Scene VII. San Clemente, in California.

[Enter Pat, Tricia, and Julie.]
Julie. How dare they!
Tricia. The cads! The fiends!
Pat. Calm, girls, calm. ‘Tis not the first time.
Julie. No, but it has been a hundred and seven
years since a House Committee has looked 5
into impeachment. It’s disgraceful!
Pat. Do not fear. What can they do? They’ve all the facts.
They can’t help but decide in Richard’s favor.
Tricia. But they’re partisan Democrats. They’ll not
heed the evidence. 10
Pat. No, maybe not. But the American
public will. And they’ll see through
these Democratic tricks.
Tricia. I’ll have no fear.
Julie. Nor I. 15
Pat. Good girls. We’ve nothing to worry about.
[Enter Ziegler.]
You look happy, Ronald.
Ziegler. Your husband has hired a lawyer,
the finest in the country.
Together. Who? 20
Ziegler. Why, James St. Clair, that’s who.
Pat. A fine man.
Ziegler. Indeed! He’ll argue the President’s case,
high, low, or in the middle of the ocean.
Right now he goes to the court to plead that 25
the subpoenas issued by Jaworski
shan’t be complied with.
[Exit Ziegler.]
Pat. A noble cause.
[Enter Richard and Secret Service Agents.]
Hello, dear.
Julie/Tricia. Hi, father. 30
Richard. Hello, my family.
Pat. Thou seem pre-occupied and melancholy.


Richard. ‘Tis a melancholy time in our lives.
Pat. Come, daughters, methinks your father needs time alone.
[Exeunt Pat, Tricia, and Julie.]
Richard. You heard her. 35
[Exeunt Secret Service Agents.]
Where am I? What is my life? Such questions
are common nowadays. ‘Tis time I took
a reflective look at what means this world.
How fast it turns! With or without me, it
turns. And always faster. But the Captain 40
of a great Ship of State must calmly
steer a slow and deliberate course through
every swirling storm that buffets our world.
Always have I thought myself an honorable,
Captain. I’ve tried, I think, I really have, 45
to do what’s best for this land, this noisy
nation, this union of the free and brave.
But, by some accounts, the nation sees at the
helm a Captain I do not recognize.
I must be a terrible person! But, no, 50
that’s just the papers peddling garbage.
I’ve made many decisions as President.
And, yes, perhaps I’ve erred, and more than once.
But each move of the wheel, each course correction,
has been made for the good of the country. 55
And if what is best for the USA
is also good for me, I’ll not complain.
I am no fool. I can see when there is
advantage in mutually compatible
and beneficial deeds. If I appear 60
to have put my own desires before
the interest of the nation, that’s a mistake.
This present turmoil is just one more share
of the plague of ups and downs in any
public life. After all, there are many 65
millions still who support their President.
If the Committee votes for impeachment,
which I doubt, I’ve enough support in the
House to defeat the attempt. But if worse
does come, a Senate trial should be full fair. 70
I trust them. Good men elected by the self-
same citizens who elected me. It will
not get that far, in my practical view.
And now I think of long time friends who say
I must resign. What hogwash! I am 75
no quitter. I’ll ride it out. A stone wall.
I will survive. Breathe deep, each breath of mine,
resolved to say, “I will not resign.”
[Exit.]