Dahlia Avander-Slade

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Dahlia Avander-Slade was a major political figure in the late 25th and early 26th century. She was the second President of the The Terran Republic

Early Life

Born in 2460 on Mars in Cydonia City, Dahlia was the only daughter of business magnate Rook Avander-Slade. Dahlia attended exclusive prep-schools before studying political science at Cydonia College. She volunteered as part of several charities whilst at college and interned for a summer at Allied-West.

Marriages and Children

Dahlia Avander-Slade was introduced to Lord Gael Grumman in 2485 and the two hit it off, later marrying in a lavish ceremony with all of the Empire's best and brightest in attendance. The two had one child, their son Malik Grumman.
With Gael's capture and apparent death during the Sixth Karkouri War, Dahlia claimed control of New Berlin and named herself as Premier of the Planet. She remarried in 2510 to Martian business man Ramseur Serrant.

Charity Sector

Dahlia worked for her families charitable foundation "Waylander Foundation" for five years out of college, raising money for the poor and the needy people of the Empire. She also sat on the boards of several charities where her family had major donations.

Politics

Dahlia got involved in politics out of college, generally raising money for moderate political causes who had a keen interest in the social welfare of Mars and the wider Empire. She was generally considered to be somewhat of a centre-left ideology, though she strongly distanced herself from the radical Martian Workers Party.

The Republic

Dahlia became heavily involved in the foundation of the Republic, working alongside its other "founding fathers" like Leander Ashpool and Everann Sickles . She formally joined the Destiny Party and was named to the cabinet as Foreign Secretary.
She took part in much of the shuttle diplomacy with Mars, Earth and the Free-Worlds Pact. She was often considered something of an outsider by President Sickles.
In 2508 she announced that she would seek the Destiny Party nomination for President in 2510. She was named the party's nominee in 2509 after a backroom deal.
Dahlia took part in the campaign, making the case for Destiny as a centrist movement and espousing her support for Terran Unity, for tolerance, for a strong defence and social spending.
After the election of the 2510 General Assembly, there was consensus for a broad centrist alliance involving Destiny, the Social Democrats and the Centrist Coalition. It was agreed that as Destiny had the most seats, Dahlia would be the President and she was voted into office by the General Assembly.

President of the Republic

Dahlia took office in April of 2510. She moved quickly to form a working cabinet, with Secretary of Defence Leander Ashpool seen as her right hand man.

She named longtime ally Rebecca Ford as her Chief of Staff
Dahlia's first cabinet:

• Leander Ashpool - Destiny Party - Secretary of Defence
• Addison Morley - Centrist Coalition - Treasury Secretary
• Kayce Moreshower - Social Democrat - Foreign Secretary
• Dante Hayes - Independent - Secretary of Intelligence and Communications
• Jaxon Freidlander - Social Democrat - Secretary of the Interior
• Lisa Whitting - Centrist Coalition - Attorney General
• Rebecca Ford - Independent - Chief of Staff

Dahlia's first major victory was the agreement in principle that would see Earth join the Republic. This historic agreement would hugely increase the size and financial might of the Republic, though it was not a popular move on Earth.
Dahlia also successfully passed a massive spending increase that saw the military budget expanded. This caused a rift with the Social Democrats.
The major business of Dahlia's first five years was the coup on Nova Terra which saw Burning Path cease control of the planet. Burning Path attempted to install Prince Clay Tancredo as the new governor but the Republic refused to acknowledge this and bullish Secretary of Defence Leander Ashpool called for an invasion of the planet.
This resulted in a near showdown with the Free Worlds Pact which was narrowly averted from outright war.
Due to fractures over the response to Nova Terra and the major military spending of her administration, President Avander-Slade was forced into a mid-term cabinet reshuffle:

• Kenzo Hiromi -Isolationist Party - Secretary of Defence
• Addison Morley - Centrist Coalition - Treasury Secretary
• Dr Savan Solarin - Independent - Foreign Secretary
• Dante Hayes - Independent - Secretary of Intelligence and Communications
• Hadden Sickles - Destiny Party - Secretary of the Interior
• Ackland Bruttenhelm - Centrist Coalition -Attorney General
• Abbot Hennigan - Independent - Chief of Staff

Dahlia agreed to deploy 300,000 Republic troops to Nova Terra, where they became embroiled in a savage war of attrition with Burning Path's fanatical troops. There was also several controversial mis-steps, most famously a missile strike against a hospital that saw the Republic's Senate form a Committee for the Conduct of the War.
Dahlia and her cabinet also failed to find common ground with the Free Worlds Pact and Dahlia's relationship with Mars took several hits after the leak of her correspondence with Princess Nova Valane that revealed she would reject any future aid from Mars. The Republic also put punitive stop and search measures in place for non-Hansa traffic from Mars.
Dahlia also faced problems back on New Berlin, where she relinquished her role as Premier of the Planet to her cousin Ostor Grumman. The so called Koenigsburg Grumman's were involved in a legal dispute claiming that Dahlia did not have the right to the Grumman estate. This was further complicated by the return of Lord Gael Grumman in 2518.
The formal decision by Earth to join the Republic was a win, however Furnace also seceded from the Republic, an act that should have been illegal but that the Republic took no action on, due to the distractions of the campaign on Nova Terra.
By 2519, the Nova Terra campaign had seen the Republic lose 102,000 dead and another 150,000 wounded, with its forces badly depleted and replacements being sent in from militia units and from Earth.
After some speculation, Dahlia announced in December of 2519 that she would not seek a second term as President and would be returning to her private life and charities. In her farewell address, she gave praise to Leander Ashpool, Addison Morley and her chief of staff, Abbot Hennigan. The praise for Leander Ashpool was seen by some Destiny Party insiders as a tacit endorsement.

Post Presidency

At the 2520 Destiny Party convention, Dahlia was surprisingly named Party chairman, with most reports suggesting a deal had been made with former Defence Secretary Leander Ashpool.
In April of 2520, ahead of the election, Dahlia returned to Mars, apparently on family business, leaving Addison Morley in charge of the government. However, she was accused of treason against the Republic and that she was a spy for Mars by Leander Ashpool, causing the fraught relationship between the two to collapse.
In October of 2520, Dahlia formally announced that she would leave the Destiny Party and would be considered retired from politics.
In 2523, Dahlia returned to the Republic to clear her name, giving testimony to the Senate committee for the conduct of the war. Whilst she was not formally exonerated, no charges were made against her.
In 2546, with Mars joining the Republic, there were calls from members of Valiant for Dahlia to face arrest for her crimes against the Republic but the President and the Attorney General both rejected this call.
Dahlia passed away of natural causes later that year. Her funeral was a private affair

Relationships

Gael Grumman

spouse

Towards Dahlia Avander-Slade

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Dahlia Avander-Slade

spouse

Towards Gael Grumman

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2nd President of The Republic

2510 - 2520

Species

Human

Honorary & Occupational Titles

Caretaker of New Berlin
Foreign Secretary President of the Terran Republic

Life

2460 2546 86 years old

Spouses

Gael Grumman (spouse)

Siblings

Children

• Malik Grumman

Aligned Organization

The Terran Republic

Other Affiliations

• Grumman

Related Historical Events

• 2546
  Funeral of Dahlia Avander-Slade

Party Affiliation

Destiny Party [2508-2520]