[War] United States: An unexpected career change

[pentaj2 at Scranton.edu]

"An unexpected career change"
President John Williams
United States
20 January 2013
=============================
<Washington>

   Presidential inaugurations in Washington were always festive 
occasions. Even under circumstances like these, there was an air of 
festivity around the whole occasion, John Williams noted mentally.

Even for the young, unelected President-to-be, it was hard not to 
smile. Mostly, granted, it was a "What the hell am *I* doing *here*?" 
smile, but it was a smile nonetheless.

After the Vice President-...designate? What -do- you call someone 
under these circumstances? was sworn in, then, all eyes (and cameras, 
and God-knows-how-many-eyes looking through TV screens around the 
planet) were on him.

(Do try not to botch it, Ioannes,) he could hear his mind, in the 
voice of Piper Abbot, whisper as he stepped up to the podium, Chief 
Justice Roberts opposite him, Kayleigh holding the Bible, opened to 
Isaiah 6. They'd intended to just do a private ceremony today, save 
the big public stuff for tomorrow, but after the construction workers 
had come in ahead of schedule, and everybody had agreed that shutting 
down DC for yet another time in the month was a bad idea. So the 9 AM 
Mass at St. Matthews had become the traditional Inauguration Day 
prayer service, and everybody in DC wound up with a traffic-free day 
off. They'd already budgeted for it, the schedules had been set 4 
years in advance...So. The Inaugural balls and the Inaugural parade 
having been cancelled after President-elect Halleck's death in a 
gesture of respect, the celebration was abbreviated.

But now was showtime.

"Mr. President, please repeat after me," the Chief Justice began. As 
it was, the two men spoke simultaneously, the words of the Oath 
automatic after so many centuries of American government.

"I, John Patrick Williams, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully 
execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the 
best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of 
the United States, so help me God." The last four words, per 
tradition, were not spoken by Chief Justice or even in the 
Constitution's version of the Oath, but were (per traditiion) added by 
the new President extemporaneously.

At that point, the Marine Band played four ruffles and flourishes, 
followed by "Hail to the Chief" as hands were shaken, a 21-gun salute 
was given the Military District of Washington's howitzers (and, around 
the world, simultaneously, by other US military artillery batteries), 
and the crowds cheered.

At that point, Williams took a discreet sip of water, his eyes 
glancing at the speech before him.

"My fellow Americans..."

He'd written the speech in hours, mostly left it without editing, and 
was delivering it off-the-cuff.

Hopefully, the world liked it.

"...We have just passed through a period that might best be described 
as traumatic. Weeks before their inauguration, we have seen the 
President *and* Vice President-elect lose their lives. I did not ask 
to be President; I rather liked the idea of being an anonymous member 
of the House, or Speaker if, as I was, pressed...But I did not want, I 
did not dream, I did not -ask- to be President. Around Christmas, I 
remember asking President-elect Halleck just what he planned as 
President; his reply was to stop, look at me through his glasses as he 
was wont to do to so many of us when we asked particularly vexing 
questions of him, and reply with words I will forever remember: 'I'm 
still trying to figure that out in any detail. Actually, I'm still 
surprised I was elected.'

"Joe, you were surprised to be elected. We were surprised to see you 
go; But such is the inscrutable course of events. And I find myself 
where you should be, wondering what you'd say. And then I remember a 
long night in December, when you'd told me that if you died in office, 
you wanted your successor to scavenge what looked good of your 
policies and take the hint.

"I'm not sure I like that idea, but as you wish."

The rest of his speech was a blur. Keeping the ship steady in the 
stormy waters of the world situation was his foreign policy 
aspirations, with a small line capping that section:

"Though the American Eagle may have seemed wounded, we have healed, 
and the coming years will show that we have not conceded our place in 
the world. Those who would believe America weak and vulnerable will 
find that, once again, we have returned to fly."

Economically and domestically, there was hardly much he could say.

And so the speech was - given the below-freezing temperatures of the 
day, and worse with wind chill, mercifully - short. Then, as he 
proceeded from the podium, he couldn't help but overhear two young 
children, kids of the junior Senator from Massachusetts, who'd 
replaced John Kerry:

"So Mister Williams is President now?"
"Yeah."
"Oh no, he's doomed!"

Well, -he- certainly hoped not.