Advise and Consent

 

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

 Since last time I took a look at one Henry Fonda political movie where he played Secretary of State, I thought I would follow it up with another where he is being considered for that same office. Like The Best Man, this earlier movie (1962), directed by Otto Preminger, presents the maneuverings by government leaders to reach their goals, even if the tactics they use can be distasteful. These leaders hide their strategies so the movie also focuses on how appearances can be deceiving. This film, like The Best Man, has an outdated perspective on homosexuality, but it suggests that the attempt to ruin individuals by various means seems to be part of the political process. The story explores the conflict between personal interests and the welfare of the majority of people and that some issues have many shades (maybe not fifty) of grey between the extremes of black and white, and how it's impossible to adhere to only extreme ways of thinking.

 

The title, of course, comes from the United States Constitution, which says that the President shall “nominate” people for “Officers of the United States,” with the “Advice and Consent of the Senate.” (That’s supposed to be the entire Senate, not just the majority political party leader, but things have changed). The film places its credits over the flowing American Flag to the accompaniment of rousing political music which, like The Best Man, suggests patriotism. The opening written notes contain an upfront disclaimer that the characters are fictional, but, according to IMDb, they are based on real persons, such as communist chaser Joseph McCarthy, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, President John F. Kennedy, and Alger Hiss, the accused Soviet spy, among others. 

 

A newspaper headline informs us that the President (Franchot Tone) has nominated Robert Leffingwell (Fonda), whose last name implies a left-leaning individual, for the Secretary of State position. Senator Stanley Danta (Paul Ford), the majority party’s “whip” who helps secure votes, is upset that he had to read about the pick in the newspaper and visits the Majority Leader Senator Munson (Walter Pidgeon) to vent his frustration. Munson echoes that feeling on the phone with the President as he states Leffingwell was not on the list of potential persons they had discussed. The President values the man’s help, and there is a diplomatic vacuum since the prior Secretary of State passed away. Munson says Leffingwell has numerous enemies in Congress and doesn’t show “political courtesy.” The President seems to like the man because he doesn’t play political games and “waste his time on trifles.” We have here a theme that comes up in many political dramas which is to explore to what degree a person has to compromise himself to get ahead in government. 

 

Munson keeps scratching his ear or pulling it, almost as a tell which shows his agitation (I’m not sure if this is a character gesture or a tic of Pidgeon’s since I may have seen him do the gesture elsewhere. In any case it fits here). While Munson converses with the President, Danta comically makes himself at home, sitting down to enjoy Munson’s breakfast. Is this a characteristic of politicians to get what they want whenever the opportunity presents itself? Munson says the main problem they have is in their own party, zeroing in on Southerner Seabright Cooley (an over-the-top Charles Laughton in his last performance). Just as in The Best Man, there are conflicting voices within a political party which reflects the times, as opposed to the unified stances that exist within the Republican and Democratic parties currently in Congress. 

 Munson and Danta head over to the hotel room of Senator Lafe Smith (Peter Lawford), a handsome man, and notice a beautiful young woman leaving from the senator’s place. Danta dangles the privacy sign in front of Smith. We realize that Smith (the fake name people use to register at hotel rooms for affairs) is sexually adventurous. Munson says a person in Smith’s position “should stabilize with a good, solid marriage.” Smith says Munson is setting up a double standard, since the Majority Leader is also single. But Munson says he is a widower, which implies he was able to commit to a long-term relationship and was deprived of his spouse through no fault of his own. So, the thrust here is that Smith is not displaying the dignified appearance that a senator should exhibit. The stress here is on the image one projects, not the inner person. The line, “perception is reality” from The American President comes to mind.

 

Despite not liking the choice, Smith says he’ll follow the party leadership and vote for Leffingwell. He adds that another senator, Brigham Anderson (Don Murray) (the first name mirrors the fact that the senator is from Utah which has its Mormon heritage) will vote “yes” also, despite Leffingwell being against a power bill Anderson proposed. Again we have party politics in conflict with other concerns. Munson wants to know what the opposing party will do so he calls the Minority Leader, Strickland (Will Geer), who gives him the number who will be opposing Leffingwell. Smith is on the phone with Anderson who is with his wife, Ellen (Inga Swenson) and their young daughter. On the surface it is a lovely family picture, but it turns out to be deceiving. Anderson, being nonpartisan and thus an independent thinker, says he isn’t committing yet, and wants to hear Leffingwell’s testimony. He knows that Cooley will want the spotlight on him, so we already expect that the senator from the South is a boisterous showman.

 

There is a nice segue to Senator Cooley from South Carolina, dressed in white like Colonel Sanders, after he has used public transportation, which shows how he would rather associate with common folk compared to the other Senators enjoying the luxury of a hotel and taking cabs to the Senate. Munson runs into Cooley on the way in and wittily makes a reference to the man's Evangelical background by saying, “Had your fire and brimstone this morning, Seab?” Cooley calmly responds by saying he also had some “hot bourbon and branch water,” and that is why fire may be coming out of his ears. The scene is set for a fight on the Senate floor. When asked by Munson if he would lay off attacking Leffingwell, Cooley says he will not deviate from his principles to satisfy the President or his party. But is that really the case, since Munson says Leffingwell caught Cooley in a lie five years prior and Cooley holds a grudge. Again there is that conflict between personal interests and those of the population as a whole. 

 

Inside the Senate chamber Senator Fred Van Ackerman (George Grizzard) greets Cooley who barely acknowledges the man, suggesting that Van Ackerman is not an admirable fellow. He is a young man who carries a pipe with him, like a prop, to make him look more mature and professorial. It doesn’t work. He tells Munson they will get Leffingwell appointed because he is “a great man, a great talent.” This overenthusiasm indicates a flatterer who is trying to ingratiate himself with his party’s leadership to further his own position. He has men with him he calls his “brain trust,” but Danta paints them as yes men when he says they throw flowers in his path. Van Ackerman says he has a “peace group” that both Munson and Danta smile about, knowing it is just a front for the man to publicize his name. His personal ambition is obvious since he wants to chair the subcommittee that will review Leffingwell’s nomination. Danta points out to Munson Van Ackerman’s selfishness and the need to marginalize the man. But, Munson is not wary enough of the young senator, and says he will just “fall off” the political vine like some rotten fruit. 

 

Munson calls Leffingwell, who tells his son, young teenager Johnny (Eddie Hodges) to say he isn’t in. He explains he doesn’t want to be drawn into an obligation. The boy doesn’t like lying, and Leffingwell says it’s a Washington type of lie, which is when, “the other person knows you’re lying, and also knows you know he knows.” Such is the labyrinthine political path that twists the truth to maintain appearances of civility. Danta acknowledges the false truth game Leffingwell is playing to Munson. Johnny shows youthful idealism amid the jaded self-interests of others as he encourages his father to want to be Secretary of State so he can at least “try” to make things better when it comes to world peace. 

 

There is a tour of the Senate building going on which points out the grand historic tradition of this branch of the government. The guide is talking about Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant, who were classmates at West Point and who later fought against each other in the Civil War. The insertion of this item shows how the United States contains in it simultaneously the grounds for comradeship and the seeds for divisiveness. There is a shot from the Senate gallery as the wives of foreign dignitaries, and we, the audience in the movie theater, become spectators in the story itself. But then there is a shift to the floor where we can be among the lawmakers. However, the first shot is upward, as if these men are bigger than life as they hold the public trust in their hands. In fact, there is the inscription on the wall that reads, “In God We Trust,” another symbol of the sanctity of the democracy that may be just for appearances considering the sometimes shady tactics employed by the lawmakers. (The inscription, and the prayer that opens the session, may rankle those who are strict believers of the need for the separation of church and state. But here they may indicate the higher purpose of democracy to others). 

 

Strickland points out that Munson is worried that his own party will “rupture” in disagreement if Leffingwell isn’t quickly approved, which emphasizes the need for strategy. The women in the balcony comment on the fact that liberals do not necessarily sit on the left and conservatives not on the right. It is an interesting metaphorical observation that there can be crossover views despite party affiliation (although this viewpoint may seem nostalgic as we watch this film now). The women are there to provide basic governmental information. It is pointed out that the Vice President, Harley Hudson (Lew Ayres), presides over the Senate, and is the President of the Senate, even though he is neither an elected senator nor president. And, he can only vote if a tie exists. These apparently contradictory facts are confusing to the foreign women, and maybe to America’s own citizens. 

 

The Chaplain, in his blessing, prays for the Senators to be able to “ascertain of each who would serve his nation his true nature and purpose, lest through inadvertence and oversight, there slip into seats of power those who would misguide and mislead the people.” Strickland in an aside says that even the man of religion may be weighing in on the Leffingwell nomination as a negative choice. This comment again notes a merging symbolically of church and state, but the Chaplain’s words show how, without due diligence, corruption can infect the political health of the nation. 

 

Vice President Hudson, who used to be a governor so he knows something about being an executive, asks Munson and Danta if there is anything he can do to help with the nomination, but they don’t pay him much attention. He jokingly shows how others ignore his government position when he says he murdered his wife and buried her under a “kumquat bush.” Danta isn’t even listening to what he has said. Munson finds out that the President wants to limit the nomination hearing to the subcommittee which would prevent a broader public debate over Leffingwell’s qualifications. Munson knows that Cooley would fight that tactic, most likely because he wants to grandstand his attack against the nominee to a broader audience. We have here the desire to hide discussion from the public and the opposing wish to play to it, both for selfish reasons. So as not to make it appear (the facade’s importance stressed) that the nominating process is too partisan, Munson decides that the more neutral Anderson should chair the hearing.

 

Munson’s plan to speed the process is already being thwarted by Senator Orrin Knox (Edward Andrews), who is opposed to Leffingwell, and is using the senatorial tool of giving a long speech to allow dissent to grow. He does yield to Cooley, since they are on the same page in this case. Cooley allows Smith to question him, and the young senator wonders why Cooley believes he knows more about who should be chosen for Secretary of State than the President. Cooley stresses Smith’s lack of experience, but says even with his youthful ignorance Smith would have made a better choice for the job. Smith sharply flips the age argument by suggesting that the elderly Cooley suffers from stagnation of mental processes when he says Cooley, “assumes an infallibility of knowledge, which denotes a closed mind and an aged crust of prejudice.” Instead of addressing Smith’s claim concerning Cooley’s resistance to new people with fresh ideas, Cooley instead tries to divert the argument into an example of how Leffingwell causes dissension and attacks between them. Cooley calls the nominee “an evil man” who will pursue “a policy of appeasements,” which is an accusation of weakness towards the country’s enemies. The movie implies that fear is always an effective weapon to disqualify someone. Cooley goes on to say that Leffingwell “will weaken the moral fiber of our great nation.” The film argues that another useful tool in politics is to raise suspicions about the values of another, which is a variation on the fear factor. 

 

At a dinner party thrown by the rich political socialite widow Dolly Harrison (Gene Tierney), Van Ackerman makes it known to Munson that he is upset about not being chosen as the subcommittee chairman. However, it’s obvious that he wants to rise in the Senate to a position of power, so he says he will do all he can to get Leffingwell confirmed. He argues with Knox, who feels Leffingwell will allow communism to spread. Van Ackerman represents a more isolationist viewpoint, stressing the need to concentrate on America and stay out of conflicts with foreign powers, no matter how dangerous they may seem. The Vice President sits by himself outside, emblematic of his exclusion from the political loop. Munson joins him and Hudson notes he hasn’t seen the President in six weeks. He has to ask the Majority Leader about the President’s health, another item hidden not only from Hudson but also the country. The point is to present a positive front, despite the reality, which is another rule of politics. From what he’s gathered, Munson says that the surgery the President underwent was not successful. Hudson does not delude himself, as he says he was a compromise pick for the vice presidency, and was selected because he can charm women. He doubts his ability to take on the job of leading the country and says he doesn’t want to. Munson gives him encouragement by saying it’s not a negative thing to approach the job with “humility,” and that most need to grow into the position (although the movie’s implication is that not all are up to it despite being elected). 

 

Munson returns late at night to Dolly’s sumptuous house and we discover he is romantically involved with the younger woman. This fact is yet another secret kept from the public probably to foster Munson’s appearance as a bereaved widower who puts his service to his country first. But the covert relationship is more Dolly’s doing since Munson states he wants to marry her and kids that she is afraid he will not be reelected if word gets out that he has a girlfriend.

 

The subcommittee hearing begins as Anderson swears in Leffingwell and Cooley has been allowed to conduct cross-examination. Van Ackerman, sitting in, makes a public display of kissing up, saying openly to Anderson that he hopes they will confirm Leffingwell. He also interrupts, trying to point out where he thinks Anderson is falling down on the job so that it will show why he should have been named chairman of the hearing. Knox and then Cooley hammer Leffingwell because the nominee says he thinks it’s reasonable to try to make peace with the communist countries if the opportunity presents itself. Cooley, following up on Knox’s line of questioning, paints all communists as inherent enemies and not worth negotiating with. He tries to get Leffingwell to admit exactly what concessions he will be giving away to the communists. When Leffingwell will not deal in hypotheticals, Cooley is very good at twisting the discussion to allege that Leffingwell is hiding something. Cooley has no evidence at this point, and appears to want to slander by allegation. 

 

However, evidence comes by way of Senator Velez (Raoul De Leon) who asks about Leffingwell’s time teaching at the University of Chicago. Velez says he has a telegram from Herbert Gelman (Burgess Meredith) which states he knew Leffingwell at the college. Gellman alleges that Leffingwell “associated with left-wingers and communists.” Leffingwell says he doesn’t recall Gelman, and when Velez says he can’t contact the man, Leffingwell says it must be a crank letter. But, here we get a taste of what is hiding in Leffingwell’s past, despite his claiming to be transparent (similar to Fonda’s character in The Best Man). When asked whether he would go along with a first strike nuclear assault in the event that an enemy was on the brink of attacking us, Leffingwell says no. Instead, he would try to “bargain” for concessions on both sides. Cooley pounces on the statement by fiercely saying he wouldn’t weakly go begging to the enemy. In essence he is echoing the slogan of the time which proclaimed Americans would rather “be dead than red.” Leffingwell points out that it is exactly Cooley’s gung-ho attitude about war that is outdated, suggesting the potential use of nuclear weapons can result in annihilation. Anderson points out Cooley’s “pride” in wanting to defend our way of life, but Leffingwell says that pride is a “dangerous” element when it comes to maintaining survival in modern times. Anderson, who we learn requires clarity as to right and wrong behavior, suggests the possibility that maybe we now live in a world where there is too much “equivocating.” Leffingwell says unfortunately that is the world we live in, suggesting there are no simple answers to complex problems. Fonda again is playing an intellectually complicated character, as he did in The Best Man, and admits to being a supreme “egghead.” However, the film implies that average Americans usually dislike overly intellectual people for being condescending.

 

Following an adjournment, Leffingwell is diplomatic when asked about the use of smear tactics against him. But Van Ackerman, trying to grab the spotlight with the press, is combative as he accuses the committee of encouraging an assault on the nominee. Anderson makes light of the suggestion, but Van Ackerman is not laughing as he is accompanied by his team, which look like thugs. Van Ackerman previously said he wants Leffingwell approved to keep the peace and avoid war. That pacifist line is his public stance, but he is contradictorily quite aggressive in the way he acts.

 When the committee reconvenes, Cooley delivers Herbert Gelman and calls him as a witness. He is a timid, quiet fellow who appears to be doing his civic duty but underneath he also has a secret agenda, which is revenge (like the Shelly Berman character in The Best Man). It turns out the devious Cooley had Gelman send the telegram to Senator Velez without a return address. Cooley made it look as if Gelman couldn’t be found so that Leffingwell would feel safe in denying he knew the man. Gelman testifies that he worked under Leffingwell when the nominee was Chairman of the Federal Power Agency. Gelman says he also was a student of Leffingwell’s at the University of Chicago. He says Leffingwell fired him because he knew Leffingwell is a communist. Back in college, Gelman says he was invited to a political discussion group with people who used phony names. One man advocated the violent overthrow of the government, but Leffingwell said there would be an erosion of the traditional government and that is how Marxism would take over. Cooley makes an implied reference to how this strategy is like Leffingwell saying that they must abandon older forms of dealing with the country’s foes. Gelman says he withdrew from the group when he realized it was a communist “cell.” He said Leffingwell then failed him in his class. He didn’t report the situation at the time because of fear, but now felt it was his duty to come forward. When Anderson asks if Gelman’s testimony can be corroborated, Gelman sounds like a mentally unstable paranoid person as he yells out that he is not lying. Gelman says one of the men who attended these meetings is now dead and he does not know what happened to the other, so there is nobody to confirm what he has alleged. Leffingwell secures an hour recess to prepare a cross examination. After the adjournment Munson tells Cooley he must realize Gelman isn’t telling the truth and calls Cooley an old buzzard. Cooley is witty when he says that old buzzards have great eyesight, can spot their prey from high above, and he is now eyeing “the terrain,” implying he is hunting Leffingwell. He is suggesting that being a politician is a predatory occupation.

 

Back at the hearing, Leffingwell admits that he did know Gelman, but only after hearing his testimony. He has a witness who was Gelman’s immediate supervisor who says that Gelman was not hospitalized for tuberculosis, as the man said, but for a nervous breakdown. The boss says that he wanted to fire Gelman, but Leffingwell secured a job for him at the Treasury Department. He also has evidence from the University of Chicago that Gelman was not a student in any class taught by Leffingwell. He adds that the address Gelman provided where the communist “cell” supposedly met has been a fire station for over fifty years. Leffingwell is attacking Gelman’s accuracy because the man has a psychiatric condition, but Leffingwell is going after peripheral details to throw doubt on the central allegation that Leffingwell was involved in a communist group. 

 

After being questioned by Anderson, Gelman now appears to be a very unreliable witness as he admits to having a nervous breakdown, not TB, and that he didn’t know Leffingwell found him other employment. He says he may be wrong about the class attendance and the group’s address. Anderson says the committee owes Leffingwell an apology, but Cooley does not offer regret, and storms out asking for a transcript of the proceedings. Leffingwell is gracious as he says he is not owed an apology, and will serve his country no matter what. He receives applause from those present. So, he has maneuvered the situation to cover up the truth, as so many of the other characters in the story are doing.

 

Cooley, knowing how politics works, does not take anything as true on the surface and personally goes to secure Gelman’s employment history. Meanwhile, Leffingwell meets with the President and decides to be truthful with him, saying he did know Gelman from those meetings. He was never a member of the Communist Party, but was young and seeking a “cause.” Later he decided that communism wasn’t what he was looking for. He asks that his name be withdrawn from consideration. He is guilty of perjuring himself in front of Congress, but at least he has a conscience, and wants to set the record straight with the President. His contrition only goes so far though, as he says that he isn’t sorry he lied, but that he “had to lie.” His statement reflects the strong anti-communist attitude in the United States at the time, which bordered on extreme paranoia for many. Of course he could have withdrawn his nomination before lying, and the fact that he didn’t suggests he felt he was being pragmatic, not upstanding. He also admits that he secured Gelman the Treasury position to shut him up, and he did so through Hardiman Fletcher (Paul McGarth), who works in that department, and wants to keep things secret since he was one of the men in the meetings in Chicago. The President, a seasoned politician, also is willing to sacrifice honor for practicality, and asks if anyone else knows Leffingwell lied. Obviously the President is trying to contain any knowledge of the facts in order to get his confirmation, one’s own agenda again superseding ethics. 

 

Cooley meets with Fletcher outside the Washington Monument, noting how the first United States president was known to not tell a lie. The use of the symbol of American pride in honesty contrasts with all of the deceptions in the story. Cooley discovered the connection between Leffingwell and Fletcher when he investigated Gelman’s work records. He wondered why Leffingwell sent Gelman directly to the Treasury Department for the personal approval by Fletcher to secure the man's employment. Cooley uses the intimidation of a federal investigation to frighten Fletcher into sending notice to Anderson revealing the truth. Cooley says that in his letter Fletcher will pretend that he is confessing because of his own conscience, not because he was caught by Cooley. Cooley assures Fletcher his name and all of the information will be kept secret to protect Fletcher and the President. This deceptive scheme is to force Leffingwell to withdraw, and Cooley will spare his party’s President from any embarrassment. Duplicity rules here to achieve one’s political goal.

 

Fletcher does contact Anderson, who tells Munson that Fletcher said he wanted to do what was right. Munson's response is one of disbelief and says Fletcher is just protecting himself. Doing the right thing is suspect in this world where everyone acts out of selfish motivation. Anderson delayed the subcommittee vote, and Van Ackerman uses that postponement to gain public attention on the floor of the Senate by attacking Anderson, whose chairmanship he wanted, for subverting the President. The other senators, including Senator Bessie Adams (Betty White in a very early role) see no reason to attack the actions of the subcommittee. They use good humor to defuse tension, but Van Ackerman is a humorless person, and rants at his fellow senators for their levity. Anderson, responding to the loud personal attack from Van Ackerman, says that Van Ackerman may be scaring children in the gallery. What follows is an ominous statement from Van Ackerman when he says, “I’m not too sure the senator from Utah can’t be frightened.” The usually quiet Vice President shows his strength of character and is stern here saying, “there'll be no threats made on the floor of this chamber.” Even Danta is surprised by Hudson’s admonishment. Van Ackerman calls for a full Senate vote on the issue of the confirmation of Leffingwell. While Danta tries to get Van Ackerman to withdraw his proposal since they do not have sufficient votes lined up as yet, Munson addresses the Senate, saying traditional procedures have been in place for a very long time to keep the democracy functioning. He warns against damage to the democratic process if those rules are discarded “in the heat and passion of the passing moment.” The cautionary note here is that no matter how strongly we feel about personalities and issues, the higher purpose of the democracy’s rules must be honored. The pressure on Van Ackerman causes him to relent and he withdraws his proposal. Munson wants Anderson to meet with the President later, but Anderson feels that it might be best that the President withdraw Leffingwell’s nomination. Then Van Ackerman, with his posse present, tells Munson he has the “whip” in his file to keep Anderson in line, which shows the senator wants to make good on his earlier threat of intimidation. 

 

The President subverts Munson’s plan for just having a private meeting with Anderson by publicly noting surprise at the Correspondents' dinner that Anderson is thwarting confirmation of Leffingwell. The President says he is sticking with his nominee, even though he knows privately that Leffingwell lied. Of course Van Ackerman runs up to the dais and cheers the President, kissing up as usual. The President is publicly attacking Anderson, who did not expose Leffingwell’s past openly and tried to be discreet about what Fletcher (manipulated by Cooley) revealed. Anderson is trying to do what he sees is the only proper thing, and he is, and will be, punished for it in this sleazy political setting.

 

The President does meet Anderson with Munson present after the dinner and wants him to not expose what Fletcher said so that Leffingwell can be confirmed. Anderson says it doesn’t matter if Leffingwell only flirted with communism as a younger man and is not one now. He says he should not have lied to Congress. The President makes a good point suggesting that Leffingwell’s life will be ruined because of something in his past that would not affect his present ability to be Secretary of State. Ironically, as we shall see, the President says to Anderson, “Well, maybe there’s nothing in your young life you’d like to conceal, but we’re not all that fortunate.” This statement goes to the central theme of the movie, which depicts how one’s public life can be a false covering hiding regretful past actions. But, the film also makes the point that people should not be condemned for certain harmless activities in their lives that are unacceptable to the rest of society. In this case, Anderson is placed between the rock of his convictions and the hard place of offending his President and humiliating an otherwise decent nominee. Anderson can’t morally concede and says he will have to call Fletcher as a witness to be transparent. The President, too, will not back down, and leaves angrily. Munson tells Anderson that things aren’t always black and white, but that is how Anderson sees this issue. That rigidity will come under attack.

 

There is a scene that starts out as a touching and average picture of Anderson coming home and tucking his young daughter in her bed in a room covered with the child’s drawings. He goes to his bedroom and accidentally wakes up his wife. He says he felt good about his confrontation with the President. Then the shoe drops, as Ellen tells him there was an anonymous phone call from a man who said he should think twice about his stance on the Leffingwell nomination and made a reference to what happened in “Hawaii,” where Anderson was stationed in the Army. She says the man’s voice sounded like he was talking about “some kind of nasty secret.” Again the film stresses the disparity between what is presented on the surface and the complete picture. The President noted there aren’t too many people who do not have something to hide, and as it turns out that includes the man who believes in the “black and white” surety of his convictions. Anderson says she received a crank call, so now he is covering up his past, as did Leffingwell, even with his wife. 

 

More calls follow, and Anderson experiences increased worried tension. In the Senate, he pressures Munson as to when the President will realize he must withdraw Leffingwell for consideration. For Anderson, the quicker a new candidate is submitted, the sooner the threatening calls will cease since Leffingwell would no longer be in the picture. Anderson takes a walk and encounters Cooley sitting on a bench, watching the drama he has initiated play out. He acts compassionate about how Anderson looks weighed down and warns about how the younger senator is dealing with “devious, powerful men.” It just so happens Cooley is one of those individuals sometimes. However, while Cooley works subtly in the background, Van Ackerman is the blunt instrument here. But the President also knows how to work the process, as the disappointed Cooley informs Anderson that the Chief Executive sent Fletcher to Europe on some mission, which prevents Anderson from calling the man as a witness. Cooley says of himself that he may be powerful and devious, but he is on Anderson’s side. But does Anderson want an ally who advocates the belief that the ends justify the means?

 

Deception and intimidation continue as Van Ackerman and his gang look on as Anderson receives a threatening phone call in the Senate cafeteria. The fact that this reprehensible action occurs in the building where integrity should prevail is especially upsetting. The man on the other end of the line says they have a photo and a letter that can damage Anderson if he tries to prevent Leffingwell’s appointment. The man who made the call came from Van Ackerman’s table in the area and he returns to his seat after his call from a phone booth is over. The rattled and paranoid Anderson doesn’t know who to blame for the harassment and demands of the clueless Munson that the President withdraw Leffingwell immediately. Anderson visits Leffingwell and tells him about what Fletcher said and he should withdraw on his own. Leffingwell said he promised he would leave it in the hands of the President. After Anderson leaves, Leffingwell realizes that his boy overheard the contentious conversation. Now that even his son realizes his father has been lying, Leffingwell decides he should tell his son the truth, which is hard to come by in Washington.

 Raymond Shaff (John Granger) had visited Anderson’s office when the senator wasn’t there, and the Senator seems evasive when the secretary advises him of the man’s attempt to contact him. Anderson’s wife is upset because she, too, knows that some hidden truth is starting to burst through to the surface. She says there was another call and the man on the phone said they had “bought Ray.” She tells him that she expects her husband to be honest with her, but even the moral Anderson fails this test. She is smart enough to realize that other people are trying to get at him through her. Just as in Leffingwell’s home, here we have a child, Anderson’s young daughter, Pidge (Janet Jane Carty), representing the innocence of youth contrasting with the deceit of the adults. Anderson is now ironically mirroring what is happening to Leffingwell, as each man is haunted by something he tried to cover up in his past. Anderson’s black and white view that Leffingwell should be honest and confess what he was concealing is now torturing Anderson because of his own concealment. Ellen thinks he must be having an affair with another woman but he assures her that the problem is something that happened long ago. Yet, he still doesn’t tell his wife the truth. She suggests that he give in about the confirmation, but he says that would mean sacrificing the principles he lives by. His inner conflict is cracking him apart. 

 

While Anderson is at an airport, Ellen confesses what has been happening to her husband to Senator Smith. She is seeking help, but she, too, is now hiding something, not telling her husband about contacting Smith. He voices the theme of deception in the film when he says maybe Anderson will not have to find out she reached out to him. The web of secrecy keeps spreading. She describes her husband as being “desperate,” a term which historically means a person is losing the ability to hold onto one’s faith, and resorting to suicide. Smith tries to offer a pleasant lie, which is that her husband may be trying to protect someone else. That may seem acceptable, but it is still untrue. Despite his encouraging words, Smith knows there is a serious problem with Anderson and he tells Rumson that a blackmailer is going after Anderson.

 

Anderson goes to the address that Ray Shaff left, but encounters a man named Manuel (Larry Tucker) who says Ray doesn’t live there. Unfortunately, Manuel presents stereotypical gay mannerisms. If we haven’t already guessed, Anderson’s past contains a homosexual incident, which, at the time, was felt to be reprehensible. Manuel says he is a “mail and answering service for friends of Ray,” which is “confidential.” Truth in this film is closeted in many ways. Anderson realizes he must pay Manuel, who suggests he offers his apartment as a meeting place for sex. Manuel does say that Ray is at a “Club 602.” The club is a gay bar, and Anderson runs off as soon as he enters, supposedly feeling disgusted by his past. Ray sees him, runs after him, and says that he needed money, so that is why he contacted Anderson. Since Anderson ignored him, Ray betrayed Anderson and made a deal with Van Ackerman. As he drives off in a cab, Anderson pushes Ray away from the car door onto the ground as he symbolically tries to distance himself from his past. One could say that the film is a low point in dealing with homosexuality, but there may be an argument that the story shows that the denial of allowing same sex relationships is what pushes people to act desperately.

 

Anderson meets the Vice President on the plane from New York to Washington. Hudson asks about the nomination, and Anderson is immediately on guard, not knowing who is behind applying the pressure. Hudson, who gave a speech at the PTA which illustrates his minor role in the administration, says the President and the senators keep him out of the loop. But he realizes that Anderson seems to be carrying the load of the confirmation alone. Hudson says being Vice President is like living in a mansion without furniture, which points again to how politics stresses surface appearances. He is genuine however when he offers Anderson his help. Hudson is insightful and caring, and Anderson says that, “I’ve suddenly gotten the feeling you’re the most underestimated man in Washington.” It is an interesting observation. In contrast to many others, Hudson's positive appearance on the outside is representative of what he is on the inside. What is hidden, however, is a man of praiseworthy character underneath that public relations exterior assigned to him. Anderson is about to open up to the Vice President, but can’t bring himself to share his pain.

 

Anderson goes to hide in his Senate office, but he can’t evade his own torment. He learns when entering that Smith is looking for him and he knows that his wife is calling him on the phone. The blackmailer left an envelope that Ellen finds which contains an old letter from her husband when he was in Hawaii telling Ray that what they had was due to the stress of war, and that he has a life now and doesn’t want to hear from Ray again. Writing on the envelope says there are five hundred photos showing the two men together. The indiscriminate poison injected into the political process has tragic ramifications as Smith, at a card game at Dolly’s house, gets a phone call saying that Anderson cut his own throat and is dead. The man could no longer live in a world that would judge him as unequivocally as he judged others. As Rumson informs others of the sad news, the camera lingers on Cooley, who is also inadvertently culpable because he did not take into account that his plotting would make Anderson a target for others.

 

Munson, Smith, and Hudson visit Ellen to comfort her concerning her loss but also to find out what caused her husband to commit suicide. Anderson’s wife joins the keeping of secrets club by denying she has any knowledge surrounding her husband’s death. Given the times she is most likely acting out of shame and also attempting to protect her husband’s reputation. The President is on a military vessel, symbolizing his position as Commander in Chief, but he is also in his bathrobe, reflecting how he is at the end of his mission, ready to retire from his service to his country. Munson tells the President that he believes Van Ackerman is behind what happened based on how he led an onslaught of attacks against Anderson. Munson urges the President to withdraw Leffingwell’s name since there will be allegations that he was involved in what happened to Anderson. In a way the President is, since he was defiant in not withdrawing Leffingwell, despite knowing that the man lied to Congress. and thus placing Anderson in a terrible position. The President wastes no time to mourn for Anderson, and, in fact, sees a clear road now to get his pick approved without Anderson blocking it. The noble and empathetic Hudson says, “I wonder if Leffingwell or any one man is worth all of this,” which means he objects to the fallout from political willfulness. But the President is dismissive of Hudson. Alone with Munson, the President says he doesn't have much time left and he needs Leffingwell to carry on what he has built in the area of foreign policy, which he feels will fall apart otherwise. Munson disagrees that Hudson can’t do the job, but the President says he doesn’t “have time to run a school for presidents.” But he does have doubts about the job he has done. Munson earlier said he has known the President for a long time and the man led the country through several crises. Munson sees that his friend needs reassurance at this dark time and says to him he was one of the great presidents.  

 

Cooley is waiting for Munson at the latter’s hotel. Just like the President, Cooley is not pausing his political maneuvering to respect Anderson’s passing. He admits to Munson that he knows about Fletcher and is ready to expose everything. The politically savvy Munson can see the puppeteer’s strings and knows that Cooley was using Anderson as his proxy to make a deal that would cause Leffingwell to be withdrawn without the President or his party being embarrassed by the nomination of someone who had a flirtation with communism. Now, since the President thwarted his earlier attempts of removing Leffingwell, Cooley threatens to blow the scandal wide open. But he is willing to make a deal. He asks Munson to, “Turn your votes loose, and I’ll keep my mouth shut.” He is willing to be silent, even if Leffingwell is confirmed, as long as each senator can vote his own mind without capitulating to the party’s orders, something not seen in Congress lately. Munson in the moment, probably because he is angry about Cooley’s tactics, refuses.

 

The subcommittee, with nothing holding it back, recommends that the whole Senate confirm Leffingwell’s nomination. In a surprising move, Cooley addresses the Senate and confesses to acting out of vindictiveness concerning Leffingwell and apologizes for it. He still will vote against him on the merits. He feels Leffingwell’s “voice” is an “alien” one to him, which does not meet his standards regarding the country’s “pride” and “dignity.” But, he does not ask any senator to feel obligated to follow his lead. Munson says he feels Leffingwell sounds a practical voice, not an “alien “one, and he trusts the President for choosing the man. But Cooley’s honorable action plays forward. Munson defies his political allegiance to his party and president, and he releases those who pledged to vote in favor of the nominee. The film seems to be saying that decency can give birth to more good deeds. The death of Anderson also is acting as a cautionary warning about not respecting the limits of ethical behavior. 

 

Munson calls for the vote to take place, stopping the angry Van Ackerman from opening up a debate. Munson also lets Van Ackerman know that they know he was the one who tried to blackmail Anderson, and Munson will expose him if he tries to hinder the nominating process further. He tells Van Ackerman that he has brought dishonor to the congressional body, which will not be tolerated. Van Ackerman tries to justify his actions in the name of patriotism, but his ends-justify-the means mentality is a threat to democracy, which is echoed by Munson, who says, “Fortunately, our country always manages to survive patriots like you.” Van Ackerman is filmed as a lonely man walking slowly through the chamber, distanced by the others, and he leaves in a virtual banishment.

 

The President appears increasingly ill as he listens to the vote in the White House, and collapses and dies. The vote will be a tie since Smith surprisingly votes “no.” The Vice President will be the tie-breaking vote. But Hudson is informed of the death of the President. Secret Service men enter the Senate to protect Hudson who is no longer the President of the Senate, but has ascended to the high office of the Presidency of the United States. He can no longer break the tie and the nomination is disapproved. There is a solemn but smooth and dignified transition of power as President Hudson tells Munson that he will appoint his own Secretary of State. Cooley is now the President Pro Tem of the Senate and the legislative body adjourns out of respect for the loss of the country’s leader. 

 

The story ends on a sad but high note as the nation’s “better angels,” as Abraham Lincoln coined them, prevail.

The next film is The Last Hurrah.