The National Gallery of Art is an American wonder, created by Andrew Mellon. Its elegant exterior, the Founders Room, rotunda, dome, fountains, galleries, and garden court all can be visited (chapters 60, 62, and 64). In Gallery 62 hangs Edward Savage’s Washington Family. Mellon bought the painting on January 29, 1936. It hung in his DC apartment (even after his death in 1937) until 1941, when it was moved to the National Gallery, where it has remained ever since. All of the symbolism noted in chapter 62 was intentional on Savage’s part. Amazingly, there’s even a plug in the lower right corner of the massive frame (one I discovered after I had fabricated my own), there to accommodate an iron support.
China is North Korea’s most important ally, providing vital commerce and cash (chapter 26). China is also America’s number one foreign creditor. Income tax does account for over 90 percent of federal revenues (chapters 7 and 35). Sadly, all of the statistics concerning the national debt (chapter 35) are true. That debt accrues at a staggering rate of over $1 million every minute, and there are indeed websites with counters where you can watch it grow. Also, what Danny Daniels says about the correlation between higher tax rates and lower revenues (chapter 35) is correct.
This novel deals with income taxes. Whether the 16th Amendment was properly ratified is a fascinating legal question. My exposure to this issue first came when I discovered The Law That Never Was. It’s a treatise by a man named William Benson, who took the time to visit all 42 states that supposedly ratified the amendment, documenting exactly the processes followed and analyzing whether they conformed with that state’s law. Some of what he found is disturbing and compelling. Whether it be true or not, I’ll leave to others to ascertain. This is a novel—which by definition is not real. But I did include two of the more glaring examples Benson uncovered—Kentucky and Tennessee (chapters 33 and 34). Interestingly, Benson also encountered (as did the characters in the story) the problem of missing originals. His arguments are not wholly irrational. The federal courts, though, have consistently avoided the issue, their logic and reasoning weak (as detailed in chapter 37). The appellate opinion reproduced in chapter 12 is fictitious, but the language is quoted verbatim from several actual decisions.
In 1922 the Supreme Court held that a secretary of state’s declaration that a constitutional amendment has been ratified is conclusive, not subject to judicial review (chapter 37). Whether that be sound reasoning or not, the issue has never again been considered by the Supreme Court. The 16th Amendment was born out of early-20th-century politics, and was actually designed to fail, but didn’t (chapter 31). Initially, it applied only to a small segment of the country (less than 5%), who could avoid the tax through loopholes intentionally built into the first revenue act passed in 1913. It was Roosevelt, in 1943, who took the tax mainstream with withholdings now coming straight from people’s paychecks (chapter 67).
Several memoranda are reproduced throughout the novel, all of which are my creations save for the one dated February 13, 1913 (chapter 67). It is loosely based on an actual memorandum from the solicitor general dated February 15, 1913. Images of this document populate the Internet. That memorandum raises several legal questions about the ratification of the 16th Amendment. One sentence of my memo is quoted verbatim from the actual document:
Under the Constitution, a state legislature is not authorized to alter in any way an amendment proposed by Congress, the function of the state consisting merely in the right to approve or disapprove the proposed amendment.
But that is precisely what happened during the ratification process. The proposed amendment was altered by state after state in a variety of ways. And the secretary of state at the time, Philander Knox, ignored not only that reality but also the solicitor general and declared the 16th Amendment “in effect.”
Why not “ratified”?
A meaningless distinction?
Or a reaction to the legal advice he’d received?
We’ll never know.
What exactly would happen if the 16th Amendment was somehow tainted from the start? Thirty-six states were needed at the time for ratification. Forty-two considered it. What if more than six of those states have serious legal issues regarding their adoption votes? Many say that’s the case. The problems discussed within the memo cited in chapter 67 came from their research.
But the courts refuse to listen.
And with good reason.
The issue exposes a huge vulnerability.
At one point in the novel (chapter 29) Kim Yong Jin calls the 16th Amendment’s possible illegality “the cleverest weapon of mass destruction ever devised.”
And he may be right.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
STEVE BERRY is the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of ten Cotton Malone novels, and four stand-alones. He has 19 million books in print, translated into 40 languages. With his wife, Elizabeth, he is the founder of History Matters, which is dedicated to historical preservation. He serves as a member of the Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board and was a founding member of International Thriller Writers, formerly serving as its co-president. You can sign up for email updates here.