Nixon Page #15

Haldeman corrects him.

HALDEMAN:

You mean two ... two bodies?

INT. THE WHITE HOUSE - LINCOLN SITTING ROOM - NIGHT (1973)

HALDEMAN (ON TAPE)

You mean two ... two bodies?

RESUME SCENE - NIXON takes a slug of Scotch, then he rubs

the bridge of his nose, looks up at the portrait of

Lincoln. A pause.

NIXON:

(slurs, softly to Lincoln)

How many did you have? Hundreds of

thousands ... Where would we be

without death, huh, Abe?

Nixon stands, steadies himself.

NIXON (CONT'D)

(softly)

Who's helping us? Is it God? Or is

it ... Death?

CUT BACK TO:

EXT. SANITARIUM CABIN - PORCH - ARIZONA - DAY (1933)

A lunar landscape -- barren, scorched, silent. Suddenly,

violent, desperate coughing.

HAROLD NIXON (23) is doubled over the railing, a long

string of bloody mucus hanging from his lips. He is

shockingly emaciated -- the last stages of tuberculosis.

HANNAH NIXON, in background attending TWO OTHER PATIENTS,

looks on at Harold.

RICHARD (19) hurries out of the cabin with a cotton cloth.

He holds Harold until he stops heaving. Then, he wipes his

mouth.

HAROLD:

(gasps)

... that was a whopper.

Richard carefully folds the cloth, drops it into a metal

container that is already full of them. He stands there,

helpless, a solemn boy.

HAROLD (CONT'D)

(panting)

Hey ... you'll be able to do it now.

RICHARD:

What ... ?

HAROLD:

Go to law school. Mom and Dad'll be

able to afford it now ...

Richard looks at him in horror.

HAROLD (CONT'D)

Mom expects great things from you ...

RICHARD:

Harold ... can I get you anything?

Harold throws a loving arm around Richard, who tenses. We

sense that Harold in some way could have helped Richard,

taught him to laugh a bit.

HAROLD:

(a gentle smile)

Relax, Dick, it's just me ... The

desert's so beautiful, isn't it?

(then)

I want to go home, Dick. Time to go

home.

RICHARD:

(stiffly)

You're not gonna quit on me, are you,

Harold?

Harold looks out over the landscape. Silence.

INT. NIXON HOUSE - PARLOR - NIGHT (1933)

RICHARD sits staring into the fire. He still wears his

black suit from Harold's funeral. HANNAH enters quietly.

HANNAH:

Richard?

He looks up at her.

RICHARD:

I can't ...

HANNAH:

Thou must.

She moves closer, casting a shadow over his face.

HANNAH (CONT'D)

It's a gift, Richard. This law school

is a gift from your brother.

RICHARD:

(bitter)

Did he have to die for me to get it?!

HANNAH:

It's meant to make us stronger.

(kneels)

Thou art stronger than Harold ...

stronger than Arthur. God has chosen

thee to survive ...

RICHARD:

What about happiness, Mother?

HANNAH:

Thou must find thy peace at the

center, Richard. Strength in this

life. Happiness in the next.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. REPUBLICAN CONVENTION - NIGHT (1968)

ON RICHARD NIXON (55) in his prime. A profile of his face,

as the vast crowd goes berserk. Nixon absorbs the

adoration:
at last, he has arrived. He looks down at

someone in the audience. Points, smiles, waves.

Then he steps forward, thrusts his arms in the air -- the

twin-V salute. The cheers rattle the hall as PAT and their

DAUGHTERS join him, followed by Vice President SPIRO AGNEW

and his FAMILY. Nixon puts his arm around Pat. She waves.

The crowd is on its feet.

NIXON:

(privately, to Pat)

Now tell me you didn't want this,

Buddy.

Pat smiles back at him, caught up in it. Then she kisses

him on the cheek.

TIME CUT TO:

NIXON addresses the DELEGATES (a composite of Nixon

speeches).

NIXON (CONT'D)

It's time for some honest talk about

the problem of law and order in the

United States. I pledge to you that

the current wave of violence will not

be the wave of the future!

Vast APPLAUSE.

INTERCUT WITH:

DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE - 1. Civil war. Tanks in the streets

of DETROIT. 2. A BLACK PANTHER safe-house in flames

surrounded by FBI AGENTS.

NIXON (V.O.) (CONT'D)

... The long dark night for America is

about to end ... Let us begin by

committing ourselves to the truth --

to find the truth, to speak the truth.

And to live the truth ... A new voice

is being heard across America today:

it is not the voice of the protestors

or the shouters, it is the voice of a

majority of Americans who have been

quiet Americans over the past few

years ... a silent majority.

DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE - 3. GEORGE WALLACE whips a DIXIE CROWD

into a frenzy. 4. The WOUNDED KNEE SIEGE is underway - FBI

AGENTS and LOCAL MILITANTS pour fire in on the INDIAN

MILITANTS. 5. The YIPPIE DEMONSTRATORS outside the

CHICAGO DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION. Chicago POLICE wade in with

nightsticks, tear gas.

NIXON (CONT'D)

(at the podium)

Who are they? Let me tell you who

they are -- they're in this audience

by the thousands, they're the workers

of America, they're white Americans

and black Americans ...

We cut among the DELEGATES, seeking to show the face of the

populace that is torn by civil war.

NIXON (CONT'D)

... they are the Mexican Americans and

the Italian Americans, they're the

great silent majority, and they have

become angry, finally; angry not with

hate but angry, my friends, because

they love America and they don't like

what's happened to America these last

four years! We will regain respect

for America in the world. A burned

American library, a desecrated flag

... Let us understand: North Vietnam

cannot defeat or humiliate the United

States. Only Americans can do that!

This brings the house down! As we:

CROSSCUT TO:

DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE - 6. CHICAGO is now a full-scale POLICE

RIOT. The COPS have lost all control, swinging nightsticks

wildly, breaking heads, dozens of arrests.

Closing on NIXON at the podium.

NIXON (CONT'D)

Let's face it. Most Americans today,

in a crisis of spirit, are simply fed

up with government at all levels. All

the Great Society activists are lying

out there in wait, poised to get you

if you try to come after them: the

professional welfareists, the urban

planners, the day-carers, the public

housers. The costly current welfare

system is a mess, and we are on the

brink of a revolt of the lower middle

class. The bottom line is -- no work,

no welfare. Our opponents have

exaggerated and over-emphasized

society as the cause of crimes. The

war on poverty is not a war on crime,

and it is no substitute for a war on

crime.

(pause)

I say to you tonight we must have a

new feeling of responsibility, of self

discipline. We must look to renew

state and local government! We must

have a complete reform of a big,

bloated federal government. The

average American is just like the

child in the family. You give him

some responsibility and he is going to

amount to something. If you make him

completely dependent and pamper him,

you are going to make him soft, and a

very weak individual.

NIXON (CONT'D)

I begin with the proposition that

freedom of choice in housing,

education and jobs is the right of

every American. On the other hand, I

am convinced that while legal

segregation is totally wrong, forced

integration of housing or education is

just as wrong! We simply have to face

the hard fact that the law cannot go

beyond what people are willing to

support. This was true as far as

Prohibition was concerned. It is far

more true with regard to education and

housing ... Yet those of us in public

service know -- we can have full

prosperity in peace time ...

Yes, we can cut the defense budget.

We can reduce conventional forces in

Europe. We can restore the national

environment. We can improve health

care and make it available more fairly

to all people. And yes, we can have a

complete reform of this government.

We can have a new American Revolution.

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