Robert Redford

< Robert Redford


Charles Robert Redford Jr. is the 39th President of the United States. Prior to entering politics, he had a career as a Hollywood actor, director and producer.

Biography

Entertainment career

Between 1958 to 1985, Robert Redford appeared in several films including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Great Gatsby, The Great Waldo Pepper, The Candidate and The Electric Horseman.

Redford's final film as an actor was Out of Africa. Several of the films Redford had in production prior to his election retained him with a producing credit. In 1994 he became the first president to be nominated for an Academy Award (for Quiz Show) while in office.[1]

Early Political Career

Sundance Labs

Redford entered politics in 1986. One of his early causes was diversifying the Sundance Labs into a network of art colleges.[1]

1988 Presidential Campaign

Following the tragedy of 11/2, Redford challenged incumbent President Richard Nixon in a bid for the Presidency in the elections of 1988. His running mate was California Governor Jerry Brown. After being defeated by Nixon, Redford thought of quitting politics and returning to Hollywood.[1]

1992 Presidential Campaign

After Richard Nixon died in office and Gerald Ford ascended to the Presidency. In 1992, Redford rode to victory in his second run for the White House with Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey as his running mate.[1] Bringing with him the Blue Wave of 1992, which ushered in a liberal period of governance.[2]

President of the United States

Since taking office, Redford has pushed the country down a much more liberal path than either Gerald Ford or Richard Nixon, signing into law, liberal policies like, reparations, support of the arts and campaign finance reform, along with placing strict controls on the sale of tobacco and firearms. Redford has also introduced restrictions on media like the Red Code Index and the Content Code Act.

First term (1993-1997)

On January 21, 1993, Redford watches Adrian Veidt's video tape, about how he caused the Dimensional Incursion Event and wants Redford to join him in building a utopia.[3] After viewing Veidt's videotape, Redford would pass and sign the Campaign Finance Reform and Donor Disclosure Act to curb Adrian's influence in American politics. Redford and Veidt's friendship deteriorated, both denied this in public although rumors persisted.[4]

Redford would also sign into law the Tech Recall and Reintroduction Act, allowing him to bring federal employees into the work of reintroducing technologies once deemed unsafe or illegal back into the public space according to the 30-year, five stage plan.

After taking office in 1993, Redford attempted to distance himself from the Sundance Labs, for fear of that his political enemies would accuse him of using the institution as a mechanism for promoting his political agenda in the culture. But his commitment to the arts has long been a defining characteristic of his administration, beginning with his appointment of Andres Serrano to rebuild the National Endowment for the Arts following decades of reduction and gutting by the Nixon and Ford administrations. Redford would ban tobacco by 1995.[5]

Second term (1997-2001)

Redford's second term ended with the Supreme Court coming under the control of more liberal jurists. With approval ratings in the mid-sixties, Redford made the bold move of replacing Vice President Bob Kerrey with Illinois Senator Carol Moseley Braun as his running mate in the 2000 election.[1]

Third term (2001-2005)

In 2001 the Redford administration began taking steps to accelerate the complete reintroduction of electronic media into the public sphere. Redford appointed Martin Scorsese to oversee the National Film Preservation Foundation, further adding to his administration's records as a supporter of the arts.

In 2002 Redford appointed author John Grisham to the Supreme Court, confirming him after a contentious process in the Senate.[1]

Fourth term (2005-2009)

In 2008 Redford passed the Victims of Racial Violence Act, declaring reparations to victims of 50 defined instances of racial discrimination/violence in the form of a lifetime tax exemption for victims of, and the direct descendants of, designated areas of racial injustice throughout America’s history.[6]

Fifth term (2009-2013)

Redford saw his popularity slipping in the middle of the country after the election in 2008. Vice President Braun resigned in 2009 for unknown reasons, Redford was pressured by conservative Democrats and Independents to appoint Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura to the Vice Presidency. Despite rumors that Ventura had leveraged the Administration with evidence about the government’s involvement in 11/2, the gambit paid off and Redford/Ventura eked out a victory in 2012. Ventura passed away two weeks after the election under mysterious circumstances. Appealing to the center, Redford appointed his current Vice President, Delaware Senator Joe Biden.[1]

Sixth term (2013-2017)

Seventh term (2017-present)

Associate Justice John Grisham is expected to retire from the Supreme Court. It is heavily implied, but not outright named, in an article by the New Frontiersman that Redford intends to nominate another liberal judicial to fill in Grisham's seat.[1][7]

2020 election and retirement

Redford has stated that he will not seek an eighth term in the upcoming 2020 Presidential Election. Vice President Joe Biden is expected to run, along with Senator Joe Keene, son of Oklahoma Senator Joseph David Keene who authored the infamous Keene Act.[1]

Redford has stated that he has no plans to re-engage Sundance Labs in a leadership capacity after leaving office.

The Redford Presidential Library is set to break ground along the Blackfoot River outside Missoula, Montana.[1]

Final fate

Following the arrest of Adrian Veidt for his crimes against humanity, those in the United States government who perpetuated Veidt’s lies over the years will also answer for what they did. That includes President Redford. His arrest, and the truth of Ozymandias’ squid attack becoming public, could send the world into chaos.[8]

Known Cabinet Members and Appointees

Executive

Judicial

Personal

White House Office

Other Appointees

Appearances

Gallery

Trivia

Commentary

  • Redford's career within the Watchmen universe acts as a socio-political inversion of Ronald Reagan's life, as both were fairly popular Hollywood actors who successfully campaigned their way to the White House and became president of the United States sometime in the 1980s. Unlike Redford, whose numerous presidential terms were marked by social liberalism and progressive reforms such as the Victims of Racial Violence Act, the Reagan administration was, by contrast, highly conservative in nature and was responsible for the many neoliberal free market policies that defined the era's economic landscape, including monetarism and supply-side economics, the later being known more derisively as "trickle-down economics".

Behind the Scenes

  • In July 2019, it was announced that Robert Redford himself would come out of his retirement from acting to play President Robert Redford in Watchmen. It was later clarified that Redford himself would not physically appear in the show and that his name and image were simply being used as a tribute to the comic.

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 "Watchmen’ Exclusive: All of Your Burning Questions About the Robert Redford Administration Have Been Answered" - Slashfilm
  2. ↑ The Rorschach Journal
  3. ↑ Watchmen 1x5 "Little Fear of Lighting"
  4. ↑ Veidt Declared Dead - pdf
  5. ↑ Interrogation of Laurel Jane Juspeczyk
  6. ↑ Victims of Racial Violence Act
  7. ↑ Honor is like a hawk - New Frontiersmen
  8. ↑ Watchmen 1x9 - See How They Fly
  9. ↑ "WATCHMEN: New Image Of Jeremy Irons As Ozymandias(?); Damon Lindelof Reveals How The Show Tackles Race" - ComicBookMovie

External links