I'm Not a Kennedy

Feilan walked back to the table, picked up a document, and tossed it in front of Jack. "Take a look, gentlemen. These are the feedback figures we collected after the President's direct address to the public last night."

"The data shows that nearly ninety percent of the people nationwide said they trusted the President."

"In other words, if you refuse to accept this draft, it means you are standing against the people."

"By then, even if the government wants to save you, it won't be able to."

Jack Morgan did not lower his head to look at the document.

Neither did anyone else reach for the report.

They did not need to read it.

Because last night, each of them had sat in his mansion and heard the laughter spilling out from the streets beyond the windows.

They knew the speech had been a success.

They knew Roosevelt had gathered up public opinion, the very thing Hoover had craved most in his later years.

"My apologies, everyone. My nephew is only twenty-five this year. You know how young people are—they can be a little hot-blooded when they speak. If he offended anyone, please be understanding."

Roosevelt spoke up.

His tone was relaxed, carrying a faintly conciliatory smile, completely unlike Feilan's sharpness just now.

William could not help turning his head to glance at Roosevelt.

One played the knife, the other handed over the step. One tore away the mask, the other stitched back the dignity. This sort of routine was nothing unusual in politics.

In common terms, one played the good cop and the other played the bad cop.

This uncle-and-nephew pair had performed it perfectly.

Jack and the others' gazes moved back and forth between Roosevelt and Feilan.

Of course he knew they were putting on an act.

But he also knew they did not have many bargaining chips left.

So they had no choice but to keep playing along.

Jack turned his head and exchanged a look with Little John.

Then came Pierre du Pont and Andrew Mellon.

The four had known each other for decades. Some things did not need to be spoken; a single glance was enough.

They had to accept this draft now.

Of course, accepting it now did not mean accepting it forever.

In the United States, it had never been difficult for capitalists to push through or repeal a law.

Once the situation improved, once public sentiment calmed down, once the banks regained their footing, they would have plenty of ways to remove these shackles that made them so uncomfortable.

Jack looked at Roosevelt and spoke slowly. "Mr. President, for the sake of the greater good, we are willing to accept this draft. But on one condition: the government must show us respect and cannot excessively interfere in the banks' daily operations. The banks' overall management must be guided and handled by professionals."

"Of course. The government's goal has always been to ensure that banks can operate soundly and restore public confidence. As for the overall operation of the banks, we have little interest in it."

Jack nodded.

He knew that was just empty talk.

After all, promises not written into the terms had no legal force whatsoever.

He had made the demand only to give his group a way out, so they would not look too bad when they walked out the door.

Roosevelt naturally knew that as well.

But neither side exposed it.

"Then it's settled. Once the bill has been formally drafted, we can discuss the specific details of implementation."

Jack was the first to rise.

Little John, Pierre, Andrew, and the other Wall Street titans followed suit.

But before leaving, most of them silently glanced at Feilan.

Whether Feilan was the government's "gun" or merely its "mouthpiece," this young man had made them remember him today.

Feilan knew perfectly well that these capitalists would have their eyes on him after today.

But he did not care.

Hadn't heaven allowed him to live another life precisely for this purpose?

As for getting assassinated in some absurd fashion or taking eight bullets, he was not worried in the slightest.

The Roosevelt Family was not the Kennedy Family.

The later Kennedy Family had touched the core interests of the capitalists. Not only had they died in muddled circumstances, but even their family members had met strange and sudden deaths one after another.

But Roosevelt had been even harsher toward the capitalists, beating them until they howled. At most, they had only dared to amend the laws and exclude members of the Roosevelt Family from the political core.

They had not dared to truly go after the Roosevelt Family.

Ultimately, that was because when the elder Roosevelt had been President, his protégés and former subordinates had been spread throughout the country.

There were also more than a million soldiers in the military who had received favors from the elder Roosevelt.

Those soldiers might have retired by now, but they were all still at the age when they could hold an AK most steadily.

After the door closed,

William let out a breath and leaned back in his chair.

Ballantine, Hugh, and the others also looked far more relaxed.

He had thought today's negotiations would certainly not be easy.

But unexpectedly, before they had even had the chance to say much, the Wall Street financial groups had surrendered one after another.

Of course, all of this was because of one person.

William, Ballantine, and the others could not help looking toward Feilan.

If Feilan had not exposed Chase Bank's affairs and placed enormous pressure on those Wall Street financial groups, it would not have been so easy to force them into submission.

But at that thought, everyone became puzzled.

William especially. As Treasury Secretary, and with close ties to the Wall Street financial groups, even he had not known about such core insider dealings at Chase Bank. How had Feilan learned of them so clearly?

"Alright. Now, let's talk about Chase Bank."

Roosevelt's words broke the silence. He looked at William. "William, did you know about this?"

"I had heard some rumors, but I did not know Chase Bank was involved in this sort of thing."

William's expression tightened.

On Wall Street, manipulating the stock market, insider trading, and "borrowing" bank funds for personal investments—

These might not have been rules openly displayed for all to see, but to be honest, many people knew perfectly well what was going on.

It was simply that everyone had tacitly kept quiet, and no one had ever been directly caught and exposed.

"Then let me ask you this. What Albert said just now—that everything he did was within the legal framework. Is that true?"

"I... can't be certain. After all, the Treasury Department hasn't had time to investigate Chase Bank's specific situation yet..."

"There's no need to investigate."

Everyone turned to Feilan.

"Albert was telling the truth. Everything he did was within the scope of the current laws and regulations."

"Insider trading, misappropriating bank funds, shorting his own bank's stock... Are all of those really legal?"

Roosevelt frowned deeply.

He certainly did not understand the workings of banks and the stock market as well as professionals like William, but he was not stupid. It was obvious that this was wrong.