Robert Cassidy
Robert Walker Cassidy is an Alorian nationalist politician, and member of the Cassidy family, a famous political family in Aloria. As a presitential canidate, he was shot dead just two months before the elections in 2640.
Early life
He was born on November 29, 2495, in Ultran City, as second son of Paul Cassidy and Mary Henderson. His father was a well-known Ultranian politican and longterm member in the Ultranian parliament. Robert is one of the three Cassidy Brothers: his older brother is John D. Cassidy, who was Prime Minister of Aloria from 2629-2636, and his younger brother is Edward Cassidy, who was Minister of Defence from 2625-2629 and Minister of Trade and Industry from 2629-2633. Robert is known as a charming, elegant playboy. He married Ethel Jameson in 2619, and had five children: Robert Jr.(2620), David (2621), Rosemary(2623), Jacqueline (2627) and Michael (2633). During the 2630's, he had a longtime romance with Josephine Miller, an affair that was followed by every tabloid in Aloria for years.
The Cassidy Brothers. From left to right: John, Edward and Robert.
In September 2614, Cassidy enrolled at the University of Ultran School of Law in Ultran City. Cassidy graduated from law school in June 2618, and started work as a lawyer in the Internal Security Section of the Criminal Division of the Alorian Department of Justice. In 2620, he was transferred to the Eastern District in Libertia to prosecute fraud cases.
In 2618, Robert was, together with his brothers, one of the founders of the Nationalist Party. In December 2620, he was appointed by his brother John, now member of parliament, as assistant counsel of the Parliament Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. When the Nationalist gained the plurality in 2623, he became chief counsel. Cassidy was mostly a background figure, but soon worked his way up in the Nationalist Party as a conservative hardliner. In 2625, he succesfully campaigned for NP's presidential candidate Bernard Rosenberg. As the Cassidy-brothers had a huge support in their home-province Ultran, Cassidy was also able to gain support for Rosenberg in Sildar.
Minister of Justice
Appointed following Rosenberg's election victory in 2625, Robert Cassidy's tenure as Minister of Justice was easily the period of greatest power for the office: Cassidy remained the President's closest political advisor. President Rosenberg once remarked that, "If I want something done and done immediately I rely on the Minister of Justice. He is very much the doer in this administration, and has an organizational gift I have rarely if ever seen surpassed."
As Minister of Justice, Cassidy pursued a relentless crusade against organized crime and the mafia, something his predecessors under the first Franco-administration started with. Convictions against notorious organized crime figures rose by 300% during his term. His plans to establish anti-abortion and anti-gay-marriage legislation failed, however, due e was not backed by the government's coalitionpartner MLP, wich made him extremely suspicious towards the MLP in the following years.
The Communist Uprising
As Rosenberg's confidant, Cassidy oversaw the rise of communist extremism, as he was known as a strong anti-communist. He also helped develop the strategy to expel the communist from parliament, after a number of assaults on civil targets by the communists. But he strongly recommended to ban communism on a political way, instead of initiating a military strike that could led to a civil war. Under his rule as Minister of Justice, Cassidy take care of the arrest of several prominent communists, wich he accused of treason and planning a coup d'etat against the government. It was then, things get out of hand, wich resulted in the communist uprising.
During the communist uprising Cassidy proved himself to be a gifted politician, with an ability to obtain compromises from key figures in the hawk camp concerning their position of aggression. The trust the President placed in him on matters of negotiation was such that Cassidy's role in the crisis is today seen as having been of vital importance in securing a blockade, which averted a full military engagement between the government and the communist rebellions. He advised Rosenberg to negotiate with the communist, and make an armed interference only as a last option. It was the same advise he gave Rosenberg succesor, Carla Franco, but after Franco decided to take some drastic measure and launche the attack on the communist rebellions, he backed the majority of the government and finally supported a military encounter in Kurmal.
Social-Conservative Program
Cassidy remained Minister of Justice under Franco, but it was commonly known that they didn't get along with eachother at all. Cassidy became very suspicous towards the MLP after they blocked his plans to re-install the death penalty and to make abortions illegal. As leader of the Nationalists, Cassidy wanted nothing else then another coalition-partner. His oppertunaty came after the 2633 elections, when the SCP became the largest party and their leader, Gene Hamshee, was elected president. Right at the beginning, Cassidy and Hamshee get along very well with eachother, a connection he missed with the MLP. As NP-chairman, he took part of the negotiations with the SCP to form a new government, containing SCP, NP and the Anarchist Union. Their choice to involve the anarchists inthe government was shocking and very surprisingly, but it was the only way to get a majority and to keep the communists and the MLP out of the government, since the NP didn't want to work together with both parties.
Under the Hamshee-presidency, SCP and NP agreed to establish some moral legislation Cassidy was lobbying for for so long now. Now, Cassidy was able to set up a more conservative abortion policy, and to reduce the sexual and violent influences in society. In 2636, he resigned after his brother, John, stepped down as Prime Minister, followed by every other cabinet member from the NP. This made an end of the full decade as Minister of Justice.
Assassination
In 2640, imcubent president Hamshee began to run for reelection. In January 2640, faced with what was widely considered an unrealistic race against an incumbent President and a worthy and very strong opponent (MLP's Pierce Farnsworth), Cassidy stated he would not seek the presidency. After Hamshee anounced he would not run for re-election and instead endorse a communist candidate, and the nationalist weren't endorsing any other candidate but decided to run their own candidate, Cassidy announced he'd run for presidency for the 2641 elections.
Cassidy was very popular. In June 2640, he won the NP primary in wich the nationalists endorsed Cassidy as their presidential candidate. He easily defeated Ultran governor Brown and his younger brother Edward Cassidy, by winning the primary with almost 58%.
On 1 November 2640, just two months before the elections, Cassidy held a major victory speech in Sildar. This gave him more chance for winning the presidential elections, as he stood only 2 ponits behind the other chanceful candidate, Pierce Farnsworth. He addressed his supporters in the early morning hours of November 2 in a ballroom at the Astoria Hotel in Ceres. He left the ballroom through a service area to greet supporters working in the hotel's kitchen. In a crowded kitchen passageway, a 24-year old muslim-extremist, Rezir Shah, opened fire with a .22 caliber revolver and shot Cassidy in the head at close range. The assasinator was immediatly hold down by the police. Following the shooting, Cassidy was rushed to the Ceres Memorial Hospital where he died early the next morning.
Immediately following the mass, Cassidy's body was transported by special train to Libertia. Thousands of mourners lined the tracks and stations, paying their respects as the train passed by.