The Enemy Within (1994 TV Movie)

Sam Waterston: President William Foster

Quotes 

• President William Foster : Dave.

  Reporter #1 : Mr. President, can you tell us what you thought of the latest CNN poll?

  President William Foster : My chief of staff, Miss Corcoran, likes to say that a poll is what you hang a politician from. I don't pay attention to them. It's a different number every day.

• President William Foster : Well, Betsy, from one herd of jackals to the next.

  Betsy Corcoran : The cabinet, Mr. President. With 29% approval rating, you can't tell them what to do. If you don't build a consensus, you pay a price.

  President William Foster : I thought the cabinet was supposed to be the president's team.

• President William Foster : We have a lot of ground to cover in a short time, as usual, so I suggest we get started right away. Let's begin with something easy-- taxes.

• President William Foster : I know most of you don't like this idea. And I'm not going to ask for a show of hands, but I will need the support of everyone in this room. We're going to need to pull together on this. Now let's be clear... about what we will not do. We will not any longer defer our urgent domestic needs in order to satisfy the inflated demands of the military. We will not add $40-60 billion to the budget without having any idea where the money's coming from. I ran on a pledge to cut the deficit. That's why we're all here today. I'm going to do it... Or I'll die trying.

  Vice President Walter Kelly : Uh, let's not talk about death. Taxes is depressing enough.

  President William Foster : Why, Walter, I always thought that death was a vice-presidential obsession.

• President William Foster : Where is it written that if your president's from the heartland, your vice-president has to be a back room boy from the east?

  Betsy Corcoran : It was a winning combination.

  President William Foster : But a terrible marriage. I should have gone with Charlie Potter. He gets things done.

• President William Foster : One last question. Helen.

  Reporter #2 : General Lloyd has publicly accused you of turning your back on the military. Would you care to comment?

  President William Foster : General Lloyd's remarks were taken out of context and blown way out of proportion. But make no mistake about it... The general was freelancing. But I am smart enough to know when I'm being shot at by a professional, and I'm still in one piece. Thank you for asking.

• President William Foster : You're career military. You're General Lloyd's protege. Why didn't you join them?

  Col. MacKenzie 'Mac' Casey : They didn't ask me.

  President William Foster : If they had?

  Col. MacKenzie 'Mac' Casey : The military exist to support and defend the government. Not to be the government, Sir.

• President William Foster : I keep thinking about Art Daniels. One thing he would never do is go against the constitution. We live in a highly evolved democracy. They're going to have to do something to give this thing the appearance, the illusion of legality.

• President William Foster : I'll see you in hell first.

  Defence Secretary Charles Potter : That's a date.

• Defence Secretary Charles Potter : I'm a patriot, Mr. President.

  President William Foster : Why don't you have any faith in the system of government you're so hellbent on protecting? You win a mandate at the ballot box. You don't steal it after midnight when its back's turned. This game has been played everywhere else in the world. I guess i just took it for granted that it could never happen here.

• President William Foster : I don't think the son of a bitch can shut up even if he wants to.

  Defence Secretary Charles Potter : He's a born politician...

  President William Foster : And not a bad one at that.

  Defence Secretary Charles Potter : Name one successful general who isn't.

  President William Foster : Well, I've rapidly lost my appetite for the daily battle. What would happen to my poll numbers if I were to fire a living legend?

  Defence Secretary Charles Potter : You'd become nostalgic for the days when you had 29%. On the upside, Lloyd will be retiring soon with full honors, and you'll have one less problem, though replacing him may be a problem since you've almost run out of women.

• President William Foster : And may I remind you, General, that I, with the help of congress, will make policy. You will follow it. If you want my job, go out and get yourself elected!

  General R. Pendleton Lloyd : I have no interest in becoming president. My sole concern is there be a country left to defend. Another war's coming, and when it does, we'll have to call on Israel to defend us because our own forces will have become impotent in the interests of social experiments and global public relations.

  President William Foster : Keep your opinions to yourself, General, or confine them to this office.

• President William Foster : Now let me ask you a question. You believe General Lloyd is a hero?

  Col. MacKenzie 'Mac' Casey : Yes, I do.

  President William Foster : Can a hero be a traitor?

  Col. MacKenzie 'Mac' Casey : I'm afraid he could be.

• Col. MacKenzie 'Mac' Casey : The attorney general... he died of a heart attack, Sir?

  President William Foster : Art Daniels just had his physical a week ago at Bethesda. We asked about it. He was in perfect health.

  Col. MacKenzie 'Mac' Casey : The KGB... used to use smoke and prussic acid. Death was instantaneous. Looked like a coronary. Our boys could have done the same thing.

  President William Foster : You believe Art Daniels was assassinated?

  Col. MacKenzie 'Mac' Casey : What I do not believe in, Sir, is coincidence.

• Betsy Corcoran : Fire everybody in sight, the whole fucking cabinet.

  President William Foster : I can't fire the vice president, and I can't fire Jack Giddings. What's worse, I can't prove anything.

  Betsy Corcoran : What about these photographs?

  President William Foster : You want me to go on TV and say, I got these photos from the Russians of our bases, which incriminate the most popular hero in the United States. The vote to impeach would end gridlock. It'd be unanimous and bipartisan. And then Walter Kelly waltzes into the Oval Office through the front door.