DC By the Book

Excerpt: Once the Oval Office had cleared out, the president leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and massaged his forehead with the heels of his hands. His oath of office called for him to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution—a body of laws, which obliged him, “to give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” Never in a million years could he have imagined that the execution of his duties would lead to the unraveling of everything America had fought to become.

Excerpt: THE WHITE HOUSE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS—6 DAYS What I’m asking for, Mr. President, is your guarantee, right now, as a member of NATO and the elected leader of the Republic of France, to stand by us on this one,” replied President Rutledge, who then fell quiet as he listened to his counterpart’s response.

Excerpt: THE WHITE HOUSE President Jack Rutledge was beyond exhausted. While most of his senior staff had begged him to get some rest, Rutledge had rolled up his sleeves and spent every single moment in the Situation Room beneath the White House with the vast array of experts who came and went around the clock to put in their two cents’ worth on how the crisis with Russia could best be dealt with.

Excerpt: One of the CIRG’s best-known units was the FBI’s famed Hostage Rescue Team, which had a helicopter standing by to transport Harvath and the rest of the team to FBI Headquarters at 935 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Excerpt: As the MH-6 Little Bird helicopter raced them due east for the Anacostia Naval Station, Harvath explained that Congressional Cemetery got its name not because one necessarily had to be a member of Congress to be buried there, but rather because of its proximity to the Capitol and the government’s frequent use of it over the last two hundred years.