The press conference was going to be fairly brief, maybe twenty, thirty minutes, tops. Will limited it to the major networks and a few print reporters, and it would be in a conference room here at Bethesda. He had them set that up, and Marilyn and the physical therapist helped me to take a shower, and get cleaned up and shaved. The only bandages I had were a fairly large one covering my upper right chest. Will had me put on some slacks and a zippered sweatshirt. I almost looked human by the time I was able to totter into the press conference. Totter is actually close to the truth. My right knee was really beginning to bug me, and since I normally supported myself with a cane on my right side, and my right chest now had a hole in it, that made using the cane a lot more difficult.
Still, I much preferred being able to meet reporters on my own two feet. The last President who was able to meet people in a wheelchair was FDR, and the sorry truth was that in the modern television age, it would be the kiss of death. Still, as I got to the doorway into the conference room, I stopped, took a deep breath, stood up straight, and handed my cane to one of the agents. I looked over at Marilyn and smiled.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Like I’ve been shot and been unconscious and in a hospital for a week.”
“You’ll be fine.”
I planted a smile on my face and stepped forward, no matter how much my body was screaming at me. The camera lights were bright, and I didn’t have any makeup on, but I simply brazened it out. I marched forward and waved to everybody, and Doctor Tubb held out a chair for me to sit down in. Marilyn followed me and sat down next to me, so that she and Tubb had me sandwiched. A table was in front of me and microphones were in front of all three of us.
“Hello. Thank you for coming. I just wanted to take this brief opportunity to let everybody know that the reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated. I’ll be making a brief statement, and then take some questions.” I waited a second for everybody to settle down and get ready, and then it was show time. I had a short statement on the table in front of me.
Me: “Hello, and thank you for coming. Part of my appearance here today is to reassure people that I survived the attempt on my life, and let them know I am quite alive. A greater part is to be able to publicly thank everybody involved in protecting me and saving my life. The First Lady and I would like to thank the Secret Service agents and Baltimore City Police officers who risked their lives protecting me and everyone else last Friday evening. We would like to thank the doctors, nurses, and staff at the Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore and at Bethesda Naval Hospital here in Bethesda. We also wish to thank the millions of people who have kept us in their thoughts and prayers over the last few days. It is very much appreciated. Finally, I wish to personally thank John McCain for stepping into my shoes while I was incapable of discharging my duties. Now, I am sure there are going to be a lot of questions, so let’s get started.”
Thus began a rather lengthy question and answer period. I knew it was relatively late in the day, and that their editors would be freaking out trying to edit it and cut it down for broadcast but I just didn’t care. The most important thing right now was for me to show the nation that I was alive and well and looking Presidential. I never really noticed who was asking questions, but simply tried to give everybody a chance.
Q: “How are you feeling, Mister President?”
Me: (Smiling.) “The First Lady asked me that right before we entered. I told her I felt like I’d been shot and in a hospital for a week!” (Laughter in the room.) “Seriously, I’m rather sore, and a bit weak, but I am getting better every day, and should be back to normal in a few weeks. Until then I am just going to take it a bit easier and follow my doctors’ orders.” (I looked at Doctor Tubb.) “Sound right?”
Tubb: “President Buckman’s condition is much better than he was over the weekend. I can categorically state that the President is in excellent physical condition for a 50 year old man, or even one ten or fifteen years younger. This has helped him considerably in the healing process. We expect that the President will be able to return to the White House in the next few days, although his full recovery and physical therapy will take longer.”
Q: “What kind of therapy?”
Me: “Well, I’ve got a bullet hole here, in my chest.” (I pointed at my right chest.) “Lots of muscle damage. It’s rather sore at the moment, and I’m a bit weak. I need to build up some strength and let things heal, and get back to my regular range of movement. It’s really quite routine, but it needs to be done.”
Tubb: “The President…” (He gave them a couple of minutes of medical Latin, all of which I knew would be cut.)
Q: “Is it true that the first thing you asked for was a steak and a beer?”
Me: (Laughing, with Marilyn laughing next to me.) “Absolutely! Anything is better than broth and Jell-O! The first thing we are doing when we get out of here is the whole motorcade is going through a drive-thru somewhere!” (The room really laughed at that one.)
Q: “There are reports that the assassination attempt was made by Armenian terrorists. Is that true?”
Me: “I am not really at liberty to answer that. I can say that there does not seem to be either a terrorist aspect to this, or any current foreign connection. Beyond that, I will simply say that a suspect has been arrested, and that the investigation is continuing.”
Q: “Is it true that you are firing the head of the Secret Service?”
Me: “No, that is not true. Let me elaborate on both these topics. There are actually two investigations going on right now. The first is on the actual attempt — who was involved, how did it happen, that sort of thing — and the second is related to that, but is an internal investigation into the Secret Service’s procedures. The first investigation is still ongoing, and I have answered a few questions from the Secret Service on that. I will say that I do not intend to make a lot of comments on whoever has been caught. I am a firm believer in the concept of innocent until proven guilty, and the individual involved deserves his day in court. As to the Secret Service itself, I certainly don’t plan to start firing people when we don’t even know what happened yet or if there even was a breakdown.”
Marilyn: “One of the Secret Service agents and a Baltimore policeman were shot saving my husband. I think we are both more worried about their recovery than in starting a witch hunt!” (I nodded at that.)
Q: “Have you met them yet?”
Me: “No, but I definitely intend to.”
Q: “Does this change your thinking on gun control?”
Well, I knew this was going to come up at some point. I had a name, dating back to my sponsoring the Defending the Second Amendment Act, as being pro-gun. What I was secretly hoping for was that somebody would ask Marilyn her thoughts. She might be a Democrat, and more liberal than me, but we had talked about guns, and she didn’t have a problem with the Second Amendment. On our first trip around, while we hadn’t owned guns, Parker had. It never bothered us then, either.
A: “I’m not against gun control laws. I’m against stupid gun control laws. While I can’t go into all the details, my understanding is that the person who shot me stole the gun from a person who owned the gun legally, had registered the gun, and was storing it properly. No gun control law short of a confiscation of all guns could have prevented this person from getting that gun, and no way will we ever do that!”