An obscure masterpiece until recently, Ingersoll Lockwood's fin de sicle short story '1900; or, The Last President' was written in 1896 but uncannily describes the current political situation in America today. Indeed, many readers believe the author tapped into a mysterious force in the composition of his eerily clairvoyant tale. The futuristic fable outlines the rise of a populist president in "the fatal year of 1999," and extrapolates what the consequences of electing such a seemingly popular Commander-in-Chief might be.