The Millennium Meeting

Four men and two women stood as the former presidents of the United States of America. They convened on Rehoboth Beach, Delaware during the off-season in late October. There was a chill that hung in the air but some folks still splashed in the ocean at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Madam President Fredricka Cove arrived first. Soon followed Madam President Juanita Coogler, and Misters Jackson Harper, Damian Daimler, Tanner Cannon, and Sam Lionguard.

Once the security detail had secured the premises, the presidents entered. The entire facility was a modest beachfront property that remained unassuming. Especially, this would never be thought of as a place for retired American Presidents to meet and disclose their innermost secrets with some friends, some rivals.

Journalist Tommy Fripp possessed all of the recording equipment. The hardware remained rather simple for the task, a digital recorder that could fit in the palm of one's hand and would be placed in a container the size of a football. It would contain the words and images of the former heads of state. They all sat around a large, round oak table.

“Let’s begin, shall we?" Fripp asked.

“I’ve really taken a liking to Delaware. I’d like to see more of it. Please, let’s get on with this,” Cannon said.

“Alright. First we’ll start with the ladies within this most prestigious group.”

“Madam Coogler, your decision to rid the country of an income tax... Where did that come from?”

“I just knew that it would be the correct decision. I gathered all of the intelligence and relied on my best judgment to deliver us from a country that taxes on production. I had come up with the idea months into my campaign.”

Fripp continued, “Madam Cove, your choice to eliminate the welfare state and many departments in the federal government came from where?”

“My mind, of course. I read books on economics and informed my team. Simple as that.”

“Mr. Cannon, when you sent American forces into Russia, where did you get the inkling for that action?”

“I almost said, that ‘this is classified’ but I remember. A thousand years. Whoever cracks this thing open will know that I made that choice by understanding that Russia was never a real ally and that they had to be stopped in quick fashion. That war lasted eight months. We had the fewest casualties in a war in nearly two centuries.”

There was a shift in the room. The seven occupants all took a collective sigh.

“For your tenure as President, Mr. Daimler, why did you not want to send men and women to Mars, even after your predecessors had spearheaded missions to the red planet?”

“I knew that the private sector would be the best advantage for the missions. Our government body should’ve had no role in sending anyone up there. It was all for the non-governmental bodies to deal with that issue.”

“Now, is that a false truth or an outright lie?” President Harper asked.

President Daimler looked at Harper askance. “I’m telling the truth.”

The room burst out laughing. “Now is the time for those deep dark secrets that we all harbor to be brought to light. Why would I tell a false truth here?” Daimler said.

“Look,” President Cove said. “We agree with you. Like you’ve said, this is the best time to do this. If there is to be a civilization in a thousand years, let’s hope that they get all of the facts.”

“President Lionguard, you served during a period of relative peace in the world. How did this come about?”

Lionguard spoke. “We allowed for the people of places like Iran and Saudi Arabia to escape those regimes and then we bombed them. The secret which I hope this message records is that we did it all out of selfish intentions. We wanted to protect America and its allies. Peace followed.”