Esther Marchese

Esther Marchese was the ninth president of Bedistan, who served two full two-year terms and one partial term from 2034 through 2040. Marchese was the first female Bedistani president and also the first Bedistani president to be assassinated.

Events and accomplishments

First term

At the start of Marchese's first term, there was a lingering threat of war with the Archempire of Baetica, who desired their previous lands to be returned to them after Paripana's name change to Terranordalis. The nation's economy was in a bit of a slump at the time, and many blamed it on potential war mobilizations by the Marchese administration. However, war was averted due to apathy on the part of Baetica.

In February 2036, a Tow separatist group staged a rally in the streets of the eastern city of Uk-Tow Ri. That city, and the surrounding territory, had until eight years previously been part of the nation of Sokojiwa. When Sokojiwa dissolved in 2028, the western third was absorbed by Bedistan to prevent anarchy. Some of the original inhabitants of the area were unhappy with Bedistani rule, however, and they made it known in the rally. However, President Marchese's diplomatic skills quickly defused the situation.

Later that year, a local uprising on Southeast Island, part of the Bedistani state of West Jativa, resulted in the creation of the People's Republic of Omni Bee. After this domestic turmoil, Marchese very narrowly defeated opponents Miguel Callison and Jerome Beaudin in the 2036 election. It didn't stop there, though. In December 2036, a plot was uncovered in which terrorists planned to strike at a World Cup qualifying match against Resistencia in the southern city of Midway.

Second term

The following spring, when Yin Zan was convicted by the Lontorican government for high treason after speaking out against Lontorican occupation of northern Sokojito, President Marchese effectively allied herself with the newly reformed United Siokaji Consortium by denouncing the actions of the Lontorican Stasi and calling for Zan's release. This was followed two weeks later by another Tow separatist rally in Sonovago City, showing that racial tensions in Terranordalis were at an all-time high.

Third term

In late February 2039, President Marchese made the highly controversial decision to withdraw Bedistan from the United Nations, stating that "the UN really has not done anything for us as a nation, and I no longer see any point in uselessly tying ourselves to that organization."

On the evening of January 13, 2040, as President Marchese was preparing to embark on an official visit to Lontorica, she was gunned down just outside the Executive Mansion by one of about a thousand waiting protestors. She was immediately airlifted to Columbia Medical Center and pronounced dead three hours later. The assassin was, alas, never found. Abraham Douglas was appointed interim president four days later to serve the remainder of Marchese's third term.

	The Grand Dominion of Bedistan
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