The Post (2017)
Tom Hanks: Ben Bradlee
Photos
Quotes
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Fritz Beebe : If the government wins and we're convicted, the Washington Post as we know it will cease to exist.
Ben Bradlee : Well, if we live in a world where the government could tell us what we can and cannot print, then the Washington Post as we know it has already ceased to exist.
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[behind closed doors]
Ben Bradlee : So, can I ask you a hypothetical question?
Kay Graham : Oh, dear. I don't like hypothetical questions.
Ben Bradlee : Well, I don't think you're gonna like the real one, either.
[pause]
Kay Graham : Do you have the Papers?
[pause]
Ben Bradlee : Not yet.
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Ben Bradlee : He says we can't, I say we can. There, you're caught up.
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Roger Clark : What if we wait? What if we hold off on printing today. Instead we call the Attorney General and we tell them that we intend to print on Sunday. That way we give them and us time to figure out the legality of all of it, while the Court in New York decides the Times case.
Ben Bradlee : Are you suggesting we alert the Attorney General to the fact that we have these documents, that we're going to print, in a few days?
Roger Clark : Well, yes, that is the idea.
Ben Bagdikian : Yeah, well, outside of landing the Hindenburg in a lightning storm, that's about the shittiest idea I've ever heard.
Fritz Beebe : Oh boy!
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Ben Bradlee : We have to be the check on their power. If we don't hold them accountable, then, my God, who will?
Kay Graham : Well, I've never smoked a cigar. And I have no problem holding Lyndon or Jack or Bob or any of them accountable. We can't hold them accountable if we don't have a newspaper.
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Ben Bradlee : Jack Kennedy. The night he was assassinated, Tony and I were down at the Naval Hospital so we would be there to meet Jackie when she landed. She was bringing Jack's body back on the plane from Dallas and she walked into the room. She was still wearing that pink suit, with Jack's blood all over it. She fell into Tony's arms and they held each other for quite a long time. And then Jackie looked at me and said, "None of this. None of what you see. None of what I say, is *ever* going to be in your newspaper, Ben." And that just about broke my heart. I never - never thought of Jack as a source. I thought of him as a friend. And that was my mistake. And it was something that Jack knew all along. We can't be both. We have to choose. And - that's the point. The days of us smoking cigars together on Pennsylvania Avenue were over.
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Ben Bradlee : [to Kay] You know, the only couple I knew that both Kennedy and LBJ wanted to socialize with was you and your husband.
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Ben Bradlee : They'll be defending the first amendment. We'll tell them that the only way to protect the right to publish - is to publish.
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Anthony Essaye : Ben, look, we know your reporters are talented. But, The New York Times spent three months going over these documents. You've got, what? Seven hours now until the paper goes to press? Can you honestly tell me that that is enough time to make sure not a single military plan, not a single U.S. soldier, not a single American life will be put in harms way? That this will do no damage to the United States if you publish?
Ben Bradlee : Yes.
Roger Clark : And you're sure about that?
Ben Bradlee : No! That's why I've called you guys.
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Ben Bradlee : My god, the fun!
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Kay Graham : Are you sure we're striking the right tone here, Ben?
Ben Bradlee : Oh, we're going to do this again.
Kay Graham : No. The new Style section, sometimes that stiletto party coverage can be a little mean.
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Kay Graham : Ben, that's not my role. You know that. I wouldn't presume to tell you how to write about him. Just as I wouldn't take it upon myself to tell him he should hand over a classified study, which would be a crime, by the way, just so he can serve as your source.
Ben Bradlee : Our source, Katherine.
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Ben Bradlee : Join the fight?
Tony Bradlee : Yeah, who's winning?
Ben Bradlee : Nixon!
Tony Bradlee : I didn't see him come in.
Ben Bradlee : Really? He's got his hands so far up Fritz's ass.
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Kay Graham : Oh well, we don't always get it right. You know, we're not always perfect. But, I think if we just - keep on it, you know, that's the job, isn't it?
Ben Bradlee : Yes, it is.
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Kay Graham : Oh, Ken Clawson came by to see me earlier.
Ben Bradlee : Oh?
Kay Graham : Apparently, Justice is still considering criminal charges against us.
Ben Bradlee : Yeah, well, I bet they are.
Kay Graham : And you're not worried.
Ben Bradlee : Nope. No, Katharine, that's your job.
Kay Graham : I suppose it is. Oh, thank God the court ruling was very clear.
Ben Bradlee : Yeah. Yeah, well, I'm sure Nixon will fall right in line.
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Ben Bradlee : When I get my hands on that study, what are you going to do, Mrs. Graham? Oh, happy birthday, by the way.
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Ben Bagdikian : There's a fella I overlapped with at RAND. He was a bit of a showboat; but, smart. And he worked for McNamara and he had opinions on the decision-making that went into Vietnam.
Ben Bradlee : Okay.
Ben Bagdikian : The word is, he doved. Pretty hard.
Ben Bradlee : Would he have access to the study?
Ben Bagdikian : I'm sure RAND had a copy.
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Ben Bradlee : The only way to assert the right to publish is to publish.
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Arthur Parsons : Ben, there are concerns here that are frankly above your pay grade.
Ben Bradlee : Well, there're a few above yours, Artie, like fucking freedom of the press!
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Ben Bradlee : No matter what happens tomorrow, we are not a little local paper anymore.