John Adams s01e05 Episode Script

Mere president will not do.
There are presidents of fire companies and cricket clubs.
This new federal government must command respect and the titles of federal office must ensure that respect.
How long does Mr.
Adams intend to waste this assembly's time on matters of no import? No import? No imp There is nothing of greater importance, Mr.
MacClay.
The office of president must have no equal in the world.
Neither dignity nor authority can be supported in human minds without the weight of splendor and majesty, sir.
Does the vice president have a title in mind? I do indeed, sir.
I have several.
His Highness the President.
Or His Esteemed Majesty the President.
Or His Excellency the Supreme Commander in Chief.
Or something of the sort.
Ahem! Perhaps Mr.
Adams has not had occasion to peruse our Constitution.
It explicitly states, "No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States.
" These are not titles of heredity that I am proposing but titles conferred for merit and titles that will only accompany positions of high federal responsibility.
Indeed.
Federal.
Ridiculous.
The motion before us is that the president be addressed as His Highness the President of the United States of America and protector of the rights of the same.
Those in favor? Aye.
- Those opposed? - No! - No! - No! His Rotundity the Vice President and Duke of Braintree.
I'd second that, indeed.
His Rotundity, the Duke of Braintree.
You should have consulted the president first.
All this talk of titles.
What is the job of the vice president if not to advise the president? When the president requires your advice, John, he will most surely ask for it.
Patience.
I was merely trying to impress upon the Senate the importance of cloaking the presidency in the mantle of authority.
Now I have seen what the future holds, Abigail.
Men and manners, principles, opinions they've altered very much in this country.
Authority is our only protection against discord, civil war and sedition.
Now the office of the president, no doubt, is sufficient to establish such authority.
But we must not be surprised if we ever find we need a monarch - to keep us from coming asunder! - You would do well to keep your thoughts to yourself, John.
People will say that your mind has been tainted by foreign courts.
They are already saying such things in Boston.
A man cannot go to Europe without being tainted, as you well know.
As I was sent there on the people's business, if some taint has stuck to me, perhaps the people ought to pay me for the damages.
Where are you going? We'll finish this conversation when you regain your senses.
I, uh I was not aware that I had lost them.
Well, you have.
Hold a moment, hold.
I shall endeavor to be more patient and I will look to you to correct me if I do not.
I am sorry that I was not here earlier, John.
But I cannot be with you always.
We cannot get by on your salary.
$5,000 a years is hardly worthy of such an office.
The farm brings us an income and someone must tend to it.
Then we will find a tenant.
There are none to be had.
Then leave the place to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.
I need my ballast.
You need to mind your tongue nothing more.
Not that you will listen to me.
Stay and you shall see me reformed.
I will stay with you until Congress adjourns.
You must find Philadelphia much changed, Mr.
Jefferson.
More changed than I could have imagined, Mr.
Hamilton.
Not the city itself.
All cities swallow everything in their way.
That's no surprise to me.
That's why I abhor them.
But I've been, as you know, in revolutionary France, where the streets are filled with the songs of liberty and brotherhood and the overthrow of our ancient tyrannies of Europe.
And to return from there to this, our cradle of revolution and find the dinnertable chatter is all of money and banks and authority is an unwelcome surprise.
Unwelcome perhaps, but necessary.
I must admit, Mr.
Hamilton, I am a little uncertain as to the purpose of the Treasury Department.
No doubt its function will reveal itself to me in good time.
The future prosperity of this nation rests chiefly in trade.
Trade depends, among other things, on the willingness of other nations to lend us money.
And how would you propose to establish international credit? Our first step would be to incur a national debt.
The greater the debt, the greater the credit.
And to that end I have recommended to the president that Congress adopt all the debts incurred by the individual states during the war through a national bank.
The idea being that if the states owe Congress money, then other nations will feel more inclined to lend it to us.
If the states are indebted to a central authority, it increases the power of the central government.
There you have it exactly.
The greater the government's responsibility, the greater its authority.
The moneyed interest in this country is all in the north, so the wealth and power would inevitably be concentrated there in a federal government to the expense of the south.
If that is the case, it is unavoidable if the Union is to be preserved.
I fear our revolution will have been in vain if a Virginia farmer is to be held in hock to a New York stockjobber who in turn is in hock to a London banker.
The opportunities for avarice and corruption would certainly prove irresistible.
There you have it.
As I have heard said, "If men were angels then no government would be necessary.
" Sadly that is very well said.
But there can be no question, our nation cannot bind together without powerful central government.
But we must also accommodate the needs of our constituent states, both north and south.
The power of one must check and balance the other.
And to that end we must dedicate all of our energies, and our care.
I would like to welcome Mr.
Jefferson home.
Mr.
Secretary of State.
Hear, hear.
Mr.
President, gentlemen.
There are cabinet matters that I would like to discuss.
If you would excuse us, Mr.
Adams.
Please convey my regards to your wife.
Gentlemen.
John.
Mr.
President.
Mr.
President and nothing more.
The president must not be allowed to remove cabinet officers on whatever whim.
- Hear, hear.
- The Senate must advise and consent to their removal the same as to their appointment.
Mr.
MacClay's bill is an affront to the authority of the executive branch.
- Hear, hear.
- It seeks nothing less than to indenture the president to this body's will.
- Hear, hear! - Mr.
Pinckney, the British Parliamentary model may be instructive here.
The Senate would no doubt benefit from the vice president's learning and erudition on the subject, but I respectfully remind him that barring a tie in voting, he has no say in the matter.
I am in no need of reminders, Mr.
MacClay.
I concur with Mr.
MacClay's opinion.
The president must not have unlimited authority in cabinet matters.
Hear, hear.
The role of vice president is the most insignificant office ever devised by the mind of man.
No, I assure you it is punishment to hear other men talk five hours a day and not be at liberty to talk myself.
Me of all people.
A torture for you, to be sure.
Most of those I hear, they're too young.
They're too inexperienced.
They're too fractious.
I was of a mind to refuse the vice presidency entirely, you know.
And half the Electoral College were determined to oblige me.
There are rumors.
What rumors? Some say intrigue was used.
To what possible purpose? Many were urged to withhold their votes for you.
It was deemed an essential point of caution to see that your showing not embarrass General Washington; That he be elected unanimously.
Who is the author of this dirty scheme? No one can say for certain.
Good God.
To be used in such a despicable manner.
I am sorry to be the one No no, Dr.
Rush.
I thank you for your frankness.
And thus we set an example for the world.
Tales of dirty and duplicitous intrigues in our first election.
I hear that we are called Federalists now because we believe in strong central government.
And our opponents now style themselves Republicans because they believe in the sovereignty of the people.
Ha! I dread a division of our republic into parties, Doctor.
Yet that is what I see is happening.
It is in a state of almost permanent revolution, Monticello.
No sooner have I completed it than I wish to tear it down and start again.
I want to build a new portico.
Triangular pediment on four great pillars.
- Is it not magnificent, John? - Yes.
Very nice.
But it is not to be as yet.
When duty calls We feared for your safety in Paris, Thomas.
The papers are still full of the most alarming reports.
Yes, a Bastille commander's head carried through the streets on a pike.
One officer hanged from a lamppost, another one cut to pieces, his heart torn from his body and brandished out the window of the Hotel de Ville.
You cannot expect a people so long oppressed to be transported from despotism to liberty on a feather bed.
I believe the violence will end soon enough, as it has here.
But should everything be pulled down, what shall be put in its place? Given the entrenched divisions within French society which you witnessed, I believe the most we can achieve is a monarchy limited in its power to act by a parliament on the British model.
That is what I told the Marquis de Lafayette.
Do you mean to say that you involved yourself in revolutionary activities as our acting ambassador? Lafayette sought my advice on the drafting of a declaration of the rights of man and I was happy to oblige, yes.
I was in the Assembly Nationale when it was proclaimed.
In fact, you could say the Constitution of France was conceived in my parlor.
These are dangerous grounds, Thomas.
The French court was well aware of my involvement.
They thought that I would be a moderating influence on the more hot-headed members of the assembly.
They seek only to emulate our experience, John.
We must support them.
I am not as sanguine as you about the prospects in France.
Should King Louis and his advisors not deliver these promised reforms, well then, this violence will only escalate.
The king himself could become a victim of it and England and Spain will rightfully fear the spread of revolution across Europe.
They will be forced to declare war to protect their monarchies.
Our treaty with France will draw us into a conflict that we can ill afford.
France is in the throes of a violent birth.
We should rejoice.
We should rejoice, John.
And is that the advice you are giving the president? We should rejoice? When the president seeks my counsel, I give him what advice I can.
It's not always welcomed by the cabinet.
I would know nothing about that.
- No.
- No.
I trust you will find President Washington is as independent-minded as ever.
He has too much power, as I feared, and the Congress has too little.
He is a monarch in all but name.
A chief magistrate, once in power, rarely leaves it willingly.
I am no believer in monarchy as such, as you well know.
But I have seen the result of too many mobs to entrust them with the government, sir.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
It is a natural manure.
You must be careful, John.
I find him much changed.
Add the usual salutation.
"Your humble servant et cetera, et cetera.
" Yes, sir.
Thank you, Colonel Smith.
That's all for now.
Perhaps I may indulge your patience with a personal request, sir? A matter I've been meaning to broach with you for some time now.
An increase in your meager salary is quite out of the question, Colonel.
I'm sorry.
It's not that, sir.
Though I am without fame or fortune, such as I am, I aspire to your daughter's love.
I beg your pardon? My dau what was that about my daughter? You mean to say you vetoed Colonel Smith's proposal? I did.
Nabby is a child.
Your child, had you not noticed, is a young woman of great sensibility.
Far too much sensibility, I think.
Her mother had too much sensibility at her age to be very prudent.
- Far too much.
- And it won her a heart of as much sensibility as hers.
Nabby is content with the match.
We should be as well.
Mr.
Jefferson stands at the head of a faction, in my judgment, subversive to the principles of good government and dangerous to the peace, union and happiness of this country.
Any such faction, if it exists, Mr.
Hamilton, is grossly underrepresented in this cabinet which persists in its determination to replace colonial subjugation by Great Britain with equally pernicious financial subjugation Enough, Mr.
Jefferson.
Enough.
You will hereafter show more charity for each other's opinions and Mr.
Jefferson! I will not have this government undermined by party politics and acts! John.
Thomas.
Mr.
Hamilton.
Well, I am very sorry to intrude upon your affairs.
I only came to say that I am leaving for Peacefield in the morning, what with the yellow fever season approaching, and my daughter is to be married.
I believe that you know the groom Colonel William Smith.
Colonel Smith was under my command at Long Island.
He served with great distinction.
I congratulate you on such a fitting match for your daughter.
Thank you, sir.
Yes, well, good day.
- Mr.
Adams.
- Yes? Will you not join me at table? I have need of more reasonable company.
This uprising in France places us in a difficult position.
We cannot trade with Britain and support her enemy at the same time.
Surely this is a matter on which the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury should offer counsel.
Mr.
Jefferson and Mr.
Hamilton can agree on nothing.
I fear that we will be drawn into the perpetual European conflict.
I would advise neutrality, sir.
Avoid any hostilities or any show of support.
America must be beholden to no one, neither England nor France.
It is sheer folly for us to expect disinterested relations with France or England or any other country.
The gangrene of faction must not be allowed to rot this government.
You are the balance that holds both sides together.
Without you, there would be dissolution.
On that, Mr.
Hamilton and Mr.
Jefferson do agree.
You are indispensable, sir.
But for how much longer, Mr.
Adams? Is something the matter, sir? Blasted teeth.
Terrible nuisance, yes.
Sir, madam, a great honor you have conferred upon the bridegroom and the bride by being present at this solemnity does very conveniently supersede any further inquiry after your consent.
And the part I am desired to take in this wedding renders the way of my giving consent very compendious.
There is no manner or room left for the previous question, "Who giveth this woman to be married to this man?" Give me your hand for a moment into the bridegroom's forever.
Now joined in matrimony, let us say the Lord's Prayer.
You will be pleased to hear, Father, that some interesting investment prospects have presented themselves for me in London.
You're leaving? So soon after the wedding? I frown on speculation.
It is nothing more than rolling in luxury on the property of others.
You should settle on a profession, Colonel Smith, as my sons have.
Naturally I would postpone any trip if I could be of some service to the government.
Perhaps you could put a word in with General Washington.
And how on earth would I justify that? My sister and I are now family.
I have no say in the matter.
And even if I did, I could not allow my authority to become subservient to my private views, sir.
William was only saying I know what he was saying, Nabby, and he has my answer.
And when will you give me your answer, Miss Smith? What is the question, Mr.
Adams? I urge you to return to Philadelphia.
Should General Washington decide to stand for a second term And I have no doubt he will.
- It is absolutely essential that you retain the vice presidency.
If however he should not stand, you will be our party's choice.
Well But I cannot imagine my presence is necessary for the elections.
We must gird ourselves against disruption in this election.
You're a man who appreciates balance and balance is what we need.
But I fear I have little influence.
The Secretary of State suffers from a womanish attachment to France.
There are those who say that Mr.
Jefferson is more Frenchman than American.
That is an unfair attack on an old and dear friend.
I beg your pardon if I have misspoken.
Thomas is of a most unbiased constitution.
No matter how indifferent you may be to the outcome of the election, Mr.
Adams, I hope you are not so to the cause of good government.
Our Republican adversaries have been emboldened by the arrival of a French envoy who is stirring up anti-British sentiment.
This is the end of monarchy.
Death to all tyrants.
The end of tyranny! Vive la France! King Louis is dead! Long live the French and American republics.
Yeah! Now that war has been declared between your country and Great Britain, we must remain neutral, Ambassador Genet.
The United States is a new and independent nation.
It is in our best national interest to keep ourselves apart from affairs to which we have no attachment.
Surely the cause of France is the cause of America, of the world.
A threat to France is a threat to America.
And we have a treaty, Mr.
President, a treaty made when you were at war with England.
I remind the ambassador that our treaty with France was made with King Louis.
The King's murder renders that compact no longer binding.
Thousands of your people have called themselves our brother.
Since I landed in America, I have found many willing to fight.
You will refrain, Ambassador Genet, from any further efforts to recruit our citizens to belligerent actions.
I will not allow you to outfit privateers to join in your war against England It is not for you to tell me this.
Tread carefully, sir.
The people will command me as they command you.
Ambassador Genet You will hear from me again, sir, and then I will speak to you with a million voices and you will obey.
The famous French diplomacy.
Mr.
Jefferson.
Ambassador Genet has taken leave of his senses.
Surely you see now that you must compromise, Thomas.
We cannot side with either France or England in this war.
The president has determined on a course of strict impartiality.
A wise course and I concur with it.
Impartiality is always partial, John.
It will favor the British as Mr.
Hamilton intends it should.
General Washington judges more independently than any man I ever saw.
I do wonder, John, if you can be as blind to Mr.
Hamilton's scheming as you seem.
I am no man's puppet, Thomas.
Mr.
Hamilton would have us British in our economy, British in our forms of government.
British, John, in all but name.
He believes that man can be governed only by force and self-interest.
The first is unavailable to him at present, so he appeals to our baser instincts fear and greed.
Our Constitution provides a strong executive to counter just such legislative corruption as you imagine, Thomas.
Our constitution has many good articles and some bad ones.
I do not know yet which predominate.
Without this government, our republic would have collapsed into anarchy long ago.
With this government, I am not certain that we are a republic.
At any rate, I have offered the president my resignation.
I cannot descend daily into the arena to suffer martyrdom on every conflict.
We have been the best of partners.
Let us descend together.
Let us fight together.
My departure will be a great relief to me and no great loss to the public.
It will be a great loss to me, Thomas.
Well to the revolution.
- Whose? - They are one and the same, John.
Are they not? You wish to speak with me, Mr.
President? You've heard of Mr.
Jefferson's withdrawal? He made his thoughts known to me, yes, sir.
I could not persuade him to stay.
He wishes to completely withdraw from public life and return to his books and his crops.
It's interesting though, is it not, how political plants grow in the shade of retirement? This war between France and England threatens to tear us asunder.
We are poised on the edge of a precipice, Mr.
Adams.
We must not allow ourselves to be pushed over the brink.
We are agreed entirely, sir.
Ambassador Genet's visit has stirred a hornet's nest.
The British government now consider us a belligerent nation for the very fact of having received him.
I intend to appoint Chief Justice Jay as special envoy to London.
Peace between our two countries must be maintained.
Mr.
Jay and I served in the peace negotiations in Paris.
He is a most honorable man, yes.
America has a great need in this crisis for experienced diplomats in foreign stations, diplomats with your clearness of mind.
Sir after so long in exile abroad Fear not, Mr.
Adams.
It is about your son I wish to speak.
Your writings in defense of the administration have come under the president's eye.
I was unaware that my provincial scribblings were read in Philadelphia.
Well, I may have shown one or two of them privately to General Washington, - as any proud father would.
- Naturally.
The president has named you our Minister to the Netherlands.
The revolution in France has spilled over into Holland.
The Hague is a listening post by which you can keep the government informed.
Presiding over your certain confirmation will be my proudest moment as vice president.
Now England and France will drag all of Europe into this feud before it is over.
We must avoid any action that threatens our neutrality.
You must make yourself master of all of our disputes with them.
Spain as well.
Do not be drawn in by the French and keep well clear of the English ambassador and all the Anglo-maniacs.
I rather wish the appointment had not been made at all.
Am I to understand that you intend to refuse this appointment? Do not worry, Father.
I know my duty as an Adams.
But I am sorry you did not see fit to consult me on the decision.
Congress will of course assign a secretary to assist you.
I would prefer that Thomas accompany me.
The boy is apprentice to one of the finest attorneys in Philadelphia.
He needs to complete his studies.
Thomas has no liking for the law.
Oh, well he has said nothing to me.
Have you asked him, Father? While I'm away I must have some comfort knowing that I will be secure upon my return.
I share Father's distrust of banks but not his distaste for speculation.
In New York you are in the midst of opportunity.
Colonel Smith says that there is money for the taking in property and he has furnished me with certain introductions.
Well there's $2,000 here.
Invest it wisely.
You are as good as in profit already.
Here they come.
Give a big kiss to Uncle John when he goes.
This tender-hearted fool has given his family many anxious hours.
I'm very happy with him.
Public business must be done by somebody.
If wise men decline it, others will do it.
So you've always taught us, Father.
- Sir.
- Sir.
Goodbye, Mother.
You have more prudence at 27 than your father at 58.
All of my hopes are in you both for our family and for our country.
Do not disappoint me.
Thomas.
Come on.
God keep them safe.
I am sorry to cut my visit so short, Charles, but I am needed in Philadelphia.
Mr.
Jay has returned from London and the news he brings has not been well-received.
- There is a treaty with England then? - Yes.
And he will be pilloried for it.
Your practice prospers, I trust? I have clients.
See that you keep them.
Sally seems a steady girl.
I feared that you would not give us your blessing.
An aspiring lawyer should never marry early.
Advice you yourself ignored.
You are happy for me, Father? You are my son.
I wonder, Father, just how many anxious hours did you waste on my behalf? Was it before or after you and Mother abandoned me and Thomas to the care of tutors? Are you quite out of your senses, man? All those years you were in Europe you were nothing more than a name at the end of a letter.
A very infrequent letter.
Letters full of advice but never affection.
Good God, you are a frivolous boy, Charles.
You know absolutely nothing of honor.
Your disgraceful behavior at Harvard should have been proof enough of your disregard for duty.
Duty, Father? Was that it or was it reputation? My entire life has been one of devotion to my country, sir.
Your country.
You always speak of your country.
What about us, your family? Do we not merit any of your precious devotion? We will never speak of these matters again.
Do we have your blessing, Father? Gentlemen! Gentlemen! Gentlemen! The vote to ratify the treaty negotiated by Mr.
Jay with Great Britain still stands at 15 in favor, 15 against.
The Jay Treaty is no more than a capitulation to Britain.
They treat us as though we were still a colony.
Peace, sir, is not capitulation.
- Mr.
Pinckney, stand down.
- And the treaty ensures peace.
- Stand down, sir.
- If the people of the United States had been consulted, no treaty whatever would have been formed, especially at the expense of the French republic.
Great Britain is not to be contended with? Did we not fight a bloody and costly revolution to rid ourselves of British contagion? - Gentlemen! - Do you want to fight another one? Mr.
Pinckney you will cease! Good heavens.
The vote still stands at 15 in favor, 15 against.
And as the Senate cannot come to a resolution, the final vote, the deciding vote, falls to this chair.
Falls to His Rotundity.
The president's wishes are clear.
I vote for ratification.
Mr.
MacClay.
Mr.
Adams casts his vote with the president only because he looks up to the same goal.
I am forced to look up to it and bound by duty to do so, sir, as there is only one breath of one mortal between me and it.
No treaty with England! No treaty with England! No treaty! No Jay Treaty! The hellhounds are in full cry.
They say I have sold this country to England, that I have sided with a mad English king over the French republic.
Slanders and libels, mobs, seditions, and then the hissing snakes, the burning torches and haggard horrors of civil war.
My desk overflows with memorials and petitions, with addresses, resolutions, remonstrances from every corner of the country, all urging me to refuse my signature, declaring I'm a traitor because I've sided with a mad English king over the French republic.
Chief Justice Jay informs me that he could steer a course from one end of the country to the other by the light of his own burning effigies.
I do not approve of everything in that treaty, but at least it keeps us out of their blasted war.
I know what it is to be unpopular, Mr.
Adams.
I am weary of the task.
Most weary.
To relinquish the presidency after two terms when he could've served for the rest of his life George Washington is an extraordinary man.
I am heir apparent, you know.
Whoever follows General Washington inherits a devilish load.
I'm not afraid of that.
I'm not.
Will Thomas oppose you? Yes.
Thomas thinks that in his retirement he will get the reputation of a humble man without ambition or vanity.
He may even have deceived himself into that belief, but now that the prospect is open to him, the world will find that he is as ambitious as any man.
These are now to be found in every state.
Thomas Jefferson is a firm Republican where as you are It's the same old charge monarchist.
We may expect the south and west to be firmly in Mr.
Jefferson's camp.
New England will stay true but there is uncertainty in New York, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.
It's always those three New York, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.
They're rather fickle, those three.
That is not the worst of it.
Hmm? The electors are being encouraged to show support for another candidate Thomas Pinckney of South Carolina.
Thomas Pinckney? Oh.
There can be no comparison in experience or sacrifice to the government between me and him.
Whether I shall have anything more to do with the government besides praying for it, I do not know.
Pinckney.
Mr.
Hamilton has been rather outspoken in his praise of Mr.
Pinckney.
It is said he fears that you will be unable to better Mr.
Jefferson; That what matters is not your own election, but that Mr.
Jefferson be defeated at all costs.
So it was Hamilton who intrigued against me in the first election.
So it appears.
I have no stomach for cards.
No.
I have just been handed the final tabulations of the Electoral College which I will now read to you.
For Aaron Burr 30 votes.
For Thomas Pinckney 59 votes.
For Thomas Jefferson 68 votes.
For John Adams 71 votes.
Mr.
President.
I, John Adams, solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States so help me God.
Mr.
President, Mr.
Vice President gentlemen of the congress employed in the service of my country abroad, I first saw the Constitution of the United States in a foreign country.
I read it with great satisfaction as a result of good heads prompted by good hearts as an experiment better suited to the genius, character and situation of this country than any which had ever been suggested or proposed.
What other form of government, indeed can so well deserve our esteem and love? A government in which the executive, as well as all the other branches of the legislature, are exercised by citizens selected at regular periods by their neighbors to make and execute laws for the general good.
Is authority, when it springs from accidents and institutions established in remote antiquity, more amiable or respectable than when it springs fresh from the hearts and judgments of an honest and enlightened people? For eight years we have been under the administration of a citizen who, through a long course of great actions regulated by prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude, merited the full gratitude of all his fellow citizens.
May the name of Washington be a rampart and the knowledge that he lives a bulwark against all open or secret enemies of his country's peace.
With this great example before me and with the faith and honor of the American people upon which I have so often hazarded my all and never been deceived, I make you the following solemn promises: To do justice at all times and to all nations; to maintain peace, brotherhood and benevolence with all the world; and to lay myself under the most solemn obligations to uphold the Constitution of the United States to the utmost of my power.
- Mr.
President.
- Mr.
Vice President, I thank you very much, sir.
Titles have cost me troubles enough.
Let's just make it plain John as it was in Paris, yes? Mr.
President.
Mr.
President.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
I am fairly out and you are fairly in.
See which of us will be the happiest.
The staff had quite the jubilee when the general took his leave, sir.
The crockery, the furniture, curtains and carpets all gone.
Even the bed linens, sir.
The lot of it.
They took all of it.
Sorry, sir, Ma'am.
Deplorable.
I hate speeches.
I hate to talk to 1,000 people to whom I have nothing to say.
And yet, all that you can do and have done.
Oh, the decays of nature.
Painful for an old man to acknowledge them.
Then you must count other blessings: Two sons embarked on a diplomatic career; Another at the bar; A daughter who has given you a beautiful grandchild; And a most patient wife.
Promise not to expose these croakings and groanings.
Really, John, such shenanigans from a man of 60.
And the president at that.
Up, John.
John.
Yes? Up.