AMERICAN INTERESTS: RICHARD NIXON REFLECTS (TV)
Summary
One in this series of programs that explores "American interest" in international issues, hosted by "New Republic" senior editor Morton Kondracke. In this "special edition" episode, Mondracke conducts a wide-ranging conversation with 77-year-old former President Richard Nixon, first at Nixon's office in Woodcliff Lake, N.J., then at his home in Saddle River, N.J.
The pair address topics which include: if a "Richard Nixon renewal" is under way; what motivated the writing of Nixon's latest book, "In the Arena: A Memoir of Victory, Defeat, and Renewal"; whether the Bush administration consults Nixon on policy matters; if Nixon looks on Bush like "a kid brother" due to their lengthy history; why Nixon believes that a president's friends may be his biggest problem; and Dan Quayle's success as a "vice presidential emissary."
Newsreel footage shows highlights from Nixon's political career, including his pursuit of accused spy Alger Hiss, serving as vice-president under Dwight D. Eisenhower, losing his presidential bid to John F. Kennedy, and trips to Russia and China while serving as president. The subsequent discussion then touches on: Nixon's evolving "detente policy"; the role of Strategic Defense Initiative in the economic reforms of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev; why Gorbachev is "in the top level of the leaders of the twentieth century"; if Nixon supported Ronald Reagan's arms-control policies against the Soviet Union in the '80s; Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev being "earthy" and "liking the girls"; how the American influence in China was responsible for the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protest; if the Vietnam war could have been avoided; and why Nixon believes that South Vietnam would be a free, independent country if Watergate hadn't occurred.
Next, newsreels chart Nixon jousting with Democrats over the decades, as well as the televised "Checkers speech" in which he asked the public to tell the Republican National Committee -- following accusations of improprieties -- if he should remain on the Eisenhower ticket. Nixon is also shown delivering his "Silent Majority speech," a 1973 plea for Americans to support the Vietnam war. The conversation then resumes with subjects which include: Bush's "mistake-free" administration; the weak state of the Democratic party, with the exception of New York Governor Mario Cuomo; if Bush must be bi-partisan to be effective; how America is making Japan a scapegoat for its own problems; and why an adversarial position between the world's super-powers must be avoided.
Kondracke then asks Nixon about the following topics: if television has trivialized American politics; the effect of negative campaigning in presidential elections; if Nixon underestimated Kennedy in 1960; how the world would have changed if Kennedy lived; if Nixon thinks Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating Kennedy; why some pols contend that Lyndon Johnson was the only president who could successfully champion civil rights; the preoccupation of the press with scandals; and why Nixon maintains that Thomas Dewey should have become president in 1948.
A montage of newsreel footage focuses on Nixon's political opponents, Nixon's ongoing battle with the press, and his 1974 resignation speech in the wake of the Watergate scandal. The subsequent discussion addresses the following subjects: if the press has a liberal, left-wing bias; why journalists embraced Reagan and his conservative agenda; if Nixon was out to "get" his enemies while in the White House; whether Nixon has forgiven his enemies; how he befriended "political adversary" Edmund Muskie; if "the system" conspired to bring down Nixon's presidency; Nixon's regrets at not being more forthright about his Watergate actions, and why he "had to pay the price"; who authorized the Watergate break-in; why he didn't fight for his presidency after deeming the "smoking gun" tape to be "harmless"; and why conflict remains the political sphere's most essential element.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: May 4, 1990 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:27:43
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:75410
- GENRE: Talk/Interviews
- SUBJECT HEADING: Politics; Watergate Affair, 1972-1974;
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1989-1992
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Neal B. Freeman … Executive Producer
- Lawrence Delaney, Jr. … Producer
- Natalie A. Kirschner … Associate Producer
- Christopher Howard … Associate Producer
- Morton Kondracke … Host, Interviewer
- Peter Thomas … Narrator
- Richard M. Nixon … Guest
- Leonid Brezhnev
- George H.W. Bush
- Mario Cuomo
- Thomas Dewey
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Mikhail Gorbachev
- Alger Hiss
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- John F. Kennedy
- Edmund Muskie
- Lee Harvey Oswald
- Dan Quayle
- Ronald Reagan