Alexander Harper

   

The Right Honorable Alexander Harper MP OPS
Harper's official portrait, 2015
17th President of Superior
In office December 18, 2003 – October 6, 2015
Monarch	Christian I (2003–2015) William II (2015)
Deputy	James Carlson
Preceded by	James Carr
Succeeded by	Jennifer Granholm
Leader of the Opposition
In office November 2, 1999 – December 18, 2003
Preceded by	Roy McHammond
Succeeded by	James Carr
Leader of the United Conservative Party
In office November 2, 2002 – June 24, 2015
Preceded by	Party established
Succeeded by	Christina Walker
Leader of the United Popular Front
In office April 8, 1998 – November 2, 2002
Preceded by	David Manning
Succeeded by	Party dissolved
Member of the House of Delegates from Central Grand Forks (Dakota's 3rd district)
In office December 3, 1989 – October 6, 2015
Preceded by	Louis Matterheim
Succeeded by	Henrich Oldenburg
Personal details
Born	(1961-06-12) June 12, 1961 Duluth, Arrowhead, Kingdom of Superior
Nationality	Superian
Political party	United Conservative
Other political affiliations	File:Superian United Popular Front.svg United Popular Front (1988-2002)
Spouse(s)	Angela Merz (m.1990)
Children	2
Education	University of Augustus (BA)

Alexander Jonathan Harper (born June 12, 1961) is a Superian politician and educator who served as President of Superior from 2003 to 2015. The founder of the United Conservative Party, Harper served as Leader of the Opposition from 2000 to 2003 and as a member of the House of Delegates from 1989 to 2015, representing downtown Grand Forks, Dakota. Harper previously served as the leader of the United Popular Front from 1998 to 2002, being the primary proponents of its merger with the Conservative Party.

Harper was born in Duluth, Arrowhead, but grew up in Brahms, Dakota. Harper attended the University of Augustus and the University of Minnesota, receiving both a bachelor's and master's degree in Superian history and politics. In 1986, Harper began teaching at George Miller High School in Grand Forks, Dakota, teaching both Superian history and government. He was the youngest teacher at the school, teaching his first class at the age of 25. Harper entered politics in 1989, being elected to the House of Delegates as a member of the right wing United Popular Front. He became the youngest member elected to the chamber at the time, being sworn in at the age of 28. Despite his young age, Harper emerged as a leading figure in the United Popular Front and the overall Superian right. As a House Delegate, Harper supported socially conservative and economically liberal legislation, and during his early tenure was rated as one of the most conservative members of the House of Delegates. In 1998, after major successes for the United Popular Front, Harper was elected leader of the party, succeeding longtime leader David Manning, becoming one of the youngest party leaders in Superian history. As leader of the United Popular Front, Harper continued to support socially conservative legislation, and supported greater co-operation with the declining Conservative Party.

In the 1999 federal election, the United Popular Front became the second largest party in the House of Delegates, officially allowing Harper to form a legislative opposition to incumbent President James Carr and his Liberal Democratic government. As Leader of the Opposition, Harper criticized the Carr government for it's increasingly liberal stances on issues, and opposed most legislation proposed by the Liberal Democratic majority. In 2000, Harper allowed the Conservative Party, who previously opposed the United Popular Front, into the official opposition. In 2002, as the 2003 federal election inched closer, Harper forged a unification deal with the Conservative Party, uniting the United Popular Front and the Conservatives into the United Conservative Party, which is the leading right-leaning political party in modern Superian politics. In 2003, Harper was elected President of Superior after the United Conservatives won a landslide election against Carr and the Liberal Democrats. Harper he was sworn in on December 23 by King Christian.

As President of Superior, Harper pursued a socially conservative and economically liberal platform, despite. In 2004, Harper and his government proposed a number of educational reform bills, hoping to increase educational competitiveness and encourage greater educational output in Superior. The National Education Revival Act was passed with multi-partisan approval, being one of the first of Harper's bills that was passed with multi-party support. However, after his presidency, Harper publicly came to regret the passage of the bill, as it lead to the implementation of Common Core Standards in Superior by his successor, something that Harper is opposed to. In 2004, Harper was supportive of the invasion of Ba'athist Syria, seeing the invasion as justified for the Syrian regime's support of terrorism, calling it "payback" for the September 11 attacks. After the initial invasion, Harper was opposed to the occupation and reformation of Syria and it's government, a stance which he received both praise and criticism for. Harper attempted multiple times during his first term to use his executive privileges to order the return of Superian forces, but was overridden by Parliament. After his re-election in 2007, Harper proposed a number of economic aid legislation, targeted at helping Superian in the wake of the Great Recession. In 2009, Harper attempted to push forward the Traditional Marriage Act of 2004, a proposed act of legislation have eliminated same-sex unions in Superior and define marriage as being between a man and a woman. The bill was narrowly be defeated after moderate members of the United Conservative Party voted against it.

After his 2011 re-election, Harper took a more conservative stance in the legislature, passing legislation without multi-party support, which had previously been a large part of his government's platform. In 2012, Harper and the United Conservative majority passed the Self Reliance Act of 2012, which lowered the funding of certain welfare programs in an effort to promote greater economic self-reliance. Harper was criticized for the Self Reliance Act, as it targeted multiple welfare programs and the Public Health Program. It was narrowly be defeated in Parliament. In 2013, Harper supported efforts to repeal restrictive climate change laws in Superior, citing their effects on Superior's large fossil fuel and mining industry. In 2014, after more than a decade as President, Harper announced his intentions to not seek re-election in the upcoming federal election. Harper resigned as leader of the United Conservative Party in June of 2015, being succeeded by Christina Walker, and left the Presidency in October 2015, being succeeded by Liberal Democrat Jennifer Granholm. After leaving Parliament, Harper he became a professor at the University of Augustus, teaching Superian history and politics. However, he still remains politically active and continues to support the United Conservative Party. In 2018, Harper formed the Unite the Right organization, which donates to conservative causes in Superior. Since leaving the presidency, Harper has remained one of the more popular presidents in modern Superior, having a approval rating of 56% before leaving office.

Politically, Harper identifies as a social conservative and economic liberal. Socially, Harper is a staunch opponent of abortion, only supporting the practice if the mother's life is in potential danger. As President, Harper publicly supported the defunding of Planned Parenthood. Harper is also an opponent of same-sex marriage and civil unions, and was critical of his successor's success at legalizing same-sex marriage in 2016, and is an opponent of Common Core, criticizing the educational standard for "harming our student's academic success". Harper is supportive of the promotion of Christian values in Superian society. Harper is also a staunch supporter of the Monarchy of Superior. Economically, Harper supports government de-regulation of multiple industries, including Superior's large coal industry. Harper is an opponent of most climate change regulations. On foreign policy, Harper is opposed to the normalization of relations with the United Commonwealth, calling Superior's historic rival "the greatest threat to the free world". Harper is a critic of the Conference of American States, but is against Superior leaving the organization, saying that it should be reformed.

Early life, education, and career

Alexander Jonathan Harper was born on June 12th, 1961 to Henry and Julie Harper in Duluth, Arrowhead. Harper's father, Henry, was a police officer working for the Duluth Police Department, while Harper's mother, Julie, was a school teacher, teaching at Duluth Public High School. Harper was born as the middle child, having an older brother and later a younger sister. The Harper family initially lived in West Duluth, the suburban part of the city. However the family moved to Brahms, Dakota when Harper was four years old, after his father was offered a promotion at that city's police department. The family lived in the suburban Prairiewood neighborhood. Due to his father's profession, Harper developed a close relationship with his mother, aspiring to become a school teacher like her since he was young. Harper grww up in a Christian household, which Harper credits for helping form his political beliefs.

Harper began his educational career at the age of 5 in 1966, attending Brahms Elementary School and later Brahms Intermediary School. Harper was noted by former teachers and friends as being very academically involved and having a general interest in learning, something rare in children at the age. In 1975, Harper began attending Brahms Central Public High School. While in high school, Harper began developing his political leanings, at first supporting the Conservative Party and later the United Popular Front after its creation in 1977. While at high school, Harper was apart of his school's debate team and during his senior year, he was elected to the school's student government. All throughout high school, Harper kept high grades, resulting in him being nominated, and eventually becoming, his class's valedictorian at his graduation in 1979. After graduating from high school, Harper attended the University of Augustus in Augustus, Dakota, working towards earning a bachelor's degree in Superian history and government. While at university, Harper continued to support the United Popular Front, and assisted in campaign for local UPF candidates. While at university, Harper wrote for his school paper, generally writing about federal and state politics, being supportive of conservative candidates. Like high school, Harper also was apart of his school's debate team and participated in multiple debate competitions as a "conservative issue debater". Harper graduated from university in 1985, earning a bachelor's degree in Superian history and government.

After graduating from university, Harper pursued a career in education, working as a high school-level substitute teacher in early 1986. Later in the same year, Harper was offered a teaching position at George Miller High School in Grand Forks, Dakota, which he accepted. Harper began teaching Superian history and government at George Miller High School in late 1986 at the age of 25, becoming the youngest teacher at the school. As a teacher, Harper was known by students as being both strict and academically demanding, expecting the best results from his students. However, he was also known for being understanding, with Harper personally tutoring students with learning disabilities or those who were having a harder time understanding the content of the course. As a teacher, Harper kept his personal political views to himself, being a staunch supporter of non-partisan teaching, which was not a requirement in Dakota at the time. However, Harper did not keep his political ambitions a secret, commonly expressing, either jokingly or not, his intentions to serve in Parliament. In 1989, after three years of teaching, Harper leaft his teaching profession in order to pursue a career in politics. Before leaving, Harper was awarded with the Eastern Dakota School District Teacher Excellence Award for his service as a successful teacher in the district.

Political career

Member of Parliament

Harper announced his intentions to run in the 1989 Superian federal election on May 20 where he would run on the United Popular Front ticket. While Harper had been supportive of Alexander Ludendorff, he had disagreed with his decision to moderate the party's platform and refusing to find compromise with those in the Conservative Party, with Ludendorff's decision to allow for legal abortion and not legally challenge it being one of the sources of contention along with Ludendorff's agreement to several Liberal Democrat-backed policy initiatives on the environment and immigration. Harper had personally believed that the Conservatives were becoming less politically effective and were insufficiently committed to conservative ideology and chose the United Popular Front as a result. Running in Central Grand Forks, Harper would defeat Conservative incumbent Louis Matterheim and was sworn into office on December 3. At age 28, Harper was the youngest elected Member of Parliament at the time and was highlighted by several media outlets. During the campaign, Harper emphasized his humble origins as a school teacher and life-long supporter of conservative policies, framing himself as a main-street center-right conservative. Harper's campaign along with Matterheim's low approval rating and the decline of the Conservative Party helped contribute to his victory.

As an MP, Harper had supported socially and politically conservative legislation, focusing on supporting Judeo Christian ethics and family values as well as backing federalism among other policy initiatives. Harper first garnered nationwide attention during a speech he gave on the Immigration and Settlement Act of 1990 where, on February 2 during a debate on the bill, he was chosen to speak on behalf of the UPF and voice their opposition to the bill with Harper condemning the Liberal Democrat-led government for undermining Superian sovereignty and accused the loosening of requirements for settlement of immigrants and expatriates from the United Commonwealth as threatening Superior's internal security. While his speech was controversial, he had garnered praise from the wider conservative movement and thrusted him into the national spotlight. Later that year on August 22, Harper spoke against the National Firearms Act of 1990 which proposed strict requirements for firearms licenses and called for legally barring gun ownership for those whose license was revoked, accusing it of being government overreach.

In 1991, Harper would break rank with the UPF to support the Conservative Party's States' Right Act which called for abortion to be regulated by the individual states while allowing it to remain legal nationwide in respect to federal law and the High Court of Superior. While the United Popular Front had opposed the bill under the belief that it was a needless concession, Harper supported it due to principled belief in federalism and the view that such law was necessary given that the High Court was unlikely to rule against abortion due to Liberal Democratic picked judges. While criticized by several within his party, Harper was praised for being willing to work with the Conservative Party despite the falling out between the two parties under Ludendorff and being willing to moderate his position for the sake of practicality, a move that would garner him more support from both the UPF and the conservative movement in the coming years as he continued to progress up party ranks.In 1994, the Public Health Opportunities Act was passed under Liberal Democrat president Germaine L. Grazter which established the Public Health Program, a system of universal healthcare and legally enshrining a right to health. Harper opposed the bill and accused the Grazter Administration of government overreach and threatening to deplete Superior's finances with a program he denounced as being overly expensive. Harper had critiqued the act's decision to ban private health insurance, a system that Grazter had denounced as exploitative and mafia-like in his motivation to craft the bill, and accused the move of threatening Superians' "medical liberties". On June 7 1994, one month after the PHP was established, Harper would engage in debate with Liberal Democrat MP and then Deputy President James Carr where Carr would defend the PHP and highlighted many of the failings of private healthcare such as higher costs, said costs being the main cause of bankruptcy in Superior, and accused Harper of repeating "tired right-wing cliches". While Harper initially supported abolishing the PHP, he would later revise his potion to allowing the program, but called for a repeal on the ban on private insurance and wanted the program to be voluntary.

In preparation for the 1995 Superian federal election, Harper was selected by UFP leader David Manning to serve on the party's Electoral Campaign Advisory Board to help oversee and lead the party's campaign going into the general election. The promotion was a considerable one and elevated Harper to a position close to that of party leadership and became an advisor to Manning himself. During the election, Harper had overseen a campaign seeking to appeal to mainstream moderate voters in an attempt to broaden the appeal of conservatism to the general public. Part of the campaign included focusing on ever changing tax laws and issues such as crime, gun ownership and laws, education, and internal security under the subsequent Liberal Democratic governments. Harper would also moderate several of the party's stances on social issues in an attempt to broaden its appeal to accommodate rising social liberalism. The decision was met with pushback by more right-wing members of the UPF, in particular MP from Arrowhead Jack Buchanan who would become an internal rival of Harper in the latter half of the 1990s, on the grounds that the party was making the same mistake that the Conservative Party had made that lead to their decline, however Harper would defend the decision on grounds that he was still committed to conservative causes and that the party had to be practical in order to beat the Liberal Democrats. Harper would frame his campaign as "pragmatic conservatism" and the party would see notable success in the subsequent election, being only 12 seats behind the Conservative Party. After the election, Harper began publicly discussing the need for unity on the right believing that the continued division between the Conservative Party and United Popular Front was costing them votes and that the division would keep the Liberal Democrats in power for the foreseeable future if not resolved. Similar sentiments would be echoed by those in both parties and would help kickstart the unite the right movement.

In 1998, longtime party leader David Manning announced that he would resign as party leader and would not lead the party into the next federal election. The decision came as the rivalry between Harper and Buchanan had started to heat up and leaked reports showed that Manning was privately concerned of it becoming mainstream and dragging the party down along with concerns from both Manning himself and allies that he wouldn't be able to contain nor solve the issue. Other reasons included Manning's personal exhaustion with being a party leader after serving in office for nearly a decade and concerns with not being able to lead the party to victory in a general election. Upon this announcement, a leadership race was triggered with Harper running in the race and becoming the first candidate to enter the election. Harper would face off against Buchanan with the former emerging victorious with his win being credited to name recognition, stronger backing, and less controversy than Buchanan. Harper would take office on April 8 and, at age 36, was the youngest leader of a national political party at the time.

Leader of the Opposition

During the 1999 Superian federal election, Harper lead the United Popular Front and oversaw its campaign along with appointing new members to the Electoral Campaign Advisory Board. The 1999 election campaign focused on calling for new leadership in Superior, promoting Harper's brand of "pragmatic conservatism" to the public and pushing for federalism, protecting states' rights, cracking down on crime, and an approach to foreign policy that opposes the United Commonwealth and Landonist influence while backing an end to the Cold War. The campaign also emphasized the United Popular Front as Superior's main conservative political party as well and sought to appeal to perceived exhaustion among Superian voters towards the Liberal Democratic Party which had been in power for ten years by the 1999 election. In the ensuing general election, the United Popular Front came in second place and officially displaced the Conservative Party as the main conservative/right-leaning politically party in Superior. The election was viewed as vindication for Harper, both as party leader and his brand of conservatism, with critics of Harper either renouncing their previous opposition or losing re-election, the latter of which happened to Jack Buchanan. Harper took office on November 2 and despite the Liberal Democrats remaining in power, he called the election a turning point due to the LDP suffering the biggest losses since 1977 as well as noticeable fatigue with the party by much of the electorate which was viewed as a factor behind the UPF's strong showing in the election.

Harper's official portrait as Leader of the Opposition, 2000.

As leader of the opposition, Harper would take an aggressive stance against the Liberal Democratic Party and their parliamentary allies in the Farmer Labor and Green parties. As leader of the opposition, Harper presented himself as part of the next generation of Superian leadership, referring to the LDP as "tiring elites" after being in power since 1989, but also supported cooperation with the Conservative Party to form a unified conservative alliance against the Liberal Democrats. Even though the party was considered to be politically eliminated since the 1999 election, Harper supported cooperation with the CPS on the belief that it was essential as neither the CPS or the UPF were capable of defeating the LDP on their own and viewed their continued competition and rivalry as a benefit that kept the Liberal Democrats in power due to a fragmented and divided conservative electorate. To this end, Harper would negotiate with Conservative Party leader Steven Wainwright throughout the year and into 2000 where the Conservatives agreed to join the United Popular Front as part of a joint opposition following the singing of a formal agreement, however this occurred after internal disagreements and controversy, both public and private, as Wainwright had agreed after Harper agreed to several conditions due to Wainwrights concern of his party being overtaken and subordinated to the United Popular Front, a fear that he developed after the party's electoral wipeout in the 1999 election. Within the Conservative Party however most members supported the move and a united conservative political party as well, believing that it was necessary to defeat the long-governing Liberal Democratic Party. From 2000 to 2002, Harper publicly advocate for a unified conservative party through a formal merger of the UPF and CPS. Around this time, political scientists would analyze the 1999 election and later confirmed that the divided conservative electorate had played a key role in ensuring continued LDP governance with one study saying that the Liberal Democrats would've at least gotten a minority government in the 1999 election had there been a unified conservative opposition party while another said that said party would've won a plurality if there was a unified right-leaning party. Said studies were later used by Harper during his negotiations for party and merger with the Conservatives.

In May 2000, a month after the Conservatives officially joined the opposition, James Carr had proposed the Climate Security Act which aimed to reduce greenhouse emissions and reduce the nation's' reliance on fossil fuels and coal for energy as part of an effort to combat climate change. Harper had opposed the bill and accused the Carr administration of federal overreach and the effort of being ineffective, too expensive, and would cause a rise in energy costs. The bill would pass both the House of Delegates and High Council in a move that Harper would condemn, accusing Parliament of "bankrupting the nation for a green conspiracy". Other climate initiatives such as acts seeking environmental preservation through federal intervention were also opposed by Harper who once again accused them of being federal overreach and later accused the Carr government of using global warming as an excuse to expand the power of the federal government. At the time, Harper had initially denied the reality of climate change which drove his opposition to the Carr government's climate legislation and policy as well as ensured financial support from the fossil fuel industry via lobbying support and donations to Harper, his party, and allies both personally and to their campaigns. He would later admit to being wrong about climate change, but hasn't regretted his initial opposition and efforts. In response to the Saint Anthony Agreement, Harper voiced support for it in order to end the Cold War, however he was opposed to normalizing diplomatic relations with the United Commonwealth and said that the country should be kept "at an arm's length at best" in regards to diplomatic conduct and accused them of seeking to meddle in Superian affairs even after the end of the Cold War. He would celebrate the Revolutions of 2000 and the downfall of most communist governments worldwide, later remarking in 2002 "one can hope the revolutions complete in the American mainland one day". Around the same time Harper backed continued membership in the Conference of American States, however he opposed further federalization and has called on Superior to refrain and opt out of several CAS treaties, laws, and agreements.

Unite the Right movement

Main article: Unite the Right movement (Superior)

Outside of opposing the Carr government, Harper also spent much of his time as Leader of the Opposition seeking to merge the Conservative Party of Superior and the United Popular Front together to create a unified conservative political party. This was part of a wider political movement and effort to merge the two parties to help unify the conservative electorate, believing that the CPS and UPF's competition splits the vote and has played a role in ensuing the Liberal Democrats' continued governance of the country from a politically ineffective opposition. Members of both parties supported the effort, including Conservative deputy leader Ian Walberg, and this lead to Conservative leader Steve Wainwright to agree to join the opposition in 2000, however internally he had opposed the move due to fears of being subordinated by the United Popular Front and fears of losing a center-right base. As a result, internal cooperation was difficult and Wainwright often violate terms of the cooperation agreement despite opposition from Walberg and other members of the party, having retained his position due to support from the Conservative Party Executive Committee. Despite the internal conflict, both parties remained part of the opposition as Harper had allies within the Conservatives that were influential enough to keep Wainwright from pulling out completely, most notable deputy party leader Ian Walberg from Iowa.

Presidency

Main article: Presidency of Alexander Harper

Post-presidential political activities

Following his exit from the presidency, Harper took a break from public life before eventually re-entering it in 2018 after he announced the formation of United the Right, a non-profit conservative political advocacy and lobbying organization seeking to raise funds for and support conservative politicians in local, state, and federal elections. That same year, the organization held its first conference, the United the Right Conference, in Winnipeg, Manitobana. Since 2018, Harper has been a frequent attendee of the Conservative Action and Policy Summit appearing as a notable speaker and as a panel host during the most recent summit in Edmonton.

Political positions

Main article: Political positions of Alexander Harper

Electoral history

Main article: Electoral history of Alexander Harper

Personal life

Marriage, family, interests

While attending the University of Augustus, Harper met and befriend fellow classmate Angela Merz. The two quickly formed a romantic relationship, beginning to date each other in 1985. After five years together, the two married in a private ceremony in 1990 at Grand Forks Lutheran Church. With his marriage, Harper became the first incumbent member of Parliament in over 50 years to marry while in office. In 1992, Angela gave birth the couple's first child and only daughter, Marissa Harper and in 1997 she gave birth to a second child, a son named William. Before becoming president, Alexander Harper and his family liveed in a urban area of Grand Forks, known as Millerville. Since childhood, Harper has been a fan of baseball being an open supporter of the Duluth Huskies. He is also a avid musical instrument player, being able to play the violin and is knowledgeable in playing the piano.

See also

• Unite the Right (Superior)
• Unite the Right movement
• Pragmatic conservatism