'I always said that Cathy was the brains of the outfit,' Jack went on, patting his wife's hand. 'She's too modest to say that she's just about the best in the world at what she does.'
'So, how do you like being First Lady?'
'Do I have to answer?' A charming smile. Then she turned serious. 'The way we got here—well, it's not something anyone would wish for, but I guess it's like what I do at the hospital. Sometimes a trauma case comes in, and that person didn't choose to be injured, and we try our best to fix what's wrong. Jack's never turned away from a problem or a challenge in his life.'
Then it was time for business. 'Mr. President, how do you like your job?'
'Well, the hours are pretty long. As much time as I have spent in government service, I don't think I ever really understood how difficult this job is. I am blessed with a very fine staff, and our government has thousands of dedicated workers doing the public's business. That helps a lot.'
'As you see it, sir, what is your job?' John Plumber asked.
'The oath says to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States,' Ryan replied. 'We're working to restore the government. We now have the Senate fully in place, and as the several states get on with their elections, we'll soon have a new House of Representatives. I've got most of the Cabinet posts filled—for HHS and Education, we still have the sitting Deputy Secretaries doing a fine job.'
'We spoke this morning about events in the Persian Gulf. What are the problems there as you see them?' It was Plumber again. Ryan was handling himself well, much more relaxed, and Plumber noted the look in his wife's eyes. She was smart.
'The United States wants nothing more than peace and stability in that region. We have every wish to establish friendly relations with the new United Islamic Republic. There's been enough strife there and elsewhere in the world. I'd like to think that we've turned the corner on that. We've made peace—a real peace, not just the absence of war—with the Russians, after generations of turmoil. I want us to build on that. Maybe the world's never been fully at peace, but that is no reason why we can't do it. John, we've come a very long way in the past twenty years. There's a lot more for us to do, but we have a lot of good work to build on.'
'We'll be back after this break,' Donner told the cameras. He could see that Ryan was pretty pleased with himself. Excellent.
A staffer came in from the back door with water glasses. Everyone had a sip while they waited for the two commercials to run. 'You really hate all this, don't you?' he asked Cathy.
'As long as I can do my work, I can live with almost anything, but I do worry about the kids. After this is over, they have to go back to being normal children, and we didn't raise them for all this hoopla.' Then everyone was quiet for the rest of the commercial time.
'We're back on the Oval Office with the President and First Lady. Mr. President,' Donner asked, 'what about the changes you are making?'
'Mainly my job isn't to 'change, Tom, it's to 'restore. Along the way we will try to do a few things. I've tried to select my new Cabinet members with an eye toward making the government function more efficiently. As you know, I've been in government service for quite a while, and along the way I've seen numerous examples of inefficiency. The citizens out there pay a lot of money in taxes, and we owe it to them to see that the money is spent wisely— and efficiently. So I've told my Cabinet officers to examine all of the executive departments with an eye to doing the same work for less cost.'
'A lot of presidents have said that.'
'This one means it,' Ryan said seriously.
'But your first major policy act has been to attack the tax system,' Donner observed.
'Not 'attack, Tom. 'Change. George Winston has my full support. The tax code we have now is totally unfair —and I mean unfair in many ways. People can't understand it, for one. That means that they have to hire people to explain the tax system to them, and it's hard to see how it makes sense for people to pay good money for people to explain how the law takes more of their money away—especially when the government writes the laws. Why make laws that the people can't understand? Why make laws that are so complicated?' Ryan asked.
'But along the way, your administration's goal is to make the tax system regressive, not progressive.'
'We've been over that,' the President replied, and Donner knew he had him then. It was one of Ryan's more obvious weaknesses that he didn't like repeating himself. He really was not a politician. They loved to repeat themselves. 'Charging everyone the same amount is just as fair as anything can be. Doing so in a way that everyone can understand will actually save money for people. Our proposed tax changes will be revenue-neutral. Nobody's getting any special breaks.'
'But the tax rates for the rich will fall dramatically.'
'That's true, but we'll also eliminate all the breaks that their lobbyists have written into the system. They'll actually end up paying the same, or more probably, a little more than they already do. Secretary Winston has studied that very carefully, and I concur in his judgment.'
'Sir, it's hard to see how a thirty percent rate reduction will make them pay more. That's fourth-grade arithmetic.'
'Ask your accountant.' Ryan smiled. 'Or for that matter, look at your own tax returns, if you can figure them out. You know, Tom, I used to be an accountant—I passed the exam before I went into the Marine Corps— and I can't even figure the darned things out. The government does not serve the public interest by doing things that the people can't understand. There's been too much of that. I'm going to try to dial it back a bit.'
Bingo. To Donner's left, John Plumber grimaced. The director with his selection of camera feeds made sure that one didn't go out. Instead he picked Donner's winning anchorman smile.
'I'm glad you feel that way, Mr. President, because there are many things that the American people would like to know about government operations. Nearly all of your government service has been in the Central Intelligence Agency.'
'That's true but, Tom, as I told you this morning, no President has ever spoken about intelligence operations. There's a good reason for that.' Ryan was still cool, not knowing what door had just opened.
'But, Mr. President, you have personally been involved in numerous intelligence operations which had important effects on bringing that end to the Cold War. For example, the defection of the Soviet missile submarine Red October. You played a personal part in that, didn't you?'
The director, cued ahead of time to the question, had selected the camera zeroed in on Ryan's face just in time to see his eyes go as wide as doorknobs. He really wasn't all that good at controlling his emotions. 'Tom, I —'
'The viewers should know that you played a decisive role in one of the greatest intelligence coups of all time. We got our hands on an intact Soviet ballistic-missile submarine, didn't we?'
'I won't comment on that story.' By this time his makeup couldn't hide the pale look. Cathy turned to look at her husband, having felt his hand in hers turn to ice.
'And then less than two years later, you personally arranged the defection of the head of the Russian KGB.'
Jack managed to control his face, finally, but his voice was wooden. 'Tom, this has to stop. You're making unfounded speculations.'
'Mr. President, that individual, Nikolay Gerasimov, formerly of the KGB, now lives with his family in Virginia. The captain of the submarine lives in Florida. It's not a 'story''—he smiled—'and you know it. Sir, I don't understand your reticence. You played a major role in bringing that peace to the world that you talked about a few minutes ago.'
'Tom, let me make this clear. I will not ever discuss intelligence operations in any public forum. Period.'
'But the American people have a right to know what sort of man sits in this office.' The same thing had been said eleven hours before by John Plumber, who winced inwardly to hear himself quoted in this way, but who could not turn on his own colleague in public.
'Tom, I have served my country to the best of my ability for a number of years, but just as you cannot reveal your news sources, so our intelligence agencies cannot reveal many of the things they do, for fear of getting real people killed.'
'But, Mr. President, you have done that. You have killed people.'
'Yes, I have, and more than one President has been a soldier or—'
'Wait a minute,' Cathy interrupted, and now her eyes were flaring. 'I want to say something. Jack joined CIA
