"If Mr. Toyoda gets the Toyota presidency, it would be the first time in over a decade that a member of the company’s founding family was at the helm. "
The question is : Is was a Subjunctive?
The answer is : Yes, the Clause where was is located is certainly a Subjuntive Clause.
Just because the phrase is headed by the Conjunction that.
It is easy get confuse with the context that surrounds a question like, Is was a Subjunctive?
And the main reason for that is, Subjunctive in English is not easy task to do. Nobody seems to be willing bothering. You must create a context where the indicator verb can be located safely in order to project the idea as you originally conceived it.
The Statement is compound, that is, it is not a single phrase, nor a single sentence either
It's a Compound Statement. And each Clause has its own verb, that reveals its intrinsic nature.:
1. "If Mr. Toyoda gets the Toyota presidency, ---------------------Subjunctive Conditional. Problem is, it should be used got instead.
2. it would be the first time in over a decade -----------------------------Main Clause. Post-Preterit, Indicative.
3, that a member of the company’s founding family was at the helm". --Subjunctive properly said, Past Tense.
The magic in the Subjuntive Properly Said is that, it can accept Present tense, Past tense, and hear this, the Verb as in Infinitive but without "to".
The Ultimate Pattern, That's what I'm looking for.
TIM