Isn't that MacPherson, the commentator?
Yes.
That's General Scott's car.
Buddy, you've just been impressed into the Secret Service.
Harold MacPherson and General James Scott.
There's a pair to draw to.
Good morning, General. This is Jordan Lyman.
Good morning. We're both early birds today.
General, to come right to the point. I'm not going to participate in the alert.
Frankly, I'm tired out.
I've decided to go to my place at Blue Lake and fish for a few days.
You'll forgive me, sir, but I must say I don't like it.
As Commander in Chief, orders can only be given by you.
Mr. President, I don't think the Russians will be very impressed...
...by an alert that takes place while you go fishing.
Suppose you let me be thejudge of that, General.
I'm afraid my decision is final.
Of course. It's up to you, sir.
When do you expect to go to Blue Lake?
Late Friday, probably.
I envy you. Good luck with the fish.
- Goodbye, General. - Goodbye, Mr. President.
Hold my calls.
Colonel Broderick, please.
What's that, Mrs. Henderson?
I'm an old friend of his. I'm real anxious to see him.
Clark, ma'am. Ray Clark.
I know it's restricted, but I thought perhaps if I could talk to him.
What's that?
I didn't quite hear you. Would you say that again?
Well, is there any way I could get a message to him?
Would you be good enough to just tell him that Ray Clark called?
Thank you very much, Mrs. Henderson.
Fill her up?
No thanks, honey. Just check my oil.
Hey, you mind?
Not at all. Tell me, could you turn that down some?
Oh, sure, honey.
Hey, Charlie, turn it down.
- Do you rent space in that thing? - Oh, you.
You want to dance?
No, thank you, honey. I just had a hernia operation.
You are funny.
I was sort of hoping you were in the Army.
Why?
Charlie heard there was a new base being put up here.
That's why he bought the place.
You see any soldiers?
How long has the base been here?
Who knows?
You know Charlie, he's always decorating this place. He has a talent for that.
And on Saturday night, he puts out a huge sign.
It says, "Big Party." And he doubles his drinks, too.
And I don't water them none, either.
You wonder what the country's coming to.
All those boys sitting up in the desert, never seeing no girls.
Well, they might as well be in stir.
How far is the base from here?
About 50 miles or so.
You hear the planes coming in and out all the time, but don't see any pilots.
Not so much as one single pilot.
What's the matter? Don't they drink in the Air Force?
How would I get in there?
Oh, lots of luck. You can't even see the place.
There's just a road over leading to the left and then nothing.
I was telling Charlie.
We ought to drive up there sometime with a couple of kegs of beer for the boys...
...and tell them where it's from. You know, leave cards or something.
I'm glad we can offer you some real Mediterranean weather, Mr. Girard.
Thank you, Admiral.
Instead of that dirty stuff they have in the Atlantic.
- Care for a cigar? - No, thanks.
Admiral, I understand you're not much of a betting man.
That depends on the game.
What is your pleasure? Poker, roulette, what?
No, those are house games. I don't much care for the odds.
What about horse racing?
On occasion. Depends on the race, sometimes the weather.
- And the horse does make the difference. - Well, that's true.
What about the Preakness?
Have you got anything good going there?
I only bet on sure things.
You're a very lucky sailor. That's exactly what I've got for you.
A sure thing.
What is the bet, Mr. Girard?
There are members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who are involved in treason.
We know who they are, and the essence of the plan.
And from you, I want a signed statement indicating...
...when you first heard of this operation and your complicity in this entire matter.
Frankly, I wish I had more time.
I wish you did, too, Admiral.
Unfortunately, you don't.
Jiggs.
I'm looking for a very pretty girl named Eleanor Holbrook.
Come in.
Thank you.
You're a long way from the barracks.
I was in the neighborhood.
A fact?
A lie. I just thought the country could spare me for an evening.
- I wondered how you were. - I'm fine, Jiggs.
- Would you like a martini? - That sounds great.
Very nice.
Yes, that's right.
- You've never been here before. - No, not even close.
Thank you.
What is it, Jiggs?
You have something on your mind.
Well, hasn't your mother ever told you about Marines?
Well, I know all about this Marine.
Never a wasted moment or a thrown-away day.
What do you want?
Well, you invited me.
Remember? A rain check handed out the night of the party.
Oh, yes. Good for one visit, anytime.
Here I am.
What shall we talk about?
Nuclear disarmament, high cost of living, ladies' fashions?
Or should we fall back on the familiar item of conversation, gentleman Jim Scott?
Well, this must come as a shock to you, but I lock up the office now and then.
You're a beautiful woman.
Don't tell me after all this time you're making a pass, Jiggs.
The window's open. You could always scream.
Is this when I scream?
You want to scream?
That's a rather unfair question.
I'm a little vulnerable now.
Particularly when it concerns an old friend I happen to like.
Do me a favor.
Don't complicate my life right now.
I just got over a very bad burn.
Would you like another martini?
Perhaps we should talk about...
It's funny. It doesn't feel like an iron mask.
You're a fraud, Jiggs.
Hey, how about dinner someplace?
You might even talk me into wheeling you around a dance floor.
No. I'll fix something for us here. Did you know that I'm a swinging cook?
Sounds like I've got myself a good deal.
You might have, Jiggs. A very good deal.
I'll make you two promises:
A very good steak, medium rare, and the truth, which is very rare.
And it's in writing?
Thank God. Now when can you get back?
Trans Ocean, Flight 42 out of Madrid.
Good. I'll see you for breakfast.
Someone I knew 1,000 years ago.
It's funny, I can't even remember his name.
Scott, James Mattoon Scott, General in the United States Air Force.
Doesn't ring a bell.
Why does a girl keep a photograph of a man she doesn't even remember?
I can't imagine.
That's an easy way to get rid of a ghost.
It works wonders.
No symptoms remaining?
None that I'm aware of.
If I find that I'm kidding myself, I know where to go for help.
There's an easy test.
Bring it out in the open, look at it, talk about it, see if it hurts.
I don't know what's to be gained by hurting...
...but if you think it's right...
I think it's right.
I was in love with him.
I found...
...excitement in his strength.
I didn't mind about the backstreet angle...
...sneaking time together, stolen moments from his wife.
Eleanor Holbrook, the emancipated woman.
Go on.
I don't know. I don't know when it changed.
But I began to realize that he really never felt anything.
Each move was calculated.
He's a very careful man, your general.
I don't believe he ever took a chance in his life...
...or ever really felt anything, any real emotion.
He was so sure of me that he could even write letters.
A careful man doesn't incriminate himself in writing.
That's where you're wrong.
If he's sure enough, he can do anything...
...anything to amuse himself.
I kept them.
I told myself that I'd use them against him for revenge.
At least, Jiggs...
...he was right about me in that respect.
I was pretty low, but not that low.
Is that what you wanted?
Does that prove anything to you?
- I'm sorry, Ellie. - No.
You said to bring it out in the open. Now it is.
- We go from here, all right? - Sure.
I'll go and repair the damages and get back to that steak.
Don't go away.
You know, it's a funny thing, Jiggs.
I'm not surprised at Scott.
But do you know what does cut?
The fact that he sent you. And the fact that you came.
I need these, Ellie. The reason doesn't matter.
And trying to soften me up with a little preliminary lovemaking...
That was dirty pool, Jiggs.
You didn't come here to salvage me. You came here to salvage his good name.
If I could tell you why I had to do this, you'd understand.
I was a stupid, impressionable female...
...who let an Air Force general use her like his personal airplane.
I don't rate any applause, God knows. But you...
Scott didn't want to dirty his hands collecting those letters...
...but Colonel Casey is always ready to clean up the General's privy.
The man on the right, that's Murdock, General Scott's aide.
On the left, that's Colonel Broderick. He commands the base at Site Y.
I don't know who the other man is.
So the rabbit laid bait for the fox.
If I'd gone up to Blue Lake, they'd have tried to kidnap me.
I have no doubt of that at all.
I'll make the following admission, Colonel Casey.
Any doubts I may have had have been properly placed in the wastebasket.
Good man, Chris.
Your group did a great job this morning, Art.
- It's appreciated. - Thank you, sir.
I can bring out another point that's made in that film.
Scott had to dispatch Colonel Broderick all the way from El Paso...
...on a job that any investigator could've done.
This must mean, in terms of numbers, he's no better off than we are.
That's good solid evidence, right there.
And gentlemen, Paul Girard should be here very shortly.
This stuff you unearthed, Colonel Casey, is dynamite.
Very revealing of General Scott's extracurricular love life.
Any taste of victory we have in our mouths...
...is due in no small measure to your efforts.
The taste I've got in my mouth, Mr. Secretary, is unmentionable.
I can understand that feeling, Colonel.
But when you deal with a jackal like your general...
This is a full Air Force general.
Six times wounded. Wearing half the medals he deserves.
Whatever he is, he's no jackal.
My God, the sensitivity of our warriors.
Did I step on your old school tie?
You're just like a lot of civilians.
After every armistice you want to put us away in mothballs.
When it comes to dying, you want to put us in a uniform!
That's enough!
Please.
I'm sorry, sir.
You have every right to resent what you were forced to do.
It was a dirty, thankless job.
Its necessity doesn't make it more palatable.
I appreciate how you feel, and deeply appreciate what you've done.
I could never bring myself to use any of this against Scott.
Suppose it comes down to bare knuckles.
Chris, I'm not prepared to answer that just now.
Thank God, I don't have to.
For the first time, I'd say we were on top of it.
Mr. President.
Paul Girard is dead.
Oh, my God!
His plane crashed in the mountains outside of Madrid.
Any effects?
The wreckage was strewn out for a couple of miles.
Nothing left of anybody.
You've got to give out some kind of statement.
- Can I draft one for you? - What?
About his being away.
Say he was abroad on a vacation. Don't say any more than that.
I've had two close friends in my life. I mean, really close.
One was Paul Girard.
The other is Ray Clark.
One of them helped me become president.
This one helped me to remain president.
I've cost Paul Girard his life.
What about Ray Clark? Where is he?
Where in God's name is he?
Now look here, Prentice. Don't you jolly me, boy.
I'm 24 hours stuck in this oven. You heard me right, boy.
When I get out of here, you better be ready with a long list of answers.
You heard me right, boy. You heard me right.
Yes, Senator.
I agree, sir.
By all means, Senator.
Very well, sir.
Prentice assures me your committee was notified of the existence of this base.
You were vacationing someplace off in Georgia...
...getting a change of scene or something.
You better get yourself a change of story because that don't cut any ice.
I've been doing no vacationing since Congress has been in session.
There is no record of any ECOMCON base...
...or any designation like it.
Why don't you have yourself a drink and finish your dinner?
I'll show you around our base a little later on.
We're mighty proud of it.
I'd like to take that tour right now.
That won't be possible, Senator, that won't be possible.
But I'll see you later. We'll look around when it's cooler.
Jordie, boy.
Right now, short of a Confederate miracle...
...you're going to be walking in a parade with both your legs cut off.
I'm not going to make matters worse by getting drunk on the job.
Keep on working. I will talk with the Consul.
- Are you the American Consul? - Yes, I'm from the embassy.
- I'm Captain Ortega. - Henry Whitney.
We are collecting the effects, but there really isn't very much.
As I told them over the phone, there were only two American nationals on board.
Mrs. Agnes Buchanan from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
And a Mr. Paul Girard. His destination was Washington.
There was no address on the passenger manifest.
Did you find any effects of the Americans? Anything at all?
Nothing yet, seņor.
Senator Clark?
Yeah.
I'm Colonel Henderson, Colonel Broderick's adjutant.
I didn't think Colonel Broderick had an adjutant, just a bartender.
I don't understand, sir.
Well, it's just that you're so hospitable around here.
I got a message yesterday that you'd call my home.
I didn't connect you with the message until I found out you were here.
I'm sorry about your having to stay in your room.
Frankly, I don't understand it, but the orders were quite specific.
I'll just have to live with it.
As to the call, I was really phoning for a mutual friend of ours, Jiggs Casey.
Mutt, isn't it?
That's what they call me. How do you know Jiggs?
He has been up before our committee a number of times...
...and he's done some favors for me on occasion.
Could I get you a drink?
Those part of your orders, Colonel?
I don't understand.
To get me snoggered?
No, sir. I just...
These bottles have been coming in every hour on the hour.
Doesn't that seem a little odd to you?
I mean, keeping me cooped up in here with a flow of bourbon!
- I don't know what you're saying. - What do you know?
About what?
Would you sit down and hear me out?
I guess so.
I want to preface this with an assurance to you.
My mind is sound, even though I've been cooped up here for a day and a night.
Do you trust Jiggs Casey?
You name it, he can have it, sir. Why?
If he told you something, would you believe him?
I would, indeed.
All right, then. Check this one out.
When you told Jiggs about ECOMCON last Monday...
...he'd never heard of it before.
That's funny.
There was a moment, just one moment.
How did you know about my seeing Jiggs on Monday?
He told me. He told some other people, too.
He'd never heard of it before.
After you left, Jiggs went over all the JCS orders for the last year.
There was no record of ECOMCON or anything like it.
Impossible. Colonel Broderick goes to Washington all the time to brief the brass.
Not all of the brass.
Not President Lyman, not me. A very selective briefing.
All you've got to know is this:
The government of the United States is at the top of the Washington Monument...
...tipping right and left, ready to fall and break up on the pavement.
Just a handful of men can prevent that.
And you're one of them.
Now you listen to me, Mutt.
I'll tell you the damnedest story you ever heard.
You're relieved. I'm taking the civilian in my custody. Go back to the barracks.
Senator Clark.
Post 10.
Give me Colonel Broderick's office.
I'm sorry, but I have orders that the civilian is not to leave the base.
I'm countermanding those orders, and escorting the civilian into town.
Sir, I don't know. Colonel Broderick said that...
Throw the keys over here.
Eject that cartridge belt, and throw it down on the ground.
You stay put right here. I'll phone the White House.
When this is over, you can take off your girdle and have yourself a good cry.
Say, have you got a dime to stop a revolution with?
Ma'am, did you see a real tall soldier with a funny hat waiting right here?
No.
Could your men have been mistaken, Art?
Not a chance, sir. The gate guard was too positive.
It was Henderson all right.
Brought into the Fort Myer stockade, 10:30 this morning.
Rode in the back of an Army sedan under guard. Now held incommunicado.
Okay, Arthur. Thank you.
At least he's alive.
Admiral Barnswell, sir.
Admiral Barnswell, this is the President.
Well, sir, he came aboard a few days ago...
...he passed on your personal greetings, and that's about the size of it, sir.
Frankly, no, Mr. President. He gave me nothing to sign.
I'm sorry, sir. I can only recount to you the situation as it occurred.
I signed no paper.
He took nothing with him.
Well, if anything happens to revitalize your memory, Admiral...
...l'd appreciate a phone call.
It's now 2:20 on a Saturday afternoon.
At 2:20 tomorrow afternoon...
...somebody will have thrown a switch at Mount Thunder...
...General James Scott will be on all three television networks...
...explaining to the United States people why this crucifixion is an act of faith.
What would you call this? Sponge-throwing time?
Mr. President, what are you waiting for?
Fire Scott, Hardesty, Dieffenbach, Riley.
Sedition, pure and simple. Close down Mount Thunder.
Declare a state of martial law.
And then where do I stand? A lunatic. A paranoiac.
A screaming wild man with nothing to back him up...
...because his proof is scattered over a mountain...
...disappeared in an airport, or it's all part of delirium tremens of a dipso senator.
Would you allow me to strike that last idiotic remark?
There's no need, Jordie. It's just what the Congress would say.
But you do have one last alternative.
And that is?
To use these letters that Casey got from the girl.
When you get to the bottom of the barrel, where we are now, you use expedients.
Hit the network cutoff.
Network cutoff.
Good.
Now, one more time. Position A.
Site G. Pope Field.
- Position B. - ECOMCON force. Site Y.
- Position C. - Site X. Mount Thunder, C.P.
Good, good.
Let's hear it.
Barney Rutkowski, Air Defense.
He's screaming bloody murder about those 12 troop carriers dispatched to El Paso.
Says they're checked for El Paso and then lost on the radar screen.
Wants to know where they went and why.
He also wants to know why 30 more are at Bragg with the same destination.
- What did you tell him? - I told him it was classified and to forget it.
Well, that ought to do it.
He's a hard-nosed book player with a radar screen at his bed.
If I know him, he's not going to stop here. He'll go right up to the President.
Go ahead, Barney.
One of my controllers was watching a flight of troop carriers Wednesday...
... heading for El Paso.
They turned northwest and dropped off our radar screens.
We tried to find out about it through channels...
... and all we get is the big stall.
There's some kind of a secret base out there...
... and I think I should have been notified of it.
Keep going, General.
Thirty more transports were due at this classified place at 7:00 a.m. Tomorrow.
Now I learn it's been moved up to 23:00 tonight.
I want all those aircraft grounded.
You're to give the order that they're to stand down.
That's been authorized by the President, can be verified by calling the White House.
Do you understand that?
I guess I do, sir.
I want you available.
Phone in and let this office know where you are.
Yes, sir.
The next step should be to your liking, Chris.
- Esther? - Yes, sir.
Call the Pentagon.
Tell General Scott I want to see him right away.
I think it's time we faced the enemy, Mr. President.
He's not the enemy.
Scott, the Joint Chiefs...
...even the very emotional, very illogical lunatic fringe, they're not the enemy.
The enemy is an age.
A nuclear age.
It happens to have killed man's faith in his ability...
...to influence what happens to him.
And out of this comes a sickness. A sickness of frustration.
A feeling of impotence, helplessness, weakness.
And from this, this desperation...
...we look for a champion in red, white and blue.
Every now and then a man on a white horse rides by...
...and we appoint him to be our personal god for the duration.
For some men it was a Senator McCarthy. For others it was a General Walker.
Now it's a General Scott.
- Yes? - General Scott is here, sir.
Send him in, please.
Good evening, Mr. President.
Sit down, General.
I'm glad you decided to call off that fishing trip.
Don't bother about that.
We don't need it tonight.
We aren't going to have an alert tomorrow.
I beg your pardon, Mr. President. You wish the alert cancelled?
I do. I intend to cancel it.
May I ask why?
Certain facts have come to my attention. I won't waste time detailing them all now.
I'll simply say that I want your resignation tonight...
...and those of Generals Hardesty, Riley and Dieffenbach as well.
Either you are joking, or you have taken leave of your senses.
I know of no reason why I should remove my name from the active list voluntarily.
Or, for that matter, any of the other Joint Chiefs.
You could give me the reasons, General.
But if you want me to itemize them, I shall be glad to do so.
Please do.
You have used, without my authority...
...substantial sums from the Joint Chiefs' Contingency Fund...
...to establish a base, and train a special unit of troops whose purpose...
...and even whose existence, was kept secret from me...
...from officials of the Bureau of the Budget and members of the Congress.
And the name of the unit?
You know that unit.
It's designation is ECOMCON.
I'm afraid your memory fails you, Mr. President.
You gave me verbal authorization for the base and the unit.
As I recall, we covered many items that day.
Perhaps you didn't pay much attention.
I assumed you'd inform the Director of the Budget.
What was the date of that meeting, General?
I can't recall exactly, but it was right here in this office. Last November, I believe.
You have a record of the date and subject?
Certainly, Mr. President, in my office.
If you want, I'll get it from the Pentagon now.
That won't be necessary, General.
No, it won't be necessary.
Colonel Murdock, my aide, is outside. He sat in on the meeting.
He will substantiate my memorandum as to the date and the discussion.
- I'll ask him in. - That won't be necessary either, General.
You kept a member of the US Senate forcibly detained at this base...
...and he will so testify.
That would be?
That would be Senator Raymond Clark, the senior senator from Georgia.
I wasn't aware that Senator Clark had ever visited the base.
He will also testify as to the collusion...
...between the commander of the base and Senator Prentice of California...
...who with yourself and a handful of others knew of the existence of the base.
Any other charges?
Would you like them in chronological order?
The selection of a commanding officer for a secret base...
...who is openly contemptuous of civilian authority...
...and who's made statements that come close to violation of the sedition laws.
I never discuss politics with my officers, but I do demand the highest competence.
Colonel Broderick is an excellent officer with a fine combat record.
And an interesting travel record, you might add.
What was he doing on a motor boat cruising around my island at Blue Lake?
Don't tell me that's my imagination because I've got him on film.
What about the kidnapping and detention of Colonel Henderson at the airport today?
I know about that case.
Colonel Henderson struck an enlisted man and left his post.
He's now being held for disciplinary action.
Incommunicado, you might add. So that he doesn't tell what he knows.
And then there are the wagering activities of yours, General...
...particularly a betting pool on the Preakness.
Come now, Mr. President.
Or perhaps more aptly classified, your personal and private code.
It covers your plan for the military overthrow...
...of the United States Government.
I presume, Mr. President, you're prepared to back up that charge.
I am prepared to brand you for what you are, General.
A strutting egoist with a Napoleonic power complex.
And an out-and-out traitor!
I know you think I'm a weak sister, General...
...but when it comes to my oath of office and defending the Constitution...
I know how to salute a flag.
You don't know the democratic processes it represents.
Don't you presume to take on that job, Mr. President...
...because you're not qualified.
Your action in the past year has bordered on criminal negligence.
The treaty with the Russians is a violation of any concept of security.
You're not a weak sister, Mr. President. You're a criminally weak sister.
If you will talk about your oath of office, I'm here to tell you face to face:
You violated that oath by stripping the country's muscles...
...when you played upon the fear of the people...
...and told them they could remove that fear by the stroke of a pen.
Then when this nation rejected you and began militantly to oppose you...
...you violated that oath by not resigning and turning the country over...
...to someone who'd represent the people.
And that would be General James Mattoon Scott, wouldn't it?
I don't know whether to laugh at such megalomania, or simply cry.
James Mattoon Scott hasn't the slightest interest in his own glorification...
...but he does have a concern about the survival of this country.
Then, by God, run for office!
You have a such a fervid, passionate, evangelical affection for your country.
Why in God's name don't you have faith...
...in the system of government you're so hell-bent to protect?
You say I've duped the people. I've bilked them. I've misled them.
I've stripped them naked and made them defenseless.
You accuse me of having lost their faith...
...and deliberately and criminally shut my ears to the national voice?
I do.
Where the hell have you heard that voice?
In freight elevators?
In dark alleys? In secret places in the dead of night?
How did that voice seep into a locked room full of conspirators?
That's not where you hear the voice of the people. Not in this republic.
You want to defend the United States of America?
Then defend it with the tools it supplies you with, it's Constitution.
You ask for a mandate, General, from a ballot box.
You don't steal it after midnight when the country has it's back turned.
Are you serious, Mr. President?
Are you honest-to-God serious?
I could walk out of here tonight...
...and offer myself as candidate for the presidency...
...and by tomorrow, I'd be at that desk...
...with precisely the mandate you hold so dear.
And what's more, you know it, I know it, and the country knows it.
Don't say I'd have seized an office tomorrow without the benefit of support.
If you had the guts to call for a show of hands, you'd be on an airplane to Ohio.
You can ask for and get your show of hands.
Wait a year and nine months for an election.
By then, I don't think there'll be an electorate, let alone an election.
I think we'll be sitting in our own rubble. A minimum of 100 million dead.
And on the gravestone we can carve:
"They died for Jordan Lyman's concept of peace."
Did it ever occur to you that...
...if you took over this government by force...
...you wouldn't have to wait a year and nine months for the funeral?
If the Soviet Union saw our government taken over by a military dictatorship...
...how long would it take them to break the treaty?
Possibly even attack us?
I think perhaps a question of days, perhaps hours...
...certainly weeks.
I want your resignation, General. I want it tonight. I'm expecting it.
Along with the other members of the Joint Chiefs who are involved in this treason.
I'll tell you quite unequivocally...
...l'll not tell the reason for your resignation.
If that were ever made public, this country would go down the drain.
- Will you resign, General? - I will not resign.
I can demand your resignation, as you well know.
Demand and be damned. I will not resign voluntarily.
Nor will any of the others.
But what I will do is take this issue to the people.
I'll demand a public platform.
Then we'll see which one of us the United States will follow.
Anything else...
...Mr. President?
I've called a press conference for tomorrow.
I'll announce that I've asked for all of your resignations.
I'll use as a reason...
...our differences over the treaty.
Without proof, you couldn't possibly say otherwise.
You simply wouldn't dare.
I'm going to fight you.
I'm sorry, Jiggs. Return them to Miss Holbrook.
This will be delivered at:00 tonight on all major networks.
I'll be taping it in one hour.
This is strong stuff, General.
Thank you, General.
Are you sure that he won't use this press conference to make any accusations?
He'll use this press conference to support a position that is totally indefensible.
General, if he accuses us of sedition, whether he has the proof or not...
...this could be a sticky business.
Jordan Lyman is finished...
...no matter what he says during his press conference, no matter what he does after.
An educated guess is that within a week there'll be a move for impeachment.
That's it, gentlemen.
You're welcome to stay here and watch on television. I'll be at the studio.
Colonel Murdock will be in touch with me if I'm needed.
Good day.
Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.
All right, gentlemen. Let's begin.
The Gallup Poll of last week indicated what appears to be...
... a very universal rejection of your entire political philosophy.
The nuclear treaty with the Soviets. Would you comment on that?
Insofar as the treaty is concerned...
... my reasons for asking that it be ratified have been stated and re-stated.
We have reached a point on this earth...
Excuse mejust a moment, gentlemen.
Jordie, you better talk to this fellow.
This is Henry Whitney from our embassy in Madrid.
He brought this.
I'm the only one who's read that paper. Nobody knows I'm here.
Delay the press conference for a half hour.
You are never to disclose or even hint at the existence of this paper, Mr. Whitney.
I emphasize the word "never."
- Ray, have this Photostatted. - Yes, sir.
Colonel Casey, see that Scott and the others get copies right away.
Yes, sir.
That's a signed statement from Admiral Barnswell.
You're a night crawler, Colonel. A peddler. You sell information.
Are you sufficiently up on your Bible to know who Judas was?
I suggest you read that letter, sir. It's from the President.
I asked you a question.
Are you ordering me to answer, sir?
I am.
Yes, I know who Judas was.
He was a man I worked for and admired...
...until he disgraced the four stars on his uniform.
Mr. President, for the past 48 hours...
... there has been considerable scuttlebutt concerning the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
There have been rumors that there is to be some sort of mass resignation.
Would you care to comment on that, sir?
I'll answer that, but I'd like to preface with a few other comments.
In a democracy...
... once the president and the Senate, as responsible authorities...
... make a decision, then debate and opposition among the military...
... who have opposed this treaty from the outset, must come to an end.
This is the way in war.
So it also must be in the councils of government here in Washington.
I have had no choice...
... but to ask for the resignation of General James Scott.
At the same time, I have asked for the resignations of three other officers:
General Hardesty and General Dieffenbach...
... the Chiefs of Staff of the Air Force and Army...
... and General Riley, Commandant of the Marine Corps.
Yes, I've already heard. He told me so.
General, I'll be right out.
General, all hell's broken loose.
General, he's asked them to resign. Hardesty, Dieffenbach, Riley and yourself.
Riley called here. He tried to reach you.
Somehow Lyman got a hold of Barnswell's statement.
It implicated all of us. Names, dates, the works.
Jim, what are we going to do?
When do we tape? You got my speech, didn't you?
Yes, but when this came out minutes ago, the five network vice-presidents called me.
Do I get on the air or don't I?
We've gone along with you all the way, but for God's sake, we're in jeopardy now.
The last thing we want is publicity.
Shut up, Prentice.
Harold?
General, it's out of my hands now.
What will you do?
Go to Mount Thunder and cut in on the television networks.
- He's asked for your... - He won't get them!
Dieffenbach, Riley and Hardesty are made of sterner stuff than you.
- General, be realistic. - Go to hell!
I can comment on that to this extent.
Americans, traditionally and historically, have given vent to their views.
On the day that this government does anything arbitrarily...
... to stifle those views, it will have to change form.
It will cease to be a democracy.
And I can state quite frankly that this day will not come.
Gentlemen, the papersjust handed me...
... are the resignations...
... of Generals Hardesty, Riley, and Dieffenbach.
I'll repeat that, gentlemen.
These three officers havejust officially tendered their resignations.
Their statements will be made public after this conference.
Before we have any further questions...
... may I insert these comments?
The point of this treaty, as I've reiterated on a number of occasions...
... is that in every true sense...
... we force ourselves gradually to step away from an offensive posture.
I'm sorry, sir.
Where to, sir?
Sir?
Take me home.
Your General's just been shot down.
Yes.
Were those the bullets?
They might have been, but they weren't.
- Ellie. - Yes?
Another rain check?
Tuck it somewhere safe, where you won't forget.
There has been abroad in this land in recent months...
...a whisper that we have somehow lost our greatness...
...that we do not have the strength to win without war...
...the struggles for liberty throughout the world.
This is slander...
...because our country is strong...
...strong enough to be a peacemaker.
It is proud. Proud enough to be patient.
The whisperers, the detractors, the violent men are wrong.
We will remain strong and proud, peaceful and patient...
...and we will see a day when on this earth...
...all men will walk out of the long tunnels of tyranny...
...into the bright sunshine of freedom.
Ladies and gentlemen, that was the President of the United States.