The Next Day
Senator Arnold Vinick-now President Elect-still had trouble believing it. He'd won, literally by the skin of his teeth, something like, what was it? Thirty thousand votes in Nevada? But he'd done it…
"It won't be a mandate," Bruno warned him. "One of the closest elections in history? And Josh Lyman might still contest it."
Vinick shook his head. "He won't. Even if he wants to, and he probably does, Santos isn't the sore loser type."
"Have we actually heard anything yet from him?" Ray Sullivan asked.
"If you mean a concession speech, no," Jane Braun replied. "But he's got no choice after he called you last night. He won't retract it now."
"We should have something prepared just in case," Bob Mayer added.
Arnold shook his head. "No. We won, he knows it, it's all over except for the claims of a stolen election from the fringe crowd." He looked at Braun. "Okay, it's officially been twenty four hours and some change. Call Santos."
Jane looked at him. "You're making the offer? Seriously?"
Arnold nodded. "Josh Lyman once offered me ambassador to the UN if Santos won. I feel like I owe it to him to at least make one of my own."
"So what will it be?" Bob asked. "Secretary of Defense even though he's not a General, despite his military record?"
Arnold thought about it. It would be a historic first, but he shook his head. "I've got something else in mind," he replied.
Matt Santos entered Vinick's former campaign-now transition team-office with a look of trepidation on his face. "I know what you've been hearing about Josh," he said. "I've already told him that I won't contest the results."
Arnold shook his head. "that's not why I called you." He looked thoughtfully at Santos. "You ran a good campaign and gave me a run for my money. Odds are that it might be me coming to see you instead of the other way around if things had worked out differently. With that in mind, I'd like to make you an offer you can't refuse, so to speak."
Santos stared at him. "You're offering me a job," he said in disbelief.
"Look, this might raise some hackles within my own party, especially on the right. But I've been thinking about what you said about Kazakhstan, and we both agree on what a colossal misadventure this could turn into. So…I'd like to offer you the job of Secretary of State."
Santos couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. "Are ou serious?"
Arnold nodded firmly. "You helped put together the Gaza diplomatic mission. I know a lot of foreign leaders, but you've got ears and eyes on the ground in places where it could matter, like the West Bank or, for that matter, Kazakhstan. The guys we're sending over there would respect you, and listen to you, and so would any government we'd be dealing with. You stand up for what you believe in. I could use somebody like that to help keep me honest for the next four years."
Santos frowned. "I'd need a lot of leeway without doing anything to damage our existing partnerships," he said.
"You'll get it," Arnold insisted.
"I'd like to be able to pick my own staff, people I could trust,"
"You can have anybody you want," Arnold said. "All I need from you is whether you'll do it or not."
Santos thought. Secretary of State…he'd be in a unique position, historically. He could do something that mattered with foreign policy.
After some final hesitation, he extended his hand. "I accept, Mr. President-Elect."
THE END