All language subtitles for The White House - 1x02

(audience cheering)

- [callender] well, well.

With what do I owe the pleasure?

- You look well.

Enjoying your little holiday?

- Oh yes. This is a
wonderful little stink hole.

Perfect at this time of
year. Thanks for asking.

- You're welcome. I brought
you a little present.

- I've been hoping for a diary.

- I need you to keep writing.

- No.
- [jefferson] why not?

- It may have escaped
your attention,

But I'm a felon,
arrested on the orders

Of the same mr. Adams.

You now want me to
poke with a stick?

- No one will know the
identity of the author.

- Why me?

Can't you find another pariah?

- No one's quite so
imaginatively filthy as you.

- Same deal?

- Same deal.

(tense music)

(upbeat music)

(steady music)

- Charles adams is 30
years old when he dies,

And he dies of alcoholism.

- [catherine] and abigail
feels guilty about that

Because even then,
they understood

That alcoholism
runs in families,

And it was coming
from her family.

(steady music)

- There is still time.

- I have my duties here.

New york is a seven day ride
at best. 10 more likely.

I will miss the funeral anyway.

- You are the president.
They will wait for you.

- Have we not already
discussed this?

- Our son will be buried alone.

- Sally will be there,

And probably that
sodomite friend of his.

You can go. I won't stop you.

- You know I can't go on my own.

Don't do this, john.
I'm begging you.

(tense music)

- I shall never forgive you.

(tense music)

- Even though john has
renounced his son, he mourns

And remembers not the man
that he chewed out a year

And a half before,
but the little boy.

And he said he was, "my
darling, my darling boy.

The apple of my eye."

- [patrick] presidential
elections, back then,

Were not like they are today.

It took many months.

It began at the end of October

And really wrapped
up in December,

And no one really knew how
it was gonna shake out.

- [tyson] at the time,

Whoever received the most votes

In the electoral college
became president.

And whoever received
the second most votes

Becomes vice president.

- [richard] thomas
jefferson's base is virginia.

So the great electoral plan

Of jefferson's party is
always an alliance of virginia

And new york.

So you have to look
for useful new yorkers.

And at first, aaron burr looks
like a useful new yorker.

- [tyson] aaron burr is
a very complicated figure

And a lot of people looked
at aaron burr as somebody

Who was only out for his own.

(bright music)

- Mr. Jefferson.
- Mr. Burr.

Thank you for your time. I
promise to make it worthwhile.

- I hope so.

President adams.

- His rotundity.
- If you wish,

Must be stopped, replaced.

- And gutted, like a pig.

- Figuratively speaking.

- Of course.

- By any means necessary.

- And I cannot disagree.

- Excellent.

I have a proposal
for the election.

We will split our parties vote.

You will get 72 electoral
college votes. I will get 73.

So I will beat you
by a single vote.

- A bitter pill to swallow.

- But the narrowness of your
defeat will mark you out

As the coming man.

- Your successor.

- I will be president. You
will be my vice president.

- Why would I wanna do that?

Surely I'm too young to
be such a non-entity.

- It's true.

It's not a destination for
a man of your abilities.

Think of it as a stepping stone.

- Adams was vice president
for the old sage washington.

- Exactly! And I was
vice president to adams.

- I'm not known as a
patient man, but I can be.

- I don't doubt it.

- I like it.

Do it.

- [tyson] aaron burr was willing

To work with people
from both sides.

The problem with that is
then, as now in us politics,

Those who are willing to
work with both sides end up

With people on both
sides hating them.

- Christmas of 1800, a
gloomy, depressing time

For the president
and mrs. Adams.

- I have a present for you.

- [paul] the death of their
son charles was devastating,

As well as the election of 1800,

Newspapers full of
nasty partisan vitriol.

The nastiest stuff imaginable.

- [abigail] "curious
adventures of young emmeline."

Shall I read it to you?

- I want daddy to read it to me.

- [tyson] john
adams felt betrayed

And scandalized that
jefferson ultimately was

Behind these attacks
on his presidency.

- What now?
- More lies.

Unspeakable filth about me.

- Show me.
- Absolutely not.

- Why?

- The accusations,
entirely false,

Are of a sexual nature.

- Oh, don't be so daft, john.

- It's not true, abigail.

Not a word. I swear.

- Oh my.

(abigail laughing)

- I really don't see
anything to laugh about.

- I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

It's just, I'm sorry, really?

You asked general pinckney

To import four
pretty english girls,

Two for his use and
two for your own.

Where have you
stashed them, john?

Am I to be turned
out of our bedroom?

- Am I truly so unmanly,

So boring that you find
the idea impossible?

- Of course not, my love.
You have always been a lion.

Magnificent, untamed.

- The truth is that general
pinckney cheated me out

Of my two girls.

- What will you do about this?

- No doubt jefferson is behind
it, or one of his lackeys.

He wants to kill off any
chance I have, bury me.

Well, two can play it that game.

- What are you thinking?

- Sad news, abigail.

There's going to be a funeral.

- Newspapers in those days
made absolutely no pretense

Of being nonpartisan.

They published
absolutely outrageous,

Scandalous things about people.

(tense music)

- What the hell's going on?

(tense music)

I'm dead?

- You know, thomas, we may
need to study the constitution.

See what it says about a
ghost running for president.

- [paul] there was a
federalist newspaper

That printed a fake
obituary of jefferson,

So your vote would be
wasted if you vote for him.

- It was very easy to
spread false information

And very difficult
to correct it.

- [jesse] so at that time
in the united states,

Only landholding
white men could vote.

That means the entire
female population

Of the united states
could not vote.

All african americans, all
of the indigenous people

Who lived in the united
states at that time,

They could not vote.

- [richard] people are
following the returns,

Checking their lists.

"well, how is
pennsylvania going?

Where is south
carolina gonna go?"

So this created an
element of suspense.

- [catherine] but it's also
clear by christmas time

That john adams is
not to be reelected.

- John.

- Why?

- We must discuss the levee.

- There's nothing to discuss.

I'd rather roll naked in glass
than throw a party right now.

And what would we
be celebrating?

My rejection by the voters?

Jefferson's triumph?

- The timing is terrible,
but it is expected of us.

Maybe it's a good thing, a
chance to heal the nation

And show everybody that we are

So much more than the petty
politics that have divided us.

- I will not dress up, smile,

Shake my enemy's hands
whilst they drink my wine.

- Well, you are the president
and whether you like it

Or not, it's your duty.

- Well, they can shove it,

Right up my assumptions, which
proved entirely accurate.

(everyone laughing)

- [catherine] the levee
is a european forum.

It's like a reception,

A more formal staid
cocktail party, if you will,

With love curtsying
and presenting, pomp
and circumstances

And courtiers and
palace intrigue

And patronage and
all that stuff.

But you had to be very careful.

Couldn't be too european.
It couldn't be too suspect.

- I feel a fool.

- And it will be over soon.

Just promise me you
will keep your temper.

- All right, all right.

For you.

- Hell is empty.

All the devils are here.

(tense music)

- [patrick] thomas
jefferson reviled the luxury

And the decadence in europe,

And he wanted america to
be the antithesis of all

That he saw was wrong in europe.

- Shall we dine?

- I'm waiting on my
friend, mr. Jefferson.

- He's here.

- I don't see my friend.

(tense music)

- I see a man who would
be king, who claims

To be no more nor less
than an ordinary citizen.

Well, if so, why the throne?

(tense music)

- That man is dead to me.

- [catherine] the relationship
between john adams

And thomas jefferson has been
falling apart pretty steadily

Over the past few years

Before we get to the
sort of fateful moment

In 1801 when the
election results show

That john adams is not
going to be reelected.

And so the drama of the election

Of 1800 shifts, actually,
right around this time.

- Where are you, you
furry little bastard?

- John, please stop.

It's almost midnight.

- He's mocking me!

Every single night,
scratching and stumbling.

- It's just a mouse. Let
it be and come to bed.

I've got a surprise for you.

(quaint music)

Oh, come on, john. You know
it's not your birthday.

And anyway, I've got a far
better surprise for you.

- By February 11th, 1801,
the results of the election

Of 1800 are in, and the
result is very disconcerting.

- That's a dirty trick
to play on a poor man.

- It arrived this
evening. Get comfortable.

You're going to enjoy this.

The headline reads,
"election result shock."

- What are you
waiting for, woman?

- Do you want me to
read this to you or not?

The electoral college count

In the presidential election
is finally complete,

Blah, blah, blah,
formalities, blah, blah,

Thanks to the counters.

Ah, here we are.

The president of the
senate then declared

That thomas jefferson

And aaron burr had a
majority of all the votes

And also the same
number of votes.

- A tie, between
jefferson and burr?

(john and abigail laughing)

Hilarious!

- So it says here,
72 votes each.

- Let them share it.

Let them both sip
from the poisoned cup.

- You do see the danger.
Burr might be president.

You must do something.

- Must I?

Read it to me again.
- Why?

- Humor me.

- Thomas jefferson and
aaron burr had a majority

Of the votes, and also
the same number of votes.

(john and abigail laughing)

- I'll sleep well tonight.

- So why is there
a tie vote in 1800?

Someone should have
thrown away a vote.

- [tyson] nobody withholds
their vote from burr,

Kind of thinking that the
other guy was going to do it.

The house of representatives
comes to a stalemate.

There are a lot of federalists
in the house who would prefer

To see burr in the presidency,
rather than jefferson.

- [burr] may I have a word?

- Sounds ominous.

- In private.

(tense music)

- What news?

- What news?

This.

- [jefferson] which is?

- Mr. Burr has no principle,
public or private,

And is in fact one of
the most unprincipled men

In the united states.

- Gosh.

- You bastard. You set me up.

And then there were the letters,

Sent to over a hundred
members of congress,

Urging them to vote for you
because I am not to be trusted.

- I see. Unfortunate.

- For me.

And what did they
have in common,

The letters, the articles?

Well, the man who wrote them.

- If you're suggesting
that was me, you're wrong.

- So your hand
wasn't on the pen,

But I know you put him up to it.

- Put whom up to it?

- You are trying my pa-

You are trying my patience.

Let's pretend you are
innocent, or just plain stupid.

These attacks on me were written
by mr. Alexander hamilton,

War hero, washington's right
hand man, federalist vermin,

Corrupt wretch.

And you allied with
him to sell me out?

But alexander hamilton thinks
that burr is dangerous.

And so he sways his
fellow federalists instead

To cast their votes
for jefferson,

Which swings the
election to jefferson.

(steady music)

- They say I want to be king,

But actually all
I want is a privy

That doesn't freeze in winter.

Is that too much to ask?

- You need not worry
about that much longer.

- So, it is decided.

It will be thomas?

- Yes.
- That is good.

They rally to his side?

- It was mr. Hamilton
who persuaded them.

- Hamilton? Why?

- It seems the only
man he loathes more

Than jefferson is mr. Burr.

- Ah. Everyone hates burr.

They're welcome to each other.

(john chuckling)

- [paul] adams is considered
the first failed president.

He's the first president
not to be reelected.

- Classic line on john
adams was benjamin franklin.

He said, "always an honest
man, often a wise one,

But in some things,
absolutely out of his senses."

- I'll kill him!

- [richard] john adams
was a great patriot.

He was a great intellectual.

He had a great sense
of humor sometimes,

Especially with
his wife, abigail.

But he could also turn on people

That he felt had betrayed him.

- I can't believe
we're leaving just

As the building work
is finally finished.

Will you miss it?

- The house?

No.

- I meant the presidency.

- I can't wait to spend the
rest of my life with you.

Away from washington,
away from the nest

Of vipers crawling all over it.

- The adams hightail
it outta town.

They don't go to
jefferson's inauguration.

- Careful what you
wish for, thomas.

(steady music)

- James callender.
You're free to go.

- [carol] when
jefferson is elected,

Everybody's freed who is
under the sedition act.

- Huh.

- [guardsman] so,
where will you go?

- [callender] hear
washington's nice.

There's a man there
that owes me a favor,

And I aim to collect.

(tense music)

My pen placed you in that seat.

Now you will recompense me.

- I don't know what
you're talking about.

- [callender] you assume
you're untouchable,

But everyone has secrets.

- [speaker] you don't
talk about that,

Unless you're absolutely
sure no one is listening.

- Let's find the
truth of it, then.

- Damn callender!

I must stop them.