Patrick Ewing (1979-) was an American Republican politician who served as a US Senator from Arkansas from 9 April 2001 to 8 March 2004 and President of the United States from 8 March 2004 to 29 January 2007 (succeeding Peter Summers and preceding Eric Zachary). Ewing's first two terms saw a Republican revival in the US Congress as Ewing's personal popularity, the patriotic effect of America's engagement in the War on Terror, and a recovering economy disadvantaged the oppositional Democrats. However, his third term was marked by the onset of the Great Recession, severely damaging his popularity.
Biography[]
Patrick Ewing was born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1979, and he was elected the state's youngest US Senator in 2001 at the age of 22, capitalizing on the state's strong Republican realignment. Ewing served in the Senate from 2001 to 2004, when he won the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Ewing narrowly defeated Democratic nominee Scott Harrison by a margin of 52.2% to 47.8%, and he inherited a Republican majority in the US Senate of 29/48 seats and a budget deficit of $33 million with a $2 million weekly improvement.
Presidency[]
During Ewing's first term, the Senate voted 43-2 to keep the child benefit, 39-6 to keep the robbery penalty, 28-19 to keep the death sentence, 24-19 to make America a tax haven (although the bill failed to meet the threshold), 29-8 to abolish the organ donation program, 30-10 to keep the consumption tax, 41-5 to keep the ambulance service, 27-18 to approve protest prohibition, and 43-1 to approve a customs duty.
On 14 February 2005, Ewing's popularity and the nation's economic recovery saw the Republicans rise to 64.99% of the vote and 31/48 Senate seats, while the Democrats fell to 35.01% and 17/48 seats; the Republicans won two seats in the midterms, as swing voters decided that the nation could experience economic regeneration without the need for new taxes or increased spending. As a result, the Democrats fired Scott Harrison as Senate Minority Leader and replaced him with Matthew Alden, who promptly challenged Ewing for re-election. Ewing overwhelmingly defeated Alden by a margin of 67.6% to 32.4%, while the Democratic Party's popularity fell to 33.97%, its worst in years.
During Ewing's second term, the Senate voted 26-14 against basic income, 43-0 to abolish the death sentence, 39-1 to keep the public smoking ban, 22-21 to abolish the bank tax, 25-12 to keep presidential term limits, 38-4 to keep the child benefit, 41-2 to approve a tobacco tax, 25-19 to approve an organ donation program, 28-16 to abolish the tourist tax, 28-10 to approve an alcohol tax, 25-16 to abolish the consumption tax, and 23-7 to keep the travel visa. Ewing had to deal with internal party strife when ex-president and Senator Peter Summers stole $20 million from the Republican Party's coffers, having failed to abolish term limits in order to become the Republican nominee again. The Senate went on to vote 30-16 to reimplement the death sentence and 23-18 against public libraries, and the 30 January 2006 elections saw the parties' seat counts remain unchanged, although the Republicans rose to 65.52% (+.53%) and the Democrats fell to 34.48% (+.53%). Ewing won re-election with 56.5% of the vote to Alden's 43.5%, improving his popularity.
Ewing's third term saw the Congress vote 25-16 for fossil fuel subsidies, 22-18 to keep religion in schools, 23-15 to keep agriculture research, 42-0 to keep the custom duty, 26-14 for a cultural subsidy, 39-3 to keep presidential term limits, and 22-9 to keep the alcohol tax; at the same time, Democratic Senator from New Jersey Andrew Nicci defected to the Republican Party, bolstering its strength. The Senate also voted 41-2 for a pollution tax, 41-2 to keep torture prohibition, 27-16 to keep the draft, 40-4 against free museums, 27-15 to create a scholarship, 41-4 to keep the postal service, and 43-3 to keep the tobacco tax. By 20 November 2006, the budget had fallen to a deficit of $60 million with a weekly decrease of $5 million, so the Democrats - unable to protest - launched four weeks of strikes and a barrage of television ads against the failing Republican administration.
On 15 January 2007, new elections were held, and the Democrats made a stunning comeback, winning 41.02% of the vote (+6.54%) and 20/48 Senate seats (+3 seats), while the Republicans fell to 58.98% (-6.54%) and 28/48 seats (-3 seats). By then, the deficit had grown to $104 million, and it worsened with a weekly decline of $5 million. The term-limited Ewing left the presidency in ignominy, but his successor Eric Zachary won the presidency by a margin of 57% to 43%.