Let’s see if we’re bulletproof. 

The site he had selected was a security nightmare; a shooter would have 360o of office towers and skyscrapers to choose from.  The senator’s back was all that would be protected at any given time.  Nonetheless, he had given his security detail nearly two weeks to prepare for the event.  If they were not ready now, they would never be.

Ames wandered the halls of the museum that was beneath the Soldiers’ and Sailor’s Monument in the center of Indianapolis.  His Secret Service security detail shadowed him from across the empty room.  The halls were lined with the exposed buttresses that supported the towering monument above.  He was lost in his thoughts and not admiring anything in particular as he meandered here and there.

“Senator, I’ve just received word that they’re ready for you up top.  Are you sure you don’t want to wear a vest?”

“I’m sure.”

“Right this way then.”  The stoic agent turned and spoke into the microphone attached to the cuff of his jacket, “Negative, he’s still refusing the vest.”

***

“This is Katie O’Rourke with WIBC news radio Indi anapolis, the independent voice. I’m standing outside of our downtown studio where Jackson Ames, the Republican Senator from Ohio, is about to speak to a sprawling crowd in Monument Circle.  The crowd can hardly contain themselves.  This’ll be the first time in seven months the senator has spoken in Indiana.”

“Thanks Katie, from what I understand this is the largest venue he has spoken at in months, and the farthest east he has been since very early in his campaign.  How is security there?  I’m sure he is a little nervous with the riots just ove r a mile away in Fletcher Square. Today is the first day that police have regained the upper hand since they erupted nearly two weeks ago.”

“Security is extremely tight and highly visible here, Scott.  The entire downtown district has been closed off; every floor of every building in the vicinity has been searched and everyone in attendance was required to pass through metal detectors and body scanners.  The city has taken every possible precaution to ensure the safety of the senator.  They lobbied very hard for this event and they don’t want any incidents.”

“Speaking of incidents, I’ve heard there was a bit of a shakeup in the senator’s team, is that correct?”

“That’s correct Scott; this is exclusive to WIBC.  We’re getting reports from an anonymous source within the Ames’ camp that earlier this week the senator’s senior advisor and long-time friend, Wade Anderson, resigned from his campaign.  Mr. Anderson resigned after the senator refused to wear body armor for today’s speech.  We’re still not sure how this will affect the senator’s campaign. Mr. Anderson was known to be very influential with the senator and was a political force in his own right.”

“That sounds like a very reckl ess move by Senator Ames, especially considering how dangerous the city has become.”

“ It does appear that way, Scott.  We’re not sure what political calculations were weighed by the senator to come to this decision, but we hope today will be a safe and uneventful affair.  Back to you, Scott.”

“Thank you, the always wonderful, Katie O’Rourke.”

***

The senator walked onstage to the roar of the crowd.  They cheered and waved as he walked a lap around the monument’s platform, greeting all.  Ames waited for the wave of applause to subside before beginning his speech.

“Indianapolis, it’s truly a pleasure.”

He proceeded to circle the platform as they cheered once again.

“I’m sure you are tired of the same old speeches you’ve been hearing from me on the radio.”

A resounding, “No!” came from the crowd.

“Oh, really?  Well, in that case, I hope you’ll oblige me this opportunity to deliver a slightly different speech.  I’m afraid of the speed and direction in which we as a nation are moving, and I’d like to address this here with you today.”

The crowd offered a more subdued applause as he continued to pace the stage.  He wanted to address as many people as possible on a personal level with eye contact.  He had a very important point to make.  As the applause subsided once again, he began his address.

“During the final hours of the Revolutionary War, the republic was dangerously close to collapsing just as it was being born.  The officers under Washington’s command were furious over the failures of the Continental Congress to honor its promises to them.  Some officers had back pay owed to them for nearly six years of service, and none of them had been paid at all in the last several months. The officers had even heard that the government was on the verge of insolvency, and that they might try to dissolve the Continental army to avoid paying the debts at all.

In March of 1783, a letter was circulated among the officers at Washington's camp at Newburgh. In it the author, identified only as “Brutus”, addressed the complaints and called for a clandestine meeting to be held the next day to discuss their next course of action.  Brutus’ arguments in the letter were well-reasoned and concise.  Ultimately, he contended, that their only remaining recourse would be at the tip of a bayonet.

When Washington discovered the plan, he forbid them from holding the assemblage.  He scolded their plans of a covert meeting as disorderly and irregular.  Instead, he requested they meet a few days later at their regular meeting that he didn’t usually attend.  Upon hearing this, some officers began whispering that Washington was sympathetic to their cause and that he would help them lead a coup against the Congress.

Washington was in a dilemma; was his duty to his army who had unarguably been wronged, or was it to the Congress who held jurisdiction over him?  Washington’s allies were wavering.  Many of his senior officers sided with Brutus, and the Congress offered no solutions to the growing problem.  He ultimately decided that he could not lead the officers’ insurrection.  As had often been the case in the long war, Washington was once again alone.

On the day Washington requested, hundreds of officers gathered to discuss the fate of the republic.  General Gates, who would later admit to being Brutus, was in the midst of his opening words when the unexpected happened.  Washington emerged from a side door and strode onto the stage beside him.  Begrudgingly, Gates yielded to his superior.

Many of the officers were angry he had shown.  Others were excited, hoping he would rally them against those who had wronged them.  Still other officers were embarrassed to be seen there by their commander.  Regardless of their feelings concerning his presence, an ominous sense of estrangement hung heavy in the room; was he one of them?

He had written a speech.  His aides had prepared his notes in large script so that his aging eyes could read them.  His bright blue eyes scanned the officers in front of him.  He knew most of these men by name and respected them greatly.  They had fought boldly alongside him against insurmountable odds.  How could they throw everything away now? He cleared his throat and began.

His tone was angry and frustrated; he scornfully branded the anonymous dissenter a subversive and a coward.  He scolded Brutus for his lack of ‘regard to service’ and ‘love of country’.  He admitted that he understood the men’s complaints, but he completely dismissed their resolution.  ‘I have never left your side one moment,’ he said.  How could they question his loyalty and love for them now?

He expressed his sympathy to Brutus’ many valid points, but pleaded with the officers’ to consider their families and property if they were to desert the republic or descend into civil war.  The British would surely use the chaos to wrest control from them once again.  A thousand victories and tens of thousands of American lives would all have been for naught.