• PARIS, FRANCE, 9:30 A.M.

President of the United States John Henry Harris walked side by side with French president Jacques Géroux across the manicured grounds of the Elysée Palace, the official residence of the French president. Both men were smiling and chatting amiably on this bright spring day in the French capital. Keeping pace at a discreet distance were plainclothes agents of the United States Secret Service and of the Direction Général de la Sécurité Extérieure, or the DGSE, the French Secret Service. Prominent too was a select contingent of the international media. This was an arranged photo-op following a private breakfast Harris had had with Géroux and was designed to exhibit the cordiality between France and the United States.

Today was President Harris's 369th day in office: exactly one year and four days since, as vice president of the United States, he had assumed office following the sudden death of President Charles Singleton Cabot; 153 days since he had been re-elected president in an extremely close election; 76 days since his inauguration.

As president, the former vice president and senator from California had made it a campaign pledge to lessen the image of the U.S.