Capable of Honor Read online

  Table of Contents

  Dedicated

  Note to the Reader

  Major Characters in the Novel

  Book One Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Book Two Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Book Three Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Book Four Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Appendix On Being Famous and What It Lets You Do

  A Novel

  By Allen Drury

  Capable of Honor

  Allen Drury

  It is one of the most fundamental questions facing America today: How justifiably, or irresponsibly, do the volatile and unbiased American media—press, television and radio—attempt to interfere with, and control, the political process and the foreign policy of the nation? In a hotly fought Presidential primary, the news media fractures along ideological lines, supporting and distorting the candidates’ records, manipulating the news rather than covering it.

  Capable of Honor, the third novel in the grand, bestselling Advise and Consent saga, is a compelling blockbuster that shines a harsh and revealing spotlight on how the media shapes the news, guides public opinion, creates policy—and tries to shape history itself.

  ***

  Smashwords Edition – 2014

  WordFire Press

  wordfirepress.com

  ISBN: 978-1-61475-181-6

  Copyright © 2014, Kevin D. Killiany and Kenneth A. Killiany

  Originally published 1966 by Doubleday & Co.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the copyright holder, except where permitted by law. This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination, or, if real, used fictitiously.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Cover design by Janet McDonald

  and

  Art Director Kevin J. Anderson

  Cover artwork images by Dollar Photo Club

  Book Design by RuneWright, LLC

  www.RuneWright.com

  Kevin J. Anderson & Rebecca Moesta, Publishers

  Published by

  WordFire Press, an imprint of

  WordFire, Inc.

  PO Box 1840

  Monument, CO 80132

  Electronic Version by Baen Books

  www.baen.com

  Dedicated

  to all the many sincere and objective newspapermen

  and -women, in Washington and elsewhere,

  who are not part of

  Walter’s world.

  ***

  Note to the Reader

  Most of the characters in this novel, and background of most of the events in it, have appeared in its predecessors, Advise and Consent and A Shade of Difference.

  In Advise and Consent (1959) will be found the story of the nomination of Robert A. Leffingwell to be Secretary of State; the accession of Vice President Harley M. Hudson to the Presidency upon the sudden death of his predecessor; the successful Soviet manned landing on the moon; the death of Senator Brigham Anderson of Utah; the appointment of Senator Orrin Knox of Illinois to be Secretary of State following the defeat of Bob Leffingwell by the Senate. There, also, will be found the marriage of Orrin’s son Hal to Crystal Danta, the marriage of Senate Majority Leader Robert Munson of Michigan to Washington hostess Dolly Harrison, and many other episodes leading into later books.

  In A Shade of Difference (1962) will be found the visit to South Carolina and New York of His Royal Highness Terence Wolowo Ajkaje, ruler of Gorotoland, with all its explosive effects upon the racial problems in the United States and the United Nations; the beginnings of the rebellion in Gorotoland which produces major events in Capable of Honor; the early stages of Ambassador Felix Labaiya’s activities in Panama, also inspiring major events in this novel; the opening moves of California’s Negro Congressman, Cullee Hamilton, in his race for the Senate; the opening moves of California’s Governor Edward M. Jason in his campaign for the Presidential nomination; the death of Senator Harold Fry of West Virginia and his decision to entrust his son Jimmy to Senator Lafe Smith of Iowa; and many other episodes leading into later books.

  Running through both previous novels, through this and through Preserve and Protect yet to come-as it runs through our times-is the continuing argument between those who favor the responsible use of strength to oppose the communist drive for world domination, and those who hope to find in diplomatic negotiation and the refusal to employ force the surest path to a secure and stable world society.

  ***

  Major Characters in the Novel

  Harley M. Hudson, President of the United States

  Lucille, his wife

  Orrin Knox, Secretary of State

  Beth, his wife

  Governor Edward M. Jason of California

  Ceil, his wife

  Patsy Jason Labaiya, his sister

  Selena Jason Castleberry, their aunt

  Valuela Jason Randall, their aunt

  Herbert Jason, their uncle

  Senator Robert Durham Munson of Michigan, Majority Leader of the United States Senate

  Dolly, his wife

  Senator Stanley Danta of Connecticut, Majority Whip of the Senate

  The Speaker of the House

  Representative Cullee Hamilton of California

  Senator Lafe Smith of Iowa

  Representative J. B. “Jawbone” Swarthman of South Carolina, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee

  Senator Tom August of Minnesota, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

  Robert A. Leffingwell, Director of the President’s Commission on Administrative Reform

  Walter Dobius, a columnist

  Helen-Anne Carrew, another columnist

  The executive chairman of The Greatest Publication That Absolutely Ever Was

  Members of Walter’s world

  The working press

  AT THE UN

  His Royal Highness Terence Wolowo Ajkaje, 137th M’Bulu of Mbuele; “Terrible Terry”

  His Royal Highness Obifumatta Ajkaje, his cousin; “Prince Obi”

  Vasiliy Tashikov, Ambassador of the U.S.S.R.

  Krishna Khaleel, Ambassador of India

  Lord Claude Maudulayne, Ambassador of the United Kingdom

  Kitty, his wife

  Raoul Barre, Ambassador of France

  Celestine, his wife

  The Secretary-General

  Members of Walter’s world

  The working press

  AT THE CONVENTION

  Hal Knox, son of the Secretary of State

  Crystal Danta Knox, his wife

  Mrs. Mabel Anderson, widow of the late Senator Brigham Anderson of Utah

>   Roger P. Croy, National Committeeman from Oregon

  Mrs. Esmé Harbellow Stryke, National Committeewoman from California

  Mrs. Mary Buttner Baffleburg, National Committeewoman from Pennsylvania

  Miss Lizzie Hanson McWharter, National Committeewoman from Kansas

  Mrs. Anna Hooper Bigelow, National Committeewoman from New Hampshire

  Joe Smitters, Bill Smatters, Bob Smutters, John Smotters, Buddy Smetters: county chairmen

  Senator Fred Van Ackerman of Wyoming, spokesman for the Committee on Making Further Offers for a Russian Truce (COMFORT)

  LeGage Shelby, national chairman of Defenders of Equality for You (DEFY)

  Rufus Kleinfert, Knight Kommander of the Konference on Efforts to Encourage Patriotism (KEEP)

  Booker T. Saunders, a hero

  William Everett Hollister II, another hero

  Frankly Unctuous, an Anchor Man

  Members of Walter’s world

  The working press

  ***

  Book One

  The World of Walter Wonderful

  ***

  Chapter 1

  “The latest wacky rumor in this wacky city (reported one of the Washington Evening Star’s many lady columnists in Monday’s paper) is that Patsy Jason Labaiya, sister of Presidential Likely Gov. Ted Jason of California and wife of Panamanian Ambassador Felix Labaiya, will run for the U. S. Senate. Of course at the moment Patsy’s a legal resident of the Canal Zone, but her friends (‘There’s a euphemism,’ the columnist thought with a grim little smile, x-ed out ‘her friends’ and wrote in ‘those close to the Jason camp’) advise her that this doesn’t make any difference.

  “They say she should follow the Golden Rule of other F.F.P.’s (First Families of Politics) in their search for power in this power-hungry town:

  “Go where it is and grab it.

  “Patsy may yet wind up running from New York, which would give her and Big Brother Ted the sort of continent-spanning alliance so ravenously sought by others in an earlier era.”

  Well, is that a fact now, Patsy thought spitefully when she read the paper in the privacy of her Dumbarton Oaks study, where the teletypes rattled on with their afternoon budget of news about humanity’s most recent day on the road to wherever humanity was going. Is that a fact.

  Recalling how the columnist had cooed at her only yesterday at the opening of the International Students Fund drive at the Shoreham, Patsy was tempted to call her right then and there and tell her what a two-faced tramp she was. This impulse, so often characteristic of the mood with which Washington’s higher-placed denizens regard one another in the uneasy relationships imposed upon them by the haphazard imperatives of politics, gave way, also characteristically, to less violent thoughts. The matter of who uses whom for what is always of paramount importance in the lovely capital, and personal antagonisms are quick to yield to more pragmatic considerations.

  Patsy calmed down.

  For Patsy had plans—in the cause of her brother, Patsy always had plans—and in them the lady columnist of the Star, along with many another powerful personage in the beautiful city now muffled in the last heavy snowfall of winter, was destined to play a prominent part.

  In fact, she might as well start playing it right now.

  “Darling,” Patsy said into the telephone a moment later, I’m so glad I could reach you. You are always so BUSY. Such an example to us idle ones!”

  “Yes, Patsy dear,” the columnist said. “Did you see my item today? Is there anything in it?”

  “But, darling,” Patsy protested. “You mean you printed it without KNOWING? I didn’t know you girls worked like that!”

  “Us girls,” the columnist told her with a sardonic chuckle, “move in mysterious ways our wonders to perform. It is true, isn’t it?”

  “I don’t know who told you—” Patsy began with a well-managed show of indignation, and then dropped it for a more confiding tone. “Oh, well, dear, you always know EVERYTHING. I do marvel at how you do it.”

  “It is true, then,” the columnist persisted. Patsy laughed.

  “I didn’t say so,” she pointed out. “You write what you please, but just remember I didn’t say so. Darling,” she went on, becoming more intimate, “I wanted you to be the first to know—and this IS true—about the exciting thing I’m going to do.”

  “What’s that, have a baby? Better late than never, I always—”

  “Now, stop,” Patsy said, not so cordially. “Really,” she added gaily, taking the opportunity thus afforded, “You can be so bitchy, darling. So REALLY bitchy. No, it’s what I’m going to do for Walter Dobius.”

  “‘Walter Wonderful’?” the columnist asked, a note of genuine interest mingled with the sarcasm with which political Washington always used this famous nickname. “What are you going to do for that little— for that statesman-philosopher of the press before whom we all fall down and worship?”

  “I know you don’t, darling,” Patsy said smoothly, “but he really is a statesman. He really is. Everybody reads Walter. His column is in hundreds of papers—436, to be exact, he’s just picked up the Walla Walla Union Bulletin—”

  “You have been checking on him, haven’t you? O.K., I’ll grant it, everybody reads Walter. And you want him to come out for Ted, because this will influence nine-tenths of this sheeplike profession who always follow baa-ing at his heels. And so you’re going to do something for him.” She snorted. “Something quiet and modest that nobody will know about, I’ll bet, typical of the way the Jasons operate. The thing I love about your family, Patsy, is that you’re so unobtrusive. It’s so hard for the country to find out what you’re doing.”

  “There you GO again,” Patsy said with a merry peal of laughter. “Naturally I don’t want to keep it quiet, darling, or I wouldn’t be talking to you, would I? I can’t think of any other earthly reason for talking to you. Can you?”

  “Mmmm,” the columnist said thoughtfully. “Maybe I just shouldn’t mention the Jasons at all for a while. How would that be?”

  “Don’t be silly, darling, we can’t be ignored, we’re too big, you know that perfectly well. Anyway, this is an exclusive you’re getting, you know.”

  “Well, what is it?” the columnist demanded. “I have to be at ‘Vagaries’ for Dolly Munson’s party at three, and it’s going to take an hour to get there in this snow. I can’t sit here yakking forever.”

  “Oh?” Patsy said sharply. “What’s Dolly up to? She didn’t invite me.”

  “I should hope not,” the columnist agreed with a happy laugh. “Not to a tea for Beth Knox.”

  “What we do for Walter Dobius will be ten times more important than that,” Patsy promised with a certain grimness in her tone. “Particularly with the award, and all.”

  “What award?” the columnist asked, and then added thoughtfully, “That’s right, Friday is his twenty-fifth anniversary as a national columnist, isn’t it? That would make a good occasion.”

  “And with the people I’m going to invite,” Patsy said with a calculated increase in excitement, “and the speeches that will be made—”

  “And the publicity of it all, the sweet publicity,” the columnist said. “To say nothing of the assist for Ted. O.K., sweetie, how would this be—” and Patsy could hear her typewriter tapping as she mused along—

  “‘What promises to be the biggest event of this or any other social season is shaping up for this coming weekend when the Jasons (Gov. Ted and Ambassadress Patsy, that is, America’s coming political team) throw an all-out wing-ding to honor the writing anniversary of America’s most distinguished political commentator, Walter Dobius.

  “‘“Walter Wonderful,” as he was originally dubbed by Lyndon Johnson—it’s the nickname by which he is still fondly and respectfully known to political Washington—completes his 25th year of syndicated columning this Friday. That’s the night the Jasons have chosen to confer on him the Jason Foundation’s coveted biennial Good and Faithful Servant Aw
ard. ‘GAFSA’ was won two years ago by Robert A. Leffingwell, now director of the President’s commission on government streamlining.

  “‘Washington is scrambling for invitations to this affair, which promises to bring together everyone from the President’—shall I say the President, Patsy?”

  “You can say the President,” Patsy promised, adding to herself, He’d better come, the old fathead.

  “‘—from the President to the copy boy who picks up Mr. Dobius’ column at his charming Leesburg estate and rushes it to the syndicate office in Washington to be sent out to his 436 newspapers across the country.’” The columnist paused. “How’s that copy boy touch, Patsy? Don’t say I never did anything for the Jasons. If you’re lucky he may even be colored. That would wrap it up.”

  “That will do very well, thank you, darling,” Patsy said with dignity. “As a matter of fact, I had already thought of the copy boy myself. And he is colored. So there.”

  “That does it. Can I spread the word at Dolly’s?”

  “I’d rather you didn’t.”

  “Can’t I tell them they’re all invited?” the columnist persisted with her wicked little laugh.

  “I’ll let them know,” Patsy said coolly.

  “Beth and Orrin Knox too?”

  “I’m not ready to say anything yet about the guest list. And I don’t want a lot of speculation, either. I’ll give you plenty to write about in the next couple of days if you’ll just be patient. After all, it’s exclusive.”