Paul Tsongas during his inauguration speech, one of the most iconic photos of his presidency and person.
The presidency of Paul Tsongas began with his first inauguration on January 4, 1985, and ended eight years later on January 4, 1993. Tsongas, who had previously held the title of Member of the Assembly from Massachusetts from 1979 to 1985, won against John Melcher and Jesse Jackson in the 1984 presidential elections. He was able to serve a second term after a landslide victory in the election of '88, compared to the victory of James Forrestal in 1944 for getting more than half of the popular vote despite not being in a coalition.
His first term oversaw an effort to balance the national debt of the United States by decreasing military spending, heavily related to the reducing tension in the context of the Cold War. Tsongas' "New Progressivism" followed some of the liberal policies of his predecessor Richard Lugar, including price controls, and a taxe increase on the welfare of various corporations. His administration was also heavily involved in the Fujimori case, and what is considered the most important element of his presidency; the adoption of universal healthcare with the Subsidized Healthcare Act.
Background[]
Early political career[]
Tsongas first came in touch with politics when he became the city councilor of his home city in Massachusetts. He then became representative of the state in 1978, originally trying to run against president Richard Lugar in the Republican primary elections, finally deciding to retire from the race and endorse Lugar himself. While his fiscally conservative stances and opinions on climate change gained him fame among the population, his position as representative and influence in the primaries ended up giving him national prominence.
1984 election[]
Main article: 1984 United States presidential election
The results of the 1984 election
After narrowly losing the nomination in 1980, he decided to start a second campaign in 1984, quickly becoming the most popular candidate. He defeated the incumbent republican vice president Muriel Siebert (who was considered the logical option by most on the party) without much problems in the primary elections. In pre-election polls, Tsongas perfomed very good in the predominantly-Republican northeastern states but mediocrely in other more-central states, to which he dedicated the rest of his campaign.
Despite initial disagreements, Sadako Ogata, a prominent politician from Kosuto would end up as his running mate. This was mostly as a strategy to gain votes in Japanese-speaking states.
In the presidential election, Tsongas defeated Democratic nominee Otis Bowen, Populist Jesse Jackson and Patsy Mink from the Kosuto Bloc with a percentage of 52.8%.
Domestic policies[]
Subsidized Healthcare Act[]
Tsongas was responsable for signing the Subsidized Healthcare Act in 1990, which officially established a free healthcare system in the U.S. This action was criticized by the most conservative sectors of Columbian society but was also very praised, becoming one of the main factors for his high approval rating once he left office. He suffered an assassination attempt on November 11 of the same year, and the perpetrator of the crime later confessed to have done it, among many reasons, for this measure.
Efforts on climate change[]
The climate change issue that had started around the 1950s and had only grown stronger on the following decades, was finally addressed by the Tsongas administration with the ending of trusts with companies that held fossil fuels in a high demand and making the high-speed rail travel more accessible for the lower and middle classes.
Cabinet of Paul Tsongas[]
| The Tsongas cabinet | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Office | Name | Term | Portrait |
| President | Paul Tsongas | 1985-1993 | 
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| Vice President | Sadako Ogata | 1985-1993 | 
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| Secretary of State | Lee Hamilton | 1985-1993 | 
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| Secretary of the Treasury | Paul Krugman | 1985-1993 | 
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| Secretary of Defense | John Boyd | 1985-1993 | 
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| Attorney General | Edward Brooke | 1985-1989 | 
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| Skip Humphrey | 1989-1993 | 
| |
| Secretary of the Interior | Joseph Stiglitz | 1985-1993 | 
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| Secretary of Agriculture | Lester Thurow | 1985-1993 | 
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| Secretary of Labor | James Galbraith | 1985-1993 | 
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| Secretary of Health and Human Services | Richard Schweiker | 1985-1993 | 
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| Secretary of Education | Jocelyn Elders | 1985-1993 | 
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| Secretary of Housing and Urban Development | Ed Nijpels | 1985-1993 | 
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| Secretary of Astral Development | Carl Sagan | 1985-1993 | 
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| Secretary of Energy | James Gustave Speth | 1985-1993 | 
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Foreign policy[]
Unfrozing policy[]
The nicknamed "unfrozing policy" was a series of diplomatic approaches with the German People’s Republic and the member states of the Frankfurt Pact. Since the end of the Fourth Great War, Germany had slowly become unable to expand its influence around the world, as shown in conflicts like the Helvetian Wars and the failure of the Novanglian Liberation Front. As a reform of the Spartacist way of government started to seem unavoidable, negotiations between both blocs started to grow during the late 1980s and the early 1990s.
The United States under Tsongas was the first major western nation to resume relations with the Germans. Tsongas visited Frankfurt in 1991, where he met chancellor Egon Krenz, this being considered one of the main events during the late years of the Cold War. He also met Roy Jenkins, the first English prime minister since the end of the Mosley regime.
Lee Hamilton, Secretary of State under the Tsongas presidency
Friesland Sea Crisis[]
During the early days of 1986, the Dutch and German navies were in the middle of a crisis over a sunken Dutch ship in the Kattegat Bay, located in Denmark-Norway (a German ally at the time). Tsongas' Secretary of State, Lee Herbert Hamilton, mediated the crisis and stopped the growing conflict, later winning the Nobel Peace Prize for the same reason. The president addressed the situation with the words: "The Cold War has once again given all of us a small heart attack, but I'm pleased to announce that the situation has been mediated."
China[]
Paul Tsongas shortly after getting to the city of Nanjing
The Republic of China, a fascist-aligned country during most of the Cold War, started a process of reform and liberalization of their government known as the Millennium Reforms. Despite keeping and even increasing the tariffs implemented to China by his predecessor Richard Lugar as a result of the Sino-Russian War, Tsongas was also strongly in favor of normalizing relations with the nation, his visit to Nanjing would become an icon of his presidency, an action both praised and criticized by the public.
Comancheria[]
Ever since the independence of Comancheria and the subsequent establishment of a communist government, relations between the neighboring nations were mostly hostile. In 1990, Ross Perot became chairman of Comancheria and was responsible for normalizing relations with the capitalist world, with Columbia being no exception. Tsongas visited LBJ City in 1991 and met Perot, describing him as a fine, fit to lead man with whom he hoped to do more diplomatic negotiations in the future.
Novanglia[]
During Tsongas' tenure, the Commonwealth of Novanglia, one of the closest allies of the U.S. was led by one prime minister, Paul McCartney (1983-1999). Tsongas had an specially good relationship with him, sharing various political views with each other, both of them attended the funeral of John IV of Henryland.