AMERICAN GADFLY: THE STORY OF WAYNE MORSE

By Charles Deemer

 

 

LIGHTS UP in playhouse. MORSE enters from the back,

greeting people as he approaches the stage.

                       

                        MORSE

            Thank you for coming ... Thanks so

            much ... Nice to see you here ... I'd

            appreciate your vote ... Thank you for

            coming ...

 

He notices the blank screen above the stage.

                       

                        MORSE

            Slide, please!

 

The HOUSE LIGHTS COME DOWN as Morse climbs onto the

stage. The first slide comes on.

 

TITLE SLIDE: December, 1951. Eugene, Oregon.

 

Morse is downstage, facing the audience.

                       

                        MORSE

            In the crucial Presidential election

            of 1952, I was the first one in my

            party to endorse General Dwight

            Eisenhower. I can't blame my

            colleagues for being skeptical. The

            Junior Senator from Oregon was, after

            all the JUNIOR senator! And General

            Eisenhower wasn't acting like anyone

            interested in entering politics. He

            was attending to the business of NATO

            in Europe while Bob Taft was running

            around the country talking as if he

            had the Republican nomination wrapped

            up.  But I'll tell you something: Sen.

            Taft couldn't win the election. He

            couldn't beat Truman and even if the

            President decided not to run again, he

            still couldn't win.  Sen. Taft

            represents too narrow a wing of the

            party.  He would divide this country

            as badly as Truman has divided it. Now

            let me tell you something else: I've

            had the opportunity to cross-examine

            Gen. Eisenhower many times when he

            appeared before the Armed Services

            Committee.  I found him to be honest

            without exception and a man of great

            integrity. I think the General

            possesses one of the most brilliant

            minds in public service today. I know

            that the Senator from Ohio has the

            support of many of our state chairmen

            and party leaders. But the people

            support Eisenhower, I'm sure of it. 

            Frankly I know of no other candidate

            who can renew this country's faith in

            the future. But we've got to get Gen.

            Eisenhower back in the country and

            campaigning, taking his case to the

            people.

 

SLIDE: The frenzied excitement of the convention floor.

Delegations are waving placards and banners for Taft

and for Eisenhower. 

 

TITLE SLIDE: "July, 1952 - Chicago"

 

SLIDE: CONVENTION HALL as EISENHOWER is seen ON THE

PODIUM, waving to the crowd after winning the

nomination. 

 

(MORSE'S HOTEL ROOM - CHICAGO - LATE NIGHT. A phone

starts ringing. Morse moves to pick it up.)

                       

                        MORSE

            The Junior Senator from Oregon has

            been asked to nominate Leverett

            Saltonstall to run with Gen.

            Eisenhower!  A liberal, a New England

            man - he'd perfectly balance the

            ticket.  The Taft people are still

            trying to bully in a conservative

            platform but the fight's not over yet.

 

Morse answers the phone.

                       

                        MORSE

            Hello?

            (to the audience)

            Bill Berg, my administrative

            assistant.

            (back on phone)

            I've been asked to nominate

            Saltonstall! . . . But I was just

            talking to them only a minute ago. . .

            . That's supposed to be decided on the

            floor of the convention! . . . I can't

            believe it. . . . No, I'll talk to you

            in the morning. Goodnight, Bill.

 

He hangs up.  He is very upset at the turn of affairs. 

He speaks to the audience.

                       

                        MORSE

            The running mate is Dick Nixon. Hand-

            picked behind closed doors by Gen.

            Eisenhower himself - but you can't

            tell me the Taft people aren't behind

            this.  Dick Nixon -who's despised in

            every union hall in the country!

 

SLIDE: EISENHOWER and NIXON are on the PODIUM, hands

joined and raised together, the Republican ticket for

1952.

 

(MORSE HOTEL ROOM - MORNING: Morse dials a number on

the phone.)

                       

                        MORSE

            (on phone)

            Dick Nixon's room, please . . . Hello,

            Dick.  Wayne Morse.  I'm calling to

            offer my congratulations. . . . I

            won't beat around the bush with you,

            Dick.  I was going to nominate

            Saltonstall of Massachusetts but I

            recognize that you'll be a popular

            candidate, and I can tell you that

            Wayne Morse will support the ticket. .

            . . Yes, as a matter of fact, there

            are a couple points I'd like to make.

            The platform bothers me a good deal. 

            It was written by Taft people, by and

            large, and Eisenhower's nomination was

            a rejection of the Taft wing of the

            party. . . . I think the platform

            takes us back fifty years.  It makes

            McKinley look like a liberal. . . . I

            can be specific til the cows come

            home.  Look at civil rights: to

            compromise with states rights is a

            retreat from the principles of

            Lincoln.  In fact, the entire civil

            rights plank strikes me as weasel-

            worded double-talk.  The plank on

            labor isn't much better.  It's

            verbose, platitudinous and evasive. 

            Foreign policy is a hodgepodge of

            inconsistent compromises and- . . .

            well, yes, I think you and Gen.

            Eisenhower have to take a stronger

            platform to the American people to

            win.  I think that- . . . certainly,

            Dick, I understand.  I just wanted to

            give you my congratulations.

 

TITLE SLIDE: "October, 1952 - Eugene, Oregon"

 

SLIDE: Wayne Morse ranch in Eugene.

 

(ON THE RANCH - DAY: MORSE moves to the ranch area.

He'll take off his jacket, roll up his sleeves and pick

up a rake. He'll then be "raking leaves.")

                       

                        MORSE

            The Armed Services Committee sent me

            to Europe to inspect NATO bases. What

            I found over there was shocking. I

            hardly know where to begin. There's a

            shocking waste of taxpayers' money,

            gross inefficiency, I doubt if we get

            thirty cents of value for a dollar. I

            found a cadre of military men and

            military minds who are convinced that

            war with the Soviet Union is

            inevitable, that any attempt at

            keeping the peace is doomed to fail.

            Gen. Eisenhower has been the chief

            administrator of NATO and, as far as

            I'm concerned, the buck stops with

            him.  I now have very serious doubts

            about the wisdom of putting a military

            mind in the White House. And his

            campaign speeches: I've heard no

            retreat from that reactionary

            platform.  All I hear is double-talk

            and political mush. As hard as this is

            to say for a lifelong Republican like

            myself, Adlai Stevenson sounded like a

            statesman compared to Eisenhower.

 

(MORSE RANCH - EUGENE: Morse moves inside to listen to

a radio speech by Stevenson. He'll roll down his

sleeves and put his jacket back on.)

                       

                        STEVENSON (V.O.)

            I want to speak to you today on the

            idea of peace on earth.  And I want to

            speak of the institution of the United

            Nations.  However great the assaults

            on the peace of the world may have

            been since the United Nations was

            founded, no nation today would dare to

            remove itself from membership and

            separate his country from the human

            hopes that are woven into the very

            texture of the organization.  And this

            is why to celebrate the United Nations

            is to hold communion with the idea of

            peace on earth.

 

Morse turns to the audience.

                       

                        MORSE

            Instead of empty rhetoric and double-

            talk, here were words of hope and

            vision.  Then came the proverbial

            straw that broke the camel's back.

 

(MORSE OFFICE - WASHINGTON D.C.: Morse moves to his

desk in office area. He picks up a newspaper on it. He

shows the audience a front page article.)

                       

                        MORSE

            Morningside Heights, October 18th:

            Eisenhower and Taft issue a joint

            statement of party unity.

 

He angrily throws down the newspaper.

                       

                        MORSE

            Unity, my posterior!  This campaign

            has been nothing but demogoguery,

            double-talk and dangerous dissertion

            by Eisenhower of every principle he

            professed to believe in.  This is not

            the man I cross-examined before the

            Armed Services Committee.  This is a

            sellout to the reactionary wing of the

            party.  He embraces Taft, he endorses

            Joe McCarthy - McCarthy, who calls

            Gen. George Marshall a front man for

            communists! Behavior like this

            disqualifies Eisenhower for public

            office.  I wouldn't trust him as dog

            catcher.

 

He buzzes his secretary.

                       

                        MORSE

            Get Bill to set up a press conference

            as soon as possible.

 

He buzzes off.  He takes a deep breath.

                       

                        MORSE

            No one endorses what I'm about to do,

            but it's the only way I can stand

            looking at myself in the mirror.

 

(AT THE PODIUM - POLITICAL RALLY: Morse moves to behind

the podium.)

 

SLIDE: A campaign banner for Stevenson.

                       

                        MORSE

            My decision to leave the Republican

            party in this campaign and perhaps

            permanently has not been an easy one

            to make.  It has been a declaration of

            conscience.  My attempt, along with

            other constitutional liberals, to

            bring the Republican Party back to the

            people and free it from the domination

            of selfish and materialistic interests

            in our country has been disheartening.

            From this day onward, I am an

            Independent Republican. Today, then, I

            can tell you that the choice in this

            election is between the double-talking

            demogoguery of Eisenhower and the

            sound statesmanship of Stevenson. I

            have full confidence that the American

            people will elect Adlai Stevenson by a

            landslide!

 

SLIDE: newspaper headline of Eisenhower's presidential

victory

 

(MORSE OFFICE - WASHINGTON D.C.: Morse looks up at the

slide, then hurries to his office in a rage.)

                       

                        MORSE

            They won't get away with this!

 

TITLE SLIDE: "Washington D.C. - January, 1953"

                       

                        MORSE

            They can strip me of Armed Services,

            they strip me of Labor, they can ban

            me from every committee in the

            Senate - but they can't stop me from

            speaking on the floor!  And if they

            don't want an Independent Republican

            sitting on their side of aisle - well,

            where do they expect me to sit?  With

            the Democrats?  I'd be no better off

            there because I'll tell you something,

            you don't have two parties in this

            country, you've got a coalition of

            reactionary Republicans and

            reactionary Democrats who are running

            American politics, irrespective of

            what party label they wear.

 

He is buzzed by his secretary.

                       

                        MORSE

            (answering)

            I'm taking no calls.

 

Back to audience:

                       

                        MORSE

            I vote my conscience, not a party

            line.  If you want a Western Union boy

            as your senator, don't send Wayne

            Morse!

 

He gets up and will fetch a folding chair.

                       

                        MORSE

            The Republicans disown me, the

            Democrats have nothing to offer me.

            Then I'll bring my own chair to the

            Senate and sit in the aisle!

 

He unfolds the chair and sits in it, facing the

audience, his arms crossed defiantly.

 

SLIDE: A SERIES OF POLITICAL CARTOONS depicting

cartoonists' reactions to Morse leaving the Republican

Party.  As we see the CARTOONS we hear a conversation

between two women, one of whom is a little tipsy.

                       

                        TIPSY WOMAN (V.O.)

            Wayne Morse is an embarrassment to the

            country.

                       

                        OTHER WOMAN (V.O.)

            He was kicked in the head by a horse,

            you know.

                       

                        TIPSY WOMAN (V.O.)

            Really?

                       

                        OTHER WOMAN (V.O.)

            Yes, a few years ago.  They say he's

            been imbalanced since then.

                       

                        TIPSY WOMAN (V.O.)

            I saw him in the Senate, sitting in

            the aisle. He looked arrogant and

            unbalanced.

                       

                        OTHER WOMAN (V.O.)

            I'm sure he'll never win another

            election.

                       

                        TIPSY WOMAN (V.O.)

            That's too long to wait. He should be

            impeached!

 

(MORSE'S OFFICE - WASHINGTON D.C.: Morse is in a

reflective mood, sitting at his desk and speaking to

the audience.)

                       

                        MORSE

            For myself, I soon got used to insults

            and defamation of character.  The

            press has never been fair to me.  It's

            the price one sometimes has to pay for

            speaking his mind.  But the personal

            attacks on my family, the phone calls

            to my wife Midge at all hours of the

            day and night, ranging from threats of

            violence to vile pornography; and the

            charges of treason against my

            daughters by their schoolmates; and

            the loss of lifelong friends who

            phoned or wrote they never wanted to

            see us again - all because I followed

            my own conscience. And my conscience

            was clear -because no sooner had

            Eisenhower taken office than my worst

            fears began to materialize.  The

            President sided with economic pirates

            to begin a systematic and complete

            giveaway of this country's valuable

            natural resources, and the Republican

            press was conducting a virtual news

            blockade against letting the American

            people know what was going on.  Well,

            they could gag the press - but they

            couldn't censor the Congressional

            Record.

 

Morse picks up the phone, speaking to Bill Berg.

                       

                        MORSE

            Bill, I'm going to speak against

            giving away the Texas tidelands to oil

            interests for as long as it takes to

            be heard. But we've got to be

            careful - they slipped a mickey to La

            Folette once, and I wouldn't put

            anything past the Eisenhower gang.  I

            don't want anything from the Senate

            kitchen that hasn't been tasted

            first.  I'll want an aide with me at

            all times - you can work in shifts. 

            I'll need boullion, tea, a little

            coffee, fruit juice.  Be sure to have

            someone standing guard in the Senate

            kitchen at all times. Oh yes - I'll

            need some Kotex . . .

 

SLIDE: of the Senate clock, which reads 11:30

 

(SENATE PODIUM: Morse moves behind the podium to begin

the Tidelands filibuster}.

                       

                        MORSE

            Mr. President, I do have a few things

            which I wish to talk about today.  I

            also intend to speak for several hours

            on the pending joint measure

            concerning ownership of tidelands.

 

TITLE SLIDE: "April 24, 1953"

                       

                        MORSE

            There is a purpose to prolonged

            debate, even when it takes on the

            features of a filibuster.

 

SLIDE: the clock reads 3:15

                       

                        MORSE

            That is the purpose of arousing public

            understanding and educating the public

            about controversial pieces of

            legislation.

 

Morse clears his throat, coughs, and continues.

                       

                        MORSE

            I know that the little band of

            liberals who are fighting for the

            public interest in preventing this

            giveaway program of the people's

            treasure are going to get terrible

            treatment in the press.  They will try

            to make monsters out of us, and our

            patriotism will be attacked. This

            happened in the Washington Star only

            last night.  My colleagues may be

            surprised to learn that I read a

            reactionary newspaper like the

            Washington Star. I find it helps me

            get to sleep.

 

SLIDE: the clock reads 5:52

                       

                        MORSE

            I'm glad to see my colleagues from

            North Dakota have returned from

            dinner.  I was run out of Verdon,

            South Dakota once.  I was mistaken for

            a Wobbly.

 

SLIDE: the senate clock reads 8:10

                       

                        MORSE

            Most politicians cannot seem to look

            beyond the next election; they do not

            seem to be able to raise their sights

            into the next century. Yet what we do

            in our generation has terrific

            repercusions for decades and sometimes

            centuries to come - especially in the

            entire field of natural resources

            legislation.

 

SLIDE: the empty Senate chambers as Morse talks on.

                       

                        MORSE

            Historians writing a hundred years

            from now will record that our

            generation of Congress, by means of

            the beginning made by such legislation

            as that now proposed, began to write

            the first chapter of the volume on the

            decline of American civilization. 

            That is what is involved in this

            debate!

 

SLIDE: clock reads 1:05

                       

                        MORSE

            Let me say that someone had better

            start thinking about paying off the

            national debt!

 

SLIDE: the senate clock reads 8:30

 

Morse stifles a yawn and talks on.

                       

                        MORSE

            Nice to see you back this morning,

            gentlemen.  As I was saying before you

            came in, my daughters rib me from time

            to time.  They will say, Dad, do you

            ever get anything through the Senate? 

            Do you ever win any of your battles?

 

SLIDE: clock reads 9:11

 

Morse stretches while speaking and looks at the Senate

clock.

                       

                        MORSE

            Until I got into this debate, I

            thought I knew something about the

            separation of powers doctrine.  But I

            certainly don't know anything about it

            if this giveaway program is passed.  I

            cannot believe that it will be.

 

SLIDE: the Senate clock: it is 9:56.

                       

                        MORSE

            Thank you, Mr. President.  That is all

            I have to say.

 

(SENATE LAVATORY - AFTER THE FILIBUSTER: Morse gets a

towel from the podium and moves downstage, wiping his

face.)

                       

                        MORSE

            As I left the floor of the Senate, a

            reporter asked me what I had to eat

            during the past 22 hours and 26

            minutes.  Not a question of substance,

            mind you.  What I had to eat!

 

A beat.

                       

                        MORSE

            For the record: I had four cups of

            boullion, two cups of coffee, nine

            cups of tea, three cups of orange

            juice and a few crackers.  It

            sustained me very well.

 

He starts out and stops.

                       

                        MORSE

            Oh yes - another reporter asked if I

            had any desire to use the men's room. 

            I told him, Yes, thank you, I believe

            I will.

 

(MORSE OFFICE - WASHINGTON D.C.: Morse moves to his

desk and sets up a microphone of the era. We hear the

announcer's voice.)

                       

                        ANNOUNCER (V.O.)

            This is Washington.

 

TITLE SLIDE: "May 6, 1954"

 

Morse waits patiently to begin.

                       

                        ANNOUNCER (V.O.)

            Direct from the nation's capital, we

            present at this time as a public

            service the regular weekly report of

            your United States Senator Wayne

            Morse.  Now here is Senator Morse.

 

Morse goes on the air.

                       

                        MORSE

            Fellow Oregonians.  This is your

            Senator Wayne Morse, reporting from

            the capital at Washington.  Our

            country faces many serious problems

            but none equals in importance or has

            the potential consequences of the

            dilemma of Indo-China . . .

 

(MORSE gets up to move behind the podium.)

                       

                        MORSE

            I raised this issue in the Senate

            before any of my colleagues were ready

            to discuss it.

 

(SENATE PODIUM - WASHINGTON D.C.: Morse is behind

podium.)

                       

                        MORSE

            Mr. President, it is my patriotic duty

            and an obligation to my own conscience

            to rise and express my objection to

            involving the United States in a

            Chinese civil war.

 

TITLE SLIDE: "January 26, 1955

 

SLIDE: map of Formosa and area.

                       

                        MORSE

            Now I am in favor of defending Formosa

            and its nearby islands to the hilt but

            we don't need the resolution before us

            to do this. The President, as

            Commander in Chief, has the emergency

            power to take whatever defensive

            action in his wise discretion is

            necessary to protect the security of

            the United States. But I also wish to

            stress the point that under its

            constitutional checking power, the

            Congress has jurisdiction and

            authorization to modify a course of

            action followed by a President, even

            when exercising his emergency powers.

            The Formosa resolution would handcuff

            Congress in this regard.

 

(MORSE OFFICE - WASHINGTON D.C. MORSE moves back into

office. He points up at the map on the slide.)

                       

                        MORSE

            Here is Formosa, over a hundred miles

            from the Red Chinese mainland.  The

            adjacent Pescadores islands, clearly

            in the defensive sphere of Formosa.

            But look here - the islands of Matsu

            and Quemoy, only eight miles from the

            Chinese mainland.  These islands do

            not threaten the security of Formosa.

 

A beat.

                       

                        MORSE

            Try to think like a Red Chinese for a

            moment.  You see the Seventh Fleet in

            the Formosa Straits.  You see the

            United States claiming a defensive

            posture with these islands only eight

            miles from your mainland.  It's as if

            the Red Chinese would claim Cuba.  So

            who is the aggressor and the real

            threat to peace?  Who is behaving like

            an international bandit? We have no

            business making these unilateral

            resolutions when we should be taking

            the entire dilemma to the United

            Nations.  This is a sad time for this

            country.

 

(MORSE RANCH - EUGENE - DAY: Morse moves into ranch

area. He is in good  spirits.

 

TITLE SLIDE: "February, 1955"

 

Morse smiles at the audience.

                       

                        MORSE

            They say I've become the number one

            target of the Eisenhower

            administration! I consider that an

            honor.  Why? Because Dwight Eisenhower

            is the most dangerous man ever to

            occupy the White House!  They also say

            Eisenhower himself has handpicked my

            opponent next year, and it's none

            other than Douglas McKay, our former

            governor here in Oregon -and more

            recently Eisenhower's Secretary of the

            Interior and a Charlie McCarthy puppet

            of private monopolies.  I can't wait

            for the campaign to begin!

 

A beat.

                       

                        MORSE

            In the meantime, it's good to catch up

            on chores.  I've got three more Devon

            cattle on their way to Oregon, from

            the Mark Hammette herd, probably the

            best in the country.  That'll bring us

            to over a dozen registered Devons

            here, and a few more back in

            Maryland.  I grew up on a farm in

            Wisconsin, and it's still the best

            work there is. There's nothing like

            cleaning out the barn on election day!

            People are wondering which political

            convention I'm going to attend.  I'm

            accused of doing a political dance of

            the seven veils. One thing to say for

            the Democrats, though, they managed to

            defeat the reactionary Republicans

            here in Oregon last year. But to be

            honest with you, I'm not sure which

            convention I'll go to. Maybe I'll have

            my own.  I could hold it in a phone

            booth.

 

(MORSE RANCH - DAY: Morse moves  inside. He'll sit down

and get comfortable.)

                       

                        MORSE

            I wouldn't join the Democrats unless

            I'm wanted and unless they understand

            I'm not a party man, I reserve the

            right to be independent no matter what

            party I'm affiliated with.  I'm not

            sure but that I represent more people

            as an Independent, that your Mr. and

            Mrs. Independent Voter is the real

            majority in this country. But it would

            be interesting to see Eisenhower's

            reaction if I returned to the Senate

            as a Democrat.

 

Morse has to smile at this, enjoying the thought.

 

SLIDE: newspaper headline that morse has become a

Democrat

 

SLIDE: Newspaper headline that Mckay has returned to

Oregon to take on Morse

 

SLIDE: a political cartoon about the campaign

 

(MORSE RANCH - ELECTION NIGHT: Morse breaks his reverie

and stands up.)

                       

                        MORSE

            Always clean the barn out on election

            day!

 

SLIDE: election results showing that morse is winning

 

Morse is relaxed and confident, speaking to the

audience, as he rolls up his sleeves and goes outside

the ranch to work.

                       

                        MORSE

            You know who helped me in this

            campaign more than anyone?  Dick

            Nixon. The Vice-President came to

            Oregon in September and gave poor Doug

            McKay an albatross of an idea.  He

            said forget about the issues, it's the

            votes that count.  And McKay couldn't

            help repeating it and making it a part

            of his champaign! I said from the

            beginning that the issues are

            important.  Tell the people how McKay

            would sell the Snake River to private

            monopolies, to the Idaho Power

            Company, which would develop only a

            fraction of its power and neglect the

            irrigation and flood control potential

            of a major multi-purpose dam in Hell's

            Canyon - well, you give the people of

            Oregon the facts and they will listen.

            Poor McKay didn't even want to be in

            this race.  He was put up to it by the

            Eisenhower gang.  But I was confident

            that the people of Oregon were not

            about to let the White House purge

            them of their Senior Senator.  We rate

            second in the nation in literacy here

            in Oregon -give me an enlightened

            people, and I'm never going to worry.

 

TITLE SLIDE: "December, 1959"

 

The phone is ringing as Morse comes back inside.

                       

                        MORSE

            (on phone)

            Hello? . . . No, I just got in this

            afternoon. . . . In the L.A. Times?

            Well, it's the first I've heard about

            it. . . . They don't need my

            permission in Oregon. . . . To tell

            the truth, I've never given it any

            thought. . . . Yes, maybe I should. .

            . . Have good holidays.  Goodbye.

 

He hangs up and calls to his wife in another part of

the house.

                       

                        MORSE

            Midge, we appear to be running for

            President!

 

He dials a number.

                       

                        MORSE

            (on phone)

            This is Wayne. . . . Yes, I just

            heard.  I appreciate the vote of

            confidence but between you, me, and

            the fence post, I would have preferred

            to stay out of it. . . . No, what's

            done is done, and I'm not going to

            dodge a good political fight if it's

            inevitable.  At the very least, I may

            be able to keep Humphrey, Kennedy and

            the rest honest. . . . I'm not saying

            I'm angry - I'm just the last to know!

 

Morse begins cross to Washington office.

                       

                        MORSE

            I could hardly refuse the challenge

            when so much spontaneous support from

            the grass roots demanded my candidacy.

            But there certainly was a lot of work

            to do!

 

(MORSE OFFICE - WASHINGTON D.C.: Morse arrives and

quickly starts giving dictation, thinking on his feet.)

                       

                        MORSE

            For immediate release, et cetera.

 

TITLE SLIDE: "January, 1960"

                       

                        MORSE

            Despite news reports to the contrary,

            Sen. Wayne Morse is a serious

            candidate for President of the United

            States.  For this reason, he has

            entered primaries in Oregon,

            Washington D.C. and Maryland, and he

            will enter any other primary in this

            country where sufficient political

            backing justifies his running.  He is

            running for himself and is not a

            stalking horse for Stevenson.

 

SLIDE: newspaper headline, Humphrey wins Washington

D.C. Primary

 

SLIDE: newspaper headline, Kennedy landslide in

Maryland primary

 

TITLE SLIDE: "May 20, 1960"

 

Morse on the phone.

                       

                        MORSE

            Bill, can you draft a statement of

            congratulations to Kennedy?  And

            another withdrawing from the race. We

            spoke to the issues.  It's all we can

            do.  Goodnight.

 

He hangs up and speaks to the audience.

                       

                        MORSE

            And we did speak to the issues. You

            know, I was brought up in the

            political school of Bob La Folette,

            who was for years a Senator in my home

            state of Wisconsin. Often I've heard

            him tell how many times he lost a

            fight for policies that five, ten

            years later, became national policy. 

            And that speaks to a problem in this

            country, to a great cancer in American

            life. It's that politicians don't

            enter fights, they don't battle for

            policies, unless they believe they can

            win. In that sense, I'm not a

            politician.  Because I believe great

            good can be accomplished by entering

            fights and espousing policies even

            though they will, at the moment, be

            unsuccessful.  It wakes people up. It

            makes them think.  And in the long

            run, it brings victory to the

            policies, if not to the individuals

            who fight for them early on. It

            demonstrates something else as well:

            it demonstrates that there are

            individuals in this country who don't

            think and vote as organization men,

            and this in turn, in time, encourages

            others to act independently. So I'm

            not ashamed of what we did in the

            District of Columbia, or in Maryland,

            or here in Oregon.

 

The phone rings.  Morse answers it.  There is a quick

change of mood.

                       

                        MORSE

            Hello? . . . Condolences seem a little

            out of hand, considering you backed

            Kennedy when I could have used your

            support myself. . . . Betrayal might

            be a better word for it. . . . Of

            course I was a serious candidate!

 

Morse angrily hangs up and turns back to the audience.

                       

                        MORSE

            I'll tell you this, I don't trust Jack

            Kennedy any farther than I can throw

            him!

 

SLIDE: the Kennedy funeral

                       

                        MORSE

            But how quickly things can change.

 

(MORSE OFFICE - WASHINGTON D.C. - LATE NIGHT: Morse

sees the slide and changes into a weary, reflective

mood.)

                       

                        MORSE

            The late President and I had our

            disagreements but we agreed on many

            things as well.  As chairman of the

            education subcommittee, I'd worked

            closely and agreeably with President

            Kennedy on a number of important

            education bills. With one exception,

            President Kennedy never discussed

            Vietnam with me, though I was often on

            record speaking against our foreign

            policy in Southeast Asia.  The only

            time we discussed Vietnam was during

            my last conference with him, only a

            few weeks before his assassination. I

            was sponsoring an amendment that would

            prohibit a President from making

            foreign aid available to any military

            junta that had overthrown a

            democratically elected, constitutional

            form of government. The President and

            I discussed the amendment and then we

            discussed the Diem regeme in South

            Vietnam.  I told him that I did not

            believe Diem represented the South

            Vietnamese people and our support of

            him amounted to the creation of an

            American protectorate in Vietnam, in

            violation of the Geneva Accords, the

            United Nations Charter, and

            international law. And then President

            Kennedy surprised me.  "I've come to

            the conclusion," he told me, "that

            you're probably not wrong in your

            criticism of our involvement in

            Vietnam. I want you to know that I'm

            in the midst of analyzing an intensive

            study that concerns, in part, an

            analysis of your speeches in the

            Senate on Vietnam."  A bit later, the

            President walked with me from the Oval

            Office, down the sidewalk to the

            pavement within the White House

            grounds, where I was to take a car. 

            It was a beautiful day.

 

Morse stops.  The memory is too painful.  He regains

his composure before going on.

                       

                        MORSE

            That was my last meeting with him. I

            don't know what happened to that

            study. But I do know this: Vietnam

            didn't disappear.  Before you knew it,

            Goldwater was campaigning like a

            trigger-happy madman until he was

            soundly defeated - and then Lyndon

            Johnson was turning around and out-

            Goldwatering Goldwater.

 

(SENATE PODIUM - WASHINGTON D.C.: Morse moves behind

the podium.

 

TITLE SLIDE: "August, 1964"

                       

                        MORSE

            Mr. President, I don't know how many

            times the Senior Senator of Oregon has

            gone on record in the past decade to

            distinguish between the defensive

            powers of the President as Commander-

            in-Chief and the constitutional

            perogative of the Congress, which

            alone can declare war, to check those

            powers. The Gulf of Tonkin resolution

            now before us gives me no choice but

            to rise and speak out again.

 

(MORSE OFFICE - WASHINGTON D.C.: Morse hurries to

answer the phone in his office. He begins lambasting

someone.)

                       

                        MORSE

            You have no right to call yourself a

            liberal!  There's not a bona fide

            liberal in the Senate except my

            colleague from Alaska!  The rest of

            you are phony liberals, phraseological

            liberals.  You've let yourself become

            jelly-bellied puppets of the

            administration!

 

(He hangs up and turns to the audience.}

                       

                        MORSE

            We have no way of knowing what really

            happened in the Gulf of Tonkin.  What

            we do know is this: South Vietnamese

            vessels have been shelling islands in

            the north. Then what was an American

            vessel doing in the area in the first

            place, if not offering protection to

            the South Vietnames?  Is it any wonder

            the North Vietnames fired on us? 

            Above all else, we need to determine

            the facts in this case. Ignorance does

            not justify giving the President the

            power to make war when Congress has

            not declared war! We can't win a land

            war in Asia. The French tried for

            eight years, at the expense of 240,000

            casualties, at the expense of a

            toppled government.  The French dumped

            the whole mess in our lap and we took

            it, hook, line and sinker.  Now we

            find ourselves in the strangest, the

            most ludicrous, most paradoxical,

            inexcusable American military

            operation in the history of this

            Republic!

 

He picks up the phone and dials.

                       

                        MORSE

            Bill, Wayne. . . . I want you to

            accept any speaking engagement I'm

            offered.  I want you to find speaking

            engagements where I've never had them

            before. . . . I don't care if it's a

            Ladies Church Bizarre! . . . Starting

            yesterday!

 

Morse returns behind the podium.

 

TITLE SLIDE: "Baltimore"

 

AT PODIUM

                       

                        MORSE

            Foreign policy belongs to the American

            people, not to the President of the

            United States. Under our constitution,

            all the President is is the

            administrator of a people's foreign

            policy.

 

TITLE SLIDE: "The University of New Mexico"

 

AT PODIUM

                       

                        MORSE

            The American people are not well

            informed about the facts concerning

            our foreign policy in Asia. Fiction,

            propaganda, concealment of behind-the-

            scene diplomatic activities and a

            shroud of government secrecy have

            withheld the facts from the public.

 

TITLE SLIDE: "Mississippi Junior Chamber of Commerce"

 

AT PODIUM

                       

                        MORSE

            The immediate, massive violations of

            the Geneva Agreement - which took

            France out of Indochina after World

            War Two - were committed by the United

            States and South Vietnam, not by North

            Vietnam.

 

TITLE SLIDE: "Coos Bay Lions Club"

 

AT PODIUM

                       

                        MORSE

            Don't you forget, as you sit here

            tonight in relative affluence,

            relative security, that you're not

            dying in the jungles of Asia in an

            undeclared war!

 

TITLE SLIDE: "United States Senate"

 

AT PODIUM

                       

                        MORSE

            Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent

            to put on record an article published

            in the American Journal of

            Orthopsychiatry called "Psychological

            Habituation to War." It discusses the

            techniques employed by the government

            to reduce opposition to the war in

            Vietnam.

 

TITLE SLIDE: "Brown University"

 

AT PODIUM

                       

                        MORSE

            I believe we should: one, stop the

            bombing of North Vietnam; two, stop

            the progressive increase of American

            forces within Vietnam; three, seek a

            multilateral peace table that includes

            the National Liberation Front, North

            Vietnam and Red China, as well as the

            United States and South Vietnam.

 

TITLE SLIDE: "Concerned Clergy About the War in

Vietnam"

 

AT PODIUM

                       

                        MORSE

            President Johnson and his

            administration have fixed the 1968

            election as a major test of his

            national popularity front in support

            of the war.  But don't forget that the

            unity of the Democratic Party was

            never greater and never wider than it

            was in 1964, when our candidate called

            the war in Vietnam one that Asians

            should fight and to which American

            boys should not be sent to do the job

            that Asian boys should do.

 

Morse begins a slow cross to ranch.

 

SLIDE: Johnson announces he will not seek reelection

 

SLIDE: riots at the Democratic convention, 1968

 

SLIDE: Humphrey at podium as Democratic candidate

 

(MORSE RANCH - EUGENE: Morse gets the rake, outside.)

 

TITLE SLIDE: "September, 1968"

                       

                        MORSE

            What has happened to us?  What has

            produced the kind of national

            psychology we have in the United

            States today?  Are we surprised at all

            the criticism being shot at us from

            all around the world? Does it really

            come as any surprise that we are

            becoming the most feared country in

            the world? I don't care if people

            don't want to hear this - it's the

            truth! I sometimes wonder if I'm going

            at this a little too hard.  But then I

            think of all the men and women who

            wish there were just one politician in

            Washington who would speak his mind

            and cast his vote honestly and freely

            with only his conscience to guide

            him.  Maybe it's a bit brash to assume

            that I'm that man, but believe me, I'm

            trying to be. The hawks came after me

            with guns blazing in the primary. 

            Every daily newspaper in Oregon

            endorsed my opponent, Bob Duncan.  But

            we won because we gave the people of

            Oregon the facts about this war. Now

            we have Bob Packwood on our hands. 

            But this time we have an endorsement -

            the Coos Bay World! That's one more

            than we managed in the primary. It's a

            tough campaign.  Bill Berg passed

            away, and I miss him.  You don't have

            an administrative assistant for over

            two decades and not miss him. Some of

            the people around me now, they'd have

            me dodge the fight.  No one wants me

            to debate Packwood but I've never

            dodged a political fight in my life. 

            My record speaks for itself.

 

(MORSE RANCH - EUGENE - NIGHT: Morse moves inside and

picks up the phone.)

 

TITLE SLIDE: "November, 1968"

                       

                        MORSE

            Here's what we do about it: absolutely

            nothing.

 

A beat.

                       

                        MORSE

            I'm not going to be remembered as

            someone who doesn't know how to take

            defeat.  I'm not asking for a recount

            and I'm not drumming up charges of

            election misconduct.  If they want to

            remember me, let them remember my

            record on constitutional law and the

            fifteen-odd years I've argued against

            our immoral policies in Asia.  We lost

            and, frankly, it doesn't surprise me. 

            It was closer than I thought it would

            be.

 

He hangs up. To audience:

                       

                        MORSE

            But don't think for a minute that I'm

            going to retire.  Retiring isn't a

            part of my blood chemistry.

 

Morse makes cross to podium.

 

SLIDE: newspaper headlines about morse winning

Democratic primary, leading to a rematch with Packwood

 

SLIDE: newspaper headline, the race is too close to

call

 

SLIDE: Morse at 4th of July picnic, surrounded by

children.

 

TITLE CARD: "July 4, 1974"

 

AT PODIUM

                       

                        MORSE

            The struggle for peace, which is the

            major crisis of our generation, is a

            struggle for men's minds, rather than

            for their emotions.  It is a struggle

            for human decency, rather than for

            human debauchery.

 

SLIDE: A three-legged race has begun, the 73-year-old

Morse and his young companion among its most

enthusiastic contestants. Various angles during the

race. Morse and girl are having the time of their

lives.

                       

                        MORSE

            It involves an appeal to reason. Peace

            can be won and maintained only if we

            convince freedom-loving people

            elsewhere in the world that rule of

            reason, procedures of international

            justice, and the relinquishment of

            selfish interests must be substituted

            in the thinking of people everywhere

            for the emotional nationalism that

            still dominates the world.

 

SLIDE: close on Morse and the girl, in the three-legged

race, one generation bound to the next

                       

                        MORSE

            So if you asked me, Wayne Morse, name

            the one thing in our country that you

            think will do more to strengthen

            American foreign policy in the next

            half century, you might be surprised

            at my reply. I would say, Do something

            to protect the educational standard of

            American boys and girls.  Do something

            to protect American brain power. 

            Because the only sure and lasting

            defense of peace is a highly educated

            and enlightened citizenry.

 

BLACKOUT EXCEPT FOR:

 

SLIDE: Close on Morse and the girl

                       

                        VOICE (VO)

            "I am a sort of gadfly, given to the

            State by the gods; and the State is a

            great and noble steed who is tardy in

            his motions owing to his very size,

            and requires to be stirred into life. 

            I am that gadfly which the gods have

            attached to the State, and all day

            long and in all places am always

            fastening upon you, arousing and

            persuading and reproaching you. . . .

            You think that you might easily strike

            me dead . . . but then you would sleep

            on for the remainder of your lives,

            unless the gods in their care of you

            sent you another gadfly." Socrates in

            his own defense.

 

TITLE SLIDE: "Wayne Morse died in Portland, Oregon, on

July 22, 1974.  He was seventy-three years old and

vigorously campaigning for reelection to the United

States Senate."

 

THE END