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Authors: Colleen McCullough
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respected man in America. David Sims Hillier VII, U.S.
Senator. At thirty-one too young to be President, but bound to be President
before he turned forty. Six feet four inches in height, therefore not afflicted
by the Napoleon complex. Beautifully built, therefore not afflicted by the Atlas
complex. Fair hair, wavy and likely to remain enviably thick into old age. Deep,
brilliant blue eyes. Classically regular features, yet not at all pretty. Even
in the photograph one could see how masterfully the chin would jut in real life.
The curves of the mouth were firm, disciplined, unsensuous, and the eyes looked
strong, intelligent, resolved, wise. He was all those; nor was he selfish,
cruel, shallow, impractical, or indifferent to the plight of those born into less affluent
circumstances than he himself had been.
Dr Carriol put the picture away.
'Objections?'
'Did you dig deep, Moshe?' asked Dr
Hemingway.
'Yes, indeed I did. Into everything. And
if he has feet of clay, I can't find a trace of the substance.' Dr Chasen nodded
seriously. 'He's — perfect!'
'Then why,' demanded Dr Abraham, voice
cracking to a squeak, 'did you pick an obscure half-mad-looking psychologist
from a backwater like Holloman, Connecticut, ahead of the best man in
America?'
This question Dr Chasen considered with
obvious respect. Instead of galloping in with a glib pat answer, he frowned and
took his time and was honest about his own ignorance. Most unusual behaviour
from Moshe Chasen when dealing with the scepticism of his colleagues. 'I cannot
explain why,' he said. 'Ijust know in my bones that Dr Joshua Christian
is the only man who fits the criteria of the commission we were given, at
least in my sample of possible candidates. I still think it! Very vividly do I
remember Judith sitting five years ago right where she's sitting now and giving
us this job, and I remember how she kept hammering away about charisma. That,
she said, was what was going to make this exercise the most important exercise
of its kind ever undertaken. Because we were going to use the most modern tools
and methods to try to pinpoint an intangible. If we could do it, she said, we
would make statistical analytical history. And prove a point, and put
Environment so far ahead even of Justice and Treasury that we'd be the
undisputed kings of data processing. So when I nutted out my programs for the
computer, I skewed them towards factors indicating charisma.'
He ran his fingers through his hair in
exasperation, sensing that he wasn't home yet. 'I mean, what is charisma?' he asked rhetorically. 'Originally it was a word used only to
describe the God-given power of saints and holy men to capture and mould
the spirits of those they encountered. Then during the last half of the last
century it got so bowdlerized it was used to categorize the impact of pop stars,
playboys and politicians. Now we should all know Judith pretty well. We knew her
well even before Operation Search began! And knowing her, I figured that what
she meant by charisma was something a lot closer to the old definition than the
current one. Judith doesn't deal in superficialities.'
He had captured them at last, even Dr
Carriol, who had sat up much straighter in her chair and was staring at him as
if she had never really seen him before.
'Most of the time, especially since the
advent of mass media, how a person speaks and acts out his ideas is as
important as the content of his ideas. God help the person who writes a
genuinely significant book and then lays an egg on the Marlene Feldman Hour,
because that's where thinking America gets its impressions of Joe Blow the
significant writer! How many times has one Presidential candidate aced the
opposition on a televised debate simply because he can project himself and his
ideas better than the opposition? And how do you think old Gus Rome managed to
keep the country on his side and overpower both Houses? Televised fireside
Senator. At thirty-one too young to be President, but bound to be President
before he turned forty. Six feet four inches in height, therefore not afflicted
by the Napoleon complex. Beautifully built, therefore not afflicted by the Atlas
complex. Fair hair, wavy and likely to remain enviably thick into old age. Deep,
brilliant blue eyes. Classically regular features, yet not at all pretty. Even
in the photograph one could see how masterfully the chin would jut in real life.
The curves of the mouth were firm, disciplined, unsensuous, and the eyes looked
strong, intelligent, resolved, wise. He was all those; nor was he selfish,
cruel, shallow, impractical, or indifferent to the plight of those born into less affluent
circumstances than he himself had been.
Dr Carriol put the picture away.
'Objections?'
'Did you dig deep, Moshe?' asked Dr
Hemingway.
'Yes, indeed I did. Into everything. And
if he has feet of clay, I can't find a trace of the substance.' Dr Chasen nodded
seriously. 'He's — perfect!'
'Then why,' demanded Dr Abraham, voice
cracking to a squeak, 'did you pick an obscure half-mad-looking psychologist
from a backwater like Holloman, Connecticut, ahead of the best man in
America?'
This question Dr Chasen considered with
obvious respect. Instead of galloping in with a glib pat answer, he frowned and
took his time and was honest about his own ignorance. Most unusual behaviour
from Moshe Chasen when dealing with the scepticism of his colleagues. 'I cannot
explain why,' he said. 'Ijust know in my bones that Dr Joshua Christian
is the only man who fits the criteria of the commission we were given, at
least in my sample of possible candidates. I still think it! Very vividly do I
remember Judith sitting five years ago right where she's sitting now and giving
us this job, and I remember how she kept hammering away about charisma. That,
she said, was what was going to make this exercise the most important exercise
of its kind ever undertaken. Because we were going to use the most modern tools
and methods to try to pinpoint an intangible. If we could do it, she said, we
would make statistical analytical history. And prove a point, and put
Environment so far ahead even of Justice and Treasury that we'd be the
undisputed kings of data processing. So when I nutted out my programs for the
computer, I skewed them towards factors indicating charisma.'
He ran his fingers through his hair in
exasperation, sensing that he wasn't home yet. 'I mean, what is charisma?' he asked rhetorically. 'Originally it was a word used only to
describe the God-given power of saints and holy men to capture and mould
the spirits of those they encountered. Then during the last half of the last
century it got so bowdlerized it was used to categorize the impact of pop stars,
playboys and politicians. Now we should all know Judith pretty well. We knew her
well even before Operation Search began! And knowing her, I figured that what
she meant by charisma was something a lot closer to the old definition than the
current one. Judith doesn't deal in superficialities.'
He had captured them at last, even Dr
Carriol, who had sat up much straighter in her chair and was staring at him as
if she had never really seen him before.
'Most of the time, especially since the
advent of mass media, how a person speaks and acts out his ideas is as
important as the content of his ideas. God help the person who writes a
genuinely significant book and then lays an egg on the Marlene Feldman Hour,
because that's where thinking America gets its impressions of Joe Blow the
significant writer! How many times has one Presidential candidate aced the
opposition on a televised debate simply because he can project himself and his
ideas better than the opposition? And how do you think old Gus Rome managed to
keep the country on his side and overpower both Houses? Televised fireside
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