THE PRECEDENT |
| Title: "THE PRECEDENT" Based On: Original Screenplay By: David Bacal Genre: Political Action/Drama |
| Log Line |
| A newly elected President takes Congress hostage to achieve his political ends. |
| Synopsis |
| Hope and expectation are enormous throughout the land as Dominic Stavros takes the office of the US Presidency. He's charismatic, scandal-free, a decorated veteran, and a straight-talking, non-politician whose candidacy created a wave of popular political enthusiasm like the country had never before seen. His election was landslide. His first act as the new President: He takes both Houses of Congress hostage with the help of his own Secret Servicemen. Inside the Halls of Congress the President's ransom is simple. Without the influence of lobbyists or special interest he insists that the Nation's lawmakers create a legislation that will ensure the health and well-being of every child in the land. Outside, fueled by a media gone out of control, the Nation is manic. A power struggle ensues between VP Virginia Harbaugh and ex. Secretary of Defense Jerome Stanchon, whom Stavros defeated for the Presidency. Stanchon is corrupt, and, backed by the CIA and a faction of the military, uses lies and force to subvert the Constitution and wrestle power away from Harbaugh. Fueling his cause are rumors that President Stavros was involved with the massacre of innocent civilians and children while serving as a Captain in Vietnam. Two people can help reveal the truth about the President and restore the integrity of the US government. One is Tricia Carlysle, a popular news correspondent who fell in love with Stavros during his campaign, and the other, Ben Krause, a vet who served beside him during the war. Krause is the only man who knows the truth of the President's past in Vietnam, and he leaves his reclusion in the Alaskan wilderness to come to Washington and Stavros' aid. After surviving assassination attempts ordered by Stanchon, Krause eventually makes it to Carlysle and reveals to her the truth about Nam. She learns that as a Special Forces Captain Stavros was forced to make the kind of horrible decision that a brutal war can thrust upon a good soldier. Carlysle then meets the Vietnamese woman whose children Stavros was forced to kill. The woman reveals how Stavros has secretly devoted his whole life to her, and Carlysle comes to understand that the President's current act of terrorism, and his whole life, is an act of contrition for the children he killed in the war. As Carlysle returns to Washington to try and save Stavros she finds a nation at the verge of civil war. The opposing factions of the military, one supporting Stanchon, the other VP Harbaugh, are about to come to arms when the President Stavros emerges from the Halls of Congress. He explains himself before the world, frees the hostages, and makes his final offering. Order is restored throughout the Nation, but its politics and soul will never again be the same. |
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