Source: http://westwingwiki.com/2014/04/season-7-episode-20-last-hurrah/
Timestamp: 2019-04-18 11:18:19+00:00

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BEING PRESIDENT CAN BE HARD ON THE FAMILY – While Santos is wrapped up in choosing his new Vice President, Helen is overwhelmed by the issues facing the new First Family. Meanwhile, Vinick must find a new road now that the election is over.
Previously on The West Wing: The RNC has a team of lawyers who wanna file for a re-count.
– If this happens and you don’t challenge it, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.
We’ll need a few minutes to shut down the street.
To walk to the mailbox? To have a hot dog, everyone had to be issued ID pins.
Get the president-elect on the phone.
Arnie Vinick made this a better campaign and he’s made this a better country for all of us.
Santos! Santos! Santos! We have the cold front moving into the Midwest.
It’s expected to drop a foot of snow in downtown Des Moines and at least 15 inches in outlying areas.
We got reports in the last hour of flurries in Washaw County Gentlemen, good morning.
How you been? – Good morning.
This is Senator Vinick’s office.
No one can take your call at the moment.
Senator, what are you doing here? My office, isn’t it? At least for another month.
– Where’s Sheila? – Had a breakfast meeting.
– With who? – Royce.
– Majority leader wants her, huh? Everybody wants her.
Seems like every message I take now is a job offer for Sheila.
I wanna call every state-party chairman, starting with Iowa and New Hampshire.
Thank them for what they did.
Should I pack and ship these, or do you? – Did you hear me? – Yeah.
– I’ll go get a list.
I wanna call every member of my fundraising committee.
Send letters to the big contributors.
Oh, and I should call every Republican governor.
Give me that set of cards you were keeping on everybody in every state we were in.
Again, I don’t want to start making announcements about cabinet posts until we have first made a decision about the vice-presidency which you all know is very important.
– Very busy day today.
I wanted to thank you again for all your hard work and let you know if there’s ever anything I can do for you I’ll be on the next plane out of here.
– Who’s next? – Hey.
To what do we owe the honor? I need to make some calls.
– We could use help with the boxes.
– So Royce, huh? – Maybe.
Is he gonna run for president? He knows he has no chance.
But I told him to keep buzz going, it’ll help fundraising.
He wants you to run the majority leader’s office? Dr.
Wexler says they can move your physical to today, but – Good.
I wanna get that done.
– But you gotta get there now.
Annie, get the “thank you” letters done, and I’ll sign them when I get back.
I want 10 minutes with every Republican senator before they kick me out.
Not too many of them around with the Senate out of session.
I’ll go to their home states if I have to.
I gotta thank them, let them know Hey, tell Bob I wanna go over the exit polls with him later.
Who’s gonna tell him? – What? – That the campaign is over.
Adam, I am not trying to tell you or the Times how to cover a story.
What I am saying is that if you report that he’s picked a vice president you will make the best paper in America very, very wrong.
Yes, senator, the president-elect will certainly take that into consideration.
– I have an aunt named Linda.
Do you have any friends named Linda? – No.
– Well, you do now.
Linda and Kevin are gonna be with you most of the time.
Now, because a lot of people know who your dad is – Everyone knows who my dad is.
Some of them might try to talk to him or get a message to him through you.
– You think that’s a good idea? – No? That’s right, Peter.
If anyone tries to do that, you should tell Linda or Kevin about it right away.
And they’ll give the message to my dad? Well, it’s not quite that simple.
Our lawyers now have a legal theory your electoral delegates can vote for whomever they want for vice president.
– Theory? – No precedent.
Theory’s best we can do.
Supported by four former Democratic and Republican attorneys general.
And they’ll say so publicly? They’ll take out a full-page ad in the New York Times.
By which I mean they’ll sign a full-page ad if we pay for it.
As will a handful of former solicitors general from both parties.
So I can pick whoever I want and the Electoral College will elect him? – Republicans might challenge it in court.
– But we’ll win? – Might take a while.
– You done here? – We’re just – It’s scary in there.
The kids seem okay with it.
How would you feel if you were 5 years old and people with guns were telling you they’re gonna take over your life? – Sorry.
– Nothing to do with you.
What you are talking about can wait.
What we’re talking about is keeping your children alive.
Your hand healed faster than I expected.
Maybe that’s because I went from a thousand handshakes a day to none.
I’ll have your blood-cholesterol levels in a few days.
If they’re anything like last year, you got nothing to worry about.
Did you get much exercise on the campaign trail? None.
I hear that keeps you young.
If I had your stress levels you’d have been called on to deliver an eloquent eulogy for me 10 years ago.
– So? – So you’re fine.
– Fine? – You’re in great shape.
– For a man my age? – For a man half your age.
You’re kind of a medical miracle, actually, huh? President Bartlet and the first lady are on their way to Brussels today for the president’s last G8 meeting where the crisis in Kazakhstan Do you have the list for assistant secretary of defense? There are 15 assistant secretaries of defense.
Stay focused on the big stuff.
All right, let me take another look at the file for State.
Kansas City Star wants me to confirm or deny Keenitz for Agriculture.
– How did that leak? – Once the FBI starts background checks neighbors figure it out.
It might pull press heat off the V.
I’ve decided on a V.
Do we have Nancy McNally’s financial-disclosure statement? – Who is your choice for vice president? – Baker.
You should announce that right away.
And publicly ask Democratic electors to vote for Baker when Electoral College meets.
– Only way we get Baker.
If you wait and submit Baker for confirmation Republicans won’t let you have him.
They won’t confirm a strong V.
Who could win the presidency in eight years.
Handing this off to the Electoral College just doesn’t feel right.
The American people will not stand for 272 people they’ve never heard of electing a V.
They vote the top of the ticket.
If he has to take over the presidency then people should know how he got there.
If he goes through a congressional confirmation hearings of the House, the Senate, the works the country will know everything about him before he takes office.
If you’re gonna submit a name to Congress, it can’t be Baker.
Got a lot of offers to sit on boards.
All the pharmaceuticals want you, all the airlines.
As your lawyer, I have to advise you to avoid the bankrupt ones unless you love giving depositions all day.
– I don’t wanna sit on boards.
– You don’t have to do anything as a member of a board of directors.
Show up a few times a year.
Hundred thousand in salary and more in stock options.
You sit on half-a-dozen boards, you’re making Wouldn’t look good.
Who cares what it looks like? No offense, Arnie, but nobody notices what former senators do.
What else you got? Lot of university offers.
You can write your own ticket.
Full-time faculty, guest lecturer, whatever you wanna teach – Where? – NYU, Princeton, Penn University of Pennsylvania? Yeah.
UVA, Duke, Emory, Florida State, Ohio Wesleyan, and William and Mary.
All right, let’s do guest lecturer at Penn, Florida State and Ohio Wesleyan.
– All three? – I can write my own ticket, or not? They’ll go along with it.
– But why do you wanna spend? – What offers do we have in California? You don’t wanna be the official greeter at a vineyard, do you? Twenty-one and a half.
Obviously that violates Houston’s zoning laws, but we can get a waiver.
This fence is essential to securing the perimeter of your property.
– Twenty-one feet high? Well, that’s because the homes next door are so close to yours.
What’s this? The guardhouse we’ll build on the sidewalk.
Everyone: Friends, delivery men, etcetera will have to pass through to get into your house.
Does it have to be so big? It’s smaller than we usually build.
– Trying to blend into the neighborhood.
– Really? Who else has a guardhouse? The plans might be able to be reined in a bit depending on how often the first family is gonna use the house.
Use it? We’re going to be living in it.
We’ve decided to let the kids finish their school year in Houston and then bring them to the White House in June.
So the first lady and the children will be living there full-time until June? – Pretty much.
Could you excuse me a minute? – Is there a problem? – He’s gotta let the director know.
– Gonna put a lot of strain on the PPD.
– PPD? Presidential Protective Division.
Permanent split in the family’s gonna stretch us thin.
– Not a permanent split.
But we’re really not set up for the president and the first lady to be apart more than a couple weeks: International trips, that sort of thing.
Got the exit polls for him.
Now he can really obsess over why he lost.
– You gotta talk to him about money.
– You’re his oldest friend.
– If you can’t get through to him, I can’t.
– He’s refusing to join boards.
He just wants to do guest lecturing at universities in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida.
He’s gonna be bored to death and he won’t be able to afford the Republican lifestyle he deserves.
The director would like to redo the security plan for your home including sealing the street with guardhouses at each end.
Sealing the street? Only residents to drive on the street.
All visitors to any house on the street have to pass through the guardhouses.
We’ll check social security and birthdays, same as the White House.
Our neighbors become prisoners in their homes? – They’ll be on the – Safest street in Houston.
– You okay? – No.
– They’re just trying to do their job – This is not gonna work.
We should all move to the White House with you in January.
We better start looking for schools for the kids, huh? Yeah.
Hey, Bob, you got the exit polls? Right here.
We lost Nevada by 70,000 votes because of the nuclear accident.
– What page is Nevada? – Right here.
You’re not set for life, you know.
Jim tell you I don’t wanna waste time on boards? I think he mentioned something about that, yeah.
My Senate pension will be plenty.
I’ll pick up pocket change on the lecture circuit.
– Where’s the demographic breakdown? – Take a job with a D.
– You wouldn’t have to do any lobbying.
– Wouldn’t look good? Lecturing in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida? Are you thinking about running again? Flip 40,000 votes in Nevada, and I win.
Senator, you can’t be seriously thinking about Doctor says I’m in great shape.
Tell me who the front-runner for the Republican nomination is gonna be, huh? One of the seven dwarfs that I just beat? Those guys have “loser” written all over them.
Ray Sullivan’s a front-runner already.
Everybody said he did a great job with the V.
– I created Ray Sullivan.
Where would he be if I didn’t put him on the ticket? – He won’t run if I run.
– You wanna bet on that? Everyone in the Republican Party knows I had this locked until the nuclear accident.
That would kill any Republican candidate.
The party can’t blame me for that.
We would have had an Electoral College landslide if Look.
Look at these exit polls.
Nuclear power was the number one issue all over the West.
That’s not gonna happen next time.
Nuclear won’t even show up in the next presidential exit polls.
You think I’m too old.
I’m telling you, 70 is the new 60.
The confirmation would be a breeze for Connor or Rosenthal for Treasury.
Connor would be a more popular choice within the party.
Obviously, Rosenthal’s more respected on Wall Street.
No, I think Rosenthal would be more effective selling my tax plan.
Well, he has no administrative skills.
Treasury is a huge department.
Jurisdiction over the IRS, Bureau of Engraving, the Mint.
Let’s go with Rosenthal, and get him a deputy secretary who’s got a lot of executive experience.
So we’ve got Treasury, Defense and attorney general.
If you make a choice on State, we’ll announce the big four the same time we announce the V.
And show progress with the transition.
Nancy McNally’s great, but I think she’d be a better U.
Well, how about Noah for State? – Schmidt? – No.
I want a fresh take on Kazakhstan someone who was never part of the team that got us in there.
– I had a good meeting with Reynolds but I didn’t get anything from him that I didn’t already know.
– No one has more experience.
– I like him, but – Wanna take another look at his file? – No, let’s move on.
– We’ll come back to State.
Well, we’ve got a couple of great candidates for Commerce.
General Corley will give you the Kazakhstan update as soon as you get off the plane.
I’ll get them on the line now.
I need Stanley at State and Henry at Trade for a conference call with the president.
– When? – Right now.
– What’s up? – Here’s where we are so far.
We’ve got someone ready to go for every one of those job titles.
People should be ready to move out by Inauguration Day.
– I’ll let them know.
– Things aren’t moving so fast with State.
President-elect doesn’t want any empty desks at State with the crisis still hot so he’d like all the undersecretaries to plan to stay in place for a while.
– He’s having trouble picking a secretary? – He’s staring at the short list.
Nancy McNally? I have no idea.
– She’s on the short list.
And Stanley is having his teeth whitened now so they’re trying to find someone at Trade to do the call.
I’ll just duck out this way.
Problems with the first-lady-elect? – Just not her favorite person today.
I’ll just slip out of your way.
We get CNN in Texas.
– Do me a favor.
– Please call me Helen.
– How we doing? – Everyone’s ready but now the president’s on another call.
The first lady would’ve shown you around but she’s on her way to Brussels.
They’ve asked me to make you feel at home.
In this place? Well, you’ll see the residence does have some homey touches.
– Like? – You could get bunk beds for the kids.
– I got to find a school for them first.
– Jim Kane can help you with that.
– The secretary of education? – Yeah.
Chairman, I’ll definitely let you know about the V.
Drudge Report says it’s Baker.
– How does Drudge do it? – Is it Baker? I am not going to reconsider.
I want Eric Baker for vice president.
Now, with the Democrats in the House, Baker will have no problem there.
How many Republican votes will we need in Senate? Five, at least.
More if anyone decides to filibuster.
Won’t try that on V.
– Not if you talk to the leader give him the feeling he’s being consulted, let him suggest names.
He’ll try to jam me into taking someone I don’t want.
If we can’t count on enough Republican votes in the Senate then I recommend that you ask the Electoral College to vote on Baker.
– You might have to.
Baker’s name is starting to leak, so if you’re not gonna consult Senate we need to make the announcement.
– Gotta pressure the Republicans to confirm Baker.
– How? I wanna see Arnold Vinick.
You really think he’s in the mood to help you with this? I wanna see Arnold Vinick.
Right says we lost because you weren’t conservative enough not the nuclear thing.
That’s why I have to run again, to prove that isn’t true.
I wasn’t just running for the presidency.
– I was fighting for the soul of my party.
Ray Sullivan, the most popular guy in the party, is a Vinick Republican.
You created a national candidate.
Pro-lifers like him, moderates love him.
Your blessing can guarantee him the nomination.
You can be the kingmaker.
But not the king? I just got a call from Barry Goodwin.
– Yeah? – Matt Santos wants to see you.
– About what? – Sounds like a post-election handshake a nice bipartisan photo op.
– Smart move by Santos.
– I’m not gonna be a prop in some phony unity picture.
You don’t go, they’ll leak that you turned him down.
– Santos will look bipartisan – And I look like a sore loser.
The personal staff is waiting in the East Room.
Most of them have been here a long time.
I need a nanny-type and someone to help clean the kids’ bedrooms.
I think they can manage that.
– This is Curtis Schaefer.
– He is the chief usher.
– Chief usher? Means he’s the man in charge.
If it’s all right, I thought we’d begin with a quick introduction then split off into individual meetings with the executive chef.
The pastry chef, your children might have desserts he’ll wanna know about.
The head florist would like a few minutes just to get an impression of your and the president-elect’s preferences.
The president-elect doesn’t have a preference.
– For the Oval Office? – He’ll never notice flowers.
– Whatever you like is fine.
No need to meet with the butlers and maids but if you could spend a few minutes with the president-elect’s valet.
– He needs to finalize his – I’m sorry.
Could you excuse us for one minute, please? Thanks.
We don’t need all these people.
Okay, which ones do you want to fire? President-elect’s office, please hold.
Goodwin will be right with you.
If you’d like to take a seat.
– This was a terrible idea.
– You had no choice.
– I’m standing here waiting like a – Sit.
Just keep talking to me as though I’m too busy to sit.
– What do I have tomorrow? – You have a haircut at 10.
– Okay, then what? – That looks like it.
– For the rest of the day? – For the rest of the year.
Okay, well, let’s confirm all that and make sure I have the updated schedules today.
– Arnie, good to see you.
Listen, you ran one hell of a campaign.
I’m sorry for the wait but the president-elect had to step out with the wife to check out some schools for the kids.
He asked me to have you wait in here.
– Can I get you anything? – I don’t think so.
– Senator Robertson’s on line three.
Albans was a little, you know, stuffy? A little? – Bancroft was more down to earth.
What? The idea of spending $25,000 for fifth grade.
What would public school be like if we spent 25,000 per pupil? In one year, we will spend more for two kids than my entire education cost.
Hey, I actually got a paycheck at Annapolis.
Where is the next school? What next school? I thought we were only doing two schools today.
I told your scheduler we had three schools.
I can’t do another school today.
I’ve got Arnold Vinick waiting for me.
The president-elect is on the line for you.
– Arnie, thanks for coming in to see me.
Listen, I’m really sorry about the scheduling mix-up.
We’re looking at schools for kids, and it’s taking longer than we thought.
Can we push our meeting back about an hour? Well, my schedule’s pretty busy these days.
– Let’s see what our staffs can work out.
I really appreciate any time that you can give me today.
And again, I’m sorry about having to reschedule.
Grande, nonfat chai for Jim.
– Coffee of the day.
– Tall, grande or venti? – What size? – Whatever’s biggest.
– Name? – Sen Arnie.
Venti coffee of the day for Ernie.
I wouldn’t send our kids to that school if they paid us.
I didn’t see a single kid smiling in there.
So it’s Bancroft, I guess.
Maybe we should look at some public schools too.
Public schools are the worst.
Didn’t Vinick say something like D.
Has the lowest test scores in the country? Well, there’s gotta be some good public schools in the district.
Hello? Yes, we are on our way right now.
I am late for the White House decorator.
There’s gotta be at least one good public school.
Do you know any congressmen who send their kids to D.
Public schools? What’s this about? Afraid they’re gonna get spoiled going to a rich kids’ school? A little, yeah.
You think having one maid pick up their socks and another pick up their underwear is not going to spoil them? Going to a fancy private school is gonna be the most normal thing about them.
Yeah, but You wanna look at a public school, we will look at a public school, okay? I need the schedule for tomorrow’s G8 meeting and the joint statement on Kazakhstan.
Trade rep wants you to okay this memo on agricultural subsidies going to the president.
And this is the language State approved for tomorrow’s briefing.
– It’s nice to meet you.
As you know, we have very little in the budget for redecorating.
– Oh, well, how much is very little? – Two hundred thousand.
You might want to establish a fundraising committee to raise a few million and do it right.
There really is a lot to do, especially in this room.
I’ve never liked the color of this rug, but the Bartlets Well, it’s all up to you now.
Well, it looks good to me.
Oh, but there are many ways you can put your personal touch on the White House.
Well, I will leave that up to my kids.
There are gonna be a lot of crayon marks that we’ll have to remove when we leave.
Speaking of the kids Here’s what I’ve sketched for Peter’s room, a cowboy theme.
And here’s what I came up with for Miranda’s room.
A place a princess would love.
Arnie, thanks so much for coming in.
– I’m sorry about that scheduling screwup.
I’m booked every minute of the day now.
It’s worse than the campaign.
No time to think at all.
In any event, I appreciate you rescheduling so fast.
Where are the cameras? This isn’t a photo op.
– Would you like some coffee? – No, thanks.
– My advice? – Yeah.
– On what? – The vice-presidency.
What about it? I have a legal memo that says that I can ask the Electoral College to vote for whoever I want You can’t let 272 people no one has ever heard of elect the vice president of the United States.
If you’re gonna have an unelected V.
P at least let the elected representatives of the people vote for him and to submit the name for congressional confirmation.
You gotta go through an open process public process that people understand and accept.
– You do? – Yeah.
Do you think the Senate Republicans will get rough? Well, that depends on who you pick.
Is the vice-presidency something that you would consider? – Are you offering it? – Would you consider it? – If you offered it? – If I offered it.
– To a Republican? – To you.
Would I consider it? And if I considered it, you’d put me on your short list? – Yes.
– You still gonna try to raise taxes? – Only on incomes over a million.
– So you’d offer the vice-presidency to someone who, if anything happened to you would be trying to cut those taxes while your body was still warm? I might.
If I considered it? Nice try.
Get me to say I’d consider it, then you have your people leak it to the press.
And that gives you a couple of days of stories about how bipartisan Matt Santos is.
I mean, “He’s even got a Republican on his short list for vice president.
” You figure that’ll soften the Republicans and they’ll talk about a confirmation for Vinick.
Then you announce who you really want, which I assume is Baker.
Then you put public pressure on the Senate to give the same speedy confirmation to Baker that they were gonna give to Vinick.
What do you think of Baker? I think he wins you Pennsylvania.
I think he has a lock on the presidential nomination eight years from now.
Senate Republicans are gonna have a little problem with that.
What are you gonna do next? I’ll do what I’m What I’m good at.
You’re going to run again? I hope you get your tax increase.
It’ll give me something to run against.
You got a minute to talk about Kazakhstan? I don’t get a daily intelligence report.
A lot of what you read is better than our intelligence.
I was impressed with what you said about Kazakhstan during the campaign.
I always had wished that I had said it first.
The good cop, bad cop routine you and Bartlet worked out seems to be the only thing you can do.
– What do you mean? – You two must’ve coordinated messages.
You’re not reckless enough to undermine the president on foreign policy in the middle of a crisis.
You’re trying to make the Russians and the Chinese believe that it’s gonna be tougher to deal with you than Bartlet.
Put pressure on them to negotiate a settlement with Bartlet now.
I’m gonna need another cop when Bartlet leaves office.
How about Secretary of State? – You gonna go with Reynolds? – Maybe.
If I don’t get my first choice.
Secretary of State? You’ve got better relationships with all the important heads of state than I do.
You know the diplomatic corps.
You’re respected in every capital in the world.
You agree with me on foreign policy.
And you are the best strategic thinker I know.
I’m not asking you if you’d consider it, Arnie, I’m asking you to do it.
What happened to the game of getting him to consider V.
P? He read that play.
– He’s who we need.
You’re saying there’s not a Democrat who can handle State as well as Vinick? Well, that’s not exactly what I would go out there and say publicly, but yeah.
Well, he’s not going to accept it.
But he’ll make sure the press finds out whoever we end up with was second.
– He’s not gonna leak it.
He never leaked that Bartlet offered him that U.
Was he serious about running again? – Yeah.
– Then he’s gonna leak this.
Maybe, but this is the risk I’ve decided to take.
– Secretary of State? – He gave me the hard sell.
– “Country needs you,” the whole bit.
– What did you say? I turned him down, on the spot.
And then he asked me to sleep on it and give him my final answer tomorrow.
You ran a campaign to try to unify the country.
Now it looks like Santos is trying to put together an administration that will unify the country.
The president says he needs you.
– The country needs you.
– I disagree with him about everything.
– You don’t disagree on foreign policy.
You think about it differently, you use different rhetoric but you agree on the objectives.
He just wants to take me out of the campaign.
He’s afraid to run against me again.
Okay, he’s just using me.
He appoints a Republican so the Republicans’ll let him have Baker as V.
– He doesn’t really want me.
– They’d horse-trade with a job like State? No.
You really don’t think I can win, do you? Maybe if you were 10 years younger.
Baby boomers are turning 60.
There’s gonna be a huge over-60 vote in the next election.
– You’re not a boomer.
Should’ve started lying about my age long ago.
It’s not just your age.
Stevenson got the nomination twice in a row.
Fifty years ago, and he lost both times.
You know, the only thing that tempts me to do this is Santos’ second choice.
Wanna see a Secretary of State screw up the world, give the job to Reynolds.
You can enter the history books as maybe the last honorable senator and a great secretary of state.
Or you can be the guy who just didn’t know when to quit.
The students seem pretty happy here.
We’ve got a great group of kids, and the parents are very supportive.
What’s the makeup of the student body? Forty-one percent African-American, 19 percent Hispanic, and 9 percent Asian.
How many free-lunch kids? Eight percent.
– That sounds low for the district.
I’m a bit surprised there are no metal detectors in the school.
Doesn’t have any metal detectors in the elementary schools.
We know what our public image is.
That’s why it’s an honor for us you’d consider sending your children here.
Needless to say, it would be an incredible show of support for the system if you would.
I shouldn’t – Cathy, you run a great school.
– You’ll be hearing from us.
What do you think? It’s perfect.
The president-elect’s office, please hold.
Senator Vinick, the president-elect is waiting.
I’ll let him know you’re here.
Let it leak that I’m considering asking the Electoral College to vote for Baker.
The Republicans’ll start screaming, demanding confirmation hearings.
I say, “I’m concerned congressional confirmation will take too long.
This is too dangerous a time to be without a V.
, even for a day.
” Force Republicans to swear to run a quick confirmation.
Then call them on it.
Get that new Democratic House to run a quick confirmation and a vote.
Put pressure on the Senate to act fast.
Don’t give them time to come up with phony reasons to vote against Baker.
You can go right in.
What’s he trying to pull, Barry? It sure as hell wasn’t my idea.
And you’d be doing me a big favor with the party if you turn it down.
– Arnie, I really appreciate you coming.
– Your strategy’s not gonna work.
Which strategy? You knew I’d turn this down.
You leak that you offered me State, so you look like Mr.
– I haven’t leaked it.
You think offering me State will help you get Baker past Senate.
– Everyone will know it’s a phony offer.
– This isn’t about Baker.
I want you as Secretary of State.
I wouldn’t lift a finger to help Baker with Republicans.
I don’t need you for that.
Secretary of State is not something you throw at the other party to show how bipartisan you are.
The job is way more important than that.
This is your representative to the world.
You think you can make me Secretary of State and then ignore me and run all foreign policy out of the White House? – No.
– Anybody good enough to appoint would quit the day you try to go around the State Department.
I don’t want to go around you.
I want you to do the job.
– And when we disagree? – I’d give you the time you need to set me straight.
And then I’d expect you to go out there and sell whatever decision I’ve made.
I’d have to have my own deputy secretary.
Pick any Democrat you want.
– And the undersecretaries? – I will consult with you on all of them.
I wouldn’t do one thing that smelled of campaigning for you.
I’d never set foot in your fundraisers and you couldn’t drag me to a Democratic Party event.
If the undersecretary for political affairs does one partisan thing, I’m out.
I don’t see how this can work.
Here’s today’s intelligence report on Kazakhstan.
There’s a interesting item in there on page two.
What, the Chinese demanding a veto on routing of the pipeline? Yeah, they’ve never said that before.
Chinese know they haven’t a chance of getting that, but they think the Russians do.
So they demand it now before the Russians, so we won’t help either one.
So how do we move them out of their positions get them to agree to a compromise? You can lay the groundwork for that now.
You let both sides know that in the endgame the Russians will have to get a share of Kazakhstan oil production and the Chinese are gonna have to have the pipeline.
You make sure they understand you’re the one setting the agenda.
You don’t have to make it explicit, just hint at it.

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