James I

Christian Ferdinand William James was King of America from 1924 until his death in 1975. James was the youngest person to ascend to the throne of Kingdom of America, as well as the longest reign of any American monarch.

James was in his second year studying at the American Royal Military Academy when his father, King Edward III, committed suicide. He was immediately pulled from school to take the throne. James never returned to finish his studies.

James was ultimately unprepared for the role of monarch with the struggles that plagued the American kingdom at that time. The Economic Panic of 1922 had been damaging the American economy, raising costs of living and causing record high unemployment. James relied heavily on a series of cabinet advisors, especially that of Chancellor Charles Evans Hughes.

James had a series of chancellors that worked rather independently from his direction, but would clash ideologically with him as he grew more confident. When his father passed, Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt came to offer his assistance and condolences. James appointed him Secretary to the Monarch, and grew to rely on Roosevelt's guidance. James even grew close to Roosevelt's daughter, who he married in 1926.

While as King, he also held the title of Prince Regent of Sequoyah, of which he greatly neglected the region and left the Principal Chiefs of Sequoyah to largely govern themselves. Due to his many duties and the strain of the nation, he was viewed as indecisive, and was known to emotionally break down when in private.

Among his failures include when he attempted to quell the tensions between the Republic of Mexico, the United Mexican States, and the Kingdom of Catrachia. He had hoped his familial ties with King Antonio I would placate the latter, but Antonio eventually rebuked him after James refused to recognize Antonio's title of King, nor grant him ownership of the Nicaragua Canal. When the War of Mexican Unification began between the United Mexican States and the Republic of Mexico began, many of his advisors recommended military intervention. However, since Antonio entered on the side of the UMS, he refused to do battle with his distant cousin. This directly led to the formation of the Second Mexican Empire.

James also began to raise tensions with the Empire of Japan. James had a series of Chancellors that did not share in his distrust for Japan as fervently, even as the Japanese had established the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere as a response to the Continental Ordinance in the Americas in 1940. Among the nations in the alliance was the Kingdom of Hawaii, which, being 2,000 miles off the coast of America and possessing a large Japanese fleet, was believed capable of threatening the west coast of America should the Japanese ambitions extend so far. Japan called out James for hypocrisy, leading to James working to form the Pan-American Confederation as a formal military and economic alliance.

James ultimately supported the efforts of Henry L. Stimson with the formation of the American Royal Air Force Academy in 1936, believing in bolstering and modernizing the capabilities of the American military. In Stimson second term, he also supported the Japanese-American Naval Treaty in 1941, signed in Boston. During this conference, Prince David of Hawaii and James' daughter, Princess Eleanor, appeared close to each other. Instead of breaking the friendship up, James controveresially used his daughter in order to attempt an influence in the Hawaiian court against the Japanese.

James worked in order to secure support for the alliance, even as Chancellor Stimson argued against it. However, many nations had demands, such as Mexico and Gran Colombia wanting support for territorial claims against Great Britain, that were deemed to be too great. James did manage to secure a defensive agreement with the German Empire, from which America was leased the island of Guam.

With the leasing of Guam, Japan threatened that it would be seen as an act of military aggression, and would respond accordingly. James authorized military operations in Guam, and a carrier strike was sent. This strike group was ambushed and destroyed by the Imperial Japanese Navy, causing James to request a declaration of war from Congress. However, when Germany honored their defensive agreement and likewise declared war on Japan, Great Britain declared war on America in Japan's support, engulfing all powers into the World War.