretary Kit Rykker to lead the talks but Prime Minister Lucie Tellar asked to lead them instead, a request which Kinnick agreed to.

The talks ended in tragedy as the terrorist attacked killed 4-5,000 people including Tellar. President Kinnick was swift and decisive, ordering a military response. The so called "Corporate War" was fought for the next 26 months.

After Prime Minister Tellar's death, the President named Senator Harminder Mosier as the new Prime Minister which was confirmed by a large majority in the Senate.

In 2337 Galen Russo stood down as chief of staff, to be replaced by former intelligence analyst Bennett Voight.

In 2337 President Kinnick asked for and narrowly got a massive increase to the intelligence budget. To fund this, he scaled down and closed several social programs. Prime Minister Mosier was able to keep some of the programs running.

In 2339 President Kinnick's administration was quite unpopular, certainly divisive but President Kinnick was keen to seek a 2nd full term. However, in early 2340 President Kinnick announced that he would not seek a 2nd term as President. Initially he cited that he was unable to justify seeking a second term while there was still much to be done. Rumors also swirled around his health.

Post Presidency and Later Life
After the 2340 Presidential election, Altus Kinnick took up a role on the board of Directors at Epirit du Nacional.

He endorsed Roderick Strickland for the Federalist nomination in 2345. He also raised money for him.

Altus stood down from his role on the EDN board in 2350 and moved to New York.

Altus Kinnick died in 2355. He was eulogized by Admiral Rebekkah Valane