The First Robot President

Written by Robert Carlyle Taylor

Narrated by Brenda Ernst

The First Robot President is science fiction with a healthy dose of political satire, making fun of Democrats and Republicans in equal measure. The novel centers around Thomas Jenkins, a lobbyist and Green-party activist, and his robot wife whose political ambitions land her on the Green party’s 2520 Presidential ticket. In Part I, Wife and Mother, Thomas receives delivery of Esmeralda, his robowife, and marries her in a small ceremony with close friends and family members. In Part II, The Path to the White House, Esmeralda runs for Congress and, against all odds, wins the election. CPAN’s audience quadruples as billions of people throughout the world tune in to watch the robot in action. At the end of the year, Time magazine includes Esmeralda in its list of the world’s one hundred most influential and admired women. In January 2520, the Green Party’s steering committee includes Esmeralda on its short list of possible running mates for Senator Samuel Hoffenberger, its candidate in the Presidential election. After interviewing all the candidates, the Senator chooses Esmeralda. As the November election approaches, Esmeralda must face off against her Republican and Democratic opponents in a formal debate, which gives the author a venue for some of the sharpest political satire in the novel. For the first time in American history, the Green party prevails in the Presidential election, and Senator Hoffenberger is inaugurated as President. However, within hours of the Inauguration, he is assassinated, and Esmeralda becomes President. Part III, The Oval Office, begins with Esmeralda taking charge. She makes an address to the Nation in which she acknowledges that many Americans are concerned about having a robot as President and attempts to reassure them. The last four chapters detail Esmeralda’s challenges and accomplishments as President; and Chapter 14, “Murphy’s Law,” provides an exciting conclusion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Big Happy Family
• Release date: Aug 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781734646238

Reviews for The First Robot President

[Timothy R Ford · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

So badly written I thought it was sophisticated irony at first. I kept waiting for the reveal when we learn that the stiff wooden dialog, the almost comical casual misogyny, and the vapid, spineless one-dimensional characters were a clever literary device as a backdrop to the main robotic characters awakening to the dark and very shallow depths of the human psyche. By chapter three I confess I gave up and concluded this is just shockingly bad writing somehow over-lauded in the literature. Perhaps there is a deeper meta-philosophical lesson in this, but I think it far more likely that the book itself was written by an AI.

[plappen_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This story takes place 500 years from now. Homelessness and overpopulation are beyond out of control. Earth's population is 500 billion people (that's right, billion). America's population is 500 million. America has grown to 100 states, including Canada and Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.Thomas Jenkins is a lobbyist for the Green Party in Washington DC. One day, he decides to purchase a RoboWife (robots that are indistinguishable from humans). He names her Esmeralda, and they get married. They adopt Sarah, a human child, who grows up to receive several college degrees, and become a college professor. Living in northern Virginia, politics is the "family business" in the Jenkins household. After a number of years, Esmeralda runs for Congress. Her candidacy is treated as a joke, until she wins. She is put on the Small Business Committee, where she writes a large number of bills that will actually help small business.It's presidential campaign time. The Green Party chooses Esmeralda as its Vice Presidential candidate. After a long and hard campaign, the Greens emerge victorious. Esmeralda is not Vice President for very long before she is pushed into the Presidency. Among her first Executive Orders is mandating a Birth Lottery for all federal employees. Congress is needed to expand it to all Americans. During a Cabinet meeting, disaster strikes. Esmeralda is unable to fulfill her duties as President. Those who want her out of the White House. permanently, spring into action. Can Esmeralda return to her duties in time?This is satire; the author does a very good job with the society-building. It has things to say about present-day politics, and is very much worth reading.