| INT. HOUSE –
PASADENA
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NIGHT |
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| The home of President William Howard Taft’s
sister.
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| "GENERAL" OTIS and the newly hired outside prosecutor
(OSCAR LAWLER) are waiting for the President
in an upstairs study. |
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| The door opens and in walks PRESIDENT TAFT,
accompanied by his BROTHER-IN-LAW. |
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| Mr. President, I believe you know General Otis. |
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| Oh yes, we go back a ways. |
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| Good to see you again, General. |
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| And of course, you know Mr. Lawler. |
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| Good
to see you again. General,
this is one fine young lawyer
you’ve got here. Did a great
job for me at Justice, and I
hated to see him go. |
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| Well gentlemen, I know you have a lot to discuss.
Mr. President, I’ll be
downstairs if you need me. |
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| Otis produces a bottle of brandy and a box of
cigars. |
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| Here, these are for you, Mr. President. |
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| Why, thank you General. Don’t mind if I do. |
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| How was your speech? I’m sorry I couldn’t
make it. |
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| Tiring. As has been this entire day. I take it
you heard about the incident
up north? |
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| I don’t mind telling you, General, I don’t
like being the target of these
folks. |
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| This is exactly what we have been trying to tell
you, sir. This dynamiting
business is a national problem
and demands a federal
response. |
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| Mr. President— After today, I think you can
appreciate just how serious a
matter this is. At the same
time, I realize that you’re
about to embark on a campaign
for reelection, and I don’t
want anything to interfere
with that effort. |
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He takes a sip of brandy.
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| General, while I appreciate your concern, you
know it’s my duty to see
that the laws are faithfully
executed. As between that and
any consideration of my
campaign, well, there can be
no choice. |
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| Oscar, you have been closely examining the facts
in this case, have you not? |
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| Well, as one lawyer to another, do I have your
assurance that there have been violations of federal law? |
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| Absolutely— Scores of them. |
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Taft gets up and grabs himself a cigar.
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| Please, Mr. President— Allow me. |
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Otis helps light up Taft’s cigar.
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| These are nice, General. Cuban? |
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| Gentlemen, you’ll hear from the Attorney
General himself before
noon
tomorrow. You have my word on
it. And thank you for alerting
me to these matters. |
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