01x07 - The Final Act

[bunniefuu]

Thank you. Mmm.

[PEOPLE CHATTERING, LAUGHING]

- Evening.
- Oh, excuse me.

Are you Miss Keckley?

Yes.

I'm Edwin Stanton.

Oh. President Lincoln
speaks very highly of you.

Oh, thank you.

He's just upstairs.
Willie has taken ill.

- Should I come back at another time?
- Oh, no.

Actually, Mr. Lincoln
appreciates visitors even more

when his children are not well.

If I should cancel my party and
tell my guests to go home, I will.

Please tell me, is this
grave? I need to know.

Go enjoy your party, Mrs. Lincoln.

[SIGHS]

- Mm-hmm.
- Mm-hmm.

[EXHALES DEEPLY] Come down.

I will.

As soon as he's sleeping soundly, hmm.

Everything should be better by tomorrow.

Thank you, Doctor. Stay for the dancing?

Now, I think it best we
postpone the dancing for tonight.

Not the whole party,
but just the dancing.

Do you say that because
of Willie's condition

- or because of the noise?
- 'Cause of the noise.

- We just let him sleep.
- Of course. Of course.

You've worked so hard
on this renovation.

Go and enjoy yourself.

I'm so used to expecting the worst.

- [ABRAHAM CHUCKLES]
- I'll... I'll pray for the best.

[BREATHES HEAVILY]

You've never looked lovelier.

Is it days or weeks, Doctor?

Days.

[SWALLOWS, SMACKS LIPS]

And there's nothing that
we can do to cure him?

Nothing, uh, we can send for...

[STAMMERS] Do anything for him?
Anything that you can think of?

You keep him comfortable.

I, uh, apologize for not being
truthful to your wife just now.

But, uh, I could see
she couldn't hear it.

That's all right. One...
One more night of peace.

Thank you, Doc.

The doctor said Willie
would be okay by the morning.

- [CHUCKLING]
- That's wonderful.

Does he still need these?

Oh, Abe would appreciate that.

May I help you with those?

Oh. Thank you.

[STANTON CLEARS THROAT]

The president really needs a right
hand to push emancipation through.

Everyone deserves freedom, Mr. Stanton.

"Pip, dear old chap,

life is made up of ever so
many partings welded together."

- Edwin Stanton for you.
- [ABRAHAM] Right. Thank you.

- Mr. President.
- Come in.

I have these for you.

Edwin, that's very
kind of you. Thank you.

And I hoped that he would follow in
my footsteps in the law. But now...

- [WILLIE] Pa? I'm parched.
- [ABRAHAM] Mm-hmm.

Hang on.

Here. Here.

[ABRAHAM SHUSHING]

[SIPPING]

Yeah. Mama will be in shortly.

Huh? Yeah. [SHUSHES] You rest,
you rest. You rest and you dream.

All right. All right.

Here.

Can you fetch back Mrs.
Lincoln for me? Thank you.

So you've decided to be
my w*r secretary, my Mars?

I have, Mr. President.

All right. Well, this kind
of work, it isn't glamorous.

And glory is no guarantee. [MUMBLES]

I used to split rails
to support my family.

Brutal, but it gave you
a lot of time to think.

Rail-tie by rail-tie. Swing by swing.

[CHUCKLES] Hours add up, and
suddenly you've paved a way.

[SIGHS]

Sir, I am built for work.

All right, where would you start?

By taking control of the
nation's telegraph system.

Transfer central communications
to the w*r Department.

Direct lines to generals
on the front, to newspapers.

Improve morale with positive
stories in the press.

Morale builds courage,
courage wins battles.

I believe Grant and our Union men
can prevail with the right support.

So your big plan is telegrams?

[CHUCKLES]

- Um, yes, sir.
- [ABRAHAM] Mmm.

For starters.

Can you begin tomorrow, Mars?

- Yes, sir.
- All right.

[PAPER BOY 1] Trial of
the century begins today!

- Conspirators on trial!
- [PAPER BOY 2] Papers! Get your paper.

[PAPER BOY 1] Trial of
the century begins today!

- [REPORTER 1] Mr. Secretary!
- [REPORTER 2] Secretary, a word, please.

- [REPORTER 1] Mr. Secretary!
- [REPORTER 3] Mr. Secretary!

[REPORTER 1] Does
the conspirators' trial

have any significance without Booth?

Uh, this trial will reveal a conspiracy

more significant and more
important than any one individual.

I say this to you: It is my sincere hope

that once justice has been served,

we as a nation can unite
to complete the work begun

by President Abraham Lincoln
before he was cruelly cut down.

[HOLT] With the intent to
subvert the Constitution

and overthrow the government
of the United States

in the m*rder of
President Abraham Lincoln,

and of the attempted m*rder of
Vice President Andrew Johnson

and Secretary of State William Seward...

we accuse Dr. Samuel Mudd,

Lewis Powell, Edward
Spangler, George Atzerodt,

Mary Surratt and David Herold

of confederating in a conspiracy
against the United States,

along with John Wilkes Booth.

A conspiracy designed to
dismember our government

and the persons of its chief
officers, president, vice president,

secretary of state,

thereby subverting the Constitution

and the laws of the
United States of America.

We also accuse and
name in this conspiracy

John Surratt Jr., George N. Sanders...

and Jefferson Davis.

- [CLAMORING]
- [GAVEL BANGING]

[CHIEF JUDGE] Adjourned until tomorrow.

[STANTON] I know you had
my friend k*lled. Admit it.

[DAVIS] I have not repented.

I would conduct my presidency
the same way all over again.

The delusion, Secretary, that
this trial will prove something.

That the Confederacy's dead.

We will win the White House

and fly the American flag.

And that flag will
represent the Confederacy.

I believe this country
is better than that.

My cause lives and
breathes, and always will.

[STANTON] We're out of time.

Did your agent collect
evidence on Davis?

Conover's in town, but
his cover's been blown.

Sanders and the Montreal CSS
know that he works for me.

The good news is Conover's
been two-timing us,

working in intelligence for the CSS.

Good news? How is that good
news? Bad news upon worse, surely.

It's good news because now
Conover wants to tell us

what he couldn't tell us before.

[HOLT] You're saying that the man

who could theoretically
have stopped the conspirators

is now our best bet to convict them.

Would we ever have listened to him?

What is he saying he has?

He claims to have been in
Montreal and overheard talk

about the events
leading up to April 14th.

He also claims to be in
possession of a document

that the CSS refers
to as "the pet letter."

Pet?

Meaning what?

Davis's nickname for Booth.

Jefferson Davis called
John Wilkes Booth his pet?

His pet.

[STANTON] Conover is our star witness.

Let's get him in here.

[HOLT] You may step down, Miss Simms.

Thank you so much and et cetera.

But now the defense will do
anything for an advantage.

It will suggest you're
stupid or a liar, or both.

If I could survive the
whip, I can survive words.

What education do you have?

I can read. Though I... I
did... didn't attend school.

Oh. [BREATHES DEEPLY]

You've never attended school?

How do you expect us to believe

that you understand the
difference between fact and fiction

when you have no formal
education whatsoever?

- Sir, I... I wasn't able to atten...
- No further questions, Your Honor.

Hope I get to say more than that.

They may not let you.

Powell was wearing that brown
hat bent down over one eye...

Same way he's looking at me now.

[EWING] How old are you?

I guess I'm between 29 and 30.

You don't know your age exactly?

People like me who were born into
sl*very weren't given a birthday.

But I do know the assassination attempt

on my employer's life was planned.

Powell tricked me by
bringing a pharmacy box.

Thank goodness Secretary
Seward survived.

But I'm certain Powell
meant to m*rder him.

[AUDIENCE MURMURING]

[PEANUTS] Mr. Spangler
told me to watch the horse.

To have it ready outside the theater.

I told him I had to sell my goods.

He say I had no choice.

Don't you always have
a choice, Mr. Burroughs?

[PEANUTS] In my experience,

when certain men say,
"You got to," like that...

It was a thr*at.

And you are saying that Mr.
Spangler protected Booth's horse

and opened the door for him?

[PEANUTS] On the Bible...

I swear it's true.

I'm the assistant secretary of
w*r and a telegraphic expert.

Could you tell us the
purpose of this instrument?

Which is exhibit number 59, Your Honors.

It's a cipher key. It breaks code.

Where did you acquire this cipher key?

The office of Mr. Benjamin.

He's the Confederate
secretary of state at Richmond.

Thank you.

And now, if you would,

cipher fragment exhibit number seven,

which is said to have been found in

the hotel room of John Wilkes Booth.

And compare it, please,
to the other cipher.

They're the same.

I've examined and compared them.

You have no doubts as
to their being the same?

I'm the national expert.

Why would one of the objects in
Booth's hotel room be Confederate code?

Only the accused can answer that.

No further questions.

[EWING] We know Booth is an actor.

Couldn't exhibit number
seven be a prop from a play?

We know his p*stol wasn't a prop.

[AUDIENCE GRUMBLING, MURMURING]

[GAVEL BANGS]

[JUDGE] Order.

My name is Jeremiah Dyer.

I'm a pastor in Bryantown.

I've known Sam Mudd
from our early youth.

Do you know his reputation?

Mudd's reputation is exemplary, I'd say.

State to the court Dr. Mudd's treatment

of his household. Servants or slaves.

They didn't work a great deal.

- [EWING] His servants are considered lazy?
- That's the talk.

- [CLEARS THROAT]
- [EWING] When you were a plowman

on Dr. Mudd's farm,
how did he treat you?

First-rate.

And how long have you known Mary Simms?

Since she was a small girl.

We were good friends.

But when she came to be grown,

all the servants in the neighborhood
learned not to trust her.

She lies. A lot.

And on the other hand, Dr. Mudd
delivers babies and saves lives.

White and colored lives.

He's a good man.

[CHATTERING]

I don't know if I'm enough, sir.

[MUMBLES] Mary, listen to me.

It was never going to be easy,
but you will have your chance.

- Will I?
- You will.

Hold your nerve.

W-W-Will you testify?

It's me versus a... a lot of men.

And they saying things like...
like Mudd is kindhearted.

And they calling me a liar.

You asking me to speak out against
a white man in a federal trial?

They string men from a tree
for a lot less than that.

Don't you want them to know
what he... what he capable of?

You can tell them what Mudd did to me.

Milo, that's not my story to tell.

[STANTON] What's your concern?

They calling her lazy. And a liar.

I'm just a crippled servant, so
what you think they're gonna call me?

Your account of what Mudd did to you,

that story... [INHALES DEEPLY]
... tells us who he really is.

But no one will know
that unless you tell them.

This is your chance.

I'll give you a few
minutes to think about it.

Thank you for granting me immunity.

I promise to tell the whole
truth about the Surratts and Booth

and everyone at the boardinghouse.

Good. Well, I-I'll see you in court.

We could lose if you don't speak up.

Please.

[CLEARS THROAT]

Sir, Milo said he'd speak.

Good.

Can I count on your testimony?

I'll be there.

Could we keep on practicing?

No, I don't want you to over-rehearse.

You'll do fine.

I'll see you both in the courthouse.

Sir.

[STANTON CLEARS THROAT]

[STANTON GRUNTS]

Secretary.

Take a seat. [CLEARS THROAT]

Baker told me to report
to you for the trial.

[STANTON GRUNTS]

- How can I help?
- [STANTON SUCKS TEETH]

[MARY] Officer Weichmann?

I think I know why you've been
quiet at practice. May I talk to you?

I... I think you know, uh, more about
the men that k*lled the president

than... than what you leading on.

And why would you think that?

'Cause Dr. Mudd say, um...

He say that you spent a
lot of time with Surratt.

And he had a meeting with Booth
and Surratt after DC in January.

Mudd, Booth and Surratt, they all
knew each other before the 14th.

And I just feel like there's something
that you not saying much about.

Look, I say that all them knew
each other before the 14th,

they not gonna believe me.

I'll be saying the same thing. Hmm.

[STAMMERS] Not just...

Not... Not just that.

But, i-if the wind go
against me, just please...

please just tell 'em why you believe me.

Tell me about this letter.

I do believe you have a
case for grand conspiracy.

[STANTON CLEARS THROAT]

Mr. Simms, would you
please state for the court

whether you were the defendant
Dr. Samuel Mudd's sl*ve?

Yes, sir. I... I was his carpenter.

How did you become crippled?

Dr. Mudd sh*t me in the leg.

I never sh*t that boy.

[CHIEF JUDGE] Manage your defendant,
or I will ask him to leave.

[EWING] Sit down. Keep quiet,
Dr. Mudd, or you'll have to leave.

He's a liar.

[HOLT] What was the
reason Dr. Mudd sh*t you?

One day, I guess...

Well, I guess Dr. Mudd
ain't like my attitude.

sh*t me in the thigh over nothing.

Like it was the punch line to a joke.

Thank you, Mr. Simms, that's all.

[AUDIENCE MURMURING]

[HOLT] The prosecution calls
Milo Simms's sister, Mary Simms.

[HOLT] Miss Simms...

would you please state for the
court whether you too were the sl*ve

of the prisoner Dr. Samuel Mudd?

Yes, sir. I kept house for him.

And state for the court whether you
heard any talk between a neighbor

and Dr. Mudd about
President Abraham Lincoln.

Sir, neighbor told Dr. Mudd.

He say, "Abe Lincoln, old,
g*dd*mn son of a bitch.

He should have been dead long ago."

Dr. Mudd say, "That is much on my
mind. We would have k*lled him."

- I see.
- [GAVEL BANGS]

And state for the court
whether Dr. Mudd had visitors

stay at his house.

Yes, sir, Confederates. They wore gray.

And, uh, Mudd made me
take provisions to 'em.

In his words, he... he, uh,
he tell me, "Look out for 'em."

Lastly, was there a particular
man who most often visited Dr. Mudd

at his house last summer?

[MARY] Yes, sir. John Surratt.

He stayed most Saturday to Monday. Mmm.

Uh, he go between Richmond
and... and Montreal.

Thank you, Miss Simms.

If you did not want to
aid their activities,

why didn't you leave?

I tried to leave, sir.

Dr. Mudd whipped me.

Uh, we will stipulate

that she has scars and will
not ask her to show them.

You want us to believe the good
Dr. Mudd is a Confederate agent?

His home, a stop on the Secret Line?

Yes, sir.

And that Mudd, Surratt and Booth,

they was friends before
the assassination.

[EWING SIGHS]

Pardon me, but have
you ever been to school?

Who believes this yarn she's spinning?

If you don't believe me,
ask Officer Weichmann.

State your name and where you live.

Uh, Louis Weichmann.

And I, uh... I stay
at the DC boardinghouse

owned by Mrs. Mary Surratt.

John Surratt's mother,
the prisoner there.

Have you ever seen Mrs.
Surratt with the defendants?

- Yeah, with all of them.
- [AUDIENCE MURMURING]

[EWING] And how do you
know the widow Surratt?

I, uh, started boarding with her
when the w*r Department hired me.

Did not realize my associates
at the boardinghouse

were planning the assassination.

Or I would have reported it.

[EWING] When's the last
time you saw John Surratt?

Uh, he left a few
days before April 14th.

Said he was looking
for work up in Montreal

and I should expect to
hear from him. [SWALLOWS]

[EWING] Could Mr. Surratt have come
and gone without your knowledge?

No, that would have been impossible.

You were on intimate terms since school?

Very intimate, indeed.

[EWING] How intimate?

Well, at his mother's
boardinghouse, we shared a table,

we shared a room, we
shared a bed, and...

we slept together.

- [AUDIENCE CLAMORING]
- [GAVEL BANGS]

[CHIEF JUDGE] Order!

You never heard discussions between
Surratt and the other defendants?

The only time I overheard some of it

was when, uh, Surratt took me
to Booth's hotel room in January.

Dr. Mudd was there.

Booth claimed that he was
interested in buying Mudd's farm.

Did you have reason to doubt them?

[WEICHMANN] No, I never knew
why John had gold with him

when he would return from trips
to Montreal or Richmond or...

But he never did share that he
engaged in Confederate activities.

Mmm. Thank you.

Your Honor, I have every
reason to defend John Surratt.

But, uh...

Well, everything Miss Simms has
said about him makes sense to me now.

And I believe her.

You are good at this, Miss Simms.

- Thank you, sir.
- [CLEARS THROAT]

I'm a correspondent for
the New York Tribune.

Two years ago, I reported to Baker

that I had a source inside the
Confederate Secret Service in Montreal.

He didn't realize that source was me.

To secure my income during the w*r,

I gathered intelligence on both
the w*r Department and the CSS.

When Lee surrendered, fellows were
celebrating in the streets of DC.

In Montreal, they were awaiting
the go-ahead from Richmond.

John Surratt delivered
it to set "pet" in motion.

Pet?

John Wilkes Booth.

Who calls John Wilkes Booth "pet"?

In CSS circles,

it's commonly known that Jefferson
Davis refers to Booth as his pet.

- [AUDIENCE CLAMORING]
- [GAVEL BANGING]

[CHIEF JUDGE] Quiet, please. Order!

I knew they had a plan.

And this is how Sanders
explained it to me.

They would k*ll the
president, the vice president,

and the secretary of state.

Since the Constitution does not
indicate how to choose a new president,

it would be chaos.

It was their Hail Mary plan to win
if they lost on the b*ttlefield.

And Sanders told me that he believed

that Booth would make
a fizzle of the plan.

I have provided a message that I found

that was delivered and never picked up.

Who was this letter addressed to?

George Sanders, who's now in London.

George Sanders. Would you please
read the message to the court?

"Pet has done his job well.

He is safe.

And old Abe is in hell."

[AUDIENCE CLAMORING]

When was the last time you
saw John Surratt in Montreal?

Four days before the assassination

in the smoking room of
the Saint Lawrence Hotel.

With a dispatch from Richmond.

- Stating what subject?
- [CONOVER] I didn't see it.

But Sanders turned to me and said,
"This makes the thing all right."

What did you take that to mean?

That Booth had the go-ahead
from Jefferson Davis.

- [AUDIENCE CLAMORING]
- Thank you, Mr. Conover.

Is your name Sanford Conover?

It is not the only name I have.

Our research shows us that
you have an alias as a broker.

James Wallace?

That is also me.

[AUDIENCE MURMURING]

So who is Charles A.
Dunham? An expert in forgery.

That is also me, sir.

So, you're a double agent, and
you have three different names?

Which of these names
is actually yours, sir?

I go wherever the story leads.

Does that include forging evidence?

No, sir, it does not.

Exactly when did you first see Booth,
Surratt and Sanders in Montreal?

I'll repeat the question.

When did you first see Booth,
Surratt and Sanders in Montreal?

October 17th, before the election.

It's the first time that I saw Booth

in Montreal with Surratt and Sanders.

[EWING] Are you certain about that date?

I am certain.

I have a record that you
were in jail for trespassing

the entire month of October.

- I was briefly arrested, but I was not...
- Mr. Dunham. Or Conover. Or is it Wallace?

Are you a con man?

How could you be in a Montreal
hotel when you were in jail?

I misspoke. I got the month wrong.

- [AUDIENCE CLAMORING]
- [CONOVER] Your Honor.

[GAVEL BANGS]

Despite my confusion,

I'm certain that
Jefferson Davis was aware

of the plan to assassinate
President Lincoln.

I believe he not only
knew it, he ordered it.

As a reporter, spy and a forger,

you must have quite an imagination.

Did you intentionally commit
perjury in this courtroom?

Or do you just lie for sport?

What difference does it
make what month it was? Hmm?

The defense rests.

[AUDIENCE MURMURING]

- News?
- Oh, um.

No. No, there's no news.

Not, uh... Not yet.

Whatever the outcome,
you did right by Abe.

Charging Davis and the
Confederacy puts it on the record.

They know we know what they did.

- So whatever the verdict, I can sleep.
- [SCOFFS]

Well, I'll sleep when justice is served.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I want that.

[TELEGRAPH CLICKING]

The judges reached a verdict.

Any indication?

No hint.

[BAILIFF] All rise.

[CHIEF JUDGE] Be seated.

Whatever may be the
convictions of others,

it is my own conviction

that Jefferson Davis is as clearly
proven guilty of this conspiracy

- as John Wilkes Booth...
- [AUDIENCE MURMURING]

... by whose hand Davis
inflicted the wound on Lincoln.

[GAVEL BANGS]

However, our panel has determined
the charges of grand conspiracy

to be inconclusive.

The commission does believe that
using the hand of John Wilkes Booth,

conspirators in Richmond and
Montreal inflicted a mortal wound

which deprived the republic
of its chief defender.

Conspirators filled the
land from ocean to ocean

with a strange, great sorrow.

But due to tainted
evidence and technicalities,

our panel was prevented
from rendering a fair verdict

on the grand conspiracy
behind the assassination.

Future inquiries and history
must achieve that proof.

Yet we have reached a verdict on
the defendants in this courtroom.

Our decision will be
read by the w*r secretary.

[CLEARS THROAT] Thank you.

[STANTON CLEARS THROAT]

[CLEARS THROAT]

Mary E. Surratt...

guilty.

- [BREATHES SHAKILY]
- [AUDIENCE WHISPERING]

Lewis Powell, guilty.

George Atzerodt, guilty.

David E. Herold...

guilty.

All to be hanged tomorrow.

[MARY SURRATT CRYING]

Edward Spangler, guilty.

Sentenced to six years imprisonment.

How about Mudd?

It's coming.

Finally, Dr. Samuel A. Mudd.

Guilty.

Sentenced to a term of life
imprisonment and hard labor.

- [AUDIENCE CLAMORING, CHEERING]
- [GAVEL BANGING]

[GAVEL BANGING]

[CHIEF JUDGE] Order! Quiet!

[GAVEL BANGING]

[EXHALES DEEPLY]

I told the truth.

What was the point in telling the
truth if it was surrounded by lies?

- You knew exactly who I am, Baker.
- [BREATHES SHAKILY]

Baker.

[CLEARS THROAT] Did someone
offer you a better price?

I received a suspicious package
this morning from London.

You know where to find
me when you need me again.

[BAKER] Sanders got to him.

- [REPORTER 1] Secretary.
- [REPORTER 2] Secretary, a word.

- Secretary, a word, please.
- [REPORTER 1] Mr. Secretary.

- Gentlemen.
- Was accusing Davis and the Confederacy

of grand conspiracy too ambitious?

Absolutely not.

The verdict for Jefferson
Davis was inconclusive

but let there be no doubt,

this court did not exonerate the
Confederacy here this evening.

But did you fail Lincoln?

We can't ask him, can we?

- [CLEARS THROAT]
- Sir, could you address Reconstruction?

[REPORTERS CLAMORING]

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

[ECKERT] Papers want your permission

to use the image of the executions.

[INHALES SHARPLY] Permission granted.

Also, the, uh,

the National Archives collected
the items from the evidence table.

- They, uh...
- Good.

They want to know why 18 pages
of Booth's diary are missing.

They could open an inquiry.

Um, Baker had it last. [CLEARS THROAT]

Baker claims you did.

They should, uh... They
should speak to Baker.

Uh, also, earlier, I, uh, noticed
your hearth needed a cleaning.

I had that taken care of.

[CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING]

[HOWARD] ... personally see your
application arrive on my desk.

[MARY] Application for what, sir?

[ELIZABETH] Mr. Howard has founded
a university for colored students.

A college of arts and
letters and trades.

As soon as I qualify, I'll put
my application on your desk, sir.

[BOTH CHUCKLE]

[CHUCKLES]

Edwin.

Oliver.

An hour ago, Johnson told me he
was cutting the bureau by half.

He made a point to say

that he knows we helped freedmen under

the auspices of the w*r Department.

I fear he's up to
something. I don't know what.

[INHALES SHARPLY] All right. Thank you.

[SIGHS] I think it's
about that time. Shall we?

- Of course.
- [HOWARD CHUCKLES]

- [INHALES SHARPLY] So...
- [CLINKING WINE GLASS]

Uh, ladies and gentlemen, uh, welcome.

[STAMMERS] Thank you all, uh,
for coming. [INHALES DEEPLY]

We are, uh... We are
gathered here this evening

to celebrate the publication of
Miss Keckley's remarkable book

and to raise funds for the
Contraband Relief Association,

uh, founded by Elizabeth.

Now the... the Freedmen's Bureau, uh,

headed by the valiant,
uh, Oliver Howard,

uh, essentially, uh, parallels
Miss Keckley's vital efforts.

And as long as the... the work of the

bureau is not supported
by the president,

we continue to rely on Miss Keckley's

fund to support and provide resources

to the recently freed as they make
the leap from sl*very into society.

So do please give as
generously as you're able.

I greatly admire her undertaking...
[CHUCKLES] ... and, uh...

[INHALES SHARPLY]

... well, if, uh, truth be known,
I greatly admire her, so...

Uh, Elizabeth.

- [GUESTS APPLAUDING]
- [CHUCKLES]

Thank you so much, Secretary.

Every donation you make provides
staple items for those in need.

Because too many of my brothers
and sisters coming up north

are not prepared for their new life.

If it were not for the
generous spirit of Mrs. Lincoln

and that of Mr. Abraham Lincoln...

May he rest in peace.

They have given relief many times over,

which is why I included them in my book,

Thirty Years a sl*ve and Four
Years in the White House.

That's all I have to say.
Okay. So, [CHUCKLES]

all proceeds today will be donated.

And thank you again for
coming. Please enjoy.

- [APPLAUDING]
- [GLASSES CLINKING]

[CHUCKLES]

It's a good turnout.

You invited Lorenzo Thomas?

Is it the same Thomas
you shipped to Arkansas?

Failed his way up?

Why would he come to this?

I think Johnson might be replacing me.

Hold this.

Mr. President.

Thank you for coming.

- Lorenzo.
- Edwin.

We need to talk.

Please.

You tried to ruin my party,
so now I am ruining yours.

Edwin, I plan to withdraw
your men from the South.

I know you won't obey my decision

because it ends your
enforcement of Reconstruction.

That's fine.

I appointed Thomas to replace you.

He'll send the order tomorrow.

Americans are not ready for
all these plans you're making.

There's too much unrest.

I could have accused you.

But you didn't.

If you remove me like this,

it will trigger an
investigation by Congress

and they'll impeach you.

Congress is welcome to fight me.

Come on, I'll give you a tour.

Mr. President.

[THOMAS SCOFFS]

- [STANTON SIGHS]
- I'll need your keys.

Of course.

Um, I've put them...

Left them somewhere.

[CLEARS THROAT] Let me look.

[ABRAHAM] Mars. Come on in.

Uh, need more time?

[ABRAHAM] No, no.

I've had my hour.

- [DOOR CLOSES]
- Willie and I talked through prayer.

He's as charming a rascal as
ever, and I read him a chapter

from his favorite novel.

This weekly scheduled hour of grief,
it mends my heart, contains it.

If I never thanked you for teaching

me the ritual, I'm thanking you now.

So, what is so important

that it couldn't wait for me
to come by the office later?

Has Lee surrendered a second time?

[CHUCKLES, INHALES
SHARPLY] No, he has not.

Oh, I know.

Jefferson Davis changed his tune

- and decided to join the cabinet.
- [CHUCKLES]

[COUGHING, CLEARS THROAT]

No.

[INHALES DEEPLY]

Abe, as you know... [CLEARS
THROAT, CLICKS TONGUE] ... um,

Ellen and I were

mourning our... our son,
James, when I joined the cabinet.

She supported me taking your
offer with her whole self.

It's been long years and late nights.

[INHALES SHARPLY]

And now that, you know, God
willing, we have finally prevailed...

well... [CLEARS THROAT]
... she'd like me home.

You're attempting to resign?

I am.

Oh, Ellen knows that...
[STAMMERS] ... the work isn't done

the moment Lee flies a dish towel.

She does.

My priorities need to
resume to my family,

and obviously I will
make myself available

to whoever you name as my successor.

[INHALES, EXHALES SHARPLY]

Mars, I can't accept your resignation.

And I do not believe
that you believe in it.

Your heart, it's always
been more in Reconstruction

than it ever was in victory.

And I need you now more than ever.

- And you could propose a vacation.
- [INHALES, EXHALES DEEPLY]

We're planning on finally
going to California.

We could go to the beach.

- Come with us. [CHUCKLES]
- [STANTON CHUCKLES]

Yeah, after we pass the
amendments. Maybe next summer.

You can tell Ellen that you won't
be working on Christmas this year.

She'll have you home for the holiday.

Abe, it's April.
[CHUCKLES, CLEARS THROAT]

Abe, I have given you and
this office three years.

I am confident that the... the
plans that I have put in pla...

Reconstruction is more difficult
than the destruction of w*r.

You've been our main reliance.

You understand the national
situation better than anyone.

I don't want to imagine.

It is my wish and it is the
country's need that you remain.

You cannot go.

You must see us through the final act.

[SIGHS] I've, uh, heard
you have a taste for Scotch?

If you're interested, I have a...
a 30-year-old I've been saving.

It's in the, uh, the hall pantry there.

Mmm. [CLICKS TONGUE] I do love
a good aged Scotch. [CHUCKLES]

[SNIFFS] Let's open it.

[INHALES DEEPLY]

- It's just round to the right.
- [THOMAS] Hmm.

- Uh, you can't miss it.
- [THOMAS] Oh. Okay.

[GRUNTING]

- [BANGING ON DOOR]
- [GRUNTS]

[BANGING CONTINUES]

You wanna k*ll Reconstruction?

You'll have to get past me.

[BANGING CONTINUES]

[THOMAS] Edwin. Open the door, Edwin.

Edwin?

[BANGING CONTINUES]

[YELLING] Edwin, I am secretary of w*r.

I'll have the army here in a day.

[BANGING CONTINUES]

[TAPPING MORSE CODE]

[STANTON] "Dear General Grant."

[INDISTINCT DIALOGUE]

[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

All right. [CHUCKLES]

- [STUDENT] Don't be nervous.
- Very nervous.

[DEVICE HISSING]

[COUGHING, GROANS]

- [EDDIE JR.] How do you feel?
- [STAMMERS] Good.

You coming down for breakfast
or should I bring a plate up?

No, no. Um, I'll come down.

[BREATHES HEAVILY, GROANS]

What is it? [BREATHES HEAVILY]

- News from the court.
- Mm-hmm.

Your nomination was confirmed.

[BREATHES DEEPLY]

Hmm.

Show me.

Hmm.

You know, I hated seeing you
sacrifice so much of your health

to hold back Johnson.

But I see now.

It was worth it.

On the court, your decisions will
finish your work with Lincoln.

[CLICKS TONGUE] Father,
you did it. [CHUCKLES]

The family know?

[SNIFFS]

Come down and tell them.

Grandpa is a justice
of the Supreme Court.

[CHUCKLES]

I'll, um...

I'll be... I'll be right
down. You, uh... You go on.

[CLEARS THROAT]

Eddie. [BREATHES DEEPLY]

Um, thank you.

We finish the work now.

Um, we have to.

[SIGHS DEEPLY]

[STAMMERS, WHEEZES]

[WHEEZES]

[WHEEZES]

[EDDIE JR.] My father d*ed of
asthma-related organ failure.

He was never able to serve
on the Supreme Court.

[MARY] Two months after
Secretary Stanton passed away,

the 15th Amendment to the US
Constitution was ratified.

It guarantees US citizens,

regardless of previous enslavement
or race, the right to vote.

[STANTON] We finish the
work now. We have to.