General Lee Oliver

A career New California Republic Army soldier, General Lee Oliver is an outspoken supporter of President Aaron Kimball's campaign of eastward expansion into the Mojave.[2][3] As the commander of the republic's forces in the Mojave, he is responsible for the overall strategy in the theater. General Oliver and Chief Hanlon were instrumental in the NCR's victory at the First Battle of Hoover Dam,[4] but Oliver remains bitter that the NCR Rangers under Hanlon received most of the credit for the victory, which has negatively affected his strategy going forward.[5] As leader of the Mojave Campaign, Oliver has been derided by other members of the NCRA[6] and observers as a blockheaded, aggressive glory hound without the forethought necessary to win the war.[Non-game 1]

This is perhaps best exemplified by his preparations for the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, which Robert House derisively refers to as "tunnel vision."[7] NCRA forces have been concentrated on Hoover Dam, at the cost of NCR positions elsewhere in the Mojave, and Legion activity across the region has been ignored or met with token responses.[5] While the Legion builds an increasingly strong foothold on the western bank of the Colorado River at Cottonwood Cove, Lee recently left his administrative post at Camp McCarran to continue the build up of the garrison at the dam proper. There he intends to confront the Legion in a glorious great battle with a mass of NCR troops in an attempt to destroy the enemy through attrition.[8] This strategy has earned him the defamatory moniker "General Wait-and-see" among many lower-ranking officers and soldiers, who generally do not think much of him, and believe that he got his post largely due to cronyism

The situation is complicated by Oliver's personal grudge against the Rangers and Chief Hanlon, due to the role they played during the First Battle of Hoover Dam in 2277. The strategic ingenuity of Hanlon's plan earned him widespread praise and popularity, obscuring Oliver and the regular NCRA's contributions. As a result, Oliver is determined to win the second battle entirely with his own methods, to the point of obstinately refusing to listen to Hanlon's input and jeopardizing Rangers in the field.[6]

Despite this, Oliver is not without redeeming qualities. He is a patriot, dedicated to the NCR and what it stands for. At the same time, he is also a rational man, unwilling to throw his men away at a lost cause or to just protect the NCR's honor if he is convinced he would lose. He has the republic's interests at heart and is willing to commit drastic changes to the campaign if he is convinced they would benefit the Republic in the long term