Richard Tatorial

Richard Tatorial
Office Held Former President of Wharf Springs Elected Year §52 Political Affiliation Independent. Cause of death Officially: "Excessively round head"

Richard Tatorial was the 3rd President of Wharf Springs. He took office in §52 due to an extraordinary level of political apathy in the country, causing a low turnout and a very right-wing man to take government. The mistake was soon corrected when he was assassinated by Secret Services the next year.

Biography

Born §-14 - Died §53

Richard Tatorial, like his two predecessors, was also an immigrant to Wharf Springs. Yet, his presence seems to be an aberration. Many historians have wondered just how such a right-wing man came to be deported from Scandinavia to be part of the founders of the nation when the whole point of the deportation was to get rid of all the excessively liberal people. Nevertheless, the man created a political storm during his brief period in office.

Early Life

Tatorial spent much of his life before entering politics as a currency trader. At the time, the Wharf Springs currency the coffee jar was vastly inflated, meaning Tatorial spent much of his time organising, carrying and even transporting the coffee jars around the nation in an attempt to make some money out of speculating on their further decline into worthlessness. This was an extremely heavy burden and Tatorial eventually took early retirement due to ill health. He became an extremely rich man in spite of the punitive taxation against high earnings at the time. Historians cannot decide whether all the money he had turned him into an economic right-winger, or whether he smuggled himself aboard the ship to Wharf Springs.

Tatorial Finds Politics

In §49, Tatorial first got involved in a political demonstration, demanding the immediate revaluation of the currency. He wanted the country to trade in a much more higher grade of coffee jar, such as Kenco or even scrap it in favour of using espressos instead. His crusade gained a small amount of support as numerous citizens had been hospitalised as the result of the spiralling inflation in the country.

Yet, his next move was remarkable. For the next couple of years, in preparation for his bid to the presidency in §52, Tatorial spent time telling people not to get interested in politics. He lowered the aggression of political debate, implying the country was fine and there would never be any more problems in the nation. He managed to get politics off the agenda of the media by calling in favours. When the election of §52 finally came around, hardly a bump or a whisper was heard during the campaign. Tatorial rallied the people close to him to vote for him; he believed that their support was all he would need to take the presidency.

Timothy Head's third term came to a close, with the final year being spent mostly increasing his own pension. These actions further diminished the interest in politicians. Many people were expecting democracy to disappear once Head retired.

The results of the election were astounding, yet no one cared at the time:

The Third President

Tatorial's plan had worked. Elected President, he immediately used some of the powers of the office of President to decree his right-wing plans into law. The nation shuddered as they were told they must accept that murderers need hanging, that sex offenders need castrating, that capitalism will bring Joy and Peace for all, as well as lots of money for Tatorial. He immediately abolished dozens of taxes and business regulations, allegedly personally profiting through his own business interests to the tune of billions of coffee jars.

Without a government or welfare state to look after them, the nation descended into anarchy. Citizens frequently emptied their grass boxes, waste bins and often their bowels over their neighbour's fence. They reverted to a wild and pre-human state as levels of mercury in the water supply rose, causing severe brain damage to millions of people. Prisons were built for the first time in Wharf Springs' history, housing tens of thousands of "criminals". Tatorial privatised everything he set his eyes on, even the Parliament by exploiting a loophole in the constitution. MPs and Senators vanished to be replaced by cronies personally appointed by Tatorial. He used his super-majority in both Houses to give himself immense power, and set to work on plans for an enormous army, navy and air force to "defend the nation" from "enemies", who were all contained on his List of Enemies, which he hung from his office window.

His Demise

All of these changes took place within 1 §. Yet, he forgot that Liberalism is Good and Kind. There remained some loyal liberals within the Secret Services. They were dismayed by the breakdown of social order, and so, when the President rode through the streets of MFI Kitchenalia one day, Secret Service officials jumped out from behind the Gassy Knoll petrol station and assassinated him.

Tatorial's reign of terror came to an end. The country did not mourn him. The plot of the Secret Services was only uncovered in recent years due to them being declassified by Walter Qubic. Until that time, the official documents had recorded that Tatorial died because the roundness of his head caused a buildup of pressure in the centre which eventually imploded under the strain.

Quotes

"Making money has become a lot easier since I devised exponential interest."