As the Presidential election drew nearer, more and more senators seeking re-election asked Florentyna to speak in their behalf. During the last six months of 1988 she rarely spent a weekend at home; even the President invited her to join him in several campaign appearances. He had been delighted by the public reaction to the Kane Commission report on welfare, and he agreed to the one request Florentyna made of him, although he knew that Pete Parkin and Ralph Brooks would be furious when they heard.
Florentyna had had little or no social life since Richard’s death, although she had managed to spend an occasional weekend with William, Joanna and her three-year-old grandson Richard at the Red House on Beacon Hill. Whenever she found a weekend free to be back at the Cape, Annabel would join her.
Edward, who was now chairman of the Baron Group and vice-chairman of Lester’s Bank, reported to her at least once a week, producing results even Richard would have been proud of. On Cape Cod he would join her for golf, but unlike the results of her rounds with Richard, Florentyna always won. Each time she did she would donate her winnings to the local Republican club in Richard’s memory. The local GOP man obligingly recorded the gifts as coming from an anonymous donor because Florentyna’s constituents would have been hard put to understand her reasons for switch-hitting.
Edward left Florentyna in no doubt of his feelings for her and once hesitantly went so far as to propose. Florentyna kissed her closest friend gently on the cheek. “I will never marry again,” she said, “but if you ever beat me at a round of golf, I’ll reconsider your offer.” Edward immediately started taking golf lessons, but Florentyna was always too good for him.
When the press got hold of the news that Senator Kane had been chosen to deliver the keynote speech at the Democratic convention in Detroit, they started writing about her as a possible Presidential candidate in 1992. Edward became excited about these suggestions, but she reminded him that they had also considered forty-three other candidates in the last six months. As the President had predicted, Pete Parkin was livid when the suggestion came up that the keynote speech be delivered by Florentyna but eventually calmed down when he realized that the President had no intention of dropping him from the ticket. It only convinced Florentyna that the Vice President was going to be her biggest rival if she did decide to run in four years’ time.
The President and Pete Parkin were renominated at a dull party convention, with only a handful of dissenters and favorite sons to keep the delegates awake. Florentyna wistfully recalled livelier conventions, such as the GOP’s 1976 melee, during which Nelson Rockefeller had pulled a phone out of the wall in the Kansas City convention hall.
Florentyna’s keynote speech was received by the delegates in decibels fewer only than those accorded the President’s speech of acceptance, and it caused posters and campaign buttons to appear on the final day with the words: “Kane for ’92.” Only in America could ten thousand campaign buttons appear overnight, thought Florentyna, and she took one home for young Richard. Her Presidential campaign was beginning without her even lifting a finger.
During the final weeks before the election, Florentyna traveled to almost as many swing states as the President himself and the press suggested that her unstinting loyalty might well have been a factor in the Democrats’ slim victory. Ralph Brooks was returned to the Senate with a slightly increased majority. It reminded Florentyna that her own re-election to the Senate was now only two years away.
When the first session of the 101st Congress opened, Florentyna found that many of her colleagues in both houses were openly letting her know of their support should she decide to put her name forward for the Presidency. She realized that some of them would be saying exactly the same thing to Pete Parkin, but she made a note of each one and always sent a handwritten letter of thanks the same day.
Her hardest task before facing re-election for the Senate was to steer the new Welfare bill through both houses, and the job took up most of her time. She personally sponsored seven amendments to the bill, principally placing responsibility on the federal government for all costs of creating a nationwide minimum income and a major overhaul of social security. She spent hours badgering, cajoling, coaxing and almost bribing her colleagues until the bill became law. She stood behind the President when he signed the new act in the Rose Garden. Cameras rolled and shutters clicked from the ring of press photographers standing behind a cordoned-off area. It was the greatest single achievement of Florentyna’s political career. The President delivered a self-serving statement and then rose to shake Florentyna’s hand. “This is the lady whom we can thank for ‘The Kane Act,’” he said and whispered in her ear, “Good thing the VP’s in South America or I would never hear the end of it.”
Press and public alike praised the skill and determination with which Senator Kane had guided the bill through Congress and The New York Times said that if she achieved nothing more in her political career, she would have placed on the books a piece of legislation that would stand the test of time. Under the new law, no one in genuine need would forfeit his rights, while at the other end of the scale, those who played the “Welfare Charade” would now end up behind bars.
As soon as the fuss had blown over, Janet warned Florentyna that she must spend more time in the state now that the election was less than nine months away. Nearly all the senior members of the party offered their services to Florentyna when she came up for re-election, but it was the President who broke into a heavy schedule to support her and drew the biggest crowd when he spoke at the convention hall in Chicago. As they walked up the steps together to the strains of “Happy Days Are Here Again” he whispered, “Now I am going to get my revenge for all the flak you’ve given me over the past five years.”
The President described Florentyna as the woman who had given him more problems than his wife and now he heard she wanted to sleep in his bed at the White House. When the laughter died down, he added, “And if she does aspire to that great office, America could not be better served.”
The next day the press suggested that the statement was a direct snub to Pete Parkin and that Florentyna would have the backing of the President if she decided to run. The President denied this interpretation of what he had said, but from that moment on Florentyna was placed in the unfortunate position of being the front-runner for 1992. When the results of her Senate race came in, even Florentyna was surprised by the size of her victory, as most Democratic senators had lost ground in the usual midterm election swing against the White House. Florentyna’s overwhelming victory confirmed the party’s view that it had found not only a standard-bearer but something far more important: a winner.
The week of the first session of the 102nd Congress opened with Florentyna’s picture on the cover of Time. Full profiles of her life, giving the details of her playing Saint Joan at Girls Latin and winning the Woolson Scholarship to Radcliffe, were meticulously chronicled. They even explained why her late husband had called her Jessie. She had become the best-known woman in America. “This charming 57-year-old woman,” said Time in its summation, “is both intelligent and witty. Only beware when you see her hand clench into a tight fist because it’s then she becomes a heavyweight.”
During the new session, Florentyna tried to carry out the normal duties of a senator but she was daily being asked by colleagues, friends and the press when she would be making a statement about her intentions to run or not to run for the White House. She tried to sidetrack them by taking more interest in the major issues of the day. At the time Quebec elected a left-wing government she flew to Canada to participate in exploratory talks with British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba about federation with America. The press followed her and after she returned to Washington, the media no longer described her as a politician but as America’s first stateswoman.
Pete Parkin was already informing anyone and everyone who wanted to listen that he intended to run and an official announcement was considered imminent. The Vice President was five years older th
an Florentyna and she knew this would be his last opportunity to hear “Hail to the Chief” played for him. Florentyna felt it might be her only chance. She remembered that Margaret Thatcher had told her when she became Prime Minister, “The only difference between the leader of a party’s being a man or a woman is that if a woman loses, the men won’t give you a second chance.”
Florentyna had no doubt what Bob Buchanan would have advised had he still been alive. Read Julius Caesar, my dear, but this time Brutus and not Mark Antony.
She and Edward spent a quiet weekend together at Cape Cod, and while he lost yet another golf match, they discussed the tide in the affairs of one woman, the flood and the possible fortune.
By the time that Edward returned to New York and Florentyna to Washington, the decision had finally been made.
Chapter
Thirty-Four
“…and to that end I declare my candidacy for the office of President of the United States.”
Florentyna gazed into the Senate Caucus Room at the 350 applauding members of the audience, which occupied a space that the sergeant-at-arms insisted should only hold 300. Television camera crews and press photographers shoved and dodged to prevent their frames from being filled with the backs of anonymous heads. Florentyna remained seated during the prolonged applause that followed her announcement. When the noise had finally ebbed, Edward stepped up to face the battery of microphones at the podium.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said. “I know the candidate will be delighted to answer your questions.”
Half the people in the room started to speak at once and Edward nodded to a man in the third row to indicate that he could ask the first question.
“Albert Hunt of The Wall Street Journal,” he said. “Senator Kane, who do you think will be your toughest opponent?”
“The Republican candidate,” she said without hesitation. There was a ripple of laughter and some applause. Edward smiled and called for the next question.
“Senator Kane, is this really a bid to be Pete Parkin’s running mate?”
“No, I am not interested in the office of Vice President,” replied Florentyna. “At best it’s a period of stagnation while you wait around in the hope of doing the real job. At worst I am reminded of Nelson Rockefeller’s words: ‘Don’t take the number two spot unless you’re up for a four-year advanced seminar in political science and a lot of state funerals.’ I’m not in the mood for either.”
“Do you feel America is ready for a woman President?”
“Yes, I do, otherwise I would not be willing to run for the office, but I will be in a better position to answer that question on November third.”
“Do you think the Republicans might select a woman?”
“No, they don’t have the courage for such a bold move. They’ll watch the Democrats make a success of the idea and copy it when the next election comes around.”
“Do you feel you have enough experience to hold this office?”
“I have been a wife, a mother, the chairman of a multimillion-dollar corporation, a member of the House for eight years and a senator for seven. In the public career I’ve chosen, the Presidency is the number one spot. So yes, I believe I am now qualified for that job.”
“Do you expect the success of your Welfare Act to help you with the votes of the poor and black communities?”
“I hope the act will bring me support from every sector. My main intent with that piece of legislation was to ensure that both those who contribute to welfare through taxation and those who benefit from the legislation will feel that the provisions made are just and humane in a modern society.”
“After the Russian invasion of Yugoslavia, would your administration take a harder line with the Kremlin?”
“After Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan, Poland and now Yugoslavia, the latest Soviet offensive on the Pakistan border reinforces my long-standing conviction that we must remain vigilant in the defense of our people. We must always remember that the fact that the two biggest oceans on earth have protected us in the past is no guarantee of our safety in the future.”
“The President has described you as a hawk in dove’s clothing.”
“I’m not sure if that’s a comment on my dress or my looks, but I suspect that the combination of those two birds looks not unlike the American eagle.”
“Do you feel we can keep a special relationship with Europe after the election results in France and Britain?”
“The decision of the French to return to a Gaullist government while the British voted for a new Labor administration does not greatly concern me. Michel Chirac and Roy Hattersley have both proved to be good friends of America in the past and I see no reason why that should change in the future.”
“Do you expect Ralph Brooks’s support for your campaign?”
It was the first question that took Florentyna by surprise. “Perhaps you should ask him. But I naturally hope that Senator Brooks will feel pleased by my decision.” She could think of nothing else to add.
“Senator Kane, do you approve of the current primary system?”
“No. Although I’m not a supporter of a national primary, the present system is by any standards archaic. America seems to have developed a process for the selection of a President that is more responsive to the demands of the network news programs than it is to the needs of modern government. It also encourages dilettante candidates. Today, you have a better chance of becoming President if you are temporarily out of work, having been left several million by your grandmother. You then have four years off to devote to running around the country collecting delegates, while the people best qualified for the job are probably doing a full day’s work elsewhere. If I became President, I would seek to send a bill to the Congress which would not handicap anyone from running for the Presidency through lack of time or money. We must reinstate the age-old precept that anyone born in this country, with both the desire to serve and the ability to do the job, will not find themselves disqualified before the first voter goes to the polls.”
The questions continued to come to Florentyna from all parts of the room and she took the last one over an hour later.
“Senator Kane, if you become President, will you be like Washington and never tell a lie or like Nixon and have your own definition of the truth?”
“I cannot promise I will never lie. We all lie, sometimes to protect a friend or a member of our family and if I were President perhaps to protect my country. Sometimes we lie just because we don’t want to be found out. The one thing I can assure you of is that I am the only woman in America who has never been able to lie about her age.” When the laughter died down, Florentyna remained standing. “I’d like to end this press conference by saying that whatever the outcome of my decision today, I wish to express my thanks as an American for the fact that the daughter of an immigrant has found it possible to run for the highest office in the land. I don’t believe such an ambition would be attainable in any other country in the world.”
Florentyna’s life began to change the moment she left the room; four Secret Service agents formed a circle around the candidate, the lead one skillfully creating a passage for her through the mass of people.
Florentyna smiled when Brad Staimes introduced himself and explained that for the duration of her candidacy, there would always be four agents with her night and day, working in eight-hour shifts. Florentyna couldn’t help noticing that two of the agents were women whose build and physical appearance closely resembled her own. She thanked Staimes but never quite became used to seeing one of the agents whenever she turned her head. Their tiny earphones distinguished them from well-wishers, and Florentyna recalled the story about an elderly lady who attended a Nixon rally in 1972. She approached a Nixon aide at the end of the candidate’s speech and said she would definitely vote for his reelection because he obviously sympathized with those who, like herself, were hard of hearing.
Following the press conference, Edward chaired a strategy me
eting in Florentyna’s office to work out a rough schedule for the coming campaign. The Vice President had some time before announced that he was a candidate and several other contestants had thrown their hats into the ring, but the press had already decided that the real battle was going to be between Kane and Parkin.
Edward had lined up a formidable team of pollsters, finance chairmen and policy advisors who were well supplemented by Florentyna’s seasoned staff in Washington, still led by Janet Brown.
First Edward outlined his day-by-day plan leading up to the first primary in New Hampshire, and from there to California, all the way to the convention floor in Detroit. Florentyna had tried to arrange for the convention to be held in Chicago but the Vice President vetoed the idea: he wasn’t challenging Florentyna on her home ground. He reminded the Democratic committee that the choice of Chicago and the riots that followed might have been the single reason that Humphrey lost to Nixon in 1968.
Florentyna had already faced the fact that it would be almost impossible for her to beat the Vice President in the southern states, so it was vital that she get off to a strong start in New England and the Midwest. She agreed that during the next three months she would devote seventy-five percent of her energies to the campaign, and for several hours her team threw around ideas for the best use of that time. It was also agreed that she would make regular trips to the major cities that voted in the first three primaries and, if she made a strong showing in New Hampshire, a traditionally conservative area, they would plan their forward strategy accordingly.