Original subtitles

(audience cheers) (audience applauds)

- Well, I'll be damned.

(bird chirping)

(tense music)

- Your jacket.

- [freeman] shit.

(banner rubbing)

Beady-eyed little bastard!

(jefferson clears throat)

Your excellency, I...

- Thought you'd wipe away

What looks like bird shit

With the british flag,

Captured by our valiant troops at yorktown.

- Oh, my god.

I-I'm so sorry, your excellency.

- Don't be.

We fought a whole war

For the right to wipe our asses with that rag.

Maybe next time, use a newspaper.

One that I've read.

(dramatic music)

(tense music) (birds chirping)

I will be honest with you, freeman.

Here at the white house,

I prefer to hire white servants,

Even though on occasion some of them let me down.

But, dr. Baker tells me you are both diligent and discreet.

And the last of those two is something I value highly.

- Nothing is more dangerous

Than a friend without discretion.

Even a prudent enemy is preferable.

- De la fontaine.

A slave quoting french poetry,

(speaks french).

I can see why your master recommended you to me.

- Just something I like to to say is all.

- When jefferson moves in to the white house,

He essentially rents a slave from a friend of his, a doctor,

For about $8 a month.

The name of the slave is beyond ironic,

John freeman.

- John freeman had a unique view of american politics.

He had a front row seat to the founding of the united states

And the country and the government as we know it today.

- You're a smart man, john.

Just remember this.

All that you see within these four walls,

The words you hear,

Are never to be repeated.

- Your secrets are mine.

And should I fail you,

Let me be struck down.

- In 1801, thomas jefferson became president.

The white house, thank god,

Is a bit more built.

Construction has continued,

But it must have seemed very lonely and isolated.

So, thank goodness, in 1801,

James and dolley came to town.

(water flushing)

- It's taken months to arrive,

But they finally installed it last week.

Designed by alexander cumming of edinburgh.

- Oh, there was me thinking you only hired scotsmen

To rake shit up.

- Dolley!

- Oh, I am so sorry, your excellency.

I must remember my manners,

Now you are the president of the supposedly united states.

(all laugh)

Well, it's very impressive. - [jefferson] mm-hmm.

- I, for one shall be glad,

Not to make the trek out the back lawn

In the middle of a snow storm.

- Quite so.

Now, let me show you the rest of the changes.

- [brandus] jefferson, among the many things that he did,

He was an architect.

And the white house was a remarkable opportunity

For him to put his own personal stamp on the building.

- Here we have the new portico.

And this,

This is where we plant a,

A new west wing.

- Well, it's very impressive, thomas,

But do we have the money for all these, uh,

Improvements?

- James madison has just been selected by thomas jefferson

As his secretary of state.

James madison is a very thoughtful person.

He's known as the father of the us constitution.

- There were critics who made fun of him

Because of his lack of height.

They called him little jimmy,

Five foot four.

- The costs will likely exceed the $14,000 congress approved

For the changes made by adams.

But I...

We shall charm them.

(dolley chuckles)

Now, there's something I would ask of you dolley,

With your husband's permission.

- Oh, yes, of course.

- What is it, thomas?

- Martha's death all those many years ago,

Has robbed me,

Not only of my wife,

But of a partner in this new endeavor,

A guiding light to illuminate this drab cathedral.

- I'm not sure I understand, thomas.

- The british sending over a new ambassador,

Anthony merry.

And I am supposed to welcome him

By giving a dinner here at the president's house.

I would like you to be the hostess.

- Me? Why?

- Well, is there a woman in america better suited?

You are clever, beautiful,

Widely admired for your sense of style,

And crucially,

You love parties.

And I do not.

- Dolley is extroverted.

Dolly loves the social scene.

- She was particularly valuable during the jefferson era

Because thomas jefferson was a widower.

His wife martha died in 1782,

And there was really no first lady to speak of.

- People always talk about what a figure she had,

How beautiful she looked,

With a warm, lovely, hospitable personality.

- Oh, I don't know, thomas.

Our house here in washington is still unfinished.

Our belongings are scattered in boxes.

There's already so much I need to do.

- Well, that brings me neatly to my next request.

I want you both to stay here till your house is ready.

God knows there's enough space.

I-I won't take no for an answer.

- Well, of course, we'd be delighted.

Wouldn't we, dolley?

(dolley chuckles)

- Wonderful.

Wonderful! (dolley chuckles)

I shall inform the staff.

- You didn't have to say yes.

- Of course I did.

He didn't give us an option.

(dolley sighs)

Anyways, it's, not so bad.

You got indoor privies.

(man grunting) (blade thudding)

- Hello?

Hello, I'm looking for...

Mr. Meyers? Maher?

Maher, I'm looking for edward maher.

- I'm maher!

(freeman clears throat)

Who the bloody hell are you?

- Freeman, john.

And where did you steal this uniform from freeman, john?

- I didn't steal nothing, sir.

I'm in the employ of mr. Jefferson.

Same as you.

- Let's find the truth of it then.

- [brandus] john freeman comes to the white house.

He's really kind of a butler.

- Now, many of the enslaved africans

That came to the white house,

Jefferson kept them in the background.

But john freeman was treated equally to his white servants.

- I really don't know why they bloody put in doors

On this place,

If anyone and everyone's just gonna keep barging in.

What is it, maher?

And why are you manhandling freeman?

- Then this man is as he says, in your employ.

- Indeed. What of it?

- He's black. - Self-evidently.

- And he wears the same uniform as I.

- If you have a point, maher,

Come to it.

- I won't wear the same uniform as an ape.

- You feel passionately about this?

- I do.

- Well then,

You are relieved of your duties immediately.

- What?

- Your wages will be sent to you in due course.

Goodbye, sir.

Goodbye, sir!

Well, don't just stand there, freeman.

About your duties!

- Throughout his entire life,

Thomas jefferson had contradictory actions

When it came to slavery.

Even as a lawyer,

He argued cases against slavery

And he argued cases for slavery.

- Why, thomas?

- You know why.

(bell ringing)

- It took you long enough.

- Are you expected, sir?

- Does an old friend need an invitation?

- Sir! Stop!

- There you are.

Uh-uh.

Don't, um,

Don't get up.

- I'm so sorry, your excellency.

He just pushed past me and-

- It's all right, john.

You may leave this gentleman with me.

- James callender wants compensation

For a fine that he had to pay,

In addition to being put into prison.

- James callender is such an interesting character

'cause he did all of this dirty work for jefferson.

- So, what brings you to washington?

Have the distilleries of richmond run dry?

(callender belches)

- I've come to take up my post.

- I'm sorry, james.

To which post are you referring?

- When callender is sprung from jail,

He asked jefferson for a plum post

In the federal government.

He wanted to be postmaster of richmond, virginia.

And jefferson had realized

That callender might be a little unreliable.

Callender had a drinking problem that was well known.

- It was this hand that placed you in that seat.

My pen.

Now, imagine for just a second,

If I let it slip that all those articles I wrote,

Savaging your rivals,

Were sponsored, written, and paid for

By the newly installed president.

(callender grumbles)

I went to prison, thomas.

Your enemies put me behind bars.

And you,

You left me there,

Dangling in the wind.

Now, you will recompense me.

- The truth is, mr. Callender,

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

I can only assume prison has disordered your memory.

I was happy as president to pardon you,

But that is the very limit of my goodwill.

I suggest you leave now, mr. Callender.

Find a boarding house.

Take a bath, perhaps.

(callender laughs)

- Politicians, all the same.

You assume you're untouchable,

But everyone has secrets.

And my singular gift,

Is finding them.

(callender sniffles)

(piss splashing) (callender moaning)

(callender sniffles)

There are some stains,

That never fade.

- Clean it up.

And never ever let that man into this building again.

- Thomas jefferson was not a warm man.

He kept his emotions close.

In fact, he probably did not like to feel emotions.

Because when he felt them,

He felt them very deeply.

- On the one hand,

He doesn't like interpersonal conflict.

On the other hand,

He puts himself at the center

Of some of the chief political conflicts

Of the earlier republic.

(tense music)

One of the stories

That really just epitomizes jefferson's personality,

Is something that's known as the merry affair.

And it has to do with the british ambassador, anthony merry.

(tense music)

- Is there nobody here to announce us?

Outside, a quagmire.

While inside, well,

This.

This is the epicenter of their new country?

- Come, we are the king's representatives.

- Well, the king doesn't have to attend parties

In a bog swamp.

Oh, god. - What?

- They're not gonna make us drink american wine, are they?

- I don't think such a thing exists, my dear.

- Oh, small mercy.

Hmm.

- It's a burgundy from France.

- In England,

Staff only speak when spoken to.

- Sweet lord, that woman.

I've seen shorter giraffes.

- Shame on you, thomas.

That is ambassador merry's wife, elizabeth.

- You suppose she lets him sit on her lap?

(all chuckle)

- Unfortunately, when anthony merry showed up,

He was walking into a hornet's nest,

Because jefferson hated the british.

He had gotten himself really in debt with british merchants,

And he resented that.

- Mrs. Merry, ambassador.

- Mr. President, you have a fine new home here.

- Thank you. Thank you.

Of course, it can't compare with the vast palaces,

Your king moves between but...

- You must be delighted

With how well your new presidency has begun, mr. Jefferson.

- [jefferson] well, I-

- I recall reading,

Not that long ago in one of your newspapers,

That if you were elected that,

And I memorized the exact words,

"the air will be rent with the cries of the distressed,

The soil will be soaked with blood.

And the nation,

Black with crimes.

Murder, robbery, rape, adultery, and incest,

Will be openly taught and practiced.

It is quite a curriculum.

- The press here write as they please.

We call it free speech.

The first amendment in our bill of rights.

Perhaps you've heard of it.

- Mrs. Merry, mr. Ambassador,

Let me introduce you to a few more guests

Before dinner is served.

- I know that face.

Whatever you're thinking,

Don't do it.

We need to court the british,

Keep them close,

Even if they provoke us.

- Right so, james.

We must know our place.

(tense music)

- This must be some sort of mistake.

They haven't set the cards out yet.

We'll be at the head of the table with mr. Jefferson.

- There is no mistake.

They invited us here with the intention of humiliating us.

(elizabeth scoffs)

- Anthony and elizabeth merry are both rather stuffy.

And thomas jefferson is notorious for being informal.

(bell ringing)

And instead of having any formal seating,

People would just sit as they called it,

Pell-mell,

Which is you find your own seats.

- Jefferson as the host,

He should have escorted elizabeth merry,

But instead he grabs dolley and it becomes a whole scandal.

- Quickly, anthony, quick,

(tense music)

- (speaks french), how is the burgundy wine?

- Worse, the ambassador from France is there.

And great britain and France are currently at war

With one another.

Merry feels like these are purposeful slights,

Aimed at the british,

And it really creates a diplomatic crisis

For the jefferson administration

At the very time that america and great britain,

Are on the verge of a major trade war with one another.

- This is an outrage.

I think we should leave immediately.

- We're not going anywhere.

We've already retreated once from this country.

If it's a battle he wants,

It's a battle we shall have.

- You should not have done this, thomas.

- Dolley madison was criticized.

What is this woman doing?

Stepping in as if she is the wife of the president.

It's inappropriate.

And what does madison think of it?

Why does he allow his wife to go off and do this?

(horses braying)

- Well, vice president burr,

I suppose this is what we get

For having freedom of the press.

- Mm-hmm, and would you like me to continue?

- If you must.

- The allegations,

There are many in lured,

But to summarize,

They state that you and mrs. Madison are in a relationship.

And that mrs. Madison and her sister,

Are routinely pimped out

To foreign dignitaries to secure political favor by you.

- It couldn't possibly be true.

Dolley madison getting pimped out by jefferson to men,

That's crazy.

(tense music)

- Have the madisons read these lies yet?

- They have.

They packed up all their belongings

And left for alternative lodgings in town,

An hour ago.

- Damn, callender!

(tense music)

I must stop him.

(tense music)

(horse galloping)

(horse whinnying)

- God, thomas, what are you doing?

- You left without saying anything?

- We had no choice.

- It's all nonsense.

You know there's nothing between dolley and me.

How could there be?

You're my dearest friends.

- It's not about what we know, thomas.

It's about what people think.

The disgusting things they said about my sister and me,

About us.

Some people will believe that.

You asked callender to start a fire,

And now it is raging out of control.

The lies he spreads today are just that,

Lies.

Tomorrow, he may hit upon the truth.

He need only go to your home at monticello

And ask the right questions.

- There was something else going on as well.

A little bit of a secret.

- Jefferson believed and hoped that he could keep it quiet.

- You think you can control the press.

You cannot.

(jefferson sighs)

(bird chirping)

- Captain lewis,

My thanks for arriving so promptly.

- I heard it was urgent.

- It is.

It is.

I have a special mission for you.

One that requires the utmost discretion.

- Meriwether lewis is a close family friend

Of thomas jefferson.

He had been in the military.

And when jefferson was president,

He realized he needed to hire a secretary.

And he had come to admire and respect him,

Thought he could trust him.

- You understand what's required?

- I won't let you down, sir.

- Mm.

(horse galloping)

(insects chirping)

(people chattering)

- Mr. Callender?

I'll keep this brief.

Mr. Callender,

I've been authorized by an understood party

To offer you the sum of $50.

In exchange for this one time fee,

You'll stop writing any more articles

About president jefferson,

His officials,

And their families.

- I was told you were in the army at one time, mr. Lewis.

Now, which of the boys in the barracks

Couldn't get enough of you?

Those blue eyes.

The curls.

Last time I saw hair like that,

Was on the nether regions of a parisian whore, hmm.

- I won't be baited, callender.

You'll accept this payment and desist your lie.

- The problem is, captain,

Is that $50 is such a very poultry sum of money

For such a big ask?

It's barely enough to keep a man

In ale and oats for a month.

And, yeah,

My appetites are prodigious.

As I've learned are your master's.

See, jefferson,

Has a young woman in his employ at monticello,

An attractive black woman,

A slave.

Now, I have your attention, captain lewis.

And soon,

I will have the whole of america's.

- You offered napoleon $15 million for new orleans,

And 10 was our limit!

- He will never acknowledge me.

- Nothing can derail this.

- Tell the president,

James t. Callender is coming for him!

(all laughing)

- No one will ever believe him.

Let him shoot his mouth off.

(door slamming)

(fist thudding)

(dramatic music)

(static crackling)

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