I was pregnant, and I was scared.
(coughing, inhales)
This is my deathbed confession.
[ clock ticking ]
[ pens scribbling ]
[ papers rustling ]
- Five minutes!
[ clank ]
[ indistinct conversations ]
[ footsteps approach ]
- Here. Do you want a light? - Oh. Thank you.
- What kind of law are you planning to specialize in?
- Oh, constitutional. And you?
- Oh, I didn't take the bar.
You don't think practicing law
runs contrary to your preachings on a woman's proper place?
Nice disguise, Mrs. Schlafly.
- I didn't have time to fix my hair.
- I'm with the "Tribune."
- I have raised six children. I can do whatever I want.
I've always said that women can do whatever they want.
[ camera shutter clicking ]
[ "A Fifth of Beethoven" by Walter Murphy playing ]
***
[ engine turns off, keys jangle ]
[ dog barking in distance ]
[ bird calling ]
[ whirring ]
[ indistinct conversations ]
***
[ telephone ringing ]
[ laughter ]
- Oh, yes.
- [ baby crying ] - Uh-huh.
Well, if I were you, and I had a choice,
I'd come to my gala, 'cause it'll be pleasant,
lovely, nice people, and you'll have a good time.
[ lowered voice ] I think "The New York Times"
is gonna cover us.
[ normal voice ] Well, I'm sure we could fit you in,
but I would need confirmation. Thank you.
- You put Lottie and I at tables with a bunch of nobodies.
- Hmm? - You've put...
- Oh, you're the distinguished guests.
I just have to, uh, spread you around
like, uh, cherries in a fruit salad.
- But I wanted to be at the same table
as Senator Helms so he could sign my book.
He wrote the forward.
- Oh, one of his aides wrote that.
- Well, then we better make sure to introduce you to him
at the gala.
- Alice.
- Thought I'd stop by to see if I can help
with any last-minute planning.
- Well, I wasn't sure you'd be coming at all.
- Of course I am, and Buck, too.
- You haven't been around much all year.
- I'm sorry. I've just been so busy with grandma duty,
but I have typed up all the names
of the new representatives for this year's ERA vote.
- I cannot believe we have to push this boulder up
for another three years.
- How can I help?
- Why don't you start by typing up
the press release for the gala? Hmm?
- Sure.
- How are the grandkids?
- Uh, a handful. [ laughter ]
Well, you know. Boys.
"The women's libbers are rewarded with an extension
"of the ERA deadline despite our pro-family rally in Houston
being twice as big as..."
Are you sure the crowd at our rally was twice as big?
- Yes. - Definitely.
I should know. I was at both.
- It didn't feel that much bigger.
- Satan's destructive forces are so strong and well-financed.
It's easy to get confused.
- [ baby crying ] - [ Eric laughing ]
[ giggles ]
- Eric! Come back here!
- [ baby wailing ]
- Oh, no, you forgot to find a seat for Pamela and Kevin.
- Oh, uh, they can't make it.
- Oh, you've worked so hard for seven years.
You deserve to celebrate.
- Kevin didn't wanna spend the money, so...
- Well, maybe we could figure something out.
You should talk to him. - Phyllis says that
a man needs to feel like the king of his castle.
Otherwise, they act out.
- [ baby fussing and crying ]
- You told her that?
- [ baby cries ]
- Well, you don't marry a man to reform him.
- I've been trying to take the time to let him know
how much I need him.
It's all about a positive mental attitude.
- [ baby continues wailing ]
- There are going to be some fun surprises at the gala.
- I'm looking forward to it.
- Are you?
- [ scoffs ] What do you mean?
- Phyllis is so kind and trusting.
She doesn't see what's going on, but I do.
- What are you talking about? - Loyalty.
- You're questioning my loyalty?
- I can tell your heart isn't in the fight.
I always said to Phyllis you'd get bored
and drop off eventually.
- My commitment has never changed.
I'm the one who brought the ERA to Phyllis' attention.
- You gathered everything into a box.
That story is getting a little old.
- I've always supported Phyllis
when things were simple and clear,
when it was about protecting our place in the home.
But somewhere along the way,
it's become about something else.
- We are in the midst of a conservative revolution.
After years of being ostracized and discounted,
religious voices are being heard in the political arena.
Did you really think there'd be no casualties?
It's bigger than the ERA now.
***
[ typewriter keys clacking, indistinct conversations ]
- [ sighs ] I serve at the pleasure of the president.
I also serve five kids, a husband, two cats, two dogs,
14 rabbits,
so it's not easy to drop everything
and fly across the country.
- I had a chicken in the oven when the call came.
- Aw.
- I was down the street at Stan's,
but I am also very irritated.
- We've been pushing the president to meet with us
for what, over a year? Since Houston.
Nothing, and then all of a sudden, one day's notice?
- That's how it goes. We all made sacrifices.
This is important.
- There were 1,500 media groups at our conference.
Then two men decided to have a conversation,
and we were knocked below the fold.
- Two men--Sadat and Begin.
Did you want to stand in the way of peace in the Middle East?
- No, but I can't believe we're getting peace
in the Middle East before equal rights for women.
- You can't?
- We have nothing to show for Houston.
- They did give us an extension on the ERA deadline.
- Things move slowly in Washington.
It takes at least two years to implement any policy,
let alone laws that benefit women.
It's too soon to get frustrated.
Let's get started.
- Do we assume Carter has or hasn't read this beforehand?
- All: Hasn't.
- So I'll make some introductory remarks.
Then each of you will take a minute to brief the president
on our proposals to Congress.
We have to move fast. We only have 15 minutes.
- 15 minutes for which part?
- Total. - [ scoffs ]
- Would you rather we have no meeting?
- 15 minutes isn't a meeting. It's a photo op.
- Well, what am I supposed to do?
- Cancel it. Ask for a proper meeting.
- Canceling signals that we expect real results.
We've spent two years coming up with this plan of action.
Meanwhile, he's cutting domestic programs
so he can increase military spending.
- We should issue a press release.
Say exactly that.
- I don't think we wanna criticize our own president
in the press.
- Kissinger has been publicly strong-arming Carter for weeks
to get asylum for the Shah of Iran.
- This is how the boys do it.
- Rita, get me Ham Jordan!
- Please!
- I got you a present.
- [ gasps ]
How did you...
- Ah, I can't divulge my sources.
- Oh. - Let's just say
a certain presidential candidate is desperate for our support.
- Who? Crane?
- He sees Reagan in his rearview mirror,
gaining speed, but that tax amendment of his
was a breath of fresh air.
And I don't see him drifting center.
- Yeah, the establishment, uh, respects him,
but I-I think it's a long shot.
- Every true conservative is. Phil Crane in the White House,
a Republican president from Illinois.
Get ready for your appointment, Mrs. Schlafly.
- Mrs. Schlafly, Esquire.
I was just sworn in.
- You gonna change your stationery?
- Well, it's the only place to put it.
I'm never gonna practice.
- I must say, the way he looks at you,
it almost makes me want to endorse Kemp.
- The way he looks at me?
- Mm. - Oh!
Be still, my beating heart.
The index goes...
from Saxby to... straight to Schlesinger.
- What?
[ papers rustle ]
- Here. [ thud ]
- That was an oversight.
- Goldwater would never have won that nomination without me.
- Because he wasn't a winner,
and we need to run a winner this time,
and we will have our pick. [ clatter ]
Think of everyone coming to D.C. for this gala,
and we will hear what they have to say.
- Mm-hmm? - And then we will decide.
[ laughs, kissing ]
- So...when do you think is the best time for us to declare
who we're going to, uh...back?
- Mm...after Iowa.
- All right, now you be careful with my hair.
[ chuckles ]
- Uh, no need to apologize, Mr. President.
No, no, thank you very much.
Uh, we look forward to it.
We got in for two hours. - [ gasps ]
[ laughter ]
Were his jokes really that funny?
- Oh, God, no, something about Sadat at Camp David.
I had no idea, but you laugh.
[ laughs ] - We should get going.
Stan's waiting in the car.
- You have to come back down to D.C. in a couple of weeks.
- I have a meeting with Kay Graham anyway.
- You're doing a piece in the "Post"?
Isn't that your competition?
- I'm looking at buyers for "Ms."
[ sighs ] I can't keep it afloat.
I just hope she doesn't turn it into another "McCall's."
[ lighter clicks ] - "Ms." gave us a voice
when no one was listening.
Now look at us.
We have the ear of the president.
[ laughter ]
- Ahh!
[ Blondie's "Atomic" playing ]
***
[ laughter ]
[ applause ]
- [ amplified voice ] And now, ladies and gentlemen,
a very special performance.
Here to dazzle you with their vocal stylings--
Gloria Steinem and Bella Abzug!
[ piano playing "Three Little Maids from School Are We" tune ]
***
[ laughter ]
- * Two little feminists are we *
- * Shrill as a feminist can be *
- * Godless and man-less and ornery-eeh *
- * Two little feminists
- * We beg you to pass the ERA
[ laughter ]
- * And take our privileges away *
[ laughter ]
- * Except if you're lesbian or gay *
- Mm!
[ laughter ]
- Both: * Two little feminists
[ laughter ]
- * This feminist, she will not marry *
- * Draft her into the military *
- * Abortion was also necessary *
[ laughter ]
- Both: * Two little feminists
[ laughter continues ]
***
- * This feminist from New York City *
- * Bane of the Ways and Means Committee *
- * Lost her seat? Oh, what a pity *
***
- Both: * Two little feminists
* Two little feminists
***
[ laughter ]
[ applause ]
[ song ends ]
- [ laughs ] Whoo!
- Bravo!
[ laughter and cheers ]
[ trumpets play fanfare ]
- Please join me in welcoming the woman of the hour--
Mrs. Phyllis Schlafly!
[ Verdi's "Triumphal March" from "Aida in D Flat" playing ]
[ cheers and applause ]
***
- [ amplified voice ] Thank you.
Thank you, friends.
Thank you. [ music stops ]
Welcome to the ERA Follies of 1979!
[ laughs ]
[ cheers and applause ] Okay. Thank you.
[ cheers and applause subside ]
The libbers thought they had won a great victory
when they pressured Congress and the White House
to grab them a crooked extension to the ratification deadline.
But as far as I am concerned, tonight is the night
on the original deadline
that the ERA dies morally and constitutionally.
[ cheers and applause ]
And we are here to dance on its grave.
[ cheers and applause ]
- [ whistles ]
[ cheers and applause continue ]
[ applause subsides ]
- This has been a righteous battle,
and like the battle for suffrage 50 years ago,
it had to be fought and won by women.
[ cheers and applause ]
They say that women are like teabags.
You don't know their strength until they get into hot water.
[ laughter ]
And, ladies, we sure did reach a boiling point.
[ applause ]
[ applause subsides ]
But when we saw that the devil was using one little word
in that amendment--sex-- to take away the rights of wives
and give them to the homosexuals and to the abortionists,
we knew we had to fight back, and we are winning,
because we have God on our side.
[ loud cheering ]
But tonight we celebrate not only the end of the ERA
but the end of an era.
We stand on a precipice,
giving birth to a new mighty movement,
a movement that will lead America
back onto the right path,
and together, we can take our country back.
[ cheers and applause ]
Now, my friends, I would now like to thank
one very special person--
the person who has been with me since the beginning,
a person who has saved me from the life of a working girl,
my coach, my cheerleader,
and my lover-- my dear husband Fred,
thank you for letting me come here tonight.
I love to say that because it irritates the women's libbers
more than anything that I say.
[ laughter ]
Now those libbers love to ask me,
"Who's looking after your children?"
And I say, "I'll show mine if you show me yours."
[ laughter ]
So please give a hand to my life's work--
my six jewels,
John, Bruce, Roger, Liza, Andy, Anne.
Fred.
[ cheers and applause ]
Thank you.
Thanks. [ cheers and applause continue ]
Thank you. [ chuckles ]
[ "Amazing Grace" instrumental playing ]
Did you get the crowd?
One more. Make like you're singing.
* Ahh
- * Ahh [ camera shutter clicks ]
- [ under breath ] Lose the book, Rosemary.
* Ahh
- * Ahh - * Ahh
Do you like my Bella? Is she loud enough?
- She isn't as loud as you think.
She's actually quite funny. - Mm.
I see you, uh, invited a few of Reagan's people tonight--
Orrin, Jerry, Jesse. - Oh, no, no, no.
Tonight's not about politics. It's about family.
- Well, I wouldn't miss it.
I pushed my flight to Iowa to be here.
If I can win there, I'm gonna rise out of the pack,
so I spend my days judging corn on the cob eating contests.
But you know what? Beats any day in the House.
- I can't get anything done while Tip O'Neill is speaker.
- Mark Twain said it best-- "Suppose I am a thief,
and suppose I am a congressman, but I repeat myself."
- [ both chuckle ]
- You are gonna make me beg for your mailing list, aren't you?
- Well, suppose you were a thief.
- Suppose you were a congressman.
- Well, I wouldn't mind, uh, Ambassador to the U.N.
or, uh, Secretary of Defense.
- I can't think of a better way to stick a dagger
through the heart of women's lib
than to nominate you to my Cabinet.
- What about the rumors?
- What rumors?
- Oh, Phil. Don't make me say it.
There are whispers of a ménage à trois.
- Oh. Kennedy had hundreds of women come to the White House,
and no one blinked.
- Yes, but Kennedy wasn't running on family values.
- I'm offended that you think Arlene would invite
a girl into our bed who wasn't from a good family.
***
When it comes to the shootout, I won't waver on the issues...
just like I never wavered on you.
[ orchestra playing jazz version of "How Great Thou Art" ]
***
[ cheers and applause ]
[ laughter ]
- When Betty Ford came out for the ERA,
I told Alyse, "Stop spending all my money
running up the phone bill."
- And do you know what Phyllis said when I told her that?
She said, "Oh, no, we're just going to fight harder,"
and we did. We showed them.
- She's our miracle woman.
- Yeah. - [ chuckles ]
- You know, Phyllis is right.
- [ under breath ] Easy.
- [ exhales deeply ]
It's a party.
[ indistinct conversations ]
[ jazz instrumental playing ]
[ indistinct conversations continue ]
- We've come so far.
***
- [ laughs ]
You know, sometimes I forget how to spell "Schlafly."
[ laughter ]
- Thank you. - There's our Joan of Arc.
- Oh! - Doesn't she work miracles?
- Now this is my dear friend Alice,
who first told me-- - Unless your husband's a jerk,
and then you're on your own.
- Oh, I think someone's had a bit too much celebration.
- Pamela needed your support.
- Alice, this is really not the time--
- And the best you could do was tell her to manage it better.
- Why don't you come with me to the ladies' room?
- I don't wanna go with you to the ladies' room.
I wanna know why you said that to her.
***
- Well, uh...Kevin may not be perfect, but he provides,
and she's never had to work a day in her life.
- Oh. Lucky her.
- All right, I think people have heard enough.
- When did you get so mean?
- Now I thought of all people, you would be enjoying tonight,
after all of our hard work.
- Oh, don't. - What?
- This is what you do. - Alice.
- You change the subject... - People are looking at you.
- ...and you twist things up.
***
Do you even care about me at all?
- Now I did all of this for you.
- You did all of this for me?
- So you would not feel invisible.
- I have never felt more invisible
than when I'm around you. - Mrs. Schlafly!
Mrs. Schlafly, we need to get you out of here.
- What? What's going on?
[ alarm ringing ]
[ lights clank, music stops ]
- Man: [ amplified voice ] Ladies and gentlemen,
please remain calm.
The ballroom will have to be evacuated immediately.
[ crowd murmuring ]
[ alarm continues ringing ]
[ siren wailing in distance, police radio chatter ]
- I heard it was a bomb.
- I heard it was a bomb threat.
- Did they find anything?
[ sirens continue wailing ]
- I don't know.
[ sirens continue wailing ]
[ police radio chatter ]
- How come nobody's talking to you?
- Me? [ chuckles ]
Ah, no. I'm nobody.
- Ah. [ chuckles ]
Well...guess I'm nobody, too.
***
[ indistinct conversations ]
[ police radio chatter ]
- I told, uh, John to take everyone back to the hotel.
- Mm-hmm.
- Did they find a bomb?
- Oh, it's probably just a bunch of slobs
and poor lib losers trying to ruin our fun.
- Oh, yeah.
- Thank you for saving the flowers, though.
- A bomb threat?
That's really making it.
- I can't tell you how many ladies have come up to me.
They scrounged together every penny they could to come here.
Well, I believe they would walk
to the ends of the earth for you.
- Oh, now... - [ chuckles ]
- We couldn't take off without asking you
if Ron could count on your support.
- Well...there are a lot of attractive candidates.
- Mm-hmm. - Crane. Connolly.
- They can't beat Carter.
The economy's in the toilet. Voters are craving
an antiestablishment outsider like Reagan.
- Yes, but Ron did make some mistakes four years ago
not fighting for delegates in northern states.
- He's learned.
He's going to be making a lot more in-person appearances.
- Mm-hmm. - It helps connect him
to the voters. He comes across as warm and optimistic.
Nancy suggested it.
- Nancy or her astrologer? [ laughter ]
You're not worried about his age?
Almost 70--that's pretty old. I don't know.
- Well, he's no Margaret Thatcher,
but we get him in blue jeans and a cowboy hat chopping wood,
it'll make Carter look like an old lady.
- Hmm. I think we'll wait until we see how he does
in Iowa and New Hampshire.
- Don't wait too long.
Ron rewards those who are loyal early on.
- You know what? I don't think we need to wait for a straw poll
to tell us that, uh, Ron's a winner.
You--You'll have our support.
Just, I think he needs a catchy slogan.
"Together, a new beginning" doesn't get me out of bed.
[ laughter ]
- Thank you.
***
- Did you see he blew Audrey and me a kiss
across the Oval Office? We didn't even vote for him.
- He was in a very good mood. - Mm.
- He said he wouldn't stop until the ERA was--
What was the word he used? - "Enshrined."
- Yeah, "enshrined." I thought a little much,
but "enshrined in the Constitution." We'll see.
- It felt like a big step forward.
- We should ask Rosalynn Carter to put in a few calls
to state senators in Florida
right before they vote on the ERA. She got us Indiana.
- Excuse me. Mrs. Abzug?
- What's that?
- Just a note from one of Carter's Georgia boys.
Fired?
- The president has decided to replace you.
- What do you mean? We just had a good meeting.
- Which you canceled at the last minute
and then demanded that the president reschedule,
and then to shout at him--
- [ loudly ] I never shouted. - As you just did.
- I spoke with feeling.
- A friend at the Labor Department
also brought this press release to our attention.
- That was never issued to the media.
- And how would that have looked?
Hmm? Like disloyalty.
- McGovern compares Carter to Nixon
in "Harper's Magazine," and you all turn the other cheek.
- George is a senator.
You were appointed by the president
to run his commission on women's issues.
- And I'm not about to sit around smiling
while he does nothing but pay lip service.
- We can't have the president getting jerked around
by a bunch of women.
Makes him look weak.
- You've been gunning for me ever since you pushed Mitch out.
[ scoffs ] Does the president know about this?
- He approved it this morning.
[ paper rustles ]
- Before we met with him?
Give me time to...
handle my departure quietly.
I don't want a fuss.
My husband's recovering from a heart attack.
He doesn't need any stress.
- Well, if you're having personal problems,
you shouldn't be heading a committee anyway.
- [ whispers ] Please.
Let me resign.
- We might have already mentioned it to Ed Walsh
and Terry Smith at the "Times."
***
- Hey.
Let's get you home.
- "Dear President Carter..." Stop.
"We have never seen eye to eye." Stop.
"I would never have surrendered the Canal zone
"or canceled production of the B-1 bomber,
"but your decision to fire Bella Abzug
is finally one I can support."
Uh-huh.
Would you read that back to my secretary? Thank you so much.
It's Western Union.
- Hello?
Mm-hmm.
- What are those?
- Mm-hmm.
- Oh, these are called floppy disks.
I was able to transfer my entire mailing list
from the computer onto these.
- [ scoffs ] Well, before you hand those over
to Governor Reagan, you should ask that he be very clear
at the convention.
I don't wanna say he abandoned us
on the ERA issue in '76, but...we felt abandoned.
- It's not personal, Rosemary. It's politics.
[ telephone receiver clatters ]
[ buttons rattle ]
[ click ]
[ telephone buttons clicking ]
Hello, Marion?
Yes, it's Phyllis Schlafly.
Uh, I'm calling to talk to you about, uh, supporting
Governor Reagan's campaign.
[ laughs ]
[ telephone rings ]
[ indistinct conversations ]
- Oh, I only asked for Carmen.
The rest of y'all can go.
[ telephone continues ringing ]
Please, sit. [ sighs ]
All right. In this country, we like to pride ourselves
on peaceful transfers of power,
so, Carmen, we will be holding a press conference
to announce you are officially the new presiding officer
of the commission effectively immediately.
- With respect to the president and committee...
[ paper rustles ]
I resign.
[ footsteps depart ]
- Jill, you seem to be the only professional in the room.
We're gonna--Mm.
- I refuse to serve on a commission
on which Bella Abzug is not presiding.
I resign. [ paper rustles ]
- You can't both resign.
- Like I haven't quit the White House before.
[ paper rustles ]
- I resign.
[ paper rustles ] - I resign.
[ paper rustles ]
- This your doing? - I made some phone calls.
We are the ones that are going to have a press conference.
We are going to tell the American people
how disappointed we are with the president's stand
on women's issues.
He is going to have to do something for us
to get us to vote for him.
We're no longer a captive audience.
- It was a show of solidarity.
Representatives of some
of the most powerful women's organizations in the country
said they were going to resign in support of Bella Abzug--
officers of the National Organization of Women,
the National Organization
of Business and Professional Women,
and the League of Women Voters.
They had met at length with President Carter yesterday
to present their position on the issues.
Today, they felt deceived.
- The president's response
was not to the issues we brought to him
but rather to use our co-chair, Bella Abzug,
as a scapegoat in an effort to suppress our independence.
[ continues indistinctly ]
***
- I'm heading out. - Mm.
- Mmm. Maybe not. - [ chuckles ]
- You should publish all your recipes.
- Where?
- In a cookbook. - [ scoffs ]
[ chuckles ] Well, I can do a whole chapter
on ERA breads and pies.
- [ laughs ]
- Bye, Leonia. - Bye!
[ door closes ]
- It's just Anne and your mother for dinner tonight?
- Mm-hmm. That's right. - When is Anne getting home?
- She's not home yet?
[ foil rustling ]
Anne's not back from school.
Oh, she must have missed the bus again.
- Reagan just took the lead over Anderson.
- Oh, shoot. Fred and I are supposed to leave momentarily.
I can't be late. I don't know.
Mother, maybe, uh, you could pick Anne up?
- I-I suppose I could.
- Well, she can't drive to St. Louis now.
It's getting dark.
- Well, I don't have anyone to pick her up.
- Well, you'll sort it out.
- Ron called me himself to ask for my help.
He's gonna wanna thank me personally.
No, don't-- [ sighs ] Don't take off your coat.
- Willie? - Yes?
- I'm going to need you to drive into St. Louis
and pick Anne up. We're gonna have to go.
Fred, let's go.
- I'm sorry, Mrs. Schlafly. I can't tonight.
I have to pick up my daughter.
- I'll make it up to you, Willie.
I'm sorry.
I'm not gonna miss this event.
- I'll make other arrangements.
- Thank you.
[ door closes ]
- Anne. Why didn't you call? I would have gotten you.
- Well, all the lines were busy. I called Mrs. Macray.
- She's here?
- Yeah, she just dropped me off.
- Oh, uh, uh, Fred? I'll meet you in the car!
[ footsteps depart, door opens ]
[ door closes ]
[ footsteps depart ]
Alice!
[ engine idling, footsteps approach ]
Oh, thank you so much. - Oh, it really was no problem.
- Yes. Well...thank you.
You're wearing a suit?
- Yes, I had just gotten home from the office...
- Oh? - ...when Anne called.
- What office? - I got a job.
- A job? - As a 4-1-1 operator.
- Oh. Did--Did Buck...
- Oh, no. Buck just laughs. I'm averaging 500 calls a day,
and he doesn't have to pay for any of them.
- Oh. - And now that the kids
are mostly grown, I just...
And I like not having to ask him for pin money.
It's empowering.
- You used to feel empowered by me.
- I used to feel scared.
[ gears shift ]
***
- Her daughter was stranded at school.
- She has been working seven years for this moment.
- I have been working for 50 years
to take our country back.
She was in saddle shoes when F.D.R. gave his New Deal speech.
- Yeah. When you look at all she has accomplished,
there can only be one explanation for it.
She was anointed by God.
***
- ...Democrats, Republicans, and Independents
have streamed to the polls to vote
in the biggest and, so far, the most important
presidential primary election... - Think he might go all the way.
- I heard a disturbing rumor
that he's considering picking Bush.
- Oh, he wouldn't dare.
- It would be a stab in the back.
- It'll send our people back into the churches.
He's too moderate.
- Look, I don't expect to pull in more than 2% tonight,
but people have been asking if I'd like to be his running mate.
- Ron's people are asking?
- No, no, reporters.
- Oh. - And I tell them that Reagan
is the only one that I feel comfortable with.
[ indistinct conversations ]
Maybe, uh, maybe you can mention that to him.
- You must be Phyllis Schlafly.
We have not had the pleasure officially.
I'm Roger Stone. This is Paul Manafort.
- Oh! Yes. What a pleasure to meet you both.
- I heard you just formed
a political consulting firm with Charlie.
- Young Republicans-- they're gonna take over D.C.
- [ laughs ]
- I'm Mr. Phyllis Schlafly. [ chuckles ]
- You wouldn't mind if we stole her for a bit.
Ron wanted to discuss strategy for the platform hearings.
- By all means.
She's doing God's work.
- Good evening, Congressman.
- Thank you for your service.
[ Christopher Cross' "Ride Like the Wind" playing ]
***
- Welcome to those of you who have just joined our coverage
of this, uh, quite remarkable election.
- [ crowd chanting ]
- It is, in truth, a Reagan Republican landslide
sweeping across this nation tonight.
- A Reagan landslide, ladies and gentlemen.
* It is the night
* My body's weak
* I'm on the run
* No time to sleep
* I've got to ride...
- Looks to me as if the modern liberal era is over.
- The people of the United States
have made their choice.
* Ride like the wind
And, of course, I accept that decision.
[ indistinct shouting ]
- You know...
here we are.
***
- About 22 seats in the House... [ telephone rings ]
...and looking at the governors races,
the Republicans had expected that they would be able
to pick up two states...
- Excuse me. [ knock on door ]
Bella Abzug is on the line. - Oh.
- Let's see what they have. We have projection now.
NBC News projecting Washington state,
the Republican, John Spellman...
- Bella. - Congratulations, you.
I can still say I have friends in high places.
- Well, for two years, at least.
I don't know if I'm going to run again.
- You lasted longer than me.
I couldn't get elected President
of the Bronx chapter of Hadassah.
- [ both chuckle ]
- There's no room for us here now.
- Reagan in the White House,
if the economy picks up, he'll take credit for it.
He's charismatic. It's going to turn back 50 years
of human progress in this country.
- I appreciate the call, Bella.
- Hold the door for the next bunch.
- Where do we go from here?
- This might be the right time for Liz and Egee
to give us grandchildren.
[ cheering on TV ]
- Earlier...
- Or...
we could go to the Amalfi Coast.
- I've spoken and talked to President Carter.
He called. John Anderson called, and the president...
[ Kim Carnes' "More Love" playing ]
- I thought it was you.
I don't know why you always hide behind a magazine.
No one thinks that you were born with those highlights.
- Your hair looks lovely.
- Oh. Well, it'll be ruined by tomorrow
because I forgot I had that run.
- What run?
- The breakfast run
for the Equal Rights Amendment out in the Hamptons.
Gail and I have organized it to raise money for ERAmerica,
and we've enlisted all of these celebrities to run.
We've got Paul Newman. We've got Lucie Arnaz.
We've got Carl Reiner.
- A 5-mile run?
- 2 miles because I run a 16-minute mile.
- So it's not a run, Betty. It's a walk.
- Oh, the things I do for this movement. [ chuckles ]
[ indistinct conversations ]
It's terrible, what happened to Bella.
We've had our differences of opinion,
but she deserved better.
And the worst part is she fought so hard to get women
appointed to Cabinet positions,
and now it's going to be Phyllis Schlafly instead of her?
- God forbid.
- It was a mistake for you to refuse to appear with her.
I mean, she got to say anything she wanted
on Donahue, Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas.
You know, you think Zsa Zsa Gabor
was gonna correct her?
She's going to have the last word.
- She is not going to have the last word.
- The tide is turning against us in Washington.
- Our movement didn't start in Washington.
It's not gonna be stopped by it.
***
[ door opens ]
Gloria: I have stood alongside the greatest women
of my generation. [ door closes ]
***
Still, today, we select our leaders first
by eliminating women, then minorities,
then those with too little education.
Changing this will take a very long time.
But after all, we are dealing with 10,000 years
of patriarchy and racism,
but we must continue to move forward in waves.
What will keep us going is the revelation
of what we can be,
what the people around us can be
without the crippling walls and prisons
into which we have been forced.
***
[ amplified voice ] We are just beginning to discover--
each of us--who we can be,
and no matter how long this revolution may take,
there can be no turning back.
[ loud cheers and applause ]
[ TV playing indistinctly ]
[ telephone rings ]
[ TV continues indistinctly ]
[ ring ]
- Schlafly residence.
Uh, I'll go get her.
[ typing on keyboard ]
It's him.
[ stops typing ]
- [ exhales deeply ]
[ exhaling deeply ]
[ exhales deeply ]
[ receiver clicks ]
[ inhales deeply ]
Congratulations, Mr. President-elect.
- Reagan: Well, thank you, Phyllis. How are you doing?
- Oh, I'm very well, sir. And--And yourself?
I hear, uh, there's been a bit of a cold snap,
uh, in Washington, D.C., over the weekend.
- [ chuckles ] Then it's a good thing
I'm still at the ranch.
Uh, we still have a few more weeks of the, uh, peanut farmer.
- Oh, oh, no. Yes, of course.
Um, I suppose I'm just... [ clears throat ]
very keen to get to work, sir.
- Which is why I'm calling.
Uh, your coalition carried me across the finish line.
Your list was invaluable.
Uh, but Jim tells me that overall I didn't do so well
with the ladies.
Seems I have a woman problem. [ chuckles ]
It isn't that you don't deserve it.
I just, uh, can't afford to upset the pro-ERA groups.
You fought an important battle,
but sometimes the battle follows us home.
I respect you a great deal, Phyllis,
and that is why I wanted to call to say thank you.
Take care.
[ line disconnects ]
[ receiver clatters ]
- [ sighs ] You were robbed.
You deserved a Cabinet post.
[ dog barking in distance ]
Shall we have dinner?
- It's at 6.
[ receiver clatters ]
It's always at 6.
[ Molly Drake's "Little Weaver Bird" playing ]
***
[ footsteps descend stairs ]
* Little weaver bird
* Sitting sadly in the tree
* Take my good advice
* And forget your misery
* Your tears are all in vain
* And regret can be absurd
[ footsteps ascend stairs ]
[ switch clicks ] * Little weaver bird
* Get weaving
***
* The year is going by
* And the season's getting on
* Don't you think it's time to build yourself a home? *
* She blinked her brilliant eye *
* I don't even think she heard *
* Little weaver bird
* Get weaving
[ utensils clattering ]
* Oh, I can sympathize
* With a heart that is distressed *
* But every bird who's wise
* Will build herself a nest
* She looked at me and sighed
* Then a miracle occurred
* The little weaver bird
***
* Got weaving
[ clock ticking ]
[ clock continues ticking ]
***
All right, ladies.
It's time to go in and have our voices heard.
(crowd cheering)
Together...
we can take our country back!
MAN: We have 15 minutes and you have some cool stuff to show us.
-(beeps) -(laughs) Oh, yeah.
I want you to join Devs.
WOMAN: What is Devs?
It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
MAN: I had no idea what I would find
when I went searching for my father.
They flashed the Zodiac Killer, and my heart stopped.
WOMAN: He believes he is the son of the Zodiac.
COLIN: They had come highly recommended
by a mutual vampire associate of ours,
but nevertheless, I found it prudent
-to run the traditional credit checks... -(yawns)
...and reference protocols.
Suffice it to say, I am part of the 33%
who find it necessary to utilize my complementary credit check
every year.
(snoring)
(hisses)
(up-tempo music plays)
(laughing)
(squeaking)