Behind Fortress Walls (PJW)

"Behind Fortress Walls" is an excerpt from Frontier Spirit: An Unauthorized History of the Wayne Administration by an anonymous White House insider.

Behind Fortress Walls
The beginning of 1959 was when things truly turned downhill for the administration. Wayne, as always, tried to rally the nation's patriots to action in his State of the Union address. Of course, it's hard to rally patriots when you consider a sizable portion of your country's population as inferior, and the representatives of that portion as communist-backed rebels. The National Revolutionary Movement had weighed heavily on Wayne's mind since they first emerged with their attempted assassination of him; despite the fact no one had actually proved the assassin worked for, and even associated with the NRM, both the FBI and CIA had pinned the gunman's allegiance to the movement.

Frustration and paranoia began to seriously cloud Wayne's judgement following his near death. Everywhere he looked, every corner could potentially hold a Red spy or negro assassin, or a communist negro spying assassin. The size of his Secret Service was nearly doubled, and the State of the Union address was said to be the most secured location a speech was held at in history. Wayne didn't come out and openly say he supported segregation at the address, but he did say he needed to restore the country to a separate but equal status quo. Another pressing issue, the Cuban War, was also mentioned; according to Wayne the nation needed to remain strong in the face of communism with continued funding and troop movement to the island will ensure American victory in no time.

On the return to the White House from the Capitol anti-war and civil rights protesters had lined the streets, and despite the police's best attempts to remove them, they still remained by the time the president began his journey home. The sight of the presidential motorcade only rallied the protesters, who struggled with the police to remain in place and protest as the president passed by. The image of protesters clogging the streets must've given the President flashbacks of Atlanta, as he immediately gave the head of security the order to "get them out of here". The security head barked the order into his radio, and through the window I could see the order being relayed as the police pulled out their batons.

The protesters initially took a step back in fear, but the fear was soon gone, replaced with a face of determination. The crowd rushed at the officers, who immediately began cracking heads. The motorcade took off as fast as it could, with the threat of being run over sending protesters out of the way. We left the rioting behind as we arrived at the White House, with the officers there having already cleared out the protesters with the aid of the Secret Service and the large rifles they carried.

Upon entering the White House, the President received reports that the clash between protesters and police had turned into a riot that covered large areas of the city. Wayne immediately declared the city under marshal law, mobilized the local 29th Infantry Division from nearby Fort Belvoir, and above all, ordered that the White House needed to be fortified. The riot had fizzled out by the end of the night, with most protesters deciding fighting with officers was one thing, but taking on an entire army division was another. The signs of rioting stood out in the morning; blood in the streets, broken shop windows, barrels and cars on fire. Numerous construction companies were brought in to repair the damage.

But one construction crew worked with the army, which remained in the city for a "temporary" mission that soon turned out to be permanent. Army men and construction workers spent days piling sandbags, laying down barbed wire, elevating platforms and watchtowers, and setting up machine gun posts around the White House. "It is clear there are people in the nation who wish to do me harm," President Wayne told the media. "They attempted to murder me in Atlanta, and they nearly did the same here in the capital. I will not put my life, my workers' lives, and the capital itself in danger from these red militants."

By January 12, construction had finished and the new mission of the 29th was permanent defense of the White House. A dark shadow had been cast over Washington and the government since that moment, which could only continue to grow and cover the nation. The "Fortified White House" the media called it. It was truly the beginning of the nation's darkest hour.