During the Reagan Administration, the National Security Agency ordered Colonel Oliver North to drawn up a plan to take over the United States in the event of a "national emergency". The plan was named Rex-84. Under the cover of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) the plan consisted of seizure of all state and local capitals and suspension of the Constitution.

The legislative branches such as Congress and the Senate would be suspended indefinitely, and the judicial branches would be subservient to the will of the President. In effect, the plan would turn the world's largest democracy into the world's biggest dictatorship.

The plan was designed to be open-ended, meaning that it could be enacted at any time, under virtually any circumstances. From a terrorist strike to the pleasure of the president. All the government agencies needed to enact the plan, including FEMA, already exist. The only thing required is the order to make it happen.