MR. PRESIDENT: THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY (2nd Edition) Review -- a Godzilla Monster of a Board Game

About Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020 – 2nd Edition, from BoardGameGeek:

What's New in Mr. President, 2nd Edition. First off, several have asked me "Why a 2nd EDITION? Why not just reprint the original game in a 2nd Printing to get it back in stock as quickly as possible?" Well, we considered that, but after looking at the FAQ document, and with tens of thousands of games being played over the past few months and so many players posting their experiences online (thank you, I love to read your Presidential stories!), we have seen some places we can tighten up to help players understand the game better. There are some "balance" issues that I want to address on the design side as well. We are also using this opportunity to address the first edition errata. So, yes, we could have just reprinted. But because we want to make the game the best it can be, we've decided to take the approach of "fix the bugs and also give the players game enhancements," which means we're going to do a full-blown 2nd Edition. This approach means that we are going to have updates to most of the game's manuals, half a dozen cards, and a few counters. Those will all be folded into the 2nd Edition. For you 1st Edition owners, we are also offering what is going to be one behemoth of an Update Kit. The new 2nd Edition will include changes/upgrades to the following items: 6 cards 16 counters (duplicates of those in the 2023 Replacement Countersheet-note that four of these are very minor errata; the other 12 are helpful reminder counters) 4 double-sided Action Cards (Domestic, Diplomatic, Military, Presidential) Booklets: Scenario Booklet ~36 pages World Peer China ~12 pages World Peer Russia ~12 pages Ally/Rogue State ~12 pages World Charts ~32 pages Governing Manual ~52 pages Domestic Charts ~20 pages Flipbook ~28 pages Briefing Booklet ~20-24 pages. That's most of the Booklets and PACs in the game! As I noted above, some of this is to accommodate errata and clearer wording from the FAQ, but it will also include numerous game enhancements to make the game more challenging (especially in years 3 and following) and to add features, importance, and more difficult choices to areas like: Ally Relationships/Actions Strategic Capabilities Combat (Counterattacks, Carrier Support and Combat DRMs based on Strategic Capabilities, Heavy units less useful in Guerrilla War) Iran at War (including a new Action Table) Cascading Events (January Surprise) Mr. President is a solitaire game about governing as the President of the United States in the early 21st century. It's not an election game. It begins after you've been elected. It's about sitting in The Chair and trying to advance your agenda while navigating ongoing crises, political enemies, public opinion, your relations with Congress and the press, and keeping your country secure in a world of rival nations and agendas that just seems to keep blowing up around you. Mr. President is a resource management game where you never have enough resources to achieve your entire agenda and the path you take through an always unpredictable storyline rests on the choices you make. Depending on the results of those choices, and on the unfolding of a "different every game" story, you'll either be thinking "POTUS? Piece of Cake!" or "Why was it that I WANTED this job?" many times in each game.