Mike Sarzo
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|---|---|---|
| Rank | 1st President of Sarzonia | |
| Term of Office: | 22nd March 2004 - current | Mike Sarzo's term as President of Sarzonia is indefinite, making him a de jure President for Life. |
| Predecessor: | N/A | |
| Successor: | Incumbent | |
| Birthdate | 10th July 1973 | |
| Place of Birth: | Washington, D.C., United States of America | |
| First Partner | Jay Tyler | |
| Profession | Politician, | |
| Political party | None | |
| Languages spoken | English, Spanish | |
| Degrees |
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Michael A. Sarzo, (born 10 July 1973 in Washington, D.C., United States of America) is the current President of Sarzonia.
Contents
His parents
The son of a retired registered nurse and a university professor, Sarzo comes from a family whose involvement in politics was limited, though Sarzo was involved by proxy after working for several news publications throughout his life. As such, Sarzo has an uncanny knack for understanding the media and knowing how to claim political advantages from would-be opponents.
Background
After the controversial 2000 Presidential election in the United States, Sarzo gathered a small group of pioneers who were all irritated with President George W. Bush and left the United States to settle on a landmass several hundred miles from the United States. When news reports surfaced, a growing number of similarly-minded American citizens followed suit and in late 2003, the burgeoning population began to talk independence.
Sarzo assembled a small group of trusted advisors among the defectors to develop a constitution and a petition for independence from the United States. When the growing tide of opposition to the United States's war in Iraq took centre stage in media reports, Congress quickly realised that embroiling the United States in a second counterinsurgency campaign would be too much of a stretch of resources and debate started on granting the colony its independence. Bush threatened to veto the legislation until moderates on both sides of the aisle along with Sarzo himself convinced President Bush that both houses had more than enough votes to override the veto. Early in the morning of 22 March 2004, Bush signed the legislation and the Incorporated States of Sarzonia was born.
Setting direction for the country
Right away, Sarzo decided he wanted the nation to build a strong navy that would be the pride of the country. He chose people with similar passions for the navy and asked the military brain trust to decide which contractors would provide the best ships to the Sarzonian nation. The response was unanimous: The Royal Shipyards of Isselmere-Nieland. With RSIN-built ships as the backbone, the navy began to develop the reputation it now enjoys as among the world's finest services.
The consitution that was eventually ratified by the original 17 States was based largely on the U.S. Constitution with key differences: The capital district (Woodstock) earned full voting rights in Parliament; the Senate was chosen by state legislatures and the Woodstock City Council, but it was the lower chamber while the directly-elected House of Delegates was the higher chamber with more authority. Sarzo felt the voice of the people needed to carry greater weight than that of politicans, and that led to the unique bicameral structure. In addition, the original constitution provided for two Senior Vice Presidents. One, the Senior Vice President for External Affairs, was the equivalent of most nations' foreign ministers and was third in line to the Presidency. The Senior Vice President for Internal Affairs was unofficially the President of the Senate and was next in line for the Presidency. Cabinet officials were known as Vice Presidents.
Foreign policy
Sarzo chose to embark on a foreign policy that political scientists described as "pragmatic," choosing a non-intervention policy with internal affairs except in cases of genocide. This policy, however, did not keep Sarzonia out of war entirely. During Sarzonia's wars, the country's military braintrust quickly earned a reputation as strong strategists, leading the unofficial military motto: "Peace through superior strategy." As Sarzonia gradually moved through the ranks as a military power, that saying remained even though the country eventually became cited by Ottoman Khaif political scientists for a hawkish foreign policy, especially toward dictatorial regimes.
Honours
From the Grand Duchy of Hamptonshire
Sarzo was a hereditary Duke, as Duke of Portshire, and the Marquess of Aldenridge in the Grand Duchy of Hamptonshire. He was also invested with the Grand Duchy's Grand Commander of the Order of the Sacred Eagle on 1 January 2005. However, on 14 February, 2006, in response to the outcry over comments from Sarzonia's External Affairs office implying that Pacitalians and Hamptonians were terrorists, he resigned his titles of nobility from the Grand Duchy.
From the Democratic Capitalist Republic of Pacitalia
Sarzo was invested with the 22nd Capostication by the Democratic Capitalist Republic of Pacitalia. He was the first of three successive Sarzonians to receive this honour. Only Lieutenant President Nicole Lewis and Admiral of the Incorporated Sarzonian Navy Marcus Patinkin have been thusly honoured among Sarzonians. Likewise with his honours to the Grand Duchy, after the controversial comments made by an official in the External Affairs Office, he vacated his Capostication, as did Lewis and Patinkin.
