Sid R. Bass

Oak Hill
4824 Crestline Road
Fort Worth, TX 76107

Tel: (817) 377-9595

Fax: (817) 377-9598

March 22, 1995

Dr. Henry Kissinger
Kissinger Associates
26th Floor
350 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10022

Dear Henry:

You will probably object most to the smallness of your part in Oliver Stone's *Nixon*, but after all, the title role cannot be eclipsed. All in all, the movie is damn good drama, even though I hate to say anything nice about Oliver Stone. True to character, he went over the top with outrageous allegations and implications so as to ruin what could have been a movie deserving an Oscar.

I suppose the family of Richard III would not have liked the play, and I suppose that Shakespeare took some liberties. If Oliver Stone had simply discarded pages 115 and 116, I would be able to condone the script. Furthermore, the script will not be final until the shooting ends, and I suspect Stone will become even more outrageous.

I have marked the passages that pertain to you, and I hope I haven't inadvertently missed anything. You are clearly out of trouble. Hoover and Helms were not treated so well. Hoover's portrayal is so ridiculously mean that the audience will probably laugh and hoot.

Ugliness is in the eye of the beholder. Michael Eisner gave me the pages where you are mentioned, detached and marked for discussion. He marked the passage alleging that you had wanted to make sure your photograph was in the papers as you returned from Paris, which I said would give you a laugh. He didn't mark on the same page what I considered the only thing you might find objectionable — the suspicion you were the White House leak to Restor. In context, the suspicion only serves to emphasize the paranoia of the President and his staff, and it is reinforced by the public's knowledge that you are a most silly target of suspicion. I asked Michael about the omission, and he scoffed. It was his opinion that the passage most objectionable to you described your praying on your knees with Nixon, but I remember very well your describing it, and it is public knowledge.

Dean's list

"Frasier" star David Hyde Pierce, who plays Kelsey Grammer's neurotic shrink brother, Niles, has landed the role of John Dean in Oliver Stone's "Nixon," which will begin shooting in May for Cinergi Productions and Disney. Sources said that Pierce has already met with Dean, the former White House counsel for Nixon.

It was probably difficult to tell them apart, since Pierce is a dead ringer for the former boy-wonder of the Nixon administration who spilled the beans about the "cancer" eating at the presidency. The actor, who made his feature debut in "Wolf," has numerous scenes with Nixon. That role, of course, will be played by **Anthony Hopkins**, who's working on capturing the distinctive Nixon vocalization.

Also joining the "Nixon" cast will be **Larry Hagman**, who'll play aYLEO as a Texas oilman who incurs Nixon's wrath; **Powers Boothe** as ALexander Haig; **John Diehl** ("Miami Vice," "The Client") in the role of J.Gordon Liddy; E.G. Marshall as John Mitchell; Mary Steenburgen as Nixon's mother; Tom Bower as Nixon's father, and Brian Bedford as J.Edgar Hoover's alleged lover, Clyde Tolson. They join a cast that already includes **Paul Sorvino** as Henry Kissinger, **Joan Allen** as Pat Nixon, **James Woods** as H.R. Haldeman, **J.T. Walsh** as John Erlichman, Peter O'Toole as Richard Helms, Diane Ladd as Martha Mitchell, and Bob Hoskins as J. Edgar Hoover.

1.

[LC]

A PROLOGUE APPEARS on black screen:

This film is an attempt to understand the truth of
Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United
States. It is based on numerous public sources and
on incomplete historical findings.

In consideration of length, events and characters
have been condensed, times and speeches have been
telescoped, and some scenes between protagonists
have been conjectured.

*

On a portable screen, we read the famous words from Matthew:
"What shall profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and
lose his own soul?" This FADES into:

A BLACK AND WHITE 16mm sales training FILM. At the moment, the
sales manager, BOB, is chatting with EARL, a rookie salesman.

BOB

- Sure you've got a great product Earl. But you have
to remember what you're really selling.

(then)

Yourself.

1

INT. WATERGATE HOTEL - CONFERENCE ROOM - NIGHT

1

Seven men in shirts and ties are seated around a table in the
darkened room. They are smoking Cuban cigars, idly watching
the film.

TITLE: "JUNE 17, 1972". Then: "THE WATERGATE HOTEL"

A BUSBOY yawns as he clears away the remains of dinner. A
WAITER starts pouring Margaritas from a pitcher.

A balding man in his early fifties tosses a five onto the
table. He is HOWARD HUNT.

HUNT

Just leave it.

The waiter puts down the pitcher, picks up the five and
follows the busboy out of the room.

The moment the door closes behind them, Hunt is on his feet.
He locks the door. The other men are putting on their jackets.
They are: GORDON LIDDY, FRANK STURGIS, JAMES MCCORD, BERNARD
BARKER, EUGENIO MARTINEZ, and VIRGILIO GONZALES.

LIDDY (checks his watch)

Zero one twenty-one. Mark.

NIX00079

2.

[LC]

Sturgis rolls his eyes, drains his Margarita. McCord prays silently. Gonzales and Barker take bags from under the table.

Hunt comes back from the door, takes Martinez aside. Hands him a key.

**HUNT**

Si algo va mal, hac esto. ("if anything goes wrong, get rid of this").

Martinez slips the key into his pocket.

**LIDDY**

We rendezvous at zero three hundred.

**STURGIS**

Yawohl, mein fartenfuhrer.

Liddy reaches for his gun.

**LIDDY**

Don't start with me, Frank. I'll..

**HUNT**

Let's get the fuck out of here, shall we, ladies?

Liddy and Hunt move to the door. The others file around behind the screen to the emergency exit.

The film is ending. BOB puts a hand on EARL'S shoulder.

**BOB**

And remember, Earl: always look 'em in the eye.
(to the camera)
Nothing sells like sincerity.

2

INT. WATERGATE HOTEL - CORRIDOR - NIGHT

2

CLOSE: MCCORD rips a piece of duct tape with his teeth, places it VERTICALLY on a door lock.

STURGIS, BARKER, MARTINEZ and GONZALES move past him. We follow them down the corridor. They stop at a door: "Democratic National Committee".

*

Sturgis and the Cubans begin taking the door off its hinges.

McCord comes up behind them, whispers into a walkie-talkie.

**MCCORD**

We've reached the target.

NIX00079

3.

[LC]

3

INT. HOWARD JOHNSON HOTEL - ROOM - NIGHT

3

Across the street, with a window view of the interior
Watergate, LIDDY clicks his walkie-talkie.

LIDDY
Roger.

Liddy turns to HUNT, frowns.

LIDDY
What are you doing?

Hunt looks up from a Spanish language newspaper.

HUNT
Dogs...season starts tomorrow.

LIDDY
Don't get too excited, Howard.

HUNT (shrugs)
I'm actually nervous. I don't like going back in
the same building three times.

LIDDY (in German)
Goethe tells us -- "A warrior with nerves of steel
is oft broken by a thread of silk".

HUNT
...if you say so. I'll take a greyhound with a
shot of speed.

Liddy's walkie-talkie crackles.

MCCORD (O.S.)
We're in.

4

INT. WATERGATE HOTEL - DNC OFFICES - NIGHT

4

The five men are moving through the offices toward a door at
the far end. GONZALES drops to his knees, starts working on
the lock. The door is marked: "Larry O'Brien, Chairman".

MCCORD disappears into O'Brien's office with his black bag.
Gonzales begins rifling through the filing cabinets. BARKER
passes documents to STURGIS. He places them on a desk and
photographs them.

MARTINEZ separates himself from the group. He moves to a
corner cubicle, slips inside. He goes behind the desk. He
takes out the key HUNT gave him, opens the top drawer. Among
the papers is a small black telephone book.

MIX00079

4.

[LC]

Martinez picks it up, looks through it quickly.

CLOSE: the book is filled with women's first names and phone numbers.

5

5

LIDDY glances out the window, freezes.

6

EXT. WATERGATE - NIGHT

6

A POLICE CAR pulls up in front of the Watergate. Three COPS, dressed in plain clothes, one of them long-haired with a cowboy hat, another in a sweatshirt move quickly to the door.

LIDDY (O.S.)

We got hippies on the sixth floor. They got guns!

It's trouble!

RADIO VOICE (O.S., confused)

Hey, are any of our guys dressed as hippies?

7

INT. HOWARD JOHNSON - NIGHT

7

HUNT looks up from his newspaper.

LIDDY (into the walkie-talkie)

Foxes in the henhouse. Repeat. Foxes in the henhouse... Do you copy, Nighthawk? Over.

Hunt joins Liddy at the window.

LIDDY

Nighthawk! Nighthawk!

Lights are coming on in the WATERGATE.

HUNT

Get them out of there.

LIDDY

That idiot McCord turned his radio off.

DETECTIVE (V.O. yells)

Alright up against the wall! Now!

8

INT. WATERGATE HOTEL - DNC OFFICES - NIGHT - MOMENTS LATER

8

The COPS, and two SECURITY GUARDS have MCCORD, STURGIS, BARKER, MARTINEZ and GONZALES spread-eagled against a wall, frisking them.

NIX00079

[LC]

5.

COP
Burglars in business suits?

Martinez glances over his shoulder. He reaches carefully into his pocket, takes out the key, about to put it into his mouth when the COP spots him.

COP (yells)
Freeze, asshole!

They wrestle the key away from Martinez.

Another COP comes out of Larry O'Brien's office carrying a black bag. He sets it on the desk, takes out a high-tech surveillance device.

COP
What the fuck is this?

The second COP lays out more of their possessions: stacks of new hundred dollar bills, lock picks, Minox cameras, three small transmitters, a smoke detector, surgical gloves. And the key.

DETECTIVE
Who the hell are these guys?

SECURITY GUARD
... 'Said they were salesmen.

MCCORD looks out the window across the street -- a strange, frightened look.

9

INT. HOWARD JOHNSON MOTEL - ROOM - NIGHT

9

LIDDY is watching through binoculars, hides.

LIDDY
You asshole McCord! Okay, okay we go to 'Storm Und Drang'.

HUNT is frantically throwing things into a suitcase.

HUNT
Yeah, sure, Gordon.

LIDDY
I'll go to Creep and start shredding. You call Colson. Not from here. Use a secure phone.

HUNT
You call Colson. (grabs the suitcase) Personally, I'm calling the President of the United States.

NIX00079

6.

[LC]

As Hunt exits the room, we:

CUT TO:

10

EXT. THE WHITE HOUSE - NIGHT - 1973

10

A raw November night. We are looking through the black iron
bars of the fence towards the facade of the Executive Mansion.
A LIGHT is on in a second floor room.

We move towards it slowly -- TITLES CONTINUING -- through the
bars, across the lawn. Dead leaves blow past. A SUBTITLE
READS: "November, 1973"

A few PROTESTORS, weary in the cold, grudgingly patrol the
exterior gates with signs calling for Nixon to "Resign," to be
"Impeached."

A black LIMOUSINE slides up to the entrance. An armed GUARD
with a huge black DOBERMAN approaches.

The window opens slightly. The Guard peers in. Then, he opens
the door.

GUARD

Good evening, General Haig.

GENERAL ALEXANDER HAIG gets out, walks up the steps. He
carries a manila envelope. As he enters the White House, we
hear an AUDIO MONTAGE of NEWS REPORTERS from the last year.
The VOICES fade in and out, overlap:

REPORTERS (V.O.)

Judge John Sirica today sentenced the Watergate
burglars to terms ranging up to forty years... The
White House continues to deny any involvement...

11

INT. THE WHITE HOUSE - VESTIBULE - NIGHT

11

HAIG enters, starts up the stairs. The mansion is dark,
silent. Like a tomb.

REPORTERS (V.O.: continues)

Presidential counsel John Dean testified before
the Senate Watergate Committee that the scandal
reaches to the highest levels...

*

MOVING: A low-angle shot of HAIG's spit-shined shoes moving
down the long corridor of the second floor of the Residence. *

REPORTERS (V.O.: continues)

Presidential aides Haldeman and Ehrlichman were
ordered to resign today... In a stunning announce-ment

MIX00079

7.

[LC]

REPORTERS (cont'd)

White House aide Alexander Butterfield revealed the
existence of a White House taping system...

*

CLOSE: on the manila envelope in Haig's hand.

REPORTERS (V.O.: continues)

The President has fired the Watergate Special
Prosecutor, Archibald Cox, provoking the gravest
Constitutional crisis in American history...

Haig stops at a door, quietly knocks. No answer.

REPORTERS (V.O.: continues)

Judge Sirica has ordered the President to turn
over his tapes...

Haig opens the door.

12

INT. THE WHITE HOUSE - LINCOLN SITTING ROOM - NIGHT

12

The room is small, austere, dominated by a portrait of LINCOLN
over the fireplace. HAIG stands in the doorway, holding the
envelope.

HAIG

These are the tapes you requested, Mister
President.

RICHARD NIXON is in shadow, silhouetted by the fire in the
hearth. The air-conditioning is going full blast. Haig crosses
the room, opens the envelope, takes out a reel of tape.

Nixon sits in the small armchair in a corner. A Uher tape
recorder is on an end table at his elbow. Next to it is a
large tumbler of Scotch.

Haig hands the envelope containing the tapes to Nixon in the
envelope.

NIXON

This is June twentieth?

HAIG

It's marked. Also there's June 23rd. And this year
-- March 21st. Those are the ones.

Nixon ignores the implication, squints at the label in the
firelight.

HAIG

...The lawyers feel they...will be the basis for
the...proceedings. (then) Do you need anything
sir?

NIX00079

8.

[LC]

Nixon tries to thread the tape.

NIXON
Nixon's never been good with these things.

He drops the tape on the floor.

NIXON
Cocksucker!

Haig picks up the tape. Then steps to the table, reaches for the lamp.

HAIG
Do you mind?

Nixon gestures awkwardly. Haig turns on the lamp. For the first time we can see Nixon's face: he hasn't slept in days, dark circles, sagging jowls, five-o-clock shadow. He slurs, the effect of sleeping pills.

NIXON
If Hoover was alive none of this would've happened. He would've protected the President.

HAIG
Mister Hoover was a realist.

NIXON
I trusted Mitchell. It was that damn bigmouth wife of his.

HAIG
He stood up to it.

NIXON
Not like the others. Dean, McCord, Hunt, the rest.

Haig quickly threads the tape.

NIXON
We never got our side of the story out, Al. People've forgotten. I mean "fuck you, Mr. President, fuck you Tricia" and all that shit, just words, but what violence! The teargassing, the riots, burning the draft cards, black panthers--we fixed it, Al, and they hate me for it--the double-dealing bastards, they always hate Nixon, they lionize that faggot Ellsberg for stealing secrets but when I keep the secrets, they jump all over me cause it's Nixon. (repeats)...they've always hated Nixon.

Haig finishes threading the tape.

NIX00079

[LC]

9.

HAIG

May I say something Mr. President?

NIXON

There's no secrets here, Al.

HAIG

You've never been a greater example to the country
than you are now sir but... but you need to get
out more sir, and talk to people. No one I know
feels... close to you.

Nixon looks at him, moved by his concern.

NIXON

I was never the buddy-buddy type, Al. You know,
"Oh I couldn't sleep last night, I was thinking of
my mother who beat me" -- that kinda crap.
(then)

The more I'd spill my guts, the more they'd hate
me. I'd be what... *pathetic!* If I'd bugged out of
Vietnam when they wanted, do you think Watergate
would've ever *happened*? You think the
Establishment would've given a shit! But did I?
Quit? Did I pull out?
(he stares, waits)

HAIG

No sir, you did not.

NIXON

Damn right. An' there's still a helluva lotta
people out there who wanna believe... that's the
point isn't it? They wanna believe in the
President.

He suddenly tires of talking, rubs his hands over his face, worn.

HAIG

You're all set sir. Just push this button. Good
night Mr. President.

NIXON

Night, Al...

Haig quietly closes the door. Nixon takes a generous slug of Scotch. Then he looks down at the tape recorder. He hits the fast forward button: high speed VOICES.

NIXON

Goddamn!

NIX00079

10.

[LC]

He hits "stop", studies the recorder a moment. Pushes the "play" button. VOICES. Barely audible at first. Nixon leans closer, listening.

### NIXON (on tape)

They did what! I don't understand. Why'd they go into O'Brien's office in the first place?

### HALDEMAN (on tape)

Evidently to install bugs and photograph documents.

### FLASHBACK TO:

13

INT. EXECUTIVE OFFICE BLDG-PRESIDENT'S OFFICE-DAY (1972) 13

SUBTITLE READS: "JUNE 1972".

NIXON'S hideaway office. BOB HALDEMAN, his crewcut, hard-edged Chief Of Staff, sits across the desk, a folder open on his lap. Nixon paces, anxiously, a stronger, healthier man than seen in the previous scene. Also there are JOHN EHRLICHMAN, portly domestic advisor, and JOHN DEAN, blond, gentrified legal counsel.

### NIXON (cont.)

But O'Brien doesn't even use that office! The Democrats've moved to Miami. There's nothing there!

### HALDEMAN

It's possible they were looking for evidence of an illegal Howard Hughes donation to the Democrats, so the Democrats couldn't make an issue of your Hughes money.

### NIXON

Contribution! It was a legal contribution. Sounds like the 'dirty tricks' division. Who the hell authorized this!

### HALDEMAN

Well sir, that's not clear. It might've been Colson.

### NIXON

That figures. Colson's got the balls of a brass monkey and the brains of a tortilla! Get him in here.

### EHRLICHMAN (shakes his head)

Colson doesn't know a thing about it, boss. I talked to Jeb Magruder at the Committee to Re-elect, and there's another theory. Magruder thinks they were

NIX00079

[LC]

12.

NIXON

That fruit cake! What about him?

*

HALDEMAN

Well, he used to work here with the Plumbers and now he's running this Watergate sting. Magruder thinks he's just nutty enough to go off the reservation.

*

*

*

NIXON

Shit! What's Liddy got that's traceable to us?

*

Haldeman looks at Ehrlichman.

*

HALDEMAN

Apparently he was using some campaign cash that came from us through Mexico. It was laundered. The FBI's onto it. We might have a problem with that.

*

*

*

NIXON (looking at his watch)

Jackasses! All of 'em. Well, we gotta contain this in Creep, keep it out of the White House. What - else? Kissinger's waiting -- he's threatening to quit... again.

*

*

*

EHRLICHMAN (reluctant)

Well, chief, that could be a problem too. It turns out -- one of the people implicated is *still*, you see, on our White House payroll.

*

NIXON

Who? Not another goddamn Cuban?

*

HALDEMAN

No sir. A guy named Hunt.

*

Nixon stops, stunned.

NIXON

Hunt? Howard Hunt?

HALDEMAN

He works for Colson. He used him on the Pentagon Papers.

*

NIXON (incredulous)

Howard Hunt is working for the White House? This is goddamn Disneyland! Since when?

*

EHRLICHMAN

Colson brought him in after Teddy Kennedy drowned the broad at Chappaquiddick. To get some dirt. You wanted it.

NIX00079

[LC]

13.

### DEAN

You know Hunt, sir?

### NIXON (deeply perturbed)

On the list of horribles, I know what he is. And I
know what he tracks back to.

(then)

You say he was involved in the Plumbers? In the
Ellsberg thing?

### HALDEMAN

You approved it, sir. It was right after the
Pentagon Papers broke. They went in to get his
psychiatric records. We were working on China...

Nixon has taken a seat, shaken. He stares right at us as we:

SHARP CUT BACK TO:

14 INT. OVAL OFFICE - DAY - (1971)

14

The PRESIDENT'S MEN are gathered in-somber silence, sharing
front page copies of the "New York Times". SUBTITLE READS:
"JUNE, 1971 -- A YEAR EARLIER"

INSERT HEADLINE: "Secret Pentagon Study Details Descent Into
Vietnam"; "Pentagon Papers Expose Government Lies".

The technique we've established of an AUDIO MONTAGE of
REPORTERS VOICES continues over the scene.

### REPORTERS (V.O.)

The New York Times began publishing today the
first in a series of *forty seven* volumes of top
secret Pentagon Papers relating to the war in
Vietnam. The papers reveal a systematic pattern of
Government lies about American involvement in the
war...

NIXON throws down the paper in disgust and attempts to feed
his large dog KING TIMAHOE a biscuit, as HENRY KISSINGER paces
the room, the most upset of all.

### KISSINGER

Mr. President we are in a revolutionary situation.
We are under siege -- Black Panthers, Weathermen,
the State Department under Mr. Rogers is leaking
like a sieve. And now this insignificant little
shit Ellsberg is publishing all the diplomatic
secrets of this country!

NIXON (feeding the dog)

Here Tim... Tim.

(pondering)

NIX00079

14.

NIXON (cont'd)

I'm as frustrated as you Henry, but don't you
think this one's a Democrat problem. They started
the war. It makes them look bad.

Kissinger lowers his voice for effect, pounds the desk.

KISSINGER

It's destroying our ability to conduct foreign
policy! Mr. President how can we look the Soviets
in the eye now and have any credibility when any
traitor can leak! The Vietnamese -- tawdry little
shits that they are -- will never -- never --
agree to secret negotiations with us. This makes
you look like a weakling, Mister President.

Nixon hears him, but the dog still won't come.

EHRLICHMAN

Maybe if we try dog bones?

NIXON (irritated)

Goddamn! How long have we had this dog! Two years
he still doesn't come! We need a dog that looks
happy when the press is around.

EHRLICHMAN

Well, he's photogenic.

HALDEMAN

He's right about one thing, sir. This Pentagon
Papers thing has knocked the shit out of Lyndon.
Complete collapse, massive depression. He feels
the country is lost, the President can't govern
anymore.

Nixon is bent from the waist, stiffly extending the biscuit.

EHRLICHMAN

He'll come around. They always love the ones who
feed them.

NIXON

Yeah... but sometimes you don't have what they
want. Here Tim... Tim boy?
(turns to Ehrlichman)
He doesn't like me, John.

KISSINGER (end of his patience)

Mr. President, the Vietnamese, the Russians!

NIXON (throws the biscuit at the dog; to
Kissinger)

So who the hell is this Ellsberg, Henry? --
(with contempt)

NIX00079

[lc]

15.

NIXON (cont'd)

...one of your *Harvard proteges*, no?

KISSINGER (braced)

He was. He was. But he's turned into a drug fiend. A sexual weirdo. He sees a shrink in L.A. He's trying to be a hero to the liberals. If he gets away with it, others'll follow. A disaster!

COLSON

Sir, if I might... For three years now I've watched people in this government promote themselves, ignoring your orders, embarrassing your Administration. It makes me sick! We've played by the rules and it doesn't work!

NIXON

Chuck's right. We can prosecute the New York Times, go for an injunction, but it's not, bottomline, gonna change a goddamn thing. That rag's got it in for me since Hiss. The question is -- one: how the hell can we beat up Ellsberg so it makes an impact, (can we link him to the Russians?) and two -- how the hell do we plug these leaks? Henry, for two years you tried and... (Henry shrugs helplessly) How many wiretaps did you put on your staff? What'd you get? Bullshit! Gossip!

COLSON (jumps on this)

We can do it ourselves! The FBI and CIA are totally ineffective. We need to create our own intelligence unit. Right here, inside the White House.

Nixon looks at him, smiles.

NIXON

Our own "plumbers" unit, huh? Fix the leaks. Good idea, Chuck. If Hoover just hadn't gone soft on us...

(then)

You know this kinda thing you gotta be brutal. A leak happens, the whole damn place should be fired. Really. You do it like the Germans in World War II. If they went through these towns and a sniper hit one of them, they'd line the whole goddamned town up and say "until you talk you're all getting shot." I really think that's what has to be done. I don't think you can be Mr. Nice Guy anymore...

NIX00079

16.

COLSON

Just whisper the word to me, and I'll shoot
Ellsberg myself.

NIXON

Ellsberg's not the issue. The Pentagon Papers
aren't the issue. (almost to himself)
It's the lie that gets you.

A pause. Everyone in the room chews on this for a moment.
Mitchell, the oldest in the group, smokes on his pipe, stoned-
faced, finally:

MITCHELL

The lie?

NIXON

You remember, John, in '48 -- no one believed
Alger Hiss was a Communist. Except me. They loved
Hiss just like they love this Ellsberg character.
East Coast. Ivy league. He was their kind. I was
dirt to them. Nothing.

As they talk, a MONTAGE arises of ALGER HISS and the days of
old -- the photographs of the notorious 1948 Hiss case: HISS,
CHAMBERS, the YOUNGER NIXON with the microfilm; a headline
reading "HISS FOUND GUILTY"; TRUMAN, ELEANOR ROOSEVELT, a
beaming EISENHOWER shaking Nixon's hand.

MITCHELL

But you beat the shit out of them.

NIXON

But I wouldn't have if Hiss hadn't lied about knowing
Chambers. It's the lie that gets you. The documents
were old and out of date, like these Pentagon Papers.
But the key thing we proved was that Hiss was a liar.
Then people bought that he was a spy.

MITCHELL

He was protecting his wife. I've always believed
that.

NIXON (cryptically)

When they know you've got something to protect,
that's when they fuck you!

MITCHELL

You're right! We should go for this one, Dick --
we can win big.

HALDEMAN

What's Ellsberg protecting?

NIX00079

17.

[LC]

COLSON

His liberal elitist friends. His Harvard PHD I -
shit - holier - than - thou attitude.

Camera moving tighter and tighter on the President. His
expression is furious, his words violent.

NIXON (cont'd)

We gotta crush this Ellsberg character the same way we*
did Hiss! We gotta hit so he looks like everything *
that's sick and evil about the Eastern Establishment.
Let's get all the dirt, let's see him going to the
bathroom in front of the American public! And when we
finish with him, they'll *crucify* him!

FLASH CUTS TO:

15

INT. FIELDING PSYCHIATRIC OFFICE - NIGHT (1971)

15

ANOTHER BREAK-IN is in effect. LIDDY and the CUBANS are
visible, moving through, smashing the beejesus out of Dr.
Fielding's office. In CLOSEUPS, we see hands jerking open
filing cabinets, pulling the drawers out of desk.

REPORTERS (V.O. cont)

The Nixon Administration responded by filing an
injunction against the New York Times to prevent
further publication... President Nixon condemned
the Pentagon Papers as the worst breach of
national security in U.S. history...Daniel
Ellsberg, who leaked the papers, was charged today
in Federal Court...

While this is going on, a powerful FLASHBULB keeps popping.
One of the thieves, looking for evidence, suddenly catches one
of his partners in the light, his startled face buried beneath
a 70's wig, -- HOWARD HUNT.

BACK TO:

16

INT. EXECUTIVE OFFICE BUILDING-PRESIDENT OFFICE-DAY (1972)

16

RESUME -- CLOSE on NIXON remembering Howard Hunt, as HALDEMAN
looks on.

NIXON

Howard Hunt!... Jesus Christ, you open up that
scab... you open up that scab and you uncover a
lot of puss.

HALDEMAN

Like what, sir?

NIX00079

18.

[L9]

Nixon chooses not to answer.

NIXON
Where's Hunt now?

EHRLICHMAN
In hiding. He sent Liddy to talk to me.

NIXON
And?

EHRLICHMAN
He wants money.

NIXON
Pay him.

EHRLICHMAN
Pay him? I told him to get out of the country.
It's crazy to start...

NIXON
What the hell are you doing! Ehrlichman. --
screwing with the CIA! I don't care how much he
wants -- pay him.

HALDEMAN
But, what are we paying him for?

NIXON
Cause I want him peeing *inside* the tent, not
outside.

HALDEMAN
But you didn't know anything about the Watergate.
And if Ellsberg comes out, we cover it as a
"national secret".

NIXON
"Secret" is not strong enough.

HALDEMAN
How about "Restricted".

NIXON
"National Priority".

DEAN
"Priority?" How about "Controlled"?

NIXON
"National Security" - "Priority" - "Restricted" -
"Controlled".

NIX00079

19.

[LC]

### HALDEMAN

We'll work on it. I say we cut ourselves loose
from these clowns and that's all there is to it.

A beat. Nixon looks out at the Rose Garden.

### NIXON

It's more than that. It could be more than that. I
want Hunt paid.

### EHRLICHMAN

Uh, I've never done this before. How do we pay?
In... hundreds?
(smirks)

Do you fill a black bag full of unmarked bills?

### NIXON (snaps)

This is not a joke, Ehrlichman!

### EHRLICHMAN

No, sir.

### NIXON

Get to it. And Dean -- you stay on top of this.

### DEAN

Yes, sir.

Ehrlichman and Dean leave. When the door closes;

### HALDEMAN

What does Hunt have on us?

### NIXON (beat)

Among other things... The Bay of Pigs.

### HALDEMAN

The Bay of Pigs? That was Kennedy's screw-up. How
does that threaten us?

Again, Nixon chooses not to answer.

### NIXON

You just go to the CIA and tell Helms that Howard
Hunt is blackmailing the President. Tell him Hunt
knows too damn much, and if he goes public, it
would be a fiasco for the CIA. He'll know what I'm
talking about.

### HALDEMAN (still confused)

All right.

NIX00079

20.

[LC]

NIXON

Play it tough. That's the way they play it and
that's the way we're going to play it. Don't lie
to Helms and say there's no involvement, but just
say this is sort of a comedy of errors, bizarre,
without getting into it. Say the President
believes it's going to open up the whole Bay of
Pigs thing again. Tell Helms he should call the
FBI, call Pat Gray, and say that we wish for the
sake of the country -- don't go any further in
this case, period!

HALDEMAN

You think Gray'll go for it?

NIXON

Pat Gray'll do anything I tell him. That's why I
appointed him.

HALDEMAN

But he'll need a pretext. He'll never figure one
out for himself.

NIXON (sighs)

Christ, he makes Jerry Ford look like Einstein!
(then)

Just have Helms call him. Helms can scare anybody.

HALDEMAN

The only problem with that, sir -- it gets us into
obstruction of justice.

NIXON

It's not obstruction. It's national security.

HALDEMAN

How is it national security?

NIXON

Because the President says it is. My job is to
protect this country from its enemies and its
enemies are inside the walls.

Pause. Haldeman is perplexed.

NIXON

I suppose you thought the Presidency was above
this sort of thing.

HALDEMAN

You mean blackmail? As a matter of fact, yes.

A beat.

NIX00079

21.

[LC]

NIXON

This isn't a "moral" issue Bob. We have to keep
them at bay or our whole revolution goes down the
tubes. Vietnam, China, the Soviet Union. When you
look at the big picture, you'll see we're doing a
hell of a lotta good in this world. We're bringing
peace. Let's not screw it up with a third-rate
burglary.

HALDEMAN

I'll talk to Helms. But what are we going to tell
the press, and the country?

17 INT. THE WHITE HOUSE - LINCOLN SITTING ROOM- NIGHT (1973) 17

RESUME SCENE -- NIXON takes another drink, looks up at
Lincoln's portrait.

NIXON (on the tape, yelling)
Tell 'em what we've always told 'em! Tell 'em
anything but the goddamn truth!

As the tape grinds on with hard-to hear, DIALOGUE, Nixon
fumbles through a drawer in the rolltop desk next to the
fireplace. He finds a small vial of pills, fumbling with the
cap. He rips the cap off, the pills scattering clumsily on the
desk.

NIXON

Shit!

He begins scooping them back into the bottle. His hands
trembling with the effort.

NIXON (mumbles)
Put me in this position... Expose me like this.

He downs a couple of pills with the Scotch.

NIXON

Why don't they just shoot me?

Nixon takes another drink, looks down.

SHARP CUT BACK TO:

18 INT. TV STUDIO - NIGHT - (1960)

18

DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE -- JOHN F. KENNEDY looking straight at the
camera. Tanned, impeccable, confident.

KENNEDY

I do not think the world can exist in the long run
half slave and half free. The real issue before us

NIX00079

22.

[LC]

KENNEDY (cont'd)

is how we can prevent the balance of power from
turning against us... if we sleep too long in the
sixties, Mr. Kruschev will "bury" us yet... I
think it's time America started moving again.

DISSOLVE TO:

NIXON does not look well. His clothes are baggy, and he has a
slight sheen of perspiration around his lower lip. He seems
uncomfortable in his movements, robotic, falsely aggressive
with his raised eyebrow and glaring demeanor. (The following
essences are taken from four debates and various campaign
material; in using a "documentary JFK", we will be cutting
around him when off-debate material is used).

NIXON

...when it comes to experience, I want you to
remember I've had 173 meetings with President
Eisenhower, and 217 times with the National
Security Council. I've attended 163 Cabinet
meetings. I've visited 54 countries and had
discussions with 35 presidents, 9 Prime Ministers,
2 Emperors and the Shah of Iran...

19

INT. TV STUDIO - CONTROL ROOM - NIGHT

19

A younger HALDEMAN sits watching the debates on monitors with
HERB KLEIN, Press Secretary, and OTHERS in the Nixon circle.
Through the glass we see the CANDIDATES.

MURRAY CHOTINER, campaign manager, overweight and bow-tied,
moves down the row of monitors holding a cigar. He manages to
drop ashes on an attractive KENNEDY STAFFER.

CHOTINER

Excuse me, sweetheart.

As he sits next to Haldeman, Nixon drones on.

NIXON (on TV monitor)

Let's take hydro-electric power. In our
Administration, we've built more...

CHOTINER (privately)

Jesus Christ, did he tell 'em how many pushups he
can do? What the hell happened to him?

HALDEMAN

He just got out of the hospital and he hasn't
taken an hour off since the campaign.

CHOTINER

You could've at least gotten him a suit that fit
for chrissake and slapped some make-up on him. He
looks like a frigging corpse!

NIX00079

23.

[LC]

NIXON (TV)

...When we consider the lineup of the world, we find there are 590 million people on our side, 800 million people on the communist side, and 600 million who are neutral. The odds are 5 to 3 against us...

HALDEMAN

He wouldn't do the makeup. Said it was for queers.

JFK's face is on the monitors now.

CHOTINER

Kennedy doesn't look like a queer, does he?
(then)

He looks like a god.

HALDEMAN

Murray, it's not a beauty contest.

CHOTINER

We better hope not.

KENNEDY (TV)

... in attacking my resolve, Mister Nixon has carefully avoided mentioning my position on Cuba...

HALDEMAN

Oh shoot! He's going to do it! Here it comes.

KENNEDY (TV)

...As a result of administration policies, we have seen Cuba go to the Communists... eight jet minutes from the coast of Florida! Castro's influence will spread through all of Latin America. By 1965 there will be other Cubas! Will the Congo go Communist? Are we doing enough? Do people around the world want to follow U.S. leadership? I don't think they do. I think we have to revitalize our society. We must attempt to strengthen the democratic ant-Castro forces in exile. These fighters have had virtually no support from our Government!

HALDEMAN (to Klein, Chotiner)

Sonufabitch! He was briefed last week by the CIA. He's using it against us! Dick can't officially reveal anything about the Cuba operation.

MODERATOR

Mister Nixon?

M1X00079

24.

[LC]

NIXON looks, astounded, at JFK. He fumbles his response.

NIXON

I think...I think...that's the sort of very
dangerous and irresponsible suggestion
that...helping the Cuban exiles who oppose Castro
would uh... not only be a violation of
international law, it would be...

HALDEMAN (closes his eyes)

Don't mention Khruschev.

NIXON

...an open invitation for Mister Khruschev to
become involved in Latin America. We would lose
all our friends in Latin America.

KLEIN

When did you last beat your wife, Dick? Attack the
bastard!

DISSOLVING TO:

KENNEDY

I for one have never believed the foreign policy
of the United States should be dictated by the
Kremlin. As long as...

Klein hangs his head; Chotiner shares a look with Haldeman.

20

INT. AMBASSADOR HOTEL - SUITE - LOS ANGELES - DAWN (1960) 20

The final ELECTION FIGURES are coming in over the television.
They show Kennedy with a 120,000 voter margin -- 34.2 to 34.1
million, and run down the electoral college votes.

CHOTINER

Fuck him! He carried every cemetery in Chicago!
And Texas -- they had the goddamned cattle voting!
Closest election in history, Dick, and they stole
it. Sonufabitch!

NIXON stands at the center of a crowded room. All his men, a
few WOMEN. He is despondent, also astounded.

NIXON

He outspent us and he still cheated. A guy who's
got everything. I can't believe it. We came to
Congress together. I went to his wedding. We were
like brothers, for Christ's sake.

Chotiner looks at Dick as if, suddenly, he were incredibly
naive in his faith. HALDEMAN and KLEIN are at a table, reams
of returns before them.

NIX00079

25.

[LC]

KLEIN

We've got the figures, Dick! The fraud is obvious
-- we call for a recount.

HALDEMAN

Nobody's ever contested a presidential election.

CHOTINER

And who's going to do the counting? The Democrats
control Texas, they control Illinois.

KLEIN

We shift 25,000 votes in 2 states.

CHOTINER

And how long would that take? Six months? A year?
In the meantime, what happens to the country?

NIXON

That bastard! If I'd called his shot on Cuba I
would've won. He made me look soft.

KLEIN (reading transcript)

"I feel sorry for Nixon because he does not know
who he is, and at each stop he has to decide which
Nixon he is at the moment, which must be very
exhausting".

The CAMERA driving in on Nixon building to a rage. Klein knows
how to get to him.

KLEIN (reading)

"Nixon's a shifty-eyed, goddamn liar. If he had to stick to the truth he'd have very little to say. If you vote for him you ought to go to hell"!
Harry S. Truman... Are we gonna let the sonufabitch Democrats get away with this!

Nixon in closeup, inner demons moving him. A brief IMAGE of something ugly... in Nixon. Himself perhaps drenched in blood or death imagery.

NIXON

"No class". Goddamn Kennedy! Goes to Harvard. His father hands him everything on a silver spoon! All my life they been sticking it to me. Not the right clothes, not the right schools, not the right family. And then he steals from me! I have nothing and he steals.

(softly, lethal)

...and he says I have "no class". And they love him for it. It's not *fair*, Murray, it's not fair.

NIX00079

[LC]

26.

CHOTINER

Nothing's fair in politics. Dick, you're only
forty-seven. You contest this election, you're
finished. You gotta swallow this one. They stole
it fair and square.

Nixon looks at him, broken-hearted. He controls his reaction, and exits the room.

CHOTINER

We'll get 'em next time, Dick.

KLEIN

What makes you think there's gonna be a next time
Murray?

Chotiner picks up the corner of a campaign poster with Nixon's
face, the name in bold below.

CHOTINER

Because if he's not this Nixon, he's nobody.

*

21

INT. AMBASSADOR HOTEL - CORRIDOR & SUITE - DAWN

21

NIXON crosses the corridor, subdued in the morning light. He hesitates at the door, knocks softly.

PAT NIXON stirs quietly as her husband walks to her bed. They occupy separate beds. Her eyes settle on him, the "Bride of Failure", the "Mona Lisa of America Politics," she is 48, a year older than Dick.

NIXON

We lost...

PAT

I know...

NIXON

It's hard to lose...

She reaches out to touch him. He allows himself to be touched.
It seems, between them, that intimacy is difficult.

PAT

It makes us human...

NIXON

Yeah... for some reason, I can't stop thinking of
Dad tonight...

PAT

Frank was an honest man, a good man. I...

NIX00079

27.

[LC]

NIXON

You know how much he had in the bank when he died?
(she waits)

Nothing. He was so honest...
(then)

But I miss him. I miss him a hell of a lot.

He seems like he is about to cry. Pat reaches out and cradles
his head in her shoulder. On his eyes of pain we:

CUT TO:

22 EXT. NIXON GROCERY STORE - DUSK (1925)

22

A few gas pumps in front, overlooking a dry western Edward
Hopper landscape, a rundown residence at the back. A large man
in a bloody butcher's apron, FRANK NIXON (46) crosses.

*

23 INT. NIXON GROCERY STORE - DUSK

23 *

HAROLD (16), tall, handsome, walks in whistling. He winks at
RICHARD (12) who is sorting the fruit in the bins. HANNAH
(19), a dour but gracious Quaker woman, is behind the counter
with a CUSTOMER.

*

*

*

*

RICHARD (whispers)
What'd he say?

*

*

HAROLD
What do you think? He said in life there's no free
ride.

*

*

*

RICHARD
What'd you say?

*

*

HAROLD
I said I didn't need a ride.
(flashes a smile)
I need a suit.

*

*

*

*

Richard buries his face in his hands.

*

RICHARD
Oh no, Harold. He doesn't like humor. (looks at
his mother worried) Make mother happy would you...
talk to her, and...

*

*

*

*

HAROLD
I'd rather get a whipping than have another talk
with her. Anything but a talk with her.

*

*

*

Richard is terrified Mom might overhear:

*

NIX00079

28.

[LC]

RICHARD
Shhhh!

But too late. Hannah looks over, very sharp, she knows
something. Her customer departs as:

HANNAH
Richard, bring thyself here. Harold, watch the
store.

RICHARD (surprised, aloud)
Why me?

24

INT. NIXON HOUSE - KITCHEN - DUSK

RICHARD, obediently seated, pays his mother heed. We sense
this is familiar territory for both. HANNAH very quiet,
penetrating with her gaze. Richard seems like a gloomy,
unsmiling child in her presence.

HANNAH
... because he wears suits and does not work for
them is not a reason to admire him, Richard, thee
are smarter than thy brother. I expect more from
thee.

RICHARD
Yes mother...

HANNAH (pause, then)
... and don't think I don't know what thee does
with Harold -- smoking cornsilk cigarettes behind
the store on Wednesday,...
(Richard is stunned)
Verna West saw thee and told me... but it will
remain our secret as long as thee refrain from
smoking again...

RICHARD
Of course, mother. It was just one time, I...

HANNAH
... because Harold has lost touch with his Bible is
no reason for thee to lapse. I expect thee to live
up to the ideals of thy grandmother. Thy are a
Milhouse before all. The Nixons be they good poor
Irish are not Milhouses... change thy thinking
Richard or I shall have to send thee to live with
Aunt Olive who thee knows is much stricter than I...

RICHARD (terrified)
Mother, *please*, always think of me as faithful to
you as a dog. Only tell me what you want and I
will never disappoint you, I promise...

24

NIX00079

29.

[LC]

She smiles.

25

INT. NIXON HOUSE - DINING ROOM - NIGHT

25 *

HANNAH puts the food on the table as FRANK NIXON, sleeves rolled up, waits at the head of the table, fuming. ARTHUR (6) and DONALD (9) joins RICHARD and HAROLD. The fifth brother, Edward, has not yet been born. As Hannah takes her place across from Frank, Harold reaches for his spoon impatiently. *

FRANK
Don't you dare, Harold!

HAROLD (a little laugh)
I just thought, since the food was here.

HANNAH
We haven't said grace yet. Richard.

RICHARD (nervously)
Is it my turn?

Hannah nods. Richard puts his hands together, trying to please* everybody. *

RICHARD
Heavenly Father, we humbly thank--

FRANK (interrupts)
I'll do it. There's a couple things I wanna say.

HANNAH
Could thee at least remove thy apron, Frank?

FRANK
This blood pays the bills, Hannah. I'm not ashamed of how I earn my money.
(clear his throat)
Heavenly Father, you told Adam in the Garden, after that business with the snake, that man would have to earn his way by the sweat of his face. Well, as far as I can tell, Father, what was true in Eden is true in Whittier, California. So we ask you now to remind certain of our young people...
(glares at Harold)
That the *only* way to get a new suit to go to the promenade with Margaret O'Herlihy, who happens to be a Catholic by the way, is to *work for it*.
(then)
Amen.

Little cute-faced Arthur looks up.

NIX00079

30.

[LC]

ARTHUR
Are we gonna pray now, Daddy?

The boys start giggling.

HANNAH
Arthur!

FRANK
You think this is funny? (then)
Let me tell you something boys. You're gonna have
to get out and scratch, 'cause you're not gonna get
anywhere on your good looks. Struggle is what
gives life meaning. Not the victory. Unless a man
learns the value of hard work, he's gonna end up in
the street with his hand out. (then)
And when that happens, they've beaten you.

Frank begins eating.

NIXON (V.O.)
He struggled his whole life. But they never beat
him...

26

EXT. WHITTIER FOOTBALL FIELD - DAY (1932)

26

FOOTBALL MONTAGE: RICHARD, 150 pounds, is on the defensive line as the ball is hiked. ("Let's get fired up!") He gets creamed by a 200-pound offensive tackle. He jumps up, no face guard, hurting, and resets. AD LIB football chatter. We can tell from Richard's cheap uniform he is a substitute tackling dummy. But:

We go *again*. And *again*. Building a special RHYTHM of JUMP CUTS showing NIXON getting mauled each time. He doesn't have a *chance*, this kid, but he has pluck. And he comes back for more. And more.

The image of pain and humiliation should weave itself in and out of the film in repetitive currents.

27

INT. AMBASSADOR HOTEL - BEDROOM - NIGHT

27

RESUME -- NIXON in PAT'S embrace:

NIXON
It's not fair, Buddy. I can take the insults. I
can take the name-calling.
(then)
But I can't take the losing.

PAT
Then promise me you'll never put yourself through
it again.

NIX00079

31.

NIXON

We worked for it. We earned it. It's ours.

PAT

It is. We know that.

(then)

And it's *enough* that we know. You don't ever have to put yourself through this again, Dick -- you hear me? You suffered enough.

Nixon curls up on the bed with her. He's miserable.

NIXON

Yes.

PAT

You don't ever have to run again...can you promise me that? Can you promise the children -- it's over this time?

NIXON (miserable)

Yes, Buddy, I promise...this time, it's over.

28 INT. HILTON HOTEL - BALLROOM - NIGHT (1962) 28

We move down past a blizzard of balloons and confetti blown by a hotel air-conditioner to a huge "NIXON FOR GOVERNOR" banner.

NIXON thrusts his arms in the air -- the twin V salute. The CROWD cheers wildly. SUBTITLE READS: "CALIFORNIA GOVERNORSHIP, 1962"

29 INT. HILTON HOTEL - SUITE - NIGHT 29

NIXON is slumped in an armchair, feet on a coffee table. He is holding a drink and again is going through the agony of defeat.

HALDEMAN stands staring glumly at the TV. PAT sits across the room in grim silence.

ON TV -- a NEWSCASTER stands in front of a tally board with the network logo: "Decision '62".

NEWSCASTER

President Kennedy has called Governor Pat Brown to congratulate him...

HALDEMAN

Are we making a statement?

NEWSCASTER

ABC is now projecting that Brown will defeat Richard Nixon by more than a quarter of a million votes.

NIX00079

32.

NIXON holds up his drink to the screen. Moves to a piano.

NIXON
Thank you, Fidel Castro.

PAT (wearily)
You're not going to blame this on Castro, are you?

NIXON
If it hadn't been for the goddamned missile crisis, I wouldn't have had to support Kennedy. While Kennedy was supporting Brown.

PAT
I suppose Castro staged the whole thing just to beat you.

NIXON (glares at her)
Buddy, before you join the jubilation at my being beaten again, you should remember this fact: * people vote not out of love, but fear. They don't teach that at your Sunday school or your Whittier community play house! *

HALDEMAN
Maybe I should go down and check in with our people. *

Haldeman leaves quickly.

ON TV: GOVERNOR BROWN steps to the podium. A band plays "Happy Days Are Here Again".

Nixon plays the piano well, sings along bitterly.

NIXON
"--the skies above are clear again. Let's sing a song of cheer again--"...cocksucker!

Pat turns off the TV.

NIXON (continues to play)
Don't you want to listen to Brown's victory speech?

PAT
I'm not going to listen to any more speeches ever again.

NIXON
Amen, to that.

NIX00079

34.

[LC]

NIXON

Everything's political, for Christ's sake! I'm
political. And you're political too!

PAT

No, I'm *not*! You said you were finished! You lied!
Again, you lied!

She is trembling with rage. He sees it. It stops him.

NIXON

I'm sorry, Buddy... Things just... changed on us.

PAT

I don't want to write the same 'thank you' note
the rest of my life, and I don't want to sit there
and watch you make the same speech a thousand
times...(pause) It's as if I went to sleep a long
time ago. I'm *50 years old*, Dick, and I still
don't know who I am.

Nixon moves toward her awkwardly, stops.

NIXON

This is just what they want Buddy. Don't you see?
They want to drive us apart. To beat us. We can't
let them do it. We've been through too much
together. It's too important... Buddy... we belong
together.

PAT

That's what you said... the first time. You didn't
even know me.

MARRIAGE MONTAGE: During this we have a rapid series of SHOTS of their courtship -- the Whittier College Campus, 1930's Los Angeles; driving in a car together; the wedding; the FIRST CHILD; the Pacific NAVAL CAPTAIN underneath a palm tree; running as a first-time CONGRESSMAN with Pat; the EISENHOWER years...

NIXON (over)

...But I knew what you were... solid and strong...
and beautiful. The most beautiful thing I'd ever
seen...

INTERCUT WITH:

NIXON seeking tenderness. He puts a hand on her shoulder.
Their lips. Back to the eyes between them. He kisses her. She
is neutral.

NIX00079

35.

[LC]

PAT

Dick, don't... don't start now...

NIXON

Buddy, look at me... (he takes her face in his
hand)... do you really want me to quit?

*

*

PAT

It's not "quitting", it's making a life of our
own. Away from people who just want to use you.

A long moment.

NIXON

And if I do it...for you, for the kids...there'll
be no more talk of divorce...

Nixon holds her at arm's length.

PAT

Are you serious?

NIXON

Yes...If it's what you want, then I'm out.

*

PAT

Is that the truth?

*

NIXON

I'll never run again.

SHARP CUT TO:

30

INT. HILTON HOTEL - HALLWAY - NIGHT

30

NIXON stalks down the hallway, angry. HALDEMAN walks
alongside.

NIXON

Where are they?

HALDEMAN (worried)

Dick, you don't have to make a statement. Herb
covered it for you.
 points to a door

NIXON

No!

He bursts through the door into:

NIX00079

36.

31

INT. HILTON HOTEL - PRESS CONFERENCE - BALLROOM - NIGHT 31

A noisy CROWD of REPORTERS react, excitedly, to NIXON'S fast
entry. Like spectators at a gladiator game. The smell of blood
in the air.

TIME CUT TO:

Nixon at the podium.

NIXON

...I believe Governor Brown has a heart, even
though he believes I do not. I believe he is a
good American, even though he feels I am not. I am
proud of the fact that I defended my opponent's
patriotism; you gentlemen didn't report it but I
am proud I did that. And I would appreciate it,
for once gentlemen, if you would write what I say.
(time dissolve)

...For sixteen years, ever since the Hiss case,
you've had a lot of fun -- a lot of fun -- but
recognize you have a responsibility, if you're
against a candidate, to give him the shaft, but if
you do that at least put one lonely reporter on
the campaign who will report what the candidate
says now and then...

*

HALDEMAN glances at KLEIN.

NIXON

...I think all in all I've given as good as I've
taken. But as I leave you I want you to know --
just think how much you're going to be missing:
you won't have Nixon to kick around anymore
because, gentlemen, this is my last press
conference...

A FEW REPORTERS shout questions. There is a loud confusion,
but Nixon has vanished.

KLEIN

What the hell was that?

HALDEMAN

Suicide.

CUT TO:

NIXON HISTORICAL MONTAGE:

A grainy "NEWSREEL" treats NIXON as political history, now
over. The ANONYMOUS REPORTERS return -- YOUNG NIXON, in his
Navy uniform, is campaigning in California 1940's against
Voorhees and Douglas.

*

*

NIX00079

[LC]

37.

REPORTER 1 (V.O.)

We can now officially write the political obituary
of Richard Milhous Nixon...

REPORTER 2 (V.O.)

...He came into being as part of the big post-war
1946 Republican sweep of the elections. People
were weary of the New Deal and FDR's Big
Government...

Images of FDR and TRUMAN and ACHESON, early Cold War imagery
-- the Soviets; Berlin; The Chinese Communists taking over
in 1949...

REPORTER 3 (V.O.)

...and though the United States had been a strong
ally of the Soviet Union in its fight against
Nazism and numerous Americans empathized with the
Soviet loss of more than 20 million lives in that
war, Nixon, coming from the South Pacific war, won
his first term in the House by freely associating
his liberal opponent Jerry Voorhis with communism.

Images of Voorhis, Marcantonio, Dewey, Hoover...NIXON working
a CROWD, standing on the tailgate of a station-
wagon...debating Voorhees.

REPORTER 3 (V.O.)

...for Nixon, politics was war, he didn't have
opponents, he had enemies. He didn't run against
people, he ruined them...He won his California seat
in the U.S. Senate in 1950 in a vicious campaign
against liberal congresswoman and movie actress,
Helen Gahagan Douglas...

NEWSFILM of NIXON and CHOTNER attacking at a rally. Images of*
DOUGLAS follow. CAMPAIGN WORKERS handing out smear
literature.

NIXON ("newsfilm look")

How can Helen Douglas, capable actress that she
is, take up so strange a role as a foe of
communism? Why, she's pink right down to her
underwear...

REPORTER 3 (V.O.)

...Nixon quickly became the Republican's attack dog. He
tore into Truman for losing Mainland China in 1949, and
blamed the war in Korea on a weak foreign policy...His*
speeches, if more subtle than his Republican ally Joe *
McCarthy, were just as aggressive..

NIXON at another rally.

NIX00079

38.

[LC]

NIXON ("newsfilm look")

...I promise to continue to expose the people that have sold this country down the river! Until we have driven all the crooks and Communists and those that have helped them out of office!!

Images of Truman, the Hydrogen Bomb, the Rosenbergs, Klaus Fuchs, Oppenheimer, the Chinese... Mao

*

NIXON ("newsfilm look")

The direct result of Truman's decisions is that China has gone Communist! Mao is a monster! Why! Why Mr. Acheson! Who in the State Department is watching over American interests! Who has given the Russians the atomic bomb!... today the issue is slavery! The Soviet Union is an example of the slave state in the ultimate development. Great Britain is halfway down the same road; powerful interests are striving to impose the British socialist system upon the people of the United States!

REPORTER 2 (V.O.)

...Nixon became one of the leading lights on the House UnAmerican Activities, questioning labor leaders, Spanish Civil War veterans, Hollywood celebrities...

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NIXON

(questioning WITNESS)

Can you tell me today the names of any pictures which Hollywood has made in the last five years showing the evils of totalitarian Communism?

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NIXON surrounded by REPORTERS outside the HUAC Hearing Room.

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REPORTER 4 (V.O.)

But it was the Alger Hiss case that made Nixon a household name...

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IMAGES of Alger Hiss' career: clerking for Oliver Wendell HOLMES; with FDR at Yalta, with CHURCHILL, with STALIN.

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REPORTER 4 (V.O.)

One of the architects of the United Nations, intimate of FDR and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Alger Hiss was a darling of the liberals.
(then)

But Whittaker Chambers said he was a Communist.

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WHITTAKER CHAMBERS testifying before HUAC.

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