"This is not the most inspiring choice for vice president, right?" "A well-respected operator, pragmatic, but let's face it, this is probably just a nod to Congress, tapping one of their own." "It's really nothing more than a placeholder until 2016, assuredly." "I'm not surprised he's doing a private swearing-in." "My bet is the president wants to draw as little attention to this as possible." "There's just no real wow factor..." "Christina's working out well?" "She's getting her sea legs, but I've been happy so far." " She works hard." " It's a big load off my shoulders when she can travel with the president instead of me." "I get so much more done when I stay here." "President have a preference in the whip's race?" "I can't believe how ugly it's gotten." "He was more disappointed than anything else..." " Watch out, Wes." " I hope I'm not interrupting." " Not at all." " This is something else." "Security specs." "They had to work fast." "Watch yourself." "It's like a war zone around here." "The idea is to keep the war from getting in." "How's the whip's race coming, Congressman?" "It's tight between you and Howard?" "Well, you'd have to ask Howard, if he's not too busy trying to sodomize me." " Should we go say hello?" " For God sakes, don't make me talk to that man." " Good to see you, Howard." " Nice to see you, Wes." "Yeah, I bet it is." " Bob." " Frank." " Thanks for inviting me, Frank." " What?" " Thanks for inviting me." " You bet." " Hey, Frank." " Judge!" "Good to see you." " Is there somewhere I can go to change?" " Yes, absolutely." "There's room down the hall." "Doug, will you take care of the judge?" "And when he's ready, let's get this thing over with." "I'll start bringing 'em in." ""That I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion..."" "That I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion..." ""...and that I will..."" "One heartbeat away from the presidency, and not a single vote cast in my name." " Democracy is so overrated." " "...on which I am about to enter," " so help me God." - ...and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter, so help me God." " Congratulations, Mr. Vice President." "All right, let's get back to running the country." "Now, one of you is gonna replace me as the whip." "You're the two frontrunners and we know you both want it." "You're not behaving like men who belong in the leadership." "We need to tone down the rhetoric." " You're hurting the party." " I'm just responding to the lies Howard's been slinging." "Those junkets happened, Wes." "I'm not making it up." " And nepotism's any better?" " That's just not true and you know it." "Your sister's husband happened to be appointed state treasurer?" "Ex-husband." "And yes." "That is such a load of crap, Howard." "Gentlemen, Bob is right." "This sort of catfighting gets out in the press, whichever one of you wins hits the ground limping." "Let's keep it clean and bring some civility back to the House." "Can we agree to that?" "I'd feel a lot better if you shook hands on it." "Thank you." "I'm with him right now, Christina." "I'm off." "I'll swing by your office later." "Don't." "It's not ready yet." "I'll be working from here." " What?" " Tusk is in town." "He's meeting with the president in 45 minutes." "Christina just told me." " The Joint Commission talks." " That's what she said." " Christina's proving useful." " We'll stay in touch." "Get me Cathy Durant." "Your people coming by?" "Just my new chief of staff." "That's all I've got until we hire more." "So how's it feel to be married to the vice president?" "Exactly the same... just louder." "Secretary Durant." "Cathy." "Raymond." "Congratulations, Mr. Vice President." "Thank you very much." "May I please introduce Secretary Durant." " A pleasure, Madame Secretary." " Hi." "Well, this is quite a surprise." "I had no idea you were in town." "Ah..." "Well..." "Morning, sir." " Mr. President." " Catherine." " We just happened to run into Raymond." " Huh!" "Wonderful." "Come on in." "The phone records will absolutely prove I'm right." "There were no phone records." "You know that." "The data history, with the carrier." "Even if we got the case reopened, which isn't gonna happen, you have any idea how hard it is to get a warrant for phone data?" "Probable cause." "Bring him in for questioning." " Technically, you have jurisdiction." " The vice president?" "I know this all sounds preposterous to you, but if you go through my notes..." " We've been through your notes." " You've listened, but you haven't heard me." "Circumstantial, yes, but plausible." "I know you've reopened cases on less." "This has gotta stop, man." "We keep having the same conversation." "It can't be an accident." "OK, I'm gonna show you something." "CNN tried to get ahold of this, we 86'd it out of respect to the family." "The footage?" " It's not easy to watch." " I want to see it." "She tripped, or jumped." "She didn't jump." "Here it is, frame by frame." "Now, there were two witnesses." "One was a 70-year-old woman with macular degeneration." "All she saw was a blur." "The second was the conductor of the train." "He said it looked like she fell." "Between those two and this video, that's all there is." "You can watch it a million times, but this case is closed." "We should limit the agenda to a couple of key issues:" "import tariffs on industrial manufactured goods, and export quotas on rare earth elements." "They're using both as political levers." "I agree these are two areas where we can make meaningful progress." "But I'm worried about the rise in corporate cyberattacks." " That's a rabbit hole." " We have to address it sooner or later." "It's just a matter of whether we want to address it now." "Chinese don't like surprises." "All I'm proposing is that we use the Joint Commission talks to bring it up gently now, set the stage for the next round." "Look, I'm a businessman, not a diplomat." "But I'm a businessman with 35 years' experience working in China." "When they come to the table, you don't get greedy." "You're working on a co-venture refinery project in Fujian." "Which would be the first of its kind." "Open the gateway for increased investment..." "Cyberattacks threaten those co-ventures." "There's less a need for them if the Chinese can obtain new technology" " from corporate espionage." " Frank, what do you think?" "I lean more toward Raymond's thinking." "If we antagonize the Chinese, we could undo years of progress." "Allow me to do this quietly, with a soft touch." "I won't antagonize them, sir." "The last thing we want to do is rock the boat." "What do you have in mind, Catherine?" "A suggested agenda, not a demand." "We'll keep it mid-level." "I won't get anywhere near it." " Raymond?" " I've voiced my concerns." " A very soft touch." " You have my word, sir." "Good." "Raymond, you want to grab some lunch?" " Would love to." " Thanks, Frank." " Welcome to the West Wing." " Thank you, sir." "The president is like a lone tree in an empty field." "He leans whichever way the wind is blowing." "And right now, Raymond Tusk blows far too strong from the West." " Is that a wig?" " No." " He's been growing it out for months." " Here, this way." "Diane says she likes it long." "I told her she'll feel differently once she sees the first dreadlock or..." " ...smells it." " Oh!" "I went to see your daughter last weekend." " How is she?" " You want to see a picture?" "OK." " Was her mother there?" " Yeah." "Are they OK on money?" "The rate at Greenwoods is going up in January." "Catalina's worried she's gonna be short." "I'll make sure to put more into the account." "We don't have to talk about her if you don't want." "No, no, no, it's fine." "I appreciate you going to see her." "I'm sorry, Ted, I thought that when you asked me to lunch," " it was because you..." " No, no, no." "I mean... yes." "I want to make sure they have what they need." "But no." "The reason I wanted to talk..." " Lorrie Tate." " Lorrie's a friend of mine." "What about her?" "She mentioned you were interested in the whip's race." "Oh, no." "Oh, I wish she hadn't." " Why not?" " Because it's ridiculous." "Is it?" "I just mentioned it offhand." "The whole Webb and Buchwalter thing, it's just..." " Complete mess." " But I wasn't serious." "I think you should be serious." "Do you want to do it?" "I don't have the experience, Ted." "And I don't..." " Yes or no?" " Yes, of course." "Someday." "But now?" "I don't have the money they do." " Unless you use mine." " You can't waste your money on..." "If I funnel my PAC money to some folks who are on the fence, round up a couple dozen commitments before you announce, that would make you an instant contender." "Now, tell me that's a waste." "We're talking hundreds of thousands." "It's not a Christmas present, Jackie." "With you as whip, I have a strong ally in the leadership." "I stand to gain as much as you." "Now, hang on one second." "I don't know where the..." "How did it go?" "Did he buy it?" "Whatever bug you put in his ear, it burrowed deep." "It was easy." "The man adores you like you're his own child." "But you sure as hell better make me chief deputy." " I need to win first." " Ted and I make two, 111 to go." "It's always good when the chief deputy knows her arithmetic." "Fuck off." "Let's start taking names." " This one seems promising." " Connor Ellis." "He's solid." " Good experience." " He's the one that got Senator Jones out of that mess" " with the push-polling." " Yes." "Kept him from the Ethics Committee." " Let's set up an interview." " I'll find a good time in the schedule." "Let's talk about the schedule." "I think we need to be more selective with the events I do." "Some of these are leftovers from Mrs. Matthews." "We can cancel whatever you like." "And what's this?" "Your husband will be pinning stars on two newly commissioned Marine generals." " I think that's one you should do." " OK, walk me through it." "The generals are Alicia Hampton and Dalton McGinnis." " Arriving at 6:50..." " Dalton McGinnis?" "Yes." "Do you know him?" "We went to college together." "I'm sorry." "Where were we?" "Um, arrive what time?" " Six-fifty." " Great." "I'd like a list of all the people that will be attending." "It's not that big a deal if I get left out, but you're the secretary of state." "I mean, Tusk should not be determining policy." "The president alone should instruct you on what you are to pursue." " What's their relationship?" " He's has had his ear for years." " An advisor..." " More of a mentor." "And one whose advice is not easily dismissed." "He's gonna keep pushing back on cyberwarfare." " Not if I get it on the agenda." " Especially if you get it on the agenda." "Tusk is not gonna take any chances when the next Joint Commission talks come around." "You agreed with him in the meeting." "If we had ganged up, he would've taken a firmer position." "For all we know, he's convincing the president right now to change his mind." "Now, we need to remove that option as a possibility." " How?" " Force the Chinese to confront the issue now," " this round of talks." " I promised the president a soft touch." " I can't intentionally break my promise." " What if it was unintentional?" "Cathy, if you don't like how the table is set, turn over the table." " You're cheating." " No, I'm not." "It's vapor." " Still." " You should try it." " Addiction without the consequences." " It's all yours." "You staying up?" "This ceremony tomorrow night." " You don't want to go." " If I don't have to." "I hate these sort of things, too, but it is my first public appearance as vice president." " OK." " Thank you." "Should we turn this into a proper office?" "That's not a bad idea." "No privacy downstairs." "I'll talk to the contractor." " Good night, Francis." " Good night." "Sir, sir!" "Congressional Record." "Weren't the talks supposed to go until six?" " We can't talk if they won't listen." " Did the Chinese walk out?" "We made it clear that we won't discuss any other issues until government-sponsored cyberattacks are on the table." "That's not what they wanted to hear." "Sir, what did you tell the Chinese delegation before they walked out?" "We didn't have anybody there." "The Joint Commission's usually a snooze fest." " Not today, it wasn't." " I've got Greer on it." "Isn't this international?" "We need somebody from the tech beat if we want any background" " on cyberwarfare." " Does he have anybody on record yet?" "The Chinese aren't talking." "And all the US delegation said" " is what's in the AP wire." " I want something online in two hours." "In-depth follow-up sometime this week." "Hey, Lucas... you all right?" "Yeah, why?" "You're wearing the same clothes you wore yesterday." "Am I?" "I don't know what's going on in your personal life, but it seems to be entering the workplace." "Appearances matter." "We can't have an editor looking more disheveled than his reporters." "Two hours." "You'll have something." "Did you know Jackie Sharp's running for whip?" " No, it's the first I'm hearing of it." " I spoke to Webb." "He got an e-mail from Lorrie Tate about me." "I got one from Dave Holland about him." " Which means nothing to me." " The junkets, the nepotism." "Tate and Sharp are close." "Holland serves on the VA Committee with her." "She used proxies to insulate herself." "You think she gave the dirt to them." " She's been playing both of us." " How many commitments you think" " she could have?" " Around 20 so far." " So she's a distant third." " But she's picking people off us" " left and right." "I want your help." " You have my support, Wes." " Then make that public." " If I come out for you, Birch comes out for Webb." " That's gonna hurt you, not help you." " This is serious, Frank." "Ted Havemeyer is bankrolling her." " Have you thought of talking to Jackie?" " No, no." " I can't do that on principle." " Why not?" "Anyone who Havemeyer is backing, I don't work with." "He pulled this same crap on me when I ran for Senate." "He financed my primary opponent." "Asshole." "Well, that is your call." "But if you're gonna let an old grudge" " get in the way of progress..." " I just can't do it, Frank." "Havemeyer's been trying to shove me down the totem pole for years." "I won't give him the satisfaction." "Well, I can respect that, but my hands are tied." "It's a delicate matter, but we are in communication with the Chinese government" " as to how to move forward." " This mean the US will back down" " on cyberattacks?" " The United States never backs down, particularly on issues that are high priority to us." "Madame Secretary, what did you tell the head of the delegation?" "The delegation overstepped its bounds." "But Cathy couldn't throw her own people under the bus." "She should've consulted us first before speaking publicly." "The press was on her doorstep and the president was in another hemisphere." "Look, I'm not condoning what she did, but she had to do something." "She made a gut call and she acted." "We have to distance ourselves from this." " When is the president back?" " Tomorrow morning." "Can we set up a meeting?" "Cathy needs to publicly apologize." "We get her in the room with the president?" "Shouldn't we all be on the same page first?" " I'll see what I can do." " Thank you." "Now, you asked me a question before I went and got my food" " and I've forgotten what..." " Mr. Vice President." "General McGinnis." "Ah." "It's a great honor." "I hope you don't mind, the president wishes he could be here." " He's asked me to fill in." " The honor is mine, sir." " And, General, this is my wife Claire." " It's good to see you, Claire." " It's been a long time." " Yes." " Harvard." "We were classmates." " Claire didn't say a thing." "We dated for a time." "Well, about five minutes." "Anyway, I'll let you get back to your meal." "Thank you." "I've remembered." "Interestingly enough, in South Carolinam, the largest crop is not cotton." "No." "It's tobacco." "And the third largest crop is marijuana." "Now..." "We'll just keep that to ourselves." "Would you all excuse me for just a moment?" " Is she alone?" " Yes." "Will you give us a few moments, please." "What's wrong?" " It was him." " Who?" "Freshman year." "You mean...?" "McGinnis?" "Francis." "Francis!" "Please, don't do anything, please!" "I am not gonna pin a medal on that man." " You have to!" " Just a minute, please!" " There is no way..." " They want to start." "Just a minute, please!" "He does not deserve a medal." " That man needs to be taken out and shot!" " I am begging you." "Please!" " No!" "I said just a minute!" " Do not make a scene!" "Please!" "Tom." "Thanks for coming by." "You know, I thought I would miss this place the moment I stepped inside but I don't." "Hope you like Stella." " Cheers." " Here's how." " How are things?" " Ah!" "They're good." "They're good." " You're happy?" " I haven't been happy a day in my life." "But I have time now." "To think." "To write." " Been working on a novel." " Yeah?" "Mm." "It's absolute shit, but that's OK." "That's great, Tom." "That's really great." "What's on your mind?" "I know you didn't ask me here just to catch up." "Frank Underwood." "On the president's behalf, it is my great honor to formally recognize the selection of General Alicia Hampton as commander," "United States European Command, and General Dalton McGinnis as commander of the United States Strategic Command." "The United States Marine Corps has been well served by these two..." "exemplary leaders." "The president and I are grateful for their continued service." " Congratulations." " Thank you, sir." "You think I'm insane?" "I don't think you're insane." "I think you've been through a lot." "You're trying to make sense of it all." " I know I'm right." " I'm sure you believe you are." "It's a fact that he helped cover up the DUI." "Imagine if one of your reporters came to you with this story." " Could you print a word of it?" " No, but I'd have them keep digging." "Would you?" "If you're honest with yourself, wouldn't you tell them it seemed far-fetched?" "Your notes aren't convincing." "The police reports don't prove a link." " And the speculative leaps you're making?" " I know." "Hold yourself to the same standards you hold your staff." "You and Zoe were seeing each other." "I'm assuming." "Maybe I'm wrong." "No, we were." "When I lost my first wife, it didn't add up." "Who dies of breast cancer at 31?" "I wanted to sue, doctors, the hospital, everyone." "I thought they were hiding something." "No." "Grief demands an answer, but sometimes there isn't one." "Her life couldn't be saved." "Period." "What do I do?" "Would you consider seeing someone?" "There's a therapist who helped me when Cynthia passed away." " I can put you in touch with..." " No, I don't need to see somebody." " Lucas." " I appreciate you coming by, Tom." "Thanks for the beer." "You can call me anytime." "You take care of yourself, Lucas." "I mean it." "Any plans to go elsewhere, sir?" "No, we're in for the night." "Thank you." "Yes, sir." "Hey." "I'm tired." "Do you need something, sir?" "My remote, I wanna play." "It's right over here." "Thank you." "Something wrong with the Internet?" "I can't get online." "We had to disable the access." "It's not a secure connection." "Would you just give me a moment, please?" "Whenever you're out here, somebody needs to be with you." "I can't be alone in my own backyard?" "If it were up to me, sir, but it's not up to me." "OK, Meechum." "You think I don't want to smash things?" "I know what that anger is more than you can imagine." " When he was on top of me..." "" " We don't have to talk about it." "No, I want to." "When he was on top of me, I pressed my hand with everything I could, I pressed it into his face." "I pressed it so hard, I broke his nose." "That didn't stop him." "He shoved the sheets in my mouth." "I could barely breathe." "Every time I think of her, pinned down like that," "I strangle her, Francis..." "so she doesn't strangle me." "I have to." "We have to." "The alternative is it's unlivable." "You should go to sleep." "I'm not sure if I can." "Then you should go back downstairs." "You'll still feel the hate in the morning." "You'll use that." "But not on him." "What did you communicate, exactly?" "I told him to bring up the agenda, suggest bullet points for the SED," " but make no demands." " And how did that translate into a direct ultimatum?" "Well, sometimes my delegates try to read between the lines." "They know that I need plausible deniability for diplomatic purposes." "Why didn't you immediately recant?" "In my experience with the Chinese, backpedaling makes us look weak." "I had two choices:" "lose face or exhibit strength." "I chose the latter." " All right, I'll be in touch shortly." " Thank you, sir." "Get me Raymond on the private line." " Think she overstepped on purpose?" " Cathy would never disobey." " Not on purpose." " Raymond, I've got Frank here." " Just the three of us?" " Just us three." "Morning, Raymond." "My contacts in Beijing tell me the minister of commerce is in a tizzy." "Wants to use this as an excuse to start clenching fists." "Either I turn my back on Cathy or I stand behind her." " It's got to be the former." " I agree." "If you don't apologize, you go from ruffling feathers to plucking them." "And the Chinese won't stand for that, Mr. President." "What about perceived miscommunication between me and my Cabinet?" "Mr. President, right now the goal is to resume the talks." "I wouldn't worry about perceptions." "Frank is right." "We need to be pragmatic." "Worry about appearances later." "All right, I'll have Catherine draft an apology." "No, it has to come from you, Mr. President." "If the apology is to mean anything, it must come from the White House." "That is certainly the more likely to succeed." "Fine." "I'll do it, then." " Thank you, Raymond." " Thank you, Garrett." "Do you hear how he still uses the President's given name?" "And that Walker doesn't flinch at the lack of respect it implies?" "Sir, forgive me if this isn't the case, but you seem a bit hesitant." " Why do you say that?" " Well, you've raised a good point about public perception." "I don't want you to think" " that I'm dismissing your concerns casually." " It's a concern for you, too?" " There is some insight into what Cathy brought up." " Backpedaling as weakness." "Well, it's always a coin toss with the Chinese." "But sometimes, standing your ground is better than giving in." "They respect you more when you show strength." "Are you changing your mind on this, Frank?" "I just think it's important that you do what you think is best." "The American people voted you president, not me, not Raymond Tusk." " I'll let you know what I decide." " Thank you, sir." "You think she's Underwood's choice?" "He deflected, so it's possible." "You and I, we need to work together on this, Wes." " Before we both get screwed." " I agree." "One of us drops out, throws support to the other." "That'll dwarf any following she has." "You want me to drop out." "I'll make sure you get my chairmanship on Appropriations." "All you can offer me is Ethics, which nobody wants." "Let's put this to bed, Wes." "Webb must have offered him a deal." "Then we have to offer a better one." "I'm guessing Appropriations." "There's no way I can top that." "Except for Ways and Means." "I won't let you give your chair to an ass like Buchwalter." "If you're the whip, you outrank him and every other chairman." "Screw committees." "I'll have a direct line to the Speaker." " Don't be stubborn, Jackie." " You think he'd take it?" "He was willing to take a deal from Webb." "You're the only person he hates more." "He's a brute, but he's not an idiot." "Well, I know you're not refusing out of loyalty." " True." " So it's because of Ted." "You think you are hot shit, don't you?" "Can we set egos aside and talk business like the adults we are?" " I want more than Ways and Means." " Tell me." "I want Havemeyer gone." "Not just retired politically dead." "That race was 12 years ago." "That was 12 years I could've been in the Senate." "Revenge?" "Really?" "Not revenge." "Equity." " Well, what are you gonna do?" " Buchwalter won't budge." "You know, there's nothing I despise more in life than pettiness." "I could approach Webb, but I don't have enough to offer him." "He'd never drop out." "Too much pride." " I'm not sure what to do." " This is my file on Ted." "An illegitimate daughter." "The nanny, of course." "Her name is Emily Rodriguez." "Nineteen, cerebral palsy." "I know about Emily." " Why are we having this conversation?" " It's complicated." "The daughter?" "It's very black-and-white to me." "I've known Ted since I was born." "He and my father were very close." " Yeah, I'm aware." " He's always looked out for me." "He got me into West Point." "He funded my first race." "I like Ted." "He's always been a team player." " It's unfortunate he has this secret." " It was a mistake." "One he's always regretted." "After she was born, he asked me to check in on her because he couldn't." " Because he trusted me." " I see." "You came in here knowing what you had to do, hoping I would pull a rabbit out of a hat so you wouldn't have to." "I know the girl." "I know her mother." "These people don't deserve this." "I've given you all I can." "Whatever you decide is your prerogative." " But maybe I misjudged you." " Ted is family to me." "An adopted daughter, in lieu of a real one." " Sir, the secretary is here." " Thank you." "Send her in." "Excuse us." " It's good." " Not too long?" "A little bit, but not much." " This part, three paragraphs in." " About the phone companies?" " Tell me more." " It's one of Homeland Security's major concerns." "That the cyberattacks might infiltrate phone carriers, get access to millions of people's data history." " Like who they called?" " Yeah." "Who they called, texted, what they texted, when, where they were." "Everything." " And that's possible?" " There haven't been any catastrophic breaches yet." "At least not reported." "But it looks like the Chinese are starting to recruit mercenaries on the Deep Web to launch guerilla-type attacks" " that can't be traced back..." " Hold on." "The "Deep Web."" " I've heard of that." " Yeah, no, 96 percent of the Internet isn't accessible through standard search engines." "Most of it's useless." "But it's where you go to find anything and everything:" "child porn, bitcoin laundering, mail-order narcotics, hackers for hire." " How do you access it?" " It's actually pretty easy." " I could show you if you want." " Yeah, I'm curious." " Mind if I...?" " Go ahead." "First thing you need's Tor." "Some people prefer I2P, but I think Tor is better." " What is Tor?" " Protects you through proxy servers, keeps you anonymous." "Then I'll show how to get to the posting boards and the IRCs." "But I gotta warn you, be careful what you click." "Some crazy shit there, man." "For too long, we've danced on eggshells regarding the issue of cyberwarfare." "Secretary Durant acted on instructions that came directly from me." "Now, if the Chinese are not willing to engage in a meaningful dialogue about intellectual property of American corporations, as well as this deliberate targeting of our government's online infrastructure, well, then that is proof of a double-standard mentality" "that we shall no longer tolerate." "Our delegation to the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade was unfairly accused and defamed by representatives of the United States government." "The People's Republic of China will not be threatened by derisive and unsubstantiated claims." "As long as the White House continues to behave this way, any future bilateral trade talks will be impossible." "It caught me by surprise, too." "Did you say anything to him after I hung up yesterday?" " No." "Have you spoken to him?" "  A few minutes ago." "He said he did what he thought was right." "Well, there's nothing we can do to combat that." "He doesn't usually go against my advice without giving me fair warning." " What are you suggesting, Raymond?" " He's easily manipulated." " Clearly, not in this case." "  We need to fix this." " And I'm counting on you for that, Frank." " Let me freshen your memory." "I don't owe you any favors." "I promised to work with you, not for you." "And when it comes to China, we both want the same thing." " So we need to work together." " To convince Garrett he should retract." "To support the president in the path that he's chosen." "While he continues to antagonize them publicly." "While he continues to benefit from a bump in approval ratings." "A tough stance on China is popular, and we can use that to our advantage." "Let's just be patient and see if we can smooth things over from back channels." "If I don't see any results, you won't have my patience for long." " That's understood." " Let me know what Durant has to say." " Absolutely." " Thank you, Mr. Vice President." "I thought he might balk at taking a handout from me." "I'd call it more than a handout." "Well, he's always been the sort of man who could be bought, but never cheaply." "It's not the chairmanship that bought him, Ted." "What do you mean?" "I'm telling you this so that you have time to call your wife and prepare your statement." "What's my out?" "What's he want from me?" "There is no out." "He wants it to hurt." " You told him?" " I just promised him" " that I could make it happen." " You can't do this, Jackie." "The story's breaking tomorrow." " What part of it?" " No names." "Just that you have a daughter." "Have you thought about what this will do to Diane?" " To our sons?" " I hate myself for it." " But I'll get over that." " What about her?" " Emily?" "You can't even say her name, can you?" " Don't lecture me." "You've never been in the same room with her." "She's had the best treatment available." "Alone." "Hooked up to machines." "Surrounded by nurses who punch out at dinnertime." " You don't know what I've been through." " You?" "What about her?" " I can't do more than I've done." " That's bullshit, Ted." " You could've found a way." " I won't defend myself to you." "Don't." "Save that for your wife." "This isn't to punish you, Ted." "It's simpler than that." "When I first encouraged you to run for office, it's because I sensed how unstoppable you were." "But I never thought I'd have to lie down on the tracks myself." "If you're going to put my neck in the noose, look me in the eye while you do it." "I'm very grateful for all that you've done for me." "You'll make an excellent whip, Jacqueline." "Now, please get out of my office." "What are you doing?" "Sh, sh, sh, sh!" "It's finally quiet." "It is, isn't it?" "We have our fortress now." " Where are you coming from?" " My new office." "You just finished setting it up today." " Do you like it?" " It's an office." "It's fine." "Resynced by madsc"