Excerpts from Tom Clancy's novel Executive Orders
edited to illustrate Duty, Honor, and Integrity.

[I was working on an article on Official Oaths of Office at the time I was reading Tom Clancy's novel Executive Orders. I cannot hope to write this well, but I found these passages especially appropriate in relation to my subject. I have sought both the author's and the publisher's permission to use his work in this manner. I have excerpted sections I enjoyed to illustrate Duty, Honor, Integrity and government agents' Oath of Office; I hope you will enjoy them, too.]

[Most of Congress and the Executive Branch died when a terrorist dropped an airplane on the Capitol Building; Jack Ryan [Clancy's hero] was appointed President.]
From President Ryan's Inaugural Address, p. 265-268]:
"My name is Jack Ryan. My dad was a cop. I started in government service as a Marine, ...
"I've served my country--you--for quite a few years now, but I've never been a politician, and as I told George Winston [friend and advisor] today in this office, I do not have time to learn how to become one. But I have been inside the government for most of my working life, and I have learned a few things about how government is supposed to work.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a time for us to do the usual things in the usual way. We need to do better. We can do better.
"...
"I need your help to do my job. If you think I can do it alone, you're wrong. If you think the government, fixed or not, can take care of you in every way, you're wrong. It's not supposed to be like that. You men and women out there, you are the United States of America. I work for you. My job is to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and I will do that to the best of my ability, but each one of you is on the team as well.
"We need our government to do for us the things we cannot do for ourselves, like providing for the common defense, enforcing the law, responding to disaster. That's what the Constitution says. That document, the one I swore to protect and defend, is a set of rules written by a small group of ordinary men. They weren't even all lawyers, and yet they wrote the most important political document in human history. I want you to think about that. They were fairly ordinary people who did something extraordinary. There's no magic to being in government.
"...
"Therefore, to you, and to the fifty governors, I have a request. Please do not send me politicians. We do not have the time to do the things that must be done through that process. I need people who do real things in the real world. I need people who do not want to live in Washington. I need people who will not try to work the system. I need people who will come here at great personal sacrifice to do an important job, and then return home to their normal lives.
"I want engineers who know how things are built. I want physicians who know how to make sick people well. I want cops who know what it means when your civil rights are violated by a criminal. I want farmers who grow real food on real farms. I want people who know what it's like to have dirty hands, and pay a mortgage bill, and raise kids, and worry about the future. I want people who know they're working for you and not themselves. That's what I want. That's what I need. I think that's what a lot of you want, too. "Once those people get here, it's your job to keep an eye on them, to make sure they keep their word, to make sure they keep faith with you. This is your government. A lot of people have told you that, but I mean it. Tell your governors what you expect of them when they make their appointments to the Senate, and then you select the right people for the House. These are the people who decide how much of your money the government takes, and then how it is spent. It's your money, not mine. It's your country. We all work for you.
"... I have no one to pay off, no rewards to deliver, no secret promises to keep. I will do my damnedest to execute my duties to the best of my ability. I may not always be right, but when I'm not, it's your job, and that of the people you select to represent you, to tell me about it, and iI'll listen to them and to you.
"I will report to you regularly on what is going on, and what your government is doing.
"I want to thank you for listening to me. I will do my job. I need you to do yours...."


[Presidential discussion, White House, p. 282-283]:
Van Damm [attorney and Chief-of-Staff] shifted in his seat. "You're a naif, Jack."
"Fine, Arnie, and we've been running the government with politically aware people since before I was born, and look where it's gotten us!" Ryan stood to pace around the room. It was a presidential preogative. "I'm tired of all this. What ever happened to honesty, Arnie? What ever happened to telling the goddamned truth? It's all a fucking game here, and the object of the game isn't to do the right thing, the object of the game is to stay here. It's not supposed to be that way! And I'll be damned if I'll perpetuate a game I don't like. Jack turned to Pat Martin [Director of FBI]. "Tell me about that FBI case."
Martin blinked, not knowing why that had come up, but he told the story anyway. "They even made a bad movie about it. Some civil-rights workers got popped by the local Klukkers. Two of them were local cops, too, and the case wasn't going anywhere, so the Bureau got involved under interstate commerce and civil rights statutes. ... I was there when they found the bodies. Nasty," Martin said, remembering the sight and the horrid smell. "All they wanted to do was to get citizens registered to vote, and they got killed for it, and the local cops weren't doing anything about it. It's funny, but when you see that sort of thing, it isn't abstract anymore. It isn't a document or a case study or a form to fill out. It just gets real as hell when you look at bodies that've been in the ground for two weeks. Those Klukker bastards broke the law and killed fellow citizens who were doing something the Constitution says isn't just okay--it's a right. So, we got 'em, and we put 'em away."
"Why, Mr. Martin?" Jack asked. The response was exactly what he expected.
"Because I swore an oath, Mr. President. That's why."
"So did I, Mr. Martin." And it wasn't to any goddamned game.


[From a Presidential address to the Senate before their swearing-in, p. 422]:
"The people out where you come from, out there beyond Interstate 495, expect all of us to get the job done. They don't expect us to get reelected. They expect us to work for them to the best of our ability. We work for them. They don't work for us. We have the duty to perform for them. Robert E. Lee once said that 'duty' is the most sublime word in our language. It's even more sublime and even more important now, because none of us has been elected to our offices. We represent the people of a democracy [actually, a republic], but in every case we have come here in a way that simply wasn't supposed to happen. How much greater, then, is our personal duty to fulfill our roles in the best possible manner?" More applause.
"There is no higher trust than that which fate has conferred on us. We are not medieval noblemen blessed by birth with high station and great power. We are the servants, not the masters, to those whose consent gives us what power we have. We live in the tradition of giants. Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John Calhoun, and so many other members of your house of Congress must be your models. ... The Union is in our hands. Lincoln called America the last and best hope of mankind, and in the past twenty years America has given truth to that judgment by our sixteenth President. America is still an experiment, a collective idea, a set of rules called the Constitution to which all of us, within and without the Beltway, give allegiance. What makes us special is that brief document. America is an idea and a set of rules we all follow. That's what makes us different, and in holding true to that, we in this room can make sure that the country we pass on to our successors will be the same one entrusted to us, maybe even a little bit improved. ..."


[From President Ryan's interview, p. 644-646]:
"... I don't have a party affiliation. I don't have am agenda except for wanting to make things work for everyone. I swore an oath to do that, and I take my oaths seriously. Well, I've learned that this upsets people, and I'm sorry about that, but I will not compromise my beliefs to accomodate every special group with an army of lobbyists. I'm here to serve everybody, not just to serve the people who make the most noise and offer the most money."
Plumer [a reporter] didn't show his pleasure at the outburst. "Okay, Mr. President, for starters, then, what about civil rights?"
"The Constitution is color-blind as far as I am concerned. Discrimination against people because of how they look, how they sound, what church they go to, or the country their ancestors came from is against the laws of our country. Those laws will be enforced. We are all supposed to be equal in the eyes of the law, whether we obey them or break them. In the latter case, those people will have the Department of Justice to worry about."
"Isn't that idealistic?"
"What's wrong with idealism?" Ryan asked in return. "At the same time, what about a little common sense once in a while? Instead of a lot of people chiseling for advantages for themselves or whatever small group they represent, why don't we all try a little harder to work together and find reasonable solutions to problems? This country wasn't set up to have every group at the throat of every other group."
"Some would say that's the way we fight things out to make sure that everyone gets a fair share," Plumber observed.
"And along the way, we corrupt the political system."
...
"The cameras are off," Tom Donner said, settling back in his seat a little. "Do you really think you can bring any of this off?"
"If I don't try, what does that make me?" Jack sighed. "The government's a mess. We all know that. If nobody tries to fix it, then it'll just get worse."
...
"The Supreme Court," Donner said, taking over from his colleague. "It's been reported that you are now looking over a list of prospective justices for submission to the Senate."
"Yes, I am," Ryan replied.
... "I'm looking for good judges. The Supreme Court is our nation's primary custodian of the Constitution. We need people who understand that responsibility, and who will interpret the laws fairly."
"Strict-constructionists?"
"Tom, the Constitution says that Congress makes the law, the Executive Branch enforces the law, and the courts explain the law. That's called checks and balances."
...
"That's why the American Bar Association routinely goes over judicial appointments. Will you submit your list to the ABA?"
"No." Ryan shook his head. "First, all of these judges have already passed that hurdle in order to get where they are. Second, the ABA is also an interest group, isn't it? Fine, they have a right to look out for the interests of their members, but the Supreme Court is the body of the government which decides the law for everybody, and the ABA is the organization of people who use the law to make a living. Isn't it a conflict of interest for the group which makes use of the law to select the people who define the law? It would be in any other field, wouldn't it?"
"Not everyone will see it that way."
"Yes, and the ABA has a big office here in Washington, and it's full of lobbyists," the President agreed. "Tom, my job isn't to serve the interest groups. My job is to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution to the best of my ability. To help me do that, I'm trying to find people who think the same way I do, that the oath means what it says, without any game-playing under the table."


[From a Presidential address, p. 994-996.]:
"Some weeks ago you saw me take an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. That's the second time I did that. The first time was as a brand-new Marine second lieutentant, when I graduated from Boston College. Right after that, I read the Constitution, to make sure I knew what it was that I was supposed to be defending.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we often hear politicians saying how they want the government to empower you, so that you can do things.
"That's not the way it is," Ryan told them forcefully. "Thomas Jefferson wrote that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. That's you. The Constitution is something you should all read. The Constitution of the United States was not written to tell you what to do. The Constitution establishes the relationship among the three branches of government. It tells the government what it may not do. The government may not restrict your speech. The government may not tell you how to pray. The government may not do a lot of things. Government is a lot better at taking things away than it is at giving, but most of all, the government does not empower you. You empower the government. Ours is a government of the people. You are not people who belong to the government.
"Tomorrow you will not be electing masters, you will be choosing employees, servants of your will, guardians of your rights. We do not tell you what to do. You tell us what to do.
"It is not my job to take your money and give it back. It is my job to take what money I must to protect and serve you--and to do that job as efficiently as possible. Government service may be an imporant duty, and a great responsibility, but it is not supposed to be a blessing for those who serve. It is your government servants who are supposed to sacrifice for you, not you who sacrifice for them.
"Last Friday, three good men and two good women lost their lives in the service of our country. ... People like that do not ask for much more than your respect. They deserve that. They deserve it because they do things that we cannot easily do for ourselves. That's why we hire them. They sign on because they care about us, because they are us. You and I know that not all government employees are like that. That's not their fault. That's your fault. If you do not demand the best, you will not get the best. If you do not give the right measure of power to the right kind of people, then the wrong people will take more power than they need and they will use it the way they want, not the way you want.
"Ladies and gentlemen, that's why your duty tomorrow to elect the right people to serve you is so important. Many of you operate your own businesses and you hire people to work for you. Most of you own your own homes, and sometimes you hire plumbers, electricians, carpenters to do work for you. You try to hire the right people for the work because you pay for that work, and you want it done right. When your child is sick, you try to pick the best pyhsician--and you pay attention to what that doctor does and how well he or she does it. Why? Because there is nothing more important to you than the life of your child.
"America is also your child. America is a country forever young. America needs the right people to look after her. It is your job to pick the right people, regardless of party, or race, or gender, or anything other than talent and integrity. I can't and I won't tell you which candidate merits your vote. God gave you a free will. The Constitution is there to protect your right to exercise that will. If you fail to exercise your will intelligently, then you have betrayed yourselves, and neither I nor anyone else can fix that for you. ..."


[From p. 1276-1277]:
"My friend"--he wasn't really, but that was what one said--"how many men start to do something noble and then become corrupted? And then what do they stand for? Perhaps it is a lesson for you to remember. Power is a deadly thing, most deadly of all to those who hold it in their earthly hands. For yourself, you must decide. What sort of leader do you wish to be, and with what other leaders will you associate your country?" ... Now that his character, known to all in the land, was carrying him to political power, would he remain what he had been, or would he become something else? He had to recognize that danger now. He hadn't thought it all the way through, Golovko [a Russian spymaster] saw. Political figures so rarely did. This one had to do so, and right now, and the chairman of the RVS [fictitious KGB-successor agency] watched him search his soul--something the Marxist doctrine of his youth had told him did not exist. It turned out to be better that it did.
"Our religion, our Faith, it is a thing of God, not of murder. The Prophet teaches Holy War, yes, but it does not teach us to become our enemies...."


END

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