''Shall We Tell the President?'' is a 1977

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

by English author

Jeffrey Archer Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English novelist and former politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Louth (Lincolnshire) from 1969 to 1974, but did not seek re-election after a fina ...

. 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. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

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

, is foiled by

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

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 most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, 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. Oppenheimer and then acqu ...

, where Kennedy's sister-in-law

Jacqueline Onassis Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular fi ...

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'', 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 Dale Leon Bumpers (August 12, 1925 – January 1, 2016) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 38th Governor of Arkansas (1971–1975) and in the United States Senate (1975–1999). He was a member of the Democratic Party. He w ...

(in real life governor and a senator) with the real-life Senator

Bill Bradley William Warren Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American politician and former professional basketball player. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was a United States Senate, United States senator from New ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. The author makes frequent references to

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 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 or 13 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 Caesar's civil wa ...

''.

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 a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

, both real-life and fictional Democrats and

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, 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 who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A Democratic Pa ...

(D-WV) *

Birch Bayh Birch Evans Bayh Jr. (; January 22, 1928 – March 14, 2019) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as a member of United States Senate from 1963 to 1981. He was first elected t ...

(D-IN) *

Charles Mathias Charles McCurdy Mathias Jr. (July 24, 1922 – January 25, 2010) was an American politician and attorney from the U.S. state of Maryland. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served in both chambers of the Unit ...

(R-MD) *

Adlai Stevenson III Adlai Ewing Stevenson III (October 10, 1930 – September 6, 2021) was an American attorney and politician from Illinois. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the United States Senate from 1970 to 1981. A member of the prom ...

(D-IL) *

John Glenn John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American Marine Corps aviator, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space and the first to orbit the Earth, circling it three times in 1 ...

(D-OH) *

Daniel Patrick Moynihan Daniel Patrick Moynihan (; March 16, 1927 – March 26, 2003) was an American politician, diplomat and social scientist. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he represented New York (state), New York in the ...

(D-NY) *

James Abourezk James George Abourezk ( ; February 24, 1931February 24, 2023) was an American attorney and politician from South Dakota. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in both chambers of the United States Congress for one term each, and was the fi ...

(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 Initi ...

(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