John McHale

John McHale
Java Name	mrgilger
Bedrock Name	thegilger
Town	Providence
Party	Progressive Party of Faru Liberal-Conservative Party United Party of Faru
2nd President of Faru
June 3, 2024 (2024-06-03) - July 13, 2024 (2024-07-13)

John McHale (Born May 18, 1896, age 29) is a politician who's currently serving as Mayor of Providence since September 1, 2024, his second stint in the position. He previously served as the 2nd President of Faru from June 3 to July 13 2024, as a member of the United and later Reform Party of Faru. He is most famous for dissolving the Senate on the last day of his term before being defeated in an upset by Priest Viktor, at which point he left Faru. He is currently a member of the Liberal-Conservative Party, and the de facto leader of the New Liberal Caucus.

Early Life

John McHale was born on May 18, 1896 in the city of Sturmhafn in what was then the Gilgerian Empire. He is the second son of Ronan McHale, the former Police Chief of Sturmhafn before him and his brother Liam's deposition during the 1919 Gilgerian Revolution. He is the grandnephew of Otis McHale, the "Diamond Chancellor" who united Gilgeria through a series of wars and political maneuvers in the 1860s. It is through him that John also shares an unfortunate connection with journalist and former Premier Aiden Costello, as Costello's grandfather was killed on the orders of Otis during the 1867 Hoyabembe Massacre.

Thanks to being the nephew of the Burgermeister, of Sturmhafn, John grew up in relative ease and comfort. As the second son of a second son, he was given a relatively high level of freedom to pursue his interests without the intervention of his family. It was this that allowed him to take an interest in the vibrant art scene of Sturmhafn, as well as the goings-on of the harbor, which is where he would ultimately be exposed to the dark side of his uncle's regime. In 1914, he witnessed a socialist intellectual who's name has unfortunately been lost get carted off by Police for protesting Gilgeria's entry into what turned out to be the Great War, most likely on the orders of his father. During the war, him and his family would often tour the docks making speeches about morale, and while his Uncle and father remained blinkered, John possessed an unusual sympathy for the workers. It was clear that the regime that John's grand uncle had installed, and especially that being enforced by his uncle and father, was causing indescribable suffering for regular people, people whom John was sympathetic to.

John would enter public notoriety in 1917, when he let slip to a reporter his feeling that the war needed to be ended as soon as possible. This caused great embarrassment to the family and had him placed under house arrest for 6 months. Eventually, as it became clear in the summer of 1918 that the war was lost and the McHale's position was untenable, John would completely switch sides, joining the ranks of the broadly left-wing Koalition fur der Arbeiters (K.A.G.) in protests against the Imperial government. When the armistice finally did come in November 1918, the Koalition would back striking dock workers and overthrow Liam and Ronan, replacing them with an interim Socialist administration.

Despite his support for the Koalition, McHale's name and position of privilege made him a target for the more radical elements of the Koalition in the heat of the revolution. His flat, located near the old artisan district, was routinely vandalized by the so-called "Red Guards" who would only subside in 1920. This, combined with John's increasingly Liberal stances and apparent out-of-touchness with regular people and even the party intelligentsia, caused him to be expelled from the Koalition in 1920. Fearing further reprisals, John chose to cut his losses and move to the newly minted Republic of Faru.