Frost/Nixon Script - Dialogue Transcript

Frost/Nixon Script

  
  
They'd better not
push me on him,

  
or I'll just kick
them in the teeth on it.

  
Well, I think, if they...

  
Internal Revenue
people that are kicking

  
Billy Graham around
is Rosenberg.

  
He is to be out.

  
I don't give a goddamn
what the story is.

  
He went on television.

  
I have not. I've
already ordered Connally,

  
we're going
after the Chandlers,

  
every one individually,
collectively,

  
their income taxes
are starting this week.

  
Every one of those
sons of bitches.

  
Well, this is something that
we can really hang Teddy or...

  
Yeah.

  
Or the
Kennedy clan with.

  
I'm gonna want to put that
in Colson's hands.

  
And we're gonna
want to run with it.

  
A controversial
day in politics.

  
A man arrested trying
to bug the offices

  
of the Democratic National
Committee in Washington

  
turns out to be an employee

  
of President Richard Nixon's
re-election campaign committee.

  
He is one of five persons
surprised and arrested yesterday

  
inside the headquarters of the
Democratic National Committee

  
in Washington.

  
And guess what else he is.

  
A consultant of
President Richard Nixon's

  
re-election
campaign committee.

  
The trial started today
at the federal courthouse

  
for the five burglars
caught breaking into

  
the Democratic National
Party headquarters.

  
Stand by
for camera.

  
John Dean, the ex-White
House Counsel, testified today

  
that President Nixon knew
about the Watergate cover-up.

  
At one point in
the conversation,

  
I recall the President
telling me

  
to keep a good list of the
press people giving us trouble

  
because we will make life difficult
for them after the election.

  
Dean read through
a 245-page statement

  
characterizing a president
who was easily outraged

  
over war protesters
and political adversaries,

  
and outlining
a range of offenses,

  
including wiretapping
of newsmen,

  
a Charles Colson
plan to firebomb

  
and burglarize
the Brookings Institution,

  
and spying on Senator
Kennedy and other Democrats.

  
The misuse of power is the
very essence of tyranny.

  
And consider, if you will,

  
the frightening implications
of that for a free society.

  
The President today accepted the
resignation of three of his closest aides.

  
Out is H. R. Haldeman,
Chief of Staff.

  
Also quitting under fire
is John Ehrlichman.

  
Ehrlichman was
a key political advisor.

  
Good morning.
The Supreme Court

  
has just ruled on
the tapes controversy,

  
and here is Carl Stern,
who has that ruling.

  
It is a unanimous
decision, Doug, eight to zero.

  
Justice Rehnquist
took no part in the decision

  
ordering the President of the
United States to turn over the tapes.

  
It's an eight-to-zero
unanimous opinion.

  
A White House aide
told NBC News today

  
that impeachment
of the President

  
by the full House of Representatives
now is a virtual certainty.

  
These are,
with no serious doubt,

  
the last hours of the 37th
presidency of the United States.

  
This is indeed
an historic day,

  
the only time a president
has ever resigned from office

  
in our nearly years of history.

  
You see the White House
there, and in the White House,

  
in just a few moments now,

  
President Nixon will be
appearing before the people,

  
perhaps for the last time as
President of the United States.

  
15 seconds, Mr. President.

  
Okay, that's five,
four, three...

  
Good evening.
This is the 37th time

  
I have spoken to you
from this office

  
where so many decisions
have been made

  
that have shaped
the history of our nation.

  
I remember exactly
where I was.

  
My father called. The phone rang,
my father called and he said,

  
"Turn on the TV right now.
Richard Nixon's going down. "

  
I was at home with friends, and we
were watching television at home.

  
We stayed up and, like
everyone else, I'd been glued to

  
the Select and Judiciary Committee
hearings night after night.

  
And then finally,
it had come to this.

  
Therefore, I shall resign the
presidency effective at noon tomorrow.

  
But instead of the satisfaction
I imagined I'd feel,

  
I just got angrier
and angrier,

  
because there was
no admission of guilt.

  
There was no apology.

  
Little did I know

  
that I would one day
be part of the team

  
that would try and
elicit that apology.

  
To leave office
before my term is completed

  
is abhorrent to every
instinct in my body.

  
I have never been a quitter.

  
And that that team
would be led

  
by the most unlikely
of white knights,

  
a man with no political
convictions whatsoever,

  
a man who, as far as I know, had
never even voted once in his life.

  
But he was a man who had one big
advantage over the rest of us.

  
He understood television.

  
And now, the host of
Frost Over Australia,

  
Mr. David Frost!

  
Thank you, thank you.

  
Hello. Good evening.

  
And with the eyes of the world
focused on the White House,

  
here in Australia,
burglars have broken into

  
a meat factory in Brisbane

  
and stolen a ton
of pork sausages.

  
The Queensland police are looking
for men in a long, thin getaway car.

  
Now, my first guest tonight...

  
Well, we in the Nixon camp

  
really didn't know that much
about David Frost,

  
other than he was
a British talk show host

  
with something of
a playboy reputation.

  
He'd had a talk show here in
the US that had won some awards

  
but hadn't syndicated well and
had been dropped by the network.

  
He ended up taking
it down to Australia,

  
which is, I believe, where he
was when the President resigned.

  
Next week's guest
will be Evonne Goolagong.

  
We'll see you then.
God bless.

  
Great show, David.
Thanks, Noah.

  
Come and look at this.

  
Nixon leaving
the White House.

  
A dark day for Richard
Nixon, who has drawn crowds

  
to the vast Ellipse south
of the White House before.

  
What, this is live?
Yeah.

  
But those were triumphs.
This is not.

  
What time is it
in Washington?

  
9:00 a. M.

  
Why didn't he wait?

  
It's 6:00 in the morning
on the West Coast.

  
Half his audience
is still asleep.

  
All right, you blokes, let's
get the set broken down.

  
Are witnesses to the saddest
day in the life of Richard Nixon,

  
his last moments as President
of the United States,

  
a moment unlike any other in
the history of this country.

  
Richard Nixon, who goes now

  
from the power
of the presidency

  
to a form of exile
in California.

  
Find out the numbers for
this, will you? Worldwide.

  
I remember his face.

  
Staring out the window.

  
Down below him, a liberal
America cheered, gloated.

  
Hippies, draft dodgers,
dilettantes,

  
the same people who'd spit on
me when I got back from Vietnam.

  
They'd gotten rid of Richard
Nixon, their bogeyman.

  
So what's so important that it
couldn't wait, that it had to be today?

  
I've had an idea, John, rather
a bold idea for an interview.

  
Fish and chips, please.

  
And in a moment...

  
Well, it's too late now.
It's done.

  
I've called his people...

  
You?

  
Beans, peas and lamb, please.

  
And made an offer.

  
Now, if the subject
were to say yes,

  
well, he's rather a big fish
that swims in not-untricky waters.

  
So it goes without saying
that I'd want a dear friend

  
and the finest producer
I know by my side.

  
So who is it?

  
Richard Nixon.

  
Richard Nixon?

  
Well, come on,
don't look like that.

  
Well, how would you
expect me to look?

  
I spent yesterday evening watching
you interview the Bee Gees.

  
Weren't they terrific?

  
Come on, John, we've done
political interviews before.

  
So, okay, so what
kind of interview?

  
A full, extensive look-back
over his life, his presidency.

  
And?

  
And what?
Come on, David.

  
Surely the only thing
that would interest anyone

  
about Richard Nixon
would be a confession.

  
A full, no-holds-barred
confession.

  
Well, we'll get that, too.

  
From Richard Nixon?

  
Come on, John.

  
Just think of the
numbers it would get.

  
Do you know how
many people watched

  
his farewell speech
in the White House?

  
Four hundred million.

  
But in the end,
David heard nothing.

  
And soon after
arriving in California,

  
Nixon was rushed to hospital
with an acute attack of phlebitis.

  
I think it was around
this time that Gerald Ford,

  
who was the new President,

  
and who was desperate to move
the agenda on from Watergate,

  
gave Nixon a full,
free and absolute pardon.

  
Now therefore, I,
Gerald R. Ford,

  
President of
the United States,

  
have granted, and by
these presents do grant,

  
a full,
free and absolute pardon

  
unto Richard Nixon for all
offenses against the United States.

  
It meant that the man who had
committed the greatest felony

  
in American political history
would never stand trial.

  
It was like he slipped
out the back door.

  
A public opinion
poll indicates

  
a two-to-one disapproval of
the pardoning of Richard Nixon.

  
One telegram from Virginia said,
"Roosevelt had his New Deal,

  
"Truman had his Fair Deal, now
Ford has his crooked deal. "

  
There was no deal, period.

  
I don't think the truth
will ever come out.

  
The American people
need to know the truth,

  
and I don't think it will
ever now be fully known.

  
So how do we want to
address the college protests?

  
Well, do we want
to lift some quotes

  
from the "stand up and be
counted" speech in 1970?

  
Sir? You know, maybe
we're just better off

  
using the whole
Lincoln Memorial memo.

  
Just include
the whole thing.

  
Mr. President,
Swifty Lazar is here.

  
Okay. No, no, stick around.

  
You're gonna get
a kick out of this.

  
This is my literary agent
from Hollywood.

  
Hygiene obsessive.

  
Mr. President,
good to see you.

  
Nice to see you.

  
These are folks
helping me with my book.

  
Diane Sawyer, Frank
Gannon, Irving Lazar.

  
Nice to meet you.
Miss Sawyer.

  
Pleasure.
Mr. Gannon.

  
Okay, that's it.
I'll see you after lunch.

  
So how
you feeling, sir?

  
I'm better, thank you. Though
not yet well enough to golf,

  
thank God.
I despise that game.

  
Imagine, six weeks
out of office

  
as President
of the United States,

  
and they'd have me putting
in my hospital room.

  
Never retire, Mr. Lazar.

  
To me, the unhappiest people
of the world are retired.

  
No purpose.

  
What makes life mean
something is purpose.

  
A goal. A battle. A struggle.

  
Well, even if
you don't win it.

  
When my doctor
declared me unfit

  
to give testimony
in the Watergate trial,

  
everybody thought
I'd be relieved.

  
Well, they were wrong.

  
That was the lowest I got.

  
Well, if it's a challenge you
want, here's one you might enjoy.

  
How to spend $2 million,
2.3 to be precise.

  
It's what I got
for your memoirs.

  
Well, thank you.

  
Eh...

  
It might be a little short
of what I wanted,

  
but let me assure you, it's a
whole lot more than they wanted.

  
That book is important to me.

  
It's probably the only chance I'm
gonna get to put the record straight

  
and remind people the
Nixon years weren't all bad.

  
You know, if you're trying
to put the record straight,

  
I'd at least talk to him.

  
Who?

  
David Frost.
English talk show guy.

  
Why would I want to
talk to David Frost?

  
Well, a while back, he wrote
asking for an interview.

  
No.

  
Well, we didn't
get back to him.

  
Frankly, we didn't
find him appropriate.

  
Well, I thought that we
were doing one with CBS.

  
We are. I just figured
doing it with Frost

  
would be a whole lot easier
than doing it with Mike Wallace.

  
It would, but it would have a
lot less, you know, credibility.

  
True, true. Could
probably get more money.

  
Really?
Look.

  
We'll always have on the table from CBS.

  
But if I could get Frost to pay
more and secure better terms,

  
it might be a shame to pass.

  
It'd be interesting to know
where he is right now.

  
We tied him to railway
tracks, and he escaped.

  
We buried him alive,
and he walked free.

  
Today we're lowering escape artist
Derek Harrison into the water

  
to see if he can miraculously
cheat death once more.

  
Good evening, and
welcome to Great Escapes.

  
My name is David Frost.

  
Okay, that is a cut.

  
Thank you.

  
In any deal, you need to know
your opponent's breaking point.

  
To assess that,
you might call them

  
late at night
or at the weekend.

  
If they take the call,
you know they're desperate.

  
And from that moment on, you
know you have the upper hand.

  
Hello?

  
Mr. Frost? Irving Lazar.

  
Who?

  
Swifty Lazar. I
represent President Nixon.

  
What time is it?

  
Bad time?

  
No! Not at all.

  
I'm calling with regard to
your request for an interview

  
and to say,
having considered it,

  
my client is not necessarily
opposed to the idea.

  
Really? Well, that's terrific news!

  
For God's sake.

  
I got $500,000.

  
Is that good?

  
Mr. President, it's a half a
million dollars for a news interview.

  
It's unprecedented.

  
Yeah? Well, what's the catch?

  
With Frost? None.
It'll be a big wet kiss.

  
This guy'll be so grateful
to be getting it at all,

  
he'll pitch
puffballs all night

  
and pay a half a million
dollars for the privilege.

  
Well, you think
you could get 550?

  
I got 6.

  
David, how could you
have done that? What?

  
$600,000. That's a fortune.

  
200 on signature?

  
Don't worry about the money.

  
My God. Most Americans
think he belongs in jail.

  
You're making him
a rich man.

  
Plus, by outbidding them,
you've already made enemies

  
of the networks.
They're just jealous.

  
They're already sounding off
about checkbook journalism.

  
And if the networks
are against you,

  
syndication's always
going to be a struggle.

  
No syndication,
no advance sales.

  
No advance sales,
no commercials.

  
No commercials, no revenue.

  
And here's the bigger question,
why do it? You don't need it.

  
Your career's
in great shape.

  
This will just spread you
across three continents,

  
jeopardize the other shows.

  
Isn't it true that
Channel Nine in Australia

  
want you to do another season
of your talk show for them?

  
Yes.
And London, too?

  
Yes, but that would be
London and Australia.

  
This would be...
What?

  
You wouldn't
understand, John.

  
You were never part of
the show in New York,

  
but it's indescribable.

  
Success in America is
unlike success anywhere else.

  
And the emptiness
when it's gone.

  
And the sickening thought
that it may never come back.

  
You know, there's a restaurant
in New York called Sardi's.

  
Ordinary mortals
can't get a table.

  
John, the place
was my canteen!

  
You know, I'd be happier

  
if I heard
some kind of vision

  
that you had
for this interview.

  
Excuse me, Mr. Frost.

  
I'd heard you were
going to be here.

  
Would you mind?
Of course.

  
But I don't. I just hear a man doing it

  
because it would
create headlines

  
or give him a place
at the top table.

  
And that is what
makes me nervous.

  
And you do nervous
so beautifully, John.

  
"Hello, good evening
and welcome. "

  
I don't actually say that.

  
Hello, Mr. Frost.

  
Champagne?

  
No, thank you.

  
Another glass, sir?

  
You don't like champagne?

  
Not on airplanes.

  
Yes, it dehydrates
one terribly.

  
The trick is to have a glass
of water on the go, too.

  
Like the Viennese
serve coffee.

  
Well, I've never
been to Vienna.

  
Oh. Well, you'd like it.

  
It's like Paris
without the French.

  
What's your name?

  
Caroline.

  
David.

  
Yes, I know. David Frost.

  
"Hello and good evening
and welcome. "

  
You know, I heard an interview
with you recently on the radio.

  
You were giving it from the
back of your Rolls-Royce.

  
Bentley.

  
On the phone.

  
They said that
you were a person

  
who defined
the age we live in.

  
Really?
Mmm.

  
You and Vidal Sassoon.

  
But what made you
exceptional, they said,

  
was that you were a person
who had achieved great fame

  
without possessing
any discernible quality.

  
How kind.
Mmm-hmm.

  
And that you fly
around a great deal.

  
Well, that's true.

  
Why?

  
I like to keep busy.

  
Why?

  
I find it more interesting
than keeping still.

  
You know,
you have very sad eyes.

  
Do I?
Mmm.

  
Has anyone told
you that before?

  
No.

  
Are you a sad person?

  
Let's talk about
you a little bit.

  
Of course, you feel more
comfortable asking questions.

  
How right you are!

  
This is your
captain speaking.

  
You may have
noticed we've begun

  
our final descent
into Los Angeles.

  
If you could please return to your
seats and fasten your seat belts,

  
we'll be landing
very shortly. Thank you.

  
So how about you?
Where are you going?

  
To meet Richard Nixon.

  
Really?

  
You know, they say he has
the most enormous head,

  
but the sexiest voice.

  
Where is he now?

  
In some dark underground cave
licking his wounds?

  
Actually, no. In his
rather smart beachside villa

  
in California.

  
Really? Richard Nixon
in a beachside villa?

  
How incongruous.

  
You can come if you'd like.

  
To meet Nixon?

  
Why not?

  
Are you sure?

  
You know, I would love that.

  
Cabin crew,
please prepare for arrival.

  
Well, I'll get my office to call
you first thing in the morning

  
and send a car with a phone.

  
Oh.

  
He did, too. Money no object.

  
Everything glittered
and was golden.

  
Well, on the outside.

  
Of course, what I didn't know
was that in the meantime,

  
he'd gone to all
the major networks

  
to try and get
interest in the interviews.

  
I'm sorry, David,
but we have a policy

  
of not paying
for a news interview.

  
Look, we love your work
as an entertainer.

  
That Guinness show?

  
Love it. You're a funny guy.

  
But an interview like this?

  
You're asking us to pay
a British talk show host

  
to interview
an American president

  
with absolutely no editorial
controls whatsoever in return?

  
Well, you can't say
it's not a fresh approach.

  
I know you're very busy.

  
I'm not gonna
keep you from it.

  
Thank you for coming in.

  
I'm gonna have to
get back to you.

  
Okay, thank you so
much for your time.

  
David, good luck.

  
He never let on
to anyone at the time,

  
not even me. You know,
that would have meant...

  
Thanks.

  
...admitting failure,
and David doesn't do failure.

  
There you are.

  
See, you don't have
to do a thing yourself.

  
Well.

  
You found it okay.

  
Yes, thank you.

  
Pleasure to meet you,
Mr. Frost.

  
And you, sir.

  
May I present
Caroline Cushing?

  
Miss Cushing.

  
Hello. Your house is very beautiful.

  
Really. Very romantic.

  
Well, thank you.

  
And my producer, John Birt.

  
Nice to meet you.
How do you do?

  
This is Mr. Lazar,
and this is Jack Brennan.

  
Now, Miss Cushing, would
you like to take a tour,

  
you know, maybe stretch your
legs after your long journey?

  
Yes, please.
I'd love that. Thank you.

  
Come on in.
This is my office.

  
Now, this is where Brezhnev
and I had our summit.

  
Yeah. Brezhnev was there, and
Gromyko there, Dobrynin there.

  
We talked for
nine hours straight.

  
After the meeting,
as a souvenir of the visit,

  
I remember that we had
a Lincoln specially made.

  
Dark blue,
cherry wood, leather.

  
Well, we got inside
for the photographers,

  
when the next thing you know,
he steps on the gas.

  
Now, the first rule
of political life is

  
you never let a president get
behind the wheel of a car, ever.

  
I mean, we're not
used to doing anything

  
for ourselves,
let alone drive.

  
And the Chairman, Jesus,
the way he put his foot down,

  
my guess is
the last thing he drove was

  
a tractor on some
Ukrainian potato farm.

  
He crashed into curbs.

  
He went over speed bumps.

  
He went twice
around my whole estate.

  
Finally, we ended up at some
remote point on the coast,

  
out there
overlooking the sea.

  
He turns off the gas,
and he talks for two hours

  
about his favorite subject,
steel mills.

  
He said, "Mr. President,
most politicians

  
"have tragedy
in their early lives. "

  
Well, I told him that I lost
two brothers to tuberculosis.

  
And he watched his father die from
the cancer he caught in the steelworks.

  
He was a sad man
and a noble adversary.

  
I wouldn't want to
be a Russian leader.

  
They never know when
they're being taped.

  
Okay, I guess that's
it then, huh?

  
Until March.
I look forward to it.

  
Well, thank you,
Mr. President. So do I.

  
You know,
it's a funny thing that

  
I've never been
challenged to a duel before.

  
I guess that's what this is.

  
Yeah, well, not really.

  
Of course it is.

  
And I like that.

  
No holds barred, eh?
No holds barred.

  
Mr. Frost, there's still
the small matter of the...

  
Of course.

  
I do beg your pardon.

  
Right. $200,000.

  
I do hope that isn't coming
out of your own pocket.

  
Well, believe me, sir, I wish
my pockets were that deep.

  
Made out in the name of?

  
Irving Paul Lazar.

  
Richard M. Nixon.

  
Here you go.

  
Okay, smile.

  
There. Now you can put that
in your apartment in New York,

  
and all your liberal friends
can use it as a dartboard.

  
Well, actually, I'm living
in Monte Carlo at the moment.

  
Really?

  
Yes. Goodbye, Mr. President.

  
Hey. Take my advice.

  
You should marry that woman.

  
Yes. Lovely, isn't she?

  
More important than that,
she comes from Monaco.

  
They pay no taxes there.

  
Bye-bye.
Goodbye.

  
I bet you it did.

  
What?

  
Come out of his own pocket.

  
You know, he couldn't
look me in the eye.

  
Well, I hear the networks aren't biting.

  
Without the networks, the ad
agencies don't want to know.

  
So if you ask me,
there's a good chance

  
this whole thing
may never happen.

  
Really? So that meeting we just
had might have cost him $200,000?

  
Correct.

  
Had I known that, I would
have offered him a cup of tea.

  
Say, did you
notice his shoes?

  
No.

  
Italian. No laces.
What do you think?

  
My people tried to get me
to wear a pair like that.

  
I think a man's shoes
should have laces, sir.

  
You do?

  
Yeah. Personally, I find those
Italian shoes very effeminate.

  
Yes, quite right.

  
I'm sorry,
David, but it's a no.

  
Try to look at it
from our point of view.

  
Why would an American network
hire a total outsider,

  
and someone who's already had his
own show canceled, incidentally?

  
I see. Well, I'm sorry
you feel this way.

  
Obviously, I think you're
making a terrible mistake.

  
N BC.

  
Well, that's the
networks out, all of them.

  
Well, that's the
end of that, then.

  
I'm sorry, David.

  
Not so fast.

  
Where's your
adventurer's spirit?

  
The idea is
we pay for the program

  
and syndicate it ourselves,
completely bypassing the networks.

  
Just imagine it, we'd be our
own network for the night.

  
Hey, Bob.
How does that grab you?

  
Hey, come on in.
David's on the phone.

  
No, never been
done before.

  
Historic stuff.

  
Just think about it, okay?
And call me back.

  
Yeah?
Yeah.

  
David, I'd like you to meet
Jim Reston and Bob Zelnick,

  
our two prospective
corner men.

  
Delighted to meet you.

  
Come on in.
Make yourselves at home.

  
Bob's been
Washington correspondent

  
for Public Radio
for the past 10 years.

  
Moving to ABC
in the new year.

  
The general feeling, David,

  
is that I have been wasting
my matinee idol looks on radio.

  
Jim here teaches at the
University of North Carolina

  
and is writing a book about the
criminal dishonesty, corruption,

  
paranoia and abuses of
power of Richard Nixon.

  
Second on the subject.

  
Fourth.

  
Well, delighted to
have you both aboard.

  
Actually, before I sign on,
I would like to hear

  
what you were hoping to
achieve with this interview.

  
What I want to achieve?

  
Yeah.

  
Jim, well,
I've secured 12 taping days.

  
That's close to 30 hours

  
with the most compelling
and controversial politician

  
of our times.

  
Isn't that enough?

  
Well, not for me.

  
Look, I'd be giving up a year
of my life. I'm leaving my family

  
to work on a subject
matter that means more

  
than you can
probably imagine,

  
and the idea
of doing all that

  
without achieving what
I want to, personally,

  
would be unthinkable to me.

  
No, all right.

  
Well, what is it that
you want to achieve?

  
I'd like to give Richard
Nixon the trial he never had.

  
Of course, we'll be
asking difficult questions.

  
Difficult questions.

  
The man lost 21,000 Americans

  
and a million Indo-Chinese
during his administration.

  
He only escaped jail
because of Ford's pardon.

  
Yes, but equally, going after
him in some knee-jerk way,

  
you know, assuming
he's a terrible guy,

  
wouldn't that only create more
sympathy for him than anything else?

  
You know...

  
Right now,
I submit it's impossible

  
to feel anything close to
sympathy for Richard Nixon.

  
He devalued the presidency,

  
and he left the country
that elected him in trauma.

  
The American people need a
conviction, pure and simple.

  
The integrity of
our political system,

  
of democracy as an idea,
entirely depends on it.

  
And if in years to come,
people look back

  
and say it was
in this interview

  
that Richard Nixon
exonerated himself,

  
that would be
the worst crime of all.

  
Did you know that Mike Wallace
is doing a piece on this?

  
And that in the bars around
Capitol Hill and Georgetown

  
this entire project is a joke?

  
Come on.
Jim, come on.

  
Thanks for that, Jim.

  
Could you give us
a couple of minutes?

  
You're unbelievable.
I'm sorry, Bob.

  
You know, Jim, I went
way out on a limb for you.

  
I mean, some of us
actually want this job.

  
I want it, too,
if it's done right.

  
Well, how do you know
they're not gonna do it right?

  
Little Lord Fauntleroy
in there?

  
Sympathy for Richard Nixon?

  
What the...
He's full of shit, man!

  
How do you know that?

  
Is Mike Wallace
doing a piece on this?

  
Apparently.

  
Why didn't you tell me?

  
It isn't relevant.

  
What's the angle?
"British talk show host,

  
"good with actresses, not so good
with stonewalling presidents. "

  
That's the general idea, yeah.

  
Right.

  
It's hard not to feel
a little insulted by that.

  
Well, Bob's obviously a pro.

  
What are we gonna
do about Reston?

  
Well, the man's an idiot.
He's overemotional.

  
Send him home.

  
Well, I think he should stay. Why?

  
I liked his passion.

  
He will drive us
all bloody mad.

  
Well, maybe, but sometimes
being out of your comfort zone

  
is a good thing, I'm told.

  
He stays.

  
I took my seat next to Mrs.
Mao at the banquet table.

  
Now, one of the challenges
of life as a president

  
is the endless round of cocktail
parties, social engagements, banquets.

  
And people who
know me would tell you

  
that small talk is not one of
my strong suits, either. No.

  
Particularly not in Mandarin.

  
So Mrs. Mao and I, we just, well,
you know, stared at one another.

  
And then across the table, Mrs.
Nixon and Chairman Mao himself, well,

  
they stared
at one another, too.

  
And then further down,
Dr. Kissinger

  
and their
foreign minister, well,

  
you're getting
the picture now.

  
I can't stand it, Jack!

  
Reducing the presidency to
a series of banal anecdotes.

  
I feel like a circus
animal doing tricks.

  
And I thought
I made it clear!

  
I didn't want to take any
questions on Watergate, damn it!

  
Soon as it came
to question time,

  
all those sons of bitches ever
want to hear about is Watergate!

  
It's as if all my other
achievements have ceased to exist.

  
Well, sir, you're
gonna get a chance

  
to talk about them
sooner than you think.

  
Yeah? How?

  
Frost got there.
He got the money.

  
What?

  
I understand
most of it's borrowed,

  
that his friends
have bailed him out.

  
But the point is, we start
taping at the end of March.

  
Really? Now, that's terrific.

  
How much time is
devoted to Watergate?

  
25%. Just one of
four 90-minute shows.

  
What are the other
three divided into?

  
Domestic Affairs,
Foreign Policy,

  
and Nixon the Man.

  
"Nixon the Man"?

  
As opposed to what?
Nixon the horse?

  
Well, I imagine it's some
kind of biographical piece.

  
I can see it now. The father that
neglected me, the brothers that died.

  
Spare me.

  
Still, now, the fact it's come
together, now, that's a good thing, no?

  
Mr. President, it's fantastic.

  
Frost is just not in
your intellectual class, sir.

  
You're gonna be able to dictate
terms, rebuild your reputation.

  
If this went well, if enough people
saw it, revised their opinion,

  
you could move back East way,
way earlier than we expected.

  
You think?
I'm certain.

  
It would be so good to go
back to where the action is.

  
You know?

  
The hunger in my belly
is still there, Jack.

  
I guess it all boils down
to Watergate, huh?

  
Well, that's nothing
to worry about, sir.

  
It's not as if there's
gonna be any revelations.

  
That stuff's been combed over
a million times.

  
No one has pinned
anything on you.

  
Yeah, still,
it's been a while

  
since I spoke about it
on the record.

  
I'm gonna start
doing my homework.

  
Hey, you know what would be an
interesting thing to find out?

  
What his strategy is.

  
Now, where's he staying?

  
I believe The Beverly Hilton.

  
The Beverly Hilton, you say.

  
Well, I got
the numbers someplace

  
of some fellows
that we could send in.

  
Cubans with CIA training.

  
Jesus, Jack, it was a joke.

  
Yes, sir.

  
A week later, we said
goodbye to our families,

  
we hopped on a plane, and we
moved into The Beverly Hilton.

  
And that's where we started
to dig into our research

  
and prepare
for the interviews.

  
Yeah, as it happens, we took

  
the whole question
of security very seriously.

  
And from day one, we kept all
our files in a locked safe.

  
Who was the guy that Mike
interviewed? Was that Haldeman?

  
Haldeman. Haldeman. And Ehrlichman, too.

  
I always get
the Germans mixed up.

  
I'm a little
confused by that.

  
What is Haldeman's
official... Hello, darling.

  
As for the work over the months,
we divided it into three sections.

  
Birt took Vietnam, Bob took
Foreign and Domestic Policy,

  
and I got Watergate
and the abuses of power.

  
And David, we never
really saw much of David.

  
All right, so what
about the Huston Plan?

  
You can see the seeds
of dirty tricks.

  
Essentially, it's an attempt
to legalize dirty tricks.

  
That's why you gotta get David
to put it in the question.

  
Wiretapping students.

  
But they've
traced the money to him.

  
Opening people's mail.

  
What about wiretapping?

  
How many people
has he wiretapped?

  
This guy wiretapped
17 people.

  
Seventeen?

  
Including his own brother.

  
But you know what? We can't
ask him about his brother,

  
'cause frankly, if Donald
Nixon was my brother,

  
I'd wiretap him, too.

  
But wait, okay, so we
have breaking and entering.

  
We have wiretapping, conspiracy
to foster prostitution.

  
And that's Liddy, right?

  
Delivery courtesy
of Nate 'n Al's

  
finest deli selection.

  
We're going to need napkins.
We'd better have some napkins.

  
How do we frame a question
about Cambodia,

  
about the illicit
bombing of Cambodia?

  
I think you should say,

  
"How far do you take
executive privilege

  
"before it becomes
an undemocratic event?"

  
I think you frame the
question to him as a Quaker.

  
"How do you feel as a Quaker about
annihilating an entire people?"

  
Come on. Are they really
interested in buying time?

  
Are they going to
give us the money?

  
How serious are they?

  
You have to set up that he has
an anti-democratic personality.

  
There's a reason they
call him Tricky Dick.

  
Because I had written about
and watched Nixon for years,

  
I got to play him
in our rehearsals.

  
You know, the fellas
would throw me a question,

  
and I would try and anticipate
what his response might be.

  
Okay, the White House taping system.

  
Ours is not the first
administration to use taping systems.

  
Lyndon Johnson's White House
used them. So did Kennedy's.

  
Huston Plan. Wiretapping
and alleged abuses of power.

  
Let me tell you, other
administrations were up to far worse.

  
And just for fun, your
close friend Jack Kennedy.

  
That man, he screwed
anything that moved,

  
fixed elections
and took us into Vietnam.

  
And the American people,
they loved him for it!

  
Whereas I,
Richard Milhous Nixon,

  
worked around the clock in
their service, and they hated me!

  
Look. Look. Now I'm sweating.

  
Damn it! Damn it!

  
And Kennedy's so goddamn
handsome and blue-eyed!

  
And women all over him!

  
He screwed anything
that moved, and everything.

  
Had a go at Checkers once.

  
The poor little bitch
was never the same!

  
Gentlemen, finally a friend
in the American press.

  
Jack Anderson
in The Washington Post,

  
"When Richard Nixon faces
the television cameras

  
"for his first interview since
he abandoned the White House,

  
"he'll be cross-examined as if
he were on the witness stand.

  
"Frost has hired
three crack investigators

  
"to help him
with the research.

  
"Clearly the famous TV
interviewer will pull no punches. "

  
"Crack investigators"?

  
Can I be Crack One?

  
Can I be Deep Crack?

  
David, can I talk
to you for a sec?

  
After researching
my last book,

  
I was pretty
certain Colson...

  
You know, Charles Colson?
His darkest henchman?

  
Colson, right. Colson
had a meeting with Nixon

  
Sometime before June 23,

  
but I never knew
the exact date,

  
so I couldn't
find the transcript.

  
But if you gave me a week back in
the Federal Courthouse library...

  
A week? Goodness, Jim, we
can't lose you for that long.

  
I think this is
really good stuff, Dave.

  
Would there be something
I could help you with?

  
You know, if we're gonna nail
Nixon in these interviews,

  
we're gonna
have to ambush him.

  
We're gonna have to
take him by surprise.

  
Don't worry, Jim.
We'll get him anyway.

  
Hang on a second.
David, Jack Brennan.

  
He sounds a little emotional.

  
I'll take it in here.

  
He'll be right
with you. Yeah.

  
Jack.
Watergate.

  
Yes, Jack.

  
Our lawyers want us to agree
on a definition of the word.

  
Well, I believe
it's a large hotel

  
and office complex
in Washington, Jack.

  
You know what
I'm talking about.

  
For the interviews.

  
We want to propose
that Watergate

  
be an umbrella term
for everything negative.

  
Hold on a minute.

  
So all the other
domestic charges

  
against him,
the Brookings Institute,

  
the Plumbers Union,
the Enemies List,

  
you're saying all that
goes into Watergate?

  
Correct.

  
That is absurd
and a clear breach

  
of the terms
of our agreement.

  
Okay. How would
you define Watergate?

  
Well, that it covers
just that.

  
The Watergate
break-in of June 17th

  
and the subsequent
cover-up and investigation.

  
Fine. In which case,
the deal is off.

  
Fine. In which case,
you can expect a lawsuit

  
for something
in excess of $20 million

  
in damages and
loss of earnings.

  
The terms of the contract
clearly stipulate

  
that Watergate take up
no more than 25% of the time.

  
Yes, but nowhere does it say
that for the rest of the 75%

  
he gets to drone on
and sound presidential.

  
"Drone on"? Jesus Christ.
Where's your respect?

  
You remember who you're
talking about here.

  
You know as well as I do that 60%
of what he did in office was right,

  
and 30% may have been wrong, but
he thought it was right at the time.

  
Yes, but that
still leaves 10%

  
where he was doing
the wrong thing and knew it.

  
You goddamn media people.
You are so smug.

  
Well, I can guarantee you
if you screw us on the 60%,

  
I will ruin you if it takes
the rest of my life.

  
Prick.

  
Look at you. Gorgeous.

  
Good night, sweet princes.

  
Cheerio.
Bye.

  
See you in the morning.

  
Why the monkey suit?

  
David has a film premiere
he needs to attend.

  
What? The night
before we start taping?

  
What's the movie?

  
It's The Slipper and the Rose.

  
The Cinderella movie?

  
Yeah. David's
the executive producer.

  
You don't think it might be
an idea for our interviewer

  
to be rested and focused
on the job in hand?

  
Don't worry.

  
David is a performer
of the highest caliber.

  
He's been in these pressure
situations many times before.

  
Come the hour,
he'll be fine. Okay?

  
What did he say?
Did he say "performer"?

  
Yeah.
That's the word he used?

  
Yeah, he said "performer. "

  
Not "journalist"
or "interviewer"?

  
No. He said "performer. "

  
Out of curiosity, where are
you at this moment? Psychically?

  
I am imagining the dust,
the darkness,

  
the agony and the
unimaginable loneliness

  
of the wilderness I am
about to be dispatched to

  
by my Washington
political colleagues.

  
So any opportunity you get, go right
to foreign policy, go right to Mao,

  
go right to Khrushchev.

  
Just go right!

  
You could do all day
on foreign policy, sir.

  
I disagree that the Mao
banquet story is stale.

  
Excuse me, sir. Something
I think you should see.

  
People love
that story.

  
Why don't we
save it for the book?

  
Yeah, right, come on.

  
David.
Mr. Frost.

  
David, some people in
the media have suggested

  
that you're not
the right man for the job,

  
that you'll be
too soft on the President.

  
What will you do
if he stonewalls you?

  
Well, I shall
say so again and again.

  
But I should say right now
that I'm not expecting

  
his approach
to be to stonewall.

  
I'm hoping that it'll be
that of a cascade of candor.

  
"A cascade of candor"?

  
From Richard Nixon?

  
You think that's
what you'll get?

  
No, I just thought it was a
phrase that might appeal to you.

  
So what
about the money?

  
That's a strange fellow.

  
Started life as a comic,
you know.

  
Is that so?
Mmm-hmm.

  
Almost married
Diahann Carroll.

  
Who?

  
The singer.

  
Isn't she black?

  
Yes, sir.

  
Right here in the Frost
file, which we put together

  
as part of
our general preparations.

  
Okay. Let's get back to work.

  
That's fact,
this is fiction.

  
So now it's about
The Slipper and the Rose.

  
It's a cracker of a movie.

  
I hope you'll all
come and see it, and...

  
I shouldn't have
ordered that coffee.

  
Just don't drink any more.

  
Good luck.
Thank you.

  
I'll be thinking of you.

  
Dick. Wait.

  
For the record, I'm gonna
be starting with John's idea.

  
"Why didn't you
burn the tapes?"

  
No.
Fuck.

  
Please, God, no! You can't.

  
David, you can't do that.
It would be a disaster.

  
It would get us into Watergate
way ahead of the agreed time.

  
What is the point of
having contractually set

  
specific times to deal
with certain subjects

  
if you're just going to
ignore it right off the bat?

  
'Cause it's war, isn't it?
Gloves off.

  
I like it. It's ballsy.

  
Strategically,
it'll give us the upper hand.

  
It's insanely risky.

  
He could walk
right off the set,

  
and there's nothing
we could do about it.

  
Worse, he could sue you!

  
We were sadly unable to do
the taping at Casa Pacifica

  
because of the Coast Guard
radio interference,

  
so we ended up at the rather
more modest Smith house,

  
which was owned by a local
Republican businessman.

  
Right here!

  
Mr. Frost, look over here.

  
Over here, sir!

  
Here we go. Back up behind the curb.

  
A few questions, please.

  
Right here, Mr. Frost.

  
David!
David! David!

  
Well, hello there.

  
Excuse me, fellas.

  
Nixon, there's
blood on your hands!

  
Liar!

  
Here comes the President!

  
Mr. President!

  
Mr. President!

  
How are you
feeling, Mr. President?

  
The Smith family requested that
the furniture be put back in place.

  
They talked to you
about that, too?

  
They're bugging everybody.

  
You know, I've written
four books about him,

  
but this is the first time I've
actually seen him in the flesh.

  
He's taller than I imagined,
and tanned.

  
The least he could
do is look ravaged.

  
You gonna shake his hand?

  
Am I gonna shake...

  
Are you kidding me?

  
After everything that
prick's done to this country?

  
I'm not gonna shake his hand.

  
Gentlemen.

  
May I present Bob Zelnick,
my executive editor?

  
How do you do?

  
Pleasure, Mr. President.

  
And Jim Reston,
one of my researchers.

  
Pleasure to meet you,
Mr. Reston.

  
Mr. President.

  
Excuse me, sir? Got a
room for you right here.

  
Wow. That was
devastating, withering.

  
I mean, I don't think he's
ever gonna get over that.

  
Yeah, fuck off.

  
I got you guys
set up back here.

  
Now this is your green room.

  
And the President will be
on the large monitor.

  
Craft services is that way.

  
Keep it about
that temperature, okay?

  
Mr. President?

  
Yeah.

  
Before we start,
I just want to say

  
how delighted we all are
by Mrs. Nixon's recovery.

  
Well, thank you.
It's true.

  
She's much better now.

  
She's just getting round to the
business of replying to all the cards.

  
And from our
point of view, well,

  
I'd just like to say
how pleased we are

  
that you got
this all together.

  
Thank you.

  
As I understand it,
it's been quite a struggle.

  
Well...

  
How much has it cost?

  
You mind me asking?
Hey, come on.

  
Come on,
it's just between us.

  
Very well. Two million.

  
Two million? Jeez. I didn't
realize we were making Ben-Hur.

  
But tell me something.

  
You raised it all now?

  
Not quite.
But we're getting there.

  
Everyone's been kind
and deferred fees.

  
Well, not quite everyone.

  
David, I'm gonna go in
with you on camera.

  
Excuse me.

  
I want to put a
handkerchief here, if I may.

  
Is that out of shot?

  
That's fine, Mr. President.

  
Contractually,
I think that we made

  
an agreement that
after each question

  
I might dab my upper lip
before answering it.

  
Which you won't show, you
know, when you cut it together.

  
You're probably aware of my
history with perspiration.

  
If you're referring to your TV
debate with Jack Kennedy in 1960.

  
They say that moisture on my
upper lip cost me the presidency.

  
People who heard it on the
radio, well, they thought I'd won.

  
But television
and the close-up,

  
they create their
own sets of meanings.

  
So now they insist
I bring a handkerchief

  
and that I have
my eyebrows trimmed.

  
Sixty seconds, everyone.

  
You trim yours?
No.

  
No, of course not.

  
Yeah, you're light-skinned.
Yeah.

  
You got blue eyes. You've got no
troubles with perspiration, I imagine.

  
No, not that I'm aware.

  
You were obviously
born to be on the tube.

  
Stand by
to roll tape in 30 seconds.

  
Settling.

  
Those shoes.

  
They're Italian, aren't they?

  
My shoes? I believe so.

  
Yeah, that's interesting.

  
You don't find
them too effeminate?

  
No.

  
Well, I guess
somebody in your field

  
can get away
with them, you know.

  
Manolo, just check
my collar, will you?

  
David,
starting with camera two,

  
in four, three, two.
Cue David. And...

  
Mr. President. Now, we're going
to be covering a lot of subjects

  
in a great deal of detail over
the course of these interviews,

  
but I'd like to begin
completely out of context

  
by asking you
one question,

  
more than any other,
almost every American

  
and people all over
the world want me to ask.

  
Why didn't you
burn the tapes?

  
Son of a bitch!

  
Well, Mr. Frost, I'm
surprised by your question

  
since we have an agreement, a
contractual agreement, I believe,

  
that we would cover Watergate
in our last taping session.

  
But if your viewers really
do have a major concern,

  
then perhaps I should
briefly respond to it now.

  
What probably very
few people realize

  
is that the taping system
in the White House

  
was set up by my predecessor,
President Johnson,

  
partly to avoid the necessity of
having a secretary in every meeting,

  
and partly
to ensure there was

  
a record kept of
every verbal agreement,

  
no matter how
off the cuff or casual.

  
Now, initially, on coming
into the White House,

  
I insisted on
dismantling the system.

  
I hadn't liked the idea at
all, but the former President,

  
President Johnson,
had repeatedly said

  
how crazy it would be
to remove the system,

  
which he felt
was the best way...

  
Well, in boxing, you know,
there's always that first moment,

  
and you see it in
the challenger's face.

  
It's that moment
that he feels

  
the impact from
the champ's first jab.

  
It's kind of a sickening
moment, when he realizes that

  
all those months
of pep talks and the hype,

  
the psyching yourself up,
had been delusional all along.

  
You could see it
in Frost's face.

  
If he didn't know
the caliber of the man

  
that he was up against
before the interview started,

  
he certainly knew it halfway
through the President's first answer.

  
You see,
since the best advice is

  
almost always
of the confidential variety,

  
now the tapes have
been made public,

  
people are unlikely
ever to feel comfortable

  
speaking in confidence
at the White House.

  
They're less likely to offer
that advice. So in the end,

  
it's the whole
political system and,

  
by implication, it's
the country that suffers.

  
So much for
our "ballsy" opening.

  
So when did you
actually decide...

  
At what moment did you know
you were going to resign?

  
That's good. That's good.

  
I remember exactly.
It was July 23.

  
After it was clear
the Southern Democrats

  
that were still against
impeachment had

  
had the screws put on them
by the Speaker of the House.

  
That night I said to Al Haig, "Well,
that's it. There goes the presidency. "

  
And, of course,
you know, being Al,

  
he tried to
talk me out of it.

  
And Vice President Ford,
I mean, let's not forget

  
he had the most to gain
personally from my stepping down,

  
he was still
absolutely convinced that

  
we were gonna win
the impeachment vote,

  
and comfortably.
John, we have to do something.

  
We have to move this along.

  
This is desperate, John.
Do something.

  
Twenty-three minutes
on one question?

  
Okay, let's take a break.

  
Let's change the tapes.
Come on, man.

  
Stop tape.

  
I'm sorry, gentlemen.

  
We have to take a break.
Tape change.

  
Oh. Okay, how's that?
You getting what you need?

  
It's fantastic.

  
Good. Good. Thank you.

  
Excuse me. One moment, sir.

  
Yeah, sure.
Take your time.

  
What are you doing, David?
You've got to stop him rambling.

  
It's all right. These are
just introductory exchanges.

  
But this session
only lasts two hours.

  
Nearly half of it's gone, and we're
wasting valuable material, okay?

  
The moment that he made
the decision to resign,

  
we should be scoring
points with that stuff.

  
Want me to switch to Vietnam?

  
No. No. We've got to get something

  
out of that resignation
night. All right?

  
That was Nixon at his lowest
point, a total wreck. On his knees?

  
Praying with Kissinger? Come on,
you can nail him with that stuff.

  
Listen, was that okay?

  
Perfect, sir.

  
It didn't sound too
arrogant or self-serving?

  
Not at all. You sounded controlled,
even-handed, statesmanlike.

  
Good.

  
Now continue
exactly the same way.

  
Long answers.
Control the space.

  
Don't let him in.

  
Okay, got you.

  
Set. And roll.

  
We're coming back on camera
three in four, three, two and...

  
Reading the account of those
extraordinary final days,

  
it seems your most
emotional moment came

  
in that heart-to-heart you
had with Henry Kissinger.

  
Was that perhaps the most
emotional moment of your career?

  
Good, good.
Yes.

  
I would say it was about as
emotional a moment as I've ever had.

  
Except, well, you know, it's hard to say

  
what is the most
emotional moment,

  
because each is different.

  
I remember the day
Eisenhower died.

  
For God's sake.

  
And the day I walked my eldest
daughter Tricia down the aisle.

  
And the day during
the impeachment hearings

  
when Julie, that's my youngest,
she came into my office,

  
she threw her arms around me, she
kissed me. She cried, you know?

  
And she so seldom cries.

  
She said, "Daddy, you're
the finest man I know. "

  
"Daddy, you're
the finest man I know"?

  
"And whatever you do,
I will support you.

  
"You just gotta go through the
fire, you know, a little longer. "

  
This is beautiful.

  
So Kissinger and I were
in the Lincoln Sitting Room,

  
and together we began
to reminisce

  
about some of the great decisions
that we'd participated in.

  
There was China,
the Soviet Union,

  
the peace settlement
in Vietnam.

  
Now, let me tell you something
that I never told anybody.

  
Whenever I have had a really
tough decision to make...

  
Now, we were in the Lincoln
Sitting Room at that time.

  
I have come into this room
for the purpose of praying.

  
"Now, Henry, I'm a Quaker. You're a Jew.

  
"Neither of us is
particularly orthodox,

  
"but I'd like to think that
each of us in our own way

  
"has a deep
religious sensitivity.

  
"So if you don't mind, could we
just have a moment of silent prayer?"

  
So we knelt down. Now, this
was in front of that table where

  
Lincoln signed the
Emancipation Proclamation.

  
And then after a few moments, we
both got up again, and Henry says...

  
Is there... I'm sorry.

  
Is there a problem?

  
That's time.

  
We're over two hours.

  
Really? So soon?

  
Well, Mr. President,
I gather our time is up.

  
Gee, now, that's a pity.

  
You know, I was beginning to enjoy that.

  
That was terrific,
both of you.

  
We're getting some
great material.

  
You know,
it's so funny, too,

  
because I was expecting
questions on Vietnam.

  
And we prepared for that,
hadn't we, Jack?

  
Yes, so did I.

  
I guess we just got caught
up, you know, reminiscing.

  
Indeed.

  
So, day after tomorrow,
10:00, right?

  
Yes, indeed.

  
I look forward to it.
Bye-bye.

  
There's no need
to say anything.

  
Mr. President!
Mr. President!

  
Mr. President!

  
Mr. President, please!

  
What are you
gonna tell him?

  
I'm gonna tell him
he's gotta get involved.

  
He's gotta be able to shut him up. Shh.

  
David, we have some fundamental
problems in our approach that I think...

  
Don't worry, Bob.
I'm on it.

  
We can use some of
the Kissinger stuff.

  
Yeah, but we need to discuss
it sooner rather than later...

  
Look,
I'm disappointed, too.

  
But I wonder, could we possibly
spare the post-mortem for now?

  
I don't mean to minimize it. It's
just I've got to get back to LA

  
to meet some people
from Weed Eater.

  
Thanks, everyone!
Great work!

  
Marv, Lloyd, great day.
Bye, David.

  
I'll see you soon.
God bless!

  
What the hell
is Weed Eater?

  
It's a horticultural
mechanism.

  
One of our sponsors.

  
What happened to Xerox?

  
What about General Motors or IBM?

  
I gather that not all of the
blue-chip accounts came through.

  
We do have Alpo.

  
Dog food?

  
Wait, John.
We're already taping.

  
So we're close, right?
We're very close?

  
That's probably a question
you should ask David.

  
Are we close, John?

  
I believe we're at 30%.

  
To go? Or 30% sold?

  
Again, that's probably
a question you should...

  
Sold, 30% sold.

  
Jesus...

  
I thought we were
practically fully financed.

  
We were. But the financing was always
conditional on advertising sales,

  
and no one predicted that
they'd fall apart like this.

  
Well, why have they fallen
apart? Based on what?

  
Credibility of the project. What
else are advertising sales based on?

  
Listen,
I understand your concern.

  
But could I ask you to go a little easier
on David over the next couple of days,

  
bearing in mind the extraordinary
pressure that he's under?

  
'Cause at the moment, he's effectively
paying for all this himself.

  
So he's in it for a lot more
than just his reputation.

  
And we're not?

  
You seemed
very confident last time.

  
I don't understand. Why
this sudden change of heart?

  
All right, this is just
madness. It's Richard Nixon.

  
These interviews will do
mid-30s audience share, minimum.

  
Jimmy! Yes. Yes, back again,
like the proverbial bad penny.

  
Look, I hate to do
this to a friend,

  
and I know you're already in
for more than I asked for,

  
but I need you to dig
a little deeper.

  
I'm right up against it now.

  
So, I had a chance to
review yesterday's tapes.

  
And?

  
Honestly?
Far too soft, David.

  
Go on. Beat me, John.
Beat me with a stick.

  
Look. No, I'm serious.

  
You have got to make it
more uncomfortable for him.

  
You can start by sitting
forward. You've gotta attack more.

  
If he starts
tailing off, bang,

  
jump in with
another question.

  
Don't trade
generalizations.

  
Be specific.

  
And above all, don't let him give
these self-serving, 23-minute homilies.

  
Right.
And keep your distance

  
before the tape
starts running.

  
He was toying
with you yesterday.

  
All that shit about Ben-Hur and
struggling to raise the money.

  
Those are mind games.
Don't engage.

  
Never forget, you are in
there with a major operator.

  
Got it.

  
Ah.

  
The Grand Inquisitor!

  
No, just your friendly
neighborhood confidant.

  
It's okay.
We just blew a bulb.

  
This is why I got all these
Secret Service guys around.

  
There's nothing
to worry about.

  
As a president, you get
used to this kind of stuff.

  
Ed, we gotta get in here and
change out this 750, ASAP.

  
Focus, sir.
Yeah.

  
Okay, we are back. Okay,
take it on my count.

  
Okay, stand by to roll tape. 30 seconds.

  
Settling.

  
You have a pleasant
evening last night?

  
Yes, thank you.

  
Did you do
any fornicating?

  
David, we're starting
with camera two in four,

  
Three, two and...

  
Mr. President, you came
to office promising peace,

  
but no sooner did you
get into the White House

  
than US involvement in Vietnam
deepened and the war was prolonged

  
with calamitous
consequences.

  
Did you feel that you'd betrayed
the people that had elected you?

  
Well, Vietnam
was not my war.

  
It was my inheritance.

  
And it looked to me...
Jump in.

  
...as if the reason
for our being there

  
had perhaps not been adequately
understood by the American people.

  
It seemed to me
they hadn't realized

  
how important a test this
was of American credibility.

  
The whole world
was watching to see

  
if we have the character
to see it through.

  
Now, look, I could have
bugged out. I could have.

  
I could have blamed it
on my predecessors.

  
I could have pulled the
troops out of Vietnam early,

  
and very possibly,
I would have won

  
some Scandinavian peace prize
into the bargain.

  
But I believed
in the cause.

  
And sometimes, you know, what you
believe in, it's the harder path.

  
You might even say that I was the
last casualty of the Vietnam War.

  
Yeah, tell that
to the paraplegics.

  
Come on, David,
Cambodia.

  
And Cambodia? An invasion which
everybody advised you against.

  
All the CIA and Pentagon
intelligence suggested it would fail.

  
So why did you do it?

  
Well, first of all,

  
as a result of our incursion into
Cambodia, we picked up 22,000 rifles,

  
15 million rounds of ammunition,
150,000 rockets, mortars.

  
That's all belonging
to the North Vietnamese,

  
which would only otherwise
have been directed

  
right onto
American soldiers.

  
But one of the principal justifications
you gave for the incursion

  
was the supposed
existence of

  
the "headquarters of the entire Communist
military operation in South Vietnam,"

  
a sort of "bamboo Pentagon"
which proved not to exist at all.

  
No, no. Wait a minute there.
No, I was... And by sending...

  
And by sending B-52s
to carpet bomb a country,

  
wiping out
whole civilian areas,

  
you end up radicalizing
a once moderate people,

  
uniting them in
anti-American sentiment

  
and creating a monster
in the Khmer Rouge

  
that would lead
to civil war...

  
All right!
... and genocide.

  
Yes, good, good, good.
There it is.

  
Okay, run VT.

  
Roll tape.

  
Well, sir,
I'm sure you'd agree,

  
some pretty
stirring images there.

  
Look, it was never US policy to kill
civilians. That's the enemy's way.

  
Well, I'm not suggesting...

  
And if you're
asking the question

  
do I regret the casualties on both sides
in the war, yeah, sure, of course I do.

  
Let me tell you something.
It can just wear you down.

  
Well, all right, sir, when you
are faced with someone who...

  
But whenever
I have had my doubts,

  
I remembered the construction
worker in Philadelphia,

  
because he came up to me

  
and he said, "Sir, I got only one
criticism of that Cambodia thing.

  
"If you'd gone in earlier,

  
"you might have
captured the gun

  
"that killed my boy
three months ago. "

  
So you're asking me, do I
regret going into Cambodia?

  
No! I don't.
You know what?

  
I wish I'd gone in
sooner and harder.

  
Got him.
Safe!

  
It was horrifying. It was
horrifying. And he was so confident.

  
What are you gonna say
about Watergate?

  
Sorry, boys, just all
talked out, you know?

  
Better?

  
It was.
Unquestionably better.

  
What's next?

  
Foreign policy.

  
Great. Russia, China,
the big power stuff.

  
Yeah, so?

  
So if he beats him up
like that on Vietnam,

  
imagine what he's gonna do
with his real achievements.

  
It ain't gonna be pretty.

  
The answer was
grow by six inches.

  
It was agony to watch.

  
Now, that's when Khrushchev
called me, begging me to intervene.

  
You see, he and Mao
didn't get along,

  
and Khrushchev
knew that the Chairman

  
would talk to me,
no one else.

  
You see, I was the only one that Mao
would trust personally, man-to-man.

  
When David tried to
lay a finger on him,

  
Nixon made mincemeat
out of him.

  
What "revolution," David?

  
You just let
Richard Nixon claim

  
the country was in
a state of revolution?

  
What, with protestors "bombing"
and "assaulting" police officers?

  
That's not how
I remember it.

  
What I remember is people protesting
peacefully and legitimately

  
against the Vietnam War!

  
That's what I remember.
Music off, please. Off.

  
By the end, wiretapping students
and breaking into journalists' homes

  
was beginning to sound
like a rational response.

  
Well, I'm sorry
you feel this way,

  
but I simply cannot
share your view.

  
About what exactly?

  
About any of it, frankly!

  
I thought today was
a huge improvement.

  
Are you nuts?

  
Let me tell you how
bad things were today.

  
After the taping finished, I
overheard two members of the crew say

  
they never voted for him
when they had the chance,

  
but if he ran for office again
today, he'd get their support.

  
You're making him look
presidential, for Christ's sake!

  
And forget about
the trivia, David.

  
Who cares whether Nixon took
the White House bed to Europe

  
when he traveled?
I do!

  
Well, it's irrelevant!

  
And it's just the sort of banal
anecdote that would distract a talk...

  
A what?

  
Go on. No, say it.

  
What, you were gonna
say "talk show host"?

  
Yeah. Yeah, I was.

  
All right, look, it's useless
me trying to answer your points.

  
Frankly, I don't share any of
your sense of pessimism or alarm.

  
And this ridiculous
self-flagellation,

  
in my view,
is just depressing.

  
No!

  
And threatening to derail
the whole enterprise.

  
Look. If there is anyone here
who thinks we're gonna fail,

  
they better leave now,

  
or it'll infect
everyone else.

  
No one?

  
Right.

  
Good.

  
Now, I suggest instead of festering
around the hotel for the next five days,

  
we all go our separate ways over Easter.

  
But before we go, Caroline
and I would like you

  
to join us for a little
celebratory dinner

  
at Patrick Terrail's
new place.

  
Celebrate?
Celebrate what, David?

  
The fact that we're all gonna
be working at Burger King?

  
What are we celebrating?
It's my birthday, Bob!

  
I'd like to celebrate my
birthday with a few friends.

  
Look, is that
Neil Diamond?

  
Frost and Nixon,
Frost and Nixon

  
And is that Sammy Cahn?

  
Go together like
Prancer and Vixen

  
David,
did you hear that?

  
Soaring through the airwaves

  
Jesus, that's Hugh Hefner.

  
Oh, my God.

  
Hoping for several
hefty paydays

  
Yeah, I think it is.
With Michael York.

  
That's gotta be Bunnies.

  
Those are Bunnies?
Those are real Bunnies?

  
Frost and Nixon,
Frost and Nixon

  
Go together
like Mason and Dixon

  
David, just putting it all together it's
the most extraordinary accomplishment.

  
Frost lines up with Dicky...

  
No one else
could have done that.

  
And these interviews are always
gonna be around for future generations

  
of academics and
political historians.

  
That bad?

  
He saved it

  
He wrote a book
Now here's the hook

  
David!

  
Patrick.

  
He's not a crook
He's paid by David

  
My, what a festive atmosphere.
Please, don't get up.

  
I take it from this that the
interviews have gone well?

  
Better than that, ma'am.
It's a shutout.

  
The President's sitting
on an 11- 0 lead.

  
Really? Well.
Yeah.

  
Well, that is
most gratifying.

  
I'm so glad it's all
gone according to plan.

  
I see.

  
Is there nothing
we can do?

  
Really?

  
Right. Well, thanks
for letting me know.

  
It's true. They've dropped
the Australian show.

  
Oh, no, David.

  
They felt that I needed
to reevaluate my priorities.

  
Now my producer's worried that
the London show will follow.

  
I'm in this
for everything I've got,

  
and there's still no guarantee
it'll ever see the light of day.

  
What have I done? What was I
thinking? Why didn't anyone stop me?

  
They should have
physically stopped me!

  
No, no, no. Shh.

  
Look, we don't have to go out
tonight. Why don't we stay in?

  
Hmm?

  
I'll go down to Trader Vic's
and bring something back.

  
Steak or fish?

  
David?

  
Don't worry. I'll call
from the restaurant.

  
I'll have a cheeseburger.

  
Mmm. That sounds good.
I used to love cheeseburgers,

  
but Dr. Lundgren
made me give them up.

  
He switched me to cottage
cheese and pineapple instead.

  
He calls them
my Hawaiian burgers,

  
but they don't taste
like burgers at all.

  
They taste like Styrofoam.

  
I hope I'm not disturbing.

  
No.

  
It's a Friday night.

  
You've probably got somebody
there whom you're entertaining.

  
No.

  
Well, then
what are you doing?

  
A handsome
young fellow,

  
an eligible young bachelor
alone on a Friday night.

  
If you must know, I'm
preparing for our final session.

  
The all-important
final session.

  
Yes.
Watergate.

  
'Cause I guess the way you
handle Watergate's gonna determine

  
whether these interviews
are a success or a failure.

  
Should I be nervous?

  
Well, I'm gonna
give it my best shot.

  
Quite right. No holds
barred. No holds barred.

  
You know, it's strange.

  
Now, we have sat in chairs
opposite one another,

  
talking for hours,
it seems, days on end,

  
and yet I've hardly
gotten to know you.

  
One of my people,
as part of the preparation

  
for this interview,
she did a profile on you.

  
And I'm sorry to say that I just
got around to reading it tonight.

  
There's some interesting stuff in there.

  
Your Methodist background,
the modest circumstances,

  
and then you're off to a grand
university full of richer, posher types.

  
What was it? Oxford?

  
Cambridge.

  
Did the snobs there
look down on you, too?

  
Of course they did. That's our
tragedy, isn't it, Mr. Frost?

  
No matter how high we get,
they still look down at us.

  
I really don't know
what you're talking about.

  
Yes, you do.

  
Now, come on.
No matter how many awards

  
or column inches
are written about you

  
or how high the elected office
is for me, it's still not enough.

  
We still feel
like the little man,

  
the loser they told us
we were a hundred times.

  
The smart-asses at college,
the high-ups, the well-born,

  
the people whose respect we
really wanted, really craved.

  
And isn't that why we work so hard
now, why we fight for every inch,

  
scrambling our way up
in undignified fashion?

  
If we're honest for a minute, if we
reflect privately just for a moment,

  
if we allow ourselves a glimpse into
that shadowy place we call our soul,

  
isn't that why we're
here now? The two of us?

  
Looking for a way
back into the sun,

  
into the limelight,
back onto the winner's podium.

  
Because we could feel
it slipping away.

  
We were headed,
both of us, for the dirt!

  
A place the snobs always
told us that we'd end up.

  
Face in the dust.

  
Humiliated all the more for
having tried so pitifully hard.

  
Well, to hell with that!

  
We're not gonna let that
happen, either of us.

  
We're gonna
show those bums.

  
We're gonna make them choke
on our continued success,

  
our continued headlines, our
continued awards and power and glory!

  
We are gonna make
those motherfuckers choke!

  
Am I right?

  
You are.
Except only one of us can win.

  
Yes.

  
And 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.

  
And for the other,
it'll be the wilderness,

  
with nothing and no one
for company

  
but those voices
ringing in our head.

  
You can probably tell
I've had a drink.

  
It's not too many.
Just one or two.

  
But you believe me,

  
when the time comes, I'm gonna
be focused and ready for battle.

  
Good night, Mr. Frost.

  
Good night,

  
Mr. President.

  
So with or without cheese?
I brought burgers.

  
David?

  
I've got to work.

  
Well,
who was the asshole that did?

  
Jesus, is that Liddy?

  
He must be a little nuts.

  
Yeah, he is.

  
I mean, he just isn't
well screwed on, is he?

  
Isn't that the problem?

  
Yeah, screw the Cabinet
and the rest of those.

  
But no more sucking around.
From now on, they come to me.

  
There is one thing
that I want done,

  
and I don't want
any argument about it.

  
I want you to direct the
most trusted person you have

  
in the Immigration Service

  
that they are to look over all the
activities at the Los Angeles Times.

  
All, underlined. And they are
to send their teams in to see

  
whether they are violating
the wetback thing.

  
Is that clear?
Yes, sir.

  
You open that scab, there's
a hell of a lot of things that

  
we just feel that
it would be very detrimental

  
to have this thing
go any further.

  
Hello?

  
Jim, it's David.

  
Hey. What time is it?

  
How much longer are you
gonna be in D.C. For?

  
Tuesday. Till Tuesday.

  
Great. Well, you remember you mentioned

  
going to the Federal
Courthouse library?

  
Honey, can you
check on him, please?

  
Yes, for the Colson stuff?

  
Well, I've been doing a
little light reading this end,

  
and you remember that hunch
you had about the meeting

  
between Nixon and Colson?

  
Uh-huh. What are you thinking?

  
Hey.
Hey.

  
Good morning.

  
And?

  
Excuse me, sir.

  
It's 8:30. Bob, have you seen David?

  
No. No Frost, no Reston.

  
Morning. Good morning.
Come on, let's go.

  
What's that about?

  
First time he's late.

  
Mr. President!

  
Morning.

  
Mr. President.

  
Mr. Frost.

  
Thirty seconds
to tape roll!

  
Thirty seconds.
Settling. Settle.

  
Well, if today's session is anything like
our phone call, it should be explosive.

  
What phone call?

  
The phone call
to my hotel room.

  
David, starting on camera
three in four, three, two and...

  
Now, looking back on
your final year in office,

  
do you feel you ever
obstructed justice

  
or were part of a conspiracy
to cover up or obstruct justice?

  
No.

  
And I'm interested that you used
the term "obstruction of justice. "

  
Now, you perhaps have not
read the statute

  
with regard to the
obstruction of justice.

  
As it happens, I have.

  
You have, you say? Well, then, you'll
know it doesn't just require an act.

  
It requires a specific
corrupt motive.

  
And in this case, I didn't
have a corrupt motive.

  
What I was doing was in the
interests of political containment.

  
Be that as it may,
the direct consequences

  
of your actions
would have been

  
that two of
the convicted burglars

  
would have escaped
criminal prosecution.

  
Now, how can that not be a
cover-up or obstruction of justice?

  
Well, I think the
record shows, Mr. Frost,

  
that far from
obstructing justice,

  
I was actively
facilitating it.

  
When Pat Gray of the FBI
telephoned me, this was July 6,

  
I said, "Pat, you go right
ahead with your investigation. "

  
That's hardly what you'd
call obstructing justice.

  
Well, that may be, but for
two weeks prior to July 6,

  
we now know that
you were desperately

  
trying to contain or block
the investigation.

  
No, no. Hang on a
minute there. I wasn't...

  
No, no. Obstruction of justice
is obstruction of justice,

  
whether it's for
a minute or five minutes,

  
and it's no defense
to say that your plan failed.

  
I mean, if I try to rob a bank
and fail, that's no defense.

  
I still tried
to rob the bank.

  
Will you just wait one
minute there, Mr. Frost?

  
There is no evidence
of any kind that I was...

  
Well, the reason
there is no evidence

  
is because
18 and a half minutes

  
of the conversation with Bob
Haldeman from this June period

  
have mysteriously
been erased.

  
That was an unfortunate oversight.

  
And Bob Haldeman
is a rigorous

  
and a conscientious
note taker.

  
His notes are there
for all to see.

  
Well, we found something
rather better than his notes,

  
a conversation
with Charles Colson,

  
which I don't think
has ever been published.

  
Okay, here we go.

  
It hasn't been
published, you say?

  
No, but one of my researchers
found it in Washington

  
where it's available to anyone
who consults the records.

  
Well, I just wondered,
you know, if we'd seen it.

  
More than seen it,
Mr. President.

  
You spoke the actual words.

  
Now, you've always claimed you first
learned of the break-in on June 23.

  
Yeah.

  
But this transcript of a tape
made three days earlier

  
clearly shows that
to be a falsehood.

  
Now, in it you say to Colson,
"This whole investigation rests

  
"unless one of the seven
begins to talk.

  
"That's the problem. "

  
Well, what do we
mean when we say

  
"one of the seven
beginning to talk"?

  
Then moving on to a conversation
you had with John Dean

  
on March 21,
the following year.

  
In one transcript alone,
there in black and white,

  
I picked out,
and these are your words,

  
one, "You could get $1 million,
and you could get it in cash.

  
"I know where it
could be gotten. "

  
Two, "Your major guy to
keep under control is Hunt. "

  
Three, "Don't we have to
handle the Hunt situation?"

  
Four, "Get the million bucks.

  
"It would seem to me
that would be worthwhile. "

  
Five, "Don't you agree that you'd
better get the Hunt thing going?"

  
Six, "First you've got
the Hunt problem.

  
"That ought to be handled. "
Seven, "The money can be provided.

  
"Ehrlichman could provide
the way to deliver it. "

  
Eight,
"We've no choice with Hunt

  
"but the $120,000 or
whatever it is, right?"

  
Nine, "Christ, turn over
any cash we've got. "

  
And I could go on.
Now, it seems to me

  
that someone
running a cover-up

  
couldn't have expressed it more
clearly than that, could they?

  
Look, let me just stop
you now right there,

  
because you're doing
something here

  
which I am not doing,
and I will not do

  
throughout these
entire broadcasts.

  
You're quoting me
out of context,

  
out of order.
And I might add,

  
I have participated
in all these interviews

  
without a single note
in front of me.

  
Well, it is your life,
Mr. President.

  
Now, you've always maintained

  
that you knew nothing about
any of this until March 21.

  
But in February, your personal
lawyer came to Washington

  
to start the raising
of $219,
  
of hush money to be
paid to the burglars.

  
Now, do you seriously
expect us to believe

  
that you had
no knowledge of that?

  
None. I believed the money
was for humanitarian purposes.

  
To help disadvantaged
people with their defenses.

  
Well, it was being delivered on the
tops of phone booths with aliases,

  
and at airports
by people with gloves on.

  
That's not normally the way
lawyers' fees are delivered, is it?

  
Look, I have made statements
to this effect before.

  
All that was Haldeman
and Ehrlichman's business.

  
I knew nothing.
Okay, fine. Fine!

  
You made a conclusion there.

  
I stated my view,
now let's move on.

  
Let's get on to
the rest of it.

  
No, hold on.
No, hold on.

  
No, I don't
want to talk...

  
If Haldeman and Ehrlichman were
the ones really responsible,

  
when you subsequently
found out about it,

  
why didn't you call the
police and have them arrested?

  
Isn't that just
a cover-up of another kind?

  
Yeah, maybe I should have
done that. Maybe I should have.

  
Just called the feds
into my office

  
and said, "Hey,
there's the two men.

  
"Haul them
down to the dock,

  
"fingerprint them and then
throw them in the can. "

  
I'm not made that way.

  
These men, Haldeman, Ehrlichman,
I knew their families.

  
I knew them since
they were just kids.

  
Yeah, but you know,
politically,

  
the pressure on me to let them
go, that became overwhelming!

  
So I did it.
I cut off one arm,

  
then I cut off the other,
and I'm not a good butcher!

  
And I have always maintained
what they were doing,

  
what we were all doing,
was not criminal.

  
Look,
when you're in office,

  
you gotta do a lot of things
sometimes that are not always,

  
in the strictest sense of the
law, legal, but you do them

  
because they're in the greater
interests of the nation!

  
Right. Wait, just so
I understand correctly,

  
are you really saying
that in certain situations,

  
the President can decide whether it's
in the best interests of the nation

  
and then do something illegal?

  
I'm saying that when the President
does it, that means it's not illegal.

  
I'm sorry?

  
That's what I believe.

  
Oh, my God.

  
But I realize no one
else shares that view.

  
So, in that case,
will you accept, then,

  
to clear the air
once and for all,

  
that you were part
of a cover-up

  
and that you did
break the law?

  
Oh, my God, we got him.
I...

  
Shit!

  
Okay, let's take
a break there.

  
What the fuck
is going on?

  
Cut it. Cut it.

  
Excuse me?
Shut it down.

  
Shut it down now.

  
That's not my call. You're gonna
have to talk to the director.

  
He's in that truck out
there. Get him in here.

  
Listen, we have
an issue in here.

  
Jack, what are you doing?
A break?

  
Change the tapes.

  
David, can I talk to you
for a minute, please?

  
What the hell is
going on, Jack?

  
He was about to blow
and you know it.

  
Fellas, this is a critical
moment in his life.

  
You realize we could
sue you for this?

  
You have deliberately
sabotaged the interview, Jack.

  
Look, we're all
in this together.

  
I'm sure we can
find a solution.

  
A solution? What the hell are you
talking about? It's an interview!

  
Bob, may I remind you...

  
This is a breach of
contract. We could sue.

  
For heaven's sake, Jim. Why
don't you give him a week off?

  
Give him a year off!

  
Give him a fucking massage!

  
Watch your language,
for crying out loud.

  
What'd you do? Throw in the towel, Jack?

  
Did you take pity on me?

  
Sir, I just felt that

  
if you were going to make some
kind of emotional disclosure,

  
that we should
just take a moment

  
to think it through,
sketch it out.

  
I just want to
impress upon you

  
how crucially important
this moment is

  
and how many potentially
devastating consequences

  
unplanned emotional
disclosures could have.

  
I know.

  
But to go on and carry on
denying it all...

  
I appreciate the gesture.

  
We ought to call it a snafu.

  
Jack, are we on?

  
We're on. Okay, he's had
plenty of time to cook up

  
some sort of slippery new
bullshit, so stay on your toes.

  
Listen, it's gonna be fine.
Pick up where you left off.

  
Thirty seconds, everyone.

  
Ten seconds.

  
David? Four, three,
two, and...

  
Mr. President,
we were talking about

  
the period
March 21 to April 30,

  
and the mistakes you made,
and so on, and I was wondering

  
would you go
further than "mistakes"?

  
The word that seems not enough
for people to understand.

  
Well, what word
would you express?

  
My goodness.

  
All right.

  
Since you've asked me, I
think there are three things

  
that people would
like to hear you say.

  
One, that there was
probably more than mistakes.

  
There was wrongdoing.

  
And, yes, it might
have been a crime, too.

  
Secondly, that "I did abuse
the power I had as President. "

  
And thirdly,
"I put the American people

  
"through two years
of needless agony,

  
"and I apologize for that. "
And I know how difficult it is

  
for anyone, especially you,

  
but I think the people
need to hear it.

  
And I think that
unless you say it,

  
you're going to be haunted
for the rest of your life.

  
Well, it's true. I made
mistakes, horrendous ones,

  
ones that were not
worthy of a president,

  
ones that did not meet
the standards of excellence

  
that I always dreamed of
as a young boy.

  
But, if you remember,
it was a difficult time.

  
I was caught up
in a five-front war

  
against a partisan media,
a partisan House of Congress,

  
a partisan Ervin Committee.

  
But, yes, I will admit
there were times

  
I did not fully meet
that responsibility

  
and I was involved in a
cover-up, as you call it.

  
And for all those mistakes
I have a very deep regret.

  
No one can know what it's
like to resign the presidency.

  
Now,

  
if you want me to get down
on the floor and grovel...

  
No! Never!

  
I still insist they were
mistakes of the heart.

  
They were not
mistakes of the head.

  
But they were my mistakes.
I don't blame anybody.

  
I brought myself down.

  
I gave them a sword,
and they stuck it in,

  
and they twisted it
with relish.

  
And I guess if I'd been in their
place, I'd have done the same thing.

  
And the American people?

  
I let them down.

  
I let down my friends.

  
I let down the country.

  
And worst of all,

  
I let down
our system of government.

  
And the dreams of
all those young people

  
that ought to get
into government,

  
but now they think, "It's all
too corrupt," and the rest.

  
Yeah.

  
I let the American
people down,

  
and I'm gonna have to
carry that burden with me

  
for the rest of my life.

  
My political life is over.

  
You know, the first and greatest
sin or deception of television

  
is that it simplifies,
it diminishes,

  
great, complex ideas,
tranches of time.

  
Whole careers become reduced
to a single snapshot.

  
At first, I couldn't
understand why

  
Bob Zelnick was
quite as euphoric

  
as he was after
the interviews,

  
or why John Birt felt
moved to strip naked

  
and rush into
the ocean to celebrate.

  
But that was before
I really understood

  
the reductive power
of the close-up.

  
Because David had
succeeded on that final day

  
in getting,
for a fleeting moment,

  
what no investigative
journalist,

  
no state prosecutor,
no judiciary committee

  
or political enemy
had managed to get.

  
Richard Nixon's face,

  
swollen and ravaged by loneliness,
self-loathing and defeat.

  
The rest of the project and its
failings would not only be forgotten,

  
they would totally
cease to exist.

  
Who came out
on top, Mr. President?

  
Is this what you
call a dachshund?

  
Mmm-hmm.

  
Very sweet.

  
The Nixon/Frost interviews
were wildly successful.

  
I think they attracted the
largest audience for a news program

  
in the history of
American television.

  
David was on the cover of Time
magazine and Newsweek magazine.

  
And even the political
press corps,

  
the hard-bitten
political press corps,

  
called David up with messages
of contrition and congratulation.

  
David, I want to
say congratulations.

  
The interviews?

  
No, I didn't watch them.
I couldn't.

  
Hey.

  
Hello.

  
I believe David saw the former
President just one more time.

  
Before he left California
for London again,

  
he drove down to San
Clemente to say goodbye.

  
Hey, Mr. Frost.
It's nice to see you.

  
Miss Cushing.
Hello.

  
Please excuse
my golf outfit.

  
It's the official
uniform of the retired.

  
Are you on your way home?

  
Yes.

  
Into a bright new dawn of fresh
enterprises and challenges, eh?

  
Well, let's hope so.

  
Good for you.

  
I didn't catch the
interviews as they went out,

  
but they tell me that
they were a great success.

  
I gather the journalists
that were so positive

  
about you weren't
so kind to me.

  
Yes, I was sorry to see that.

  
There's no
condolences necessary.

  
I've grown to expect nothing
else from those sons of whores.

  
Yeah.

  
Jeez, please forgive me,
Miss Cushing.

  
You know, I would've
said "sons of bitches,"

  
but Manolo here
is a lover of dogs,

  
and he hates me
to defame animals.

  
Can I get something
for somebody?

  
Yes. Would you like
some tea or champagne?

  
Hey, you know, we got that
caviar the Shah of Iran sent me.

  
No, thank you.
You sure?

  
Come on. It'll be
no trouble at all.

  
No, really, we must be...

  
Okay, fine, fine.
Thanks for coming by.

  
You were a worthy opponent.

  
Goodbye, Mr. President.

  
Bye-bye.

  
Goodbye, Mr. President.

  
Goodbye.

  
Oh, God!
I almost forgot. I...

  
I brought you a present,
those shoes you admired.

  
I brought you a pair.

  
Well, jeez. Thank you.

  
I'm touched. Safe trip, now.

  
Oh! Say, David, you think I could speak
to you, privately, just for a minute?

  
Do you know those
parties of yours?

  
The ones that I read about
in all the papers?

  
Do you actually enjoy those?

  
Of course.

  
You got no idea how
fortunate that makes you.

  
You know? Liking
people, and being liked.

  
Having that facility,
that lightness, that charm.

  
I don't have it.
I never did.

  
It kind of makes you wonder
why I chose a life

  
that hinged on being liked.

  
I'm better suited
to a life of thought,

  
debate,
intellectual discipline.

  
Maybe we got it wrong.

  
Maybe you should have
been a politician

  
and I the rigorous
interviewer.

  
Maybe.

  
David.

  
Did I really
call you that night?

  
Yes.

  
Did we discuss
anything important?

  
Cheeseburgers.

  
Cheeseburgers?

  
Goodbye, sir.

  
Well, New York,
London and Sydney

  
welcomed David
back with open arms,

  
as did his friends
and investors,

  
who've made a fortune
from these interviews.

  
He got back all of his shows.

  
He even got back
his table at Sardi's.

  
As for Richard Nixon,

  
well, he certainly
never achieved

  
the rehabilitation
he so desperately craved.

  
His most lasting legacy

  
is that today
any political wrongdoing

  
is immediately given
the suffix "gate. "