THE PRESIDENT

                      The thing is, Acheson's right.  Talk

                      alone won't accomplish anything.

            Kenny considers the President, his face straight as he says:

                                KENNY

                      Then let's bomb the shit out of them.

                      Everyone wants to, even you, even me.

                          (there's a point)

                      It sure would feel good.

            The President sees what Kenny's saying: it'd be an emotional

            response, not necessarily the intelligent one.

                                BOBBY

                      Jack, I'm as conniving as they come, but

                      a sneak attack is just wrong.

                                KENNY

                      He's right.  And things are happening

                      too fast.  It smells like the Bay of

                      Pigs all over again.

            Bobby picks up some reconnaissance photos on the coffee

            table.

                                BOBBY

                      As if dealing with the Russians wasn't

                      hard enough, we gotta worry about our

                      own house.

                                THE PRESIDENT

                      Tonight, listening to Taylor and

                      Acheson, I kept seeing Burke and Dulles

                      telling me all I had to do was sign on

                      the dotted line.  The invasion would

                      succeed.  Castro would be gone.  Just

                      like that.  Easy.

            The President is rendered mute by a wave of pain.  Kenny and

            Bobby aver their eyes.  When it passes, the President is

            hushed, grave.

                                THE PRESIDENT (CONT'D)

                      There's something...immoral about

                      abandoning your own judgement.

            Kenny nods, moved.  The President reaches out for the

            reconnaissance photos Bobby's flipping through.  Bobby hands

            them to him.  The President looks them over.  And when he

            speaks, there's humility.  And resolve.

                                THE PRESIDENT (CONT'D)

                      We can't let things get ahead of

                      themselves.  We've got to control what

                      happens.

                      We're going to do what we have to make

                      this come out right.  EXCOM is our first

                      weapon.

                          (beat)

                      We'll resort to others as we need 'em.

            EXT. AIRPORT - BRIDGEPOINT, CONNECTICUT - DAY

            SUPER: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17TH.  DAY 2

            A LONG SHOT of an ENORMOUS CROWD thronging a bunting-trimmed

            platform.  The President, barely recognizable at the

            distance, and a cluster of political VIPS wave from it,

            smiling.

            Kenny steps INTO FRAME, back here at the fringes of the

            crowd.

                                THE PRESIDENT (O.S.)

                      Doesn't anybody in Connecticut have to

                      work today?

            The crowd goes nuts.  Kenny paces, checks his watch,

            impatient to be done with the necessary diversion.  Kenny

            gazes off to his right and spots Scotty Reston, along with

            half the White House press corps suckered along.  Scotty

            catches Kenny's look.

            Kenny turns away, but Scotty comes weaving over.  The

            President continues on, but all we hear is Scotty and Kenny.

                                RESTON

                      Kenny!  What happened?  They didn't let

                      me up front, said the President was on

                      the phone the whole time.

                                KENNY

                      He was.

                                RESTON

                      Yeah?  Who was he talking to?  Acheson?

                      Come on, O'Donnell, everyone's wondering

                      what's going on.  What's Acheson doing

                      in town?  And don't give me some

                      bullshit about DNC think tanks.

                      Acheson's Mr. Cold War.

                                KENNY

                      Why don't you ask him yourself?  You can

                      have him on the way home.

                                RESTON

                      I'm giving you a chance here: talk to

                      me.  You can influence how this thing

                      unfolds.

            But Kenny stands there, mute.  Reston just shakes his head,

            knowing for sure something's up.  He turns and heads back for

            the press corps.

                     EXT. STAIRS TO AIR FORCE ONE - DAY

            Kenny and the President climb the stairs to the Presidential

            plane, the crowd cheering him.  He gives a final wave.

                                THE PRESIDENT

                      Let's get out of here.

                                KENNY

                      Cheer up, you've neutralized the entire

                      White House Press Corps for a day.

            INT. GEORGE BALL'S CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY

            EXCOM meets in George Ball's small conference room at the

            State Department.  Bobby, in shirtsleeves, paces at the head

            of the table, very, very alone.  All eyes are on him.

                                BOBBY

                      No.  No.  No.  There is more than one

                      option here.  If one isn't occurring to

                      us, it's because we haven't thought hard

                      enough.

            McNamara squirms.  The others react in frustration.  CIA

            chief JOHN MCCONE, sharp, tough, conservative, is harsh.

                                MCCONE

                      Sometimes there is only one right

                      choice, and you thank God when it's

                      clear.

                                BOBBY

                      You're talking about a sneak attack!

                      How'll that make us look?  Big country

                      blasting a little one into the stone

                      age.  We'll be real favorites around the

                      world.

                                ACHESON

                      Bobby, that's naive.  This is the real

                      world, you know that better than

                      anybody.  Your argument is ridiculous.

                                MCCONE

                      You weren't so ethically particular when

                      we were talking about options for

                      removing Castro over at CIA.

            And there's nothing Bobby can say to that.  He props himself

            up on the table, stares at it as if there's an answer in its

            shiny surface somewhere.  There is only the reflection of his

            own face.

                                BOBBY

                      I can't let my brother go down in

                      History like a villain, like a Tojo,

                      ordering another Pearl Harbor.

            McCone, Acheson, and Taylor share a look.  The last

            resistance to airstrikes is crumbling.  Finally, Bobby looks

            up at McNamara.

                                BOBBY (CONT'D)

                      Bob.  If we go ahead with these air

                      strikes...

                          (beat)

                      There's got to be something else.  Give

                      it to me.  I don't care how crazy,

                      inadequate or stupid it sounds. 

                          (beat, pleading)

                      Give it to me.

            McNamara suffers under the gaze of everyone at the table,

            weighing the situation out.  And finally he ventures.

                                MCNAMARA

                      Six months ago we gamed out a scenario.

                      It's slow.  It doesn't get rid of the

                      missiles.  There are a lot of drawbacks.

                          (beat)

                      The scenario was for a blockade of Cuba.

            SUPER: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18TH.  DAY 3

            INT. OVAL OFFICE - DAY

            Kenny enters the office from his side door in the middle of a

            debate.  Military uniforms dominate the room: General Taylor,

            General Sweeney, and a host of briefing officers.

                                GENERAL TAYLOR

                      The situation is worse than we thought.

                      We count 40 missiles now, longer range

                      IRBMs.  They can hit every city in the

                      continental U.S.

            The President stares out the window at the Rose Garden, his

            back to Air Force Chief of Staff GENERAL CURTIS LEMAY, 60.

            Beetle-browed, arrogant, the archetypal Cold War general.

            Yet there is something about him, his intelligence perhaps,

            that suggests he's playing a role he knows and believes in.

            The only other civilians in the room are Bobby, Bundy and

            McNamara.  The pressure from the military is almost physical.

                                LEMAY

                      Mr. President, as of this moment my

                      planes are ready to carry out the air

                      strikes.  All you have to do is give me

                      the word, sir, and my boys will get

                      those Red bastards.

            The President continues staring out the window.  Kenny eases

            over to the desk, leans on it, arms folded, interposing

            himself between the President and the soldiers.  Bobby joins

            him, side-by-side.

                                THE PRESIDENT

                      How long until the army is ready?

                                GENERAL TAYLOR

                      We've just begun the mobilization under

                      cover of a pre-arranged exercise, sir.

                      We're looking at another week and a

                      half, Mr. President.

                                LEMAY

                      But you can begin the strikes, now.  The

                      plans call for an eight-day air

                      campaign.  It'd light a fire under the

                      army's ass to get in place.

            That makes the President turn around, stare at LeMay.

                                THE PRESIDENT

                      General LeMay, do you truly believe

                      that's our best course of action?

                                LEMAY

                      Mr. President, I believe it is the only

                      course of action.  American is in

                      danger.  Those missiles are a threat to

                      our bomber bases and the safety of our

                      nuclear deterrent.  Without our

                      deterrent, there's nothing to keep the

                      enemy from choosing general nuclear war.

                      It's our duty, our responsibility to the

                      American people to take out those

                      missiles and return stability to the

                      strategic situation.  The Big Red Dog is

                      digging in our back yard, and we're

                      justified in shooting him.

            Taylor steps in softly, smoothly: good cop to LeMay's bad.

                                GENERAL TAYLOR

                      Sir, we have a rapidly closing window of

                      opportunity where we can prevent those

                      missiles from ever becoming operational.

                      The other options...

            He spares a look at McNamara, who watches the fireworks, arms

            folded, serious.

                                GENERAL TAYLOR (CONT'D)

                      ...do not guarantee the end result we

                      can guarantee.  However, the more time

                      that goes by, the less reliable the

                      choice we can offer you becomes.

            The President, partially defused, looks from Taylor to

            McNamara.  LeMay steps forward, softer now, sincere.

                                LEMAY

                      Mr. President, the motto I chose for SAC

                      is 'Peace is our Profession.'  God

                      forbid we find ourselves in a nuclear

                      exchange.  But if launched, those

                      missiles in Cuba would kill a lot of

                      Americans.  That's why I'm being such a

                      pain in the ass about destroying them.

                      Destroying them immediately.  Hell, even

                      Mac agrees.

            Bundy is uncomfortable.  Everyone turns to him.  He nods.

            Kenny realizes he's been co-opted by the military.  McNamara

            does too, lets out a deep breath.  The President eyes Bundy,

            then paces out from behind his desk, walks up to LeMay.

                                THE PRESIDENT

                      General, what will the Soviets do when

                      we attack?

                                LEMAY

                      Nothing.

            Kenny, Bobby and the President look at each other, unable to

            believe what they just heard.

                                THE PRESIDENT

                      Nothing?

                                LEMAY

                      Nothing.  Because the only alternative

                      open to them is one they can't choose.

            His pronouncement hangs there in the air: ominous, dangerous.

                                THE PRESIDENT

                      Those aren't just missiles we'll be

                      destroying.  We kill Soviet soldiers,

                      and they will respond.  How would we

                      respond if they killed ours?  No, they

                      will do something, General, I promise

                      you that.  And I believe it'll be

                      Berlin.

            INT. WEST WING HALLWAY - DAY

            LeMay walk out of the Oval Office with Taylor, Carter and

            their staffers.

                                LEMAY

                      Those goddamn Kennedys are going to

                      destroy this country if we don't do

                      something about this.

            There are dark looks on the faces of the other officers.

            They agree.

            INT. KENNY'S OFFICE - DAY

            As the meeting next door disperses, the President rummages

            through Kenny's jacket which hangs on Kenny's chair.  Kenny,

            bemused, holds out the package of cigarettes the President is

            looking for.

                                KENNY

                      I was hoping LeMay pushed you.  I

                      wouldn't mind going a few rounds with

                      him.

            The President glances up, takes the proffered smokes.

                                THE PRESIDENT

                      We knew it was coming.  I tell you,

                      Kenny, these brass hats have one big

                      advantage.  We do what they want us to,

                      none of us will be alive to tell 'em

                      they were wrong.

            Bobby, Rusk and Sorensen enter from the hall.

                                SORENSEN

                      Mr. President, Gromyko should be on his

                      way by now.

                                RUSK

                      We need to go over what you're going to

                      say.

                                BOBBY

                      There's still no sign they know that we

                      know about the missiles.  Been a lot of

                      cloud cover; probably think we aren't

                      getting any good product.

                                THE PRESIDENT

                      We keep 'em in the dark as long as we

                      can.  But I sure as hell am going to

                      test him.

            INT. WEST WING HALL - DAY

            Kenny comes out of the bathroom, and is buttonholed by the

            crewcut, bullet-headed Press Secretary, PIERRE SALINGER, in

            the crowded, busy hallway.

                                SALINGER

                      Kenny, I'm getting funny questions from

                      the guys in the press office.  As Press

                      Secretary, I need to know.  What's going

                      on?

            Kenny wheels back into his office.  It's filled with people.

            But he bends confidentially to Pierre's ear.

                                KENNY

                      They're planning to shave you bald next

                      time you fall asleep on the bus.

                          (off Pierre's get-serious look)

                      Sorry, Pierre, Gromyko just arrived.

            INT. KENNY'S OFFICE - DAY

            The Press Corps throngs Kenny's tiny office, pushing and

            shoving for a vantage at the side door to the Oval Office,

            waiting for the Gromyko photo-op.  Kenny stands shoulder-to

            shoulder with Reston and Sorensen near the door.

                                RESTON

                      Are they going to discuss the military

                      exercises going on in Florida?

            Kenny doesn't even blink, but Sorensen does a poorer job at

            hiding his reaction.

                                KENNY

                      Come on, Scotty.  This meeting's been on

                      the books for months.  It's just a

                      friendly talk on U.S.-Soviet relations.

            Fortunately, the conversation is cut short as a dozen

            FLASHBULBS suddenly go off on a dozen cameras as the

            reporters crush in on the Oval Office, and Reston is swept

            forward.

            KENNY'S POV:

            over the reporters.  The President, unsmiling, enters the

            room beside Soviet Foreign Minister, ANDREI GROMYKO.  Gromyko

            pauses for the photos: grim, dark haired, saturnine.

            RESUME

            Kenny reacts.  At last, the face of the enemy.

            INT. OVAL OFFICE - NIGHT

            The CAMERA picks up the darkened windows: the meeting has

            gone long.  The CAMERA MOVES PAST Kenny and Sorensen standing

            in the doorway to Kenny's office, FINDS the President in his

            chair across from Gromyko on the sofa.  Rusk, Ambassador

            ANATOLY DOBRINYN, and two INTERPRETERS around them.

                                THE PRESIDENT

                      So that there should be no

                      misunderstanding, the position of the

                      United States, which has been made clear

                      by the Attorney General to Ambassador

                      Dobrynin here, I shall read a sentence

                      from my own statement to the press dated

                      September 13th.

                          (beat, reading)

                      Should missiles or offensive weapons be

                      placed in Cuba, it would present the

                      gravest threat to U.S. national

                      security.

            The President stares at Gromyko as the translator finishes

            translating.  Gromyko sits there, enigmatic, cold,

            unreadable.  The translator finishes, and Gromyko stops him

            with a gesture so he can answer in his own accented English.