[War] US: On the Road Again

[John Penta]

"On the road again"
17 July 2014
Pres. John Williams
USA
================
<White House>

After the call with Romania finished up, Williams tapped a few keys.
One to save the transcript of the call for action by various agencies,
another to mark the item as Completed on his virtual organizer, and a
third to alert his secretary that he was ready for the next
appointment.

This next appointment was going to be a doozy. Why?

Because it was the Thursday Travel Meeting, and those just sucked
lately. For all involved, they were necessary, but they just sucked.

It was everybody from his staffers, WH Travel, WH Advance, Kayleigh's
staffers, WHCA, the Military Office, the Medical Office,
Protocol...UGH!

At such times, he seriously considered resigning and running away
gibbering in madness. Not necessarily in that order.

Thus why Kayleigh always popped up a few minutes early to these weekly
things, to privately and quietly kiss him and remind him of the fun
parts of traveling as President.

And to make sure that he kept his sanity amidst all the bullshit.
---
Normally, the President's travel required extensive coordination. Even
in the Williams White House, with the emphasis on "light touch"
security and pulling down the barriers between the President and the
average person, it could get to be messy.

With weeks coming up that held two state visits (One by the Nigerians
to DC that was being taken in stride by all, and another possible
State Visit with the Chinese in San Francisco that had nerves on
edge), plus Presidential visits to Indian Reservations for Town Hall
meetings, plus the planning for a Presidential trip to Europe soon
afterwards, this was a meeting that was one of nerves and cat-herding.

Nobody was necessarily nervous about Nigeria - it seemed a bit
prideful to say it, but that sort of State Visit happened all the
time.

China had people on edge. Everybody, from POTUS on down, knew that
there could be -no- slipups in the protocol or related matters on that
visit, and so they'd prepared for it for months, even when such a
visit seemed unlikely at best. A repetition, or even a foot put
remotely near, of when the Chinese had visited during the Bush 43
Administration, when the visit had nearly been bungled, would cost a
lot of people their jobs, Williams had warned.

It was a lot like a Japanese Tea Ceremony, in a lot of ways. What was
said was almost unimportant compared to the tea ceremony itself, how
it was performed.

And then there was Europe; in many ways, while this was the most
relaxing of trips for the President (and a special one, too, since it
would see Luke baptized - at the Vatican's request - at St. Peter's,
by the Pope), it was almost as complicated as the State Visit preps
for hosting the Chinese.

It would be complex - the NATO Heads of Government Meeting in Brussels
capped the trip on the official side, while the Papal Audience and
baptism would cap things unofficially - and long - visits to the UK,
France, Germany, and quite possibly Georgia were also on the schedule.
Some were longer than others, but it was expected that the President
would be overseas for up to two weeks.

Either way, the preps were a bit maddening.
---
Actions:
1. Prepare for Nigerian and Chinese State Visits. Let no detail go
un-dealt with.
2. Prepare for trip to Europe.
3. OOC: Europlayers (Dan, Mike, Lisa), up to JP's of a POTUS visit in
about two weeks?