[ WP ] In a dystopian United States , a person becomes President by killing the previous President

This will be my first and only journal entry. I've known better than keep this sort of thing written down. But now that it's all about to happen, I feel like I need to leave my story. In case things do n't go my way. At least then my legacy will be one of calculation and years of effort, not mere impulse like some other presidential hopefuls. 
 
 I do n't come from money, so mercenaries are n't an option. I've never had the opportunity to be a war hero like Grant or Roosevelt, so I ca n't march an army into the White House. And the popular uprisings that men like Kennedy and Reagan rode into office seem impossible in today's climate. So I choose to work alone rather than risk a conspiracy. 
 
 I realized during my time in the Army that I was in that minority of people able to fool a polygraph. For the sake of brevity I'll skip the details; suffice to say an inconsequential lie that would have landed me in a very manageable amount of trouble went unnoticed. Over a few years, it became apparent that I could lie at will without being detected. It was then that I had the first notion that I had a shot at the presidency. I resolved then and there to never voice strong political opinions. 
 
 Prior to this realization, I'd been coasting through my service. I just wanted the benefits of being a veteran. I decided to get a counselor so that I could go on record as admitting that I had motivation problem and give justification for my improvements. Six months later I was winning commendations. I left the service with a stellar reputation and went to work for the FBI. My experience in Afghanistan and my service record made me an obvious choice for anti-terrorism. I wanted the job because it would put me interacting with the Secret Service on a regular basis. This job was all about networking. 
 
 It took me five years to finally get the break I needed. I was the SAC when that 16-man cell was taken down in DC just hours before they were due to launch an attack on the White House. The Service reached out to me after that. They're careful about their recruiting, and anyone eager to join is passed over. I negotiated higher salaries and made a show of taking three months to wrap up my duties at the FBI. 
 
 In my first few months, I only saw the president briefly. And I'm fairly certain the handful of `` chance'' encounters in the halls were carefully scripted to test my reactions to having a shot at an assassination. Meanwhile I spent my time getting to know the various people who really held power in the Service: the cooks, the quartermasters, the janitors. They knew things no one else knew and I learned a lot in those days. 
 
 I must have passed muster, because I was told a month ago that I was due to be assigned to `` The Detail'', the group of men directly guarding the President. This brings me up to last night. 
 
 I've acquired the means to access quite a lot in the past few months. Copied keys, duplicated access cards, even a recorded voice authorization. When I meet the President again today, I will be the only man in the room with a working sidearm. I'm probably going to have to shoot them all. Ca n't have anyone trying to upstage me before I even get to sit in the chair. As for what happens after... either you already know, or this is my suicide note.
