House of Cards (TV Series)

Chapter 57 (2017)

Kevin Spacey: Francis Underwood

Photos 

Quotes 

• [first lines] 

  Protesters : [chanting outside the Whitehouse]  Not my president! Not my president! Not my president! Not my president! Not my president! Not my president!

  [chanting continues] 

  Francis Underwood : [strolling between the protesdors talking to the camera]  The people are angry. Nine weeks ago, we had an election in this country, but because two states refused to certify, neither Conway nor myself received the 270 electoral votes required for victory. So they gather here every morning to exercise their magnificent right, guaranteed by the First Amendment, to let their angry voices be heard.

  Francis Underwood : [now walking on the Capitpol Mall]  And so, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and half of January have come and gone, and all three branches of government are in crisis. The Congress is in disarray, the Supreme Court is doubting justice and doomed to deadlock, and the executive branch is without a boss.

  Francis Underwood : [looking out across the Reflecting Pond]  You see, my feeling is, I think the Founding Fathers, they just got tired. And really, can you blame them? I mean, you can't think of everything. Black swans, Murphy's Law. I mean, at a certain point, you just have to sign off and cross your goddamn fingers and hope for the best. Or adopt "flipism," a pseudo-philosophy of life in which the most important decisions are made by the flipping of a coin. It was first introduced in the Disney comic book Flip Decision - one of my favorites - in which Donald Duck is persuaded by Professor Batty to make all the most important decisions based on the flipping of a coin."Life is but a gamble. Let flipism guide your ramble."

  Francis Underwood : [now standing inside the Jefferson Memorial]  We've had this sort of trouble before. The election of 1800, Jefferson versus Burr. They wound up in a tie. 73 electoral votes each. That was the number required then, and that's when Congress tried to address what the Founding Fathers just couldn't imagine. And, poof, the Twelfth Amendment was born. And it says that if the states don't certify, it's the House that chooses the president and the Senate that chooses the vice president. Now the House is a bit of a mess, but the Senate is rather democratic in how they choose the VP. One person, one vote. But if there's a tie - and this is where Donald Duck comes in - it's resolved by the toss of a coin. A solution that's elegant as hell. But then there's no elegance in modern politics. It's mostly hell.

  Francis Underwood : [emerging from the Lincoln Memorial]  The identity of the next President of these United States is once again in the hands of a bunch of self-serving, money-hungry, boot-licking, power-seeking politicians who can be seduced or sucker punched or blackmailed into submission. And all I need is just one more vote than the other guy.

  Francis Underwood : As you can see, the Founding Fathers didn't plan for this.

  [flips a coin high into the air] 

  Francis Underwood : But I did.

  [tosses the coin it into the Potomac, then looks into the camera] 

  Francis Underwood : Meet your new daddy.

  [theme music begins playing] 

• Francis Underwood : How many protestors are out there today?

  Doug Stamper : More than yesterday. But they're doing their best to divert them away from the White House.

  Francis Underwood : I don't know what's worse, the sound of their chanting or the sound of silence when they're not.

• Alex Romero : You know, we did meet once before, Mr. President. At a dinner, during the 2012 convention. - I tried to introduce myself to you...

  Francis Underwood : And?

  Alex Romero : You don't remember, do you?

  Francis Underwood : Why would I?

• Francis Underwood : Two years from now, you'll be back in Phoenix replaying this very moment over and over again in your mind and realising it was beginning of the end.

• Alex Romero : Our movement wants to explode things...

  Francis Underwood : Please. Spare me your progressive PR bullshit.

• Francis Underwood : Congressman Romero, do you have good news for me? Have your progressives seen the light?

  Alex Romero : I did what I could, Mr President. I couldn't sway the bloc.

  Francis Underwood : Couldn't or wouldn't?

  Alex Romero : Maine and New Hampshire are noncommittal. Congressman Wolcott is turning Wisconsin for Conway.

  Francis Underwood : Tell me a different truth.

  Alex Romero : They aren't listening to me. They believe supporting you would do more damage to the Democratic Party and the country than a Conway presidency.

• Francis Underwood : I think people underestimate... the importance of detail to the overall impact.

• Francis Underwood : But you can never erase an e-mail, even my dead aunt knows that.