TAPA DURA , LIBRO USADO, RECUERDA QUE EL 10% DE ESTA VENTA COLABORA CON FUNDACIONES QUE FOMENTAN LA LECTURA EN ZONAS VULNERABLES. Executive Orders is a techno-thriller novel, written by Tom Clancy and released on July 1, 1996. It picks up immediately where the final events of Debt of Honor (1994) left off, and features now-U.S. President Jack Ryan as he tries to deal with foreign and domestic threats. The book is dedicated to former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who helped launch Clancy's worldwide success as a novelist. The book debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list. Plot summary Following the conclusion of Debt of Honor, previously confirmed Vice President Jack Ryan is sworn in as President of the United States. With nearly every executive, legislative, and judicial figure deceased, Ryan is left to represent the United States by himself. He must deal with multiple crises: reconstituting his own Cabinet, the House, the Senate and the entire Supreme Court; a challenge to the legitimacy of his succession to the Presidency by former Vice President Ed Kealty, leading to press hazing; and a war brewing in the Middle East. When the Iraqi president (implied to be Saddam Hussein) is assassinated by an Iranian deep cover agent, Iranian leader Ayatollah Mahmoud Haji Daryaei takes advantage of the power vacuum by launching an unopposed invasion of Iraq and later uniting it with his country, calling the new entity the "United Islamic Republic" (or 'UIR'). Daryaei then secretly unleashes a master plan of “weakening” the United States through a series of terrorist attacks: a biological attack in the country using a weaponized strain of Ebola virus, a kidnapping attempt on Ryan’s youngest daughter Katie from her school, and an assassination attempt on the President himself by a Secret Service bodyguard who is actually an Iranian sleeper agent. China and India secretly assist Daryaei, first by causing a diplomatic crisis between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan when a PLAAF aircraft "accidentally" shoots down a Taiwanese airliner. The incident pulls a U.S. Navy carrier group from the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea and allows the Indian Navy's own carrier group to move undetected to the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off access to the only sea-bound pathway to the UIR and Saudi Arabia. Daryaei thinks that with the U.S. government and military overwhelmed by a multitude of crises, he is now free to invade Saudi Arabia and claim superpower status for the UIR. The attack on Ryan's daughter, as well as the assassination attempt on the President, is swiftly averted by the FBI and the Secret Service. However, the Ebola epidemic causes the President to declare martial law and enforce a travel ban in an effort to contain the virus. The epidemic later burns out due to the virus being so fragile that it cannot spread effectively. Meanwhile, CIA operatives John Clark and Domingo Chavez are tasked with investigating the origin of the virus in Africa, where they later find out about Daryaei's involvement, connecting the whole puzzle of seemingly unrelated global crises that are baffling the United States. Ryan then deploys what is left of the United States military (the virus immobilizes almost the entire military apparatus except for one fighter wing, two armored cavalry regiments, and one National Guard armor brigade that had been training at isolated Fort Irwin) to assist Saudi and Kuwaiti military forces in repelling a UIR invasion of Saudi Arabia. The tide soon turns against the UIR, with its forces obliterated by the combined firepower of the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. President Ryan had sent Clark and Chavez into Tehran, the de facto capital of UIR, to target Daryaei with assistance from Russian intelligence. The Ayatollah is later killed in his residence by precision guided munitions dropped from F-117 Nighthawks. Ryan then threatens to launch a tactical nuclear strike on Tehran unless those responsible for the attacks are immediately extradited to the U.S. to face charges, and the facility where the weaponized Ebola was cultured is neutralized. He announces a new foreign policy doctrine, the “Ryan Doctrine", under which the United States will hold personally accountable any foreign leader who orders attacks on American citizens, territory, or possessions in the future. Kealty's challenge to President Ryan's legitimacy fails in court; due to the way Kealty's legal complaint was worded, the federal judge who heard the case inadvertently confirms that Ryan is the President of the United States. In the aftermath of the crisis, public appreciation of the unelected president grows.