When I undertook the task of writing Term Limits, I had no idea how many people would eventually contribute their time and talents. I am grateful to all of you, but I am especially grateful to those who went that extra step in offering their skill, expertise, and friendship.
To Dan McQuillan, Paul Lukas, Liz Tracy, Mike McFadden, Kristin O’Gara, Judy O’Donnell, Matthew O’Toole, and Tom and Valerie Tracy, thank you for keeping me pointed in the right direction.
To Susie Moncur, for your advice and superb editorial skills. To Jeanne Neidenbach and my brother Kevin for keeping me supplied with fresh manuscripts. To my good friend Dave Warch for his humor and photographic talents. To Mike Andrews, Mike Dickson, Matt Michalski, and Dave, Don, and Mary at Stanton for all your enthusiasm and help. To Teresa McFarland and Maureen Cahill, you truly made the difference.
I also owe a great deal to all of the bookstores, media outlets, and readers in Minnesota who have supported me. Your positive comments have inspired me to raise the bar another notch for all of the books to come.
To the Secret Service agents, FBI special agents, and former Special Forces personnel who took the time to offer me insight into their dedicated lives—I couldn’t have done it without you. A special thanks to Dick Marcinko, the former Navy SEAL and legend, for taking the time to give me a few pointers.
It is next to impossible for a writer to succeed in the highly competitive world of New York publishing without a top-notch agent and a great editor. I have been blessed with both. To my agent, Sloan Harris, and Nasoan Sheftel-Gomes from International Creative Management, you are the best. To Emily Bestler and everyone else at Pocket Books, you have made my dreams come true.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my mother and father. Your support, love, and encouragement have meant the world to me.
…Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government… it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security.
—THOMAS JEFFERSON,
The Declaration of Independence