Chapter 2

It was Friday - the last day - and then I was going home to be with my mates and the kids. I went to the fitness center at 0500. I woke up early and decided to work out this morning instead of in the evening. The government had bought several of the gym machines that I liked to use at the gym for the fitness center.

It was 0730 before I knew it. I needed to make a call at 0730 from my office to Prime Minister Attenborough. I didn’t have time to go shower and change so I went to the office in my gym shorts and tee shirt. I would go shower and change later.

I completed my call – it took forty five minutes instead of the fifteen that I thought it would. General Ingram and others were waiting to come in so I ended up wearing the slightly tight sweaty tee, gym shorts and tennis shoes most of the morning. I finally sent one of the house attendants to my room to get me a pair of camo pants, a shirt and belt.

‘‘We have reduced the troop level in Iran as low as we can for a while. All the B52 and B21 bombers and their support groups are back at their assigned bases. Ten of the assault landing ships have picked up their equipment and troops and are headed to their home ports.’’

‘‘All the National Guard are back to their states. Other than the rest of the assault landing ships, the drawdown to the levels we think we need are complete,’’ General Ingram said.

‘‘I’m glad to hear that. The troop levels that are there now are going to be there several years, at least,’’ I said.

‘‘Has there been any more information on the number of Iranian troop numbers thought to be deceased?’’ I asked.

‘‘No, we really haven’t been looking for any more. Some of the construction teams have started filling up bomb craters left from the seismic bombs. They will be packed level ground in a year or two, ready for more buildings.’’

‘‘The areas where they were enriching uranium are showing some radiation leaks. They are going to be filled and covered with concrete as soon as possible,’’ he added.

‘‘Do you want any investigation at the IRG weapons research sites or their command centers?” he asked.

‘‘No, just push the debris into the depressions, cover it with dirt and concrete. There is just too much danger from unexploded ordnance,’’ I said.

‘‘That’s the position that General Irons and Downs argued. We are all in agreement so I will send the orders,’’ he said.

‘‘Are the Iranian civilians getting everything they need to stay peaceful?’’ I asked.

‘‘You should ask the State Department about that,’’ General Ingram said.

‘‘I’m going to, but I want your assessment and of your people on the ground as well. I don’t like surprises. Sometimes what one group thinks is unimportant is very important to others and can lead to very serious issues,’’ I said.

‘‘I will make the calls and get back to you before the end of the day,’’ he said.

‘‘On another matter, your appointment as chairman of the Joint Chiefs expires in January. Are you open to being appointed to the position again, or do you want to retire out of the service - as most do?’’ I asked.

‘‘Honestly, I have not given it a thought,’’ he replied.

‘‘Think about it - I would like you to stay. But if you and the wife have made plans for a life after the military and White House service, I wouldn’t want to interfere with your plans,’’ I said.

It was one item off the list that Connie and vice President Harrison had been working on. It was already several hundred items long. Connie had gone back through President Thomas’s first administration papers to generate all the positions that I had to fill if I didn’t want the current people in them.

Another few off the list was that I asked all the house staff to stay on. I had also asked Connie and Kitty Winn to continue as my personal secretaries. I had asked Troy to stay on as my chief of staff.

I had a ghost of a thought to find a couple of young males for the spot. For nothing more than to give the Washington gossip columns something to complain about as a distraction, but better instincts prevailed.

After lunch I was to meet a delegation from the District of Columbia and a delegation from the House and Senate. I had a good idea what they were wanting before the January fifth change of power in the House and Senate.

I ate lunch with my staff in the White House cafeteria. I ate light - just a salad. I was determined to work against the formation of ‘secretarial ass’ as often as I could. I intended this morning’s early romp in the gym to be a nearly every day event.

We talked weather and the weekend’s football games. A couple of the men were into football big time. The Christmas Day game was the Cowgirls - as they were now nicknamed because they had not won a game in three years - against the Lions. The death of Jerry Jones had destroyed the once powerhouse franchise and it kept getting worse.

We discussed how the NFL had not recovered from the kneelers, BLM debacle, Covid disaster and the push to be politically correct. The result was an infuriation that the fans had not forgiven.

To make matters worse, the NFL leadership was in the midst of major rules, changes that were going to make the sport into playground touch football. They had finally thrown all visions of it being a real man’s game by caving into the players’ union demand.

Just about every kind of tackle was a penalty. The quarterback could not be thrown to the ground in any manner nor could he be tackled below the waist, and any hand contact to his helmet was a penalty. The safety and defensive players had to stay at least an arm’s length away from the receiver until after the ball was caught.

The goal was to create high scoring games and end injuries to one hundred million dollar star players, hoping to draw interest back to the game. Instead they were driving fans away. Stadiums were no longer filled - tickets were just too damn high and TV ratings were down every year. The viewers were getting sick of five minutes of game and ten minutes of ads, and even more ads by split screen.

At 1300 the Secret Service led the liberal group back to the meeting room; there were too many for the seating in the Oval Office.

‘‘Good afternoon Senators Able and Myers, Representatives Jillson, Humphries and Stewart. Mayor Deblossom and I believe it is council ladies Hebron and Inez, it’s good to see all of you here today,’’ I said.

‘‘My notes say that you are here to discuss the prospect of statehood for the District,’’ I said.

‘‘Former President Thomas indicated that he would have been supportive of such a proposal before he passed,’’ Senator Able said.

‘‘The residents of DC deserve to be able to vote for senators and voting representatives in congress. To deny them that right is an injustice, immoral and unconstitutional,’’ Mayor Deblossom said.

‘‘I am lucky enough to have President Thomas’ notes and I read in them that he was as opposed to Statehood for the District as I am. Where you got the idea he was supportive is beyond me and calls for an investigation,’’ I said.

‘‘To expand on that a little, Connie pulled up the historical information on the district. I read it to say the intent of making it a district and the permanent capital of our nation was to avoid the possible conflicts a state designation could cause and that would hamper the federal government,’’ I said.