Chapter 16

After the brief ceremony, President Kathleen Lehrer and the ranking survivors of each Cabinet department proceeded to the Cabinet meeting room. The President experienced a very weird sensation as she took the President's position where, just seventeen and one half hours before, the now dead President had sat. An involuntary chill, not caused by the cold temperatures, started at her toes and slowly transported itself up her back to her head when she thought about the fact that she was the only person who had been present at that fateful meeting that still survived. When everyone had found a seat, the new President began.

"First of all, I would like to thank all of you for being here on such short notice. I know that several of you had been out of town and have traveled a great deal in order to be here for this meeting, and I want you to know that I appreciate it, and that I will try to make this meeting as short as possible."

"As you know, we are facing the greatest crisis in the history of our great nation. This crisis, however, also provides us with some opportunities to do what is right, though not necessarily what is most popular, to improve conditions in this country. Besides the obvious threat that Iran poses to our allies and ourselves, we face other serious perils as well. Our economy is in the worst shape that it has been in since the Depression. The war in the Mideast threatens our oil supply, which is only going to put more strains on our economy. More farmers are going bankrupt, more people are homeless, and more people, especially children, are malnourished than ever before in our history. Sixty million adults in this country are functionally illiterate. Yet the United States, Russia and many other countries throughout the world are armed to the teeth with all sorts of deadly weapons whose use would mean the destruction of the planet, all of this while people are starving."

"The United States has one of the highest percentages of its population imprisoned of all of the countries of the world. Our infrastructure is falling apart. Our water supplies are threatened by toxic waste dumps. I could go on and on. As you can see, there is much that needs to be done."

"As you know, I have just moved to Washington, and I was just starting to find my way around the Education Department, let alone the entire federal bureaucracy. I am going to need a lot of help from all of you if we are to succeed in meeting the challenges that are before us."

"I have just met many of you for the first time within the last hour. Believe me, we will be getting to know each other a lot better in the days and weeks ahead."

"Now, in order to get better acquainted with the issues that we are facing, I would like a short report, no more than five pages, from each department head outlining major problems facing each department. I also want to know what we are currently doing about the problems, and the progress that is being made, as well as the progress that is not being made and should be. I would like to know what major legislation affecting each department may have just passed through Congress, or may have been fairly well advanced in the legislative process. I would like to discuss this legislation at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow morning."

"Once I have an idea of what the priorities are for each department, I will get back to you about what we can do and how we might be able to do it. I would like to have these reports by 6:00 this evening."

"One thing that I intend to stress during my administration, is the willingness to try new ideas to resolve old problems. I am going to try to stimulate the creativity of the average American citizen, and I hope every government worker as well, to see what kind of ideas we can come up with to deal with our problems. By getting the People involved in their government, I believe that we will be able to move this country towards a true participatory democracy and away from government of, by and for the elites."

"We will meet again at 9:00 tomorrow morning to discuss these reports. Now, besides the war, are there any items that I should be aware of immediately?"