David Paymer: Leon Kodak

The American President

Leon Kodak

Lewis Rothschild: But we're not gonna stay at 41. The numbers are gonna go back up.
[listens]
Lewis Rothschild: But they're gonna go back up.
[listens]
Lewis Rothschild: All right George...
[listens]
Lewis Rothschild: Congressman...
[listens]
Lewis Rothschild: Congressman Jarrett...
[listens]
Lewis Rothschild: Look George, listen to me... it's crunch time. It's personal. This is one of those moments. It's just you and the President. Now what's it gonna be? Yeah.
[listens]
Lewis Rothschild: Yeah.
[shakes his head as he listens]
Lewis Rothschild: All right George, can I tell you something? We're gonna win this thing. We're gonna get the votes we need and we're gonna win this thing. And you know what I'm gonna do after that, I mean that very night, I'm gonna go to Sam & Harry's, I'm gonna order a big steak, and I'm gonna make a list of everybody who tried to *fuck*
[smacks pop can off his desk with a fist]
Lewis Rothschild: us this week!
Robin McCall: Lewis!
Lewis Rothschild: [into phone] Well just vote your conscience, you chicken-shit, lame-ass...
[slams the phone down]
Lewis Rothschild: [continuing to Robin and Leon] We lost Jarrett.
Leon Kodak: [beat] I hope so. 'Cause, you know, if that was an "undecided," then we need to work on our people skills.

President Andrew Shepherd: [in the Oval Office] What I did tonight was not about political gain.
Leon Kodak: Yes sir. But it can be, sir. What you did tonight was very Presidential.
President Andrew Shepherd: Leon, somewhere in Libya right now, a janitor's working the night shift at Libyan Intelligence Headquarters. He's going about doing his job... because he has no idea, in about an hour he's going to die in a massive explosion. He's just going about his job, because he has no idea that about an hour ago I gave an order to have him killed. You've just seen me do the least Presidential thing I do.

[after President Shepherd's speech]
Leon Kodak: Well, you don't see that every day of the week.
Lewis Rothschild: He's got the whole White House press corps asking each other how to spell "erudite"!
A.J.: Better call the printer, Lewis.
Lewis Rothschild: I know, we gotta rewrite the State of the Union.
A.J.: Every word, kid. It's a whole new ballgame. You have exactly 35 minutes.
Lewis Rothschild: [sarcastically, jokingly] Oh, good, I thought I was gonna be rushed!

Leon Kodak: [cut to conversation in progress] You see, the country has mood swings.
Lewis Rothschild: Mood swings? Nineteen post-graduate degrees in mathematics, and your best explanation for going from a 63 to a 46 percent approval rating in five weeks is mood swings?
Leon Kodak: Well, I could explain it better, but I'd need charts, and graphs, and an easel.

A. J. MacInerney: Oh, and Leon, don't be the nice, sweet guy from Brooklyn on this one. Do what the NRA does.
Leon Kodak: [sarcastically, jokingly] What, scare the shit out of them?
A. J. MacInerney: Exactly.
Leon Kodak: I can do that.