Oliver was stunned. When he found his voice, he said, “You’re doing this because—”
“I assure you it is not out of love for the Israelis or for the Americans. It is in our own interests. Too many of our sons have been killed in this madness. We want it to end. It is enough. We want to be free to sell all our oil to the world again. We are prepared to go to war if necessary, but we would prefer peace.”
Oliver took a deep breath. “I think I would like some tea.”
“I wish you had been there,” Oliver said to Peter Tager. “It was incredible. They’re ready to go to war, but they don’t want to. They’re pragmatists. They want to sell their oil to the world, so they want peace.”
“That’s fantastic,” Tager said enthusiastically. “When this gets out, you’re going to be a hero.”
“And I can do this on my own,” Oliver told him. “It doesn’t have to go through Congress. I’ll have a talk with the Prime Minister of Israel. We’ll help him make a deal with the Arab countries.” He looked at Tager and said ruefully, “For a few minutes there, I thought I was going to be kidnapped.”
“No chance,” Peter Tager assured him. “I had a boat and a helicopter following you.”
“Senator Davis is here to see you, Mr. President. He has no appointment, but he says it’s urgent.”
“Hold up my next appointment and send the senator in.”
The door opened and Todd Davis walked into the Oval Office.
“This is a nice surprise, Todd. Is everything all right?”
Senator Davis took a seat. “Fine, Oliver. I just thought you and I should have a little chat.”
Oliver smiled. “I have a pretty full schedule today, but for you—”
“This will take only a few minutes. I ran into Peter Tager. He told me about your meeting with the Arabs.”
Oliver grinned. “Isn’t that wonderful? It looks like we’re finally going to have peace in the Middle East.” He slammed a fist on the desk. “After all these decades! That’s what my administration is going to be remembered for, Todd.”
Senator Davis asked quietly, “Have you thought this through, Oliver?”
Oliver frowned. “What? What do you mean?”
“Peace is a simple word, but it has a lot of ramifications. Peace doesn’t have any financial benefits. When there’s a war, countries buy billions of dollars’ worth of armaments that are made here in the United States. In peacetime, they don’t need any. Because Iran can’t sell its oil, oil prices are up, and the United States gets the benefit of that.”
Oliver was listening to him unbelievingly. “Todd—this is the opportunity of a lifetime!”
“Don’t be naive, Oliver. If we had really wanted to make peace between Israel and the Arab countries, we could have done it long ago. Israel is a tiny country. Any one of the last half-dozen presidents could have forced them to make a deal with the Arabs, but they preferred to keep things as they were. Don’t misunderstand me. Jews are fine people. I work with some of them in the Senate.”
“I don’t believe that you can—”
“Believe what you like, Oliver. A peace treaty now would not be in the best interest of this country. I don’t want you to go ahead with it.”
“I have to go ahead with it.”
“Don’t tell me what you have to do, Oliver.” Senator Davis leaned forward. “I’ll tell you. Don’t forget who put you in that chair.”
Oliver said quietly, “Todd, you may not respect me, but you must respect this office. Regardless of who put me here, I’m the president.”
Senator Davis got to his feet. “The president? You’re a fucking blow-up toy! You’re my dummy, Oliver. You take orders, you don’t give them.”
Oliver looked at him for a long moment. “How many oil fields do you and your friends own, Todd?”
“That’s none of your goddam business. If you go through with this, you’re finished. Do you hear me? I’m giving you twenty-four hours to come to your senses.”
At dinner that evening, Jan said, “Father asked me to talk to you, Oliver. He’s very upset.”