This four part story is dedicated to Mary Reynolds for her great
brainstorms and endless patience in editing...
Title: The Good Old Days
Timeline: Takes place during the episode “Enemies” and includes flashbacks to Josh’s
early days on the Hill.
Author: Cathy Miller (www.cathyswestwing.com)
Rating: PG (a little language.)
Disclaimer: I was really good, but Santa still didn’t get them for me.
“There’s got to be a way to get the Big Sky strip mining amendment off the banking
bill.” Josh said to Sam, while he paced in Sam’s office.
“Uh-huh.” Sam agreed without looking up from his typing.
“Why aren’t you helping me?” Josh asked, then answered his own question. “I know
why you’re not helping me; you don’t care about this.”
“I care very much about getting the banking bill through. The strip mining, though? Not
so much.”
“Josh, you’ve got Senator Wilson in twenty.” Donna reminded him from the doorway.
“Donna, Sam won’t help me get the amendment off the banking bill.” Josh tattled.
“Do I have to separate you two? Just wait until your father gets home.” She teased.
“In the good old days, he would’ve been all over this with me; fighting side by side to
remove this atrocity of an amendment.”
“Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, my esteemed colleague is assuming facts not in
evidence.” Sam countered without looking up from his keyboard. “I’d ask counselor
Lyman just when he considers the ‘good old days’ occurred?”
“I’d like to know who would hire counselor Lyman to begin with.” Donna muttered.
“The American people hired me Donna.”
“Not really. They elected your boss who appointed you.” She corrected.
“In any case, the good old days would have been when Sam and I worked on the hill
together.”
That made Sam laugh out loud. “Are you kidding me? We didn’t know what we were
doing yet. We got lambasted on a daily basis from the leadership…on both sides.
THOSE were the good old days?”
“We worked together and accomplished things.” Josh argued.
“Some would say we do that now.” Sam stated.
“Ha! When I worked for Congressman Reardon; that’s when there was true
partnership.”
“Really?” Sam finally looked up from his keyboard and took off his glasses to rub his
eyes. “Okay. Why don’t you fill Donna in on your interview with Reardon. I’m sure she’d
be fascinated.”
“That isn’t necessarily indicative of that time period.” Josh backtracked.
“No, no. We all want to hear about the good old days. Tell her about your interview.”
Sam insisted.
“Okay…Congressman Reardon had just become Minority Whip and he was looking for
someone to help him run the floor.” Josh began and was instantly transported to the
small anteroom outside of Congressman Reardon’s office.
“Mr. Lyman? The Congressman will see you now.” Judy, the Congressman’s assistant,
announced. She was an older woman; Josh estimated her to be in her fifties, and was
known to keep order and decorum in the Congressman’s office. Josh was very careful
not to piss her off. He thanked her and picked up his backpack, which she eyed
distastefully, and opened the door to the Congressman’s inner sanctum.
“Joshua Lyman. Come in, come in.” Reardon invited gesturing to a chair opposite his.
“Tell me son, what are you doing here?”
“I’m…interviewing for-“
“No, no. I know why you’re HERE. I want to know why you’re here; at the Capital. Your
father could get you into his law firm with a snap of his fingers with a very nice yearly
income. Why are you slaving away for peanuts on the Hill?”
“With all due respect, Congressman, I could get myself into a law firm. I wouldn’t use my
father like that. I went to law school to work in politics, not to make a 6 figure income.”
“Have your eye on a seat, do you?” Reardon asked.
“No, sir. I don’t think that’s for me, either. I want the opportunity to do what your current
opening would give me a chance to do; help turn good bills into law and learn how to
negotiate on the Hill.”
Reardon scrutinized Josh carefully. “The term ‘Whip’ originates from the British term-“
“That refers to the person responsible for keeping the foxhounds from leaving the
pack. It was first used in the House of Commons in 1897. It came to the House of
Representatives in 1897 when Republican James Tawney from Minnesota was
appointed Whip by Speaker Reed who wanted a way to keep track of the whereabouts
of party members.”
“That’s right, but don’t ever interrupt me again.” Reardon decreed.
“Yes, sir.” Josh clamped his mouth shut.
“What are the three main functions of the House Whip?” Reardon quizzed him.
Josh wondered if the Congressman actually believed that Josh would come to this
interview without this most basic information. “The three primary functions of the Whip
are; mobilizing the vote on key legislative issues, providing information to Members and
leadership, and coordinating strategy within the House.”
Reardon nodded. “It’s a big job and I can delegate some pieces of it to the Chief
Deputy Whip and other Members, but this office is going to be the hub of it all. I need
someone who knows the other Members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans.
That individual needs to know what issues are most important to all the Members and
head off those stray hounds before they veer to far from the pack.”
“Working in Congress for the last few years has given me an opportunity to know the
House Members fairly well. I know how to debate the issues and convince Members to
get on board.”
“I’ve heard that, which is why you’re sitting here right now. But this is a big jump into a
much larger pond, and you’re pretty young for this position.” Reardon sat back in chair
and steepled his fingers, silently assessing the young man in front of him. Over the
next year, Josh would come to know that expression very well. “Clemens said he’s
never seen anyone quite as hungry and politically savvy as you.”
“I learned a lot from Congressman Clemens.” Josh acknowledged.
“But you don’t want to stay in his office?” Reardon asked shrewdly.
Josh knew Clemens was retiring after this session and he was fairly sure Reardon had
that information as well. So what was this seasoned Congressman fishing for?
“I wouldn’t be here today without his tutelage and he was the one to recommend me for
this position.” Josh attempted a non-answer answer. It looked to have been the right
one because Congressman Reardon smirked. The smirk reminded Josh of a shark
circling his prey; the shark liked to play with his prey a little before he put the prey out
of his misery. He wanted to learn that smirk. It was an expression that could come in
handy when dealing with members of Congress.
“The White House…seems to be determined to push through their new tax credits now
that they have a slim majority in both houses. Since the President is enjoying a
relatively high approval rating at the moment, we may have some of our esteemed
colleagues jumping ship. Where do you think you would start?” Reardon asked.
Josh was tempted to jump right in, but paused a moment before he spoke which took
an amazing amount of willpower.
“Some of our members took a beating with this election; quite a few won by a narrow
margin. They can’t afford to strong arm the White House right now. Looking at past
performance, I’d say we have about 170 from our side of the aisle to vote nay. If we’re
going to block this, it’ll have to be with help from the other side.” Josh opined.
“And why would any Republican vote with us on this?”
“The President isn’t polling high everywhere. We start with the Members who declined
to have the President campaign with them; the moderate states with lower median
incomes. We can easily wrangle 40 votes going that route; that puts us at 210. Is
Brooks still making noises about re-introducing his highways bill?”
Reardon nodded thoughtfully.
“We trade our support for the highways bill in exchange for nay votes on the tax credit
bill. Brooks will bring his entire caucus with him and strong arm enough extra votes to
put us over.” Josh summarized.
“What about our members that are jumping ship?”
“We give them political cover on this one.” Reardon raised his eyebrows in surprise at
Josh’s answer. “It would be political suicide for them to vote against it and we need to
keep those seats if we’re going to take back the House in 2 years. Giving them political
cover will buy us their gratitude and loyalty when we need it down the line. We also
need to get our Members talking about the Republican plans for this session; start
knocking down the President’s numbers a few notches. That’s the way we get the
momentum going our way.” Josh finished and waited for Reardon’s pronouncement.
“Clemens said you never refer to the President as anything other than the President.”
Reardon mentioned.
“Yes, sir?” Josh responded carefully.
“In this neck of the woods, he is sometimes referred to by other, less respectful terms.”
“Not by me, sir.” Josh stated. “He is the President and the office demands respect.
Besides, I can come up with more effective ways to neutralize the President than name
calling.”
“Hmmmm.” Reardon tipped back in his chair again, shifting his considerable girth.
Josh could hear the clock in the office tick the seconds away and tried to maintain a
calm demeanor while he attempted to read the Congressman’s facial expression; which
eluded him.
“You’re going to need to prepare all communications from this office to the Democratic
Members: the daily whipping post, the weekly whip notice, and the House calendar.”
Reardon told him.
“Does this mean-“
“Until I know that you know what the hell you’re doing, you run everything by Judy.”
Reardon continued. “And I already told you not to interrupt me. We’re going to have
the tax credit bill coming at us right out of the gate. Find me those vulnerable
Republicans and bring them to the table. Once you get them there, I’ll take over; at
least until you get your sea legs. For those meetings I want their voting history, their
district/state numbers, and anything else you can dig up that will help me bend them to
my will.” Reardon smiled that shark smirk again. “Any questions?”
“So I have the job?” Josh confirmed.
“Unless and until you screw up irreparably. I’ll give you 3 weeks.” Reardon turned his
back on Josh to work on his computer, clearly dismissing Josh. “Judy will show you
where you can office.”
Josh picked up his backpack and left before the eccentric Congressman changed his
mind. He had NEVER been through an interview like that before. He found himself
waiting in front of Judy’s desk while she finished her phone call. Once she hung up, he
had to clear his throat to get her to look at him; old battleaxe.
“Excuse me, Judy?” Josh spoke hesitantly.
“It’s Mrs. Perkins.” She corrected.
“Of course it is.” Josh gave her his winning smile, only it didn’t seem to have the
desired effect. “Uh, the Congressman said you could show me to my office?”
“Something wrong with your legs Mr. Lyman?” She looked at him over her bifocals.
“Uh, no…and please, call me Josh.”
“Not in this office. I don’t know how you did things over in Clemens office, but in this
office, we act with decorum and that means speaking to one another with respect.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Josh responded immediately.
“Your office is the third door on the right.”
“I actually prefer to be on the left…” Josh chuckled at his joke, but it appeared to have
left Judy, errr Mrs. Perkins, cold. “Third door on the right.” Josh repeated and nodded.
“And Mr. Lyman? You might want to rethink your choice of briefcase. The…item you’re
currently using doesn’t reflect well on the Congressman.”
Josh looked down at his beloved backpack, his good luck charm, and decided that
although he may make many compromises with this woman, abandoning his backpack
was not among them. “I’ll…keep that in mind…maybe after I get a couple paychecks
under my belt?” He began walking while he talked. “Oh, and Mrs. Perkins, I’d love to
have a cup of coffee.”
“Sure, the coffee maker is in the staff break room. You can make the first pot.” She
smiled sardonically.
“Of course…” Josh grimaced and went to find his new office. The first thing he did once
he sat down was to pick up the phone and call Sam. “Hey. Just thought I’d call you and
give you the number for my new office…Not so loud, Sam.” Josh chuckled because
despite his protest, he knew his friend would react exactly as he had. “It was one of the
strangest, and shortest, interviews I ever had, but I got the job….It’s going to be great,
except for this grumpy gatekeeper he’s got here….I can work around her though and
then-“
“Excuse me, Mr Lyman?” the grouchy gatekeeper said from behind him and Josh
cringed.
“Uh…yeah?” Josh asked without turning around.
“The Congressman has a meeting at 10 in his office he’s expecting you to attend.” She
told him and left without another word.
Josh groaned out loud. “Yep…that was her.” He confirmed while his ‘friend’ laughed
hysterically.
********************************
TBC...