Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020 Rulebook

Table of Contents

How to Be a President
- Greetings!
1. Components
- Component List
- Anatomy of a Crisis Card
2. Basic Concepts
3. POTUS
4. The Domestic Arena
5. The World Arena
6. Diplomatic Arena
7. Military Arena
8. War

How to Be a President

Greetings!

This Governing Manual contains all the information you need to play Mr. President. It is your Rules Reference.

This Manual is divided into eight convenient Sections, most of which relate to a specific sphere of your influence and action. These are:

1 Components. This Section contains a list of all the cards, chits, and counters which you will be using in the game, along with descriptions and definitions of their use.

2 Basic Concepts. This Section details the basic underlying concepts and rules that create the structure on which everything else rests. Understanding these rules and components is essential to playing the game and emerging with a legacy for the ages.

3 POTUS. This Section details the rules that govern the elements of your White House and Administration, such as your Personal Attributes and your Key Cabinet Members. Associated with this sphere of activity is your Presidential Master Actions Player Aid, which details all the unique actions you can take as POTUS, President of the United States.

4 Domestic Arena. This Section details the rules that govern how you can achieve your Domestic agenda: working with Congress, passing legislation, and improving the State of the Nation. Associated with this sphere of activity is your Domestic Master Actions Player Aid, which details all the actions you and certain members of your Cabinet can take to affect domestic policy and deal with domestic crises.

5 The World Arena. This Section details the rules governing the layout and structure of the world in which you will deal with peer nations such as Russia and China, with allies, with regional crises, with terror groups, and with the emergence of Rogue States.

6 Diplomatic Arena. This Section details the rules that govern how you use diplomacy to create peace and stability among nations and favorable outcomes for the United States. Associated with this sphere of activity is your Diplomatic Master Actions Player Aid, which details all the actions you and certain members of your Cabinet can take to affect international policy and deal with regional crises around the globe.

7 Military Arena. This Section details the rules governing the United States military, how to deploy your forces, and how to deal with the rise of terrorism and rogue states. Associated with this sphere of activity is your Military Master Actions Player Aid, which details all the actions you and your Secretary of Defense can take to protect the United States and project its power into the world.

8 War. This Section details the rules governing the setting up and waging of wars and the consequences of doing so.

You do NOT have to memorize all this information at the beginning! You will need to be familiar with the Basic Concepts, but for the rest, you can consult this Manual as needed as the Turn Sequence Flipbook guides you segment by segment through each year (or turn) of your Administration.

However, knowing how the different spheres of political, diplomatic, and military activity and responsibility interact will give you the oversight necessary to craft your agenda both domestically and internationally. Understanding the information in this Manual will grow as you get deeper into your Administration, but mastery of this Manual will give you the tools you need to be a successful, even a legendary, President, leading the country to greatness.

Note on page references and abbreviations: To ensure your success, the government printing office has been working overtime to give you what you need. There is a Turn Sequence Flipbook and nine booklets in the game. When the rules reference a page number (as in, see page xx), if that page reference is in the same booklet or Flipbook, it will say "above" or "below" the page that you are on, depending on whether that reference came earlier or will come later in the booklet or Flipbook; otherwise, they will indicate the booklet or flipbook in which that page is found using the following abbreviations:

Turn Sequence Flipbook (TSF)
How to Play Booklet (HPB)
Governing Manual Rules Reference (GM)
Domestic Charts Booklet (DCB)
World Charts Booklet (WCB)
Ally and Rogue States Booklet (WA)
World Peer Russia Acts Booklet (WPR)
World Peer China Acts Booklet (WPC)
Presidential Briefing Booklet (PB)
Scenario Set-Up Booklet (SSB)

1. Components

Component List

2 Game boards (a Main Board and a Main Side Board)
1 War Status Sideboard
1 Counter Storage Sideboard
5 Exceptional White House Resource Cards
8 Natural Disaster Cards
20 Terrorism Event Cards
31 Cascading Event Cards
116 Event Cards
5½ Counter Sheets
1 Resolute Letter
1 How to Play Booklet (HPB)
1 Governing Manual (Rules Reference) (GM)
1 Turn Sequence Flipbook (TSF)
1 Domestic Charts Booklet (DCB)
1 World Charts Booklet (WCB)
1 Ally and Rogue States Booklet (WA)
1 World Peer Russia Acts Flipbook (WPR)
1 World Peer China Acts Flipbook (WPC)
1 Presidential Briefing Booklet (PB)
1 Scenario Set-Up Booklet (SSB)
4 Master Action Player Aids (one each for Presidential, Domestic, Diplomatic, and Military Actions)
1 10-Sided Die
1 6-sided Die

Anatomy of a Crisis Card

Each Crisis Card carries a card number, an illustration, a title of crisis, and a type of crisis (for example, a Cascading Event or a Terrorism Event). Two kinds of instructions appear depending on the card:

Instructions to follow when the card is first drawn. Some cards (marked with a die-roll icon) direct you to roll a d10 and resolve an effect based on the result — for example, rolling to determine which country is targeted, and whether the effect is a Minor or Major Disruption, adding Tensions counters, changing Conflict Track or Regional Crisis status, and so on. A note at the bottom of the card tells you where to send the card after it is used (for example, back to the Cascading Event discard, or to a specific location on the board).

Cards played immediately. Other cards (such as Terrorism Event cards) are played immediately and instruct you to make a Homeland Security Check. A Pass result and a Fail result each carry their own consequences — for example, on a Fail you may need to identify a Terror Group responsible, retaliate, roll for a random affected region, place a Regional Crisis marker, and adjust Public Approval — while a Pass typically thwarts the hijack/attack and still raises Public Approval. As with other cards, an icon shows where to send the card after it is used.

2. Basic Concepts

Main Board

You will play on two gameboards. The larger or Main Board contains the international map with the World Regions; the White House and your Cabinet and Administration; the Presidential Tracks, the Public Approval Track, and the heart of the game, the Turn Sequence.

Main Side Board

The smaller or Main Side Board contains areas for Congress and Legislation; the State of the Nation, the Strategic Tracks depicting the strategic situation in the world, Nuclear and Missile Tracks displaying Iran and North Korea's attempts to develop atomic weapons and missiles, and an area for Crisis Cards.

Turn Sequence

At the heart of the game is the Turn Sequence, located at the bottom left of the Main Board.

Each Turn is composed of six Phases: A US Special Activations Phase, followed by the main Activation Phases 1-4 (roughly representing 3 months of real-world activity each), and concluding with the Final Activations Phase. Each Phase is comprised of a varying number of Segments (listed top to bottom on the Turn Sequence) that you perform in order to complete that Phase.

Each Turn's four main Activation Phases are bookended by a "US Special Activations" at the beginning, and a "Final Activations" at the end. Note that these contain special Segments used ONLY at the start or the end of the Turn. They are not considered "Activation Phases" within the context of when the player can perform Actions (Domestic, Diplomatic, Military, Presidential) during the Turn.

Thus, when game effects or rules restrict an action to "once per Activation Phase", that action cannot be performed during the US Special Activations. However, game effects or rules restricted to "once per Activation Segment" CAN be performed during the US Special Activations (see "Activation Phase" and "Activation Segment" below).

Each of the four main Phases, named Activation Phase 1, 2, 3, and 4, contains two columns, Column 1 and Column 2, each containing five or six Activation Segments. These Segments tell the Player what happens at that moment in the Turn Sequence. Activation Phases 2 and 4 are structurally identical. Activation Phases 1 and 3 include a few different segments.

In each Activation Phase, the Player moves top-to-bottom through and performs all the requirements of the Activation Segments of Column 1 and then does the same with Column 2. You will repeat this through all four Activation Phases, each with its own Columns 1 and 2.

NOTE: If the game ever directs you to start a new process whilst mid-way through another (such as triggering a Regional Major Crisis while going through an Event), resolve that new process immediately in its entirety, then resume the previous process.

Design Note: Game-wise, these four main Activation Phases are presented in a way that allows the various anti-player actors in the game to perform most of the actions in the left column, with one segment reserved for the US player's Actions (functionally, it's sort of a limited reaction segment) — amidst a variety of Chits and Crisis card plays whose mix leans toward providing chaos and problems to solve for the US President and their team. Then in the right column, actions from the US player and Allies predominate, and the anti-player actors in the game get one "Draw one Chit" segment (again, designed to provide limited reaction to the flurry of player actions). The game continues this way through the four phases, so that you will see an ebb and flow of activity from both the US player and "opponents" throughout the turn. There is, of course, a lot of chaos that can intrude within this general trend of activations, and you'll often find yourself torn – with a limited number of Actions to spend – between reacting to something the game opponents just did to you and being proactive with your actions to stay true to your overall strategy or plans. This is intentional. We hope you enjoy the "fun" decision-making challenges this sequence presents.

In general, Segments in which the Player may act are colored blue. Segments in which events outside your control take place are brown, red, black or yellow (although with Ally Actions, you do have the possibility to perform Joint Actions if your Ally relationship allows).

IMPORTANT: During any blue Activation Segment on the Turn Sequence when the player is instructed to perform "x number of Actions," the player may additionally choose to spend two APs to take one ADDITIONAL Action OF ANY TYPE, regardless of the type of Actions allowed during that Activation Segment.

To determine where the Player is in the Turn Sequence, they will move a "Current US Action" counter from Activation Segment to Activation Segment, down one column, then up to start moving down the next column to the right, fully completing the instructions of the Activation Segment they are on before moving to the next Segment. The movement of the "Current US Action" counter through the entire Turn Sequence constitutes a single Turn of the game, representing one year of the Player's Presidential Term of Office.

Turns

The whole game consists of four Turns (or eight if you want to extend your game into a 2nd Term). When the Player reaches the "End Turn" Segment at the bottom of the rightmost column, the Final Activations, the Player performs the "End of Turn" segment, calculates and applies the final consequences of that year in office, and then moves the "Current US Action" counter back to the top of the leftmost column of the US Special Activations, the "Begin Turn" Segment, and begins another Turn (year).

Example: Movement through the Turn Sequence is down one column, then across and up to the next, then down that column again, then across and up, and so on to the end, moving through the five Activation Segments in each column, as shown above.

Activation Phase

The Turn Sequence is made up of four main (quarterly) divisions during which game activities take place. They are labeled Activation Phase 1, Activation Phase 2, Activation Phase 3, and Activation Phase 4. Each represents one fourth of a Turn, which itself represents a year in office; so, an Activation Phase approximates a three-month period of time during which the Player takes actions and responds to events happening in the world as well as to the actions of Peer countries like Russia and China, Allies, and Rogue States.

Activation Segment

A discrete section of the Turn Sequence (a square box within the Sequence of Play) when either the Player can act or when Russia, China, Rogue States, or Allies can act, or when events in the world take place through the drawing of Crisis Chits and Crisis Cards (see below). Each Activation Segment is where the action of the game takes place, as indicated and described by the Turn Sequence Flipbook.

Legacy Points

Legacy Points are how you win in the Core Sandbox Scenario. They are an abstract measure of your overall performance, used to determine levels of victory at the end of the game. (Note that the Historical Scenarios don't use Legacy Points; they have their own victory conditions.) Legacy Points are tracked on the Legacy Points (LP) Track, one of the Presidential Tracks underneath the World Map on the Main Board.

Legacy Points are gained in the following ways:

By Passing Legislation. (We'll describe how further on under Legislation/Passing Bills — see below)
By achieving Greater Society goals. (We'll describe how further on under Greater Society Initiative — see below)
By having Public Approval (see below) above 40% at the end of the game. Legacy Points gained at the end of your Term are shown in the box at the bottom of the Public Approval box you are currently in.

Example: if your PA counter was 52%, you would gain 4 LP; you would gain 6 LP if your PA was 54%.

By being an Agent for Peace. At the end of a Turn, if certain conditions are met, then you are acclaimed an "Agent for Peace," and are awarded the Nobel Prize as well as 5 Legacy Points. (For further information, see the End of Turn Consequences, page 25 TSF.)
By having a Presidential Performance Evaluation score above 25 points at the end of a Turn. (See the End of Turn Consequences, page 26 TSF.)
By winning Re-election (see page 26 TSF — also, see "Re-election" below).
Random Events. During the game, it is possible that certain random events and how you respond to them will award you Legacy Points.
By Playing at the NORMAL OR HARD DIFFICULTY LEVEL (see page 4 SSB)

You can also lose Legacy Points:

If your Public Approval rating is 34% or lower at the end of your Term in office. You will lose a number of Legacy Points equal to the amount shown in the box below your current rating on the Public Approval Track.

Example: In the illustration shown above, if your Public Approval is 30%, you will lose -2 LP; you would lose -4 LP if your Public Approval is 28%.

Party Relations Too Low at End of Your Term. If your Party Relations rating (see below) at the end of your Term (at the end of the fourth Turn) is in box 2 or 3 of the Party Relations Track, your Party will not re-nominate you for a 2nd term. You will lose 15 Legacy Points before final scoring (see page 27 TSF).
If you are Defeated in your Re-election Bid (see page 26 TSF; also, see "Re-election" below).
Too many Tensions counters. If you ever run out of Tensions counters and cannot place one on the board when called for, you will lose 3 Legacy Points.
Random Events. During the game, it is possible that certain random events and how you respond to them will decrease Legacy Points.

Auto-Loss (or the Many Ways of Losing in Mr. President)

There are fourteen different ways of losing in Mr. President.

Allowing a War between NATO and Russia.
Allowing a War between Japan and China.
A Victory for Russia is an Auto-Loss for you. If, at the start of "Russia Acts" or when the Russia Acts (2) Crisis Chit is drawn, Russia has fulfilled 3 objectives (a Base in Eastern Europe, a total of 9 or more Russia Influence on the map, and Eurozone Stability is <5 or either NATO or the UK have Ally Relations with the US worse than "Very Close"), Russia automatically wins (WPR1).
A Victory for China is an Auto-Loss for you. If, at the start of "China Acts" or when the China Acts (2) Crisis Chit is drawn, China has a total of 15 China Influence on the map, China automatically wins (WPC1).
A Level 4 Rogue State on the board at the End of a Turn (see below).
If you run out of Rogue State Counters. If you cannot place a Rogue State Counter on the map when called for because all such counters are already on the map.
WMDs. If the US attacks a Rogue State that has acquired Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), a natural, unmodified War Progress roll of "10" vs that Rogue State results in the Rogue State using the WMD on US forces and infrastructure.
Iran Nuclear Track at level "5" while Iran and Israel are at war.
North Korea Nuclear Track at level "5" while North Korea and ROK are at war.
If the Lingering Domestic Issue Track in the CONUS region (see below) reaches 6.
Having more than 5 wars on the board at the same time.
Presidential Performance Evaluation End of Turn Score of 16 or less (see End of Turn Consequences, page 26 TSF).
Failure to be Re-Elected in the 2001, 2009, 2017, and 2020 Historical Scenarios.
A Scandal that leads to your Impeachment.

Actions

Actions are what you do to advance your goals in the game, domestically and internationally. Almost everything you do costs an Action. Each Segment on the Turn Sequence will let you know, either implicitly or explicitly, how many Actions you have to use to perform that Segment. You will feel you never have enough of them—and you'll be right!

Actions can be traded for Action Points; foregoing one Action provides one AP.
During the Turn Sequence when the player is on a "1 Action for POTUS and Each Cabinet Member" Segment (and only then):
- Actions (not Action Points) can be used to remove Tensions counters anywhere on the map, though ONLY the President has the ability to remove Tensions counters from Russia or China during this Segment.
- Some of your Cabinet Members get a bonus action (among those they can perform) if they have the "+1 ACTION" label on their counter.
Some Actions can only be performed once per Activation Segment or once per Activation Phase (this is noted on the player aids). Unless otherwise specified, you have to obey this restriction regardless of whether the attempted Action succeeded. Unrestricted actions can be attempted as often as you can/want, even multiple times per Activation Segment. A "once per Activation Phase" action cannot be performed during the US Special Activations at the start of the Turn.

Action Points (APs)

Action Points or APs are a measure of the power, authority, and resources that you bring to a particular situation when you take an Action. Think of them as your "Political Capital." Many Actions on the Master Action Player Aids (see below) do not require Action Points and can be taken without any expenditure of APs. But some actions do, and cannot be performed without spending the required APs.

Action Points are tracked by Action Point Counters in different denominations on the Presidential Prestige Track/APs Track underneath the World Map on the Main Board. Action Points can never be lower than zero.

Important: Actions and Action Points are NOT the same thing! You have a finite number of Actions you can perform during a Segment.

You do NOT need to always spend APs to take an Action. But SOME Actions will require them.

Action Points have different uses:

Some Actions require APs to perform (for example, Domestic Action #9) and some Actions MAY require APs based on certain game state criteria (for example, Military Actions #1 and #5).
You can ALWAYS forego one or more allowed Actions in an Action Segment to recover 1 AP for each. (Sometimes you really need those APs to get out of trouble!)
Some Tables and Charts allow the spending of 1 or 2 APs to provide die roll modifiers (DRMs) to benefit the die roll (before the die is rolled).
An AP may also be spent to re-roll any die roll bearing this icon on the Presidential, Domestic, Diplomatic, and Military Master Action Player Aids. This can be done once per die roll but may be done for as many different die rolls as you have APs to spend. If such a re-roll is taken, you must accept the second roll as the final result.
During any blue Activation Segment on the Turn Sequence when the player is instructed to perform "x number of Actions," the player may choose to spend two APs to take an ADDITIONAL Action OF ANY TYPE, regardless of the type allowed during that Activation Segment.

There is no limit to the number of APs you can have during a Turn (note that there are two AP counters allowing you to track up to 40 APs should you be so fortunate as to gain such a high level of political capital), BUT APs do not roll over each Turn. Any unused APs at the end of a Turn are lost.

At the beginning of each Turn, during Step 1: Determine APs, as outlined in the Turn Sequence Flipbook (see page 4 TSF), you determine how many APs you receive this turn.

Place the AP counter on the appropriate box of the Presidential Prestige Track/APs Track. If you have more than 10 APs, flip the counter over to its "APs +10" side. If you have over 20 APs, use the "APs +20/APs +30" counter.

Presidential Prestige is also tracked on this Track and is used for Presidential Prestige Checks (see below).

Tables and Rolls

No matter the circumstances, you can never select a result other than the one you rolled, even if that result would be considered "worse" or "lesser".
If a table has a min or a max DRM, that cap is enforced after all DRMs have been computed.
Cabinet members' ratings are always used as DRM when specified below a table, whether or not that cabinet member was the one who initiated the action.
If a table allows an AP to be spent to provide a DRM, that AP must be spent before the die is rolled and the DRM will also be applied should you be allowed and choose to reroll that die.
That symbol, which you can find on the Presidential, Domestic, Diplomatic, and Military Master Action Player Aids, means that if you're playing the game on the Easier Difficulty setting, you can apply an additional -1 DRM to the roll, over and above the listed DRMs.

Draw Crisis Chits

When the Current US Action counter is moved onto a "Draw One Chit" Segment, randomly draw one Crisis chit from the Crisis Chits Cup, place it on the Crisis Action segment, then perform whatever action(s) that Crisis Chit indicates.

If the Crisis Chit you draw has a "+" notation AND the Turn Sequence shows that you can draw another chit, then when you finish resolving what the chit asks you to do, you then draw another Crisis Chit. You could end up drawing as many as three Crisis Chits as long as the first two Crisis chits you draw contain a "+" notation and the Turn Sequence allows it (there are some Segments in which you only draw one Crisis Chit, even if it has a +). You keep drawing Crisis chits and performing actions until you either get a Crisis Chit without a "+" or you have drawn the maximum number of Chits allotted by the Segment. Here are details of the various actions different Crisis Chits direct you to perform:

Draw Crisis Card(s). The majority of the Crisis Chits will direct you to draw a number of Crisis Cards from the Crisis Deck. Draw one at a time, and perform all actions indicated on that one Crisis Card before drawing and resolving the next card or cards. The chit is considered resolved when you've finished drawing and resolving the indicated number of Crisis Cards.
Domestic Crisis (d10). Roll a d10 and reference the result on the Domestic Crisis Events Table (D9) in the Domestic Charts Booklet (see page 10 DCB). Implement all the actions/effects noted therein.
Regional Summit. Refer to the Regional Summit Table (WD2) in the World Charts Booklet (see page 3 WCB) and follow the directions on that Table. Note the DRMs, and decide whether to commit 1-2 APs (representing you as POTUS attending the Summit personally) before you roll a d10 to determine the Summit's results.
Random Regional Crisis. Roll a d10 to determine which region has the crisis (See World Board and Regions). Once the region is identified, move the Regional Crisis level at the bottom of that region 1 box to the right. If this move increases the Regional Crisis level there to "MAJOR CRISIS," refer to the Regional Major Crisis Table (WD1) in the World Charts Booklet (see page 2 WCB), total any applicable DRMs, and roll a d10 to find and apply the result.
Cascading Event 2. Shuffle all the cards in the "2 Deck" (See Crisis Cards below). Then randomly draw one card and apply the results listed in the "From the 2 Deck" area. Unless otherwise directed by the card, place the card in the "3 Deck" when you have finished applying the result. If there is no card in the "2 Deck" area, then nothing happens.
Cascading Event 3. Shuffle all the cards in the "3 Deck" (See Crisis Cards below). Then randomly draw one card and apply the results listed in the "From the 3 Deck" area. Unless otherwise directed by the card, place the card in the Discard pile when you have finished applying the result. NOTE: If there are no cards in the 3 Deck when you draw this Crisis chit, treat it as if you had drawn the "Cascading Event 2" Crisis Chit instead.
Good Times Roll. Roll on the Good Times Table (D15) in the Domestic Charts Booklet (see page 18 DCB), to see what good things are in store for you! Happy Days!
NSA (2 Cards). Draw the top two Crisis Cards from the deck. Choose one and remove it permanently from the game. Place the other card in the Reshuffle Pile. This reflects intel gained through NSA intercepts.
Russia Acts (2). This Crisis chit is only put into the Crisis Chits Cup when Russia reaches Posture 2; it REMAINS in the Crisis Chits Cup until pulled (even should the Posture revert to 1 later in the game) (see page 32 below). When pulled, follow the special instructions "RUSSIA ACTS (2) CRISIS CHIT IS DRAWN" in the World Peer Russia Flipbook (see page 2 WPR) which instructs you to use 2 special actions from the list of possible Russian actions.
China Acts (2). This Crisis chit is only put into the Crisis Chits Cup when China reaches Posture 2; it REMAINS in the Crisis Chits Cup until pulled (even should the Posture revert to 1 later in the game) (see page 32 below). When pulled, follow the special instructions "CHINA ACTS (2) CRISIS CHIT IS DRAWN" in the World Peer China Flipbook (see page 2 WPC) which instructs you to use 2 special actions from the list of possible China actions.

Crisis Cards

Crisis Cards are the raw material for Mr. President. They are one of the key things that make each play of the game so different and unique. There is a space on the smaller Main Side Board directly above the Nuclear Missile Track for four piles of cards: the Crisis (or Current Year) Deck, the Reshuffle Pile, the #2 Deck, and the #3 Deck. Each of these is color coded: Red for Crisis (or Current Year), Green for Reshuffle, Blue for #2, and Purple for #3. These colors correspond to instruction icons on the cards themselves that indicate where and how to play the cards.

These cards are drawn when a Crisis Chit is drawn that says draw 1 (or more) Crisis Cards. There are five types of cards in the game, differentiated by color and name in a box on the lower-right of each card, and by number. These are:

Exceptional White House Resources cards (Yellow #1-5).
Natural Disaster cards (Red #6-13).
Terrorism cards (Black #14-33).
Cascading Event cards (Teal Green #34-64).
Event cards (Light Blue #65-180).

When a Crisis Card is drawn, simply follow the instructions on the card. Unless the card is a Cascading Event or it has an "R" designation at bottom right (which means "place this card in the Reshuffle pile"), the card is discarded from the game once it has been read and acted upon.

Exceptional White House Resources Cards: These five cards are primarily used in setup, but one of them will also be added to the Year 2 deck. The card represents a particularly talented or influential resource that helps you in the White House (see below and page 6 SSB).
Natural Disasters: These are cards describing a natural disaster that has struck, demanding a response from the President. These are all Cascading Events.
Terrorism Event: These are cards describing a terrorist attack that affects some Region of the world (including the US), usually creating a Terror Group (see below). They make the world more unstable and dangerous than it was before.
Cascading Event: These are events that occur over time in multiple stages. The card will list three different effects: the first if the card is drawn from the current Crisis Card Deck, the second if drawn from the #2 Deck, the third if drawn from the #3 Deck. Each time the card is encountered, its effects will be worse. It pays to respond to and solve the crisis as quickly as possible. A Cascading Event Card will have an icon in the lower right showing this. As this shows, once the card is drawn and its effects applied, it is put into Deck #2, unless the card indicates otherwise, as some do, or the crisis is resolved. If it is drawn a second time, it is put into Deck #3, unless the card indicates otherwise or the crisis is resolved. After the third time it's drawn and its effects applied, it will be discarded from the game, unless the card indicates otherwise.
Event Cards: The bulk of the Crisis Cards present the player with Events that can be domestic or world crises, or even unexpected benefits.

The Four Card Decks/Piles

There are four card decks/pile holding areas represented in the Crisis Card Deck area of the Main Side Board, as described above.

Crisis Deck: This is where the Crisis Cards that make up the Current Year Deck (created during setup — see page 11 SSB) are placed. These cards are drawn when a player is instructed to do so by the draw of a Crisis Chit during certain segments of the Turn Sequence.
Reshuffle Pile: Certain Crisis Cards will have an "R" indicator at the bottom right of the card, which means "Place this Card in the Reshuffle Pile." When you have finished with the card, place it in the Reshuffle Pile on the board next to the Crisis Card Deck for that year. At the beginning of a new Turn/year, half of these cards are reshuffled together with the appropriate Year Deck (Year 2 for the second turn, Year 3 for the third turn, etc.) into a new Crisis Card Deck for that year. Thus, some Crisis events will show up more than once in the game. (See "End of Turn/New Year Deck" below.) NOTE: If you ever run out of cards in the current year's Crisis Card Deck and need to draw another card, reshuffle the Reshuffle Pile and place it face down as the new Crisis Deck.
Decks 2 & 3: These are two areas numbered "2" and "3" where Cascading Events Crisis Cards go as instructed on the cards. Always follow the instructions on the card itself as to where and when to place these cards once you resolve their action. (see Cascading Event, above). NOTE: These two holding areas are the only ones in which you may place the cards face-up, so that you may examine them freely (to remember which ongoing events you may need to prepare for as you plan and play).
Discard: If a card is to be discarded and removed from the game after being drawn and resolved, it will have the following icon in the lower right.

Off-Map Decks in Waiting (Terrorism, Cascading, Natural Disaster)

As part of setup, a separate deck of cards for each of these types is created from those left over after the Crisis Deck is created (page 11 SSB). Different game events may instruct the player to draw a card from any one of these three decks to create a new game situation.

In the highly unlikely event that you were to run out of cards in any of these off-map Decks, do the following, instead of drawing a card:

Terrorism Deck or Cascading Events Deck. Immediately place a Lvl 2 Terror Group in two randomly chosen Regions on the main game map. Do this each time you are asked to draw a Terrorism or Cascading card from an empty deck for the rest of the game.

Natural Disaster Deck. Immediately increase Domestic Crises by one box and subtract 2 APs from your total. Do this each time you are asked to draw a Natural Disaster card from an empty deck for the rest of the game.

Year Decks

During setup, four Crisis Card decks are created, one for each Turn of the game. For instructions on creating these decks, please read the Scenario Set-Up Booklet (page 11 SSB). Note that Crisis Card deck creation may vary from one Scenario to another (the Historical Scenarios tend to have more specific deck creation instructions in order to re-create the historical domestic and world situation appropriate to that moment in history).

First Year Deck: At the beginning of the game, the First Year Deck becomes the Crisis Deck for that turn. The other three become the Year 2, Year 3, and Year 4 Decks. There is a place designated on the top edge of the Main Side Board to place these three decks.

End of Turn/New Year Deck: At the end of each Turn:

Count the cards currently in the Reshuffle Pile and randomly remove half of them (rounded down) from the game (permanently). Add the remaining cards from the Reshuffle Pile to any cards left in the current Crisis Deck.
Add these cards to the next Year Deck in sequence (if it's Turn 2, use the Year 2 Deck, etc.).
Shuffle all these cards together, then place them in the current Crisis Deck space. This is your new Crisis Deck for the coming Year. See End of Turn Consequences in the Turn Sequence Flipbook (see page 26 TSF).

Tracks

There are many game tracks in Mr. President. They provide crucial and needed information about the state of the world, letting you know where you need to focus your attention to forestall a potential crisis or catastrophe. Tracks may display information or be used for Track Checks (see below) to determine the outcome of an Action or game situation. Certain tracks also change up or down in increments; these are Trending Tracks.

On the majority of the tracks in the game, you move the track's counter up and down by one box at a time, as directed by various game actions and results. There are a few tracks, though, that change more slowly over time. These are the eight Regional Alignment Tracks (but not Stability markers – they move one box at a time), the four State of the Economy (SoE) Tracks for the US, Eurozone, Russia, and China, the China/Russia "Relations with the US" Tracks, and the Cabinet Effectiveness Track. Each of these has a second, "Improving/Worsening" or "Pro/Anti," counter, which you place to show whether the current value is trending either higher or lower. These Tracks are called "Trending Tracks."

When instructed to place an "Improving" counter:

If there already is an "Improving" counter on that track and the track is not at its maximum value, remove it and move the Track Counter up one box towards a better condition.
If there is a "Worsening" counter already on the track, remove it but do NOT replace it with the "Improving" counter and do NOT move the Track Counter; it stays where it is. In this situation, the "Improving" counter cancels out the "Worsening" counter, leaving the situation as it is, neither worsening nor improving.
If there is no "Improving" or "Worsening" counter already on that track, then place the new "Improving" counter there (even if the Track is at its maximum value).

When instructed to place a "Worsening" counter:

If there already is a "Worsening" counter on that track and the track is not at its minimum value, remove it and move the Track Counter down one box towards a worse condition.
If there is an "Improving" counter already on the track, remove it but do NOT replace it with the "Worsening" counter and do NOT move the Track Counter; it stays where it is. In this situation, the "Worsening" counter cancels out the "Improving" counter, leaving the situation as it is, neither worsening nor improving.
If there is no "Improving" or "Worsening" counter already on that track, then place the new "Worsening" counter there (even if the Track is at its minimum value).

It's important to remember that, barring an instruction on a Crisis Card or chart result, it takes more time to change a Trending Track than a normal track. For instance, it takes 2 successful Actions, not just 1, to move the Cabinet Effectiveness Counter up on the Cabinet Effectiveness Track, thereby improving your Administration's ability to get things done. Of course, the reverse is that it takes longer for something to get worse on a Trending Track, giving you a chance to turn things around for the better!

Example: A game result tells you to "Place a 'Trending Pro-US' counter" on the Regional Alignment Track for a certain region where the Regional Alignment is currently 6. If later you get another "Place a 'Trending Pro-US' counter" result, you would remove that first Trending counter and move the Regional Alignment counter up one box from 6 to 7. If, however, instead of a second favorable Trending result you received a "Place 'Trending Anti-US' counter" result, then you would remove that original Trending counter and NOT place the "Trending Anti-US" counter, and Regional Alignment would remain at 6.

Example 2: All State of the Economy (SoE) tracks in the US, Eurozone, Russia, and China are Trending, using the Economy Improving/Worsening counters. Thus, if an "Economy Worsening" counter is placed on the US SoE track, it means the US economy is trending downward and getting worse. If another such counter would be placed, then the "Economy Worsening" counter is removed and the SoE counter is moved down one box on the Track to reflect the new State of the Economy. On the other hand, if an "Economy Improving" counter would be placed instead, the "Economy Worsening" counter would be removed and the SoE counter would stay where it is.

IMPORTANT: A Crisis Card or Chart Result may instruct you to move the counter on a Trending Track up or down by one box. In such cases, ignore the trending rule and do not use the "Improving/Worsening" counter. Simply move the Track counter up or down one box as instructed as if it were NOT a Trending Track, keeping any "Improving/Worsening" counter on it.

If attempting to move up a Track already at its maximum, add an Improving counter to it if it doesn't have one already.

If attempting to move down a Track already at its minimum, add a Worsening counter to it if it doesn't have one already.

Track Checks

During the game, you will often be instructed to make a check (Alignment Check, State of Economy Check, etc.) against one of the tracks in the game. When that occurs, find the current rating (where the counter is) on that track and make a ten-sided die roll. If the result is equal to or less than the current rating, you have passed the check. If it is greater than the rating, you have failed the check. (See D18 DCB)

Example: A card tells you to make a Regional Alignment check in the Asia/Pacific region. You note that the "Regional Alignment" counter in the Asia/Pacific region is currently in the "6" box of the Regional Alignment and Stability Track. You roll a 10-sided die and get a "7" result. You have failed the check.

Game Turn Track

Located in the lower left corner of the World Map on the Main Board, this Track allows you to keep track of what Turn it is. Each Turn represents 1 year of your Presidential Term. After completing an entire play-through of the Turn Sequence (and the Turn Sequence Flipbook), move the Turn Counter one box to the right. The game lasts for 4 Turns, at which point you determine how good a President you were (you also have the option to try for a second term!).

Charts and Tables

Nearly all actions that you undertake to advance your agenda and to resolve crises will require you to reference a particular chart or table. These are located in five possible areas.

Domestic Charts Booklet (DCB): This contains all the charts and tables dealing with resolving domestic issues such as Cabinet Improvement, Legislation, Scandals, and the like. All charts are labeled with the letter D (for Domestic) and a number. Thus, (D1) is the first Domestic Chart: "POTUS/Cabinet Focus," while the second (D2) is "Cabinet Improvement Table," and so on.
World Charts Booklet (WCB): This contains all the charts and tables dealing with resolving Diplomatic, Terrorist, and Military situations. In this case, the code for each chart involves a second letter determining whether the chart deals with Diplomacy (D), Military (M), or Terrorism (T). Thus, (WD1) is the first chart under Diplomacy in the World Charts Booklet: "Regional Major Crisis;" (WM3) is the third chart under Military: "Cyber-Attacks."
Ally and Rogue States Booklet (WA): Four times during the game Turn, once per each of the four Activation Phases, you will check to see what joint actions you may take with your Allies, what unilateral actions they may take, and what actions Rogue States and Unstable States take. These charts are gathered together in a separate booklet for your convenience. These nations and states are gathered together in four different groups (A, B, C, and D). A group is drawn randomly when instructed by the Turn Sequence Chart. They all have the designation code WA. Thus, the charts for Ally and Rogue States Group A is (WA1), (WA2) for Group B, and so on.
World Peers: Russia and China are considered world peers of the United States and are treated differently. Twice a Turn you will determine their strategic actions in the world for that year as instructed by the Turn Sequence, once for Russia and once for China. You will do this by using the small flipbooks assigned to each country. These have the (WP) designation.
World Peer Russia Booklet (WPR): This booklet contains the Russia Acts flowchart, a sequence of steps you will follow in order to determine Russia's actions for the year. It also contains the chart for a Summit that you can hold with Russia. These are designated (WPR1) and (WPR2).
World Peer China Booklet (WPC): Likewise, this booklet contains the China Acts flowchart, a sequence of steps you will follow in order to determine China's actions for the year. It also contains the chart for a Summit that you can hold with China. These are designated (WPC1) and (WPC2).

Running Out of Counters: All counter types in the game should be considered unlimited (and players should use tokens of other great GMT games as replacements if necessary) EXCEPT:

Tensions, Terror Groups and Rogue States: follow specific instructions detailed in the relevant section if you ever run out.

Sanctions, Military Footprints, UN Goodwill: do not place subsequent counters if you ever run out.

DARPA counters: limited to 3.

Lesser Sideboards

Aside from the Main Side Board, there are two important but lesser sideboards the player will use during the game:

The War Status Sideboard, which helps the player keep track of the progress of any wars he is waging. There may be a maximum of five Wars on the board at one time. If a sixth war breaks out, the player suffers auto-loss.
The Holding Sideboard that the player can use to hold Terror Group, Rogue State, Civil War and Civil War Ceasefire counters, and to randomize unused Tension, Sanction, US Military Footprint, and UN Goodwill counters (see page 3 SSB).

Difficulty Levels

There are three Difficulty Levels in Mr. President: Easier, Normal, and Harder. Details are given in the Scenario Set-Up Booklet (see page 4 SSB).

Special New Player DRM (Recommended for New Players): As an OPTIONAL rule, a new Player using the Easier Level ONLY may use a -1 DRM to all rolls bearing this icon on the Presidential, Domestic, Diplomatic, and Military Master Action Player Aids. This is in addition to normal DRMs as given on the various charts and tables. This should help brand new players have a more enjoyable first or first few games.

End of Game

The game ends after 4 Turns (years) are completed. If playing the Sandbox Scenario, you must first seek re-election (see Re-Election below). After succeeding or failing at re-election, determine your final Legacy Point Total.

To your Legacy Point value as shown by your current position on the Legacy Point Track on the map, add or subtract the results from the final Presidential Performance Evaluation.
Add or subtract Legacy Points as shown by your current position on the Public Approval Track.
Subtract Legacy Points based on your current position on the Party Relations Track: if it is 2 or 3, lose 15 Legacy Points as your Party does not consider you a viable candidate for re-election.
If you attempt re-election and lose, lose 5 Legacy Points for being a one-term President.
If you attempt re-election and win, you gain 5 Legacy Points.

After the re-election campaign, compare your Final Legacy Point Total with the Historical Presidents listed in Chart D16 in the Domestic Charts Booklet (see DCB page 19) to see whose legacy yours is most like.

If you are playing one of the Historical Scenarios, then check the victory conditions in the Scenario Booklet for the scenario you are using to determine your victory level.

3. POTUS

Presidential Master Actions

Listed on your Presidential Master Actions Player Aid, there are seven Actions only you can take domestically, diplomatically, or at any time as President, when Actions are permitted by the Activation Segment of the Turn Sequence. None of your Key Cabinet Members can take any of these Actions. These Actions help you respond to situations in the game and shape the development of your Administration.

POTUS

YOU are POTUS, the President Of The United States. You are represented on the Main Board by the White House. Here you will display your Presidential Attributes as well as the individuals who are your key Cabinet officials.

The White House display holds four Attribute boxes and your Key Cabinet Officials: Vice President, Chief of Staff, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Defense.

Presidential Attributes

These represent various qualities and characteristics that you possess, giving you a unique character in the game. As outlined in the Scenario Set-Up Booklet (see page 5 SSB), you may have up to four of these, though you usually begin with just two, and normally, they are chosen randomly. Once chosen, they are placed on the "Attribute" boxes in the White House area of the Main Board. They give you advantages and heightened abilities in certain areas, giving you that extra needed boost to succeed at the Actions you will take, OR they can be negative attributes that cause you trouble and disadvantages. Note that in addition to the basic abilities listed below, some effects may be influenced by whether you possess a certain Presidential Attribute (follow specific instructions in these cases). Here are all the possible attributes you can have:

Likeable: This attribute adds +3 to your Public Approval rating at the start of each Turn.
Efficient: This attribute adds +4 Action Points at the start of each Turn.
Media Savvy: This attribute improves your Media Relations by +1 at the start of each Turn.
Business Friendly: This attribute adds an "Economy Improving" counter to the US State of the Economy Track at the start of each Turn.
Orator: This attribute gives a -2 DRM to your State of the Union Address.
Military: This attribute allows you to improve one US Strategic Capability by +1 at the start of each Turn.
Moderate Influence: This attribute allows you to move the Bipartisan Cooperation Counter one box to the right, towards "Cooperative", at the start of each Turn.
Respected by Congress: This attribute allows you to improve your Relationship with Congress 1 box at the start of each Turn.
Teflon: This attribute gives you a -2 DRM when rolling on the Scandal Table to resolve a Presidential scandal (Chart D14 in the Domestic Charts Booklet).
An Ally's Best Friend: This attribute allows you to raise the relationship with one Ally by one level (i.e. from "Estranged" to "Close" or from "Close" to "Very Close") at the start of each Turn.
Domestic Focus: This attribute gives you a -1 DRM any time you roll to resolve a Domestic Crisis or a Lingering Domestic Issue.
Team Builder: This attribute gives you a -1 DRM any time you make a Cabinet Improvement Roll.
Disorganized (negative): This negative attribute costs you 3 Action Points at the start of each Turn.
Heavily Partisan (negative): This negative attribute makes you lose 1 Public Approval AND add one Congressional Opponent to Congress at the start of each Turn.
Manages Stress Poorly (negative): This negative attribute makes you add 2 Tensions counters to the POTUS/Cabinet Focus Track at the start of each Turn. Ignore it on the first Turn as your priorities are not set yet.
Lacking Social Graces (negative): This negative attribute subtracts 2 Public Approval and degrades your Relationship With Congress 1 box at the start of each Turn. It also gives you a +1 DRM on the Impeachment Table (Chart D14 in the Domestic Charts Booklet).

Example: You randomly draw Orator and Likeable as your two Presidential Attributes. You place these on the Presidential Attribute Track in the White House. The former will give you a -2 DRM to your die roll to determine the result of your State of the Union speech, while the latter will increase your Public Approval rating by 3 at the start of each turn.

All bonuses and penalties arising from Presidential Attributes will be applied during Steps 1 and 2 of the "Beginning of Each Turn Sequence" in the Turn Sequence Flipbook.

Master Actions

These are your administrative muscles. Four Player Aid charts list all the Actions you can take during the game to exert your presence in the world and at home. Most of these Actions are "free;" once permitted by the Turn Sequence, you can use them as you wish. Some, however, will require the expenditure of an Action Point (AP), and some may allow you to spend an AP to gain a positive die roll modifier (DRM). (For further details, see the Master Actions Player Aids.)

a. Presidential: These are actions only you can take to build your Public Approval, to gain goodwill on the world stage, to enhance relations with foreign leaders, and to improve your own Administration. These Actions are divided into Domestic, Diplomatic, and "Any," depending on the Action Segment within which you can use them.

b. Domestic: These are actions that can be taken by you, your Vice-President, or your Chief of Staff to govern the country domestically.

c. Diplomatic: These are actions that can be taken by you, your Vice-President, or your Secretary of State to exert American presence in the world, to build good relations with other nations, and to enhance international stability and prosperity.

d. Military: These are actions you or your Secretary of Defense can take to defend America or to project American military power into the world to deal with terror groups, rogue states, or to wage war.

NOTE: During any blue Activation Segment on the Turn Sequence when the player is instructed to perform "x number of Actions," the player may choose to spend two APs to take an ADDITIONAL Action OF ANY TYPE, regardless of the type allowed during that Activation Segment.

Exceptional White House Resources

These are talented people who will add a number of benefits to your Administration each Turn, such as extra APs, improved Public Approval, and so on. These are represented by cards that are either drawn during Scenario setup or that will appear sometime during your Second Year in office (see page 6 SSB).

Presidential Prestige

This measures the esteem, respect, or even fear in which you are held by your countrymen (which is not necessarily the same as approval!) and by the world. It will rise and fall based on situations in the world and how you respond to them. It is tracked on the Presidential Prestige Track/APs Track in the bottom right of the Main Board. Your number of APs are indicated on this same Track.

Administration

Your Cabinet represents your whole Administration, all the thousands of people who work in the White House, the Cabinet Departments, and throughout the Executive Branch of the Government. Even though the whole Cabinet is not fully present, the game represents them in two major ways:

Key Cabinet Members (Secretaries of State and Defense plus your Vice-President and your Chief of Staff.) These members can take Actions during the "President and all Key Cabinet Members Take 1 Action" Segments of the game. Also, their applicable ratings are sometimes used as DRMs for various actions during an Action segment.

Cabinet Effectiveness Rating. This rating represents the capabilities of your entire cabinet and fluctuates over the course of the game. See Cabinet Effectiveness, below.

Key Cabinet Members

These include your Vice-President (VP), your Chief of Staff (CoS), the Secretary of State (SecState), and the Secretary of Defense (SecDef), all chosen as part of your initial set up (page 5 SSB). Each Cabinet Member has three numbers at the bottom of their counter. These represent the Domestic, Diplomatic, and Military ratings of that individual, read from left to right. This number can be 0. These ratings are used as DRMs for various actions and on various charts and tables. Each Cabinet Member has an "Inexperienced" side with a lighter ratings stripe and a Veteran side with a darker ratings stripe. Usually, the ratings are higher on the Veteran side, representing experience gained in office. The Cabinet Member may also gain a "+1 Action."

During Step 3 of the "Beginning of Turn Sequence" in the Turn Sequence Flipbook, you may be able to promote a Cabinet Member to its Veteran side (see page 4 TSF).

Example: You pick your Key Cabinet Members and place them in the White House. Bo Hamilton is drawn randomly as your Vice-President. Of the three choices you randomly select, you choose Kim Richards to be your Chief of Staff. She has a Domestic Rating of "1" and she has a +1 Action, which will allow her to take an extra Domestic Action in certain Turn Segments. This will make her more useful in helping with your Domestic agenda. Your next three candidates are weak all-around and Kelly Borgeson becomes your Secretary of State (her "0" Diplomatic Rating is liable to cause problems for you). Lastly, you draw three new candidates for Secretary of Defense. You choose Barry Wallace, the only candidate you drew with a "1" Military Rating, to be your Secretary of Defense.

+1 Action: Certain talented individuals may also have the designation "+1 Action" on their counter, usually on their reverse or "Veteran" side. This means that any time that Key Cabinet Member can take a Master Action, it can take two actions instead of one, increasing the power of that individual to act on your behalf.

Example: As an "Inexperienced" Cabinet member, Bo Hamilton has a Domestic Rating of 1, Diplomatic Rating of 1, and a Military Rating of 0. If he is promoted to "Veteran," his Domestic Rating will become a 2 and he will gain a "+1 Action," giving him one extra Action during certain Turn Sequence Segments.

Replacing (Firing) a Key Cabinet Member

You have the same Vice-President throughout the game (unless they are removed due to Scandal or Assassination), but there are three ways in which you may replace (fire) a Key Cabinet Member:

During Step 4 of the "Beginning of Turn Sequence" in the Turn Sequence Flipbook, you can replace (fire) any other Key Cabinet Member. Proceed as per Presidential Master Action #7 on the Presidential Master Actions Player Aid (this DOES NOT cost an action).
After the Midterm Elections, you can replace (fire) up to two Key Cabinet Members. Proceed as per Presidential Master Action #7 on the Presidential Master Actions Player Aid (this DOES NOT cost an action).
You may use Presidential Action #7 during any Action segment to ask for the resignation of any of your Key Cabinet members except the Vice President. Note that this DOES cost an action.

Note that there are also a few cards and chart results in the game that might also require or give you the option for replacing a Key Cabinet Member.

POTUS/Cabinet Focus

This is where you indicate your Administration's priorities for the year/Turn. You will choose from six possibilities:

Improve Relations with Congress
Economy
Homeland Security
Public/Press Relations
Address Domestic Crises
Cabinet Effectiveness

You will prioritize these in the order you choose, using the six "POTUS/Cabinet Focus Priority" counters, numbered from 1-6, during the "US Special Activations" at the beginning of the Turn Sequence for the year. Do this by matching the counter with the desired focus on the POTUS/Cabinet Focus Table. Counter #1 indicates your Administration's highest priority, while #6 is the least prioritized. Twice during the year, as indicated in the Turn Sequence and the Turn Sequence Flipbook, you can roll a die to attempt to gain the indicated benefits for those priorities. Each Priority counter has its own success range. The die roll for the Priority 1 Focus will succeed on a roll of 1-5; the die roll for Priority 6 Focus, however, will only succeed on a roll of 1.

The POTUS/Cabinet Focus Table lists, for each Focus/Priority, its success range and its Success Effect:

Improve Relations with Congress (Priority 6, success on a 1): Improve RWC by one box.
Economy (Priority 1, success on 1-5): Place "Improving Econ" marker on US SoE Track.
Homeland Security (Priority 5, success on 1-2): Decrease one Terror Grp. in US by one level. If none, +1 to Homeland Security and -2 Public App.
Public/Press Relations (Priority 4, success on 1-3): Either a) +3 to Public App., or b) +1 to Public App. and +1 to Media Relations.
Address Domestic Crises (Priority 3, success on 1-3): -1 to Dom. Crises. If already 0, +2 APs.
Cabinet Effectiveness (Priority 2, success on 1-4): Roll a d6: 1-3, place an "Improving" marker on the Cabinet Effectiveness Track; 4+, +3 APs.

Each Priority Focus also places Tensions counters as part of resolving it (see the Tensions rules below).

Example: You think about what you want to accomplish this year and decide to have the following priorities: 1st is the Economy (as a good economy affects so many other things in the game); 2nd is Cabinet Effectiveness (as this affects how well you can deal with Domestic Crises); 3rd is Address Domestic Crises; 4th is Public/Press Relations (you want to have the press on your side and a high Public Approval); 5th is Homeland Security (to prevent domestic terrorism); and 6th is Improve Relations with Congress. Congressional Relations are important for passing legislation, but you can improve your RWC rating in other ways.

Twice each Turn/Year, in Activation Phases 1 & 3, you will determine the effects of the priorities you have set for that year. The procedure for doing so is printed in the POTUS/Cabinet Focus Table in the Cabinet/Administration area of the Main Board, just under the White House (see D1 in the DCB). Note that Tensions counters (see below) placed here will decrease the benefits the Cabinet can produce by diffusing its focus and may have other deleterious effects as well, such as forcing you to roll on the Cabinet Drama Table (see below).

Cabinet Effectiveness Track

This track determines how capable and effective your Cabinet—and by extension, your entire Administration—is. Cabinet Effectiveness is a shorthand measure of the government's ability to get things done, determined by where the "Cabinet Effectiveness" counter is on the Track. Depending on where the counter is, you may gain from 0 to 5 extra APs at the beginning of a Turn. A Cabinet Effectiveness Track Check (see D18 in the DCB, or page 12 above) is used to determine success or failure in lessening a Domestic Crisis.

This is a Trending Track. To move the counter one space in either direction is a two-step process as described in Trending Tracks (see above).

Cabinet Effectiveness can never be higher than "7" or lower than "3."

Example: You have a Cabinet Effectiveness Rating of 5, which will give you +3 APs at the beginning of each Turn/Year. You also have a Cabinet Improving counter on the Track. If you gain another Cabinet Improving result, you will remove this counter and move the Cabinet Effectiveness counter up to box #6, which will give you +4 APs per turn. However, if you were to get a Cabinet Effectiveness Worsening result for some reason, you would remove the Cabinet Improving counter (do NOT place a Cabinet Worsening counter) and the Cabinet Effectiveness Counter would remain in the "5" box.

Cabinet Improvement Table

This table, printed on the Main Board in the Administration section, offers an opportunity to raise the effectiveness of your Cabinet, though a poor die roll can cause the Cabinet to lose effectiveness or even require a subsequent die roll on the Cabinet Drama Table. Presidential Master Action #3 (see Presidential Master Actions Player Aid) allows you to roll on this Table, spending an AP for a -1 DRM. Other DRMs are possible: see the Table for information.

The Cabinet Improvement Table (roll a d6, with DRMs of: -# the Domestic Value of your Chief of Staff; -1 if you have the Team Builder POTUS Attribute; +# half the number of Tensions counters in the POTUS/Cabinet Focus area, rounded down; -1 if you spent 1 AP):

0 or less — Improving: Place "Improving" marker on Cabinet Effectiveness Track. 1 Advisor becomes experienced. Flip to Experienced side.
Roll a d6 (1-2 SecState, 3-4 SecDef, 5 Chief of Staff, 6 Vice President) — Improving: Move/place "Improving" marker on Cabinet Effectiveness Track.
No Change: No effect.
Losing Cohesion: Add one Tensions to POTUS/Cab. Focus (6 to 1). Place "Worsening" marker on Cabinet Effectiveness. -1 Public Approval.
8 or More — Disarray: Move Left 1 Box on Cabinet Effectiveness Track, & Roll (d6) on the Cabinet Drama Table. -2 Public Approval.

If you are successful at improving the Cabinet, place a "Cabinet Improving" counter on the Cabinet Effectiveness Track, or if a "Cabinet Improving" counter is already there, remove it and move the Cabinet Effectiveness counter up one box on the Track.

Cabinet Drama Table

This Table, printed on the Main Board in the Administration section, represents in-fighting, tension, lack of trust, miscommunication, and general disarray amongst your Cabinet. It will inflict a variety of negative consequences upon you and your Domestic efforts. Information on when you must roll on this Table and the die roll modifiers that are available is printed on the game board.

Avoid rolling on this table if you can! Results include: Cabinet infighting goes public (-1 Public Approval); Unflattering Cabinet Leaks about the President (-1 Media Relations, -1 Public Approval, -1 Party Relations); Cabinet Leak Lists Congressional Enemies (-1 RWC, -2 APs, -1 Public Approval, -1 Bipartisan Co-op); Influence Scandal at Treasury causes market "flash crash" (Place a "Worsening Economy" marker on US SoE Track, -2 Public Approval); a die roll of a pair (1-2 SecState Resigns, 3-4 SecDef Resigns, 5-6 Chief of Staff Resigns — Draw 3 new candidate counters and select a replacement; Place "Worsening" marker on Cabinet Effectiveness, -2 Public Approval, -1 Party Relations); and Open hostility in Cabinet fosters Domestic Crisis (+1 to Domestic Crises Track, Add one Tensions to POTUS/Cab. Focus).

You make a Cabinet Drama Table roll (d6, no DRMs): a) whenever you roll a 6+ on the Cabinet Improvement Table; b) anytime you add a new Tensions marker in the POTUS/Cabinet Focus area that causes your Tensions marker total in that area to exceed 6; c) when directed by a Crisis card or Chart/Table result.

Campaign Promise

During setup, you will determine the Public Legislative Priorities and your Administration's Legislative Priorities (see below). You will also determine your Campaign Promise (see page 7 SSB). This is a Legislative Priority that represents an issue you campaigned on and promised to see accomplished if you were elected. Now, you were elected, you are the President, and it's up to you to fulfill that legislative promise. Depending on whether you were successful or not in passing a Bill for this issue during a Turn's legislative session, you will either gain or lose Public Approval and Party Relations (see page 25 TSF).

Scandals

Game events may result in a scandal breaking out in your Administration around one of your Cabinet Members, your Vice-President, or even yourself (which could lead to impeachment and auto-loss). These are tracked on the Scandal Track on the board and resolved during the Legislative Process (see Chart (D14) in the Domestic Charts Booklet, pages 16-17).

When a Scandal breaks out, place the counter of the affected individual (which might be you, as in the picture below!) on the Breaking Scandal box of the Scandal Track. If you are asked to determine randomly who is affected by the Scandal, roll d6 on the Random Scandal Determination table that is part of the Scandal Track. Scandal Investigations during the Legislative process (see below) will determine if the scandal is resolved or if the individual's counter is moved into Deepening or Concluding Scandal.

The Scandal Track has three stages: Breaking Scandal (for each Scandal marker in this box at the start of Scandal Investigations, roll a d6 and refer to the Breaking column; immediately apply results), Deepening Scandal (for each Scandal marker in this box at the start of Scandal Investigations, roll a d6 and refer to the Deepening Scandal column of the Scandal Table; immediately apply results), and Concluding Scandal (for each Scandal marker in this box at the start of Scandal Investigations, roll a d6 and refer to the Concluding column of the Scandal Table; immediately apply results and remove the Scandal marker from the boxes).

Random Scandal Determination (d6): 1 = Chief of Staff; 2 = Secretary of State; 3 = Secretary of Defense; 4 = Vice President; 5 or 6 = POTUS (You).

(D4) 8. For new Scandals, find Target of investigation, if necessary. Then place their Scandal marker in the "Breaking Scandal" box. For the Scandal Investigations Step, roll d6 for each scandal and, depending on result, either remove the marker, leave it in current box, or move it right one box. For Scandal markers that begin the Investigation step in the "Concluding Scandal" box, roll the die immediately, apply effects, and remove the Scandal marker from the boxes.

Public Approval (PA)

Public Approval measures what the American public thinks of you. The values range from 18% to 70+%. If you are at 18%, you cannot go lower; if at 70%, you cannot go higher.

Each box includes a number in the upper left corner. That is the number you use if you need to make a Public Approval Check or add your Public Approval rating to something.

Each box also includes a "#LP" notation at the bottom. This is the number of Legacy Points that you gain or lose at game end due to your popularity (or lack of it!).

When you gain PA (+x Public Approval), you move your Public Approval counter the required number of boxes to the right, raising your approval by 2% with each box you move into. When you lose PA (-x Public Approval), you move your Public Approval counter the required number of boxes to the left, losing 2% of your approval with each box you move into.

This is one of the most important ratings in the game as your Presidency and your ability to accomplish things can rise or fall with the level of public support. Low Public Approval makes your task much harder; a high Public Approval makes it easier.

Public Approval is gained in a number of ways, such as passing legislation and resolving Crises; it can be lost in an even larger number of ways! The public is so fickle! (Remember the effect of Core Support (see below), though, which twice a turn/year may alter your PA up or down depending on your Party Relations.)

Example: if your Public Approval is in the "50%" box, and you make a Public Approval check, you need to roll a 1-6 on a d10 to pass the check. (If your PA were 46%, you would need to roll a 1-5 on a d10 to pass the check.) If your PA is at 50% at the end of the game, you would gain 4 Legacy Points (4 LPs). If your PA were at 46%, you would lose 2 Legacy Points (-2 LPs) at the end of the game instead.

Party Relations

This measures your relationship with your own political Party. It's important not only for Party Relations checks but also because it determines the maximum number of Friends you can have in Congress (see below) which in turn affects how easy it is to pass the legislation you wish. Party Relations also determines your "Core Support," (see below) which twice a year/turn affects your Public Approval rating. Note that a "2" or "3," rating in Party Relations at game end will keep you from being re-elected for a second term and will decrease your Legacy Point total by 15. If your Party Relations rating at game end is 4 or 5, your Party reluctantly renominates you for a second term but their support is weak, increasing your chances of losing the election. Keep your Party Relations strong!

The Party Relations Track runs from 2 to 8, with a Maximum Friends value for each box (e.g., box 2 = 1 Friend Max, box 3 = 2 Friends Max, box 4 = 3 Friends Max, box 5 = 4 Friends Max, box 7 = 5 Friends Max, box 8 = 6 Friends Max). Any time your Party Relations decrease to a box that lists a number of Max Friends that is less than your current # of Friends in Congress, randomly remove any excess Friends in Congress.

Example: Your Party Relations is at "6." This allows you to have a maximum of 4 Congressional Friends. Your Core Support is "2."

Core Support

The bottom row of the Party Relations Track has numbers from 0-4. These represent your Core Support, i.e. your "Base" or your level of partisan approval. The higher your Party Relations score, the higher your Core Support. Twice a year, during the "Any 3 Actions" segment of Activation Phases 2 and 4 on the Turn Sequence Chart, move your PA rating a number of boxes equal to your Core Support Number towards the 40% box. This happens whether your PA is lower or greater than 40%, representing the effect of that percentage of the population who will support you no matter what or that percentage that will disapprove of you no matter what.

Example: If your Public approval was 26 during this segment and your Party Relations was 7 (so a Core Support level of 3) you would move your Public approval 3 boxes toward 40 - so it would be 32. This represents the fact that even after a President screws up a few things, he still has a bunch of core supporters that are going to move his approval up from the depths.

Conversely, if your Public Approval is over 40 when you make the check, those Core Support numbers bring you DOWN that # of boxes toward 40. No matter how well you're doing, there are always 40-60% of Americans who don't like your party very much and tend to not support you. But, if your party doesn't like you, that 40-60% of the public actually likes you better, so you don't take so much of a hit. Thus, if you have a PA of 60 and a Party Relations of 8 (4 Core Support), you'd drop to 52. But if your Party Relations was only 4 at that point, there'd be no adjustment (0 Core Support in that box) because you're doing well overall but you're at odds with your party, demonstrating your independence and bipartisanship. So, many Americans feel like you must be doing something right!

Midterm Elections

After the play of 2 Turns (years), the Midterm Elections are held. Use The Election Table in (D17) in the Domestic Charts Booklet or in the Turn Sequence Flipbook (page 27) to determine the outcome.

After the Midterm Elections, you have the option to freely dismiss and replace up to two Cabinet Members (not the Vice President).

Re-Election

At the end of 4 Turns, you must seek re-election (see End of Game above).

First determine if your Party nominates you for a second term. If your Party Relations rating is 2 or 3, you are not nominated; you lose 15 Legacy Points from your final total and remain a one-term President. This is an important reason to keep Party Relations high!

If you are nominated, stand for re-election using the Election Table, chart D17 in the Domestic Charts Booklet (see DCB page 20 or TSF page 27).

Note that in the 2001, 2009, 2017, and 2020 Historical Scenarios, re-election for a second term is required for victory. If you lose re-election in those scenarios, it is an auto-loss.

4. The Domestic Arena

Domestic Master Actions

Listed on your Domestic Master Actions Player Aid, there are ten Actions you can take domestically as President, when Domestic (or "Any") Actions are permitted by the Activation Segment of the Turn Sequence. Your Chief of Staff and your Vice-President can also perform any of these Actions. These Actions help you respond to Congress and to domestic situations in the game and shape the development of your Administration.

Congress

Congress is the Legislative part of the Domestic Board, which can be found on the right side of the Main Side Board. It is where you introduce legislation and have your bills passed. Depending on who controls Congress, your relationship with it, the friends or opponents within it, and the level of bipartisan cooperation, Congress can be an asset or a hindrance in achieving your domestic agenda (and gaining Legacy Points).

Relations with Congress (RWC)

This track represents how well you work with Congress, from Bipartisan to Adversarial. Your rating here will affect how easily you can pass bills, as well as how well you deal with other situations, like Scandals, that evolve during the game. Have too low an RWC and you might even be impeached!

Party Control

Congress can be controlled by your Party, your opponent's Party, or by neither Party (Split Control). Which Party controls Congress determines how hard or easy it is to pass the bills on your legislative agenda. Party control can change during the Midterm Elections.

When you start the game, Party Control is decided by the difficulty level you choose, which will also determine how many Legacy Points you are awarded right at the beginning of your Presidency (see page 4 SSB):

Easier Game: Place "Your Party Control" counter in Party Control box.
Normal Game: Place no control counter (i.e. leave the Party Control box at "Split Party Control"). Award yourself 5 Legacy Points at Start.
Harder Game: Place an "Opposing Party Control" counter in the Party Control box. Award yourself 10 Legacy Points at start to offset the difficulty and handicap.

Passed Legislation

Passed and Signed Bills THIS TURN are held in a display area until the end of your legislative process for the turn, at which point they are returned to the holding box for Unused Bills, from where they are eligible to be introduced again.

Unused Bills that are not currently pending or passed sit in a holding area; Passed Landmark Legislation is held separately (Can't be introduced again).

Bipartisan Cooperation

This reflects the level of cooperation between parties in Congress, ranging from "Contentious" to "Cooperative." The number in each box is the maximum number of bills that can be passed and also the maximum number that can be introduced during a Legislative segment. The "Congressional Bipartisan Cooperation Counter" starts in a certain box based on how many Moderate/Radical Friends/Opponents you have in Congress and will then move right and left along this track as a result of the Legislative Procedure (see D4) or of various game events.

Example: Your Congressional Bipartisan Cooperation Counter is in the first "2" box, midway between "Conciliatory" and "Cooperative." You can pass 2 bills during a Legislative Segment and you can introduce 2 new bills. If it were in the leftmost "Contentious" or "0" box, you could neither pass nor introduce any bills.

Congressional Friends and Opponents

From time to time as instructed by game events, you will draw Congressional Friends or Congressional Opponents from their respective random counter cups and place them in the Congressional Friends or Congressional Opponents box.

Friends have a white front and back; Opponents have a black front and back. These represent those who will support or oppose your legislative efforts. Each Friend or Opponent has a name and a Legislative Rating number in the upper right corner of the counter; he or she may also have a Media rating (how well that person relates to the Media—Sally Myers, for example, has a Media rating of "1") and a classification as a "Moderate" and/or a "Radical" which influences Bipartisan Cooperation.

You draw Friends and Opponents at setup, during the Legislative Process if a Landmark Bill (see D5) is passed, and if instructed by the game (from a chart or card). "Discarded" Friends or Opponents go back to their respective draw cup unless a game effect specifically instructs otherwise.

The front and back sides of Friends and Opponents differ only in that many of the counters have a different Bipartisan classification (Moderate or Radical). To determine which side of the counter to use when you draw one:

Always use the most moderate side of the counter if you are playing the game at EASY difficulty.
Always use the most radical side if you are NOT playing the game at EASY difficulty.
If the back and front of a counter are identical, with no differentiation of "Moderate" or "Radical," then it doesn't matter which side you use.

All counters will stay on the side you choose permanently.

The maximum number of Friends you can have is determined by your Party Relations. Ignore any instruction to draw a Friend if you have reached your limit. There is no limit to the number of Opponents you can have other than the number of available counters in the cup. If Party Relations falls so that the Max # of Friends allowed in Congress goes below the number of Friends you actually have, you must immediately randomly discard a Friend. Washington is rough!

Note that you have one Action, Domestic Master Action #10, that allows you to attempt to "Discredit/Dissuade a Congressional Opponent." This action represents everything from political persuasion to "dirty tricks," and thus carries with it some risk of Scandal. Used wisely, though, it will allow you to be proactive in keeping your group of Opponents from growing too large.

Design Note: Friends and Opponents represent the few members of Congress who are in Party Leadership for both sides and who are the strongest of Friends or staunchest of your Opponents. As such, when you "lose" a Friend, it generally means (in terms of game story-line) that that person is just no longer one of your strongest supporters. Likewise, when you "lose" an Opponent, it generally means that you or some set of events (above board or perhaps not) have convinced them to no longer strongly oppose you and your policies. Friendship and Opposition can be fickle in Mr. President. They may wax and wane during the game. This is an intentional depiction of the "what have you done for me lately?" aspect of Washington politics.

Pending Bills

Bills that are introduced into Congress (see below) are placed in a box on the Pending Bill Track. This Track runs from "Strong Support" for the bill on the leftmost box (-2) to "Strong Opposition" on the rightmost box ("Cannot be Passed"). Where the bill is placed depends on which Party controls Congress (see above).

Legislation/Passing Bills

Passing bills is how you (or your Opponents in the other Party) pass legislation which in turn fulfill your Campaign Promise, your Administrative Legislative Priorities, and the Public Legislative Priorities. Passing bills is one of the primary ways to gain Legacy Points.

The Legislative Segment occurs twice during each Turn (During Activation Phase 1 and Activation Phase 3). It includes introducing and passing bills, as well as various other aspects of the Legislative Process and is comprised of the following 10 step process:

Determine Support/Opposition to Pending Bills (If no Pending Bills, skip this step). Total the sum of the Legislative Ratings of all your Friends in the Congressional Friends box. Then subtract the total Rating of your Congressional Opponents. Treat results >3 or <-3 as 3 and -3, respectively. If the result is positive (+), you may move that number of bills (either yours or Opponents') one box in either direction on the Pending Bills Track, thus increasing or decreasing their support in Congress. If the result is negative (-), move that number of your (not Opponents') bills one box toward Strong Opposition/Cannot Be Passed.
Attempt to Pass Pending Bills (If no Pending Bills, skip this step). The number in the current box in the Bipartisan Cooperation section is the number of bills you must now attempt to Pass.
- If you control both houses of Congress, you choose which of the Pending Bills to try to pass.
- If your Opponents control both houses, make the attempt(s) for Opponents' Legislation that are furthest left in the Pending Bills boxes (i.e. the easiest to pass). Choose randomly if more than one Opponent's Bills are in the same leftmost box.
- If control is split, roll a d6 to see who chooses the first bill to pass (even = you; odd = opponents), then alternate between parties until you've made the indicated number of attempts.
Your Opponents will never attempt to pass your Bills and if they don't have enough Pending Bills of their own, will skip their opportunity to pass a Bill instead. If there are no Opponents' Bills to pass when your Opponent must pick one, they do not select any but it still counts as their attempt. If you have no Bill of your own to pass when you must pick one, you must select one of your Opponents' Bills instead.

To attempt to Pass a bill, roll a d6 and apply the DRM from the Pending box the bill is currently in. On a modified result of 1-3, the bill is passed.
Determine Bill Quality (If no Bills are Passed, skip this step). For any bill that is passed, Roll on the Effects of Passed Legislation Table (D5) in the Domestic Charts Booklet. Unless the Bill ends up being vetoed, place in the Passed Legislation Box, adjust Legislative Priorities, and implement any effects of the bill. If it ends up being vetoed, return the bill to the Unused Bills Box.
Add Legislative Friends or Opponents. If you pass a Landmark bill (only), add a new Congressional Friend (if it was your Bill and your Party Relations allow a new Friend) or Opponent (if it was the Opponent's legislation).

Always use the most moderate side of the counter if you are playing an EASIER GAME. Otherwise, use the most radical side.
"How the Sausage is Made." Roll on the Congressional Maneuvering & Drama Table (D6) in the Domestic Charts Booklet.
Introduce New Bill(s). Remove all Bills currently in the "Cannot Be Passed" box and place them in the "Unused Bills" box. You may now voluntarily remove any of YOUR (not Opponents') Bills currently in any box of the Pending Bills section. NOTE: Because you can never have more than 5 Bills in the Pending Bills section, you'll sometimes want to remove a Bill or two that are lower priority to make room for new higher-priority Bills.

The number in the current box in the Bipartisan Cooperation section is the number of bills that are now introduced. If you control both houses of Congress, you choose which bill(s) to introduce. If your Opponents control both houses, choose Opponents' Legislation for the bills (not yet pending or passed) that are the highest public priorities (choose random Bills if that is not possible). If control is split, roll a d6 to see who gets to choose the first bill to introduce (even = you; odd = opponents), then alternate between parties until you've made the indicated number of attempts.

Place the bill or bills you or the Opponent have introduced in the "0" box of the Pending Bills Track if there is split control in Congress; place the bill or bills in the "-1" box if introduced by a Party controlling both Houses of Congress.
Adjust Public Approval and Media Relations. Total the Media Ratings of all Friends, and then subtract the total Media Ratings of all Opponents. Then move Public Approval that number of boxes up (if the net total is positive) or down (if the net total is negative), to a maximum of 3 boxes. Increase Media Relations by 1 if you increased PA by 3 and decrease it by 1 if you decreased PA by 3.

Design Note: This represents the abilities of your Friends and Opponents in Congress to "spin" the results of this legislative session in a way that allows the public to see your Administration in a more favorable or unfavorable light.
Scandal Investigations (Skip if no scandals). Roll d6 for each Scandal on the Scandal Track, starting at the Concluding Scandal box. Refer to the Scandal Table (D14) in the Domestic Charts Booklet and apply results as resolved. Repeat this process until all scandals are resolved.
Adjust Bipartisan Cooperation. Examine all your Friends/Opponents. If there are more Moderates than Radicals, move Cooperation right one box. If there are more Radicals than Moderates, move Cooperation left one box.
Legislative Momentum. Perform one immediate Action of any type for each of YOUR (not Opponents') Bills that were passed and signed during this Activation Segment.

Example: It is the Legislative Segment of the Turn Sequence Chart. Your Party controls Congress and the Bipartisan Cooperation Track is "Conciliatory," (the right-most "1"). You have 2 Congressional Friends and one Congressional Opponent.

There are two bills pending, "Cyber-Security," introduced by your Opponents, and a "Job Creations Package" introduced by your Administration. Your Opponents' bill has stronger support in Congress than yours.

To begin the Legislative Process, you determine Support/Opposition of Pending bills. The combined Legislative Ratings of your Friends is 1 + 3 = 4; that of the lone but experienced Opponent is 3. The difference is +1. You can move either Pending Bill in either direction. You could move your Opponents' bill, #12, rightward to the "0" box, making it harder to pass. But you want to pass your Job Creations Package, so you move it one box to the left to the "-1" Box.

The number on the Bipartisan Cooperation Track is 1, meaning you can attempt to pass 1 bill. Further, your Party controls Congress, so you can choose which bill to pass. Obviously, you want to pass the Job Creation Package, Bill #6. If your Opponents had control of Congress, then you would have had to try to pass their bill, #12. If it had been Split Control, you would have had to roll a die to see which bill was voted on.

You roll a d6 and add a -1 modifier since your Bill #6 is now in the -1 box of the Pending Bills Track. You need a 1-3 to pass and you roll a 4, but the -1 modifier saves the day! Your bill passes!

You now go to Chart D5 in the Domestic Charts Booklet to determine the effects of passing your bill—and whether or not it is a Landmark Bill. You roll a d6 and get a 2. It just missed being a Landmark Bill (Had the Bipartisan Cooperation Counter been in the right-most "2" box on the Bipartisan Cooperation Track, it would have given you a -1 DRM, which would have made the bill a Landmark. Ah, well…). Looking up Bill #6 "Job Creation Package" on the chart, you see that you gain +2 Public Approval and +1 AP for it being a Good Bill. If this bill were also a Public Priority or an Administrative Priority (or both), you might have also gained Legacy Points and more PAs and APs, depending on the level of its priority. If it had been a Campaign Promise, you would have gained +1 to Party Relations as well as even more PAs and APs.

Also, had it been a Landmark Bill, you would have received a new Congressional Friend, which you would have placed on its Moderate or Radical side, based on the difficulty you selected. It would stay that way for the rest of the game.

Next, you roll on the Congressional Maneuvering & Drama Table, D6 in the Domestic Charts Booklet.

After applying the results from the Congressional Maneuvering & Drama Table, you can introduce a new bill. There are no bills in the "Cannot Be Passed" Box, so nothing needs to be cleaned up there. For the sake of our example, only three Bills are showing in the Unused Bill Box, but there are 16 Bills overall in the game. If they are not on the Pending Track or in the Passed Landmark Bills Box, then they will be here, even if they have been passed on an earlier turn (exception: Bill #16, Expanded Military). Bill #1 "Social Security" was passed on an earlier Turn, was not a Landmark Bill, and is now back in the Unused Bill Box where it can be introduced again. In fact, you decide America's older generation could use a few more dollars, so you re-introduce Bill #1. It's your choice because your Party controls Congress. And because your Party controls Congress, you place the new bill in the "-1" box in the Pending Bills area.

Next, you compare the Media Ratings of all your Friends and Opponents. Your Opponent, Douglas Tate, though experienced as a legislator, is terrible with media and has no media rating. Your Friends, however, are media savvy and have a combined Rating of 3. Your Public Approval moves 3 boxes up in your favor (to the right along the Public Approval Track). That is the maximum it could move anyway, but the media is celebrating the passage of the Jobs Creation package. Since Public Approval moved the max positive amount (3 boxes), Media Relations also move one box higher.

There is no scandal.

Finally, there are more Radicals than Moderates among your Congressional Friends and Opponents, so the Bipartisan Counter is moved one box to the left to the left-most "1" box on the Bipartisan Cooperation Track.

At the end of the Turn Bill #6, Jobs Creation Package, will be moved from the Passed & Signed Bills Box to the Unused Bills Box where it can be introduced again on a future turn.

Bills

There are 16 bills in the game, representing various legislative initiatives. At the beginning of the game, they are all placed in the Unused Bills Box from which they can be introduced into Congress. Bills can be introduced and passed either by you or by your Congressional Opponents. Every passed Bill will bring its own rewards, though some of these rewards will be lessened for Opponents' Bills.

You can introduce any Bill, but passing those that are Public Legislative Priorities, Administration Priorities, or a Campaign Promise reap greater rewards, particularly if the bill in question is a high (or the highest) priority (see Legislative Priorities below).

Bills that are passed and signed give rewards in the form of Legacy Points, Public Approval, Action Points, and sometimes other benefits as well. Landmark Bills give the greatest rewards; a Landmark Bill, however, cannot be introduced a second time in the game. Any non-Landmark Bill that is passed, however, returns to the Unused Bills Box at the end of the Turn/Year and can be reintroduced on a subsequent Turn. The exception is Bill #16, Expanded Military, which can only be passed once in the game, even if it is not a Landmark Bill.

Passing Bills are a major way you gain Legacy Points and thus choosing and passing them is an important strategy for winning Mr. President (or at least, for doing well!).

Greater Society Initiative

Greater Society Initiatives are special agendas you can pursue to advance the long-term welfare of the US. There are 6 of them:

National Security and Defense
Individual Freedoms and Equality
Space Exploration and Colonization
Balanced Budgets/Decreasing Debt
Health, Longevity, and Disease Eradication
Science and Technological Innovation

You may pursue as many of these as you wish but you may only have 1 of them before Congress at a time. They can only be introduced during the Legislative Segment and only if the Domestic Crisis Level (see below) is at "0". When you do introduce a Greater Society Initiative, place it on the "+1" space on the Pending Bills Track; passage of any level of a Greater Society Initiative is more difficult than a normal bill, as the ambitiousness of the enterprise will meet with Congressional resistance. It is from then on treated like a normal Bill you can attempt to pass.

Each Greater Society Initiative has two levels. Once you pass the "Advance 1" level, you may re-introduce it as a Bill to pass the 2nd Level, meeting the same requirements. Place the Greater Society Initiative on its Advance 2 side back in the "Unused Bills" box prior to re-introducing it. The same conditions for introducing it exist for this second time as did for the first time. If the Initiative is passed a second time, place it in the Passed Landmark Legislation Holding Box. It cannot be reintroduced.

Achieving one or two levels of a Greater Society Initiative will bring you a number of rewards, including Legacy Points. For further information, see "Greater Society Initiatives," Chart (D7) in the Domestic Charts Booklet (see page 8 DCB).

Supreme Court Justice

You may have an opportunity to nominate and confirm a new Justice to the Supreme Court. If so, it is from then on treated like a normal Bill you can attempt to pass, except in this case, if you succeed, your nominee has won confirmation. You have a choice of a "Moderate" or a "Party Ideologue" nominee; it will be easier to win confirmation with the former, but it will cost you in your Party Relations. You treat the Supreme Court nominee like any other bill. So, if Bipartisan Cooperation was in the 0 box, you would not be able to attempt to confirm the Justice. If it's 1, passage would depend on who controls Congress. If your Opponents do, they would choose Bills over the Justice based on their hierarchy of choices. If you control Congress, then you can choose, so you might choose the Justice unless passing another bill is more important right now; you could not do both with a Bipartisan Cooperation of 1. If control of Congress is split, you roll as usual to see who gets to pick.

Legislative Priorities

During setup, you determine both the Public Legislative Priorities and your Administration Legislative Priorities. These priorities are selected during the setup (see page 6 SSB). The counters representing the priorities chosen, either randomly in the case of the Public Priorities, or deliberately in the case of your Administration Priorities, are placed on the appropriate tracks next to the White House on the Main Board.

When you pass a bill whose Legislative Counter is on one (or both) of the Legislative Priorities Tracks, gain the benefits shown in the Domestic Charts Booklet (D5), then remove that bill's Legislative Counter from the Track and return it to the supply but leave its space empty. Do not move up any bills below it. In this way, there will only be—and you can only pass—one Priority 1 bill (or Priority 2, 3, or 4 bill) per year unless a Crisis Card creates a new Public Legislative Priority to be placed in that empty slot.

A game event may change the Public Priority 1. If this happens, the previous Public Priority 1 is pushed down to become number 2, and all the other Public Legislative Priorities are pushed down one box as well, possibly pushing the last Public Legislative Priority off the track. This Public Priority counter is then returned to the supply of unused Public Legislative Priorities.

These Tracks can be rearranged and refilled during the Clean-Up Process at the end of each Turn (see page 24 TSF).

Example: The Public Legislative Priorities are drawn at random in the following order: 1st, Tax Reform; 2nd, Infrastructure Upgrades; 3rd, Cyber Security; 4th, Social Security; and 5th, Energy Independence. You choose to make the top three legislative priorities of your Administration match the top three of what the Public wants to see accomplished; so you pick Tax Reform, Infrastructure Upgrade, and Cyber Security, in that order. The more that a bill that you pass matches the priorities of the Public, the higher the rewards you can gain. However, worried about increasing gun violence in the country, you made passing new gun control legislation a priority during your campaign. It becomes your Campaign Promise. You will gain special benefits if you pass it.

State of the Nation

These are five Tracks (the State of the Economy is a Trending Track) that describe the overall State of the Nation and your relationship to various institutions within it, such as Congress and the Media.

They are located on the bottom-right of the Main Side Board, just below the Congress/Legislation section. The Tracks are: United Nations Opinion of the US, Relations with Congress, Media Relations, Homeland Security, and State of the Economy.

State of the Union Address

At the start of the US Special Activations of the Turn Sequence on every Turn other than Turn 1, you make your State of the Union Address. The result will be determined by a d10 die roll compared to the sum of your current Public Approval, Relations with Congress, Media Relations, and Presidential Prestige, as indicated by Chart D8 in the Domestic Charts Booklet (see page 9 DCB), as well as in the Turn Sequence Flipbook itself. You gain a favorable DRM if you have the "Orator" Presidential Attribute.

This measures the overall state of the American economy, which can have a direct effect on your Public Approval and on your ability to accomplish your agenda. SoE Checks (D18—see page 20 DCB) can reward or punish you depending on the result, which in turn depends on how robust the economy is. It also determines how much Economic Assistance you can offer to regions of the world (see below). Keeping the SoE rating high is vital to your success as President. This is a Trending Track (see above) that moves incrementally rather than one box at a time; thus, it can take two successful tries to move the counter one up box (or two failures to move it down one box).

SoE Impact

Three times a turn (only twice on Turn 1, [see Beginning of Each Turn Sequence, page 6 TSF]), the Player will check the impact of the US SoE on both US Economic Assistance and the Domestic situation. For each, use the information on either side of the SoE Track (left for Economic Assistance and right for Domestic Impact).

US Economic Assistance: Perform the number of Economic Assistance acts allowed by the Current US SoE, as shown on the box to the left of the Current SoE counter on the game board.

For each Economic Assistance you are allowed, you may perform either of the following two acts:

Improve an Ally Relationship by one level, or
Place a "Trending Pro-US" counter in one of the 8 World Regions.

Domestic Impact: Adjust the game state in accordance with the information to the right of the current US SoE.

If SoE =7: +3 Public Approval, +2 APs, +1 RWC. (Also, at SoE 7 "Peak Performance": 2 U.S. Economic Assistance acts allowed.)
If SoE =6: +1 Public Approval, +1 AP. (2 U.S. Economic Assistance acts allowed.)
If SoE =5: No changes to game state. (1 U.S. Economic Assistance act allowed — "Recovery.")
If SoE =4: -1 Public Approval, -1 AP, -1 RWC. (1 U.S. Economic Assistance act allowed — "Stagnation.")
If SoE =3: -4 Public Approval, -2 APs, -2 RWC, Randomly remove one Congressional Friend. (0 U.S. Economic Assistance acts allowed — "Recession.")

Media Relations

This measures your relationship with the Media. Like the SoE, this relationship can have a direct impact on how easily you can achieve your goals and the level of Public Approval. Keeping this rating high will reap benefits throughout your Term. However, relations with the Media degrade over time. Twice a year, during the Activation Phases 1 and 3, on the "2 Domestic Actions/Legislative" Activation Segment your Media Relations will decrease by one box.

Media Slant

Certain Crisis Cards have the "Media Slant" designation. When you draw a Media Slant card, after performing whatever actions the text on the card requires, check your Media Relations and apply any additional Public Approval benefit or penalty, as listed on the box representing your current Media Relations.

If it is 8, you get +2 Public Approval.
If it is 6 or 7, then you get +1 Public Approval.
If it is 5, there is no change to your Public Approval.
If it is 3 or 4, you get -1 Public Approval.
If it is 2, you get -2 Public Approval.

This is one way in which Mr. President shows how the media's bias towards a President can influence Public Approval.

Owners of First Edition: The Media Slant tag was initially erroneously printed with a +1/-1 on the left and right of the tag. That impacted 24 cards which were otherwise errata-free so they were not included with the Update Kit since this has no impact on gameplay.

Homeland Security

This is a measure of how safe the country is from domestic and foreign terror attacks. Homeland Security Checks (D18) will determine whether or not a Terror Group (see below) is successful in attacking the US and the degree and consequences of that success, should the attack happen (D11). A Homeland Security rating of 6+ will provide a die roll modifier in domestic counter-terror raids on Terror Groups in the US (D12).

World Opinion of US

As the US acts and reacts in the world, it will meet with both approval and disapproval from other countries. World opinion of the US is tracked on the World Opinion Track. The number in the upper left red corner is a die roll modifier used for any US-initiated UN Action during the "UN Acts" segment of the Turn Sequence (but this DRM is not used for the four actions the UN performs during each UN Acts Segment: see UN Actions below). Certain conditions at the end of a Turn/year can affect World Opinion (see page 25 TSF).

Domestic Crisis Levels

The Domestic Crisis Levels is found on the bottom of CONUS in the World section of the Main Board; it measures the intensity of domestic crises developing in the US. If the counter reaches "3," a Domestic Failure occurs. At that point, you roll on the Domestic Failure Table (D10) in the Domestic Charts Booklet. The results are never good and usually lead to Lingering Domestic Issues, loss of Public Approval, and other consequences. Try to keep away from Domestic Failures!

NOTE: Domestic Master Action #2 (Address Domestic Crisis) allows you to attempt to reduce the Domestic Crisis Level and make Domestic Failures less likely. It requires a Cabinet Effectiveness Check (D18). Thus, having a low Cabinet Effectiveness Rating makes it harder to deal with Domestic Crises. Also, if the Domestic Crisis rating is higher than "0," you cannot use Domestic Master Action #3 (Address a Lingering Domestic Issue).

Lingering Domestic Issues (LDI)

The Lingering Domestic Issues Track is found on the left-side of CONUS and displays the number of long-term Domestic issues affecting the US. The number in the upper left corner of each box on the Track is a DRM for the "Address Domestic Crisis" Master Domestic Actions (#2), so a high LDI will make dealing with Domestic Crises more difficult.

Domestic Master Action #3 (Address Lingering Domestic Issue) allows you to attempt to reduce the Lingering Domestic issues and make Domestic Failures less likely. You may only attempt this Action if the Current Domestic Crisis Level is at 0. Like Domestic Master Action #2, this Action also requires a Cabinet Effectiveness Check (D18). Thus, having a low Cabinet Effectiveness Rating makes it harder to deal with Lingering Domestic Issues.

Also note that the LDI Track includes an Auto-Loss Trigger. Whenever the LDI track value is "5" and the game instructs you to increase it by one box, the game ends immediately in an auto-loss for the player. So pay attention to your LDI Track Level and do what you can to keep it low.

The LDI Track's DRM values run from 0 (LDI 0-1) up to +1 (LDI 2), +2 (LDI 3-4), and +3 (LDI 5), before the Auto-Loss box.

Domestic Terror Attacks

Terror Groups (see below) can be domestic and attack within the Continental United States (CONUS). Whenever the game instructs you to perform a "Domestic Terror Attack," or that result is rolled on the Domestic Crisis Event Table (D9), consult Chart D11, "Domestic Terror," in the Domestic Charts Booklet.

Domestic Counter-Terrorism

Domestic Master Action #6, "Track Terror Target In CONUS" and Domestic Master Action #7, "Raid Terror Target in CONUS," (see Domestic Master Action Player Aid) allow you to conduct counter-terrorism intel operations and raids against any Terror Group in the United States.

Each successful "Track Terror in CONUS" Action moves the targeted Terror Group from CONUS into the "Gathering Box" on the Intel Track. If the targeted Terror Group is already on the Intel Track, a successful "Track Terror" action moves it one box to the right on the Intel Track.

If, through multiple "Track Terror" successes, the Terror Group is in the "Target Fixed" Intel box, it can then be the target of a Raid. Resolve Raids using the "Domestic Raid Table" (D12) in the Domestic Charts Booklet (see page 13 DCB).

5. The World Arena

The World area of the Main Board is divided into three countries (Continental United States or CONUS, Russia, and China) and 8 regions (Eurozone, Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa, Central/South Asia, Asia & Pacific, Central America, and South America). Each of the regions on the map has one or two numbers above its name (CONUS, Russia and China are not considered Regions). These are used when the game asks you to determine a random Region. Example: a roll of "3" would be Central America and a roll of either "8" or "9" would indicate Africa.

Regions

A region represents a particular part of the world. Each region has the following:

Its name (Middle East in the illustration above)
One or two die numbers for random selection (In the illustration above, they are 4 and 5)
An Intel Track where you place Terror Groups as you begin to pinpoint their locations. Terror Groups on that track still count toward the maximum allowed in the region.
A Regional Alignment & Stability Track (Regional Alignment is a "Trending Track" but Stability is not)
A Regional Crisis Track with a Major Crisis Box on one end
A Focused National Intelligence Box where the Focused National Intelligence counter may be placed
A US Forces Deployment Box, where counters representing US military forces operating in that region are placed

A region may have one or more of the following as well:

An Ally Box, representing a US Ally in that region (in the illustration above, there are two Ally Boxes, one for Israel and one for Gulf States/Saudi Arabia); the Ally Box may also hold a counter that determines the closeness of that Ally to the US (see below)
A Rogue State Box, representing a US adversary in that region (in the illustration above, there is one Rogue State Box for Iran)
Tensions Boxes, connected to Ally and Rogue States, where Tensions counters may be placed to represent tensions within that region and country (in the illustration above, there are three Tensions boxes, one each for Israel, Saudi Arabia/Gulf States, and Iran)
There may be a CVBG Deployment Zone nearby connected to the region with a line; this is where US Carrier Battle Groups and their USMC Forces may be deployed (see below).

Regional Alignment

Due to space considerations, this is the only Track in the game that is BOTH a Trending Track (see above) for Regional Alignment and a non-Trending Track for Stability.

Regional Alignment measures the general Alignment (representing economic, political, cultural, and military ties) of the countries in this region with the United States. Regional Alignment has various effects in the game, but a major one is that it helps determine your Presidential Evaluation Score at the end of each Turn/year, which in turn determines how many Legacy Points you may receive, or worse, if you suffer an Auto-Loss (see End of Turn Consequences in the Turn Sequence Flipbook).

High Regional Alignments (6 or higher) will make it possible for you to use the important Diplomatic Action #3 to attempt to Remove Russia's or China's Influence counters from a region. Low Regional Alignments will lower your End of Turn score and make it very difficult to keep Russia or China from dominating the region with Influence or even a Base. Keeping Regional Alignments high should be an important concern of your Presidency. Regional Alignment can be improved through Economic Assistance (see below) and through Diplomatic Master Action #2 (see Diplomatic Master Actions Player Aid).

Regional Stability

This measures the general Stability (representing governmental and social stability and quality of life for citizens) of the countries in this region. This is one of the most important ratings in the international side of the game as it affects the number of Terror Groups and Civil Wars that can occur in a region, according to the following breakdown:

Stability 7 or 8: 1 Max Civil War counter (or Ceasefire) in that region. 3 Max Terror Groups in the region.
Stability 5 or 6: 2 Max Civil War counters (or Ceasefires) in that region. 4 Max Terror Groups in the region.
Stability 3 or 4: 3 Max Civil War counters (or Ceasefires) in that region. 5 Max Terror Groups in the region.

If a Region's Stability increases and it now has more Civil Wars and/or Terror Groups than its maximum, do not remove any. The cap will take effect whenever the number of Civil Wars and/or Terror Groups drops below the maximum or when a new Civil War/Terror Group is added.

During the End of Turn Consequences (See TSF, Page 24), a high Regional Stability can cause Terror groups and Rogue States to decrease in level or even cease to exist. Low Regional Stability causes the opposite (perhaps even creating a new Rogue State counter) and increases the chances of a Major Regional Crisis (see below). High Regional Stability can pay you many benefits if you establish a Trade Agreement with that Region (see below); a Trade Agreement in a Region that develops a low Regional Stability can be costly.

Any time you have to place a Terror Group counter when you're already at the max Terror counters for that region, you instead promote the current Terror Group with the highest level to the next level, or, if it's a Lvl 4 Terror Group, to a Rogue State.

Any time you have to place a Civil War counter when you're already at the max Civil War counters for that region, add an Unstable State counter instead.

Regional Stability is not something that you can attempt to improve directly via a US Master Action. (You're going to need international help or a longer-term approach for this one.) Rather, only UN Actions and Joint Ally Actions (see below) can be used to directly Improve a Region's Stability. Note that you may also improve a Region's Stability each turn if you have done a good job keeping Regional Crises, Unstable State counters, and Rogue State counters in that region under control that turn. During the End of Turn Consequences (See TSF, Step 6, Page 25), Regional Stability improves by one in any regions where there is a Regional Crises rating of "0", one or less Unstable State and no Rogue State counters.

Regional Crises

The level of crisis in a World Region is measured on the Regional Crisis Track with a Regional Crises counter. You want to keep the crisis level low as much as possible.

If the Regional Crises counter for a given region is in the "3" box and the game instructs you to increase it, you move it to the Major Crisis box and roll for a Major Regional Crisis using Chart (WD1) in the World Charts Booklet (see page 2 WCB). Ignore any leftover increase that would have brought the counter beyond the Major Crisis box. Once you have applied the results from that roll, move the Regional Crisis counter back to the "2" box on the Regional Crisis Track. Regional Crises can be reduced through UN Actions, Ally Joint Actions, Peer Summits, and through Diplomatic Master Action #1 (see Diplomatic Master Actions Player Aid).

Major Regional Crisis

When a Major Regional Crisis occurs because the Regional Crisis counter has moved on its track past "3" and into the Major Crisis space, roll for a Major Regional Crisis (WD1). Once you have applied the results from that roll, move the Regional Crisis counter back to the "2" box on the Regional Crisis Track. Major Regional Crises can reduce the stability of the region in which they occur, cause Terror Groups (see below) to appear or spread into other regions, lead to Unstable States (see below) or Civil Wars (see below), and possibly instigate a Refugee Crisis. Major Regional Crises are to be avoided if at all possible!

The Eurozone is the only one of the eight World Regions that has a State of the Economy Track due to the size, influence and the importance of the European economy to the world. This tracks the state of the Eurozone economy throughout the game, and may be used in SoE checks during the game. At the end of a Turn, the Eurozone SoE will impact its Regional Stability, either raising or lowering it (see page 25 TSF). This is a Trending Track (see above) that moves incrementally, requiring two "Improving Economy" results to move up one box or two "Worsening Economy" results to move down one box: the track runs from Recession (3) to Stagnation (4), Recovery (5), and Peak Performance (6-7).

Russia

Russia is a Peer country, with its own space on the International Board. The 3 unique Tracks around the Russia Space are described in the Russia/China Regional Tracks section below. Here are some special ways that Russia interacts with the world during the game.

Russia Acts: Russia has its own agenda that it is pursuing in the world. Once during each Turn/year as designated by the Turn Sequence, Russia will act according to the Hierarchy of Actions in the World Peer Russia Flipbook (WPR1).

Russia Summit: Diplomatic Master Action #6 allows you to call for a Summit between the US and Russia for the cost of one Action. Depending on the outcome, this can result in better relations, a reduction of tension, a pulling back (or increase) of Russian influence in the world, and joint actions to help other regions. It can also fail, making things worse for you internationally and domestically. For details, see Chart WPR2 in the World Peer Russia Flipbook.

Russian Influence

As Russia expands its influence into other Regions of the World, it will place "Russian Influence" counters in those regions. Three such Influence counters will create a Russian Base when directed to (see page 6 WPR). Bases represent a permanent presence worth 3 Influence that can never be removed unless specifically mentioned otherwise. Some game effects will instruct you to add/remove Russian Influence counters to/from a Region. The Russian Influence in a Region is the sum of these counters plus three for every Base present in the Region. Bases and Influence counters enhance Russia's actions in the world and, if the Base is in Eastern Europe and other conditions are met, can lead to a Russian Auto-Victory (an Auto-Loss for you!). For more details, see the Russian Action Chart WPR1 in the World Peer Russia Flipbook. Russian Influence can be tracked on the Russia/China Influence Track.

NOTE: Russian/Chinese Influence in a Region does NOT affect a straight Regional Alignment Check in that Region, it only affects Diplomatic Master Action #2 if you attempt to improve Regional Alignment in that Region (see Diplomatic Master Action Player Aid). Improving Regional Alignment through providing Economic Assistance is also NOT affected by Russian or Chinese Influence in a Region.

China

China is a Peer country, with its own space on the World Map. The 3 unique Tracks around the China Space are described in the Russia/China Regional Tracks section below. Here are some special ways that China interacts with the world during the game.

China Acts: China has its own agenda that it is pursuing in the world. Once during each Turn/year as designated by the Turn Sequence, China will act according to the Hierarchy of Actions in the World Peer China Flipbook (WPC1).

China Summit: Diplomatic Master Action #6 allows you to call for a Summit between the US and China for the cost of one Action. Depending on the outcome, this can result in better relations, a reduction in tension, a pulling back (or increase) of Chinese influence in the world, and joint actions to help other regions. It can also fail, making things worse for you internationally and domestically. For details, see Chart WPC2 in the World Peer China Flipbook.

Chinese Influence

As China expands its influence into other Regions of the World, it will place "Chinese Influence counters" in those Regions. Three such Influence counters will create a Chinese Base when directed to (see page 6 WPC). Bases represent a permanent presence worth 3 Influence that can never be removed through your actions unless specifically mentioned otherwise. Some game effects will instruct you to add/remove Chinese Influence counters to/from a Region. The Chinese Influence in a Region is the sum of these counters plus three for every Base present in the Region. Bases and Influence Counters enhance China's actions in the world. 15 Chinese Influence spread across the world will result in a Chinese Auto-Victory (an Auto-Loss for you!). For more details, see the Chinese Action Chart (WPC1) in the World Peer China Flipbook. Chinese Influence can be tracked on the Russia/China Influence Track.

Russia/China Regional Tracks

Russia and China are not "regions" but "countries." As such, they have their own unique tracks: a Relations With the USA Track, a Posture Track, and a State of the Economy Track, each printed on the Russian Federation and People's Republic of China spaces on the Main Board, along with a Russia/China Holding Box for markers between the two spaces.

This track has a Trending Pro/Anti US counter; does not move one box at a time (see Trending Tracks, above). This represents the state of the overall diplomatic, economic, and military relationship with the US, from "Cold War Adversaries" to "Friends and Partners."

This track in both countries uses an Economy Improving/Worsening counter; does not move one box at a time (see Trending Tracks, above). This measures the general state of the Russian or Chinese Economy. Higher SoE value increases the number of actions that the Peer Competitor makes during their Russia or China Action Segment.

Posture

This reflects the level of aggressiveness of this Peer Competitor on the world stage. Posture level 1 reflects a normal level of aggressiveness. Posture level 2 reflects an increased aggressiveness. When Posture changes to 2 for one of these peer countries, place the "Russia Acts (2)" or "China Acts (2)" Crisis Chit in the Crisis Chits draw cup, potentially allowing them even greater opportunities to aggressively pursue their interests in the world. NOTE: If Posture was 2 and changes back to 1 for either Peer, the "(Peer) Acts (2)" Crisis Chit for that country REMAINS in the Crisis Chits draw cup until it is drawn and resolved.

Russia/China Holding Box

This is where you can store Russia or China counters, such as Influence counters or Bases, when not in use elsewhere on the map.

Russian/Chinese Influence Track

The Russian/Chinese Influence Track, located on the Main Board between the Regions of Africa and Asia & Pacific, is a convenient way to keep track of the number of Russian and Chinese Influence on the World Map. This number can spell auto-loss for the player if it grows too high. 15 Chinese Influence on the game map is an automatic victory for China when that Peer acts. For Russia, 9 Influence opens the door to a Russia automatic victory when that Peer acts if certain other conditions are also met, as described on the Influence Track itself. A Russian or Chinese Base counts as 3 Influence. This Track allows the player to immediately and easily see how close they are to losing the game!

Russian victory if the following conditions apply: a. Russia has a base in Eastern Europe. b. A total of 9 or more Russia Influence are on the map (a base counts as three Influence for this calculation). c. Either Eurozone Stability is <5 OR either NATO or the UK have Ally Relations with the US worse than "Very Close."

Iran Influence

When a game card or chart tells you to place an Iran Influence +1 counter in the Middle East (the only region where they may be placed), place the marker in one location in the region, using the following priority:

Placement:

If there is no Iran Influence counter next to the Israel Ally box, place the counter there.
If there is a Civil War or Civil War Ceasefire counter in the Middle East that doesn't already have an Iran Influence counter beneath it, place the counter there (with priority to Civil Wars over Civil War Ceasefires).
If there is an Unstable State in the Middle East that doesn't already have an Iran Influence counter beneath it, place the counter there.
If there is no other eligible location to place the counter, place it next to Israel (there is no limit to the total number of Iran Influence counters in that location).

Effects:

Influence next to Israel: Each counter causes a +1 DRM to Israel's Unilateral Action roll. They also add one Strength per counter to Hezbollah in any Israeli War with Hezbollah.
Influence beneath Civil Wars or CW Ceasefire Counters: Such a counter causes a +1 DRM to the Civil War Resolution/Broker Peace roll for the counter it is under.
Influence beneath Unstable States. Such a marker causes a +1 DRM to the "Check Unstable States" roll for that Unstable State counter in the Middle East at the end of the Ally Group C Activation.

Iran Influence can be removed when:

Performing Cyberattacks against Iran.
A Civil War with Iran Influence ends.
A Civil War is converted to a Civil War Ceasefire (as instructed by WM4).
An Unstable State with Iran Influence is removed (when it is converted to a Civil War, the Iran Influence remains).
A specific result is rolled on the Israel Unilateral Action Table.

CONUS

This is the Continental United States space on the World Map on the Main Board. For game purposes, it is a country, not a region. It contains the Lingering Domestic Issues and Domestic Crisis Levels for the US and an Intel Track for dealing with Domestic Terror Groups (see below). It is also the area where US Military Forces (see below) are placed when not in use elsewhere in the world.

It also contains the Canada Ally box.

Design Note: Yes, I know that Canada is not actually part of CONUS. I'll ask pardon from our Canadian friends for any perceived slight – though none was intended. This was just the most logical and functional game map location for the Canada Ally box.

Tensions

Tensions counters reflect levels of tension in the world as crises appear and national agendas conflict. Tensions counters are placed domestically on the POTUS/Cabinet Focus Track and internationally on Allies, Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. When instructed to do so, draw the required number of Tensions Counters randomly and place them number-side down on the designated area. Never look at the values on the back of the counter until instructed to do so.

Domestic Tensions counters on the POTUS/Cabinet Focus Track will lessen your Cabinet's effectiveness and may require you to roll on the Cabinet Drama Table. Instructions are given on the game board next to the POTUS/Cabinet Focus Track and in the Domestic Charts Booklet (D1). These Tensions counters can be removed by performing Domestic Master Action #8 (see Domestic Master Actions Player Aid).
Whenever you are instructed to reveal Tensions counters by various game effects, they may provide DRMs that affect how Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and Allies act. The Tensions counters are then removed and replaced by ½ their number, rounded down for Allies and up for other nations (thus, if there had been 3 Tensions counters on Russia, after the Russia Acts sequence, these would be replaced by 2 new Tensions counters, placed face down as always).
Tensions counters may be removed by Summits, by Ally Joint Actions, by Diplomatic Master Action #5 (see Diplomatic Master Actions Player Aid), and by other situations that may arise throughout the game. Place Tensions counters back into the pool when they are removed.

There is no limit to the number of Tensions counters that may be placed on a World Region, Russia, China, Iran, or North Korea. HOWEVER, if you ever run out of Tensions counters, ignore the remaining counters you were supposed to place. There is an anti-American outcry in the UN, followed by a massive non-US-led UN stabilization/peace effort worldwide. Remove 2 Tensions from each Ally and Rogue State and 2 each from Russia and China. Then decrease the following:

World Opinion of the US: -1
Public Approval: -2
Legacy Points: -3

6. Diplomatic Arena

Diplomatic Master Actions

Listed on your Diplomatic Master Actions Player Aid, there are nine Actions you can take internationally, when Diplomatic (or "Any") Actions are permitted by the Activation Segment of the Turn Sequence. Your Secretary of State and your Vice-President can also perform any of these Actions. These Actions help you respond to global situations in the game and shape the international outreach and impact of your Administration.

Economic Assistance

Economic assistance represents foreign aid given to other countries. How much help you can give depends on the US SoE, as follows:

If the SoE is 6 or 7, you get 2 Economic Assistance
If the SoE is 4 or 5, you get 1 Economic Assistance
If the SoE is 3, you get 0 Economic Assistance

For each Economic Assistance you can allocate, you can do one of two things:

Improve an Ally Relationship by one level, or
Place a "Trending Pro-US" counter in one of the 8 World Regions.

Trade Agreements

Trade Agreements improve US alignment with a Region and also have other domestic benefits to the SoE and to your Public Approval rating, depending on the Stability of the Region. The higher the Stability, the greater the benefits; if the Region's Stability is low, however, a Trade Agreement may end up costing you. For information on how to establish Trade Agreements and their effect, see chart WD4 in the World Charts Booklet.

Sanctions

Diplomatic Master Action #7 can impose Sanctions on Russia, China, Iran, or North Korea.

Targeting

You may attempt to apply Sanctions to Russia, China, or the Rogue Nations of Iran and North Korea. (However, if the Russia/China "Relations with the US" counters are at 4 or 5, you cannot attempt to place sanctions on that country.)
Sanctions can be Unilateral (US only), Multilateral, or UN Sponsored.
Unilateral and Multilateral Sanctions are applied as Diplomatic Action #7 on the Diplomatic Master Actions Play Aid.
UN Sponsored Sanctions are applied as a UN Action.
UN Sanctions cannot be applied to Russia or China (they are vetoed in the Security Council).
There may never be more than one Sanctions counter of each type on a target country. For example, if China already bears a Unilateral Sanctions counter, you could attempt to place a Multilateral Sanctions on China, but not another Unilateral Sanction.

Placing

When you successfully apply Sanctions to a target nation, randomly draw the appropriate type of Sanctions counter (Unilateral, multilateral, or UN) and place it Sanctions-side up in the same area on the target country where you place Tensions counters.

Applying Immediate Relations Effects for Sanctions on a Peer

If you successfully impose Sanctions on China or Russia, immediately adjust that country's Relations with the US Track as follows:

For UNILATERAL SANCTIONS: Place a Trending Anti-US counter on their Relations with the US Track.
For MULTILATERAL SANCTIONS: Move their Relations with the US counter one box to the left on their Relations with the US Track.

Sanctions Effects:

Russia

+DRM to Increase Strategic Capabilities die roll under Russia Actions Chart (WPR1), increasing chance of failure.
+DRM (+1 for Unilateral, +3 for Multilateral) to the Attempt to Improve Russian Economy die roll under World Peer Russia Actions Chart (WPR1), increasing chance of failure or a worsening economy.

China

+DRM to Increase Strategic Capabilities die roll under China Actions Chart (WPC1) in the World Peer China Acts Flipbook, increasing chance of failure.
+DRM (+1 for Unilateral, +2 for Multilateral) to the Attempt to Improve China's Economy die roll under World Peer China Actions Chart (WPR1), increasing chance of failure or a worsening economy.

Iran/North Korea

Favorable DRM on Iran Action Table (see Group A, page 4 WA) and North Korea Action Table (see Group B, page 7 WA). For the calculation of the DRM, see Revealing Sanctions Values below.

There are also various cards and events in the game that have an effect based on whether Sanctions are present against a country.

Revealing Sanctions Values

When Iran or North Korea activates, you flip their Tensions and Sanctions counters to reveal their numbered sides. You total these numbers (add the Tensions and subtract the Sanctions) as part of the method for determining the aggressiveness of the country's actions (See Ally and Rogue States Booklet).

After the calculation, you place any revealed Sanctions counters back in the holding area (Sanctions-side up so the numbers are hidden again) and draw an equal number of new Sanctions counters and place them back on the target nation. Note: This "reveal then replace" process for Sanctions allows for ongoing uncertainty about the effect of Sanctions on the target nation. You'll only know for sure how well the Sanctions are performing when you flip them over during the nation's activation.

Removal

Russia/China: Sanctions are removed as a result of Summits and due to certain Russian or Chinese Actions during the Russia Acts or China Acts segments.
Iran/North Korea: Sanctions can be removed by Russian or Chinese Actions.

When Sanctions are removed, take the Sanctions counter off the target country and place it back in the Sanctions Holding Area.

Allies

You have nine Allies upon whom you can call for help during your Presidency. They will also act independently in their own national interests, using a chart that functions as an Ally "AI." Your Allies are:

Canada (in CONUS)
UK, NATO (in Eurozone)
Japan, ROK, Australia (in Asia & Pacific)
India (in Central/South Asia)
Israel, Gulf States/Saudi Arabia (in Middle East)

Design Note: Of course, the US has MANY strong allies throughout the world. But for game purposes, I've chosen Allies based on two criteria: 1) The strongest, most capable Allies that have either the closest relationships with the US or those that have had significant influence on US operations during the period 2001-2020. 2) I wanted to show the difficulty of the US positively affecting regions that do not contain the strongest and most capable US Allies. So in game-terms, it requires quite a lot more effort for the US to create positive impacts in Africa, for example, where there are no "game Allies," than it does in Asia/Pacific, where you have three strong Allies.

Each Ally will be in one of three relationships with you: Estranged, Close, and Very Close. Designate "Estranged" or "Very Close" using the two-sided counter provided, placing it on the appropriate side on the Ally Space in the World Region. An Ally without this counter is automatically "Close," as indicated on the Regional map.

All your Allies (and the Rogue States, including Iran and North Korea) are divided into four groups: A, B, C and D, each of which has its own Ally Group Counter with the group identity on one side and a ? on the other; these are placed ?-side up and randomized during setup (see page 2 SSB).

Four times a Turn/year—once in each of the 4 main Activation Phases—you will have a "One Ally/Rogue Group Acts" segment (see Turn Sequence on the game board or the Turn Sequence Flipbook). At that time, you will randomly draw one of the Ally Group counters, flip it over to see which Group it is, and then perform all the actions allowed by that Group's Ally Chart in the Ally and Rogue States Booklet. Depending on whether you are Estranged, Close, or Very Close, you will have 0, 1 or 2 Joint Actions you can perform, chosen by you. This can be modified by +1/-1 AP markers on the Ally, after which these markers are discarded. The number of Tensions counters on an Ally before its activation can also worsen its relationship with the US. Joint Actions are followed by unilateral actions performed by the Ally as determined by its Ally Chart. Rogue States, including Iran and North Korea, will act as well. As the last action of each Ally/Rogue Group Acts, the fate of Unstable States will be determined during the "Check Unstable States" step (they will either be removed, stay in place, become Civil Wars, or become Rogue States).

Allies, especially if your relationship is Very Close, greatly augment what you can do in the world on a Turn, expanding your own repertoire of Actions. They are a key element for success.

United Nations (UN) Actions

In Activation Phases 2 and 4 of the Turn Sequence, the United Nations will act, as described in the "UN ACTS" chart (WD3) in the World Charts Booklet. It will take 4 Actions:

Humanitarian Aid (reduce Regional Crises in 1 Region)
Infrastructure Aid (improve Stability in 1 Region)
Youth Empowerment (decrease 1 Terror Group - see below)
Peace Talks (end 1 Civil War - see below)

US-Initiated UN Actions

After the mandatory UN Actions, you may choose to perform up to 2 US-Initiated UN Actions, including Actions already performed by the UN (but not Infrastructure Aid).

Spend an AP or UN Goodwill counter = 1 US-Initiated UN Action.

If you perform two Actions, one of them has to be paid with an AP and the other with a UN Goodwill counter and you may NOT perform the same Action twice. This represents all the ways in which the US joins forces with regional partners, NGOs, and yes, even UN organizations, subsidiaries, and programs (The Security Council, the WHO, the UN High Commission for Refugees, UNESCO, etc.) to promote peace, health, and stability in the world. You receive a Favorable DRM for your US-Initiated UN Action depending on how you choose to pay for it:

If you spend an AP to get an Action, you get a -1 DRM to your die roll for that Action.
If you spend a UN Goodwill counter to get an Action, flip it before rolling and use the number on its reverse side as a DRM (this is one reason these counters are valuable, as they will likely give you a better DRM than spending an AP).

This will be followed by a Media Check in which you will either gain Public Approval, if your Media Relations are high, or lose Public Approval, if your Media Relations are low. It pays to keep those friends in the media!

UN Peacekeepers

As a result of UN attempts to broker peace in a civil war, as outlined in "UN Acts" chart (WD3) in the World Charts Booklet, UN Peacekeepers may be sent to a Region where a Civil War Ceasefire has occurred. The presence of UN Peacekeepers acts as a die roll modifier that increases the chance of a Civil War Ceasefire being resolved and removed from the board or not escalating back into renewed fighting. If Civil War does break out again, the UN Peacekeepers are removed. On their flipside are UN Regional Troops, which may be involved in Wars when directed.

UN Goodwill

UN Goodwill represents goodwill within the United Nations that the US has garnered around the world for its humanitarian and helpful actions. Different actions will result in gaining UN Goodwill, which takes the form of two-sided counters that you draw at random from the UN Goodwill supply you created during setup (see page 3 SSB). When you receive a UN Goodwill counter, randomly draw one from the number-side down group in the UN Goodwill Holding Box on the Holding Sideboard. Place it number-side down in the "UN Goodwill Earned" box (just below the US SoE Track). It can be "spent" later to enable you to take US-initiated UN Actions or meet the prerequisites to win the Nobel Peace Prize! When you use it, flip the counter over to see the number underneath, which act as a die roll modifier in your favor in rolling for a result of your action. Return used UN Goodwill counters to the supply and mix them.

7. Military Arena

Military Master Actions

Listed on your Military Master Actions Player Aid, there are seven Actions you can take militarily as President, when Military (or "Any") Actions are permitted by the Activation Segment of the Turn Sequence. Your Secretary of Defense can also perform any of these Actions. These Actions help you marshal and deploy US military forces around the globe, initiate conflict, perform intel operations and raids on Terror Groups, give aid, and generally project US power onto the global stage.

Strategic Military Situation

Three areas in the Strategic Tracks section on the left side of the Main Side Board detail the most concerning strategic military situations in the world: how close Iran is to gaining a nuclear weapon, how close North Korea is to gaining accurate and reliable ICBMs, how close other countries are to going to war with each other, and the relative military capabilities of Russia, China, and the USA compared to each other.

Strategic Capabilities

Strategic Capabilities between the Peer Nations (USA, Russia, China) are compared and tracked on the Strategic Capabilities Track. The relative strengths are presented in seven areas:

Air Force Training & Tech
Ground Forces Training & Tech
Naval Forces Training & Tech
Cyber Warfare
Space Warfare
Strategic Missiles/Missile Defense
Strategic Recon/Intel Gathering

These capabilities are tracked using "Strategic Capabilities" counters for the three countries. The information on these tracks is used to provide modifiers to various game actions, such as the conduct of cyber warfare or military operations. Keeping ahead of (or at least on par with) Russia and China is important if you are to achieve your international agendas.

Initial Strategic Capabilities are assigned during setup (see SSB for the scenario you are playing). You can advance your Strategic Capabilities during the "Improve Strategic Capabilities" step of the Special Activations within the Turn Sequence, including on Turn 1 (see page 6 TSF and WM6, page 23 WCB).

Russia and China will attempt to advance their Strategic Capabilities during the Russia or China Actions Sequence (see page 3 WPR and WPC) and occasionally due to events that occur during play.

Here are some of the benefits/penalties based on your specific Strategic Capabilities:

Air Force Training & Tech: Favorable DRM in Combined Air/Ground and Air/Missile Wars.

Ground Forces Training & Tech: Favorable DRM in Combined Air/Ground Wars.

Naval Forces Training & Tech: On Normal/Harder Difficulty, this rating needs to be at a certain value for Carriers/USMC Forces in CVBG Deployment Zones to provide their Strength in more than one Region.

Cyber Warfare: Favorable DRMs when attacking/defending against a Cyberattack.

Space Warfare: Favorable/Unfavorable DRM on Focused National Intelligence rolls based on rating comparison with Russia's/China's. Additional Focused National Intelligence counter to place if rating is higher than Russia's/China's.

Strategic Missiles/Missile Defense: Reduction in Homeland Security at end of Turn if rating is lower than Russia's/China's.

Strategic Recon/Intel Gathering: Favorable DRM on Focused National Intelligence rolls if rating is higher than Russia's/China's. Additional Focused National Intelligence counter to place if rating is higher than Russia's/China's.

Conflict Tracks

These tracks on the CONFLICT TRACKS part of the Main Side Board show the relative strength of ten different pairs of the game's countries, or groups of countries in the case of NATO, that are or could be in conflict with each other. Each Conflict Track contains two counters: one tracks the conflict status that indicates how close they are to war. The second counter tracks the "Relative Strength" of the potential adversaries. These Relative Strengths are used when countries go to war and sometimes in cards or charts to determine a course of action. When the "Conflict Status" counter on the Conflict Track between a pair of countries moves to the "War" Box, the two countries go to war. Immediately set up a War between these countries according to the War Progress Chart (WM5).

As long as these two belligerents are at war, ignore any instruction to increase or reduce the Conflict Track until the war has ended. Likewise, if an effect would move the relative strength toward one side or the other, instead add 1 Strength to that side in the ongoing war.

The status of both counters on these Conflict Tracks will change throughout the game; you can perform Diplomatic Master Actions (see Diplomatic Master Action Player Aid) to de-escalate a conflict track, moving the countries away from the outbreak of war, or to broker a peace if war has already broken out.

The ten Conflict Tracks are: India/China, India/Pakistan, Russia/NATO, Russia/Ukraine, China/Japan, DPRK/ROK, Israel/Iran, Israel/Neighbors, GS+SA/Iran, and US/Iran.

NOTE: If war breaks out between Russia and NATO or between Japan and China, it will result in your Auto-Loss [unless China itself provokes Japan into conflict (see WPC1, Remaining Action Hierarchy #10)]. If war breaks out or is ongoing between Iran and Israel, or between ROK and North Korea, it will result in your Auto-loss if Iran or North Korea is at "5" on the Nuke/Missile Track. If a sixth War breaks out while five other Wars are actively being fought, this is an Auto-loss.

Nuclear/Missile Tracks

During the game, Iran will be attempting to develop a nuclear bomb and North Korea will be attempting to develop ICBMs and other missiles to carry its nuclear weapons. The "Iran Nuclear Program" and "N. Korea Missile Program" counters start the Sandbox scenario on the "At Start" box of their Nuclear/Missile track. Historical scenarios may direct you otherwise.

As research/development advance, markers will move up and that will increase Tensions around the world and will cause you to lose APs. (Those lost APs represent the time and effort you spend trying to deal with the threat they pose.) If either country's nuclear or missile program reaches the level of Mass Deployment (space "5" on their Track, the maximum they can go), there is a risk of Auto-loss if either country goes to war or is at war with its traditional enemy (Israel for Iran and ROK for North Korea).

De-Escalation can occur through Arms Negotiations, which is a UN Action (WD3) and through Summits with Russia and China. When this occurs, move the counter for that country back down its Nuclear/Missile Track. As you do so, immediately remove the appropriate number of Tensions counters from the affected countries listed on the boxes for each level of de-escalation you have achieved (whatever the Tensions penalty is in the new, lower box, you remove that number of Tensions counters from the named countries). You do not, however, regain lost APs or Stability. If either country resumes its nuclear or missile program and the counter moves back up the Track toward "Mass Deployment," Tensions counters will again be placed as indicated and you will again lose the listed APs.

Example: The North Korea Track increases from 3 to 4. Two Tensions counters are placed on North Korea, ROK, Japan, Australia, and China. You lose 2 APs and Asia/Pacific's Stability is lowered by 1. On a later turn, the Track decreases back to 3. You do not regain any APs, but you remove the Tensions counters listed on the 3 box, thus removing one Tensions each from North Korea, ROK, Japan, and China. Note that Australia does not lose its Tensions counter nor does Asia/Pacific regain its lost Stability.

Terror Groups

Terror Groups are terrorist cells, groups, and organizations that use terror tactics and attacks to destabilize and heighten crises within Regions and countries. They range from loose bands (Lvl 1 Terror Groups) that generally only affect a local region to highly sophisticated, dangerous, and organized groups whose influence may be worldwide (Lvl 4 Terror Groups). Many game events and crises, such as Major Regional Crises and Crisis Cards, will cause Terror Groups to appear or to be "promoted". There may also be domestic Terror Groups appearing in CONUS, attacking and attempting to disrupt and destabilize the United States government.

A Lvl 4 Terror Group can evolve into a Lvl 1 Rogue State (see below).

Max Terror Groups

There is a cap to the number of Terror Groups there can be in a region depending on Stability:

Stability 7 or 8: 3 Terror Group counters max.
Stability 5 or 6: 4 Terror Group counters max.
Stability 3 or 4: 5 Terror Group counters max.

If you must place a Terror Group counter when you're already at the max for that region, an already existing, highest value Terror Group is promoted instead.

If you must increase a Lvl 4 Terror Group, replace it with a Lvl 1 Rogue State instead (even if you were instructed to increase the Lvl 4 Terror Group twice).

If the Stability of a Region increases and it now has more Terror Groups than its new limit allows, nothing happens until you're instructed to add a new Terror Group to the Region.

Example: if a Region with 4 Stability had two Lvl 1 Terror Groups, two Lvl 2 Terror Groups, and one Level 3 Terror Group, and a sixth were to be added, the Lvl 3 Terror Group would be promoted to being a Lvl 4 Terror Group instead of adding a sixth Terror Group. If the highest-level Terror Group had been a Lvl 4 Terror Group instead, it would have become a Lvl 1 Rogue State. Note that this would decrease the total number of Terror Groups in that Region, taking it below the maximum number allowed.

The End-of-Turn Consequences in the Turn Sequence Flipbook (see page 24 TSF) may instruct you to add two Lvl 1 Terror Groups at once to a Region at Stability 3, 4, or 5; in this case, add each Terror Group one at a time, resolving any effects due to reaching the maximum level of Terror Groups allowed before adding the second group.

Example: Two Lvl 1 Terror Groups need to be added but the max number of Terror Groups has been reached in that Region. The highest-level Terror Group is a Lvl 4. Since the cap on Terror Groups has been reached, that Lvl 4 Terror Group increases to become a Lvl 1 Rogue State. But now there is one less Terror Group than before, so the second Lvl 1 Terror Group can be added before reaching the maximum allowed, and no further level increases are necessary.

NOTE: A Rogue State may not exist in the US. If you have a Lvl 4 Terror Group in the US that increases (were you asleep as President?), it remains a Lvl 4 Terror Group but you suffer the following to reflect the chaos inflicted by a burgeoning domestic Terror Group: -4 Public Approval, -1 RWC, -1 Homeland Security, move Bipartisan counter 1 left.

Terror Groups may be diminished or even, in the case of a Lvl 1 Terror Group, removed entirely by Special Forces (SoF) Raids and Drone/Air Strikes (WM2) in World Regions or Raids in CONUS. (NOTE: In the World Regions, you use Raids and Drone/Air Strikes against Terror Groups but you wage War against Rogue States. Conversely, you do NOT wage War against Terror Groups, and you do NOT use Raids or Drone/Air Strikes against Rogue States.)

If the player is instructed to select a Terror Group in the region and more than one meets the criteria, the player can select the Terror Group of their choice (whether on the Intel Track or in the Region).

Example: An Event instructs the player to increase a Lvl 3 Terror Group by one Level. One such Terror Group is on the Intel Track and another is in the Region. The player chooses to increase the one on the Intel Track, hoping they will be able to launch a Raid against it before it escalates into a Rogue State…

A low Regional Stability can result in Terror Groups and Rogue States appearing in that Region at the end of a Turn/Year (see page 24 TSF).

Terror Groups are limited by the countermix. If you are instructed to add a Terror Group of a specific Level when you're out of that specific counter, +1 Regional Crisis to the targeted Region instead.

SOF

This stands for Special Operation Forces, also known as SpecOps. SOF counters are part of the US Military (see below) and assist in dealing with Terror Groups through Raids as described below under Special Forces (SOF) Raids.

Terror Acts and Chaos

The world is a dangerous, volatile place. Twice a turn, Terror or Chaos will erupt somewhere in the world. When the Terror or Chaos Activation Segment occurs in the Turn Sequence, roll a d10 to determine which. On a roll of 1-5, Terror strikes; on a roll of 6-10, Chaos breaks out. To determine what happens where, resolve the steps on the Terror or Chaos charts in the Turn Sequence Flipbook for that Activation Segment, or use Charts WT1 or WT2 in the World Charts Booklet.

Rogue States

Rogue States are "outlaw" regimes, often evolving out of Terror Groups or Unstable States, that operate contrary to international law and order, often using terror tactics (both externally and internally) to achieve their ends. Any Rogue State counter is also known as a "Game-Created Rogue State." [The game begins with two "Rogue States" already on the map: Iran and North Korea. These are NOT considered "game-created Rogue States" because they do not have Rogue State counters.] Rogue States create a variety of bad effects, usually negatively affecting Regional Stability, adding Tensions to a Region, and creating, promoting, and spreading Terror Groups.

Game-Created Rogue States range from Lvl 1 to Lvl 4 and are promoted by game effects just like Terror Groups.

IMPORTANT NOTE: IF THERE IS A LVL 4 GAME-CREATED ROGUE STATE IN A REGION AT THE END OF A TURN, IT RESULTS IN AUTO-LOSS.

A Game-Created Rogue State in a Region can be promoted or decreased depending on Regional Stability at the end of a Turn (see page 24 TSF). By itself, an increase/decrease in Rogue State level doesn't change their War Strength in an ongoing War.

A Lvl 4 Rogue State can no longer be promoted (ignore any effect that would do so). If a Lvl 1 Rogue State is decreased, remove it and replace it with a Lvl 4 Terror Group, unless that Rogue State is at War. A Lvl 1 Rogue State at War can only ever be decreased through War Progress Rolls (see below).

Example: A Lvl 4 Terror Group is promoted to become a Lvl 1 Rogue State. You can no longer conduct a raid or drone strike against it but you can wage war against it. A Lvl 1 Rogue State not at War is reduced to a Lvl 4 Terror Group. You can no longer wage war against it, but you can raid it or conduct a drone strike against it.

If you go to war with a Game-Created Rogue State, use a "Rogue State at War" counter on the War Status Sideboard. (There are 5 of these available; however, should you ever find yourself at war with five Rogue States at once, chances are your Presidency is in deep trouble!)

Rogue State in Europe

If a Rogue State emerges in the Eurozone or in Eastern Europe, the US cannot initiate a war against it using Military Master Action #6 unless the Ally relationship with NATO is "Very Close." In such a war, NATO's strength counts in addition to whatever US units you have there.

IMPORTANT: If the game requires that you place a new Rogue State counter and you have run out of counters of the required type, the Rogue States have so entrenched themselves in key world regions that US and western influence is virtually non-existent there. The West is cut off from key energy sources, raw material supplies, and markets. The game immediately ends in an auto-loss.

Civil Wars

Game events (primarily Major Regional Crises) can cause Civil Wars to break out. Civil War counters have "Unstable State" on their reverse side, as a Civil War can result in an Unstable State appearing, and vice versa. When this happens, just flip the Civil War or Unstable State counter to its other side.

Ceasefire

Diplomatic Master Action #6 (Summit with China or Russia) or the UN Action "Peace Talks" can bring about a cease fire. When this happens, replace the Civil War counter with a Civil War Ceasefire counter. If, however, the result is a permanent peace, remove the Civil War Ceasefire counter from the Region. Unless specified otherwise, Civil Wars on their Ceasefire side are still considered Civil Wars for all purposes.

Civil Wars are dealt with in several ways (see WD3, page 4 WCB, UN Actions, above, and Perform War Progress for Wars & Civil Wars, page 21 TSF).

Max Civil Wars

There is a cap to the number of Civil Wars (or Ceasefires) there can be in a region depending on Stability:

Stability 7 or 8: 1 Civil War (or Ceasefire) counter max.
Stability 5 or 6: 2 Civil War (or Ceasefire) counters max.
Stability 3 or 4: 3 Civil War (or Ceasefire) counters max.

If you have to place a Civil War counter when you're already at the max for that region, place an Unstable State counter instead.

NOTE: If there are 2 or fewer (non-Ceasefire) Civil Wars in the World at the end of a Turn, this increases the chances you will be named "An Agent for Peace" and be eligible for a Nobel Prize (and Legacy Points!). (See the End of Turn Consequences in the Turn Sequence Flipbook, page 25 TSF.)

Unstable States

Game effects (primarily Major Regional Crises) may cause an Unstable State to appear in a world region. When this happens, place an Unstable State counter in that region. Unstable States can turn into Civil Wars. When this happens, flip the Unstable State counter over to its Civil War side.

Unstable States can be removed or turn into Civil Wars during the "One Ally/Rogue Group Acts" segment of the Turn Sequence (see Turn Sequence on the game board or the Turn Sequence Flipbook). Unstable States can also be removed by raising the Stability of the Region through good governance (see pages 24-25 TSF). There can be any number of Unstable States in a region; try to keep that number to zero!

WMDs

When resolving Ally and Rogue State Group C, a Rogue State counter may attempt to acquire a Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD). If it is successful, it is possible it may attempt to use it in a War against the US. If it does so successfully, it is an Auto-Loss for the player.

Impact of Rogue State WMDs: As part of a War Progress Roll (not a Cyberattack) of a War between the US and a Rogue State that has acquired WMDs, the following happens:

A natural (unmodified) roll of 1 = WMDs Destroyed (in addition to the Combat Table Result).
A natural (unmodified) roll of 10 = Rogue State uses WMD on US Forces/Infrastructure. IMMEDIATE AUTO-LOSS FOR US PLAYER!

Intel Track

This is not a numbered track and thus works differently than the other tracks in the game. It is for tracking Terror Groups in each region. When the game places a Terror Group of any level in a region, you place it on the map portion of the region (not on the Intel Track). As you perform Intel Operations against specific Terror Groups, you gather more intelligence about their locations and operations.

The first time you make a successful Intel attempt against a Terror Group that is in the map portion of a region, move it from the map portion of the region to the "Gathering" intel box. A second successful Intel attempt against the same group moves it to the "Locating" Intel box (where it could now be targeted by airstrikes/drone strikes). A third successful Intel attempt would move it from "Locating" to the "Targeting/Target Fixed" box, where it could now be the target of either a (more precise) airstrike or a Special Forces Raid. Moving to the right is considered "up" the track; moving to the left is "down" the track. If a Terror Group moves down and off the Intel Track altogether, it will move back onto the map portion of the region (representing degrading Intel over time).

Example: A Lvl 2 Terror Group has been located by your Intelligence services. Its counter is therefore in the "Locating" Box on the Intel Track. You could target it for an airstrike or drone strike. A further successful Intel Action would move this Terror Group into the "Targeting—Target Fixed" box where it could be raided by Special Forces.

Intel Gathering

Intel Gathering Ops are necessary to discover, locate, and target Terror Groups; you can't fight what you don't know about or can't find. Intelligence is vital. When you choose the Intel Gathering Ops Action (Action #2 from the Military Master Actions Player Aid Card) you are allowed to make TWO different Intel attempts in any world region (not CONUS) in order to identify and locate Terror Groups that are operating there. Successes move them to that Region's Intel Track to begin tracking them, locating them, and eventually targeting them. A Terror Group in a Locating Box can be attacked with a Drone Airstrike. A Terror Group in the Targeting/Target Fixed box can be attacked with a Raid (see below).

You perform an Intel Gathering Op as follows:

Identify the target Terror Group in the Region.
Roll a d10.
-1 DRM if there is an Intel/Advisors unit in the Region and -1 DRM if the US has a Focused National Intelligence Collection (FNIC) counter in the Region (see below).

On a modified roll of 1-4, the operation is successful and the target is moved from the map portion of the Region to the "Gathering" box of the Intel Track (if not already on the Track) or one box to the right on the Intel Track (if already on the Track). On a modified roll of 5+, the operation is a failure, but there is no negative impact (other than using an Intel action to no good effect).

Your second Intel attempt of the action must be against a different Terror Group than the first, but it may be in any region, not necessarily the same region as your first attempt.

Joint Intel with Allies

You can also participate in a Joint Intel Action with an Ally during the Ally and Rogue States segment of the Turn Sequence. When you choose this Joint Action, you only get one Intel attempt (exception: Israel, Canada, UK and NATO get two successes per Joint Action), but the Intel success is automatic! (That local knowledge and tracking by your Ally in their region pays off!). This is an excellent way to offset bad luck if you find yourself having a "bad die rolling day" and failing numerous Intel attempts on your own.

Focused National Intelligence

During the beginning of Each Turn Sequence, you can perform a Focused National Intelligence Collection (FNIC) in a region (but NEVER in CONUS, Russia, or China). FNIC improves the chances of getting good intel. You may have either one or two Focused National Intelligence counters to use on a Turn. Here's how you determine which:

Check your Strategic Capabilities for both Space Warfare and Strategic Recon/Intel. If both of these values are greater than or equal to both China's and Russia's values on these tracks, you get two Focused National Intel counters.
In any other case, you get one Focused National Intelligence counter this turn.

Place each available Focused National Intelligence counter(s) in one world region of your choice (not CONUS, Russia or China), no more than one FNIC counter per region.

During Intel Ops (see above), the presence of a Focused National Intelligence counter in a region provides a favorable die roll modifier.

During Activation Phases 1 and 3 of the Turn Sequence (see Turn Sequence on the game board or in Turn Sequence Flipbook), you will have an opportunity to "Perform Focused National Intelligence." To do so, consult the "Focused National Intelligence Collection Table" (WM1) and follow its instructions.

Also, if you have the Exceptional White House Resource card, "Superstars on the NSC Staff," then during the Focused National Intelligence Segments of each turn, you may use this card to perform one Intel or SoF Raid action, with an added -1 DRM.

US Military Forces

Unit Types

There are seven types of US Forces under your command:

Intel/Advisors
Spec Ops (SoF)
USMC (double-sided counter)
Army Light
Army Heavy
USAF
Carrier Battle Group (CVBG)

CONUS Home Base (Holding Box)

The primary Home Base or holding box for all US Military Forces is in CONUS on the World Map. Some forces are in a US Military Assets Legislative Holding Box on the Main Side Board, just under the Nuclear/Missile Track. These are unavailable until released through Congressional Authorization by passing Bill #16 Expanded Military or the "National Security & Defense Greater Society Initiative," at which point they are moved to the US Forces Holding Box in CONUS.

Other Bases

On the World Map, there are holding boxes (which represent basing) for US Forces in each of the game's eight regions. There are also CVBG Deployment Zones for US Carrier Battle Groups and USMC Forces.

NOTE: The US Army Hvy in Asia Pacific may NEVER be moved.

Set-Up

The initial setup of US Forces is determined in each Scenario's setup instructions. There may also be Special Rules as to what Forces are initially available and which can become available only through passage of Bill #16 (Expanded Military) or passage of the "National Security & Defense Greater Society Initiative."

Counter Limits

Note that US military forces are limited to the counters provided with the game.

US Military Assets

This is a holding box on the Main Side Board, called the US Military Assets Legislative Holding Box. Located just below the Nuclear/Missile Track, it will at setup hold the following US Military Assets: 2 x USMC, 3 x US Army Light, 2 x US Army Heavy, 1 x USAF, 1 x CVBG (Carrier). These only become available to you through Congressional authorization in the following manner:

When you pass Bill #16 "Expanded Military," move the following units in the US Military Assets box to the US Forces box in CONUS: 1 x Army Heavy, 2 x Army Lt, 1 x USMC, 1 x Carrier.

When you pass the "Security & Defense" Greater Society Initiative 1 bill, move the following units in the US Military Assets box to the US Forces box in CONUS: 1x USMC, 1 x Army Lt.

When you pass the "Security & Defense" Greater Society Initiative 2 bill, move the following units in the US Military Assets box to the US Forces box in CONUS: 1 x Army Heavy, 1 x USAF.

Crisis Cards & US Military Assets

If the player is instructed by a Crisis Card to add or move a US military force to a Region, no units from the US Military Assets may be used to that effect. If you find yourself running short of military units to use when needed or instructed, then pass the legislation necessary to expand your military resources!

CVBG Deployment Zones

These are sea zones to which you may deploy (move) Carrier forces plus USMC contingents. Each CVBG zone is connected to one or more Regions. The Carrier and, if present, USMC Forces in that zone can assist any military action in any Region to which it is connected. In the picture above, a Carrier force and USMC Forces stationed in the Indian Ocean CVBG Deployment Zone could participate in military actions in Africa, the Middle East, and Central/South Asia Regions. However, if playing on Normal/Harder, they are limited to assisting in a single Region per War Progress Segment unless the "Naval Forces Training and Tech" Strategic Capability is 4+ (Normal) or 5+ (Harder).

Move/Deploy Forces

Military Master Action #3 (see Military Master Actions Player Aid) allows you to Move/Deploy your military forces from one part of the World map to another. The US Army Hvy unit in Asia/Pacific can NEVER be moved. This Action allows you to:

Move two Intel and/or Special Ops from any holding box (including CONUS) on the map to any other holding box.
Move one USAF, US Army LT, or US Army Heavy (see below for restrictions) from any holding box (including CONUS) on the map to any other holding box.
Move any two Carriers to any Deployment Zone(s) on the world map. (The arrows from the Deployment Zone indicate which Regions that Carrier Group and USMC Forces can affect in a War.)
Move any two USMC Units to any CVBG Deployment Zone, placing them on their 2 Combat Strength side (representing USMC Forces operating from the sea with their own naval units) or from a CVBG Deployment Zone to a connected, neighboring region, placing them on their 3 Combat Strength side.
Move one USMC and one Carrier per #3 and #4 above.

US Army Heavy Units

These units take longer to deploy. To represent this, when you choose a Move/Deploy Forces action for a Heavy unit, flip it to its "In Transit" side and move it to its new regional (or CONUS) location, where it remains on its "In Transit side." It takes one final Move/Deploy Forces action in a future Action Segment to then flip the Heavy unit back to its front side, where it is then ready to be used in combat in this Region. Thus, it takes two separate Move Actions to move a US Army Heavy counter. NOTE: The US Army Hvy in Asia & Pacific can never be moved.

Using US Forces

US forces may be used to gather Intel about Terror Groups, perform Raids and Drone strikes on Terror Groups, and engage in war against Rogue States and other countries. In order to be used in a conflict in a region (or for Intel or Raid missions, DRMs, or any card or chart that has "if US has any x units in the regions" qualifiers), US Forces must be face-up in the US Forces box of that region. For more information on USMC and Carrier units, see CVBG Deployment Zones above.

NOTE: USMC units are double-sided, showing two different Combat Values. If the USMC unit is IN a region, use the side with a Combat Value of 3 representing its strength as a land combat unit. USMC units may also reside in CVBG Sea Deployment zones and respond to conflicts in multiple connected zones. If the USMC unit is attacking from a CVBG Sea Deployment zone, use the side with the Combat Value of 2. They may contribute their combat strength value to any connected US War. Operating from a CVBG Sea Deployment zone gives them less combat strength but more flexibility.

US Military Footprint

A consequence of the War Process (WM5) is that if US forces are involved in the conflict, they leave a "military footprint" in that Region (exception: Eurozone, Eastern Europe, or Carrier zones). Draw a random Military Footprint counter from its cup and place it face down in that region. At the End of a Turn, these counters are turned over and the effect printed on the reverse side takes effect (see page 25 TSF). Remove these counters, then place new US Military Footprint counters in each Region equal to the number of (non-Intel, non-USAF, non-SOF) US Military units (even if there is no ongoing War in the Region) and Wars (not Civil Wars) involving the US there.

Example: The US is fighting a war in the Middle East. US forces consist of a USMC unit, a Light Army unit, a Special Ops unit, and an Intel unit. Another USMC unit is based on a Carrier in the Mediterranean. Two US Military Footprints are already present in this Region. They are turned over and revealed. One causes the Regional Stability to drop by one box. The other causes you to lose -1 Public Approval at home. These counters are then placed back in the supply with other unused US Military Footprint counters and randomized. Then, new US Military Footprint counters are drawn from the supply and placed in the Middle East. The number of these counters is 3, (the USMC unit, the Army Lt unit, and the War counter). The SOF unit, Intel Unit, and the USMC unit and Carrier operating from the CVBG Deployment Zone in the Mediterranean are not counted towards the calculation of US Military Footprint counters to be added to the Middle East.

Military Footprints may be removed by taking Military Master Action #7 (see Military Master Action Player Aid).

NOTE: A Military Footprint may also be placed in a Region due to a failed Air/Drone Strike against a Terror Group in that region that caused civilian casualties (WM2).

Special Forces (SOF) Raids and Airstrikes/Drone Strikes

When you choose Perform Raid/Strike on a Terror Group (Action #4 on the Military Master Actions Player Aid), you are allowed to make either:

One SOF Raid against a Terror Group counter in the "Target Fixed" box of the Intel Track of a World Region, OR
Perform up to two Air/Drone Strikes, each against a different Terror Group counter in either the "Target Fixed" or "Locating" box of the Intel Track of a World Region.

When performing a SOF Raid, first select the target Terror Group counter, then roll a d10 on the SOF Raid Table (WM2) modifying the roll by any applicable DRMs. Immediately apply the listed result. The presence of a Special Operations unit in the Region where a Raid is occurring will provide a -1 DRM to the d10 die roll (representing pre-positioned and well-rehearsed raiders.)

When performing each of your two Air/Drone strikes allowed by the Action, first select the initial target Terror Group counter, then declare whether you are using an Airstrike or a Drone Strike. (Airstrikes are more powerful but also carry more risk.) Then roll a d10 on the Air/Drone Strike Table (WM2), modifying the roll by any applicable DRMs. Immediately apply the listed result, then repeat the process for your second target. Both Air or Drone strikes MUST be in the SAME region.

SOF raids and Air/Drone Strikes are disallowed in the Eurozone as a US action due to ally considerations. However, there is a Joint "Raid" Action on the Ally Charts that allows an SOF Raid in conjunction with an ally. If you use that with either NATO or the UK, you could do it in any zone that they're allowed to affect (in this case, either Eurozone or Eastern Europe).

Regional Forces

Regional Forces represent local troops fighting a war. If instructions for starting a particular war assign Regional Troops to it, place the Regional Forces counter(s) on the "Additional Strength/Forces" space for that war on the War Status Track on the game board.

Cyber War

In Mr. President, cyberattacks represent the will and capability of various nations to use a variety of means (electronic, space, cyber, and multi-spectrum) to disrupt and weaken the command control, computer systems and electronic-reliant infrastructure of an enemy or peer competitor. The game's cards and charts control the cyber actions of peer competitors, Rogue states, and allies. You control the cyber-attacks of the United States.

You are limited to ONE Cyberattack per target nation per activation phase. (Place a "Cyberattack Used" counter on the enemy to keep track.) There are a number of times during the game when you might want/need to use a cyberattack:

When you join with an Ally in a Joint cyberattack. This occurs when your ally rolls "Cyberattack vs " as their Unilateral Action or as part of the War Progress Roll of a US War involving an Ally. Treat as if the US initiated the cyberattack.
When you wish to attack the Nuclear/Missile Track/Critical Infrastructure of North Korea/Iran OR when you wish to attack the Russian Economy OR when you wish to attack the Critical Infrastructure of Russia/China. It requires using an "Initiate Hostilities" action (Military Master Action #6).
When you wish to attack a Rogue State via Cyberattack. It requires using an "Initiate Hostilities" action (Military Master Action #6).
Before any US War Progress Roll (including at the onset of a war starting during an Activation Phase), you may make one Cyberattack against a valid target unless you already attacked it this Activation Phase (target a Rogue State or the Critical Military and Gov. infrastructure).
Before any War Progress Roll involving China or Russia, they may perform a Cyberattack using the special row at the bottom for "China or Russia at War".

To resolve a Cyber Attack, use the "Cyber Attacks" Table (WM3).

8. War

Countries may go to war with each other, as determined by their Conflict Track (see above). Wars are different than Civil Wars (see above). You cannot go to war with a Terror Group of any level; you can only raid them. You can instigate a war with a Rogue State as a Military Master Action (Action #6); this is one of the only ways to destroy or reduce a high-level Rogue State to a lower level. Remember: if a Lvl 4 Rogue State exists at the end of any Turn, it is an automatic loss for you.

In addition to instigating War against a Rogue State, you may, as a result of a Conflict Track going to "War" or a Crisis Card or Chart, go to war with others. For example, you may go to war with Iran (the US has a Conflict Track with them) or North Korea (as part of a ROK/North Korea War).

Wars that cause auto-losses.

If NATO ever goes to war with Russia, it is an immediate auto-loss.
If Japan goes to war with China (which in the real world would certainly involve the US), it is an immediate auto-loss.
If there are ever more than 5 Wars on the game map, it is an auto-loss.

Wars are fought in an abstract way that is resolved twice a Turn during the "War Progress" Segment in the Turn Sequence (Activation Phases 2 and 4). For full details, see the War Progress Chart (WM5) in the World Charts Booklet (see pages 16-23 WCB) and the War Combat Table (WCT1) located in the World Charts Booklet.

Strength Counters track the shifting strength of the combatants as casualties are taken or reinforcements arrive.

Setting Up a War

(These steps are summarized here but explained in more details in WM5.) Wars are set up on the War Status Sideboard, which has tracks for five Wars, 1-5. If a sixth War ever breaks out, it is an auto-loss for the player. Each War is fought on its own track on the War Status Sideboard.

First, to set up a War, place a Conflict Type counter on the "Type of Conflict" on the War Status Sideboard.

A War will always start as "Combined Air/Ground" unless otherwise directed. Each Conflict Type has its own set of DRMs and special rules. The three Conflict Types are Air/Missile War, Combined Air/Ground War, and Guerilla War.

Second, place a Conflict Status counter on the "Stalemate" (#3) box of the Status of Conflict area. The Status of Conflict track runs, left to right: Attacking Forces Win (5), Attacking Forces Winning (4), Stalemate (3), Defending Forces Winning (2), Defending Forces Win (1).

Place a "Country at War" counter showing the name of each side in the appropriate Attacker (blue)/Defender (red) areas of the War Track, depending on which country is the Attacker and which the Defender. Use the "Rogue State at War" counter for Game-Created Rogue States.

The Strength of non-US attackers/defenders is tracked with strength counters and is further adjusted by the "Relative Strength" of the involved countries if the war is governed by a Conflict Track.

Strength for the US depends on the Conflict Type and the Units present in the War's Region.

NOTE: ONLY Strength Points (and Regional Troops) are placed on the War Status Sideboard. The US Military forces involved in a War remain in the holding boxes in regions or CVBG Deployment Zones on the World Map, never on the War Status Sideboard.

Strength Table

Allies or US-Supported Countries (Strength — Air/Missile — Additional Info):

Balkan States: 4
Gulf States/Saudi Arabia: 5
India: 7
Israel: 8 (6)
NATO: 8 (5)
ROK (South Korea): 6
Taiwan: 3
Ukraine: 5

Peers (Strength — Air/Missile — Additional Info):

China: 10 — +2 per China Influence in the War's Region
Russia: 10 — +2 per Russia's Influence in the War's Region

Adversaries (Strength — Air/Missile — Additional Info):

DPRK (North Korea): 6
Egypt: 5
Hamas: 2
Hezbollah: 3 — +1 per Iranian Influence next to Israel
Iran: 6 (3)
ISIS: 4
Pakistan: 5
Rogue State (Level 1-2-3-4): 4-5-6-7
Serbia: 3 (2)
Taliban: 6
Yemen: 3

Add 1 to Adversaries' and Peers' Strength if playing on Normal Difficulty or 3 if playing on Harder Difficulty.

Example #1: Israel is at war with Hamas. It is a Combined Air/Ground War. Israel's strength is 8; Hamas is 2, increased to 3 since on "Normal" difficulty. On the Israel/Neighbors track under the Conflict/Nuclear Tracks, the Relative Strength is +1 for Israel. The final initial strengths of the two countries are Israel 9 and Hamas 3.

Once you have set up the War, make an Initial War Progress die roll following the procedure outlined in WM5.

Surprise

When you initiate a conflict using Military Action #6 on the Military Master Action Player Aid, you roll a d10 to see if you have achieved surprise as an attacker; a result of 1-5 will grant you surprise in the conflict. The Military Rating of the SecDef may be used as a DRM.

Other game effects may grant one side in war the benefit of Surprise. If so, it will be explicitly mentioned.

However it is achieved, Surprise means that the attacker gains a -1 DRM to their first War Progress die roll. Any and all subsequent combat die rolls after the first do not have the advantage of surprise.

The War Progress Die Roll

No matter how the war starts, you'll do an Initial War Progress die roll, using any Surprise result (the only time Surprise is applied), as described in WM5. If no one wins the war on this initial die roll (which would make for a quick war), then you only roll again during the War Progress Segments. Here is the process for the War Progress Segment:

Total up the Strength for each side.

NOTE: USMC Units have a Combat Strength of 3 if IN the War's region, but a Combat Strength of 2 if attacking from a CVBG Deployment Zone.

Express the Attacker's Strength vs Defender as an odds ratio, rounding down fractions in favor of the Defender. (13 Attacker Strength vs 5 Defender strength would be 2:1 odds.)
Determine any applicable DRMs (see WCT1, page 29 WCB).
Make the War Progress Roll: Roll a d10, apply DRMs, and find the result by using the section corresponding to the die result (2-4, for example), the appropriate odds column (2:1, for example), and the row whose color matches the Conflict Type (Combined Air/Ground War, for example).
Results are stated as MOVE, LOSS, and possibly a *, ** or ***.
A MOVE result moves the Conflict Status marker toward the Attacker or the Defender. Conflicts other than Combined Air/Ground move more slowly, transiting on the bottommost boxes.

A single asterisk can potentially end the war. A double asterisk transforms it into a Guerilla War. A triple asterisk swaps the Attacker and the Defender (unless the War has ended). See counterattack example on next page.

Example #2: In the War between Israel and Hamas in the earlier example, the Odds Ratio is 3:1. The Player rolls an 8. The result on the Combat Table is "No Move; Both 1 Loss*." Israel loses 1 Strength point from 9 to 8 and Hamas loses 1 Strength point, going from 3 to 2. The Conflict Status counter remains where it is. The ** result means that Hamas, fearing loss, switches to guerilla tactics. As a consequence, the Conflict Type changes to Guerilla War. The final result looks like this: Status of Conflict remains at Stalemate; Israel Strength 8, Hamas Strength 2; Type of Conflict is now Guerilla War.*

Losses are depicted by strength counter reduction for non-US countries while the US will pay a political price at home to replace them.

War Progress Results

After you apply results from the Combat Table (WCT1), add +1 to Regional Crises in the War's region. If a US War, place one US Military Footprint counter in the region.

If One Side Wins: If the Conflict Status counter is in either the "Attacking Forces Win" or "Defending Forces Win" boxes, the War is over.
If Neither Side Wins and No Peace: The War Continues. This War Progress action is finished. You'll perform this process again during the next War Progress Segment.

*Counterattack Example: North Korea declared War on the ROK and the US. North Korea is using its Strength of 6 (boosted to 9 on Harder Difficulty) vs ROK's Strength of 6 to which we add 16 Strength worth of US Troops. A 9:22 ratio ends up on the "Less than 1:2" column and a modified roll of 3 on that column yields a "One Right; 1 Attacker Loss **" result.

The Conflict Status first moves to the "Defending Forces Winning". Then North Korea loses one Strength, down to 8. (See top image below.) And now we implement the Counterattack result. ROK and the US go on the offensive while DPRK is now on the defensive. The strength counters and the country markers are swapped and the Conflict Status is moved to the "Attacking Forces Winning" box.

If nothing changes, the ROK/US will roll on the 2:1 (22:8 rounded down in favor of the defender) column during the next War Progress Segment. (See bottom image below.)

Winning or Losing a War

There are various consequences to winning or losing a war, depending on the nature of the combatants, the nature of the war itself, and how the war ended. For details, please see the "Ending a War" section (WM5).

Consequences of Waging War

Wars are costly. At the end of a Turn, the following consequences can ensue.

For each US War, place a "Worsening Economy" counter on the US SOE Track.
Unless the current War Status is "US Winning" (or better, in the cases of Air/Missile and Guerrilla Wars), decrease Public Approval by two boxes.
If the US is involved in a War, there is no chance to be an "Agent of Peace" and thus to possibly win the Nobel Peace Prize.
A US Military Footprint counter is placed in the Region where the US is at war. A Region can have more than one US Military Footprint counter. These can result in loss of Public Approval, +1 to the Crisis level in the Region, the placement of new Terror groups or the strengthening of already existing ones, and -1 to Regional Stability. If more than one US Military Footprint counter is present in the Region and revealed, the consequences are cumulative.

Supporting Allies in a War

US Forces can only directly support (add their military counter Strength values to) NATO and the ROK if either or both enter a war. To support any and all other allies, use Military Master Action #5, the (A) option: "Resupply an Ally that is at War."

Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020 Rulebook

Table of Contents

How to Be a President
- Greetings!
1. Components
- Component List
- Anatomy of a Crisis Card
2. Basic Concepts
3. POTUS
4. The Domestic Arena
5. The World Arena
6. Diplomatic Arena
7. Military Arena
8. War

How to Be a President

Greetings!

This Governing Manual contains all the information you need to play Mr. President. It is your Rules Reference.

This Manual is divided into eight convenient Sections, most of which relate to a specific sphere of your influence and action. These are:

1 Components. This Section contains a list of all the cards, chits, and counters which you will be using in the game, along with descriptions and definitions of their use.

8 War. This Section details the rules governing the setting up and waging of wars and the consequences of doing so.

Turn Sequence Flipbook (TSF)
How to Play Booklet (HPB)
Governing Manual Rules Reference (GM)
Domestic Charts Booklet (DCB)
World Charts Booklet (WCB)
Ally and Rogue States Booklet (WA)
World Peer Russia Acts Booklet (WPR)
World Peer China Acts Booklet (WPC)
Presidential Briefing Booklet (PB)
Scenario Set-Up Booklet (SSB)

1. Components

Component List

2 Game boards (a Main Board and a Main Side Board)
1 War Status Sideboard
1 Counter Storage Sideboard
5 Exceptional White House Resource Cards
8 Natural Disaster Cards
20 Terrorism Event Cards
31 Cascading Event Cards
116 Event Cards
5½ Counter Sheets
1 Resolute Letter
1 How to Play Booklet (HPB)
1 Governing Manual (Rules Reference) (GM)
1 Turn Sequence Flipbook (TSF)
1 Domestic Charts Booklet (DCB)
1 World Charts Booklet (WCB)
1 Ally and Rogue States Booklet (WA)
1 World Peer Russia Acts Flipbook (WPR)
1 World Peer China Acts Flipbook (WPC)
1 Presidential Briefing Booklet (PB)
1 Scenario Set-Up Booklet (SSB)
4 Master Action Player Aids (one each for Presidential, Domestic, Diplomatic, and Military Actions)
1 10-Sided Die
1 6-sided Die

Anatomy of a Crisis Card

2. Basic Concepts

Main Board

Main Side Board

Turn Sequence

At the heart of the game is the Turn Sequence, located at the bottom left of the Main Board.

NOTE: If the game ever directs you to start a new process whilst mid-way through another (such as triggering a Regional Major Crisis while going through an Event), resolve that new process immediately in its entirety, then resume the previous process.

Turns

Activation Phase

Activation Segment

Legacy Points

Legacy Points are gained in the following ways:

By Passing Legislation. (We'll describe how further on under Legislation/Passing Bills — see below)
By achieving Greater Society goals. (We'll describe how further on under Greater Society Initiative — see below)
By having Public Approval (see below) above 40% at the end of the game. Legacy Points gained at the end of your Term are shown in the box at the bottom of the Public Approval box you are currently in.

Example: if your PA counter was 52%, you would gain 4 LP; you would gain 6 LP if your PA was 54%.

By being an Agent for Peace. At the end of a Turn, if certain conditions are met, then you are acclaimed an "Agent for Peace," and are awarded the Nobel Prize as well as 5 Legacy Points. (For further information, see the End of Turn Consequences, page 25 TSF.)
By having a Presidential Performance Evaluation score above 25 points at the end of a Turn. (See the End of Turn Consequences, page 26 TSF.)
By winning Re-election (see page 26 TSF — also, see "Re-election" below).
Random Events. During the game, it is possible that certain random events and how you respond to them will award you Legacy Points.
By Playing at the NORMAL OR HARD DIFFICULTY LEVEL (see page 4 SSB)

You can also lose Legacy Points:

If your Public Approval rating is 34% or lower at the end of your Term in office. You will lose a number of Legacy Points equal to the amount shown in the box below your current rating on the Public Approval Track.

Example: In the illustration shown above, if your Public Approval is 30%, you will lose -2 LP; you would lose -4 LP if your Public Approval is 28%.

Party Relations Too Low at End of Your Term. If your Party Relations rating (see below) at the end of your Term (at the end of the fourth Turn) is in box 2 or 3 of the Party Relations Track, your Party will not re-nominate you for a 2nd term. You will lose 15 Legacy Points before final scoring (see page 27 TSF).
If you are Defeated in your Re-election Bid (see page 26 TSF; also, see "Re-election" below).
Too many Tensions counters. If you ever run out of Tensions counters and cannot place one on the board when called for, you will lose 3 Legacy Points.
Random Events. During the game, it is possible that certain random events and how you respond to them will decrease Legacy Points.

Auto-Loss (or the Many Ways of Losing in Mr. President)

There are fourteen different ways of losing in Mr. President.

Allowing a War between NATO and Russia.
Allowing a War between Japan and China.
A Victory for Russia is an Auto-Loss for you. If, at the start of "Russia Acts" or when the Russia Acts (2) Crisis Chit is drawn, Russia has fulfilled 3 objectives (a Base in Eastern Europe, a total of 9 or more Russia Influence on the map, and Eurozone Stability is <5 or either NATO or the UK have Ally Relations with the US worse than "Very Close"), Russia automatically wins (WPR1).
A Victory for China is an Auto-Loss for you. If, at the start of "China Acts" or when the China Acts (2) Crisis Chit is drawn, China has a total of 15 China Influence on the map, China automatically wins (WPC1).
A Level 4 Rogue State on the board at the End of a Turn (see below).
If you run out of Rogue State Counters. If you cannot place a Rogue State Counter on the map when called for because all such counters are already on the map.
WMDs. If the US attacks a Rogue State that has acquired Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), a natural, unmodified War Progress roll of "10" vs that Rogue State results in the Rogue State using the WMD on US forces and infrastructure.
Iran Nuclear Track at level "5" while Iran and Israel are at war.
North Korea Nuclear Track at level "5" while North Korea and ROK are at war.
If the Lingering Domestic Issue Track in the CONUS region (see below) reaches 6.
Having more than 5 wars on the board at the same time.
Presidential Performance Evaluation End of Turn Score of 16 or less (see End of Turn Consequences, page 26 TSF).
Failure to be Re-Elected in the 2001, 2009, 2017, and 2020 Historical Scenarios.
A Scandal that leads to your Impeachment.

Actions

Actions can be traded for Action Points; foregoing one Action provides one AP.
During the Turn Sequence when the player is on a "1 Action for POTUS and Each Cabinet Member" Segment (and only then):
- Actions (not Action Points) can be used to remove Tensions counters anywhere on the map, though ONLY the President has the ability to remove Tensions counters from Russia or China during this Segment.
- Some of your Cabinet Members get a bonus action (among those they can perform) if they have the "+1 ACTION" label on their counter.
Some Actions can only be performed once per Activation Segment or once per Activation Phase (this is noted on the player aids). Unless otherwise specified, you have to obey this restriction regardless of whether the attempted Action succeeded. Unrestricted actions can be attempted as often as you can/want, even multiple times per Activation Segment. A "once per Activation Phase" action cannot be performed during the US Special Activations at the start of the Turn.

Action Points (APs)

Important: Actions and Action Points are NOT the same thing! You have a finite number of Actions you can perform during a Segment.

You do NOT need to always spend APs to take an Action. But SOME Actions will require them.

Action Points have different uses:

Some Actions require APs to perform (for example, Domestic Action #9) and some Actions MAY require APs based on certain game state criteria (for example, Military Actions #1 and #5).
You can ALWAYS forego one or more allowed Actions in an Action Segment to recover 1 AP for each. (Sometimes you really need those APs to get out of trouble!)
Some Tables and Charts allow the spending of 1 or 2 APs to provide die roll modifiers (DRMs) to benefit the die roll (before the die is rolled).
An AP may also be spent to re-roll any die roll bearing this icon on the Presidential, Domestic, Diplomatic, and Military Master Action Player Aids. This can be done once per die roll but may be done for as many different die rolls as you have APs to spend. If such a re-roll is taken, you must accept the second roll as the final result.
During any blue Activation Segment on the Turn Sequence when the player is instructed to perform "x number of Actions," the player may choose to spend two APs to take an ADDITIONAL Action OF ANY TYPE, regardless of the type allowed during that Activation Segment.

At the beginning of each Turn, during Step 1: Determine APs, as outlined in the Turn Sequence Flipbook (see page 4 TSF), you determine how many APs you receive this turn.

Presidential Prestige is also tracked on this Track and is used for Presidential Prestige Checks (see below).

Tables and Rolls

No matter the circumstances, you can never select a result other than the one you rolled, even if that result would be considered "worse" or "lesser".
If a table has a min or a max DRM, that cap is enforced after all DRMs have been computed.
Cabinet members' ratings are always used as DRM when specified below a table, whether or not that cabinet member was the one who initiated the action.
If a table allows an AP to be spent to provide a DRM, that AP must be spent before the die is rolled and the DRM will also be applied should you be allowed and choose to reroll that die.
That symbol, which you can find on the Presidential, Domestic, Diplomatic, and Military Master Action Player Aids, means that if you're playing the game on the Easier Difficulty setting, you can apply an additional -1 DRM to the roll, over and above the listed DRMs.

Draw Crisis Chits

Draw Crisis Card(s). The majority of the Crisis Chits will direct you to draw a number of Crisis Cards from the Crisis Deck. Draw one at a time, and perform all actions indicated on that one Crisis Card before drawing and resolving the next card or cards. The chit is considered resolved when you've finished drawing and resolving the indicated number of Crisis Cards.
Domestic Crisis (d10). Roll a d10 and reference the result on the Domestic Crisis Events Table (D9) in the Domestic Charts Booklet (see page 10 DCB). Implement all the actions/effects noted therein.
Regional Summit. Refer to the Regional Summit Table (WD2) in the World Charts Booklet (see page 3 WCB) and follow the directions on that Table. Note the DRMs, and decide whether to commit 1-2 APs (representing you as POTUS attending the Summit personally) before you roll a d10 to determine the Summit's results.
Random Regional Crisis. Roll a d10 to determine which region has the crisis (See World Board and Regions). Once the region is identified, move the Regional Crisis level at the bottom of that region 1 box to the right. If this move increases the Regional Crisis level there to "MAJOR CRISIS," refer to the Regional Major Crisis Table (WD1) in the World Charts Booklet (see page 2 WCB), total any applicable DRMs, and roll a d10 to find and apply the result.
Cascading Event 2. Shuffle all the cards in the "2 Deck" (See Crisis Cards below). Then randomly draw one card and apply the results listed in the "From the 2 Deck" area. Unless otherwise directed by the card, place the card in the "3 Deck" when you have finished applying the result. If there is no card in the "2 Deck" area, then nothing happens.
Cascading Event 3. Shuffle all the cards in the "3 Deck" (See Crisis Cards below). Then randomly draw one card and apply the results listed in the "From the 3 Deck" area. Unless otherwise directed by the card, place the card in the Discard pile when you have finished applying the result. NOTE: If there are no cards in the 3 Deck when you draw this Crisis chit, treat it as if you had drawn the "Cascading Event 2" Crisis Chit instead.
Good Times Roll. Roll on the Good Times Table (D15) in the Domestic Charts Booklet (see page 18 DCB), to see what good things are in store for you! Happy Days!
NSA (2 Cards). Draw the top two Crisis Cards from the deck. Choose one and remove it permanently from the game. Place the other card in the Reshuffle Pile. This reflects intel gained through NSA intercepts.
Russia Acts (2). This Crisis chit is only put into the Crisis Chits Cup when Russia reaches Posture 2; it REMAINS in the Crisis Chits Cup until pulled (even should the Posture revert to 1 later in the game) (see page 32 below). When pulled, follow the special instructions "RUSSIA ACTS (2) CRISIS CHIT IS DRAWN" in the World Peer Russia Flipbook (see page 2 WPR) which instructs you to use 2 special actions from the list of possible Russian actions.
China Acts (2). This Crisis chit is only put into the Crisis Chits Cup when China reaches Posture 2; it REMAINS in the Crisis Chits Cup until pulled (even should the Posture revert to 1 later in the game) (see page 32 below). When pulled, follow the special instructions "CHINA ACTS (2) CRISIS CHIT IS DRAWN" in the World Peer China Flipbook (see page 2 WPC) which instructs you to use 2 special actions from the list of possible China actions.

Crisis Cards

Exceptional White House Resources cards (Yellow #1-5).
Natural Disaster cards (Red #6-13).
Terrorism cards (Black #14-33).
Cascading Event cards (Teal Green #34-64).
Event cards (Light Blue #65-180).

Exceptional White House Resources Cards: These five cards are primarily used in setup, but one of them will also be added to the Year 2 deck. The card represents a particularly talented or influential resource that helps you in the White House (see below and page 6 SSB).
Natural Disasters: These are cards describing a natural disaster that has struck, demanding a response from the President. These are all Cascading Events.
Terrorism Event: These are cards describing a terrorist attack that affects some Region of the world (including the US), usually creating a Terror Group (see below). They make the world more unstable and dangerous than it was before.
Cascading Event: These are events that occur over time in multiple stages. The card will list three different effects: the first if the card is drawn from the current Crisis Card Deck, the second if drawn from the #2 Deck, the third if drawn from the #3 Deck. Each time the card is encountered, its effects will be worse. It pays to respond to and solve the crisis as quickly as possible. A Cascading Event Card will have an icon in the lower right showing this. As this shows, once the card is drawn and its effects applied, it is put into Deck #2, unless the card indicates otherwise, as some do, or the crisis is resolved. If it is drawn a second time, it is put into Deck #3, unless the card indicates otherwise or the crisis is resolved. After the third time it's drawn and its effects applied, it will be discarded from the game, unless the card indicates otherwise.
Event Cards: The bulk of the Crisis Cards present the player with Events that can be domestic or world crises, or even unexpected benefits.

The Four Card Decks/Piles

There are four card decks/pile holding areas represented in the Crisis Card Deck area of the Main Side Board, as described above.

Crisis Deck: This is where the Crisis Cards that make up the Current Year Deck (created during setup — see page 11 SSB) are placed. These cards are drawn when a player is instructed to do so by the draw of a Crisis Chit during certain segments of the Turn Sequence.
Reshuffle Pile: Certain Crisis Cards will have an "R" indicator at the bottom right of the card, which means "Place this Card in the Reshuffle Pile." When you have finished with the card, place it in the Reshuffle Pile on the board next to the Crisis Card Deck for that year. At the beginning of a new Turn/year, half of these cards are reshuffled together with the appropriate Year Deck (Year 2 for the second turn, Year 3 for the third turn, etc.) into a new Crisis Card Deck for that year. Thus, some Crisis events will show up more than once in the game. (See "End of Turn/New Year Deck" below.) NOTE: If you ever run out of cards in the current year's Crisis Card Deck and need to draw another card, reshuffle the Reshuffle Pile and place it face down as the new Crisis Deck.
Decks 2 & 3: These are two areas numbered "2" and "3" where Cascading Events Crisis Cards go as instructed on the cards. Always follow the instructions on the card itself as to where and when to place these cards once you resolve their action. (see Cascading Event, above). NOTE: These two holding areas are the only ones in which you may place the cards face-up, so that you may examine them freely (to remember which ongoing events you may need to prepare for as you plan and play).
Discard: If a card is to be discarded and removed from the game after being drawn and resolved, it will have the following icon in the lower right.

Off-Map Decks in Waiting (Terrorism, Cascading, Natural Disaster)

In the highly unlikely event that you were to run out of cards in any of these off-map Decks, do the following, instead of drawing a card:

Year Decks

End of Turn/New Year Deck: At the end of each Turn:

Count the cards currently in the Reshuffle Pile and randomly remove half of them (rounded down) from the game (permanently). Add the remaining cards from the Reshuffle Pile to any cards left in the current Crisis Deck.
Add these cards to the next Year Deck in sequence (if it's Turn 2, use the Year 2 Deck, etc.).
Shuffle all these cards together, then place them in the current Crisis Deck space. This is your new Crisis Deck for the coming Year. See End of Turn Consequences in the Turn Sequence Flipbook (see page 26 TSF).

Tracks

When instructed to place an "Improving" counter:

If there already is an "Improving" counter on that track and the track is not at its maximum value, remove it and move the Track Counter up one box towards a better condition.
If there is a "Worsening" counter already on the track, remove it but do NOT replace it with the "Improving" counter and do NOT move the Track Counter; it stays where it is. In this situation, the "Improving" counter cancels out the "Worsening" counter, leaving the situation as it is, neither worsening nor improving.
If there is no "Improving" or "Worsening" counter already on that track, then place the new "Improving" counter there (even if the Track is at its maximum value).

When instructed to place a "Worsening" counter:

If there already is a "Worsening" counter on that track and the track is not at its minimum value, remove it and move the Track Counter down one box towards a worse condition.
If there is an "Improving" counter already on the track, remove it but do NOT replace it with the "Worsening" counter and do NOT move the Track Counter; it stays where it is. In this situation, the "Worsening" counter cancels out the "Improving" counter, leaving the situation as it is, neither worsening nor improving.
If there is no "Improving" or "Worsening" counter already on that track, then place the new "Worsening" counter there (even if the Track is at its minimum value).

IMPORTANT: A Crisis Card or Chart Result may instruct you to move the counter on a Trending Track up or down by one box. In such cases, ignore the trending rule and do not use the "Improving/Worsening" counter. Simply move the Track counter up or down one box as instructed as if it were NOT a Trending Track, keeping any "Improving/Worsening" counter on it.

If attempting to move up a Track already at its maximum, add an Improving counter to it if it doesn't have one already.

If attempting to move down a Track already at its minimum, add a Worsening counter to it if it doesn't have one already.

Track Checks

Game Turn Track

Charts and Tables

Nearly all actions that you undertake to advance your agenda and to resolve crises will require you to reference a particular chart or table. These are located in five possible areas.

Domestic Charts Booklet (DCB): This contains all the charts and tables dealing with resolving domestic issues such as Cabinet Improvement, Legislation, Scandals, and the like. All charts are labeled with the letter D (for Domestic) and a number. Thus, (D1) is the first Domestic Chart: "POTUS/Cabinet Focus," while the second (D2) is "Cabinet Improvement Table," and so on.
World Charts Booklet (WCB): This contains all the charts and tables dealing with resolving Diplomatic, Terrorist, and Military situations. In this case, the code for each chart involves a second letter determining whether the chart deals with Diplomacy (D), Military (M), or Terrorism (T). Thus, (WD1) is the first chart under Diplomacy in the World Charts Booklet: "Regional Major Crisis;" (WM3) is the third chart under Military: "Cyber-Attacks."
Ally and Rogue States Booklet (WA): Four times during the game Turn, once per each of the four Activation Phases, you will check to see what joint actions you may take with your Allies, what unilateral actions they may take, and what actions Rogue States and Unstable States take. These charts are gathered together in a separate booklet for your convenience. These nations and states are gathered together in four different groups (A, B, C, and D). A group is drawn randomly when instructed by the Turn Sequence Chart. They all have the designation code WA. Thus, the charts for Ally and Rogue States Group A is (WA1), (WA2) for Group B, and so on.
World Peers: Russia and China are considered world peers of the United States and are treated differently. Twice a Turn you will determine their strategic actions in the world for that year as instructed by the Turn Sequence, once for Russia and once for China. You will do this by using the small flipbooks assigned to each country. These have the (WP) designation.
World Peer Russia Booklet (WPR): This booklet contains the Russia Acts flowchart, a sequence of steps you will follow in order to determine Russia's actions for the year. It also contains the chart for a Summit that you can hold with Russia. These are designated (WPR1) and (WPR2).
World Peer China Booklet (WPC): Likewise, this booklet contains the China Acts flowchart, a sequence of steps you will follow in order to determine China's actions for the year. It also contains the chart for a Summit that you can hold with China. These are designated (WPC1) and (WPC2).

Running Out of Counters: All counter types in the game should be considered unlimited (and players should use tokens of other great GMT games as replacements if necessary) EXCEPT:

Tensions, Terror Groups and Rogue States: follow specific instructions detailed in the relevant section if you ever run out.

Sanctions, Military Footprints, UN Goodwill: do not place subsequent counters if you ever run out.

DARPA counters: limited to 3.

Lesser Sideboards

Aside from the Main Side Board, there are two important but lesser sideboards the player will use during the game:

The War Status Sideboard, which helps the player keep track of the progress of any wars he is waging. There may be a maximum of five Wars on the board at one time. If a sixth war breaks out, the player suffers auto-loss.
The Holding Sideboard that the player can use to hold Terror Group, Rogue State, Civil War and Civil War Ceasefire counters, and to randomize unused Tension, Sanction, US Military Footprint, and UN Goodwill counters (see page 3 SSB).

Difficulty Levels

There are three Difficulty Levels in Mr. President: Easier, Normal, and Harder. Details are given in the Scenario Set-Up Booklet (see page 4 SSB).

Special New Player DRM (Recommended for New Players): As an OPTIONAL rule, a new Player using the Easier Level ONLY may use a -1 DRM to all rolls bearing this icon on the Presidential, Domestic, Diplomatic, and Military Master Action Player Aids. This is in addition to normal DRMs as given on the various charts and tables. This should help brand new players have a more enjoyable first or first few games.

End of Game

To your Legacy Point value as shown by your current position on the Legacy Point Track on the map, add or subtract the results from the final Presidential Performance Evaluation.
Add or subtract Legacy Points as shown by your current position on the Public Approval Track.
Subtract Legacy Points based on your current position on the Party Relations Track: if it is 2 or 3, lose 15 Legacy Points as your Party does not consider you a viable candidate for re-election.
If you attempt re-election and lose, lose 5 Legacy Points for being a one-term President.
If you attempt re-election and win, you gain 5 Legacy Points.

If you are playing one of the Historical Scenarios, then check the victory conditions in the Scenario Booklet for the scenario you are using to determine your victory level.

3. POTUS

Presidential Master Actions

POTUS

The White House display holds four Attribute boxes and your Key Cabinet Officials: Vice President, Chief of Staff, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Defense.

Presidential Attributes

Likeable: This attribute adds +3 to your Public Approval rating at the start of each Turn.
Efficient: This attribute adds +4 Action Points at the start of each Turn.
Media Savvy: This attribute improves your Media Relations by +1 at the start of each Turn.
Business Friendly: This attribute adds an "Economy Improving" counter to the US State of the Economy Track at the start of each Turn.
Orator: This attribute gives a -2 DRM to your State of the Union Address.
Military: This attribute allows you to improve one US Strategic Capability by +1 at the start of each Turn.
Moderate Influence: This attribute allows you to move the Bipartisan Cooperation Counter one box to the right, towards "Cooperative", at the start of each Turn.
Respected by Congress: This attribute allows you to improve your Relationship with Congress 1 box at the start of each Turn.
Teflon: This attribute gives you a -2 DRM when rolling on the Scandal Table to resolve a Presidential scandal (Chart D14 in the Domestic Charts Booklet).
An Ally's Best Friend: This attribute allows you to raise the relationship with one Ally by one level (i.e. from "Estranged" to "Close" or from "Close" to "Very Close") at the start of each Turn.
Domestic Focus: This attribute gives you a -1 DRM any time you roll to resolve a Domestic Crisis or a Lingering Domestic Issue.
Team Builder: This attribute gives you a -1 DRM any time you make a Cabinet Improvement Roll.
Disorganized (negative): This negative attribute costs you 3 Action Points at the start of each Turn.
Heavily Partisan (negative): This negative attribute makes you lose 1 Public Approval AND add one Congressional Opponent to Congress at the start of each Turn.
Manages Stress Poorly (negative): This negative attribute makes you add 2 Tensions counters to the POTUS/Cabinet Focus Track at the start of each Turn. Ignore it on the first Turn as your priorities are not set yet.
Lacking Social Graces (negative): This negative attribute subtracts 2 Public Approval and degrades your Relationship With Congress 1 box at the start of each Turn. It also gives you a +1 DRM on the Impeachment Table (Chart D14 in the Domestic Charts Booklet).

All bonuses and penalties arising from Presidential Attributes will be applied during Steps 1 and 2 of the "Beginning of Each Turn Sequence" in the Turn Sequence Flipbook.

Master Actions

b. Domestic: These are actions that can be taken by you, your Vice-President, or your Chief of Staff to govern the country domestically.

Exceptional White House Resources

Presidential Prestige

Administration

Cabinet Effectiveness Rating. This rating represents the capabilities of your entire cabinet and fluctuates over the course of the game. See Cabinet Effectiveness, below.

Key Cabinet Members

During Step 3 of the "Beginning of Turn Sequence" in the Turn Sequence Flipbook, you may be able to promote a Cabinet Member to its Veteran side (see page 4 TSF).

Replacing (Firing) a Key Cabinet Member

You have the same Vice-President throughout the game (unless they are removed due to Scandal or Assassination), but there are three ways in which you may replace (fire) a Key Cabinet Member:

During Step 4 of the "Beginning of Turn Sequence" in the Turn Sequence Flipbook, you can replace (fire) any other Key Cabinet Member. Proceed as per Presidential Master Action #7 on the Presidential Master Actions Player Aid (this DOES NOT cost an action).
After the Midterm Elections, you can replace (fire) up to two Key Cabinet Members. Proceed as per Presidential Master Action #7 on the Presidential Master Actions Player Aid (this DOES NOT cost an action).
You may use Presidential Action #7 during any Action segment to ask for the resignation of any of your Key Cabinet members except the Vice President. Note that this DOES cost an action.

Note that there are also a few cards and chart results in the game that might also require or give you the option for replacing a Key Cabinet Member.

POTUS/Cabinet Focus

This is where you indicate your Administration's priorities for the year/Turn. You will choose from six possibilities:

Improve Relations with Congress
Economy
Homeland Security
Public/Press Relations
Address Domestic Crises
Cabinet Effectiveness

The POTUS/Cabinet Focus Table lists, for each Focus/Priority, its success range and its Success Effect:

Improve Relations with Congress (Priority 6, success on a 1): Improve RWC by one box.
Economy (Priority 1, success on 1-5): Place "Improving Econ" marker on US SoE Track.
Homeland Security (Priority 5, success on 1-2): Decrease one Terror Grp. in US by one level. If none, +1 to Homeland Security and -2 Public App.
Public/Press Relations (Priority 4, success on 1-3): Either a) +3 to Public App., or b) +1 to Public App. and +1 to Media Relations.
Address Domestic Crises (Priority 3, success on 1-3): -1 to Dom. Crises. If already 0, +2 APs.
Cabinet Effectiveness (Priority 2, success on 1-4): Roll a d6: 1-3, place an "Improving" marker on the Cabinet Effectiveness Track; 4+, +3 APs.

Each Priority Focus also places Tensions counters as part of resolving it (see the Tensions rules below).

Cabinet Effectiveness Track

This is a Trending Track. To move the counter one space in either direction is a two-step process as described in Trending Tracks (see above).

Cabinet Effectiveness can never be higher than "7" or lower than "3."

Cabinet Improvement Table

0 or less — Improving: Place "Improving" marker on Cabinet Effectiveness Track. 1 Advisor becomes experienced. Flip to Experienced side.
Roll a d6 (1-2 SecState, 3-4 SecDef, 5 Chief of Staff, 6 Vice President) — Improving: Move/place "Improving" marker on Cabinet Effectiveness Track.
No Change: No effect.
Losing Cohesion: Add one Tensions to POTUS/Cab. Focus (6 to 1). Place "Worsening" marker on Cabinet Effectiveness. -1 Public Approval.
8 or More — Disarray: Move Left 1 Box on Cabinet Effectiveness Track, & Roll (d6) on the Cabinet Drama Table. -2 Public Approval.

Cabinet Drama Table

Campaign Promise

Scandals

Random Scandal Determination (d6): 1 = Chief of Staff; 2 = Secretary of State; 3 = Secretary of Defense; 4 = Vice President; 5 or 6 = POTUS (You).

Public Approval (PA)

Public Approval measures what the American public thinks of you. The values range from 18% to 70+%. If you are at 18%, you cannot go lower; if at 70%, you cannot go higher.

Each box includes a number in the upper left corner. That is the number you use if you need to make a Public Approval Check or add your Public Approval rating to something.

Each box also includes a "#LP" notation at the bottom. This is the number of Legacy Points that you gain or lose at game end due to your popularity (or lack of it!).

Party Relations

Example: Your Party Relations is at "6." This allows you to have a maximum of 4 Congressional Friends. Your Core Support is "2."

Core Support

Midterm Elections

After the play of 2 Turns (years), the Midterm Elections are held. Use The Election Table in (D17) in the Domestic Charts Booklet or in the Turn Sequence Flipbook (page 27) to determine the outcome.

After the Midterm Elections, you have the option to freely dismiss and replace up to two Cabinet Members (not the Vice President).

Re-Election

At the end of 4 Turns, you must seek re-election (see End of Game above).

If you are nominated, stand for re-election using the Election Table, chart D17 in the Domestic Charts Booklet (see DCB page 20 or TSF page 27).

Note that in the 2001, 2009, 2017, and 2020 Historical Scenarios, re-election for a second term is required for victory. If you lose re-election in those scenarios, it is an auto-loss.

4. The Domestic Arena

Domestic Master Actions

Congress

Relations with Congress (RWC)

Party Control

Easier Game: Place "Your Party Control" counter in Party Control box.
Normal Game: Place no control counter (i.e. leave the Party Control box at "Split Party Control"). Award yourself 5 Legacy Points at Start.
Harder Game: Place an "Opposing Party Control" counter in the Party Control box. Award yourself 10 Legacy Points at start to offset the difficulty and handicap.

Passed Legislation

Unused Bills that are not currently pending or passed sit in a holding area; Passed Landmark Legislation is held separately (Can't be introduced again).

Bipartisan Cooperation

Congressional Friends and Opponents

Always use the most moderate side of the counter if you are playing the game at EASY difficulty.
Always use the most radical side if you are NOT playing the game at EASY difficulty.
If the back and front of a counter are identical, with no differentiation of "Moderate" or "Radical," then it doesn't matter which side you use.

All counters will stay on the side you choose permanently.

Pending Bills

Legislation/Passing Bills

Determine Support/Opposition to Pending Bills (If no Pending Bills, skip this step). Total the sum of the Legislative Ratings of all your Friends in the Congressional Friends box. Then subtract the total Rating of your Congressional Opponents. Treat results >3 or <-3 as 3 and -3, respectively. If the result is positive (+), you may move that number of bills (either yours or Opponents') one box in either direction on the Pending Bills Track, thus increasing or decreasing their support in Congress. If the result is negative (-), move that number of your (not Opponents') bills one box toward Strong Opposition/Cannot Be Passed.
Attempt to Pass Pending Bills (If no Pending Bills, skip this step). The number in the current box in the Bipartisan Cooperation section is the number of bills you must now attempt to Pass.
- If you control both houses of Congress, you choose which of the Pending Bills to try to pass.
- If your Opponents control both houses, make the attempt(s) for Opponents' Legislation that are furthest left in the Pending Bills boxes (i.e. the easiest to pass). Choose randomly if more than one Opponent's Bills are in the same leftmost box.
- If control is split, roll a d6 to see who chooses the first bill to pass (even = you; odd = opponents), then alternate between parties until you've made the indicated number of attempts.
Your Opponents will never attempt to pass your Bills and if they don't have enough Pending Bills of their own, will skip their opportunity to pass a Bill instead. If there are no Opponents' Bills to pass when your Opponent must pick one, they do not select any but it still counts as their attempt. If you have no Bill of your own to pass when you must pick one, you must select one of your Opponents' Bills instead.

To attempt to Pass a bill, roll a d6 and apply the DRM from the Pending box the bill is currently in. On a modified result of 1-3, the bill is passed.
Determine Bill Quality (If no Bills are Passed, skip this step). For any bill that is passed, Roll on the Effects of Passed Legislation Table (D5) in the Domestic Charts Booklet. Unless the Bill ends up being vetoed, place in the Passed Legislation Box, adjust Legislative Priorities, and implement any effects of the bill. If it ends up being vetoed, return the bill to the Unused Bills Box.
Add Legislative Friends or Opponents. If you pass a Landmark bill (only), add a new Congressional Friend (if it was your Bill and your Party Relations allow a new Friend) or Opponent (if it was the Opponent's legislation).

Always use the most moderate side of the counter if you are playing an EASIER GAME. Otherwise, use the most radical side.
"How the Sausage is Made." Roll on the Congressional Maneuvering & Drama Table (D6) in the Domestic Charts Booklet.
Introduce New Bill(s). Remove all Bills currently in the "Cannot Be Passed" box and place them in the "Unused Bills" box. You may now voluntarily remove any of YOUR (not Opponents') Bills currently in any box of the Pending Bills section. NOTE: Because you can never have more than 5 Bills in the Pending Bills section, you'll sometimes want to remove a Bill or two that are lower priority to make room for new higher-priority Bills.

The number in the current box in the Bipartisan Cooperation section is the number of bills that are now introduced. If you control both houses of Congress, you choose which bill(s) to introduce. If your Opponents control both houses, choose Opponents' Legislation for the bills (not yet pending or passed) that are the highest public priorities (choose random Bills if that is not possible). If control is split, roll a d6 to see who gets to choose the first bill to introduce (even = you; odd = opponents), then alternate between parties until you've made the indicated number of attempts.

Place the bill or bills you or the Opponent have introduced in the "0" box of the Pending Bills Track if there is split control in Congress; place the bill or bills in the "-1" box if introduced by a Party controlling both Houses of Congress.
Adjust Public Approval and Media Relations. Total the Media Ratings of all Friends, and then subtract the total Media Ratings of all Opponents. Then move Public Approval that number of boxes up (if the net total is positive) or down (if the net total is negative), to a maximum of 3 boxes. Increase Media Relations by 1 if you increased PA by 3 and decrease it by 1 if you decreased PA by 3.

Design Note: This represents the abilities of your Friends and Opponents in Congress to "spin" the results of this legislative session in a way that allows the public to see your Administration in a more favorable or unfavorable light.
Scandal Investigations (Skip if no scandals). Roll d6 for each Scandal on the Scandal Track, starting at the Concluding Scandal box. Refer to the Scandal Table (D14) in the Domestic Charts Booklet and apply results as resolved. Repeat this process until all scandals are resolved.
Adjust Bipartisan Cooperation. Examine all your Friends/Opponents. If there are more Moderates than Radicals, move Cooperation right one box. If there are more Radicals than Moderates, move Cooperation left one box.
Legislative Momentum. Perform one immediate Action of any type for each of YOUR (not Opponents') Bills that were passed and signed during this Activation Segment.

You roll a d6 and add a -1 modifier since your Bill #6 is now in the -1 box of the Pending Bills Track. You need a 1-3 to pass and you roll a 4, but the -1 modifier saves the day! Your bill passes!

Next, you roll on the Congressional Maneuvering & Drama Table, D6 in the Domestic Charts Booklet.

There is no scandal.

At the end of the Turn Bill #6, Jobs Creation Package, will be moved from the Passed & Signed Bills Box to the Unused Bills Box where it can be introduced again on a future turn.

Bills

Passing Bills are a major way you gain Legacy Points and thus choosing and passing them is an important strategy for winning Mr. President (or at least, for doing well!).

Greater Society Initiative

Greater Society Initiatives are special agendas you can pursue to advance the long-term welfare of the US. There are 6 of them:

National Security and Defense
Individual Freedoms and Equality
Space Exploration and Colonization
Balanced Budgets/Decreasing Debt
Health, Longevity, and Disease Eradication
Science and Technological Innovation

Supreme Court Justice

Legislative Priorities

These Tracks can be rearranged and refilled during the Clean-Up Process at the end of each Turn (see page 24 TSF).

State of the Nation

State of the Union Address

SoE Impact

US Economic Assistance: Perform the number of Economic Assistance acts allowed by the Current US SoE, as shown on the box to the left of the Current SoE counter on the game board.

For each Economic Assistance you are allowed, you may perform either of the following two acts:

Improve an Ally Relationship by one level, or
Place a "Trending Pro-US" counter in one of the 8 World Regions.

Domestic Impact: Adjust the game state in accordance with the information to the right of the current US SoE.

If SoE =7: +3 Public Approval, +2 APs, +1 RWC. (Also, at SoE 7 "Peak Performance": 2 U.S. Economic Assistance acts allowed.)
If SoE =6: +1 Public Approval, +1 AP. (2 U.S. Economic Assistance acts allowed.)
If SoE =5: No changes to game state. (1 U.S. Economic Assistance act allowed — "Recovery.")
If SoE =4: -1 Public Approval, -1 AP, -1 RWC. (1 U.S. Economic Assistance act allowed — "Stagnation.")
If SoE =3: -4 Public Approval, -2 APs, -2 RWC, Randomly remove one Congressional Friend. (0 U.S. Economic Assistance acts allowed — "Recession.")

Media Relations

Media Slant

If it is 8, you get +2 Public Approval.
If it is 6 or 7, then you get +1 Public Approval.
If it is 5, there is no change to your Public Approval.
If it is 3 or 4, you get -1 Public Approval.
If it is 2, you get -2 Public Approval.

This is one way in which Mr. President shows how the media's bias towards a President can influence Public Approval.

Owners of First Edition: The Media Slant tag was initially erroneously printed with a +1/-1 on the left and right of the tag. That impacted 24 cards which were otherwise errata-free so they were not included with the Update Kit since this has no impact on gameplay.

Homeland Security

World Opinion of US

Domestic Crisis Levels

NOTE: Domestic Master Action #2 (Address Domestic Crisis) allows you to attempt to reduce the Domestic Crisis Level and make Domestic Failures less likely. It requires a Cabinet Effectiveness Check (D18). Thus, having a low Cabinet Effectiveness Rating makes it harder to deal with Domestic Crises. Also, if the Domestic Crisis rating is higher than "0," you cannot use Domestic Master Action #3 (Address a Lingering Domestic Issue).

Lingering Domestic Issues (LDI)

The LDI Track's DRM values run from 0 (LDI 0-1) up to +1 (LDI 2), +2 (LDI 3-4), and +3 (LDI 5), before the Auto-Loss box.

Domestic Terror Attacks

Domestic Counter-Terrorism

5. The World Arena

Regions

A region represents a particular part of the world. Each region has the following:

Its name (Middle East in the illustration above)
One or two die numbers for random selection (In the illustration above, they are 4 and 5)
An Intel Track where you place Terror Groups as you begin to pinpoint their locations. Terror Groups on that track still count toward the maximum allowed in the region.
A Regional Alignment & Stability Track (Regional Alignment is a "Trending Track" but Stability is not)
A Regional Crisis Track with a Major Crisis Box on one end
A Focused National Intelligence Box where the Focused National Intelligence counter may be placed
A US Forces Deployment Box, where counters representing US military forces operating in that region are placed

A region may have one or more of the following as well:

An Ally Box, representing a US Ally in that region (in the illustration above, there are two Ally Boxes, one for Israel and one for Gulf States/Saudi Arabia); the Ally Box may also hold a counter that determines the closeness of that Ally to the US (see below)
A Rogue State Box, representing a US adversary in that region (in the illustration above, there is one Rogue State Box for Iran)
Tensions Boxes, connected to Ally and Rogue States, where Tensions counters may be placed to represent tensions within that region and country (in the illustration above, there are three Tensions boxes, one each for Israel, Saudi Arabia/Gulf States, and Iran)
There may be a CVBG Deployment Zone nearby connected to the region with a line; this is where US Carrier Battle Groups and their USMC Forces may be deployed (see below).

Regional Alignment

Due to space considerations, this is the only Track in the game that is BOTH a Trending Track (see above) for Regional Alignment and a non-Trending Track for Stability.

Regional Stability

Stability 7 or 8: 1 Max Civil War counter (or Ceasefire) in that region. 3 Max Terror Groups in the region.
Stability 5 or 6: 2 Max Civil War counters (or Ceasefires) in that region. 4 Max Terror Groups in the region.
Stability 3 or 4: 3 Max Civil War counters (or Ceasefires) in that region. 5 Max Terror Groups in the region.

Any time you have to place a Civil War counter when you're already at the max Civil War counters for that region, add an Unstable State counter instead.

Regional Crises

The level of crisis in a World Region is measured on the Regional Crisis Track with a Regional Crises counter. You want to keep the crisis level low as much as possible.

Major Regional Crisis

Russia

Russian Influence

NOTE: Russian/Chinese Influence in a Region does NOT affect a straight Regional Alignment Check in that Region, it only affects Diplomatic Master Action #2 if you attempt to improve Regional Alignment in that Region (see Diplomatic Master Action Player Aid). Improving Regional Alignment through providing Economic Assistance is also NOT affected by Russian or Chinese Influence in a Region.

China

Chinese Influence

Russia/China Regional Tracks

Posture

Russia/China Holding Box

This is where you can store Russia or China counters, such as Influence counters or Bases, when not in use elsewhere on the map.

Russian/Chinese Influence Track

Iran Influence

Placement:

If there is no Iran Influence counter next to the Israel Ally box, place the counter there.
If there is a Civil War or Civil War Ceasefire counter in the Middle East that doesn't already have an Iran Influence counter beneath it, place the counter there (with priority to Civil Wars over Civil War Ceasefires).
If there is an Unstable State in the Middle East that doesn't already have an Iran Influence counter beneath it, place the counter there.
If there is no other eligible location to place the counter, place it next to Israel (there is no limit to the total number of Iran Influence counters in that location).

Effects:

Influence next to Israel: Each counter causes a +1 DRM to Israel's Unilateral Action roll. They also add one Strength per counter to Hezbollah in any Israeli War with Hezbollah.
Influence beneath Civil Wars or CW Ceasefire Counters: Such a counter causes a +1 DRM to the Civil War Resolution/Broker Peace roll for the counter it is under.
Influence beneath Unstable States. Such a marker causes a +1 DRM to the "Check Unstable States" roll for that Unstable State counter in the Middle East at the end of the Ally Group C Activation.

Iran Influence can be removed when:

Performing Cyberattacks against Iran.
A Civil War with Iran Influence ends.
A Civil War is converted to a Civil War Ceasefire (as instructed by WM4).
An Unstable State with Iran Influence is removed (when it is converted to a Civil War, the Iran Influence remains).
A specific result is rolled on the Israel Unilateral Action Table.

CONUS

It also contains the Canada Ally box.

Tensions

Domestic Tensions counters on the POTUS/Cabinet Focus Track will lessen your Cabinet's effectiveness and may require you to roll on the Cabinet Drama Table. Instructions are given on the game board next to the POTUS/Cabinet Focus Track and in the Domestic Charts Booklet (D1). These Tensions counters can be removed by performing Domestic Master Action #8 (see Domestic Master Actions Player Aid).
Whenever you are instructed to reveal Tensions counters by various game effects, they may provide DRMs that affect how Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and Allies act. The Tensions counters are then removed and replaced by ½ their number, rounded down for Allies and up for other nations (thus, if there had been 3 Tensions counters on Russia, after the Russia Acts sequence, these would be replaced by 2 new Tensions counters, placed face down as always).
Tensions counters may be removed by Summits, by Ally Joint Actions, by Diplomatic Master Action #5 (see Diplomatic Master Actions Player Aid), and by other situations that may arise throughout the game. Place Tensions counters back into the pool when they are removed.

World Opinion of the US: -1
Public Approval: -2
Legacy Points: -3

6. Diplomatic Arena

Diplomatic Master Actions

Economic Assistance

Economic assistance represents foreign aid given to other countries. How much help you can give depends on the US SoE, as follows:

If the SoE is 6 or 7, you get 2 Economic Assistance
If the SoE is 4 or 5, you get 1 Economic Assistance
If the SoE is 3, you get 0 Economic Assistance

For each Economic Assistance you can allocate, you can do one of two things:

Improve an Ally Relationship by one level, or
Place a "Trending Pro-US" counter in one of the 8 World Regions.

Trade Agreements

Sanctions

Diplomatic Master Action #7 can impose Sanctions on Russia, China, Iran, or North Korea.

Targeting

You may attempt to apply Sanctions to Russia, China, or the Rogue Nations of Iran and North Korea. (However, if the Russia/China "Relations with the US" counters are at 4 or 5, you cannot attempt to place sanctions on that country.)
Sanctions can be Unilateral (US only), Multilateral, or UN Sponsored.
Unilateral and Multilateral Sanctions are applied as Diplomatic Action #7 on the Diplomatic Master Actions Play Aid.
UN Sponsored Sanctions are applied as a UN Action.
UN Sanctions cannot be applied to Russia or China (they are vetoed in the Security Council).
There may never be more than one Sanctions counter of each type on a target country. For example, if China already bears a Unilateral Sanctions counter, you could attempt to place a Multilateral Sanctions on China, but not another Unilateral Sanction.

Placing

Applying Immediate Relations Effects for Sanctions on a Peer

If you successfully impose Sanctions on China or Russia, immediately adjust that country's Relations with the US Track as follows:

For UNILATERAL SANCTIONS: Place a Trending Anti-US counter on their Relations with the US Track.
For MULTILATERAL SANCTIONS: Move their Relations with the US counter one box to the left on their Relations with the US Track.

Sanctions Effects:

Russia

+DRM to Increase Strategic Capabilities die roll under Russia Actions Chart (WPR1), increasing chance of failure.
+DRM (+1 for Unilateral, +3 for Multilateral) to the Attempt to Improve Russian Economy die roll under World Peer Russia Actions Chart (WPR1), increasing chance of failure or a worsening economy.

China

+DRM to Increase Strategic Capabilities die roll under China Actions Chart (WPC1) in the World Peer China Acts Flipbook, increasing chance of failure.
+DRM (+1 for Unilateral, +2 for Multilateral) to the Attempt to Improve China's Economy die roll under World Peer China Actions Chart (WPR1), increasing chance of failure or a worsening economy.

Iran/North Korea

Favorable DRM on Iran Action Table (see Group A, page 4 WA) and North Korea Action Table (see Group B, page 7 WA). For the calculation of the DRM, see Revealing Sanctions Values below.

There are also various cards and events in the game that have an effect based on whether Sanctions are present against a country.

Revealing Sanctions Values

Removal

Russia/China: Sanctions are removed as a result of Summits and due to certain Russian or Chinese Actions during the Russia Acts or China Acts segments.
Iran/North Korea: Sanctions can be removed by Russian or Chinese Actions.

When Sanctions are removed, take the Sanctions counter off the target country and place it back in the Sanctions Holding Area.

Allies

Canada (in CONUS)
UK, NATO (in Eurozone)
Japan, ROK, Australia (in Asia & Pacific)
India (in Central/South Asia)
Israel, Gulf States/Saudi Arabia (in Middle East)

Allies, especially if your relationship is Very Close, greatly augment what you can do in the world on a Turn, expanding your own repertoire of Actions. They are a key element for success.

United Nations (UN) Actions

In Activation Phases 2 and 4 of the Turn Sequence, the United Nations will act, as described in the "UN ACTS" chart (WD3) in the World Charts Booklet. It will take 4 Actions:

Humanitarian Aid (reduce Regional Crises in 1 Region)
Infrastructure Aid (improve Stability in 1 Region)
Youth Empowerment (decrease 1 Terror Group - see below)
Peace Talks (end 1 Civil War - see below)

US-Initiated UN Actions

After the mandatory UN Actions, you may choose to perform up to 2 US-Initiated UN Actions, including Actions already performed by the UN (but not Infrastructure Aid).

Spend an AP or UN Goodwill counter = 1 US-Initiated UN Action.

If you spend an AP to get an Action, you get a -1 DRM to your die roll for that Action.
If you spend a UN Goodwill counter to get an Action, flip it before rolling and use the number on its reverse side as a DRM (this is one reason these counters are valuable, as they will likely give you a better DRM than spending an AP).

UN Peacekeepers

UN Goodwill

7. Military Arena

Military Master Actions

Strategic Military Situation

Strategic Capabilities

Strategic Capabilities between the Peer Nations (USA, Russia, China) are compared and tracked on the Strategic Capabilities Track. The relative strengths are presented in seven areas:

Air Force Training & Tech
Ground Forces Training & Tech
Naval Forces Training & Tech
Cyber Warfare
Space Warfare
Strategic Missiles/Missile Defense
Strategic Recon/Intel Gathering

Russia and China will attempt to advance their Strategic Capabilities during the Russia or China Actions Sequence (see page 3 WPR and WPC) and occasionally due to events that occur during play.

Here are some of the benefits/penalties based on your specific Strategic Capabilities:

Air Force Training & Tech: Favorable DRM in Combined Air/Ground and Air/Missile Wars.

Ground Forces Training & Tech: Favorable DRM in Combined Air/Ground Wars.

Cyber Warfare: Favorable DRMs when attacking/defending against a Cyberattack.

Strategic Missiles/Missile Defense: Reduction in Homeland Security at end of Turn if rating is lower than Russia's/China's.

Conflict Tracks

The ten Conflict Tracks are: India/China, India/Pakistan, Russia/NATO, Russia/Ukraine, China/Japan, DPRK/ROK, Israel/Iran, Israel/Neighbors, GS+SA/Iran, and US/Iran.

NOTE: If war breaks out between Russia and NATO or between Japan and China, it will result in your Auto-Loss [unless China itself provokes Japan into conflict (see WPC1, Remaining Action Hierarchy #10)]. If war breaks out or is ongoing between Iran and Israel, or between ROK and North Korea, it will result in your Auto-loss if Iran or North Korea is at "5" on the Nuke/Missile Track. If a sixth War breaks out while five other Wars are actively being fought, this is an Auto-loss.

Nuclear/Missile Tracks

Terror Groups

A Lvl 4 Terror Group can evolve into a Lvl 1 Rogue State (see below).

Max Terror Groups

There is a cap to the number of Terror Groups there can be in a region depending on Stability:

Stability 7 or 8: 3 Terror Group counters max.
Stability 5 or 6: 4 Terror Group counters max.
Stability 3 or 4: 5 Terror Group counters max.

If you must place a Terror Group counter when you're already at the max for that region, an already existing, highest value Terror Group is promoted instead.

If you must increase a Lvl 4 Terror Group, replace it with a Lvl 1 Rogue State instead (even if you were instructed to increase the Lvl 4 Terror Group twice).

If the Stability of a Region increases and it now has more Terror Groups than its new limit allows, nothing happens until you're instructed to add a new Terror Group to the Region.

NOTE: A Rogue State may not exist in the US. If you have a Lvl 4 Terror Group in the US that increases (were you asleep as President?), it remains a Lvl 4 Terror Group but you suffer the following to reflect the chaos inflicted by a burgeoning domestic Terror Group: -4 Public Approval, -1 RWC, -1 Homeland Security, move Bipartisan counter 1 left.

A low Regional Stability can result in Terror Groups and Rogue States appearing in that Region at the end of a Turn/Year (see page 24 TSF).

SOF

Terror Acts and Chaos

Rogue States

Game-Created Rogue States range from Lvl 1 to Lvl 4 and are promoted by game effects just like Terror Groups.

IMPORTANT NOTE: IF THERE IS A LVL 4 GAME-CREATED ROGUE STATE IN A REGION AT THE END OF A TURN, IT RESULTS IN AUTO-LOSS.

Rogue State in Europe

IMPORTANT: If the game requires that you place a new Rogue State counter and you have run out of counters of the required type, the Rogue States have so entrenched themselves in key world regions that US and western influence is virtually non-existent there. The West is cut off from key energy sources, raw material supplies, and markets. The game immediately ends in an auto-loss.

Civil Wars

Ceasefire

Civil Wars are dealt with in several ways (see WD3, page 4 WCB, UN Actions, above, and Perform War Progress for Wars & Civil Wars, page 21 TSF).

Max Civil Wars

There is a cap to the number of Civil Wars (or Ceasefires) there can be in a region depending on Stability:

Stability 7 or 8: 1 Civil War (or Ceasefire) counter max.
Stability 5 or 6: 2 Civil War (or Ceasefire) counters max.
Stability 3 or 4: 3 Civil War (or Ceasefire) counters max.

If you have to place a Civil War counter when you're already at the max for that region, place an Unstable State counter instead.

NOTE: If there are 2 or fewer (non-Ceasefire) Civil Wars in the World at the end of a Turn, this increases the chances you will be named "An Agent for Peace" and be eligible for a Nobel Prize (and Legacy Points!). (See the End of Turn Consequences in the Turn Sequence Flipbook, page 25 TSF.)

Unstable States

WMDs

Impact of Rogue State WMDs: As part of a War Progress Roll (not a Cyberattack) of a War between the US and a Rogue State that has acquired WMDs, the following happens:

A natural (unmodified) roll of 1 = WMDs Destroyed (in addition to the Combat Table Result).
A natural (unmodified) roll of 10 = Rogue State uses WMD on US Forces/Infrastructure. IMMEDIATE AUTO-LOSS FOR US PLAYER!

Intel Track

Intel Gathering

You perform an Intel Gathering Op as follows:

Identify the target Terror Group in the Region.
Roll a d10.
-1 DRM if there is an Intel/Advisors unit in the Region and -1 DRM if the US has a Focused National Intelligence Collection (FNIC) counter in the Region (see below).

Your second Intel attempt of the action must be against a different Terror Group than the first, but it may be in any region, not necessarily the same region as your first attempt.

Joint Intel with Allies

Focused National Intelligence

Check your Strategic Capabilities for both Space Warfare and Strategic Recon/Intel. If both of these values are greater than or equal to both China's and Russia's values on these tracks, you get two Focused National Intel counters.
In any other case, you get one Focused National Intelligence counter this turn.

Place each available Focused National Intelligence counter(s) in one world region of your choice (not CONUS, Russia or China), no more than one FNIC counter per region.

During Intel Ops (see above), the presence of a Focused National Intelligence counter in a region provides a favorable die roll modifier.

US Military Forces

Unit Types

There are seven types of US Forces under your command:

Intel/Advisors
Spec Ops (SoF)
USMC (double-sided counter)
Army Light
Army Heavy
USAF
Carrier Battle Group (CVBG)

CONUS Home Base (Holding Box)

Other Bases

NOTE: The US Army Hvy in Asia Pacific may NEVER be moved.

Set-Up

Counter Limits

Note that US military forces are limited to the counters provided with the game.

US Military Assets

When you pass Bill #16 "Expanded Military," move the following units in the US Military Assets box to the US Forces box in CONUS: 1 x Army Heavy, 2 x Army Lt, 1 x USMC, 1 x Carrier.

When you pass the "Security & Defense" Greater Society Initiative 1 bill, move the following units in the US Military Assets box to the US Forces box in CONUS: 1x USMC, 1 x Army Lt.

When you pass the "Security & Defense" Greater Society Initiative 2 bill, move the following units in the US Military Assets box to the US Forces box in CONUS: 1 x Army Heavy, 1 x USAF.

Crisis Cards & US Military Assets

CVBG Deployment Zones

Move/Deploy Forces

Move two Intel and/or Special Ops from any holding box (including CONUS) on the map to any other holding box.
Move one USAF, US Army LT, or US Army Heavy (see below for restrictions) from any holding box (including CONUS) on the map to any other holding box.
Move any two Carriers to any Deployment Zone(s) on the world map. (The arrows from the Deployment Zone indicate which Regions that Carrier Group and USMC Forces can affect in a War.)
Move any two USMC Units to any CVBG Deployment Zone, placing them on their 2 Combat Strength side (representing USMC Forces operating from the sea with their own naval units) or from a CVBG Deployment Zone to a connected, neighboring region, placing them on their 3 Combat Strength side.
Move one USMC and one Carrier per #3 and #4 above.

US Army Heavy Units

Using US Forces

NOTE: USMC units are double-sided, showing two different Combat Values. If the USMC unit is IN a region, use the side with a Combat Value of 3 representing its strength as a land combat unit. USMC units may also reside in CVBG Sea Deployment zones and respond to conflicts in multiple connected zones. If the USMC unit is attacking from a CVBG Sea Deployment zone, use the side with the Combat Value of 2. They may contribute their combat strength value to any connected US War. Operating from a CVBG Sea Deployment zone gives them less combat strength but more flexibility.

US Military Footprint

Military Footprints may be removed by taking Military Master Action #7 (see Military Master Action Player Aid).

NOTE: A Military Footprint may also be placed in a Region due to a failed Air/Drone Strike against a Terror Group in that region that caused civilian casualties (WM2).

Special Forces (SOF) Raids and Airstrikes/Drone Strikes

When you choose Perform Raid/Strike on a Terror Group (Action #4 on the Military Master Actions Player Aid), you are allowed to make either:

One SOF Raid against a Terror Group counter in the "Target Fixed" box of the Intel Track of a World Region, OR
Perform up to two Air/Drone Strikes, each against a different Terror Group counter in either the "Target Fixed" or "Locating" box of the Intel Track of a World Region.

Regional Forces

Cyber War

When you join with an Ally in a Joint cyberattack. This occurs when your ally rolls "Cyberattack vs " as their Unilateral Action or as part of the War Progress Roll of a US War involving an Ally. Treat as if the US initiated the cyberattack.
When you wish to attack the Nuclear/Missile Track/Critical Infrastructure of North Korea/Iran OR when you wish to attack the Russian Economy OR when you wish to attack the Critical Infrastructure of Russia/China. It requires using an "Initiate Hostilities" action (Military Master Action #6).
When you wish to attack a Rogue State via Cyberattack. It requires using an "Initiate Hostilities" action (Military Master Action #6).
Before any US War Progress Roll (including at the onset of a war starting during an Activation Phase), you may make one Cyberattack against a valid target unless you already attacked it this Activation Phase (target a Rogue State or the Critical Military and Gov. infrastructure).
Before any War Progress Roll involving China or Russia, they may perform a Cyberattack using the special row at the bottom for "China or Russia at War".

To resolve a Cyber Attack, use the "Cyber Attacks" Table (WM3).

8. War

Wars that cause auto-losses.

If NATO ever goes to war with Russia, it is an immediate auto-loss.
If Japan goes to war with China (which in the real world would certainly involve the US), it is an immediate auto-loss.
If there are ever more than 5 Wars on the game map, it is an auto-loss.

Strength Counters track the shifting strength of the combatants as casualties are taken or reinforcements arrive.

Setting Up a War

First, to set up a War, place a Conflict Type counter on the "Type of Conflict" on the War Status Sideboard.

The Strength of non-US attackers/defenders is tracked with strength counters and is further adjusted by the "Relative Strength" of the involved countries if the war is governed by a Conflict Track.

Strength for the US depends on the Conflict Type and the Units present in the War's Region.

NOTE: ONLY Strength Points (and Regional Troops) are placed on the War Status Sideboard. The US Military forces involved in a War remain in the holding boxes in regions or CVBG Deployment Zones on the World Map, never on the War Status Sideboard.

Strength Table

Allies or US-Supported Countries (Strength — Air/Missile — Additional Info):

Balkan States: 4
Gulf States/Saudi Arabia: 5
India: 7
Israel: 8 (6)
NATO: 8 (5)
ROK (South Korea): 6
Taiwan: 3
Ukraine: 5

Peers (Strength — Air/Missile — Additional Info):

China: 10 — +2 per China Influence in the War's Region
Russia: 10 — +2 per Russia's Influence in the War's Region

Adversaries (Strength — Air/Missile — Additional Info):

DPRK (North Korea): 6
Egypt: 5
Hamas: 2
Hezbollah: 3 — +1 per Iranian Influence next to Israel
Iran: 6 (3)
ISIS: 4
Pakistan: 5
Rogue State (Level 1-2-3-4): 4-5-6-7
Serbia: 3 (2)
Taliban: 6
Yemen: 3

Add 1 to Adversaries' and Peers' Strength if playing on Normal Difficulty or 3 if playing on Harder Difficulty.

Once you have set up the War, make an Initial War Progress die roll following the procedure outlined in WM5.

Surprise

Other game effects may grant one side in war the benefit of Surprise. If so, it will be explicitly mentioned.

The War Progress Die Roll

Total up the Strength for each side.

NOTE: USMC Units have a Combat Strength of 3 if IN the War's region, but a Combat Strength of 2 if attacking from a CVBG Deployment Zone.

Express the Attacker's Strength vs Defender as an odds ratio, rounding down fractions in favor of the Defender. (13 Attacker Strength vs 5 Defender strength would be 2:1 odds.)
Determine any applicable DRMs (see WCT1, page 29 WCB).
Make the War Progress Roll: Roll a d10, apply DRMs, and find the result by using the section corresponding to the die result (2-4, for example), the appropriate odds column (2:1, for example), and the row whose color matches the Conflict Type (Combined Air/Ground War, for example).
Results are stated as MOVE, LOSS, and possibly a *, ** or ***.
A MOVE result moves the Conflict Status marker toward the Attacker or the Defender. Conflicts other than Combined Air/Ground move more slowly, transiting on the bottommost boxes.

A single asterisk can potentially end the war. A double asterisk transforms it into a Guerilla War. A triple asterisk swaps the Attacker and the Defender (unless the War has ended). See counterattack example on next page.

Losses are depicted by strength counter reduction for non-US countries while the US will pay a political price at home to replace them.

War Progress Results

After you apply results from the Combat Table (WCT1), add +1 to Regional Crises in the War's region. If a US War, place one US Military Footprint counter in the region.

If One Side Wins: If the Conflict Status counter is in either the "Attacking Forces Win" or "Defending Forces Win" boxes, the War is over.
If Neither Side Wins and No Peace: The War Continues. This War Progress action is finished. You'll perform this process again during the next War Progress Segment.

If nothing changes, the ROK/US will roll on the 2:1 (22:8 rounded down in favor of the defender) column during the next War Progress Segment. (See bottom image below.)

Winning or Losing a War

Consequences of Waging War

Wars are costly. At the end of a Turn, the following consequences can ensue.

For each US War, place a "Worsening Economy" counter on the US SOE Track.
Unless the current War Status is "US Winning" (or better, in the cases of Air/Missile and Guerrilla Wars), decrease Public Approval by two boxes.
If the US is involved in a War, there is no chance to be an "Agent of Peace" and thus to possibly win the Nobel Peace Prize.
A US Military Footprint counter is placed in the Region where the US is at war. A Region can have more than one US Military Footprint counter. These can result in loss of Public Approval, +1 to the Crisis level in the Region, the placement of new Terror groups or the strengthening of already existing ones, and -1 to Regional Stability. If more than one US Military Footprint counter is present in the Region and revealed, the consequences are cumulative.

Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020

Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020 Rulebook

Table of Contents

How to Be a President

Greetings!

1. Components

Component List

Anatomy of a Crisis Card

2. Basic Concepts

Main Board

Main Side Board

Turn Sequence

Turns

Activation Phase

Activation Segment

Legacy Points

Auto-Loss (or the Many Ways of Losing in Mr. President)

Actions

Action Points (APs)

Tables and Rolls

Draw Crisis Chits

Crisis Cards

The Four Card Decks/Piles

Off-Map Decks in Waiting (Terrorism, Cascading, Natural Disaster)

Year Decks

Tracks

Trending Tracks

Track Checks

Game Turn Track

Charts and Tables

Lesser Sideboards

Difficulty Levels

End of Game

3. POTUS

Presidential Master Actions

POTUS

Presidential Attributes

Master Actions

Exceptional White House Resources

Presidential Prestige

Administration

Key Cabinet Members

Replacing (Firing) a Key Cabinet Member

POTUS/Cabinet Focus

Cabinet Effectiveness Track

Cabinet Improvement Table

Cabinet Drama Table

Campaign Promise

Scandals

Public Approval (PA)

Party Relations

Core Support

Midterm Elections

Re-Election

4. The Domestic Arena

Domestic Master Actions

Congress

Relations with Congress (RWC)

Party Control

Passed Legislation

Bipartisan Cooperation

Congressional Friends and Opponents

Pending Bills

Legislation/Passing Bills

Bills

Greater Society Initiative

Supreme Court Justice

Legislative Priorities

State of the Nation

State of the Union Address

State of the Economy (SoE) — A Trending Track

SoE Impact

Media Relations

Media Slant

Homeland Security

World Opinion of US

Domestic Crisis Levels

Lingering Domestic Issues (LDI)

Domestic Terror Attacks

Domestic Counter-Terrorism