Leander Ashpool was a major Terran political figure from the 25th and 26th century. He is seen by many as the "founding father" of the
The Terran Republic
Early Life
Leander Ashpool was born on Eden in 2455 to Dorsey Ashpool and Alix Swofford. He attended exclusive prep-schools there before attending
Cydonia College . He studied a BA in engineering and graduated in 2476.
Leander's father, Captain Dorsey Ashpool, was killed in action during the battle of Eden in 2480.
Marriages
Leander has married twice:
- Larissa Krane in 2485
- Elyon Maquessa in 2521
Leander had one son with Larissa, Sandor Ashpool who was born in 2485.
Leander and Elyon had four children:
- Alexander -Born 2522
- Darius -Born 2522
- Tiberius -Born 2525
- Phillip -Born 2525
Military Career
After graduating from college, Leander signed up to the Imperial Navy and graduated from the academy in 2478. His first assignment was part of Admiral Sleaydon Sordell's staff. He was later promoted to the rank of Lieutenant (JG).
With the death of his father in 2480, Leander was elevated to the head of House Ashpool and named President of Ashpool Heavy Industries. He was granted indefinite leave by the Navy to see to this family business.
He was honorably discharged on a hardship basis in 2490 at the rank of Lieutenant
Business Career
Leander was named as the President of AHI after the death of his father and his grandfather. The day to day running of AHI was left to the company's CEO.
Whilst Leander attended some board meetings and generally attended the AGM, his involvement with AHI was generally fairly light.
Member of the imperial Parliament
Leander stood for election in 2485 in the Imperial Parliament as an MP on the
Destiny Party ticket. He was elected to a safe seat.
He was often an ally to the conservative faction at the Imperial court but also considered to be a moderate and a technocrat. He developed a reputation to bi-partisanship and was named Conference Chairman for his party in 2490.
Foundation of the Republic
With the collapse of the Terran Empire and the surrender to the Karkouri, Leander Ashpool led a small group of MP's and military officers who rejected the surrender and called for continued resistance.
They established the "Terran Republic" in 2498 as the successor the Terran Empire and initially struggled to gain much traction.
When
Everann Sickles was elected the first President of the Republic, Leander was called to join the cabinet as the Secretary of Defence
Leander's status as the "Founding Father" of the Republic was often spoken of by his allies and there was some bitterness later in his career when he faced prosecution and was nearly run out of Republican politics.
Secretary of Defence -Sickles Administration
Leander was appointed the first Secretary of Defence of the Republic. Leander was pivotal in the creation of the Republic Navy and the Republic Marine corps, as well as helping to establish the Republic's Office of Naval Intelligence (ONIR).
He was a budget hawk, pushing for increased spending on the Republic's armed forces and pushing the administration to retake worlds lost to the Karkouri Regime and the Dhau Empire.
As Secretary of Defence, he was often considered the defacto deputy to the President and the most influential member of the cabinet.
TND Upload
Despite being in good health, Leander decided to have his mind uploaded as a TND consciousness and was then downloaded into an artificial frame. This caused an estrangement with Larissa Krane, who later divorced him.
In 2520, Leander's consciousness was transferred from the robotic frame to a newly grown organic frame.
Secretary of Defence -Avander-Slade Administration
With the election of
Dahlia Avander-Slade as President, Leander was asked to continue in his role as Secretary of Defence.
During this five year period as Secretary of Defence, Leander battled with the General Assembly and even his own cabinet to expand military spending, as well as to put pressure on the Karkouri to give up its Hassal League worlds.
With the "Burning Coup" and the muddled handling of it by the Avander-Slade administration, Leander resigned his post in 2514.
The Election of 2520
During the 2520
Destiny Party convention, Leander was the favorite to win the party's nomination. However, a late challenge by Dorsey Greyfort, with the backing of House Grumman and several more moderate members of the party saw Leander lose the nomination in a very close result.
Before the 2520 presidential election, Dahlia Avander-Slade moved back to Mars, outside of the Republic's jurisdiction. Leander gave an incendiary press conference, accusing the former President of treason and called on his party to suspend its campaign.
This caused a split in the Destiny Party and
Malik Grumman to switch parties to the
Social Democratic Party . The split in the Destiny Party, which saw the majority of the party leadership side with Leander, indirectly led to the merger with
Valiant Party
Secretary of Defence - Creed Administration
Leander was invited to take up the office of Secretary of Defence for the 3rd time under President Creed but Leander enjoyed a difficult and frustrating relationship with the President, as well as the rest of the cabinet and the Creed administration developed a reputation as dysfunctional and ineffective.
Leander protested the inclusion of Malik Grumman in the cabinet due to his party switch and also protested that a member of
Vishnu Elpis had been given the role of Minister of Intelligence due to the links with Mars.
Due to the clashes between Leander and the SDP leadership, especially Malik Grumman, President Creed was forced to warn both sides that if they couldn't work together, he would sack them all and replace them with Centrists and Independents.
Leander Ashpool was key in getting Strategic Dynamics PMC's deployed to Nova Terra and in 2524 he announced the end of combat operations on the planet.
Leander resigned from the cabinet in 2525 as expected and was not invited to return to the cabinet.
The PMC Affair - Hiatus from Politics
House Ashpool had established PMC corporation "Strategic Dynamics" to deal with the Burning Coup on Nova Terra. Due to perceived conflicts of interest, Leander Ashpool was investigated by the Senate's Oversight committee
Leander Ashpool gave testimony and was charged for breaching established rules on conflicts of interest. He was suspended from seeking political office for the next ten years but otherwise was not given any custodial sentence.
Leander announced his retirement from politics in 2527 but remained a behind the scenes figure within the
Valiant Party .
Work on Eden and Elsewhere
After leaving the cabinet and retiring from politics, Leander spent much of his time travelling to and from Eden, as well as other colonies, to help establish the concept of a free government and to persuade them to consider joining the Republic.
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Return to Politics
In 2535 Leander began to play a political role again, though very much behind the scenes raising money for Valiant and helping to groom and mentor new leaders within the party.
He was tapped by
Xavier Inkerman to join his campaign staff when he clinched the Valiant nomination in 2540 and was seen as a powerful behind the scenes figure
Chief of Staff to the President - the Inkerman Administration
With the election of President Inkerman, he announced that Leander would serve his administration as Chief of Staff to the President. Leander also was Transition chairman and had to deal with several impasses with members of the SDP who were in no mood to do an Ashpool or a member Valiant any favours after the impeachment hearings.
Leander took up his role in May of 2540, overseeing 1,300 members of staff directly under the President. He also attended cabinet meetings and regularly worked 12-14 hour days under the President.
President Inkerman gave a huge level of power and access to Leander and, when queried on why he gave so much power to his Chief of Staff, the President replied that "who could be better as Chief of Staff then the founder of the Republic?"
Leander helped oversee a major increase to the Republic's military budget and helped to keep a sometimes fractious cabinet working together. He also helped to cool temperatures during the "Intelligence Affair" as many unauthorized black ops were launched against
The Antares Federation
Leander also helped execute President Inkerman's plan to get the Hansa to forgive all existing debts owed to the Republic.
Leander announced in December of 2544 that he would step down as Chief of Staff in 2545, citing exhaustion and the need for new blood. The President's longtime legal counsel and senior strategist Tavon Willis took over in February of 2545.
Later Life and Death
After leaving the President's staff, Leander moved to the frontier, working out of Eden in an attempt to build new colonies. He was a key part in the organisation of the Sanctuary colony.
Leander was murdered by unknown persons in 2560. His death was greatly mourned, with President
Xavier Inkerman ordering Republic flags to fly at half mast and instructing the Federal government to begin a day of mourning.
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