Page 193 of State of the Union (First Family 3)

“Madam Speaker, Madam Vice President, our first lady. Members of Congress and the cabinet.Justices of the Supreme Court. My fellow Americans.I stand before you humbled and honored to have the opportunity to address you tonight as your forty-seventh president, to introduce myself to you once again and to chart the course for the first year of my administration. It’s important to me that you know I wrote this speech myself. Every word of it comes straight from my heart.

“Behind me, for the first time in State of the Union history, are two women, our first female vice president, Gretchen Henderson, and our new Speaker of the House, Antonia Carlin.”

He applauded the two most powerful women in America and knew a moment of pure satisfaction at having elevated the first woman to the vice presidency.

“Before we look ahead to the future, let us take a moment to remember my predecessor, President David Nelson, who spent his entire adult life in public service, as a senator from South Dakota and then as a president twice elected to serve this great nation. Gloria Nelson is here with us tonight, and I ask you to give her and her daughter Camille a warm welcome home.”

Nick led the round of applause for Gloria, who stood next to Sam to receive it.

“Gloria, Sam and I thank you for your service as first lady as well as your grace and generosity to us during this difficult time for you and your family. We’re proud to consider you a friend.”

Gloria hugged Sam, blew him a kiss and waved to the audience that applauded her again.

“I’d be remiss if I didn’t also acknowledge my own first lady, the incredible Samantha Holland Cappuano, who’s made history as the first lady to be employed outside the White House, as the lieutenant in command of the Homicide division at the DC Metropolitan Police Department. Samantha, I couldn’t be prouder of the important work you do as a police officer, as a gracious first lady and as a dedicated mother to our beautiful kids, Scotty, Aubrey and Alden, as well as our bonus son, Elijah. I love you so much, Sam, Scotty, Alden, Aubrey and Eli. I thank you guys for coming on this adventure with me and for giving me the family I’d never had until I had you.”

Sam stood to receive generous applause. She waved to the crowd and used both hands to blow a kiss to him. When she urged Scotty to his feet to join her, the applause became even louder.

Scotty waved to the group, cute in his embarrassment and far too grown up all of a sudden.

“My fellow Americans, over the last two months, I’ve heard you as you simultaneously welcomed me as your president, disdained the way in which it happened and questioned my credentials as well as my intentions as an unelected president. Let me be clear. My only intention is to spend the next three years working for all Americans to keep you safe, to keep you prosperous and to keep you focused on our common goals of health, happiness and the pursuit of the freedoms upon which our great country was founded.

“I have no other agenda, goal or purpose beyond working every day that I’m blessed to hold this office to achieve those simple goals in each and every way that I can. We all know the problems facing our country are far from simple. We’re more divided than at any other time in our history, except perhaps during the Civil War. These days, civil wars are fought online, on social media, in chat rooms and on dark webs. These civil wars may be less bloody, but they’re every bit as destructive as cannons and artillery once were on battlefields.

“I’ve heard from those among you who question my legitimacy. I acknowledge that if I were an average citizen looking at how I ended up holding this office, I, too, might have questions and concerns. I am the youngest man to ever hold this office, and as such, some of you believe I lack the experience and gravitas to handle the job. I acknowledge and recognize those concerns, and all I can do to reassure you is promise that I will give you my very best every single day I’m in office. I’m surrounded by cabinet members, military leaders, advisers and staffers who know more than I ever will about their various areas of expertise. Their advice will not only be welcomed in my office, but it’ll be accepted and acted upon. The first time I walked into the Oval Office as your president, I vowed to leave my ego at the door. This isn’t about me. It’s about all of you and how I can use the power entrusted to me as your president to continue the important work my predecessor began in the areas of education, housing, childcare, health care, prescription drug prices, transportation, climate change and national security, to name just a few areas of critical concern.

“Following the tragic school shooting in Des Moines, I’m determined to push for common sense solutions to our country’s vexing problem with gun violence. I’ll say it again—I am not looking to take guns from responsible owners, but we can and must do better at keeping guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them through enhanced background checks, red-flag laws, waiting periods and an increase in the age to purchase guns. If a young person can’t buy a beer until they’re twenty-one, they probably shouldn’t be able to buy a weapon of war until then either.”

An enthusiastic round of applause greeted that statement.

“I understand there are strong feelings on all sides of this issue, but I hope we can agree that our children, teachers and support staff need to feel safe in their schools, and the rest of us need to feel safe as we go about our daily business.”

Another sustained round of applause greeted that statement.

“Tonight, we’re joined by Cath Powell, who lost her children, Mason and Julia, in the Des Moines shooting.”

Cath was greeted by the most enthusiastic applause yet. Tears slid down her cheeks as she accepted the outpouring and mouthed thank you to the audience.

“Mason was four years old and in preschool. He wanted to be a professional baseball player when he grew up and was the Pokémon card champion in his wide circle of friends. Julia, a six-year-old first grader, had her sights set on being a prima ballerina and baked the best chocolate chip cookies her family had ever tasted. What happened to Mason and Julia and the other children and adults gathered to see Santa was a heartbreaking example of what can occur when a mentally unstable person gets their hands on a gun. I think of tragedies as things we have no control over—hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, floods. A shooting in an elementary school is something we can and should have control over.

“With that in mind, I’ve asked Dr. Anthony Trulo, the staff psychiatrist at the Metropolitan Police Department and a close friend of the first lady’s, to lead my gun violence task force, which will also take a hard look at mental health concerns. Dr. Trulo is here with us tonight.”

Nick led a round of applause for the doctor, who stood to acknowledge it.

“The task force aims to bring together a bipartisan coalition to work on common sense solutions to make our country a safer place for everyone, especially for children like Mason and Julia. I ask for your patience and forbearance as we embark upon this important endeavor.”

Nick spent the next twenty minutes touching on each cabinet area, introducing invited guests and telling their stories in the context of an ambitious domestic agenda. That was followed by ten minutes covering the greatest areas of foreign policy concern, including the latest missile testing in North Korea. “In this increasingly interconnected world, the most concerning threats we face are sometimes invisible in the form of cyberattacks, which have become a critical area of national security focus. Protecting our vital digital systems, our power grids, our water, fuel and transportation networks has become every bit as important as preventing more traditional attacks against the motherland.

“Behind every one of these initiatives is the dedicated, hardworking federal civil service made up of more than three million Americans who do everything from food inspection to air traffic control to processing of Social Security payments and tax returns to guarding against terrorism in all its many forms. Each day, our civil servants show up to do this important work on behalf of their fellow citizens, and we owe them a debt of gratitude.”

He led applause that encompassed the entire room this time.

“Maybe after all this, you’re still asking yourself—who is this guy? What does he know about my life, my struggles, my needs? I want to address those questions by telling you more than you’ve ever heard before about my life in the hope that you might see some of your story reflected in mine. My father, Leo Cappuano, is here tonight.”

Leo stood to accept a warm round of applause even as he blushed from the attention. Nick had cleared what he planned to say with his father in advance and had received his support.

“Leo was two years older than my son Scotty is now when I was born. Needless to say, at sixteen, he was in no way ready to be a parent, which is how I ended up being raised in a one-bedroom apartment in Lowell, Massachusetts, by Leo’s mother, who’d already raised her family and wasn’t looking for a do-over. She kept me clothed and fed, but never missed an opportunity to tell me I was keeping her from enjoying the retirement she’d worked so hard for. I rarely saw either of my parents while I was growing up, although my dad has more than made up for that in the ensuing years. The one thing he did for me when I was a kid that I’ll be forever thankful for was work a second job that allowed me to play hockey. That was my greatest joy in a childhood bereft of many others. My first bedroom was a dorm room my freshman year of college. My first Halloween costume was also that year, when I attended a college party. My first birthday party was the year I turned nineteen and was celebrated by the O’Connor family at their farm in Virginia. Senator and Mrs. O’Connor are with us tonight.”

Nick led a round of applause for his adopted parents. “Everything I know about what it means to be part of a family came from Graham and Laine O’Connor, their sons, the late Senator John O’Connor and my devoted chief of staff, Terry O’Connor, as well as their sister, Lizbeth O’Connor Hamilton. I love you all very much, and I thank you for everything you’ve been to me.”

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