Lucas Brown

Lucas Brown
32nd President of Libertas Omnium Maximus
Incumbent
Assumed office September 7, 2016 (2016-09-07)
Vice President	Howard Slater
Preceded by	Amanda Laine
Succeeded by	Collin Lestrange
Personal details
Born	(1963-09-17) September 17, 1963 Litudinem, Libertas Omnium Maximus
Nationality	Maximusian
Political party	Conservative
Residence	Presidential Estate, Libertas Omnium Maximus
Alma mater	University of Redbury Litudinem Legal Academy
Occupation	Politician, attorney

Lucas Brown (born September 17, 1963) is the incumbent President of Libertas Omnium Maximus. He was elected on September 7th, 2016 and was formally inaugurated on January 1, 2017. Brown was a successful lawyer and politician before running for president.

Early Life and Career

Brown was born on September 17, 1963 in Litudinem, Libertas Omnium Maximus to Andrew and Jane Brown. His father was a senior partner at Winslow & Brown, a personal injury law firm in Litudinem, while his mother worked as an administrative assistant at the firm. Brown attended the prestigious St. John's Academy boarding school for his primary education, where he played competitive tennis and racquetball. Brown attended the University of Redbury, graduating in 1985 with a degree in economics and political science. He went on to attend law school and joined the prestigious Madison, Smith, and Jacobs law firm as an associate in 1990, specializing in corporate regulatory law.

Political Career

In 1996, Brown ran for and was elected to the Passarelle Province provincial legislature. [...]

In 2000, Brown was elected to the Maximusian Senate, representing the Passarelle 18th Council, which comprised a portion of the Litudinem metropolitan area. [...] He served until he was unseated by Michael Laing in 2012.

President

Brown announced that he would be running for president in 2014 and subsequently won the 2016 election by a thin but sufficient margin. During the first two years of his presidency, Brown presided over a rebounding economy and proudly signed a number of tax relief bills into law, a cause he had fought extensively for during his time in the Maximusian Senate. In 2018, Brown championed military intervention in Lauchenoiria during the nation's Civil War. Following the Maximusian declaration of war against and deployment of troops in Lauchenoiria in July of 2018, Maximusian forces were met with stiff resistance at Carville and Annatown, leading to a drop in domestic approval of the Brown administration. Following the brutal Maximusian assault on Carville, which resulted in Libertas Omnium Maximus being found guilty of war crimes during the 2019 Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Brown issued a formal apology to the city's residents on behalf of the Maximusian government.

He was reelected in 2020.

Political Positions and Controversies

In a 2015 interview, Brown self-identified his political stance as "entirely consistent with a classical liberal social and economic worldview, informed by faith in God, family, and the combined strength of [his] countrymen." He has at times been characterized as a conservative nationalist, a reactionary anti-communist, and, frequently by members of his own party further to the right, as a neoliberal. Though some of his views have shifted over his nearly three decade political career, his ideology can reasonably be classified as center-right to right leaning. Over his nearly three decade political career, Brown's stances have shifted, particularly on matters of religion and interventionism.

Economy, Regulation, and Welfare

When Brown began his career as a legislator in Passarelle, he gained a reputation as a hardline proponent of fiscal austerity and budget cuts, but has relaxed his stance on these issues in recent years. Despite promises early on in the 2016 presidential campaign trail that he would never approve of a federal budget running a significant deficit, Brown has approved numerous omnibus spending bills since assuming the presidency, several of which relied on deficit spending. He remains a staunch proponent of tax cuts, but has actually rolled back certain corporate welfare subsidies enacted by his Conservative predecessors in the late 1990s. Citing the nation's shaky history with currency devaluation in the 1970s following massive inflation, Brown generally opposes further expansion to the Maximusian welfare state. In 2019, Brown supported legislation to expand healthcare opportunities for discharged Maximusian servicemen, calling post-traumatic stress disorder a "national health threat."

Foreign Policy and Trade

Brown is a controversial figure in international relations, generally taking a highly nationalist stance on foreign policy issues. At times, Brown has supported tariffs, particularly on imports from socialist and communist nations and to protect nascent industries, but rejects the long-term viability of trade wars. Brown has stated his personal support for intervention abroad, noting that "[The Maximusian Republic] reserves the right to intervene for any reason, anywhere, anytime her interests are threatened" in a 2020 interview. However, Brown did vow that, even if the criteria for intervention was met, he would not contribute troops unless overwhelming public support for the war existed.

Personal Life

Brown married his high-school sweetheart in 1987 and has three children, two sons and one daughter. Brown owns a ranch outside of Litudinem in Wilusa Springs, which he purchased in 2014 for M$2.6 million, along with four thoroughbred racehorses and a 1968 Bailey Model 736 convertible (worth an estimated M$275,000). By his own account, Brown attends Catholic Mass weekly, making him the second Catholic president of Libertas Omnium Maximus in the nation's history. Brown enjoys pheasant and quail hunting.