Chapter 14

The insistent ringing of the telephone finally roused Kathleen Lehrer from a deep sleep. Answering the phone while trying to stifle a yawn, she looked at the clock next to the bed, wondered for a moment where she was before realizing that she was indeed at the White House, and that the nightmare she had had was very real. It was 6:35 A.M. She had been asleep all of three hours and ten minutes. And she felt like it too.

"Kathleen Lehrer here."

"Madame President? This is Dr. Franklin from George Washington University Hospital." Kathleen Lehrer was wide awake upon hearing the way the doctor addressed her. "I'm afraid I have some bad news," continued the surgeon, "The President is dead. We did all that we could, but there were too many internal injuries and his health had not been the best before the Capitol bombing. I'm very sorry."

"So am I," replied the new President. "What happened?"

"I pronounced him dead about ten minutes ago. He went into cardiac arrest a little before 6:00 and we tried like hell to get his heart going again for over a half hour. Unfortunately we couldn't save him. We won't know the exact cause of death until an autopsy is performed. We'll let you know the results once we have them."

"Thank you, Dr. Franklin. I know you did what you could to try to save him, but it was just not meant to be. I appreciate your call."

"I heard that the other people ahead of you in the line of succession are all dead. This makes you President now, doesn't it?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it does. I would give almost anything to not be in this position right now, but this is the way it is, and I will have to deal with it the best I can."

"I don't envy you, Madame President. As unlikely as all of this seemed at this time yesterday, you are now President of the United States during the worst crisis in our history. I would like to wish you all of the luck in the world because I am afraid you are going to need it. We will be praying for you."

"Thank you, Dr. Franklin. I really appreciate it. Have you made the announcement yet?"

"No, I wanted to notify you about it first. I am on my way to the press briefing room as soon as I get off of the phone with you."

"Thank you very much. I know you tried your hardest. I will be talking to you later on."

"You're welcome. Good luck Madame President."

Kathleen Lehrer then called White House Counsel Fred Valentine to let him know what had happened and to make preparations for her swearing in and the transfer of power.

"Hello Fred?," she asked of the very sleepy sounding voice on the other end of the line. "Kathy Lehrer here. I've got some bad news for you. The President just died on the operating table."

"Oh my God! That means that the entire line of succession up to you is dead. You are now President of the United States! We have to get you sworn in, and we have to do it as soon as possible."

"There isn't anyone else who could legally take office, is there?" she asked almost beseechingly.

"No. According to the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, the line of succession goes from the President to the Vice President, then comes the Speaker of the House, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, Secretary of Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, and Secretary of Labor. As the other departments were added to the Executive branch, the Cabinet members were then added to the Presidential succession list in the order in which their departments were added. The law says that this list 'shall apply only to offices appointed, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, prior to the time of death, resignation, removal from office, inability, or failure to qualify, of the President pro tempore, and only to officers not under impeachment by the House of Representatives at the time the powers and duties of the office of President devolve upon them.' That means that you are now President of the United States."

"Oh boy," said Kathleen Lehrer dejectedly. "I suppose every American dreams, at one time or another, about being President, but good God, not under these circumstances."

"I agree with you, Madame President, and I think you have handled this whole situation as well as it could have been handled up to this point. I can't think of anyone who would have handled it as well as you have and taken the responsibility the way you did last night. You got the world through the first twelve hours of its worst crisis without blowing it up. That in itself was a real accomplishment."

"I appreciate what you're saying and I would like to thank you for your confidence. It's just that I just came to Washington five weeks ago, and I was just starting to get to know my way around the Education Department, let alone the entire federal bureaucracy. I'm very nervous about all of this. Nervous, hell! I'm scared shitless. I'm scared that I will do the wrong thing and the whole world will end up being blown up because of something that I do or as a result of a decision that I make."

"I don't blame you. This is the worst crisis that the United States has ever had to face. But, I still think you are the best person to handle it, and I think things will work out. I don't know how, but I really think that somehow they will work out."

"You may be right, and I hope like hell you are, but I am not at all happy about this and I definitely am not looking forward to this."

"That's very understandable, but we have to get on with the business of governing this country. The first thing we have to do is get you sworn in. I was in touch with Judge John Jay Thompson, who is the senior federal judge for Washington, D.C., last night about swearing in the President Pro Temp. I will give him a call and have him here as soon as possible."

"Let's set it for 8:00 if we can. I have to tell my daughter Sara and get in touch with my son Marty, and let him know. He's in Philadelphia with my ex-husband."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that I received a report from the Secret Service. Your son was out with some friends when he heard about what had happened at the Capitol and returned to his Father's house. The Secret Service brought him back late last night and he is probably here now. They want you, and your son and daughter, to stay at the White House for security reasons as they feel that it would be much easier to protect you here rather than at your home. The Secret Service also said they would have people guarding your home around the clock to make sure that no one causes any damage to it or tries to break in or anything else."

"How did the Secret Service know I was going to be president? I just found that out a couple of minutes ago. When did they tell you this?"

"They mentioned this to me shortly after you had gone to lie down for your nap. I didn't want to disturb you since I figured you needed to get at least a little rest and that I would tell you this morning, which I have now done. The Secret Service didn't know that you were going to be president. They did know that you would be acting president and that you probably would be for at least a few days as they knew that the president pro temp was in bad shape and probably wouldn't be able to act as president for a little while at least. They felt this would be a more secure location for you than your home in Arlington, so they figured they would have you and your children stay in several of the guest rooms until we found out more about what was happening."