indicating she’d had enough champagne, so he left her and pushed between the other guests toward the makeshift bar on the Cabinet table. He saw that the President was in the company of his pollster, Steedman, as well as Tynan and McKnight, and he guessed that they were once more reviewing the pollster’s last-minute findings on the sentiment of the New York State Assembly.
When Collins returned to his chair, fresh Scotch in hand, and settled down, he could see that the television coverage had moved to a full shot of the New York Assembly.
‘What’s happening?’ he asked Karen.
‘Just about to begin,’ she said. ‘The floor debate is coming to an end. The last speaker is winding up his speech in favor of the Amendment.’
Collins downed a large portion of his Scotch and watched as the telecast now cut to a close shot of a dignified gentleman, identified as Assemblyman Lyman Smith, concluding his speech. Collins listened.
‘ … and while the United States Constitution as written by our forefathers is a noble instrument of law,’ the speaker was saying, ‘I once again tell you that it is not sacrosanct. It was not meant to be petrified by time. It was meant to be flexible - that is the reason provision was made for its amendment - sufficiently flexible, changeable to meet the needs of each new generation and the challenge of humanity’s progress. Remember this, my friends, this Constitution of ours was written by a group of largely youthful radicals, men who came to its signing in horse-drawn carriages, men who wore wigs, men who used quill pens. These men had never heard of ball-point pens, typewriters, electronic calculators. They never heard of television sets, jet airplanes, atomic bombs, or space satellites. And certainly, they never heard of the Saturday-night special. But they built into their Constitution the instrument for adjusting our Federal laws to whatever the future might bring. Now the future is here, the day for change is at hand, and the time
has come to modify our supreme law to suit the needs of our present citizenry. The old Bill of Rights, as set down by those founders in wigs, is too ambiguous, too general, too soft to meet the onrush of events conspiring to destroy the fabric of our society and the structure of our democracy. Only passage of the 35th Amendment can give our leaders a firmer hand. Only the 35th Amendment can save us. Please, dear friends and colleagues, vote for its ratification!’
As the speaker on the screen returned to his seat, the camera roved over the Assembly showing the thunderous applause.
In the Cabinet Room around Collins there was also hearty applause.
‘Bravo!’ the President exclaimed, setting down his Up-mann cigar and clapping. The President searched over his shoulder. ‘McKnight,’ he called out to his chief aide, ‘who’s that New York Assemblyman who just spoke? Somebody-or other Smith? Check him out. We could use a person in the White House who thinks that straight and is eloquent besides.’ His gaze went back to the screen. ‘Everybody, attention. The roll call is about to begin.’
It was already beginning, and Collins could hear the names of the Assemblymen, and their Yeas and Nays. From inside the room, he could hear Director Tynan predict that it was going to be a horse race. From behind him, he could hear Steedman’s clipped voice say it would take a while for the verdict since there were 150 members in the New York State Assembly.
Because it would take a while, because he was tired, Collins allowed his attention to drift from the screen. He fastened on Tynan, who was standing, his bulldog face flushed with anxiety, his eyes hooded, as he followed the voting. He looked over his shoulder at the President, whose countenance was granite, impassive, unmoving, as if he were posing for a carving on Mount Rushmore, as he concentrated on the screen.
Honest, dedicated men, Collins thought. No matter what others said on the outside -
Larry Collins, Dominique Lapierre