Death of Vice-President Cheney and the Rice Administration

2004
September 2nd, 2004 - President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are nominated for re-election by the Republican party

November 2nd, 2008 - Bush/Cheney defeats the Kerry/Edwards ticket, securing four more years in office. Shortly after the election is called Vice-President Cheney is found unconscious in his hotel room, he is rushed to a nearby hospital where he is pronounced dead from a heart attack. President Bush's victory celebrations are cancelled.

December 13th, 2004 - President Bush nominates Condoleezza Rice for the vice presidency, Bush chooses to submit Rice's name to the electoral college, avoiding a confirmation hearing before the Senate, the move is widely opposed by public opinion bringing VP Rice to office with dismal approval ratings.

2006
October 7th, 2006 - Mere weeks before the 2006 mid-term elections, Vice President Rice heads a US delegation to North Korea. Rice successfully negotiates a treaty with North Korea that sees the communist dictatorship abandon its nuclear program and outlines a clear roadmap for the normalization of relations between North Korea and South Korea. The American people respond favorably to VP Rice after the treaty with her approval ratings reaching 78%. President Bush receives only a small boost in the polls after the successful negotiations, he is roundly mocked at home and abroad for his comment that "I always know those Asian fellows loved rice!" at the press conference formally announcing the treaty.

November 7th, 2006 - riding an increased wave of public support from the North Korea treaty, the Republican party is able to maintain its majorities in both the House and the Senate. Given the seeming certainty of defeat facing Republicans before the treaty was completed, VP Rice becomes the most popular figure in the Republican party and undisputed favorite for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

2007
February 17th, 2007 - VP Rice declares her candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination, she is largely unopposed by the Republican party with only libertarian congressman Ron Paul challenging her. The Democratic primary devolves into a three way race between Senators Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards.

2008
March 4th, 2008 - VP Rice clinches a majority of delegates in the Republican primaries becoming the party's presumptive nominee for the presidency.

June 3rd, 2008 - After a long primary battle, John Edwards becomes the presumptive nominee of the Democratic party. The choice is Edwards is viewed by many commentators as an attempt by Democrat voters to avoid being accused of copying the Republicans by picking either a women or African American as their nominee.

August 15th, 2008 - VP Rice announce Mitt Romney as her running mate, the selection of Romney is viewed as an attempt by the Rice campaign to provide regional balance to their ticket, and shore up their credentials on the economy by emphasizing Romney's past as a successful CEO.

August 23rd, 2008 - Senator Edwards announces fellow Senator Barack Obama as his vice-presidential nominee. At the rally where the announcement occurs, Obama delivers a speech on the need to create a more perfect union, the speech is very well received with many calling it the finest speech ever given by an American politician. The speech leads many Deomcrats to question their choice of Edwards for the nomination.

September 15th, 2008 - Lehman Brothers declares bankruptcy, the American economy collapses into recession. Given her prominent role in the Bush administration, Rice is held partly responsible for the crisis, her poll numbers collapse and for the first time in the campaign she is trailing Edwards.

October 1st, 2008 - A month before the election it is revealed that Senator Edwards was involved in an extramarital affair which produced a child, Elizabeth Edwards immediately files for divorce. A sex tape purporting to be Edwards and his lover is circulated through the internet, it is quickly revealed as a fraud but the toll the whole incident takes on Edwards is massive putting his campaign back well behind the Rice/Romney ticket.

October 14th, 2008 - With his poll numbers now down to 20% to 65% for Rice/Romney, Edwards appears at a campaign rally in Chicago, the crowd jeers him throughout his speech, chanting "We Want Barack!". After this incident Edwards withdraws from the campaign trail, leaving the ticket's campaign efforts to Senator Obama

November 2nd, 2008 - Having not been seen publicly since mid October, Senator Edwards is soundly defeated by the Rice/Romney ticket. Edwards/Obama carry only California, New York, and Illinois. The election of the first women and first black president is celebrated throughout the United States and around the world.

2009
January 20th, 2009 - On her first day in office, President Rice establishes a Council for Economic Recovery chaired by Vice President Romney. She also condemns Iran and demands that they follow the path set by North Korea.

February 12th, 2009 - In defiance of her demands, Iran conducts tests on nuclear tests, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declares "No American president, especially a female president dictates orders to Iran, Iran now has nuclear weapons, if President Rice wants us to give them up she will have to take them from us, this would be downfall of her and her country!"

February 18th, 2009 - In response to Iranian provocation, President Rice orders missile attacks on Iranian weapons and nuclear facilities, the strikes are believed to be largely successful.

March 3rd, 2009 - Iran launches a nuclear missile at Israel, the missile lands on the outskirts of Tel Aviv laying waste to the city, killing most of the country's political leadership. In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Hamas launches an assault against the Iranian military, this is in coordination with strikes by Hizbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border, both groups use weapons supplied by Iran. President Ahmadinejad remarks "The Great Satan attempted to strike at Iran to cripple her and make her submit, tonight Iran has answered this challenge, the Americans and their allies will suffer, the Zionist abomination that plagues Palestine will be erased"

March 4th, 2009 - President Rice orders American forces in Iraq to mobilize towards Iran, the US Air Force commences a massive bombing campaign in Iran, leveling most know military, government, industrial, and communications facilities in the country. President Rice however refuses to retaliate with nuclear weapons despite calls for their deployment by Israel, a large number of members of Congress, and several top military officials. This marks the beginning of both the General Palestinian Insurrection and the American-Iranian War.