• Draw 4 issue cards. Reveal and complete one at a time.
• Pass/repeal taxes.
• Pass/repeal at most one tariff.
• Office appointments.
• Delegate power to the vice president.

The Issues Deck:
By the end of his term the president must have draw exactly 4 issue cards (and sometimes more if replacement issues are required). After each draw he must first complete the issue before proceeding to the next one.

Issues deck exhausted.
When the original (Era A) Issues deck is exhausted, players shuffle the Hand of Time cards from the Era A deck into the Era B Issues deck and this constitutes the new Issues deck. Similarly, when the Era B Issues deck is exhausted, players shuffle the Hand of Time cards into the Era C Issues deck and this constitutes the new Issues deck.

Issue Requirements.
Some issue cards state one or more requirements. These are other issues or taxes which must be in effect in order for this issue to be considered. If the requirements for an issue have not been met, the card is shuffled into the issues deck for the next era (if using the Era C deck, see below). A replacement issue is drawn in this case.

When such an issue from the Era C Issues deck is drawn, the issue is placed nearby. Then, when the Issues deck has been exhausted, the game will end at the end of the current turn. If fewer than four cards were available, the President draws at random from the cards previously removed because their requirements were not available. Cards are drawn until the player has had four useable cards for the turn or these cards run out, whichever comes first.

Resolving Issues Procedure.
An issue is a challenge facing the nation. The president makes the initial decision about an issue and further decisions may be taken by one or more office holders, Congress and the Chief Justice. Before taking on the next one, every issue eventually gains one of three states: Resolved, Failed or Ignored.

1. President assigns.
   First the president decides if the issue is to be addressed at all. He may instead decide to ignore it. If so, the results of the Ignored option are applied and the rest of the steps below are skipped. Otherwise, the issue is assigned to the listed office holder or holders. Some issues, such as State Admission issues, must be handled by the president himself. Other issues offer a choice of which office holders receive the issue. The president decides this as well.

2. Office holder acts.
   To solve an issue, its difficulty rating must be equalled or exceeded by the combination of the office holder's ability and influence points to be spent by the player controlling the office holder. If this player cannot or will not meet the difficulty rating, the issue Fails and the Failed option results are applied. The rest of the steps below are skipped.

   Deals.
   Players are permitted at any time to negotiate the exchange of influence points, unplayed cards and promises to do favors. However, players are not required to follow through with promises. Let the buyer beware. Already played cards and influence points on cards may never be exchanged.

   Example: The president player draws an issue card and reveals END SLAVERY. This issue has a difficulty of 7 and must be solved by the president himself, in this case George Washington. The president player decides to resolve the issue. Washington's ability is 3 so he must expend 4 influence points to reach 7.

3. Congress votes.
   Many issues also require the approval of Congress, which is listed on the card. Only after Congressional ratification are the office holder's influence points spent. If Congress fails to ratify, only half of the influence points the office holder would have spent are lost.

   To determine the vote of Congress, start with the player to the left of the president player and continue clockwise. Each player casts all of his votes either for or against passage, or abstains. If a majority of the votes are for passage, the question passes. Otherwise the status of the issue is Failed.

   Buying Votes.
   At the time he votes, each player may also spend influence points which are counted as votes on a one-time basis only. Each influence point spent is worth 3 votes.

   Tied Vote.
   If the vote in Congress is a tie, then the player controlling the vice president must decide whether the issue counts as resolved or failed. If there is no vice president, the issue counts as failed.

4. Judicial Review.
   Certain issues indicate that they can be subject to judicial review. In this case, and if the Judicial Review action card is in effect, the holder of the Chief Justice office has the right to automatically cancel the resolution of the issue, which must be done immediately if at all. What happens to a canceled resolution depends on the issue card; usually the issue is either treated as Failed or the president must choose a different option.

5. Apply Results.
   When a result lists "POP" followed by a number, then both the president and the relevant office holder(s) receive (if negative, lose) this amount of popularity (after all costs are paid and other effects applied). All of the other effects for the finally chosen option are applied at this time as well.

Final issue status.
Unless an issue's results section directs that it is to be placed into the next era's issue deck, put successfully resolved issues into the Resolved Issues area, but remove Failed or Ignored issues from the game.

Passing and Repealing Taxes
A tax card is a special kind of issue which is always available (some of them are called "bonds"). Just as with other issues, each tax card may only be attempted once per turn. A tax may not be repealed on the turn it is passed and vice-versa.

Resolved.
When a tax is passed, the Treasury Secretary player increases the amount on the revenue track by the amount indicated for the tax. Place the tax card on the Active Taxes box of Treasury Secretary's Report.

Repeal.
When a tax is passed, the Treasury Secretary player decreases the amount on the revenue track by the amount indicated for the tax. Place the tax card on the Inactive Taxes box of Treasury Secretary's Report.

Tax Outrage.
Whenever a tax is passed, the Treasury Secretary player adds together the following three numbers and consults the Tax Outrage Table (below):

• the number of currently active taxes
• the outrage modifier of the new tax
• one die roll
• Tax Outrage Table:
  1-7: no effect
  8-9: President and Treasury Secretary each lose 1 popularity
  9-10: President and Treasury Secretary each lose 2 popularity
  11+: President and Treasury Secretary each lose 2 popularity

Passing and Repealing Tariffs
A Tariff is a kind of tax. A president may only operate on one tariff per term. Either a new tariff may be passed or an existing one repealed. Tariffs are not rolled for on the Outrage Table.

Admitting New States
Any drawn state card is also treated as an issue, representing the admission of that state into the Union.

When the issue has been passed, the Secretary of State places the state card on the map so as to border the states named around its edges, if possible. Certain states such as California might not border any current state and are placed at a little distance from the rest to indicate this.

Should a state admission issue fail or be ignored, the card should be discarded for subsequent shuffling into next deck.

The Offices.
The president must appoint his Cabinet by assigning the Cabinet offices: Secretary of State, Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of War. In addition he must appoint the offices of Envoy, General and Chief Justice, if they are ever vacant.

Eligibility.
No statesman can be forced to accept an office and if he is already holding one, he must first resign the existing office before accepting a new one. The president may not appoint himself or the vice president. No statesman may be appointed to more than one office at the same time.

1. Adjust Reserves.
   Reserves are adjusted in a positive or negative direction by the amount indicated on the Revenue track.
2. Pay Interest.
   If reserves are negative, multiply the reserves amount by 3, divide by 10 and round down to the nearest whole number. The reserves become more negative by this amount.
   Example:
   Reserves are at -7.
   Multiply this by 3 to get -21.
   Divide this by 10 to get -2.1.
   Round -2.1 down to get -3.
   Reduce reserves by 3.
3. Check for Effects.
   If Reserves are negative and exceed 100, divide the amount in Reserves by 100 (omitting any remainder) and apply this total to a die roll on the Economic Crisis Table.
   Example: Reserves are at -340. Dividing this by 100 yields 3.4 which is converted to 3. The die result is a 2. Subtracting 3 yields a -1. As a result a Monetary collapse occurs and the game is over.
4. Economic Crisis Table:

   Total	Result
   -1 or less	Monetary collapse. Game ends.
   0	Government's party loses 3 Public Support. President loses 2 popularity.
   1	Government's party loses 2 Public Support. President loses 2 popularity.
   2	Government's party loses 2 Public Support. President loses 1 popularity.
   3	Government's party loses 1 Public Support. President loses 1 popularity.
   4	Government's party loses 1 Public Support.
   5-6	no effect

The first cube is always placed on the statesman's home state, unless there is no vacancy. In this case, if a presidential candidate, the cube is placed as close to the home state as possible. In the case of a vice presidential candidate without a vacancy, the cube is placed adjacent to that of his running mate (the player choosing one if he has multiple running mates); if there is no adjacent vacancy, the vice presidential candidate may only place in a state which is not contiguous with those of the east coast, e.g. California.

For the very first cubes only, the player who has the right to place the first presidential cube may instead place his first cube after all other first presidential cubes. The same applies for the vice-presidential cubes.

On subsequent rounds each player places a cube on any state having a vacancy adjacent to one where he already has a cube. If there is no such state, the player may not place a cube except on unattached states.

But first players must determine two conditions: whether Single Party Dominance and also The 12th Amendment are in effect. Together these two questions form four sets of rules, only one of which must be followed in each election, as detailed in the table below.

Single Party Dominance applies if one party's public support level has reached 9 or more. Otherwise the situation is termed Two-Party Election.

Post-passage of the 12th Amendment is in effect after the 12th Amendment issue has appeared and been resolved. Otherwise the situation is termed Pre-passage of the 12th Amendment.

Two-Party Election (2)
Pre-passage of the 12th Amendment (2Pre-12). 2Pre-12: The Nominees. Before the election can be conducted, each party – the Conservatives and the Liberals – choose nominees for president and vice president. A party's nominee is the currently in play, eligible statesman of that party who has the highest popularity (determined by adding together starting popularity printed on the card to popularity cubes currently on the card). If there is a tie for popularity, the one having the oldest age number is the nominee. (It is possible that the same player controls both nominees.) 2Pre-12: The Running Mates. Once the presidential nominees are chosen, the players controlling the nominees choose vice presidential running mates, who must each be of the same party as their respective nominee. A statesman is not forced to accept the position of running unless he is the last unnominated eligible statesman. The party which does not currently have Public Support announces its running mate first. If public support is currently at 0, the less popular candidate announces first. If these are also tied, the younger candidate announces first. 2Pre-12: Placing Cubes. First clear the states of any cubes left over from the last election. Then, players take turns placing their cubes. Each state has two vacancies and each of the four candidates (two presidential and two vice presidential) uses a unique set of markers. This is done in the following order: Presidential candidate of the party which currently has the most public support. Vice presidential candidate of the party which currently has the most public support. Presidential candidate of the other party. Vice presidential candidate of the other party. If Public Support is at 0, cubes are placed in order of popularity, the most placing first. If still tied, resolve by age, the oldest candidate placing first. A candidate may not place his two of his cubes in same state, even though there are two vacancies. 2Pre-12: Finding the Winner Each candidate receives votes for each of his markers equal to the state's total for the current era. To win, a candidate must earn more votes than any other candidate This candidate becomes president, even if originally nominated for the vice presidency. The nominee receiving the second highest number of votes becomes vice president, even if originally nominated for the presidency or of a different party than the president. If there is a tie for president, resolve it using the Tiebreaker rules below. The candidate receiving the second most states in this process becomes vice president. If this is tied, apply the additional tie breakers as in the presidential tiebreaker, i.e. first Chief Justice, then popularity, then age. If there is a tie for vice president, employ the presidential Tiebreaker rules to resolve it.	Post-passage of the 12th Amendment (2Post-12). 2Post-12: The Nominees. Before the election can be conducted, each party – the Conservatives and the Liberals – choose nominees for president and vice president. A party's nominee is the currently in play, eligible statesman of that party who has the highest popularity (determined by adding together starting popularity printed on the card to popularity cubes currently on the card). If there is a tie for popularity, the one having the oldest age number is the nominee. (It is possible that the same player controls both nominees.) 2Post-12: The Running Mates. Once the presidential nominees are chosen, the players controlling the nominees choose vice presidential running mates, who must each be of the same party as their respective nominee. A statesman is not forced to accept the position of running unless he is the last unnominated eligible statesman. The party which does not currently have Public Support announces its running mate first. If public support is currently at 0, the less popular candidate announces first. If these are also tied, the younger candidate announces first. 2Post-12: Placing Cubes. First clear the states of any cubes left over from the last election. Then, players take turns placing their cubes. Each state has one vacancy. Nominees of the same party use the same set of markers and are elected as a team. However, the presidential and vice presidential placements are still separate and if one candidate's options are hemmed in by the opposition, he is not permitted to make placements based on his colleague's positions. This is done in the following order: Presidential candidate of the party which currently has the most public support. Vice presidential candidate of the party which currently has the most public support. Presidential candidate of the other party. Vice presidential candidate of the other party. If Public Support is at 0 is the case, cubes are placed in order of popularity, the most placing first. If still tied, resolve by age, the oldest candidate placing first. 2Post-12: Finding the Winner Each team of candidates receives votes for their markers equal to the state's total for the current era. To win, a team must earn more votes than the other team. This team becomes president and vice president as originally nominated. If there is a tie, resolve it using the Tiebreaker rules below.
Single Party Dominance (1)
Pre-passage of the 12th Amendment (1Pre-12). 1Pre-12: The Nominees. Should a party's public support level reach 9 or higher, it has so dominated the political scene that the other party is not allowed to field a candidate. In this case, the most popular eligible statesman (determined by adding together starting popularity printed on the card to popularity cubes currently on the card) of the dominant party must run for president, plus any or all of the three next most popular candidates of the dominant party may also run. If there is a tie for popularity, the one having the oldest age number takes precedence. 1Pre-12: The Running Mates. Any statesman of this party who does not run for president is eligible to be nominated for vice president by one of the presidential candidates. It is permissible for more than one presidential candidate to name the same running mate and a statesman who has agreed to run for vice president for one candidate may not refuse any other candidate. In the event no other statesman wishes to run, the last unnominated eligible vice presidential candidate is forced to accept nomination. 1Pre-12: Placing Cubes. First clear the states of any cubes left over from the last election. Then, players take turns placing their cubes. Each state has two vacancies and each of the candidates (presidential and vice presidential) uses a unique set of markers. Cubes are placed in order of popularity, the most placing first. If still tied, resolve by age, the oldest candidate placing first. Borrow unused cubes for any candidates beyond the first two. 1Pre-12: Finding the Winner Each candidate receives votes for each of his markers equal to the state's total for the current era. To win the presidency, a presidential candidate must earn: more votes than any other candidate more than 50% of the vote total determined by adding up the number of votes available in each state This candidate becomes president, even if originally nominated for the vice presidency. The nominee receiving the second highest number of votes becomes vice president, even if originally nominated for the presidency. If no nominee has a majority or there is a tie for either president or vice president, resolve using the Tiebreaker rules below. The candidate receiving the second most states in this process becomes vice president. If this is tied, apply the additional tie breakers as in the presidential tiebreaker, i.e. first Chief Justice, then popularity, then age. If there is a tie for vice president, employ the presidential Tiebreaker rules to resolve it.	Post-passage of the 12th Amendment (1Post-12). 1Post-12: The Nominees. Should a party's public support level reach 9 or higher, it has so dominated the political scene that the other party is not allowed to field a candidate. In this case, the most popular eligible statesman (determined by adding together starting popularity printed on the card to popularity cubes currently on the card) of the dominant party must run for president, plus any or all of the three next most popular candidates of the dominant party may also run. If there is a tie for popularity, the one having the oldest age number takes precedence. 1Post-12: The Running Mates. Any statesman of this party who does not run for president is eligible to be nominated for vice president by one of the presidential candidates. It is permissible for more than one presidential candidate to name the same running mate and a statesman who has agreed to run for vice president for one candidate may not refuse any other candidate. In the event no other statesman wishes to run, the last unnominated eligible vice presidential candidate is forced to accept nomination. 1Post-12: Placing Cubes. First clear the states of any cubes left over from the last election. Then, players take turns placing their cubes, each candidate for an office using markers of a different color. Each state has two vacancies, one a presidential vacancy and one a vice presidential vacancy. To make this clear, presidential candidates place cubes only on the left side of a state card and vice presidential candidates only on the right side of a state card. Cubes are placed in order of popularity, the most placing first. If still tied, resolve by age, the oldest candidate placing first. Borrow unused cubes for any candidates beyond the first two. 1Post-12: Finding the Winner To win the presidency, a presidential candidate must earn: more votes than any other presidential candidate more than 50% of the vote total determined by adding up the number of votes available in each state Winning the vice presidency works in the same way. If no nominee has a majority or there is a tie for either president or vice president, resolve using the Tiebreaker rules below.

Implementing the Result
The winning candidates take office as soon as the election results have been determined. The nominee who has a majority of the votes available wins the election. An elected cube is placed on the the newly-elected president to indicate this. Popularity cubes are added to the winning president and vice president as described on the cards for these offices (even in the case of re-election).

Changing offices.
If a winning candidate is holding an office other than the one to which he has been elected, he must resign it by handing in the office card.

Retired presidents.
If the newly out of office president has already been elected to two terms, the popularity cubes on his card are added to the owner's victory points total on the main board and his card is removed from play. Any influence on his card is returned to the supply. Similarly, if a sitting president is not re-elected, the popularity cubes are scored and the card removed from play. Any influence on his card is returned to the supply. This occurs even if he has been elected to the office of vice president. (The vice president office is simply vacant until the next election.)

Tiebreaker.
In the event that the election is indecisive, any fourth placed vote getters drops out of consideration. Then the president is chosen by the following procedure:

• One by one each state is considered in the order decided by the president.
  • The state's votes are decided by the statesmen who come from that state, i.e. have that state's abbreviation on their card. In the usual voting order each statesman casts his Congressional votes for the nominee of his choice.
  • A statesman may vote for any of the nominees involved in the tiebreaker – he doesn't have to vote for the nominee of his party.
  • The candidate who receives the most Congressional votes wins the state.
  • If the votes in a state are tied, that state is not counted.
  • States which have no associated statesman in play are not counted.
• The nominee who wins the most states (rather than the most votes) wins the tiebreaker and the presidency.
  1. If there is a tie for the most states, the Chief Justice player decides who wins.
  2. If the Chief Justice office is vacant, the nominee with the most popularity wins.
  3. If still tied, the nominee with the oldest age number wins.

1. Receive Influence
   1. Each player receives 1 influence point.
   2. Players controlling the party leaders receive 1 influence each. This influence is placed on each statesman's card.
      The party leaders are the currently most popular statesmen of each party, Liberal and Conservative. It's possible that a statesman other than the president be the party leader of the president's party. If there is a tie for the most popular statesman, the player controlling the one having the lowest age number receives the influence.
   3. Players receive additional influence points as per the rules found on their cards. This influence is placed on the statesman cards.

   Influence on cards may not be given to another player or taken in hand. They may only be spent in solving issues or on the three activities below.

2. Draw Action Cards
   Starting with the President player and continuing clockwise around the table, each player draws 2 cards from the Action deck, choosing one to keep in hand and placing the other on the discard pile. Action cards in hand may be played at any time. After being played, they go onto a discard pile, unless the card states otherwise.

   Hand limit.
   A player may only hold 4 action cards at any one time. If a player holds more than 4, the first thing he must do is discard to get down to four.

   Statesman prerequisite.
   A statesman card may be played if the state listed has been admitted to the nation. (Statesmen dealt face up during Setup are not required to have their states in play.)

   When the Action deck is exhausted for the first time, shuffle the Generation II action cards (including Generation II statesmen numbered 24-39) in with the discards to form a new deck.

   When the Action deck is exhausted for the second time, shuffle the Generation III action cards (including Generation III statesmen numbered 40 and above) in with the discards to form a new deck.

   After that simply re-shuffle the deck.

3. Control Newspapers
   The party leaders each adjust the Fund Newspapers tracks for their parties. Cubes on the left hand side of track may be moved to the right or left alone. Cubes on the right hand side of the track must be moved downward and the results of this applied. The party which currently holds the presidency acts first.

   Note that on turn 1 there is nothing to do since the tracks begin empty and nothing can appear there until the "Fund Newspapers" phase later in the turn.

   Example: On turn 2 there are two C party cubes and one L party cube. The C party is holding the presidency and so goes first. The C party leader decides to move one cube to the right and so the C party receives 1 public support movement on the public support track. This cube is returned to the supply. The C party leader leaves the other cube in place. The L party leader also leaves the L party cube in place.

   By this point in turn 3, players have purchased and moved some cubes so that now there is one C party cube and one L party cube in the box above the start box. In the start box there is one more C party cube and two more L party cubes. Once again the C party leader happens to be acting first. He moves both of his cubes to the right and the C party receives 3 public support, 2 for the upper box and 1 for the lower one. The cube in the bottom right box is returned to the supply. The L party leader leaves the cubes in place.

   On turn 4, no new cubes have been purchased, but there is an L party cube in the top left box and two more in the box above the the start box. There is still a C party cube in the "Receive 2 Public Support" box. The C cube is moved down automatically and the C party leader receives 1 more support. The L party cube in the top left box is automatically moved to the right and the L party receives 3 public support. The L party leader leaves the other cubes alone.

   On turn 5, no new cubes have been purchased, but two more L party cubes are in the top left box. This cube is moved down, earning 2 public support. The two cubes in the top left are automatically moved to the right, earning 3 public support each.

4. The Round
   First the player controlling the president performs the next phase. Then the player to his left does the same. This continues until each player has had a chance to do so.
   1. The Influential
      For these activities players may expend influence from their general supply or from influence on their cards. Each may only be performed by a player once per turn:
      • Make a speech.
        The player expends an influence point and indicates one of his statesmen. Before the roll he may spend extra influence. Each one spent adds 1 to the die roll. He then rolls the die. If the result is 6 the statesman receives a point of popularity.

      • Whip up support.
        The player expends an influence point and indicates one of his statesmen. He then rolls the die and divides by 3, rounding the result down. This statesman's party receives movement on the public support track equal to this amount.

      • Fund newspapers.
        The player indicates a statesman and can support friendly newspapers by placing influence points on the corresponding track.
        The player can spend 1 influence to start a cube in either party's color on the Newspapers track. Or he may spend 2 influence to move a cube of the party's color which is already on the track up by one level.

5. Auction for Extra Initiative
   Starting with the player left of the president, continuing left and ending with the president, each player may bid any of his influence tokens for the extra initiative, or pass. Each bid must exceed the last one. Bidding goes around only once.

   The winner of the extra initiative receives the top card from the action deck and the chance to perform one of the three actions: Make a speech, Whip up support or Fund newspapers.

   If no one bids, there is no extra initiative.