Executive Orders by Tom Clancy
"Executive Orders" is a political thriller by Tom Clancy that continues the story of Jack Ryan, following the catastrophic events of "Debt of Honor." In this narrative, Ryan unexpectedly ascends to the presidency after a terrorist attack kills key U.S. leaders. Faced with the monumental task of rebuilding the government and addressing imminent threats, Ryan must navigate a complex landscape fraught with both domestic and international challenges. A significant plotline involves the rise of a radical Islamic leader, Ayatollah Daryaei, who aims to unify Iran and Iraq while launching a series of attacks on the United States, including an Ebola outbreak used as a weapon.
Ryan, characterized by his pragmatic and patriotic demeanor, confronts these threats, often feeling overwhelmed by the political machinations surrounding him. The story intricately weaves in characters from Clancy's earlier works, depicting Ryan as a leader who, although reluctant, rises to the occasion to protect his country. Ultimately, "Executive Orders" encapsulates themes of resilience and moral duty, culminating in a decisive military response against Daryaei's regime and the foiling of multiple plots against the U.S., reaffirming the notion of good prevailing over evil.
On this Page
Executive Orders by Tom Clancy
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1996
Type of work: Novel
The Work
In Debt of Honor (1994), in an event in which art anticipates eventual reality, a deranged Japanese terrorist crashes a 747 into the Capitol, killing the president, all of the members of the Supreme Court, as well as most members of Congress. In Executive Orders, Jack Ryan, who had been sworn in as vice president after the resignation of the elected vice president (who was accused of sexual battery), survives the destruction and assumes the presidency. This is an office that he did not desire, but as a patriot, he accepted the responsibility. Ryan guides the creation of a new national government, while facing numerous challenges, both domestic and international.
The Ayatollah Daryaei, the radical Islamic leader of Iran, arranges for the assassination of neighboring Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, and quickly unifies Iran and Iraq in the United Islamic Republic. Daryaei’s long-term goal is to invade and capture Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and create a single Islamic state throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. An outbreak of Ebola fever in Africa allows Daryaei’s clique to develop Ebola as a terror weapon, importing it secretly into the United States in aerosol shaving cream cans, which are eventually released simultaneously into the air in convention halls in many American cities. The same Iranian group also plots to kidnap Ryan’s youngest daughter from her preschool and possibly kill her, as well as to have a secret service bodyguard, a Muslim, assassinate Ryan himself. In typical Clancy fashion, the convoluted but page-turning plot also involves the prime minister of India and officials from the People’s Republic of China, who support the Iranians in a concerted attempt to weaken the United States, the world’s sole superpower after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
A no-nonsense, nonpolitical president, Ryan leads the American counterattack, but in Executive Orders, it is a different Ryan than readers are used to. As president, Ryan is at the center, making the decisions and giving the orders, but those orders are carried out by others, many of whom are characters from previous Clancy novels, such as John Clark. Ryan himself is largely a passive figure, complaining about having to deal with politicians and wasting time and energy in what he considers irrelevant matters, and, in Hamlet-fashion, worrying about his abilities and responsibilities. However, good again triumphs over evil. The kidnapping attempt fails; the Ebola attack, which Ryan interprets as a weapon of mass destruction, kills only a few thousand Americans instead of the massive numbers hoped for by Daryaei; and the assassination attempt is foiled. Daryaei’s United Islamic Republic of Iran and Iraq invades neighboring Saudi Arabia, but backed by the technology and expertise of a relatively small American military contingent, the invasion fails, thus ending the “Second Persian Gulf War.” Issuing an executive order, Ryan orders the death of Daryaei, accomplished by a single missile attack on the Ayatollah’s residence in Tehran.
Bibliography
Anderson, Patrick. “King of the ’Techno-Thriller.’” The New York Times Magazine, May 1, 1988, 54.
Cowley, Jason. “He Is the Most Popular Novelist on Earth.” New Statesman 130 (September 24, 2001): 2.
Greenberg, Martin H., ed. The Tom Clancy Companion. New York: Berkley Books, 1992.
Grossman, Lev. “Ten Questions for Tom Clancy.” Time 160 (July 29, 2002): 8.
Phillips, Christopher. “Red October’s Tom Clancy: After the Hunt.” Saturday Evening Post 263, no. 6 (September/October, 1991): 16-19.
Ryan, William F. “The Genesis of the Techno-Thriller.” Virginia Quarterly Review 69, no. 1 (Winter, 1991): 24 41.
Struckel, Katie. “A Conversation with Tom Clancy.” Writer’s Digest 81 (January, 2001): 20.
Terdoslavich, William. The Jack Ryan Agenda: Policy and Politics in the Novels of Tom Clancy—An Unauthorized Analysis. New York: Forge, 2005.
“The Tom Clancy Effect?” The Atlantic Monthly 294 (November, 2004): 59.