A Portrait of a Hopeful Nation: An Earlier War on Terror

A Portrait of a Hopeful Nation
An Earlier War on Terror

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"Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope." -Romans 5:3-4
 
I.

Dan Rather’s voice cracked as he read the teleprompter in front of him. “We are receiving breaking news that a bridge in Milan has exploded. There has been a suggestion made that President Clinton’s motorcade was en route to visit a local leader - that the president was on the bridge at the time of the explosion. I don’t have more information for you, but again: We have reports coming into the newsroom that President Clinton’s motorcade was driving over a bridge when that bridge exploded.” The anchor had been in Dallas for the reports on the Kennedy assassination, and now he was the Walter Cronkite - the anchor behind the desk.

Inside the White House, there was immediate turmoil. Secret Service agents rushed to Vice President Al Gore’s office and brought him to the underground bunker, where he joined Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Secretary of Defense William Perry. No one in the room knew whether or not the president was dead or alive. In fact, CBS seemed to be receiving the news at the same time as the White House. A flummoxed vice president demanded information as to who was responsible for the attack. The national security team scrambled to find an answer.

“CBS is able to confirm at this time that First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was not in the motorcade at the time of the explosion. White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry has confirmed that the First Lady is alive and in a secure location in Manila where she is waiting, word on the condition of her husband. She will be brought to the hospital where he will receive treatment in an attempt to save his life.”

Vice President Gore paced the holding room as he awaited word on the president’s condition. “I want answers, damn it!” He yelled to little response from those in the room. “Does anyone know anything?” Secretary Christopher was the first to suggest that the plot may have come from Al Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden. The Clinton Administration had become increasingly worried about Al Qaeda’s presence in the Middle East, and security at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings had been especially tight. Apparently, the Secret Service had failed.

A little more than an hour after he first broke the news, Dan Rather made an announcement he never expected to deliver in his career. “CBS News can now confirm that President William Jefferson Clinton is dead - died approximately one-half hour ago in Milan. His motorcade exploded after a bomb detonated as it crossed a bridge. We have learned there are no survivors. A complete list of names of those dead has not yet been made available, but we will bring you that news when we know it.”

As the news broke, Chief Justice William Rehnquist was brought from the Supreme Court building to the White House to swear in the new president of the United States. Secret Service demanded that the ceremony is held in the bunker to ensure the new president’s safety, but Gore wanted to project an image of confidence - not an image that America was under attack and the new president needed to hide. The ceremony took place in the Blue Room of the White House. First Lady Tipper Gore held the Gore family Bible as the 43rd president raised his right hand to God and repeated after the Chief Justice: “I, Albert Gore, Jr., do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God.” The president announced an address to the nation that evening from the Oval Office.

Immediately after taking the Oath of Office, the new president phoned Hillary Rodham Clinton to express his deepest sympathies. ‘Tipper and I will continue living in the Observatory,” he said, “until you are ready to move out of the White House.” It was a generous offer, and Mrs. Clinton thanked the president for his concern and his hospitality. She looked forward to seeing him as soon as Air Force One landed in Washington, she said. The first meeting that happened was between President Gore and a host of Constitutional lawyers, White House counsel, and Attorney General Janet Reno who discussed, constitutionally, what would happen when the electors met on December 16, 1996, in their respective state capitals. There was the question of whether or not the electors were able to cast their presidential vote for Al Gore, making him the winner of the 1996 presidential election. Gore expressed hesitancy at this suggestion, saying he was not keen on removing Clinton’s electoral victory.

General Reno made the following recommendation. The electors would meet and vote as prescribed. At 1:00 pm on January 6, 1997, in the U.S. House Chamber, President pro-Tempore Strom Thurmond would read the results of the election. William Jefferson Clinton would be declared the winner. With Clinton unable to assume the office, the newly-elected vice president, Al Gore, would assume the office on January 20, 1997, at the regularly-scheduled inauguration. For political reasons, President Gore decided his nomination of a vice president would come after the January 20th inauguration so as to allow the new Congress, not a lame duck session, to confirm the new vice president.

After the hours-long meeting with lawyers, Gore met in the White House Situation Room with his national security team. During the meeting, Al Qaeda, specifically Osama bin Laden, took credit for the death of President Clinton. The room was chilled. Not only did Gore make clear there would be a Congressional investigation into the death of Clinton, but he also instructed his national security team to draft a response to Al Qaeda. “They killed our president,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, this is an act of war.”

That evening, the President of the United States addressed a worried nation from behind the desk in the Oval Office. For Al Gore, this was never how he intended to gain the presidency. Bill Clinton was killed on foreign soil. Now, the nation looked to a tired president - a man never known for the charisma of his predecessor. The nation looked to Al Gore, and Al Gore looked to them.

“My fellow Americans,” he began, “this day will be remembered as a day of national tragedy. The world has lost a leader of confidence. America has lost her president. I have lost a friend.”

“For the last four years, we have had a president who has led our country and renewed the American spirit. Tonight we mourn the loss of a man who spent his 50 years on Earth fighting for those who needed it. He was a man who woke up every day and asked what was best for America. He was a president for the history books.

“Tonight is especially difficult because our president was taken from us in a most outrageous act. I promise you, the American people, that we will find those who committed this crime and they will be brought to justice. Let no one doubt the American resolve to fight back against this act of violence. It is, indeed, an act of war - an act of war by an unknown enemy. When we know who has committed this crime, we will defend the honor of President William Jefferson Clinton and all he stood for.

“In the next few days, more information will become clear. President Clinton’s body will be returned to the United States where he will receive a proper and dignified burial. So, too, will those brave Secret Service agents and White House staffers and members of the press corps who also perished in this despicable terrorist attack. My heart weeps for those most personally affected by these tragedies.

“I’d like to close by reminding all of us that while President Clinton’s death has been a blow to the American spirit, it has not extinguished it - for the American spirit can never be distinguished. It is a beacon of light for all the world. The American spirit is the constant accumulation of our best instincts and our noblest aspirations. Goodnight. God bless William Jefferson Clinton and the others who died in today’s tragedy. May God bless America.”
 
II.

The steady stream of rain was fitting as a riderless horse trotted in the funeral procession as the casket of the slain president, William Jefferson Clinton, followed behind. Mourners lined the streets to bid farewell to Clinton who was to become the third president buried in Arlington National Cemetery. The late president’s wife, Hillary Clinton, and his daughter, Chelsea Clinton, stood beside President and First Lady Gore. The former first daughter was then just 16 years old.

As President Clinton’s casket was lowered to its final resting place, speechwriters in the White House were putting the final touches on President Gore’s address to a Joint Session of Congress to take place the following evening. It was to be a message of defining Gore’s future presidency and outlining his response to the terrorist attack that took Bill Clinton’s life.

A week and one day after President Clinton’s death, the Sargeant of Arms of the House of Representatives bellowed his iconic phrase, “Mr. Speaker: the President of the United States!” For the first time, he was referring to Albert Gore, Jr. of Tennessee who just days ago would have been on the rostrum, not standing in front of the microphone. The room delivered a customary standing ovation, but there was real meaning behind it. The members of the House and Senate were looking for a leader to guide them through this time of uncertainty. Gore, not known for exciting addresses, was to give an important speech about where the nation was about to go.

Al Qaeda had taken responsibility for the attack on the U.S. delegation, and President Gore and his advisers were determined to strike back. After the applause died down, the 43rd president began his remarks to outline what was to come in the days, weeks, and months ahead. “Mr. Speaker, Mr. President pro Tempore, members of the Congress, members of my cabinet, fellow citizens:

“Tonight, with President Clinton and others laid to rest, we must determine how to respond to an act of war by a rogue terrorist group from the Middle East. Let me state in no uncertain terms that the United States of America takes seriously the threat posed by Al Qaeda to our nation. Let me state in no uncertain terms that yes, we consider the assassination of our president on foreign soil to be an act of war. And let me state in no uncertain terms that any nation that harbors Al Qaeda and/or its leaders is committing a similar act of war against the United States.” His remarks were weighty and delivered with confidence. They fell on receptive ears within the halls of Congress and the broader American public.

The president called on the government of Afghanistan to turn over Osama bin Laden and his network of terrorist affiliates. If they did not comply by December 1, Gore said he would ask the Congress for an authorization of force against Afghanistan. Congressional leaders appreciated the sign of respect for the legislative branch. In his speech, the president also revealed he had talked to NATO allies and that they would join the United States in its effort to eradicate Al Qaeda in the Middle East.

Internally, there was debate within the new Gore Administration about whether or not the United States required authorization from the United Nations to launch its effort. President Gore decided it did not. In his address to the American people, Gore announced that because of Article 51 of the U.N. Charter, a potential military response against Al Qaeda was indeed legal under international law.

Gore concluded with a moving final passage. “The Bible tells us to, ‘rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.’ And as Bill Clinton reminded us, on so many occasions, ‘I still believe in a place called Hope.’ Thank you, goodnight, and God Bless America.” The chamber broke into thunderous applause as Gore exited the Capitol Building. He was fully aware of the weight on his shoulders. An American president lay dead. It was up to the new president to ensure he did not die in vain.

After the president’s address, which received widespread national approval, Attorney General Janet Reno, flanked by Constitutional lawyers and scholars, announced the plan forward concerning the legality of the Gore Administration. The Reno Plan was universally supported by Congressional leaders and Constitutional experts and received the endorsement of Bob Dole, the 1996 Republican presidential nominee. With the plan for the formality of Al Gore’s legitimacy announced, questions turned to whom the new president would select as his vice president.

Whoever Gore selected would need to be able to withstand Congressional scrutiny. For that reason, many suggested that Gore pick someone within the legislative branch or someone whom Congress already approved. There was also a question of whether or not the person selected was to be a placeholder or viewed as a beneficial running mate in the 2000 presidential election, assuming Gore was to seek a term of his own. Top considerations included George Mitchell, a former U.S. Senator from Maine and the former Senate Majority Leader, and Dick Gephardt, the leader of the House Democrats. However, Gore wanted someone who would simultaneously show his ability to be bold and help him further embolden the Clinton legacy - a strategy that would be crucial to ensuring his own success in office.

One night, as the nation waited to hear whether or not the Taliban would turn over Osama bin Laden prior to December the first, Al Gore climbed into bed beside his wife, Tipper. The First Lady had a day of meetings of her own, including one with the person she thought her husband should name as the next Vice President of the United States. “Al,” she asked, “who are you going to pick for vice president?”

“I’ve tried telling you, Tipper,” he said, “I just don’t know. I’ve thought about Mitchell and Dick Gephardt, but neither are particularly enticing to me. Someone suggested Ann Richards from Texas, but I don’t know if she can withstand a Congressional hearing. I’m really at a loss. What do you think?”

“I think you should pick Hillary.”

“Clinton?” the president asked, visibly caught off guard.

“Yes. The American people adore her in the wake of Bill’s loss, and while she doesn’t have experience holding political office, no one can deny she understands policy. And look at it this way, Al: She’s going to start her own career one way or another. You’ll be praised for continuing Bill’s legacy and choosing the first female vice president, and she gets a platform to continue her policy agenda.”

“I’m not sure, Tipper,” the president admitted. “It could also go wrong. Not even a year ago she was testifying about Whitewater -”

“You know as well as I do that was a bunch of bogus, Al. And the American people decided they didn’t care. Look at the landslide Bill brought home last month. There’s a poll out -”

“I saw it.”

“More than 80% of the American say they will remember Bill Clinton as a ‘great’ president. Hillary’s personal approval rating is in the high seventies. Congress wouldn’t dare take on a dead president’s widow less than a month after the terrorist attack that killed her husband.”

“Would she do it?"

“I’m not sure. We had tea today, and she was talking about taking a break from politics and running for Senate in 2000. I’m not sure if she’s up to it now, but it’s worth an ask.”

“I’ll talk it over with some of the staff tomorrow, and I’ll let you know.”

That night, as Al Gore drifted to sleep, he began to seriously consider the idea of featuring Hillary Clinton in his administration. She was more progressive than Bill was. She’d be a bold and decisive choice. She was thoroughly vetted. There would be questions about her ability to serve, but he doubted that anyone would really consider voting against the widow of a slain president. Perhaps Hillary was the bold choice that would end doubts about Al Gore’s ability to be the kind of bold president America needed in this all-important time.
 
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