“It’s just not fair,” said Prendergast to his fellow movers-and-shakers at lunch in the White House Mess. “Margaret Thatcher makes more mistakes and botches the economy even worse than our boss, and because she is lucky enough to fall into a Falklands victory, she is guaranteed to win the next election.”

Wheels began to spin in Crawford’s head as he exchanged significant glances with his NSC side- kick, Roberts. At th...