Four Days In February Read online

CHAPTER TWELVE

  At 4:00 a.m. the next morning, the National Security Director enters Bull's bedroom and wakens him.

  "Mr. President, there is a phone call from Secretary of State, Dabold."

  "Thank you, Mrs. Roland. …Hello, Mr. Secretary."

  "Mr. President there are Army units surrounding the State Department! They have not entered the building, but they have control of all points of entry."

  "Mr. Secretary, has there been any gun fire, any violence?"

  "No Sir, they are armed with rifles, but I have not seen any tanks or heavy equipment. For the moment no one is coming into the building, and no one has yet tried to leave. I have ordered the doors locked, and sensitive documents placed in vaults."

  "Has any contact been made with the troops?"

  "No Sir, they have not tried to speak with us."

  "Do you know what units they are from?"

  "My security chief says it looks like they are a unit from the Airborne."

  "O.K. I guess I should have known that when Ishnik spoke on TV yesterday, that he was not bluffing. He said he had ordered the Armed Forces to 'protect' key government buildings. You may find little comfort in this, Mr. Secretary, but in fact the Defense Secretary said that he was protecting you."

  "From whom is he protecting us?"

  "I think for certain that he is protecting you from me."

  Just then the Deputy Chief of Staff came to Bull's bedroom. "Mr. President, I am now notified that military units are surrounding the office buildings at State, Treasury, Justice, Commerce, Labor … and according to this text message, now the White House and Executive Office Building too."

  "Yes, Secretary Dabold has just been telling me about troops at 'Foggy Bottom.'"

  Just then there was a big noise and shouting, and six men burst through the bedroom doors. They seized President Pinchon by both shoulders and began pulling him towards the door from which they had just entered. Agent-in charge, Harry Thompson said: "Mr. President , we have to go to a secure room. There is a coup' dètat against you, we are under attack, and you are in danger. We have to get out of here, and to the basement."

  Pinchon yelled out, "No, no! Stop. I am not going to the basement. I am the 'Acting President' of the United States, and I am not going to be hiding or cowering before danger. If there is a coup, then we have to fight, but I am not convinced that the situation is lost, or that I am in danger right now."

  "Mr. President, there are armed soldiers outside the White House gate, and Secret Service Agents with drawn machine guns at the gates and at the fence, and on the roof. There is a tense standoff, and shooting could commence at any moment."

  "No one has opened fire yet have they on ...either side?"

  "No Sir, we have not opened fire, and neither have they, but Sir, we cannot allow them to control access to the White House, or constrict your freedom of movement. If we were right now to bring Marine One onto the south lawn to fly you out, you would be subject to sniper fire, and the chopper would be vulnerable to shoulder fired missiles. For the present we have to at least secure you in the White House until the coup is put down, or we can by some means extricate you from here."

  "It is the Army that is outside the fence, right?"

  "Yes, Mr. President, it is a unit of Airborne troops."

  "Well, we are not alone, these units are reported to be situated from here to Foggy Bottom; they have surrounded most government offices. But while this may be an attempted coup, I doubt these specific soldiers really mean to be involved in such."

  "What do you mean Mr. President?"

  "These Airborne troops, and their officers are young American soldiers following orders through their chain-of-command. These soldiers are not involved in devising coups, let alone pulling them off. They wouldn't knowingly do that. They have been told that they are doing good and saving the government and nation ...from being taken over unlawfully and unconstitutionally. They are simply doing what Secretary Ishnik has ordered them to do."

  "But Sir, they are still there, and you are still in danger."

  "I am an Army man. You cut me, and I will bleed Army, and I bleed with the Army. These soldiers are the same. I do not want us to start shooting at them and wounding and killing them. They will respond then with what they have been trained to do, shoot and kill their enemy. We do not want to provoke them, we cannot defeat them with force! Moreover, we do not want anyone's blood spilled around here, not civilians, not Secret Service Agents, not soldiers, and not mine either. No, we have to talk to these soldiers; we have to engage them."

  "Sir! How do you propose to do that? We are in confrontation with them right now."

  "Ishnik would be only too happy if we opened fire and killed some troops. He would use that to confirm that we are the ones trying to pull a violent coup ourselves, and that he has sent the Airborne to stop us. No, order your agents to put their guns back in their holsters, and to withdraw from being so close to the fence."

  "But Sir, we have a duty, and responsibility to protect you."

  "Yes, you do have a duty, but I am 'Acting President,' and I have the ultimate responsibility. The Army outside has not tried to enter the White House or its grounds. They haven't entered the State Department at Foggy Bottom ...or any of the other places they have surrounded. If they had tried to, they could have controlled many of those buildings by now. No, Ishnik has told them to surround these locations hoping to provoke us into shedding American blood. I want to save lives, while stopping this coup d'état. ...I believe I know how to do it, and it is not done by me going to the basement or you starting to shoot.

  "Mr. Adams, are there any General officers in the White House right now, for any reason? If so bring them to me. ...And tell the White House and Executive staff to stay low, and out of sight, let it look like we are working as normal as possible." Adams went out the door, and the President continued speaking.

  "Mr. Thompson, I want you to keep a tight rein on your agents. You are going to need to stay in the White House. I am going to want only one agent to go with me."

  "...Go ...with you, Mr. President. Where are you going to go?"

  "Why I am going to go out and talk with those soldiers."

  "You are going to go outside the White House?"

  "Yes, and outside the fence, we have to talk with these troops."

  "Sir, I cannot let you do this, you will be captured or killed ...they are trying to take over the government."

  "Secretary Ishnik is trying to take over the government, these soldiers are not. I trust them. This is an Army of true American patriots. Everyone of them enlisted into the military. No one forced them, no one drafted them, they joined. They are willing to go into harm's way for the sake of their nation, if necessary to die for their nation. They did not join up to overthrow the government.

  "What is more, every man and woman in the Armed Forces, in order to enlist took an oath. No one entered the military without an oath. Mr. Thompson, I am sure you are ex-military, do you remember the enlistment oath? The President is not the only one to have an oath. Each enlistee says: ' I," and they state their name, "do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.'

  "I am going to go out there, as President of the United States, and give them orders that they have sworn to obey. I am going to countermand all earlier orders given them by their officers. I am going to take charge of the Airborne units."

  "But they do not recognize you as President of the United States."

  "I don't know that. Nobody has asked them whether they do. Events have happened so fast in the last twenty-four hours that they may not even know what is going on."

&nb
sp; "But Mr. President, if they don't know ...then they don't know you are President either."

  "They may not know that I am President, but even now, many soldiers remember Bull Pinchon, and their officers especially do. They know I have lead them, fought with them, been wounded with them, and would never dishonor the Army. If Adams finds me some Generals, I am going to borrow something from them. I need their stars! I was rousted out of Hawaii without my baggage. I am going to go out and meet the troops as a civilian, in a normal suit. But I am going to put four General's stars on my lapel. I know it may not be kosher, but I want them to know that this President has been one of them, and I bet soldiers will still salute me, and still will obey.

  "I am then going to let them support and defend the Constitution of the United States, by acknowledging my lawful succession to the presidency; and then I am going to give them the chance to fulfill their oath and obey the orders of the President of the United States."

  Adams returns to the Oval Office, with a Major General who was in a meeting in the National Security Office.

  Pinchon said, "General, we have a problem outside, and someone needs to go out there and talk with them."

  "I will go, Sir. I will try and get them to stand down."

  "Thank you General, but I am the one who must go out there. But I need to borrow something from you."

  "Sir, what do you want from me?"

  "I need your stars, General."

  "My stars?"

  "Yes, you are a two star Major General, and if you loan me two from each shoulder, I will have four. I want to put them on my lapel, to remind them who I am, and what I am."

  "...Yes Sir, I will remove them for you. I hope it works"

  "Agent Thompson, I only want one other person to go with me."

  "I will go with you sir."

  "No, Agent Thompson, I want you directing your agents, and keeping everyone here safe. I want agent Melman to go with me. He has shown himself useful, and I want him."

  "Agent Melman ...yes Sir, I will send for him immediately, he is up on the roof right now."

  "Well, get him here as soon as possible. ...Is the Secretary of State still on the phone? Yes, ...good give me back the phone. Secretary Dabold, sorry for the interruption. Yes, you have been overhearing some of the conversation. Good. I want you to make sure that your security people do not go outside and challenge the Army units. If at all possible, let's not have any American lose his life today. ...Thank you Mr. Secretary." The President hung up the phone.

  "Here are the stars, Sir."

  "Thank you General, you earned them, and I hope to give them back to you safe and sound."

  Agent Thompson comes into the room with agent Melman right behind.

  "Melman," said Pinchon, "I need you to go on a little stroll with me. However, I want you to leave your weapons here."

  "I could conceal a weapon," Melman said.

  "No, we cannot get the drop on an Army unit, and we cannot overpower them, or out shoot them, so leave the guns behind. If we succeed in our mission, it will be by reason, and an appeal to duty and honor. And if we fail, a dozen weapons won't save us.

  "...If that is what you want, Sir, I will do it. But I hope we don't regret it.

  "Adams, turn that TV back on, maybe the news media will tell us something useful about what is happening outside the gates."

  Adams turns the TV on, and Network News is in the middle of a report by Stanley Worth, Senior White House Reporter.

  "...from where I am standing just outside the perimeter of troops surrounding the White House, I can see lights on there, but no one has appeared recently at any door or window. The Secret Service agents who were standing with machine guns at the fence have withdrawn and are also out of sight. I can see a couple of people on the White House roof looking through binoculars, but I see no weapons."

  "Stanley, this is John Sanker, at the anchor desk, are you able to enter the White House grounds?"

  "No, John. When we heard that troops had surrounded the White House and other government buildings, I rushed down here. I was able to get fairly close, and the troops told me I could report, but that I was not to cross their lines. But, if I could cross, the gates of the White House grounds appear to be locked too."

  "Merv Tanner breaking in here, the Pentagon says it has issued orders that the Army is to allow reporters to film and report to the nation what is going on. The spokesman said that the media would be allowed to report the events, but that reporters were not to be inflammatory or speak in a way that would scare the American people. He went on to say that these Army units were simply keeping the government safe from unlawful interference from those who would corrupt the Constitution."

  "What does that mean, Merv?"

  "I think it means that the Pentagon wants us to assure the people that all this military action, while unprecedented, is not going to change this republic, its government, or the freedom of the people."

  "Stanley Worth here again ..I have just seen an Army Hummer pull up here in front of the White House, at the north gate, ...and what appears to be an officer get out."

  "Can you tell what rank the officer is?"

  "It looks to me like he is a colonel. He is directing his men, and he sometimes is speaking into what looks like a phone or walky-talky."

  "Can you tell me the mood of the troops?"

  "They seem quite organized, efficient and professional. They have taken up their positions, but have not sought to directly challenge or assault the Secret Service agents ...especially the heavily armed agents, who just a few minutes ago stormed to the White House fence. There is no yelling, or stressed talking among the troops."

  "Wait just a second John, the White House door , on the north side, has just opened, and two men in suits have stepped outside. They stood for a moment by the columns on the porch, and now they are walking calmly down the sidewalk towards the gate."

  "Stanley, can you see who the men are?"

  "No, for the moment they are too far away. As they get closer I may be able to tell. ...They have now reached the gate, and have called to the officer that I spoke about. ...Wait! Wait! The two men are coming out of the gate and are walking towards the officer standing at the Hummer."

  "Can you see yet who the men are?

  "The one fellow I don't recognize ...no. The other fellow ...Wow! ...Amazing!"

  "What Stanley, who do you see?"

  "It is President Pinchon himself!"

  "Merv Tanner breaking in here, the Pentagon refers to him as just Ulysses Pinchon, or retired General Pinchon, they do not acknowledge that he is President or even 'Acting President.'"

  "Roanna Jackson here, ...and at the Capitol, some here call him Speaker, and some call him President, and others call him an usurper."

  "Well, whatever you call him, he is standing outside the gate of the White House talking to this Army officer," said Stanley Worth. Worth raises his voice and says, "The three of them all just walked over to the Hummer, got in, and are driving off in the direction of Foggy Bottom."

  "Did Pinchon seem to have been arrested, was he hand-cuffed or anything? Did he seem to be disconcerted?"

  "No, I didn't see anything like that. The three stood for about two minutes talking near the White House gate, and then quietly, and apparently freely, the two men joined the colonel in the vehicle and they drove off."

  "Did any of the troops then enter the White House grounds?"

  "No, everybody stayed where they were on both sides of the fence. Nothing has changed in that situation."

  "That is astounding, Mr. Pinchon, either 'Acting President,' or Speaker of the House, or retired General, came out of the security of the White House and got into a military vehicle and drove off! What does it mean?"

  "It may mean that the Pentagon has prevailed," said Merv Tanner. "Pinchon may have realized he could not prevail if the military was cutting him off from his government, he may have decided to cut h
is losses and go quietly."

  "Merv, is that the disposition you would expect from a man called, "Bull Pinchon."

  "No, actually it is not! As a General he was always quite strategic and bold. He never quit. If he believed he was right, he stood his ground and was willing to fight it out. That is why Secretary Ishnik pushed him into retirement. The Secretary did not consider him a team player."

  "But you still think Pinchon may have just decided to call it quits and surrender himself to the Army?"

  "Well, again, this is just speculation, but maybe he analyzed the situation, and realized he had overstepped, and the situation was hopeless, and decided to end the matter without a bunch of people getting killed. At least that would fit his character of taking care of his people."

  "I see what you are saying, but we do not know..."

  "No, no we don't."

  Meanwhile, down at Foggy Bottom, outside the State Department, the Hummer has pulled up in front of a grassy area where a big green tent has been erected. Pinchon and Melman get out of the Hummer and walk over to the tent, and go through the doorway, followed by the Colonel.

  Pinchon spoke up, "Harry, is this your posh headquarters?"

  "Yes, yes it is; it's just like home," said: Major General Harry Ucclese. "You are out of uniform."

  "Yes I am," Bull said, "but as you may have heard, I have a new job that means I wear a regular suit now. I was glad I met Sanchez at the gate. I didn't know he had made Colonel, or that you had gotten your second star. He was a captain years ago when you both were on my staff."

  "And I was a Colonel, soon to be a Brigadier. That was a while back. My second star happened two months ago. The Secretary had been pushing for a number of promotions well before the last election."

  "General, you served me well in war, I need you to serve me well in peace, I need you to withdraw these troops from D.C."

  "I have been ordered here to secure these buildings."

  "And you have come and fulfilled your mission, and now I am ordering you to move back out."

  "That will be awkward, considering I have just been ordered to enter the State Department building and then the Treasury too, and secure the safety of the two Secretaries."

  "Harry, who issued those orders?

  "The chain of command, but the orders came from Secretary Ishnik."

  "You aren't ordered to take over other Department buildings, or the White House?"

  "No, the orders are just to take State and Treasury."

  Bull said, "Harry, I know this is called 'Foggy Bottom' because that is what this part of D.C originally was, a foggy bottom piece of land. And I know after the State Department Building was built here that the phrase became a play on words for foggy thinking at the State Department. But you and I don't think 'foggy.' We think clearly, and we know what is going on.

  "General, you have been ordered to seize these two Departments and their Secretaries because they pose a challenge to Ishnik's plan to become President. The Secretaries of State and Treasury are constitutional officers who are ahead of the Secretary of Defense in Presidential succession. He wants you to capture them, so he can put them on ice, so they cannot interfere."

  Ucclese replied, "Things are getting complicated around here. Soldiers like me are not supposed to have to consider political matters, or wonder who is in charge, or why orders are given. We are supposed to receive orders from our superiors and obey them.

  "Now, President Woods has maneuvered you in a position to hold the powers of the President. And Secretary Ishnik has declared that this is unconstitutional. And as a soldier I am being asked to referee this match."

  "Harry, President Woods conceived the idea of getting a new President because the nation didn't have the time necessary to go through a nomination and confirmation process. The House of Representatives, the people's House, freely, by their own vote elected me Speaker, and that placed me at the head of the Presidential succession list. It may be unique, but it is not unconstitutional for the House to do that."

  "But what about this matter that Cabinet Secretaries are federal officers, and Speakers of the House are not. ...And that members of the legislature cannot be federal officers."

  "Various people have argued that, but not very much or loudly, until now. But arguing something doesn't prove it. For years these laws have been on the books, and no one successfully challenged them. If someone still wants to question these laws, the courts are open to them. But in the mean time those people who challenge the constitutionality of the succession act cannot set themselves up to be the ones to overthrow an established government. That is not how our system works.

  "I am sorry the Army has been dragged into this process, or that you or any soldier has to make a choice in this matter. However, I did not do that to you, Secretary Ishnik did, when he sent you into Washington. You and your soldiers are going to have a big impact on how this thing turns out. You cannot be neutral; your action or inaction is going to affect the outcome.

  "Was it constitutional for the House of Representatives to elect, by their free vote, their own Speaker? Who could say anything different. Was it constitutional for the President to declare his inability to serve because of his health? It certainly was. Under the Constitution was it proper for the Congress to set the list for Presidential succession? Yes it was.

  "Then I am constitutionally serving as 'Acting President' of the United States, and the Army is duty bound to obey my commands.

  "Harry, you know me, you served under me, and was able to observe me very closely. Do you think I have taken on this office for myself? Have I decided to usurp someone else's position to become President? I was asked by President Woods, and lawfully chosen by the House for this purpose. I am serving this nation, not myself; just as you are doing now.

  "Mitch Ishnik is a brute. He bullies people into doing his will, or he gets rid of them. His definition of loyalty is for someone to mindlessly do his will. You are not serving Secretary Ishnik, you are serving the nation. If he has gone beyond his responsibilities, and issued unlawful orders, you don't have a choice, you must not obey those orders."

  "Bull, you know the consequence for any soldier, of any rank, to willfully disobey a superior's direct order."

  "Yes, I do. You either get a court martial, or a medal. Harry, you are sworn to protect and defend the Constitution. Those are not just words, and they are not just theoretical. Right now, you have to decide what you and your men will do in defense of the Constitution!"

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