“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.”