The Kid Who Became President by Dan Gutman Read Free Book Online Page A

Judicial branch. That’s the Supreme Court. You follow me so far, Mr. President?”
    â€œYeah,” I said. “But you don’t have to call me Mr. President.”
    â€œIt shows respect for the office, Moon.”
    â€œAll right, all right,” I groaned. “How do you know so much about the government anyway?”
    â€œIt’s all in the Constitution, Moon. You see, the Founding Fathers of the United States had a revolution against the King of England. So they made sure that our president couldn’t get too high and mighty. They worked it out from the start so that the president is no more powerful than Congress. There are strict limits to what you can do.”
    â€œWhat if I want to sign a peace treaty with some other country?” I asked.
    â€œYou’ve got to get the approval of Congress first,” Lane explained.
    â€œWhat if I want to appoint a Supreme Court justice?”
    â€œYou’ve got to get the approval of Congress.”
    â€œWell, what if I want to declare war on some foreign country?”
    â€œYou’ve got to get approval,” Lane said. “Only Congress has the power to declare war.”
    â€œThat’s not fair,” I complained.
    â€œIt’s perfectly fair,” Lane said. “Because it works both ways, Moon. If Congress wants to pass a law that you don’t like, you can veto it. The Congress has to get the president’s approval to do stuff, too. See, it’s a system of checks and balances. That way, no one branch can force its will on the others. If one of the three branches is weak, the whole tree falls down. Get it?”
    â€œWait a minute,” I declared. “If the president can’t pass any law he wants, why did you talk me into promising kids I’d make homework illegal?”
    â€œTo get votes!” Lane shouted. “So you would win the election!”
    â€œBut it forces me to break my promise,” I complained. “I don’t want to be the kind of president who breaks promises.”
    â€œMoon,” Lane said, throwing an arm around my shoulders, “don’t think of that homework promise as a promise. Think of it as … an idea. A bad idea. It would never be passed by Congress, so we’ll come up with some other ideas that will.”
    â€œI feel bad about letting the kids of America down,” I said.
    â€œForget about them,” Lane said. “Kids can’t vote anyway.”
    â€œThen why did you have me make promises to them?!” I was shouting now.
    Lane was about to answer when Honeywell came into the Oval Office. He handed me a copy of the Washington Post.
    â€œI thought you might want to see this, sir,” he said politely. Then he said he had to go assist Vice President Syers.
    â€œOh no!” shouted Lane.
    The front page headline read:
    Â 
    SECRET SERVICE MAN
    NEARLY DROWNS
    AT WHITE HOUSE POOL PARTY
    Â 
    â€œHow could they have found out about that?” I wondered out loud. “There were no reporters there.”
    â€œThe press has a way of finding out everything, ” Lane sputtered. “One of the kids probably leaked the story.” He slammed his fist on the desktop.
    â€œWhat’s the big deal?” I asked. “It’s kind of funny.”
    â€œMoon,” Lane began, lecturing me, “people watch every move you make. You’re in a fishbowl now. Everything you do is important. Everybody is going to judge you, criticize you, tape you, photograph you, read your e-mail. I didn’t even want them to know you throw pool parties. It doesn’t look presidential.”
    â€œI guess I can’t pick my nose in public anymore,” I quipped. Lane ignored the remark.
    â€œWe’d better start working on your image,” he said.
    â€œBut I already won the election,” I protested. “Why do I have to work on my image? Why can’t we just do good things for the country? If I do good