President by Attrition

CHAPTER 1

Alysia Weir had issued her edict. That was her usual way of handling the first female president of the United States. She had insisted that the president take her husband on a second honeymoon of at least two days to visit some exotic destination preferably on the Mediterranean. The two of them had been under too much strain and conflict over the past two years to even remain civil to one another. They needed some quality time together. Alysia wasn’t prepared for the eventual outcome of her decree and neither was the rest of the world.

Alysia had been the presidential adviser to Aaron Keeling, the former president. When Aaron completed his two-term limit as president he became vice president by party proclamation and ‘in-house’ adviser to his wife, Nicole Keeling, the duly elected President of the United States of America. Nicole had held the office of President for the past two years.

How this all came about is a matter of history but a current chain of events was becoming even more challenging to the imagination. Alysia had helped plan all of the succession strategy in what had turned into one of the greatest feats of American political science. Nicole Keeling, Aaron’s wife and his constant companion, had pulled off a political coup, unknown in the history of America. Admittedly, this legal maneuvering was easier for them, due to her law degree from Boalt Hall and his from Stanford Law - two exceptional schools of jurisprudence.

Alysia wasn’t dumb. Fool me once… She had lost her own husband some years earlier due to the stress of her own political career. One day he just packed his bags, walked out the door and never came back. She wasn’t about to see the same thing happen to these two. They were her responsibility now and she was going to make certain no one ever tried to stray from the narrow path she had so skillfully blazed. Her political future was assured. Maybe even Secretary of State, eventually. Who knows? In these times, anything was possible. The United States was ready for this kind of change whether the people knew it or not.

Her office was indeed small, having been created as a makeshift addition to the other offices that adjoined the Oval Office. It was devoid of some of the amenities associated with a position that demanded deference. It was still early in the morning but Alysia’s plans had to be made swiftly. She had to have the two lovebirds, for want of a better term, out of the country before October 15th, so that Nicole could be back home, in time for the mid-term elections, on November 3rd.

Alysia Weir’s appearance was nondescript. So much so that she was continually being mistaken for someone else she had never heard of. These misidentifications seemed to take place everywhere in the country, both north and south. She could have worked a little harder at defining herself appearance-wise, but she wore almost no makeup aside from a little foundation, had her hair cut short and almost only wore pantsuits, which had been out of style for thirty years. She was a dirty blond with blue-gray eyes. A petite woman with a pear-shaped figure, which she attempted to compensate for by her almost military posture, which she felt made her appear more imposing.

Alysia had worked countless long years to get where she was. Her journey down the road to the national political arena had begun in law school like her colleagues. A good legal education prepared students to be ready for the challenges they would meet as attorneys or politicians. She had always been a hard worker. She was shrewd, knowledgeable, and constantly on the lookout for an opportunity to advance her position for whatever cause she chose or any game she played.

She wasn’t rich enough, pretty enough, or connected enough to attend Harvard, the contemporary school of choice for any good political wannabe. Instead she considered herself fortunate to have graduated from Yale, a school that, in some minds, was a close second. She did, however, graduate first in her class and became Student Body President. This gave her status and control over her peers. Once endowed with this level of credibility, she kept building on her accomplishments, never looking back. As a graduate from Yale, her acceptance to its law school was assured.

When she arrived in DC, Alysia proved to be an excellent intern, having received her first appointment during her last year of law school. It was to a nondescript junior congressman from Wyoming who knew almost as little about government as she did. They were well matched in age and intelligence, but Tom Hardy was just an easygoing kind of guy who simply did what she told him to do. She spent all of her spare time at the most popular watering holes in Washington, seeking out other more savvy interns and spent many long hours picking through their boasts and tall stories. Consequently, she developed a good frame of reference for the work and decision-making she had been thrust into by her avaricious appetite for political advancement. She never let an advantageous introduction or contact pass her by.

All of Alysia’s hard work paid off when she had finally gained enough clout with the party to be invited into the inner circle, which led to her becoming a Presidential Assistant. Even though she had never been elected to of political office, she still had almost as much influence on the decisions that were made in the Oval Office as the president himself. Sometimes more.

Today she had to get back to work to finalize the details for this important escape for Nicole and Aaron. Alysia picked up her phone but stopped suddenly, realizing Rachael Gehis, her intern, had second-guessed her yet again.

I brought you an Ice Cap and a pack of cigarettes, Ms. Weir. Rachael paused and took a deep breath. Don’t worry. I brought the cigarettes with me from home so no one here saw me buy them.

She put them down on Alysia’s desk then stood back and smiled smugly at Alysia who had been watching her with a stern expression.

OK, that’s enough, Alysia announced. Let’s get to the important business of the day here. Oh yes, and by the way, thank you. Now, do you have the travel plans ready for the president and vice president because I want them on that plane no later than tomorrow?

As a matter of fact, I do, yes.

And is it all cleared with the Secret Service?

Yes, it is. I talked to Justin Bradley myself just this morning and he says we’re good to go.

Good. That’s very good.

Alysia slumped down in her chair with her coffee and breathed a sigh of relief. All would be well now. The plans were made, and very soon her two favorite people would be flying to Athens to begin their tour of the Mediterranean. No work, no politics, no meetings. Just the two of them together to create a new outlook, which would have to sustain them for yet another battle in the war of political domination. This was her forte.

What else do you have to do today? Alysia asked.

Not very much.

Good. You stay around here and keep an eye on things for me. I need to talk to XPOTUS to relay the information to Nicole. Is this their itinerary? she asked as she picked up the paperwork from her desk.

Yes, it’s in there, along with some other matters we discussed yesterday.

Oh good. Is Bradley’s prelim security report in there?

Yes.

Then we’re good to go.

I believe so, yes.

As Alysia left her office looking for the president, a strange feeling of foreboding swept over her and she almost stopped in the middle of the hall. There was nothing that had happened to rouse this kind of sensation so she continued to make her way along the familiar corridor to the receptionist of the president’s office who casually waved her in.

Good morning, Ms. President, she said as she opened the door to face Nicole.

Morning, Alysia, and yes, I am all ready to go. As a matter of fact, I even made sure Aaron was packed and ready as well. All I need now is the itinerary for our trip.

Perfect, because here it is and that makes the two of you ready to leave at oh-four-hundred hours, tomorrow.

"And where is this lucky couple going tomorrow?" Nicole asked sarcastically. She really didn’t want to go on this junket and was letting Alysia know it in the only manner she knew.

To Kalandra, on the Island of Crete.

A lover’s paradise no doubt? Nicole rolled her eyes to add emphasis.

Absolutely, Ms. President.

You know you always say that?

Yes, I know.

Alysia smiled courteously and left the office promptly. Playing marriage counselor wasn’t the only task she performed on behalf of the presidential family but she did do it well. There were lots of rows in the marital history of these two and she had successfully mediated many of them. As she stepped back out of the office she took a deep breath. She had averted yet another crisis. Just another day of managing the foils and snares of this Oval Office.

CHAPTER 2

Aaron Keeling had been better looking than the average boy in his high school, and was smarter. He probably would have done very well selling cars or real estate. He stood a full six feet, which didn’t exactly make him a potential basketball player, but he was still tall enough for a lot of girls to find attractive. He had a definite anvil physique and blond hair many girls would die for. Always well dressed in his professionally laundered dress shirts, pleated slacks and bomber jacket, Aaron looked like he was ready to do business with anyone at the first suggestion. He was a good student but not a conscientious one. He drank his share of beer and toked up with the guys as long as he didn’t have to buy the weed itself. He was always very cautious about who would take the blame even then, although he didn’t mind sharing the dope with his friends as long as his accomplices took full credit for its ownership. He used to hang out, right after home room was dismissed, about six blocks from the high school in the wooded park where the boys would meet the girls on the pretense of feeding the ducks and geese that gathered on its shore. This was where all his schemes were aired and all plans hatched.

He was far more interested in having a good time than anything anyone had to say or what any teacher tried to teach him. He was never disruptive. Not much of a smart-ass. He was just never enthusiastic, prepared, or even interested. Nor did he read his assignments. However he did read constantly, just only what he wanted to read. After all, he had a good buddy, Nicholas Cameron, who was generous and kind and always prepared. The class geek and a friendless kind of person, he turned out to be the perfect companion and supplier for Aaron. Computers made this arrangement even easier and the utility of floppy disks completed the process perfectly.

Aaron hadn’t met Nicholas by accident. Aaron had Nicholas in his sights for many weeks at the beginning of high school. He didn’t just walk up and introduce himself to Nicholas though. He sat back and waited for just the right moment and then took advantage of the opportunity as it presented itself.

Nicholas was a pleasant-looking fellow. A little on the portly side for a young man, his physique clearly did not speak of involvement in school athletics. He wore the same pair of track pants accompanied by a well-used T-shirt he covered over with an equally drab gray hoodie each day of the week.

He came from a family where no one was particularly well educated. Being the oldest of six children he was used to doing the bidding of his mother who was intimidated by his father who was clearly drunk by the time he crawled into bed every night long after the rest of the house was asleep. His father was a hard worker, but worked in construction as an itinerant house painter. He had his own business and made fairly good money, primarily because he worked so many hours and did the work of three men every day.

Aaron carefully analyzed Nicholas and viewed his academic talent coupled with his gullibility as two qualities that would combine to make him a perfect complement to his high school program. Aaron never really had any friends and neither did Nicholas. The relationship became a quid pro quo for the two of them. Nicholas trying harder than he needed, and Aaron taking total advantage of the situation.

One day Aaron noticed a dust-up on the school grounds and immediately realized that the class bully was confronting Nicholas. Instead of offering to fight this guy on Nicholas’s behalf, he walked straight over to the fight and threatened this kid with terrible repercussions from this kid’s father whom Aaron didn’t even know. To everyone’s shock and amazement the guy backed off and from that moment on Nicholas was Aaron’s devoted lackey. Nicholas shared all of his homework, papers and completed projects with Aaron. When there was a problem with their submissions being too much alike, Nicholas simply wrote another paper on behalf of his friend.

So, despite dozens of cut classes, carboys of home-brewed beer that Aaron’s parents closed their eyes to, the odd joint and a couple of girls more willing than the rest, Aaron made it to a successful graduation. He even managed to secure the title of Valedictorian in spite of the fact that Nicholas actually wrote his speech. This is how it all began and carried on with someone else writing every speech Aaron ever gave. This was perfectly fine with him. He had more challenging and better things to do with his time.

Meanwhile his father, Michael Keeling, had very high hopes for his son and was mesmerized by his outgoing personality and mercurial nature. Michael had been an insurance salesman all his life pandering his fare, first from door to door and in later years from one phone number to the next until the advent of the computer. This may have changed some aspects of marketing slightly, but made no significant difference at the end of the month to the tally sheets which were still a dim reflection of the grunt work diligently performed by him.

Mr. Keeling had higher hopes for something better for himself. Not that there was anything wrong with selling insurance to keep body and soul together. That trade had brought him in a reasonable return for his efforts. A gracious home in a gated community and mid-range company car, fully loaded of course. His pretty wife managed to stay with him through the years and provided enough palatable food and drink to keep the average man satisfied and happy.

Michael had made a lot of friends and was networked into the insurance business. So well networked that he had the capacity to call in favors from every avenue of commerce via his well-trod path among the good old boys. This included his son being admitted to freshman status at Stanford. Michael remembered his own father and the days he would come home from the hardware store with one or two little gadgets the owner had given him to try out on their poor little house in order to help him sell more of the store’s stock. That was a far cry from having some kind of powerful influence in the community. Now he could be a proud father and someday acquire some of the largess, which Aaron would undoubtedly accumulate. That could serve as a cushion and a comfortable retirement for Michael and Aaron’s mother, Lydia.

The afternoon was overcast and the marine layer imported a chill from the ocean that drove the birds remaining on the beach further inland for food and shelter. Halloween was two days away and the reality of autumn was being keenly felt. The leaves on the maple trees were a faint yellow with a few red leaves interspersed almost in a halfhearted effort to display the colors of fall in the climate of central California where no definite seasons really occurred. The Stanford campus was a beautiful one where Aaron had suffered the slings and arrows for a degree in economics. He achieved a fairly decent score on the LSAT and, with a little more help and some hard cash in the form of a donation from dear old dad, he’d managed to make his way into the UC law school. Aaron was amused that the law school campus had, believe it or not, a duck pond because it reminded him of his high school days when he and Nicholas would meet there to entertain the girls and hatch whatever game plan was appropriate according to the Art of War rules whose protocol they followed to the letter.

It was also comforting and quite convenient that Nicholas had managed to gain entrance to Stanford Law School as well, since Nicholas didn’t have the pecuniary advantages of a well-connected father to grease the skids of the administration for him. Both boys had the brains, but Nicholas had the tenacity and discipline, which generated the grades that had serviced both of them over the years. Aaron was late as usual for his afternoon meeting with Nicholas but immediately spotted him standing close to the shore where the bull rushes began on dry land and grew relentlessly into the open water. The ducks swam away from the shore as Aaron walked up the path. Nicholas, who had been waiting for him at the lake for a while now, displayed some mild frustration by tossing his handful of breadcrumbs at the departing birds.

Where is my brief, you jerk? Aaron asked as he kicked some of the loose dirt at the edge of the lake into the water behind the breadcrumbs and fleeing ducks.

I told you I would have it for you tonight. Here it is! Nicholas said as he stuck his fist deep in the pocket of his backpack and pulled out a floppy disc.

That’s not the same disc I gave you two days ago, you moron. Do you think I’m going to fall for that ‘switch the disc’ game? Do you really think I’m that stupid?

Look, you can take it home and check it for yourself. As a matter of fact if you have your Think Pad in that backpack, you can even check it right here. That is if you remembered to charge your computer.

This is a great piece of equipment my father bought me and I dare you to say you have anything better or that anyone else in our class has anything better.

IBM makes a great product, and yes, I’ve bailed your ass out again and you should thank me for it.

If I thanked you for it you wouldn’t suffer any more and our friendship would be at an end.

I guess you’re probably right, Nicholas said as he broke into a broad grin and they both laughed as Aaron stuffed the disc into his backpack.

You know I have to take the Bar exam in six months. If I don’t the old man will probably put out a contract on me.

So do I, Nicholas announced.

"Yeah, but you study."

Yeah, I know. It has its advantages you know. You might want to try it sometime.

As Aaron walked back to the dorm Nicholas jumped on his bicycle and peddled away, determined to travel the twelve miles necessary to get home in time for a warm meal with his family. He wondered how he and Aaron could be so different and yet so much the same. He settled on the obvious conclusion that only time would tell.

CHAPTER 3

Mathew Sidney Perry worked very hard at being speaker of the House of Representatives. He attained that position during Aaron’s second year as President of the United States. He took his summer break every year with the rest of his fellow congressmen and right after Labor Day he returned to Washington, DC. This year, however, instead of enjoying his usual work routine when he arrived back, he was met by a crisis of huge proportions. A venomous situation had arisen in his absence to become a tremendous danger to the country and Mathew Perry remained the one man who could set the United States government back on track.

Despite being a roaring success as a congressman, he was from a politically fickle state. This often proved to be a huge challenge when each election time could bring any candidate up short for the tally of votes necessary to retain his seat. This meant that almost every second spent away from The Hill at any time of the year needed to be dedicated to campaigning with a vengeance. This left Mathew worn out and lacking the energy needed to deal with situations like this.

On this particular Monday morning, as he sauntered along the blue carpeted hallway he took in the Chippendale chairs and hall tables, looking at the familiar paintings of past Speakers asking himself if it was really all worth it. He wondered what he would look like when he left office. His hair was completely gray now. This was a nice look, he felt, along with his physique, which had held up better than the average congressman considering he’d suffered a minor CVA fifteen years earlier. It was at that point that the congressional doctor had put him on a strict regimen of diet and exercise. As his cardiologist had told him, everybody goes on the C diet when they have a heart attack. Not entirely true, but absolutely true for Speaker Perry.

In spite of these health problems, he still walked briskly and stood tall at six-foot-two. His shoulders were strong and firm and he could still manage a 36-waistline in his size 46L Cassini wool suit. His blue eyes still held a fire-and-ice gaze whenever he heard a lie. While he was not entirely loved, he remained well respected by all. Any lack of good will toward him didn’t bother him much because he had always been a man of principle and integrity, firmly believing that you couldn’t have it all. He settled for respect.

When he had first arrived on the hill, almost thirty years ago now, it was to a tiny office in a basement corridor. The small room he was assigned was probably designed to hold mops and brooms in its day. He had great ambition and came from a family rich in political history. His father had been a congressman from Maine and later was duly elected to the United States Senate where he remained until he died some thirty-two years later. Mathew’s mother died shortly thereafter and now he was on his own with the exception of one sister who had no involvement or interest in politics of any kind.

The old building seemed like a home to him after all the years of dedication and separation from his family - sequestered behind its walls like a monk in a monastery. He had always worked diligently every day and on into the night to solve the problems of the nation that took little or no notice of his own wants and needs. His wife was back at home in Montana, happily keeping house, visiting her friends and taking care of her father who was still suffering the wounds, physical and mental, from his enlistment in the Korean war. No children left, since the crowded nest had emptied many years ago. Only hard work