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Revision as of 20:05, 17 February 2020
President Aaron Kimball is the current head-of-state of the New California Republic in 2281. A devoted citizen and retired decorated NCR Army General, that rose atop the political ladder in the NCR using his military service and war hero status. In 2273, he would become a representative of the Hub. Later on, in the same year, Kimball would win the election for President of the New California Republic and again in 2278. Kimball would secure his position with his hardline stances on political issues, despite his failures, such as the Mojave Campaign, an elongated, seven-year annexation the Mojave Wasteland.[1]
Background
Born in 2233, Aaron Kimball joined the New California Republic Army at an unknown date. He rose to prominence during the early years of the Republic's entry into the Mojave Wasteland. His campaigns against the various tribes of the Mojave, pacifying them in order to facilitate NCR expansion, led to his rise to prominence in the military, and as a general he was widely praised and gained popular support for his harsh campaign against wasteland tribals who attacked NCR citizens, earning the nickname "Hero of the Mojave."[2] His fame and popularity led Kimball to leave the Army and enter politics, and he eventually launched a successful run for the presidency, taking office in 2273 running against incumbent President Wendell Peterson. His first act of office was ordering the occupation of Hoover Dam, an act which led to the establishment of the New Vegas Treaty, sending clean water and 95% of the dam's power to New California, proved immensely popular with the NCR's populace.[3]
Kimball's presidency would be challenged by the NCR-Raiders War and the continuing NCR-Brotherhood War, which took a toll on troops stationed in the Mojave and elsewhere. Kimball's decision to send the most experienced Rangers to "chase ghosts" in Baja while sending conscripts to fight in the harsh deserts of the Mojave soon began to shape his image, tying him personally with the Mojave Campaign. Increasing difficulty for troop and supply navigation through the Long 15 as well as the NCR council's insistence on diverting funds to the Boneyard has led to a precarious postion for the NCR's hold on the Mojave.[4]
Kimball was better liked as a general than as a politician, where his stiff, autocratic style of leadership was much more fitting. Additionally, his single-minded focus on the Mojave campaign has drained away public support for his administration.[5] The people of the NCR, told going in that victory in the Mojave would be easy, have become war-weary of the campaign's long length and its high cost in human life and materiel.
Personally, Aaron Kimball is a "war hawk." Supported by Colonel Cassandra Moore and General Lee Oliver, President Kimball firmly believes in expanding the NCR and bringing new territories into the fold by any means necessary, be it Hoover Dam or Baja. This stance, as well as disregard for losses, is one of the greatest issues Chief Hanlon, architect of the first victory at the dam, has with the president. Although the NCR's dominance in the Mojave led to early popular support for Kimball's goal of a new manifest destiny and return to old world American values, this would be challenged by a new arrival: Caesar's Legion. The often brutal tactics of the Legion and the heavy losses incurred with no apparent gain has caused the populace in Nevada and back in New California to question the point of war. Kimball, however, insists on continuing the campaign and has invested much of his administration into fighting the Legion, resulting in the Campaign being nicknamed "Kimball's War," with the ramifications of victory or defeat tremendously affecting Kimball's entire career and the NCR as a whole.[6] [7]
Interactions with the player character
Interactions overview
| Interactions | ||
|---|---|---|
  |
This character is involved in quests. | |
Quests
- You'll Know It When It Happens, Wild Card: Finishing Touches, The House Always Wins, VI: The Courier is tasked by Colonel Moore, Yes Man, or Mr. House respectively to protect the president during his speech.
- Arizona Killer: The Courier is tasked by Caesar to assassinate President Kimball for the Legion.
Effects of player's actions
- If the Courier sides with Caesar's Legion, Caesar himself orders them to assassinate President Kimball when he comes to Hoover Dam to make his speech. Depending on the success of the Courier's efforts, Kimball either dies as Caesar intended, or escapes, infuriating the tyrant.
- If the Courier sides with the NCR, they work alongside Ranger Grant to provide security for President Kimball during his speech. Depending on how well this is done, Kimball either completes his speech and departs as planned, or is hustled to his personal Vertibird as one of the possible assassination attempts occurs, cutting his speech short.
- If the Courier sides with Mr. House, House sends them to Hoover Dam to protect President Kimball during his visit. If he dies, House reasons, Kimball will become a martyr for hawkish elements of the NCR Senate. If he lives and the NCR loses the campaign, however, he will be blamed for a costly and humiliating defeat. After securing his victory at Hoover Dam, House smugly notes that he and the Courier have nothing to fear from Kimball now- "He'll be too busy getting thrown out of office."[8]
- If the Courier fails to protect President Kimball during his visit under any affiliation save the Legion, Kimball will be assassinated by agents of Caesar.
Kimball's speech at Hoover Dam
Born in a tin shack on the outskirts of One Pine, Jeremy Watson never had it easy. His father worked as a caravan guard on the Short Loop, and his mother, like many Californians, braved the ruins of the Old World as a prospector. They suffered through water shortages, raider attacks, and the Brotherhood War. Like our mighty Sierra Nevadas, they endured. But the time came when they could no longer shoulder the burden alone. Twelve years ago, they called out for help, and the republic heard them.
Troopers and rangers, just like you, answered the clarion call. Men and women stepped forward to say, "I will carry the weight." And at Owen's Lake, we made true on our promise, driving out the raider tribes to establish a lasting peace in the eastern Sierra Nevadas. We carried the weight, and though we left behind many of our brothers and sisters on that battlefield, it did not break us.”There are some back home who ask me, "But who are we protecting? What is Nevada to us?" Sometimes we forget that the light of our society shines beyond our borders. Sometimes we take those privileges for granted that our forebears fought so hard to achieve. We must always remember that wherever Californians stand, we carry our principles with us: equal respect, representation, and protection under the laws of a just republic. This was the same fire that burned in the heart of the Old World that preceded us. We are the heirs of that civilization, torchbearers eastward of the Pacific, into the darkness of this wasted land.
When the republic called on the men and women of California to carry that fire across the Mojave, Jeremy Watson answered. You answered. Together, you carried the weight. And when PFC Watson's platoon came under attack at Forlorn Hope, he took the greatest risk, not only for his fellow Californians, but for California itself. He was prepared to make the most noble of sacrifices, to defend the principles of our republic, even here, on Nevada soil.”Not far from this spot, a monument stands as a tribute to the sacrifice made by those who came before us, the men and women who fulfilled the promise we made to the Desert Rangers. Its back is inscribed with the names of the troopers and rangers who carried the weight. And because they made the most noble of sacrifices, it did not break us.
Four years ago, we held this dam. Four years ago, we carried the weight. Four years ago, we drew a line through the Mojave as clear as the Colorado River, a line that Caesar cannot cross. Today, you stand here with our brothers and sisters to hold that line. Today, you honor all Californians by carrying that weight. Today, you are the waves of the Pacific, pushing ever eastward. You are the sequoias rising from the Sierra Nevadas, defiant and enduring. You are the great western light of California, torchbearers in the darkness, living reminders of all that is best in our republic.
Thank you. Thank you.
(Okay, let's get the fuck out of here. What the hell are you waiting for – do you think I want to get shot? Let's go.)”Inventory
| Apparel | Weapon | Other items | On death |
|---|---|---|---|
| President Kimball's suit | Hoover Dam key |
Notes
- Aaron Kimball is one of the characters that the Courier must eat in order to earn the Meat of Champions perk.
- Looking closely at Kimball during his speech at Hoover Dam will show that his lips don't move.
- Asking Mr. House why he's interested in preserving Aaron Kimball's life during his visit will lead House to explain that he simply wants Kimball to remain alive so he can become the scapegoat for his nation to place the blame upon after Mr. House pushes the NCR out of New Vegas, rather than becoming a martyr for his apparently unpopular cause of annexing the region. This will prevent New Vegas from being placed under an NCR trade embargo, or worse, having a war declared upon it.
- Dennis Crocker and Colonel Hsu have a portrait of President Kimball in their office. A defaced version of Kimball's portrait is also present in the warden's office at the NCR Correctional Facility, which has been taken over by Eddie and the Powder Gangers; the words "President Aaron Kimball" have also been replaced with "Peaches."
- He cannot be pickpocketed, even by using a Stealth Boy to sneak up on him.
- Even years after leaving the NCR Army, Kimball continues to wear a short, distinctly "military" haircut and maintains a hawkish political stance.
- This haircut can be chosen whilst creating or customising the Courier, and is called the "Sarge".
- Caesar grudgingly respects Kimball, calling him "a man of potential held back by the craven political context he inhabits." Caesar expresses approval of the harsh responses Kimball ordered against wasteland tribes who attacked NCR citizens while he was an NCR Army general, describing them as "swift and draconian." In addition, the fact that Caesar specifically wants Kimball assassinated speaks volumes of his estimation of Kimball's importance within the NCR's leadership structure and his importance to NCR morale.
- Ulysses respects Chief Hanlon a great deal more than he does Kimball. If the Courier comes to the Divide with a good reputation with the NCR, Ulysses refers to Kimball a "hollow man," like Dennis Crocker, possessing only "half the life Hanlon had," and even then only because of the Courier aiding him.
- Aaron is mentioned by Elijah if the player character traps him in the Sierra Madre vault. This can be heard when listening to Elijah's radio frequency after resolving the quest in the vault and only if the player character traps him alive.[9]
Appearances
Aaron Kimball appears only in Fallout: New Vegas. He is also mentioned in the Fallout: New Vegas add-ons Dead Money and Lonesome Road.
Gallery
- ↑ Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition p.458: "Important Dates:
2253: "President Tibbett is removed from office by a vote of no confidence following her "timid" response to the massacre of 38 NCR citizens at the hands of Mojave raiders. Her replacement, President Wendell Peterson, orders three battalions of NCR infantry into the Mojave."
2273 "Aaron Kimball retires from the NCR military and runs for office as one of Hub's political representatives (or "governors," as Hub idiosyncratically calls them). Less than two months into his term, Wendell Peterson is voted out of office and Aaron Kimball becomes the NCR's next President."
(Behind the Bright Lights & Big City) - ↑ Mr. House's dialogue: "Kimball rose to prominence as the "Hero of the Mojave" when he led a campaign of reprisals against tribals who dared to attack NCR citizens. "
- ↑ Mr. House's dialogue: "Ordering the occupation of Hoover Dam was his first act of office. As water and electricity flowed to NCR cities, his popularity soared."
- ↑ Hanlon: "It's no secret that we've had better campaigns. Holding this whole length of river isn't easy. We're stretched thin and the Long 15 just keeps getting longer. Slow to get supplies. Slower to get reinforcements. NCR's senate has got funds tied up at the Boneyard and President Kimball ordered our most experienced rangers to chase ghosts down in Baja."
- ↑ Mr. House's dialogue: "Conversely, his failure to annex the Mojave these seven years, and the immense costs of occupying a foreign land, have eroded his popular support."
- ↑ Hanlon: "Not too long ago, they took Nelson and Searchlight. They've got some camps on the eastern shore of the Colorado, and the monstrosity on the hill across the lake - that's for Caesar. Some folks don't believe he's here yet, but you can tell. He's the eye of the storm. It all roils and spins around him. You don't have to see the man to see the effect he has."
- ↑ House: "Kimball's entire political career is inextricably bound up with the NCR's occupation of the Mojave. It's his war. If I compell the NCR to retreat, Kimball will be the sacrifice offered to the gods, so decent NCR citizens can get on with their lives. In retrospect, the Mojave and Hoover Dam will seem like one man's misadventure. Kimball will be blamed, not me. Not New Vegas."
- ↑ Mr. House's dialogue (securitron): "No need to worry about the General, by the way. He'll be held responsible, publicly disgraced... 36.5% probability of suicide, by my estimate... Kimball won't be able to save him - he'll be too busy getting thrown out of office."
- ↑ Elijah: "Hnh. Going to wipe the slate clean. Kimball, the Republic... Hardin, McNamara, my "brothers." Then I'll head back West."
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Template:Navbox NCR presidents