1. How can we successfully get rid of the pervasive Washington correspondents? Successive presidents of the United States have had their own tricks, and the use of stand-ins is one of the more common and effective tricks.

In later generations, this trick has long been used rotten. In order to cope with the increasingly developed media and public opinion environment, some Washington politicians even have more than one stand-in. These include official stand-ins who receive salaries from the White House Secret Service, as well as civilian impersonators who make money by attending talk shows and guest speakers.

And the public seems to have become accustomed to it. George W. Bush has three stand-ins with names and surnames, and Obama has publicly asked him and first lady Michelle to attend the inauguration rehearsal even before he takes office.

But at this point in 1941, the president's stand-in was a top secret of the Federation. It was also after John received the assignment from Hopkins that he learned that Roosevelt had a stand-in named Tom Wilson.

The mechanic, who was originally from Iowa, is said to have been a stand-in for Roosevelt for eight years. Not only did he look very similar to Roosevelt, but he also imitated his demeanor and even his voice vividly. Roosevelt himself joked that Wilson could fool everyone in the First Family except him and Farrah (Roosevelt's dog).

With such a stand-in, John certainly had to make good use of it. His plan wasn't too complicated. It's early August, and it's the time of year when the president goes on summer vacation. He planned to arrange a sea fishing trip for Roosevelt on the eve of the meeting. Anyway, a few years ago, Roosevelt had also taken the yacht "Potomac" to fish in Eel Bay in New England in the summer. This arrangement is not expected to attract undue attention from the media and the outside world.

At that time, Roosevelt and his entourage could quietly board the cruiser "Augusta," which was staying in the open sea to meet them, and head for the Agin Hay Bay of Newfoundland. And stand-in Tom Wilson will stay on the Potomac to deal with reporters. John is even going to take the initiative to arrange for some reporters to take a few pictures of the "fishing president" from afar, and confuse it in the media.

Of course, this plan seems simple, but it is not easy to implement, and it requires the help of many professionals. At least, John, who is not familiar with the operations of the White House Secret Service and press affairs, cannot handle all the details of the operation alone. So, after a rough sketch of the whole plan, John knocked on Hopkins' door.

In the room, Hopkins and Roosevelt were enjoying afternoon tea. Seeing John come in, Roosevelt beckoned happily to him, "John, come and try Diana's freshly baked muffins." That's the biggest motivation for me to work hard every afternoon. ”

"Thank you, I've heard Jamie say for a long time that Miss Diana's muffins are the best in Washington, and today I finally have a mouthful." John smiled and stepped forward and sat down in a circle chair across from Hopkins.

"Coffee or tea?" Hearing John's compliments on his young daughter's craftsmanship, Hopkins smiled with the pride of being a father, "Of course, you can drink orange juice like I do." Diana squeezed it with fresh oranges, and she got some fine oranges in the morning. ”

"Let's still have coffee." John certainly wouldn't choose orange juice. He knew that Hopkins had very serious cardiovascular problems. Dr. MacIntyre in the White House has explicitly forbidden him to touch cigarettes, spirits, coffee, anything else that could increase the burden on his cardiovascular system. The small jug of orange juice on the table was apparently prepared by Diana for her father.

"You know, John, we mentioned you earlier. Hopkins said you've been doing a great job lately and helped him with a lot. Roosevelt said as he handed John a muffin, "I've also read the minutes and memos you put together, thank you for the reminder, there are some issues that should really be brought to our attention." ”

What Roosevelt was referring to was a memo that John had submitted about the current state of military production when he was sorting out the minutes of the military meeting.

Truth be told, John had always thought that the American version of the World War II game was hardly challenging. As long as the war machine is put in motion, it is only a matter of time before Germany and Italy are leveled.

But when he really got involved, he realized that the war machine didn't work so well. At least for the time being, Americans, who are accustomed to the market economy, have set up a government-led planned economy, and the level is really not ordinary.

Since the introduction of the Lend-Lease Act at the beginning of the year, the seemingly powerful industrial production system of the United States has become a mess. The Army and Navy's Quartermaster Department, War Resources Department, Emergency Management Office, National Defense Advisory Committee, Military Production Committee, and all the departments that can get a piece of the pie have set up corresponding institutions and can't wait to get involved. And these various institutions are entangled with major consortia and enterprises, forming a headache of complex interest entanglements.

As a result, the government is investing more and more, and there are more and more shortages and backlogs. It seems that the country's military production is booming, but in the end, apart from a bunch of new names that make people stunned, the actual arms production has never increased much.

Of course, this chaos also has to do with the current political environment in the United States. In order for Roosevelt to gain more support, while isolationism remained strong, he had to show the other side that he could profit from future wars. Therefore, at present, he will not and cannot refuse the participation of any force.

John also knew that it was not until at least after the United States entered the war that the government had enough reason and power to force certain people to make concessions to the entire industrial production system to really get the entire industrial production system back on the right track. Therefore, he did not come up with a so-called solution in the memo. It was only from the perspective of management that the problems existing in the current industrial production system were analyzed, and Roosevelt was advised to set up a production planning department independent of the military and government agencies.

In John's vision, the department was like a statistical control office that had expanded many times over. It is not involved in any specific production project, but is responsible for collecting and collating production information for various industries, listing everything needed to win a global war into a general list, and drawing up production priorities accordingly.

However, judging from Roosevelt's reaction, it seems that he only paid attention to the problems that John had discovered, and did not take much of the so-called planner-making body. John was not disappointed by this result, and to be able to brush up on Roosevelt's presence was already achieved. He didn't expect to be able to come up with an American version of the Planning Commission.

After eating the muffin in his hand, John drank his coffee and told Roosevelt and Hopkins what he meant.

"Good idea, John." Roosevelt began by applauding his plan, "We can't let Prime Minister Churchill return home at the risk of being attacked by a submarine, can we?" So this meeting must not be known to those journalists.? ”

John's little trick of teasing reporters was clearly to Roosevelt's pant, and a sly smile flashed in his gray eyes, hidden behind his nose-pinched glasses, "Well, I admit, I'd be very happy if I could fool those reporters." Over the years, they've made me miserable. ”

"Overall, it's still doable." Hopkins thinks more about the operational level, "Let's go ahead with your plan, do you need any help from me?" ”

"I think I'm going to need the help of the Secret Service, the press office, and the Navy. There are some specific details in the plan that need to be perfected by them. ”

"No problem. On the Navy side, you can go directly to Colonel Bildell (Roosevelt's adjutant in the Navy), who is in charge of all the sea trips this time. Roosevelt immediately agreed, "Over for the press office, I'll ask Philip (Assistant Press Secretary of the White House) to contact you." Secret Service—"

Speaking of which, Roosevelt suddenly froze. Then, as if remembering something, he slapped his face and said, "I just have a good candidate." He should be over in a moment, and I think you'll be happy to see him again. ”