Chapter 576: Siege of the White House

It had been four or five hours since Ernest was found unconscious again. He was sent to the hospital and diagnosed with cerebral hemorrhage by the doctor (Ernest also suffered a stroke in 1946 in the original time and space). If he was sent to the hospital in time, it might not be too serious, but now the best treatment period has been missed. The doctor said that he was basically useless and needed special care for his bowel movements, diet and daily life in the future.

As soon as the news came out, many people in the navy told each other and agreed to have a drink to celebrate in the evening, which showed his popularity.

However, this may be a good thing for Ernest. After all, someone needs to be held responsible for the failure of this combat operation. If he is fine, he will definitely be held accountable in the military court.

As for President Roosevelt, he is still unconscious. Even the doctor can't say when he will wake up. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, maybe next year.

As the saying goes, "A country cannot be without a king for a day." Since the president is unconscious, Vice President John Nance Garner will take over his position.

The Vice President of the United States is a relatively special position. The original intention of Americans to design this position was to solve the problem of presidential succession.

As we all know, the president of the United States is the center of power. In the eyes of Americans, the president needs to be elected by all voters, cannot favor any party, and is given great power. The president is not only the head of state of the United States, but also the head of the federal government, and the commander-in-chief of the army. The person sitting in this position, his every move is likely to affect the fate of all Americans.

Americans have to consider the issue of presidential succession. If it is only based on elections, what should we do if there are unexpected situations, such as the death or illness of the president, or resignation? Since the election of the US president is participated by all, if there are unexpected situations, another national election will be held, and the cost is too high.

Imagine if an extreme situation occurs. For example, a president is very unreliable, arousing public anger, and is forced to resign. Then the Americans hold a general election and elect a new president, but find that he is still unreliable, and then change the president again. When will it end? In the end, Americans will be trapped in this cycle, and social production will stagnate, because everyone is focused on electing the president. Who will care about public affairs? In the eyes of the founders of the United States, relying entirely on elections to solve the problem of presidential succession is likely to put the United States in an irreversible danger.

In this situation, the importance of the vice president is highlighted. The purpose of establishing this position is to solve the problem of presidential succession.

If the president of the United States is unable to perform his duties, such as due to physical illness, serious injury, etc., the vice president will replace the president to exercise his powers until the interim presidential election is elected. If the president of the United States is absent, such as impeachment, death, resignation, etc., the vice president will take over directly.

The current situation is that if President Roosevelt cannot wake up in the short term, an interim presidential election will be held, but the timeline is a bit subtle now, and the formal election will be in a few months. The members of Congress discussed and decided to simply delay it until the formal election. In other words, John Nance Garner can be the interim president for a few months.

But John Nance Garner was not excited at all, and even had the urge to cry.

Look at the problems he faces; Europe's foreign exchange has become waste paper, which has made the economy worse; tens of thousands of naval elites have died at sea, and the pensions and funeral expenses that need to be paid are not a small amount; just in the afternoon, news came from the Panama Canal that the medical team sent out had not had time to investigate, and several people in the team had been infected.

These things are really a headache, and he can't help but feel fortunate that President Roosevelt is only critically ill and has not died directly. Otherwise, these messes will fall directly on him, and he might just resign.

Now he just needs to hold on until the election day in November, and he can get rid of this damn burden.

But the president's office chair has not warmed up yet, and the leader of the presidential security team hurried in. "Mr. Vice President, a large number of people are surrounding the White House, please prepare to hide in the bunker."

"What?!" John Nance Garner's mouth twitched slightly.

What's going on?

The American Jewish newspaper immediately published the news that the fleet sent by President Roosevelt to capture Greenland was completely annihilated, and also attached what Yannick said at the banquet, thanking President Roosevelt for sending such a heavy gift on his birthday and even giving him a medal.

As soon as the newspaper was published, it caused an uproar. The grieving families of the victims were furious when they saw this; hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets and surrounded the White House, shouting for Roosevelt to come out and explain.

Roosevelt was unconscious in the ward, so it was naturally impossible for him to come out to explain; the White House Chief of Staff personally stepped forward to shout, explaining that President Roosevelt was critically ill, and wanted to persuade the people to leave on their own.

Just when the two sides were deadlocked, some people secretly distributed leaflets in the crowd. The content of the leaflets was that President Roosevelt secretly went to Germany to receive a medal under the pretext of being critically ill, and he was also planning the next "big gift" with the German crown prince, preparing to let more American soldiers die in vain.

This is so absurd that anyone with a bit of common sense would think it is a meaningless joke; but these angry people have already lost their minds, and these leaflets seem to have become fuses.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the Berlin Palace.

The phone on Yannick's desk rang.

There were ten phones on his desk, covering all special targets in Germany, such as major military regions, research bases, and major cities. In case of emergency, Yannick could directly issue orders to frontline officials at any time.

The number one phone that was ringing was the "Friends and Family" line, but few people dared to call him to chat.

Picking up the phone, Yannick asked. "Who?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds, and the timid voice of a little girl came. "Brother Yannick, happy birthday."

"Little Hepburn?" Yannick smiled gently. "Thank you." Yannick told her this phone number last time and told her that if she had anything, she could call him next door. "Little Hepburn, do you want to come to the palace to play?"

"Ah" Little Hepburn seemed to be frightened by Yannick's invitation. "I dare not."

Yannick almost laughed out loud. "What's there to be afraid of? Well, you can come anytime if you want to come."