ADLAI
Gotta keep up appearances. Of course, I
don't care anymore. I'm a political
dead man. You ever seen a man cut his
own throat like I did today?
Kenny has no answer to that. He looks down, pained for
Adlai.
ADLAI (CONT'D)
Well, it's all right.
(beat)
I came to tell you, just talked to a
friend. Reston and Frankel have the
story. It's going to run tomorrow.
INT. BEDROOM - JIM ROWE'S HOUSE - LATER
Kenny, shut in the bedroom, paces on the phone.
KENNY
We're not going to make it to Monday.
I'll try to lean on Reston, but you're
going to have to call Orville Dryfoos.
This is the sort of decision the
publisher makes himself.
INT. ORVILLE DRYFOOS' KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS
New York Times publisher ORVILLE DRYFOOS sits at his kitchen
table in his underwear, still half-asleep, phone to his ear.
DRYFOOS
Yes, sir, I understand. But we held on
Bay of Pigs and it was the biggest
mistake of my life. What makes this any
different?
INT. PRESIDENT'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
The President, on the phone, stops pacing by his bedside
table and exhales.
THE PRESIDENT
I'm asking you to hold the story until I
can present our course of action on
Monday night.
INT. ORVILLE DRYFOOS' KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS
DRYFOOS
All right. But I need a reason to give
my boys. They're going to be screaming
for my head on a plate.
INT. PRESIDENT'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
THE PRESIDENT
Orville. I want you to tell them this:
they'll be saving lives. Maybe even
including their own.
INT. ORVILLE DRYFOOS' KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS
At that, Dryfoos sits up. Serious. All resistance gone.
DRYFOOS
Yes, Mr. President.
INT. ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH - DAY
SUPER: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21ST. DAY 6
AVE MARIA soars over the communion meditation at a crowded
Sunday mass. Kenny, in a pew, glances off to his left.
The President sits nearby, head bowed. But Kenny knows he's
not thinking about the mass. And when the President at last
lifts his head, Kenny sees the calm poise.
The President has made up his mind...
INT. KENNY'S OFFICE - DAY
Bobby barges into Kenny's office. Kenny, knowing his unique
entry, doesn't bother to look up.
KENNY
Acheson called, DeGaulle's with us;
haven't heard from anyone else yet.
Kenny finally looks up. Bobby's grim. And an icicle forms
in Kenny's gut as Bobby relays.
BOBBY
He wants to talk to LeMay again.
INT. OVAL OFFICE - DAY
Kenny, Bobby, McNamara, Rusk, Bundy and half of EXCOM stand
to the side of the room. General Sweeney and LeMay stand in
front of the President's desk.
The President, bowed in the window, is care-worn, a thousand
years old. The shadow, the composition of the SHOT tells us
all. It's down to what's in the heart of one man. Kenny is
deeply moved at his friend's Gethsemane.
THE PRESIDENT
Cam, can you guarantee me you'll get all
the missiles?
Sweeney glances at LeMay. LeMay's stern, frozen look wills
him to say, very simply, "yes."
But then the President turns around, looks Sweeney in the
eye. It would make Machiavelli himself tell the truth.