11 quotes
A Bet on Pigeon Behavior
Frank Horrigan
I'll bet you that brown pigeon down there flies off before the white one.
Lilly Raines
How do you know?
Frank Horrigan
I know things about pigeons, Lilly.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Struggle with Identity and Morality
Mitch Leary
Frank, you of all people, I want you to understand because we both USED to think this country was a very special place...
Frank Horrigan
You don't know what I used to think!
Leary
Oh, but you know about me? Do you have any idea what I've done for God and country? Some pretty FUCKING HORRIBLE things! I don't even remember who I was before they sunk their claws into me!
Horrigan
They made you into a real monster, right?
Leary
That's right and now they want to destroy me because we can't have monsters roaming the quiet countryside, now can we?
Horrigan
What do you see when you're in the dark, and the demons come?
Leary
I see you, Frank. I see you standing over the grave of another dead president.
Horrigan
That's not going to happen. I'm onto you.
Leary
Forget it, Frank. I am willing to trade my life for his. I am smart, and I am willing, and that is all it takes. That president is coming home from California in a box.
Horrigan
Where in California?
Leary
Uh, the address? Come on, Frank. I'll keep you in the game, but I'm not going to throw it for you.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Confrontation Between Life and Death
Frank Horrigan
I want you to give yourself up.
Mitch Leary
So I can live a long and fruitful life?
Horrigan
We can work something out.
Leary
Fuck you. Don't fucking lie to me. I have a rendezvous with death, and so does the President, and so do you if you get too close.
Horrigan
You have a rendezvous with my ass, motherfucker!
Leary
Frank. Do you know how easily I could kill you, Frank? Do you know how many times I've watched you go in and out of that apartment? You're alive because I have allowed you to live. So you show me some goddamn respect!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Reflections on Missed Opportunities and Courage
Frank Horrigan
For years, I've been listening to all these idiots on barstools with all their pet theories on ]. How it was the Cubans, or the C.I.A., or the white supremacists, or the Mob. Whether there was one weapon, or whether there was five. None of that's meant too much to me. But Leary, he questioned whether I had the guts to take that fatal bullet. God, that was a beautiful day. The sun was out, been raining all morning, the air was... First shot, sounded like a firecracker. I looked over, I saw him, I could tell he was hit. I don't know why I didn't react. I should have reacted. I should have been running flat out. I just couldn't believe it. If only I'd reacted, I could have taken that shot. And that would have been alright with me.
[[w:Assassination of John F. Kennedy|Dallas]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Unexpected Recognition in a Serious Conversation
Mitch Leary
Frank?
[on phone]
Frank Horrigan
Yeah?
Leary
Frank Horrigan, the Secret Service agent?
Horrigan
Yeah, what'd I win?
Leary
My God, that really was you in my apartment this afternoon!
Horrigan
McCrawley?
[turns off stereo]
Leary
Why not call me ]?
[[w:John Wilkes Booth|Booth]
Horrigan
Why not ]?
[[w:Lee Harvey Oswald|Oswald]
Leary
Because Booth had flair, panache - a leap to the stage after he shot ].
[[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Finality of Friendship and Competition
Mitch Leary
Hello, Frank. By the time you hear this, it'll be over. The President is most likely dead, and so am I. I wonder, Frank, did you kill me? Who won our game? Not that it really matters, for among friends like you and me, it's not whether you win or lose but how you play the game, and now the game is done and it's time to get on with your life. But I worry, that you have no life to get on with, Frank. You're a good man, and good men like you and me are destined to travel a lonely road. Goodbye, and good luck.
[last words, left on Frank's answering machine]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Debate on Life and Death Choices
Mitch Leary
Do you believe in the nobility of suicide?
Frank Horrigan
No. But if you wanna blow your goddamn head off, go ahead, be my guest.
Mitch Leary
Nicely put, except I don't want to leave this miserable world alone.
Lilly Raines
West tower, do you have a shot?
Sniper
Negative, too dark. Target unclear.
Leary
It's better to die with a friend, don't you think Frank?
Horrigan
A friend? You're a damn killer, you sick bastard.
Leary
Don't talk to me like that! I saved your life. You owe me.
Horrigan
I don't owe you shit.
Leary
I was always honest and fair with you.
Horrigan
Go ahead and shoot. Go ahead.
[the other agents hear him on the ground floor]
Agent Chavez
It's Frank. Quiet! Quiet!
[to people reacting at the audio]
Horrigan
Come on, dammit.
Raines
Frank are you talking to me?
Horrigan
Well, what are you waiting for?
[trying to keep talking to Leary]
Leary
What am I waiting for? I'm waiting for you to show me some goddamn gratitude. Without me, you'd still just be another sad-eyed, piano-playing drunk. I brought you into this game. I let you keep up with me. I made you a goddamn hero today.
[aims pistol as Horrigan moves back]
Horrigan
You didn't make me anything.
Leary
I redeemed your pathetic, shitty life.
Horrigan
I just did my job. You're the one with the fucking pathetic life. Go ahead and shoot, dammit.
Raines
They can't see inside. If they fire, you'll be hit.
Leary
I want you to thank me first, Frank.
Horrigan
Shut up and shoot.
Raines
All right, Frank.
Leary
All right, Frank.
[kneels to him]
Raines
Shooters, standby to fire. Wait for my command.
Leary
Sleep well, my friend.
Horrigan
Just one thing: Aim high.
Leary
What?
Raines
Aim high.
Horrigan
NOW!
Raines
Fire!
Leary
You bastard!
[finally sees that Horrigan was on the radio the whole time; snipers shoot]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Moment of Frustration and Realization
Frank Horrigan
Well, ]? ...Damn. ].
[at the Lincoln Memorial; [Abraham Lincoln|Abe; [w:Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|Wish I could have been there for you, pal]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Reluctant Duty to Save a Life
Frank Horrigan
Take my hand. If you don't, you'll die.
Mitch Leary
You want to save me, Frank?
Frank Horrigan
To be completely fair and honest with you, no. But it's my job.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Tensions Rise Over Presidential Image and Accountability
White House Chief of Staff Harry Sargent
The president came off looking like a coward on national television.
Frank Horrigan
I thought he came off all right. You're the one that came off looking like a damn coward.
Sargent
This is a just a joke to you?
Horrigan
No, you're a joke to me, Harry! You have no idea what we do around here!
Bill Watts
That's enough, Horrigan!
Sargent
You call me Harry one more time, you'll be busting counterfeiters in Alaska! You keep him away from the president, away from the White House, and you sure as hell better keep him away from me!
Watts
Don't talk to the White House Chief of Staff like that.
Horrigan
I don't work for him.
Watts
No, you work for me. At least you did. You're off my detail.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Reflections on Choices and Consequences
Mitch Leary
What did happen to you that day? Only one agent reacted to the gunfire, and you were closer to Kennedy than he was. You must have looked up at the window of the Texas Book Depository, but you didn't react. Late at night, when the demons come, do you see the rifle coming out of that window, or do you see Kennedy's head being blown apart? If you'd reacted to that first shot, could you have gotten there in time to stop the big bullet? And if you had - that could've been your head being blown apart. Do you wish you'd succeeded, Frank? Or is life too precious?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.