''Shall We Tell the President?'' is a 1977 novel by English author

Jeffrey Archer Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English novelist, life peer, convicted criminal, and former politician. Before becoming an author, Archer was a Member of Parliament (1969–1974), but did not ...

. A revised edition was published in 1986. In the first edition, a plot to kill the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Edward Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

, is foiled by

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

agent Mark Andrews working with the head of the FBI. A love story complicates the plot. The book includes descriptive details of official

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, for which the author lists sources. The U.S. edition of the novel was published by

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim and then acquir ...

, where Kennedy's sister-in-law Jacqueline Onassis was then a consulting editor. Although Onassis was not involved in editing ''Shall We Tell the President?'', she was criticized for not trying to deter her employer from publishing a novel about an assassination plot against a member of the Kennedy family. She resigned from Viking Press shortly after the publication. After the success of ''Kane and Abel'' and ''

The Prodigal Daughter ''The Prodigal Daughter'' is a novel by Jeffrey Archer, published in 1982. It is the story of Florentyna Rosnovski, the daughter of Abel Rosnovski of Archer's '' Kane and Abel''. The novel, one of Archer's best sellers, portrays Florentyna's ...

'', Archer published a revised edition of ''Shall We Tell the President?'', replacing Kennedy (in real life a senator and a presidential candidate but never president) with the fictional character Florentyna Kane (who became president in ''The Prodigal Daughter'') in order to link it with the other two novels. He also replaced Vice President Dale Bumpers (in real life governor and a senator) with the real-life Senator Bill Bradley of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. The author makes frequent references to

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's play ''

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...

''.

Plot

A Greek man, Angelo Casefikis, enters a hospital with a gunshot wound to his leg demanding to speak to the FBI. Nick Stames, the head of the Washington field office, tasks agents Mark Andrews and Barry Calvert to take his testimony and they learn of a plot against the life of President Florentyna Kane with the involvement of an unnamed US Senator. Stames and Calvert are soon murdered, as is Casefikis in the hospital, leaving only Andrews alive with knowledge of the plot. Andrews reports what he knows to the FBI Director Horatio Tyson, and becomes his direct report for the 7 days until the planned assassination. Investigating a number of US Senators who could potentially have been at the lunch where Casefikis overheard the conspiracy, Andrews begins to narrow down the suspects. Alongside his investigation, he begins a romantic relationship with Elizabeth Dexter, the daughter of potential conspirator Senator Henry Dexter. As Andrews gets closer to discovering the truth, he comes to the attention of the five conspirators, who decide to murder him with a car bomb on the day of the planned assassination. Having narrowed down the suspect US Senator to two persons - Robert Harrison and Henry Dexter - Andrews escapes the attempt on his life by a coincidence when Elizabeth visits his apartment and offers him a ride. When a moment of recall reveals to Andrews that Elizabeth had lunched with her father on the day Casefikis was shot, he realises the only possible conspirator is Harrison. The plot is foiled and three of the five conspirators are captured, but not before one of them shoots Harrison with a sniper rifle. Andrews is injured in an attempt to shield Harrison from gunfire, but survives while Harrison perishes. President Kane personally congratulates him for his act of bravery, knowing nothing of the plot or of Harrison's involvement. Andrews rebuilds his intermittently frosty relationship with Elizabeth and accepts Tyson's offer of a new job.

Suspected senators

In the novel, some

United States Senators The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

, both real-life and fictional Democrats and Republicans, are suspected as a part of the plot to kill the president, many of them just because they were present in D.C. at a certain time.

Fictional

* Ralph Brooks (D-IL), political rival of President Kane from previous books in the series * Marvin Thornton (D-MA) * Robert Duncan (later renamed Harrison) (R-SC) * Henry Dexter (R-CT), father of Mark's girlfriend, Dr. Elizabeth Dexter

Real

* Majority Leader

Robert Byrd Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician and musician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A ...

(D-WV) *

Birch Bayh Birch Evans Bayh Jr. (; January 22, 1928 – March 14, 2019) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1963 to 1981. He was first elected to office in 1954, when he won election to the India ...

(D-IN) *

Charles Mathias Charles McCurdy Mathias Jr. (July 24, 1922 – January 25, 2010) was an American politician and attorney. A Republican, he served as a member of the United States Senate, representing Maryland from 1969 to 1987. He was also a member of ...

(R-MD) * Adlai Stevenson III (D-IL) * John Glenn (D-OH) * Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) *

James Abourezk James George Abourezk (born February 24, 1931) is an American attorney and Democratic politician who served as a United States senator and United States representative from South Dakota. He did not seek re-election to the US Senate in 1978. He w ...

(D-SD) * Quentin N. Burdick (D-ND) *

Sam Nunn Samuel Augustus Nunn Jr. (born September 8, 1938) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Georgia (1972–1997) as a member of the Democratic Party. After leaving Congress, Nunn co-founded the Nuclear Threat Initia ...

(D-GA)

References

External links

www.jeffreyarcher.co.uk
nbsp;— Jeffrey Archer's official site {{Jeffrey Archer 1977 British novels British political novels Novels by Jeffrey Archer Jonathan Cape books British thriller novels 1986 British novels