| President Booth | |
|---|---|
President Booth (illustrated by Calum Alexander Watt) |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | IPC Media (Fleetway) to 1999, thereafter Rebellion Developments |
| First appearance | 2000 AD #67 (1978) |
| Created by | Pat Mills Mike McMahon |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Robert Linus Booth |
| Team affiliations | United States New Mutant Army |
Robert Linus Booth is a fictional character from the British comic strip Judge Dredd in 2000 AD. He was the last President of the United States and the man who initiated the Atomic Wars.
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In 2060, Booth was elected vice president, serving under President Harvisson. During Harvisson's second term he succeeded to the presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment, and was elected president in his own right in 2068 by rigging the vote-counting computers.[1]
Belligerent and wanting further power, he whipped up public sentiment with the idea that the rest of the world was living off America, sent the army to seize foreign oil reserves, assassinated a dissenting advisor, and threatened to disband the Judges and return to trial by jury. He finally started the Atomic Wars in 2070 in response to international opposition, having convinced the population (and himself) that America's nuclear screens could keep out retaliatory strikes.[2] The resulting devastation of America and the world led to the Judges taking control of the country. Booth fled the White House and took shelter in the Rocky Mountains with robot armies loyal to him; after the Battle of Armaggedon in 2071, he was captured and tried for war crimes. He was sentenced by Judge Solomon, who decreed that he should serve a 100 year term in suspended animation, locked up in the deepest vault in Fort Knox.[3]
Booth was served by three robot medics - Snap, Crackle and Pop - who replaced his blood annually to keep him alive. When Fort Knox was hit by a bomb in later years, the robots (following their programming) began to attack and drain blood from nearby villagers. This led to Booth being inadvertently revived in 2100, whereupon Judge Dredd sentenced him to life working on a Kentucky farm in the Cursed Earth.
In prog 1531, it was revealed that Booth easily took control of the farm, and that he viewed both Dredd's sentence and the Judgement of Solomon as being pathetic. By 2129 he had become the leader (and possible founder) of the New Mutant Army, an anti-judicial mutant guerilla army (previously introduced in a 2004 Judge Dredd Megazine story) that has gained widespread support in the Cursed Earth [4]. He also found Chief Judge Fargo's long-lost body, which had lain in cryogenic stasis since 2070, and ransomed it, intending to raise funds for his attempt to reconquer America and reinstate himself as leader. After capturing Dredd, he was taken hostage during Dredd's escape and was used as a human shield. This tactic failed to impress his underpaid and demoralised army, and they simply shot him, reasoning that they could always elect another president.
Booth first appeared in 2000 AD #67 and 68, in "The Cursed Earth." He later appeared in #1038–1040 in "The Hunting Party," and in the story "Origins" (#1505–1519 and 1529–1535).