Star Trek Federation: The First 150 Years

[Cap'n Crunch]

Has it previously been established what the term length of the President is? I had thought it was four years, but Silent Weapons seems to indicate a six year presidency. According to Memory Beta, Bacco was elected/took office in October 2379. Silent Weapons takes place two months after The Persistence of Memory, placing it in March 2384. Page 120 says, "...and now they were plotting strategy for next year's reelection campaign..." which would be 2385. That would make it a six year term of office for the Federation President, unless Bacco's been re-elected once already. Also, the presidential term could have been different at various points in the Federation's history.

[Christopher]

Bacco started her term early due to her predecessor's resignation, so maybe she gets an extended term until the next regular election year. Although I guess 2384 would be an election year under the established cycle.

[Sci]

Hando wrote:

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Nathan Samuels Room can be explained. When the Palais was built the Prime Minister of United Earth, probably still Samuels, had offices there.

That makes no sense. The Palais was specifically built to house the Federation President and Council. Why would they give office space to a Member government in a Federation building? It would be like putting the Governor of Maryland in the United States Capitol.

Simpler explanation: Nathan Samuels gets a room named after him because he was a key player in founding the Federation.

Steve Mollmann wrote:

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Didn't Articles establish that if there's a midterm election (such as Bacco had), that the new president starts a new term instead of completing the previous one?

Yes, but it also established that there had only ever been one other special election in Federation history: Held after Hiram Roth died on the day he was re-elected. That special election, therefore, just filled the next term (Ra-ghoratreii won that one) to which Roth had been elected; the implication was that a President Pro Tempore just served out what was left of Roth's extant term.

However, Articles did not establish whether Federation Presidential terms of office are set by statute or by the Articles themselves. If they are statutory rather than constitutional law, then it's always possible that term lengths have varied over the years.

Another possibility: Perhaps Archer won the election in 2184 for the term of office commencing in 2185 (and ending in 2189), but his predecessor died unexpectedly after the election but before he assumed office. The Council may have then just appointed him President Pro Tempore to serve out the remainder of his predecessor's term before being sworn in for his 2185-2189 term. That bio screen, then, may have been simplifying the situation. Plenty of potential justifications!

Christopher wrote:

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Bacco started her term early due to her predecessor's resignation, so maybe she gets an extended term until the next regular election year. Although I guess 2384 would be an election year under the established cycle.

Well, Articles and A Time to Kill established that 2372 was the election year, and Enterprises of Great Pitch and Motion established that Zife's first term began in the first month of the calender year immediately following.

So, under the original, pre-Bacco cycle, it went like this:

2364: Election year: Amitra of Pandril wins (TNG Season One)
2365-2369: Amitra's term of office (TNG Seasons Two through Six)
2368: Election Year: Jaresh-Inyo wins) (TNG Season Five)
2369-2373: Jaresh-Inyo's term of office (TNG Seasons Six and Seven, DSN Seasons One through Five)
2372: Election year: Jaresh-Inyo loses, Min Zife wins (DSN Season Four)
2373-2377: Min Zife's first term (DSN Seasons Five through Seven)
2376: Election Year: Min Zife re-elected
2377-2381: Zife's second term
2380: Election Year
2381-2385: Term of office
2384: Election Year
2385-2389: Term of office
2388: Election Year
2389-2393: Term of office
2392: Election year
2393-2397: Term of office
2396: Election year
2397-2401: Term of office
2400: Election year

Etc.

Articles seemed to established that when Bacco took office in late 2379, the 2379 Special Presidential Election terminated the old cycle and started a new one. It was unclear if this new cycle would have future terms of office beginning at the start of the calender year immediately after an election year, or if new terms would commence the same year as the elections.

So it would either go like:

2379: Election
2379-2383: Term of office
2383: Election
2383-2387: Term of office
2387: Election

or like:

2379: Election
2379-2384: Term of office (extended)
2383: Election
2384-2388: Term of office (standard)
2387: Election

Now Silent Weapons indicates a 2385 election. This implies that Bacco's term of office has extended; this is not unjustifiable, of course, what with the Federation having suffered the worst disaster in recorded history in the Borg Invasion.

Perhaps her first term was extended, but future terms of office will remain 4 years. Or perhaps all future terms of office will be six years. It is yet unclear.

If we're moving to six-year terms of office, then the cycle moving forward should look like this (assuming, again, that a term of office commences in the first month of the calender year immediately following an election year):

2379-2386: Bacco's term of office
2385: Election year
2386-2392: Term of office
2391: Election year
2392-2398: Term of office
2397: Election year
2398-2404: Term of office
2403: Election year

Etc.

Assuming that it'll revert back to four-year terms of office, though, the cycle should look like this:

2379-2386: Bacco's term
2385: Election year
2386-2390: Term of office
2389: Election year
2390-2394: Term of office
2393: Election year
2394-2398: Term of office
2397: Election year
2398-2402: Term of office
2401: Election year

Etc.

So... one way or the other, looks like there'll be an election in 2397!

[Markonian]

For what it's worth:
In STO: The Needs of the Many it is established that the Saurian Aennik Okeg is elected president of the UFP in 2392, re-elected for a second term in 2398 and for a third term in 2405. He's still president as of 2409.

[Enterpriserules]

I have my review out here.

[Vonotar]

I just received my copy yesterday! The only nitpick I have is the stated location of James Kirk's birth. Seemed odd. Otherwise, I am very very happy to have something like this.

[The Wormhole]

Vonotar wrote:

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I just received my copy yesterday! The only nitpick I have is the stated location of James Kirk's birth. Seemed odd. Otherwise, I am very very happy to have something like this.

What they say? If it's Riverside, Iowa, that is supposedly where Kirk Prime was born and even XI indicated he was raised there. Indeed, Riverside promotes themselves as the "future birthblace of Captain Kirk."

[Deranged Nasat]

Sci wrote:

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This implies that Bacco's term of office has extended; this is not unjustifiable, of course, what with the Federation having suffered the worst disaster in recorded history in the Borg Invasion.

Markonian wrote:

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For what it's worth:
In STO: The Needs of the Many it is established that the Saurian Aennik Okeg is elected president of the UFP in 2392, re-elected for a second term in 2398 and for a third term in 2405. He's still president as of 2409.

We love democracy; we love the Federation. Once this crisis has abated, we will lay down the powers you have given us!

(Sorry about that)

On a serious note, I wonder if Aennik Okeg will show up in the novel 'verse continuity? STO had a lot of homages to the novels, including Bacco as President, so I'd be interested to see if the novels reciprocate.

[King Daniel Into Darkness]

The Wormhole wrote:

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What they say? If it's Riverside, Iowa, that is supposedly where Kirk Prime was born and even XI indicated he was raised there. Indeed, Riverside promotes themselves as the "future birthblace of Captain Kirk."

IIRC from an interview I read with the author, the book says we was born in space, rather than fudging that the Kelvin was en route home and that Winona's labour was premature (caused by Nero's attack.)
That stuff is implied in the script and said outright in Alan Dean Foster's novelization, but I guess the author just went with the simplest answer. Kirk is still from Iowa, even if he spent the first two or three days of life in space.

I guess the sign in Riverside is a continuity error

[The Wormhole]

King Daniel wrote:

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I guess the sign in Riverside is a continuity error

Not really. The book isn't canon and therefore as far as canon is concerned there is no reason Kirk Prime can't be born in Riverside.

[Christopher]

^Well, there's no canonical mention of Riverside either (just of Iowa), so it's apocrypha vs. apocrypha. Canon doesn't come into it at all, unless some future screen production mentions Kirk Prime's birthplace specifically, which doesn't seem likely.

[The Wormhole]

How did the Riverside thing start anyway? Trek IV reveals Kirk is from Iowa, but why did Riverside end up with the sign? Obviously, it's considered legtimate enough since XI shows he was raised in Riverside.

[Steve Mollmann]

The Wormhole wrote:

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How did the Riverside thing start anyway? Trek IV reveals Kirk is from Iowa, but why did Riverside end up with the sign? Obviously, it's considered legtimate enough since XI shows he was raised in Riverside.

The story I'd always heard is that the residents of Riverside just decided that it was true.

[Deranged Nasat]

Steve Mollmann wrote:

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The story I'd always heard is that the residents of Riverside just decided that it was true.

I now have an urge to raise a plaque outside my home saying something along the lines of the following:

"FEDERATION HERITAGE SITE. In the year 2255, the first Nasat Ambassador to Earth will reside in the building to be built upon this very spot. Written records from the current denizen will inspire Her Excellency Ambassador C6 "Seasick" Yellow to found the Nasat-Human Siblinghood Association".

Come on, guys, give me some support here.

[Christopher]

Steve Mollmann wrote:

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The story I'd always heard is that the residents of Riverside just decided that it was true.

^That's right. From Memory Alpha:

In March of 1985, Riverside was looking for a theme for its annual festival. Steve Miller, who was a member of the Riverside City Council, had read The Making of Star Trek and suggested that Riverside proclaim itself the future birthplace of Kirk. This motion passed unanimously. The council contacted Roddenberry for permission to be designated as the official birthplace of Kirk. Roddenberry agreed, and designated Riverside as Kirk's birthplace.

Since 1985 the town has held an annual "Trek Fest" in June, a themed Star Trek festival based on an original series episode. The festival features a costume contest and a parade with Star Trek themed floats, including the classic bridge, and a float based on that year's theme. The city also showcases a Constitution-class "U.S.S. Riverside" statue (which doubles as a parade float), a "birthstone" marking the future birthplace of James T. Kirk, and a memorabilia museum, named "The Voyage Home", which houses props from the TV series and the Invasion Iowa reality show.

From Starlog issue 112, November 1986, p. 14:

According to a story by John Mejia in the June 28, 1986 edition of the Des Moines Register, a group of Iowans (not to be confused with Iotians) have constructed an 18-foot long replica of everyone's favorite Federation spacecraft, the U.S.S. Enterprise. The ship is named the U.S.S. Riverside, after the town where it was constructed. Furthermore, town residents have proclaimed Riverside to be the unofficial birthplace of James T. Kirk. Kirk, as pointed out by Gene Roddenberry in The Making of Star Trek, was born in "a small Iowa town."

So it's just something the folks of Riverside adopted and promoted, and the Trek community responded positively to it and it sort of became unofficial Trek lore. It was referenced in various tie-ins, and by now has become so accepted that the Iowa scenes in the 2009 movie were set in Riverside.