The Conviction of Richard Nixon: The Untold Story of the Frost/Nixon Interviews

Having watched way too much of the TV coverage for this year's election, I have gotten increasingly annoyed not so much with the politicians' attempts to BS people but with how little interviewers and reporters seemed to be interested in calling politicians on those attempts. As a bitterly needed lesson in what quality journalism can do - and can do on TV, that much-maligned medium! - to put politicians on the spot, I can't think of a better book to read than historian James Reston's THE CONVICTION OF RICHARD NIXON. The book, which reads like a thriller (so no surprise it's the basis for an upcoming Ron Howard movie), is Reston's brilliant chronicle about how he helped British uber-TV host David Frost nail Richard Nixon on Watergate during the famous Frost/Nixon interviews of 1977. How Reston did it? The old-fashioned way: through dogged and persistent research; by ignoring the soundbites and looking at the facts instead; and, most of all, by having an independent and critical mind. Read it and be inspired to speak truth to power!

I saw the wonderful play "Frost/Nixon," which is based on this book, and I loved it - very funny, totally compelling, with several great moments of pure theater. But the book is more satisfying, on many levels. For one, it's just a great story -- Reston knows how to keep your attention, and the quest to nail Nixon on camera is told like a courtroom thriller: will they or won't they convict him? And as well, Nixon is such a bizarre human being that even his throwaway comments are creepy and revealing (he seems to have been somewhat obsessed with "fornicating") - but he's a brilliant, wily strategist, which has its own fascinations. Beyond all that, THE CONVICTION OF RICHARD NIXON is a telling comment on how the boundaries of acceptable behavior have changed over the last few decades: Nixon's wrongdoings seem almost quaint compared to the kinds of things that are happening today. But it all began here (at least publicly), and Reston nails it - just like he helped nail Nixon the first time. Highly recommended.

Reston's splendid little book is a behind the scenes tour de force of the Frost-Nixon interviews. Coming into the interview many thought that Frost was not up to the task of breaking down a President that was known for his tenacious survival instincts. After all, Nixon survived crisis after crisis before he came to the Presidency in 1969, and if Frost and his crew had not done their research, this interview could have provided a launching pad for any future Nixon ambitions. Reston recounts how the Frost team combed over tons of Watergate evidence, and newly discovered tapes detailing what the President knew and when he knew it. After reading this book however, the reader is understandably confused as to what drove Nixon to give his final mea culpa. Reston reveals here that this mea culpa was not spontaneous as some would believe, but took place right after a break in the taping. Was the apology really heartfelt after a withering cross examination by Frost, or was this just another cold calculating Nixonian maneuver? Did Nixon intend to do this when he signed up for the interview in the first place? Reston does not reach a conclusion as to what Nixon was thinking at the time, but with any book about Nixon the truth is always a slippery thing indeed.

This is a fast and entertaining read. Reston writes that people wondered whether David Frost was up to confronting President Nixon about his Watergate deceptions as Frost was seen as something of a charming lightweight. Frost bore down and did his homework and the result was a stunning success for Frost. Richard Nixon during these interviews came as close as he ever would to admitting his role. The book unpacks Nixon's patterns of defensiveness and sheds light on the psychological machinations behind those patterns. While this may seem like material that's been exhausted over the years, the insights are fresh and interesting. I have one point of disagreement with the author. He says the interviews finished off any change of a Nixon rehabilitation. While it's true that Nixon never again held elected or appointed office, he wrote a number of foreign policy books, visited with world leaders and gave solicited advice to Bill Clinton, among others. Americans love a comeback and Nixon did live to enjoy some measure of restoration. I'm sure this exceeded what even he thought possible. I watched the interviews in 1977 as I was in my last year of college. This book brings back the intrigue and the drama.