United States government in Jericho

This is an outline of the various fictional remnants of the United States government created in the aftermath of the nuclear attacks in the CBS series Jericho. NOTE: Plot spoilers below

Successor states
In the second season of Jericho, the government of the United States is shown to have split into three separate factions: the original United States, which controls the states to the east of the Mississippi River; the Allied States of America, which controls the other states, excluding Texas; and Texas itself, which became an independent nation. Separating the United States of America and the new Allied States of America along their common border is the "Blue Line", a security perimeter set up by United Nations peacekeepers. The status of Hawaii and Alaska is unclear: both have Jennings and Rall offices, but the Allied States' flag has only 21 stars, accounting for the 21 continental states under its control, so whether or not they have joined any side is unclear.

Allied States of America
The Allied States of America is a separatist faction of the United States of America, formed in response to the nuclear bombings. Its capital is located in Cheyenne, Wyoming (now known as the "Federal District of Cheyenne"); the states west of the Mississippi River (including Kansas, in which Jericho is located), except for Texas, are within its claimed borders. The Allied States' flag is an altered version of the flag of the United States; its stripes are aligned vertically (as in the U.S. Coast Guard Ensign) and only 21 stars are present. Soldiers in the Allied States military wear arm patches displaying the new flag.

The Allied States of America is led by President Tomarchio, a former US senator. Much of its administration is suggested to be made up of former Jennings & Rall (J&R) employees, and thus the fictional corporation, and its paramilitary subsidiary Ravenwood, are afforded preferential treatment and sweeping monopolistic powers. The Allied States of America promotes itself as being born of a desire to create a much stronger government, but in reality it is a corporatocracy (like the East India Trading Company) with J&R leading the way. While it has been implied throughout the series that the attacks may have been a nuclear coup attempt initiated by those inside the new government, Robert Hawkins discovers in "Sedition" the secret that the attacks were actually the work of an unknown agent. The mysterious mastermind had sought to orchestrate the destruction of Jennings & Rall by using the attacks to "uproot" it from its original position of power and influence in the US government. His plan intended that the US Government would recover afterward, but backfired when the ASA formed to grab for power, taking J&R as its ready ally. The ASA swiftly made J&R far more powerful than ever before.

Because a joint session of the United States Congress was being addressed by the President in Washington, D.C. at the time of the attacks, many of the successors to the Presidency were killed, leaving the line of succession unclear. Six different officials were claiming to be the legitimate successor, Tomarchio among them. Several of these other leaders must have eventually capitulated, and the Allied States of America was born. ASA citizens had little choice in these matters, due to the devastating realities and aftermath of such a massive and shocking series of attacks. Many Americans, however, are so terrified and traumatized that they are fearfully willing to accept the new government freely granting itself fascistic powers in order to "keep America safe".

The Allied States is forming a new Constitutional Convention to totally rewrite the US Constitution, even though they do not control the entire country. One known change is that the Second Amendment has been eliminated. The ASA Government has also begun distributing completely rewritten history books, which state that Iran and North Korea were responsible for initiating the nuclear attacks. The books go on to lay additional blame at the feet of the former US Government, for its "ineptitude" in allowing the attacks to take place and for its "gridlocked" reaction. The books further claimed that the Vietnam War was lost over the former government's "failure of will". The books are immediately recognized by the citizens of Jericho as thinly veiled propaganda designed to sway the American people toward the belief that they will be much safer in the future for pledging allegiance to "a New America" with the ASA.

United States of America
The original US Government still exists and is attempting to reassemble itself with those states east of the Mississippi River under its control. While still reeling from the attacks, the US is also forced to compete for its very existence against the AS Government. Its leader is the surviving legitimate designated successor, Secretary of Health and Human Services Charles.

A major setback to the mastermind of the nuclear attacks, as well as those who formed the Allied States of America, is that New York City and Columbus, Ohio, two major cities in the eastern United States, which were also supposed to have been destroyed, survived unharmed. Due to increased security measures by the NYPD after the September 11, 2001 attacks, as well as from Hawkins' last minute tipoff, the nuclear bomb set to be detonated in New York City was intercepted moments before it would have exploded, and the city was saved. Hawkins simply never brought the nuclear bomb he was assigned to Columbus, and instead brought it with him to Jericho. As a direct result, the states east of the Mississippi River are in a significantly stronger position than those behind the attacks had expected.

Independent Republic of Texas
The energy-rich Texas did not join the Allied States of America, nor has it reunited with the United States to the east; it became the Independent Republic of Texas, a sovereign state, and the wild card in the struggle for North American supremacy after the nuclear attacks. If the Independent Republic of Texas were to ally with either the Allied States or the United States, it would drastically tip the odds in the favor of whoever it chooses to join. A major plotline of Season 2 is the residents of Jericho trying to use Hawkins' Columbus-bound nuclear bomb as "smoking-gun" evidence to convince the Texan government that the nuclear attacks were actually a conspiracy by the current leaders of the Allied States to seize power, hopefully causing Texas to rejoin the United States. Despite some interference by the architect of the conspiracy, the bomb is successfully delivered. When the bomb is delivered into the hands of Texas, it rejoins the United States, tipping the odds in the inevitable civil war in their favor. The Independent Republic of Texas is led by Governor Todd.

Original faction leaders
Immediately after the September 2006 attacks, a power vacuum ensued across the United States, as indecision and lack of communication began to take its toll on the various surviving regions of the nation. The following information was depicted in the season one episode Blackjack, and season two episode Patriots & Tyrants.

FEMA camps
Shortly after the bombs went off, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) successfully setup refugee camps near blast sites. There are presumably numerous camps (with varying conditions), but only a few are specifically mentioned: Topeka ("Long Live the Mayor"), West Chicago Camp ("Casus Belli"), a camp near Baltimore ("Black Jack"), and a camp at an unknown location with 10,000 refugees ("Semper Fidelis"). A camp in Lexington, Kentucky, was also mentioned by Sarah Mason in the online video segment Ask the Mystery Woman. Semper Fidelis also noted that food riots occurred in the West Chicago Camp, resulting in the overpowering of their Marine guards.

Foreign relations
One of the questions posed to Robert Hawkins in his segments on the CBS website is whether any targets outside of the U.S. were attacked. His response is that he hasn't heard of any, but that "it wouldn't surprise [him]". The fake Marines in "Semper Fidelis" say that North Korea and Iran have been attacked in retaliation by the U.S., which is confirmed to be done by the Allied States under the orders of President Tomarchio in "retaliation for the September bombings". With Hawkins' intimate knowledge of the attacks, it is determined that the strikes on North Korea and Iran are likely a cover-up of a domestic conspiracy.

Also, China and Germany have apparently performed several air supply drops to U.S. citizens (mostly food, but also mechanical and medical supplies).

The United Nations is involved in keeping the peace between the Allied and United States. Now with evidence about Cheyene involvement in September Attacks the United Nations will likely withdraw.