Original subtitles

Previously on The West Wing...

The RNC has a team of lawyers who want to file for a recount. No.

If this happens and you don't challenge it,

you're gonna regret it for the rest of your life.

I was just going to get the mail.

Of course, sir. We'll just need a few minutes

to shut down the street.

To walk to the mailbox?

To come by and have a hot dog,

everyone had to be issued ID pins.

Get the President-Elect on the phone.

I want to congratulate him.

Arnie Vinick made this a better campaign

and he's made this a better country for all of us.

Santos! Santos! Santos!

With 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 the outer-lying areas.

We're getting reports in the last hour of flurries

in Washach County...

Gentlemen, good morning.

Good morning, sir.

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?

She had a breakfast meeting; job interview.

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 want to call every state party chairman

starting with Iowa and New Hampshire,

thank them for what they did.

Uh, should I pack these up

and ship them to California

or do you want...? Did you hear me?

Yeah, state party chairmen. Sure.

Today.

I'll go get the list.

And I want to call every member

of my fund-raising committee.

And I want to send letters to all the big contributors.

Oh, and I should call every Republican governor.

And give me that set of index cards

you were keeping on everybody,

you know, in every state we were in.

Again, I don't want to, uh,

start making announcements about cabinet posts

until we have first made a decision

about the vice presidency,

which you all know is very important.

Uh, I thank you all.

I have a very busy day today. Thank you.

Well, I just wanted to thank you again

for all your hard work and to let you know

if there's ever anything I can do for you,

I'll be on the next plane out of here.

Okay.

Thanks, Al.

Who's next?

Hey!

To what do we owe the honor?

I need to make some calls.

Senator Vinick's office.

Well, we could use some help with the boxes.

So, Royce, huh?

Maybe.

Is he going to run for president?

Well, he knows he doesn't have a chance,

but I told him to keep the buzz going.

It'll help with the fund-raising.

So he wants you to run

the Majority Leader's office for him, huh?

Dr. Wexler's office says

they can move your physical up to today.

Good, good. I want to get that done right away.

But you got to get over there right now.

Annie, get the thank you letters done

and I'll sign them when I get back.

And I want ten minutes with every Republican senator

before they kick me out of here.

Not too many of them around

with the Senate out of session.

I'll go to them.

I'll go to their home states if I have to.

I got to thank them.

I got to let them know...

Hey, tell Bob, I want to 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.

This is Linda.

I have an aunt named Linda.

That's great.

Do you have any friends named Linda?

No.

Well, you do now.

And this is Kevin.

Linda and Kevin are going to be with you most of the time.

Now, because a lot of people know who your dad is...

Everyone knows who my dad is.

Yeah, I guess you're right.

Some of them might try to talk to him

or get a message to him through you guys.

You think that's a good idea?

Um... no?

That's right, Peter.

We need to talk VP.

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 very solid legal theory

that your electoral college delegates are free to vote

for whomever they want for vice president.

Theory?

There's no precedent for this.

A theory's the 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 in the New York Times.

By which, of course, 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 them next week, simple as that?

Republicans might try to challenge it in court.

But we'll win.

It might take a while. You done here?

We're just... It's scary in there.

Honey, the kids seem okay with it.

How would you feel if you were five years old

and some people with guns were telling you

that they were going to take over your life?

Sorry.

I guess this is my fault. This has nothing to do with you.

What you are talking about out here can wait.

What we're talking about in there

is keeping your children alive.

Your hand healed faster than I expected.

Maybe that's 'cause 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.

You get much exercise on the campaign trail?

None.

A lot of stress, though.

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 ten 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.

President Bartlet and the First Lady

are on their way to Brussels today

for the President's last G-8 meeting

where the crisis in Kazakhstan will be...

Do you have the list for Assistant Secretary of Defense?

There are 15 Assistant Secretaries of Defense.

You've got to stay focused on the big stuff.

All right, let me take another look

at the file for State, please.

The Kansas City Star wants me

to confirm or deny Keenitz for Agriculture.

How did that leak? Once the FBI

starts doing the background checks,

neighbors figure it out.

If we could leak a couple other

cabinet names, it might pull some

of the press heat off the VP selection.

I've decided on a VP.

Do we have Nancy McNally's

financial disclosure statement?

Who is your choice for vice president?

Oh. Baker.

You should probably announce that right away.

And publicly ask the Democratic electors

to vote for Baker for VP

when the electoral college meets.

The only way we'll get Baker.

If you wait and submit Baker

for congressional confirmation

the Senate Republicans won't let you have him.

They're not going to confirm a strong VP who could

win the presidency eight years from now.

Handing this off to the electoral college

just doesn't feel right.

The American people will not stand

for 272 people they never heard of electing a VP.

The American people don't care.

They don't vote VP.

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...

Then the country will know everything about him

before he takes the oath of office.

If you're going to 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 just love giving depositions all day.

I don't want to sit on any boards.

Letters to the governors. Great.

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 a lot more in stock options.

You sit on maybe 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?

A lot of university offers.

You can write your own ticket.

Full-time faculty, guest lecturer,

whatever you want to teach.

Where?

NYU, Princeton, Penn...

University of Pennsylvania?

Yeah. UVA, Duke, Emory, Florida State,

Ohio Wesleyan, William & 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?

I'm sure they'll go along with it, but why do you...?

What offers do we have in California?

You don't want to be...

the official greeter at a vineyard, do you?

21 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.

21 feet high?

That's because the homes next door are so close to yours.

What's this?

That's the guardhouse we'll build on the sidewalk.

Everyone... friends, delivery men, et cetera...

Will have to pass through the guardhouse

to get into your house.

Does it have to be so big?

It's actually smaller than we usually build it.

We're trying to let it blend into the neighborhood.

Really? Who else on the street has a guardhouse?

The plans might be able to be

reined in a bit depending upon how often

members of the First Family are going to 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 got to let the Director know immediately.

It's going to put a lot of strain on the PPD.

PPD? Presidential Protective Division.

Permanent split in the First Family's

gonna stretch us kind of thin.

It's not a permanent split. I understand.

But we're really not set up for the President and the First Lady

to be apart for more than a couple of weeks...

International trips, that sort of thing.

Got the exit polls for him.

Great.

Now he can really obsess over why he lost.

You got to 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 any boards.

He just wants to do guest lecturing at universities

in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida.

He's going to be bored to death, and he won't be able to afford

the Republican lifestyle he deserves.

My apologies, sir. The Director would like

for us to redo the security plan for your home,

including sealing the street with guardhouses at each end.

Sealing the street?

Only residents allowed to drive on the street;

all visitors to any house on the street will have to pass

through the guardhouses.

We'll check Social Security

and birth days... same level

of security as the White House.

So our neighbors are going to become

prisoners in their own homes?

Well, they'll be living on...

The safest street in Houston. Yes. Excuse us.

Wow.

You okay? No.

You know, they're just trying to do their job.

This is not going to 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. Pretty simple.

We lost Nevada by 70,000 votes because of the nuclear accident.

Which page is Nevada? Right here.

You're not set for life, you know.

Jim tell you I don't want to waste my time

with corporate boards?

I think he mentioned something about that.

The senate pension will be plenty.

And I'll pick up some pocket change on the lecture circuit.

Where's the demographic breakdown?

You should take a job with a DC law firm.

I won't do lobbying. It wouldn't look good.

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 going to be.

Huh?

One of the seven dwarfs that I just beat?

Come on, those guys have "loser" written all over them.

Ray Sullivan's the front-runner already.

Everybody said he did a great job with the VP campaign.

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 want to bet on that?

Everyone in the Republican party knows I had this thing locked

until the nuclear accident.

That would've killed any Republican candidate.

The party can't blame me for that.

We would've had an electoral college landslide if...

Look at these exit polls.

Nuclear power was the number one issue

all over the West.

That's not going to happen next time.

Everything will be back to normal.

Nuclear won't even show up

in the next presidential exit polls.

I know what you're thinking.

Go on, say it.

You think I'm too old.

Don't worry about that; I feel great.

I'm telling you, 70 is the new 60.

The confirmation will be a breeze

for Connor or Rosenthal for Treasury.

Connor would be a more popular choice within the party,

and, obviously, Rosenthal's more respected on Wall Street.

I think Rosenthal

would be more effective selling my tax plan.

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.

Good.

So, we've got Treasury, Defense and Attorney General.

You know, if you make a choice on State, we could announce

the big four the same time we announce VP

and show some real progress with the transition.

Nancy McNally's great,

but I think she'd be a better U.N. ambassador.

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.

That leaves Reynolds.

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 than Reynolds.

I like him, but...

Want to take another look at his file? No.

Let's move on.

We'll come back to State.

Okay, well,

we've got a couple of great candidates for Commerce.

Yes, sir... General Corley

will give you the latest update on Kazakhstan

as soon as you get off the plane.

I'll get them on the line now.

Margaret, I need Stanley at State and Henry at Trade

for a conference call with the President on Air Force One.

When? Right now.

What's up, Amy? Here's where we are so far.

We've got someone ready to go

for every one of those job titles.

The people in those jobs should be ready

to move out by Inauguration Day.

I'll let them know.

Thing's aren't moving so fast with State.

The President-Elect doesn't want

any empty desks at State with the Kazakhstan crisis still hot,

so he'd like all the undersecretaries

and assistant secretaries

to plan to stay in place for awhile.

He's having trouble picking a secretary?

He's still staring at the shortlist.

Nancy McNally?

I have no idea, I'm just the messenger.

She's on the shortlist.

Good.

Helen Santos is here.

And Stanley is having his teeth whitened

right now, so they're trying to find someone at Trade

who can do the conference call.

Okay. My once proud team.

I'll just duck out this way.

Problems with the First Lady-Elect?

I'm just not her favorite person today.

Come on.

It's nothing really.

I'll just slip out of your way.

Hello, Mrs. Santos.

I'm C.J. Cregg. I know. We get CNN in Texas.

Do me a favor? Sure. Anything.

Please call me Helen.

Okay.

How are we doing? Got everyone ready,

but now the President's on another call.

The First Lady would've loved to have shown you around,

but she's on her way to Brussels with the President.

They've asked me to make you feel at home.

Oh, in this place?

Well, you'll see the residence

does have some homey touches.

Ah. Like?

Uh, you could get bunk beds for the kids.

I got to find a school for them first

before I think about bedrooms.

Jim Kane can help you with that.

The Secretary of Education?

Yeah.

Mr. Chairman, I'll definitely let you know

about the vice president before the press knows.

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 would we need in the Senate?

Five. At least.

Maybe more if anyone decides to filibuster.

They won't try that on a VP confirmation.

But they could.

Not if you talk to the Majority Leader,

give him the feeling he's being consulted,

let him suggest some names.

No, that'll give him the chance

to try to jam me into taking someone I don't want.

Well, if we can't count on

enough Republican votes in the Senate,

then I strongly recommend that you ask the electoral college

to vote on Baker next week.

Don't want to do that. You might have to.

Baker's name is already starting to leak, so if you're not

going to pretend to consult the Senate Republicans,

we need to make the announcement soon.

Got to put pressure on the Republicans to confirm Baker.

How?

I want to see Arnold Vinick.

You really think he's in the mood to help you with this?

I want to see Arnold Vinick.

Right wing is saying we lost because

you weren't conservative enough,

not because of the nuclear thing.

Exactly.

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.

And you won that fight.

Ray Sullivan,

the most popular guy in the party,

is a Vinick Republican now.

You created him as a national candidate.

He is your legacy.

Pro-life voters like him, moderates love him.

You give him your blessing,

you 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 he just wants to do a post-election handshake,

a nice bipartisan photo-op.

Smart move by Santos.

I'm not going to be a prop in some phony unity picture.

If you don't go, they'll leak that you

were invited and turned them down.

Santos will look bipartisan...

And I look like a sore loser.

Your personal staff is waiting for you in the East Room.

Most of them have been here a long time.

They really know their stuff.

All I need is a nanny-type

and someone to help clean up the kids' bedrooms.

I think they can manage that.

This is Curtis Schaefer.

Nice to meet you.

My pleasure, Mrs. Santos.

Mr. Schaefer is the Chief Usher.

Chief Usher?

Means he's the man in charge. Ah.

If it's all right with you,

I thought we'd begin with a quick introduction to everyone,

then split off into individual meetings

with the executive chef.

The pastry chef, I imagine your children might have some

favorite deserts he'll want to know about.

Then the head florist would like a few minutes

just to get a general impression of your preferences

and the President-Elect's preferences.

Um, the President-Elect doesn't have a flower preference.

So for the Oval Office?

Oh, he'll never notice the flowers.

Whatever you like is fine. I understand.

You don't need to meet with the butlers and maids individually,

but it would be very helpful if you could spend a few minutes

with the President-Elect's valet today.

Because he needs to finalize...

Um, I'm sorry.

Could you excuse us for one minute, please?

Thanks.

This is too much.

We don't need all these people.

Okay. Which ones do you want to fire?

President-Elect's office, please hold.

President-Elect's office, please hold.

The President-Elect's office, please hold.

Senator Vinick, Mr. Goodwin will be right with you.

He's just finishing up a call.

If you'd like to take a seat?

President-Elect's office, please hold.

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.

Okay.

What do I have tomorrow?

Uh... you have a haircut at 10:00.

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.

Congratulations, Barry.

Listen, you ran one hell of a campaign.

We just got lucky.

Let me take your coat.

I'm, uh, 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.

It won't be long.

Can I get you anything? No, I don't think so.

Senator Robertson's on line three.

Excuse me. I've got to take this.

Do you think St. Albans was a little, you know, stuffy?

A little?

Bancroft was more down-to-earth.

Yep.

What?

The idea of spending $25,000

for fifth grade.

Ridiculous.

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 that we had three schools to check out.

Honey, I-I can't do another school today.

I-I have to get back to the office.

I've got Arnold Vinick waiting for me.

The President-Elect is on the line for you.

Hello.

Hey, Arnie, thanks for coming in to see me.

Listen, I'm, uh,

really sorry about the scheduling mix-up.

We're looking at schools for kids,

and it's taking longer than we thought.

I understand.

Can we push our meeting back for about an hour?

Well, my schedule's pretty busy these days.

Let's see what our staffs can work out.

Yeah, sure.

I really appreciate any time that you can give me today.

And, again, I'm sorry about having to reschedule.

No problem.

Grande, nonfat Chai for Jim.

Coffee of the day.

Tall, grande or venti?

Huh?

What size?

Whatever's the 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.

DC public schools are the worst, aren't they?

Didn't Vinick say something

about DC having the lowest test scores in the country?

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 DC public schools?

What's this about, honey?

You 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...

If you want to look at a public school,

we'll look at a public school, okay?

I need the schedule for tomorrow's G-8 meeting

and the draft of the joint statement on Kazakhstan.

Trade Rep wants you to okay this memo

on agriculture subsidies going to the President.

Hi.

Hi.

I-I have a 3:00.

With the decorator.

Oh, right. That's in there.

Oh. Thanks.

And this is the language

State approved for tomorrow's briefing.

Mrs. Santos.

Mrs. Santos.

I'm Gail Addison.

It's nice to meet you.

Um, as you know,

we have very little in the budget for redecorating.

Oh, well, how much is very little?

$200,000.

You might want to establish

a fund-raising 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 colors 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

that you can put your personal touch on the White House.

Well, I will leave that up to my kids.

I'll tell you right now, there're going to be

a lot of crayon marks that we're going

to 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.

That'll work.

Yeah. okay.

Arnie, thanks so much for coming in.

I'm really sorry about

that schedule screw-up this afternoon. It's okay.

They've got me 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.

Please.

I need your advice.

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 of America.

If you're going to have an unelected VP,

then you've got to at least

let the democratically elected representatives

of the people vote for him.

You have to submit the name for congressional confirmation.

You got to go through an open process,

a public process that people understand and accept.

I agree.

You do?

Yeah.

Do you think the Senate Republicans will get rough?

Well, it depends on who you pick.

Is the vice presidency something that you would consider?

Are you, 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'd consider it, you put me on your shortlist?

Yes. You still gonna try to raise taxes?

Only on incomes over a million.

So you'd actually 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'd consider it?

Nice try.

I know your game.

You get me to say I'd consider it,

then you have your people leak it to the press,

that gives you a couple of days of stories

about how bipartisan Matt Santos is.

Hey, he's even got a Republican

on his shortlist for vice president.

You figure that'll soften up the Senate Republicans,

and they'll get them about a speedy confirmation for Vinick,

then you announce who you really want,

which I assume is Baker,

and then you put public pressure on the Senate to give the same

speedy confirmation to Baker

that they were going to give Vinick.

Huh?

Huh?

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 will 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'm not getting a daily intelligence report anymore.

All I know is what I read in the papers.

A lot of what you read in the papers

is better than our intelligence.

I was impressed with what you had to say

about Kazakhstan during the campaign.

I always had wished that I had said it first.

The good cop/bad cop routine

that you and Bartlet have worked up.

That seems to be the only thing you can do now.

What do you mean?

Oh, come on. You two must have coordinated your 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 with Bartlet.

Put pressure on them to negotiate a settlement

with Bartlet now.

Well, that could work.

I'm going to need another cop when Bartlet leaves office.

How about Secretary of State?

Well... You going to go with Reynolds?

Maybe.

If I don't get my first choice.

Who's that?

That would be you.

Secretary of State?

You've got better relationships

with all of the important heads of state than I do.

You know the diplomatic corps.

You're respected in every capital around 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 VP?

Oh, he read that play instantly. The guy is brilliant.

He is a Republican.

He's who we need.

You're saying there's not a single Democrat

who could 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's going to make sure the press finds out

whoever we end up with was a second choice.

He's not going to leak it.

Sure, he is.

Well, he never leaked

that Bartlet offered him that U.N. job.

Was he serious about running again? Yeah.

Well, then he's definitely going to leak this.

Maybe, but this is the risk I've decided to take.

Secretary of State?

He gave me the hard sell.

"The 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 got to do this.

It's perfect for you.

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.

Not 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 will

let him have Baker as vice president.

He doesn't really want me.

You think they'd horse-trade with a job like State?

I don't know.

You really don't think I can win, do you?

Maybe, if you were ten years younger.

Baby boomers are turning 60.

There's going to be a huge

over-60 vote the next election.

You're not a boomer.

Should have started lying about my age a long time ago.

It's not just your age.

Stevenson got the nomination twice in a row.

50 years ago, and he lost both times.

You know, the only thing that tempts me to do this

is Santos' second choice... Reynolds.

You want to see how fast

the Secretary of State can screw up the world,

just 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?

41% African American, 30% White,

19% Hispanic and nine percent Asian.

How many free-lunch kids?

Eight percent.

That sounds low for the District.

It's the lowest.

I must say, I was a bit surprised

that there are no metal detectors in the school.

DC doesn't have any metal detectors

in the elementary schools.

Oh. That's okay.

We know what our public image is.

That's why it really is such an honor for us

that you would even consider sending your children here.

And, needless to say, it would be an incredible

show of support for the system if you would...

Sorry. I shouldn't...

Cathy, you're running a really great school here.

You're be hearing from us very soon. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

What do you think?

It's perfect.

Yeah. Mm-hmm.

The President-Elect's office. Please hold.

Senator Vinick, the President-Elect is waiting for you.

I'll let him know that you're here.

I want you to let it leak that I'm considering

asking the electoral college to vote for Baker.

The Republicans will start screaming, demanding

confirmation hearings. Well, then I say I'm concerned

that congressional confirmation will take too long.

That this is too dangerous a time to be without a VP,

even for a single day.

Force the Senate 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 any time

to come up with phony reasons to vote against Baker.

Vinick's here.

Hey, Arnie.

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 going to work.

Which strategy?

You knew I'd turn this down.

So you get to leak that you offered me State

so you get to look like Mr. Bipartisan.

I haven't leaked it.

Yet. You think offering me State

will help you get Baker past the Senate.

Everyone will know that it's a phony offer.

This isn't about Baker.

I want you as Secretary of State.

You're my first choice.

I wouldn't lift a finger

to help Baker with Republicans.

I will get Baker confirmed. 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.

I agree.

You think you can make me Secretary of State,

and then ignore me,

and run all foreign policy out of the White House?

No. Because anybody good enough to appoint

would quit the day you start to 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 will give you all the time you need to set me straight,

and then I would expect you to go out there

and sell whatever decision I make.

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 would never set foot in one of your fund-raisers.

You couldn't drag me to a Democratic party event.

Obviously.

If the Undersecretary for Political Affairs

does one partisan thing, I'm outta there.

I understand.

I don't know.

This is crazy.

I don't see how this can work.

Here's today's intelligence report on Kazakhstan.

There's an interesting item in there, page two.

Second paragraph.

The Chinese demanding a veto

on the routing of the pipeline?

Yeah. They've never said that before.

Don't worry about that... The Chinese know

they haven't got a chance of getting that,

but they think the Russians do.

So they demand it now, before the Russians do,

so we won't help either one get it.

So how do we move them out of their all-or-nothing positions

and 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 are going to have to get a share

of Kazakhstan oil production,

and the Chinese are going to have to have the pipeline.

You just make sure they understand

that you're the one setting the agenda.

You don't have to make it explicit.

Just hint at it.

Put yourself in the position

of providing their vital interest...