James William Fulbright (PJW)

James William Fulbright (April 5, 1905 - February 9, 1995) was a Senator, Secretary of State, and Acting President of the United States.

Fulbright was an isolationism, and his denouncement of President John Wayne's intervention in Cuba while the administration ignored his own burning city of Little Rock brought the Senator to national attention. His further criticism of Wayne's anticommunism and quasi-fascist policies made Fulbright a leading anti-Wayne figure. When fellow Democratic senator Harry F. Byrd was elected president, Fulbright became his Secretary of State.

Fulbright saw the winding down of the Cuban War, ending with American victory. Afterwards, he oversaw the withdrawal of advisers and soldiers from Cuba as well as Vietnam. Byrd and Fulbright did not offer any support to the Portuguese government when it fell to a communist revolution, resulting in a cooling of relations with NATO and an increased alliance between the United Kingdom, France, and West Germany.

The presidential election of 1964 went to Congress when none of the candidates could gain enough electoral votes. A constitutional crisis began when Congress couldn't decide on a President or Vice President, resulting in the presidency heading down the line of succession until it reached Fulbright. Claiming that his position only changed when a new president demanded it, and there was no new president, he was still Secretary of State and was therefore president. While the statement might not have been necessarily true, Congress agreed to prevent the crisis from worsening.

Fulbright served as Acting President for nearly half a year. As America's first acting president, his powers were unclear, resulting in a political deadlock. When the Dominican War began, Fulbright refused to intervene, resulting in the death of 1,126 Americans in the Santo Domingo Massacre. Fulbright's non-interventionist policies were ruined, and the next day pro-interventionist vice president candidate Daniel Brewster was elected, making him the new Vice President and Acting President. Fulbright would retire after mishandling the Dominican situation, and would retire to his native Arkansas.