Jackie Page #10

(beat)

And this parade? Who is it really

for? For Jack? One more campaignstop along the way to the grave?!

(beat)

Lyndon's people are right. It's

not worth it! It's not worth

risking people's lives!

Bobby doesn't know what to say.

JACKIE (CONT'D)

You tell them we're calling it off.

(beat)

We'll motorcade to the Cathedral.

The back way. We'll bury him. And

we'll put an end to all this. I

don't give a damn anymore.

BOBBY:

We would never put you and yourchildren in-

JACKIE:

I know you think I’m some sillylittle debutante-

60.

BOBBY:

--Listen to me.

JACKIE:

You don’t protect me, anymore!

BOBBY:

I would never put you and thechildren in danger.

JACKIE:

You don’t know anything.

She turns and leaves him standing there.

CUT TO:

EXT. PARK -OUTSIDE WASHINGTON, DC

Jackie walks with the Priest.

JACKIE:

I lie awake at night and all I canthink is...I wish I’d been a shopgirl, or a stenographer. I should

have married an ordinary, lazy,

ugly man.

The Priest studies her --considers the depth of hersuffering. He tries one more time to get through -

PRIEST:

Let me share with you a parable.

(beat)

Jesus once passed a blind beggar onthe road, and his disciples asked -‘

Who sinned, this man or his

parents, that he should be bornblind?’

(beat)

Jesus answered -‘Neither this man

nor his parents sinned. He was

made blind so that the works of God

could be revealed in him.’

(beat)

And with that, he placed mud on theman’s eyes and told him to wash inthe Pool of Siloam.’ The man did,

and he came back seeing.

(beat)

Right now you are blind. Not

because you’ve sinned.

(MORE)

61.

PRIEST (CONT'D)

But because you’ve been chosen

-so

that the works of God may berevealed in you.

A long beat of silence, as Jackie stares back at the Priest,

still unsatisfied.

CUT TO:

INT. OVAL OFFICE -WHITE HOUSE

The morning sun peaks through the edges of the drawncurtains, but the Oval Office is dim and vacant.

Jackie is on her knees, in a new black dress, freshlyshowered, but still groggy.

She is surrounded by the RESOLUTE DESK, which John Jr wasfamously photographed playing beneath.

The COCONUT the PRESIDENT used to scrawl a rescue messagewhen his boat was sunk in the South Pacific.

The MODEL of the naval vessel, The Danmark, he meticulouslyconstructed.

And finally --the ROCKING CHAIR where he used to sit, thechildren playing at his feet.

She runs her hand across the NEW CARPET, pleased.

JACKIE:

It's perfect.

WALTON (O.S.)

We installed it while you were

away.

Walton stands in the doorway.

WALTON (CONT’D)

I thought it would be a nicesurprise for you and the President.

Jackie rises.

JACKIE:

It changes everything.

She stands, admiring her handiwork.

JACKIE (CONT'D)

And the Treaty Room?

62.

WALTON:

Hunter green. Exactly as you

imagined it.

JACKIE:

I wish Jack...

She trails off. And then-

JACKIE (CONT'D)

Who knows if he would have cared.

She laughs, bitterly.

JACKIE (CONT'D)

I lost track, somewhere. What was

real. What was performance.

WALTON:

Well, he was a President.

A beat, and then -

JACKIE:

You were right earlier.

(beat)

I've told them I'm not going tomarch tomorrow. I won't put peoplein danger on account of my vanity.

WALTON:

I was scared for you. I still am.

But I never thought it was vanity.

Jackie gestures to the redecorated room -

JACKIE:

You know, that's what Jack called

all this. When he saw what we were

spending. He said your little'vanity project' is going tobankrupt the federal government.

This is Walton's life's work, his purpose for being -

WALTON:

People need their history. It

gives them strength. They need toknow that real men actually livedhere. Not ghosts and storybooklegends. People who facedadversity and overcame it.

(beat)

(MORE)

63.

WALTON (CONT'D)

What you've done in this house

matters.

Jackie considers his words. They've struck a chord, but

she's still not convinced.

JACKIE:

That's kind of you, Bill. But even

I'm

starting to lose him.

(beat, she stands)

Pretty soon, he'll just be anotheroil portrait lining these hallways.

INT. CAROLINE KENNEDY'S BEDROOM -WHITE HOUSE

Jackie holds a cake as a Secret Service member lights thethird and final candle.

She enters the room to join Nancy, Maud, and Carolinecelebrating John Jr’s 3rd birthday. She sings...

JACKIE:

Happy Birthday to you, HappyBirthday to you, Happy BirthdayDear John, Happy Birthday to

you....

John blows out the candles.

INT. LINCOLN BEDROOM -WHITE HOUSE

Jackie sits at the edge of Lincoln's arched mahogany bed,

staring up at the portrait of Mary Todd that hangs above it.

Outside, the sun is setting.

Bobby enters the doorway.

BOBBY:

I spoke to Johnson.

(beat)

Tomorrow...it's being handled.

Everyone will ride. No procession.

Jackie nods. Bobby slowly sits beside her, utterly defeated.

JACKIE:

I’m sorry, Bobby.

A moment of silence, and then, gesturing to the portrait.

64.

JACKIE (CONT’D)

Do you think Lincoln’s widow knew?

BOBBY:

What?

JACKIE:

That we'd build a monument to her

husband?

Bobby doesn’t answer.

JACKIE (CONT’D)

Why is this room so peaceful?

A long pause.

BOBBY:

Peaceful?

(beat)

Every time I walk by this room I’mreminded that on January 1, 1863,

an ordinary man signed a documentthat freed four million people fromslavery.

(beat)

So I don’t think of it so much as

‘peaceful’, but as a place ofprofound legacy.

(beat)

And it’s too bad that ours is

totally f***ing wasted.

He turns to leave.

JACKIE:

Bobby!

He slams the door shut and turns back to her.

JACKIE (CONT’D)

Bobby, watch your mouth-

BOBBY:

What did we accomplish?!

We’re just the beautiful people? Isthat what we are?!

JACKIE:

Bobby!

65.

BOBBY:

What did we truly accomplish? MaybeJack will be remembered for the wayhe handled the missile crisis. Or

maybe he’ll be remembered forcreating the crisis in the firstplace...

He sits next to her.

BOBBY (CONT’D)

We could have done so much. Civil

Rights, the space program.

Vietnam...

(beat)

We teed up Vietnam. Now Johnsongets to knock it down.

(beat, one more regret)

I shouldn’t have pushed him so hardon Castro.

JACKIE:

You can’t do that, Bobby.

He looks at her.

BOBBY:

What’s wrong with you?

He stands.

JACKIE:

What’s wrong with me?

BOBBY:

History is harsh.

We’re ridiculous. Look at you...

As he walks away...

BOBBY (CONT’D)

I’m sorry.

INT. OVAL OFFICE -WHITE HOUSE

Jackie enters to find workers packing up her husband’sbelongings. His books. His rocking chair.

INT. JACKIE’S BEDROOM -WHITE HOUSE

More workers pack as she clings to an antique turquoise vase,

reluctant to let go.

66.

INT. CAROLINE KENNEDY’S BEDROOM -WHITE HOUSE

Starting to give in, Jackie tosses a doll into a box.

INT. JACKIE’S BEDROOM -WHITE HOUSE

Jackie throws a heap of her dresses into a box.

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