To add to his nervousness, he had no time to prepare notes for this, his first official act as President. There was no teleprompter with a prepared, and focus group tested, text for him to read. It was going to be just him and a rough outline that he had not even written down. After all, how else could this have happen so quick, he had been President for less than two hours and had yet to even meet the White House speechwriters. He didn’t even know where their offices were. He had a speechwriter on his staff, but they were still down in his Congressional Office.
He had yet to even speak with his wife about this situation. He found that amusing in a certain way. He wondered if she would figure it out that he was indeed the President when he showed up on TV to give his unprepared speech. He was absolutely certain of the fact that she wouldn’t like his tie. What was more likely the case, the Secret Service agents that would now be surrounding her probably would have filled her in of her new position of the Washington elite.
He had to focus on the task at hand. He couldn’t afford to be distracted right now, thoughts of his wife could wait. He was about to go on television, against the advice of the White House staff, in order to try an attempt to put an end to some of the confusion that the American people had to be feeling. He had insisted on doing this so that the nation could hear some kind of calming words that someone was on the job.
The public sentiment, and perhaps unrest across the next few days would hinge on what was not only a first for President Press, but a first for any modern American President. He was about to go on national television with no reporter to guide the discussion, no teleprompter, no rehearsed speech, and if he focused on these facts he thought he might have to run from the room screaming. This had to be a well done, direct and from the heart talk. He knew he must not screw this up.
A man next to the camera wearing headphones started counting down. Five, four, three, two, one.
The light on top of the camera turned red indicating he was live, “Good evening. I am your new President, Scott Press. Many of you, if you are familiar with me at all, it is only a vague, or passing familiarity. After all, I was only Speaker of the House for a few months. This level of familiarity will, without a doubt, change in the coming weeks.
“Despite the events of the day, the United States Government will continue to function normally. The act of madness which has thrust me into this office is just that, an act of madness.”
He took a deep breath before continuing, very glad he had learned years ago while filming television commercials for his business to not think about how many people were watching him.
He continued, “I promise you that we will find out everything we can about the person or persons responsible for this brutal assassination. I want to stress that so far, this appears to be the act of one man. To the best of our knowledge, there is no widespread attack looming on the horizon coming to do harm to the United States. The lone man, who appears to have made the decision to this heinous act by himself, is now dead, and he can no longer do any harm to anyone.
“Now, many of you may be asking yourselves what is next for us. Where do we go from here? In the immediate future you can expect that I will nominate a Vice President whose name will be submitted to the Legislative Branch for their confirmation as soon as is practical.
“I would like to formally request that the esteemed members of Congress perform this task quickly. We must populate all of our highest-level leadership positions. This will ensure the unquestionable and smooth transition of leadership should another tragedy occur.
“I also want to state that even if such an event was to occur, and the Office of the Vice President, as well as the Speaker of the House were both still vacant, we have a legal procedure for Presidential succession, and it will be followed. Have no fear; there will be someone on the job.
He hoped he wasn’t rambling, “There will be some changes coming in the near future. My vision for the direction of the country is much different than that of my predecessor. I am here to serve you, the American people. All of the American people, not just some specific special interest groups. I want to assure you that every task my administration and I perform will be done in the manner prescribed in our Constitution and body of laws. We will perform these tasks with as much public transparency as possible.”
He hoped his voice was not shaking. He subconsciously became far more humble as he continued. He also, without realizing it, folded his hands on the desk, “I pray for the soul of the former Vice President. I had the great honor of meeting him on a few occasions. A more honest, patriotic, and well-intentioned man than he, would be a rare find. He was the type of person we should all aspire to be.
“He and I may have disagreed with each other on the specifics of different policy areas, but his desired outcome and mine were always what would be best for America. I pray for his family in their time of grief.
“May God bless them and may God bless the United States of America.”
The camera shot pulled back and faded out before the red light was extinguished. The new President stood from behind the desk, looked around the Oval Office and asked the people present, addressing his question to no one in particular, “Can someone please get my wife on the phone and then ask my Congressional Office staff to join me from down the street? We have a lot of work to do.”
AP NEWS FLASH: Newly sworn in President Scott Press spoke to the nation in a very short address this evening. He says that power has transitioned. He is on the job, and stated that the assassination of the former Vice President is a tragedy and appears to be the act of an individual. Experts are saying that it does not have any of the hallmarks an act of war, or any kind of act of another nation. He claims one of his first orders of business will be to appoint a new Vice President in case any further leadership tragedies occur. It is expected that he will begin to announce changes in Cabinet appointments in the coming days, as he will desire a change in advisors from the former President.
AP ECONOMIC NEWS FLASH: Following a national address by the new President of the United States, all international financial market volatility slowed. Buyers did start to return to the market, causing it to regain some of the lost ground. Oil, however, was a different story, finishing the day at $5 per barrel higher. The increase in the price of oil was mainly attributed to speculators who believe that if some international involvement in the assassination is found it could lead to international tensions. These types of tensions could lead to international conflict, and eventually higher oil prices. There is hope amongst all traders that there will be further statements from the White House concerning any shifts in economic policies, which will certainly cause volatility to decrease the sooner these shifts, should there be any, become known.
Chapter Seven
Dr. Joba was not at all embarrassed by the fact that that his first reaction when being summoned out of his laboratory was annoyance. Now he was glad that his fears of unnecessary delays in his work were unfounded. He knew he was passionate about his work, so much so that he only normally left it for sleep, meals and, of course, prayers. He had even forgone vacations for almost a decade.
Relaxation was for other people. It was for people whose work was not as important as his.
If one of his assistants had not come in the laboratory this morning and filled him in, it could have been days before he realized there had been an assassination in the United States. Such things, while interesting, were irrelevant to his work. He didn’t care about things much besides his lab and his religion.