A Scene from the 1976 television miniseries, Texas an American story:
Texas President Wright Patman is portrayed by Berry Hagman.
US President Thomas Dewey is portrayed by Jack Nicholson.
Patman's female secretary, Susan Dalton, is portrayed by Farrah Fawcett.
US General Abner Dowling is portrayed by Thomas Bosley.
The Director of the National Bureau of Investigations, Clyde Tolson, is portrayed by Paul Newman.
The White House Chief of Staff, Sherman Adams, is portrayed by Bob Redford.
The US Attorney General, Albert Brownell Jr., is portrayed by Christopher Walken.
The Secretary of the War Department, Robert P. Patterson is portrayed by Steve McQueen.
Female Assistant to Sherman Adams, Barbara Cohen, is portrayed by Rose Marie Mazzetta.
The Director of the US Occupation Authority, Lawrence Groves is portrayed by Kurtwood Smith.
Friday, March 26, 1948. Inside the White House President Dewey is sitting at the head of a large conference table which is located in a meeting room just down the hall from the Oval Office. Around the table sit members of the president's cabinet, as well as several of his top aides. It is approximately 10 AM in the morning. Secretary of the War Department, Robert P. Patterson contributes to the meeting by sharing information related to the recently concluded Operation Chickenhawk in Sequoya. There are approximately eight or nine people sitting around the table.
Robert Patterson: Our joint policing action into Sequoya couldn't have possibly gone any better! (As he smacks a large folder down onto the table)
President Dewey: Bring it here, Bob, and show me what you've got! (eagerly)
(Patterson eagerly gets up from his place at the table and carries his folder up to the front of the table. He assumes a standing position next to Dewey's chair after placing the folder in front of Dewey)
President Dewey: What about our causality rates, what were they like?
Robert Patterson: That's spelled out right here in the addendum at the end of Dowling's report. Here let me show you. (as Patterson bends down and flips the document to its rear section)
President Dewey: da..da..da..da...(while running his finger along the page) Here we are! -US forces experienced a total of 174 casualties out of the roughly 9,500 ground troops participating in Operation Chickenhawk. These figures give US forces a casualty rate of 1.8%, which is far below the estimated 5% which was widely quoted before the start of the operation.
(The meeting-room erupts in applause)
President Dewey: Hold on everyone, there's more! - 41 deaths occurred during ground operations, however it should be noted that eleven of those deaths were non-combat related, and occurred when a troop transport truck overturned on a poorly maintained Texas highway near the Sequoya border. There were five deaths attributed to friendly-fire incidents, and also two deaths attributed to alcohol poisoning. The remaining 23 deaths occurred on the battlefield, and were due mainly to soldiers stepping on land-mines, or being hit by fire from enemy snipers hiding in abandoned vehicles and heavily damaged buildings.....Alcohol poisoning?
Robert Patterson: Apparently some of the Cherokee sold our men their own local brand of moon-shine, which our troops weren't to familiar with.
President Dewey: Oh - Well then, change the reports to say that they died in the traffic accident, and send Purple Hearts to their families anyway. Gotta keep the troops happy.
Robert Patterson: Yes, Mr. President.
President Dewey: And Bob, as this is being announced to the press, I want there to be plenty of photos showing US soldiers giving candy and toys to little Cherokee children, even if those photos have to be staged...(pauses while musing)...and make sure that there are plenty of heart warming human interest stories to go along with those photos. See that it gets out to the Times, the Post, the Chronicle, and all of the major wire services. Got it?
Robert Patterson: Got it, Mr. President.
President Dewey: Well anyway you look at it, 41 deaths is certainly much better than the 500 plus deaths we were worried about two weeks ago. What were the casualty rates like amongst the Texan troops?
Robert Patterson: Well, Mr. President, Texan casualty rates were slightly lower than ours, owing to the fact that their soldiers didn't see as much front-line action due to the poor state of their equipment. However, the Texas Self-Defense Force was in the fight, and General Dowling reported that ex-Confederates fighting with the enemy became highly demoralized once they realized that they were battling against troops from the Republic of Texas.
President Dewey: Good! Sounds like General Dowling has done a helluva a job!
Robert Patterson: I certainly can't argue with that. (as he returns to his seat at the table with report in hand)
Clyde Tolson: What about enemy POWs? I'd sure like to give my guys a crack at interrogating the shit out of some of them!
Robert Patterson: Technically speaking the handful of enemy fighters we captured weren't members of any established armed forces, so therefore they don't legally meet our definition of prisoners of war, and from our point of view, they are merely detainees to be held for an indefinite period of time.
President Dewey: Just exactly how many prisoners did our forces take in?
Robert Patterson: According to Dowling's report our, forces took in 25 enemy prisoners, mostly people we suspected of being the equivalent of field commanders or senior officers in the enemy's forces. People who might hopefully be able to tell us a few things. The Texan Self Defense Force on the other hand, took in zero prisoners, and Dowling reports that they seemed to take great pleasure in summarily executing anyone who attempted to surrender to them.
Lawrence Groves: I thought we were facing some huge enemy force ranging between 10,000 to 12,000 men? Surely you would need a hell of a lot more than 25 enemy officers to control a force of that size?
Robert Patterson: Dowling was under strict orders from General MacArthur not to bring back a large contingent of enemy prisoners, due to the high costs associated with feeding and housing them for an extended period of time. Also, It appears that enemy troop strength may have been over estimated by as much as 50%, and in reality there may have only been a force numbering between 5,000 to 6,000 men lurking in the Cherokee Homeland. This is largely based upon the number of enemy combat fatalities, which Dowling estimates as being somewhere between 2,100 to 2,500 dead....which would give us a kill ratio of approximately 45% which is well within Dowling's original estimates.
Lawrence Groves: What did I tell you people? All of the big action is happening inside the Occupation Zone, this thing in Sequoya is nothing but a small side show.
President Dewey: Alright! That doesn't matter, (loudly smacks hand on table) and what does matter is the fact that Freedom Party extremists won't be staging raids into Texas and bothering our good neighbor, Wright Patman anymore. Does everyone agree?
(In perfect unison, Yes Mr. President!)
Clyde Tolson: That still doesn't answer the question of whether or not my guys in the NBI will get a crack at those prisoners captured in Sequoya?
President Dewey: Are any of them US citizens? (to Robert Patterson)
Robert Patterson: All of the white fighters we took in were former Confederate military, making them citizens of the now defunct Confederate States of America, and as you know, the US Supreme Court still hasn't decided if American Indians living in their quasi-independent homelands are US citizens or not.
Albert Brownell: Listen, Bob, its simple! Did your army guys capture any prisoners originating from the US proper? Yes or no?
Robert Patterson: To the best of my knowledge, no, they did not. (dryly - perhaps uncertain)
Albert Brownell: Then so long as we don't have a family member running to some junior US senator and complaining about a relative that is being held against their will, then I foresee no legal problems with the US Army sharing these prisoners with a civilian organization such as the NBI, or the US Occupation Authority.....Do you concur, Mr. President? (the last part more calmly)
President Dewey: I agree, and under the circumstances which Bob has outlined, no US citizens would have their constitutional rights taken away. So - not a problem as far as I'm concerned.
Lawrence Groves: Now wait on a minute! If some of those prisoners are former citizens of the Confederacy, then they fall under my authority, and I want them shipped back to my headquarters in Norfolk!
Albert Brownell: Lawrence, now everyone knows that you're responsible for everything that goes on inside the Old Confederacy, but these men were taken into custody outside the national boundaries of the old CSA, so therefore they are not strictly speaking under your jurisdiction. However, if it will make everyone happy, the US Department of Justice will make arraignments to interview these prisoners here at our facilities in DC, while agents from both the NBI and US Occupation Authority observe.
Clyde Tolson: I agree.
Lawrence Groves: I also agree. (an almost undetectable sourness)
Albert Brownell: Bob, have someone make arraignments to bring those ex-CS prisoners out to Andrews, and forward the details to my assistant. (Robert Patterson nods silently in agreement as he is taking notes)
President Dewey: There, now wasn't that easy? The point is not whether our soldiers faced 5,000 enemy fighters, or 12,000 fighters in Sequoya, or who gets to interrogate the prisoners! The point is that a festering problem that could have potentially destabilized the Republic of Texas has been resolved!....(as he looks around the room)...President Wright Patman may be a local yokel, but at least with him we know what we are getting..... Besides, the last thing we want to see out in Texas is some sort of coup d'etat in which Patman is overthrown and gets replaced by a regime that is hostile to the US. Because if that happens..(louder) then I may have to pull 100,000 occupation troops out of the Confederate occupation zones in order to invade Texas, and I don't want to have to do that! Patman may be a son of a bitch, but for the time being, he is our son of a bitch, and we need to do everything we can to help keep him in power.
Albert Brownell: Well, Patman did just lend us a considerably large percentage of his available forces to take part in an action outside the borders of his own country. If things had gone badly then it could have really hurt him with the voters of Texas. Fortunately, however, things went very well, so he should be sitting pretty on the home-front.
President Dewey: As a matter of fact, Sherman, have one of your aides contact the President's Mansion out in Austin, I'd like to try and get President Patman out here to the White House for a little victory dinner sometime next week. What does my evening schedule for that period look like?
Sherman Adams: Your Tuesday and Wednesday evenings are free, Mr. President. (as Sherman looks at a leather bound schedule book on the table in front of him)
President Dewey: Good, why don't we try shooting for next Tuesday then? Offer to send my plane out there if transportation is a problem, and tell him he can bring along his vice president and attorney general if he so wishes.
Sherman Adams: Yes Mr. President (while busily writing notes in a ledger book)
President Dewey: You'd better try and get through to them while it is still somewhat early out there in Texas. Ambassador Kennedy tells me that Patman likes to run a loose ship, and if we wait too much longer, he's liable to decide to close up shop, and to spend the rest of his Friday out on the golf course. (a few chuckles from around the table)
(Dewey nods towards a bulky looking intercom device sitting in the center of the table. Adams reaches out and depresses one of the piano like keys located along the bottom of the device. A woman's voice with a heavy Brooklyn accent issues forth from the surprisingly crisp speaker)
Barbara Cohen: This is Barbara! (very business-like)
Sherman Adams: Barbara, I'd like you to contact the President's Mansion in Austin, Texas, and to invite President Wright Patman to have dinner here in the White House with President Dewey....this coming Tuesday evening. Tell them that President Dewey is willing to send out his own plane if need be, and that President Patman may bring along his own vice president and attorney general if he so wishes....and Barbara, let me know as soon as you have any type of a response from them.
Barbara Cohen: Understood, Mr. Adams.
President Dewey: Hello Barbara, can you hear me? (as he leans forward in his chair and speaks loudly)
Barbara Cohen: Yes, Mr. President, I can you hear you just fine.
President Dewey: Earlier we had arranged for a meeting to take place between myself and President Patman during my campaigning out west next month.
Barbara Cohen: Yes, Mr. President, I recall that meeting and I have it here in my books.
President Dewey: Good, now please tell his assistant that I'm canceling next month's meeting, and that I look forward to discussing the agenda from that canceled meeting during our upcoming dinner meeting this coming Tuesday....He will know what it means.
Barbara Cohen: Got it, Mr. President, anything else?
President Dewey: No, that is it, Barbara, Thank you.
Barbara Cohen: I will place the call to Austin now.
(President Dewey nods to Adams, Adams then releases his finger from the button and turns his attention back to the scheduling book in front of him)
Albert Brownell: Mr. President, before you sit down to a face to face meeting with President Patman, I think that you should take a look at this.
(The attorney general who is sitting to Dewey's left passes him a large manila envelope which has already been opened)
President Dewey: What the hell is this? (mildly irritated)
Albert Brownell: It is a report from the Texas Rangers dated January 21, 1947, detailing an incident in which Lieutenant General Abner Dowling physically assaulted Wright Patman, as Patman was making his way backstage immediately following his second presidential inauguration.
President Dewey: What?....How come I never heard about this before? (as he dumps the contents of the envelope out onto the table in front of him)
Albert Brownell: Evidently Patman didn't want to make a big deal out of it, most likely out of concerns regarding how it would effect his relations with us, or how it might be perceived by the people of Texas. He also evidently ordered all official copies of the report to be destroyed, and swore everyone in involved to secrecy under the penalty of imprisonment.
(Dewey picks up an 8 x 11 mug shot photo depicting Dowling with swollen eyes and a busted lip. However, the man in the photo is undeniably General Dowling)
Albert Brownell: According to eyewitnesses, Dowling encountered Patman in a narrow service way behind the inauguration stage. Once the two of them met, Dowling began to shout obscenities about events occurring at the Confederate death camps, and after a brief exchange of words, Dowling threw a punch which connected squarely with Patman's chin. Patman was knocked over backwards, and was nearly knocked unconscious by hitting his head on the concrete flooring. Immediately afterwards several plain clothes members of the Texas rangers entered the service way and quickly took Dowling to the ground. General Dowling was then taken to their headquarters for some questioning (Brownell does air-quotes with his fingers as he says the word "questioning") and at first they thought that they just had some crazy US Army veteran who had an axe to grind with Patman over the war. It took them about two hours to figure out that he really was a lieutenant general in the US Army.
President Dewey: What happened then? (somewhat astonished) Was Patman seriously injured?
Albert Brownell: Not according to that report he wasn't (as Brownell gestures to the scattered pile of paper on the table in front of Dewey) and as soon as Patman realized that Dowling was being held in a Texas Ranger prison cell, he immediately contacted the Rangers and ordered Dowling released.
Clyde Tolson: Whoo-wee! (as he shakes his head) I wouldn't want to be in General Dowling's shoes for all the tea in China! Those Texas Rangers do not play around, and from what I hear they really know how to soften up a prisoner before questioning them. We could probably learn a thing or two from them.
President Dewey: Yeah well, if this story is true, then Dowling probably deserved everything that happened to him in that Texas torture chamber. -- Where did this report come from anyway? (as Dewey picks up the now empty envelope and studies it)
Albert Brownell: It arrived in my office via the US Mail late yesterday afternoon, the postmark on the outside of the envelope is from a small town in New Mexico called Tucumcari. The return address is false, as there is no Griffin Street anywhere within the city of Tucumcari. Also, Tucumcari just so happens to be about thirty-five miles from the state border with Huston...
President Dewey: Then most likely news of this story hasn't spread too far.....
Albert Brownell: It appears most likely that the person who sent the envelope only wanted us to know about it.
President Dewey: Clyde, I want you to give this material to your guys in the NBI to see if they can figure anything out from it. Hmm...The handwriting on the outside of this envelope looks awfully effeminate.....maybe there's a chance that fingerprint samples can also be lifted from some of these pages...(as he gently pushes the papers across the table to Clyde Tolson who is sitting to his right)
Clyde Tolson: Yes, Mr. President. (as he carefully shuffles the papers into order)
President Dewey: Bob, I want both General Dowling and General MacArthur here in my office by tomorrow afternoon, or there will be hell to pay for everyone involved. Do I make myself clear?
Robert Patterson: Yes, Mr. President.
President Dewey: I'm considering a complete reorganization of our nation's defenses, and this may have just giving me the impetus I needed to do so. We cannot have hot-shot generals running around loose like this in the modern world, and I need to have complete coordinated control over all branches of our military. We need a national Department of Defense to oversee everything....
============================================================================================================
Austin - Friday, March 26, 1948, it is shortly after 9 AM in the morning. Susan Dalton is sitting at her desk located in President Patman's outer office. The room is adorned with several large pieces of antique wooden office furniture, and the half-paneled walls are decorated with various framed photographs and brass plaques. A large oil painting of Wright Patman hangs on the far wall. The scene is in stark contrast to the hectic command center like feel found in the US White House. Susan is engaged in some typing on an old-fashioned typewriter, when suddenly President Patman's private line rings. Susan quickly puts on her headphones and answers the incoming call.
Susan Dalton: Good morning, President Wright Patman's office, this is his secretary Susan speaking, how may I help you?...(very sweet)
Barbara Cohen: This is Barbara Cohen calling from the Office of the Chief of Staff within the US White House in Washington DC. Can you please connect me to the person responsible for handling President Patman's schedule?
Susan Dalton: That would be me, Ma'am. How can I help you?
Barbara Cohen: President Dewey deeply regrets that he must cancel his previously scheduled meeting to be held next month with President Patman.....but President Dewey looks forward to discussing the agenda from that canceled meeting with President Patman at a dinner meeting to be held here in the White House on Tuesday, March 30, at approximately 6:30 in the evening.
Susan Dalton: Yes....? Tuesday, March 30 at 6:30 pm in the White House...(writing feverishly tongue sticking out corner of mouth)
Barbara Cohen: President Dewey is offering the services of his own presidential plane to transport President Patman and his entourage to and from Washington DC, if President Dewey so wishes.
Susan Dalton: (echoes) US Presidential plane maybe used if Dewey so wishes. (struggling to keep up)
Barbara Cohen: Additionally, President Patman may bring his vice president and attorney general if he so wishes, but since this will be a working meeting, we respectfully request that wives and family not attend.
Susan Dalton: Is there anything else?
Barbara Cohen: President Dewey requests that his invitation be confirmed by someone within President Patman's office at the earliest possible convenience.
Susan Dalton: President Patman is not in the office right now, and I don't expect him in for approximately another hour or so. (worried)
Barbara Cohen: That's okay, we realize that things are a little bit behind the times out in Texas. (very condescending - The line clicks off, and their is silence without so much as a goodbye)
Susan Dalton: Why that mean old shrew! I bet that she hasn't gotten laid since the end of the Second Mexican War!
Texas President Wright Patman is portrayed by Berry Hagman.
US President Thomas Dewey is portrayed by Jack Nicholson.
Patman's female secretary, Susan Dalton, is portrayed by Farrah Fawcett.
US General Abner Dowling is portrayed by Thomas Bosley.
The Director of the National Bureau of Investigations, Clyde Tolson, is portrayed by Paul Newman.
The White House Chief of Staff, Sherman Adams, is portrayed by Bob Redford.
The US Attorney General, Albert Brownell Jr., is portrayed by Christopher Walken.
The Secretary of the War Department, Robert P. Patterson is portrayed by Steve McQueen.
Female Assistant to Sherman Adams, Barbara Cohen, is portrayed by Rose Marie Mazzetta.
The Director of the US Occupation Authority, Lawrence Groves is portrayed by Kurtwood Smith.
Friday, March 26, 1948. Inside the White House President Dewey is sitting at the head of a large conference table which is located in a meeting room just down the hall from the Oval Office. Around the table sit members of the president's cabinet, as well as several of his top aides. It is approximately 10 AM in the morning. Secretary of the War Department, Robert P. Patterson contributes to the meeting by sharing information related to the recently concluded Operation Chickenhawk in Sequoya. There are approximately eight or nine people sitting around the table.
Robert Patterson: Our joint policing action into Sequoya couldn't have possibly gone any better! (As he smacks a large folder down onto the table)
President Dewey: Bring it here, Bob, and show me what you've got! (eagerly)
(Patterson eagerly gets up from his place at the table and carries his folder up to the front of the table. He assumes a standing position next to Dewey's chair after placing the folder in front of Dewey)
President Dewey: What about our causality rates, what were they like?
Robert Patterson: That's spelled out right here in the addendum at the end of Dowling's report. Here let me show you. (as Patterson bends down and flips the document to its rear section)
President Dewey: da..da..da..da...(while running his finger along the page) Here we are! -US forces experienced a total of 174 casualties out of the roughly 9,500 ground troops participating in Operation Chickenhawk. These figures give US forces a casualty rate of 1.8%, which is far below the estimated 5% which was widely quoted before the start of the operation.
(The meeting-room erupts in applause)
President Dewey: Hold on everyone, there's more! - 41 deaths occurred during ground operations, however it should be noted that eleven of those deaths were non-combat related, and occurred when a troop transport truck overturned on a poorly maintained Texas highway near the Sequoya border. There were five deaths attributed to friendly-fire incidents, and also two deaths attributed to alcohol poisoning. The remaining 23 deaths occurred on the battlefield, and were due mainly to soldiers stepping on land-mines, or being hit by fire from enemy snipers hiding in abandoned vehicles and heavily damaged buildings.....Alcohol poisoning?
Robert Patterson: Apparently some of the Cherokee sold our men their own local brand of moon-shine, which our troops weren't to familiar with.
President Dewey: Oh - Well then, change the reports to say that they died in the traffic accident, and send Purple Hearts to their families anyway. Gotta keep the troops happy.
Robert Patterson: Yes, Mr. President.
President Dewey: And Bob, as this is being announced to the press, I want there to be plenty of photos showing US soldiers giving candy and toys to little Cherokee children, even if those photos have to be staged...(pauses while musing)...and make sure that there are plenty of heart warming human interest stories to go along with those photos. See that it gets out to the Times, the Post, the Chronicle, and all of the major wire services. Got it?
Robert Patterson: Got it, Mr. President.
President Dewey: Well anyway you look at it, 41 deaths is certainly much better than the 500 plus deaths we were worried about two weeks ago. What were the casualty rates like amongst the Texan troops?
Robert Patterson: Well, Mr. President, Texan casualty rates were slightly lower than ours, owing to the fact that their soldiers didn't see as much front-line action due to the poor state of their equipment. However, the Texas Self-Defense Force was in the fight, and General Dowling reported that ex-Confederates fighting with the enemy became highly demoralized once they realized that they were battling against troops from the Republic of Texas.
President Dewey: Good! Sounds like General Dowling has done a helluva a job!
Robert Patterson: I certainly can't argue with that. (as he returns to his seat at the table with report in hand)
Clyde Tolson: What about enemy POWs? I'd sure like to give my guys a crack at interrogating the shit out of some of them!
Robert Patterson: Technically speaking the handful of enemy fighters we captured weren't members of any established armed forces, so therefore they don't legally meet our definition of prisoners of war, and from our point of view, they are merely detainees to be held for an indefinite period of time.
President Dewey: Just exactly how many prisoners did our forces take in?
Robert Patterson: According to Dowling's report our, forces took in 25 enemy prisoners, mostly people we suspected of being the equivalent of field commanders or senior officers in the enemy's forces. People who might hopefully be able to tell us a few things. The Texan Self Defense Force on the other hand, took in zero prisoners, and Dowling reports that they seemed to take great pleasure in summarily executing anyone who attempted to surrender to them.
Lawrence Groves: I thought we were facing some huge enemy force ranging between 10,000 to 12,000 men? Surely you would need a hell of a lot more than 25 enemy officers to control a force of that size?
Robert Patterson: Dowling was under strict orders from General MacArthur not to bring back a large contingent of enemy prisoners, due to the high costs associated with feeding and housing them for an extended period of time. Also, It appears that enemy troop strength may have been over estimated by as much as 50%, and in reality there may have only been a force numbering between 5,000 to 6,000 men lurking in the Cherokee Homeland. This is largely based upon the number of enemy combat fatalities, which Dowling estimates as being somewhere between 2,100 to 2,500 dead....which would give us a kill ratio of approximately 45% which is well within Dowling's original estimates.
Lawrence Groves: What did I tell you people? All of the big action is happening inside the Occupation Zone, this thing in Sequoya is nothing but a small side show.
President Dewey: Alright! That doesn't matter, (loudly smacks hand on table) and what does matter is the fact that Freedom Party extremists won't be staging raids into Texas and bothering our good neighbor, Wright Patman anymore. Does everyone agree?
(In perfect unison, Yes Mr. President!)
Clyde Tolson: That still doesn't answer the question of whether or not my guys in the NBI will get a crack at those prisoners captured in Sequoya?
President Dewey: Are any of them US citizens? (to Robert Patterson)
Robert Patterson: All of the white fighters we took in were former Confederate military, making them citizens of the now defunct Confederate States of America, and as you know, the US Supreme Court still hasn't decided if American Indians living in their quasi-independent homelands are US citizens or not.
Albert Brownell: Listen, Bob, its simple! Did your army guys capture any prisoners originating from the US proper? Yes or no?
Robert Patterson: To the best of my knowledge, no, they did not. (dryly - perhaps uncertain)
Albert Brownell: Then so long as we don't have a family member running to some junior US senator and complaining about a relative that is being held against their will, then I foresee no legal problems with the US Army sharing these prisoners with a civilian organization such as the NBI, or the US Occupation Authority.....Do you concur, Mr. President? (the last part more calmly)
President Dewey: I agree, and under the circumstances which Bob has outlined, no US citizens would have their constitutional rights taken away. So - not a problem as far as I'm concerned.
Lawrence Groves: Now wait on a minute! If some of those prisoners are former citizens of the Confederacy, then they fall under my authority, and I want them shipped back to my headquarters in Norfolk!
Albert Brownell: Lawrence, now everyone knows that you're responsible for everything that goes on inside the Old Confederacy, but these men were taken into custody outside the national boundaries of the old CSA, so therefore they are not strictly speaking under your jurisdiction. However, if it will make everyone happy, the US Department of Justice will make arraignments to interview these prisoners here at our facilities in DC, while agents from both the NBI and US Occupation Authority observe.
Clyde Tolson: I agree.
Lawrence Groves: I also agree. (an almost undetectable sourness)
Albert Brownell: Bob, have someone make arraignments to bring those ex-CS prisoners out to Andrews, and forward the details to my assistant. (Robert Patterson nods silently in agreement as he is taking notes)
President Dewey: There, now wasn't that easy? The point is not whether our soldiers faced 5,000 enemy fighters, or 12,000 fighters in Sequoya, or who gets to interrogate the prisoners! The point is that a festering problem that could have potentially destabilized the Republic of Texas has been resolved!....(as he looks around the room)...President Wright Patman may be a local yokel, but at least with him we know what we are getting..... Besides, the last thing we want to see out in Texas is some sort of coup d'etat in which Patman is overthrown and gets replaced by a regime that is hostile to the US. Because if that happens..(louder) then I may have to pull 100,000 occupation troops out of the Confederate occupation zones in order to invade Texas, and I don't want to have to do that! Patman may be a son of a bitch, but for the time being, he is our son of a bitch, and we need to do everything we can to help keep him in power.
Albert Brownell: Well, Patman did just lend us a considerably large percentage of his available forces to take part in an action outside the borders of his own country. If things had gone badly then it could have really hurt him with the voters of Texas. Fortunately, however, things went very well, so he should be sitting pretty on the home-front.
President Dewey: As a matter of fact, Sherman, have one of your aides contact the President's Mansion out in Austin, I'd like to try and get President Patman out here to the White House for a little victory dinner sometime next week. What does my evening schedule for that period look like?
Sherman Adams: Your Tuesday and Wednesday evenings are free, Mr. President. (as Sherman looks at a leather bound schedule book on the table in front of him)
President Dewey: Good, why don't we try shooting for next Tuesday then? Offer to send my plane out there if transportation is a problem, and tell him he can bring along his vice president and attorney general if he so wishes.
Sherman Adams: Yes Mr. President (while busily writing notes in a ledger book)
President Dewey: You'd better try and get through to them while it is still somewhat early out there in Texas. Ambassador Kennedy tells me that Patman likes to run a loose ship, and if we wait too much longer, he's liable to decide to close up shop, and to spend the rest of his Friday out on the golf course. (a few chuckles from around the table)
(Dewey nods towards a bulky looking intercom device sitting in the center of the table. Adams reaches out and depresses one of the piano like keys located along the bottom of the device. A woman's voice with a heavy Brooklyn accent issues forth from the surprisingly crisp speaker)
Barbara Cohen: This is Barbara! (very business-like)
Sherman Adams: Barbara, I'd like you to contact the President's Mansion in Austin, Texas, and to invite President Wright Patman to have dinner here in the White House with President Dewey....this coming Tuesday evening. Tell them that President Dewey is willing to send out his own plane if need be, and that President Patman may bring along his own vice president and attorney general if he so wishes....and Barbara, let me know as soon as you have any type of a response from them.
Barbara Cohen: Understood, Mr. Adams.
President Dewey: Hello Barbara, can you hear me? (as he leans forward in his chair and speaks loudly)
Barbara Cohen: Yes, Mr. President, I can you hear you just fine.
President Dewey: Earlier we had arranged for a meeting to take place between myself and President Patman during my campaigning out west next month.
Barbara Cohen: Yes, Mr. President, I recall that meeting and I have it here in my books.
President Dewey: Good, now please tell his assistant that I'm canceling next month's meeting, and that I look forward to discussing the agenda from that canceled meeting during our upcoming dinner meeting this coming Tuesday....He will know what it means.
Barbara Cohen: Got it, Mr. President, anything else?
President Dewey: No, that is it, Barbara, Thank you.
Barbara Cohen: I will place the call to Austin now.
(President Dewey nods to Adams, Adams then releases his finger from the button and turns his attention back to the scheduling book in front of him)
Albert Brownell: Mr. President, before you sit down to a face to face meeting with President Patman, I think that you should take a look at this.
(The attorney general who is sitting to Dewey's left passes him a large manila envelope which has already been opened)
President Dewey: What the hell is this? (mildly irritated)
Albert Brownell: It is a report from the Texas Rangers dated January 21, 1947, detailing an incident in which Lieutenant General Abner Dowling physically assaulted Wright Patman, as Patman was making his way backstage immediately following his second presidential inauguration.
President Dewey: What?....How come I never heard about this before? (as he dumps the contents of the envelope out onto the table in front of him)
Albert Brownell: Evidently Patman didn't want to make a big deal out of it, most likely out of concerns regarding how it would effect his relations with us, or how it might be perceived by the people of Texas. He also evidently ordered all official copies of the report to be destroyed, and swore everyone in involved to secrecy under the penalty of imprisonment.
(Dewey picks up an 8 x 11 mug shot photo depicting Dowling with swollen eyes and a busted lip. However, the man in the photo is undeniably General Dowling)
Albert Brownell: According to eyewitnesses, Dowling encountered Patman in a narrow service way behind the inauguration stage. Once the two of them met, Dowling began to shout obscenities about events occurring at the Confederate death camps, and after a brief exchange of words, Dowling threw a punch which connected squarely with Patman's chin. Patman was knocked over backwards, and was nearly knocked unconscious by hitting his head on the concrete flooring. Immediately afterwards several plain clothes members of the Texas rangers entered the service way and quickly took Dowling to the ground. General Dowling was then taken to their headquarters for some questioning (Brownell does air-quotes with his fingers as he says the word "questioning") and at first they thought that they just had some crazy US Army veteran who had an axe to grind with Patman over the war. It took them about two hours to figure out that he really was a lieutenant general in the US Army.
President Dewey: What happened then? (somewhat astonished) Was Patman seriously injured?
Albert Brownell: Not according to that report he wasn't (as Brownell gestures to the scattered pile of paper on the table in front of Dewey) and as soon as Patman realized that Dowling was being held in a Texas Ranger prison cell, he immediately contacted the Rangers and ordered Dowling released.
Clyde Tolson: Whoo-wee! (as he shakes his head) I wouldn't want to be in General Dowling's shoes for all the tea in China! Those Texas Rangers do not play around, and from what I hear they really know how to soften up a prisoner before questioning them. We could probably learn a thing or two from them.
President Dewey: Yeah well, if this story is true, then Dowling probably deserved everything that happened to him in that Texas torture chamber. -- Where did this report come from anyway? (as Dewey picks up the now empty envelope and studies it)
Albert Brownell: It arrived in my office via the US Mail late yesterday afternoon, the postmark on the outside of the envelope is from a small town in New Mexico called Tucumcari. The return address is false, as there is no Griffin Street anywhere within the city of Tucumcari. Also, Tucumcari just so happens to be about thirty-five miles from the state border with Huston...
President Dewey: Then most likely news of this story hasn't spread too far.....
Albert Brownell: It appears most likely that the person who sent the envelope only wanted us to know about it.
President Dewey: Clyde, I want you to give this material to your guys in the NBI to see if they can figure anything out from it. Hmm...The handwriting on the outside of this envelope looks awfully effeminate.....maybe there's a chance that fingerprint samples can also be lifted from some of these pages...(as he gently pushes the papers across the table to Clyde Tolson who is sitting to his right)
Clyde Tolson: Yes, Mr. President. (as he carefully shuffles the papers into order)
President Dewey: Bob, I want both General Dowling and General MacArthur here in my office by tomorrow afternoon, or there will be hell to pay for everyone involved. Do I make myself clear?
Robert Patterson: Yes, Mr. President.
President Dewey: I'm considering a complete reorganization of our nation's defenses, and this may have just giving me the impetus I needed to do so. We cannot have hot-shot generals running around loose like this in the modern world, and I need to have complete coordinated control over all branches of our military. We need a national Department of Defense to oversee everything....
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Austin - Friday, March 26, 1948, it is shortly after 9 AM in the morning. Susan Dalton is sitting at her desk located in President Patman's outer office. The room is adorned with several large pieces of antique wooden office furniture, and the half-paneled walls are decorated with various framed photographs and brass plaques. A large oil painting of Wright Patman hangs on the far wall. The scene is in stark contrast to the hectic command center like feel found in the US White House. Susan is engaged in some typing on an old-fashioned typewriter, when suddenly President Patman's private line rings. Susan quickly puts on her headphones and answers the incoming call.
Susan Dalton: Good morning, President Wright Patman's office, this is his secretary Susan speaking, how may I help you?...(very sweet)
Barbara Cohen: This is Barbara Cohen calling from the Office of the Chief of Staff within the US White House in Washington DC. Can you please connect me to the person responsible for handling President Patman's schedule?
Susan Dalton: That would be me, Ma'am. How can I help you?
Barbara Cohen: President Dewey deeply regrets that he must cancel his previously scheduled meeting to be held next month with President Patman.....but President Dewey looks forward to discussing the agenda from that canceled meeting with President Patman at a dinner meeting to be held here in the White House on Tuesday, March 30, at approximately 6:30 in the evening.
Susan Dalton: Yes....? Tuesday, March 30 at 6:30 pm in the White House...(writing feverishly tongue sticking out corner of mouth)
Barbara Cohen: President Dewey is offering the services of his own presidential plane to transport President Patman and his entourage to and from Washington DC, if President Dewey so wishes.
Susan Dalton: (echoes) US Presidential plane maybe used if Dewey so wishes. (struggling to keep up)
Barbara Cohen: Additionally, President Patman may bring his vice president and attorney general if he so wishes, but since this will be a working meeting, we respectfully request that wives and family not attend.
Susan Dalton: Is there anything else?
Barbara Cohen: President Dewey requests that his invitation be confirmed by someone within President Patman's office at the earliest possible convenience.
Susan Dalton: President Patman is not in the office right now, and I don't expect him in for approximately another hour or so. (worried)
Barbara Cohen: That's okay, we realize that things are a little bit behind the times out in Texas. (very condescending - The line clicks off, and their is silence without so much as a goodbye)
Susan Dalton: Why that mean old shrew! I bet that she hasn't gotten laid since the end of the Second Mexican War!
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