The presidency was going to crush him.
That thought hit Ethan hard, a punch to his gut, and he wished, for a moment, that it could be different. That he could pal around with the president, could give him some straight talk on how to fly right and not get lost in the quagmire that was the Oval Office. Or take him out for a beer when the stress got too high, or text him a YouTube clip to make him snort coffee in the middle of a brief. Those were things friends did, and if there was ever a man who needed a friend, it was President Jack Spiers.