The White House-2017 Washington RP

[Prolieum]

Oval Office

"You had certainly made known that you wanted to serve, Mr. Secretary." Eric pointed out. "You have certainly paid your dues enough to be given this chance that you had been looking for."

[Uttland]

Oval Office

"You had certainly made known that you wanted to serve, Mr. Secretary." Eric pointed out. "You have certainly paid your dues enough to be given this chance that you had been looking for."

Oval Office

"I never knew that I did," replied the now Secretary of State. "But I thank you."

"Anyways, Mr. President, what do you wish to discuss this meeting? There's quite a lot, and I have some of my own questions."

[Prolieum]

Oval Office

Eric folded his hands on the desk.

"Essentially, Mr. Secretary, you are being given a chance to prove yourself. Demonstrate to us that you can be capable on the world stage. A Presidency of a month is not one that will set new international norms, but that doesn't mean it's not influential. The one task that we will be attempting to complete is the creation of a staging area for our renewed assault on ISIL, and you are the chief diplomat of the United States. Beyond that, you are being given an extraordinary amount of leash, Mr. Secretary, to prove your worth. You have a chance to display how well you are suited for such a high position, and to do what you can to start the fixes on the disaster left to us."

"I don't have to tell you that this is an opportunity that does not come more than once in a lifetime, Mr. Secretary. I hope you prove worthy of it."

[Uttland]

Oval Office

Eric folded his hands on the desk.

"Essentially, Mr. Secretary, you are being given a chance to prove yourself. Demonstrate to us that you can be capable on the world stage. A Presidency of a month is not one that will set new international norms, but that doesn't mean it's not influential. The one task that we will be attempting to complete is the creation of a staging area for our renewed assault on ISIL, and you are the chief diplomat of the United States. Beyond that, you are being given an extraordinary amount of leash, Mr. Secretary, to prove your worth. You have a chance to display how well you are suited for such a high position, and to do what you can to start the fixes on the disaster left to us."

"I don't have to tell you that this is an opportunity that does not come more than once in a lifetime, Mr. Secretary. I hope you prove worthy of it."

Oval Office

The Secretary slumped a tiny bit in his chair, and one hand readjusted his glasses. He quickly regained composure.

"I understand the opportunity I have, and that's quite the task for one month, but it's very doable. Before we talk grand strategy; I have some ideas in hand, I want a few things. Firstly, keep all Winston appointees in the State Department, at lease the ones that stayed. And from there, a recess appointment of what positions you could fill would be great. I need at least a large team. Can that be done?"

[Prolieum]

Oval Office

"I haven't done anything to throw out the cabinet that's here now, if you noticed." Eric replied. "If they're clean, and doing their jobs well, then they can stay. We'll be launching an investigation into the Department of course, but we are not dumping everyone out and starting over again. Where there are vacancies, we'll fill them."

[Uttland]

Oval Office

"I haven't done anything to throw out the cabinet that's here now, if you noticed." Eric replied. "If they're clean, and doing their jobs well, then they can stay. We'll be launching an investigation into the Department of course, but we are not dumping everyone out and starting over again. Where there are vacancies, we'll fill them."

Oval Office

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear, Mr. President. Now onto creating a staging are for combatting ISIL; how would you feel about renewing positive relations with Turkey? Returning them to NATO, and such. I feel they would be essential for such a task."

[Prolieum]

Oval Office

"That entire ridiculous situation of taking Turkey out of NATO may have been the most damaging thing Winston ever did in office." A clearly irritated Eric laid down. "It's fundamentally upset a power balance we've been carefully keeping since the Cold War. We can only hope his idiocy won't end up being irreversible. Still, we need to be cautious with Turkey. The deal they cut with Winston is something we can't approve of, and the whole situation with Garestaer is questionable. It is not a simple diplomatic situation, but the foundation of rebuilding our relationship should be laid, carefully."

[Uttland]

Oval Office

"That entire ridiculous situation of taking Turkey out of NATO may have been the most damaging thing Winston ever did in office." A clearly irritated Eric laid down. "It's fundamentally upset a power balance we've been carefully keeping since the Cold War. We can only hope his idiocy won't end up being irreversible. Still, we need to be cautious with Turkey. The deal they cut with Winston is something we can't approve of, and the whole situation with Garestaer is questionable. It is not a simple diplomatic situation, but the foundation of rebuilding our relationship should be laid, carefully."

Oval Office

"I couldn't agree more. The situation is not easy, especially given the deal the Turkish government cut with the Winston administration. But I feel as though given how essential positive diplomacy between Turkey and United States to combatting ISIL and setting up a 'staging area' as you say, that our successors can take advantage of. Does that mean we must indulge in some 'forgive and forget'? Possibly, if we must do that to get Turnkey back in NATO and back to having to having normal relations pre-Garestaer, then that's what I suggest. One can't be too cautious in a month.

Of course, I must stress that Turkey shouldn't be the only place where we should seek allies for an ISIL 'staging area'; I feel meetings with other Middle Eastern powers; Saudi Arabia, Emirates, Israel, and any other possible allies should be in order."

[Prolieum]

Oval Office

"Caution is indeed a virtue though inaction isn't. Striking the balance is your task, as is the staging area, as I told you. Ensuring Qatar is in agreement with serving as a temporary stopgap should be no trouble at all. Working with our other allies in the Middle East will be a task that I hope you are suited for." Eric said, a meaningful gaze on Lee.

[Uttland]

Oval Office

"Caution is indeed a virtue though inaction isn't. Striking the balance is your task, as is the staging area, as I told you. Ensuring Qatar is in agreement with serving as a temporary stopgap should be no trouble at all. Working with our other allies in the Middle East will be a task that I hope you are suited for." Eric said, a meaningful gaze on Lee.

Oval Office

"I agree, but I feel for the moment, we need to look past Winston-Turkish relations so that we can get the Turks back to NATO and back to having normal relations so that we can combat and contain ISIL. And yes, I don't think getting our other allies on board won't be difficult. Now O have to ask, of I'm not mistaken, we have a current arms deal with the Saudis that the Winston admin set up and arranged, is that still a go?".

[Prolieum]

Oval Office

"I don't have any plans to tear down existing deals." Eric responded. "Those agreements have already been made. It's future policy that we're making changes to."

[Uttland]

Oval Office

"I don't have any plans to tear down existing deals." Eric responded. "Those agreements have already been made. It's future policy that we're making changes to."

Oval Office

"Very well, Mr. President, just confirming. Now, do you have anything else to discuss?"

[Prolieum]

Oval Office

"I think that is broad enough to cover everything."

[Uttland]

Oval Office

"I think that is broad enough to cover everything."

Oval Office

"Well, I'd ought to go specific. What is your policy on Russia? Specifically Urkraine, their involvement in Syria, and going against our interests in some ways."

[Prolieum]

Oval Office

"We will do our best to improve relations with Russia, in a general sense, without condoning their action. I will leave the broad sweeps of foreign policy to Reed. At this point, the general mending of fences where possible, without caving, should be our strategy. It is not necessarily what I would do if I had a full term before me, but we don't have the time for grand schemes of policy."

[Uttland]

Oval Office

"We will do our best to improve relations with Russia, in a general sense, without condoning their action. I will leave the broad sweeps of foreign policy to Reed. At this point, the general mending of fences where possible, without caving, should be our strategy. It is not necessarily what I would do if I had a full term before me, but we don't have the time for grand schemes of policy."

Oval Office

"Very wel, I understand. I suppose ISIL should be our main focus. We have only month, and we best focus on one thing at a time."

[Prolieum]

Oval Office

Eric nodded. "You do have broad discretion, but our general strategy is one of reconciliation, and the strengthening and repairing of relations wherever possible. We will not change the world in a month, or restore this country's place in it, but perhaps we can push it in the right direction."

[Uttland]

Oval Office

Eric nodded. "You do have broad discretion, but our general strategy is one of reconciliation, and the strengthening and repairing of relations wherever possible. We will not change the world in a month, or restore this country's place in it, but perhaps we can push it in the right direction."

Oval Office

"I agree, Mr. President. Is that all you have to discuss?"

[Prolieum]

Oval Office

"It is, unless you have any further questions."

[Uttland]

Oval Office

"It is, unless you have any further questions."

Oval Office

"Mr. President," Lee stands up. "That'll be all. Please feel free to call me to comment on anything. I'll be meeting with whatever staffers at the State Department there are."

The Secretary offers his hand in a handshake.

[Prolieum]

Oval Office

Eric shook the hand. "I'll call if need be. Godspeed, Mr. Secretary."

[Vkraine]

Mr. President.
Ukraine asking You to give a lethal weapon to Ukraine.
Glory to USA
Glory to Ukraine

[Prolieum]

January 21, 2017

The process of moving into the White House had made for a busy spate of comings and goings through, into, and out of the buildings. Someone setup had been frontloaded in the brief period of the Eric administration, but a distinct minority, and the Saturday was seeing the hustle of the move. Both Calvin and Aubrey had come here after the Inaugural Ball-a homecoming really lacking the dramatic tinge to it that most of the events of the day had had, but feeling more weighty because of it, giving a chance to reflect-returning 'home' to the Executive Mansion-it had a chilling feel to it.

Both of the couple were awake by early in the morning. For Calvin, an early-rising pattern he'd stuck with most all of his life had him up and going before sunrise, though not an overly difficult task in winter Washington. Aubrey, on the other hand, had left their bed early to wander the unfamiliar building, restlessly unable to sleep, her struggle to acclimate only worsened by a dark-suited man seeming to appear from some dark corner or other to ensure that she was all right. She had eventually found a spot for herself, near the Lincoln bedroom, and was, covered in a light blanket, there reading, while others came to and fro about her.

Ironically, it was the girls who had the longest night of sleep of any of the family, having drifted off by the time the First Couple returned, checking in, and staying drifted off through their parents awakenings.

The sunrise had broken into early morning and was closing on noon, and the newly minted President was moving from room to room, in the House itself and the wings both, occasionally ducking a doorway, mixing between administering of the setup crew and completing some tasks of his own, the morning dedicated to setup to make sure things got going as soon as possible. It was on one random course that Cal slipped by his Chief of Staff going off on some task of his own, then belated realized that, and turned around to grab his attention.

"Simon! Glad I found you, I'll only take a second from you. I wanted to get your take on this, the amendment for Monday." Cal dug around in his rear pocket, and took out a fairly neatly folded sheet of paper, handing it over to his Chief of Staff.

[Sanabel]

West Wing, White House, Washington, DC


Simon Denisevich was very happy. Not only was it the first day after being sworn in by the new president, but he was in the process of overseeing the move-in to the stately, spacious office in the West Wing that he had acquired. Breaking from normality, he had selected this office over the West Wing pit that was already bustling with interns and staffers. A quiet place of his own in the form of an elegant office not only suited his preferred working conditions, but also exuded power. This was odd to many, surely, that the Chief of Staff would be looking to posture himself in such a way. But Denisevich was looking to become a strong and integral member of the administration as a cabinet level official. Not to mention, old habits die hard. He was coming from one of the most beautiful statehouses in the country, after all.

He had been in and out of the office all morning, having made an informal address to the staff only hours prior. The start of a new administration was overwhelming, even for Simon. But he thrived under these conditions. His cellphone was already going off the rails. Fortunately his landline was managed by the secretary he transplanted from the Governor's mansion to the corner of his new office, along with his calendar. She was efficient and reliable, almost as much as he was.

As much as he would have loved to direct the choices and locations for the furniture and paintings of his office, they had a White House Curator for that job. So Simon left his office to head to the pit, where the action was. The first goal for him was to establish a smooth administrative system and hierarchy for his subordinates.

While he was walking quickly down the hall, without his jacket and with his sleeves rolled up, Simon was startled by someone calling his name. He turned around, saw Cal Reed. Without a word, he took the paper.

Denisevich had an idea of what it was before it was even in his hand.

"Let's talk about this."

He gestured for the President to follow him as he ducked into a nearby office. Then he waved a pair of junior staffers out of the room, and took a seat on the edge of the empty desk. He gingerly unfolded the paper and put his reading glasses on, followed by a quick read of the document.

"It's a campaign promise, it's popular, but this is a risky move tactically speaking, Mr. President."

[Prolieum]

January 21, 2017
West Wing

Glancing briefly at the work-in-progress room, Cal took a seat in a slightly too-small chair at the desk across from his Chief of Staff.

He looked around the various fittings of the room, furniture, artwork, layout, and quickly snapped his attention back to the conversation as Denisevich started speaking. He nodded in agreement at his assessment.

"I definitely realize that, and I think if we're going to be honest, it's going to be medium-term that we could start seeing some pains in this, when we have to craft up the actual budget. But, I really am still in amazement that this happened, but with Winston and the RLSA, I don't know if I could have even thought of a better opportunity to make something like this workable, and it's even better off with the new budget."

"I think the way'd I'd put it is that, I don't know if there's a way to do this without some people getting upset, that's something that's basically going to be a constant, which means that our main goal should be finding the time when we're mostly likely to get it passed. Right now, I think it's going to be really hard to stand against this, we're at a peak momentum point. The honeymoon phase, right?" He grinned. "Unless the relationship really dazzles, I think we're at the time when we can get away with making as big a move as we can."