Chapter 264: February Cold Wave
Roosevelt drained the hot tea in one gulp.
When his aide offered him a cashmere blanket, he refused.
"No, Kenna. I will not need the cashmere blanket today."
His voice was calm, but firm.
"Rather than sitting, I intend to stand during this speech and declare our resolve to the people."
As he spoke, the car door opened.
The wheelchair rolled down the custom ramp.
Kenna wanted to dissuade him, but when he saw the President's resolute expression, he could only allow the Mayor of New York to slowly push the wheelchair onto the podium.
The wheelchair left two tracks on the floor dusted with fine snow, like the rails supporting the train of the United States.
When the crowd saw the President take the stage, they began to stir.
The flashbulbs of reporters rained down upon Roosevelt's face.
"Mr. President, why are we interrupting trade with Germany?"
"Mr. President, I am Ryder Calonne of the Washington State Post. Some believe your actions are a demonstration against the pro-German and isolationist factions at home. What is your response?"
"Mr. President…"
Roosevelt raised his left hand.
With the assistance of the Mayor of New York, he slowly and reluctantly stood.
The noisy questions and whispers dissolved completely into the falling snow.
Lauris half-drew his revolver.
But as the target's position shifted, he slid it back into his pocket.
Combined with the obstruction of the podium and the fine snow blurring his view, Lauris was not ready to shoot yet.
He only had one chance.
And the stationary target in the wheelchair had been what gave him sufficient confidence.
Just as he searched for a firing angle, Roosevelt's speech had already begun.
"Gentlemen and ladies, it is both an honor and a privilege that during this second four-year term, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, this President in a wheelchair, can continue to accompany you and the United States."
"I know that many of you are greatly confused by the trade embargo against Germany passed a few days ago."
"You question why we would take action against our largest trading partner across the ocean."
"You question why we would give up the constant flow of funds and markets that Germany exchanges with Europe."
The discomfort in his legs made Roosevelt's hands tighten around the podium until his knuckles turned white.
"What I want to tell everyone is this."
"Trading with Germany is walking beside a beast."
"The food we sold them over the past year has become their military rations."
"The metals we sold or resold have become the shells falling upon the heads of the English people."
"I am not here to promote the spirit of peace."
"I am here to explain a clear relationship of self-interest."
"If we feed this fierce tiger now, allowing it to sweep across Europe and swallow everything belonging to England, then we will be next."
"Europe is the iron cage that holds that fierce tiger captive."
"When the final lock on that cage is broken, that vital land so closely tied to American interests will cease to exist."
Roosevelt breathed heavily.
His physical disability clearly made standing for the speech an arduous task.
The Mayor of New York beside him noticed this. While holding a black umbrella to shield Roosevelt from the snow, he subtly placed his other hand behind the President's shoulder for support.
"The trade embargo is only the beginning."
Roosevelt's voice grew louder.
"I repeat, the trade embargo is only the beginning."
"If England faces the risk of falling, or if Germany turns its war machine toward Southeast Asia, then I will re-examine the global situation."
"We will send cargo ships toward England, warships toward Germany, and our soldiers to Europe to lock that fierce tiger back in its cage."
"Many people say we should attack Mexico."
"But I say that without Germany as the primary force disrupting world peace, the Mexican people would simply be good neighbors to us."
Roosevelt skillfully shifted the focus of the conflict.
Through rhetoric, he transformed a potential conflict into an imminent war.
He bound American interests to English interests.
He bound the German threat to the Mexican threat.
He created the illusion that if America did not support England, then the United States would become Germany's next target.
The reaction was intense.
The assembled public was successfully drawn into Roosevelt's speech and began weighing which threat was greater, Germany or Mexico.
One was sweeping across Europe.
The other had once been driven back toward the Gulf of Mexico by them.
The answer seemed immediate.
Led by two supporters, the crowd began chanting in unison.
"Lock the fierce tiger back in its cage."
"Lock the fierce tiger back in its cage."
The melting snow on the back of Roosevelt's hands made his grip slip uncontrollably.
Realizing that he could no longer stand steady, he completed the final sentence of his speech.
"History will prove that the trade embargo against Germany is correct."
"Because what we lose are short-term gains."
"And what we will win is the future."
"A future belonging to the United States."
Roosevelt clenched his right fist.
His resolute face appeared exceptionally powerful.
But even a spiritual giant could not overcome the limits of his body.
After slightly bowing his head to express his apologies to the public, Roosevelt sat back in his wheelchair.
His wrinkled hands were already frozen stiff as ice.
"Mr. Roosevelt, may I ask…"
Roosevelt had not quite heard the reporter's question.
He motioned for his aide to push the wheelchair forward before asking, "My journalist friend, would you mind repeating that?"
And at that moment, the hidden chess piece that had infiltrated the United States since the beginning of the economic crisis became the decisive move that would determine Germany's fate.
Lauris did not miss this rare opportunity.
Under Ryan's astonished gaze, he drew the gleaming silver revolver.
"Gunman!"
Ryan yelled and lunged forward at the same time, trying to block Lauris's muzzle.
But it was too late.
Odin had cast his Gungnir.
The scorching bullet slid out of the barrel, melting the snowflakes it touched into water and announcing to the world that even the mightiest leader was still only flesh and blood.
Bang!
The bullet pierced Roosevelt's chest.
Until the instant he was struck, the President seemed almost unable to believe that he had been shot.
Not until hot blood spilled from the wound.
Not until his vision plunged into a long darkness.
After several long seconds, the momentarily stunned security detail finally realized what had happened and desperately surged forward, forming a human shield around Roosevelt.
Lauris lost his chance to fire a second shot.
The revolver was knocked away by the crowd.
"Hold him down!"
"Hold the assassin!"
His left arm, the arm that had fired the shot, was pinned tightly.
He was like a restrained beast, with only his right hand barely able to move.
Using this brief window, Lauris swallowed the pale blue candy he had carefully chosen.
"Goodbye, Lyris."
Realizing that the killer was attempting suicide by poison, the security guards used all their strength to pry open his mouth.
But his tightly clenched jaw blocked everything.
After silently repeating his son's name one final time, Lauris began trembling uncontrollably.
He gasped for air, yet could not draw enough breath.
By the time the doctors arrived, countless police cars had already sealed off Central Park.
But it was too late.
His dilated pupils proved that Lauris was already dead.
This insignificant man from Mexico would never have had the chance to appear in history during an ordinary lifetime.
But with that single shot, history remembered his name.
Whenever he was mentioned, whenever the name Lauris was spoken, people would wonder.
If Lauris had not fired that shot, would the future of the United States, Europe, and even the world have been different?
A better future.
Or perhaps, a worse one.
.....
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