Fred Strong

Fred Strong
Who's Who of Nouvelle Alexandrie
Full Name	Federico Augusto de Almagro y Strong
Titles & Offices	Vice-President of the Government (1749 AN - present) Secretary of Defense (1749 AN–present) Secretary for National Mobilisation (1744 AN - 1749 AN) Deputy of the Federal Assembly for North Lyrica (1744 AN-present)
Birth Date	12.X.1716 AN (45 AN years)
Parents	Felipe Felix de Almagro y Lorca and Penélope Strong
Spouse	Assumpta Bonita Ferrer (m. 13.IX.1751 AN)
Children	Hilda (b. 1752 AN)  · Malthus (b. 1754 AN)
Family	Grandson of Felipe de Almagro and great-grandson of Augustus Strong
Occupation	Politician, Plantation Owner
Political Affiliation	FHP
Organizations	Humanist Vanguard
Known For	Viva la humanismo, carajo!
Residence	Beaufort, North Lyrica
National Origin	Nouvelle Alexandrie
Citizenship(s)	Nouvelle Alexandrie

Federico Augusto de Almagro y Strong, commonly known as Fred Strong, is a Humanist politician and plantation owner from North Lyrica, notable for being the scion of two political dynasties - being the grandson of Felipe de Almagro and the great-grandson of Augustus Strong. He therefore possesses Constancian nationality by blood descent.

Biography

Early life and education

Enrolled at the Humanist Grammarian School, Beaufort, at the age of twelve in 1728 AN. Considered academically unremarkable, but able to gather a clique of hangers-on. Something of a bully, accumulating a number of minor disciplinary infractions. The good family name shielded him from most adverse consequences. Responded favourably to Humanist conditioning, particularly with regards to the necessity and inevitability of hierarchy in a harmonious society.

Transferred to the Primo de Aguilar Institute of the Humanities, Petropolis, in 1731 AN.

Political career

He was first elected as Deputy to the Federal Assembly in the 1744 general election representing the Region of North Lyrica. He would subsequently become aligned to the Social Peace and Humanist Realism ideological currents within the party.

As National Mobilisation Secretary, replacing Sébastien Rousseau, Fred Strong oversaw a comprehensive reorganisation of the Department, and would introduce the Public Space Security Act of 1745 that established a framework for deploying facial recognition technology in designated public spaces and prohibits facial coverings in areas monitored by such systems. He was accordingly, for some time afterwards, a figure of hate for civil rights and digital privacy groups.

The Premier Juan Pablo Jimenez praised Defense Secretary José Manuel Montero as "a soldier-statesman in our finest tradition" and National Mobilisation Secretary Fred Strong as "a brilliant legislator and mind," effectively signaling his preferences for succession ahead of the elections in 1749, following his own sudden resignation on grounds of age.

Montero appointed Fred Strong as Vice-Premier-designate and chief coalition negotiator following the New Alexandrian general election, 1749. Public statements from the FHP transition team emphasised policy-based coalition building and clean governance principles. However, negotiations proceeded slowly through late 1749 AN, with opposition parties making substantial demands. Financial markets reacted negatively to the extended uncertainty, with the Nouvelle Alexandrie Stock Exchange declining and the New Alexandrian écu weakening against major currencies. Business groups expressed concern about policy paralysis during the lengthy government formation process. The fortunes of the FHP negotiators would be dramatically upended by the Pact of Shadows scandal.

In the second month of 1750 AN, Fred Strong, now Vice-Premier, announced the commencement of a review into the Force 1752 initiative and its delivery, with a view to addressing concerns from within the Federal Forces of Nouvelle Alexandrie that numerous programmes had been borne along by a collective atmosphere of cumulative excitement regarding the possibilities of Alexandrium and Artificial Intelligence. The review was tasked with verifying the claimed potentialities of the myriad technology demonstrators which were being pushed for mass production, and thereafter to:

1. Align the newly generated forces to a common operational doctrine;
2. Identify areas of duplication and overlap in the procurement programmes with a view to their rationalisation.

The review would be headed by Marshal General Juan Carlos Quispe Mamani, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Council between 1745 and 1748, with an interim report requested within six months.

Some areas of duplication were swiftly identified, with the Ironshield Guardian Air Defense System and Cerberus Dome in particular occupying the same niche as close-in weapon systems likely to be assigned to the force protection role in area defence regiments.

Consideration would also be given to the consolidation of a number of weapons, currently on separate platforms, into an integrated system. These included the aforementioned two but also the Athena and Vulcan air defence systems, with the proposal that each armament should be integrated into the command and control network of a modernised System-2 Missile Complex. With each system working to complement the other, the possibility of an effective area denial bubble, sufficient to cover the operational footprint of a brigade, could be realised.

"I still don't quite understand what the hell it is that we have supposedly been buying. However, I am generally – in principle – willing to point some of these contraptions in the direction of a convenient enemy in order to find out."

—Vice-Premier Fred Strong, upon reading the review's interim report, VII.1750 AN

The Vice-Premier chaired an inter-departmental coordination committee that met weekly from X.1750 AN through the Federation-wide Sports Summit of 1751 to its conclusion.

The Hato Rey Conference of XIII.1750 AN, saw Vice-Premier Fred Strong, present in Hato Rey on account of a tour of inspection of Alexandrian Legion regiments recently transferred to Boriquén from North Lyrica, meet with Civic Governance Alliance and Humanist deputies in an effort to get the measure of the seemingly unassailable control of the ethnically particularist Wakara People's Party in the region.

In the final days of 1750 AN the further sale of United Manufacturing Corporation (UMC) assets was definitively repudiated by the Vice-Premier, who stated that the purpose of the the UMC was and remained to surge manufacturing output whenever and however higher authority required.

Co-authored the monograph Against Transhumanism with Alexander Melas, circulated amongst party cadres in IV.1751 AN.

He delivered a 45-minute address to approximately 120 senior FHP officials at a closed session of the party's Central Secretariat in Cárdenas on 15.IX.1751 AN. The speech, which remained for internal consumption only and was not shared with the press, warned of the dangers of over-reliance on artificial intelligence and the scarce mineral Alexandrium.

Strong argued that the pursuit of artificial intelligence powered by Alexandrium represented "the most perfect example of a vast energy and resource input for marginal efficiency return," and cautioned that investments disproportionate to their returns, compounded by impending peak extraction, risked forcing "a sudden and dramatic simplification of our society." The address prompted internal discussions on diversifying technological investments beyond Alexandrium-dependent systems, with some cadres advocating for stricter extraction quotas in line with the Alexandrium Horizon report's recommendations.

Participated in the Fontainebleau Summit on Alliance Revitalization, that commenced on II.1752 AN, as part of the formal top-level delegation for Nouvelle Alexandrie. Notably advanced the candidacies of the High Commissioner and Deputy High Commissioner of the revitalised Raspur Pact.

Supported and voted for the Treaty of Preplava Ratification and Application Act, 1752, establishing relations with Brezovo and Yavorina.

Signed off on Operation Put the Whiskey Down, commenced on 15.XV.1752 AN, which established a conduit for New Alexandrian intelligence, logistical, and technical support to the Imperial Constancian Armed Forces during Operation Red Bamboo, the invasion of Banh Nam.

Vice-Premier Fred Strong, standing in for Premier Jose Manuel Montero who was traveling in Oportia, defended the government response to the PBS banking crisis, 1753-1754. "The system worked. Stress testing was ordered. Stress testing was conducted. A capital shortfall was identified and is being addressed through the proper regulatory channels. Deposits are insured. The CRA is not failing. It is being required to strengthen its capital position. That is not a crisis. That is supervision." FCP leader Gabaza renewed his argument that PBS caps should have been enacted in 1751 AN. "The warnings were correct. The government's response was two years late."

At the initiative of Vice-Premier Fred Strong, the 303rd Army of Observation was organised in Eastern Santander, providing security for resettlement operations and a visible demonstration of New Alexandrian commitment to the Mala'anje Resistance during the Mala self-determination crisis, 1753.

Following the New Alexandrian general election, 1754, the FHP negotiating team, led by Vice-Premier Fred Strong and Chief Whip Daniela Ferrer, signed a preliminary framework with the CGA on 29.IX.1754 AN. Montero did not countersign. Within hours of the framework's circulation to the FHP parliamentary group, senior deputies raised objections.

A parallel negotiation had been underway since the first week after the election. On 23.IX.1754 AN, the Vice-Premier and FHP Chief Whip Daniela Ferrer met informally with four Aldurian independent deputies at a private dinner in Cárdenas. The four, all former community leaders and local officials whose campaigns had been built on personal reputation rather than party affiliation, indicated that a group of Aldurian independents might be willing to provide confidence and budget support in exchange for targeted commitments to the region. Strong and Ferrer reported the conversation to Montero the same evening. These negotiations, left with Ferrer, led to the FHP-Independent confidence and supply agreement, 1754.

Private life

Famously partial to receiving crates of Clos de Montferrand at gatherings hosted amongst the family's sprawling tea plantations.

Married Assumpta Bonita Ferrer on 13.IX.1751 AN, following an introduction and courtship arranged through the N&H Future Leadership Programme. The wedding in Beaufort, North Lyrica, was a noted society occasion for the region's Humanist cadres and business community. The union was fruitful and yielded Hilda (b. 1752 AN) and Malthus (b. 1754 AN).

Business interests

Federico Augusto de Almagro y Strong included a non-executive board position with Iðunn Lyrican Investments Inc. as part of his entry in the members register of interests upon taking his seat in the Federal Assembly of Nouvelle Alexandrie in 1744 AN.

Inherited the estate of Domaine Forté from his family. The property is held in a blind trust during his service in the executive government, though he is expected to resume active management upon leaving office.

Selected quotes

"I would take leftism more seriously if it wasn't a theatre of audition for the management caste, and there wasn't the perpetual shell game of charitable funding leading back invariably to the taxpayer or some disinterested billionaire foundation, both operated by the management caste."

—Remarks at an Election Rally, Beaufort, 1754 AN

Honours and awards

• : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Imperial State of Constancia (Petropolis, 1753 AN)

See also

• Felipe de Almagro
• Maximillian de Almagro
• Augustus Strong
• Federal Humanist Party
• New Alexandrian general election, 1744
• North Lyrica