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“Is he up?” asked Morton.
“Yep. The steward phoned down and said he’s putting on a suit.”
On most mornings President Hayes went straight over to the West Wing at seven, but there were times, usually after he had been traveling, when he liked to work out in his private gym on the third floor and then walk over to the office at around eight. The agents on the detail usually had no idea what to expect until the Navy steward called down to tell them the president was wearing either workout clothes or a suit.
The security panel on the wall of Staircase beeped and a red light blinked, announcing that the president’s elevator was moving. Morton nodded to the other agent and raised her hand mike to her mouth. “Horsepower, from Morton. Woody is on his way down.” Horsepower was the designation for the presidential detail’s command post located under the Oval Office.
The presidential detail’s chief concern and focus was the president, while the actual security of the White House compound was handled by the Secret Service’s Uniformed Division. There was a second command post located on the fifth floor of the Executive Office Building, across the street from the White House, that coordinated and monitored the two group’s activities. It was called the Joint Operations Center, or JOC, and was built in the wake of an unauthorized attempted landing on the South Lawn by a single-engine airplane in 1994. JOC monitored the movements of both the uniformed officers and the special agents.
The doors to elevator opened, and President Hayes emerged wearing a dark suit, white shirt, and paisley tie. The president looked at the familiar face before him and said, “Good morning, Ellen.”
“Good morning, sir.” Morton moved out ahead of the president, walking down the long hall that led to the Palm Room. As shift leader, or whip, of the day detail, it was her responsibility to coordinate the movement of the president from the mansion to the West Wing. They entered the Palm Room, and Morton spoke into her hand mike. “Horsepower, from Morton. Woody is approaching the Colonnade.” As Morton reached the double glass doors, she nodded to the agent on the other side and watched him move out ahead. Morton held the door for President Hayes, and then the two of them stepped out onto the fieldstone walkway of the Colonnade.
The president stopped and took in the bright spring morning. Feeling the warm morning sun on his face for the first time in weeks, he closed his eyes and smiled. After a long moment, he drew in a deep breath. Then opening his eyes, he looked out at the mist-covered grass of the South Lawn. Ellen Morton stood silently behind him, her hands clasped in front of her. Without turning, President Hayes said, “Beautiful morning, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is, sir.” Morton grinned to herself. She was still not used to Hayes’s private persona. With all of the security and pomp and circumstance, it was easy to forget that he was a real person—a husband, a father, and a grandfather.
“It makes me wi
sh I was on the golf course.” Hayes shook his head. “Well, it’s off to the daily grind.” With that he started down the stone walkway. Morton followed a step behind as they headed past Jefferson’s pillars. When they reached the doors that led to the West Wing by the White House pressroom, they took a left, continuing past the French doors of the Cabinet Room and then around to the right. As they rounded the corner, Morton looked ahead at the agent by the Oval Office. He was getting ready to insert a key into the door. Over her earpiece Morton heard the agent say, “Horsepower, from Cowley. Authorized break on the Oval Colonnade door.” The agent then stuck the key in the door and opened it, holding it for the president and Morton.
The president took a final look at the blooming flowers in the Rose Garden as he walked, and then greeted the agent holding the door. “Good morning, Pat.”
“Good morning, sir.”
President Hayes walked into the Oval Office first and Morton second. The president continued straight ahead, passing his desk and then going through the short hallway that led to his private study, bathroom, and dining room. Morton turned to the right and opened the door that led to the secretary’s office. She closed it behind her and said into her mike, “Horsepower, from Morton. Woody is in the Oval.”
On the other side of the Oval Office, in the main hallway, two Secret Service agents from the presidential detail relieved two uniformed officers and took up posts outside the door to the president’s dining room and the main door to the Oval Office.
Inside the president’s private dining room, Hayes took off his suit coat and handed it to a small Filipino man dressed in a white waistcoat and black pants. “Good morning, Carl.”
“Good morning, Mr. President,” answered the Navy steward. Carl closed the door and took the president’s jacket, hanging it on an antique wooden valet in the corner.
A circular oak table for four occupied the center of the room. Hayes sat at the seat closest to the Oval Office and pulled in his chair. Folded and laid out in front of him were copies of The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The New York Times, and USA Today. The same four papers were laid out in the same order every day, Monday through Friday. The president began perusing the headlines.
The steward approached and placed a cup of black coffee next to the copy of the Times . “What would you like for breakfast this morning, Mr. President?”
Without looking up, President Hayes reached out for the cup of coffee.-“How about a half a grapefruit to start with, please.”
The steward nodded and retreated into the pantry while the president began reading an article in the Post . Before the grapefruit was served, there was a knock on the door. The Navy steward opened it and greeted the two visitors. Bill Schwartz, the president’s national security adviser, entered the room with Dr. Irene Kennedy from the CIA.
The lanky national security adviser greeted the president’s steward. “Good morning, Carl.”
“Good morning, Mr. Schwartz. What would you like to drink?”
“My usual please.”
“And for the lady?”
“Just a cup of regular, please,” replied Kennedy.
Schwartz maneuvered his thin frame across the room and sat in the spot directly across from Hayes. Kennedy placed her briefcase on the floor and sat immediately to the president’s right. The president looked up at his national security adviser and asked, “How was your trip?” Schwartz had just returned from Brussels, where he had attended three days of meetings on the further expansion of NATO.
Schwartz removed his small silver-rimmed glasses and began to clean the lenses with his tie. “It was slow, boring, and painful.”
“It always is with NATO.” President Hayes took a sip of coffee and placed the mug back on the table. “The only organization that’s worse is the UN.”
“That is true.” Schwartz nodded his head slowly and watched Carl place a mug of coffee in front of Kennedy and then himself.
