Pat Geary

Pat Geary is a fictional character portrayed by G. D. Spradlin in the film The Godfather Part II. He is a U.S. senator from Nevada whose corruption and moral vices are exploited by Michael Corleone.

Fictional character biography

At the beginning of the film, set in 1958, Geary and his wife attend the First Communion celebration for the son of Michael Corleone, the head of the Corleone crime family. Geary publicly accepts a contribution in the name of Anthony Corleone (Michael's son) ostensibly as a donation for the local public university. While speaking before the large gathering, Geary mispronounces the boy's middle and last names and initially misnames Michael Corleone's wife Kay as Pat.

After the public ceremony, Geary meets with Michael in his office. The Corleone family had obtained control of several casinos in Nevada. Geary offers to help Michael obtain a disputed gaming license in exchange for an exorbitant bribe, and launching into a contemptuous tirade against Michael, the Corleone family, and Italian Americans in general, calling them "oily-haired" and "dirty", and this time he pronounces "Corleone" correctly but mockingly, indicating that he intentionally mispronounced it earlier. He says that he despises Michael and all he stands for and that he "intend[s] to squeeze" the Corleone family for all he can get. He gives Michael a day to respond to his offer. As Geary heads for the door, Michael responds by telling Geary that he should get them the license for free, and for Geary to pay the $20,000 licensing fee out of his own pocket. Geary then leaves the room.

Some time later, Geary spends the night with a prostitute in a brothel run by Michael's brother Fredo in the Nevada desert. Having suffered from an alcoholic blackout, he awakens in a bed covered in blood next to the woman, who is dead. Corleone family consigliere Tom Hagen arrives on the scene and tells a terrified Geary that since the woman has no family, the matter can be safely covered up. Hagen promises Geary, "All that will be left is our friendship." It is implied that the Corleones have engineered this situation, perhaps through drugging Geary. Michael's personal assassin, Al Neri, is seen in the bathroom wiping his hands with a towel, indicating that it was he who murdered the prostitute.

Subsequently, it appears that the Corleones' "help" with the incident (in other words, blackmail) sways Geary to the Corleone family's side. When Michael goes to Havana for a meeting with Hyman Roth and other crime bosses, he also takes the time to associate with several influential figures in government, law, and business. Geary is among this latter group; he greets Michael warmly during a New Year's Eve party held by the Cuban President, Fulgencio Batista, and later joins them in going to see a live sex show. When chaos erupts on the streets as Fidel Castro comes to power, Geary can be heard loudly demanding entry into the U.S. Embassy.

Later in the movie, Geary is seen serving on a Senate committee that is investigating organized crime, and which could potentially send Michael to prison. He asks Corleone soldato Willie Cicci about the layers of management ("buffers") which protect Michael from direct criminal involvement. Later, on the day of Michael's testimony, Geary speaks in defense of Italian-Americans to the assembled television cameras, denouncing the stereotyping of them as criminals. However, he absents himself from the hearing before Michael testifies.

In other media

Mark Winegardner's 2006 sequel novel The Godfather's Revenge explains that Geary remains in Michael's pocket well into the 1960s.

Geary also makes an appearance in the video game The Godfather II. Dominic Corleone, the player character, meets with Geary to persuade him to visit the brothel. Hagen instructs Dominic to create a fake business deal to gain Geary's trust. Dominic mentions that his "partners" have prostitution businesses across the country before suggesting Geary visit a local brothel that he controls. Dominic then joins Hagen the next morning, speaking to Geary after his horrific discovery.

References