Preserve and Protect

1973's Come Nineveh, Come Tyre (ISBN 0-385-04392-9) finds Presidential candidate Orrin Knox and Vice Presidential nominee Ted Jason's wife Ceil as the victims, and Jason is elected to the presidency. The Russians and Chinese immediately take advantage of the weak Jason, and are able to achieve dominance over the United States by the end.

The title refers to two cities mentioned in the Bible: the Phoenician Tyre, whose King Hiram was the ally of King Solomon and helped build the Jerusalem Temple; and Nineveh, whose inhabitants repented of their evil ways after the Prophet Jonah warned them of God's intention to destroy their city.

The novel spent 26 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list.[3]

In 1975's The Promise of Joy (ISBN 0-385-04396-1), Vice Presidential nominee Ted Jason and Beth Knox are the two killed, and Orrin Knox is elected as President. Knox continues to assist anti-Soviet rebels in Panama and the fictional African nation of Gorotoland, despite mounting pressure by the international community and within the United States to retreat. Deterred by Knox's inflexible will, the Russians and Chinese begin a war with each other. After the war sparks revolutions within both countries, the new governments request that the United States broker a peace. Despite the new leadership, it is clear that neither side is really willing to make compromises, and the conflict soon re-emerges. This leads to increased conflict within the United States, as there is mounting pressure on the president to intervene on behalf of the Soviets. At the end of the novel, Knox advises the nation that the United States will intervene in the Sino-Soviet conflict, but does not specify how or on which side.