Daily Dialogue — April 23, 2020

General James Mattoon Scott: And if you want to talk about your oath of office, I’m here to tell you face to face, President Lyman, that you violated that oath when you stripped this country of its muscles — when you deliberately played upon the fear and fatigue of the people and told them they could remove that fear by the stroke of a pen. And then when this nation rejected you, lost faith in you, and began militantly to oppose you, you violated that oath by not resigning from office and turning the country over to someone who could represent the people of the United States.
President Jordan Lyman: And that would be General James Mattoon Scott, would it? I don’t know whether to laugh at that kind of megalomania, or simply cry.
General James Mattoon Scott: James Mattoon Scott, as you put it, hasn’t the slightest interest in his own glorification. But he does have an abiding interest in the survival of this country.
President Jordan Lyman: Then, by God, run for office. You have such a fervent, passionate, evangelical faith in this country — why in the name of God don’t you have any faith in the system of government you’re so hell-bent to protect?

— Seven Days in May (1964), screenplay by Rod Serling, novel by Fletcher Knebel & Charles W. Bailey II

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Politician.

Trivia: Kirk Douglas had been at a dinner with John F Kennedy, and JFK had asked him if he planned to make the novel “ Seven Days in May “ into a movie. When Douglas said “ yes,” the President spent the next half hour telling him how great a movie it would be.

Dialogue On Dialogue: A great interchange between the President and the man who wants to replace him as part of a military coup.