Alternate History 📰 EAGLE IS DOWN: November 23, 1996: The Clinton Assassination and Ramifications....

[Sergeant Foley]

......"California Governor Gray Davis (D) had been thinking about putting together an exploration committee of potentially running for the Presidency in 2000. Having served as Gubernatorial Chief of Staff under then-Governor (now Mayor of Oakland) Jerry Brown from 1975 until 1981, Davis was known for being hard-charging aggressive, micro-managing state government in Sacramento, plus using potentially illegal manipulations to getting what he wanted from skeptical legislators.

His ambitions had grown massively following his years of holding elective offices: California State Assembly from the 52nd District (1983-1987); winning statewide office as California State Controller (1987-1995); Lieutenant Governor of California (1995-1999); and serving as the Golden State's 37th Governor since January 4, 1999. Plus serving in the United States Army as a commissioned officer with the rank of Captain during the height of the Vietnam War was a plus to voters who vauled military service as requirements to serving as President.

For the moment, Davis had to focus on Sacramento first with lots of things to smooth over from the dog-whistle politics of the Wilson years, which tore California apart on racial lines with race-baiting politics 24/7 due to Proposition 187 and Proposition 209."
Excerpt from "Micro-Managing from Sacramento"
The Campaign for the White House
Spring 2004

 

[Sergeant Foley]

@Ibanez @Val the Moofia Boss @bintananth @Buba @Tiamat
AUTHOR'S NOTE FOR CHAPTER 5: Good Morning everyone. I hope you're enjoying the meet of Chapter 5 of Eagle is Down.

If you've got any ideas for Entertainment Installments and Sports Installments (I'll get back to those, just been busy), just let me know which Television Shows, Movies, Dramas, etc., you would like to have mentioned on here.

Regards @Sergeant Foley 😎

 

[Sergeant Foley]

......"Former Indian President Winston Gutierrez was still in exile in Spain living out his so-called retirement with his beautiful young companion Suzana Sharma. They had been very, very close since the Fall of 1991 while he had slowly been moving on from the sad passing of his popular wife, then-Indian First Lady Yameesha Alejo, who died in July 1991 of ovarian cancer at the age of 31.

According to unnamed sources, Gutierrez had invited Suzana to stay with him at the presidential palace via underground secret tunnels which one of the palace butlers found unusual and suspicious, but didn't want to provoke nor anger the President, who was obviously still running the large South Asian country with nuclear weapons.

It had been secretly common knowledge that Gutierrez and Suzana had engaged in sexual intercourse non-stop which resulted in her pregnancy; she gave birth to triplet daughters: Rochelle; Camilla and Yasmien. This secret relationship continued during the later part of Gutierrez's second term as President where his administration had been engulfed from domestic, political and economic challenges including potential revolt attempts against the Gutierrez administration.

Due to the political violence and ongoing backlash against his administration, Gutierrez secretly had Suzana and their three triplet daughters flown to the outskirts of Madrid, Spain where they remained residing in a secluded villa. When it became apparent that he lost control of the Armed Forces including Parliament turning on him in revolt due to several political scandals, Gutierrez chose to resign as President and quietly leave the country on 30 May 1996, where he was exiled to Spain, where he's been ever since.

Leading the coup d'etat against Gutierrez was Army Lieutenant General Thomas Leummenz, who was originally hailed as the leader of the Liberation Movement. Upon taking office as the 10th President, Leummenz issued executive orders banning Gutierrezism and forbid anyone from mentioning the names of Winston Gutierrez and Yameesha Alejo.

Soon afterwards, the Junta leaders escalated things by having several key aides of the Gutierrez administration arrested, tortured and executed. Some instances were that several political opponents of the Leummenz government had gotten placed under house arrest; opposition lawmakers were kidnapped including several members of their family members were kidnapped by the Secret Police Force ,who had full authority and were given the green light by President Leummenz himself in his goal of eradicating India of all forms of Gutierrezism.

However, a counter coup was launched against Leummenz several months later on 13 December 1996 when members of the Gaulist 29th Regiment aggressively used counter-offensive operations which resulted in Leummenz's removal from office due to incompetence on domestic policies. Replacing him would be General Ved Prakaish Malik, who was inaugurated as the 11th President of India on 16 December 1996, who led the country during the tumultuous later years of the Military Junta's grip on power before eventually being ousted in peaceful revolution on 17 January 1998. Replacing him was Colonel Troy DelaNuze, who chose to open up India towards full democracy and decided to seek the presidency himself in the upcoming 1999 Presidential election, for an unexpired term until 25 July 2002 which would have a five-year term going forward; DelaNuze was one of the youngest Presidents India ever had and despite his military service in the Indian Army and involvement in the Liberation Movement Coup against Gutierrez, DelaNuze pledged to consider lifting the ban on Gutierrezism."
-Excerpt from the controversial autobiography "The Fall and Comeback of Winston Gutierrez: The Path Back to Rashtrapati Bhavan"

 

[Sergeant Foley]

List of Pontiffs of the Roman Catholic Church since 1963:​

#262 Paul VI (Italy)🇮🇹: 1963-1978: Died in office.

#263 John Paul I (Italy)🇮🇹: 1978: Died in office after 33 days.

#264 John Paul II (Poland)🇵🇱: 1978-1982: Assassinated.

#265 Carlos I (Brazil)🇧🇷: 1982-1985: Died under mysterious circumstances.

#266 Leopold XVI (India)🇮🇳: 1985-1988: Died in office.

#267 Louis V (Portugal)🇵🇹: Since 1988.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

BREAKING NEWS: CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR GRAY DAVIS (D) FORMING EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE; OBSERVERS EXPECT AN OFFICIAL CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCEMENT THIS SUMMER

​

*April 29, 1999: The Sacramento Bee is reporting that California Governor Gray Davis (D) has reportedly made plans on forming an exploratory committee with a likely campaign for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 2000 with an official announcement expected sometime this Summer. With Vice President Dick Gephardt announcing his presidential campaign sometime either in late May or June, the Democrats could have a potential field of contenders jumping in; incumbent President Mark W. White, Jr., stunned the nation with his bombshell announcement of not seeking election to a full four-year term earlier this year during a press conference in San Antonio considering the Democrats' surprising showing during the 1998 Midterm elections of gaining seats down-ballot.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

......"President White was grappling with a huge political scandal in which many in the national media referred to as "ComputerGate" that had exploded during the tail-end of the 1998 Midterm elections.

His midpoint approval ratings which used to be around 57% during the Summer of 1998, suddenly nosedived once revelations of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Lena Guerrero was revealed to have participated in using mailing lists of political supporters into a computer by using taxpayers money doing it.

Once these revelations exploded, President White's reelection prospects of his first full four-year term in 2000 quickly evaporated. The Democratic Party presidential nomination was going to be quite intriguing with the usual suspects: Vice President Gephardt followed by United States Senator Bill Bradley (D-NJ) including Washington Governor Gary Locke (D), there was also the possibility of others considering jumping into the campaign trail as well.

United States Senators Evan Bayh (D-IN) and Bob Graham (D-FL) refused to jump into the 2000 Presidential campaign.

California Governor Gray Davis (D) slowly began his march to the Democratic Party presidential nomination by forming an exploratory committee in late April 1999. Many people on the know figured out Davis was likely to launch his campaign for the Presidency in the Summer once the 1999 legislative session of the California State Legislature ended. Davis had strong approval ratings for a first-term Democratic Governor and already ramping up massive loads of fundraising totaling over $73+ million and counting.

Of course, President White was going to be busy focusing on foreign policy priorities and economic policies as one of the main cornerstones of his legacy."
-Excerpt from Nation of the Future: Presidency of Mark Wells White, Jr., and the Times of a Changing World

 

[Sergeant Foley]

Here's some of the outlined sketch of Chapter 5 of Eagle is Down which I'll be working on sometime during the weekend: it might take awhile:
*Summer 1999
*Foreign Policy objectives of the White administration
*2000 Presidential campaign jockeying for position
*Personal PoV's
*Sports Headlines

 

[Sergeant Foley]

*Can Gephardt balance being his own man while distancing himself from President White?
Saint Louis Post Dispatch: 14 May 1999.

*Republicans have intriguing primary showdown for 2000: Bush vs McCain
Arizona Republic: 17 May 1999.

*Locke: I am seeking reelection as Governor of Washington in 2000; Democratic Party presidential primaries getting more clearer.
Seattle Times: 17 May 1999.

*ComputerGate Scandal engulfing domestic policy priorities of the White administration as Republicans escalate aggressive investigations.
Washington Post: 18 May 1999.

*Bayh confirms he will NOT run for President; saying "This is not my time to take the plunge"
IndyStar: 18 May 1999.

*Gutierrezism still banned in India according to Indian President Troy DeNaluze
New Delhi Times: 19 May 1999.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

BREAKING NEWS ALERT: LEGENDARY FORMER TEXAS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR BOB BULLOCK DIES FOLLOWING LONG ILLNESS AT THE AGE OF 69.

*Friday, June 18, 1999: Legendary former Texas Lieutenant Governor Robert Douglas "Bob" Bullock passed away at his west Austin residence following a long illness surrounded by his family. According to close aides of the former Lieutenant Governor, Bullock died of congestive heart failure.

Bullock's political career spanned over 40 years dating back to serving in the Texas House of Representatives representing his hometown of Hillsborough from District 54 from 8 January 1957 until his resignation on 18 October 1959 in order to pursue private law practice; He then served on the Texas Historical Commission from 1963 to 1965; Assistant Attorney General of Texas from 1967 to 1969; Assistant to then-Governor Preston Smith from 21 January 1969 to 1 September 1971; Bullock was appointed by Governor Smith to serve as the 72nd Secretary of State of Texas from 1 September 1971 to 2 January 1973. Bullock won statewide office first as the 34th Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts in 1974 and overwhelmingly won reelection in 1978, 1982 and again in 1986 serving from 21 January 1975 to 3 January 1991 and eventually winning the Lieutenant Governorship in 1990 and easily won reelection in 1994 before choosing not to seek reelection in 1998, serving as the 38th Lieutenant Governor of Texas from 15 January 1991 to 19 January 1999.

Condolences have come from across the political aisle such as President Mark W. White, Jr.,,, Texas Governor George W. Bush; Lieutenant Governor Rick Perry; former United States Senator and current US Ambassador to Canada Ann Richards; former Lieutenant Governors Ben Barnes and William P. Hobby, Jr.,including countless other politicos. According to ABC 24 KVUE-TV Austin, Bullock will be buried at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin following funeral services on Sunday, June 20, 1999 at the Central Christian Church where both President White and Governor Bush both will deliver eulogies.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

Fallout of the Kerrey Commission's Report
Summer 1999
​

The main job of the United States Secret Service was protecting the President of the United States. Yet, two consecutive assassinations in 1996 and 1997 put all of that into question. Why in the hell did they fail at protecting Presidents Clinton and Gore respectively when both of these horrific incidents occurred? Someone needed to be held accountable. Many Americans were still asking plenty of questions because they weren't convinced of the original findings. Why did security fail horribly in Manila on the night of 23 November 1996 and really botched badly on 28 June 1997 in Ann Arbor (resulted in Gore succumbing from his wounds six months later)? With the stroke of executive orders, President Mark W. White, Jr., decided it was time to authorize a National Commission investigating the Assassinations of Presidents Clinton and Gore.

Known as "The Kerrey Commission", which was chaired by United States Senator Bob Kerrey (D-NE) and former US Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, both of whom were appointed to co-chair this major national commission by the President during a closed door meeting at the White House. For Kerrey, the Vietnam War veteran (he served in the US Navy) turned Governor of Nebraska and eventually two-term United States Senator with three consecutive statewide election victories in 1982, 1988 and 1994, he had originally been on the Vice Presidential shortlist for President Gore before ultimately choosing White. Thornburgh had served as US Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania (1969-1975); Assistant Attorney General for the US Justice Department's Criminal Division (1975-1977) before winning the Pennsylvania Governorship in 1978 and reelected in 1982. He was appointed by then-President George HW Bush in 1988 to serve as US Attorney General serving until his resignation in 1991 to run unsuccessfully in the 1991 Pennsylvania US Senate special election that year.

The Kerrey Commission coordinating with the Philippine National Police and the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation, who was doing a joint task force with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in the long-dragged out investigation into the Clinton assassination. Besides the long investigation, the Kerrey Commission had been scouring through thousands of documents as well as interviewing thousands of individuals including former Philippine President Fidel Valdez Ramos and the Director of the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation, Chief of the Philippine National Police; including interviewing the Directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Central Intelligence Agency; and the Secret Service.

Throughout 1998 and 1999, various testimonies of individuals called by the Kerrey Commission had dominated the news cycle not only around the United States, but across the world. While the long investigation was coming to a close, there was an obvious clear picture painted for everyone to know: strong lack of communication between the intelligence agencies.

During July 1999, Chairman Kerrey and Vice Chairman Thornburgh announced the Commission's final report as scheduled. Inside the long report which consisted of over 73,000+ pages: lining out several key factors which led to the respective assassinations, but Kerrey strongly issued a warning for potential incidents like the 11.23.96 Incident and the 06.28.97 Incident could happen again in the future (showing ominous warnings of another presidential assassination) if law enforcement were assuming everything go back to business as usual. The Commission's final report also strongly pointed the finger at one suspect: al-Qaeda, concluding that those who organized and carried out the assassinations were either members of al-Qaeda or members of affiliate groups like Abu Sayyaf.

Massive revaluating and reorganizing of the security detail of the Secret Service would result in several agents being either reassigned to small-scale divisions within the US Treasury Department or forced to resign due to their incompetence. Especially since the President's visits to different regions of the world caused increased security detail with larger coordination with foreign federal law enforcement agencies to preventing another 11.23.96 Incident. Ironically, the Secret Service had faced five chaotic security breakdowns which led to the assassinations of JFK (1963), Ford (1975), Reagan (1983), Clinton (1996) and Gore (1997), all within a 34 year period.

The strong obvious from the final report of the Kerrey Commission was going to have major shakeups inside the intelligence agencies. The world was no longer innocent and nothing else wasn't going to be the same ever again! Everyone was on alert.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

Moving Ahead Despite Tough Challenges
Summer 1999
​

As 1999 continued into the midpoint of the Summer, Americans began to look back on President White's two years in office. The President's approval ratings rebounded in recent months, and at this point, despite not seeking election to his first full four-year term, nothing else can change the image and methods of his administration. Of course, 1998 was quite intriguing with the Midterm elections as Democrats gained seats down-ballot yet Republicans kept their majorities in both the US House of Representatives and United States Senate. Speaker Gingrich, who at times, clashed with the White administration, had become somewhat of a liability for the House Republicans.

Challenging and trying to impeach a popular Democratic President was a losing proposition for the Republicans and they knew it. In fact, Gingrich had been engulfed in some minor scandals considering allegations of cheating on his wife, who was battling health problems. There were also embarrassing reminders of the Speaker's photo-ops with some foreign lobbyists were being played non-stop on the television right in the faces of the American people.

Realizing how their majorities got reduced in 1996 and again in 1998, several of Gingrich's fellow House Republican congressional colleagues decided it was time for the controversial Georgian to go away. Exploiting the disastrous results of the 1998 Midterms, some Republicans in the House upped the ante even further by taking advantage of a chaotic situation: US Rep. Steve Largent (R-OK) was among those, who said that Gingrich's speakership was becoming more untenable and precarious. And despite some attempts to prevent further damage from coming out in the press, Gingrich realized that his days at the most powerful Speaker of the US House of Representatives was pretty much over. Gingrich announced he would be resigning both the Speakership and his House seat in Georgia's 6th Congressional District.

At first House Republicans wanted to elect the blunt-talking harsh-aggressive Bob Livingston (R-LA) as the new Speaker, but allegations of womanizing resulted in him leaving Congress too. In a backup plan, they chose Dennis Hastert (R-IL) to become the new Speaker of the US House of Representatives. Could Hastert keep the Republican caucus happy? Nobody would know for sure.

Over in the United States Senate: Republicans picked up three seats: Kentucky, Ohio and Illinois. In Kentucky, US Rep. Jim Bunning (R-KY) flipped the open Kentucky US Senate seat to the Republicans; State Senator Peter Fitzgerald defeated the flamboyant and controversial incumbent United States Senator Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL) getting the backing of the American Conservative Union as well as several Republican political icons such as 1996 Republican Party presidential nominee and former United States Senator Bob Dole (R-KS), it's said that Fitzgerald was carried over to victory due to the coattails of outgoing popular Illinois Governor Jim Edgar, whose sky-high approval ratings helped push Illinois Secretary of State George Ryan over the finish line in the Illinois gubernatorial election, keeping the Illinois Executive Mansion in Republican hands. In Ohio, popular Ohio Governor George Voinovich handily defeated former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Mary Boyle in the Ohio US Senate race.

The Democrats also had an outstanding night in the 1998 Midterms: In Indiana, former Indiana Governor Evan Bayh, the son of former United States Senator Birch Bayh (D-IN), took his father's US Senate seat; new additions in the United States Senate included Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, John Edwards of North Carolina and Chuck Schumer of New York State, who defeated three-term incumbent United States Senator Al D'Amato (R-NY St) in what many called as one of the nastiest and brutally ugliest statewide campaigns in the Empire State. In the Badger State, incumbent United States Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) was narrowly reelected to a second six-year term by less than two percentage points, having survived the Thompson landslide onslaught, as Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson overwhelmingly won reelection to a fourth term in a massive landslide victory in the Wisconsin gubernatorial race.

On the Governorships: Democrats were celebrating in the Golden State as California Lieutenant Governor Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis handily trounced California State Attorney General Dan Lungren in a landslide victory of nearly 20 percentage points: winning back the California Governor's Mansion for the first time since then-California Governor Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr., won reelection in 1978, ending 16 years of Republican control of the Governor's Mansion in Sacramento. Almost immediately, some national Democrats already begin hyping up Davis as a future contender for the Presidency.

However, the big night of 3 November 1998 went to Florida and Texas, where Republicans scored huge big victories respectively, with the sons of former President George HW Bush. In the Sunshine State: John Ellis "Jeb" Bush handily won back the Florida Governorship by double digits, improving among many demographic groups. Meanwhile in the Lone Star State, incumbent Texas Governor George Walker Bush, who trounced then-United States Senator Dorothy Ann Willis Richards (D-TX) in 1994, overwhelmingly destroyed four-term Texas Commissioner of the General Land Office Garry Mauro by 37 percentage points and carried 239 out of 254 counties; Bush won 27% of African Americans and 49% of Latinos. Bush Jr's coattails also resulted in Republicans sweeping all of the down-ballot statewide offices including flipping control of the Texas State Senate for the first time since Reconstruction. Immediately, speculation soon converged upon George, whom many expect to launch a campaign for the Presidency in 2000, following in his father's footsteps.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

......"In one of the most controversial endings of the conspiracy thriller movie, "Snake Eyes", US Navy Commander Kevin Dunne (portrayed by Gary Sinise) gets angry at his best friend, corrupt Atlantic City Police Department detective Rick Santoro (Nicholas Cage), who refused to tell him where Julia Costello (Carla Gugino) is located. Santoro told Dunne, "You're a traitor to your country for killing your own boss, Secretary Kirkland and sooner or later, you and your conspirators are going to have to answer for all of the crimes you've committed."

"Damn it Rick, I don't want to kill you!", Dunne snaps and when Santoro again refuses to tell him where Costello is located. "I'm sorry Rick. You've given me no other choice," Dunne aims the gun with the silencer and shoots Santoro to death.

Of course, Costello tries to run away when Dunne finds out where her location is at, she tries to run away when Dunne shoots at her, the bullets miss. And she sees an Atlantic City Police Department van, when the two officers arrest Costello (after Dunne frames her for killing Santoro), many viewers were angry that there wasn't a happy ending on the movie. But Brian De Palma explained that a sequel is in the works: Snake Eyes II: The Fight for Justice as Costello tries to prove her innocence."
-Excerpt from Fox News Entertainment
Summer 1999

 

[Sergeant Foley]

Highlights of the White Presidency
(Spring/Summer 1999)
​

*Tuesday, January 19, 1999: President Mark W. White, Jr., delivers his second annual State of the Union Address before Joint Session of Congress. White discussed the economy, federal budget, budget surplus which was totaling $70 billion. He also discussed the future of Social Security and warned Congress and future Presidents "Leave Social Security alone!"; education reforms; foreign policy achievements and accomplishments including foreign policy hot-spots; solving the ongoing Y2K computer problems.

*Friday, January 29, 1999: President White announced a bombshell announcement at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas: announcing he will not be seeking election to a full four-year term in 2000.

*April 20, 1999: The Columbine High School massacre in Columbine, Colorado results in the deaths of 15 people (including the two perpetrators); injuring 24 others.

*May 7, 1999: Guinean President Joao Bernardo Vieira ousted from office in military coup d'etat.

*May 13, 1999: Carlo Azeglio Ciampi elected as the next President of Italy.

*May 17, 1999: Ehud Barak defeats incumbent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the 1999 election.

*May 26, 1999: The Indian Air Force launches full-scale attack on intruding Pakistani Army troops and mujahideen militants in the Kashmir Region.

*The 1999 UEFA Champions League Final takes place inside the Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, Spain where the Manchester United of the United Kingdom defeated Bayern Munich of Germany by a score of 2-1.

*May 29, 1999: Military rule is officially terminated in the Republic of Nigeria with the establishment of the Fourth Nigerian Republic with Olusegun Obasanjo as the President.

*June 1, 1999: Napster (downloading music service) is created; Napster's creation inspires other file-sharing sites such as The Pirate Bay, LimeWire, Gnutella, Kazaa, Morpheus, BearShare and uTorrent.

*June 2, 1999: King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan allows television transmissions in commencing in the Kingdom for the first time in Bhutan's history, coinciding with the King's Silver Jubilee.

*June 9, 1999: The Kosovo War officially ends with a peace treaty being signed between Yugoslavia and NATO.

*June 12, 1999: Kosovo War: Operation Joint Guardian/Operation Agricola begins; NATO-led United Nations Peacekeeping forces KFOR entered Kosovo, Yugoslavia.

*June 16, 1999: In the first peaceful transfer of executive power in South Africa's post-democratization history, Thabo Mbeki was inaugurated as the 2nd President of the Republic of South Africa replacing the outgoing South African President Nelson Mandela, who chose not to seek reelection after one five-year term in office.

*June 19, 1999: Turin, Italy is awarded with hosting the 2006 Winter Olympics.

*June 24, 1999: Kosovo War Highlights: NATO Marines shoot three gunmen in Kosovo, Yugoslavia, after being attacked by the latter, killing one of them and injuring the other two assailants.

*June 25, 1999: Bosnia and Herzegovina officially gets a new national anthem for their country: "Intermeco".

*June 30, 1999: The Sealand Youth Training Center Fire in Hwaseong, Republic of Korea results in the deaths of 19 children and 4 adults. The dormitory, which housed 430 children including their teachers, was consumed by fire. Sealand owner Park Jae Chun and six Hwaseong council members were charged with violation of building laws, bribery charges including involuntary manslaughter.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

Senora Presidente!
(Summer/Fall 1999)
La Casona
Caracas, Venezuela

​

Following the chaotic military coup d'etat on 4 February 1992 which resulted in the controversial ouster of then-Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez and the ascension of Army Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Chavez Frias as the 42nd President of Venezuela. Chavez immediately began using authoritarian methods by cracking down on political opponents, nationalizing foreign businesses, industries, exports, etc., which alarmed many foreign investors including several from the international community. He also successfully pushed through a controversial constitutional referendum which changed the South American country's official name from the Republic of Venezuela to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela with the adoption of the 1993 Constitution officially renaming Venezuela in honor of the late Simon Bolivar.

He also had the 1993 Constitution augmented by jack-rigging the presidential term from five years to six years. While in office, Chavez aggressively began enacting social reforms as part of what he called "The Bolivarian Revolution". The Chavez administration also created democratic Communal Councils and pushed the implementation of many social programs such as the Bolivarian Missions, which expanded access to food, housing, healthcare and education.

However, it was also during the Chavez administration that democratic backsliding quickly escalated in Venezuela: aggressively suppressed the press including several national television stations, manipulated election laws in order to stay in office; arrested and exiled majority of government critics.

There was one person, who noticed the backsliding and wondered if anyone would take on the Dictator. When nobody else was brave enough to stand up to Chavez, there was one person who had the courage and toughness in not only taking on the Chavez administration but ultimately instigating its demise.....

That person was the one and only, former Miss Universe 1981 Irene Saez herself.

Saez, who won the 30th Miss Universe Pageant at the age of 19 on 20 July 1981, became at that time, one of the youngest Miss Universe winners in the organization's history. Following a year of traveling as the 30th Miss Universe, Saez attended the Central University of Venezuela, where she studied Political Science; she also expanded international contacts while serving as the South American country's cultural representative to the United Nations: which gave her the taste of politics.

Upon winning the Mayoralty of Chacao Municipality in 1992 (the same year Chavez ousted Perez from the Presidency), Saez oversaw the following under her Mayoralty: professionalizing the Municipal Police Department; increasing higher pay among the law enforcement officers which included university graduates; new police automobiles; mobility devices in order to allow law enforcement officers moving around quicker. The crime rate in Chacao fell dramatically due to her innovative ideas which many people greatly appreciated her hardworking efforts. In 1995, Saez was overwhelmingly reelected to a second term as Mayor with 96% of the vote. The London Times also rated her as one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in the World, ranking her 83rd on their list.

Saez began launching her campaign for the Presidency ahead of the 1998 Presidential elections by forming her own political party which was called the Integrated Representation of New Hope. At first, many political observers wondered if a former Miss Universe could be able to run for the South American country with an economy relying on oil and gas and other economic imports and exports. Many thought her campaign would be a total disaster due to the uphill task of taking on a controversial and authoritarian incumbent President.

Chavez assumed that Saez was a weak challenger and basically ignored her during the entire campaign. He also had cronies using controversial sinister methods in defaming Saez's personal character in mailers that contained "Irene Saez opened her legs to everything and everyone that moved because she was a sex addict. Do you want that prostitute to serve as President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela?" The Chavez-controlled news agencies also aired alleged videotapes of someone purportedly of Saez's likeness having sex with more than 20+ people. For a while, it appeared that Saez's campaign was going to implode due to people expressing skepticism on whether she can handle the Presidency and the like.


However, Saez's campaign received major boost from the endorsement of former Venezuelan Presidents Luis Herrera and Miss Universe 1979 Maritza Sayalero and Miss Universe 1986 Barbara Palacios including Miss Universe 1996 Alicia Machado as well as several former Venezuelan politicians. Then the tide began to turn in her favor during the last five months as protests against the Chavez regime escalated in parts of Venezuela as well as the economic blockade against Chavez's controversial nationalizing of industries and foreign-owned companies and businesses including backlash against human rights violations. Chavez's polling numbers began to suffer and continued its downward trend all the way to election day.

On 6 December 1998 during Election Night, the uncertainty of the presidential election had dragged on non-stop for weeks. It wasn't until the afternoon of 27 December 1998 that the National Electoral Council announced the bombshell: Saez had defeated Chavez in one of the major political upsets in Venezuelan history by less than 1 percentage point nationwide: Saez garnered 3,573,603 votes (50.73%) to Chavez's 3,363,984 (49.19%). Saez was inaugurated as the 43rd President of Venezuela inside the Venezuelan National Assembly chambers in Caracas, making history as the South American country's first female President and the youngest to hold the Presidency.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Coming up, I will be working on the following Installments for Chapter 5:
*National Personal PoV's (Summer 1999)
*International Personal PoV's (Summer 1999)
*Pop Culture Personal PoV's (Summer 1999)
*National Personal PoV's (Fall 1999)
*International Personal PoV's (Fall 1999)

 

[Sergeant Foley]

COMING SOON IN EAGLE IS DOWN
16 October 2000: The death of Missouri Governor Melvin Eugene "Mel" Carnahan and the ramifications
of the tragic plane crash

​