A. J. MacInerney Quotes in The American President (1995)

A. J. MacInerney: [in the Oval Office] The President doesn't answer to you, Lewis!

Lewis Rothschild: Oh, yes he does A.J. I'm a citizen, this is my President. And in this country it is not only permissible to question our leaders it's our responsibility!

A. J. MacInerney: [to President Andrew Shepherd] Oh, you only fight the fights you can win? You fight the fights that need fighting!

[Sydney and President D'Astier were conversing in French during the state dinner]

President Andrew Shepherd: Sydney, you didn't dissolve our trade agreements, did you?

Sydney Ellen Wade: No, I just said we're sitting in this beautiful room, listening to the music of this wonderful orchestra, and I wondered why nobody was dancing.

President René Jean D'Astier: And I informed Miss Wade that in my country, a guest at the palace of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette would soon find their head in a guillotine if they made the impertinent gesture of dancing without so much as a by-your-leave from the King and the Queen.

[laughs]

A. J. MacInerney: I bet no one accused Louis of being soft on crime.

Sydney Ellen Wade: There's a lesson there, Mr. President.

President Andrew Shepherd: More beheadings at the White House!

A. J. MacInerney: [in the Oval Office] Excuse me, sir, where are you going?

President Andrew Shepherd: I'm going over to her house. I'm going to stand outside her door until she let's me in, and I'm not leaving 'til I get her back.

A. J. MacInerney: How are you going to do that, sir?

President Andrew Shepherd: Well, I haven't worked that out yet, but I'm sure groveling will be involved.

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.

A.J. MacInerney: [sarcastically, jokingly] If anyone needs me, I'll be in the Roosevelt Room, giving Lewis oxygen.

[Discussing a reprisal for an attack on US troops]

A. J. MacInerney: Sir, it's immediate, it's decisive, it's low-risk, and it's a proportional response.

President Andrew Shepherd: Someday someone's going to have to explain to me the virtue of a proportional response.

President Andrew Shepherd: [while playing pool] Did she say anything about me?

A. J. MacInerney: Ms. Wade?

President Andrew Shepherd: When she called?

A. J. MacInerney: Did she say anything about you?

President Andrew Shepherd: No. We had a nice couple of minutes together. She threatened me, I patronized her. We didn't have anything to eat, but I thought there was a connection.

President Andrew Shepherd: Two-ball on the side.

[He makes the shot, and the two-ball goes into the pocket]

A. J. MacInerney: Nice shot, Mr. President.

President Andrew Shepherd: "Nice shot, Mr. President"? You won't even call me by my name when we're playing pool?

A. J. MacInerney: I will not do it playing pool, I will not do it in a school. I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them, Sam I Am.

President Andrew Shepherd: At ease, A.J. At ease.

[He prepares to hit the nine-ball into the corner pocket; A.J. stands by that pocket]

President Andrew Shepherd: Would - would you get away from the pocket?

A. J. MacInerney: I beg your pardon, sir.

President Andrew Shepherd: [while playing pool] She didn't say anything about me?

A. J. MacInerney: Well, she did say you were taller than she thought you'd be.

President Andrew Shepherd: Well, that's something.

A. J. MacInerney: I feel a nightmare coming on...