Original subtitles

Why are you doing this? - Because I love him. I love him very deeply.

I'm sorry, but... - You're sorry!

That's very touching, widow Todd,

but you'll be more sorry as time goes on. - Aaron, you're hurting me.

Think I'll fail? Have you lost faith in me? - No, please, Aaron...

Let me go.

You'll never forget me, Dolly, if you marry a dozen Madisons.

And I'll never forget you.

Never.

James Madison and I were married.

After the election, when our friend Tom Jefferson lost the presidency to John Adams,

my husband and I moved to Virginia,

where James was a member of the Virginia legislature.

We spent four wonderful and happy years on his family estate.

Dolly! - Yes?

Look, we have some visitors. - Look, they can get their eyes open.

You know what his name is? - No.

John Adams. - Why?

Well, look at him.

Mr Madison, sir. - Oh, yes, fella.

This came by courier from Washington, sir.

Oh, good. Thank you.

It's from Tom Jefferson. - Oh, I hope he's coming to visit us.

He's one person I'd love to see.

He wants us to visit him.

He's going to run for president again. - That is good news.

He says, "You must come to Washington and help me campaign."

I could close the house in a very few days.

"...going to be an exciting campaign."

He has Aaron Burr running for his vice president.

He says that should ensure New York and Massachusetts.

But Tom and Aaron seem to be such strange running mates.

Yes, old Tom's probably swung Burr around to his way of thinking.

This last paragraph is for you.

"Dolly, I'm counting on you to keep things running smoothly."

Now what are you thinking up?

I was just thinking how happy we've been here in Montpelier these past four years.

Oh, we'll come back here after the election.

Jefferson will make our country a model for every nation on earth.

He has to win this election, Doll.

And you want to help him, don't you, James?

Yes, I do. All I can.

And I want to help you, all I can.

We had moved to Washington,

and now that the campaign was over,

we were spending our fifth wedding anniversary alone,

as we had planned.

James!

That's the most beautiful fan I've ever seen.

Why not? It's for the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.

Yes, very useful things, fans.

Open your present. - Oh, yes.

Yes. Now let me...

A snuff box?

Well, Dolly, you're really trying to make a dandy out of me, aren't you?

Don't you like it? - Oh, I certainly do.

Oh, you'd better. I had to go all the way to New York for it.

Well, it's overwhelming.

I'm going to make a point of offering snuff to everybody in the capital,

so they can... admire it.

And I shall blush modestly behind my fan at your elegance.

Which reminds me, I must have a new gown and turban made to match my beautiful gift.

Of course now I have to have new Waistcoats to house this beautiful object.

You'll be the centre of attraction, my dear husband.

Mr Madison, please, sir.

Mr Wilson and Mr Quinnan, some other gentlemen, to see you.

Tell them to come in, please.

This is the evening we were going to spend alone.

Public life and private plans seldom walk together.

They may not stay very long.

Don't ask them for supper. - I won't.

They probably came by to tell us about the electoral college vote. Gentlemen?

Mr Madison, we've been tricked. - Tricked?

Jefferson and Burr are tied.

Seventy-three votes for each. Here's the calculation.

You mean the election will go to the House of Representatives for a decision?

It will indeed, ma'am. - And there is danger there for us.

We're about to sit in council with Mr Jefferson on this matter tonight.

Gentlemen, I'll see you in a few moments.

I'm sorry, Doll.

This is a poor end to our little celebration.

Maybe we should've stayed in Virginia.

James, you must not let Aaron Burr be named president.

I feel this is my fault in a way.

I wrote the election law.

Burr found a loophole.

I didn't write a very good law, Doll.

I tell you, I have a feeling about it.

When the House votes, we'll defeat Jefferson two to one.

Two to one, gentlemen! I swear it won't be less than that, Aaron.

Or should I say Mr president?

All we need is nine more votes.

Nine votes, and Jefferson buried in the vice presidency once again.

A fate he richly deserves.

Mr Alexander Hamilton, sir.

Tell him I'm not here.

Mr Burr?

I hope you'll pardon my presence, but my business is urgent.

And private.

No, please stay, gentlemen.

Yes, Mr Hamilton?

I'm here to ask you again to stop this folly and end this farce

and to notify the House of Representatives

that you ran for the vice presidency, not for the presidency.

And why should they believe me any more than they believe you?

Your claim to the presidency, Mr Burr,

is distasteful, dishonest, and personally repugnant to decent men.

And how do men like yourself feel about it?

Aaron Burr,

whatever influence I have, I shall use against you at this time.

And any time in the future that you are presumptuous enough to run for public office,

I shall oppose you.

Have you all heard enough? - Mm-hmm.

So have I. Jason, show Mr Hamilton to the door and then open the window.

Won't you all join me?

You turned him out!

And you did it beautifully, Mr president, beautifully.

I don't think he'd never swing the federalist vote for Jefferson.

I don't know. He may be meddlesome, but he's clever.

We must find a way to offset him.

Let me think now.

Aaron, if I were you, I would go to the city of Washington as soon as possible.

I'd talk to every congressman down there.

This thing needs just a little horse-trading,

and I think you can trade horses better than Hamilton.

My, oh my, oh my, why didn't I think of that?

I'll sleep on it and let you know in the morning.

A trip to Washington this time of year might be very pleasant.

Hamilton will try to swing New York and may pick up a few votes.

The Federals will hold the line, they hate Jefferson.

Everyone hates him.

They hate Madison, too.

What about John Marshall?

Do you mind if we discuss this in the morning instead of tonight?

Oh, certainly. - Certainly, Mr president.

Jason will show you to the door. - Yeah, we were just leaving.

Aaron, I don't know what you'll think of me for coming here like this,

but I had to see you for a few minutes. - I dreamt of you in every room in this house.

I know what you think of a woman meddling in politics.

But I can't let you go on doing what you're doing

without pleading with you to change your course.

You look exactly the same.

What course?

This pretention to the presidency.

Pretention?

Madison send you here? - No, Aaron.

Don't tell me you're running errands for Mr Jefferson.

No one knows I'm here. - Why did you come then?

Aaron,

once you told me that you loved me.

Once?

I thought I told you more often than that.

I also told you I was gonna become the President of the United States,

and as I recall, you were very happy to know the man who might gain that high office.

Now you're here to gain political advantage for your husband.

I'm here because this is more important than my husband or Mr Jefferson or you or me.

Speak for your own side, madam. It's very important for me.

So important, in fact, that I'm going to Washington tomorrow to ensure its success.

To influence the House vote by trading and truckling with men you despise.

Aaron, that's sneaking into the presidency by the back door.

Serve your four years as vice president.

Mr Jefferson did it. Mr Adams did it.

You can only add to your political strength by doing the same.

At this moment, I'm stronger than Mr Jefferson.

I'm stronger than Madison and Hamilton, too.

Then why do you cheapen yourself by going to Washington to buy and beg votes?

Cheapen myself?

Dolly,

to prove to you that this is my destiny, I won't go to Washington.

I won't lift a finger to further my own cause.

Does that make you happier?

Thank you, Aaron.

I know why you're here.

You won't admit it to yourself right now.

You keep saying, "That's all over, that's done with."

But it will never be over between us, Dolly, never done with.

Aaron, I don't want you to say these things.

I'll always say them.

And when my day comes,

I'll find some way to have you at my side.

Goodbye, Aaron.

Aaron Burr did yield,

and Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated President of the United States.

He appointed my husband Secretary of State.

Mr Jefferson asked James and me to go with him

on his first official inspection of the president's house.

To my astonishment, he said he had a job for me, too.

He was a widower and wanted me to become

the official hostess of Washington City and the president's house.

I was delighted, of course, but in no way prepared for what I was to find

when Mrs John Adams opened the front door for us.

The contractor had promised to finish the president's house many months before,

but materials were scarce, good workmen hard to find,

and through somebody's bad judgement,

the house had been built in the midst of a swamp.

Mrs Adams led us to the kitchen

to show us the three feet of water covering the floor.

The East Room, the great and magnificent ballroom for entertaining European royalty,

was unfinished, unpainted,

with an enormous line of wash hanging from one end to the other.

Standing in the midst of all this confusion, Mr Jefferson gave me my assignment.

I was to make the president's house warm, beautiful and friendly,

so that every American would feel it was his unofficial home.

It was the most difficult assignment I had ever had,

but Mr Jefferson was not a man you failed.

It was not too long before the work was done,

and we were giving lovely parties.

Oh, Dolly.

I was just telling Jonathan,

the four of us ought to try and arrange a little trip Virginia right after the session.

I'd love it. Wouldn't you, James?

James can't take any trips to Virginia.

Jefferson won't let him get out of Washington.

There's plenty of reason to stay here right now,

especially for the man Jefferson's picked to succeed him.

Jonathan, don't say things like that.

James has no ambition to succeed Mr Jefferson.

That is the truth.

Now, don't try to pull the wool over my eyes, James.

Any man in the United States would like to be president.

Mr Aaron Burr!

The Vice president of the United States.

Excuse me. Excuse me.

Mr President.

Mr Burr. - Mr Vice President.

Mr Secretary.

Now, if you'll excuse me, Mr President, I'd like to look around a little.

Certainly, Mr Burr.

I might even find a friend here.

Aaron Burr. At last you come to one of my parties.

Hostess to the president.

What a magnificent title for you, widow Todd.

Well, it is a rather difficult task at times, but I manage to...

But an easy one to get, I'm sure.

All you had to do is to persuade me to step aside for Jefferson

and tell him and be rewarded.

I stepped down and you stepped up.

Aaron,

no one, not even my husband, knows I went to New York to see you.

I'll never tell him, madam.

I wouldn't want him to know how big a fool I've been.

Did you come here tonight just to humiliate me,

to say things you know are not true?

I came here to tell you that what you and Jefferson and Madison robbed me of,

I'll get myself.

You may plan, and Madison may dream,

it will do you no good.

Thomas Jefferson will be the last President of the United States.

That's irresponsible, Aaron.

You must end this suspicion, this madness.

This madness?

You know me better than that, Dolly.

What I start out to do, I do.

When it's done, you'll be the first to know.

Till then, Mrs Madison.

This is a tragic circumstance, James.

With your permission, sir. - Certainly.

Did Burr tell you about his duel with Alexander Hamilton?

Duel? No, what happened?

Courier just brought word they fought with pistols.

Burr killed him.

Oh, no! - Yes.

Well, Ned, have you come along for the fun?

Well, colonel, I always did want to see Mexico.

You'll see plenty of it if you follow me, soldier.

They still think we're going to attack Mexico. - That's all they talk about.

Blennerhassett's learning Spanish, the fool.

He won't have much opportunity for that in Washington.

It'll come in handy at the embassy dinner.

I thought he'd catch on by now.

You know, Jedson, you and I are the only ones who know

that we're going to war with the United States.

Now, our advisors are waiting.

That's agreed then.

We move down the river to the great gulf and then west and on to Mexico.

To Mexico, empire and glory.

But are you sure the United States army will be at war with Spain before then?

I'm quite sure. I'm also certain that we shall pick up followers by the tens of thousands.

It's government troops. They're on their way here.

Hear that? It's government troops. - Wait till the old man hears this!

Sounds like bad news. Might be trouble.

Colonel, government troops are headed this way under a forced march.

Government troops?

Who wants the honour of firing the first shot at them?

But Colonel Burr, he said they're government troops.

Politicians troops. Politicians who are trying to spoil our plans.

The hour has come.

We'll give them more than they bargained for, won't we, men?

We'll meet them on road tonight.

One good ambush, and they'll scatter like leaves in the storm.

Company commander, sound assembly.

Colonel Burr.

Yes, captain, didn't you understand my order?

Yes, colonel. But I joined you for foreign conquest,

not to fight the United States. Nor did my men.

And I'll not order them to ambush any soldier under the flag of my own country.

Captain, we pick no fight with them, they've come here to fight us.

But colonel, couldn't we parley with them,

get an explanation or give one?

The only explanation they understand is hot lead and plenty of it,

and we're the ones to give it to them, aren't we, men?

That's treason you're talking.

Treason, is it? - Yes, sir. Treason and rebellion.

Soldier, I'll tell you one thing, and the rest of you, listen to me.

You here with the thousands who have flocked to our banners

can beat these troops of the government

if you have the courage to do so.

Follow where I lead, and in one month,

you and I, all of us here,

will be the rulers of the United States.

If we win this first battle, we can win them all.

Listen to me.

Hold these men. They must listen.

We can win.

Come back, you must hear me.

I have a plan. A plan to take all the southern states.

And I have friends, powerful friends. Friends who are waiting for us to march in.

Listen to me!

Come back and listen, you cowards!

You're throwing away an empire.

You're a good barber, Jenks.

Thank you, Mr Burr. Thank you.

They don't really think I'm going to commit suicide, do they?

Well, some do, you know?

A fellow about three years ago did on the day they were going to hang him.

I done his hair the night before.

Done it real pretty, too. - They're a long way from hanging me.

Mr Burr, you're gonna have a new barber from now on.

Why? Are they gonna hang you?

No, I'm getting out. Out of jail, and out of Richmond, too.

Going back up to New Jersey, where I belong.

Jenks.

Do you go through Washington on your way home?

I suppose so. It's just as close that way as any other.

I have a letter I want you to deliver for me.

I'll give you $100 in gold.

$100?

And enough for your stage fare besides.

Mr Burr, I'm your man. - Good.

Deliver it to no one but the lady herself. - Yes, sir.

I told the gentleman you got scores of letters every day,

and they was delivered right in my hands.

But he said this is something different.

I'm Mrs Madison. - A gentleman in jail gave me a letter for you.

He asked me to give it to you personally, right in your own hand.

Thank you very much.

It's been a pleasure, ma'am, a real pleasure.

Oh, Doll.

I have a meeting with Tom. I won't be late.

James.

May I have a word with you?

Of course, darling.

That man just brought me this note.

From Aaron Burr.

Want me to read it?

I wish you would.

"Dear Dolly, I need a friend in this hour."

"You're the only one I can turn to."

"Will you... will you come to Richmond"

"if I ask you in the name of what we once meant to each other?"

"Hopefully, Aaron Burr."

Yes.

Do you think I should go?

I don't know, Doll.

Would it hurt you, politically I mean, if I did?

That wouldn't stop me if I wanted to do something.

I don't see why it should stop you.

People may talk.

That wouldn't bother either of us, would it?

It never has, James. - No.

I don't know what to do.

His letter is so full of humility.

It's so unlike him.

This is a bitter hour for him, James.

I don't doubt it.

If they find him guilty of treason, the penalty is death.

He could've been a great man.

He had such a brilliant mind.

I wonder what led him to this folly.

Please tell me what to do.

I wish I could, but I... I can't, Doll.

This is one of those times when no one can tell you what to do but yourself.

You'll find the answer.

Your decision be my decision, no matter what happens.

Forgive me.

I'll go on to the meeting.

Miss Dolly, you still in here, sitting in the dark?

I was just gonna put this night light here.

I didn't realise it was so late, Amy.

Is there something I can do for you before you go to sleep?

Yes, pack a box for me to take in the carriage.

We're leaving for Richmond tonight.

I don't hold with us traipsing down here all alone.

You going to the jailhouse to see Mr Burr.

Never thought I'd live to see my Miss Dolly doing a thing like this.

Mr Burr once did a great favour for me.

Now it's my turn to repay him.

Anytime he crooked his little finger, you'd go along.

You was that way the day you met him.

Is it so strange that I should pity a man who's facing death?

I have to do it. If I didn't, I'd regret it all the days in my life.

Well, I just hope it turns out all right.

You pray for me, Amy, and it will.

It's taking 'em a long time to reach a verdict.

Well, Burr's lawyers managed to throw dust in the judges eyes.

Mr Williams, you're a lawyer.

What did they mean when they said the traitor had committed no overt act?

Well, that's his defence. Under the law, that's pretty strong.

Didn't seem very strong to me.

His counsel claims that Burr committed no act of treason

and that his troops didn't fire on government troops at any time

and that his campaign was against Mexico and not against the government.

Well, everyone knows he planned to overthrow the government.

But what you know and what you can prove in a court of law...

ls the trial over, sir? - Huh?

Is the trial over? - Oh, yes, the trial is over,

but we're still waiting for the verdict of the court.

Where would I find the jailor's office, please, sir?

Right around the corner of the building. - Thank you, sir.

Now, Miss Dolly, please be careful.

Yes, Amy, I will.

I saw him when he was a senator. I heard him make a speech.

I don't care if you saw him every day in your life. I say he's guilty.

He's innocent. - I'll bet you another dollar.

The verdict is to hang him.

It's a bet.

That's the easiest $3 I ever made.

Yes, ma'am? Something I can do for you?

I'd like permission to see Mr Aaron Burr. - Well, a lot of people would.

What's your name? - Mrs James Madison.

Uh, Mrs Madison, unless I can get a pass from the court, I...

Mrs James Madison? - Yes.

Mrs James Madison,

wife of the Secretary of State? - Yes.

Well, in that case, I think it'll be all right.

Come right this way.

Aaron.

Dolly, you're here. I knew you'd come. - Oh, I wish there was something I could do.

You're here, that's all that matters.

I've thought of every moment we spent together,

the rides we used to take, the times we danced,

and those wretched little inns you went to. - I've thought of those times, too.

And that time you came to my house in New York.

I should never have let you leave.

You did a fine thing for your country that day, Aaron.

I did that for you, Dolly. It's the only thing you ever asked of me, and I couldn't refuse.

Now you're here because you can't deny me anything.

Please understand, I came here to give you my sympathy.

Sympathy?

That's very touching, dear Dolly, but I don't need your sympathy,

yours or anybody else's.

The penalty for treason is... - ...death!

I met that bony old beggar once before, and now he's missed me once again.

The verdict of the court. "Not guilty."

I bribed the bailiff to listen to the vote.

Well, aren't you going to tell me you're happy?

lam.

I hope all of this has made you think, Aaron. - It has.

I'll never make the same mistakes again.

Then I am glad.

That's why I sent for you. Because we love each other.

And I wanted you here to see me triumphant.

Do you realise that this verdict of "not guilty" may not be popular with the people?

Popular? I should hope not.

I want them to hate me.

I want them to hate the laws that let me loose, the court that set me free.

I want to sow hate and reap a harvest of power.

But you just said that all of this had made you think.

It has.

It made me think of the power, fear and hate.

Don't you realise, Dolly, what this verdict will mean?

When they hear the news, when they hear I am free,

I'll walk out of this jail bigger than the whole government. Then you'll see their fear.

Oh, they'll try to attack me. They'll forget their famous laws and turn into a mob

and be shot down by their own soldiers. And then...

Then the weak, the greedy, the suspicious,

the evil men from all over the country will flock to my banner.

This time, I'll offer you the crown.

Mr Burr, better get your coat on.

The court's reconvening, and they're about ready to read the verdict.

If you please, Mrs Madison.

And this time, Mrs Madison, I won't fail.

He very nearly was president.

He's a brand new man, but you can't skin a fox before he's caught.

They'll skin him all right at the end of a rope!

Why are they wasting time? They should a shot him the day they caught him.

This is one hanging I'm not going to miss!

Arthur, I want you to wait here, please. - You don't want to stay around here.

I've got to hear what happens.

Court's dismissed. Ring the bell.

What's the verdict? - Not guilty.

Not guilty? Did you hear that?

Stop that bell! Stop that bell! Stop it!

Listen to me, everybody.

In there, they just pronounced Aaron Burr innocent.

I say he's guilty! - Yeah!

And I say Aaron Burr is a traitor! - Yeah!

The law states plain what happens to traitors.

Those judges know he's guilty.

Honest men stood up before them and told the truth about him.

I say, where's justice when such a man can get off scot-free?

If those judges are too lily-livered to hang a traitor, we can do it ourselves.

Yeah!

We can show 'em that a good hemp rope in a high oak tree

is better than all them law books.

Yeah!

We'll show 'em here today what a free man thinks of traitors.

Clem, go get that rope out of my wagon. - Yes!

And if he won't come out, we'll go in and drag him out.

Yeah!

Stop it! Stop it!

What is that, ma'am? - You must not do this, you must not.

Maam, don't you believe in justice?

Justice? Justice was never done by a mob.

Was that justice what those judges did in that court today?

Ma'am, you got a queer sense of justice.

She can tell about the traitor. Can't you, ma'am?

Tell him who you are, ma'am. Go ahead.

I'll tell him then.

This lady is Dolly Madison. - What?

The wife of the bigwig in Washington, James Madison.

And I charge her with bringing orders from the politicians in Washington,

orders for the judges to set Aaron Burr free.

That is not true.

Well, you might have saved his life in there, ma'am,

but you ain't gonna do it out here. - No!

I did not save his life.

I came to see Aaron Burr, but I brought no messages from Washington,

and I have not seen the judges.

So you've just come to see Aaron Burr?

All the way from Washington!

I came to give what comfort I could to a man I thought would be condemned to death.

Well, you haven't come in vain, Mrs Madison.

Here's the kind of justice a free man has for a traitor.

We'll show those judges what we think of their laws and courts.

Stop it! Stop it!

Please listen to me. - Go back to your husband!

If you follow that man and hang Aaron Burr,

you will put an end to freedom here today.

That's where you're wrong, ma'am. We're gonna put an end to Aaron Burr.

Yeah!

If you hang Aaron Burr in defiance of your laws,

you will right here prove those laws worthless, meaningless,

and you fought for blessed freedom to make those laws.

We made 'em, and we can break 'em.

You must not break them!

When you made those laws, you agreed to live by them and obey them.

If they're not strong enough to protect you,

strengthen them in orderly processes,

but never take them into your own hands in mobs like this.

This is not freedom.

But we're free men! We do as we like.

Freedom is something you live under law.

Your law says a man may be tried and judged by other men like himself,

according to the laws they've made together.

And if that man is found innocent by the law,

he shall be held innocent by the people.

What about Burr? ls he innocent? - Yeah!

Aaron Burr has already been tried, sir.

This is your trial, your testing time,

and the whole world is watching you here today.

Are you going to tell the watching world

by an act of violence and disobedience to your laws

that you're a people to weak to rule yourselves under law,

that you need the despotic hand of a tyrant, an emperor,

to rule you by force and fear?

Had Aaron Burr succeeded in his plan,

he would have abolished your laws, your courts, and your rights,

and you want to hang him for that,

yet here you are abolishing them all yourselves.

Oh, my countrymen, Aaron Burr is but the first to challenge your freedom,

he will not be the last.

Then we'll hang Aaron Burr and discourage all the rest!

That will not discourage them.

You and I must live the example of a free people.

We must prove to any man or set of men

who believe themselves cunning enough to destroy our freedom

that with clean hands and united hearts

we are able to deal with traitors as a people under law and with order.

Here he comes now, surrounded by your soldiers.

And remember, he's a free man under your laws,

and those are your soldiers under oath to protect your laws,

and if you try to take Aaron Burr from them, your soldiers will be forced to fire on you.

Mr Burr wants you to do just that.

He wants you to spill your blood here.

He wants you to hate him.

He needs your hate, he needs your fear, your fear and your hate will make him strong,

so that other traitors like himself will join him and again attack your freedom.

That is his plan, he told me that tonight.

Have him deny that if he can.

Come on!

If you truly want to destroy Aaron Burr,

don't try to hang him, don't make a martyr of him,

turn away from him! Let him pass among you in peace!

Turn your backs on him and let him pass,

on into the oblivion he has chosen for himself.

Mr Madison,

I love you very much.