Senator Mcpherson

By John Sager

In his latest novel Senator McPherson, author John Sager has created a character who can be at once admired, questioned, but never ignored. From her growing-up years in a small farming community, Sara McPherson morphs into one of America’s most influential and resourceful politicians.

 

Recently graduated from the University of Washington’s law school, she catches on as an intern in a prestigious Seattle law firm, successfully defends two of the firm’s clients and then is elected to the state’s legislature in Olympia.

 

There, she joins forces with a women legislator of Nez Perce Native American heritage, and the two write and pass legislation that enhances the living standards of Washington’s minority and indigent citizens.

 

She then is elected to represent her state in the national legislature and becomes a well-known and admired lawmaker, eventually rewarded with a seat on the US Senate’s Judiciary Committee.

 

Ms. McPherson’s crowning achievement is her appointment as the United States ambassador to the Russian Federation. There, she orchestrates the removal of Russian military personnel who have attempted to control the industrial output of Ukraine and Belarus.

 

At the end of her illustrious career, the American president recognizes her as one of the nation’s most influential and successful politicians and diplomats.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Inspiring Voices
• Release date: Apr 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9781462412648

John Sager

John Sager is a retired United States Intelligence officer whose services for the CIA, in various capacities, spanned more than a half-century. A widower, he makes his home in the Covenant Shores retirement community, on Mercer Island, Washington.

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PROLOGUE

S ara McPherson, one of her country’s most successful and influential politicians. At age 60 she has made her way into the heart of America’s political hierarchy, as ambassador to the Russian Federation. A lifelong political conservative, she was adored by many and reviled by others. Denied motherhood by an early cancer, she never married but over her long years of service she left an indelible stamp on the political life of her country.

This is her story, as much of it as we know.

John Sager

Winter 2019

ACKNOLWLEDGMENT

A s with many other writings, I am indebted to my long-time fly fishing friend, Stanford Young. Himself an author, Stan has read and re-read every page, offering helpful suggestions along the way. Thanks, Stan!

ONE

O thello, a small farming community in east-central Washington State, was getting ready for its annual Sandhill Crane festival, an event organized around the arrival of these magnificent birds as they swoop into their traditional breeding grounds, having flown a thousand miles from the interior of Mexico. Their shrill, squawking mating calls were as familiar as the local ice cream parlor. Mayor Charles Smithson, as was his habit, declared the weekend a local holiday. He hoped a television crew would come all the way from Seattle to record the event.

The Sandhill Cranes had been the subject of a recent study, done by thee graduate students at Washington State University in Pullman. Their work revealed that this particular flock of Sandhills (Grus canadensis) was unique to the hot, arid climate of central and eastern Washington. Their study demonstrated that another flock, which bred in Montana’s Madison Valley, was made up of birds of a slightly different coloration and stature.

In 1981, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department added the Sandhill Crane to its list of endangered species, thus prohibiting hunting the birds on both state- and privately-owned land. There had been some grumbling about this edict but by and large the hunters agreed that it was the right thing to do.

So, for nearly four decades the annual Sandhill Crane festival held a special meaning for Othello’s citizens as they celebrated the arrival of a species that had at one time been on the verge of extinction. The birds’ appearance could be predicted: the month and/or week of their arrival, usually the last week in March or the first two weeks in April. Then the males would compete for the attention of the females and within a month the tiny chicks would appear, protected in nests of twigs, straw and sunbaked mud.

Some years earlier, the Othello town council had voted to establish a viewing area, a designated one-acre piece of undeveloped land with a parking lot, rest rooms and wooden railings to delineate a safe distance from the birds’ nesting areas. Viewing hours: any time between eight a.m. and seven p.m.

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Jeffry McPherson was the wealthiest wheat grower in Adams county; his 800-acre spread—nearly a square mile—was by far the largest in the state, second only to the farm of a friend in next-door Whitman County.

An outdoor enthusiast, he and his wife Laura decided to be among the first to visit the area on its opening day, April 1. Laura was expecting her first child in July, only three months away, she hadn’t been feeling well and the two wanted to welcome the birds before her doctor told her to stay close to home. After the anticipated 25-miniute drive, Jeffry pulled into the parking lot, only to find they were not the first ones there. Tom Bedford, the town’s council chairman, already had out his binoculars and was searching for the unique crimson red coloring of the Sandhill Crane’s head.

Hey, Tom. See anything?

"Oh, Hi, Jeffry. No, not yet. I think there’s a pair of Sandhills in that tall clump of bunch grass, about a hundred yards out. They’re quite shy and will be for another week or so, when they’ve adjusted to their new surroundings.

How’re you doing?

We’re fine, except that Laura’s a bit gun shy about being seen in public, if you know what I mean.

Yeah, well the whole town knows about her pregnancy and if that baby’s a girl she’ll grow up to be one beautiful woman!

"I’ve told her pretty much the same thing. She blushes and asks me not to talk about it.

But, what about that problem you’re having with the Adams County commissioners in Ritzville? Any progress?

"Glad you asked. It’s a weird deal. Commissioner Wainwright is the only member of that group who’s a Democrat. The other five are Republicans, as one would expect in Adams county. And he’s a liberal Democrat. He wants the Fish and Wildlife Department to change the rules about hunting, here on the East Side. Instead of one deer per hunter per season, he’s asking them to change the rules to allow for two. I’ve written several letters telling him that the Fish and Wildlife Department’s biologists tell us that two per year—within ten years—would reduce the population to the point where it couldn’t sustain itself. In one of those letters I reminded him that he’s up for re-election next year and there are a lot of people who won’t vote for him. I’m one of them and as I recall, you are too."

"Yeah, it’s a real shame. Most of us who live and work east of the Cascades are Republicans, some of us, like you and me, are conservative Republicans. But every time an election cycle comes due we know that King, Pierce, Snohomish and a few other Westside counties are going to vote Democrat. And they outnumber us—what?—three to one?"

True, my Friend. But we have to keep trying. You’ll recall that pastor Dan, in his sermon last Sunday, told us that he believes God is on our side. Why? Because we’re trying to do the right thing, to protect and preserve what He’s given us. And that’s all the reason we need to do just that.

TWO

J effry’s 1958 Chevy Apache truck’s top speed was about 60 mph, the posted speed limit on the route from Othello to Ritzville. He figured an hour and 15 minutes would do it and he knew the route. He’d traveled it many times but never before with a wife who was about to give birth. Twelve hours earlier he’d phoned ahead to the hospital and they were waiting for him. He pulled into the parking space alongside the emergency entrance and two orderlies were waiting for him with a gurney. They told him where to park his car and gave him directions to the second-floor waiting room. Not to worry, they said, everything will be just fine.

Twenty minutes later, Jeffry found himself sitting with two other anxious about-to-be fathers. He recognized the man in the blue-white striped coveralls. It was Jimmy Franklin who owned and operated Othello’s True Value hardware store.

Hi Jimmy. I didn’t know your Marilyn was in the family way.

That’s because she’s been staying with her sister in Tacoma. Doris’s husband walked out on her about three months ago and Marilyn wanted to provide some moral support. She came home when she realized our baby was about due. What’s your story?

Nothing so dramatic. This is Laura’s first and we’ve had some talks about what to name her. We’re praying that it will be a girl and if it is we’ll name her Sara. You probably know that Laura’s been teaching a weekly Bible study in our home and she and the other ladies have been working their way through the Old Testament. Seems that name, ‘Sara,’ pops up over and over and it’s become her favorite. So, that’s the reason.

Makes sense to me. How was traffic getting here?

Not a problem. I got the impression that just about everyone is at home, getting ready to celebrate our Independence Day. It won’t be long before Sara realizes her birthday is July 4; she’ll like that, I’m sure.

"Not to be nosey, Jeffry, but where does your name, McPherson, come from? It sounds Scottish, but I could be wrong."

No, no, you’re right on. Last summer Laura and I decided to empty our piggy-bank and go to Scotland. I remembered my parents saying something about the family’s origins in the city of St. Andrews. So, we booked a hotel there and spent two days doing some research. The rector of the city’s largest Catholic church was a big help. He took us down into the church’s basement library where we were able read brief descriptions of the church’s parishioners, going back to the early 1900s. And, sure enough, that’s where we found the names of my great-great grandparents, Wilford and Sally McPherson. They no doubt had to endure the Ellis Island procedures, like all the other immigrants in those days, and from there they traveled West, found an inexpensive plot of land in Wisconsin, and established a small dairy farm. There must have been other Scottish families in the vicinity who would vouch for them. They didn’t have much money and would have had to secure a loan from the local bank to start up a business like that.

"And then, Wisconsin to Othello? How did that happen?"

Yeah, a good question with a sensible answer. The winters in Wisconsin were like nothing they’d experienced in Scotland. And, being farmers, they wanted a place with warm summers and tolerable winters. Why they chose Othello I don’t know, but I’m glad they did!

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As it is for all first-time fathers, the 90-minute wait seemed more like 90 hours, but a nurse finally walked into the waiting room to tell Jeffry that he could now visit his wife. She would be holding their 7 pound 2 ounce daughter Sara and before the end of the day the three of them could return to Othello.

THREE

B y the time she was five years old, Sara’s parents knew their daughter was something special. The Adams County school board provided the standard entrance exam for any child under the age of six and Sara scored higher than anyone expected. After watching a few children’s television shows, she told her mother she’d like to learn to read and by the time she finished her kindergarten year she was reading the comic strips in the local newspaper. Too young for an IQ test, yes, but the school’s principal estimated she would score somewhere near 135, only a few points below the genius designation.

After three months in first grade her teacher promoted her to grade two. That may have been a mistake because Sara’s new classmates resented her presence, even though she tried to behave like the others. But her teacher knew what to do: After class one day she took Sara aside and asked her if she’d be willing to take a book home with her, read as much as she could and return the book within one week. Of course she would.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was her first; she finished it