Presidency of Ricardo Garcia

The presidency of Ricardo Garcia began at noon EST on January 20, 2001, when Ricardo Garcia became the 44th President of the United States upon his inauguration. Garcia, a Republican, was a former U.S. senator and associate justice at the time of his victory in the 2000 presidential election over Democratic senator Jeanne Stein. His running mate, Senator Clay Jones, took office as vice president on the same day. It ended at noon EST on January 20, 2005, upon the inauguration of Jay Kingston.

Political scholars say that the Garcia presidency ideologically falls between moderate and conservative, with the administration producing conservative policies that will likely be altered and/or failed by the Democratic members of Congress and with Democratic members of Congress producing liberal policies that will likely be negotiated and/or vetoed by the administration.

Upon taking office, Garcia became the first Hispanic president in U.S. history.

Cabinet
Garcia announced his Cabinet nominees before taking office as president. He kept some people from previous administrations, including Michael Williams and Jerry McGarry, as well as Claire Serrano, a former secretary of state and vice president, for Secretary of State. Garcia has, however, made new appointments to his Cabinet, including Ryan Cedartree and Steve Casey.

White House staff
Garcia announced his appointments of Esther Farage as his chief of staff and Jack Carnegie as his national security advisor before taking office as president.

Judicial nominations
Despite two Supreme Court vacancies being created during his presidency, Garcia has not made any judicial nominations thus far.