Scandal (TV Series)

White Hat's Back On (2013)

Tony Goldwyn: Fitzgerald Grant

Quotes 

• President Fitzgerald Grant : [In Cyrus' hospital room]  I'm not leaving here with you.

  Mellie Grant : Our approval ratings are up, fitz. If you plan to run and win, we need to capitalize on the public's support.

  President Fitzgerald Grant : Mellie, this phase of our lives, capitalizing on public support as a definition of marriage, is over. Make no mistake you are going to leave the White House. You'll want your own political career, and I will back you and campaign for you, and never speak of my ex-Wife Mellie Grant in anything but the most glowing of terms.

  President Fitzgerald Grant : And then, about a year into my second term, I will go one or two high-profile dates with well-educated, age-appropriate career women, which will be chronicled in immaculate detail by tabloids around the globe. And when word leaks six months later That I've been spending time with one of my oldest, dearest, most trusted advisors, who selflessly acted as the mouthpiece of my administration when I was lying half-dead on a hospital bed, who has always stood beside me as my friend and colleague... When it gets out that she and I have started, after all this time, to care for one another in a way that is no longer strictly professional, America will love her.

  President Fitzgerald Grant : And let's be honest. My relationship with olivia is going to spark a real dialogue. And it is going to blow the Republican party wide open, and let some light and air into places that haven't seen change in far too long. So the party will *love* her. And you want to be on the right side of history here. Trust me, you do.

  President Fitzgerald Grant : Now, if you don't want to play along, if you leak Olivia's name, if you refuse to go gently - well, it only takes a few whispers of the word "racist" before the feminist groups and the religious groups, and even the Republican National Committee turn up their noses at your stink. But I don't want to do that, Mellie. I want to help you join me as a living, breathing monument to redemption and second chances, and the America we all hope still exists.

  Mellie Grant : [walks out of the room] 

  Cyrus Beene : I take it Liv came up with that?

  President Fitzgerald Grant : She did.

  Cyrus Beene : [wistfully]  It's good.

• Olivia Pope : I thought you didn't want me fixing you.

  President Fitzgerald Grant : I don't need fixing. I'm fine. I love you. The American public needs fixing. They love Mellie. They're the ones with the problem. So come up with a plan to solve

  Olivia Pope : You want me to come up with a plan?

  President Fitzgerald Grant : Olivia Pope, use your super-power.

• Olivia Pope : Run with Mellie by your side. You can win with Mellie by your side.

  President Fitzgerald Grant : I want *you* by my side. We can do this together. You are going to be my first lady.

  Olivia Pope : I can't leave them. They need me. I'm their gladiator.