“As stressful as the past few months have been, the American people have trusted me with a job that doesn’t allow me to take time off. So I’ve been working every day. But, like Cole and all of you, I’m only human, so that work has been done with a hurting heart and a divided mind, still trusting and believing in justice and in people, still working hard to do the job you gave me, and still trying always to remember why I asked for it.

“I had a lot of help. During the worst days of his ordeal, Cole took me aside and reminded me of an agreement we’d made when I decided to run for president. He told me, ‘You promised me that if you were elected to the most important job in the world, you wouldn’t major in the minors but have the strength and determination to do big things.’”

She glances back at Cole. He is beaming at her now and, like the jock he was and always will be, pumps his fist in front of his chest. Her heart beats a bit faster.

“The American people put me here and trusted me—as they did all of you—not to play petty politics with every issue but to do big things.

“This is a trust I hold sacred, as I believe you all do as well. To fulfill it, we must overcome our differences and solve the problems that sometimes seem unsurmountable. We must come together, trust each other to do the right thing, and do just that.”

Maddy knows the next few words could put it over the top. She looks out at the assembled men and women and pauses. In the silence, with what seems like the whole world waiting on her, a confidence blossoms in her chest. They can do this, they really can.

“So, as I said, trust is why I’m here today. Mine has been, with one terrible exception, justified. But now I’m going to ask for yours. To trust me and my administration with your support for a Grand Bargain, one that will, at long last, let us face up to a catastrophe we’ve allowed to creep up to our very doorstep and vanquish it.”

She takes another long pause and then, clearly and confidently, makes her case.

“Here’s what I propose. It’s not my own idea but a series of proposals crafted by the best minds in the country.”