“We need to get back to work,” David said after what he felt was a reasonable period of questioning. Before it seemed possible, though, their class time was exhausted.
“We didn’t get to cover part of what we needed to today, so next session we have extra work to do. See you then, everyone,” David told them as he said farewell.
Next up was his office, where he had a series of one-on-one meetings scheduled with students. An earlier exam had tripped up a few of them, and he wanted to go over the material with them individually to see where the problem was. It was entirely possible he had worded the questions in such a way that it wasn’t clear. If so, this was a learning opportunity for him. If they didn’t know the material well enough, then this session was for them.
He wasn’t accustomed to Agent Walker or anyone else being his constant shadow, but Walker was that day, never leaving David’s vicinity. Others were stationed in the hallway outside David’s office.
As with the class earlier, the students he had scheduled to meet with that morning seemed intimidated by him. David had to contend with that first before he could get to the purpose for the meeting.
Two of those down, and David was hungry.
“You and your guys ready for lunch?” David asked his lead agent.
“We don’t eat on duty, sir. But the guys in the hall have been rotating to take fifteen-minute breaks. They’ve grabbed something then.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll eat later, sir. My focus is on you and your safety first.”
“But you have to eat,” David protested.
“I will, sir. Later.”
David mulled over this new information while he walked with his entourage to go grab something from the food court.
“If I buy you something, will you eat it back in my office?” he asked, still determined to deal with the issue.
“I cannot eat while on duty, sir. I’ll take a break and have one of the other agents step in while I’m away. I’ll be fine, sir. This is how it works.”
“It might be how it works, but I don’t like it.”
David got lots of stares and triggered dozens upon dozens of whispered conversations as he moved quickly through the hallways to the food court. A few people were brazen enough to whip out their smart phones and snap pictures of David and his agents as they passed. The agents even cleared space for him to just walk up to a counter and order, bypassing the line of people waiting. David was uncomfortable with that, but they told him it was safer than remaining out in the open for so long.
Food secured, they headed back.
“Sir, I’ll need at some point soon to get from you your food preferences, favorites, least favorites, things like that, so we can have someone bring food back to you rather than have you exposed out in the open as we did today.”
“Is that really necessary?” David asked.
“Yes, sir. If we had a larger team it would be possible for you to move around more freely, but everything has happened so quickly—”
“Got it. Okay. Is there a form of some sort I need to fill out, or should I just tell you?”
“There’s a form, sir. I’ll get it to you later.”
“Okay.”
David wolfed down his sandwich and then met with four more students.
Finally he stood and told his agent, “Enough. That was my last one. I’m tired and ready to head home.”
Back at the White House twenty minutes later, David got changed into more comfortable clothes and settled down on the familiar sofa in its new and unfamiliar setting. He barely moved for the entire evening, dozing off periodically.
Chapter 5—State Funeral
THE DAYS that followed were a blur of activity with ample pomp, befitting a moment of national mourning. Gray replaced the shortest-serving President in the history of the nation. No one, Gray included, had expected to see him become President. But he was President, and as such, he had a government and a nation to lead.
Plans for all the events were arranged with the former President’s family and appropriate offices within the government. David was dutifully beside Gray at every public event that was part of the nation’s public grief for the assassinated President and First Lady. He noticed they were surrounded by more security than he could ever remember seeing in all the days leading up to that one.
“Gray, does the security seem a little… I don’t know, ramped-up to you?”
“It is. The Secret Service is very anxious. Remember that they just lost someone under their charge. Two people, actually. There have been very few instances of a President being assassinated.”
“Thank goodness,” David said.
“So not only are they on high alert, but they also know that there is no Vice President. The office is vacant. If anything were to happen to me, our nation would be in a position that it has never been in before. While there is a clear protocol for what would happen, it would still cause major panic, not to mention a complete shift in power because with no President and no Vice President, the next person in the line of succession is the Speaker of the House, and he’s….”
“In the other party. Got it. Now I understand,” David said. “But how are you going to resolve that? I mean, I know you’ve got to pick a new Vice President, but it seems that most of the people you would naturally turn to for help, your staff, are all much more conservative than you are. Their interests would best be served with another man similar to the one who died, not a flaming liberal like you or me.”
“True,” Gray agreed. “Which is why I’m going to ask you to put together a little gathering for tomorrow night.”
“Okay,” David said, suspicious but willing to help.
“It will draw too much attention if I do it, but if you set it up and tell anyone who asks that it’s just a bunch of old friends getting together, it would sound plausible.”
“Gray, you’re making me worried.”
“It’s a nerve-wracking time right now.”
“Give me the list, and I’ll make it happen.” Gray handed him a list he had already written out. David glanced over the names, recognizing everyone on it. “Is it okay to hold this at the White House?”
“Yes. If anyone asks, you can tell them that we’re showing off the new residence or some bullshit like that.”
The state funeral took several hours. When he was finally released from his “stand and look pretty” duty, as he called it, David headed to his office at the medical school and started making calls. An invitation to attend dinner at the White House was not one people declined, so David was not surprised everyone accepted, even though it was short notice. A few people pressed him a bit as to the purpose of the meeting, but David didn’t say a word, telling them Gray would fill them in on everything at the time.
Once he had the guest-list calls complete, he called the chef in the White House kitchen and filled her in on what he was planning for the next night. Together they worked out a menu that had David’s mouth watering toward the end of the call. A quick conversation with another office in the White House gave him the information he needed to provide to the guests as to how they gained access to the White House and to the Secret Service to do the necessary background checks on everyone invited. Before he left the university to head home, he sent a quick personal e-mail to each person on the guest list with the instructions.
When he got home that night, he was able to report to Gray on his progress.
“Everything is arranged for tomorrow as you asked.”
“Did anyone say no?”
“No. Everyone accepted.”
“We’ll have to figure out how to get them in—”
“Already handled. Everyone received a personal e-mail confirming and providing them with detailed instructions on which gate to go to. The list has been provided to the Secret Service. Also, the menu has been arranged with the chef, and the butlers will have the room set and will be on hand to serve drinks before dinner if you want.”
; “You’ve been busy,” Gray said with a smile—a smile that still made David’s knees a little weak even after ten years.
“And since tomorrow is our first time, the chef is preparing your favorite dessert to top off the meal.”
“Really?” Gray asked, sitting up fully. “I’m salivating.”
“Seems only fair since I was doing exactly that while talking with the chef about the menu.”
THE NEXT evening at seven o’clock, Gray and David sat down to dinner with a select group of Gray’s political friends. After everything had been served and when it was just them and their guests in the room, Gray started the discussion.
“I know you’re all wondering why I’ve asked you to be here tonight. The reason is simple—I need your help, and I trust you. I think it is no secret that I was added to the ticket to run with the President because he needed a more liberal running mate to offset his own conservatism. No one, certainly not the former President or me, ever expected that I’d be sitting in the chair I’m in now. But here I am and I find myself surrounded by the men and women my predecessor handpicked. Just about every one of those people is much more conservative than I am, and more than I’d like my administration to be.
“The first major decision I have to make quickly is to identify a Vice President. I obviously cannot ask the previous President’s people to help with this, because we know that their candidates would most likely all be as conservative as they are and as their original boss was. So instead, I’m asking you for your help, not only in identifying potential vice-presidential candidates but also in identifying people who could move into key positions in the White House and in my administration. I can’t do a wholesale change in staff, but I want to start making changes immediately where I think they are most necessary.
“So welcome to the President’s Dining Room Cabinet 101. This conversation is completely off the record. I want your help. I need your help. I want to hear ideas, and I’d like an honest exchange. If you like a suggestion, I want to hear about it and why you feel that way. If you don’t like a suggestion, I want to hear about that as well, again with why you feel that way.”
For the next three hours, the group of eighteen people worked with Gray to identify potential names. They talked, a bit hesitantly at first but with increasing confidence as time went on. The list started large and shrank, grew a bit larger, and then shrank again to a final list of six names by the end of the evening. David sat and listened to the entire discussion. While he enjoyed watching Gray so obviously in his element, the subject matter was generally not one he cared much about. Nonetheless, he stuck it out and stayed.
“Are you going to consult with your official advisers at all?” one guest asked.
“Yes, I’ll ask them for a list of possible names. But for all intents and purposes, you are my advisers where it counts. You’ve all given me exactly what I needed.”
“Anyone want to make a bet on how many names the two lists have in common?” one of the guests joked.
It was nearly midnight when David and Gray bid good night to their guests and were able to head upstairs for the night. The group had agreed to return whenever Gray called to repeat the process with whatever issue was front and center at that time.
“I think that went well.” Gray gave his assessment as they got undressed for bed.
“Good. It sounded like it worked well.”
“Absolutely. The names were all over the place at first, but as we went on, I was impressed by how a natural agreement seemed to emerge around a handful of names.”
Before they turned out the light, Gray slid over to David’s side of the bed, turned on his side, and said, “Thanks for being there with me tonight. And thanks for doing all of the legwork to get that set up. I couldn’t have done tonight without you, just like I can’t conceive of doing any of this without you by my side.”
“Glad I could help,” David said.
“And if I wasn’t so tired, I’d jump your bones.”
“You can’t.”
“I can’t? Why not?”
“Because I’m just as tired as you are and would fall asleep in the middle of anything you started. And experience has taught me that when you do jump me, I want to be conscious so I can appreciate the experience.”
Their long day ended with a quick good-night kiss before they fell asleep.
FOLLOWING A week of long days and at times very animated debates within the West Wing, Gray spent the next week meeting his top vice-presidential candidates. Each person got a half day with him, followed by a dinner meeting with him and his official advisers. This made for another entire week where David barely saw Gray.
Based on the meetings, though, Gray made a selection of finalists and another week was spent on extensive background checks. After those checks, Gray finally had his decision. Over the strenuous objections of just about every one of his supposed inner circle, Gray called his lead candidate to seek her permission to send her name up to Capitol Hill for Senate confirmation as the next Vice President of the United States.
When he heard of Gray’s decision, David knew the news would be greeted by some as a huge step forward but would be seen by others as exactly the opposite. Gray’s selection, if confirmed by the House and the Senate, would give the country its first Latina Vice President. Gray had picked her for her political skills, her insight into how things worked, and the way in which she had managed a potentially catastrophic situation in her home state the previous year.
As predicted, the announcement created a bit of a stir for a few days before people tired of the story and moved on to something else. David knew the announcement would mean either the end of Gray’s honeymoon with the more right-leaning Congress, or at least a serious bump in the road. He was correct.
Chapter 6—Adjusting to a New Life
FROM THE beginning of their days in the White House, David knew the demands on Gray in the early days on the job were likely to be beyond reasonable. Gray had come to power suddenly and unexpectedly. His predecessor had not kept Gray in the loop on a lot of things, so David knew Gray had a lot of fast catch-up work to do, in addition to starting to get the people he wanted and trusted in key posts in the administration. And he also had to be seen by the American public as presidential. Gray thrived at those events, which always made David a bit worried that Gray was overextending himself.
In the past, despite Gray being a public servant, they had been fortunate. Gray had served one term as a member of the House of Representatives from Maryland and had then joined the administration of the prior President—now retired and living with his wife in California. Gray’s hours had not been too excessive and the demands on him had been for the most part quite reasonable. The retired President had been one of the oldest men ever elected to hold the office, so he had more of a custodial presidency than an aggressive one. He’d entered the White House with no grand agendas and had supervised a hold-the-course approach for the past four years. He had not made demands on his employees, and in fact had insisted there be no late nights for anyone in his administration unless there was a crisis or some other urgent need.
During their first weeks as occupants of the executive mansion in their new capacity, Gray worked long days, sometimes as much as eighteen hours a day. On nights when he came home to the residence at a moderately reasonable hour, he always brought with him tons of reading with thousands of pages of briefing books that he pored over for hours.
And then of course there were the many interruptions to their evening by one aide or another who needed to speak with him about something. Phone calls added more demands on Gray’s time, both calls Gray made to others and calls he took throughout the evening. On the rare night when he was home and didn’t have visitors or homework, nearly nine times out of ten, Gray fell asleep sitting in his chair in the living room. Frequently David went to bed while Gray was still talking with someone or reading.
They hadn’t had a chance to talk about it, but David was not surprise
d by any of this. He had assumed this would be the way things went in the beginning, and it was indeed the way things proceeded for their first month as the official occupants of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. David didn’t even think about doing anything to stand in the way, because he knew how important this experience was for Gray and how much Gray wanted to do the job well, not only for himself but for the positive impression of gay people this could give the American public.
After the name of the vice-presidential candidate had been sent up to Capitol Hill, Gray went out on a series of trips around the country to give speeches and to mix and mingle with people—at least as much as any President could. The speeches were largely irrelevant and forgettable. Gray’s presence and visibility as President were the primary purpose for the trips. When he’d been selected as the vice-presidential nominee, he had been an utter unknown to 99 percent of the nation.
Gray’s advisers told him that he needed to be seen on the local news stations and seen by the American public. For his second month in office, that was his focus, and from what David could tell, he did remarkably well with the job.
When he had heard of Gray’s proposed travel schedule, David had talked with the President’s chief of staff to determine which trips he should plan to make with Gray. He was a bit surprised by the answer, but not necessarily disappointed.
“These are just fast in-and-out, meet-and-greet-type events,” Ford explained. “He’ll give the same basic speech over and over again, with some added text to address local issues. Trust me, you don’t want to go. You don’t need to worry about these. The main purpose of these trips is to get him seen by as many people as possible, so that means a lot of repetition and a lot of large crowds and the same speech over and over. Wait until there’s a big international trip.”
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