WASHINGTON, D.C.
TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 28TH
What I want, Chuck, is ten minutes of peace and quiet so I can think,” snapped the president to his chief of staff.
Charles Anderson had never seen his boss like this. Then again, America had never faced a situation of this magnitude before. With less than three hours until he was expected to deliver his State of the Union address, President Jack Rutledge had already made the tough decision of evacuating Congress and settling on a videotaped address from the White House. The hardest call, though, still lay before him.
“Okay, people,” voiced Anderson. “You heard the president. Let’s give him the room. Everybody out. We’ll reconvene in the Situation Room.”
Once the Oval Office had cleared out, the president leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and massaged his forehead with the heels of his hands. His oath of office called for him to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution-a body of laws, which obliged him, “to give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” Never in a million years could he have imagined that the execution of his duties would lead to the unraveling of everything America had fought to become.
He was reminded of the first State of the Union address given by George Washington over two hundred years ago at New York ’s Federal Hall. With the country in the fledgling stages of its great democratic experiment, Washington had focused on the very concept of union itself and the challenges not only of establishing, but of maintaining it.
How in the hell had things come to this?Rutledge wondered as he opened his eyes and studied the two folders on the desk in front of him. Each contained a different version of his State of the Union address, and each had the potential to be equally devastating. The fate of millions of Americans would be decided by what he said and did in the next three hours.
Though not a particularly religious man, President Jack Rutledge closed his eyes once again and this time prayed to God for guidance.