Nixon Page #7

HANNAH puts the food on the table as FRANK NIXON, sleeves

rolled up, waits at the head of the table, fuming. ARTHUR

(6) and DONALD (9) join RICHARD and HAROLD. (The fifth

brother, Edward, has not yet been born.) Harold reaches

for a dish.

FRANK:

Don't you dare, Harold!

HAROLD:

(a little laugh)

I just thought, since the food was

here ...

HANNAH:

We haven't said grace yet. Richard.

RICHARD:

(nervously)

Is it my turn?

Hannah nods. Richard puts his hands together, trying to

please.

RICHARD (CONT'D)

Heavenly Father, we humbly thank--

FRANK:

(interrupts)

I'll do it. There's a coupla things I

wanna say.

HANNAH:

Could thou at least remove thy apron,

Frank?

FRANK:

This blood pays the bills, Hannah.

I'm not ashamed of how I earn my

money.

(clears his throat)

Heavenly Father, you told Adam in the

Garden, after that business with the

snake, that man would have to earn his

way by the sweat of his face. Well,

as far as I can tell, Father, what was

true in Eden is true in Whittier,

California. So we ask you now to

remind certain of our young people ...

(glares at Harold)

... that the only way to get a new

suit to go to the promenade with

Margaret O'Herlihy, who happens to be

a Catholic by the way, is to work for

it.

(then)

Amen.

ARTHUR:

I like Margaret O'Herlihy, too. She's

very pretty. Can we pray now?

The boys start giggling.

HANNAH:

Arthur!

FRANK:

You think this is funny?

(then)

Pretty soon you boys are gonna have to

get out there and scratch, 'cause

you're not gonna get anywhere on your

good looks. Just ask those fellas ...

Frank waves to the Hobos, now squatting and wolfing down

the food. They look up, embarrassed.

FRANK (CONT'D)

Charity is only gonna get you so far --

even with saints like your mother

around. Struggle's what gives life

meaning, not victory. Struggle. When

you quit struggling, they've beaten

you, and then you end up in the street

with your hand out.

Frank begins eating; the rest follow.

NIXON (V.O.)

My mother was a saint, but my old man

struggled his whole life. You could

call him a little man, a poor man, but

they never beat him. I always tried

to remember that when things didn't go

my way...

EXT. WHITTIER FOOTBALL FIELD - DAY (1932)

FOOTBALL MONTAGE: RICHARD (19), 150 pounds, is on the

defensive line as the ball is hiked. ("Let's get fired

up!") He gets creamed by a 200-pound offensive tackle. He

jumps up, no face guard, hurting, and resets. AD LIB

football chatter. We can tell from Richard's cheap uniform

that he is a substitute. But:

We go again. And again. Building a special RHYTHM of JUMP

CUTS showing Nixon getting mauled each time. He doesn't

have a chance, this kid, but he has pluck. And he comes

back for more. And more.

This image of pain and humiliation should weave itself in

and out of the film in repetitive currents. As we

CUT TO:

OMIT SCENE #19

INT. HILTON HOTEL - BALLROOM - NIGHT (1962)

We move down past a blizzard of balloons and confetti blown

by a hotel air-conditioner to a huge "NIXON FOR GOVERNOR"

banner.

NIXON thrusts his arms in the air -- the twin-V salute.

The CROWD cheer wildly. SUBTITLE READS: "CALIFORNIA

GOVERNORSHIP, 1962."

INT. HILTON HOTEL - SUITE - NIGHT

NIXON is slumped in an armchair, feet on a coffee table,

holding a drink, going through defeat once again.

HALDEMAN stares glumly at the TV. PAT sits across the room

in grim silence.

ON TV - a NEWSCASTER stands in front of a tally board with

the network logo: "Decision '62."

NEWSCASTER:

President Kennedy has called Governor

Pat Brown to congratulate him...

HALDEMAN:

Are we making a statement?

NEWSCASTER:

ABC is now projecting that Brown will

defeat Richard Nixon by more than a

quarter of a million votes.

Nixon holds up his drink to the screen. Moves to a piano.

NIXON:

Thank you, Fidel Castro.

PAT:

You're not going to blame this on

Castro, are you?

NIXON:

I sure am. The goddamned missile

crisis united the whole country behind

Kennedy. And he was supporting Brown.

People were scared, that's why.

PAT:

I suppose Castro staged the whole

thing just to beat you.

NIXON:

Buddy, before you join the jubilation

at my being beaten again, you should

remember:
People vote not out of love,

but fear. They don't teach that at

Sunday School or at the Whittier

Community Playhouse!

HALDEMAN:

(interjects)

I should go down and check in with our

people.

Haldeman leaves quickly.

ON TV - GOVERNOR BROWN steps to the podium. A band plays

"Happy Days Are Here Again."

PAT:

(back at Dick)

I'm glad they don't. You forget I had

a life before California, a rough,

rough life. Life isn't always fair,

Dick...

Nixon drowns her out, playing the piano (well) and singing

along bitterly.

NIXON:

"--the skies above are clear again.

Let's sing a song of cheer again--"...

Cocksucker!

Pat turns off the TV.

NIXON (CONT'D)

(continues to play)

Don't you want to listen to Brown's

victory speech?

PAT:

No. I'm not going to listen to any

more speeches ever again.

NIXON:

Amen to that.

PAT:

It's over, Dick.

NIXON:

I'll concede in the morning.

PAT:

Not that.

(then)

Us.

Nixon stops playing, looks at her.

PAT (CONT'D)

(coldly)

I've always stood by you. I

campaigned for you when I was

pregnant. During Checkers, when Ike

wanted you out, I told you to fight.

This is different, Dick. You've

changed. You've grown more ...

bitter, like you're at war with the

world. You weren't that way before.

You scare me sometimes... I'm fifty

years old now, Dick. How many

people's hands have I shaken -- people

I didn't like, people I didn't even

know. It's as if, I don't know, I

went to sleep along time ago and

missed the years between... I've had

enough.

He moves toward her awkwardly. Pat struggles. She goes to

a window, her back to him. She is not one to enjoy

"scenes." She tends to accommodate to others to preserve

an aura of happiness.

NIXON:

(confused)

What are you saying? What are you

talking about?

PAT:

I want a divorce.

NIXON:

My God -- divorce?

(beat)

What about the girls?

PAT:

The girls will grow up. They only

know you from television anyway.

NIXON:

It would ruin us, Buddy, our family.

PAT:

You're ruining us. If we stay with

you, you'll take us down with you.

(beat)

This isn't political, Dick. This is

our life.

NIXON:

Everything's political, for Christ's

sake! I'm political. And you're

political, too!

PAT:

No, I'm not! I'm finished.

She is very serious. He sees it. It terrifies him. The

same withdrawal he experienced from his mother.

NIXON:

This is just what they want, Buddy.

Don't you see it? They want to drive

us apart. To beat us. We can't let

them do it. We've been through too

much together, Buddy ... We belong

together.

PAT:

(ironic)

That's what you said the first time we

met. You didn't even know me.

MARRIAGE MONTAGE: During this scene we have a series of

SHOTS of their courtship -- the Whittier College campus,

1930s Los Angeles; driving in a car together; the wedding;

the FIRST CHILD; the Pacific NAVAL CAPTAIN underneath a

palm tree; running as a first-time CONGRESSMAN with Pat;

the EISENHOWER years...

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