Since he was a child, the would-be president Harley loved superheroes due to his Dad being a writer/artist for Major Comics. But a traumatic experience in his childhood marked his destiny.
Years after the death of his father, the young Harley had an epiphany inspired via Allen Adam: he discovers the secret of the Algorithm 8, the secret pattern of the universe, which lets him forsee the future of everything, from climate change to social movements and tendencies. He reflects this by wearing an 8 ring on his hand. The Algorithm is a metaphor for a comic book in which the reader controls the pace at which they read and can just as easily access the first page as they can the last page.
So, determined to save the world from itself, Harley put in movement a plan to establish Pax Americana over the world, with himself as the visible leader and with a team of superheroes to back-up. He even had Captain Atom create 3 towers where the original Twin Towers stood before 9/11. Before being elected president with Vice-President Eden, Harley was a governor. During his tenure as governor, he visited Allen Adam and convinced him to travel back in time to reveal to him the secret of Algorithm 8. Also, he was present at the White House when his predecessor George W. Bush was attacked by terrorists and used the opportunity to unleash his first Pax Americana superhero creation in Peacemaker. His actions to reach this objective were not always the most moral ones, shown by his essentially blackmail of Question with knowledge of his true identity to get him to join Pax Americana.
Harley planned to be spectaculary assasinated (by Peacemaker) and resurrected (by Captain Atom) in an effort to return America to greatness. He was successfully assassinated by Peacemaker but due to the machinations of his Presidential successor Eden in removing Allen Adam from Earth-4, he has yet to be resurrected.
However, as it was revealed, in someways Harley wanted to be punished for his secret crime: the accidental killing of his own father, the hero Yellowjacket. The young Harley idolized his father, who drew comic books at Major Comics for a living. But, unbeknownst to Harley, he also was moonlighting as Yellowjacket. While examining his dad’s drawings, Harley is startled by his dad returning from patrol and in response shoots who he believes to be an intruder. Harley never forgives himself for this sin, shown by the fact that he was stuck in life mourning his father until Captain Atom goes back in time to reveal Algorithm 8, his fascination with comic books as the inspiration for Pax Americana, and his final fate. Did he really want to be resurrected? Or it was the final consequence of his twisted plan all along?