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Hail To The Chief
by
Spanding didn’t turn to look at Cannon; he kept looking at the dead TV screen. “These things always show up by comparison, Jim. In comparison with some of us–most of us, in fact–he looks pretty good. I’ve known him since he was a fresh junior senator, and I was just attorney for the House Committee for Legislative Oversight.” He turned around. “You know what, Jim? When I first heard him talk, I actually thought about changing parties. Yeah. Really.” He turned around again.
“But,” he went on, “he’s all hot air and no ability. Just like Matt, here, is all ability and no hot air. No offense meant, Matt, believe me,” he added, glancing at Fisher.
“I know,” Fisher said quietly.
Spanding turned around once more and looked Cannon squarely in the eyes. “You’ve got both, Jim. The blarney to put yourself over, and the ability to back it up. And you know I’m not trying to flatter you when I say that.”
When Cannon nodded wordlessly, Spanding gave himself a short, embarrassed laugh. “Ah, Hell. I talk too much.” And he took a hefty slug of his drink.
Matthew Fisher took the overcharge out of the sudden outburst of emotion by saying: “It’s more than just ability and sincerity, Harry. There’s determination and honesty, too.”
Matson said, “Amen to that.”
Dr. Frank Cannon was just standing there, looking at his brother. There was a definite look of respect on his face.
Senator Cannon said: “You’re all great guys–thanks. But I’ve got to get downstairs and make a speech. Ed, get the recording tape out of that set; I want to make some notes on what he said. And hurry it up, we haven’t got too long.”
“No canned speech for you, eh, Jim?” Spanding said.
“Amen to that, too,” said Representative Matson as he opened the panel in the side of the TV set.
* * * * *
From a hundred thousand loudspeakers all over the United States, from the rockbound coast of Maine to the equally rockbound coast of Alaska, from the sun-washed coast of Florida to the ditto coast of Hawaii, the immortal voice of Bing Crosby, preserved forever in an electronic pattern made from a decades-old recording, told of a desire for a White Christmas. It was a voice and a tune and a lyric that aroused nostalgia even in the hearts of Floridians and Californians and Hawaiians who had never seen snow in their lives.
The other carols rang out, too–“Silent Night,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” and all the others. All over the nation, in millions upon millions of Christian homes, the faithful prepared to celebrate the birth, the coming, of their Saviour, Who had come to bring peace on Earth to men.
And in millions of other American homes, the Children of Abraham celebrated the Festival of Lights–Chanukah, the Dedication–the giving of thanks for the Blessing of God upon the priestly family of the Maccabees, who, twenty-odd centuries before, had taken up arms against the tyranny of a dynasty which had banned the worship of Almighty God, and who, by winning, had made themselves a symbol forever of the moral struggle against the forces that oppress the free mind of Man.
The newspapers and television newscasts were full of the age-old “human interest stories” which, in spite of their predictability–the abandoned baby, the dying child, the wretchedly ill oldster–still brought a tear to the eye during the Holiday Season.
As President-elect Cannon slowly made his cabinet appointments, the announcements appeared, but there was hardly any discussion of them, much less any hue and cry.
One editorial writer did make a comment: “It is encouraging to see that President-elect Cannon consults with Vice-President-elect Matthew Fisher regularly and frequently as the appointments are made. For a good many years, ever since the Eisenhower Administration, back in the Fifties, it has been the policy of most of our Chief Executives to make sure that the Vice President is groomed to take over smoothly if anything should happen to the President. Senator Cannon, however, is, as far as we know, the first President-elect who has begun this grooming before the Inauguration. This, in our opinion, shows both wisdom and political astuteness.”