“Computer, inform the group that I will be with them shortly and ensure that they are comfortable.”
“Yes, sir.”
The president stood, put on his suit jacket, and walked over to the mirror. A very long day was in front of him. Once he was pleased with his appearance, he fixed his tie one more time for good measure and began pacing around the room. He was ready to begin the meeting but decided instead to make them wait. He knew it was a petty power play, but he wanted to remind the men and women in the next room that he was their boss. Some of the most powerful people in the United States government, along with their egos, were in the next room. He enjoyed putting them in their place.
Many of these same people were hardcore Republicans and couldn’t understand why their president had named his conference room after a Democrat. The former president had passed away the previous year from a stroke at the age of eighty. Malcolm Powers attended President Clinton’s funeral, along with the other former presidents because protocol demanded it. Protocol didn’t mean a damned thing to Malcolm. Bill was one of his closest friends. If the two men had made a career out of selling used cars, he still would have attended his funeral regardless of what protocol required of him. Malcolm not only attended the funeral, he was a pallbearer. He also stood at the gravesite in Hope, Arkansas, with his arms around his close friend’s widow and adult daughter, the current Governor of Arkansas.
When Malcolm took office, many had expected him to give his former mentor a role in his administration. President Powers appointed former President Clinton as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The appointment didn’t surprise anyone; President Clinton had a Juris Doctor from Yale and had been a Professor of Law at the University of Arkansas. The only other president to serve on the nation’s highest court was William Howard Taft over a century prior. And like President Taft, President Clinton became the second president to swear the Oath of Office to an incoming president. The Second Inauguration of President Powers was an event that both men cherished.
The Clinton Room was adjacent to the Oval Office in an area that once belonged to the president’s secretaries. After Beck Enterprises installed the A.I. in the White House, President Powers saw little need for secretaries. Fearing even more backlash from the media about the A.I., the secretaries did not lose their jobs. The four women were simply reassigned to other areas of the White House. There really weren’t any job openings in his administration; the women were simply given menial tasks and told to look busy. A few years later, all four of them left the White House with a glowing recommendation from their employer.
Satisfied that enough time had elapsed, the president started towards the door; the A.I. calculated his direction of travel and opened the door for him. Every person in the room was on their feet and silent, the only exception being the occupant of a wheel chair, who straightened up in his chair as much as he could to show respect to the leader of the free world.
President Malcolm Powers sat in the large chair at the front of the room, a gift from his mentor, who sat in the same chair for most of the 1990s. Once the president was seated, the others took their seats and gave the president their full attention.
“Good morning. Thank you for coming on such short notice.” The president spoke in a deep solemn voice, setting the tone.
The people in the room spoke over one another. “Good morning, Mr. President.”
Wondering why they had been summoned, the men and women in the room looked at each other. Seated directly to the right of the president was the Chief of Staff, Stacy Reid. Next to her sat Secretary of Defense Charles Decker and FBI Director Warren Gill. Next to him sat Secretary of Homeland Security Winston Laferriere. The man sitting to the far right in the wheelchair was Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Roberto Jimenez.
Seated to the left of the president was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Carl Moody. Occupying the next two seats were Fleet Admiral William Mack and Major General James Weygandt. The woman sitting on the far left making no effort to mask her hostility was Florida Governor, Lori Prince.
“I’ve asked you all here today because I seek your counsel. We are at a crucial turning point in the war with Iran. Before the day is out, I must make a decision that will either bring the war to its end or extend the conflict for at least another year.”
Everyone in the room settled into their seats. They finally knew what this meeting was about. The president had called them to Washington without a hint of the true purpose of the meeting. Everyone in the room had expected the meeting would be about Hurricane Luther once they discovered Governor Prince was in attendance. Governor Prince looked even angrier when she realized he was talking about the war and not the destruction of her home state.
The president paused and seemed to lose focus. President Powers was not looking well. Seven years in the White House had taken its toll on the man. Unlike most of his predecessors, Powers had little political experience when he took the Oath of Office. Like President Eisenhower before him, Admiral Malcolm Powers left military service and was urged by many from both political parties to run for president. Admiral Powers, much like General Eisenhower, had no political affiliation. The Democrats were certain that his famous friendship with President Clinton meant he was a Democrat. The Republicans were certain the Admiral belonged in their party based on his political beliefs. Powers agreed to run on the Republican ticket and in 2020, he won the presidency in a landslide. Four years later he was a lock for re-election. The Democrats knew they had no chance of winning and persuaded a reluctant congressman to run in the losing race.
The president looked to his former commanding officer, Fleet Admiral Mack, and nodded his head, indicating that he was ready for him to begin his briefing. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had gotten used to being overlooked. He should be the one giving the briefing, not Mack. He had accepted the friendship between the president and his former commanding officer. At first he took it as a personal insult, but after developing a close relationship with his Commander in Chief, he knew that it wasn’t meant as a slight.
Fleet Admiral Mack began. “Thank you, Mr. President. We now have the Fifth Fleet underway to the Persian Gulf and the USS Enterprise and USS George Washington are underway to the Port of Gibraltar. I can report that in fourteen days we will be ready to begin the invasion of Iran.”
Director Jimenez grunted and shifted in his wheelchair. “Why the delay, Admiral?” he asked in a raspy voice.
“The Roosevelt Strike Group suffered major losses when they tried to enter the Mediterranean. The USS James Russell will need at least two months before she can get underway again.”
The newly commissioned vessel had been named for the most decorated soldier of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The Medal of Honor winner single-handedly took out an entire insurgent camp before they could ambush a convoy of military police transporting prisoners. He suffered a fatal wound during the attack but managed to stay in the fight. His widow and children attended the launching of the massive vessel that bore his name.