Chapter 1184: Swearing-in

January 1st, 9:30 AM, Lans took a car with Barbara and headed towards the Capitol building.

About two kilometers away from the Capitol building, the speed of the car began to decrease and finally stopped on the side of the road.

At this time, Ma Duoer rolled down the car window. Several federal staff members with hanging tags bent over and looked into the car. The person standing at the front looked at Lans sitting in the back row. "Sorry, we need to check the invitation letter."

Lans handed the envelope in his pocket. This was an invitation letter, an invitation letter for the presidential swearing-in ceremony.

It is said that some people are willing to pay hundreds of thousands to acquire an invitation letter, just wanting to participate in the process of the presidential swearing-in ceremony at close range.

Lans was able to get this invitation letter, thanks to Senator Cleveland's help. Originally he didn't participate. Such an occasion is honestly a bit too high-profile, but Senator Cleveland persuaded him.

He cannot always hide behind the scenes, he must gradually walk to the front of the stage.

In the past, he was a small character, he could do so, he could wrap himself tightly, but now he is no longer a small character.

The decline of the Shehui Party's power needs some people to stand up as the "backbone" of the Shehui Party.

Just having Senator Cleveland alone is not enough, more people need to stand up, and these people must have "big donors" so that all Shehui Party members realize this point.

Even if they lost the position of president, lost the position of the majority party in the Senate, they are still powerful and will not decline because of this.

Lans, as one of the largest donors of the Shehui Party at present, after a brief discussion within the party, decided to invite him to participate in the presidential swearing-in ceremony, which is also a statement.

The days of the Shehui Party during this period are indeed a bit difficult. The changes of those big capitalists are not too big. At most, they originally gave twenty million, and now they give ten million.

But those smaller capital forces were directly cut off.

They don't have the abundant funds of those big consortia and big chaebols, and they can take care of the other side after giving it to this side.

After they gave money to the Ziyou Party, the Shehui Party could not take care of it, so the political cash income of the entire party decreased a lot.

Lans standing up helps to continue to enhance cohesion.

The federal government staff on the side of the road checked the invitation letter in Lans's hand, confirmed that it was a real and formal invitation letter, checked the trunk of the car, and then let them go.

"Your car is ranked number 87, and someone will guide you to line up in front."

"Also, please pay attention to the speed, don't exceed ten yards."

Lans nodded slightly and took back the invitation letter, said "Thank you", and then under the guidance of these people, Ma Duoer drove the vehicle to the designated position.

This is a grand celebration ceremony. Every step is carefully arranged. Who arrives at the scene first and who arrives at the scene later has strict requirements.

The speed of the motorcade moving forward is not fast, but it is always moving forward. By ten o'clock, Lans's car arrived outside the Capitol building.

As his car stopped, countless flashlights lit up outside instantly!

All the reporters were frantically snapping pictures. The moment Lans took Barbara's hand and got out of the car, the reporters' flashlights paused briefly.

They didn't expect that Lans would also participate in this ceremony, but soon the flashlights began to flash at a crazier speed!

This is the first time in federal history that a... perhaps not so ordinary social person participated in the presidential swearing-in ceremony.

Along the way, Barbara performed very calmly, holding Lans's arm and walking through the long red carpet, and then came to the auditorium.

They arranged an auditorium in the Capitol building to serve as the place for the swearing-in ceremony. Lans showed his invitation letter again, and then someone led him to the position where he should sit.

After they sat down, the staff left.

"Hello...", the person sitting next to Lans took the initiative to reach out to him. "You are... Mr. White, right?"

Lans smiled and nodded. "Yes, who are you?"

"Aha, I knew it was you. I have seen reports about you many times in the newspapers!"

"Self-introduction..."

This somewhat enthusiastic middle-aged man in his forties communicated friendly with Lans for a while. He is a representative of a consortium that is not too large in the central region. They also funded the Ziyou Party and the Shehui Party. This time, they were also invited to the ceremony.

Soon they began to talk about some very divergent problems, which seemed to have nothing to do with this ceremony.

Everyone sitting here today is not an ordinary person. They have great influence in society or represent a powerful interest group.

People were constantly entering, and more dignitaries and celebrities began to enter. These are the real big figures.

Many people left their seats, came to the front to shake hands with them, or even hug, and then talked for a few sentences.

As the time pointed to 11:25, the scene finally became more orderly. On both sides of the ritual platform, Lans saw many big figures.

Speakers of both houses, majority party leaders, Secretary of State.

Originally they also planned to invite the president before the last one, but unfortunately, that president was already bedridden and could not participate in such activities.

I heard that his son and grandson came, but Lans didn't know them.

"Thank you, thank you all for being able to come here today. We are gathered here for the same reason."

"I am honored to be the host today. First, we invite the outgoing president to say something for us. Under his leadership, the federal government won a precious war, we defeated the enemy, and created a miracle..."

Accompanied by people's applause, the outgoing president walked in from the side door. He walked to the ritual platform and waved his arms at the people.

"When they told me that I must stand here and say something, it gave me a headache."

"In fact, I am also very clear that I may not be an outstanding president. I am not that excellent, even if I have tried my best to try."

"Fortunately, with the help of everyone and more people from all walks of life, I successfully completed my work."

"War, tax reform, and other things."

"I should have done more, better, but obviously, the time is up, and I want to hand it over to the next successor."

"I know David. David is a very smart and courageous person. He is smarter than me, more courageous, and obviously more liked by people."

"I also need... you know, but he won so easily, so I believe he can do better than me."

"I really don't know how to summarize what happened in the past ten years, but I know that the future federal government under David's command will be better than today."

He said with a smile, glanced at the host, and then took the initiative to leave the ritual platform and came to the position next to the ritual platform to sit down.

The host praised the outgoing president, saying that his outstanding performance in the war and tax reform laid an important and precious foundation for the take-off of the federal government, and did not ignore his credit in these things.

Obviously, the transaction relationship between them, and Mr. Potter, is still maintained, otherwise the host would not even give the outgoing president a chance to speak.

This kind of tacit politics can also be considered a feature of the federal government. Enemies may not always be enemies, and friends may not really be friends.

The outgoing president finished speaking, and the speakers of both houses also said some things, summarizing the past and imagining the future. Finally, Mr. Potter appeared.

People all stood up and began to applaud spontaneously. Mr. Potter also walked in from the side door.

He waved his arms with a sincere smile from his heart. This might be the happiest day of his life, because he is about to become the president of the federal government!

"Thank you, thank you all. Just now I was actually outside the door. I heard your speeches. I thank you all for everything you have done for the federal government."

"Whether it is the Ziyou Party, the Shehui Party, the Federal Party, maybe we have different views and different goals, but on the issue of how to make the federal government stronger, we are highly unified..."

Lans sat under the stage and watched Mr. Potter say some gentle words on the stage. He tried his best not to show his aggressiveness and invasiveness. The more he did this, the more people were actually vigilant.

After he said for a while, it was almost twelve o'clock, and the federal Supreme Court Justice group also arrived at the scene. The people who had just sat down stood up again, because the most important moment had arrived.

Swearing-in.

The Supreme Court Justice group included eight lifetime justices and one chief lifetime justice. The nine of them represent the justice and fairness of the federal government!

The Chief Justice stood in front of Mr. Potter. "Please raise your right hand and repeat what I said."

Mr. Potter raised his right hand with his head held high.

"I, David Potter, solemnly swear at this moment..."

Mr. Potter pursed his lips and took a deep breath. "I, David Potter, solemnly swear at this moment..."

This is a process written into the Constitution, and it is also a process that cannot be omitted or changed. Accompanied by the end of the solemn and short swearing-in process, the Chief Justice closed the document in his hand and handed it to the person next to him.

He shook hands with Mr. Potter. "Congratulations, you are now the president of the federal government."

Thunderous applause sounded. Mr. Potter looked very humble and friendly and shook hands with the Justice, and then kept saying "Thank you..." in his mouth.

After the swearing-in, there was a short speech. The speech was about ten minutes long, and the next was a meal party.

Everyone ate together, which is also an opportunity for everyone to communicate.

"How do you feel?" At the meal party, the Shehui Party, the Ziyou Party, the Federal Party, all clearly had their own groups, and of course there was a Labor Party that the president forgot to mention, and they also had their small groups.

It's just that this group is too small, so that it is ignored by everyone.

Senator Cleveland asked Lans, and Lans said while tasting the not-so-good food in the Capitol building, "The chair is too hard."

"Sitting until my butt hurts a little!"

Senator Cleveland was stunned for a moment, and then laughed out loud. "I mean, what do you think of this swearing-in ceremony?"

Lans curled his lips. "What else can it be? Was it like this when he was sworn in before?"

"Say some empty words, create an appearance that everyone is very friendly?"

He glanced at the outgoing president who was talking to some people Lans didn't know in the distance. Senator Cleveland also looked at the outgoing president. "At that time, the entire Congress was under our control, and the process was simpler because they were all our own people."

The two were talking about some things about President Potter, and President Potter happened to walk over with a wine glass.

Of course he didn't come to find Lans, but to find Senator Cleveland. "Thank you for being able to attend my swearing-in ceremony today."

The two touched wine glasses, and Senator Cleveland responded with a smile. "Even if I have something to do, I will push it away. This is a very important and meaningful day. History will also remember this day. I am honored to be able to attend this ceremony."

The smile on President Potter's face seemed to have never changed. He took a sip of wine. "In some work next, I hope that between us, the Shehui Party and the Ziyou Party, we can also have good cooperation."

"You have a high reputation in Congress, you shouldn't make things difficult for me, right?"

He said and laughed twice, giving people a feeling that he was joking, but in fact it was not, he was not joking, he was here to show off, in the posture of a winner.

Senator Cleveland nodded slightly. "Of course not, as long as it is helpful to this country, we will support it."

Speaking of this, President Potter looked at Lans who was standing on the side. "I seem to know you, you are that what...", he frowned, seemingly thinking of Lans's name.

Lans certainly wouldn't let him keep such a hypocritical appearance. He took the initiative to explain. "Lans, Lans White."

A look of sudden realization appeared on President Potter's face. "Yes, Lans White, I know you, I have heard some rumors about you."

"I heard you are a gang leader?"

Lans raised his eyebrows. "Is that what you think?"

President Potter didn't continue to say anything to him, and returned his gaze to Senator Cleveland. He reached out and patted Senator Cleveland's arm. "I'm going to entertain others, have fun, we have a party tonight, if you are interested, you can come to participate."

Shehui Party members participating in the Ziyou Party victory party, this sounds like telling a story with his mother.

Senator Cleveland nodded with a smile. "If there is time, I will definitely go!"

The two separated quickly, and President Potter and Senator Cleveland had nothing to say, they were originally in an opposite relationship.

Looking at President Potter's back as he left, Senator Cleveland picked up the wine glass and took another sip. His lips moved, although he didn't make any sound.

But one could read what he just said from the change of his lips—

Bitch-raised one! ===== CHAPTER 1185 =====