In recent months, William has been arguably the most unproductive governor in the United States. Except for particularly important matters that had to be done by himself (such as the Independence Day parade on July 4), he spent most of his time in Washington, D.C., and rarely returned to Prowittens.

But then again, Rhode Island is the longest-known state (full name Rhodes and Providence Manor State), the smallest (only 3,140 square kilometers), and the least populous (just over 400,000 people), and there really aren't many major issues for William to deal with. Even if he, the outgoing governor, does not show up much, all government affairs have been stable, and there is a bit of a small country and a few people, and he does nothing.

Of course, if anyone thinks that William's "hands-off shopkeeper" life is very easy, it is very wrong. As the chairman of the Republican House National Committee and the operator of the midterm elections at the end of the year, William is much busier than the average governor.

Balance factional relations, regulate intra-party contradictions, allocate campaign resources, formulate voting strategies, and cultivate fresh blood...... Which job is easy to do. What's more, William has to rack his brains as much as possible to find supporters for certain policies of the White House in the "anti-Roosevelt" mainstream Republican Party, which tests his political wisdom even more.

Overall, William did a good job in Washington. The outcome of the midterm elections at the end of the year is difficult to say for the time being, but adding 15-20 seats to the House of Representatives should not be too much of a problem. And the recent vote to extend the Compulsory Military Service Act too much is the best demonstration of William's control of the House of Representatives.

If we compare the Republican votes of 21 in favor and 143 against the Lend-Lease Act when the arms embargo was lifted in the past, and those who do not know much about congressional politics will know how difficult it is for the extension of the Compulsory Military Service Act to get 46 Republican votes in the House of Representatives. And behind this, in addition to Stimson's own efforts, William's full support and cooperation behind the scenes is also indispensable.

To put it bluntly, why was John able to become the deputy division commander of the brigadier general this time? It was none other than Roosevelt and Marshall rewarding Stimson for his contribution to the preservation of the U.S. Army. But why did Stimson share the benefits with John? In addition to the fact that John is a close nephew he admires, more importantly, because this credit is originally shared by William's cousin. In other words, William is the biggest contributor to John's promotion and award.

Therefore, it is reasonable to be reasonable, even if there is no such thing as Gavin, John should come to the door in person and thank William well.

The night before returning to Alexandria, John arrived at William's residence in Washington. As soon as they met, he was taken aback. Good fellow, William's eyes were red and his cheeks were swollen, and he was leaning back on the recliner to read a file.

"William, what's wrong with you?" John suddenly became nervous, the old Fan family has just improved a little, and William, the head of the family, can't have a problem with his body.

"It's not a big deal, it's just a toothache, hiss~ I didn't sleep all night last night, hiss~ So I'm lazy today and work at home." William inhaled cold air in pain as he spoke, and the current was tossed a lot.

"What did the doctor say?" John hurriedly asked.

"He suggested that I extract the tooth, hiss~ I said wait, use aspirin to relieve the pain first. Hiss ~ If it's not good after a while, let's talk about it. William was reluctant to pull his teeth easily because he was in such pain, and John understood this very well. In this year, there is still a certain risk of tooth extraction (mainly because the anesthetic ether and chloroform commonly used by dentists have greater side effects, and the wound is easy to cause complications caused by infection), because it is not uncommon for people to die because of tooth extraction, and insurance companies even have special dental insurance.

But a toothache is not a disease, it hurts really badly. It is certainly not enough to rely on aspirin alone to relieve pain and treat the symptoms but not the root cause. John asked the butler for a doctor's order, and asked William carefully about his recent routine before he breathed a sigh of relief. William's cousin's toothache this time was most likely caused by overwork, coupled with irregular diet, which led to a fire.

Although this time it was not a big problem, it also gave John a wake-up call. Among the leading figures of the Vanderbilt family, Corineus III is 68 years old, Alfred is 64 years old, and William is 63 years old. John did not know in which year these cousins died. But I have the impression that none of the fourth-generation members of the Vanderbilt family lived a particularly long life, except for Harold (who lived until the 70s and died almost 90 years old).

John estimated that with the current physical condition of the three cousins, Corinnius III, William, and Alfred, it was the most optimistic situation that they could continue to be at the helm of the family for another seven or eight years. The immediate priority of the Lao Fan family is to train the next generation of successors as soon as possible.

Don't look at the superficial prosperity of the family in the past two years, several family members have developed well in the political, military, business, and academic circles. However, the situation of talent shortage within the family has not been fundamentally improved. As in history, not only did it fail to grow rapidly with the help of war dividends, but it gradually declined after the end of World War II, and was finally annexed and absorbed by the Morgan family, becoming the main reason for the ordinary link in the huge industrial chain of the Morgan consortium.

However, cultivating talent is not as easy as it sounds. The other four generations of the family are either dying of old age, or greedy for pleasure, mixed eating and waiting for death, and no one can count on it except Harold. And the fifth generation of the family, there is currently only one little Corinnius who is thriving in the media industry, and he looks pretty good. A few years later, apart from himself, Harold, and Corinnius Jr., John himself did not have much confidence in whether anyone else would stand up and support the door.

"Okay, I'm just having a toothache, not a serious illness. You don't have to worry too much. Seeing that John had been silent, William thought that he was still worried about his physical condition, but instead opened his mouth to comfort him.

"Don't take minor illnesses seriously. Don't end up being like Corinnius, who is bedridden for half a year. He has a good son who can recuperate in peace, but what about you? Besides, the family can't do without you now. John admonished William very seriously.

The eldest brother Corinnius III has obviously failed in health in the past two years, but his son Corinnius Jr. is still quite competitive and has gradually taken over his father's business. William's family has a lot of children (3 sons and 4 daughters), but none of the three sons can make things happen, and only one son-in-law is still a bit of a state legislator in Wisconsin.

"Don't worry, my own body knows for itself that it can last for a few more years." William waved his hand, obviously reluctant to mention this "sad matter" again.

"If you want me to say, you're all here, and it's not a matter of holding on. It is better to train a few successors as soon as possible. Knowing that William would not like to hear it, John still made it clear.

"You say it easily. It's not like you don't know what's going on at home. Over the years, how many people have we supported, except for a few of you who are capable of making a name for themselves. William, who had been tormented by a toothache all night, suddenly became angry. As one of the few people in the family who understands, William has struggled to support the declining family for decades when everyone else is drunk and dreaming of death, and who knows the bitterness of it.

"So, we can't limit our goals to the family anymore. The Morgan family is constantly bringing in new partners, so why can't we absorb new blood from outside the family? John didn't tell William that his real thoughts were actually more radical than that.

FedEx, for example, plans to hire someone from outside his family as CEO in the future, and he will only serve as chairman of the board. Because history has long proven that when a company grows to a certain size, it is bound to move from private partnership to corporatization. Only through the transition to a joint-stock system will the company's capital not be lost on a large scale due to inheritance tax, income tax and other reasons.

However, at this stage, the vast majority of enterprises are still in the era of "strongman politics", and the concept of professional managers is far from being as popular as in later generations.

"What, do you have a good goal?" William is not averse to absorbing fresh blood from outside the family, the key is that the choice of the object must be cautious.

"I recently found two good seedlings, both of which are about the same age as me. One was Maxwell Taylor, who I had assigned to the General Staff Secretariat some time ago and is now Marshall's assistant secretary. One is James Gavin, who came out of the family orphanage and is now a major training officer in the Airborne Test Force. John took the opportunity to direct the topic to the purpose of his visit today, "I plan to bring them to the 82nd Division and train them to become the basic team of the family in the army." ”

"Like Middleton?" William asked.

"No, they'll be better than Middleton." John replied.

"The better the person, the more difficult it is to control, be careful of the wasted effort." William reminded John.

"I don't need to control them, as long as they can play a role when I need to." John believes he has enough leverage in the future to make Taylor and Gavin his face in the Army.

"What do you need me to do?" Since John himself was confident, William felt that it would be a good idea to support him in giving it a try, in case he succeeded.

"I intend for Taylor to succeed me as chief of staff of the 82nd Division and Gavin as the commander of the 503rd Regiment. I'll take care of the rest, but the final order will require you to say hello to Stimson......" John told William of his plans.

"Got it, wait for my news." It was just the appointment of two colonel-level officers, and William knew that as long as he spoke, Stimson would not refuse.