A 1964 Hollywood Film the Harbinger of a Future Government Take Over

Hyper-Patriotism has always been a threat to American freedoms and to democracy. Nativist political parties like the Know-Nothings of the mid-19^th Century attempted to define patriotism and the definition of what it meant to be an American. In the 1950s, the U.S. House Committee on Un-American Affairs and the efforts of Senator Joseph McCarthy sought to characterize a pure America devoid of diversity in belief. The 1964 Hollywood film classic Seven Days in May, released during a time of Cold War uncertainty and debate over U.S. involvement in Vietnam, follows a military plot to overthrow the U.S. government by a popular Air Force general.

 

The Universal and Timeless Warning of John Frankenheimer’s Seven Days in May

 

Presidential unpopularity is often prompted by executive decisions that flaunt the ideological beliefs of the opposition party. In Seven Days in May, fictional president Jordan Lyman (Frederic March) is opposed by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General James Mattoon Scott (Burt Lancaster) over the White House decision to go forward with a recently ratified treaty with the Soviet Union to dismantle nuclear arsenals.

 

The film, previewed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 at the White House, focuses on the so-called “Roman doctrine.” Is the American nation better off employing a strong defense, or should Americans trust hostile nations to honor treaties of disarmament?

 

As General Scott stated before a Senate committee hearing, “We’ve stayed alive because we’ve built up an arsenal, and we’ve kept the peace because we’ve dealt with an enemy who knew we would use that arsenal.” Even the “informer,” Colonel “Jiggs” Casey, agrees with this assessment. But Jiggs also believes in the Constitution.

 

The President Responds to Allegations of a Military Take-Over of the U.S. Government

 

Colonel Casey, General Scott’s aide, is sufficiently alarmed by the circumstantial evidence to meet with the President. Jiggs has been cut out of the loop, “for some security reason.” All indications in the film point to his liberal leanings. But President Lyman’s key advisors are not sold on the notion of a plot.

 

Nonetheless, after sifting through spurious evidence, the President outlines his course of action. His Chief of Staff Paul Girard (Martin Balsam) will fly to the Mediterranean to question Vice-Admiral Barnswell (John Houseman) who has been implicated in the plot. Senator Ray Clark of Georgia, Lyman’s closest friend, will fly to El Paso, Texas to locate General Scott’s secret base – “ECOMCON, Site Y.”

 

The Plot Thickens in Seven Days in May

 

The “last resort” ammunition against General Scott are a packet of love letters written to Eleanor Holbrook (Ava Gardner) with whom he had had an affair – letters that were “very revealing of the general’s extra curricular love life,” according to Cabinet Secretary Chris Todd (George Macready). Jiggs retrieves the letters after pretending to fall for the vulnerable and alcoholic Holbrook.

 

Aboard a carrier in the Mediterranean, Paul Girard elicits a written confession from the hapless admiral. In Texas, Senator Clark, with the assistance of Colonel “Mutt” Henderson, a personal friend of Jiggs, escapes from the secret base he stumbled upon, and returns to Washington with Henderson.

 

But Girard’s plane is sabotaged and crashes into the Spanish hills. Henderson is arrested by the army in Washington and held incommunicado. Admiral Barnswell, in a telephone conversation with the president, denies having signed any papers (Girard had called the president to inform him of Barnswell’s confession in writing).

 

The Enemy Is a Nuclear Age

 

Only the letters retrieved by Casey remain, but the president is reluctant to use them against Scott. In one of the most pivotal scenes, President Lyman tells Todd and Senator Clark that the enemy isn’t Scott but a nuclear age. People look for transitory heroes like Scott to guide them through the fear and uncertainty.

 

The president meets with General Scott in the Oval Office, the “show down” designed to produce the resignation of Scott and the other complicit officers in the Joint Chiefs. The scheduled alert for the following day is called off – the alert that would have resulted in Scott’s taking over the government. But Scott is defiant. As he leaves the Oval Office, the president says, “I’m going to fight you…”

 

President Lyman’s Press Conference Averts a Military Take-Over

 

_{Although his press conference has begun, the president is called outside by Todd and Clark. His Chief of Staff had folded Admiral Barnswell’s written confession into a cigarette case which was found by an American embassy official in Madrid at the crash site of Paul Girard’s plane. The entire plot was revealed.}

 

_{Copies are made and forwarded to all of the implicated officers. Excepting Scott, they immediately send the president their resignations. These are announced during the resumption of the press conference, the president commenting at length about the American system, the Constitution, and the democratic way.}

 

_{The Message of Seven Days in May}

 

_{Politics and Civics instructors still use Seven Days in May to generate class discussion. Can such a thing happen in America? Is the American Constitution strong enough to withstand the rise of demagogues that threaten civil liberties and differences of opinion? In this regard, the film is timeless.}

 

_{History, even contemporary history, is full of examples of democratic governments elected by the people being overthrown by strong military personalities. This has happened in large, progressive nations like Turkey and small, island paradises like Fiji. But can it happen in America?  Seven Days in May suggests that it can happen in America, given the right circumstances.}

 

_Sources:

 

_{Warner Bros. Classics, VHS 1997}

_{Internet Movie Data Base}

_{Published October 21, 2018 in Suite101 by M.Streich}