Chapter Seven - part eleven

    The silence almost seemed to be deafening; at least to James it seemed that way. After a long moment the President nodded towards him. James took a deep breath and then looked around the table for a moment. The expressions he saw were anything but friendly. In fact some of them were clearly looks of murderous hate. James slowly got to his feet and then looking directly at the President he spoke. "I suppose I should thank you sir, but I honestly don't know what to thank you for." Then he looked around the table again as he addressed everyone. "I was asked to step in and try to help resolve a situation that nobody thought could be resolved short of a major conflict. Next I was ordered to do the impossible and restore order in two months, when it had taken years for us to get into the mess we were in. Now I know that we are still a long way from where we were only a few short months ago and even further from where we should be, but I also believe that we still have hope getting back there."

   James hesitated for a moment before he continued. "The President has made it sound like I alone am responsible for the limited success we have had, but in truth I have played a very small part in things. There were far more experienced and skilled people working long before I ever became involved who were and still are responsible for most of the work that has been done. Ladies and gentlemen, I can no more work miracles here than I could have there. I didn't ask for any of this and I don't want any of it. However, I have been given orders and I will do my best to obey those orders; though without your cooperation I will fail. Now the President has given you orders to give me your full support and cooperation; that won't be enough though. I now ask you to put aside those orders and give me your desire and motivation for the restoration of this nation to what we all remember it to be. If you cannot honestly give me those... then I ask you to speak up now. I assure you I will defend your right to speak out. No matter how much he may want it; not even the President can give orders that will resolve what we face. The people of this nation have lost more than just order and security. They have lost faith in us and each other. Because of that they have lost their hope for the future too. While I will appreciate all the support I can get; what I must have from you is a show of faith. If you cannot give that to me then I ask you to give it to the people of this nation. Unless you can show them your own faith in them and in the future how can we ask them to have faith in us or the future we offer them?"

   James had seen some of the faces change as he spoke. Some of them were considering his words. Some of them might try to offer him their faith and help him restore faith to the people... but there were some who didn't show any reaction at all. Those would likely be major problems, but James would deal with them and the problems they caused as they came up. For now he concentrated on those who showed any sign of change. It was the President who spoke first. "So... you would defend those who oppose you. You would oppose me for them?" James smiled as he replied to that very direct question. "Yes sir... if we have to live under threats and by orders rather than free... what have we gained? The people of this nation must remain free and the people who govern them must be free for that to be possible. Sir, I will do what you have asked of me, but I must be allowed the freedom to do it. That same freedom must be given to these men and women too. With respect sir, I ask that you allow me to talk with them alone now. You are the President and my commander and chief, but you have given me this job to do sir.  They have to work with me now, so they need to get a chance to start doing that. Please let me take charge of this meeting, so that I can do what you have ordered me to do."

    The President just sat looking at him for a long time. Then he simply nodded and stood up. Before he turned to leave he did speak again. "The command is yours. I will be watching, but I will stay out of it unless you ask or I see a need to step in." Turning to face the others he smiled as he spoke to them. "I suggest that you all think very carefully before you say too much around this young man. He may be very young, but he shows more wisdom and understanding than I have seen from most world leaders. He has also proven to have the courage to stand against anyone or anything for what he believes to be right. He may not have asked for or wanted this command, but I can assure you that he will do whatever he must do to accomplish his mission now that he has this command. He may defend you from me, but before you cross him you may want to consider who will defend you from him?" The President was smiling and whistling softly as he left the room.

 James watched him go and then turned his attention back to the people in the room. Taking another deep breath and his seat again, now that the President was gone, he spoke. "Alright, it seems I have the floor so let's get started." He indicated the man to his right hand, the Secretary of Defense. "Why don't you start and we will go around the table. I want to hear your current assessment of the situation, followed by your opinion of what needs our attention first. You can also give me your opinion of me since I have been given this command; what I should or should not do and so on. When you are done we will continue around the table. I ask each of you to be open and honest with me. Tell me what you really think and feel about everything including myself. I assure you I won't hold it against you and I promise you when it gets back to me I will address each of you and your concerns. And I give you my word of honor that I won't hold anything back when I do."

   It was still early afternoon in D.C. when the meeting had started. It was past midnight before it was done. There had been just fewer than thirty people in the room after the President had left. When the meeting finally did end there had been less than twenty left. A few had simply had no reason to remain the entire time, but some had left for other reasons. James had little doubt as to who his worst enemies would be for now. He was less certain of who might prove to be worse enemies as things progressed. There were few if any that he felt would prove to be true friends. Perhaps they might be allies for a time, but that would depend on what they got from it more than on what they could put into it. That was just the first of several very long meetings over the course of the next week. James was more than a little bit relieved when General Hodges arrived early on the third day to assist him with setting up the new command structure. Hodges had spent years working directly with a lot of the people that James was dealing with for the first time. With his help things soon began to smooth out as much as could be expected when dealing with politics.