The President

by Parker Hudson

  “Yes, it’s still there. And Matthew is still it. Too bad he couldn’t come this weekend. He says hi.”

  William and Carrie, having helped the superintendent give everyone their cabin assignments, walked along with Graham and Mary in the warm afternoon sun. “It was wonderful of you both to arrange this weekend for all of us,” Mary said, smiling at her brother and sister-in-law. “Obviously it will mean a lot to all of us, and especially to Mom and Dad.”

  “It’s our pleasure,” William answered sincerely, genuinely glad to be among his family. “We need it, too,” he added, taking Carrie’s hand. “I can’t think of a better way to spend a little of the taxpayers’ money to recharge the old president!”

  “Fifty is not exactly so old, dear.” His wife returned his smile and squeezed his hand. “It’s a nice, distinguished age. But even young presidents like you can use some rest and relaxation.”

  Graham asked his brother-in-law, “Didn’t President Eisenhower add a short course to this place? Would you like to play pitch and putt?” They had played many rounds of golf together in earlier years.

  “I can’t think of anything I’d like better,” the president replied. “That is, if it’s on the schedule.” He glanced at Carrie.

  “I told you, there’s almost no schedule. Yes, you and Graham go on and play before your parents arrive. And you might ask Hugh, too. Jennifer says he’s learning golf when he’s not at sea.”

  The two men accepted the suggestion and moved off to change into their golf clothes, leaving Carrie and Mary together on the path just short of the main house.

  “How is he, Carrie?” Mary asked, as they walked slowly along the path.

  “Oh, he’s fine.” She gave a half-smile, then added, “Parts of the job are glorious and parts are really grueling. We’re all glad to be away this weekend with the family. And I’m especially glad our Katherine and Sarah are together again; the White House is no place to be seventeen, at least in this day and age.”

  “It sounds awfully glamorous on the surface,” Mary said, “but I guess the reality could grate on a high school junior. Maybe this summer Katherine could spend some time with us. I know Sarah and Tim would be glad to have her, and it would probably do her good just to knock around Raleigh again with them. Sarah’s going to work part time at a sandwich shop owned by Graham’s nephew. Would the president’s daughter like to fix sandwiches and scoop ice cream?”

  “I’m sure she’d love it,” Carrie said with enthusiasm. “Let’s talk to them this weekend. And it would be one less thing for William to worry about.”

  “Are the bad guys getting him down?” Mary asked seriously.

  “No, not really. He just worries a lot. His domestic program is not moving as quickly as he wants, and it seems like there’s a new international problem every other day.”

  “Does he get good advice?”

  Carrie paused. “Yes...I think so. I guess it’s just that the world has become so complex, and the president of the United States is supposed to be...well, omniscient, I guess. He feels a burden to know everything about every subject. It’s hard on him, frankly. He spends a lot of time studying.”

  “We find it almost impossible to raise a family using just our own strength, so I can’t imagine trying to be the president of the United States on my own.”

  Carrie stopped and looked at her sister-in-law. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean without God’s help,” Mary replied. “I don’t see how anyone makes it today without him. And I can imagine William is finding his hands full, trying to master everything, all by himself, trying always to be the best and the brightest. He’s been like that for a long time,” Mary said, “but he may have met his match in this job!”

  Carrie was momentarily flustered. She started to speak, stopped, then said, “That reminds me. Tell me about the pastor coming on Sunday.” She and Mary continued along the path.

  “Michael Tate. He’s bringing his wife, Elizabeth. He’s a great guy, and she’s pretty special, too. He’s in his mid-forties and is the CEO of the International Training Institute in Baltimore. It’s a large, interdenominational organization that trains Christian political leaders in their home countries. He’s been there about ten years and travels all over the world. It’s a big job, and he has a real heart for the Lord.”

  “How do you know him?”

  “We met at a conference several years ago, and he stays with us whenever he’s visiting the Research Triangle on business or on a speaking engagement. The great thing about Michael is that besides his job, he’s an ordained minister. He serves as an assistant pastor at a large suburban Baltimore church. He’s a great speaker. I thought William and the rest of the family would enjoy meeting him because he knows what’s really happening in so many countries.”

  “He sounds interesting. I hope he and his wife can stay for lunch on Sunday,” Carrie said.

  “Oh, I’m sure that won’t be a problem.”

  “Good. Well, we’d better get unpacked before the afternoon is over. Your mother and father should be here soon.”

  “Thanks. Unfortunately William’s not the only one with too much to do. I’ve got two home closings which were looking shaky when I left, and I’ve got to check on them one last time before the weekend.”

  “Then we’ll see you in the Great Room at Laurel Lodge. It’s wonderful that everyone could come,” Carrie concluded, as she moved up the path that led to Aspen Lodge. Mary nodded as Carrie left, feeling that her sister-in-law was actually more worried about William than she had been willing to acknowledge.

  The cabins at Camp David turned out to be one, two, and three bedroom cottages, each with a living room and porch. Mary Prescott had just emerged from the shower in their cabin and wrapped a towel around her when she heard the rest of her family coming in from tennis and golf.

  “First for the shower,” she heard Tim say through her bedroom door, as he clomped down the hall on feet that still seemed too big for his body.

  As Graham opened their bedroom door, Mary had a glimpse of Sarah. “How was tennis, dear?” she asked.

  “Fine, Mom. Robert and his friend Sasha are really good. We split up and played teams. It was fun. But I’m starved.”

  “Well, we’re invited up to the porch of Laurel Lodge at six-thirty for cocktails and lemonade, and dinner is at seven. You’ll probably need the time to shower and change. And how was golf?” she asked, turning to Graham as he closed the bedroom door.

  “The golf was fine. William shot pretty well after three months in the White House. But, boy, did he and Hugh get into an argument,” Graham replied, as he unbuttoned his golf shirt.

  “Over what?” Mary asked, starting to comb her wet hair in front of the mirror over their dresser.

  “William made the mistake of asking Hugh how the new policy on women, gays, and lesbians in the armed forces is coming along. Hugh gave William an earful on what they’re going through. Mary, you wouldn’t believe what they’re having to do in order to implement these new policies. It sounds crazy to me. Hugh’s concern is that the results will inevitably be disastrous. He actually told William that a combat ship is no place to be trying out half-baked social experiments! It was wonderful. William missed a two-foot putt.”

  “What did William say?”

  “He argued at first how it was not right to discriminate against a legitimate alternative lifestyle—”

  “I wonder if he’s read the Bible on that subject lately, or even applied common sense?” Mary interrupted.

  “I doubt it. But, anyway, as we played on, Hugh really wore him down. I don’t think William, since he never served in the military, ever really thought through what it means to put so many young people so close together in those living conditions.”

  “What about Hugh? What is he having to do?”

  “Well, he’s doing his best to follow orders. He told William his captain and all the senior people are on top of the changes and trying to implement them smoothly. I
don’t think Hugh had thought very much about the subject until he wound up in the middle of it. But the other day he had to watch a homosexual ‘sensitizing’ video. I think that may have planted some real doubts about this ‘alternative life style’ business. He seems genuinely concerned for his men, and I think he’s also worried because he’s suddenly going to be responsible for twenty young women in his department. On top of all that, he hasn’t figured out how to tell Jennifer that his new fire control officer is a twenty-eight-year-old single woman, and apparently very good looking.”

  “Poor baby brother Hugh. It’s kind of ironic he’s on the receiving end of his own brother’s policies. But I guess we couldn’t ask for any better feedback than his. William certainly can’t accuse Hugh of being a Christian fundamentalist!”

  The family assembled before supper that evening on the large porch at Laurel Lodge, where conversations begun earlier at the White House were continued and everyone had a chance to catch up on family news. The senior Harrisons, Tom and Elizabeth, arrived by car.

  The first lady had given instructions to the superintendent not to create one long banquet table for their meals, but instead to break up the tables into seatings of six and eight. As she walked around the porch greeting everyone again before dinner, she made it clear that they were supposed to sit at different tables for each meal over the weekend so that all of the family members would have several opportunities to spend time with one another.

  For their first meal William and Carrie were joined by his parents and their own two children. Sasha sat next to Robert, and Katherine invited her cousin Sarah. Three other tables were arranged around the president’s central table.

  “You’re looking great, Mom,” the president said to his mother, after they were seated.

  “I’ve got to. Someone from our generation has to be ready to explain your policies when the press asks. Your father won’t give them the time of day, so it’s left for me to be your ambassador to the old folks. So far I’m holding up okay, but the pay is really lousy for the long hours involved.” She finished with a smile and a flourish of her knife, which had been on its way to the butter.

  “Well, we appreciate it. And please don’t stop explaining what the government should do next. You’ve been at this for at least fifty years that I know of, personally.”

  “And if they’d have listened to me all those years ago, you wouldn’t have such a mess to clean up now, William. But we’re glad it’s you who’s trying!” The uncharacteristic moment of pride was pleasantly obvious to everyone at the table.

  “Please pass the potatoes,” Robert asked after a moment’s pause.

  The conversation at the president’s table continued in a light-hearted vein throughout the meal, and Carrie could see her husband unwinding. Those at the three other tables seemed to be enjoying themselves just as much. Carrie was pleased that the special weekend was off to such a good start.

  As dessert was served, the president turned to Sasha and said, “Robert has told us a lot about you. It’s wonderful you’re here. Tell us about conditions in Ukraine now.”

  Their guest spent several minutes telling his hosts about the improving conditions in his country. The situation had begun to change about three years after Russia’s reforms and had gathered speed once large amounts of real estate had been privatized and businesses were sold to local entrepreneurs at fair prices.

  “Looking back on that process from the perspective of a few years,” the president continued after Sasha had finished, “what would you say were the principal causes for this change? Has it been the spirit of your people, or their hope for material improvement, or technical assistance from the West? What’s been behind this success, which seemed so impossible only a few years ago?”

  Sasha did not hesitate a moment. “That’s easy. It has been God.”

  The president stopped stirring his coffee. Everyone else seated at the table looked at the young Ukrainian.

  “God?” the president asked. “Why do you say that?”

  “It’s obvious. I’ve seen his power. First in our people. Then through them in our government.”

  “You’ve seen God’s power?” Elizabeth Harrison asked, her voice carrying a hint of skepticism.

  “Yes, ma’am. Of course.” The young Ukrainian spoke slowly, searching for the right words. “How else can you explain the fall of the—how do you call it in English?—Iron Curtain...and the disappearance of the largest empire on earth at the time? Almost overnight. No shooting. As if it had never been there?

  “Men tried for decades to destroy it. Or to contain it. But then it just...just disappeared! Only God could have done that. No man could have planned it. Nor would anyone have believed it, do you think, if they hadn’t seen it. In the Bible, they call that a miracle. It must have been God’s work. Who else?”

  There was an embarrassed silence at the table. William smiled and started to speak, but Sasha continued. “You must realize...we lived for generations in a society that denied God’s existence. Men were supposed to improve everything themselves. But they completely failed. Tens of millions of people were killed instead. Then into this vacuum suddenly came the Word of God. Perhaps it has more strength there, because it’s such a difference; and people really believe, once they’ve seen God’s power at work. I’ve seen drunk men healed overnight. Women who...who sold their bodies stopped after praying for God’s help. Men who beat their wives and families have been cured.” Several of the Harrison family members exchanged glances.

  “My own father—” Sasha was visibly moved. “My own father changed after hearing God’s Word. Several years ago my uncle Yuri went away one night from our apartment. He told my father that when he came back, everything we had ever dreamed about would come true for our family. He never came back. Neither he nor his car was ever seen again. He and my father were mixed up with the mafia, I think, which was just starting in our country.

  “For a week my father was very upset. He drank heavily, swearing that my uncle would return. When he was drunk...he hit my mother. Then that Sunday my mother convinced him—I do not know how—to go to a church that had been started in our apartment block by a young man who had been trained for a year by a team from America, one of the first such groups in our country.”

  He paused again. “That Sunday our family heard about a new way of living for God...who made us. No matter what the consequences. The minister told about how his own life had been changed, and he read several passages from the Bible about how God had changed other people. And at the end of the service, my father was changed, too. He has never been the same since that day. On Monday he quit his job with the truck company and asked to help the minister at the Christian Center in downtown Kiev, as a way to learn more about God.

  “He did little jobs around Kiev for three months, but always helped at the center, doing whatever had to be done, without pay. Through them he met a Ukrainian-American woman, the local representative of Delta Freight, who opened their office in Kiev, and who had a strong Christian faith. The center recommended my father to be their first driver because he was hard working, faithful, and honest—you would never have described him like that only a year before. Now he is the dispatcher for the company and I am at college because of a corporate scholarship. And, above all, my father is changed on the inside. He loves my mother and sister, and he reads the Bible every day. He helps other people. That is the power of God. Yes, I’ve seen it.”

  No one spoke. Several studied their coffee. Sasha was silent for a moment. Finally he said, “Those same kinds of stories have happened over and over again in our country, thanks to God and to the hard work of many people who are spreading his Word.

  “And one by one, changed people have come into our government. And that is what has made so much difference in these three years. Men and women who believe in God and try to do his will every day have taken over from four generations of leaders who...who tried to pretend that God does not exist. The difference is ama
zing and very real. That is what has happened to our country.”

  The three tables around the president’s had also fallen quiet as Sasha had begun speaking again. As he concluded, the entire room was silent, induding the staff. He looked around, embarrassed. Sarah looked across the table at her uncle, who was staring at the young Ukrainian.

  Finally the first lady cleared her throat, smiled, and said, “Thank you, Sasha. You, your family, and your country have been through a lot. We’ve enjoyed hearing about it firsthand. Haven’t we, William?”

  “Yes...Yes, thank you, Sasha. It’s great having you here. Now, let’s all not get too serious,” the president continued, raising his voice slightly to address the whole room and smiling. “It’s a beautiful evening. Some of us may want to walk off dinner or relax here in the lodge. Please just enjoy yourselves and feel at home.”

  As Rebecca and Bruce entered the dining room the next morning, the president and first lady were just leaving, having finished their breakfast early.

  “I didn’t get a chance to tell you yesterday, little sister, but you look great,” William said, as they paused in the doorway. Glancing at Bruce, he continued, “Something must be having a positive effect on you.”

  Rebecca smiled and hugged Bruce’s arm. “You’re right. I feel great. Wanna hit some balls later to get ready for the softball game? I bet I can hit ‘em farther than you.”

  “No contest.” The president returned her smile. “I just hope I don’t make too big a fool of myself at the game. Look, I see you two are already in your tennis gear, but would you like to walk with us after your breakfast? We didn’t get much of a chance to talk yesterday.”

  “Sure, that’ll be great. We’ll come over to your cabin—is it Aspen?—as soon as we’ve finished breakfast.”