The President's Daughter - Mariah Stewart [78]
“What was the defining moment of your father’s tenure, for you, personally? The moment when you felt your father’s power?”
“That’s easy. Meeting Elvis. Without a doubt, nothing impressed me more than knowing that Elvis had come to the White House because my father had asked him to. I got to shake the hand of the King. I guess you were hoping for someone a bit more important in the grand scheme of things, but meeting Elvis was the really big moment for me.” Gray laughed.
“Your family called the White House home for eight years. Did you have a sense of being part of history, back then?”
“Yes. Definitely.” Gray’s face sobered. “I felt that sense of greatness about my dad. I know I said it earlier and I know that everyone says it—that Graham Hayward was a great man—but he was. I always knew it. And if you’d ever walked into the Oval Office when he was seated at that desk . . . well, you’d have known it, too. He had such an air about him.”
“Power?” Simon suggested.
“Certainly that. But it went well beyond that. Because you knew that he would never abuse his power, that he’d always use it to do what was right.” Gray Hayward looked Simon straight in the eyes and said, “My father really was as moral as everyone says he was. He always did what was right. Not in a self-righteous way. Just . . . right. He always stressed the importance of living up to your responsibilities, of being honest. Of earning your good name and working hard to keep it untarnished.”
Hayward stood and walked to the window. Simon was grateful for the fact that he did not have to look the man in the eye at that particular moment, the late President’s morality clearly being more of an issue to him than it was to his son.
“I was twenty-two the summer General Andrew Fielding was forced to resign. Remember the incident?” Gray smiled. “Of course you’d have been too young to have had a firsthand recollection, but you might have read about it.”
“I did.”
“Then you probably remember that General Fielding was a five-star general who’d earned his reputation in Vietnam. He was an exemplary soldier, from all accounts, and my father’s most trusted military adviser. Unfortunately, in the years following the war he’d been part of a network that made a great deal of money supplying very young girls for the brothels in Thailand.”
“I remember.” Simon nodded.
“When the story surfaced, they wanted my dad to bury it. Wanted him to say that Fielding was retiring because his wife was ill. Let him retire from the public eye for a while before the story leaked out.”
Gray blew out a long breath.
“My dad believed very strongly that the American people must always be able to believe that what their President told them was the truth. They might not always like it, but they always had to know that he would only tell them the truth. And he did. There are some in the military who never forgave him for that.” Gray turned back to face Simon. “Whatever else history will say about my father, it will say that he never lied to the people.”
“A novel approach to government.”
“It’s a legacy I hope to live up to.”
“As President?”
“If it works out that way, yes, I would hope to follow in my father’s footsteps. And if I’m lucky enough to follow him to the White House, I hope I can follow his example in the way he conducted himself there. But as a member of Congress I do try to live up to the standard he set.” Gray walked back to the table and stood near his chair, as if debating whether or not he wanted to seat himself again. “Is that what you’re looking for, for your book?”
“You’ve given me some great quotes, and I’m sure I’ll use every one of them. My plan had been to focus the book’s energy on reminiscences of your father as a man as much as a President. I’ve already compiled a number of personal remembrances that I think will make a great portrait of your father.”
“Have you contacted Mrs. Williams at Dad’s library?”
“Yes. She’s been very helpful.” Simon found it hard to meet the man’s direct gaze. All that talk about honesty and never telling