Stuart Woods - Below the Belt

“They’ve been very strange.”

“Did you enjoy your time with Ed Rawls?”

“Actually, he was a little more companionable than he has been in the past.”

“He’s back at his house in Virginia,” Will said, taking a sip of his wine.

“Did his wife leave it to him?”

“He never gave it to her, just lifetime occupancy, and her lease has expired. He was hunkered down for a week or so, but now he’s living there quite openly.”

“I don’t get it — he seemed fearful in Maine, especially after they burned down his house.”

“He’s already started rebuilding it.”

“What’s changed?”

“His attitude, I guess. As far as I can tell, nothing else has.”

“He’s still got the strong case?”

“I don’t see him ditching it, do you?”

“He had a cellar next to his Maine house with all his files in it, until he set off an incendiary device.”

“Well, that’s news,” Will said. “Maybe that made him feel more devil-may-care.”

“Do you think he’s in any real danger?”

“ He doesn’t seem to thinks so, and I guess that’s all that matters.”

“What’s on 60 Minutes tonight?”

“A last-minute programming change — they’re going to spend the whole hour introducing Nelson Knott to all the people who normally sleep in the wee hours.”

“I thought his whole business plan was based on insomnia.”

“Until now. He’s making his evening debut, so to speak. I want to hear what he says when they ask him if he’s thinking of running for office.”

“Why else would they give him the hour?”

“I’ve heard a rumor that Christian St. Clair may be making a bid for CBS News. Maybe they don’t want to piss him off.” Will took another sip of his wine.

“Is this his first big move, then?”

“No, his first big move was a luncheon last week for ten high rollers at your club on the East Side.”

“How’d he do?”

“Word is, four of them have promised to start a PAC with a hundred million dollars each, and a couple of the others are leaning that way.”

“Times have changed, haven’t they, since twenty of us put up a million each to get Kate started?”

“Times have certainly changed.”

“Is Kate worried about Knott?”

“No, Kate’s not a worrier, but I am. I mean, we can match his fund-raising, but there’s never been an independent candidate with that kind of war chest at the outset. I find it scary, especially since he’s got St. Clair for a sponsor. Christian loves nothing better than a puppet, and this one’s going to be the most expensive one ever put together.”

“How does the strong case play into all this?”

“Hard to say. What’s important is that Christian thinks it’s important.”

“Is it all about the pardons?”

“At least partly.”

“I’m sorry I ever asked you to pardon Teddy Fay.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“What I don’t understand is why Ed Rawls would do something that might undermine Kate. He owes her a lot, or rather, owes you a lot.”

“I have my own theory about that, but it’s just a theory.”

“Tell me.”

“I believe Ed thinks that what’s in the strong case would help Kate, and what’s more, I believe Christian St. Clair thinks so, too.”

“Perhaps we’ll know more tonight.”

“Perhaps.” They finished their wine, and Stone chose to walk home while Will went east, toward his chopper.

The house seemed oddly empty; Holly was gone, and the staff were out or at home in Stone’s second house next door. He found a book that he had left unread for weeks and plowed into it.

In the early evening he went upstairs and asked Helene to send his supper up in the dumbwaiter, then he got into a nightshirt and switched on 60 Minutes .

Martin Shawn, who he had read was near retirement, conducted the interview with Nelson Knott. The show opened with a helicopter tour of his Virginia estate, then Shawn was greeted on the front porch by the Knotts for a tour of the house. Finally, the two men settled into comfortable chairs before a cheery fireplace in a large library, bursting with books.

Shawn got right to the point. “Mr. Knott, there have been strong and persistent rumors that you are considering a run for President. Anything to them?”

Knott smiled. “There is usually something to a strong and persistent rumor, isn’t there?”

“Then you’re considering a run?”

“I am. I haven’t made a final decision yet, but I seem to be thinking about it more and more.”

“Have you been thinking about your qualifications?”

“I’ve been thinking about my qualifications since high school.”

“And you think you’re ready to be commander in chief?”

“At first, I just read a lot, especially about American history. For about the past decade I’ve been engaged in an intensive, personal quest to learn everything I can about foreign and domestic policy, and I’ve devoted a good deal of time to military history and current thinking. I think I’m probably better prepared for high office than anyone in this country who hasn’t made a career of politics, and a great many who have.”

“If you’re interested in the presidency, why haven’t you made a career of politics, worked your way up through elected office?”

“Because I think that the Senate, and to an even greater extent the House, produces too many people who think they’re ready to be President, and not nearly enough who really are ready. The real work there is done by staff, and the elected members spend most of their time raising money for their next election. They have too little time to read, to study in depth, and to think. I made myself financially secure by building a company in my youth, so I’ve been able to set aside time to study and to learn from people who’ve been there and done that, whereas most businesspeople just devote themselves to making more money they don’t really need.”

“How do you divide your time?”

“I start at eight AM with a staff meeting to review the products we’re offering that day on television, then I have some lunch and spend my afternoon reading or studying policy. Around midnight I review what I have to say on our nightly television program, then I go on air, and afterward read some more.”

“And when do you sleep?”

“I have a peculiar lack of a need for deep sleep. It’s genetic — my father was the same way. I don’t sleep more than a couple of hours a night, though I catch a catnap or two during the day. Since I’m in excellent physical condition, I’m able to devote myself to a much longer workday than anyone I know. My business staff is divided into day and night people, and I have another staff that is devoted entirely to researching policy and political issues. If I should run for President and win, that group would form the core of a White House staff, and they’d be ready to go on day one, as would I.”

They talked on, then came to the end of part one of the program, and Shawn announced that they would continue the program from Knott’s Washington, D.C., offices.

Then the third part moved to Knott’s New York City apartment.

Near the end Shawn put another question to Knott. “What do you think of the performance of Katharine Lee in office?”

“Between the Lees, I’m a bigger fan of her husband’s presidency. I think the current President Lee is too caught up in intelligence matters, having spent her working life at the CIA, and she’s not nearly as good on domestic matters. Her husband helps out with that, of course, but he’s very rightly enjoying his new son and his retirement.”

“And you think you could do a better job than Katharine Lee as President?”