The President of the United States nominates Robert A. Leffingwell as Secretary of State. The second-term President, who is ill, has chosen Leffingwell on purpose. He does not believe that Vice President Harley Hudson—whom both he and others usually ignore—will successfully continue his foreign policy.

Leffingwell’s nomination is controversial. The United States Senate, using its advise and consent powers, must either approve or reject. Both parties are divided. Majority Leader Bob Munson loyally supports the nominee. Although also of the majority, President pro tempore Seabright “Seab” Cooley dislikes Leffingwell for personal and professional reasons. Cooley leads the opposition. Demagogic peace advocate Fred Van Ackerman is especially supportive. Munson repeatedly tells him not to aggravate the situation.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee appoints a subcommittee, chaired by majority member Brigham Anderson of Utah, to evaluate the nominee. Anderson and his wife receive anonymous phone calls from Van Ackerman’s men. They warn that unless he reports favorably on Leffingwell, scandalous information about his past will appear. Colleagues attempt to counsel Anderson. But, unable to reconcile his duty and his secret, Anderson commits suicide.

* * *

The President is devastated over Anderson. Nevertheless, he tells the majority leader, he is dying. Leffingwell’s confirmation is vital. Munson criticizes Cooley for opposing the nominee. In the Senate Chamber Cooley apologizes for his “vindictiveness.” He will vote against the nominee, but will not ask others to follow. Vice President Hudson, as President of the Senate, holds a quorum call. Then he asks for the “Yeas and Nays.”

The vote is a tie. Everyone expects the Vice President to break it in the nominee’s favor. Suddenly, Secret Service agents enter the chamber and Hudson receives a message. He announces that he will not break the tie. The nomination fails. We learn that the President has died during the vote. As he leaves for the White House, Hudson tells Munson that he wants to choose his own nominee. Constitutionally the Vice President could not break the tie, since he was already President. By not voting, he nevertheless accomplishes his purpose.

The Drury Novels

Allen Drury, like George Orwell, was a hero-novelist of my youth. Advise and Consent, his most famous book, was first in a hexology. Together, the six novels are a prescient backdrop to today’s politics. Churchill used to say that history doesn’t repeat, but human nature never changes. Drury’s setting was the time of the Cold War. Yet we see the same character types, and some of the exact mindsets, among politicians today.

Drury’s fourth novel, Preserve and Protect (1968), ends in a cliffhanger. Harley Hudson, who became president in Advise and Content, has died in a suspicious plane crash. The majority party is divided. Nothing new there! On one side is California Governor Ted Jason. On the other is the Secretary of State, former Illinois Senator Orrin Knox. Knox defeats Jason, but in a gesture of unity nominates Jason for vice president. In a unity celebration in Washington, a gunman appears and opens fire on the two candidates and their wives. The bullets find one man and one woman.