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00:04Well, I'll be damned.
00:19Do check it.
00:21Shhh!
00:33Meaty-eyed little bastard.
00:40Your Excellency, I thought you'd wipe away what looks like birdshed with the British flag captured by our valiant troops
00:54at Yorktown.
00:57Oh, my God, I'm so sorry, Your Excellency.
01:00Don't be.
01:02We fought a whole war for the right to wipe our asses with that rag.
01:07Maybe next time use the newspaper.
01:12Well then, I've read.
01:21I'll be honest with you.
01:24Freeman.
01:26Here at the White House, I prefer to hire white servants.
01:30Even though, on occasion, some of them let me down.
01:36But, Dr. Baker tells me you are both diligent and discreet.
01:43And the last of those two is something I value highly.
01:47Nothing is more dangerous than a friend without discretion.
01:53Even a prudent enemy is preferable.
01:58De La Fontaine.
02:02Slave, quoting French poetry.
02:05C'est fantastique.
02:06I can see why your master recommended you to me.
02:10There's something you like to say, is all.
02:14When Jefferson moves in to the White House, he essentially rents a slave from a friend of his, a doctor,
02:24for about $8 a month.
02:26The name of the slave is beyond ironic.
02:29John Freeman.
02:32John Freeman.
02:33John Freeman had a unique view of American politics.
02:38He had a front row seat to the founding of the United States and the country and the government as
02:46we know it today.
02:49You're a smart man, John.
02:55Just remember this.
02:59All that you see within these four walls, the words you hear are never to be repeated.
03:13Your secrets are mine.
03:15And should I fail you, let me be struck down.
03:22In 1801, Thomas Jefferson became president.
03:26The White House, thank God, is a bit more built.
03:30Construction has continued.
03:32But it must have seemed very lonely and isolated.
03:36So, thank goodness, in 1801, James and Dolly came to town.
03:42It's taken months to arrive, but they finally installed it last week.
03:47Designed by Alexander Cumming of Edomar.
03:49Oh.
03:51Well, there was me thinking you only hired Scotsman to rake shit up.
03:56Dolly.
03:57Oh, I am so sorry, Your Excellency.
04:02I must remember my manners.
04:04Now you are the president of the supposedly United States.
04:16Well, it's very impressive.
04:19I, for one, shall be glad not to make the track out the back lawn in the middle of the
04:23snowstorm.
04:24Quite so.
04:27Now, let me show you the rest of the changes.
04:32Jefferson, among the many things that he did, he was an architect.
04:37And the White House was a remarkable opportunity for him to put his own personal stamp on the building.
04:45Here we have the new portico.
04:48And this.
04:51This is where we plant a new West Wing.
04:55Well, it's very impressive, Thomas, but do we have the money for all of these improvements?
05:01James Madison has just been selected by Thomas Jefferson as his Secretary of State.
05:07James Madison is a very thoughtful person.
05:10He's known as the father of the U.S. Constitution.
05:12There were critics who made fun of him because of his lack of height.
05:18They called him Little Jimmy.
05:20Five foot four.
05:22The costs will likely exceed the $14,000 Congress approved for the changes made by Adams.
05:30But I, we, shall charm him.
05:39There's something I would ask of you, darling.
05:43With your husband's permission.
05:45Oh, yes, of course.
05:50What is it, Thomas?
05:55Martha's death, almost many years ago, has robbed me, not only of my wife, but of a partner in this
06:05new endeavor.
06:07Guiding light, illuminate this drab cathedral.
06:15I'm not sure I understand, Thomas.
06:19The British are sending over a new ambassador.
06:23Anthony Mary.
06:24And I am supposed to welcome him by giving a dinner here at the President's house.
06:32I would like you to be the hostess.
06:35Me?
06:37Why?
06:39Well, is there a woman in America better suited?
06:42You are clever.
06:44Beautiful.
06:46Widely admired for your sense of style.
06:50And, crucially, you love parties.
06:54And I...
06:56Do not.
06:59Dolly is extroverted.
07:01Dolly loves the social scene.
07:05She was particularly valuable during the Jefferson era because Thomas Jefferson was a widower.
07:11His wife Martha died in 1782.
07:14And there was really no first lady to speak of.
07:18People always talk about what a figure she cut, how beautiful she looked.
07:23With a warm, lovely, hospitable personality.
07:28Oh, I don't know, Thomas.
07:31Our house here in Washington is still unfinished.
07:34Our belongings are scattered in boxes.
07:37There's already so much I need to do.
07:40That brings me neatly to my next request.
07:43I want you both to stay here until your house is ready.
07:46God knows there's enough space.
07:48I won't take no for an answer.
07:53Well, of course, we'd be delighted.
07:56Wouldn't we, Dolly?
07:59Wonderful.
08:00Wonderful!
08:02Let's inform the staff.
08:09You didn't have to say yes.
08:12Of course I did. You didn't give us an option.
08:16Anyways, it's not so bad.
08:18They got indoor privies.
08:38Hello?
08:40Hello? I'm looking for...
08:43Mr. Meyer?
08:45Mayor?
08:46Mayor, I'm looking for Edward Mayor.
08:51Ahmed!
09:02Who the bloody hell are you?
09:05Freeman.
09:06John.
09:07And where did you steal this uniform from?
09:10Freeman.
09:12John.
09:12I didn't steal nothing, sir.
09:14I'm the employer of Mr. Jefferson.
09:16Same as you.
09:18Let's find the truth of it then.
09:20John Freeman comes to the White House.
09:22He's really kind of a butler.
09:24Now, many of the enslaved Africans that came to the White House, Jefferson kept them in the background.
09:32But John Freeman was treated equally to his white servants.
09:39I really don't know why they'd bother putting doors on this place if anyone and everyone's just going to keep
09:45marching in.
09:46What is it, Mayor?
09:47And why are you manhandling Freeman?
09:51Then this man is as he says in your employ?
09:56Indeed.
09:57What of it?
10:00He's black.
10:02Self-evidently.
10:05And he wears the same uniform as I.
10:08If you have a point, Mayor, come to it.
10:14I won't wear the same uniform as an ape.
10:22You feel passionately about this?
10:26I do.
10:28Well then.
10:35You are relieved of your duties immediately.
10:38What?
10:39Your wages will be sent to you in due course.
10:42Goodbye, sir.
10:43Goodbye, sir.
10:50Well don't just stand there, Freeman, about your duties.
10:55Throughout his entire life, Thomas Jefferson had contradictory actions when it came to slavery.
11:03Even as a lawyer, he argued cases against slavery, and he argued cases for slavery.
11:11Why, Thomas?
11:16You know why.
11:36That took you long enough.
11:41Are you expected, sir?
11:44There's an old friend need an invitation.
11:48Sir!
11:49Stop!
11:52There you are.
11:57Go and, um, go and get out.
11:59I'm so sorry, Excellency.
12:01You just pushed past me, Andrew.
12:02All right, John.
12:05You may leave this gentleman with me.
12:10James Callender wants compensation for a fine that he had to pay in addition to being put into prison.
12:17James Callender is such an interesting character because he did all of this dirty work for Jefferson.
12:25So, what brings you to Washington?
12:28Have the distilleries of Richmond run dry?
12:32I've come to take up my post.
12:35I'm sorry, James. To which post are you referring?
12:39When Callender is sprung from jail, he asked Jefferson for a plum post in the federal government.
12:45He wanted to be Postmaster of Richmond, Virginia.
12:49And Jefferson had realized that Callender might be a little unreliable.
12:54Callender had a drinking problem that was well known.
12:59It was this hand that placed you in that seat.
13:06My pen.
13:11Now, imagine, for just a second,
13:16if I let it slip that all those articles I wrote,
13:18savaging your rivals were sponsored, written, and paid for by the newly installed president.
13:33I went to prison, Thomas.
13:37Your enemies put me behind bars.
13:41And you?
13:44You left me there,
13:47dangling in the wind.
13:52Now, you will recompense me.
13:58The truth is,
14:01Mr. Callender,
14:04that I don't know what you're talking about.
14:08I can only assume prisoners disordered your memory.
14:14I was happy, as president, to pardon you,
14:17but that is the very limit of my goodwill.
14:22I suggest you leave now, Mr. Callender.
14:26Find a boarding house.
14:28Take a bath, perhaps.
14:31Ha ha ha!
14:35Ha ha!
14:36Ha ha ha!
14:37Ha ha ha!
14:37Ha ha ha!
14:38Ha ha ha!
14:44Politicians.
14:46All the same.
14:48You assume you're undodgable.
14:51But everyone has secrets.
14:54And my singular gift,
14:57it's finding them.
15:25There are some stains.
15:29And now I'll fade.
15:41Clean it up.
15:46And never, ever let that man into this building again.
15:55Thomas Jefferson was not a warm man.
15:59He kept his emotions closed.
16:01In fact, he probably did not like to feel emotions.
16:05Because when he felt them, he felt them very deeply.
16:08On the one hand, he doesn't like interpersonal conflict.
16:12On the other hand, he puts himself at the center of some of the chief political conflicts of the early
16:20republic.
16:29One of the stories that really just epitomizes Jefferson's personality is something that's known as the Merry Affair.
16:42And it has to do with the British ambassador, Anthony Murray.
16:58Is there nobody here to announce us?
17:01Outside, a quagmire.
17:04Well, inside, well...
17:10This.
17:12This is the epicenter of their new country.
17:18Come.
17:18We are the king's representatives.
17:20Well, the king doesn't have to attend parties in a bog swamp.
17:24Oh, God.
17:26What?
17:27They're not going to make us drink American wine, are they?
17:30I don't think such a thing exists, my dear.
17:32Oh, small mercy.
17:44It's a burgundy.
17:46We're friends.
17:48In England?
17:48Staff only speak when spoken to.
17:56Sweet Lord, that one.
18:00I've seen shorter giraffes.
18:03Shame on you, Thomas.
18:05That is Ambassador Mary's wife, Elizabeth.
18:10Do you suppose she lets him sit on her lap?
18:19Unfortunately, when Anthony and Mary showed up, he was walking into a hornet's nest.
18:24Because Jefferson hated the British.
18:27He had gotten himself really in debt with British merchants, and he resented that.
18:34Mrs. Mary, Ambassador.
18:38Mr. President, you have a fine new home here.
18:42Thank you, thank you.
18:44Of course, it can't compare with the vast palaces your king moves between, but...
18:49You must be delighted with how well your new presidency has begun, Mr. Jefferson.
18:54Well, um...
18:55I recall reading, not that long ago, in one of your newspapers, that if you were elected, that, and I
19:03memorized the exact words,
19:06the air will be rent with the cries of the distressed, the soil will be soaked with blood, and the
19:12nation black with crimes.
19:15Murder, robbery, rape, adultery, and incest will be openly taught and practiced.
19:22It is quite a curriculum.
19:26The press here ride as they please. We call it free speech.
19:32The first amendment in our Bill of Rights. Have you heard of it?
19:39Mrs. Mary, Mr. Ambassador, let me introduce you to a few more guests before dinner is served.
19:53I know that face.
19:56Whatever you're thinking, don't do it.
19:59We need to court the British.
20:01Keep them close.
20:05Even if they provoke us.
20:08Why so, James?
20:10We must know our place.
20:29This must be some sort of mistake.
20:32They haven't set the cards out yet.
20:34We'll be at the head of the table with Mr. Jefferson.
20:39There is no mistake.
20:41They've invited us here with the intention of humiliating us.
20:46Anthony and Elizabeth Mary are both rather stuffy.
20:51And Thomas Jefferson is notorious for being informal.
20:58And instead of having any formal seating,
21:03people would just sit, as they called it,
21:05pell-mell, which is you find your own seats.
21:10Jefferson, as the host, he should have escorted Elizabeth Mary,
21:15but instead he grabs Dolly and it becomes a whole scandal.
21:18Quickly, Anthony, quick.
21:27Mes amis, Anglais, how is the bourbon de wine?
21:31Worse, the ambassador from France is there,
21:35and Great Britain and France are currently at war with one another.
21:39Mary feels like these are purposeful slights aimed at the British,
21:43and it really creates a diplomatic crisis for the Jefferson administration
21:49at the very time that America and Great Britain
21:52are on the verge of a major trade war with one another.
21:56This is an outrage.
21:58I think we should leave immediately.
22:00We're not going anywhere.
22:01We've already retreated once from this country.
22:03If it's a battle you want, it's a battle we shall have.
22:09You should not have done this, Thomas.
22:16Dolly Madison was criticized.
22:19What is this woman doing, stepping in as if she is the wife of the president?
22:26It's inappropriate.
22:28And what does Madison think of it?
22:31Why does he allow his wife to go off and do this?
22:39Well, that's President Byrne.
22:43I suppose this is what we get for having freedom of the press.
22:48And would you like me to continue?
22:53If you must.
22:57The allegations, there are many and lurid.
23:00But to summarize, they state that you and Mrs. Madison are in a relationship,
23:07and that Mrs. Madison and her sister are routinely pimped out to foreign dignitaries
23:14to secure political favor by you.
23:18It couldn't possibly be true.
23:21Dolly Madison getting pimped out by Jefferson to men, that's crazy.
23:34Have the Madisons read these lies yet?
23:37They have.
23:38They packed up all their belongings and left for alternative lodgings in town an hour ago.
23:46Damn calendar.
23:51I must stop them.
24:16God, Thomas, what are you doing?
24:18You left without saying anything.
24:20We have no choice.
24:22It's all nonsense.
24:24You know there's nothing between Dolly and me.
24:28How could that be?
24:29You're my dearest friends.
24:31It's not about what we know, Thomas.
24:34It's about what people think.
24:36The disgusting things they said about my sister and me.
24:40About us.
24:42Some people will believe that.
24:45You asked Calendar to start a fire, and now it is raging out of control.
24:50The lies he spreads today are just that.
24:54Lies.
24:55Tomorrow he may hit upon the truth.
25:00You need only go to your home at Monticello and ask the right questions.
25:06There was something else going on as well.
25:08A little bit of a secret.
25:12Jefferson believed and hoped that he could keep it quiet.
25:15You think you can control the press.
25:19You cannot.
25:35Captain Lewis.
25:39My thanks for arriving so promptly.
25:42It was urgent.
25:43It is.
25:45It is.
25:46I have a special mission for you.
25:50One that requires the utmost discretion.
25:55Meriwether Lewis is a close family friend of Thomas Jefferson.
26:00He had been in the military.
26:02And when Jefferson was president, he realized he needed to hire a secretary.
26:06And he had come to admire and respect him.
26:09Thought he could trust him.
26:11You understand what's required.
26:14I won't let you down, sir.
26:15I won't let you down.
26:39Mr. Callender.
26:48Keep this brief, Mr. Callender.
26:54I have been authorized by an interested body to offer you the sum of $50.
27:00In exchange for this one-time fee,
27:03you will stop writing any more articles about President Jefferson,
27:07his officials and their families.
27:12I was told you were in the army at one time, Mr. Lewis.
27:19I wish of the boys in the barracks couldn't get enough of you.
27:23Those blue eyes.
27:27The curls.
27:30Last time I saw here like that was on the nether regions of a Parisian oar.
27:35Hm.
27:38I won't be paid a calendar.
27:41He'll accept this payment and desist from your line.
27:49The problem is, Captain,
27:54is that $50 is such a very
27:57paltry sum of money for such a big ask.
28:01It's barely enough to keep a man in ailing oats for a month.
28:05Yeah.
28:07My appetites are prodigious.
28:12As I've learned are your masters.
28:20See, Jefferson has a young woman in his employ at Monticello.
28:28An attractive black woman.
28:33A slave.
28:40Now I have your attention, Captain Lewis.
28:45And soon,
28:47I will have the whole of America.
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