The Man

Wanda: How are you, Dad?

Douglass Dilman: Numb! Numbness being a, er, defence mechanism.

Wanda: Against what?

Douglass Dilman: Against... against breaking into small pieces. They flew you here? From Ohio?

Wanda: On an Air Force jet, no less. Two Secret Servicemen came right into my dorm and got me.

Douglass Dilman: What's known as the long arm of Government!... It's nice to have you in the nation's capital for something other than a protest march.

Wanda: Well, I guess I'll have to cool that sort of thing for a while.

Douglass Dilman: I think maybe so. You are now a member of the nation's First Family, small though it may be. So the next time you throw rocks at the Establishment, keep in mind that the father you hit may be your own.

[beat]

Douglass Dilman: Perhaps by tomorrow morning, I can get my hands to stop shaking. I'm the wrong one, Wanda.

Wanda: Why?

Douglass Dilman: They were expecting a black Messiah. You can tell them what they got, eh?

Wanda: What they got is a black President. That's more than they've ever gotten.

Douglass Dilman: May I remind you, not by election. And the rest of the country is going to want an Uncle Tom. Well, I can't be what everybody wants me to be. And I'm a little afraid that I'm going to cause this country more chaos then it really deserves.

Wanda: Well, I don't give a damn about the rest of this country, their sensitivities, their racial hang-ups. Do me a favour, will you, please? Stop being the pedantic professor with an aversion to causes. Stop being "Senator Ineffectual". There are fifteen million people out there, tied to you by the colour of your skin. And if you go under, they drown with you. They don't want you humble. They don't want you apologetic. They just want you President.