James Cofield (The Chiefs of State)

James Ronald Cofield (February 2, 1896 - June 17, 1963) was the 34th President of the United States from 1953 to 1957. A Southern Democrat from Alabama, he grew up in North Carolina, rising through the ranks of state government, eventually becoming Senator for that state. Following his 1950 speech on the Senate floor in favour of the war in Korea, Cofield was thrust into the national spotlight, later becoming a major candidate for Democrats in the 1952 presidential election, and eventually achieving electoral victory as the party's nominee.

As president, Cofield was a considered a "soft-interventionist"; maintaining the war against North Korea, and escalating conflict in Indochina. He was also an ardent southern conservative, being ambivalent to, or even going so far as supporting the segregation within the south, as well as being a supporter of Joseph McCarthy (at least in the early months of his term). His early popularity waned towards the mid-1950's due to public dissatisfaction with his conservative, interventionist policies, as well as the Democratic party's long control of the presidency (twenty-four years at the end of Cofield's term), and during the 1956 election, the incumbent lost against the former governor of Indiana, Richard Morten.