Dominic Cooper was very clever. He didn't say anything bad about Nathaniel Cooper. He proudly spoke about the hard work and contributions of the Cooper family to the country.
He emphasized on his status as part of the Cooper family with a clear intention. He was trying to give some credit to the Cooper family, and he was also trying to give some credit to himself.
He wanted to let the people of the country know that there was a powerful man like him in the Cooper family so that the people could recognize him and let him succeed Nathaniel as the next President.
While speaking, Dominic glanced at the crowd and did not find any objections from the crowd. He nodded with satisfaction and said, "Now, please allow Nathaniel's predecessor, the former President, to come out and say a few words to everyone."
As soon as he finished speaking, Griffin Cooper walked out of the side door with Hannah Elliot and another man supporting him.
Perhaps it was really because Nathaniel angered him, or perhaps the weather was too cold. Griffin seemed to be quite ill. Perhaps it was also because Griffin didn't want the public to know that he pretended to be sick the last time and didn't want to hand over the baton of authority to Nathaniel himself...
In short, Griffin did not look very good. It seemed that he needed to walk with assistance.
With help from Hannah and the other man, he walked for a long time before he arrived at the center of the podium and came to Dominic's side.
Just as he walked to the center of the podium, Griffin clutched his chest and started coughing violently. It took him quite a while to stop coughing.
He opened his mouth and wanted to speak, but he didn't even make a sound. Tears welled up in his eyes again and again, and they didn't stop for a long time.
Griffin wiped away his tears. The reporters and everyone else under the stage waited quietly. No one urged him. Some people were even moved by his grief and silently wiped their tears too.
After he abdicated as President, he had never appeared in public again. He did not appear even for the inauguration of the new President during which he was expected to appear.
He had been announcing to the public that he was in poor health.
Now in the public's eyes, it seemed really true that he was in poor health. This showed that he did not attend the new President's inauguration ceremony for proper reasons.
Griffin had three sons. His eldest son died in an accident three years ago. His second son was exiled from Coast City. And now, his third son was also killed in an accident... The pain of the loss of his sons was so cruel to the old man.
The circumstances in his family made people sympathize with him. In addition to his poignant performance, it was not surprising that the naive people of the country would be touched by him.
After a very long time, Griffin finally stopped crying. It was close to half an hour, or perhaps longer.
He calmed down, adjusted his voice, and said in a loud and steady voice, "The loss of my children hurts me like a knife cutting through my heart."
He took a deep breath and paused for a long time before he continued, "But what hurts me more is that we lost a good leader."
At this moment, he was still thinking about the country and the people... Everyone who heard him speak through his trembling voice would surely be touched.
Nathaniel's gaze swept across the crowd. While everyone was still immersed in sadness, he continued, "As the saying goes, a country can't be without its leader. Even if we can't bear to part with Nathaniel, we have to accept that he has already left us. Therefore, the most important thing for us to do next is to elect a new President."
He looked at Dominic beside him and asked carefully, "Dominic, if you could take on this immense responsbility, can you continue to fulfill the great dream of making Country A powerful and prosperous on behalf of your dead brothers?"
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