The American President (1995)

Martin Sheen: A.J. MacInerney

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Quotes 

• A. J. MacInerney : [in the Oval Office]  The President doesn't answer to you, Lewis!

  Lewis Rothschild : Oh, yes he does, A.J. I'm a citizen, this is my President. And in this country it is not only permissible to question our leaders, it's our responsibility!

• A. J. MacInerney : [to President Andrew Shepherd]  Oh, you only fight the fights you can win? You fight the fights that need fighting!

• President Andrew Shepherd : [after playing pool]  Is the view pretty good from the cheap seats, A.J.?

  A.J. : I beg your pardon?

  President Andrew Shepherd : Because it occurs to me that in twenty-five years I've never seen YOUR name on a ballot. Now, why is that? Why are you always one step behind ME?

  A.J. : Because if I wasn't, you'd be the most popular history teacher at the University of Wisconsin!

  President Andrew Shepherd : Fuck you!

• A.J. : [to President Andrew Shepherd]  You've said it yourself a million times. If there had been a TV in every living room sixty years ago, this country does not elect a man in a wheelchair.

• [after President Shepherd's speech] 

  Leon Kodak : Well, you don't see that every day of the week.

  Lewis Rothschild : He's got the whole White House press corps asking each other how to spell "erudite"!

  A.J. : Better call the printer, Lewis.

  Lewis Rothschild : I know, we gotta rewrite the State of the Union.

  A.J. : Every word, kid. It's a whole new ballgame. You have exactly 35 minutes.

  Lewis Rothschild : [sarcastically, jokingly]  Oh, good, I thought I was gonna be rushed!

• President Andrew Shepherd : [while playing pool]  She didn't say anything about me?

  A.J. : [sarcastically, jokingly]  No, but I could always pass her a note before study hall.

• A.J. : [after walking on west colonnade in the White House]  Good night, Mr. President.

  President Andrew Shepherd : A.J.?

  A.J. : Yes, sir?

  President Andrew Shepherd : When we're out of the office, and alone, you can call me Andy.

  A.J. : I beg your pardon, sir?

  President Andrew Shepherd : You were the best man at my wedding, for crying out loud. Call me Andy.

  A.J. : Whatever you say, Mr. President.

• President Andrew Shepherd : [while playing pool]  This is NOT the business of the American people!

  A.J. : With all due respect, sir, the American people have a funny way of deciding on their own what is and what is not their business.

• A.J. : [in the Oval Office]  Excuse me, Mr. President, I just got off the phone with the federal mediator in St. Louis. Management just walked away from the table; the baggage handlers, pilots and flight attendants are all getting set to walk out in forty-eight hours.

  President Andrew Shepherd : You know, I studied under a Nobel Prize-winning economist, and you know what he taught me?

  A.J. : Never have an airline strike at Christmas?

• [Sydney and President D'Astier were conversing in French during the state dinner] 

  President Andrew Shepherd : Sydney, you didn't dissolve our trade agreements, did you?

  Sydney Ellen Wade : No, I just said we're sitting in this beautiful room, listening to the music of this wonderful orchestra, and I wondered why nobody was dancing.

  President René Jean D'Astier : And I informed Miss Wade that in my country, a guest at the palace of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette would soon find their head in a guillotine if they made the impertinent gesture of dancing without so much as a by-your-leave from the King and the Queen.

  [laughs] 

  A. J. MacInerney : I bet no one accused Louis of being soft on crime.

  Sydney Ellen Wade : There's a lesson there, Mr. President.

  President Andrew Shepherd : More beheadings at the White House!

• President Andrew Shepherd : [after playing pool]  If Mary hadn't died, would we have won three years ago?

  A.J. : Would we have won?

  President Andrew Shepherd : If we had to go through a character debate three years ago, would we have won?

  A.J. : I don't know. But I would have liked that campaign. If my friend Andy Shepherd had shown up, I would have liked that campaign very much.

• A.J. : [after playing pool]  Listen, I'm going to have Janie clear your schedule for the weekend. You need to get some rest.

  President Andrew Shepherd : Are you handling me, A.J.?

  A.J. : No, sir, but I will if you don't start taking your head out of your ass.

  President Andrew Shepherd : Excuse me?

  A.J. : Lewis is right, go after this guy!

  President Andrew Shepherd : Has Rumson lied in the past seven weeks?

  A.J. : Has he lied?

  President Andrew Shepherd : Other than not knowing the difference between Harvard and Stanford, has he said something that isn't true? Am I not a Commander in Chief who's never served in the military? Am I not opposed to a Constitutional amendment banning flag burning? Am I not an unmarried father who shared a bed with a liberal lobbyist down the hall from his twelve-year-old daughter?

  A.J. : And you think you're wrong?

  President Andrew Shepherd : I don't think you win elections by telling fifty-nine percent of voters that they are!

• President Andrew Shepherd : [while playing pool]  Did she say anything about me?

  A. J. MacInerney : Ms. Wade?

  President Andrew Shepherd : When she called?

  A. J. MacInerney : Did she say anything about you?

  President Andrew Shepherd : No. We had a nice couple of minutes together. She threatened me, I patronized her. We didn't have anything to eat, but I thought there was a connection.

• A. J. MacInerney : Oh, and Leon, don't be the nice, sweet guy from Brooklyn on this one. Do what the NRA does.

  Leon Kodak : [sarcastically, jokingly]  What, scare the shit out of them?

  A. J. MacInerney : Exactly.

  Leon Kodak : I can do that.

• A. J. MacInerney : [in the Oval Office]  Excuse me, sir, where are you going?

  President Andrew Shepherd : I'm going over to her house. I'm going to stand outside her door until she lets me in, and I'm not leaving 'til I get her back.

  A. J. MacInerney : How are you going to do that, sir?

  President Andrew Shepherd : Well, I haven't worked that out yet, but I'm sure groveling will be involved.

• Lewis Rothschild : [in his bedroom]  Can I just state very clearly I can't be part of anything illegal.

  A.J. : Good for you, Lewis.

  Lewis Rothschild : Say what you want. It's always the guy in my job that ends up doing 18 months in Danbury minimum security prison.

• A.J. : [while playing pool]  Mr.President, this is an election year. If you're looking for female companionship, we can make certain arrangements that will ensure total privacy.

  President Andrew Shepherd : I don't want you to get me a girl, A.J.! What is this, Vegas?

  A.J. : No sir, this is the White House.

• President Andrew Shepherd : [while playing pool]  She didn't say anything about me?

  A. J. MacInerney : Well, she did say you were taller than she thought you'd be.

  President Andrew Shepherd : Well, that's something.

• [Discussing a reprisal for an attack on US troops] 

  A. J. MacInerney : Sir, it's immediate, it's decisive, it's low-risk, and it's a proportional response.

  President Andrew Shepherd : Someday someone's going to have to explain to me the virtue of a proportional response.

• A.J. MacInerney : [sarcastically, jokingly]  If anyone needs me, I'll be in the Roosevelt Room, giving Lewis oxygen.

• A. J. MacInerney : I feel a nightmare coming on...

• President Andrew Shepherd : Two-ball on the side.

  [He makes the shot, and the two-ball goes into the pocket] 

  A. J. MacInerney : Nice shot, Mr. President.

  President Andrew Shepherd : "Nice shot, Mr. President"? You won't even call me by my name when we're playing pool?

  A. J. MacInerney : I will not do it playing pool, I will not do it in a school. I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them, Sam I Am.

  President Andrew Shepherd : At ease, A.J. At ease.

  [He prepares to hit the nine-ball into the corner pocket; A.J. stands by that pocket] 

  President Andrew Shepherd : Would - would you get away from the pocket?

  A. J. MacInerney : I beg your pardon, sir.