Captain America #250
Cap For President!
When the hospitality room of a upscale hotel is held hostage by members of a terrorist group called the MLA, Captain America arrives and saves the hostages. As it turns out, the room was being used by the New Populist Party, a third party that is running in the upcoming presidential election. The chairman, Samuel Underwood, is grateful and introduces Cap to some of his staff who are huge fans.[1]
It’s there that Underwood gets a sudden moment of inspiration asks Cap if he would consider being their candidate for President. While Captain America is flattered, he tells them that he isn’t much into politics. Underwood insists that he would make a great leader and Cap decides to think on it. This doesn’t stop Underwood from making a call to the media to tell them that Captain America is considering a run for the presidency.
Returning home, Steve Rogers can’t decide what to make about the offer to run for president. As he changes back into his street clothes he is visited by his neighbor, Josh Cooper, who has come to deliver a letter that came in a few days ago. Steve opens the letter and discovers that it is only a questionnaire from the military and not that important.[2] They then go outside to help Bernie Rosenthal, their new neighbor, move into her apartment. After the moving is done they get to know each other over coffee and learn that she is an old friend of another neighbor, Mike Farrel. When Mike shows up he has a huge surprise for them all: The Daily Globe has a front page exclusive about Captain America potentially running for president. Since his friends don’t know that he is secretly Captain America, he listens as they all think Cap should run, even though the general public doesn’t know much about the man behind the mask because he has represented the American ideal since the war.
Later, when Captain America goes to Avengers Mansion, there is a crowd of supporters and the media gathered outside the gate. He declines to make comment before heading inside. There, Jarvis gives him letters from both the Democrat and Republican Parties, who are now asking him to run for their parties. All of the other Avengers are very supportive of Cap running except Iron Man, who warns his friend about how much red tape you have to deal with in politics. The Vision also is concerned that Captain America’s mentality — rooted in the 1940s — might not be the best suited to solving today’s problems. That’s when Jarvis interrupts to tell him that there is a call from the President. Cap decides not to take the call but tells Jarvis to pass along the message that he has a lot of thinking to do.
Meanwhile, opinion on the announcement is mixed among the population. Many support the idea of Captain America running, while others are not so sure if it is a good idea, and one man dismisses it all as part of some grand conspiracy. The superhero community also is divided on the issue.[3] Surprisingly, Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson likes the idea until his editor, Joe Robertson, jokes about this paving the way for Spider-Man entering public office as well. This is not very well received.[4]
By the evening, Captain America is surprised by the public reaction to the idea of him running for politics and decides to go out on patrol to clear his head. He happens to pass by his old elementary school which has long since been boarded up. Sneaking into his old classroom he is reminded of his old teacher, Edna Crosley, who was very civic minded and instilled in her students the importance of doing one’s duty for their country. Remembering how she told her students to not let her down, Cap promises to live up to her request. Having made up his mind, Cap decides to call Underwood and arrange to make a public speech.
A few hours later at the NPP National Convention, Samuel Underwood is pleased to announce Captain America. Cap takes the podium to thunderous applause. However, he shocks everyone when he tells everyone that he will not be running for president. He explains that as a defender of liberty he must be ready to act at any moment, something he will not be able to effectively do if he decides to run for office. He goes on to say that he does not represent the politics of the day, but the American Dream, something that is very different from the American Reality and that he will keep on fighting to make that dream come true. Once Captain America finishes his speech the crowd quietly disburses, dropping their campaign signs on the ground.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Bernie Rosenthal, Josh Cooper, Mike Farrel, Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Avengers (Iron Man, Wasp, Vision, Beast), Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Daredevil, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson
Continuity Notes
The men who are introduced to Captain America all state that they served during World War II. This has some issues with the Sliding Timescale, as explained below. Also, one of them mentions how Cap had been in suspended animation following the end of the war until a few years ago, this was all detailed in Avengers #4.
This letter was delivered in issue #247 and was made out to be a big deal for apparently nothing. If I were to hazard a guess, Roger Stern and John Byrne were planning something important with it but then dropped it since they were moving off the book in another couple of issues. This letter is not brought up again until Captain America #312, when Steve receives a huge payment from the government as backpay for his military service.
Here, Daredevil quips that Captain America would make a better president than his friend, Foggy Nelson, did as District Attorney. Foggy has been Matt Murdock’s long time law partner dating back to Daredevil #1. Foggy was elected the DA for New York back in Daredevil #11 a position he held until he was defeated by Blake Tower in issue #130 of that series.
In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last 50 odd years, Jameson has had a hate on for Spider-Man since Amazing Spider-Man #1 after the web-slinger saved Jonah’s son John from a space flight gone bad. This cemented the belief that Spider-Man was a glory hound and not a real hero.
Topical References
One of the news correspondents is identified as being a reporter for CBS news. This should be considered topical as CBS is a real world television network.
Characters World War II Service
In this story, a number of people state that they had fought in World War II. Specifically, some members of the New Populist Party as well as a man on the street who is interviewed by the media (that same man also claims to have watched the first moon landing) This becomes problematic as the Sliding Timescale pushes the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe forward in time making the period between World War II and the Modern Age longer. At the time of this writing (November, 2021) these characters would be in their 80s, at the very least.
Marvel has yet to provide an explanation for all of this and it seems unlikely they will for such one-off characters who appear in a single story. That said, it seems equally unlikely that any of these men would have received any sort of life-extending procedures like many recurring wartime characters do. The only reconcilable solution then is to consider their involvement in World War II to be considered topical.
One could assume that the members of the NPP had family members who fought in World War II and that they heard stories about Captain America from them.
As for the man on the street, one could assume that he is speaking in hyperbole when he says that he “remembers Cap” from the War and says that his running for President is the greatest thing since the moon landing.
