Nathan Hopley

Nathan Hopley
11th President of Libertas Omnium Maximus
In office January 1, 1893 – January 1, 1899
Chancellor	Andrew Ramsey
Preceded by	Edgar Dalton
Succeeded by	William Baker
Personal details
Born	(1836-05-08)May 8, 1836 Megaryon Plains, Provisional Iustitian Government
Died	September 16, 1909(1909-09-16) (aged 73) Litudinem, Passarelle, Libertas Omnium Maximus
Political party	Conservative
Awards	Cross of Extraordinary Service
Military service
Allegiance	Libertas Omnium Maximus
Years of service	1853-1878
Rank	Major
Unit	11th Cavalry Regiment
Battles/wars	War of the Seven Provinces

Nathan Hopley was a Maximusian conservative politician and military leader who served as the 11th President of Libertas Omnium Maximus from 1893 to 1899. A hero of the War of the Seven Provinces, Hopley began his meteoric political career in 1880, becoming the first National Conservative governor of Elizabeth Province, the first National Conservative President of Libertas Omnium Maximus, and a figurehead for the conservative intellectual revival of the 1880s and '90s. After his retirement from politics following the end of his second presidential term, Hopley became chairman of the National Conservative Party's general operations committee, a position which he retained until 1906.

Early Life and Military Career

Nathan Hopley was born in 1836 in the Megaryon Plains region of what is today Elizabeth Province, one year before the outbreak of the Iustitian Civil War, to Daniel and Martha Hopley. His paternal grandmother was of mixed Khersonsic/Eonedic heritage, making him the first person not of full Eonedic ancestry to go on to become President of Libertas Omnium Maximus. Hopley received little formal education, working on the apple orchard of a neighbor for most of his adolescent years. At the age of 16 or 17, he enlisted in the Maximusian Army, initially serving as a bugler.

In 1857, Hopley was placed on a special commissioned officer track with the 11th Cavalry Regiment, which was subsequently deployed on a surveying expedition in the Kapoulon Mountains of northern Libertas Omnium Maximus. During the expedition, Hopley lost a fingertip to frostbite and became completely deaf in his left ear after the regiment became trapped by an avalanche in February of 1859. Despite the disastrous turn of events, no men were lost over the course of the enterprise and Hopley was said to have demonstrated exemplary leadership during the ordeal. He spent the next decade of his career on a series of similar surveying and cartographic operations in northern and northwest Libertas Omnium Maximus. His men also assisted the Army Engineer Corps in constructing a telegraph line running through the high desert of western Cambria in 1866.

At the onset of the War of the Seven Provinces, Hopley's regiment was stationed near the border of Lematre Province and was among the first regular units to be mobilized following the declaration of war on April 12th, 1875. [...] During a skirmish with entrenched Laeralite militia forces on June 11, 1877, Hopley was grievously wounded by an artillery salvo, leading to the loss of his left eye. He spent the remainder of the war in a military hospital and was honorably discharged in March of 1878. He was honored with the Cross of Extraordinary Service, the second highest Maximusian military decoration, for his "heroism in combat and intrepid leadership in wartime."