encounter zero
Mrs. Tusk? - Jean, please.
You must be Frank. Come in.
So nice to meet you.
The guest room is this way.
It is very kind of you to have invited me to stay here.
Why waste the taxpayers' money on a hotel
when we have a perfectly good bed?
Well, both they and I are very grateful.
I'm sorry Raymond isn't awake to greet you.
He goes to bed at... - I know he's an early riser.
I understand.
Would you like a wake-up knock?
No. I have an alarm on my phone.
Sleep tight. - Thank you so much.
I would say good morning, but it's the middle of the night.
It's a pleasure to meet you. - And you too.
Was I making too much noise?
No. I smelled bacon.
Here.
Coffee? Booze?
2:00 a.m., you can go either way.
Just water for now.
It's filtered. Your wife would approve.
You ever been to St. Louis before?
Just the airport.
What do you think so far?
Well, I've only seen your neighborhood
and whatever I could see out the window on the interstate.
Good enough. It's all pretty much the same.
Excuse me.
Listen, um, I still haven't showered.
My mind is on China here.
Uh, what do you say you get a few more zs
and we try this again in a few hours with our clothes on?
Sounds like a plan.
Meet me at my office at 9:30.
I'll have a driver pick you up.
Can I ask why you do that?
Do what? - Tap your ring like that.
I've seen you do it on TV.
Two taps every time you get up from a table or leave a lectern.
Something my father taught me.
It's meant to harden your knuckles
so you don't break them if you get into a fight.
It also has the added benefit of knocking on wood.
My father believed that success
is a mixture of preparation and luck.
Tapping the table kills both birds with one stone.
Your father was a peach farmer?
Yes, he was. Not a very successful one.
Lack of preparation or lack of luck? - Lack of both.
He was better at giving advice than following it.
encounter one
Well, you are quite the well traveled man.
No. I'm the man who stays at home.
Jean brought those back for me.
Mr. Tusk, I am... - First names.
After all, we have broken bacon together.
We can safely assume that we're familiar.
Raymond, I realize that you are a very busy man,
so I'm gonna cut right to the chase.
The President sincerely would like you
to become the next Vice President.
That part I already knew.
And I'm here to convince you to say yes.
Another thing I already knew.
Well, I don't know that
I can tell you anything you don't already know.
But perhaps you can tell me what your hesitation is.
Speak.
Yes.
Now, I understand you might have some concerns
about the financial disclosures leading...
Speak.
No.
I have eight people representing me at eight
simultaneous meetings in six time zones right now.
I sit here and answer their questions,
provided they come in the form of a single yes or no proposition.
Well, then, let me give that a try.
Would you like to be the Vice President?
Yes or no?
Hold on a minute.
I am very sorry.
Let me have 20 minutes to wrap up these meetings.
And then what do you say we get out of the office
and away from this damn phone?
Meet me at my car.
Betty can tell you where it's parked.
Go ahead.
He's deflecting.
What I can't tell is whether it's because
he's inclined to say no or wants to be wooed to say yes.
Either way, I'll have to ease him into the conversation,
not be so blunt.
This trip may take longer than I thought.
encounter two
I don't know why you'd want to be there
when you could be out here.
I've never seen a nuclear plant.
Not much to see.
Steel, concrete, a lot of steam.
The President hasn't exactly been a big supporter of nuclear power.
Is that, uh, part of your hesitation...
that fear that the administration...
He's just being savvy.
Nuclear energy is a tough sell after Japan.
But it's the only option we have right now
that doesn't completely trash the planet.
The argument against nuclear power is an emotional one.
And you don't make decisions based on emotion.
Decisions based on emotion aren't decisions at all.
They're instincts,
which can be of value.
The rational and the irrational complement each other.
Individually, they're far less powerful.
Yes, I know the damn poem.
We studied it at the Sentinel.
I said to my Professor,
"Why mourn the death of Presidents, or anyone for that matter?
"The dead can't hear us."
And he asked me if I believed in heaven.
I said no.
And then he asked if I had no faith in God.
I said, "You have it wrong.
"It's God who has no faith in us."
encounter three
I'm sure you were wondering,
"When is this old fool gonna get around to brass tacks?"
I'm here to simply answer questions.
I figured that you would make up your mind when you're ready.
There are two minds here.
We know all about the blind trust.
Does it concern either of you?
The words "Blind" And "Trust"
are not among my favorites in the English language.
But I have no problem with it in theory.
Not managing our assets for a few years
could unburden us from a great deal of stress.
Well, then, what does your reluctance stem from?
Why do you think the President wants me?
Well, I can't speak on his behalf, but if I were to...
Aren't you here to do just that... speak on his behalf?
If I were to speculate, I think the President would prob...
Speculation is a poor form of investment
and an equally poor form of politics.
Tell me what you know.
I don't know what you mean.
Well, what do you think I should do?
You, personally, Frank Underwood?
My opinion isn't what matters here.
It does to me. Should I do it? Yes or no?
Well, there's a great number of things to consider...
And I'm sure you've considered them all.
Yes or no, Frank?
No, I will not answer that question.
Because you think I shouldn't.
Because it's not relevant.
All right, then. Let me ask you another way.
Would you take the job?
It hasn't been offered to me.
What if it were?
I have a distaste for hypotheticals
just the same as you have a distaste for speculation.
All right, all right.
That's enough business for now. We can discuss it more tomorrow.
eve
Stamper, it's midnight. - Two things, boss.
First, Janine Skorsky
ambushed Christina this morning.
I intercepted her before she could ask too much.
Should we be worried? - I can keep this contained, sir.
I just wanted you to know.
All right. What's the other thing?
Doyle came back with his research.
I just e-mailed it to you.
The President told you he and Tusk didn't know each other, right?
Yeah. He said they met once, I think,
at a fund-raiser.
That would appear to be a lie.
All right. I have it in front of me now.
Doyle catalogued all the instances he could find
in which the two of them were in the same city at the same time.
Items in red are events that they both attended.
And he found something else.
Back in Walker's private sector days,
he was the C.E.O. of Pioneer Airlines.
Guess who owned a third of the stock
when it was sold to united?
Raymond Tusk.
My guess is that he and Walker know each other quite well.
All right. Let me look this over. I'll call you back.
I'm being played.
But why?
encounter climax
Did I wake you again? - No.
I'd like to talk.
This bird is not the only thing
you've misidentified since you've been in St. Louis.
You and Walker are old friends.
I wasn't sent here to vet you.
Very good.
Tell me why I am here, then.
So I can vet you.
For the vice presidency?
The President values my advice, and he tends to follow it.
Like when I advised him not to make you Secretary of State.
That was very bad advice.
Yes, it was.
One of the larger mistakes I've made,
and I very rarely make mistakes of any size.
You've proven yourself to be quite difficult.
Kern, the teachers' strike, now Matthews.
You attribute all that to me?
If I had to guess.
A smart man once said to me
that speculation is a poor form of politics.
Why don't you stick to what you know, Raymond?
What I know is you are extremely effective
at what you set your mind to.
That is valuable to me,
and I've already told Garrett that it could be valuable to him...
somebody at his side with one foot in the executive branch
and one in the legislative.
He is very open to the idea.
My turn to speculate.
Your recommendation...
comes at a price.
Fact.
I have something that you want.
You have something that I want.
Have I said something amusing?
Oh, I've just sat too many times on your side of the table
not to enjoy the irony of finding myself on this side of it.
Would you like to hear what I want?
I don't shackle myself to people I don't know.
What I want is one favor.
One and only one.
Which is?
I need to be certain you'll grant it
before I'll take the risk of being more specific.
A blank check.
Of sorts.
You would never grant anyone a blank check.
No. But I'm not sitting on that side of the table.
We still believe in handshakes where I come from.
Do they still mean anything in Washington?
Who are you calling? - Car service to get me to the airport.
Frank,
I will tell the President that I want until Friday
to think things over before I make my recommendation.
Let me know if you change your mind.
And let me arrange the car for you.
Hi. I'd like to arrange a car, please.