Gideon (48 page)

“Will today’s events change his intention to step down?”

“It certainly might. But that’s not the only thing that has to be considered. It’s not merely a question of whether or not Jerry Bickford would like to be president. Does the party
want
him to be president? That’s the real question. What makes these circumstances so extraordinary and so complex is that Tom Adamson swept the primaries. He had already won his party’s nomination. He
is
their presidential candidate. Now, with no chance for any more primaries to be held, the delegates are going to have to choose a new candidate. Will they want to choose one who’s seventy-one years old and has Bell’s palsy, or will they feel that makes him unelectable? Let’s not forget, the convention is in New Orleans in nine days—and it’s going to be one of the few times since the eighteen-forties, when we went away from the concept of state political conventions and to open primary elections, that we will have seen a wide-open convention. In 1912 Theodore Roosevelt tried to wrest the Republican nomination away from William Howard Taft, but he failed in that effort and the delegates ultimately opted for Taft. The result was that Roosevelt started the Bull Moose Party, splitting the popular Republican vote, and the Democratic candidate, Woodrow Wilson, became president. We don’t know if anything like that will happen in New Orleans. All we know is that the public will not be choosing the party’s candidate. This is truly history in the making. A tragic and bewildering history, surely—one without any real context, in fact. We are in the middle of an almost unfathomable and unique moment that will alter and affect the future of America—”

“Meredith, excuse me,” the anchor interrupted. “But I believe Mrs. Adamson is ready to speak … Wait, there seems to be some sort of … I can’t quite make out … it looks like … yes, President Bickford has just come and is standing by Mrs. Adamson’s side. He is escorting her up to the podium and is taking his place by her side. The chaos seems to be settling down just a bit, and it does indeed look as if Elizabeth Adamson is ready to speak.”

“I can’t believe she’s going to do this,” Amanda murmured, transfixed, eyes never leaving the TV screen.

“This is a brave woman,” Suzi’s husband said, awed.

No one said a word, in Suzi’s living room or the room in the White House were Elizabeth Adamson now leaned in toward the microphone.

“This is a very difficult moment for me,” the First Lady announced to the country. He voice was shaky and she stopped speaking, waiting until she could continue without a quaver. “But it is a difficult moment for everyone in America and in the entire world.” She looked up now, and the entire world could see the tears in her eyes. She did not let them escape down her cheeks, but they were there, being held inside. “At five-twenty P.M. today, Thomas Adamson, the president of the United States, my husband, shot himself. He died instantly.”

Watching the television from the couch, Suzi burst into tears.

“My husband was a good man. I believe he was a great man, but greatness is usually decided by history, so that judgement will have to wait. What is certain and absolute is that he did many great things. He had strong beliefs and was willing to fight for them. President Adamson fought an enormous number of those battles and won more than his share. We can never know what kind of toll such battles take on a human being, on a human soul, just as we can never know, ultimately, why someone who had so much to live for, so much to contribute, would choose to end his life. What we can know, what I
do
know, is that President Adamson was exhausted. He was tired of the battles. Tom was not only frustrated by the wrongs he saw all around him, he was angry and depressed at the barriers set up that prevented him from righting those wrongs.

“This is a time of great turmoil. There is hunger in the world. And homelessness. There are wars and injustices. There are many battles still to be fought and won. Now is not the moment for politics, God knows. A tragedy like this tends to give us perspective on politics, allows us to see it for what it is: a game played by the powerful, all too often for the sole purpose of retaining that power. Too often it is played at the expense of the hungry and the homeless and the besieged. But the political ramifications cannot be ignored because they are too important.

“There are many questions that need to be answered and will be answered in the upcoming hours and days and weeks. I ask all of you, Republican or Democrat, friend or foe, powerful or besieged, to help answer these questions. Together. As human beings. It is a time to set aside differences, to lay down the swords, to do things simply because they are the right things to do. I ask you to stay calm and, yes, to grieve, but also to celebrate what my husband has done and what we’re
all
going to do in the future. You will soon have to decide upon his successor. You will have to decide upon the future.

“That’s really why I decided to speak today. To remind everyone that there
is
a future. One that must be filled with hope and joy and the promise of good things to come.

“I ask that we all pray. Pray for President Bickford, who is standing beside me, supporting me and keeping me standing, as he supported and kept my husband standing for many years. The president will need our prayers to keep up his strength for the battles he must now face. I ask that we also pray for my husband. Pray that he has finally achieved the peace he so richly deserves. And, finally, we should pray for ourselves. Pray that we have the strength and the courage to do what is right and what is best. Pray that we will heal. And pray that such tragedies never happen again.”

As Elizabeth Adamson was led away from the podium, the people gathered around the television set in the small living room in Warren, Mississippi, were holding hands, hugging each other, and sobbing. The speech had overwhelmed them. As commentators were already beginning to acknowledge, the speech had overwhelmed
everybody
. The president’s widow had managed to soothe, excite, comfort, and provide faith for the world.

Except for Carl Granville.

“She’s amazing,” Amanda said. “How can someone have the strength to do that?” She was sniffing, wiping away the copious tears that had flowed during the speech.

Carl’s eyes were dry and cold. And he didn’t answer her question. All he said was, “
Why?
”

“Why what?”

“Why did he do it? Adamson had us licked. He won. He got the disks from my computer. He got everyone who was in the way. He sure as hell thought he had us. Why would he kill himself?”

“I don’t care,” Amanda said. “All I care about is that it’s finally over.” When he didn’t say anything, she wiped away the last of the tears with her sleeve. “It
is
over, isn’t it, Carl?”

From the television, they heard the anchor announce that they were offering a tribute to Tom Adamson by honoring his greatest living legacy, Elizabeth Adamson. It had been prepared over the past few hours, documenting her speeches, her accomplishments, her life with the president. Carl and Amanda turned to watch. There, on the screen, was a tape of the former First Lady coming out of the White House. It was obviously an old tape, because she was on the arm of her husband. It was amazing, Carl thought. Her husband was dead only a few hours and, thanks to the miracle of modern television, there was already a documentary about her life.
Nothing stands still anymore. There’s no time to mourn, no time to grieve. No time to think. There’s only time to keep moving forward
.

“This is the last public appearance of Elizabeth Adamson with the president,” the commentator was saying. “This extraordinary woman was accompanying her husband, several weeks ago, to Owens, Mississippi, where the president’s mother, Wilhelmina Adamson, was celebrating her seventy-eight birthday. After a private dinner at Mrs. Adamson’s home, all three family members, along with then Vice President Bickford and his wife, went to a celebratory town hall meeting. Both the president and Mrs. Adamson spoke at the meeting. The president spoke about the need to legislate human rights. Mrs. Adamson talked about the need to change the way people perceived human rights. It was a perfect example of why they where an exemplary team. He went to the core of the political issues, she went to …”

Carl leaned forward to stare at the small TV screen. The tape showed Bickford and his wife, followed by the president and Elizabeth Adamson, walking into the Mississippi town hall.

“Amanda,” he said.

“Please, Carl,” she said. “I don’t think I can absorb anything else right now.”

“Amanda! Look at the TV!”

She peered at the images on the screen. “What?” she asked. The First Lady and the president had stopped to answer some questions being shouted by the media. “It’s Elizabeth Adamson. I don’t see what the—”

“To her right. Look to her right!”

“Secret Service.”

“
Look
, goddamn it!”

Suzi’s entire family spun around at Carl’s harsh words. But he ignored them, as did Amanda. She was squinting now. Then she sat up straight, turned to Carl, and blinked, as if she couldn’t believe here eyes.

“It’s impossible,” she said.

“It’s not,” Carl told her. “It’s all too possible. And to answer your question: I don’t think it’s over.”

On the tape, the Bickfords and their two Secret Service bodyguards disappeared through the doorway. The president and Mrs. Adams were now stepping through the same doorway, accompanied by their two Secret Service men. Both men wore dark gray suits, white shirts, and sunglasses. One of them, clearly assigned to the president, was a stranger; they had never seen him before.

The other one, the First Lady’s protector who hovered, shadowlike, at Elizabeth Adamson’s elbow, was someone Carl knew well.

The other one was Harry Wagner.

July 13—July 16

From a front-page story syndicated by Apex news Service, carried by the
New York Journal
, the
Washington Journal
, the
Chicago Press
, the
Loss Angeles Post
, the
Denver Tribune
, and the
Miami Daily Breeze
:

BICKFORD SAYS NO TO PRESIDENTIAL BID

Cities Health and Age

Washington, July 14 (Apex News Service)—
A pale and shaken President Bickford announced at a dramatic White House news conference this morning that he will not seek or accept the Democratic Party’s nomination for president in November.

“I am seventy-one years old and my health will simply not allow it,” said the president, his words slurred noticeably by the attack of Bell’s palsy that has plagued him for several weeks. “Our nation need someone of youth and vigor to lead it in the new century,” he stated, adding in a choked voice, “I have lost a dear friend. We have all lost a dear friend. I wish I were in a position to carry on his important and compassionate policies, but reality dictates otherwise.”

His stunning announcement, coming only one day after he was sworn in following President Adamson’s devastating suicide—and a scant week before his party’s convention in New Orleans—leaves the Democratic Party virtually without a primary-tested, nationally recognized candidate to run against Senator Walter Chalmers of Wyoming, the presumptive Republican nominee. Democratic Party leaders were caught totally by surprise. As the news spread on Capitol Hill, business in both halls of Congress came to a virtual standstill.

The response from senior legislators was quick and candid. “This nation’s government is now in disarray,” reflected Senator Wallace Moon, the liberal Florida Democrat who is a longtime Chalmers foe. “I suggest we all get down on our knees and pray.”

The fallout from President Bickford’s announcement was felt immediately on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 541 points after the press conference. It was the second largest one-day point drop in the Dow’s history. The Dow would no doubt have tumbled even farther if the New York Stock Exchange had not shut down two hours early yesterday afternoon to prevent further panic sell-offs.

Wall Street analysts remain deeply concerned about how the financial markets will respond this morning. “We are sailing into uncharted political waters,” advised Zig Halpern, a senior vice president for Merrill Lynch, the brokerage giant. “That frightens investors, both small and institutional.”

Financial markets abroad were also sent reeling. The Nikkei Index in Tokyo fell 12 percent after the president’s announcement, while the London market fell 8 percent.

The reaction from Senator Chalmers was measured. “My friends, this is why we have a two-party system in America,” he said, aiming to calm the fears of both voters and world markets. “Not only so that there is a free and stimulating exchange of viewpoints but so that there can be an orderly transition of power. It is a painful time. A sad time. But we will prevail.”

President Bickford, who answered no questions from reporters, gave no indication of whom he would recommend that the party now put forth as a candidate. But it is extremely doubtful, stated one senior White House aid, that anyone will emerge on such short notice who can match President Bickford’s popularity with moderate voters of both parties, who consider him a steady, veteran hand with a strong track record on such social issues as abortion, health care, education, and Social Security. To those same voters, he is considered a viable alternative to the red-meat conservatism of Senator Chalmers, and ardent abortion and gun control foe who has vowed to privatize Social Security by the year 2010.

The latest Apex News Network—
Washington Journal
poll shows President Bickford favored to edge out Senator Chalmers in November, 46 percent to 42 percent. That number is closer than most political pundit had predicted following President Adamson’s suicide and is seen as a result of public fear of and lack of knowledge about President Bickford’s disease. A crucial 12 percent remained undecided.

According to White House spokesman Alexander Whitfield, President Bickford spent the morning with Elizabeth Cartwright Adamson discussing funeral plans for President Adamson. It is not known at this point whether a formal state funeral will take place. Since no sitting president in the history of the United States has ever taken his own life, no official White House protocol exists. Because of the nature of the president’s death, there is also some question as to whether the Catholic Church will allow a religious funeral. The White House refused to comment on whether the Vatican was being consulted but, according to a spokesperson at Washington’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral, church doctrine would not prevent a funeral from being held there. “The dogma has changed considerably over the past decade,” Sister Lucille Furia acknowledged. “The belief now is that only God is fit to judge the reason someone would choose to leave this life. It is not for the church to judge. It is for the church to serve.”