In the years leading up to her presidency, wars among the nations of the world had left many countries in a weakened position. Previous American Presidents had been content to let this play out as weaker nations often meant they would request the aid of the United States and the American government would thus be in a position to negotiate with those countries with ascendancy.
The nations involved in those wars had spent far too much on warfare than they should have. When prudence called for retreat and negotiation of terms, decisions were made to dig in deeper. While the resolve of the soldiers was there, the funding was not.
In turn, the economy of the world was turned on its end. The money that had been in reserve was now spilled on forgotten battlefields in the form of spent rounds, rusting tanks and human carnage.
The lack of resources depleted the moral and economic fibers of a vast number of the countries around the world. It had been a gamble previous American Presidents had played with the warring nations as to how everything would pan out. America was gambling that they could come in as the white knight to help out these nations in their desperation but the opposite happened. As a result, instead of the United States becoming a nation with influence over several other nations, those nations turned to other forms of assistance.
The destabilization of large populations throughout several countries led to desperation among those people. The promises of men, who had before sounded insane, now began to resonate with entire communities. These men became the voice of reason and the people of defeated nations flocked to them. Their words, absorbed in fear, propelled those men to the leaders of the war that now threatened other previously peaceful nations.
The United States had gambled that the world would choose democracy. Instead, the world chose lunacy.
The culmination of the growing anarchy was the assassination of one of the world’s most respected leaders. The people of this nation recognized the attempt to plunge their young nation into chaos. They called for their allies and those allies rallied to their side. Old alliances, nearly forgotten, were reformed. Nation after nation became involved until it seemed as if the entire world was on the brink of war with itself.
History repeated itself as it became obvious that the world had learned nothing from the first two World Wars.
This left the newly elected President of the United States in a precarious situation. She did not want to be sucked into the rising storm that was engulfing Europe and Asia. At the same time, she was often criticized during the campaign by her opponent as being soft because she was a woman. Her opponent had claimed that in time of conflict she would treat the enemy as any loving mother would, with open arms, full of forgiveness. She did not want to give critics reason to believe because she was a woman she was incapable of difficult decisions that involved the United States military. At the same time, she didn’t want to rush into a decision just to prove the critics wrong.
President Elizabeth Williams (known to her close friends and family as Libby) did what she had done during tough times in both business and in her personal life – she prayed.
After weeks of praying and talking to advisors, she faced both houses of Congress and asked the elected leaders of the country to preemptively declare war. The vote was nearly unanimous: America was at war.
Afterwards, in the residence of the White House, she stared out of the window as her husband rubbed her feet. He had been an attorney in another life but had given that up to become the nation’s First Gentlemen (he was still not used to the title).
“You did great tonight.” He could tell she was stressed. It wasn’t his moment to complain but he was also stressed. He was concerned about his wife who had just convinced the leaders of the nation to enter a global war.
“Did I?” she asked. “I just signed our military up for a long, hard war. One I don’t even know if we can win.”
“What do you mean by that? We have the greatest military in the world.”
“We do if the Commander in Chief can make the right decisions about the war.”
He rubbed her feet more intensely. “Look, you can’t solve it all tonight. Why don’t we call for some chocolate pudding, complete with whipped cream? Your favorite. Who knows, maybe we can find something creative to do with it.”
She smiled, slightly annoyed. “You sure know how to make a girl feel better. The pudding was a sweet offer; but I’m stressed about the decision I just made and you want to turn the discussion into sex.”
He shrugged. “Is there any other direction to take the discussion?’
She punched him in the shoulder. “Forget the pudding. I’m going to bed, Romeo.”
He watched her go. He was worried, too, he just showed it differently than his wife.
She went to bed but instead of going to sleep, all she could manage was to stare at the ceiling. The thought that kept going through her mind was how many of her predecessors had stared at the same ceiling with the same thoughts going through their mind?
The night after the vote was the first of many sleepless nights for President Williams.
CHAPTER TEN
Ypres, Belgium – Present Day
President Libby Williams woke up from a peaceful sleep. Light filled the
