United States government

	Cleanup (Issue: Overlap with the Enclave article; turn focus on the apparent structure of the government and its agencies) To meet Nukapedia's quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. Please help by improving the article.

	For Sorrel Booker's "government", see Govermint.

Part of a series on the
United States of America
Government
Executive Branch Department of the Treasury · United States Space Administration Legislative Branch Congress · Senate · House of Representatives Judicial Branch Supreme Court
States, Commonwealths, and Territories
State · Commonwealths · Canada
Military
United States Army (Engineers) · United States Navy · United States Air Force · National Guard · Marine Corps Revolutionary War · American Civil War · Spanish-American War · World War I · World War II · Vietnam War · Resource Wars (Invasion of Mexico · Annexation of Canada · Sino-American War) · Great War
Politics
Republican Party · Flag of the United States
Economy
United States dollar · Automation riots · Food riots · Robotics
History
Lists
Characters · Conflicts · Divisions · Locations · Legislation · Presidents
v · d · e

The United States government was the governing body of the United States of America, a federal republic before the Great War.

Its structure has inspired or was used as pattern by other factions, like the New California Republic and the Enclave.

Background[]

Pre-War[]

Before the War, the Enclave served as a shadow government within the legal federal government of the United States. Members of the Enclave were military hardliners who both embraced the idea of a nuclear war to rid the world of Communist influence and knew that the common man could not survive it. Its members acted as lobbyists for major American corporations like Vault-Tec Corporation, General Atomics International and RobCo Industries. They believed that as long as the "important people" of the United States survived, they could regroup quickly and build a better world without the threat posed by China or anyone else to the American way of life.

In March 2077, the Enclave and last president established itself on the Poseidon Energy oil-drilling platform known as Control Station ENCLAVE, situated off the coast of San Francisco.^{[Non-game 1]} This location was discovered by the Boston-based newspaper Boston Bugle.^[2] In the event of a nuclear war, this was intended to ensure the continuity of the U.S. government's leadership.

Post-War[]

While the Enclave started to claim to be the continuation of the United States government, their idea of continuity of government was a violent coup; any non-Enclave personnel who took shelter in government bunkers were apprehended and executed without trial.^[3] Immediately after the War, attempts to pass as the US government succeeded at times, as with Colonel Ellen Santiago, but failed with other veterans, eg. Captain Oliver Fields.^[4]

Eventually, the Enclave came to be seen as just one of many power groups trying to impose their will on post-War America,^[5] and Enclave presidents merely "so-called".^[6] By 2277, there was no U.S. government presence at federal government buildings such as the Pentagon and the Capitol Building, as the Capital Wasteland had no central political authority or law enforcement mechanism.

Executive branch[]

In the years prior to the Great War, the executive branch was headed by the last President of the United States, who worked with his cabinet. It included multiple departments and agencies with the intended goal of executing the laws of the country.

Known departments[]

Image	Name	Head	Role
-	Department of Agriculture	Thomas Eckhart	The executive department of US government officially responsible for managing and regulating agriculture.
	United States Forest Service		The government agency under the Department of Agriculture tasked with managing America's national forests.
-	Department of Antiquities		An executive department of US government of an unknown purpose.
-	Department of Commerce	Secretary of Commerce[7]	The executive department of US government responsible for managing economic growth
-	Bureau of the Census[8]		The government agency under the Department of Commerce tasked with producing data about the US population and economy.
-	Department of Defense	Secretary of Defense	The executive department of US government responsible for national defense.
-	War Relocation Authority		Responsible for rounding up anyone anyone they believed posed a threat to national security, namely those of Chinese ancestry, and isolating them from the rest of the population. Chinese-Americans across the country were forced out of their homes and placed in concentration camps.[9]
	United States Department of the Army	Secretary of the Army[Non-canon 1]	Oversaw and managed the entire United States Army.[10]
-	Joint Chiefs of Staff		A pre-War advisory board to the President and Secretary of Defense, made up of the top military leaders of the nation.
-	Reclamation and Restoration Division		Responsible for the rehabilitation of old military sites, or defunct sources of materiel and supplies vital to the war effort.[11]
	Defense Intelligence Agency		Responsible for monitoring the threat of various foreign and domestic powers. They maintained an extensive intelligence network abroad and on the domestic front, comprised of human intelligence, signals intelligence, data processing and more.[12]
-	Strategic Air Command		A specified command of the Defense Department, responsible for maintaining the United States' nuclear stockpile.
	Department of Energy		The executive department of US government responsible for managing the country's energy, particularly nuclear.
-	Department of the Interior	Secretary of the Interior	The executive department of US government responsible for managing the country's land and resources.
	Bureau of Reclamation[13][14][15]		The government agency under the Department of Interior tasked with managing the country's water resources.
	National Park Service		The government agency under the Department of Interior tasked with managing the country's national parks.
-	United States Geological Survey	Director of the USGS[16]	The government agency under the Department of Interior tasked with studying the country's lands and natural resources and assessing natural threats.
-	Department of Justice	Attorney General[7]	The executive department of US government responsible for enforcing federal law and administration of justice.
-	Bureau of Alcohol, Drugs, Tobacco, Firearms and Lasers		The government agency under the Department of Justice tasked with regulating weapons and controlled substances in the country, as well as enforcing them.
	Federal Bureau of Investigation		The government agency under the Department of Justice serving as the nation's principle federal law enforcement agency.
-	Federal Bureau of Prisons[Non-canon 2]		The government agency under the Department of Justice responsible for the US citizenry incarcerated for federal crimes.
-	Department of Labor		The executive department of US government responsible for managing laws regarding employment.
-	Department of State	Secretary of State[17][18]	The executive department of US government responsible for managing foreign relations.
	Department of the Treasury	Secretary of the Treasury	The executive department of US government responsible for managing the US national treasury and finances.
	Secret Service		The government agency under the Department of the Treasury responsible for managing the nation's currency and protecting its leaders.
-	Internal Revenue Service		The government agency under the Department of the Treasury responsible for collecting taxes and administering federal tax codes.
-	Department of War	Secretary of War[17][18]	An executive department of US government which held some responsibility over the army
	Post Office Department		The executive department of US government responsible managing the country's postal services.

Known agencies[]

• The Atomic Energy Commission is mentioned in the song Uranium Fever, which plays on Diamond City Radio. The agency still existed in the year 2241 on the Enclave Oil Rig.^[19]
• The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted federal law enforcement,^[20] in addition to confiscating and marking seditious books and magazines for burning.^[21]
• The Food and Drug Administration, responsible for food and drug safety standards.^{[Non-game 2]}
• The Bureau of Alcohol, Drugs, Tobacco, Firearms and Lasers regulated alcohol, drugs, tobacco, firearms and laser weaponry.
• The Secret Service protected the president before the Great War and were assigned to Vault 79 to protect the nation's newly-moved gold reserve. A branch of the Enclave, also bearing the Secret Service name, was present on the Enclave Oil Rig in 2241.
• Other independent federal agencies included the United States Space Administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission,^[22] and the National Archives and Records Administration.
• The Environmental Protection Agency is mentioned in the Sierra mission statement. A local facility was also supposed to appear, but was cut from Fallout 2.
• Some agencies with uncertain subordination include the Federal Fitness Registry, Civil Defense Administration and the National Catastrophe Relief Auxiliary. The "Department of Water and Power" dispelled rumors about water contamination in the event of a nuclear war, though it is unclear if this was part of the executive branch.^[23]
• Mentioned only in the canceled Van Buren, the Unamerican Activities Force was also active in finding communists within America.^{[Non-canon 3]}
• According to the Van Buren tech demo plot, the federal government could exercise only limited power over the units of the U.S. Army. According to their names, at least some Armored Infantry Divisions actually belonged to the American commonwealths rather than the federal government, a situation similar to that of the state volunteer regiments raised by the states and placed into federal service during the American Civil War.^{[Non-canon 4]}

Judicial branch[]

• The Supreme Court is mentioned in a terminal entry in the National Archives.^[24]
• According to design documents from the canceled Van Buren, federal courts were closely connected to the penitentiary system of the United States. One such penitentiary, Tibbets Prison, was "committed to carrying out the judgments" of the federal courts.^{[Non-canon 5]}

Legislative branch[]

• On February 15, 2075, both the House of Representatives and the Senate voted unanimously to impeach the president for jaywalking. However, this information is from the Sierra Depot GNN transcript, which is an unreliable source.^[25]
• The complete books of the Library of Congress were packed in the G.E.C.K.
• Congress was responsible for the affairs of the District of Columbia, including the District of Columbia Transit Authority.^[26]
• General Accounting Office: the audit, evaluation and investigative firm of Congress.

Known government members[]

Executive branch[]

• Last President of the United States
• Last Cabinet of the United States
  • Thomas Eckhart, Secretary of Agriculture
  • Last Secretary of the Treasury
  • Last Secretary of the Interior
  • Last Secretary of Defense
• Warren Eccleston, White House spokesman
• Ransette, Department of Defense employee
• Robert, federal agency official

Legislative branch[]

• Last Speaker of the House of Representatives^[27]
• Former senator Sam Blackwell of the Appalachian Territories^[28][29][30]
• Senator Burk^[31]
• Senator Calvert^[32]
  • Two other unnamed Calvert family senators^[33]
• Senator Clark^[34]
• Senator Jon McDougall^[35]
• Senator Jody Sorreset^[36]
• Senator DeSoto^[37]
• Unnamed dead senator in the Capitol Building presidential sub level.^[38]
• Unnamed senator, captured by Mothership Zeta^[39]
• Seven unnamed Calverts in the House of Representatives^[33]
• Senator Todd Peterson^{[Non-canon 6]}

Behind the scenes[]

• The Food and Drug Administration is mentioned in Boston Bugle Volume 12, a promotional item that came with the Pip-Boy 2000 Mk VI FM radio module.^{[Non-game 3][Non-game 2]} It is also mentioned in the Fallout TV series promotion Fallout - A Special LIVE Report from Galaxy News.^{[Non-game 4]}
• Daniel Bird's quote regarding NASA is simply a verbatim reference to a quote by real world former Vice President Dan Quayle. Since Fallout 3, the analog of NASA is the USSA.

References[]

Non-game

Non-canon