All the Way

1

He's gone.

Lyndon.

Lyndon.

Wake up, honey.

We're about to land

in Washington.

Okay.

Did you hear from Bobby?

Man:
He'll be waiting

on the tarmac.

There will be

reporters there, too.

You'll be expected to make a

statement, something short.

- Thank you.

- I wanna reach out to the leadership

as soon as we hit the ground.

I wanna talk to each

and every one of them.

You call Rose Kennedy?

I did.

My Lord, what that woman

has been through.

Your lipstick.

- What?

- Fix your lipstick.

Oh.

How did John Connally's

surgery go?

Doctor said optimistic.

Ah.

Thank God for that.

Jackie?

She won't change her clothes.

Says she wants them to see

what they have done to Jack.

You see the way she stared at me

before I took the oath?

- She's upset, honey.

- We're all upset, Bird!

We're all upset.

Walter,

a televised address

to both houses of Congress...

as soon as it seems decent.

Where were you just now,

Mr. President?

Accidental President.

That's what they'll say.

Well,

we'll have to change that

next November.

Johnson:

I keep having this dream.

I'm back in the Hill Country

in the old days,

hiding down in the root cellar

while a Comanche war party

searches through the house

just over my head

hunting for me.

It's so dark down there,

like a grave.

Man:
The President of

the United States!

Johnson:

For this terrible moment,

I wonder if I'm dead already...

or buried alive.

Mr. President.

Johnson:
I pissed myself

like an idiot child

crouching in the dirt,

knowing it's only

a matter of time now

before they find the trapdoor,

discover me...

haul me screaming

up into the light...

where their knives gleam.

All I have

I would have given gladly

not to be standing here today.

The greatest leader of our time

has been struck down

by the foulest deed of our time.

John F. Kennedy

told his countrymen

that our national work

would not be finished

in the life

of this administration...

nor even perhaps

in our own lifetime.

"But," he said,

"let us begin."

Today,

I'd say to all

my fellow Americans,

"Let us continue."

We have talked long enough

in this country

about civil rights.

We have talked

for 100 years or more.

It is time now to write the next

chapter in the books of law.

I urge you to enact

President Kennedy's

civil rights bill into law

so that we can eliminate

from this nation

every trace of discrimination

that is based upon race

or color.

Man:
That's right!

You hear what that Negro comedian

Dick Gregory said about me?

"When Lyndon Johnson

finished his speech,

20 million Negroes unpacked."

That was a fine speech,

Mr. President.

Dear to my heart, but I know some people

are wondering, "Did he really mean it?"

Johnson:
Well, you could tell

that liberal crowd of yours

that I'm gonna

out-Lincoln Lincoln.

But you need to get behind me

because you know Dick

Russell and the Dixiecrats

are gonna fight me

tooth and nail

on this civil rights stuff.

Now, not too tight

in the bunghole, Manny.

And give me some extra room

in my pockets there

for my stuff...

My keys and my knife...

And leave me some slack

for my nut sack.

Johnson:
Walter!

Walter, you let me know the

minute Dick Russell gets here

and get me Katharine Graham

from the "Post," will you?

But timing is critical here,

Hubert, you understand me?

With the election

only 11 months away...

If the Republicans are foolish

enough to nominate Barry Goldwater,

you'll beat him with both

hands tied behind your back.

Well, Goldwater is tougher

than you think.

But first, I gotta win

the Democratic nomination.

Holy crap. What happened here?

You tell Lady Bird about this and

she'll starve me for a month.

- Senator Russell.

- Oh, yep, yep.

Give me one minute.

George Wallace is a nobody.

Well, it wasn't Wallace

I'm thinking of.

You don't have

to worry about Bobby.

Bobby Kennedy would just soon

cut my throat as smile at me.

You know how strongly I feel

about this civil rights bill.

If there's anything I can do...

Yeah, yeah, I'll keep that

in mind, Hubert.

Mr. President.

- Senator Russell.

- Johnson:
Ah.

Uncle Dick.

Well, well, well.

- Mr. President.

- Aw, Lyndon, Lyndon, please.

No, sir. No, not anymore.

Wouldn't be respectful.

Well, in public, then,

but nothing else

changes between us.

Now, hell, I owe

everything I have

to your good wisdom

and generosity,

and don't you think for a

second I'll ever forget it.

Well, you did throw me for a

bit of a loop last night.

A civil rights bill with

your election coming up...

For a hundred years, the Democratic

Party's had a lock on the South.

It'd be a foolish thing

to throw that away.

Oh, hell, Dick,

you know I got to throw Humphrey

and the rest of those liberals

a little bit of red meat

now and again.

- Yes, but...

- Sir, Dr. Martin Luther King is on three.

Well, he can wait.

So last night was just, uh,

election year politics or not?

Absolutely.

But I need you to hold the

South for me, Uncle Dick.

Party unity, it is

gonna be critical.

Well, we can talk more about it

when Lady Bird and I have you over

for dinner on Thursday, as usual.

Oh, there's no need

for that now.

Oh.

Our Thursday dinners are sacred.

- Well...

- Hey, why don't you bring your swimsuit

and you could paddle

your milk-white ass

around the White House pool

before dinner, huh?

Congratulations, Mr. President.

Thank you, Senator.

What the hell was she thinking?

Won't happen again, sir.

J. Edgar Hoover on four.

I mean no disrespect, but take

down that stuff over there.

- Edgar.

- Mr. President.

The FBI is here to assist

in any way we can.

Johnson:
Oh, hell, Edgar,

you're more than

the head of the Bureau.

You're my brother.

Now, if the Bureau needs anything

from me, you just let me know.

Well, in light of your

announcement last night,

I think we should have a

discussion regarding Dr. King.

I recently acquired certain information

which is deeply troubling.

Uh, Edgar... Edgar,

I hate to interrupt,

- but they're pulling me six ways from Sunday.

- Staff:
Mr. President!

I'm interested in this and

we'll talk soon, I promise.

Hoover:
If I can just...

Did King screw

his sister or something?

That man's obsessed.

All right, Manny, let's

just get this over with.

What?

What is it?

Katharine Graham of the

"Washington Post" is on two.

- What?

- And Dr. King is still on three.

Look, I don't need to be

reminded of what I already know.

God damn it,

you know, you're fired.

Go on, get the hell out of here.

Walter, get me another secretary

who knows what she's doing.

And one with a little

meat on her bones,

for Christ's sake.

Not another one of these

scrawny, old Washington biddies.

Oh, God damn it, Manny.

Don't you have anything that doesn't

make me look like a dago undertaker?

I wanna thank you, Dr. King,

for your public

expression of support.

We were all very heartened by your

speech last night, Mr. President.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes