Chapter 140: Oath of Office

Friday, September 14, 2001

Thursday morning, we got up early. The girls needed to get back into a regular schedule with school, so Marine Two flew them all home to Hereford at the crack of dawn, with Stormy in her travel cage. It flew all of us to Andrews and dropped me off first, and then flew to Hereford. This was some crazy fucked up schedule. I knew that sooner or later it would calm down, but right now we were just winging it and making it up as we went. I kissed my family good-bye and waved as they flew away, and then climbed up the stairs to Air Force Two.

It was a fast flight to New York. The President normally gets priority routing, but with no planes flying, there were zero delays. It was spooky. We really needed to get air traffic flying again! With me on the trip were the Three Amigos, the guys from CIA, FBI, and the Secret Service, who spent the trip up briefing me on what they were finding. It had been two days now, and the results were impressive. The flight manifests for the four flights had been examined, and every single passenger and aircrew member was being investigated, with most of them already cleared of any involvement. On every flight there were four or five individuals, all men, with very sketchy backgrounds and personal histories, and everybody was zeroing in on them. Likewise, links were being found between these names and the names the CIA had in their files.

What I was seeing was the first-hand results of what I knew would be found. The FBI is a huge organization. At the lowest levels, where the agents and the first line supervisors are massed, they have extremely smart and dedicated people and amazing technology, and the ability to flood a problem and pick apart every little piece. Unfortunately, once it climbs up the ladder, very quickly the organization turns into a bureaucracy much more interested in covering its ass. I knew what they would find, that the hijackers had taken flying lessons in the U.S. and had raised a number of red flags in doing so, but when the reports had gone into the system, they had swirled around the bowl and been filed and ignored.

The CIA was similar, with several additional problems. By law they weren’t allowed to operate in the U.S. By practice, they shared nothing with anybody else, especially the FBI. They would be discovered to have followed these guys into the States, filed a classified report, and not told anybody. Furthermore, half the work product these guys were generating was aimed at slanting or corrupting the information heading towards the White House. Not only didn’t the right hand know what the left hand was doing, but half the time they were working at cross purposes.

As for the Secret Service, nobody told them shit.

When we landed in New York, I was greeted by Rudy Giuliani and the Police Commissioner, Bernard Kerik. Rudy, I had met a few times at Republican fundraisers and election meetings; Kerik, I had never met before. Both men had been near the Twin Towers when they collapsed, Giuliani had been invited to the breakfast meeting at Windows on the World but had been delayed, and he had gotten there just as the North Tower was hit. Kerik had arrived afterwards, just in time for the South Tower to be hit. Both men had lost their vehicles to falling debris and had run away to set up a nearby command post.

The two men looked tired and somber. We rode over in the mayor’s car, since the armored limousine the President rides around in was buried in the rubble. “How bad is it, guys?” I asked.

“Mister President, you will have to see it to believe it,” answered Rudy. “I simply don’t have words to describe it.”

“Mister President, I don’t know if you believe in Heaven and Hell, but now I have seen Hell,” responded Kerik.

“Is there any hope? Not just for President Bush, but for anybody who was in there?”

Kerik bowed his head and shook it but didn’t answer. Giuliani sighed and said, “Very little, sir. If you didn’t make it out before the buildings collapsed, you didn’t make it out. We are still trying to figure out who was in there at the time, but so many of the companies that were there ... the records and computers are gone. It might take us weeks to find out who was there and who wasn’t.”

“What do you need? What can I do to get you what you need?” I asked.

Again, they shook their heads, but this time it was a more positive response. “Everybody is being extremely helpful. We are getting everything that is available,” said Rudy. He shrugged. “Money? This is going to cost a fortune.”

I gave him a wry smile. “Spend the money. I work for the Federal government. We print the money, remember. We’ll just have to print a little more.”

Kerik added, “The only thing I can think of is more rescue dogs, you know, dogs specifically trained to search for people buried in avalanches and structure collapses. We simply don’t have very many. We’ve had offers of help but with the airports shut down...” He shrugged in helplessness.

“I intend to get them up as soon as possible. This is not something that can last. I will be talking to the FAA about that on my way back to Washington,” I told them.

“You really fired the heads of the FAA, the FBI, and the CIA?” asked an incredulous Giuliani.

It had been all over the news yesterday. All three organizations, as well as the White House, had issued press releases that were brief - ‘So-and-so resigned today at the request of Acting President Buckman. A-different-so-and-so was named temporary director.’ All three were immediately run down and had microphones and cameras stuck in their faces. Louis Freeh had nothing to say; Jane Garvey was loudly irate and had protested her innocence; Paul Wolfowitz informed the world that I was the worst thing that had happened to American democracy since the British burned Washington in the War of 1812.

I nodded at Giuliani. “Yes, I did. They may not have been personally to blame, but their organizations dropped the ball, and heads need to roll. Congress has already told me that they intend major hearings on this disaster, and I told them I intend to cooperate. Here’s something else I want you two to think about, the both of you. What do we need to do to improve our response, not just here, but everywhere else, other cities? What can we learn from this? When this is at a point where you can sit down and think, put your smartest people on that. I can just about guarantee that is going to make national news, too.”

First stop was Ground Zero, towering piles of rubble where the tallest buildings in New York had been. I was basically speechless. It’s one thing to see it on television, but the reality was a smack in the face, and the smell, that I was never going to lose. There were television cameras around, and I know I said something appropriate, but I can’t remember for the life of me what it was. I needed to watch it on the news later to find out.

After that we went to the command center, which was a beehive of people, many of whom were filthy and tired, all of whom were talking into phones and trying to get something done. That was where I found John Boehner and Harry Reid, and they looked as drained as the others. I shook their hands and they followed me as I trailed after the Mayor and the Police Commissioner into a conference room. A few other people followed me in, including the Fire Commissioner and the head of the New York City Office of Emergency Management, their version of FEMA. Giuliani had things under control, but the problem was massive, and most of the people there had friends who were inside the buildings when they went down. Loss of life, especially within the Fire Department, was enormous.

I don’t know if it was worse than my first time or better. The total death toll was being estimated simply in the thousands. Impromptu memorials were sprouting up all over, as were walls with people hanging pictures of relatives and requests for information on them. It was incredibly chaotic. In some cases, people were being reported as missing who never made it to work that day, or nobody had taken down the picture after they got home. They were beginning to get a handle on it, by setting up a clearinghouse for names, but it was slow going. Some of the financial firms which had been destroyed would need to consult emergency backup records in other locations.

I knew it would happen and that there had been nothing I could have done that would stop it, but it was just incredibly depressing regardless. John and Harry didn’t say anything during the meeting, but several others commented that they had been quite helpful in reassuring people that resources would be made available, and occasionally suggesting ideas for that. I thanked them both.

Eventually things ran down, and I asked everybody to leave the room but Harry and John. They both nodded, and after everybody else filed out, John closed the door behind them, and then sat down heavily. There were bags under his eyes and under Harry Reid’s eyes as well. “Gentlemen, you look like crap! Have you been able to get any sleep?” I asked.

“Not much, Carl. I dozed for a few hours last night in a chair in here,” admitted John.

“Same here, Mister President,” added Senator Reid.

“Harry, I think we can dispense with the titles. It’s just the three of us, and you’ve been calling me Carl for a while now, usually with some other stuff added on,” I said with a wry smile. He snorted and smiled at that but nodded. “Listen, I have to ask the question. The President, is there any chance?”

Both men sighed and looked at each other wearily. Harry answered first. “Not really. Almost nobody got out of there after the buildings collapsed. There’s a few people trapped in the rubble in the subbasements, but they were down there to begin with. Up top? Nobody!”

“John?”

“Carl, I would like to argue, but I can’t. We are going to have to swear you in. We can delay it, but it’s a lost cause. We’ll be lucky to find anything in this mess. I heard one of the emergency managers talking about putting everything through table sifters to try and find anything but dust.” He lowered his voice and added, “We’re talking about bits of bone and wedding rings and pieces of wallets, that sort of thing!”

“Jesus!” They’d be sifting dust for years! “So, what do we do now? What do you two plan to do?”

Harry looked over at John and then turned back to me. “Carl, later today, John and I are going to call down and talk to Denny Hastert and Tom Daschle. You can’t be in on the phone call, I mean, you just can’t be. You can’t be seen to be influencing anything. They’ll probably talk to you later today.”

“And then what?” I pushed.

“They’ll talk to you later today. That’s all I will say for now.”

I nodded in tired acquiescence. I could see one of two things happening. Either they would decide to swear me in as President, or they could decide to wait until they had proof that George Bush was dead, something that might take years, if it was even possible. If they chose Option Two, I was the lamest of lame duck Presidents, doomed before I even started. There was even the possibility they could make me live in the Vice President’s mansion until I was sworn in, making me an international laughingstock. “Fair enough.” I stood up. “Guys, I am going to get out of your hair. I’ll go talk to Rudy for a bit and then I’m heading back to D.C. You do your thing, and then get a room and get some sleep. You’re not going to help if you collapse from exhaustion.”

They both nodded mutely, and we shook hands, and I left the room. An hour later I was flying back to Washington, accompanied by the Three Amigos. On the way, we talked to the Deputy Director of the FAA and outlined plans to get things up and running by the weekend. The plan was to start slowly and concentrate on getting people back home first, and then ramp up. We would start flying again Saturday morning.

By the time we got back to Andrews and were preparing to take Marine Two back to the White House I had gotten a call that Denny Hastert and Tom Daschle wanted to see me. I told them they would be first on my list. We got to the White House about 4:00 and I sent the Three Amigos on their way, while I headed to my office. Denny and Tom were already there. I invited them into my office and closed the door. “How we doing?” I asked.

“What’s it like up there, Mister President?” asked Tom Daschle, the Senate Majority Leader.

“I don’t know what Harry and John told you guys, but words just can’t describe it. Bernie Kerik said that now he’s seen Hell. There’s nothing left but rubble and dust,” I told him.

Tom looked over at Denny Hastert, the Speaker of the House and a Republican, and Denny nodded back at him. Tom took a deep breath and said, “We need to have you sworn in, sir. We both talked to Harry and John, and we had a few others in the room with us. They were pretty convincing. There’s nothing left, and no chance.”

I nodded and looked at them. “I forget whether it was John or Harry who said that there were plans to start putting all the rubble and the dust through sifters and sieves to look for bones and anything to identify people by. I’ve never seen anything like that! I don’t think I could do it myself.”

Denny muttered something in disbelief and then shook himself of the thought. He looked at me and asked, “Carl, when do you want to do this? How do we do this?”

I gave him a brief smile. “I’m making this up as I go! Hell, how do we have a state funeral without the guest of honor? Answer me that one?” Both men’s eyes popped a little at that. “Anyway, today is Thursday. I’m not sure, but I think we’ll need the approval of the Cabinet, just like when they named me the Acting President. If we had absolute proof the President was dead, it wouldn’t be necessary, but that might take years.”

“That would be good. We can call them together and Denny and I can attend the meeting with Chief Justice Rehnquist handy,” replied Daschle. “As soon as the vote passes, he can swear you in.”

“I’ll call for a full Cabinet meeting in the morning.”

“Very good, Mister President,” agreed Denny.

They were on the verge of leaving when I had a thought. “Hold up a second, gentlemen. Let me bounce an idea off you.” They looked at each other and settled back into their chairs. “I have a worry. There are going to be people, some in Congress and some out in the real world, who will not think I am the legitimate President of the United States. I wasn’t elected, I’m jumping the gun, the real President is in the rubble and I’m stopping the rescue - I mean, you guys can fill in the rest. Will you grant that this has the potential to be a real problem, and not just for me, but for the nation? When we figure out who did this, we are going to war, and we do not need any questions raised.”

“I understand you, sir,” answered the Speaker. Senator Daschle was slower to respond, but he nodded and agreed also.

“Well, it’s not like I am going to get an Inaugural Ball out of this disaster, but we can’t be seen to be hiding this in a conference room in the White House. We need, all of us need, this to be public, as public as possible.”

“Perhaps at the Capitol and on television,” suggested Hastert.

“How do we do the vote? What if somebody gets a bug up his tail and votes no? You don’t need that on television!” countered Daschle.

“Yikes! No, that would be lousy!” I agreed. “How about this? You guys come to the Cabinet meeting in the morning. You tell them what you’ve agreed to, and they take a vote. If everybody is unanimous, we do a public version tomorrow night in the Capitol on live television and Rehnquist swears me in.”

“You planning to speak afterwards?”

“I can. It won’t be big, but I probably should. Something about how democracy continues to march on or something like that. I am not figuring on a major speech or State of the Union Address,” I told them.

“Speaking for myself, I think we could go along with that,” he agreed. “Denny?”

“Same here.”

I stood up and thanked them and ushered them out, and then ordered up a Cabinet meeting for the morning. Then it was back to work.

I got home at a relatively decent hour that night. I was still living at the Naval Observatory, and Marilyn and the girls (and Stormy) were home in Hereford. They had gone back to school today, and if everything went as planned, they would be at school tomorrow. Afterwards, they could come back down for the swearing in ceremony. I ate a late supper and watched CNN for a bit.

The news was a mixed bag. It was all about the 9-11 attacks, of course, but it was about a bunch of different things. There were reports from Ground Zero (and virtually nothing from the Pentagon) with footage of rescue teams and guys in hard hats trying to sort through the mess. They were constantly rerunning any footage of anybody being pulled out, but there were damn few of those. On top of that was vast speculation about the status of the President, which segued into my status as Acting President and my visit to the site earlier in the day. Also discussed was my visit with the first President Bush, as well as some footage of Harry Reid and John Boehner talking to reporters in New York. There was intense speculation about what they were doing there, and who they were discussing their findings with.

There was also discussion of my actions the other day in cleaning house at the FAA, FBI, and CIA. Rush Limbaugh had declared my actions (on the basis of his extensive legal background, no doubt) unconstitutional and justified my impeachment. That prompted all the mainstream networks to call out their guest lawyers to report on the constitutional implications. They needed something to fill in twenty-four hours of airtime.

I was getting out of my chair to head towards bed when they called a late breaking story. “We are now getting a report - this is unconfirmed but from a reliable source - a report that tomorrow the Congressional leadership will report to the Cabinet that President Bush is to be considered missing in action and presumed dead, and that they are recommending that Acting President Buckman be sworn in as President!” I stopped at that and listened. The report was about ninety percent accurate, and it was obvious that one of the Congressional leaders was leaking the story. After that I headed to bed.

Friday morning found me back in the Cabinet Room at 9:00. This time we had Tommy Thompson and Ann Veneman with us in person, and I made sure to thank them for getting back to town. Dick Cheney was present and looking mulish as ever, but I had talked to Frank Stouffer, and he had confirmed that President Bush had talked to Cheney before heading to Camp David. Hopefully he wouldn’t be an asshole today. Also seated in the room were Denny Hastert and Tom Daschle. By now all the networks were reporting that there was going to be a major decision in the Cabinet today related to the 25 ^th Amendment.

We started with my greeting our guests from Congress. “Speaker Hastert, Senate Majority Leader Daschle, thank you for coming. When we talked yesterday you were getting in touch with the rest of the Congressional leadership. Have you done so?” I asked.

I wasn’t sure if they had rehearsed this or not, but Denny Hastert replied, “Yes, Mister President, we have. We talked to both John Boehner and Harry Reid yesterday and have concluded that President Bush is missing and should be presumed dead. We are here to recommend to the Cabinet that they vote to make you the President.”

There were some murmurs at that, and Cheney turned red and looked like he would explode, but he kept his mouth shut. With his heart problems he was about one outburst away from a heart attack!

The Attorney General spoke up. “Mister President, I have been in contact with Chief Justice Rehnquist about this, and I would like to bring him in at this time.”

“He’s here?”

“Yes, sir, along with some of the other Congressional leaders. I think we should have everyone in.”

I blinked for a second but nodded. “They’re here too? Fine by me.”

Ashcroft turned to a Secret Service agent and motioned him over, and then spoke quietly to him. He left and a couple of minutes later the rest of the Congressional leadership trooped in, less Harry and John, along with Bill Rehnquist. I stood and greeted them. I had known the Congressmen and Senators for years, but I don’t think I had met the Chief Justice more than a handful of times. “Mister Chief Justice, I am glad you could make it. I gather the Attorney General has been keeping you abreast of what has been going on.”

“Mister President, thank you. Yes, I have talked to the Attorney General several times over the last few days. He was concerned over any possible misinterpretation of the 25^th Amendment. We really don’t have a precedent for this, as I am sure he told you,” answered Rehnquist.

He took a seat near me, in effect my old seat as the Vice President. I sighed and nodded. “Yes, sir, he did. I told him that we were making it up as we go. Hopefully you can sit here and tell us what we are doing is legal. I’d really prefer not going to jail.”

There were several chuckles at this, but not many, until the Chief Justice smiled and answered, “You can always write yourself a pardon, sir.” I smiled at that, too, and he continued, “Seriously, though, what you are doing is going above and beyond my reading of the Amendment. On the other hand, the political reality is such that going above and beyond may be what is best for our nation right now. With that being said, I would suggest we turn the meeting over to Attorney General Ashcroft, much as I understand you did Tuesday afternoon.”

“Of course, sir.” I turned towards the Attorney General and said, “You’re on!”

John Ashcroft stood up and said, “Well, it is my intention to repeat the process we had on Tuesday. I am going to go down the list of all the Cabinet members and ask ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ A Yes vote means that Carl Buckman is the President and a No means he stays as Acting President.” He grabbed his pen and a note pad and asked, “Secretary of State, yes or no?”

Dick Cheney turned beet red again, and he growled as he answered, but he said ‘Yes.’ I could see the looks and sighs of relief around the room. Ashcroft ignored the histrionics and continued down the list. It was unanimous. At that he turned to the Speaker of the House and said, “I’ve been talking to the Chief Justice as well. It’s not in the 25^th Amendment, and it is not required, but we both think it would help immensely if I asked you gentlemen the same thing. Mister Speaker, yes or no?”

We had the Speaker of the House, along with the Majority and Minority Leaders and Whips of both the House and Senate in the room, all except John and Harry, who were flying home. He went down the list and it was unanimous. Denny added at the end that both John Boehner and Harry Reid had told him they were voting Yes as well.

“How do you want to do this, Mister President?” asked the Chief Justice.

Denny Hastert interrupted and said, “Excuse me, Mister President, but is it still your desire to do this on television tonight, like we talked about yesterday?”

I nodded. “Like I said, I know it’s not an inauguration, but I think the country is going to want to see this. It’s up to you fellows, though. The Capitol is your building.”

“Well, we’ll do it like a State of the Union Address. We’ll have everyone there, let John here run the thing, swear you in, and you make a quick speech. Who is going to be the missing man?”

“That will be me!” growled Cheney forcefully. At all State of the Union speeches there is always a ‘missing man’, a member of the Cabinet who can become the President if somebody manages to nuke the Capitol. “I’ll be damned if I want to watch this crap!”

Denny Hastert wasn’t going to be put off by Cheney. “Fine by me, but if you’re not going to be there, you’ll write out your acceptance right here and now. John, give him a sheet of paper!”

Cheney’s nostrils flared at that, but he was under the stare of everybody. Ashcroft silently pushed a sheet of stationery across to him. Cheney scrawled something on it and then stood up and stormed out of the room. It was rude as hell, but I wasn’t going to make an issue of it, and I was glad to see his back. One of my first jobs would be to replace Cheney.

Denny took the paper and folded it up and stuck it in a jacket pocket. “Okay, I will see you all this evening at eight o’clock. Mister President, get Ari Fleischer to get the wheels in motion. Otherwise, we are going to get out of here and let you get to work.”

“I agree.” I stood up. “Everybody, I will see you all this evening. Thank you.”

Getting back to work involved getting Ari Fleisher to crank up the system for this evening, calling Marilyn and informing her of what was going to happen, and calling Camp David and talking to the first President Bush.

That was an instructive call. He told me that Harry Reid and John Boehner had called him last night after talking to the Congressional leadership, so that he wasn’t blindsided when the inevitable reports came out. The President offered to come to Washington for the ceremony, but that for Barbara, Laura, and the girls, it would be too much, too soon. I promised that I wouldn’t move into the Executive Mansion until they were ready and had moved out. Dignity of the office or not, that would be more than a little tacky! He promised to sit down with me and talk, commenting that he had done the same with Bill Clinton and George W. Then he asked an interesting question. “Have you talked to your son yet? Where is he stationed?”

“He’s at Camp Lejeune. Why?” I answered.

“Get him to the Capitol tonight. This is all about theater. Get him there in a uniform, sitting with his mother and sisters.”

“Huh. I had planned on letting him alone. I didn’t want to prejudice things...”

“Carl, that is ridiculously naïve! You aren’t a Congressman anymore. You are the President of the United States! The guys over in the Pentagon are not going to let him just slide by. If you want him to have any sort of normal life, you are going to have to take that bull by the horns and have it out with them. Now, after we hang up, you need to get your Naval Adviser to get the boy on a plane!”

I chuckled. “Yes, sir. Pardon me for saying it, sir, but you still sound like a President.”

“You bet, Carl! You bet!”

“Very good, sir. I will obey that order. Please tell your family that they are in Marilyn’s and my prayers, and that we hope to see them again in the future.”

“Thank you, Carl, and good luck to you and your family, as well.”

After I hung up, I called Josh Bolten and told him what President Bush had told me. “So, how do we get Charlie up here?” I asked.

“We get Mike Miller in here, that’s how.”

I felt like an idiot, but I had been cut out of so much the last few months, and there were so many people working at the place. “Okay, so who’s Mike Miller?”

“He runs the White House Military Office. If he can’t do it, he’ll know who can.”

“Well, stop talking to me and call him. Bring him on in when you find him. Thank you.” I hung up and started making some notes about what I wanted to say tonight. I didn’t want to talk for a long time, and it wasn’t the place for anything legislative, like a State of the Union Address. I needed something uplifting and patriotic, something that would let people know we still had a functioning government and one that would keep them alive. I put out a call for Matt Scully and Mike Gerson to stop by.

Before they could come in, Josh returned with a Navy Captain, an O-6, which was much higher up the food chain than the O-3 Army Captain I had been. “Mister President, this is Captain Miller. He should be able to help you,” said Josh.

I stood and went around my desk to greet Captain Miller. I had probably seen him in passing but couldn’t swear that we had spoken. “Captain, I have a small problem, and maybe you can help, or at least point me in the right direction.”

“Yes, sir. Whatever I can do.”

“This is in the nature of a personal emergency. My son is a Marine Lance Corporal at Camp Lejeune. I haven’t had a chance to even call him about this, and I don’t even know what he is doing, but I need him here in Washington tonight.”

Captain Miller didn’t bat an eye. “Yes, sir. I’ll take care of it. Where should he report to, and what is his uniform to be?”

I opened my mouth but didn’t reply for a moment. “Captain, you seem to be smarter than I am. I like that! He needs to be at the Capitol by eight this evening, for when I get sworn in. You should probably get him to the residence at the Naval Observatory. We made sure he has all the uniforms he could need there. I would think that the Blue Dress Uniform is too much?”

“That’s more like a tuxedo, sir. He should wear his Service A uniform. We’ll let him know.”

“Okay.”

“With your permission, sir?” he asked.

“Thank you, Captain. I am sure we will be talking some more. I hope you get him here on time.”

“The difficult we do immediately. The impossible just takes a little longer.” He turned and left.