CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
5:50 a.m. Eastern Standard Time
The White House Residence
Washington, DC
There was no sleeping tonight.
She stood in the darkened room, staring out the window, the heavy curtains thrown wide. From here, she could see the narrow tower of the Washington Monument almost directly in front of her, lights flashing at the top. A light snow swirled around it, driven by the wind blowing across the National Mall. To the far left was the Capitol Building, and to the far right was the Lincoln Memorial, all visible from her bedroom window.
Maybe this view was designed to keep a President humble. After all, it reminded her of the two greatest Presidents, looming over her from the past. It also reminded her of the seething mass of double-talking, money-grubbing, backroom-dealing, p
