Nixon Page #6

NIXON:

He outspent us and he still cheated.

A guy who's got everything. I can't

believe it. We came to Congress

together. I went to his wedding. We

were like brothers, for Christ's sake.

Pat leaves abruptly; she can't take it anymore. Chotiner

looks at Dick as if he were incredibly naive. HALDEMAN and

KLEIN are at a table, reams of returns before them.

KLEIN:

We've got the figures, Dick! The

fraud is obvious -- we call for a

recount.

HALDEMAN:

Nobody's ever contested a presidential

election.

CHOTINER:

Who's going to do the counting? The

Democrats control Texas, they control

Illinois.

KLEIN:

We shift 25,000 votes in two states,

and ...

CHOTINER:

How long would that take? Six months?

A year?

HALDEMAN:

Meanwhile, what happens to the

country?

NIXON:

The bastard! If I'd called his shot

on Cuba I would've won. He made me

look soft.

KLEIN:

(reading transcript)

"I feel sorry for Nixon because he

does not know who he is, and at each

stop he has to decide which Nixon he

is at the moment, which must be very

exhausting." -- Jack Kennedy.

CHOTINER:

Bullshit!

The CAMERA is driving in on Nixon building to a rage.

Klein knows how to get to him.

KLEIN:

(reading)

"Nixon's a shifty-eyed, goddamn liar.

If he had to stick to the truth he'd

have very little to say. If you vote

for him you ought to go to hell!" --

Harry S Truman ... That's what killed

us, Dick, not Cuba -- the personality

problem. Are we gonna let these

sonofabitch Democrats get away with

this?

HALDEMAN:

(sotto voce)

You know, Herb, it's not the time ...

Nixon in close-up, inner demons moving him. A brief IMAGE

of something ugly ... in Nixon. Himself, perhaps, drenched

in blood, or death imagery.

NIXON:

Goddamn Kennedy! Goes to Harvard.

His father hands him everything on a

silver platter! All my life they been

sticking it to me. Not the right

clothes, not the right schools, not

the right family. And then he steals

from me! I have nothing and he

steals.

(softly, lethal)

And he says I have "no class." And

they love him for it. It's not fair,

Murray, it's not fair.

CHOTINER:

Dick, you're only forty-seven. You

contest this election, you're

finished. You gotta swallow this one.

They stole it fair and square.

Nixon looks at him, broken-hearted. He controls his

reaction, and exits the room.

CHOTINER (CONT'D)

We'll get 'em next time, Dick.

KLEIN:

What makes you think there's gonna be

a next time, Murray?

Chotiner picks up the corner of a campaign poster with

Nixon's face on it, the name in bold below.

CHOTINER:

Because if he's not President Nixon,

he's nobody.

INT. AMBASSADOR HOTEL - CORRIDOR & SUITE - DAWN

NIXON crosses the corridor which is subdued in the morning

light. He hesitates at the door, knocks softly.

PAT NIXON stirs quietly as her husband walks to her bed.

They occupy separate beds.

NIXON:

We lost ...

PAT:

(bitterly)

I know ...

NIXON:

It's hard to lose ...

She reaches out to touch him. He allows himself to be

touched. It seems that, between them, intimacy is

difficult.

PAT:

It makes us human ...

NIXON:

It's not fair, Buddy. I can take the

insults; I can take the name-calling.

But I can't take the losing. I hate

it.

PAT:

We don't have to put ourselves through

this again, Dick.

NIXON:

What do you mean? We worked for it.

We earned it. It's ours.

PAT:

It is. We know that.

(then)

And it's enough that we know. Just

think of the girls. They're still

young. We never see them. I lost my

parents. I don't want them to lose

theirs; I don't want them to grow up

without a mother and father ...

NIXON:

Maybe I should get out of the game.

What do you think, Buddy? Go back to

being a lawyer and end up with

something solid, some money at the end

of the line ... You know, I keep

thinking of my old man tonight. He

was a failure, too.

PAT:

You're not a failure, Dick.

NIXON:

You know how much money he had in the

bank when he died?

(beat)

Nothing. He was so damned honest ...

(then)

But I miss him. I miss him a hell of

a lot.

He seems about to cry. Pat reaches out and cradles his

head on her shoulder. On his eyes we:

CUT TO:

EXT. NIXON GROCERY STORE - DUSK (1925)

A few gas pumps in front, overlooking a dry, western,

Edward Hopper landscape. A run-down residence at the back.

A large man in bloody butcher's apron, FRANK NIXON (46),

crosses.

INT. NIXON GROCERY STORE - DUSK

HAROLD (16), tall, handsome, walks in whistling. He winks

at RICHARD (12), who is sorting fruit in the bins. HANNAH

(39), a dour but gracious Quaker woman, is behind the

counter with a CUSTOMER.

RICHARD:

(whispers)

What'd he say?

HAROLD:

What do you think? He said in life

there's no free ride.

RICHARD:

What'd you say?

HAROLD:

I said I didn't need a free ride.

(flashes a smile)

I need a suit.

Richard buries his face in his hands.

RICHARD:

Oh, no, Harold. He doesn't respond

well to humor.

(looks at his mother,

worried)

Maybe if you talk to Mother she can

...

HAROLD:

I'd rather get a whipping than have

another talk with her. Anything but a

talk with her.

Richard is terrified Mom might overhear.

RICHARD:

Shhhh!

But it's too late. Hannah looks over, very sharp, as her

customer departs.

HANNAH:

Richard ... come with me, would you

...

RICHARD:

(surprised, aloud)

Why me?

INT. NIXON HOUSE - KITCHEN - DUSK

RICHARD, obediently seated, pays his Mother heed. He seems

a gloomy, unsmiling child in her presence. We sense that

this is familiar territory for both. HANNAH, very quiet,

penetrating with her gaze.

HANNAH:

Because Harold tests thy father's will

is no reason to admire him. Let

Harold's worldliness be a warning to

thee, not an example.

RICHARD:

Yes, Mother ...

HANNAH:

Harold may have lost touch with his

Bible, but thou must never lapse.

Then, she extends her hand.

HANNAH (CONT'D)

Now, give it to me ...

Richard is about to plead ignorance.

HANNAH (CONT'D)

Do not tell a lie, Richard ... The

cornsilk cigarette Harold gave thee

behind the store this morning.

RICHARD:

(lying)

I don't ... have them. Mother ... I

swear, I ... didn't smoke.

HANNAH:

(withdrawing)

I see ... Well then, Richard, we have

nothing more to talk about, do we?

RICHARD:

(fearful, blurts out)

Please, Mother, it ... it was just one

time, Mother, I'm ... I'm sorry.

HANNAH:

So am I. Thy father will have to know

of thy lying.

RICHARD:

(terrified)

No, no! Please, don't. Don't tell

him. I'll never do it again. I

promise. I promise ...

(on the edge of tears)

Please, mama ...

HANNAH:

(pause)

I expect more from thee, Richard.

He buries his head in her skirt. The faintest smile on

Hannah's face as she pockets the cigarette.

RICHARD:

Please! I'll never let you down

again, Mother. Never. I promise.

HANNAH:

Then this shall be our little secret.

(She lifts his face to hers)

Remember that I see into thy soul as

God sees. Thou may fool the world.

Even thy father. But not me, Richard.

Never me.

RICHARD:

Mother, think of me always as your

faithful dog ...

INT. NIXON HOUSE - KITCHEN - NIGHT

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