Fall of Giants

But the reality did not hit Gus until a messenger brought him the early editions of the New York newspapers and he saw the headline:

PRESIDENT-ELECT HUGHES

He was shocked. He thought Woodrow Wilson was winning. Voters had not forgotten Wilson’s deft handling of the Lusitania crisis: he had managed to get tough with the Germans while at the same time staying neutral. Wilson’s campaign slogan was: “He kept us out of war.”

Hughes had accused Wilson of failing to prepare America for war, but this had backfired. Americans were more determined than ever to remain nonaligned after Britain’s brutal suppression of the Easter Rising in Dublin. Britain’s treatment of the Irish was no better than Germany’s treatment of the Belgians, so why should America take sides?

When he had read the papers Gus loosened his tie and napped on the couch in the study next to the Oval Office. He was unnerved by the prospect of leaving the White House. Working for Wilson had become his bedrock. His love life was a train wreck, but at least he knew he was valuable to the president of the United States.

His concern was not just selfish. Wilson was determined to create an international order in which wars could be avoided. Just as next-door neighbors no longer settled boundary disputes with six-guns, so the time must come when countries, too, submitted their quarrels to independent judgment. The British foreign secretary, Sir Edward Grey, had used the words “a league of nations” in a letter to Wilson, and the president had liked the phrase. If Gus could help bring that about his life would mean something.

But now it looked as if that dream was not going to come true, he thought, and he drifted into a disappointed sleep.

He was woken early in the morning by a cable saying that Wilson had won Ohio-a blue-collar state that had liked the president’s stand on the eight-hour day-and Kansas, too. Wilson was back in the running. A little later he won Minnesota by fewer than a thousand votes.

It was not over after all, and Gus’s spirits lifted.

By Wednesday evening Wilson was ahead with 264 electoral votes against 254, a lead of 10. But one state, California, had not yet declared a result, and it carried 13 electoral votes. Whoever won California would be president.

Gus’s phone went quiet. There was nothing much for him to do. The counting in Los Angeles was slow. Every unopened box was guarded by armed Democrats, who believed that tampering had robbed them of a presidential victory in 1876.

The result was still hanging in the balance when the lobby called to tell Gus he had a visitor. To his surprise it was Rosa Hellman, the former editor of the Buffalo Anarchist. Gus was pleased: Rosa was always interesting to talk to. He recalled that an anarchist had assassinated President McKinley in Buffalo in 1901. However, President Wilson was far away in New Jersey, so he brought Rosa up to the study and offered her a cup of coffee.

She was wearing a red coat. When he helped her off with it, he towered over her. He caught the aroma of a light flowery perfume.

“Last time we met you told me I was a goddamn fool to get engaged to Olga Vyalov,” he said as he hung her coat on the hat stand.

She looked embarrassed. “I apologize.”

“Ah, but you were right.” He changed the subject. “So now you’re working for a wire service?”

“That’s right.”

“As their Washington correspondent.”

“No, I’m his one-eyed girl assistant.”

She had never before mentioned her deformity. Gus hesitated, then said: “I used to wonder why you didn’t wear a patch. But now I’m glad you don’t. You’re just a beautiful woman with one closed eye.”

“Thank you. You’re a kind man. What sort of thing do you do for the president?”

“Apart from pick up the phone when it rings… I read the State Department’s mealymouthed reports, then tell Wilson the truth.”

“For example…?”

“Our ambassadors in Europe say that the Somme offensive is achieving some but not all its objectives, with heavy casualties on both sides. It’s almost impossible to prove that statement wrong-and it tells the president nothing. So I tell him the Somme is a disaster for the British.” He shrugged. “Or I used to. My job may be over.” He was concealing his real feelings. The prospect that Wilson could lose was dreadful to him.

She nodded. “They’re counting again in California. Almost a million people voted, and the difference is about five thousand.”

“So much hangs on the decisions of a small number of poorly educated people.”

“That’s democracy.”

Gus smiled. “A terrible way to run a country, but every other system is worse.”

“If Wilson wins, what will be his top priority?”

“Off the record?”

“Of course.”

“Peace in Europe,” Gus said without hesitation.

“Really?”

“He was never really comfortable with the slogan ‘He kept us out of war.’ The matter isn’t entirely in his hands. We may be dragged in whether we like it or not.”

“But what can he do?”

“He’ll put pressure on both sides to find a compromise.”

“Can he succeed?”

“I don’t know.”