House of Cards

This is Russo. Please leave a message.

He's not answering my calls.

It's over, and he must know it.

You don't think there's any way he can recover?

The Republicans will play that interview on every radio and television station

from now until November 5th.

I sympathize with the kid, but this was my concern from the beginning.

And I should've listened to you, sir.

I thought he could handle the pressure.

Okay. So he withdraws.

We need to replace him.

You have any ideas?

With less than two months to go?

If the President hadn't shut me out of the early discussions,

I could've come up with some good options,

but I don't know anyone who's got the name recognition and donor base

to start a campaign from scratch just seven weeks out.

Let me think.

Everything hinges on the next few minutes...

all my months of planning, every move I've made.

- There is one person. - Who?

You, Mr. Vice President.

If you ran to reclaim your seat,

I think you'd win by a landslide.

Resign the vice presidency.

Only if you win.

Walker needs me for 2016.

Are you entirely certain he's gonna keep you on the ticket?

I mean, it's no secret

the two of you don't exactly get along.

What has he said?

Oh, you're putting me in a very awkward position, Mr. Vice President.

Has he been bad-mouthing me?

Well, the exact phrase he used was "pain in the ass."

That fucker.

He's got no idea how to lead,

no sense of respect.

- Oh, is this his idea? - No.

- His way of getting rid of me? - No. It struck me yesterday,

and I just thought it was worth suggesting.

But, no, I haven't discussed this with anyone.

And you shouldn't.

People don't leave the White House to become a governor.

May I ask you a personal question, sir?

Do you want to be the Vice President?

Peter said that when you were out on that campaign trail,

you had so much enthusiasm and energy

that he thought you maybe missed being the Governor.

I do miss it.

Then why not go back?

You could be the hero of this election

and secure Pennsylvania for the Democrats in 2016.

Garrett would never go along with something like this,

even if he hates my guts.

It would make him look weak,

like he's lost control of the administration.

Not if it was a mutual decision.

Look, let me talk to Garrett.

I won't mention that we've spoken.

I suppose there's no harm in finding out what he thinks.

Thank you, Mr. Vice President.

- Slogans for 400. - "1976. He's making us proud again."

- D.J. - Who is Carter.

- No. John. - Who is Ford.

- Peter? - Slogans for 600.

- "1888. Grandfather's hat fits Ben." - Peter, are you here?

- Claudia. - Who is Benjamin Harrison.

- Yes. - Presidential slogans for 800.

- "1900... " - On the train ride down,

I almost called the police to have them break in

and make sure you hadn't hurt yourself.

I'm not gonna even ask you what happened. It doesn't matter right now.

- "1964. In your heart, you know he's right." - What matters right now...

- what matters... - Who is Goldwater.

- Claudia - Who is Goldwater.

Barry Goldwater. Yes.

Oh, come on. Hey, I'm watching that.

What matters is the 50 reporters in front of your building

and the 150 campaign staffers who don't know if they still have a job.

It's over.

I know.

So, tell them to go away.

What, are you just gonna hole yourself up in here and hope it all goes away?

Yeah, that's pretty much the plan.

Well, I won't let you.

Hey, put that down. Hey.

- Hey, put that down! - Peter...

We need to put out a statement.

Call me when you're prepared to do that.

I'll be at the headquarters in Philly.

I was scared that I was starting to feel

too much for you.

I think that's why I ended it.

And you have no room for fear?

No. Being afraid doesn't accomplish anything.

That's not true. When I'm overseas,

rational fear... disease or violence...

that sort of fear keeps you alive.

Back here, God,

I find myself afraid of things

that I can't name or point to.

It's like, uh, how little am I seeing?

Or have I wasted this day or this moment?

Yeah, I think that sometimes...

whether my life will add up.

Francis would roll his eyes

if he heard me talking like this.

Does he know where you are?

No, he doesn't.

If he's looking for you, that's where you are.

Over there.

Before you met Frank.

Alone.

Curious.

Absorbing everything.

You have no idea what I was like when I was a girl.

Did he ever know that side of you?

He wasn't interested in that girl.

And neither was I.

What were you interested in?

Being more than an observer.

You wanted to be seen.

Not just seen.

I wanted to be significant.

There's no historical precedent.

Aaron Burr ran for Governor, Calhoun for the Senate.

200 years ago. One shot a man in a duel, the other believed in slavery.

Is that really the sort of company we wanna share, Frank?

Mr. President, we stand losing control of an important swing state,

our majority in the house, and quite possibly your second term in office.

Preventing all of that may require unconventional measures.

It would look like I'm pushing him out.

Or worse... that he's abandoning the administration.

You make a joint statement.

You say he won't resign unless he wins.

If he loses, he stays on as Vice President.

No one could accuse either of you of disloyalty to the other.

- Did Jim come to you with this? - No. It's entirely my idea.

I wouldn't dream of speaking to the Vice President without passing it by you first.

I think he'd take it as an affront,

like I'm trying to get rid of him.

Honestly, sir, I think he might be more interested than you imagine.

- Why is that? - Well, I hesitate to bring this up,

but when he was campaigning for Russo,

he spoke quite freely about you, sir.

Mm-hmm. Tell me.

Of course, I'm getting this secondhand from Peter,

but the gist of it is that...

that you lack entirely in leadership,

and that you have no sense of respect.

And he wants more responsibility.

And how do I give him that when he shows

absolutely no discretion, no discipline?

Well, that is entirely my point. Now, look,

I take full responsibility for backing Russo,

but there could be a silver lining in all this.

You could accomplish two goals:

Secure Pennsylvania for the Democrats

and find an honorable way to replace Matthews.

What do you think?

I think it is a very big decision,

and we do not want to make it impulsively.

I agree. I'd like to put some more thought into it.

Well, that is very prudent, sir. Just bear in mind,

seven weeks out, that every day counts.

- Hi, sir. - How much is it?

Oh, I got your receipt right here.

No, no, no. It was... it was just $40.

Yeah. Don't tell anyone, all right?

No. I... I never say anything about our tenants.

- The press still outside? - Yeah.

I told them you weren't here, like you said.

Most of them left. There's still, you know, a few, though.

If I wanted to leave, is there a place I could do it without being seen?

Yeah. The freight elevator down to the garage.

- I could call you a cab or... - All right. Thanks. I'll let you know.

Mr. Russo, uh...

sir, it's none of my business,

but, uh, my Uncle... he fell off the wagon a few times.

When he did, the best thing for him was just not to be alone.

I'll give you this money back, I'll take that bag off your hands,

come in here, keep you company...

I appreciate it. I'll let you know if I change my mind.

Sit down.

Where's Claire?

Not here.

So what is this, tying up loose ends?

I wouldn't presume.

People like you can't be neatly tied up.

But I thought perhaps we could start...

It's very tasteful.

This is the dress she wore to the gala.

I believe so.

It is.

I recognize it.

Go back into the bedroom.

I'm amazed how well you got her in focus.

What should we call her?

Why does she need a name?

I never photograph anyone without knowing their name.