In order to arrive at what you do not know
You must go by a way which is the way of ignorance.
-T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets – East Coker
Year in Review
The year past has been extraordinary in so many ways, entirely separate from the progress to the goal of financial independence.
Part of the structure of the year has been seeing elements of this new reality bleed into markets and economic developments, affecting the portfolio in profound ways.
At the the broadest level, the year saw the passing of my portfolio objective, in a rapid unexpected way in December. In fact, as can be seen below, this year saw the crossing of the last two outstanding portfolio measures.
[Chart]
Progress against FI measures through 2020
Measure Portfolio All Assets
Portfolio objective – $2,180,000 (or $87,000 pa) 82%→104% 112%→136%
Credit card purchases – $71,000 pa 100%→127% 136%→166%
Total expenses – $89,000 pa 80%→102% 109%→133%
On an ‘All Assets’ basis – taking into account superannuation assets – the year saw further progress, to be well above the minimum levels required to sustain the portfolio income objective.
Course of the voyage
The progress of the year was steeped in volatility. This year saw the largest ever fall in the value of the portfolio, and also two of the largest ever monthly gains.
This volatility is clearly evidenced in the variations in the total end of month portfolio values in the chart below.
[Chart]
Overall the portfolio increased by over $500,000 through the full year. This is the largest rise in the value of the portfolio over a single year on record.
Quite simply, it has moved the portfolio to a different magnitude and scale of operation. The chart below of the overall value of the portfolio on a calendar year basis illustrates this alteration starkly.
[Chart]
It cannot be escaped that the largest single contributor to the increase over this year was a surge in the price of Bitcoin, leading to over $300,000 of the gains.
Equity markets, however, also pushed forward in the second half of the year, and the equity portfolio finished around $175,000 higher than the beginning of the year. The gold component of the portfolio also ended the year higher.
As the set out in the In Way of Harbour post two weeks ago, combined this progress resulted in the passing of the portfolio objective in mid-December.
Direction of portfolio contributions
This year portfolio contributions were directed to only two significant investments – the Vanguard exchange traded funds for Australian shares (VAS) and global shares (VGS).
This contrasts with the generally splintered nature of investments over the previous course of the journey, in which it was not unusual for more than four or five different vehicles to receive contributions. This can be seen by the chart below.
[Chart]
The split in contributions for this year reflected a dynamic asset allocation approach. Each fortnight, an updated excel spreadsheet helps show which component of the portfolio is lagging furthest below its target allocation. New investments are directed to this asset class.
A true and steady course pursued
This year has been an important one for the financial independence journey. In fact, arguably the most important.
Yet the journey this year has featured fewer adjustments and changes than any previously. Rather it has been a year of fairly steady mechanical actions, taken in pursuit of the overall portfolio plan.
As the journey has proceeded towards its destination, it has been a strength to have a simple approach of just investing twice per month in the asset class furthest from its target, and to pursue a pre-set allocation between Australian and international equities. As my examination of the equity portfolio found, this ensures investments are spread across nearly 6,000 different equity securities.
So to some extent, there has been an achievement of simply staying the course – and calmly implementing the plan, even as conditions through the year imposed the largest dollar losses the portfolio has ever seen.
Yet the recent recovery should not necessarily be seen as a ‘payoff’ or reward for this steady application. Markets might just as well have continued to fall. To look for patterns of justice or morality in market events is to make a fundamental category error, and any that do so should perhaps aim to read a well-chosen book instead.
Progress of the record
The year has also been a successful one for this record itself, the blog. Over the course of the year there has been 139,000 page views, with monthly pageviews rising from below 10,000 at the start of the year to be closer to 15,000 in recent months.
This is a modest size in Australian blogging, and indeed Australian FI blogging terms. Yet using sessions and session times can help put this into a more tangible perspective.
The time spent by visitors on the site is equivalent to one person sitting and continuously reading the blog for around eight months of standard working hours. Viewed in this way, such a dedicated reader obviously deserves considerable respect, and the best experience that can be provided.
Towards the horizon – future plans and goals
Over past weeks, as is my habit each year during this holiday break, I have been reviewing my investment policy and looking at possible new goals.
This has obviously been an especially salient exercise since the middle of this month. It has involved thinking carefully through and testing my plans, assumptions and potential asset allocation approaches.
A final jigsaw puzzle piece in this respect are distributions from funds and exchange traded funds. So, as previously, before finalising any new plans or approaches in a new post, I want to fit this missing piece into the picture. Unfortunately this entails waiting until all December distributions are finalised or announced. This will also lead into a regular portfolio income update.
I am looking forward to sharing these updated plans – including possibly new portfolio objectives – in the next week or so.
Monthly FIRE Portfolio Update - December 2020
If you are a boat that wants to sail in windy weather, you must be more stubborn than the waves.
-Mehmet Murat ildan
This is my forty-ninth monthly portfolio update. I complete this regular update to check progress against my goal.
Portfolio goal
My objective is to reach a portfolio of $2 180 000 by 1 July 2021. This would produce a real annual income of about $87 000 (in 2020 dollars).
This portfolio objective is based on an expected average real return of 3.99 per cent, or a nominal return of 6.49 per cent.
Portfolio summary Vanguard Lifestrategy High Growth Fund $795,506
Vanguard Lifestrategy Growth Fund $44,605
Vanguard Lifestrategy Balanced Fund $82,652
Vanguard Diversified Bonds Fund $109,841
Vanguard Australian Shares ETF (VAS) $267,825
Vanguard International Shares ETF (VGS) $107,732
Betashares Australia 200 ETF (A200) $259,920
Telstra shares (TLS) $1,599
Insurance Australia Group shares (IAG) $5,980
NIB Holdings shares (NHF) $7,212
Gold ETF (GOLD.ASX) $111,964
Secured physical gold $17,947
Ratesetter (P2P lending) $6,218
Bitcoin $420,440
Raiz app (Aggressive portfolio) $19,008
Spaceship Voyager app (Index portfolio) $3,081
BrickX (P2P rental real estate) $4,500
Total portfolio value $2,266,030 (+$180,228)
Asset allocation
Australian shares 38.7%
Global shares 21.3%
Emerging market shares 1.9%
International small companies 2.4%
Total international shares 25.7%
Total shares 64.4% (-10.6%)
Total property securities 0.2% (+0.2%)
Australian bonds 3.6%
International bonds 7.5%
Total bonds 11.1% (-3.9%)
Gold 5.7%
Bitcoin 18.6%
Gold and alternatives 24.3% (+14.3%)
Presented visually, the chart below is a high-level view of the current asset allocation of the portfolio.
Comments
This month has seen the second largest increase the portfolio in this four year record, immediately following the record growth in November.
The overall portfolio has increased by over $180,000, resulting in the meeting of the portfolio objective around half way through December, and notionally six months ahead of schedule. The portfolio grew 8.6 per cent over the month.
[Chart]
This growth has almost exclusively arisen from the substantial rise in the price of Bitcoin, with the holding increasing in value by around 50 per cent this month alone. Since March of this year, the value of these holdings have more than tripled. Compared to this, equities have generally been steady and unexceptional.
The advance in the value of Bitcoin has continued against the backdrop of continued monetary base expansion, trial adoption of it as a corporate treasury reserve by US business intelligence firm Microstrategy, and the continuing disappearance of yields on fixed interest securities. Some US financial commentators are even starting to discuss their experiments in ownership, while others remain highly skeptical.
The fixed interest components of the portfolio have remained stable, while the value of gold holdings has risen slightly.
[Chart]
This month also saw some other financial developments.
Neo-bank Xinja, in which I had around $50,000 of cash invested promptly notified account holders that it was shutting down. Media reports discussed the fall of the venture, but it was the only experience I have ever had of a bank actively shutting down, and inviting depositors to take their money elsewhere.
As a process, however, it was quite smooth, with Xinja obviously finding the business model of paying out relatively high introductory rates in a period of close to zero nominal rates increasingly difficult over time.
Additionally, this month I paused regular contributions to the Spaceship voyager app on the basis of focusing investments towards the major ETFs, and creating the flexibility in the future to sell or re-allocate these assets later, without any unnecessary realisations of capital gains.
Sailing out of trim revisited
Last month I entertained the twin questions: would crossing the portfolio objective ‘finishing line’ with an asset allocation quite different to the target allocation be a matter of little or great concern? And is it actually realistic to seek to avoid it?
The progress of the last month has been breathtaking, and forced such questions out of the realm of the hypothetical, to be active issues of consideration in my upcoming investment policy review.
The chart below sets out the annual portfolio asset allocation over the past 13 years.
[Chart]
What can be seen is that the rise of Bitcoin as part of the portfolio has as a arithmetic consequence lowered the asset allocation of equities. The same phenomenon occurred in January 2018, at a previous high. In pure equity allocation terms, therefore the portfolio enters this year less exposed to equity markets than at any time over the past three years.
This might in some ways be viewed as a relatively ‘defensive’ positioning, at least in the sense that around 35 per cent of assets are exposed to non-equity market factors. Yet it is worth looking below the surface, and testing this.
In fact, for much of this year the correlation between Bitcoin and Australian share holdings has been relatively high – around 0.6 for the second half of the year. In other words, Bitcoin has tended to rise and fall with Australian shares rather than moving in the opposite direction. By contrast, gold has acted more in line with its usual role, with a negative correlation to shares.
Recent movements have left the absolute level of portfolio variance at all time highs. Here – set out in the chart below – the measure is the summed absolute value of all variances between target and actual allocation percentages.
[Chart]
From a range of 5 to 15 per cent since early 2019 it has moved above 25 per cent.
To put this in context, portfolio variance in percentage terms now sits at levels last experienced in 2013-2016, a period in which fixed interest returns and some inattention had led to much higher bond allocations than ultimately sought. In absolute dollar terms, variances have broken decisively higher, exceeding $600,000 this month, from levels of around $100,000 to $200,000 over the past two years.
This month seeking to lean against these variances led to continued purchases of Vanguard exchange traded funds, with units bought using Selfwealth* in the international shares ETF (VGS).
Trends in average credit card expenses
Trends in credit card expenditures remain little changed, noting that figures next month will reflect higher expenditure over the Christmas break period.
[Chart]
Consistent with recent months, however, average monthly expenditure on credit cards has continued to fall. As can be seen, the moving average level of distributions since the beginning of this record is also currently declining, reflecting some larger one-off distribution payments in the data sample being excluded over time.
[Chart]
When the more variable monthly estimates are examined below, total expenditure continues to track at levels just above estimated distributions, while credit card expenses remain comfortably met.
Both of the charts above are likely to shift slightly as assumptions around distributions over the July to December period are replaced by actual distributions. To the extent that these have fallen below projections, progress will look a little worse, though the impact on the first chart is likely to be marginal.
Progress Measure Portfolio All Assets
Portfolio objective – $2,180,000 (or $87,000 pa) 103.9% 135.8%
Credit card purchases – $71,000 pa 126.8% 165.8%
Total expenses – $89,000 pa 101.6% 132.8%
Summary
The year opened with some idle musings on the ‘what if’ scenarios of mild or serious equity market falls. In March, these scenarios were effectively tested and played out on the portfolio. Similarly the last few months have seen some early thinking on the then scenario of unexpected Bitcoin gains pushing the portfolio over the finish line.
That record does not so much increase my confidence in predictions as suggest caution about any next speculation on what the next month or year might hold.
Perhaps on a psychological level markets seem especially delicately poised at rich valuations, just because the portfolio has just recently passed its target goal. Certainly there is some evidence that the equity risk premium – the expected equity return over risk-free bonds – remains stubbornly high, and with a lower dispersion than normal around various (imperfect) estimation approaches.
Meanwhile, as portfolio distributions for the second half of the year are finalised, there is some interesting indications from both forecast Vanguard international share ETF distributions and other evidence that dividends from the US – for the moment – have been less affected than dividends from elsewhere by the economic impacts of COVID-19 and lockdowns.
This month I have been reading a biography of famed stock speculator, financier and US presidential counsellor Bernard Baruch. Along the same lines, I have also spent much time listening to Joseph Noel Walker’s brilliant podcast interviews with economists Vernon Smith and Ed Glaeser on bubbles and gambling respectively.
Such readings and podcasts are perhaps an attempt to prepare for windy weather ahead. To reinforce the stubborn efforts made through this year to reach the financial independence goal now passed. As the new year begins, my attention turns to new plans and objectives, with greater humility around the capacity of any plan to define the progress of this stage of the voyage.
The post, links and full charts can be seen here.

Solitaire is the much beloved choice for killing time in the office or at the home computer. The three most popular solitaire card games are Klondike, Spider, and FreeCell, and these enjoy dizzying heights of popularity as a result of being included as part of Microsoft Windows in the 1990s (for more on this, see this article). What these three games have in common is that they all fit the "builder" genre. That means that they follow the basic formula of many solitaire games, where the overall objective is to arrange cards in ascending order from Ace through to King, for each of the four separate suits. Typically this is done by placing and moving cards within a tableau of rows and columns of cards, where the cards are often arranged in descending order, sometimes with an additional requirement of alternating colours.
Klondike, Spider, and FreeCell are by no means unique in this regard, and the genre of "building" games is the most popular archetype within the larger world of solitaire card games. Not all solitaire card games are builder games, but builder games are the most common and arguably the most loved. So which other solitaire games of this type should you know about and should you try first? I've explored the world of solitaire card games extensively myself, and also examined numerous lists about the most popular ones, to help you begin your experience with the best of the best, rather than waste your time with mediocre or obscure games. The six builder games covered in this article are time-tested classics that are most well-known and loved, and represent the best "next step" for anyone wanting to branch out after enjoying Klondike, Spider, or FreeCell.
Each of the builder games discussed here represents a small category of its own, because there are many popular variations and related games for each, which I will cover as well. As with my previous articles on solitaire games games, the accompanying links go to Solitaired.com, which is a website where you can play these games for free. But because these games are so common and well known, you'll find that they are included in most software and websites that offer collections of solitaire card games.

== Games With One Deck ==

BAKER'S DOZEN
Overview: Baker's Dozen also represents a family of games that plays much like Forty Thieves (see below), but with a single deck. While some variations have a stock, in Baker's Dozen and its most closely related games all the cards are face up, so you have complete information to work with.
Game-play: The tableau consists of thirteen columns of four overlapping and face-up cards each, while the four foundations begin empty. To ensure that the tableau doesn't lock up too quickly, Kings are automatically placed to the bottom of each column when they are turned up. Just like in Forty Thieves, only the single top card of each column may be moved, and columns are built downwards, in any colour and suit. Empty spaces in the tableau may not be filled. As you'd expect, the aim is to get the entire deck onto the four foundations, building up each from Ace to King, with each being built upwards by value.
Variations: Portuguese Solitaire makes Baker's Dozen slightly easier by allowing empty spaces in the tableau to be filled with Kings, while Spanish Patience allows building on the foundations regardless of suit. Baker's Two Deck is effectively the same as Baker's Dozen but using two decks, with eight foundations and a tableau consisting of ten columns with 10 or 11 cards each.
My thoughts: Because this only involves a single deck, Baker's Dozen is much quicker to play than Forty Thieves, and the chances of success are also significantly higher, with as many as 2 of 3 games being easily winnable. The fact that Kings begin at the bottom of the tableau ensures that you don't get stuck too quickly, and being able to build down in the tableau independent of suit ensures a great amount of flexibility. At the same time managing the tableau carefully is still important, especially in cases where empty spaces don't get filled. This makes Baker's Dozen a quicker, simpler, and more accessible game than Forty Thieves and its many variants, while still remaining rewarding and satisfying to play.
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Related games: Castles in Spain requires building down in the tableau to be with alternate colours, and in most versions of this game all but the top card of each column in the tableau begins face-down. Quite similar is Martha and its harder sibling Stewart, where every second card in the tableau begins face-down. Good Measure is a more difficult variation of Baker's Dozen, since it uses ten columns of five cards each, and has more strict rules for building on the foundations; Canister has only eight columns with even more cards on each.
Bisley: Special mention can be made of Bisley, which is a classic but more difficult game in this family. In Bisley you use a tableau of thirteen columns of four cards each to build upwards on the four Aces, and simultaneously build downwards on the Kings whenever they become available.
CANFIELD
Overview: Canfield is one of the all time greats among solitaire games, and is a genuine classic. Also known under names like Demon, Fascination, or Thirteen, you'll find that it appears in almost every book with solitaire card games. According to legend, the game owes its origin and name to Richard A. Canfield, a 19th century gambler. For an initial outlay of $52, Canfield offered gamblers a reward of $5 for every card successfully played to the foundations, with a $500 pot for successfully playing all 52 cards to the foundations. Anything more than 10 cards played to the foundations would get you out of the red, but in most cases the game favoured the casino, indicating how hard the game can be to play.
Game-play: Game-play is much like Klondike, with the aim of building up all four suits in order. The key difference is the starting set-up, because there is a single face-down reserve of 13 cards (sometimes called the "demon"), with a 14th card turned up as the first foundation card. The foundations begin with the cards corresponding to the rank of this initially turned up card (rather than the usual Ace), and the idea is to build upwards from there, if necessary "turning the corner" from King through to Ace. Also different from Klondike is the starting tableau, which consists of just four face up cards alongside the reserve. The stock is turned up three cards at a time as in standard Klondike, with as many re-deals as necessary. Any space that appears in the tableau is immediately filled by the top card of the reserve pile, which is always kept face-up.
Variations: Given how challenging it can take to win a standard game of Canfield, a number of variants exist that simplify the game slightly, increasing your chances of playing cards to the foundations. Canfield's gambling house is said to have given players the option of going through the stock three times when dealing three cards at a time, or just a single time when dealing one card at a time, and it has been estimated that most games would only see 5 or 6 cards played. The game becomes slightly easier with Canfield Rush, where the cards are first dealt three at a time, then two at a time, and then individually in a final deal of the stock.
My thoughts: Canfield does have a strong connection to Klondike, but has a smaller tableau to work with, while also providing a much smaller number of cards (only 13) that are face-down in the tableau at the start of the game. The real key is finding a way to make these cards available and get these into the game. Given how hard the original game is, I prefer playing with the rule that allows dealing of cards individually, and cycling through the stock as often as necessary. Some of the related games discussed below, such as Rainbow and Storehouse, significantly improve your winning chances, and can be very satisfying to play. Certainly if you enjoy Klondike, this game is a great next step to try.
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Related games: In Rainbow (also called Rainbow Canfield), cards may be built downwards in the tableau regardless of suit (some versions still require alternating colour), making it much easier to manipulate cards and work your way through the stock and the reserve. Additionally, cards from the reserve aren't automatically added to the tableau, giving you more control and adding strategic options. In most versions of Storehouse (also called Thirteen-Up), you get an additional head-start by placing your initial four cards on the foundations at the outset, while cards from the stock are turned up one at a time. The big difference in this game is that you must build down by suit in the tableau, which really changes how the game feels, because playing from the tableau to the foundation usually involves a whole string of cards at once. Eagle Wing (also called Thirteen-Down) is somewhat similar to Storehouse, and has a uniquely shaped tableau. Dutchess (sometimes spelled Duchess), is a Canfield style game that adds a reserve of four fans, while American Toad is an easy-to-win version of Canfield with two decks.
Two Players: Canfield has been adapted for a multi-player game under the common name Pounce, and is also known as Nerts or Racing Demon. A commercial version exists under the name Solitaire Frenzy, and the published game Dutch Blitz is also a close relative. In Pounce, each player uses his own deck and tableau, playing simultaneously and real time onto shared foundations, with the goal is to be the first to get rid of your reserve pile. You can play with as many as half a dozen players or more, and the frenzied action typically proves to be enormous fun!
FAN GAMES (La Belle Lucie)
Overview: La Belle Lucie, also called in English "Lovely Lucy" or "Beautiful Lutecia", is a classic representative of the family of games typically described as Fan games. It's one of the more difficult games in the genre to win, and thus some of its variants and closely related games have arguably become more popular than Lovely Lucy itself. But this classic game of French origin is a good archetype of the genre, and you'll find it included in most books with patience games, and on most solitaire websites and software. Effectively this game is just a tableau of 17 columns of three cards each (plus a column with a single card), but the fan-style arrangement with horizontally overlapping cards that is traditionally associated with this game is a signature feature.
Game-play: A single deck is dealt face-up into 17 "fans", each consisting of three overlapping cards, plus an 18th column with just one card. Only one card can be transferred within the tableau at a time, so sequences can't be moved, and building happens downwards according to suit. Empty spaces in the tableau may not be filled. The aim is to build up four foundations by suit from Ace to King. Under the most commonly played rules, once you are unable to place or move any more cards, you take all the cards from the tableau and redeal them into fans with three cards each; there are two such re-deals.
Variations: Three Shuffles and a Draw (also called Lovely Lucy With a Draw) adds a merci play, where you can move a single blocked card once during the course of the game. While La Belle Lucie is sometimes called The Fan, this is also the name of a popular variation which allows exposed Kings to be played to empty spaces in the tableau, making the game less frustrating and far more achievable. Trefoil is identical to La Belle Lucie except that the Aces begin on the foundations, resulting in an initial tableau of just 16 fans.
My thoughts: This is a terrific single-deck game, because you have perfect information given that all the cards are face-up, and the large number of columns/fans means that buried cards have at most only a couple of cards blocking them. La Belle Lucie is very difficult to win under the original and strict rules, especially because empty fans may not be refilled, and cards beneath an unplayable exposed card (e.g. a King) are permanently inaccessible. The merci rule that lets you unblock one card is virtually essential, and usually a standard way of playing, but even after two redeals the game can still be hard to finish, depending on the draw. Some of the variants and related games that simplify things slightly are more satisfying. This is one of my favourite solitaire games to play with a single deck, since it is less luck-dependent than many other popular single-deck games like Klondike.
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Related games: One of the more popular games in this family is Super Flower Garden, where building downward is permitted regardless of suit; with good play under these rules the game can be completed almost every single time. Shamrocks takes the essence of La Belle Lucie, but implements several other changes to make the game much easier: Kings are moved to the bottom of the fan during the deal, and you may build up as well as down on the fans (which are limited in size to 3 cards) and can ignore suits; to prevent it being too easy there are no redeals.
Similar games: Games in the Baker's Dozen family (covered previously above) are sometimes classified as Fan games as well, because the game-play is quite similar, with 13 columns/fans of four cards each, but the absence of re-deals gives them a different feel. Bristol is often played with a tableau consisting of fans as well, but there are only eight fans of three cards each, while the rest of the deck functions as a stock that you deal onto three waste or reserve piles. Despite some hidden information, those who appreciate Fan games are likely to appreciate Bristol as well. Intelligence is a two-deck game in the style of La Belle Lucie, while the relatively easy two-deck game Buffalo Bill relies on reserve cells rather than tableau building.
CASTLE GAMES (Beleaguered Castle)
Overview: Beleaguered Castle is the most famous member of what can be called the "Castle" family of solitaire games, and is a classic game that you'll find in most books of Patience. This game sometimes also goes under the alternative names of Laying Siege and Sham Battle. It is an excellent example of an open solitaire game, because all the cards are dealt face-up at the start, so you begin with perfect information.
Game-play: With the four Aces placed in a vertical column as foundations, the rest of the cards are dealt face-up into four rows of six overlapping cards each on either side, forming a tableau consisting of two "wings". As expected, the goal is to build all four foundations in order from Ace through King. Cards may only be moved within the tableau one at a time, rather than in stacks, so only the end card of each row within the tableau may be moved, either to the foundations, to another row in descending sequence regardless of suit, or to an empty space in the tableau.
Variations: In Streets and Alleys, the Aces don't begin in the starting foundations at all, but are included in the initial tableau of dealt cards, so that the four rows on the left side of the foundations each consist of seven cards each rather than six. Thomas Warfield's Stronghold adds a storage cell to Streets and Alleys, to give more strategic options for movement. Citadel improves Beleaguered Castle's initial position slightly by allowing you to build straight to the foundations during the deal, while Selective Castle lets you choose the rank of the foundation cards after the deal. Some solitaire sites offer a Beleaguered Cities variant (sometimes simply called Castle), which makes the game much easier by allowing you to build in ascending or descending sequence (still regardless of suit), and this ensures that you can nearly always complete the game successfully.
My thoughts: Despite the unusual signature "wing" setup, strictly speaking the mechanics of Beleagured Castle are like most other solitaire games (especially Forty Thieves, see below), but with a single deck, eight columns of six cards each, and no stock. The strict rules for movement and building within the tableau make this a very difficult game to complete successfully. Ideally you want to be able to get one of the rows entirely clear, to give you more options for manipulation within the tableau. Even so, being only able to move the outside card on each row is quite limiting, and as a result you will often be thwarted by the luck of the draw early on, especially if high cards bury some lower cards, and so this classic game can be somewhat frustrating. You'll often find yourself quickly redealing and starting over, hoping for better luck the next time around; one advantage of a digital version is that you can keep redealing until you get a deal that seems like a reasonable starting draw. The simpler variant Castle is a good place to start with this game, since it increases your chances of success drastically.
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Related games: Fortress operates on a similar concept, but there are five rows on each side of the foundations instead of four. In addition, you are restricted to building on the same suit, but you may build in ascending or descending sequence. Aces start within the tableau (thus two rows have six instead of five cards). The variant Chessboard applies the same principle as Selective Castle, by letting you choose the rank of the foundation cards after the deal (building around the corner on the foundations as required), in order to take better advantage of the cards you have been dealt. Zerline is a German game where Queens are high, and helps by adding a four-card storage area.
SIR TOMMY GAMES
Overview: Sir Tommy (Old Patience, Try Again, Numerica) is also known as Old Patience, which reflects its origin as the oldest known patience game, and possible ancestor of all others. The average person may not have heard of it, but it deserves a place on this list because this is a game from which so many other solitaire games are derived, including many more familiar ones. It is at the head of a family of games where cards in the tableau can't be moved after being placed, and that's a unique quality that also makes it quite challenging to win.
Game-play: Suits are irrelevant in this game, and the aim is to build four foundations from Ace to King. You deal the deck face-up one at a time, and the tableau has four columns (or waste piles); dealt cards can be played on any column but cannot be moved from one to another. So while it's still technically a building game because you are building up the foundations, there is no packing in the tableau to assist you with this.
Variations: Some variants (e.g. Auld Lang Syne, Tam O'Shanter) turn Sir Tommy into even an simpler luck-based game nearly impossible to win, while others are extremely strategic like the well-known Calculation. Amazons is an interesting version played with a smaller deck that has the goal of building to the Queens (= Amazons), and is best played digitally given the amount of redealing. Other variants make the game easier (and for me, more enjoyable) by increasing the number of tableaus (Strategy, Lady Betty, and Last Chance) or redeals (Acquaintance), or make it more interesting by requiring building by colours (Puss in the Corner, and Colours, Alternate).
My thoughts: Good players can win as many as 20% of their games, and storing cards in the right order on the four columns is critical, because you want to avoid having low valued cards blocked by higher ones, or having too many cards of the same number in one column. Reserving a pile for Kings and another for high cards is often a good strategy. Even so, it's a hard game to win and can be frustrating. I recommend trying some of the easier variants as a way to enjoy this game; there's a good reason so many variants have evolved from the original over time. It's a large family that includes many solitaire variants, and these are well worth trying and exploring.
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Related games: Several two-deck games are in the Sir Tommy family, including Fanny, Frog (also called Toad), Fly, and Grand Duchess, most of which involve using a reserve. Several two-deck games use similar mechanics but operate with a larger 20 card tableau in the style of the simple game Carpet, but involve building both up and down on the foundations; for me personally these are the most fun of all Sir Tommy variants, and include Twenty (also called Sly Fox), Colorado, Grandmother's Patience (also called Grandmamma's Game), and Grandfather's Patience - all excellent games.
Calculation: Calculation deserves special mention, and has become a classic in its own right. What makes it unique is that the foundations are built up by one, two, three, and four respectively, and it requires a lot of skill. The variant Betsy Ross is more luck-dependent but is also easier to complete successfully.
YUKON
Overview: Yukon first appeared in a 1949 book on solitaire games, and has since exploded in popularity. This single deck solitaire game was partly inspired by Klondike, which is of course the most popular solitaire card game of all time. But because Yukon has no stock and more flexible rules for movement of stacks within the tableau, it allows a lot more scope for thinking.
Game-play: While inspired and indebted to Klondike, Yukon creates a game with a very different feel by removing the requirement that stacks of cards must be in alternating sequence in order to be moved. In other words, you can move any stack to a legal card within the tableau, regardless of the sequence of the cards in that stack. While this makes the game easier, another significant change makes it harder: there is no stock that you deal. So all the cards are in the tableau at the outset, and you'll have to manipulate the tableau cleverly to uncover face-down cards and build all four suits onto the four foundations from Ace through King.
Variations: To make Yukon slightly easier, a couple of variants alter things slightly to simplify the gameplay, such as removing the requirement that only Kings can be placed in an empty space in the tableau (this variation is sometimes called Great River). Some digital implementations give the option of reducing the number of suits used, such as in Yukon One Suit, which you can nearly always win, while still having to think carefully.
My thoughts: The rules for manipulating the tableau give you more options than Klondike, and thus more to consider and think about. Both Yukon and Russian Solitaire (mentioned under "related games" below) are extremely popular solitaire games, because they are simultaneously more challenging and more rewarding than Klondike style games. Skill plays more of a role, and there are players so dedicated to Yukon that they have played it thousands of times. In regular Yukon you can expect to win as much as 1 in 4 games, but the added level of difficulty in Russian Solitaire reduces that to as little as once in 20 games. The key is to bring the face-down cards into play as soon as possible.
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Related games: Russian Solitaire makes Yukon harder by only allowing you to build down in the tableau with cards of the same suit, instead of in alternating colours, and it is an extremely popular game in its own right. This requirement is also in place with Alaska, but may build in ascending or descending order in the tableau, which makes it easier to win than Russian Solitaire. Australian Patience is another popular spin-off from Yukon, and adds a stock which is dealt one at a time, while the entire 7x4 tableau starts face up; however this can feel like it's more about careful observation than decision making. Many other Yukon inspired games exist, including games which add things like a reserve, storage cells, or extra decks.
Scorpion: Special mention should be made of popular game Scorpion, which some categorize as part of the Yukon family, and the rules for moving unarranged stacks in Yukon may even originate in Scorpion. However, Scorpion uses Spider's requirement that stacks from Ace to King of the same suit must be assembled within the tableau before being discarded. Scorpion variants include Wasp, Three Blind Mice, Chinese Solitaire, and others.

== Games With Two Decks ==

FORTY THIEVES (Napoleon at St Helena)
Overview: Forty Thieves is a popular and classic game played with two decks, and is also included in most books with patience games. It also goes under the alternate name Napoleon at St Helena (not to be confused with a different solitaire game called "Saint Helena" or "Napoleon's Favorite"), and tradition says that this is the solitaire game Napoleon played while in exile on the island of St Helena. The game also goes under other names, including Roosevelt at San Juan. Its simple rules means that many variations exist, many of which are among the more strategic and satisfying versions of solitaire games that you'll find anywhere. Carefully working through the stock pile and manipulating the discard pile are a big element of successful play.
Game-play: A tableau is dealt with ten columns, each with four overlapping and face-up cards. Strict tableau building rules apply, because only the single top card of each column may be moved, and only onto a card that is the next highest rank of the same suit; any card can be placed into a space that becomes available in the tableau. The remaining stock of 64 cards is turned up one card at a time, with no redeals. The goal is to get all the cards onto the eight foundations from Ace through King in each suit.
Variations: In its strict and classic form, even with good play Forty Thieves is difficult to win, so many variants exist that seek to make the game easier. In some of these, the Aces begin as starting foundations ( San Juan Hill). In others, the tableau is not built down by cards of the same suit but by alternating colours (e.g. Streets), or by any suit other than its matching one (Indian). Some variations allow entire sequences of cards to be moved (Josephine, Forty Bandits, Ali Baba), or combine this with having tableau building in alternating colours (Number Ten, Rank and File, Emperor) or tableau building in any suit (Little Forty). In other variations, multiple redeals of the stock are permitted.
My thoughts: Game-play is very tight in the strict form of the game. It's not always a good idea to play a card just because you can, because you may block cards within the tableau that you need. You also need to pay close attention to duplicates, since two decks are in play. As a result, careful planning and consideration is needed. Unused stock typically ends up into an increasingly large face-up discard pile, but in the latter parts of the game skilful play often makes it possible to dig back through this and complete the game. This usually proves most satisfying when playing with one of the variants that makes the game slightly easier, to increase your chances of pulling out a win. Even with these variants, you'll have to play skillfully, making the Forty Thieves family of solitaire games one of the more popular choices for those who like a longer experience that is thoughtful, challenging, and yet solvable, and where skill plays even more of a role than luck.
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More variations: Instead of 10 tableau piles, some variations increase this to 12 piles (Blockade, Napoleon's Square, Corona) or 13 piles (Lucas, Waning Moon); or decrease it to 9 piles (Maria) or 8 piles (Forty and Eight, Congress, Parliament, Diplomat, Red and Black), each with different combinations of rules for tableau building. Games with just 6 piles (Blind Alleys, Pas Seul) or 5 piles (Double Rail) begin to feel much like Klondike.
Related games: Many other games take the Forty Thieves style concept and adjust it in more significant ways. In Interchange (more difficult), Breakwater, and Alternations, the initial tableau includes face-down and face-up cards. The very popular Thieves of Egypt begins with a pyramid shaped tableau. Busy Aces is a straight forward game in the style of Forty Thieves that is at the head of its own family, which includes the much simpler Fortune's Favor, a simple game ideal for beginners. For a terrific overview of all the Forty Thieves related games and their different nuances, consult Thomas Warfield's excellent complete guide to Forty Thieves types games.
CONCLUSION
This is by no means a comprehensive list that includes all builder-style solitaire games. But along with Klondike, Spider, and FreeCell, these seven additional games - Baker's Dozen, Beleaguered Castle,Canfield, Forty Thieves, La Belle Lucie, Sir Tommy, Yukon, and Forty Thieves - and the many related games that belong to their families, are the most common and popular forms of solitaire games that involve building. They have inspired many solitaire games like them, and have stood the test of time well.
If you enjoy Klondike, which is the most popular version of solitaire in the world, then Canfield and Yukon are natural games to explore next. Beleaguered Castle can be a little frustrating due to the strict rules and dependency on the luck of the draw, and even the other games in its family can be quite challenging. I'd recommend it only for more experienced and dedicated players, and would instead suggest next exploring Baker's Dozen and the games in the "Fan" family inspired by La Belle Lucie.
Their style of play is somewhat similar to Forty Thieves and its many siblings, which double the number of cards in the game by adding a second deck, and also adds a stock pile and discard pile you must manage. Forty Thieves type games are among the best you'll find for those who like a more challenging, thoughtful, and longer solitaire experience.
Author's note: I first published this article at PlayingCardDecks here.

Slot machine IDnsport is considered by many slot machine lovers as the best slot machine website. The website provides users with a lot of information such as which games are available for playing, how much they will cost and how to play these games. Slot machine IDnsport can be accessed through an internet connection or by using your favorite web browser. This is especially useful for those who are too busy to find time to log on to their favorite casino website. There are no fees when you play slot machines through this portal. It is also a secure site that does not allow anyone to access your personal and bank accounts.
Slot machine IDnsport offers online slot machine games that are similar to the ones you find at land-based casinos. These include bingo, video poker, keno, slot machine keno, and the slot machine jackpot. There is even a free bi-weekly slot machine column that you can subscribe to. In this column, you will receive a list of the five most popular slots games posted online each week.
The "Judi Slot Idnsport" column features five of the most popular games posted in the "Judi" slot machine online every Wednesday. These are the same games you will find at the "Judi" machines located in the various casinos around the world. For the benefit of readers who cannot access the internet, "Slot Idnsport" includes an explanation of each game on its home page. In addition, it shows you where the machines are located and how to access each one. This is very important because many slot machine users do not know which machine is their favorite and will spend their time trying to win a jackpot rather than actually enjoying the game they are playing.
The "Slot IDnsport" column also features a review of the various currencies that are exchanged when gambling with the various products offered by slot machine manufacturers. This includes information regarding the US dollar, the Australian dollar, the British pound, the Euro, and the Japanese yen. The currency values change frequently but it is a good idea for slot players to check the value of their currencies before they place a bet on any specific machine. Many slot players from different countries enjoy the ability to play with different currencies and this is important because some countries issue their own currency in casinos and this is another reason why many individuals love to play in casinos using different currencies.
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It is easy to access the "Slot IDnsport" website from the comfort of your own home. You can easily navigate from one section to another if you want to see new slot machine listings. When you visit the website you will find an online casino slots guide. You can learn about some of the different types of online slot machines and which ones are best suited for your own personal needs. This online guide can help you decide which casino slots offer the best payout as well as finding websites that offer in depth information about slot machines. If you are a beginner to online gambling then it is important to do your research before choosing any particular online casino slots site.

Here I will include a master post of UK mental health helplines/resources, feel free to message me directly if there is anything you would like me to add to this post or if you notice any contact or relevant information has changed since creating this. If you would like quick support on this site for legal or DWP related issues please consider checking out DWPhelp or LegalAdviceUK
If you live in England, you can refer yourself to an NHS psychological therapies service (IAPT).
If you would like to view some country-specific helplines&resources:

• England part 1
  
• England part 2
  
• England part 3
  
• Northern Ireland
  
• Wales
  
• Scotland
  

Mental health helplines:
Shout
Shout is the UK’s first 24/7 text service, free on all major mobile networks, for anyone in crisis anytime, anywhere. We can help with urgent issues such as: suicidal thoughts, abuse or assault, self-harm, bullying and relationship challenges
Text Shout to 85258
(https://www.giveusashout.org/)
Mental Health Matters
Helpline for people with mental health problems, their carers, families and friends. The Team can offer emotional guidance and information and help people who may be feeling low, anxious or stressed or in extreme emotional distress and feel that there is nowhere else to turn. Support is also provided to people caring for another person and finding it difficult to cope. The service is confidential unless it is considered there is a risk to yourself or others. Webchat available 24/7
Phone: click here to find the different numbers for the geographical areas covered Email: [email protected]
Supportline
We offer confidential emotional support to children, young adults and adults by telephone, email and post. We work with callers to develop healthy, positive coping strategies, an inner feeling of strength and increased self esteem to encourage healing, recovery and moving forward with life.
Phone: 01708 765200 (hours variable - ring for details)
Email: [email protected]
The Silver Line
The Silver Line operates the only confidential, free helpline for older people across the UK that's open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year. We also offer telephone friendship where we match volunteers with older people based on their interests, facilitated group calls, and help to connect people with local services in their area.
Phone: 0800 4 70 80 90 Email: [email protected]
(https://www.thesilverline.org.uk/)
Breathing Space
A confidential phoneline for anyone in Scotland over the age of 16, feeling low, anxious or depressed.
Phone: 0800 838587 (weekdays mon-thurs 6pm until 2am. Weekend Friday 6pm-Monday 6am)
(https://breathingspace.scot/)
C.A.L.L. Mental health helpline
Offers emotional support and information/literature on Mental Health and related matters to the people of Wales. Anyone concerned about their own mental health or that of a relative or friend can access the service. C.A.L.L. Helpline offers a confidential listening and support service.
Phone: 0800 132 737 or text help to 81066
(https://www.callhelpline.org.uk/)
Lifeline Helpline
Lifeline is the Northern Ireland crisis response helpline service for people who are experiencing distress or despair. No matter what your age or where you live in Northern Ireland, if you are or someone you know is in distress or despair, Lifeline is here to help.
Phone: 0808 808 8000 or 18001 0808 808 8000 for Deaf and hard of hearing Textphone users. (24 hours a day, seven days a week)
(https://www.lifelinehelpline.info/)
One parent families Scotland
The Lone Parent Helpline provides advice and support to single parents. Call us about anything from dealing with a break-up, sorting out child maintenance, understanding benefits, money when having a baby, studying or moving into work. We provide a free confidential friendly service that provides advice and supports your wellbeing whatever you are going through.
Phone: 0808 801 0323 (Monday to Friday 9.30am to 4pm)
Email: [email protected]
(https://opfs.org.uk/)
RABI Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution
Time is a precious commodity, especially in farming. But it’s something our staff will happily give you.
When you call you’ll speak to a member of our dedicated welfare team. We understand that making that very first call – and talking about personal things with someone you don’t know – might sound daunting. However, it’s 100% confidential, so you’ll be free to discuss what’s on your mind without judgement. We won’t disclose any information to third parties without your explicit permission and calls are not recorded. We’ll do our very best to make you feel at ease, listening with courtesy, sympathy and respect.
Phone: 0808 281 9490 (9am-5pm weekdays) Email: [email protected]
(https://rabi.org.uk/)
The Drinks Trust:
We are the drinks industry community organisation, providing care and support to the people who form the drinks industry workforce, both past and present. The Trust provides individuals with services across vocational, well-being, financial and practical support. These services are intended to assist with and improve the circumstances of those who receive them
Phone: 0800 915 4610
Email: [email protected]
Contact form - To be eligible, you must have worked for at least two years full-time or four years part-time in the UK drinks industry.
(https://www.drinkstrust.org.uk/)
Anxiety UK
Charity providing support if you've been diagnosed with an anxiety condition.
Phone: 03444 775 774 (Mon to Fri, 9.30am to 5.30pm)
(www.anxietyuk.org.uk)
Bipolar UK
A charity helping people living with manic depression or bipolar disorder.
Peer support line: Arrange a call back from our Peer Support Line. Book in a call with our chatbot- simply type in 'I would like to speak to someone' and select a date and time that works best for you.
Email us: [email protected]
(www.bipolaruk.org.uk)
Carers UK
We provide an expert telephone advice and support service. You can talk to us, no matter where you are in the UK or how complex your query is. We do benefits checks, and advise on financial and practical matters related to caring.
Phone: 0808 808 7777 (Mon-Fri 9am until 6pm)
Email: [email protected]
Online forum: here
(https://www.carersuk.org/)
CALM
Our helpline is for people in the UK who are down or have hit a wall for any reason, who need to talk or find information and support.
Phone: 0800 58 58 58 (5pm to midnight - 365 days a year)
(www.thecalmzone.net)
Shelter
Shelter helps millions of people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness through our advice, support, and legal services
England&Scotland phone number: 08088004444 (8am - 8pm on weekdays and 9am - 5pm weekends).
(https://www.shelter.org.uk/)
Wales phone number: 08000 495495 (9.30am – 4.00pm, Monday to Friday)
(https://sheltercymru.org.uk/)
For similar housing support in Ireland and NI: Ireland and Northern Ireland
Mind
Promotes the views and needs of people with mental health problems.
Phone: 0300 123 3393 (Mon to Fri, 9am to 6pm)
(www.mind.org.uk)
Mind Cymru: 0292-0395-123 (https://www.mind.org.uk/about-us/mind-cymru/)
No Panic
Voluntary charity offering support for sufferers of panic attacks and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Offers a course to help overcome your phobia/OCD. Includes a helpline.
Phone: 0844 967 4848 (daily, 10am to 10pm)
(www.nopanic.org.uk)
OCD Action
Support for people with OCD. Includes information on treatment and online resources.
Phone: 0845 390 6232 (Mon to Fri, 9.30am to 5pm)
(www.ocdaction.org.uk)
OCD UK
A charity run by people with OCD, for people with OCD. Includes facts, news and treatments.
Phone: 0845 120 3778 (Mon to Fri, 9am to 5pm)
(www.ocduk.org)
PAPYRUS
HOPELINEUK is a confidential support and advice service for children and young people under the age of 35 who are experiencing thoughts of suicide, or anyone concerned that a young person could be thinking about suicide.
Phone: HOPElineUK 0800 068 4141 (9:00 am to 12:00 am midnight)
Text: 07860 039 967
Email: [email protected]
(www.papyrus-uk.org)
Rethink Mental Illness
Support and advice for people living with mental illness.
Phone: 0300 5000 927 (Mon to Fri, 9.30am to 4pm)
(www.rethink.org)
Samaritans
Confidential support for people experiencing feelings of distress or despair.
Phone: 116 123 (free 24-hour helpline)
(www.samaritans.org.uk)
SANE
Emotional support, information and guidance for people affected by mental illness, their families and carers.
SANEline: 0300 304 7000 (daily, 4.30 to 10.30pm)
Textcare: comfort and care via text message, sent when the person needs it most: (http://www.sane.org.uk/textcare)
(www.sane.org.uk/supportforum)
(www.sane.org.uk/support)
YoungMinds
Information on child and adolescent mental health. Services for parents and professionals.
Phone: Parents' helpline 0808 802 5544 (Mon to Fri, 9.30am to 4pm)
(www.youngminds.org.uk)
Veterans Gateway
The first point of contact for veterans seeking support. We put veterans and their families in touch with the organisations best placed to help with the information, advice and support they need – from healthcare and housing to employability, finances, personal relationships and more.
Phone: 0808 802 1212 Text: 81212 Email: submit here Live chat: here
(https://www.veteransgateway.org.uk/)
First Person Plural
First Person Plural (FPP) specialises in working for and on behalf of all those affected by Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and similar complex trauma-related dissociative identity conditions. These similar conditions include type 1 Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (DDNOS), and a type of Other Specified Dissociative Disorder (OSDD) which is described as DID-like.
Phone: 01902810082 (if we do not pick up leave a message and we will contact you as soon as possible but this might not be for a few days as our office is not staffed everyday) Email: [email protected] Twitter: @DissociationFPP
LGBT+ helplines:
Switchboard LGBT
Switchboard provides a one-stop listening service for LGBT+ people on the phone, by email and through Instant Messaging.
Phone: 03003300630 (Open 10:00-22:00 every day)
Email: [email protected]
MindlineTrans+
MindLine Trans+ is a confidential emotional, mental health support helpline for people who identify as Transgender, Agender, Gender Fluid, Non-binary..
Phone: 03003305468 (Mondays and Fridays from 8pm to midnight.)
Mermaids UK
Mermaids provides a helpline aimed at supporting transgender youth up to and including the age of 19, their families and professionals working with them.
Phone: 0808 801 0400 (Open Monday - Friday; 9am - 9pm)
Email: [email protected]
(https://www.mermaidsuk.org.uk)
Abuse helplines (child, sexual, domestic violence):
NSPCC
Children's charity dedicated to ending child abuse and child cruelty.
Phone: 0800 1111 for Childline for children (24-hour helpline)
0808 800 5000 for adults concerned about a child (24-hour helpline)
(www.nspcc.org.uk)
Refuge
Advice on dealing with domestic violence.
Phone: 0808 2000 247 (24-hour helpline)
(www.refuge.org.uk)
Women's Aid
Women’s Aid is the national charity working to end domestic abuse against women and children.
Email: [email protected] Live chat: Our hours are Monday to Friday 10:00am - 4:00pm, Saturday and Sunday 10:00am-12:00pm. Here
Respect Men's advice line
The Men’s Advice Line is a confidential helpline for male victims of domestic abuse and those supporting them. We offer advice and emotional support to men who experience abuse, and signpost to other vital services that help keep them and their children safe.
Call: 0808 8010327 or visit: here
Respect phoneline
The Respect Phoneline is an anonymous and confidential helpline for men and women who are harming their partners and families. We provide specialist advice and guidance to help people change their behaviours and support for those working with domestic abuse perpetrators.
Call: 0808 8024040 or visit: here
Honour based abuse/violence, forced marriage and/or female genital mutilation helplines
Freedom Charity
We aim to empower young people to feel they have the tools and confidence to support each other and have practical ways in which they can help their best friend around the issues of family relationships which can lead to early and forced marriage and dishonour based violence
(https://www.freedomcharity.org.uk/)
Phone: 0845 607 0133 ; or text "4freedom"to 88802 (24-hour helpline)
Halo Project
Halo Project Charity is a national project that will support victims of honour-based violence, forced marriages and FGM by providing appropriate advice and support to victims. We will also work with key partners to provide required interventions and advice necessary for the protection and safety of victims.
Phone: 01642 683 045 (9am-5pm)
(https://www.haloproject.org.uk/)
Karma Nirvana
Karma Nirvana is an award-winning National charity supporting victims of honour-based abuse and forced marriage. Honour crimes are not determined by age, faith, gender or sexuality, we support and work with all victims
Phone: 0800 5999 247 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm)
(https://karmanirvana.org.uk/)
Addiction helplines (drugs, alcohol, gambling):
Alcoholics Anonymous
Phone: 0845 769 7555 (24-hour helpline)
(www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk)
Gamblers Anonymous
Phone: 0330 094 0322
(www.gamblersanonymous.org.uk)
Narcotics Anonymous
Phone: 0300 999 1212 (daily 10am to midnight)
(www.ukna.org)
Drugfam
Support for families, friends and partners affected by someone else’s addiction to drugs or alcohol.
Phone: 0300 888 3853
(https://www.drugfam.co.uk/)
Al-Anon UK&Eire
We are here for anyone affected by someone else's drinking. Our Helpline is manned by a team of friendly and helpful volunteers who are also members of Al-Anon. They will listen and be happy to answer your questions
Phone: 0800 0086 811 (10am-10pm, 365 days a year)
Email: [email protected]
Alzheimer's helpline:
Alzheimer's Society
Provides information on dementia, including factsheets and helplines.
Phone: 0300 222 1122 (Mon to Fri, 9am to 5pm. Weekends, 10am to 4pm)
(www.alzheimers.org.uk)
Bereavement helplines:
Cruse Bereavement Care
Phone: 0808 808 1677 (Mon to Fri, 9am to 5pm)
Email: [email protected]
CruseChat
(https://www.cruse.org.uk)
Blue Cross for pets
If you have lost, or are facing saying goodbye to, a much loved pet and need somebody to talk to, our Pet Bereavement Support Service is here for you every day from 8.30am – 8.30pm
Phone: 0800 096 6606
Email: [email protected]
The Compassionate Friends
The Compassionate Friends is a charitable organisation of bereaved parents, siblings and grandparents dedicated to the support and care of other similarly bereaved family members who have suffered the death of a child or children of any age and from any cause
Phone: 0345 120 3785 (9:30am - 4:30pm Mon to Fri)
Email: [email protected]
Crime victims helplines:
Rape Crisis
To find your local services phone: 0808 802 9999 (daily, 12 to 2.30pm, 7 to 9.30pm)
(www.rapecrisis.org.uk)
Victim Support
Phone: 0808 168 9111 (24-hour helpline)
(www.victimsupport.org)
Eating disorders helpline:
Beat
Phone: 0808 801 0677 (adults) or 0808 801 0711 (for under-18s)
(www.b-eat.co.uk)
Learning disabilities helpline:
Mencap
Charity working with people with a learning disability, their families and carers.
Phone: 0808 808 1111 (Mon to Fri, 9am to 5pm)
(www.mencap.org.uk)
Parenting helpline:
Family Lives
Family Lives offers a confidential and free helpline service for families in England and Wales (previously known as Parentline). Please call us on 0808 800 2222 for emotional support, information, advice and guidance on any aspect of parenting and family life. Our helpline service is open 9am-9pm Monday to Friday and 10am-3pm Saturday and Sunday
Callers in Wales: If you would like to access this service in Welsh, find out how to request a call back here
Callers in Scotland: for callers from Scotland, Children 1st run Parentline Scotland and you may wish to contact them on 08000 28 22 33 Monday to Friday from 9am - 9pm.
Online chat: available 1:30pm-5:30pm every weekday excluding bank holidays here
Email: [email protected]
Online forum: here
(https://www.familylives.org.uk/)
Relationships helpline:
Relate
The UK's largest provider of relationship support.
(www.relate.org.uk)
Mental health resources:

• PohWER - English Advocacy service
  
• Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance
  
• Advocacy Support Cymru
  
• Inspire - Northern Ireland advocacy service
  
• Prescription Prepayment Certificates
  
• UK Men's Shed Association Finder
  
• SelfHelp services
  
• StepChange Debt Charity
  
• Change Grow Live
  
• The Blurt Foundation
  
• Camerados
  
• BACP therapist directory
  
• Directory of Chartered Psychologists
  
• Free IAPT workbooks and resouces
  
• Free self help resources
  
• Free NHS self help booklets
  
• Free generalised resources from Australian gov website
  
• St John's Ambulance mental health first aid training courses
  
• Womens Wellbeing Club
  
• Andys Man Club
  
• Talk Club - talking and listening clubs for men
  
• Student's against Depression
  
• The Wholeness of Your Nature - The Little Yoga Nidra
  
• Discovery of Your Self - The Deep Yoga Nidra
  
• How to Meditate: Mantra
  
• How to Meditate: Body Scan
  
• Kooth - free, safe and anonymous community for children and young people to get support
  
• turn2us benefits support
  
• PaNDAS Foundation - Post Natal Depression awareness support
  
• Maternal Mental Health Alliance
  
• YANA - help for those in Norfolk, Suffolk and Worcestershire involved in farming and other rural businesses affected by stress and depression
  
• Home Start UK - family support
  
• Family Action support services finder
  
• Mental Health Foundation
  
• The Masked AMHP blog
  
• NHS Every Mind Matters
  
• Hub of Hope
  
• Free online suicide awareness training
  
• UK support for self harm
  
• Mens Health Forum
  
• Bullying UK
  
• The Survivors Trust
  
• Naz and Matt Foundation
  
• Citzens Advice finder
  
• How to support mental health at work
  
• Mental health at work toolkit
  
• Reasonable adjustments at work explained
  
• Discrimination at work
  
• Mental health and the criminal justice system
  
• Different types of talking therapies
  
• Antipsychotics explained
  
• Antidepressants explained
  
• CMHTs explained
  
• Crisis teams explained
  
• Young person's guide to inpatient care
  
• Men and mental health
  
• Where to get urgent help for mental health
  
• The Mental Health Act
  
• Scottish Association for Mental Health
  
• The Lucy Rayner Foundation - Surrey
  
• Mary Frances Trust - Surrey
  
• Choice and medication
  
• Mental health apps library - NHS website
  
• Forward Carers, Carers Card - Birmingham
  

Here I will include a master post of UK mental health helplines and resources which have been taken from my subreddit MentalHealthUK - feel free to check out this sub if you're interested in giving/getting support, resources, daily mental health related news and more!
If you would like quick support on this site for legal or DWP related issues please consider checking out DWPhelp or LegalAdviceUK.
If you live in England, you can refer yourself to an NHS psychological therapies service (IAPT).
If you would like to view some country-specific helplines&resources:

• England part 1
  
• England part 2
  
• England part 3
  
• Northern Ireland
  
• Wales
  
• Scotland
  

Mental health helplines:
Shout
Shout is the UK’s first 24/7 text service, free on all major mobile networks, for anyone in crisis anytime, anywhere. We can help with urgent issues such as: suicidal thoughts, abuse or assault, self-harm, bullying and relationship challenges
Text Shout to 85258
(https://www.giveusashout.org/)
Mental Health Matters
Helpline for people with mental health problems, their carers, families and friends. The Team can offer emotional guidance and information and help people who may be feeling low, anxious or stressed or in extreme emotional distress and feel that there is nowhere else to turn. Support is also provided to people caring for another person and finding it difficult to cope. The service is confidential unless it is considered there is a risk to yourself or others. Webchat available 24/7
Phone: click here to find the different numbers for the geographical areas covered Email: [email protected]
Supportline
We offer confidential emotional support to children, young adults and adults by telephone, email and post. We work with callers to develop healthy, positive coping strategies, an inner feeling of strength and increased self esteem to encourage healing, recovery and moving forward with life.
Phone: 01708 765200 (hours variable - ring for details)
Email: [email protected]
The Silver Line
The Silver Line operates the only confidential, free helpline for older people across the UK that's open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year. We also offer telephone friendship where we match volunteers with older people based on their interests, facilitated group calls, and help to connect people with local services in their area.
Phone: 0800 4 70 80 90 Email: [email protected]
(https://www.thesilverline.org.uk/)
Breathing Space
A confidential phoneline for anyone in Scotland over the age of 16, feeling low, anxious or depressed.
Phone: 0800 838587 (weekdays mon-thurs 6pm until 2am. Weekend Friday 6pm-Monday 6am)
(https://breathingspace.scot/)
C.A.L.L. Mental health helpline
Offers emotional support and information/literature on Mental Health and related matters to the people of Wales. Anyone concerned about their own mental health or that of a relative or friend can access the service. C.A.L.L. Helpline offers a confidential listening and support service.
Phone: 0800 132 737 or text help to 81066
(https://www.callhelpline.org.uk/)
Lifeline Helpline
Lifeline is the Northern Ireland crisis response helpline service for people who are experiencing distress or despair. No matter what your age or where you live in Northern Ireland, if you are or someone you know is in distress or despair, Lifeline is here to help.
Phone: 0808 808 8000 or 18001 0808 808 8000 for Deaf and hard of hearing Textphone users. (24 hours a day, seven days a week)
(https://www.lifelinehelpline.info/)
One parent families Scotland
The Lone Parent Helpline provides advice and support to single parents. Call us about anything from dealing with a break-up, sorting out child maintenance, understanding benefits, money when having a baby, studying or moving into work. We provide a free confidential friendly service that provides advice and supports your wellbeing whatever you are going through.
Phone: 0808 801 0323 (Monday to Friday 9.30am to 4pm)
Email: [email protected]
(https://opfs.org.uk/)
RABI Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution
Time is a precious commodity, especially in farming. But it’s something our staff will happily give you.
When you call you’ll speak to a member of our dedicated welfare team. We understand that making that very first call – and talking about personal things with someone you don’t know – might sound daunting. However, it’s 100% confidential, so you’ll be free to discuss what’s on your mind without judgement. We won’t disclose any information to third parties without your explicit permission and calls are not recorded. We’ll do our very best to make you feel at ease, listening with courtesy, sympathy and respect.
Phone: 0808 281 9490 (9am-5pm weekdays) Email: [email protected]
(https://rabi.org.uk/)
The Drinks Trust:
We are the drinks industry community organisation, providing care and support to the people who form the drinks industry workforce, both past and present. The Trust provides individuals with services across vocational, well-being, financial and practical support. These services are intended to assist with and improve the circumstances of those who receive them
Phone: 0800 915 4610
Email: [email protected]
Contact form - To be eligible, you must have worked for at least two years full-time or four years part-time in the UK drinks industry.
(https://www.drinkstrust.org.uk/)
Anxiety UK
Charity providing support if you've been diagnosed with an anxiety condition.
Phone: 03444 775 774 (Mon to Fri, 9.30am to 5.30pm)
(www.anxietyuk.org.uk)
Bipolar UK
A charity helping people living with manic depression or bipolar disorder.
Peer support line: Arrange a call back from our Peer Support Line. Book in a call with our chatbot- simply type in 'I would like to speak to someone' and select a date and time that works best for you.
Email us: [email protected]
(www.bipolaruk.org.uk)
Carers UK
We provide an expert telephone advice and support service. You can talk to us, no matter where you are in the UK or how complex your query is. We do benefits checks, and advise on financial and practical matters related to caring.
Phone: 0808 808 7777 (Mon-Fri 9am until 6pm)
Email: [email protected]
Online forum: here
(https://www.carersuk.org/)
CALM
Our helpline is for people in the UK who are down or have hit a wall for any reason, who need to talk or find information and support.
Phone: 0800 58 58 58 (5pm to midnight - 365 days a year)
(www.thecalmzone.net)
Shelter
Shelter helps millions of people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness through our advice, support, and legal services
England&Scotland phone number: 08088004444 (8am - 8pm on weekdays and 9am - 5pm weekends).
(https://www.shelter.org.uk/)
Wales phone number: 08000 495495 (9.30am – 4.00pm, Monday to Friday)
(https://sheltercymru.org.uk/)
For similar housing support in Ireland and NI: Ireland and Northern Ireland
Mind
Promotes the views and needs of people with mental health problems.
Phone: 0300 123 3393 (Mon to Fri, 9am to 6pm)
(www.mind.org.uk)
Mind Cymru: 0292-0395-123 (https://www.mind.org.uk/about-us/mind-cymru/)
No Panic
Voluntary charity offering support for sufferers of panic attacks and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Offers a course to help overcome your phobia/OCD. Includes a helpline.
Phone: 0844 967 4848 (daily, 10am to 10pm)
(www.nopanic.org.uk)
OCD Action
Support for people with OCD. Includes information on treatment and online resources.
Phone: 0845 390 6232 (Mon to Fri, 9.30am to 5pm)
(www.ocdaction.org.uk)
OCD UK
A charity run by people with OCD, for people with OCD. Includes facts, news and treatments.
Phone: 0845 120 3778 (Mon to Fri, 9am to 5pm)
(www.ocduk.org)
PAPYRUS
HOPELINEUK is a confidential support and advice service for children and young people under the age of 35 who are experiencing thoughts of suicide, or anyone concerned that a young person could be thinking about suicide.
Phone: HOPElineUK 0800 068 4141 (9:00 am to 12:00 am midnight every day including weekends & bank holidays)
Text: 07860 039 967
Email: [email protected]
(www.papyrus-uk.org)
Rethink Mental Illness
Support and advice for people living with mental illness.
Phone: 0300 5000 927 (Mon to Fri, 9.30am to 4pm)
(www.rethink.org)
Samaritans
Confidential support for people experiencing feelings of distress or despair.
Phone: 116 123 (free 24-hour helpline)
(www.samaritans.org.uk)
SANE
Emotional support, information and guidance for people affected by mental illness, their families and carers.
SANEline: 0300 304 7000 (daily, 4.30 to 10.30pm)
Textcare: comfort and care via text message, sent when the person needs it most: (http://www.sane.org.uk/textcare)
(www.sane.org.uk/supportforum)
(www.sane.org.uk/support)
YoungMinds
Information on child and adolescent mental health. Services for parents and professionals.
Phone: Parents' helpline 0808 802 5544 (Mon to Fri, 9.30am to 4pm)
(www.youngminds.org.uk)
Veterans Gateway
The first point of contact for veterans seeking support. We put veterans and their families in touch with the organisations best placed to help with the information, advice and support they need – from healthcare and housing to employability, finances, personal relationships and more.
Phone: 0808 802 1212 Text: 81212 Email: submit here Live chat: here
(https://www.veteransgateway.org.uk/)
First Person Plural
First Person Plural (FPP) specialises in working for and on behalf of all those affected by Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and similar complex trauma-related dissociative identity conditions. These similar conditions include type 1 Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (DDNOS), and a type of Other Specified Dissociative Disorder (OSDD) which is described as DID-like.
Phone: 01902810082 (if we do not pick up leave a message and we will contact you as soon as possible but this might not be for a few days as our office is not staffed everyday) Email: [email protected] Twitter: @DissociationFPP
LGBT+ helplines:
Switchboard LGBT
Switchboard provides a one-stop listening service for LGBT+ people on the phone, by email and through Instant Messaging.
Phone: 03003300630 (Open 10:00-22:00 every day)
Email: [email protected]
MindlineTrans+
MindLine Trans+ is a confidential emotional, mental health support helpline for people who identify as Transgender, Agender, Gender Fluid, Non-binary..
Phone: 03003305468 (Mondays and Fridays from 8pm to midnight.)
Mermaids UK
Mermaids provides a helpline aimed at supporting transgender youth up to and including the age of 19, their families and professionals working with them.
Phone: 0808 801 0400 (Open Monday - Friday; 9am - 9pm)
Email: [email protected]
(https://www.mermaidsuk.org.uk)
Abuse helplines (child, sexual, domestic violence):
NSPCC
Children's charity dedicated to ending child abuse and child cruelty.
Phone: 0800 1111 for Childline for children (24-hour helpline)
0808 800 5000 for adults concerned about a child (24-hour helpline)
(www.nspcc.org.uk)
Refuge
Advice on dealing with domestic violence.
Phone: 0808 2000 247 (24-hour helpline)
(www.refuge.org.uk)
Women's Aid
Women’s Aid is the national charity working to end domestic abuse against women and children.
Email: [email protected] Live chat: Our hours are Monday to Friday 10:00am - 4:00pm, Saturday and Sunday 10:00am-12:00pm. Here
Respect Men's advice line
The Men’s Advice Line is a confidential helpline for male victims of domestic abuse and those supporting them. We offer advice and emotional support to men who experience abuse, and signpost to other vital services that help keep them and their children safe.
Call: 0808 8010327 or visit: here
Respect phoneline
The Respect Phoneline is an anonymous and confidential helpline for men and women who are harming their partners and families. We provide specialist advice and guidance to help people change their behaviours and support for those working with domestic abuse perpetrators.
Call: 0808 8024040 or visit: here
Honour based abuse/violence, forced marriage and/or female genital mutilation helplines
Freedom Charity
We aim to empower young people to feel they have the tools and confidence to support each other and have practical ways in which they can help their best friend around the issues of family relationships which can lead to early and forced marriage and dishonour based violence
(https://www.freedomcharity.org.uk/)
Phone: 0845 607 0133 ; or text "4freedom"to 88802 (24-hour helpline)
Halo Project
Halo Project Charity is a national project that will support victims of honour-based violence, forced marriages and FGM by providing appropriate advice and support to victims. We will also work with key partners to provide required interventions and advice necessary for the protection and safety of victims.
Phone: 01642 683 045 (9am-5pm)
(https://www.haloproject.org.uk/)
Karma Nirvana
Karma Nirvana is an award-winning National charity supporting victims of honour-based abuse and forced marriage. Honour crimes are not determined by age, faith, gender or sexuality, we support and work with all victims
Phone: 0800 5999 247 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm)
(https://karmanirvana.org.uk/)
Addiction helplines (drugs, alcohol, gambling):
Alcoholics Anonymous
Phone: 0845 769 7555 (24-hour helpline)
(www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk)
Gamblers Anonymous
Phone: 0330 094 0322
(www.gamblersanonymous.org.uk)
Narcotics Anonymous
Phone: 0300 999 1212 (daily 10am to midnight)
(www.ukna.org)
Drugfam
Support for families, friends and partners affected by someone else’s addiction to drugs or alcohol.
Phone: 0300 888 3853
(https://www.drugfam.co.uk/)
Al-Anon UK&Eire
We are here for anyone affected by someone else's drinking. Our Helpline is manned by a team of friendly and helpful volunteers who are also members of Al-Anon. They will listen and be happy to answer your questions
Phone: 0800 0086 811 (10am-10pm, 365 days a year)
Email: [email protected]
Alzheimer's helpline:
Alzheimer's Society
Provides information on dementia, including factsheets and helplines.
Phone: 0300 222 1122 (Mon to Fri, 9am to 5pm. Weekends, 10am to 4pm)
(www.alzheimers.org.uk)
Bereavement helplines:
Cruse Bereavement Care
Phone: 0808 808 1677 (Mon to Fri, 9am to 5pm)
Email: [email protected]
CruseChat
(https://www.cruse.org.uk)
Blue Cross for pets
If you have lost, or are facing saying goodbye to, a much loved pet and need somebody to talk to, our Pet Bereavement Support Service is here for you every day from 8.30am – 8.30pm
Phone: 0800 096 6606
Email: [email protected]
The Compassionate Friends
The Compassionate Friends is a charitable organisation of bereaved parents, siblings and grandparents dedicated to the support and care of other similarly bereaved family members who have suffered the death of a child or children of any age and from any cause
Phone: 0345 120 3785 (9:30am - 4:30pm Mon to Fri)
Email: [email protected]
Crime victims helplines:
Rape Crisis
To find your local services phone: 0808 802 9999 (daily, 12 to 2.30pm, 7 to 9.30pm)
(www.rapecrisis.org.uk)
Victim Support
Phone: 0808 168 9111 (24-hour helpline)
(www.victimsupport.org)
Eating disorders helpline:
Beat
Phone: 0808 801 0677 (adults) or 0808 801 0711 (for under-18s)
(www.b-eat.co.uk)
Learning disabilities helpline:
Mencap
Charity working with people with a learning disability, their families and carers.
Phone: 0808 808 1111 (Mon to Fri, 9am to 5pm)
(www.mencap.org.uk)
Parenting helpline:
Family Lives
Family Lives offers a confidential and free helpline service for families in England and Wales (previously known as Parentline). Please call us on 0808 800 2222 for emotional support, information, advice and guidance on any aspect of parenting and family life. Our helpline service is open 9am-9pm Monday to Friday and 10am-3pm Saturday and Sunday
Callers in Wales: If you would like to access this service in Welsh, find out how to request a call back here
Callers in Scotland: for callers from Scotland, Children 1st run Parentline Scotland and you may wish to contact them on 08000 28 22 33 Monday to Friday from 9am - 9pm.
Online chat: available 1:30pm-5:30pm every weekday excluding bank holidays here
Email: [email protected]
Online forum: here
(https://www.familylives.org.uk/)
Relationships helpline:
Relate
The UK's largest provider of relationship support.
(www.relate.org.uk)
Mental health resources:

• PohWER - English Advocacy service
  
• Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance
  
• Advocacy Support Cymru
  
• Inspire - Northern Ireland advocacy service
  
• Prescription Prepayment Certificates
  
• UK Men's Shed Association Finder
  
• SelfHelp services
  
• StepChange Debt Charity
  
• Change Grow Live
  
• The Blurt Foundation
  
• Camerados
  
• BACP therapist directory
  
• Directory of Chartered Psychologists
  
• Free IAPT workbooks and resouces
  
• Free self help resources
  
• Free NHS self help booklets
  
• Free generalised resources from Australian gov website
  
• St John's Ambulance mental health first aid training courses
  
• Womens Wellbeing Club
  
• Andys Man Club
  
• Talk Club - talking and listening clubs for men
  
• Student's against Depression
  
• The Wholeness of Your Nature - The Little Yoga Nidra
  
• Discovery of Your Self - The Deep Yoga Nidra
  
• How to Meditate: Mantra
  
• How to Meditate: Body Scan
  
• Kooth - free, safe and anonymous community for children and young people to get support
  
• turn2us benefits support
  
• PaNDAS Foundation - Post Natal Depression awareness support
  
• Maternal Mental Health Alliance
  
• YANA - help for those in Norfolk, Suffolk and Worcestershire involved in farming and other rural businesses affected by stress and depression
  
• Home Start UK - family support
  
• Family Action support services finder
  
• Mental Health Foundation
  
• The Masked AMHP blog
  
• NHS Every Mind Matters
  
• Hub of Hope
  
• Free online suicide awareness training
  
• UK support for self harm
  
• Mens Health Forum
  
• Bullying UK
  
• The Survivors Trust
  
• Naz and Matt Foundation
  
• Citzens Advice finder
  
• How to support mental health at work
  
• Mental health at work toolkit
  
• Reasonable adjustments at work explained
  
• Discrimination at work
  
• Mental health and the criminal justice system
  
• Different types of talking therapies
  
• Antipsychotics explained
  
• Antidepressants explained
  
• CMHTs explained
  
• Crisis teams explained
  
• Young person's guide to inpatient care
  
• Men and mental health
  
• Where to get urgent help for mental health
  
• The Mental Health Act
  
• Scottish Association for Mental Health
  
• The Lucy Rayner Foundation - Surrey
  
• Mary Frances Trust - Surrey
  
• Choice and medication
  
• Mental health apps library - NHS website
  
• Forward Carers, Carers Card - Birmingham
  

I finished a successful Glenn playthrough last night and afterwards I was thinking about just how bonkers his achievements were and how he would be regarded by history. So, I wrote this, exploring just that kind of thing! Spoilers for the President Glenn path obviously, and I fudged the fact that content ends and leaves things dangling as him winning a third term in office.
Coming into office off the back of the most disruptive decade in American politics since the Civil War, inheriting the legacy of the astonishingly unpopular and constitutionally questionable policies of Strom Thurmond, the expectation was that the incumbent President would be one who would have to devote all their efforts to simply stabilizing the situation and beginning to restore some measure of trust and confidence in US politics. A competent, cautious man might have attempted just that. John Herschel Glenn Jr. was not that man - Glenn was rather a man of vaulting ambitions and boundless optimism, who believed that the only way for trust and confidence to be restored was with the boldest vision he could imagine.
Glenn’s rise to the Presidency was almost as meteoric as the event which made him a household name; the veteran of the Second World War who went on to become a test pilot and thereafter the first man in space recalls he had no political ambitions before President Nixon’s decision to defund NASA in the wake of the Reich’s arrival on the moon in 1962. Glenn was, to be sure, distraught by losing this milestone achievement to the Germans, but he was far more upset by what he regarded as Nixon’s total capitulation on all matters of space which stemmed from Kollner’s historic steps on our lunar neighbor. Even after this his political ambitions were not about election but in his attempt to make enough of a fuss to see NASA’s budget and remit protected, but it was soon clear to him that he could not achieve that in his existing capacities no matter how hard he tried. Here we see the twin, seemingly opposed character traits that would define Glenn’s presidency; he came to the conclusion that he could only make the changes he thought necessary in elected office, preferably at a very high level, in the course of an afternoon, but once the decision was made he drew plans that spanned decades and exhibited the utmost patience in pursuing them.
Glenn knew he would struggle to reach the Presidency from a standing start, and he further believed that even if he made it his lack of political experience would mean he would use the office inefficiently and be vulnerable to political manipulation by more experienced actors. So, he set his sights at a lower level, and announced his campaign for the governorship of Ohio in mid-1962. Ohio’s favorite son would immediately attract criticism for what was regarded by many as a vanity project, but Glenn had prepared for this possibility - he had spent weeks working with friends, his wife Annie, and a small cadre of political advisors to draw up a suite of plans that he could pursue as governor, plans which were the kind of effective low-level policies that would help the average Ohioan in their day to day life. Storming out of the gates with a primary campaign to highlight these ideas, he rapidly quelled enough of the criticism to be seen as a legitimate and credible candidate, and that was all he needed. Though joining the Republican Party he was able to win over enough of the Democrat wing of the RDs to become the candidate for Governor, usurping presumptive candidate Jim Rhodes, and took up the race against the NPP. It was a close race - by the time November rolled around, the Nixon government had got its first taste of scandal and controversy, and it dented RD prospects nationwide. By less than a single percentage point, John Glenn won the race and had taken his first small step on his long plan.
As it happened, the events of the 60s would prove so disruptive that Glenn’s timetable could be rapidly accelerated. Conversations with his early allies have told us he originally intended on pursuing the Presidency in 1972 or 76, depending on the political landscape at the time — he intended to secure his base of support, make the political contacts needed, and gain extensive experience. That America would enter the costly war in South Africa and the less costly, but still unpopular, war in Indonesia was unknown at this point, but it was only the tip of the iceberg of what would occur in that tumultuous decade. Barely a year and three months into his Governorship, the Presidency would be rocked as Nixon resigned before he could be impeached, and worse, his Vice President John Fitzgerald Kennedy would be assassinated just weeks later by a disgruntled Guyenese nationalist. JFK’s death would put the Presidency in the hands of John McCormack, who had never had ambitions on the office and saw his role purely as one of salving the country’s hurt and trying to bind the Republican-Democrats back together going into the November elections of 1964. He failed dreadfully on both counts; his pardon of Nixon was widely derided, and JFK’s brother Robert Francis Kennedy would defect to the NPP over Nixon’s vetoing of the Civil Rights Act — RFK had been JFK’s Chief of Staff and closest friend, and he was strongly motivated to see through his beloved brother’s vision. The NPP had struggled to find the kind of charismatic leader they would need, and Bobby Kennedy was the perfect choice. The race was hard fought but RFK became President with over 360 EC votes, a healthy margin, and the political landscape was drastically shaken up.
Though not nearly as shaken up as it would be a few years later. Bobby Kennedy’s policies were inherited in part from his brother, and he had a core of rage that held the Nixon Administration responsible for Jack’s death. This anger drove him to being a devoted progressive, spurred by the NPP-C wing of the party, and he enacted policy after policy to drive through a comprehensive Civil Rights Act in 1967, an act Glenn voiced support for and said “If I were in the Senate, I’d be voting for this. Bobby Kennedy might be from a different party from me but he’s a good man with some good ideas.” And a few weeks later, RFK would meet the same fate as his brother, gunned down by a fanatic segregationist as he exited a hotel with his own Vice President, Hubert Humphrey.
The country was stunned. Just as sunlight had seemed to break through the clouds, and the Kennedy administration was working to fully implement his Civil Rights policies while also continuing some economic reforms, another President, another Kennedy, had been killed in America’s streets. Not only that but the VP was dead too, leaving the succession to someone who was never on a Presidential ticket for the second time in four years. Strangely, the next in line declined the role, refusing to elaborate on his reasons, meaning it fell another rank to the South Georgia Senator Strom Thurmond. (It would not be until 1987 that the explanation for this and Thurmond’s blackmail efforts would come to light — his already disgraced name falling even further, especially in an era of rapidly increasing acceptance of gay rights. It would also spark countless conspiracy theories that Thurmond had arranged the assassinations himself, though there has never been any corroborating evidence to that effect.)
President Thurmond had one mission and one mission only - to roll back the Civil Rights Act and all associated policies. He would ensure that he restored and reinforced segregation, Jim Crow, and all the other racist policies that RFK had almost killed, and he had no care for what the cost to the law or Constitution might be. Though initially popular and viewed with cautious optimism for his tender eulogy of Bobby Kennedy and hints that he considered himself a caretaker president akin to McCormack, he moved rapidly behind the scenes to secure his power and enact every policy and pass every bill he could in pursuit of his goals. The Congress, shellshocked by the last few years, seemed to have given him a more-or-less free hand as he appealed to the need for leadership and to show a united American government to the people in order to restore faith. He was also completely unafraid to use Executive Orders in whatever capacity he thought he might benefit from. By the end of Thurmond’s presidency barely a year after he took the office, the Constitutional order had been upturned. Maps were redistricted with offensive transparency. Those Thurmond considered politically opposed to him - minorities of all kinds as well as Republican and NPP-C voters - were disenfranchised to the best of his ability. Most infamously of all, and the policy which pushed America from protests to riots in all 49 states, he used an Executive Order to stack the Supreme Court with four additional Judges, all of them arch-conservatives who would reliably rule in favor of the segregationist, anti-black cause.
Amidst all this, Glenn’s opportunity had come early and he seized it with both hands. Painting himself as a moderate who disdained most political labels in favor of effective policies regardless of their origins, he was quickly adopted as the exact kind of all-American guy needed by the Republican-Democrats. He had been a competent and well-liked Governor that had pushed Ohio’s quality of life up, poverty rates down, and enticed lucrative aerospace and other high-tech industries to the state. He was an American war hero, and an American hero generally, his name still carrying plenty of currency from the old feats in NASA. In short he ticked all the boxes — Existing fame, proven record (if shorter than some would like), mass appeal, visionary even as he was a level-headed straight talker. Exactly what the country needed, or so the RDs gambled.
Meanwhile the NPP was riven between the Centrists and Far Right, the latter eventually claiming ascendancy as their ranks were filled by defecting Democrats who were now looking to the best place to secure what Thurmond had set in motion. Glenn would thus go up against the Far Right’s Margaret Chase Smith. Much has been made about to what extent Smith’s sex factored into her defeat, and certainly scholarship has demonstrated it played a role, but the scope of Glenn’s victory on Election Day was tremendous and far more than could be accounted for by sexism alone. Winning over 400 EC votes, Glenn came into office with one of the strongest mandates in American history, and he wasted no time.
Though restoring NASA had always been John Glenn’s dearest purpose, and his earliest moves were centered around setting that institution back into motion, he had no shortage of other challenges and ideas to meet them. Indeed, while NASA busied itself with actually using its new influx of cash to rebuild, rehire or hire new staff, and overhaul its facilities, Glenn pursued something that made a far greater difference to the man and woman in the street, a project Glenn termed “Closing the empathy deficit”. Long argued about by American administrations and their Congresses, Glenn had seen how harmful the absence of a solid safety net was to Ohioans, and Ohio was one of the union’s richer states at the time.
Though in regular contact with NASA’s director and personal friend James Webb, Glenn had no distractions on the legislative front. He pursued reform with a zeal, and within mere months had secured the passage of the most comprehensive reform to American benefits in history. Pensions were increased and protected, and poor Americans would still be able to claim pension sufficient for a dignified retirement even if they had not been able to pay in whilst younger. Medicare was a transformative healthcare coverage policy that provided coverage to all Americans over the age of 65 and all Americans with disabilities, and implemented controls on insurance companies outside of that to help insulate people from predation or excessive prices. The Americans with Disabilities Act (1969) was also implemented as part of this legislative fusillade, which Glenn insisted must include those who acquired disabilities during their lives as well as those who were disabled from birth, as some in Congress had argued against. Glenn’s wife, Annie, had grown up with an extreme stutter that left her preferring to communicate without speaking, and the President’s disability policy is widely acknowledged to have been at the least inspired by her, and perhaps to some extent guided by her advice and experiences.
By the summer of 1969, then, Glenn had already implemented large changes to America, and his popularity steadily rose. In Congress, he was usually disliked by the NPP-FR and struggled to attract votes from Democrats even though they were notionally a part of his party, but he had massive support from the Republicans and found a common cause with the NPP-C. The rising Social Democratic movement of America was represented by this wing of the NPP and were more than happy to support Glenn’s reforms, even as many of them wished he’d go further. Joyfully, the President was able to return his attentions to the institution he most loved, NASA. After months of work the institution was ready to go, and Glenn authorized the commencement of America’s return to space with the Minerva Program. The unmanned Miverva I was prepared, launched, and America once again broke the bonds of Earth and had a presence in space. It was well understood that even going so far as to get a man back in orbit would be a serious undertaking and NASA would need, in essence, practice before it could attempt that. Minerva was only the first step in this long road, but it was one that boosted NASA’s profile and popularity. Soon new missions were planned, and before long there seemed to be a launch almost daily. His duties precluded Glenn from viewing them all personally, but there was almost always a TV showing the latest launch in the White House.
Satisfied with the ongoing progress Glenn turned back to Earthly concerns, this time looking at matters relating to nuclear power and weaponry. The destruction of Oahu had made Americans deeply leery of anything with the word “nuclear” in its name, but President Glenn had been convinced of the merits of nuclear power and worked hard to bring that word to the public. Here, he struggled, even after recruiting the Disney Corporation to produce educational propaganda — tedious in the extreme in the eyes of kids, but lauded by parents for being a balanced, unsensational, and honest look at the topic. He faced significant opposition from mining and power concerns, however, and though successful in the abstract, nuclear power never really took off under the Glenn presidency the way he had hoped. Militarily, he authorized a significant increase to America’s stockpiles, expensive but hardly something that most would argue against, given the ongoing threats of the Nazi Reich and the Empire of Japan. That he had a greater plan in mind was known only to himself and a couple of closest aides.
It was at this point that almost everything was derailed. In the Middle East, decades of Italian rule and control came to a violent and sudden end as revolutions and civil wars ripped through the entire Arab world, and then beyond. Violence occurred in Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, the Gulf States, Iraq, and Iran, all of it amid and exacerbating a tremendous spike in the prices of crude oil. The Oil Crisis had numerous causes and many dimensions, but the effect for John Glenn was that it put everything else on the back burner. None of his ambitions or plans mattered a whit if the country ground to a halt, and that’s exactly what it was doing, as people couldn’t fill their cars and industries couldn’t keep the lights on. Emergency measures were implemented, including price controls, then rationing, massive investment in the Texan oil fields, and similarly massive investments into synthetic oil production. It was a chaotic period lasting months, but in time the situation stabilized and the domestic oil situation became a tolerable one. Belts were tightened countrywide, and smaller cars rapidly became the vogue for new buyers while existing plans for gas-guzzlers were scrapped by companies like Ford, but the worst of the crisis had been kept from America’s shores.
And then, Americans were back in space. Only in orbit at first under the Daedalus Program, but then the Diana Program aimed for the moon, taking up where the Apollo Project had been looking just before Nixon aborted it. Americans could not be first to the moon, but they could reach it, and that was almost as important. Regrettably, the first great tragedy struck the space program during this period - Diana II, intended to perform a lunar flyby and return to Earth, exploded in flight 194 seconds after liftoff. The three astronauts aboard died, and immediately the political and media classes pounced on Glenn. Support for NASA drained precipitously, and questions about why money and lives were being spent in this way were widespread. The President managed to divert the issue somewhat by lionizing the deceased, and when one of the widows spoke up in favor of continuing the project and how her husband would have wanted to carry on, the furor abated somewhat. NASA was now on notice, but it was not doomed.
If there were fears Diana II would hurt Glenn’s re-election chances, they were swept away in a tidal wave of support for the man himself. A growing number of people supported the President primarily for his space program, referred to as the ‘geeks’, but the great majority regarded it more ambivalently. To some it was a positive thing but not the priority, whilst to others it was the President’s pet project that could be tolerated as long as he didn’t get lost in the clouds. But the first Glenn term had shown he had no such shortcomings. SSA, Medicare, and the ADA had transformed the lives of millions of Americans. He had not yet fully reckoned with the legacy of Thurmond, but things were certainly better for black Americans than they had been four years earlier, and Glenn was clearly no committed segregationist or racist - thus he carried the vote across the entire country, with the sole exception of California, who were strong supporters of the NPP and their hardline goal of reclaiming the Treaty Ports and revenging America against Japan. That was the sole state that went for Jeane Kirkpatrick, resulting in an EC vote of 494 for Glenn and 40 for Kirkpatrick.
Just months later Diana IV would vindicate the President, the space program, and NASA. Buzz Aldrin was not the first man on the moon, but he and Michael Collins were the first Americans, and when they planted the flag on February 13th 1973 it established that the United States was not only back in action, but a serious contender for space. It was smiles all round as the men returned to parades and dinners and events the likes of which Americans hadn’t seen in decades, and John Glenn’s boyish glee was visible to all. But it was a real achievement, one that seemed to restore a sense of confidence to the American people, and more people moved from simply letting the President have his toys to support, and more moved from casual support to strong support, and more and more young people proudly proclaimed themselves geeks while speaking of internships at NASA, JPL, and the other centers of American aerospace.
Glenn’s second term saw a new wave of domestic legislation, for despite the continuing claims of opponents he had no desire to see things on the ground slide backwards. First he looked to ongoing problems in healthcare; whilst Medicare was largely working well and its initial problems had been ironed out, there were lingering difficulties. Foremost among these was in drug pricing. Seeking to gain ever more profits, Big Pharma had begun jacking up prices at an unsustainable rate, leaving more and more Americans unable to pay for their medication and taking bigger chunks out of Medicare into the bargain. John Glenn was incensed by this and it has been argued since that this was the real moment of his ‘radicalization’, which drove him from a reformist to someone more aligned with the NPP-C than his own party. As the pharma companies began funding anyone opposed to Glenn and the RDs, speaking out on the disastrous consequences they foresaw, and accused him of fascistic overreach, he deployed everything he had to crush Big Pharma’s opposition, and when they began to fear he was winning and offered a compromise that would cover price controls on prescription medication but not others, he rejected it out of hand where once, it is believed, he would have taken the deal readily. Major price controls were introduced despite the howls of protest from big business. But Glenn was not done.
Now that he had experienced first-hand the full fury of American business he had lost any love for them, and grown significantly more aligned with criticisms of business practice stemming from the left. In characteristic John Glenn fashion he did not rest after his victory, nor did he even take aim at a small target, but rather he went right for the jugular. He would destroy Right to Work. Right to Work was so named because it was claimed to give Americans the right to work without being forced to join a union to do so, as had been the case in several industries before such legislation was entered. In practice, it was a lynchpin of American business’s strategy of crushing unions altogether, and keeping them weak and ineffective where they could not be eradicated. Glenn was no hardline Bukharinist, but the experiences with the drug price fight had convinced him that big business had too much power and the American worker had too little, and he sought to redress this.
Surprisingly this passed with little trouble. Reeling from the previous fight with the President, big business seemed caught on the back foot, and he had huge popular support. In Congress he was able to count on the full support of the 18 NPP-Cs, one of the two NPP-FRs who was in the body at the time, and 43 of the 45 Republicans. Altogether, with some Democrats also convinced to come over, the vote passed by 68-30, and Right to Work was dead. His subsequent efforts on Social Security were even more intense and more dramatically successful, and there was a massive “Glennite” or “Glennist” tide across the country where, quite aside from questions of nuclear power or space exploration, the President’s domestic proposals found huge support and popularity. Social Security was a tremendous undertaking that far outmatched the scope of his first term reforms, though it was informed by them and incorporated them into a larger structure. Unemployment benefits would rise, healthcare coverage would continue to expand (The first ‘public option’ arose here, with a special insurance provider available to any employee of the Federal Government), and most dramatically, it featured the introduction of a six-hour workday. This last reinvigorated the strength of big business, who threatened opposition and promised doom, but Glenn was never a man to do things by halves and his will was unbreakable, and he had experienced those howls before only to find them impotent in the face of public support. Though initially a step too far for some in his own party, the President appealed directly to the public to write to their Congresspersons and Senators in support of the policy, and the Glennite tide became one of mail that inundated the country’s leadership, convincing them that it was not going to be electoral suicide to support it.
Less noticed, and more of interest to the accountants and lawyers of the country, were efforts to rationalize and better codify the tax system. Though few actual tax rises took place (hence the lack of public interest), the closing of loopholes, simplification of the code, and increasing the ability of Americans to either easily do their own taxes or to allow the government to do it for them helped bring in greater revenues. More importantly was the general state of the economy - after years of work and investment, and a whole host of new measures to help the poorest Americans, the introduction of Social Security was followed just months later by a glowing report on the state of American poverty. Where the poverty rate had peaked as high as 45%, and was in the high 30s when Glenn first took office, it had now dropped to below 25%, a milestone that widely reassured the public of Glenn’s projects and plans while taking the legs out from criticisms of how much was being spent. After all, a richer society means a higher tax take, but you have to invest to get to that society - so the argument went, and so America in the 1970s seemed to prove. Even those who remained in poverty were seeing increases in their quality of life, and abject penury had been cut significantly even where it had not been replaced by affluence.
Meanwhile, the frontier of space was looking to its greatest challenge yet, and NASA had spent its time marshalling resources, conducting the needed research, and experimenting with any number of plans and components and mission profiles. Dianas V and VI had taken Americans to the moon and conducted vital experiments, but Glenn, James Webb, NASA as a whole, and now most of the country, wanted to see America not just take second place or catch up with the Nazis, but to fling themselves into first place. The German Reich had emerged from their bloody Civil War almost a decade ago but the orthodox Fuhrer Bormann had no seeming interest in returning to space, and the collapse of the Reich into the German Civil War of 1963-65 had done major harm to their economic and industrial base, meaning it would have been domestically unpopular to spend money on a race deemed long since won rather than on the ongoing project of rebuilding cities from Hamburg to Munich. Thus, without any real rivals at the time, NASA turned their eyes to the great prize, Mars. The Ares Project began.
Still proceeding at a breakneck pace, Ares was intended to get a human to Mars in just four missions. This has since come in for much criticism, and labeled as a desire to get it done while Glenn was still in office rather than to do it with maximum safety. In the event, however, NASA was either competent enough, lucky enough, or both, to avoid any major disasters like Diana II in the Ares Project. The four missions were to proceed as follows;
Ares I - An unmanned probe designed to both test mission parameters and part performance, whilst also taking the best possible orbital pictures of Mars to examine potential landing sites. Ares II - An unmanned probe which would attempt a landing near a selected landing site, equipped with a rover for scientific work. Ares III - An unmanned package which contained the bulk of materials and supplies needed to establish Hellas I, the prospective Mars base where the astronauts would dwell and work during their time there (The realities of orbital mechanics meant it was far less efficient to try and return immediately than to remain on Mars for a time and return at a later point where planetary alignments were better) Ares IV - The lander unit, return rocket, and the three astronauts would be aboard.
Every mission went perfectly. Every step seemed to fall into place. NASA had attracted the best and brightest by this point, and it paid them well, but they were motivated by more than financial reward now and devoted themselves utterly to the task. Even so, James Webb later said “I don’t want to downplay the extraordinary efforts that everyone at NASA made to achieve this incomparable milestone, but it did feel at times that we were proceeding with the blessing of our great almighty God.” Whether by grace or effort or pure luck, the Ares missions succeeded and even as Glenn was embroiled in scandal back home, the stars continued to inch closer.
That scandal was Glenn’s major defeat that stemmed from his efforts to nationalize the entire country’s uranium mines. His longtime nuclear weapons plan had been proceeding somewhat in the background, seen as simply an unpleasant reality that had to be done by most of the public, who would rather not think about such things when life elsewhere was continuing to improve. The project, even after purchasing Canadian, Australian, and South African uranium in bulk, was facing ongoing shortages of the material. Glenn was pushing for increased production from domestic mines, and seemed to be succeeding, until he got the bill. Rates were double the existing costs, and the mining concerns were quite happy to demand this price from the government under the guise of needing to undertake expansions in pursuit of Glenn’s production demands. Had the price hike been more reasonable, or had the mining concerns come to Glenn to explain and negotiate on such lines, it seems certain the President would have acquiesced. To be slapped with something so extortionate without warning, however, provoked his ire. Normally a man with a strong handle on his emotions, aides would later describe Glenn as “stormy” and “voluminous” over the matter.
By now used to bold moves and cutting Gordian knots, Glenn believed he saw an obvious, if drastic solution. The nation’s defense hinged on the nuclear stockpile. The nuclear stockpile hinged on the production of uranium. Ergo, the production of uranium was a matter of national defense, and the President had the authority to nationalize the industry if it was required for that end. The uproar was immediate and massive, but Glenn persisted, and when no offer at compromise was forthcoming he pushed through with the policy. The mining bosses had a powerful route that other big businesses who had faced Glenn’s policies lacked, however, in the form of legal argument. Given the seriousness of the matter and the importance of national defense it rushed through the courts with incredible speed, before finding itself before the Supreme Court, a place still filled with the packed Judges of Strom Thurmond.
It was not known beforehand which way they would break. On the one hand they were seen as steadfast allies of the NPP, meaning overwhelmingly concerned with matters of defense - but on the other, they were seen as friends of big business as well as leery of the President’s progressive bent. In the end, the 8-5 ruling went for the mining companies thanks to arguments that, as there was no ongoing conflict that directly involved the USA, the President’s attempts to invoke the country’s security could not apply.
Before the day was out, a new offer had landed on the President’s desk, not double but triple the original prices.
It was a massive defeat for the President and one which shook him deeply. He had been America’s golden boy until that moment, a unifier, a man of vision and drive, a man who was trying his best to make life better for ordinary people. He now learned that his ambitions could be checked, and that said roadblocks could be insurmountable. But John Glenn was no Strom Thurmond. Despite his anger, he accepted the ruling and paid the mining companies, and if he was to exact a revenge it would be both done legally and done for the good of the country, not to settle a personal grudge.
This drama was not the best base from which to break with centuries of American tradition and announce his bid for a third term as President, but that is just what President Glenn did to party leaders in early 1976 as they were discussing who would attempt to succeed him to the White House. This caused more hubbub and dissent, but there was never any law against it, and Glenn argued that in the absence of any obvious candidate who could succeed him they may as well stick with the man who was still polling pretty well. The Democrats were incensed by this and driven still further from the Republicans, but the Republican segment of the RDs agreed with his suggestion, on condition that he renounce any possibility of pursuing a fourth term.
The political and media elites had a similar reaction, ranging from outrage to mere grumbling that Glenn would dare attempt something George Washington had made verboten at the country’s founding. But there was still no law against it, and the administration argued that John Glenn came into office with a number of promises, promises he was keeping, but which required one more term to see through to fruition. The NPP opposition decried this as a dangerous overreach, whilst those less opposed to Glenn himself voiced worries that it set an ill precedent and questioned the man’s humility. The NPP would this time abandon the Far Right after two consecutive losses to Glenn, and instead put forward Michael Harrington, who had unsuccessfully pursued their nomination in 1968. This made for an unusually civil and friendly Presidential campaign — Glenn did not go so far as Harrington wanted on most issues, but by this point there was no great gulf ideologically between Glennite Republicanism and the Social Democrats of the NPP-C. After their first debate the viewing figures tanked as the men got dragged into details on broader topics they more or less agreed on, and neither seemed inclined to attempt any serious attacks on the others, though Harrington did try to needle the President over his pursuit of a third term somewhat. Only in foreign affairs did they different significantly, with Harrington making some gains by proposing a nuclear drawdown while pressing Japan conventionally over the Treaty Ports while Glenn maintained his hardline pro-nuclear stance.
The consequence of this was not just a calm election, but one with much lower turnout than any election for decades by percentage. The more radical right stayed home as they saw no candidate for them, as did the harder edge of the Democrats, while the apparently lower stakes than usual meant an awful lot of people decided to enjoy election day with other matters. For the first time Glenn did not achieve a total blowout victory, winning 345 EC votes, but this still gave him a strong mandate to finish his work.
Glenn’s third term would be his most dramatic, and most tense, and would culminate in what has since been argued to be the greatest diplomatic achievement of any American President even as he oversaw America’s greatest scientific achievement. His first task, he decided, was to finish the work of building up American nuclear stocks. He now had an endgame in sight, and was gradually bringing more people into the high-stakes game he intended to play as he moved the pieces into place. A secretive incursion into the remnants of Nazi Africa secured a major uranium mine that helped bolster American production, and it soon became obvious that the US nuclear triad was no longer merely overwhelming, but had become outright apocalyptic. Even if no other powers fired back, the American stockpile alone would be sufficient to end human life on Earth, and most other forms as well. So armed, Glenn began to put out feelers and turned his attention to domestic matters while the diplomats began their work.
Domestically, the legacy of Thurmond had faded over the eight years of Glenn’s presidency. Tactics such as redistricting must be updated as populations move around, and a great many legal challenges had succeeded in weakening all of Thurmond’s projects at local and state levels. His tangle with the Supreme Court had brought the whole affair directly into Glenn’s sights, and he resolved that when he left Washington four years hence, he would leave behind a transparent, honest, and scrupulously clean capital. He had never been a corrupt man himself, and having brought in a fresh staff for almost every role in the White House in 1969 had helped sweep some of the corruption out by itself, but there was still work to do. Investigations were begun, houses were cleaned, and the Senate Ethics Committee was refreshed and newly empowered. A long-term project to review constitutional matters with a goal to preventing excesses like President Thurmond’s or corruption like Nixon’s was established. And in his last major effort against corruption, Glenn banned outright the practice of lobbying, a move which massively diminished the power of corporations or similar actors to unduly influence elected officials where the common American could not. America, finally, emerged from most of the shadows cast by the 1960s and entered a new era of clean and honest politics, one where districts would be drawn to maximize democratic representation rather than suppress it and where the size of the purse had much less influence on the size of the voice.
The Supreme Court provided a major stumbling block, however, and Glenn and his administration were never able to navigate a satisfactory course through that particular issue. If it was allowed to stand, what was to prevent a future President from stacking the court further, even to farcical levels? But there was no apparent way to reduce the size of the Court as it stood, not when doing so would involve the removal of sitting Justices. This was a matter left to a future administration, in the end.
(Continued in comments)