Ida Tarbell Page #17

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87.

IDA:

(awed)

It’s...it’s beautiful.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

And it’s even got a view. Not too bad, eh?

For a lowly Governor of New York.

Ida’s eyes are drawn to the huge portrait of Lincoln on the

wall (her idol). She stands in awe before it.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

How would you like that face looking over

your shoulder every day? It’s no wonder I

have indigestion. Please, have a seat...

Ida sits on the edge of a sofa. She’s nervous, but hides it

very well. No idea why she’s been summoned here.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

Thank you for coming today. I just thought

we should have a chance to meet in private.

Before you became too famous, that is. You

know, you’re the first woman I’ve met with

as president.

IDA:

Thank you, I’m greatly honored.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

I’ve been following your series on

Rockefeller with great interest. I must

confess, I never thought I would live to

see the day when a journalist could become

more powerful than the richest man in the

world. A woman with a typewriter is a very

dangerous thing.

IDA:

(a smile)

Imagine what we could do with a vote.

Roosevelt laughs politely. Unsure how to take this.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

I have written a few books myself, you

know, though I don’t have your command of

the English language. Here, I wanted you to

have this. A little souvenir of your visit.

He offers her a signed copy of one of his naval books.

IDA:

Thank you, Colonel. I will treasure it.

88.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to read it.

Nobody else has.

A knock at the door, the butler entering-

BUTLER:

Mr. President, lunch is served.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

(standing)

Come on, let’s have a bite, shall we?

He leads Ida into the presidential dining room, where lunch

for two is set up. As “informal” as lunch can be when one is

dining alone with the president. A waiter removes the silver

domes on their plates, revealing some dark looking meat.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

Wild venison. Shot it myself over Christmas

in Vermont. Do you like venison?

IDA:

(lying)

Love it, thanks.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

So...you’ve been coming down pretty hard on

old Rockefeller.

IDA:

Not unfairly, I hope. I try to present the

facts as I find them. I want the reader to

make up his own mind.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

And he has. Emphatically.

A waiter silently pours Ida some water.

IDA:

Thank you.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

As you probably know, Miss Tarbell, this is

a very important year for me. I’m up for reelection

in eight months, and if I get a

second term, I want to set up a new

Department of Labor And Commerce. It will

give us broader powers to investigate the

trusts. But before I do that, I need to get

this Elkins bill through congress. Are you

familiar with the bill?

IDA:

Yes. The anti-trust legislation.

89.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

It’s not an easy sell, given that many of

my supporters are on Wall Street. But I

believe this is a very important piece of

legislation. And it will give the average

American worker a good square deal: more

stability, more prosperity, more growth for

everybody.

A beat. Ida looks at him.

IDA:

And you want my help with that?

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

The better people can understand the bill,

the more likely they are to support it. You

have a particular talent for explaining

that which is difficult to understand.

At last. The reason for her summons.

IDA:

You want me to publicly endorse the Elkins

Bill in our magazine?

Roosevelt smiles, a little embarrassed by the asking.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

Well, it doesn’t have to be anything

explicit. Sometimes a little push is all

that’s required.

Ida stops eating, looks at the president.

IDA:

I’m sure it’s a fine piece of legislation,

but I’m afraid I can’t do that.

The droopy moustache twitches with annoyance. This is a man

not used to hearing the word “no.” Especially from a woman.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

Oh. I see.

IDA:

I’m a journalist, Mr. President. Not a

lobbyist.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

(peeved)

Yes. Yes, of course, I understand.

When his little gambit fails, he tries switching back to more

“neutral” topics.

90.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

And do you enjoy writing, Miss Tarbell?

IDA:

I enjoy the process of writing, more than I

enjoy the end result.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

And how do you uncover these things that

nobody else can seem to uncover?

IDA:

(a shrug)

I don’t know. I suppose I look where other

people do not. I’m something of a plodder.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

I imagine it must give one a tremendous

sense of power to shake up an organization

like Standard Oil.

IDA:

That’s the result, over which I have no

control.

A beat. Roosevelt smiles darkly.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

The important thing to remember about

power, Miss Tarbell, is that it is very

fleeting. And just when you think you have

it...poof! It’s gone.

IDA:

I’ll try to remember that.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT:

Do.

A tense unresolved beat as they stare at each other.

INT. HOTEL LOBBY - WASHINGTON D.C. - DAY

Ida approaches the front desk of the hotel for her messages.

Among them, she finds this unwelcome telegram:

“FATHER FADING. DAYS NOT WEEKS. COME QUICK. WILL”

CUT TO:

INT. TARBELL HOUSE - DAY

In the parlor, the Tarbell family has gathered. WILL, GLORIA,

the kids, ESTHER and various cousins, standing or sitting.

91.

A somber death vigil for Franklin.

Neighbors carry food from the kitchen to the dining room.

INT. BEDROOM - DAY

A hollowed-out FRANKLIN TARBELL lies staring up at the

ceiling, on the brink of death. His breathing is labored.

A DOCTOR administers another shot of morphine, offering some

small relief, then quietly leaves the room.

Ida stands off to one side, watching. A beat, then:

FRANKLIN TARBELL

Who goes there?

IDA:

(a ritual, this)

Don’t shoot. It’s your only daughter.

FRANKLIN TARBELL

Ida Belle. Come closer. Sit.

Ida seats herself next to the bed.

IDA:

Hello Franklin. I came to see you.

FRANKLIN TARBELL

(a smile)

You came to say goodbye. How was your

journey?

IDA:

Long, uncomfortable. I was in Washington. I

met with President Roosevelt this week.

FRANKLIN TARBELL

I hope you told him to give up that silly

coonskin hat. Man looking like that belongs

in the circus, not the White House.

(growing serious now)

Ida, I want you to know...that you’ve made

an old man very happy. And proud. Cos when

I meet my maker, he’ll say to me “What have

you done, Franklin?” And I’ll tell him...

He coughs. An awful wheezing death rattle.

IDA:

Sssh. Rest now. Don’t talk.

FRANKLIN TARBELL

I’ll tell him:
“I’m the father of Ida

Tarbell.”

92.

Ida just nods, too grief-stricken to speak.

FRANKLIN TARBELL

We had fun though, didn’t we? You and me?

You make me very happy, Ida Belle. Very

happy...

He slowly drifts off as the morphine kicks in. Ida is weeping

now. Silently. Fiercely.

And slowly we PULL BACK from this intimate tableaux to...

EXT. GRAVEYARD - TITUSVILLE - DAY

A GROUP OF MOURNERS stand together by an open grave as a pine

box is lowered into the ground. Franklin Tarbell, returned to

the soil he spent his life digging.

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