The book opens one hour before the West Coast polls close to the 2032 Presidential election. The first independent candidate in history is elected and Thomas Hardesty wins by a five percent margin over his nearest competitor. Romero Trap is named Vice-President. The president elect wants to restore government to its intended purpose of a government for the people, by the people. The government was like a hydra, and many heads had to roll before the multi-headed snake was defeated. His Vice-President never served a single day previous in a political office. He is a covert operation expert with more than thirty years in covert operations. The president selected his VP for those special skills to do as asked by the president the things he did not want done by visible US Military. The president was to remain autonomous to all action taken by his VP's and team of covert professionals. Plausible deniability was elemental to the success or failure of his presidency. There could be no mistakes by either the president or vice-president during their time in office which had an eight year ceiling. A second election had to be won for years five through eight.
The locations and assignments for Romero Trap covered both foreign and domestic threats and were plentiful during the first four years of Hardesty's presidency. The final assignment before Thomas Hardesty had to return to the campaign trail for a second term as president, was in Wyoming. A former Senator ousted from office by his constituents, felt the president was solely responsible for his being the former Senator. The Senator was recruiting his own army to storm the White House and take the presidency for himself and undo everything that Thomas Hardesty accomplished to reduce the size and waste of government. When the president returned to campaigning for re-election Romero Trap gave his team time to return to their own families and spent time away from covert operations, they had earned a well overdue break. By the time Thomas Hardesty and Romero Trap had completed their eight years in the White House, Thomas Hardesty had significantly reduced the size of the federal government and was making strides on a large deficit. The highlight of the final four years was that the person most responsible for bringing the Middle East to at least find harmony among the many groups, was the most proficient killer among the entire group.