The President Vanishes is a political novel by Rex Stout that was published in 1934. It was written after, but published before, Fer-de-Lance, the first Nero Wolfe novel. "The President Vanishes was published anonymously," wrote Stout's authorized biographer John McAleer. "Rex had recalled the widespread speculative curiosity anonymity had engendered when, in 1880, Henry Adams concealed his authorship of Democracy (the prototypical novel in that genre which probes the Washington scene) and wanted to see what it would do for his book. As he had hoped, rumor circulated that the book was a roman a clef written by someone high in the nation's counsels. Sales were good. ... Not until 1939, when he began to take an active role in national affairs, did Rex acknowledge The President Vanishes as his own." Plot summary The book concerns the mysterious disappearance of the President of the United States, who was facing a serious political crisis, perhaps even impeachment, over his handling of the foreign situation, namely an impending war in Europe. The disappearance of the president seems like a kidnapping, but no ransom is demanded. Although not revealed in detail until near the end, it is fairly apparent from an early stage that the president has staged his own disappearance to counter an impending military coup staged by an upstart army of fascist "Grey Shirts" allied with a small coterie of industrialists (similar to the Business Plot). The aim of all this is to involve the United States in a European war when none of the combatants has attacked American territory. Reviews and commentary Jacques Barzun and Wendell Hertig Taylor, A Catalogue of Crime — Published anonymously and pre-Nero Wolfe. To a reader of keener political-mindedness ... this may be a sufficiently gripping tale. A peace-loving president, in a period of European anxiety about war, is kidnapped. The reason for the deed is as surprising as the perpetrator. Politics, well done, predominate at the expense of detection. John McAleer, Rex Stout: A Biography — While the groundwork was being laid for the Wolfe series, Rex's pen had been active again. He had written The President Vanishes, a tale of political intrigue set in Washington, D.C. A timely novel, which portrayed the dangers in the United States of a fascist takeover patterned on Hitler's takeover of Germany, it was sold at once to Hollywood. As a forerunner of such books as Allen Drury's