Oscar Saint-Just

Oscar Saint-Just is a fictional character in the Honorverse, a series of military science fiction novels written by David Weber. His name is most likely a reference to Louis de Saint-Just, an important figure in the French Revolution, who sat in the Comité de Salut Public (Committee of Public Safety) with Robespierre.

As First Undersecretary for Internal Security, Oscar Saint-Just was the second highest-ranking man in the People's Republic of Haven's security apparatus. He managed to bring the support of some Internal Security officers to the plot led by Robert S. Pierre and Cordelia Ransom. Following the murder of Secretary Constance Palmer-Levy, he became the last Secretary for Internal Security of the Legislaturalist regime, aiding in the assassination of Hereditary President Harris.

With Pierre and Ransom, Saint-Just became member of the triumvirate which led the People's Republic under the guise of the Committee of Public Safety. He retained his office of Secretary for Security, and amalgamated the many security and intelligence agencies of the People's Republic into a single organization known as the "Office of State Security", "StateSec" or "SS" for short. He was responsible for the many purges in the military and the Legislaturalist families. Despite these violent acts, Saint-Just was not a bloodthirsty person like Cordelia Ransom; he only approved of these actions because he saw no other way.

Saint-Just was the only member of the Committee of Public Safety to survive the attempted coup by Esther McQueen; all the other members (except Rob S. Pierre, who was killed by McQueen's troops; Ransom, who had died during Honor Harrington's escape; and others who had been previously purged) died when Saint-Just ordered the detonation of nuclear devices placed under the Octagon, where they had been imprisoned by McQueen. He then became the last Chairman of the Committee of Public Safety, which had become a committee of one.

When news of the death of Manticoran Prime Minister Allen Summervale reached Haven, Saint-Just offered a truce to Manticore's new government, which accepted it. Distrusting the military, he planned to place it under the direct authority of StateSec and begin a new round of purges, but Admiral Thomas Theisman launched a successful coup. Theisman, instead of capturing Saint-Just for public judgment in a show trial, personally shot the Chairman and paved the way for the reconstruction of the Constitutional Republic under President Eloise Pritchart.

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