Recently, I had the opportunity to view Ron Howard's latest film, Frost / Nixon. Set in 1977, it explores a series of television interviews between British talk show host David Frost, and former United States President Richard Nixon. It is based on a successful play of the same name, written by Peter Morgan.
The play (and film) styles itself as a classic David and Goliath epic. Both men are locked in struggle, both with themselves and each other. The callow Frost appears mired in a struggle to resurrect his rapidly fading television career, while the disgraced and heavily worn Nixon wants to save his tarnished legacy, longing to again feel the adrenaline of politics coursing in his veins. Further, Morgan makes it clear that in the end, only one of these men will "win." Nowhere in the script is this more apparent than when Nixon remarks
"I shall be your fiercest adversary. I shall come at you with everything I got...Because the limelight can only shine...on one of us."
I was captivated and moved by Frank Lenghella's carefully crafted portrayal of the former President. It goes beyond the soundbite - driven caricatures that have haunted Nixon's legacy for years, and offers us a Nixon which many of us have never seen before. Langhella (and writer Peter Morgan) certainly incorporates the classic Dick - isms, from the man's comically awkward physicality, to his great intellect and ego. However, they also offer an awkward, quirky charm to Nixon's character. Ultimately, we are led to believe that deep down, Nixon viewed these interviews as an opportunity to "come clean" to the American people, and thus free himself from the burden of deceit that had dogged him since he left the oval office in disgrace. This comes through with great clarity, when he finally admits,
I have impeached myself... I let down my friends. I let down the country. I let the American people down. And I have to carry that burden with me for the rest of my life.
The interviews revive Frost's career, and supply Nixon with the catharsis he privately seeks. As we leave Langhella's Nixon, looking out over the ocean near San Clemente, we leave seeing a man who while still feeling lonely and exiled, also has found a measure of peace.
Frost / Nixon provides great drama and wonderful theatre. It also provides plenty of lighter moments, and the film's actors present embodiments of their characters, rather than mere impersonations. However, I fear that many people will view this work as historical fact, when in many ways, it truly is not.
Like Langhella and Morgan's Nixon, the real Richard Nixon could in fact be charming. In 1952, as a young Vice Presidential candidate, he was accused of accepting $18,000 in illegal campaign contributions. He went on television and delivered a famous speech, which many would say ultimately saved his nomination. In addition to presenting what he claimed was a full disclosure of his finances, Nixon told a charming little anecdote about a cocker spaniel one supporter had sent his family, which his daughter named "Checkers." He claimed that no matter what anyone said, his family was going to keep the dog. It was a great moment of light-heartedness that distracted many from a growing scandal.
However, unlike Langhella and Morgan's portrayal, the real Richard Nixon's dark side was a much more significant part of his personality. He was, for instance, far more predatory, cold, and calculating when it came to politics. Since he was not born into great wealth or social standing, Nixon had to carve out his own niche in the world. He did so with a remarkably fiery, competitive, and vicious zeal, forging a career out of an uncanny ability to tear his opposition to pieces. Like a hunter stocking a ten - point buck, he could sense an opponent's weaknesses. In the early years, as a member of the House Un - American Activities Committee (HUAC) he portrayed himself as a crusader against domestic communism. When running for a Senate seat in 1950, he stated that his opponent, Helen Gahagan Douglas, was "pink right down to her underwear." He won by a considerable margin. In 1952, as Eisenhower's running mate, he lampooned Adlai Stevenson, calling him "Adlai the Appeaser...who got a PhD from Dean Acheson's school of cowardly communist containment." Stevenson lost by seven million votes.
The real Richard Nixon also often faced the world with a combative stance, which seemed at times to border on paranoia. His political life reached its nadir in 1962. He had lost the Presidency to John F. Kennedy two years earlier, and had been decidedly defeated in the California Governor's race by incumbent Democrat Pat Brown. In a post - election press conference, he blamed the media for his failures, and concluded a rambling diatribe by saying,
Just think what you're going to be missing...you won't have Nixon to kick around anymore...because gentlemen, this is my last press conference.
These losses did not prove to be the ending of Richard Nixon's political career, but rather, almost a stepping stone of sorts. For in losing first to John F. Kennedy and later to Pat Brown, Nixon's resolve to never lose again was galvanized. He would, in short, get back to his political roots, ripping apart anyone who dared to cross his path. Furthermore, he would always view the world through oppositionist eyes. There was always somebody, or some thing, out to get him.
Frost / Nixon only provides a brief foray into Nixon's darker side. Late at night, a somewhat drunk Nixon calls Frost in his hotel room, and proclaims that through the interviews, he and Frost will "make those mother fuckers (presumably the media and anybody else who dislikes him) choke." Langhella portrays Nixon's hard - edged, combative world view convincingly, but Morgan's script barely allows him the opportunity. The scene is brief, and later on, its entire existence becomes dubious, as Nixon claims to have no recollection of the conversation.
In truth, this combative stance never left the real Nixon's character, even after he resigned from the Presidency in disgrace. In the actual interviews with Frost, this part of his psychological makeup clearly came across. One could easily argue that Nixon never truly admitted to being guilty of trying to cover up the Watergate scandal, nor did he want to do so. Instead, his most poignant admission was that he allowed his opposition to defeat him by using the very same tactics on which he himself relied - find the opponent's dirty laundry, and hang it out in the open air.
It was this admission that served as a loose basis for Frost / Nixon's climax. However, as direct quotations demonstrate, the real interview and its fictional counterpart contrast sharply. Ultimately, Nixon concluded,
I don't go with the idea that what brought me down was a coup, a conspiracy, etc., etc., etc. I brought myself down - I gave 'em a sword, and they...stuck it in...and they twisted it with relish. And I guess that if I'd been in their position, I'd have done the same thing.
In short, Nixon was admitting to failure. However, his was not a failure born out of his character. Rather, it was a failure born out of being outsmarted by his opposition. Perhaps he realized that he should have burned the tapes. By saying he would have "done the same thing," he was arguing that when it came to politics, this still was the only way to play.
Frost / Nixon's greatest contribution to American culture is not that it tells us what really happened thirty years ago. Rather, it reminds us of what so many of us wish could have happened. We wish Richard Nixon genuinely felt he "let the country down" by stooping so low. However, the fact remains that in the actual interviews, such an admission never really occurred.
This struggle to reconcile the real Nixon with his fictional counterpart should not invoke more cynicism or frustration in the film's viewers, and it does not do so in me. Rather, it serves as a reminder of the qualities we should seek in our leaders: Accountability, sound judgement, humility, and above all else, truly heartfelt honesty.
This, in short, is Frost / Nixon's greatest lesson.
