00:01Ladies and gentlemen, I give you your new president.
00:11Anne and her husband.
00:26Congratulations, James.
00:29Enjoy this.
00:31It's your turn now.
00:33Thomas.
00:39Sure you're all right with this, Dolly?
00:43Well, Mr. President, it will be a little bit late in the day.
00:49Serious, Dolly, there is so much to do.
00:51I know.
00:55But here's what's gonna happen.
00:57You're gonna focus on being the best president this country has ever seen.
01:01And I'm gonna look after everything else.
01:04Well, you've practically invented the United States, Jimmy.
01:06Anyway.
01:12There is no challenge we can't overcome.
01:16Together.
01:34What's a girl gotta do around here for a glass of water?
01:37Melinda.
02:05Melinda.
02:07Something great happens for them.
02:09Melinda.
02:10Melinda.
02:10She's been freed.
02:11Finally, we can get married.
02:13Be together.
02:15What is it?
02:17John.
02:19Well, now that Mr. Madison's gonna be president, Mr. Jefferson wants to leave Washington and head back to Monticello.
02:27He wants me to go with him.
02:29But I just got here.
02:31How long he gonna be gone?
02:34Forever.
02:35What?
02:36I wrote him letters, Melinda.
02:39Begging him.
02:40Asking him to give him my freedom so I could go back to Washington, but...
02:45He says...
02:46I'm too important.
02:48Well, that's that then.
02:51We ain't going to be married, and we never going to have a family.
02:54Gosh.
02:55Yeah.
02:57The laws of Virginia said that you could not live there as a free African American.
03:04So, Melinda is banned from ever returning to the state.
03:08Melinda.
03:12You understand?
03:14Okay.
03:18The second Jefferson leaves Washington, D.C., and takes John Freeman with him back to Monticello, they will be separated
03:27again, with possibly no chance of ever being together.
03:40Amazing, therefore.
03:53Careful with that, Freeman.
03:56Roger, our scientific equipment. Drop that, and there will be trouble.
04:01That's the last of it, sir.
04:02I'll just have my own belongings to fetch.
04:04Well, hurry it along.
04:06It is pressing.
04:12Mr. Madison?
04:15I mean, President Madison.
04:21You can put your trunk down, Freeman.
04:24You won't be needing it.
04:26I'm sorry, sir.
04:28Ain't we in a hurry?
04:30I am.
04:35Look after yourself, James.
04:38And don't be too hard on Mr. Freeman here. He is both loyal and gifted.
04:45What it is you will need.
05:04He didn't tell you, did he?
05:07Tell me what?
05:08Your ownership has passed to me.
05:11You will give me the best six years of your working life.
05:15Six years?
05:16And what then?
05:18Well, when Mr. Jefferson bought you, you came with a stipulation that you would be freed in the year 1815.
05:26Your previous owner, Mr. Baker, insisted that that clause be honored.
05:31And Mr. Jefferson concurs.
05:34So there's a bill of sale from Thomas Jefferson to James Madison.
05:39And John Freeman is listed as being sold for $230.
05:45A horse is listed as being sold for $200.
05:56James.
05:59I've left you something in my office.
06:01a horse.
06:15Steven!
06:16Let us go back inside the house.
06:40Thomas Jefferson and James Madison are probably the closest and most effective political partnership in United States history.
06:51And so Thomas Jefferson looks at James Madison as the natural successor to his presidency.
06:58Dear James, the British are stirring once again. A war is coming.
07:09Let this beast be a reminder that when the time comes, we must bear our teeth.
07:18Thomas.
07:19Thomas Jefferson. When Madison enters office, the United States is in a trade war with Great Britain.
07:27And what is becoming more and more clear is that the United States is going to have to confront Great
07:34Britain.
07:38Utter, utter bastards.
07:40Jimmy.
07:41Boots on our neck. Snatching our citizens. Strangling trade.
07:44The British start to impress American merchantmen into the British Navy, which is an incredible insult to the United States.
07:53They were seizing American sailors on the high seas, forcing them to serve on British ships.
08:00They were interfering with American trade.
08:03Well, what will you do?
08:08The only thing we can do. Stand up to the British and hope they back down.
08:15And if that doesn't work?
08:19Then we must prepare for battle. On the seas and in Congress.
08:25I don't follow.
08:28Some of the senators who are paying for war. Others are demanding peace.
08:33But to stand any chance against the British, we will need all their votes to raise money for ships, weapons,
08:38troops.
08:40They would rather fight each other and me than agree on anything.
08:50Then we must unite them in a single common cause they can't deny.
08:57Which is?
09:00America.
09:03We came together once before to defeat the British. Surely we can do it again.
09:09No.
09:10Things were simpler then, Dolly. Back then there were no political parties, backstabbing, police scoring.
09:17And it is not just the Federalists who want to see me fail.
09:23I have enemies within my own party.
09:39Then we must keep them all close.
09:44Your friends and your enemies.
09:49How?
09:51Here.
09:53This place.
09:55I will make this great wide mansion the answer to all your prayers.
10:01We will invite everyone.
10:03We will wine them, dine them, charm them, and turn them to our side.
10:23I will create events that no one will want to miss.
10:30It will go down in legend.
10:39Trust me.
10:42They don't stand a chance.
10:52When Dolly opens the house in March of 1809, she gets started right away.
10:58What she did, along with Benjamin Henry Latrobe, is renovate it or redo the White House.
11:04The country's hungry, wars brewing, President Jefferson's French tastes aren't the fashion.
11:13We need a new American spirit.
11:17Of?
11:18Vigor.
11:20Vigor.
11:21American vigor.
11:24There are no two better people than Dolly Madison and Benjamin Henry Latrobe.
11:29I think they had gusto.
11:30They were very deliberate about the Americanness of this.
11:34Furniture, argon lamps, things like that, were American made.
11:38It's important to understand the White House as a kind of Virginia gentry house on steroids.
11:45These houses were indeed places for families, but also places of business and social status.
11:57John Freeman is promoted to Butler, which is a very prestigious position.
12:02And he's desperately trying to come up with a solution to ensure that his fiancƩe, Melinda, will stay in Washington.
12:11This could be our one and only chance, Melinda.
12:13I know, you can stop fussing.
12:20Ah, Melinda.
12:22Come.
12:25Now, Freeman says we could use you.
12:29Oh, he would say that.
12:31We all know why.
12:33Now, I already have a seamstress.
12:35I'm not sure I need another.
12:39Are you good?
12:45You have brought something to show me.
13:03You did this yourself?
13:04Yes, Mrs. Madison.
13:06That's good.
13:08Very good.
13:11You could start immediately.
13:12Oh, sweet Jesus.
13:14I thought I was going to be sick all over your beautiful carpet.
13:17I'm sorry, Mrs. Madison.
13:19And thank you.
13:21You won't regret this.
13:30Unless there's something else, Freeman, you can go.
13:33There's a party to prepare for, is there not?
13:38What she did, along with Benjamin Henry Latrobe, is concentrated on just public spaces.
13:49They flood these spaces with light, so when you walked in, you were absolutely dazzled.
14:01Dolly begins to hold parties that she calls her squeezes, because they're so packed.
14:10People love them so much.
14:13You would find diplomats, you would find senators, congressmen, members of the cabinet.
14:19If you needed to talk to somebody, and you didn't know quite how to do it, if you wanted a
14:23job in government, if you needed an introduction, Madison was there at Dolly Squeezes every Wednesday.
14:38Are you all right, Jimmy?
14:42The Federalists up north were calling me a war-monker.
14:46Hail Benton, dragging us into conflict with the British.
14:51And the Warhawks of my own party are accusing me of being too weak to lead us into battle.
14:56Then tonight, we must sway the doubters.
14:59Make them see that you are the only man fit to lead the party and unite the nation against the
15:04British.
15:05Fine words, Dolly.
15:07But there are some who don't give a damn about unity.
15:09Henry Clay.
15:10Henry?
15:11Mrs. Madison.
15:13You look radiant.
15:15As does the house.
15:16I should send my wife to you, have her see how it's really done.
15:20Mr. Madison, Mr. Monroe, last of a breed, founding fathers grown old and gray.
15:28Senator Clay.
15:30War is upon us, Mr. President, even if it has not yet been declared.
15:34Do you even have the energy to guide this nation through these troubled waters?
15:38Did you ever?
15:41America can win this war.
15:47We can, Mr. Madison.
15:49Henry Clay is from a younger generation.
15:52He has no personal part in the revolutionary experience or the founding.
16:00Leave him to me.
16:01James Madison wants Congress to be preparing for war, but Henry Clay and the Warhawks in Congress
16:10seem to be pushing Madison to war faster than Madison thinks the United States is prepared for war.
16:21Senator Clay.
16:23Excuse me, miss.
16:25Would you mind if I borrowed the gentleman from Kentucky?
16:39Well, everyone loves Mrs. Madison.
16:43That's because Mrs. Madison loves everyone.
16:48I've heard you are a gambler.
16:52On occasion, it's true.
16:58I've heard that she once won $40,000, but only took $500 and waived the remainder of the debt.
17:04Is it true?
17:06Well, now that depends on whether it'd make you like me better or less.
17:11Gambling is amusing.
17:14But I prefer certainty.
17:17Loyalty.
17:21You want me to bend the knee to your husband?
17:24That's so hard.
17:28All my knees for you, but you are not the president.
17:32It is a shame that you doubt the vitality and resilience of a man who has proved himself time and
17:38again to be one of the finest men in the history of our young nation.
17:42Time claims us all.
17:47I'm disappointed, Mr. Clay.
17:50I always told you were a clever man, capable of looking beyond the surface.
17:55Clearly, I was mistaken.
17:57Well, set me straight now.
17:59Come on, tell me what I've got wrong.
18:00I'm all ears.
18:07Excuse me.
18:15Dolly discovers that Henry Clay likes to take snuff.
18:20And so does she.
18:23Ladies first.
18:30Snuff is a tobacco product.
18:32You sniff it like a drug.
18:36She shares her snuff box with Henry Clay.
18:39It is duly noted.
18:41And some wonderful source compares it to some kind of peace offering from a tribe.
18:47Look around here, Senator.
18:49Tell me, what do you see?
18:53Politicians.
18:57I see everyone.
19:00Northerners, Southerners, Virginians, New Englanders, Federalists and Republicans.
19:07Everyone who matters.
19:11Assembled here by my husband.
19:22The time for petty political grievances is over.
19:26We must stand together or the British will defeat us.
19:31And you do want us to defeat the British, don't you?
19:35You doubt my patriotism.
19:38Then I can tell my husband he has your support, Mr. Clay.
19:45You do want us to defeat the British, don't you?
19:46Off he go on it.
20:04How did he go?
20:05He's thinking on it.
20:09Sorry.
20:10Give me time, I'll win them round.
20:13You could describe James and Dolly Madison as one of the earliest power couples in U.S. history.
20:20Dolly Madison loves to be at the heartbeat of U.S. politics.
20:24And James Madison tries to cultivate a persona of a philosopher-statesman.
20:29But he's not as good with the social aspects of being president.
20:37We have always been grateful to the French nation for your assistance in the Revolutionary War.
20:47It is our hope that your forces will tie down the British in the common battle.
20:56Confused, I mean, yes.
21:01If you will excuse me, Mr. Ambassador, I must go and refresh myself.
21:31Mr. Ambassador, you forget yourself.
21:33No, I ain't one with it.
21:35Mr. Good boss.
21:35No, make something out of this.
21:40If you're the best France can offer, then Napoleon's in trouble.
21:45I've thought about it.
21:47And?
21:48I don't ever want you as my enemy.
21:50Your husband has my backing.
21:51Clever boy.
21:52Now let's go do to the English what I just did to him.
21:55Go show.
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