If this is true, we should throw that one away as a mistake as well. Journey to Babel tells us there is no Federation president by that time. Which is obvious. The concept that the Federation exactly as in the 24th century, just poof, came into existence back in 2161 is ridiculous. TOS alone, but the movies in combination with Journey to Babel tells us the Federation appeared realistically, just like the EU is only step by step coming together, the Federation started as no more than a military alliance, than became something only barely more, then became something more like UN, than the EU, and only in the later stages of the 23rd century got a centralized, permanent government with a chosen president.
This is realistic, this is real, and makes the history of Star Trek so much richer with so much more possibilities. There's no point in keeping some piece of junk from trash like Enterprise, and some throwaway quote that can't be anything but a mistake.
Journey to Babel did not state anything about the Federation not having a President.
Oh, yes it did, see below.
The Federation did not start out as a military alliance, it was started by the Coalition of Planets which was the precursor of the United Federation of Planets.
Oh, yes it did. It started as a military alliance during and after the Earth-Romulan War.
The Federation & the EU is not like the Federation being both do not have any sort of power. Nether one can declare war, create policy, they have no power over any country or government.
The Federation in LATER years, CAN declare war.
Journey to Babel & movies simply show that the there is a Federation Council which is simply the legislative body of the Federation. It is composed of representatives from the various member worlds which make up Federation law, foreign policy, and does other various jobs just like legislative body does in the US.
No, nothing like the US. In the US, said bodies are in Washington DC, and the representatives are there most of the time. When they do leave, they do so under their own power, and return under their own power.
Journey to Babel showed us, that the Federation does NOT have a permanent legislative body. AMBASSADORS (not councilors, not representatives, not senators or the like) but AMBASSADORS, representatives NOT from a member world, but representatives from a member GOVERNMENT - are going to Babel, taken there by a Starfleet vessel, where they will discuss things and vote as their government indicated. In short, it's not even as far as the EU has gotten, where people vote for a representative and this representative is seated permanently in Brussels independent from a country's government. It is, however, like the UN, where representatives, especially ambassadors from governments come to discuss things.
As such, the Federation at the time, does NOT have a permanent legislative branch, thus NOT have a government and does NOT have a president.
Again by what was shown on Enterprise, and TNG, both show that there was indeed a Federation President at the beginning of the founding of the Federation.
TOS shows us there is NOT, Enterprise is trash, and TNG made a mistake.
Simply saying that Enterprise does not count and statements from other series are mistakes is not good enough reason to disregard being so far you have not shown any real reasons to disregard any of the information except for that it does not back up your personnel opinions.
No, it doesn't jive with what TOS showed us of the Federation at that time.
My opinion is that TOS showed a realistic growth of the Federation, and not a magical "poof, suddenly we are here, completely as is" some other series want to show, and that the earlier is (obviously) a much better model. (Not to mention that it opens up many more story telling opportunities than if it just poof came into existence.)
The EU is Europeans, practically siblings - to the point that the only reason that there is a France, Spain, Germany and other countries today is that the three sons of Charles the Great who ruled over the three territories under their father, wouldn't accept any of the other brothers above them and so it splintered apart - and the EU only forms step by little step.
Do you really think, that completely different species, some who have been antagonists for decades if not centuries, can just pound a perfectly functioning government and political entity out of the ground in a few weeks, with president and all?
Please.
