When McVeigh first began planning his attack against the government, he deliberately chose April 19 as the day of the bombing. It was not only the two-year anniversary of the fire at Waco that killed approximately eighty Branch Davidians, but it was also Patriots Day, the day in 1775 when American Minutemen first fired on British troops in Lexington, Massachusetts, to begin the American Revolution. By the time April 1995 arrived, nearly everything was in place for the attack. The fertilizer, fuel, and detonation cord had been purchased; the blasting caps had been stolen from a military depot by McVeigh and Nichols; and the target had been chosen.

However, McVeigh was having problems with Nichols, who started having second thoughts about participating in the bombing. Marife Nichols, Terry's second wife, was upset about the amount of time that her husband was spending with McVeigh instead of with her and their daughter...