Rawhide Down_ The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan - Del Quentin Wilber [81]
Even without reviewing the documents, Fielding knew the White House’s options were limited. At the moment, Reagan was unconscious, so he couldn’t sign a letter transferring power. This meant that if a transfer proved necessary, Bush and a majority of cabinet secretaries would have to sign the required letter and declare the president unable to discharge his duties. Fielding realized that he needed to prepare the men around the table for that possibility.
In a voice only a few decibels above a whisper, Fielding addressed Haig: “A rather technical thing is that the president can pass the baton temporarily under the law and we’re preparing that right now.”
“That’s pass the baton to the vice president?” Haig asked.
“On a temporary basis,” Fielding said. “It passes to him in writing from the president until the president rescinds it.”
“Has somebody gone into the Eisenhower precedent on this?” Haig asked. “I think we need that from a public relations point of view. The things you want to make note of are first: precisely what happened, the notification of the vice president, the assembly of the key crisis cabinet.”
David Gergen approached the table and queried Haig about the president’s condition. “Is he under sedation now?” Gergen asked. “Is he conscious?”
“He’s on the operating table,” Haig replied.
“He’s on the operating table?” Gergen said, sounding surprised.
“So the helm is right here,” Haig said. “And that means right here in this chair for now, constitutionally, until the vice president gets here.”
For a moment, the room grew quiet. Fielding turned to his right and glanced at Richard Allen; catching Allen’s eye, Fielding shook his head. Both men wondered the same thing: could it be true that the secretary of state did not understand presidential succession? After all, Haig had held a key position at the White House when Richard Nixon resigned and presidential power was transferred to Gerald Ford; how could he not know that after the vice president the Speaker of the House, not the secretary of state, was next in line to succeed the president? And as for the current hierarchy in the Situation Room, wasn’t Haig simply the point of contact? Nobody actually reported to him, even if technically he was the most senior cabinet official present.
But at this difficult moment, the last thing Allen or Fielding wanted was a confrontation with the combustible secretary of state over his authority. The best course of action, they believed, would be to simply ignore Haig’s bluster and try to work around him.
CHAPTER 13
“I AM IN CONTROL HERE”
At about 4:30 p.m., nurses tilted the president onto his right side at a 45-degree angle. After doctors thoroughly scrubbed their patient’s chest with antiseptic, it was time for Ben Aaron to begin his part of the surgery.
Assisting Aaron were Kathleen Cheyney, a thoracic surgical fellow, and David Adelberg, a surgical intern. Cheyney had assisted Aaron in scores of procedures, including two demanding heart operations in the last twenty-four hours. Adelberg was no stranger to Aaron’s operating room either; he had participated in more than half a dozen of Aaron’s recent surgeries. As Aaron washed his hands and arms in the OR’s sink before stepping to the operating table, Adelberg boldly asked if he could “lend a hand.”
Aaron stared at the young intern for a second. “If you have the time,” he replied.
Aaron was determined to conduct the operation as he would any other, and he had discussed the point with Dan Ruge, the White House physician, who fully agreed. Shortly before entering the operating room, Aaron had been approached by one of his friends, an excellent chest surgeon, who asked if he could assist in the operation. Aaron respected the surgeon, but they had never worked together and Aaron worried that adding a new variable to the procedure might lead to VIP syndrome and unexpected problems. Instead, he preferred to work with the two young doctors—Cheyney was thirty-two, Adelberg