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Do you solemnly swear that you will faithfully execute
the office of President of the United States,
and will, to the best of your ability,
preserve, protect and defend
the Constitution of the United States?
I do.
Congratulations, Mr. President.
Good night, Mr. President.
The inauguration went off with a bang.
Yes, but it was pretty wet.
That's more than I can say for this punch.
Good night, Mr. President.
Good night, Senator.
Don't you worry about Paris.
I am not. It's Oklahoma that I am worried about.
- Good night, Jud. - Oh.
All right, good night, Senator.
Glad to have you in the cabinet.
Well, it's better than being a lame duck.
Uh, good night, Mr. Vice President. Hope you sleep well.
When did a vice president ever do anything else?
Oh.
Jud, one of your constituents outside is very anxious to see you.
Oh, I don't want to see anybody.
My hand is worn out now.
Well, you better see this fellow.
He's insistent, and he's armed.
Oh.
- Hello, Uncle Jud! - Hello, Jim!
He insisted on coming to your reception, Mr. President.
That's all right, Miss Nash.
Beekman, he's the only person that can see the President
at any time without an appointment.
Jim, I want you to meet the gentleman
who made your uncle the President of the United States.
- Hello, Jim. - I've got a speech.
Got a speech? All right, let's hear the speech.
I love my Uncle Jud,
'cause he's gonna cure the Depression,
and make all the people rich again.
That's very good.
I see your nephew is inclined to the military.
What's that?
You're going to be a soldier, Jim?
No, I'm gonna be a gangster.
I guess it's more profitable at that.
Are you a policeman?
You have a very ignorant nephew, Mr. President.
He should know I'm not a policeman by looking at my feet.
Well, you better run along home now, Jim.
Gangsters need some rest, you know?
- Bye, Uncle Jud. - Good night, Jim.
- Good night. - Bye, everybody.
- Good night, Mr. President. - Good night.
I hope you have a different opinion of me than your nephew.
- Good night, sir. - Good night.
- Good night.
Did I keep my promise, Jud?
Well, I'm in the White House.
- And considerably worried. - Why?
When I think of all the promises
I made the people to get elected.
You had to make some promises.
By the time they realize you're not going to keep them, your turn will be over.
Oh, thanks for those unexpected votes from Alabama.
Wait till you get the bill for them.
- Good night, Jud. - Good night.
- Good night, Mr. President. - Good night.
Good night, Chief.
Senator Langham, if you run the Senate
like I'm going to run the White House, we won't need any luck.
- Good night, Mr. President. - Good night.
- Good night.
Jasper, I can't tell you how grateful I am.
Don't mention it.
You'll make the best president the party ever had.
- Good night. - Good night. Good night, Jasper.
- Good night, Beekman. - Good night, sir.
Well, Beekman, here we are in the White House.
A pretty big place for a bachelor president.
I think I'll look the place over.
You know, I feel a good deal like a puppy.
I have to turn around three or four times before I lie down.
I hope I never have to shake hands again the rest of my life.
Is there anything else I've got to do?
Well, there are a lot of cablegrams up in your study.
So I suppose I should read those.
Anything else?
Well, I'd like you to know how much I appreciate
this opportunity of serving my country.
Mmm, yeah. Oh, yes, yes.
Serving your country, yes.
Now, Beekman, do you realize that
you're the youngest secretary a president ever had?
I appreciate the honor, sir.
I only need young blood around here.
Beekman's rather a long name.
Do you mind if I call you "Beek?"
- Not at all, sir. - All right.
I'll call you Beek and you call me "Major," okay?
Oh, Mr. Beekman.
Mr. Beekman is the President's secretary.
Miss Molloy, is that correct?
Miss Pendola Molloy.
Well, Miss Molloy, the President's had rather a trying day.
Yes, I know. Inaugurations are very trying.
Well, may I ask what it is you wish to see the President about?
About Miss Pendola Molloy.
Yes, of course.
Well, if you'll have a seat, I'll notify the President you're here.
You're so kind.
Here's some more of them telegrams, Major.
Hello, Sebastian. How do you like your new home?
You sure have a big place, sir.
Red rooms, blue rooms, green rooms--
Oh, in times like these, the President needs lots of rooms.
- Yes, sir. - Sebastian, I never knew
there were so many kings in the world.
And neither did I, sir.
"His Majesty desires to convey to you
and all the American people his felicitations
at the birth of a new political era."
- Mr. Pres-- - Hello, Beek.
Say, where is Siam?
Siam?
Uh, it's just north of the Malay Peninsula, just south of China.
Mmm-hmm, that's fine.
- Mr. President, there's a-- - Well, just a minute, Beek.
If I'm going to call you "Beek,"
you've got to refer to me as "Major."
Very well, Major.
Oh, Beek...
when I told you today there was only one person
that could see the President at any time, I was wrong.
There are two.
Will you come with me, please?
You're my first official duty.
How flattering.
Miss Molloy, Major.
So nice seeing you here, Mr. President.
Nice being here, Miss Molloy.
You two have gotten acquainted by this time, I suppose.
- Yes, indeed. - Beek, this is Miss Molloy.
How do you do, Miss Molloy?
Miss Molloy is going to be your assistant.
You don't mind, do you?
- Not at all. - He's very rigid, but I like him.
Anything else, Major?
You may call me "Pendie" if I may call you Beek.
Of course.
Good night, Beek.
Good night, Pendie.
Good night.
In this terrible hour of crisis,
America must look to its president
with an unshakeable confidence.
My attitude is one of complete optimism.
With the help of such patriotic and idealistic men as yourselves,
I plan to carry this nation from the depths of despondency
to the unsullied and sunny heights of prosperity.
I count on you journalists for inspiration and support.
In the future, all questions will have to be submitted in writing
24 hours before these meetings.
Today, however, the President's very generously consented to answer
a few questions directly.
Mr. Patterson.
Does the President intend to grant John Bronson an interview?
The President didn't catch the name.
John Bronson, the leader of all the unemployed.
The President considers John Bronson a dangerous anarchist.
If he comes near the White House, he will be arrested.
The President hasn't forgotten that Bronson heads a million men
who are armed and unemployed.
In the last count, there were 270 camps of these men
in the public parks of our larger cities.
The President considers the whole question of unemployment
a local problem.
Is the administration going to take any action
on the racketeering that's rampant in the country?
Are notorious gangsters like Nick Diamond going to get away with it?
My party also regards Nick Diamond and all racketeers as local problems.
We choose to believe that bootlegging
and all forms of racketeering will disappear
as soon as the public become educated
to respect the Eighteenth Amendment.
Mr. Thieson.
Mr. President, my paper's indictment against the government
is a staggering one.
Starvation and want is everywhere...
from coast to coast, and from Canada to Mexico.
Millions of dollars are poured into new battleships.
Farmers burn corn and wheat.
Food is thrown away into the sea
while men and women are begging for bread.
Men are freezing without coats,
while cotton rots in the fields.
Thousands of homeless, millions of vacant homes.
Over 5,000 gangland murders last year,
yet only five gangsters in prison,
not for killing, but for income tax violations.
What does the new administration say to this?
What answer,
what definite plan has the government to this indictment...
this tale of misery and horror
of lost hope, of broken faith,
of the collapse of the American democracy?
Young man, I shall answer you directly.
And through you, I shall speak to all of my countrymen.
America will weather this depression
as she has weathered other depressions.
Through the spirit of Valley Forge,
the spirit of Gettysburg,
and the spirit of the Argonne.
The American people have risen before, and they will rise again.
Gentlemen, remember,
our party promises a return to prosperity.
May the President be quoted?
The President may not be quoted.
If you don't stop asking questions,
we won't have any place to sleep for the next four years.
Well, boys, can I be of any further service to you?
How about a glass of beer?
Boys, remember, this is the White House.
Oh, that's right. I thought it was the Senate.
You know, I enjoyed the President's speech.
It was straightforward and to the point.
Why, sure.
Prosperity is just around the corner.
America will rise again.
Sure, when she rises, wake me up, and we'll all rise together.
Do you mind if I use your desk for a game of solitaire?
Go ahead.
Get a load of Thieson.
Hey, Thieson, take the world off your shoulders.
You're beginning to look like Atlas.
Hello? Yes.
Oh, yes, Senator. That's all taken care of.
Yes.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Beekman...
the President would like to see you.
Well?
Miss Molloy is the President's confidential secretary.
- Confidential or personal? - What are her duties?
And what's home without a woman?
Maybe she'll bring back beer.
Gentlemen, the President.
- Hi, Jud. - Good morning, Mr. President.
- Good morning, boys. - Good morning.
Sit down, please. No need of being formal just because I'm the president.
Well, what's the order of the day?
I saw Hargraves this morning, and he's pretty sore.
What have we done to him?
Well, he feels as though he's sort of been left out of the picture.
We can straighten that out.
What would you suggest?
Ambassador to Greece? What do you say?
- Sure. - Good.
If it's all right with the boys, it's all right with me.
All right, ambassador to Greece.
That's one way to get rid of him.
I hope he has good-looking legs.
If he hasn't, he certainly will look funny
in those short pants they have to wear over there when they appear at court.
Great guns, what are these?
Papers to be signed.
Credentials for the American Consul in Shanghai.
Appointment for postmistress at Loon Lake.
Hope she sells a lot of stamps.
Installing a sewer system in Puerto Rico.
Well, here goes.
Where'd this come from?
It's a present for you.
What is it?
The Springfield Memorial Society.
Meaning by that, what?
Lincoln freed the slaves with that pen.
Oh?
Well, here goes for Puerto Rican garbage.
You could do important things with that pen if you wanted to.
For instance?
Well, you're President, aren't you?
Pendie, I'm afraid you're an idealist.
There's a lot of things you don't understand...
a lot of things that people don't understand and don't want to.
Don't they?
No.
You see, Pendie, the party has a plan.
I am just a member of the party.
Of course.
You have just five minutes before your car leaves for Annapolis.
And I couldn't get your Detective Magazine.
It won't be out until noon tomorrow in New York.
Well, we'll get the War Department to fly it down
in an army plane.
We're the President of the United States, aren't we?
You know, Jud, it's turning quite cold.
Be careful, won't you?
Look out for that throat.
Uncle Jud?
Hello, Uncle Jud.
Oh, Jim, how are you?
- Well, where have you been all day, you rascal you. - Nowhere.
Straighten up your tie here.
Goodbye, Mr. President.
Goodbye, Miss Molloy.
Have a nice trip, sir.
Yes, you're tickled to death to get a day off.
Glad to get rid of me, aren't you?
Of course, Mr. President.
Now, you sit there.
Don't you look around either.
We shall now switch you by remote control
to the camp of the unemployed in Central Park, New York City,
from which you will hear John Bronson,
the leader of America's unemployed army, address an open letter
- to the people of America. - Do you know what we're gonna do now?
Yeah, treasure hunt.
- That's right. Close your eyes. - People of America, this is John Bronson speaking,
not for himself, but for over a million men who are out of work,
who cannot earn money to buy food
- because those responsible for providing work... - All right. One...
- ...have failed in their obligations. - ...two, three, go.
We ask no more than that
- which every citizen of the U.S. should be ensured. - You know where it is?
- How will I know? I had my eyes closed. - The right to live,
the right to put food in the mouths of our wives
- and children. - Come on. Hurry up.
- Let's see how quick we find it. - Our underlying purpose
is not revolutionary.
- We are not influenced by militant leaders. - Is it in here?
- None of us are Reds. We merely want work. - No. It isn't anywhere.
- Maybe it's up here. - And we believe this great United States of America,
- under proper leadership... - No, not in there.
- ...can provide work for everybody. - How about this here?
I've appealed to the President for an interview.
- Maybe under the chair. - And the President says he will not deal with us
- because we are dangerous anarchists. - Bet you know where it is.
- No, I don't. - Well, I'll find it.
- Pull that back. - We are not. We are citizens of America
- with full confidence in the American democracy... - That's it.
- ...if it is properly administered. - - Keep on looking.
- How do I know where it is? - Major, what overcoat do you want to wear?
Well, the overcoat the President of the United States always wears
when he goes to the United States Naval Academy.
Of course.
I ask your president now
if he's ever read the Constitution
- of the United States... - Do I see something over there?
...as it was laid out by those great men that day in Philadelphia long ago.
A document which guarantees the American people
the rights of life, liberty, property,
- and the pursuit of happiness. - What's this
- growing out of your ear? - All we ask is to be given those rights.
- Oh, you put it there. - This country is sound.
The right man in the White House can bring us out of despair,
- into prosperity again. - Oh, you're getting worse all the time.
- We ask him at least to try. - Here, Major.
Mr. Beekman says this is the Annapolis coat.
- All right. - We shall now
- switch you to main studio... - You're going?
- ...from which you will be entertained by... - Yeah, got to go now. Bye.
...half an hour of popular music,
furnished by the courtesy of the Metropolis Outfitting Company.
Major, do you know you're the first president of the United States
to drive his own car?
If those motorcycle cops don't step on the gas,
I'll climb right up on their tails.
But, Major, the newspaper men can't keep up with you.
Great.
They've been ahead of me ever since I was elected.
What are we doing, 95?
Ninety-eight, sir.
They told me it would do 110.
Just received a news flash from Washington.
President Hammond has been injured in an automobile accident.
Beek... Beek, will he...
Die? They can't...
Tell me the truth.
Dr. Eastman speaking. I can tell you nothing at this time.
Well, Doctor, what is your opinion?
I'd say it's merely a matter of hours.
- Hmm. - Do you concur on that opinion, Doctor?
I'm afraid he's beyond any human help.
Thank you.
- Goodbye. - Goodbye.
Is the Major going to be all right?
He'll be all right, but he must have quiet.
- Did you ring, Miss Bert? - Why, no, Doctor.
But the bell in the study rang.
But the bell in the study is...
I rang, Eastman.
Mr. President.
I heard what you said, but the doctors are wrong.
Jud Hammond isn't going to die.
What is the lowdown, Dr. Eastman?
We're all going crazy.
You'll be accused of assassination the first thing, you know?
The President is still unconscious.
We've printed that one line for weeks.
No one believes it.
I was here when Wilson was sick and Harding, too.
And no one ever dared hide the news from us.
The President is still in a coma.
That's all I can tell you.
- Oh, come on. - Gentlemen. Gentlemen.
Beekman, you've got to tell us something new
even if you have to lie about it.
Has he talked? What does he look like? What does he eat?
Tell us something. Where is he?
We're all going to be fired, Beekman.
We have to write something.
And until we get the truth, the stories are going to get wilder and wilder.
Absolutely right.
Somebody's got to run this country, or we'll have anarchy.
Gentlemen.
I know as little as you do.
Dr. Eastman and the valet
are the only two people who've seen the President since his accident.
Is that right, Doctor?
Now, that's all, gentlemen. That's all, gentlemen.
We've heard that before.
There's something going on here that doesn't quite jell.
They must think we're children.
This stuff is going too far.
We've been here for a whole hour--
I'm sorry. I've told you all I know.
You can't hold us off much longer, Beekman.
I think the whole thing is preposterous.
Well, Doctor, I can't stand it any longer.
You've got to let me see him.
Miss Molloy, Mr. Beekman...
this situation is getting too much for me.
If I'm going on with this, I've got to have help.
I've got to have somebody to share the burden with me.
- What? - Burden?
President Hammond has been perfectly well for two weeks.
What?
You know what you're saying, Doctor?
That is, he seems physically fit.
But sometimes, concussion can produce results that...
that transcend all the laws of medicine.
You must prepare yourselves for a shock.
The President is not the Jud Hammond
that I have treated for 15 years.
- But your bulletins... - The President's orders.
Why?
Two weeks ago, I advised him to get up,
and reminded him that he had been conscious for 24 hours.
He told me that he had been entirely conscious for a week,
but that he wanted time to think.
What does he say? What does he talk to you about?
He says nothing.
He sits there silently, reading or thinking...
like a gaunt grey ghost with burning eyes...
that seem to see right down into you.
I can't stand it.
- I'm going to see him. - Miss, Molloy, please...
Please be reasonable.
If you insist on seeing the President,
it must be on your own responsibility.
All right.
Doctor, I'll assume responsibility for Miss Molloy's action.
Very well.
Jud...
why have you shut us out?
What's the trouble, Miss Molloy? You seem upset about something.
But, dear...
don't you know how worried we've been?
Miss Molloy, I want all available information
on John Bronson and the Army of the Unemployed.
Facts, unprejudiced reports.
The truth, you understand?
Yes.
That is all, Miss Molloy.
Tell Mr. Beekman I would like to see him at once.
That is all, Miss Molloy.
Yes, sir.
What is it, Pendie?
Something's happened.
Something I can't understand.
His eyes are so strange.
His voice is different.
And, oh, Beek...
he called me Miss Molloy.
Pendie, you poor kid.
Mr. Beekman...
instruct the members of my cabinet to meet me in one hour.
Mr. President, an hour is hardly time--
I expect every member to be present in one hour.
Yes, sir.
- Am I late? - No, you're not.
What's all the rush about?
I don't know myself.
Well, why didn't he see us before?
- We've been waiting for him for two weeks. - Yeah.
Don't forget, Jud's been a sick man.
- Now, boys, let me handle this situation. - All right.
I've known Jud longer than any of you.
He's been a very sick man, and we've got to humor him.
Yes, but we've got to think of the party.
Yes.
Well, no matter what happens, the party comes first.
Yes.
Gentlemen, the President.
Nice to have you back.
Please omit all condolences.
Conserve your sympathy for the people of the United States
who are in dire need of it.
Sit down, gentlemen.
We're confronted with an ugly situation, Jud.
A lot of things have come up since your accident.
Yes, I know.
I mean the Army of the Unemployed.
- Bronson and his gang. - Yes, I know.
They're getting ready to march on Washington, a million strong.
- We didn't think you knew. - Naturally.
I call on you as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy.
Give me authority to mobilize and keep these ruffians in their camps.
You want to declare war?
- We've got to uphold the law. - What law?
Something must be done at once, or this armed mob will descend on us,
run riot all over Washington.
Every citizen of the United States
should be ensured the elementary necessities
for keeping life within his body.
This cabinet, every member of Congress,
each officeholder
is answerable directly to the public conscience.
Gentlemen, I refuse to call out the army
against the people of the United States.
And I refuse to accept that.
Discussion on this subject is closed.
Now, be careful. I might resign on you.
Your resignation is accepted.
Oh, well, now, wait a minute, Jud. I was only suggesting--
Your resignation is accepted.
You have my permission to withdraw.
Gentlemen, I suggest you read the Constitution of the United States.
You'll find the President has some power.
Well, I'll be...
- Mr. President... - You may proceed.
May I ask why Secretary of State, Brooks resigned?
He didn't resign. I fired him.
Exactly, Mr. President.
Why did you fire Secretary Brooks?
I fired him because he's an old-fashioned politician,
incapable of being the Secretary of State.
Furthermore, he insists upon calling out the army
to keep the unemployed from marching on Washington.
That's fine straight talk, Mr. President.
Too bad the President cannot be quoted.
This President can be quoted.
This President wants to be quoted.
The President's scared, Alice.
He's hoping we'll stay away.
Well, we start tomorrow.
Are you John Bronson?
Yeah.
Can I see you alone for a minute?
Certainly.
Be right back, honey.
Okay.
It's an interesting commentary
on our social system, Inspector,
that the errors of youth
should prove so embarrassing at maturity.
Sure.
I'm much better-looking now than I was then.
Especially the profile...
don't you think?
You've filled out a bit.
Cigarette, Inspector?
Thanks.
I'll smoke it after dinner, if you don't mind.
Not at all.
Inspector...
haven't you forgotten something?
Oh, yes, the negatives.
You might want some prints made up for Christmas cards.
Hello, Bronson.
It's nice of you to drop in on me.
Thanks for the escort.
Oh, that's all right. Won't you sit down?
No, thank you.
Well, the unemployment situation
doesn't seem to have affected you any.
Life has been pretty good to me, Bronson.
That's a terrible thing, these men of yours...
millions of American citizens starving and homeless.
Yes, it is.
I'd like to do something for those not so fortunate.
Keep your men in their camps, and I'll see they're taken care of.
I'll have them fed, clothed and housed.
Lots easier for you if they stay in their camps, isn't it?
You're not only a patriot, Bronson, you're a very astute man.
Your profits are much bigger since the police of the big cities
have been lined up outside our camps,
praying that we don't start something.
That's right.
I don't want anything to take 'em away from their prayers.
We're going to Washington and you won't stop us.
You can't get anything in Washington.
The American Government is...
like the American people.
Just a bunch of boobs.
We're going to Washington and look into this government
that lets decent men starve and fosters a lot of vultures.
I get you, Diamond.
But you can't put a million men on the spot.
We're leaving for Washington tonight.
Well, that's fine.
I just thought I'd have a talk with you and get your viewpoint.
Oh, I think I can find my way back alone, if it's all right with you.
Perfectly all right. No hard feelings.
But don't be too hasty.
I should give the matter a little more thought if I were you.
Bronson... cigarette?
That ain't my brand.
Daddy!
Don't mind me, boys.
Carry on to Washington.
So, the Secretary of War has instructed you
to have tanks and cavalry move on Baltimore tonight?
We believe that the unemployed army
will make camp for the night in the Baltimore parks.
Mr. President, the Secretary of War
would like to see you immediately.
He seems very much disturbed.
Yes, I thought he would be. Show him in.
Mr. President.
Splendid, Mr. President.
The General has told you my plans?
All I need is your authority
to mobilize the army and disperse these unemployed vagrants
when they reach Baltimore.
The Secretary of the War Department
will supply food, shelter and medical requirements
to these men in their camp tonight.
Mr. President, are you out of your mind?
In 1918, we forced four million men
to accept the hospitality of the government.
- Well, that was war. - This is war, and the enemy is starvation.
At one time or other, we gave millions of tonnes of food
to the starving Russians, the starving Chinese,
and the starving Belgians.
Now we can feed our own people.
As President of these United States, my first duty is to the people.
But if you encourage these ruffians, they'll--
I haven't the time or inclination for argument!
Resign, or get on with your job.
Tonnes of food rotting.
Millions of people starving.
What's to prevent us from putting this food into the mouths of the hungry?
Mr. Beekman...
will you please make arrangements for me to leave for Baltimore
early in the morning?
He mustn't go and face that mob.
There's no telling what might happen to him.
I thought you said a simple, honest man could solve everything.
I'm beginning to have a faith in him I never had before.
I know, but he's way ahead of me.
The way he thinks is so simple and honest that it sounds...
sounds a little crazy.
He's doing the things you wanted.
And if he's mad, it's a divine madness.
Look at the chaos and catastrophe
the sane men of this world have brought about.
Mr. President, I am responsible for your personal safety,
and I refuse to let you go alone into that camp.
Sloden, you heard what happened to Secretary of State Brooks?
This is Alice Bronson.
My poor child, I'm with you in your grief.
I've paid tribute to the martyr, John Bronson,
who gave his life in this effort to arouse
the stupid, lazy people of the United States
to force their government to do something
before everybody slowly starves to death.
It is not fitting for citizens of America
to come on weary feet to seek their president.
It is rather for their president to seek them out,
and to bring to them freely the last full measure of protection and health.
And so, I come to you.
I feel certain the last thing you men want is charity,
money for idleness,
and the demoralization which follows in its wake.
Seventeen years ago,
the government put guns and bayonets in our hands
and told us to bring back peace.
We did.
Now put shovels and picks in our hands
and we'll really bring back prosperity.
We want work!
We want work! We want work!
We want work!
Exactly! Exactly!
You have been told there is no chance of getting work.
But I say there is work.
Necessary work waiting to be done.
I'm going to make you a proposition.
You've been called the Army of the Unemployed.
Your soldiers trained, not in the arts or war,
but in the greater arts of peace.
Trained not to destroy,
but to build up if someone will give you a job.
I propose, therefore, to create an army
to be known as the Army of Constructions.
You'll be enlisted, subject to military discipline.
You'll receive army rates of pay.
You'll be fed, clothed and housed
as we did our wartime armies.
You'll be put to work, each one of you, in your own field,
from baking loaves of bread to building great dams
without one dollar of profit accruing to anyone.
Then, as the wheels of industry begin to turn,
stimulated by these efforts,
you'll gradually be retired from this Construction Army
back into private industry
as rapidly as industry can absorb you.
That's all very well, Mr. President,
but what's Congress gonna say to all this?
I have called a special session of Congress for tomorrow.
I shall ask them for funds to carry out my plans
for the rehabilitation of America.
If they give me these funds tomorrow,
I shall immediately open
the first Construction Army recruiting station here in Baltimore.
And you shall be my first soldiers.
Mr. President.
Your address to Congress on the Construction Army.
Address to Congress?
What's this? Who wrote this?
Why, you did, Mr. President.
No, no, Miss Molloy, I didn't write this.
I never saw...
Oh, yes, yes, my address to Congress.
Beek...
Beek.
What's the matter, Pendie?
I've just seen something.
He didn't know his own words, Beek.
What?
And then he lifted his head...
for all the world as if it were listening.
There was something in the room that made me shiver.
And then he just smiled and said,
"Yes, of course."
What do you think it means?
Well, we felt from the beginning that
the President was really two men.
But I became aware somehow tonight
of a third being.
I know that sounds impossible.
I'm not a very religious person, Beek, but...
does it seem too fanciful to believe
that God might have sent the angel Gabriel...
to do for Jud Hammond what he did for Daniel?
Gabriel? I thought he was a messenger of wrath.
Not always.
For some, he was the angel of revelations...
sent as a messenger from God to men.
Gabriel over the White House.
Well, boys...
you understand, then, that you're not to let Hammond suspect
that you're against him.
Not by word or attitude.
Not even that we've had this meeting here tonight.
Come in.
The President's secretary is here.
The President's secretary?
What's happening?
- Well, Beekman? - A communication for you, Mr. Cummings.
One for you, sir.
Mr. Lockhart.
Mr. Bowen. Mr. Perry.
- Thanks. - Mr. Fox.
- Thank you. - And one for each of you gentlemen,
if you'll be kind enough to pass them down.
Well, what is this all about?
How did Hammond know we were here?
- That's what I'd like to know. - - Very strange.
- The next thing to do is open it. - - Yeah.
That settles it.
We'll take this to Congress.
We've got a big enough majority to throw him out.
We'll show this lunatic who's boss.
I speak for the majority of the Senate
and the House of Representatives...
assured that President Hammond
has been a traitor to his party...
false to the principals on which he was elected!
I propose to demand from the House, the impeachment,
the immediate removal
of the President of the United States!
Order! Order!
The President of the United States.
May the rules be suspended?
I would like to dispense with all red tape,
so I can answer questions directly...
while I have the floor.
Unless there is objection...
the rules of this congress will be suspended.
Gentlemen, I am here as a representative of the American people
in their hour of darkest despair.
A plant cannot be made to grow by watering the top alone
and letting the roots go dry.
The people of this country are the roots of the nation,
and the sturdy trunk and the branches, too.
You have spent four billion dollars only to aggravate adversity.
I ask for four billion dollars to restore buying power,
stimulate purchases, restore prosperity.
You have wasted precious days, and weeks, and years in futile discussion.
We need action.
Immediate and effective action.
Mr. President,
there is a movement in Congress for your impeachment.
Hardly the time for making any requests, however small.
Very well.
I shall withdraw that request,
but I would like to substitute another.
I ask you gentlemen to declare a state of national emergency...
and to adjourn this congress
until normal conditions are restored.
During the period of that adjournment,
I shall assume full responsibility for the government.
Mr. President, this is dictatorship!
Senator Langham, words do not frighten me.
But the United States of America is a democracy.
We are not yet ready to give up the government of our fathers.
Order, please, order!
You have given it up.
You've turned your backs.
You've closed your ears to the appeals of the people.
You've been traitors to the concepts of democracy
upon which this government was founded.
I believe in democracy
as Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln believed in democracy.
And if what I plan to do in the name of the people
makes me a dictator,
then it is a dictatorship
based on Jefferson's definition of democracy,
"A government for the greatest good of the greatest number."
Order, please.
This congress refuses to adjourn!
I think, gentlemen, you forget that
I am still the President of these United States.
And as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy,
it is within the rights of the president
to declare the country under martial law!
Order!
Fellow countrymen, your overwhelming support of my emergency acts
has enabled me to move more rapidly than I had dared hoped.
I do not say that the unemployment problem is solved,
but we are at least taking hundreds of thousands of men
into an organized life of food, shelter and clothing.
If you could realize the staggering facts I face,
the appalling waste of your money
in America's deplorable condition,
I feel sure that you would support me
in the things I plan to do in your behalf.
I propose to safeguard the homes of American citizens by a law
to prevent the foreclosure of mortgages
until the average American workman
has had a chance to go to work.
I propose a national banking law
which will protect our people's money in the banks.
I propose immediately
to give direct aid to the 55 million American people
who depend entirely upon agriculture,
without whose prosperity
there can be no real prosperity in the United States.
But our next task is a return to law and order.
I do not propose to mince words.
This primarily means the question of that cesspool
known as the Eighteenth Amendment.
This has fostered the evil force,
the greatest enemy of law and order America has ever known.
The racketeer.
A malignant cancerous growth
eating at the spiritual health of the American people.
Public enemies.
I refer to men of the type of Nick Diamond.
Archenemies of these United States.
Men who are bleeding the people of America
by illegal racketeering in every industry,
from bootlegged whisky to baby's milk.
The enemies of every honest citizen.
The enemies of our nation, the United States of America.
Just a big shot.
True, Congress has voted to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment.
This, however, requires millions of dollars and months of time
to be made effective
by the ratification of the several states.
- That'll take three years. - But my patience is exhausted
with these bootleggers,
these racketeers, and these kidnappers.
I serve warning.
These evil forces must be, shall be eliminated,
so that our citizen, pursuing his peaceful way,
will be no longer forced to conduct his business
in the shadow of extortion and debt.
Good night.
You suppose he was talking about us?
Oh, you look so tired.
Why don't you call it a day and get some rest?
Tired? I'm as fresh as a daisy.
You're the one that looks tired.
Besides, I've got some figures to go over.
Our European debts.
I didn't know there was that much money.
Good night, sir.
Just a moment, please.
Oh, do the President's guests always receive this attention?
Well, it's all right. There's nothing there.
Uh, may I... keep this?
This way, please.
Is this the... the proper outfit?
Well, this is a nice place you have here.
It's all right.
It's all right. Keep your seat.
The old custom of arising when the President enters the room,
I abolished with the new administration.
Nice of you to come here on my invitation, Mr. Diamond.
I've been pretty busy lately. Almost as busy as you are.
Yes, I guess you and I are the only Americans who have any business left.
Uh, you needn't look me up. I've paid my income tax.
Yes, I'm sure you have.
No, this is just your biography.
You don't mind a little intimate discussion?
Story of an immigrant boy who became the most famous man in America.
Well, there are some good deeds here.
You've at least rid the country of a number of your own kind.
That's something I'm grateful for.
But you're a menace to this country, Mr. Diamond.
The most inexpensive way to get rid of you
would be for you to eliminate yourself,
return to your own country.
Why?
I am what I am today by public approval.
The people want something, I give it to them.
We're in the same boat.
I, too, exist only by the will of the people.
Exactly.
Then why should I give up a good business until I have to?
Uh, may I ask just what you had in mind when you asked me to come here?
I thought we'd talk over this bootleg situation.
Yes, on my trucks, it's bootleg.
On a silver tray in Park Avenue, it's hospitality.
Mr. Diamond,
we are two of the most notorious men in America...
for notoriously different reasons.
I had hoped that we might make a bargain,
but you seem to have different ideas.
The bootlegging business involves yearly a sum of money
aggregating several hundred millions of dollars.
The American people need that money.
Well, I warn you, Diamond,
the government is going to muscle in on your racket.
I thought I was guaranteed there'd be no frame-up.
Diamond, I don't think you're quite ready for framing.
Gentlemen, you'll see that Mr. Diamond is escorted safely to his car.
Would you mind standing there just a moment, Miss Molloy?
And why, sir?
I just want to look at you.
Mr. Beekman, you're a fool.
I'm a fool about you.
Beekman, can I speak to you a moment, please?
Yes, Mr. President.
Beekman, one hour after our first federal liquor store was opened,
it was wiped out by the most dastardly demonstration
of gangster defiance in the history of this country.
Nick Diamond has declared war on the United States.
Big shot.
Still here, Beek?
Still here.
You must be tired.
I'll never rest till you get well.
You love me a lot, don't you?
- Beek. - What?
I didn't feel any pain at all.
Just a delicious sense of lassitude...
and peacefulness.
I'm glad, Pendie.
And then...
I had a terrific feeling of loneliness.
Of being terribly, completely alone.
Yes, I know.
I wanted you, Beek.
I think I feel well enough to be kissed.
Beekman, you're fired.
I've got a better job for you.
It's only a temporary one.
I'm forming a mobile unit of the United States Army
to be known as the Federal Police to eliminate gangsters.
I want you to head that unit.
Yes, sir.
I need a man who has suffered a terrible personal hurt.
A man whose energy and efficiency will be at white heat.
A man ruthless and merciless.
That is, of course, if you are willing to postpone your wedding for a while.
You mean...
you don't mind about us?
With no Congress to interfere,
we might be able to arrange a wedding at the White House.
Diamond, in the name of the United States of America, I call on you to surrender.
Boss, this is the army.
Oh, this is just another pinch.
My lawyer will habeas our corpus
out of that District Attorney's office in ten minutes.
Boys, let's give them a round to show them we're hard to get.
All right, Cassidy, he asked for it.
- Well, Diamond, you're in a bad way. - - Get along now.
Discharging firearms at the Federal Police doesn't help either.
I believe I'm still entitled to have a lawyer?
Sure, sure, you can have any lawyer you want,
and Uncle Sam will pay the bill.
But don't forget,
this isn't going to be a court trial,
it's going to be a court-martial.
Nick Diamond,
racketeer, murderer, kidnapper.
It is the finding of this court-martial
that you and your men are guilty.
This court is convinced that you have,
as part of your racketeering and extortion,
committed some 23 homicides.
Murders with your own hands.
You've instigated dozens more.
Yet, by bribery, by technicalities of the law,
you've escaped all punishment.
You're the last of the racketeers, Diamond, and why?
Because we have in the White House, a man
who's enabled us to cut the red tape of legal procedures,
and get back to first principles.
An eye for an eye, Nick Diamond.
A tooth for a tooth.
A life for a life.
Fire!
Gentlemen, from the newspapers, I gather
there is quite some sentiment
to the effect that the President is to be outgeneraled
by crafty European politicians.
And once again, America will walk out of conference rooms
with empty pockets.
You may allay those fears.
America is through with conferences in rooms.
The International Debt Conference
scheduled to be held tomorrow at the White House
will be held instead on a private yacht.
The delegates of the Debt Conference
will first be my guests at a naval parade,
which, quite by coincidence, I assure you,
will consist of the largest concentration of naval strength
in the history of this nation.
Are we to infer that the President expects
the Debt Conference will end in America's favor?
Those debts have got to be paid.
The President intends to collect by force?
Those debts have got to be paid.
Is the United States prepared to wage war against 15 leading nations?
Those debts have got to be paid.
That's all, gentlemen.
Wait a minute, Beekman.
The President doesn't intend to go to war.
You heard what the President had to say.
The United States won't stand for war,
even from Jud Hammond.
That's right.
Gentlemen, you will bear with me a moment
while the radio is being connected.
But, Mr. President,
we did not understand that this conference would be broadcast.
We will speak more advisedly
if we know the people of the world are listening in.
One of the reasons that we ended the Great War
was to secure the end of secret diplomacy,
to establish throughout the world a fixed policy
of open covenants openly arrived at.
Gentleman, we are, at least today,
fulfilling this great purpose.
We are taking the world into our confidence.
I will open this conference on the question of war debts
with a brief statement of America's side of the controversy.
These debts were incurred
to save the debtor nations from destruction.
The money they received, they pledged their honor to repay.
Then the debtor pleaded poverty.
The United States compromised the debts by half.
This remaining half, debtor nations
solemnly signed agreements to pay.
Gentlemen... are you prepared to pay those debts?
For Germany to pay her debts
means more taxes on her half-starved people.
They may burst into open revolution.
Do you think little Belgium,
neutral, unoffending little Belgium
would suffer the ravages of invasion again
for ten times the money she owes you?
Who helped the little American colonies
when they fought for their freedom?
Who helped them with money?
Yes, France, you helped us.
And America has cherished an affection for France ever since.
But we paid you back.
And rightly, too.
A cosmopolitan nation like the United States
has reason to cherish affection
for all nations of the world
whom she properly considers her forbearers.
Yet, the inescapable consequences of the debt are
someone must pay it.
And if your nations cannot pay
the debt you contracted to save yourselves from destruction,
they will have to be paid by the American taxpayer himself.
And the burden on the American taxpayer
for sharing his part of the war is too heavy.
He cannot pay his own debts and yours, too.
Gentlemen, are you prepared to pay your debts?
But, Mr. President,
we can't discuss matters of such great importance here and now.
We must have further conferences.
I have never seen the American eagle
go into one of these conferences
that it did not come out plucked to its pin feathers.
There will be no further conferences.
We paid when we could...
and we're no longer able to pay.
We loaned billions ourselves,
and have not received one penny in return.
Very well.
I hereby repudiate one of our past conferences.
I refer to the Naval Limitations Agreement.
As a result of that agreement,
America destroyed the battleships,
while European countries destroyed blueprints.
And from now on, America refuses to allow
European nations or Asiatic nations to dictate
how many ships and what kind of ships
America shall have in the navy
which defends her lands and her people.
But, Mr. President...
you can't repudiate the signature of your country.
It is you who have repudiated signatures,
destroyed credit and confidence among nations,
made solemnly-signed agreements
nothing more than scraps of paper.
If you can repudiate the debts you owe the American taxpayer,
incurred to save your own people from destruction,
there are no standards of ethics left.
You have gone into moral bankruptcy.
I can repudiate anything.
Gentlemen, I would like to have your attention over here for a few moments.
I want you to take a last look at America's small navy,
at America's restricted and hampered navy.
A last look at an American navy controlled by foreign powers.
But when I get through with America's new navy,
America's own navy,
it will make all of your navies
look like a lot of toy ships in a bathtub.
Is the President of the United States
going to plunge the world into another war?
No, the United States must have the greatest navy in the world, because we want peace.
Mr. President, you leave us no alternative.
We'll gladly pay our debts if you'll show us how we can do so.
I've been waiting for someone to ask me how.
Gentlemen, I'm going to tell you how.
People of the United States, nations of the world,
it is not my intention to go to war to collect the debts.
We want peace.
But in order to have peace,
while the nations of the world are preparing to spring at each other's throats,
we must be able to command peace.
Peace and a return to prosperity go hand in hand
only through one agency.
While hundreds of thousands of families are wondering
where the next meal is coming from,
while I'm vainly trying to balance the budget,
we spent, last year,
nearly $360 million on battleships.
Why? Because the other nations of the world do.
And you, Great Britain,
you spent, last year,
nearly a thousand millions of dollars on armaments.
And you, France, last year, you spent on your armaments
over $1,000 million more
than the small payment you were supposed to make us,
but defaulted.
And you, Italy, over $500 million.
And you are the nations in proportion.
And yet, people of the world will wonder where the money is coming from
to save our nations from financial collapse.
I'll tell you.
When I think of the billions spent on these glorified,
antiquated pieces of scrap iron,
it makes me despair of humanity.
Antiquated, I said, and I propose to prove it to you.
At the same time, I will show you a method
whereby the world may be saved from international bankruptcy.
Commander Jones, you may proceed.
Over there, there are two battleships.
Those ships cost our taxpayers $40 million.
Today, they are pronounced obsolete. Why?
Because fools throughout the world
are working out new designs, new ships, new futilities,
which render yesterday's work useless.
Those ships are radio-controlled.
They contain not a single human being.
Major Dawson, you may proceed.
Here they come.
The United States Navy of the Air.
Major Dawson, you may fire when ready.
Just what is the purpose of this demonstration?
Mr. President, what is your objective?
People of the United States, nations of the world...
the world will not learn without bitter lessons.
The next war will be a terrible story of the failure
of antiquated machinery and antiquated methods,
of the horrifying destructiveness
of the modern agencies of arms.
Armies and navies will be destroyed from the air.
And as these aeroplanes destroy armies and navies,
they will destroy cities,
they will destroy populations.
Peace and faith are necessary among men,
not merely for the welfare of nations,
but for the very existence of nations.
The next war will depopulate the earth.
Invisible poisoned gases,
inconceivably devastating explosives,
annihilating death rays
will sweep toward a destruction,
not only the men,
but the children who would constitute another generation
and the mothers who bear them.
Unless man's God-given faculty
for utilizing the forces of nature
for beneficent purposes
shall surpass their vicious genius for destruction,
the race of man shall perish from the earth,
and the earth shall be left to the less cruel,
the less destructive,
and the less stupid wild animals.
People of the world, I speak to you.
Shall we save this world?
Shall we restore it to a condition
where it can truly be said that there is peace on earth,
goodwill toward men?
Shall the United States of America
build such a navy to force peace?
Or shall the other nations agree to eliminate their armaments,
balance their budgets,
restore honor among nations?
The United States will be glad to fall in line with such a movement,
but only after the other nations have proven their good faith
by convincing action.
The very fate of our civilization
rests here and now where it belongs,
in the hands of the people of the world.
Here we are, ladies and gentlemen,
in the East Room of the White House
on the most important day
in the peace and prosperity of the world.
The Washington Covenant
has already been signed by most of the foreign powers,
and Baron Kenzo Futumoto,
Prime Minister of Japan, is about to sign the covenant.
President Hammond has not yet appeared.
Baron Futumoto has now signed...
and we will very shortly hear...
The Prime Minister of Great Britain
will now sign the covenant.
Today truly begins the new era
of peace and prosperity
for the peoples of the world.
Paul Lorenz Chitard,
Prime Minister of France,
is now also signing the covenant.
The President.
Are you all right, sir?
With this document, this covenant of Washington...
the world takes its first real step
to prevent our civilization from tottering...
as did the forgotten civilizations before us.
Gentlemen...
Make way, please.
Bring him right here.
Lay him right over there, please.
Be careful, boys.
Careful. Loosen his clothing.
- Get me some water. - Yes, sir.
All right, boys, thanks.
Here's the water, Doctor.
Put it over there.
It's his heart.
You'd better make some statement to the delegates.
Anything to allay their fears.
Yes, sir.
Hello, Pendie, old girl.
Here, Mr. President, take this.
There's nothing you can do for me, Eastman.
Does the President of the United States meet with your approval?
He's proved himself...
one of the greatest men who ever lived.
Hold my hand, Pendie.
Gentlemen, the President of the United States
sends you his heartfelt gratitude
for your magnificent accomplishment
in achieving this Washington Covenant.
His only thought being that the Millennium of peace on earth
be preserved forever for the peoples of the world.
Gentlemen, the President of the United States is dead.