“We were at the hospital with Ja-Ja-Jack, and when they got the news, they tried to pu-pu-pu-pu—”

Jordan paused to catch up to the stutter.

“—push me aside, and take her away.”

“They were upset.”

“Guess they d-d-don’t remember Cincinnati.”

There it was, the sentence used whenever anyone in the White House wanted to mimic Jordan. Among the more mean-hearted of the White House, these words had become a catchphrase to end a conversation. Guess they don’t remember Cincinnati—a threat that the discussion would go on and on, unless it finished then and there.

Heroism to mockery, Addis thought, can be a short journey. In Cincinnati during the first presidential campaign, Jordan was by the side of Margaret as she shook hands in a busy mall. He spotted a fellow wearing an unbuttoned overcoat, and Jordan positioned himself next to the man. When the man went for the gun he was carrying in a back holster, Jordan tackled him before a shot could be fired. Jordan had realized that the image on the man’s T-shirt was a photograph of Squeaky Fromme, the woman who had tried to kill a previous president. None of the Secret Service agents had noticed that. Only Lem Jordan.

His speech impediment, his habit of repeating stories ad nauseam, and his seemingly bottomless devotion to Margaret Hanover prompted most White House people to regard him as a near-buffoon-though the sentiment never was expressed in his presence or before Margaret Hanover. She was as loyal to him as he was to her. He did more for her than most White House staffers realized, Addis suspected. On those occasions when Margaret seemed particularly well informed about a meeting or conversation to which she had not been privy, Addis uttered a one-word explanation to himself: Lem. So Addis listened patiently to Jordan’s stories. He even enjoyed a few of the tales, especially those from the years when Jordan had been a prison guard. “You d-d-don’t know p-p-people ‘til you seen’em in jail,” Jordan liked to say.

“They’ll always remember Cincinnati,” Addis said to him, “especially now. Okay if I go in?”

“Sure,” Jordan said.

“Thanks, Lem.”

“P-p-p-people ought to not underestimate p-p-people. You know that, N-n-nick?”

“Yes, I do,” Addis said, and opened the door. He patted Jordan on the arm. Then, as he entered the office and left Jordan at his post, Addis wondered if that gesture had been condescending.

“Not eavesdropping on the new regime?” Margaret Hanover asked. “Missing out on the first meeting of the Mumfries administration?”