Editing Theodore Cameron (26th c.)

{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = 
| caption             = 
| name                = Theodore Cameron
| birthdate           = [[2434]]
| died                = 
| affiliation         = [[House Cameron]]
| rank                =
| title               = 
| position            = [[Director-General of the Terran Hegemony|Director-General]]
| profession          = Noble
| parents             = [[Jacob Cameron]] (father)<br>[[Constance Zel]] (mother)
| siblings            = 
| spouse              = [[Joanna Simons]]
| children            = [[Elizabeth Cameron]]
}}
'''Theodore Cameron''' was a [[House Cameron]] noble, [[HAF]] officer, and the 9th [[Director-General]] of the [[Terran Hegemony]].

==Character Description==
Theodore's personality was heavily influenced during his upbringing by his egocentric father.  He was a spoiled man, who lived a life of luxury while neglecting affairs of state, with the notable exception of the military.<ref>''The Star League'', p. 30, "Jacob Cameron"</ref><ref name=SLSB-30DC>''The Star League'', p. 30, "The Decadent Camerons"</ref> 
 
==History==
===Early Life and Career===
The child of Director-General Jacob Cameron and actress Constance Zel, Theodore was raised in the comfort of his wealthy family, though he also joined and gained experience with the [[HAF]].<ref name=SLSB-30DC/>

===As Director-General of the Terran Hegemony===
====Theodore The Decadent====
Theodore became Director-General after his father suffered a fatal stroke in [[2461]].  Years of his father's reign had strained the relation between the people and the Directorship.  The people fervently hoped that Theodore would be a better leader than his late father; however, the people did not show much faith in Theodore to be the new Director-General, for when the time came to vote, only twenty-five percent of the population voted to have Theodore installed.

Their worries would prove correct.  Though he was strong and decisive on the affairs of the military,  Theodore was indecisive and ineffective when making decisions regarding civilian related issues such as restructuring taxes.  His inability to help the people helped fuel the population's anger at the runaway inflation and the shortage of basic goods caused by the late [[Jacob Cameron]].  Theodore would continue his father's military buildup plan and ignore the needs of the public.  He also spent large sums of money on himself, buying and building extravagant palaces on [[Terra]], such as restoring the [[w:Palace_of_Versailles|Palace of Versailles]] and constructing new ones including the Castle-by-the-Columbia, the Chicago Palaces, and built many more on other planets nearby<ref name=SLSB-30DC/>

====The Alamo and the Assault of the Oriente System====
=====The Alamo Incident=====
In July [[2470]], Theodore had the [[w:Alamo_Mission|Alamo Mission]] in San Antonio, Texas destroyed in order to build an oversized ranch for himself.  This outraged the public to the point of triggering work stoppages which spanned the entire planet within three days.  The citizens began to riot, due to the excess of Theodore Cameron, shouting the rallying cry, "Remember the Alamo!", mirroring the cry shouted centuries before.

The high councilors, realizing that the public would overthrow the government unless they acted, convinced Theodore to respond the correct way to the incident he had caused.  He apologized to the people of Terra and promised to rebuild the Alamo.  Within six days of the start of the incident, it ended.  The experience changed him to be more prudent on personal expenditures; however, it was not enough to change his taste for the good life and its excesses.<ref name=SLSB-30DC/>

=====Assault of Oriente System=====
In [[2475]], [[House Marik]] had been secretly building an invasion force in the [[Oriente]] system, consisting of [[WarShip]]s and a few of the League's prized [[BattleMech]] regiments.  The invasion force was poised to strike the Capellan Confederation for rejecting their offer to jointly attack the [[Terran Hegemony]].  The League's relation with the Hegemony had been deteriorating for a while to culminate into general resentment.<ref>''House Marik (The Free Worlds League)'', p. 17, The Free Worlds and Terra</ref>  That same year, newly installed and slightly unstable [[Captain-General of the Free Worlds League|Captain-General]] [[Carlos Marik]] abruptly changed the League's plan to attack the Confederation and marshaled his force to attack the Terran Hegemony instead.  Before the attack began, a League aide leaked the plans for the invasion of the Hegemony to a Terran spy.<ref>''Handbook: House Marik'', p. 21, Paradigm Shift</ref>  Theodore, already concerned about the buildup in the Oriente system, armed with the knowledge that the force would hit his nation instead, took personal command of the strike force.  Using the battlecruiser ''Kiev'', Theodore led the Hegemony fleet on a preemptive strike at the assembled League fleet.  The League forces were utterly destroyed when Theodore's fleet took them completely by surprise.<ref>''Handbook: House Marik'', p. 25, Timeline: The Age of War</ref><ref name=SLSB-30DC/>

The strike devastated the League's navy. Their best and newest Warships along with their most expert soldiers who were assembled in the Oriente system destroyed.  The disaster and its aftermath triggered a hasty reevaluation of Captain-General Carlos Marik and eventually led to his unseating by his brother [[Brion Marik|Brion]] in a bloodless coup.  Years later, after the Marik internal crisis was resolved, Theodore extended a peace treaty to Captain-General Brion, which was signed in [[2478]].  Theodore would attend Brion's funeral in [[2511]].<ref>''Handbook: House Marik'', p. 21, Paradigm Shift</ref><ref>[http://www.classicbattletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=76239.0;topicseen BattleTech developers confirm that Theodore Cameron's death in the old Star League sourcebook is incorrect.] (dead link)</ref>

==Family and Legacy==
Theodore married Joanna Simons and had a daughter, [[Elizabeth Cameron|Elizabeth]].

He would be remembered for his love of excess, the destruction of the Alamo, and for his successful military strike during the Oriente crisis.<ref>''The Star League'', pp. 30, 32, 182 The Decadent Camerons & The Cameron Family tree - Legacy and family.</ref>

==Notes== 
* ''[[The Star League]]'' sourcebook appears to suggest, but does not directly state, that Jacob Cameron's son Theodore Cameron was involved in the Battle of Tybalt in 2435. However, according to the Family Tree in that sourcebook Jacob's son Theodore was born in 2434, making it impossible for him to be part of the battle. It was later clarified by ''[[Technical Readout: 3075]]'' that the Theodore on Tybalt was only a "relative" of Jacob Cameron, indicating it was a different, older relative of Jacob [[Theodore Cameron (25th c.)|Theodore Cameron]], and not his then 1 year old son.

* Theodore's "death" was originally recorded in [[2479]], Theodore originally died of pneumonia, due him partying for three days in wet season on [[Thorin]]; however, [[Handbook: House Marik]] would alter his death, allowing him to live to attend the funeral of Brion Marik in [[2511]], 32 years after his original death.<ref>''The Star League'', pp. 30 & 182, The Decadent Camerons & The Cameron Family tree - original publication shows the death of Theodore in 2479.</ref>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
*''[[Handbook: House Marik]]''
*''[[House Marik (The Free Worlds League)]]''
*''[[The Star League]]''

[[Category:Terran Hegemony Characters|Cameron (26th c.), Theodore]]
[[Category:Director-General|Cameron (26th c.), Theodore]]