goal.”
Jack added, “These are tough times and it’s great to know that despite this
disastrous situation, you’re still willing to help. This is a great country
precisely because of people like you.
“I hope you’ll agree with me that we have to move quickly. Once the Emerald
Virus hits this country everything will get more complicated.” After murmurs of
agreement Jack said, “I’d like to conference with all of you at the same time
tomorrow. No restrictions at all on the number of people you want to involve.
Just let Gene know what telephone numbers to include and our operators will
make the call happen. Does that create a problem for any of you?”
No one said a word. Then Kathy said, “Jim, I’ll have my best people here in
fifteen minutes if you can gather your staff by then.”
Jim said, “No problem. Should I use this number for the call?”
“Yes, this is my conference room so it’ll work well. I’ll talk to you in a few
minutes.”
Jack concluded, “My deepest thanks to all of you. If there is anything at all
you need in terms of support from me or anyone else in D.C. let me know. I’ll
do anything possible at your request.”
Kathy, in a lighter tone of voice said, “Jack just remember you don’t have to
do this by yourself. Most people in the country would like an opportunity to do
something of value during the crisis. As far as these technical problems exist,
remember they don’t look nearly as difficult to us as they might to you. I
think Will Rogers said it best when he said, “We’re all dumb, just in different
fields”.”
Jack laughed and said, “Thanks Kathy, I’ll talk to all of you tomorrow.”
Chapter Four:
The Middle
Saturday:
Washington D.C.
As Jack walked into A.J.’s office, she was hanging up the telephone. She
looked at Jack and said, “Sorry. I missed the meeting because I just got off
the phone with the White House Chief of Staff. The ink isn’t dry on your
bulletins and already members of Congress are complaining about your style.
Apparently you’re providing the public with the one thing politicians aren’t
prepared to deal with.
“What’s that?”
“Straight talk and the unadulterated truth. Not many of them use those tools;
and when they see the truth in action, it seems to scare the bejesus out of
them.”
Jack grinned at the use of the term bejesus. He hadn’t heard it used since his
Grandmother was alive. He asked A.J., “What does Secretary Kemper think of the
bulletins?”
“He is supporting your approach. Rather than promising the Chief he would look
into it as he would normally do, he told the Chief to call me. I’m sure that in
itself rankled the Chief but he did call. I explained to him our rationale and
told him we were not going to change our style unless room for hope developed
somehow. Surprisingly he seemed okay with the explanation. Or maybe he realized
there wasn’t much he could do. That’s a very unusual position for him to be in.
His only option would be to fire you, me and the Secretary, and he simply can’t
do that in this crisis.”
“Jack, you seem to have a good handle on what you want done and who should be
doing it. Are you worried you’re overlooking anything?”
“Not really. I’ve kept Susan in reserve and I’ve asked Irene to continue to
work with her. Susan is the most intuitive of my team leaders and her job is to
bounce from team meeting to team meeting, listen to the ideas being formulated
and let me know if she thinks we’ve missed anything of importance, or if we’re
burning resources on the wrong targets. She will also give her best ideas to
the teams as she meets with them, and of course Irene will be there to add a
fresh perspective for us.”
A.J. felt thankful that Jack was on her team. He had been so capable and
confident as they had
Jack added, “These are tough times and it’s great to know that despite this
disastrous situation, you’re still willing to help. This is a great country
precisely because of people like you.
“I hope you’ll agree with me that we have to move quickly. Once the Emerald
Virus hits this country everything will get more complicated.” After murmurs of
agreement Jack said, “I’d like to conference with all of you at the same time
tomorrow. No restrictions at all on the number of people you want to involve.
Just let Gene know what telephone numbers to include and our operators will
make the call happen. Does that create a problem for any of you?”
No one said a word. Then Kathy said, “Jim, I’ll have my best people here in
fifteen minutes if you can gather your staff by then.”
Jim said, “No problem. Should I use this number for the call?”
“Yes, this is my conference room so it’ll work well. I’ll talk to you in a few
minutes.”
Jack concluded, “My deepest thanks to all of you. If there is anything at all
you need in terms of support from me or anyone else in D.C. let me know. I’ll
do anything possible at your request.”
Kathy, in a lighter tone of voice said, “Jack just remember you don’t have to
do this by yourself. Most people in the country would like an opportunity to do
something of value during the crisis. As far as these technical problems exist,
remember they don’t look nearly as difficult to us as they might to you. I
think Will Rogers said it best when he said, “We’re all dumb, just in different
fields”.”
Jack laughed and said, “Thanks Kathy, I’ll talk to all of you tomorrow.”
Chapter Four:
The Middle
Saturday:
Washington D.C.
As Jack walked into A.J.’s office, she was hanging up the telephone. She
looked at Jack and said, “Sorry. I missed the meeting because I just got off
the phone with the White House Chief of Staff. The ink isn’t dry on your
bulletins and already members of Congress are complaining about your style.
Apparently you’re providing the public with the one thing politicians aren’t
prepared to deal with.
“What’s that?”
“Straight talk and the unadulterated truth. Not many of them use those tools;
and when they see the truth in action, it seems to scare the bejesus out of
them.”
Jack grinned at the use of the term bejesus. He hadn’t heard it used since his
Grandmother was alive. He asked A.J., “What does Secretary Kemper think of the
bulletins?”
“He is supporting your approach. Rather than promising the Chief he would look
into it as he would normally do, he told the Chief to call me. I’m sure that in
itself rankled the Chief but he did call. I explained to him our rationale and
told him we were not going to change our style unless room for hope developed
somehow. Surprisingly he seemed okay with the explanation. Or maybe he realized
there wasn’t much he could do. That’s a very unusual position for him to be in.
His only option would be to fire you, me and the Secretary, and he simply can’t
do that in this crisis.”
“Jack, you seem to have a good handle on what you want done and who should be
doing it. Are you worried you’re overlooking anything?”
“Not really. I’ve kept Susan in reserve and I’ve asked Irene to continue to
work with her. Susan is the most intuitive of my team leaders and her job is to
bounce from team meeting to team meeting, listen to the ideas being formulated
and let me know if she thinks we’ve missed anything of importance, or if we’re
burning resources on the wrong targets. She will also give her best ideas to
the teams as she meets with them, and of course Irene will be there to add a
fresh perspective for us.”
A.J. felt thankful that Jack was on her team. He had been so capable and
confident as they had
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