“I think it’s important to look beyond the present and look to the geopolitics of the region, sir,” Kercheval said by way of response. “Russia is cracking down on dissenters within its own borders. It wants to reestablish ties with Serbia and is threatening any Eastern European nation that wants to join the European Union or NATO. That’s enough provocation for me, Mr. President. That is very evident to me. Can I explain it any better?”
The last sentence caught everyone’s attention in the room, including the President’s. Instead of taking a return shot, however, the President nodded, politely terminating the discussion. “I appreciate your candor, Ed,” the President said, without a trace of malice — it sounded as if he really meant it, the Secretary of State thought. He turned to Douglas Morgan, the Director of Central Intelligence. “Doug? Comments?”
“How will this affect ongoing intelligence operations?” Morgan asked. “We have several dozen fully authorized and active field operations in progress, especially in the Balkans, Middle East, and Asia. You’re not going just to pull the plug on them, are you, sir?”
“Of course not,” the President replied. “In fact, I see no reason to change any aspect of intelligence operations. I think it’s just as important to maintain a strong and active intelligence and counterintelligence operation, perhaps even more so if my plan is fully implemented.”
“Perhaps because the world will see this plan as something like cowardice and think that every American governmental function will implode as well?” Kercheval interjected.
If the Secretary of State meant to stir up another argument with the President, it didn’t work. Thorn simply looked at Kercheval, nodded, and said with a smile, “Something like that, Ed, something like that.” To the others in the room, he offered, “Anything else?” When no one said anything, Thorn turned directly to Kercheval, hands outspread, eyes riveted on him as if saying, “C’mon, Ed, if you want another shot at me, go ahead and take it.”
Kercheval shook his head. That was all he could do. He had voiced his objections for weeks, had had all the input he was allowed and more, and now even challenged the President’s veracity. The man was obviously determined to do it.
“We’re going to implement the plan immediately, then,” the President said resolutely.’ Goff and Venti’s faces looked grim. Thorn added, “Let’s get it started, Bob.” He reached over, opened the folder before him, and signed the cover sheet of the executive order. “There you go, gentlemen. Let’s do it.”
Goff picked up the document and looked at it as if it were a copy of a death certificate. “I’m sure this is the most historic document I’ll ever hold in my hand.” He looked at Thorn with a mixture of awe and shock. “We’ll put it in motion right away, Mr. President. I have my first closed-door congressional hearing scheduled for next week, but when word leaks out about this, I’m sure that’ll be pushed up, more hearings will undoubtedly be scheduled, and some may even want to go unclassified. I’ll be sure to have the White House and Pentagon counsels set up the ground rules.”
“Good luck, Bob. I’ll be watching.”
“Are you going to mention it in the State of the Union address?”
“I do not intend to make a State of the Union address,” Thorn said.
“What?” the others exclaimed, almost in unison.
“Mr. President, you can’t be serious,” Kercheval said, his voice almost agitated. “Skipping the inaugural was bad enough—”
“I did not ‘skip’ the inaugural, Ed. I just chose not to attend.”
“It was political suicide, Mr. President,” Kercheval insisted. “It made you look like a laughingstock in front of the entire world!”
“I got my entire Cabinet confirmed in two weeks, and by the end of this month I’ll have every federal judge position filled,” the President said. “I don’t care if the world thought it was crazy, and I don’t care about political suicide, because there is virtually no political party behind me.”
“But not giving a speech before Congress—”
“Nothing mandates either an inaugural at the Capitol or a speech before Congress,” the President reminded him. “The Constitution mandates a swearing-in and an oath of office, which I did. The Constitution mandates an annual report to Congress on the state of the union and my legislative agenda, and that’s what I intend to do. I will deliver my budget to Congress at the same time.
“You think it’s political suicide — I say that it tells Congress and tells the American people I mean business. Congress knew I was serious about forming and running my government, and they helped me get my Cabinet confirmed in record time. My judges will be sworn in in months, and in some cases years, before the previous administration’s were.”
Kercheval still looked worried. Thorn stood, clasped him on the shoulder, and said seriously, “It looks suicidal to you, Ed, because you’ve been stained by Washington politics, which most times bears little resemblance to either the law or the Constitution.”
“Sir?” Kercheval asked, letting a bit more anger seep into his voice. “Surely you’re not implying …”
“I don’t know Washington politics,” the President went on, ignoring Kercheval’s rising anger. “All I know is the Constitution and a little bit of the law. But you know something? That’s all I need to know. That’s why I know I can choose not to show up for an inaugural or a State of the Union speech, and have complete confidence that I’m doing the right thing. That kind of confidence rubs off on others. I hope it’ll rub off on you.” He went back to his desk, sat down, and began to type again on the computer keyboard at his desk. “We meet with the congressional leadership this morning,” he said aloud, without looking again at Kercheval. “First conference call is scheduled for later this afternoon, isn’t it, Ed?”
“Yes, sir. The prime ministers of the NATO countries,” Kercheval replied, completely taken aback by the President’s words. “It’ll be a video teleconference from the Cabinet Room at three Pm. Tonight’s video teleconference is with the Asian allies, scheduled for eight Pm. Tomorrow will be the second round at ten A.M. with the nonaligned countries of Europe and Central and South America.”
“Any advance word?”
“The general assumption is that you’re going to announce the removal of peacekeeping forces from Bosnia, Macedonia, and Kosovo,” Kercheval replied. “That rumor started last week. Already, France and Great Britain have announced their intention to pull out if we pull out. Russia has already hinted they will pull out of Kosovo, but our formal announcement might make them change their mind. Germany will likely stay in both Kosovo and Bosnia.”
“Why is that?”
“It’s right on Germany’s doorstep, and the Balkans have been of great German interest for centuries,” Kercheval said. “Unfortunately, most of the historical connections are negative ones, especially the more recent ones. The Third Reich received a lot of support from sympathizers in the Balkans in their quest to wipe out ‘unclean’ races like Jews and Gypsies. Germany has continued to be a close supporter of Croatia — they fully sponsored Croatia’s admittance into the United Nations, long before their break from Yugoslavia, and they have supported Croatia’s attempts to get land and citizen’s rights from Bosnia. Besides, Germany sees itself as the one and only counterbalance to Russian encroachments in the Balkans. They’ll stay.”
“I need to know for certain,” President Thorn said. “Let’s get Minister Schramm on the line before the teleconference. I’m committed to our plan, but I don’t want to leave our allies flat-footed.”