John William Archer

Despite standing at an imposing 6'3'', whenever John William Archer walks into a room, his air would be more likely to be described as quietly and confidently understated than self-assured or arrogant. He has always made a point, even before being elected into office, of dressing appropriately for any given occasion and, as a result, nowadays can almost always be found wearing traditional tailored suits. In fact, much of John's appearance could be described as traditional - his wife will go a step further and often tell him his dark brown hair is cut in an 'old-fashioned' style, to which he will often reply that the reason he chose politics was so that, by the time he'd reached the top of his career, he'd be too old to be expected to follow the latest trends. Although he can occasionally come across as aloof, his brown eyes are capable of showing warmth, and his small, modest smile - which often appears slowly, almost as though it doesn't quite belong there - can convey a lot more than he'd prefer to say.

Of the many words that come to mind which would accurately describe John William Archer, those who know him well would be eager to place one particular adjective to the forefront - noble. Although John himself would be too modest to comment on any description made on his behalf, he is adamant about the fact that nobility comes from a distinguished mental and moral character rather than from money, and lives up to his own standard in almost every way. Raised a Protestant, John's parents instilled in him from a young age the importance of hard work and, despite the fact that he has never believed in choosing his children's religion for them, it is still a mentality which John believes it necessary to convey to both of his daughters. He has also worked to pass on to his children his own a sense of duty - John believes that the position he currently holds is an honour, and as such will never utter a word of complaint about his job.

Sophie and Melissa will sometimes refer to their father as conservative in character but liberal in politics, which is true to a certain extent - John's general demeanour is very polite and correct, and he believes firmly in the importance of traditional values such as courtesy and personal integrity. Nonetheless, he does not believe in imposing his mindset on other people and his core political ideals definitely fall in line with those of the Democratic Party. During his administration, however, a great deal of the criticism directed toward him has been from the Democrats - many believe that he has a tendency to veer too much towards the centre on specific issues in order to avoid direct conflicts with the Republicans.

Regardless of his politics, John has always been keen to keep his career and private life separate, and for that very reason prefers to only be addressed as 'Mr. President', even by his family and close friends, while he is in the Oval Office. Outside the White House, he is less serious and more likely to display his good sense of humour, but there is one particular aspect of his character which is true of both the President and John William Archer - he is diplomatic and prefers to avoid military action whenever possible, but when the lives of American citizens are endangered, he sometimes finds it difficult to keep a clear head and can let compassion for others cloud his better judgement.

Archer was born to a middle-class family in Jamestown, Virginia, the only son of Christopher and Mary Alice Archer. Although research into his background during the time he was a presidential candidate confirmed that the Archer family could trace its history back to the first English settlers who arrived in the city in 1607, John himself will often point out that following the Protestant religion is the only real remainder of his heritage left in his family - regardless of their origins, he is of the firm belief that every American citizen is first and foremost American.

When he was a child, John made a deal with his younger sister Sarah that he would follow in their father's footsteps to become a High School teacher, while Sarah Jane would someday take on their mother's career as a lawyer. By the time John had reached the end of High School, however, he had discovered his true interests lay in examining and dissecting society and government. Having been taught from an early age the importance of hard work by his parents, John scored highly on his SAT test and was accepted to both Harvard and Yale but ultimately chose to attend the liberal arts Williams College. Having graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Sociology and a minor in Political Science, John was already beginning to establish his own political ideals when he enrolled in the Duke University School of Law, where he obtained a J.D. and was later awarded a rare and prestigious S.J.D., the equivalent of a Ph.D. in Law. Duke Law School was also where John met his future wife, Miranda Finch, who was originally from South Carolina.

The couple were married in 2090, by which time Miranda was a practising lawyer and John had decided to run as a Democrat for a United States Representative seat in his home district of Virginia. He retained his seat for six years, during which time his first daughter, Sophie, was born. In 2096, shortly after the birth of his second daughter, Melissa, John defeated incumbent Republican candidate Neil Glover for a seat in the U.S. Senate representing his home state. After his six-year term, John was re-elected, but left his seat in 2106 to run for Governor of Virginia, winning with 55% of the vote. It was during his second term as Governor that John announced his intentions to run for President of the United States, and, after winning the nomination of the Democratic Party, resigned his position and began to put together a solid campaign staff which he would later credit with winning him the election - so much so that when he assumed office in January 2113, the two most prominent members of said staff, Madison Lee and Steven McCall, were made White House Chief of Staff and White House Deputy Chief of Staff respectively. A very narrow margin of victory, coupled with John's strained relationship with the Vice President, got the Archer administration off to a shaky start - however, it had regained its confidence towards the end of John's first year in power, and his approval rating has seen a steady overall increase since then. Now in the final year of his term, John is currently actively involved in his campaign for re-election and hoping for a win in November 2116.