[LC]

106.

NIXON

The hard-core four million "Nixon nuts" aren't
gonna go for it.... They'll say I sold out to the
Communists.

*

*

KISSINGER

You'll pick up the middle on this one -- the Jews
and Negroes.

NIXON

Jews and Negroes don't win elections, Henry.
Better to hang them around Democrat necks.

HALDEMAN

The Jews aren't the middle, Henry. They're the
far left.

*

*

*

NIXON

You're talking too much about black Africa, Henry.
It's pissing off the rednecks.

*

*

*

HALDEMAN

The blacks are lost, the schwartzas are gone...

*

*

NIXON

Don't let it lose us the right-wing vote...

*

*

A silence as the sour notes depress everyone.

NIXON (feeling the deflation)

Hey, I sound like my father now. Let's have a
drink!

Pat smiles. ZIEGLER pokes his head in.

ZIEGLER

Boss, the press guys asked if you could come back
for a minute.

NIXON

Fuck 'em.

KISSINGER

I'll go back, Mister President.

Everyone glares at Henry.

ZIEGLER

No, they want you, Mister President. I really
think it would be a good move.

Nixon puts aside his drink, gets up.

[LC]

106A.

NIXON

Gentlemen, I go now to discover the exact length,
width and depth of the shaft.

81 INT. AIR FORCE ONE - PRESS CABIN - SUNSET

81

NIXON closes the door behind him, turns.

DOZENS of REPORTERS stand, burst into applause.

He is momentarily stunned, then he moves down the aisle.

Shaking hands. The reporters continue applauding. Nixon, for once, is deeply moved. On the sound of applause, we:

107.

CUT TO:

82 EXT. JONES RANCH - TEXAS - DAY (1972)

82

An enormous BRAHMA BULL, red-eyed snorting, thrashing
viciously against the reinforced walls of its pen. NIXON and
JACK JONES watch as SECRET SERVICE hover nearby.

JONES (V.O.)

There's two kinds of bulls, Dick. Your good bull
and your bad bull. This here's a bad bull. You
piss him off, he'll kill everything in his path.
Only way to stop him is shoot him.

A WRANGLER climbs carefully into the chute. The Brahma lunges
for him.

JONES

Eddie, you be damned careful with that beast. His
nuts are worth a helluva lot more'n yours.

He leads Nixon down the steps.

JONES (cagy)

So what's this about, Dick?

NIXON

It's me or Wallace, Jack. Wallace's third party is
only going to help McGovern. I need your support.

JONES

Well, you sure been chock full of surprises so
far, "Mister President".

83 INT. JONES RANCH - LIVING ROOM - DAY (1972)

83

NIXON and HALDEMAN are standing by the hearth. The years have gone by but in different clothing and hairstyles, it is much the same group of a DOZEN BUSINESSMEN gathered round, drinking Jack Daniels and smoking cigars. Among them we recognize THE CUBAN, MITCH. It's heated.

JONES

It looks like to me we're gonna lose a war for the
first goddamn time and, Dick goddamit, you're
going along with it; buying into this Kissinger
bullshit -- "detente" with the Communists.
"Detente" -- it sounds like two fags dancing.

NIXON

Jack, we're not living in the same country you and
I knew in '46. Our people are just not gonna
sacrifice in major numbers for war. We can't even
get 'em to accept cuts in their gas tanks, hell,

108.

JONES

And whose fault is that? If we'd won in
Vietnam...

NIXON

It's nobody's fault, Jack. It's change -- which
is a fact of history.

An uncomfortable silence. A servant brings coffee to Nixon
but Haldeman cuts him off. No one gets close to his guy.

MITCH

So...how's the food over there in China, Mister
Nixon?

NIXON

Delicious, if you're President. (nervous laughter)

MITCH

What are you going to do about this Allende fellow
nationalizing our businesses in Chile? You gonna
send Kissinger down there?

NIXON

We're gonna get rid of him -- Allende, I mean --
just as fast as we can. He's on top of the list.

MITCH

How about Kissinger along with him?

NIXON

Kissinger's misunderstood, he pretends to be a
liberal for his establishment friends, but he's
even tougher than I...

CUBAN

So Kissinger stays. Just like Castro, Mister
Nixon?

NIXON

Yeah, he stays...

An uncomfortable silence. Jones walks closer to Nixon.

JONES

Desi's got a point. What the hell we gonna do
about the Communists right here in our backyard!

NIXON

What do you really mean, Jack?

JONES

I mean I got federal price controls on my oil. The
ragheads are beating the shit out of me. And I got

[LC]

109.

HALDEMAN

Gentlemen, I think it's about time for us to be
getting to the airport.

NIXON

Let him finish, Bob.

JONES

...And now I got a federal judge ordering me to
bus my kids halfway cross town to go to school
with some nigger kids. I think, 'Dick', you're
forgetting who put you where you are.

NIXON

The American people put me where I am.

Jones smirks. They all smirk. A dreadful moment.

JONES

Really? Well, that can be changed.

Dead silence. Nixon moves closer to Jones.

NIXON

Jack, I've learned politics is the art of
compromise. I learned it the hard way. I don't
think you have. And I tell you what Jack...If you
don't like it, there's an election in November.
And you can take your money out into the open,
give it to Wallace. How 'bout it Jack? Are you
willing to do that? Give this country to George
McGovern?

Nixon is right in Jones's face now.

NIXON

Because if you're uncomfortable with the EPA up
your ass, try the IRS...

JONES

Well, goddamn, are you threatening me, Dick?

NIXON (softly)

Presidents don't threaten. They don't have to.
(then) Good day, gentlemen.

As he walks out with Haldeman, there is a stone silence.

84 EXT. TEXAS LANDSCAPE - DAY

84

As the PRESIDENTIAL CAR pulls away in a three-car entourage,
we hear:

110.

85 EXT. AIR FORCE ONE - DAY (STOCK FOOTAGE)

The plane flying through clouds. A royal feeling.

REPORTERS (V.O.)

...the Democrats have increased their majority in the House and the Senate. As the new term begins, there is mounting evidence of strong hostility to President Nixon's mandate for a "new American Revolution". However, it does not seem the Watergate investigations have, up to now, damaged Nixon politically in any significant way...

86 INT. AIR FORCE ONE -- PRESIDENT'S CABIN - NIGHT

NIXON looks out the window, turns to HALDEMAN next to him making notes on his ubiquitous clipboard. ZIEGLER is nearby.

NIXON

You know they all miss the point. Probably our biggest achievement as an Administration, when it's all said and done, isn't China or Russia. It's pulling out of Vietnam without a right-wing revolt.

HALDEMAN

I believe you're right, boss.

NIXON

...but even the Presidency isn't enough anymore...

HALDEMAN

Sir?

NIXON

The Presidency by itself won't protect us, Bob. We're beyond politics now...

Haldeman is puzzled. EHRLICHMAN enters the cabin, excited, extending a cable. He is followed by long-haired JOHN DEAN.

EHRLICHMAN

Sir, just in from Paris -- the Vietnamese have accepted Henry's peace proposal. The bombing worked! They're caving.

Nixon reads Kissinger's cable, but he doesn't express any happiness.

HALDEMAN (excited)

Congratulations, boss (handshake offered) -- a great victory! The madman theory wasn't so crazy after all.

[LC]

111.

Nixon looks up, interested.

EHRLICHMAN (nods)

Yeah... Sullivan thinks Henry's leaking. He's the one...

HALDEMAN

Yeah, I knew it. I knew it from '69 on, and I said it all along, didn't I...

Nixon's expression changes totally, narrowing, cold.

NIXON

No, you didn't, Bob...

EHRLICHMAN

Looks like he talked to Joe Kraft... and to the Times. Told them he was dead set against the bombing and that you were... 'unstable'. Claims he has to handle you "with kid gloves"...

Waiting on Nixon who goes into some inner state alone, dark brows furrowing with built-up rage.

HALDEMAN (his darker side emerging)

So that explains his press notices. Working both sides of the fence, Jewboy Henry, always trying to get his Nobel Prize, get laid...

NIXON (in his own world)

My god, my god! He talked to the New York Times?

HALDEMAN

We ought to fire his whining kike ass. Right now when he's on top. You know what -- it'll set the right example for the rest of this Administration.

EHRLICHMAN

I would personally enjoy doing that, sir.

NIXON (complicated)

No. No. He's our only 'star' right now. He'd go crying straight to the press. He'd crucify us -- the sonufabitch!... (lethal) Get someone from on our staff on his ass. Tap his phones. I want to know everyone he talks to.

HALDEMAN

Then we'll see how long the Kissinger mystique lasts.

In a foul mood now, paranoia setting in like a storm cloud on his face, Nixon shifts back to Dean, who is scared of this Nixon and tries to pacify him.

112.

### DEAN

Sirica's just trying to force one of them to testify. But they're solid.

### NIXON

Then what about this Washington Post crap?

Woodwind and Bernstein? (Ziegler corrects him, "Bernstein") Who the fuck are they?

(to Haldeman)

Bob, are you working on revoking the Post's television license? (Haldeman nods, "Yes sir, I am") Good.

### DEAN

Well, they're trying to connect Bob and John to a secret fund but they don't have much.

### HALDEMAN (with a look to Ehrlichman)

They don't have anything on us.

### DEAN

The FBI's feeding me all their reports. I didn't think you should lose anymore sleep on it, sir.

### NIXON (mutters, relieved)

Good man, John, good man.

They all fall silent, feeling that false sense of security as the sound of the jet engines takes over. Suddenly, there is an air pocket and they rock back and forth.

87

INT. WHITE HOUSE - PRESS CONFERENCE - EAST ROOM - DAY

87

SUBTITLE READS: JANUARY 1973

NIXON is concluding his statement to the PRESS, HALDEMAN in the background with ZIEGLER.

### NIXON

...I can therefore announce that our long and tragic involvement in Vietnam is at an end. Our mission is accomplished, we have a cease-fire, our prisoners of war are coming back, and South Vietnam has the right to determine its own future. We have peace with honor.

The REPORTERS are immediately on their feet. A MONTAGE of QUICK CUTS follows to give the impression of a hostile and never-ending barrage of questions without satisfactory answers.

### REPORTER 1 ("Dan Rather" type)

Sir, isn't it true little has been achieved in this peace agreement that the Communists have not

[LC]

113.

REPORTER 2 ("Leslie Stahl" type)

Mister President, what is your reaction to James
McCord's statement that high White House officials
were involved in the Watergate break-in?

JUMP TO:

REPORTER 3 ("Sam Donaldson" type)

Sir, the Washington Post is reporting that Mister
Haldeman and Ehrlichman have secretly dispersed up
to $900,000 in campaign funds. Is there any truth
to that?

NIXON (snaps)

I've said before and I'll say again, I will not
respond to the charges of the "Washington Post"
nor will I comment on a matter that's currently
before the courts.

REPORTER 4

Do you intend to cooperate with Senator Ervin's
committee?

REPORTER 5

Will you agree to the appointment of a special
prosecutor?

The questions flood in. Nixon is overwhelmed. He gathers his
papers and starts to move off. A darkly funny thing happens.
ZIEGLER wanders into his path, almost colliding. Nixon,
pissed, grabs Ziegler by the shoulders, and spins him back
towards the REPORTERS, and pushes him at them. Ziegler
stumbles, looks confused.

88 INT. OVAL OFFICE - WHITE HOUSE - DAY (1973)

88

NIXON storms into his office, picking up an ashtray and hurling it across the room -- it shatters against a wall. Everyone in the room with him -- KISSINGER, HALDEMAN, EHRLICHMAN -- stunned.

NIXON

I end the longest war in American history and they
keep harping on this chickenshit! You know who's
behind this, don't you -- it's Teddy Kennedy! He
drowns a broad in his car and he can't run for
President.

[LC]

114.

### EHRLICHMAN

He got pretty burned at Chappaquidick.

### NIXON

My point exactly! Somebody had to die before his shit got in the papers! Fucking Kennedys get away with everything. Do you see me screwing everything that moves?

(then)

It's those dirty rotten Jews from New York that are behind it!

Kissinger blanches nervously.

### NIXON

For chrissake! I did what The New York Times editorial page said we should do! I ended the war, I got Salt One with the Russians, I opened China! So why are these cocksuckers turning on me! Because they don't like the way I look! Where I went to school.

### HALDEMAN

Because they're not Americans.

### NIXON

Right. They don't trust! They don't trust America!

### HALDEMAN (venting with him)

Why would they! Who the hell's Sulzberger anyway? Their parents are gold traders from Eastern Europe. They buy things. They come here to Jew York City and they buy up things. One of the things they buy is The New York Times (glares at Kissinger), And you know what -- be proud because they'll never trust you, sir, because we speak for the average American.

Ehrlichman shares a look with Kissinger as Nixon and Haldeman feed into each other.

### NIXON

You know why they're turning on me? They're not serious about power, that's why. They're playing with power. They're forgetting the national interest. In the old days, people knew how to hold power, how to set limits. They wouldn't have torn this country apart over a third-rate burglary. All they care about now are their egos, looking good at cocktail parties...

[LC]

115.

KISSINGER (cont'd)

(pause, in an embarrassed voice)

We all know you're clean...Right? So let's do a
housecleaning. Take the gloves off.

Haldeman shares a look with Ehrlichman. Is he referring to
them? Nixon turns slowly on Kissinger, cryptic.

NIXON

Housecleaning? It would be ugly, Henry, really
ugly...

KISSINGER

But it must be done; your government is paralyzed.

NIXON

All kinds of shit would come out. Like the
Ellsberg thing. You knew about that Henry, didn't
you?

KISSINGER (vague)

I...I heard something...it sounded idiotic.

NIXON

Idiotic? Yes, I suppose it was.

EHRLICHMAN

But you're the one who said we should expose him
as some kind of sex fiend. Someone took you
literally.

KISSINGER (stung and suddenly
knowledgeable)

I never suggested for some *imbeciles* to go break
into a psychiatrist's office. How *stupid* of...

NIXON

That doesn't fucking matter, Henry. The point is,
you might lose some of your media darling halo if
the media starts sniffing around our dirty
laundry.

KISSINGER (indignant)

I had nothing to do with that, sir, and I resent
any implication...

NIXON

Resent it all you want, Henry, but you're in with
the rest of us. Cambodia, Ellsberg, the wiretaps
you put in. The President wants you to know you
can't just click your heels and head back to
Harvard Yard. It's your *ass* too, Henry, and it's
in the wind twisting with everyone else's.

[LC]

117.

### HALDEMAN

...this entire affair, the President wants you to know, is related to the Bay of Pigs, and if it opens up...

Helms grips the arms of his chair and leans forward, excitably, and yells at Haldeman.

### HELMS

The Bay of Pigs had nothing to do with this! I have no concern about the Bay of Pigs!!

Haldeman is shocked by Helms' violent reaction, but very cool.

### HALDEMAN

This is what the President told me to relay to you, Mister Helms.

### HELMS (settling back)

All right...

### BACK TO:

90 INT. OVAL OFFICE - DAY (1973)

90

RESUME SCENE -- HALDEMAN, EHRLICHMAN, DEAN and NIXON.

### HALDEMAN (fishing)

...I was wondering what's such dynamite in this Bay of Pigs story? (Nixon stares, nothing)...although it was clearly effective because all of a sudden, it was no problem for Helms to go to the FBI and try to put a lid on Watergate.

### NIXON

What about the documents he promised?

### HALDEMAN

He'll give us the documents. (then) But I think he should be offered an ambassadorship to Iran. Then he'll go without a whimper.

Nixon stares at him, distracted.

### NIXON

I promised Iran to Townsend.

### HALDEMAN

Put Townsend in Belgium, it's available.

[LC]

118.

EHRLICHMAN

What about England!

NIXON

Forget it. Annenberg's paid three times that much...

HALDEMAN

Helms wants Iran or there might be problems. All his old CIA buddies are over there making a fortune off the Shah.

NIXON

For God's sake, when does this end!

DEAN (suddenly)

Executive clemency...

NIXON

What?

DEAN

Hunt has nothing to lose now. Pardon all of them. Nobody's going to investigate a crime for which the criminals have already been pardoned.

NIXON

I like that. That's a solution.

EHRLICHMAN

It'll never wash. Pardoning them means we're all guilty. The people, the press will go nuts.

NIXON

And what am I supposed to do? Just sit here and watch them coming closer? Eating their way to the center. (paces) Lyndon bugged! So did Kennedy! FDR cut a deal with Lucky Luciano. Christ, even Ike had a mistress! What's so special about me? What about Lyndon? He could make a couple of calls to the Hill and shut this whole thing down. Did anyone talk to him?

HALDEMAN (hesitant)

I did. He hit the roof. No dice. He says if you come out with the story about how he bugged your plane, he's going to reveal... (he looks at Ehrlichman and Dean, pauses)

We CUT ACROSS the room from Ehrlichman's point of view as Haldeman whispers the rest of the message in Nixon's ear.

Nixon's face goes ashen.

[LC]

119.

He walks to the window.

NIXON (to himself)

I don't know. I don't know... I just know we've
made too many enemies.

EHRLICHMAN

Sir, Bob and I are gonna have to testify before
Ervin's Committee.

NIXON

No, you're not! You're going to claim executive
privilege and you're going to stonewall it all the
way -- plead the Fifth Amendment. I don't give a
shit. They can't force the President's people to
testify.

EHRLICHMAN

Executive privilege will make it look like we're
covering up.

NIXON

We are covering up! For some petty, stupid shit.
(then) There are things I can say when other
people say them, they'd be lies...but when I say
them nobody believes me anyway...

Pause.

A look between Haldeman and Ehrlichman, puzzled.

DEAN

Then we're going to have to give them Mitchell.

Nixon turns, stunned.

NIXON

Mitchell? Mitchell's... family.

DEAN

Either it goes to Mitchell or it comes here.

Nixon looks like he's been punched in the stomach.

HALDEMAN (softly)

John's right. It's not personal, boss. It's just
the way the game is played. Sometimes you got the
punt.

Nixon looks out the window. Suddenly, he looks very old and
very tired in the gray Washington light.

NIXON

Jesus, I'm so goddamn worn out with this...

[LC]

120.

EHRLICHMAN

Who's gonna tell Mitchell?

HALDEMAN

You do it.

EHRLICHMAN

Why me?

HALDEMAN

Cause he hates you. It's worse when you get it
from someone you trust.

EHRLICHMAN

He's wrong, you know--about Kennedy, LBJ, Truman.

HALDEMAN

How so?

EHRLICHMAN

Sure, they did stuff, but nothing like this Bob --
forget Watergate, the break-ins, the enemies'
list. You got an attempted firebombing at the
Brookings Institution, planting McGovern stuff on
the guy that shot Wallace...trying to slip LSD to
Jack Anderson.

*

*

*

*

HALDEMAN

The 'Old Man' plays politics harder than anybody
else.

EHRLICHMAN

You think this is just about politics?

They go inanimate as a White House STAFFER passes.

EHRLICHMAN (privately)

You think LBJ would ever have asked Hunt to forge
a cable implicating John Kennedy in the
assassination of the President of Vietnam?

(whispering fiercely)

How long have you known him? Twenty years?

(then)

You ever shake hands with him? You ever have a
real conversation with him? We don't have a clue
what's going on inside that man. And look what
we're doing for him...

Erlichman glances around to make sure no one is listening.

He leans close.

EHRLICHMAN

This is about Richard Nixon. You got people dying
because he didn't make the varsity football team.

[LC]

121.

EHRLICHMAN (cont'd)

You got the Constitution hanging by a thread
because the 'Old Man' went to Whittier and not to
Yale.

(then)

And what the hell is this "Bay of Pigs" thing he
goes white every time it gets mentioned?

Haldeman, more bothered than he pretends, looks around.

HALDEMAN

It's a code or something.

EHRLICHMAN

Shit, I figured that out.

HALDEMAN (low whisper)

I think he means the Kennedy assassination.

EHRLICHMAN

Yeah?

HALDEMAN

They went after Castro. In some crazy way it got
turned on Kennedy. And it scares the shit out of
the old man.

EHRLICHMAN

Christ, we created Frankenstein with those fucking
Cubans.

Haldeman sighs, lets his guard down.

HALDEMAN

Eight words back in '72 -- "I covered up. I was
wrong. I'm sorry." -- and the American public
would've forgiven him. But we never opened our
mouths, John, we failed him.

EHRLICHMAN

Dick Nixon saying "I'm sorry?" That'll be the
day. The whole suit of armor'd fall off.

HALDEMAN

So you tell Mitchell...

92 EXT. WASHINGTON D.C. BRIDGE - NIGHT

92

JOHN DEAN stands at the center of the bridge, looks down at
the Potomac.

REPORTER (V.O.)

Lyndon Johnson passed away today at 74 -- one of
the most tragic of American Presidents...

[LC]

122.

HUNT (O.S.)

You're early John.

Dean jumps. Turns. HOWARD HUNT is standing behind him.

DEAN

I was sorry to hear about your wife.

HUNT (a look)

Yes...I got the money.

DEAN

The President would like to know if that was the
last payment.

HUNT

I'll bet he would.

DEAN

Is it?

HUNT (a beat)

In Richard Nixon's long history of underhanded
dealings he has never gotten better value for his
money. If I were to open my mouth, all the
dominoes would fall.

Hunt starts to walk away.

DEAN

Can I ask you a question?

Hunt turns.

DEAN

How the hell do you have the temerity to blackmail
the President of the United States?

HUNT

That's not the question, John. The question is:
why is he paying?

DEAN

To protect his people.

HUNT

I'm one of his people. The Cubans are his people.
And we're going to jail for him.

DEAN

Howard, you'll serve no more than two years, then
he'll pardon you.

[LC]

123.

HUNT (lights his pipe)

John, sooner or later -- sooner I think -- you are
going to learn the lesson that has been learned by
everyone who has ever gotten close to Richard
Nixon. That he's the darkness reaching out for the
darkness. And eventually, it's either you or him.
Look at the landscape of his life and you'll see a
boneyard.

Hunt throws the match into the river.

HUNT

... And he's already digging your grave, John.

93 INT. THE WHITE HOUSE - CORRIDOR - DAY

93

JOHN DEAN, looking glum, walks down these corridors for his meeting with the President. Passing the SECRETARIES who look at him -- that furtive look of people who sense crisis.

REPORTERS (V.O.)

FBI Director-designate L. Patrick Gray shocked the Senate by revealing that John Dean has been secretly receiving FBI reports on Watergate... Gray also said that Dean lied when he claimed Howard Hunt did not have an office in the White House...

94 INT. WHITE HOUSE - OVAL OFFICE - DAY

94

SUBTITLE READS: MARCH, 1973

DEAN is explaining his new outlook to a quiet NIXON.

DEAN

... this is the sort of thing Mafia people can do: washing money, and things like that. We just don't know about these things because we're not criminals.

On Nixon listening behind his desk, hands cupped over his mouth, frown across his face -- the classic Nixon image of a deep thinker. The CAMERA drops to his desk. And moves towards a MIKE drilled in the edge of the desk.

INTERCUT TO:

95 INT. FILE ROOM - BASEMENT - DAY

95

A bank of TAPE RECORDERS labelled "Oval Office", "Lincoln Room", "Phones 1-6", "EOB," are rolling. BACK TO SCENE AT OPTION:

[LC]

124.

NIXON

How much do you need?

DEAN

Uh I would say these people are going to cost a
million dollars over the next two years...

NIXON

We could get that.

DEAN

Uh huh...

NIXON

We could get a million dollars. We could get it in
cash. I know where it could be gotten.

INTERCUT: the TAPE rolling.

DEAN (pause)

I'm still not confident we can ride through this.
Some people are going to have to go to jail.
Hunt's not the only problem. Haldeman let me use
the 350,000 cash fund in his safe to make the
payments. Ehrlichman had a role, a big role in the
Ellsberg break-in. And I'm... uh. I think it's
time we begin to think in terms of cutting our
losses.

NIXON (worried about Dean)

You say John, cut our losses and all the rest, But
suppose the thing blows and they indict Bob and
the others. Jesus, you'd never recover from that
John. It's better to fight it out instead, and not
let people testify...

DEAN

Sir, I still don't think, uh, we can contain it
anymore. There's a cancer on the Presidency. And
it's growing. With every day that...

NIXON

Jesus, everything is a crisis among the upper
intellectual types, the softheads; the average
people don't think it's much of a crisis. For
chrissake it's not Vietnam...no one's dying here.
Isn't it ridiculous?

DEAN

I agree it's ridiculous but--

NIXON

I mean who the hell cares about this penny ante
shit. Goldwater put it right, he said "Well forny

[LC]

125.

NIXON (cont'd)

chrissakes, everybody bugs everybody else, we know
that "...it's the cover-up, not the deed that's
really bad here. (then) If only Mitchell could
step up and take the brunt of it; give them the
hors d'oeuvre and maybe they won't come back for
the main course. That's the tragedy in all this.
Mitchell's going to get it in the neck anyway,
It's time he assumed responsibility.

Dean has a nervous look in his eye.

DEAN

He won't. He told Erlichman he won't.

A lightning-like IMAGE reveals MITCHELL, responding to
EHRLICHMAN. This is Nixon's mind at work.

*

MITCHELL

You tell Brother Dick I got suckerd into this
thing by not paying attention to what these
bastards were doing. I don't have a guilty
conscience... And he shouldn't either.

Nixon glances towards the microphone as he moves around the
desk to get closer to Dean.

NIXON (loud and clear)

He's right. Maybe it's time to go the hang-out route,
John. A full and thorough investigation... We've
cooperated with the FBI, we'll cooperate with the Senate.
What do we have to hide?

DEAN (prompted)

No, we have nothing to hide.

NIXON (repeating)

We have nothing to hide. (then) But the only flaw
in the plan is that they're not going to believe
the truth. That is the incredible thing!

Dean, who is worried about his own hide if the truth comes
out, agrees.

DEAN

I agree. It's tricky. Everything seems to lead
back here, and, uh... people would never
understand.

Nixon awkwardly puts his arm around Dean's shoulder. Dean
begins to sense a betrayal in the offing.

NIXON

John, I want you to get away from this madhouse,
these reporters, and go up to Camp David for the

[LC]

126.

NIXON (cont'd)

weekend. And I want you to write up a report. I
want you to put everything you know about
Watergate in there. Say, Mister President, here it
all is.

DEAN (over)

You want me to put it all in writing? Over my
signature?

Another lightning-like IMAGE is Nixon's worst fear -- JOHN DEAN is at a table plea bargaining with TWO PROSECUTORS, their backs to us.

*

NIXON (over)

Nobody knows more about this thing than you do,
John.

A pause.

DEAN

I'm not going to be the scapegoat for this. Halde-
man and Ehrlichman are in it just as deep as me.

NIXON

John, you don't want to start down that road. I
remember what Whitaker Chambers told me back in
'48 -- and he was a man who suffered greatly -- he
said, "On the road of the informer, it's always
night."... (then) This is beyond you or even me.
It's the country, John. It's the Presidency.

DEAN

I understand that, sir.

NIXON

Good. You know how I feel about loyalty. I'm not
going to let any of my people go to jail. That I
promise you. (moves closer) The important thing is
to keep this away from Haldeman and Ehrlichman.
I'm trusting you to do that, John. I have complete
confidence in you.

Off Dean's face we-

CUT TO:

96 TELEVISION SCREEN - NIXON - NIGHT (1973)

96

NIXON on the TV screen, shaken, ashen-faced.

NIXON

I was determined that we should get to the bottom
of Watergate and the truth should be fully brought
out no matter who was involved...

127.

97 INT. CIA - HELMS' OFFICE - NIGHT (1973)

RICHARD HELMS, absently watching NIXON on TV, carries a handful of documents to the fireplace. He drops them in the fire, watches them burn.

NIXON (on TV, struggles)

Today, in one of the most difficult decisions of my Presidency, I accepted the resignations of two of my closest associates -- Bob Haldeman and John Ehrlichman -- two of the finest public servants it has been my privilege to know...The counsel to the President, John Dean, has also resigned.

CLOSE on Helms burning documents.

98 LIMBO - HALDEMAN watches TV, his WIFE and CHILDREN next to him. He thinks back to:

98A INT. EXEC. OFFICE BLDG-NIXON OFFICE - NIGHT (FLASHBACK)

Haldeman's mind -- the last one-on-one session. HALDEMAN leaves the office, looking back over his shoulder at NIXON alone in the gathering shadows.

HALDEMAN

More light, chief?

NIXON (distracted, waves)

No...

Haldeman exits.

98B BACK TO SCENE:

NIXON (V.O.)

...There can be no whitewash at the White House...two wrongs do not make a right. I love America. God bless America and God bless each and every one of you.

HALDEMAN (to himself)

Six...six bodies.

His wife puts her hand on his knees in support. He squeezes her hand.

99 LIMBO - EHRLICHMAN also watches, with FAMILY.

97

98

98A

98B

99

[LC]

127A.

100 INT. THE WHITE HOUSE - OVAL OFFICE - NIGHT

100

NIXON sits at his desk, holding a rigid expression.

FLOOR MANAGER (O.S.)

And... we're clear.

We stay on Nixon as the film lights go off, leaving him in
shadow. He is very sad.

ALEXANDER HAIG, Nixon's new Chief-of-Staff, seen earlier,
watches Nixon for a moment, turns to the VIDEO CREW.

HAIG (softly)

Out.

101 INT. NIXON WHITE HOUSE - NIGHT (1973)

101

NIXON at one end, PAT at the other eat in a dreadful
silence, attended by MANOLO and SERVANTS who move nervously,
anxious to have the dinner over with.

PAT (finally)

I'm giving a tea for the wives of the POWs.

Nixon doesn't respond.

[LC]

128.

PAT

Are you going to Key Biscayne?

Nixon doesn't look up.

NIXON

Yes.

PAT

When?

NIXON

Tomorrow.

PAT

Ron told me that Bob Haldeman's been calling. But
you won't talk to him...If he's convicted, will
you pardon him?

NIXON

No.

She looks at him.

PAT

...Why are you cutting yourself off from the rest
of us? (then) Can't we discuss this?

Nixon slowly sets his spoon down, an icy stare.

NIXON

What exactly did you want to discuss, Pat?

PAT

You. What you're doing --

NIXON (interrupts)
And what *am* I doing?

PAT

I wish I knew. You're hiding.

NIXON

Hiding what!

PAT

Whatever it is you've always been hiding. You're
letting it destroy you, Dick. You won't even ask
for help! You're destroying yourself, Dick.

Nixon pauses, rings the dinner bell. MANOLO reappears at the door.

[LC]

129.

**PAT**

I'm the only one left, Dick. If you don't even
talk to me, you...

**NIXON**

Brezhnev's coming in three days. I don't want to
deal with them. And him. And you.

Pat sits rigid for a moment.

**PAT**

How much more? How much more is it going to cost?
When do the rest of us stop paying off your debts?

Nixon puts down his fork, embarrassed. Manolo has beat a
hasty retreat.

**NIXON**

I'd like to finish my dinner in peace. It's not
too much to ask.

Pat stands slowly.

**PAT**

No, it isn't. I won't interfere with you anymore.
I'm finished trying.

**NIXON**

Thank you.

**PAT (incredulous)**

Thank you? (then) Dick, sometimes I understand why
they hate you.

Nixon watches her walk out the door. Then, he picks up his
fork and continues eating.

**SENATOR SAM ERVIN (V.O.: drawls)**

The Senate Select Committee on Watergate will come
to order...

A gavel POUNDS O.S.

102 INT. WHITE HOUSE - HAIG'S OFFICE - DAY

102

NIXON STAFFERS are gathered around Haig's TV set as we:

CROSSCUT TO:

103 INT. COMMITTEE CHAMBER - (SEEN ONLY ON TV) - DAY (1973)

103

JOHN DEAN reads his statement to the COMMITTEE. Conservatively groomed, horn-rimmed glasses, shorter hair, Dean speaks in a monotone. A pretty blonde woman, his WIFE, sits noticeably behind him.

[LC]

130.

### DEAN (on TV)

...it was a tremendous disappointment to me because it was quite clear that the cover-up as far as the White House was concerned was going to continue...

### STAFFERS

Lying sack of shit! Little mommy's boy -- go tell the teacher will ya...

HAIG looks at Dean on TV, shakes his head, disgusted and goes out.

### HAIG

The weasel's got no proof. Just remember that it's still an informer's word against the President's.

104 INT. WHITE HOUSE - CORRIDOR - DAY

104

HAIG walking past STAFF into the Oval Office:

### DEAN (droning on, V.O./T.V.)

...it was apparent to me I had failed in turning the President around... I reached the conclusion that Ehrlichman would never admit to his involvement in the cover-up... I assumed that Haldeman would not because he would believe it a higher duty to protect the President...

105 INT. WHITE HOUSE - OVAL OFFICE - DAY (1973)

105

HAIG slides into the room where NIXON and LEONID BREZHNEV, Premier of the USSR, are engaged in a friendly meeting through an INTERPRETER. ANDREI GROMYKO completes the glum Soviet threesome.

### BREZHNEV (in Russian)

...Mao told me in 1963: "If I have nuclear weapons, let 400 million Chinese die, 300 million will be left." (leans closer) Mao suffers from a mental disorder, we know this long time in my country. (then) This is the man in his dog heart you want to be your ally?

### NIXON

He was *your* ally for twenty years, Leonid.

### BREZHNEV (makes a funny gesture)

Yes, yes, Dick, life is always the best teacher, you know this -- and you too will discover how treacherous he can be. But it must not interfere with the building of a Salt Two

[LC]

131.

### BREZHNEV (cont'd)

Treaty between our great countries. Peace in our
era is possible...

Nixon looking to Haig who whispers something in his ear.

### NIXON

Excuse me, Mister Chairman.

Nixon and Haig move to a corner of the room, whisper.

### BREZHNEV (to Gromyko)

If Haldeman and Ehrlichman are indicted, it will
wound him, perhaps fatally.

### GROMYKO

That depends on who they believe -- Nixon or Dean.

Brezhnev looks at Nixon, who is visibly shaken.

### BREZHNEV (shakes his head)

Incredible. He looks like a man with little time
left.

106 INT. WHITE HOUSE - NIXON BEDROOM - NIGHT (1973)

106

Nixon's daughter, JULIE, earnest, bright-eyed, looks at her
Dad.

### JULIE (hesitantly)

Did you...Daddy? Did you cover it up?

NIXON looks at her steadily.

### NIXON

Do you think I would do something like that honey?

Julie shakes her head vigorously, then puts her hands to her
eyes.

### JULIE

Then you can't resign! You just can't. You're one
of the best Presidents this country's ever had!
You've done what Lincoln did. You've brought this
country back from cold war! You can't let your
enemies tear you down!

(calmer)

You've got to stay and fight. I'll go out there
and make speeches Dad. No one knows the real you.
How sweet you are, how nice you are to people!
I'll tell them.

She embraces him almost desperately, kissing him on the
forehead, crying.

[LC]

132.

JULIE

Daddy, you are the most decent person I know.

NIXON (over her shoulder)

I hope I haven't let you down.

JULIE (hugging him through her tears)

They just don't know, they don't know the real
you.

On Nixon -- CLOSE.

107 INT. WHITE HOUSE - PAT'S BEDROOM - DAY (1973)

107

PAT's still wearing her nightdress, coffee and cigarette. in
hand, as her press secretary, HELEN SMITH, runs through a
sheaf of papers. A TELEVISION drones in the background.

SMITH (cheery)

...and on Friday we have the high school students
from Ohio, Saturday is the Women's National
Republican Club...

NEWSCASTER 1 (V.O.)

In a development that could break Watergate wide
open, White House aide Alexander Butterfield
testifying today before the Senate Select
Committee revealed the existence of a taping
system that may have recorded conversations in the
White House, the EOB, and the Camp David
retreat...

Pat glances up over the tops of her glasses.

SMITH (continues)

And on Sunday you're saying hello to the VFW Poppy
Girl...

She realizes Pat is not listening.

SMITH

Mrs. Nixon....?

Close: on Pat as she slowly raises a hand to her lips.

NEWSCASTER 1 (V.O.)

White House sources say that for the past three
years, President Nixon has recorded virtually
every conversation he has had, including those
with his staff, and even members of his own
family...

Pat is horrified.

133.

108 INT. WHITE HOUSE - PRESIDENT'S BEDROOM - DAY

108

NIXON sits in his bed, alone, still in his pajamas. It's
clear he hasn't slept. He looks shell-shocked.

NEWSCASTER 1 (V.O.)

This is a stunning revelation. If such tapes
exist, they could tell us once and for all: what
did the President know and when did he know it...

The CAMERA closing on NIXON. His deepest secrets are now
being revealed. He begins coughing violently. He tries to
cover his mouth, but notices now that his hand and the sheets
around him are covered with blood. He screams, terrified.

NIXON

Oh God -- Pat!

HARD CUT TO:

109 INT. BETHESDA NAVAL HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - DAY (1973)

109

NIXON on a gurney, being wheeled down a hospital corridor.
PAT, wearing dark sunglasses, is with him, very concerned. A
plastic mask is over his face. He struggles to get up, but a
NURSE gently presses him back down. SECRET SERVICE AGENTS
surround the gurney. HAIG clears the corridors nervously.

*

HAIG

Clear the path! The President is coming thru.
Clear a path. I'm in charge here.

*

*

PAT gets the DOCTOR's attention on the move.

PAT (privately)

Is it TB?

DOCTOR

No.

PAT

He's sure he has tuberculosis.

DOCTOR

No it's an acute viral pneumonia (lowers his
voice). But that's not what we're worried about.
We found an inflammation in his left leg. It's a
phlebitis...

*

*

*

*

CLOSE on Nixon, eyes closed; the overhead lights reflect in
the mask.

[LC]

134.

REPORTERS (cont'd)

have illegally used Government funds to improve
his San Clemente Western White House.

HAIG holds open the doors as the ORDERLIES push Nixon into
the respiratory unit.

110 INT. BETHSEDA NAVAL HOSPITAL - RESPIRATORY UNIT - DAY 110

A DOCTOR and NURSE remove the mask from NIXON'S face.

REPORTERS (V.O.)

Attorney General Elliot Richardson will present
evidence to a grand jury that Vice President Agnew
is guilty of bribery, extortion and tax evasion...

Nixon immediately starts gasping. He again tries to rise, but
hands push him back. The doctor fits the mouthpiece of a
respirator into Nixon's mouth. Images of the beast pervade
the room.

Nixon begins breathing... His eyes going past PAT to...

A110 IMAGES of the PAST -- of his PARENTS, Frank, Hannah, little Arthur, Harold...the GROCERY STORE. A110

INTERCUT TO:

111 EXT. STREET - DAY 111

MARTHA MITCHELL is acting strangely behind enormous
sunglasses -- at an impromptu interview on the STREET.

MARTHA

...can you keep a secret, honey? 'Tween you, me,
and the gatepost, Tricky Dick always knew what was
going on...every last goddamn detail. And my
husband's not taking the rap this time... They
know they can't shut me up, so they'll probably
end up killing me, but I depend on you, the press,
to protect me...and my husband, because that's
what it's going to come to...

INTERCUT TO:

112 EXT. STREET - DAY 112

JOHN MITCHELL, angry, beleaguered, bypasses cameras outside a COURTHOUSE.

MITCHELL

She doesn't know what she's talking about. Stop
bothering her. She's not well. Hell, she's nuts-
-you bastards've seen to that (brushing past
another question) You can stick it right back up

135.

113 NIXON breathing in the hospital.

113

REPORTER (V.O.)

Archibald Cox declared war on President Nixon
today by issuing a subpoena for nine of the
President's tapes...

NIXON (V.O., yells)

Never! Over my dead body!

114 INT. THE WHITE HOUSE - WEST WING CORRIDOR - DAY (1973)

114

NIXON, his leg swollen, limps down the corridor, furious.

HAIG walks with him, ZIEGLER and the lawyer, BUZHARDT
bringing up the rear. HAIG clears the corridor of potential
eavesdroppers.

NIXON

It's the President's personal property! I will
never give up my tapes to a bunch of Kennedy-
loving Harvard Democrat cocksuckers!

HAIG

This could trigger the impeachment. They'll go to
the Supreme Court next.

NIXON

Let 'em try! I appointed three of those bastards!
I'm not giving 'em my tapes!

HAIG

Can the President afford to ignore a subpoena?

NIXON

Who the fuck does Cox think he is? (fumes)

I never made a dime from public office! I'm
honest. My dad died broke. You know the
sonofabitch went to law school with Jack
Kennedy... the last gasp of the Establishment!
They got the hell kicked out of 'em in the
election, so now they gotta squeal about Watergate
cause we were the first real threat to them in
years. And by God, Al, we would have changed it,
changed it so they couldn't have changed it back
in a hundred years, if only...

HAIG

Congress is considering four articles of
impeachment, sir.

NIXON

For what!

[L.C.]

136.

NIXON

They can't impeach me for bombing Cambodia. The
President can bomb anybody he wants.

ZIEGLER

That's true...

BUZHARDT

Sir, we'll win that one, but the other three...

NIXON

You know Fred, they sell tickets.

ZIEGLER

Sir?

NIXON

They sell tickets to an impeachment. Like a
fucking circus...Okay, so they impeach me. Then
it's a question of mathematics. How many votes do
we have in the Senate?

HAIG

About a dozen.

NIXON (wounded)

A dozen? I got half of 'em elected. I still got
the South and Goldwater and his boys. I'll take
my chances in the Senate.

ZIEGLER

We should...

HAIG

Then we'll have to deal with the possibility of
removal from office, loss of pension, possibly...
prison.

NIXON

Shit, plenty of people did their best writing in
prison. Gandhi, Lenin...

ZIEGLER

That's right.

NIXON (beat, glowers darkly)

What I know about this country, I... I could rip
it apart. If they want a public humiliation,
that's what they'll get. But I will never resign
this office. Where the fuck am I?

They look at him strangely. They've stopped at the doors of
the East Room. The SOUND of VOICES and a VIOLIN playing
inside.

[LC]

138.

NIXON

Now some people, we both know them Al, think you
can go stand in the middle of the bullring and
cry, 'mea culpa,' 'mea culpa,' while the crowd is
hissing and booing and spitting on you. But a man
doesn't cry. (then) I don't cry. You don't
cry...You fight!

INTERCUT soft IMAGES over NIXON being pounded at FOOTBALL...

Nixon straightens himself, puts on a smile, nods to Ziegler.
Ziegler opens the door. A ROAR of CHEERS and MARTIAL MUSIC
greet the President, as he disappears inside.

CUT TO:

115 TV SCREEN - NBC logo - LIMBO

115

ANNOUNCER (V.O.)

We interrupt this program for a special report
from NBC News.

A REPORTER appears, stunned.

REPORTER (V.O.)

The country tonight is in the midst of what may be
the most serious Constitutional crisis in history.
In the wake of Vice President Spiro Agnew's forced
resignation on charges of corruption, President
Nixon has fired Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox.

DOCUMENTARY IMAGES -- ARCHIBALD COX walking in the street, having heard the news, smiling.

REPORTER (V.O., cont.)

Attorney General Elliot Richardson has resigned
rather than comply with the President's order and
Deputy Attorney William Ruckelshaus was fired when
he refused to carry out the order...

DOCUMENTARY IMAGES -- FBI AGENTS carrying boxes of files out of the Special Prosecutor's office. RUCKELSHAUS getting in a car, refusing to comment. ELLIOT RICHARDSON moving down a gauntlet of REPORTERS. We CUT BACK to the REPORTER on camera, grim.

REPORTER (on TV, cont.)

Tonight, the country, without a Vice President,
stands poised at a crossroads -- has a government
of laws become a government of one man?

[LC]

140.

PAT (cont'd)

what's on them. Because you have absolutely no
remorse. No concept of remorse. You want the
tapes to get out, you want them to see you at your
worst...

NIXON

You're drunk! *(Pat* laughs, "yeah I am") No one
will ever see those tapes. Including you!

A beat.

PAT

And what would I find out that I haven't known for
years. (then) What makes it so damn sad is you
couldn't confide in any of us. You had to make a
record... for the whole world.

NIXON

They were for me. They're mine.

PAT

No. They're not *yours*. They are *you*. You should
burn 'em.

She turns and walks out. Nixon is turbulent, upset. He turns
and suddenly sees the ghost of his young mother, HANNAH,
sitting there in the shadows, staring at him.

He jumps. Those eyes of hers. Penetrating, gazing right
through him.

HANNAH

What has changed in thee, Richard... When you
were a boy...

NIXON (blurts out)

No! Please! Don't talk to me! Anything, but
don't talk to me.

A SHARP CUT snaps us from this reverie, and Nixon is alone in
his sitting room, the door closed, the VOICE on the tape
droning. He downs pills with the scotch.

NIXON (V.O. on tape)

...these guys went after Castro. Seven times, ten
times...What do you think--people like that, they
just gave up? They just don't walk away?

141.

NIXON (cont'd)

(then) Whoever killed Kennedy came from
this...this *thing* we created. *This beast...That's*
why we can't let this thing go any farther...

He looks over at the recorder, slowly turning. He pushes "Stop" and then runs it back on "Rewind". High-speed voices. He pushes "Stop" again. A series of TIME CUTS show Nixon getting drunker. Playing sections of the tape. The camera closes on the tape machine. It's all a blur as we hear a HUM growing louder and louder as we inch in on an abstract CLOSE-UP of the TAPE moving across the capstan.

REPORTER (V.O.)

In the latest bombshell, the President's lawyers
revealed that there is an 18 and a half minute gap
in a critical Watergate tape...

118 INT. THE WHITE HOUSE - WEST WING - DAY (1974)

118

A frenzy of paperwork as the PRESIDENT'S LAWYERS -- BUZHARDT and ST. CLAIR -- sit hunched around a table piled with transcripts, helped by TWO YOUNG ASSISTANTS.

NIXON is aghast as he reads some of the highlighted sections.
HAIG and ZIEGLER attend.

REPORTER 1 (V.O.)

...In an attempt to head off impeachment proceedings, the President has agreed to release transcripts of 46 taped conversations...

REPORTER 2 (V.O.)

...In a simple ceremony, Gerald Ford was sworn in as Vice-President. A long-time, popular member of Congress, Ford reinforces a sense of...

REPORTER 3 (V.O.)

...citing White House wrong-doing, the Judge has dismissed all charges against Daniel Ellsberg.

REPORTER 4 (V.O.)

...the Grand Jury has indicted former Nixon aides
Bob Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and former Attorney
General, John Mitchell...

Nixon shakes the paper in the faces of Buzhardt and St. Clair.

NIXON

You're lawyers. How can you let this shit go by!
(points) Look! This? Nixon can't say this.

[LC]

142.

### BUZHARDT

You did say it, sir.

### NIXON

Never. I never said that about Jews!

Buzhardt glances at St. Clair.

### BUZHARDT

We could check the tape again, sir.

### NIXON

You don't need to check the tape. I know what I said.

He grabs the magic marker out of the lawyer's hand and furiously blacks out an entire section.

### NIXON

And this?! Good Lord, have you lost your mind? Nixon can't say this. "Niggers!"

### ZIEGLER

Well, we could delete it.

### ST. CLAIR

We're doing the best we can sir.

### NIXON

Well it's not good enough...

### ST. CLAIR

We can black it out.

### ZIEGLER

Or we could write "expletive deleted."

### NIXON

...and get rid of all these "goddamns" and "Jesus Christs!"

### ST. CLAIR

Sir, all these deletion marks in the transcripts will make it look like you swear all the time.

Nixon grows cold, stares steadily at St. Clair.

### NIXON

For Christ's sake, it soils my mother's memory. Do you think I want the whole goddamn world to see my mother like this. Raising a dirty mouth!

[LC]

143.

119 INT. WHITE HOUSE - OVAL OFFICE - NIGHT (1974)

119

NIXON sits at his desk, grimacing tightly into the TV CAMERA. Next to him is a stack of blue binders emblazoned with the Presidential seal.

NIXON

Good evening, my fellow Americans. Tonight I'm taking an action unprecedented in the history of this office...

120 INT. WHITE HOUSE - HAIG'S OFFICE - NIGHT (1974)

120

KISSINGER and HAIG watch NIXON on television. They share a drink.

*

*

NIXON (on TV, continues)

...an action that will at last, once and for all, show that what I knew and what I did with regards to the Watergate break-in and cover-up were just as I have described them to you from the very beginning...

HAIG

He's completely lost touch with reality.

NIXON (on TV, cont) ...

I had no knowledge of the cover-up until John Dean told me about it on March 21. And I did not intend that payment to Hunt or anyone else be made...

KISSINGER

Can you imagine what this man would have been had he ever been loved?...

NIXON (on TV, cont)

...because people have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I am not a crook. I have never made a dime from public service...

*

*

KISSINGER

Oh God, I'm going to throw up.

HAIG

They'll crucify him...

Kissinger turns to Haig.

KISSINGER

Does anybody care anymore? (then) What happens after...

[LC]

144.

121 INT. WHITE HOUSE - PAT'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

121

PAT sits alone, drinking as the television drones on with the latest invasion of her privacy. As we move in, we see the spirit drawn out of her. She seems numb.

122 DOCUMENTARY IMAGE - EXT. WHITE HOUSE - NIGHT (1974)

122

REPORTERS (V.O.)

The Supreme Court ruled today 8-0 that President Nixon's claims of "executive privilege" cannot be used in criminal cases and that he must turn over all subpoenaed tapes...a firestorm on Capitol Hill as...

123 INT. WHITE HOUSE - CORRIDORS & STAIRS - NIGHT (1974)

123

SUBTITLE READS: JULY 1974 over EMPTY SHOTS of an EMPTY HOUSE, filled with gloom and dread. The FOOTSTEPS of two silhouettes crack the silence as they make their way towards the Lincoln Sitting Room. It is an eerie echo of the opening shots of the White House in the film. The silhouette now becomes apparent as GENERAL HAIG and HENRY KISSINGER.

REPORTERS (V.O.)

...The House Judiciary Committee has voted 27 to 11 to recommend impeachment to the full House. The deliberations now go to the House floor.

...In its report, the Committee offers evidence that Nixon obstructed justice on at least 36 occasions, that he encouraged his aides to commit perjury, and that Nixon abused the powers of his office... In a separate report, the Senate Select Committee details the misuse of the IRS, the FBI, the CIA and the Justice Department. It denounces the Plumbers, and it raises the question of whether the United States had a valid election in 1972.

HIGH ANGLE -- Haig knocks and enters the Lincoln Sitting room. A shaft of LIGHT from inside zigzags the darkness. And we hear a snatch of LOUD MUSIC before the door is closed.

124 INT. THE WHITE HOUSE - LINCOLN SITTING ROOM - NIGHT (1974)

124

NIXON sits in his chair in a suit and tie, listening to "Victory at Sea" at top volume. In front of him is a picture album -- 1922 portraits of the NIXON FAMILY -- HAROLD holding ARTHUR. RICHARD stares glumly at camera between HANNAH and FRANK.

GENERAL HAIG, with KISSINGER behind, approaches with some papers held out in his hand. Nixon sees them, turns down the hi-fi.

[LC]

145.

NIXON

"Victory At Sea", Al... Henry. The Pacific
theatre. Christ, you can almost feel the waves
breaking over the decks.

HAIG

I'm afraid we have another problem, Mister
President.

He hands him a paper. Nixon glances at it.

HAIG

June 23rd, '72, sir. The part that's underlined.
Your instructions to Haldeman regarding the CIA
and the FBI.

NIXON

So?

HAIG

Your lawyers feel it's the... "smoking gun."

NIXON

It's totally out of context. I was protecting the
national security, I never intended-

HAIG

Sir, the deadline is today.

NIXON

Can we get around this, Al?

HAIG

It's the Supreme Court, sir, you don't get around
it.

Nixon, silenced, looks down at the paper in his hands and
sighs.

HAIG

If you resign, you can keep your tapes as a
private citizen...you can fight them for years.

NIXON

And if I stay?

A long moment.

HAIG

You have the army.

Nixon looks up at him, then over at Henry.

[LC]

146.

NIXON

The army?

HAIG

Lincoln used it.

NIXON

That was civil war.

HAIG

How do you see this?

Nixon closes his eyes. Haig takes the transcript back.

HAIG

We can't survive this, sir. They also have you
instructing Dean to make the payoff to Hunt.

NIXON

There is nothing in that statement the President
can't explain.

HAIG

Sir, you talked about opening up the whole "Bay of
Pigs" thing again.

NIXON

That's right...

HAIG

Three days before, on the June 20th tape -- the
one with the eighteen minute gap--

NIXON (interrupts)

I don't know anything about that.

HAIG (continues)

...You mentioned the "Bay of Pigs" several times.
Sooner or later they're going to want to know what
that means. They're going to want to know what was
on that gap...

NIXON

It's gone. No one will ever find out what's on it.

Haig moves closer, and leans down, very low, whispers.

HAIG

They might...if there were another...recording.

Nixon glances up at him.

*

[Lc]

147.

**HAIG**

We both know it's possible. (then) I know for a
fact it's possible.

Nixon stares up at him.

**HAIG**

I've spoken to Ford... And there's a very strong
chance he'll pardon you...

Haig hands him a letter of resignation.

INSERT: "I hereby resign the office of President of the United States."

**HAIG**

This is something you will have to do, Mister
President. I thought you would rather do it now...
I'll wait outside.

Haig drifts out as Kissinger comes out of the shadows. Nixon looks down blankly at the sheet of paper in front of him.

**KISSINGER**

... may I say sir, if you stay now it will
paralyze the nation and its foreign policy...

Nixon looks up at Kissinger. The Judas himself -- at least one of them. There is irony here that is apparent to Nixon but not Kissinger.

**NIXON**

Yes, you always had a good sense of timing Henry.
When to give and when to take. How do you think
Mao, Brezhnev will react? (sitting up, suddenly
intense) Do you think this is how they'll
remember me, Henry, after all the great things you
and I did together? As some kind of...of...crooks?

**KISSINGER (prepared response)**

They will understand sir. To be undone by a third-
rate burglary sir, is a fate of biblical
proportions. History will treat you far more
kindly than your contemporaries.

**NIXON**

That depends who writes the history books. I'm not
a quitter... but I'm not stupid either... A trial
would kill me -- that's what they want. (with some
satisfaction) But they won't get it.

He signs -- the resignation paper. A pause. It lies there.

[LC]

148.

KISSINGER (grandiosely)

... if they harass you, I too will resign. And I
will tell the world why.

NIXON

Don't be stupid. The world needs you
Henry...(then) You're the only friend I've got
Henry...You were my equal in many ways.

KISSINGER

You have many friends...and admirers...

NIXON

Do you ever pray? You know... believe in a Supreme
Being?

KISSINGER

Uh... not really. You mean on my knees?

NIXON

Yes. My mother used to pray... a lot. It's been a
long time since I really prayed.

(a little lost)

Let's pray, Henry, let's pray a little.

As Nixon gets down on his knees, Kissinger perspires freely.
He clumsily follows the President down to the floor.

NIXON

... Uh, I hope this doesn't embarrass you.

KISSINGER

Not at all. This is not going to leak, is it?

NIXON (looks at Henry)

Don't be too proud, never be too proud to go on
your knees before God.

He prays silently, then suddenly, he sobs.

NIXON

Dear God! Dear God, how can a country come apart
like this! What have I done wrong...

[LC]

150.

They turn a corner, come into more light.

NIXON

Things won't be the same after this. I played by
the rules, but the rules changed right in the
middle of the game... There's no respect for
American institutions anymore. People are cynical,
the press -- god, the press -- is out of control,
people spit on soldiers, government secrets mean
nothing...

Nixon separates from Haig and Kissinger who bids him a last
"Mr. President".

NIXON (remote)

I pity the next guy who sits here... Goodnight,
gentlemen...

Haig and Kissinger depart.

Nixon shuffles back, alone, coming to a stop in front of a
larger-than-life, full-length oil portrait of JOHN F.
KENNEDY. Nixon studies the portrait, pads closer. Looks up.

NIXON

When they look at you, they see what they want to
be.

(then)

When they look at me, they see what they are...

PAT, overhearing, comes from the shadows in a nightgown. She
looks wearied, crazed.

PAT

Dick, please don't...

He half turns to her. He is unshaven, eyes red-rimmed, a
wounded animal who can no longer defend himself.

NIXON

I can't... I just don't have the strength
anymore...

His voice trails off. For a moment, it looks like he's going
to collapse. Pat moves towards him, to support him.

PAT

It'll be over soon.

NIXON

No... it's going to start now... (looks into her
eyes) If I could just... If I could just... sleep.

[LC]

151.

PAT

There'll be time for that...

He's barely aware of her.

NIXON

Once...when I was sick...my mother gave me this
stuff...made me swallow it...it made me throw up.
All over her...I wish I could do that now...

Pat puts her arm around him.

NIXON

I'm afraid Buddy... There's darkness out there.

Pat is crying now. She tries to soothe him, strokes his brow like a sick child.

NIXON

I could always see where I was going. But it's
dark out there. God, I've always been afraid of
the dark...

Nixon breaks down. She slowly leads him up the grand staircase -- into the shadows of history.

126 INT. WHITE HOUSE - EAST ROOM - DAY

126

The EPILOGUE and END CREDITS run over NIXON as he addresses the assembled WHITE HOUSE STAFF. PAT and the FAMILY flank him.

NIXON

...I remember my old man. I think they would've called him a little man, common man. He didn't consider himself that way. He was a streetcar motorman first, and then he was a farmer, and then he had a lemon ranch. It was the poorest lemon ranch in California, I assure you. He sold it before they found oil on it.

IMAGES of FRANK and HANNAH NIXON now arise in Nixon's consciousness -- a past he never really could connect his own life to. As if it were a storybook, a fabled America that never was. The MUSIC should in a sense accentuate this divorce of sentiment from reality.

NIXON (cont'd)

...and then he was a grocer. But he was a great man because he did his job, and every job counts up to the hilt, regardless of what happens... Nobody will ever write a book, probably, about my mother. Well, I guess all of you would say this about your mother: my mother was a saint. And I think of her, two boys dying of tuberculosis and

[LC]

152.

NIXON (cont'd)

seeing each of them die, and when they died...
Yes, she will have no books written about her. But
she was a saint...But now, however, we look to the
future.

Nixon is holding himself together by sheer force of will. Many members of his STAFF are weeping. He pulls an old well-leafed book open, puts a set of eyeglasses on to read from it, the first time he's ever worn them in public.

NIXON (CONT'D)

... I remember something Theodore Roosevelt wrote when his first wife died. He was still a young man, in his twenties, and this was in his diary -- "T.R." --- "She was beautiful in face and form and lovelier still in spirit... When she had just become a mother, when her life seemed to be just begun and when the years seemed so bright before her, then by a strange and terrible fate death came to her. And when my heart's dearest died, the light went from my life forever..." That was "T.R." in his twenties. He thought the light had gone from his life forever.

He puts down the book, nearly cracking.

NIXON

...But of course he went on, to become President, sometimes right, sometimes wrong, always in the arena, always vital...We sometimes think when things happen that don't go the right way, we think that when someone dear to us dies, when we lose an election, when we suffer a defeat, that all is ended...but that's not true. It is only a beginning, always; because the greatness comes not when things always go good for you, but the greatness comes and you're really tested when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes...because only if you have been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain...To have served in this office is to have felt a very personal sense of kinship with each and every American. In leaving it, I do so with this prayer: May God's grace be with you in all the days ahead.

127 EXT. THE WHITE HOUSE - DAY

127

A MARINE CORPS HELICOPTER waits at the end of a red carpet. NIXON and PAT make their way towards it followed by the FAMILY.

NIXON (V.O. CONT)

...Remember: always give your best, never get discouraged, never be petty; always remember,

153

They climb the steps and Nixon turns on the top step and smiles bravely. Then he waves good-bye.

### NIXON (V.O. CONT)

...Only then will you find what we Quakers call "peace at the center." "Au revoir" we'll see you again!

He raises his arms in his characteristic twin V-salute. And we FADE OUT.

EPILOGUE runs over a DARK SCREEN.

### EPILOGUE

Nixon always maintained that if he had not been driven from office, the North Vietnamese would not have overwhelmed the South in 1975. In a sideshow, Cambodian society was destroyed and mass genocide resulted. In his absence, Russia and the United States returned to a decade of high-budget military expansion and near-war. Nixon, who was pardoned by President Ford, lived to write six books and travel the world as an elder statesmen. He was buried and honored by five ex-Presidents on April 26, 1994, less than a year after Pat Nixon died.

We include a DOCUMENTARY CLIP of his FUNERAL, eulogized by President CLINTON, the four other PRESIDENTS alongside him. ROBERT DOLE eulogizes him as a 'great American'.

### EPILOGUE (cont'd)

For the remainder of his life, Nixon fought successfully to protect his tapes. The National Archives spent fourteen years indexing and cataloguing them. Out of four thousand hours, only sixty hours have been made public.

We end on an IMAGE OF YORBA LINDA, CALIFORNIA...turn of the 20th Century where it began. We focus on the faces of the early pioneers who settled the land -- we drift over the faces of HANNAH and FRANK, in their stern postures -- past the BROTHERS, including the two deceased ones...to little RICHARD, eyes all aglow with the hopes of the new century.

THE END

JUL-10-1995 17:30

KISSINGER ASSOC.

212 759 0042 P.01/03

DRAFT

July __, 1995

Mr. Oliver Stone
Illusion Entertainment
Sixth Floor
201 Santa Monica Boulevard
Santa Monica, California 90401

Re: Nixon, screenplay by Stephen J. Rivele,
Christopher Wilkinson, and Oliver Stone

Dear Mr. Stone:

This firm has been retained by Ambassador Richard Helms in connection with the portrayal of him apparently being contemplated in a film by your company that would purport to dramatize events in the life of former President Nixon.

We are concerned that there may be an intention on the part of those responsible for such a film and screenplay to disseminate defamatory falsehoods about Ambassador Helms, and also to invade his privacy and portray him in a false light to the public.

It is our understanding that a current version of a screenplay contains a number of grossly false factual misstatements about Ambassador Helms. An example is a false and defamatory account of an invented exchange between Ambassador Helms and President Nixon, in which Ambassador Helms is depicted as threatening the President with incriminating documents. As you must know, any such scene is purely the product of your and the other the screenwriters' imagination, and depicts an event that neither in form nor in substance ever happened. Were such a scene to be published, however, the public could mistake it for historical fact, damaging our client's reputation.

JUL-10-1995 16:32

202 775 4565

96%

P.04

JUL-10-1995 17:30

KISSINGER ASSOC.

212 759 0042

P.02/03

Mr. Oliver Stone

July __, 1995

Page 2

We understand that the contemplated screenplay is replete with other false statements as well -- for example, a suggestion that Ambassador Helms burned documents on the occasion of President Nixon's resignation. That and other falsehoods which the script contains certainly invade Ambassador's Helms privacy, by placing him in a false light in the eyes of the public. They appear to be libelous as well. Based on these examples, it would appear that the script's references to Ambassador Helms consist of nothing more than a series of wholly fabricated falsehoods.

There is no legal license, even in fiction, to depict, for example, a sort of blackmail scheme and falsely attribute it to a living person. We understand that the proposed film would carry a representation that it was based on "numerous public sources" and an "incomplete historical record," along with a vague disclaimer that some unspecified portion is "conjectured." Unless the audience is specifically and prominently advised that the scenes depicting Ambassador Helms in particular are purely false and not based on fact, dissemination of such false allegations will constitute the basis for liability for disseminating defamatory falsehoods about our client and for invading his privacy.

You should be aware that the Supreme Court of the United States has held that liability may be imposed for falsehoods published with a "high degree of awareness of . . . probable falsity," *Garrison v. Louisiana*, 379 U.S. 64, 74 (1964), or if the publisher "in fact entertained serious doubts as to the truth" of these falsehoods but published them nevertheless. *St. Amant v. Thompson*, 390 U.S. 727, 731 (1968). This is true whether the defamatory falsehoods are made in what purports to be a historically accurate portrayal or in a fictionalized account of actual events.

You are on notice that the material previously referred to is entirely false. Because it so strikingly departs from the truth, there appears to be a likelihood that any other references to Ambassador Helms in your contemplated screenplay are false as well. It is to be hoped that you will want to ensure, as your legal duty requires, that these and other factual misstatements concerning Ambassador Helms and related violations do not occur in the film. To this end, I am requesting that you provide a copy of all

JUL-10-1995 16:31

202 775 4565

96/

P.02

LETTERS

[LC]

## A Royal Mess

YET ANOTHER COVER PHOTO OF PRINCESS Diana ("Why She Won't Go Away," LIFE-STYLE, Dec. 4), while the insert of a soldier about to be sent to Bosnia is barely the size of the sapphire in her necklace. A young American being asked to risk his life is far more deserving of your cover than a British princess whose marriage has failed.

ELLEN MCMAHON
QUAKER HILL, CONN.

THE NEXT TIME A LITTLE GIRL YOU KNOW wants to hear the story of Cinderella, try telling her the one about Lady Diana who married a prince, had a glorious wedding and the love of the people. But behind palace doors she was miserable. Hopefully, this fairy tale will act as an antidote to the delusions of any little girl who may believe that a Prince Charming will come along and make her happy ever after.

TANYA OPLANIC
CHICAGO, ILL.

THE CURRENT ANTICS IN THE BRITISH ROYAL family are but a pale echo of the past. The Plantagenets, Tudors and Stuarts had real royal schemes and scandals. At least in the House of Windsor no one has yet been murdered, locked in the Tower of London or beheaded.

NEVA L. PRUESS
LINCOLN, NEB.
nevalcp@aol.com

CLEARLY CHARLES HAS DONE MORE TO damage the monarchy than his wife. The British should just look ahead to the next generation of royalty because this one has been mortally wounded both publicly and privately. Prince William must be named the new Prince of Wales.

GRANT E. COLE
ALEXANDRIA, VA.

## Casting the First Stone

PAUL SORVINO IS A FINE ACTOR WHOM I saw briefly as filming started on "Nixon" (THE ARTS, Dec. 11). I could not have said the portrait of Nixon was accurate, since at that point I had not seen the script, if indeed it existed. Having recently read the script—I do not plan to see the movie—I consider the treatment of Nixon deeply flawed.

HENRY A. KISSINGER
NEW YORK, N.Y.

## Mazes Were Never Like This

FOR NOW, SCIENTISTS MUST EXPERIMENT on animals ("The Mice That Roared," SOCIETY, Dec. 4) and every day human lives are saved by the knowledge gained from this work. I know that in my head. But another

## MAIL CALL
Check Mate

"Sensationalistic," wrote one of many dismayed readers objecting to our Dec. 4 cover photo and story featuring Princess Diana. Responding to our headline "Why She Won't Go Away," a Californian ex-

plained: "because you keep putting her on the cover of your magazine!" But a number of readers expressed admiration for the princess and her forthrightness.

"Hail Diana! She

has given voice to centuries of women unceremoniously betrayed by our favorite monarchy" an Ohioan declared.

Prince Charles, however, did not fare so well. "England deserves a real king," commented one reader. "Or, at the very least, someone who knows how to act like a king. My nominee: Sean Connery."

part of me asks why we have to be so cruel. After reading about the study on the effects of a lack of nitric oxide in the brain, I felt sick. Why did the scientists allow the mutant mice to continue their carnage after the effects were obvious? Why were the mice left together while the researchers went home—only to find the mutilated bodies in the morning? But who cares, they're just mice, right? And we are a superior species, are we not?

JEAN BARNARD
LAKE ORION, MICH.
Via Internet

DID SHARON BEGLEY REALLY MEAN THAT the lack of aggression shown by female mice "may simply prove once again females' moral superiority"? Or did I just miss some chauvinistic tongue-in-cheek?

DAVID W. BOUCH
POWAY, CALIF.

✓ Editor's note: We were being facetious and regret any resulting confusion.

## Smiling Again

I AM 47 AND HAVE GROUND MY TEETH FOR years ("I Hear America Grinding," SOCIETY, Dec. 4). Faced with ruining my smile or paying several hundred dollars to my dentist for a night guard, I came up with an alternative solution. For a few dollars I purchased a mouth guard like those worn by athletes during contact sports. Following

the simple directions on the package for fitting it, I wear it almost every night, and it has solved my problem and saved my teeth.

JILL GROSS
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ.

## What Are We Fighting For?

AS A STUDENT OF HISTORY I HAVE SERIOUS reservations about our involvement in Bosnia ("Shipping Out," NATIONAL AFFAIRS, Dec. 4). I am convinced that the Dayton agreement won't last the six months that the Munich Pact of 1938 did. Then as now, a major party to the conflict was not invited (then the Czechs, now the Bosnian Serbs). The partition map for Bosnia is even more complex than the Sudeten borders of 1938. And the Bosnian Serbs seem hostile to this agreement. We do not have to send troops everywhere in the world that peace is threatened. As tragic as the Bosnian situation is, there are no vital American interests at stake there.

DAVID B. STENZEL, *Emeritus Professor of History*
California State University, Stanislaus
TURLOCK, CALIF.

THE RHETORIC SURROUNDING AMERICA'S military involvement in Bosnia is hypocritical and inhumane. It seems that Americans feel bad that thousands have died in genocidal shedding of blood. But many Americans are put out that we're getting involved in the conflict. It's true the warring parties in Bosnia have old antagonisms and their struggles won't be solved by quick military actions. I am a patriotic person but I believe we must reject the mind-set that American life is somehow more precious than other life. Our country decided that Persian Gulf oil was worth American lives—what about a little Bosnian peace?

KEVIN FOLEY
HARRISONBURG, VA.

## Correction

IN "HIGHBROW HOOCH GOES NORTH" (LIFE-STYLE, Nov. 13), NEWSWEEK wrote that Herradura was one of three major Mexican tequila producers in which British distillers had recently acquired major shares. However, the Tequila Herradura company, producer of Herradura tequila, always has been and is currently owned 100 percent by the founding family.

Letters to the Editor, with the writer's name, address and daytime phone number, should be sent to:

Letters Editor, NEWSWEEK,
251 West 57th Street, New York, N.Y. 10019-1894,
or faxed to: (212) 445-4120
or e-mailed to: newi50a@prodigy.com
or letters@newsweek.com.

Letters may be edited for space and clarity.

**18** NEWSWEEK JANUARY 8, 1996

WUJSE

NEWSMAKERS

Fresh Face

HER FAMOUS PAPA HAS stepped out of the limelight for the moment, but **Linda Powell**, 30, is attracting crowds at Baltimore's Center Stage. She plays three roles in Douglas Turner Ward's 1965 "Day of Absence," a satire about race

Another Powell in performance

relations with an all-black cast in whiteface. Linda, who has acted professionally for seven years, refuses to trade on father Colin's celebrity and doesn't even mention him in her official bio. So how did the noncandidate and his wife like her performance? "Oh, you know parents," Linda says. "They thought the acting was wonderful. I hope that included me."

Ann in Agony

Dear Abby, I think I really blew it in that Dec. 4 New Yorker interview, where Chris Buckley asked about famous people I've met, like Pope John Paul II. I said he had the face of an angel and a sweet sense of humor, but he's a Polack and they're very antiwomen. Poles and Catholics got hopping mad at me, so I told them I was sorry. I said: "It's time to get out the wet noodle and give myself 40 lashes. I should not have used a slang term for Polish. It was poor judgment, and I apologize." You're my twin; do you think this is worth a column? Ann Landers

Once a mere mailbox, now a Sinatraphile's $12,000 treasure
# A Yard Sale, His Way

LIKE LOTS OF COUPLES, **Frank Sinatra** AND HIS WIFE, BARBARA, realized when they sold their Palm Springs home that love and marriage make a tender trap that breeds stuff. But such stuff! Jeweled Fabergé boxes, a 1976 Jaguar XJS, a Bosendorfer piano and a golf cart for two with built-in stereo. Too much to keep; time to call Christie's in New York. Among the homier Sinatrabilia auctioned off there last week was a metal mailbox with glass lettering. Expected to fetch about $800, it sold after fierce bidding for $12,000. With total proceeds of more than $2 million, it was a very good day.

JEAN SELIGMANN with TESSA NAMUTH

Fried Leno?

SHE'S HARDLY A GOURMET chef: her specialties include Continental Crockpot Chicken and Broccoli-Lima Bean Casserole. Nonetheless, **Dorothy Letterman Mengering** has

got herself a $1 million cookbook deal. "I never thought of this in my wildest dreams," she told NEWSWEEK. "Home Cooking' with Dave's Mom," due from Pocket

Books in time for Mother's Day, gathers 120 family favorites. It'll include a "lemon fluff" recipe from her personal trainer — and one from Dave, Mom hopes, for his legendary pesto.

Dave's mom

BEAUTIFUL
ESTHER LAUDER

"Always trying to see how for you can go is very exciting," says Elizabeth Hurley. "I always cross the line. It's more fun than getting dirty. It's more exciting than getting a girl who likes to push her luck."

THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT

S

Hurley goes from bride to brazen in a demure Lauder ad (left) and a risqué romp in British Esquire

Estée Lauder's Girl Shows Her... Versatility

AND YOU THOUGHT HUGH Grant, with his Hollywood hooker, was a Bad Boy. Now it turns out his elegant inamorata, **Elizabeth Hurley**, has a naughty streak as well. Except in her demure Estée Lauder ads—clad in sweet-girl pink amid cuddly

puppies, or in a chaste bridal gown—Hurley now seldom shows up in print wearing proper clothes. After shedding them for last month's French Vogue, she's down on all fours, decked out in skimpy dominatrix duds, in the current British

Esquire. A page later, wearing peek-a-boob black lingerie, she dangles a teddy bear between her thighs. The Lauder folks say Hurley's contract remains unchanged—but they may be wondering if she's really their cuppa tea after all.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: CHRISTIE'S NEW YORK, CHRISTOPHER LITTLE, ALBERT WATSON, NO CREDIT, RICHARD ANDERSON

0

DECEMBER 11, 1995 NEWSWEEK **63**

PHOTOS BY SIDNEY BALDWIN

‘I am not a crook’: A fall of Shakespearean dimensions

They lionize that traitor Ellsberg for steal-
ing secrets, but they jump all over me 'cause
it's Nixon . . . They've always hated Nixon."

The question is, how will we feel about
the man after seeing "Nixon," a 3¼-hour
epic biography of our most controversial,
even despised, president—made by our
most controversial (and, in some quarters,
despised) filmmaker, Oliver Stone? It's a
combustible combination. "You say Nixon
and Oliver Stone in the same breath and
people expect to go to a crucifixion,"
says Bill Brown, Stone's post-production
assistant.

There were good reasons to have trepi-
dations. This, after all, is the man who
in "JFK" perpetrated a wild and, to most
historians, dangerously woolly conspiracy
theory about the Kennedy assassination.
Could we trust history from the man who
transformed the dubious Jim Garrison into
a Capraesque hero? Who, in "The Doors,"
located the soul of the '60s in the marginally
talented Jim Morrison? Would he turn the
Nixon saga into a "Natural Born Killers"
orgy of expressionistic excess? Deep within
Stone is a Manichaean mind-set that has
always needed to divide the world into
good guys and villains. It's there in the alle-
gorical standoff between Willem Dafoe and
Tom Berenger in "Platoon"; in his demon-
ization of Clay Shaw in "JFK." If he was
willing to idealize Kennedy as the pure,
shining hope of recent American history,

wouldn't it be inevitable that Nixon, his
bitter foe, must emerge in Stone's Holly-
wood dialectic as the Prince of Darkness?

Prepare for a surprise. On the verge of
50, Oliver Stone has discovered complex-
ity, ambiguity and even a measure of re-
straint. He is still a filmmaker who paints in
broad and forceful strokes, but in "Nixon"
he puts his considerable talents in the serv-
ice of a character study of our 37th presi-
dent that aims for, and often achieves, the
dimensions of classical tragedy. This is
no whitewash of Nixon. He's there, played
by Anthony Hopkins, with all his malevo-

Blackmail: Stone invented this scene with Hunt (left) and Dean

lence, his paranoia and his ruthlessness in-
tact. His loyalists and his family won't like
this portrait. But his bitterest enemies may
not like it, either, for it forces the viewer
to acknowledge the twisted humanity of
the man. Stone's Nixon is appalling and
strangely moving, a man whose private and
public demons bring him down with an al-
most Shakespearean thud.

This "Nixon" effectively undermines the
work Nixon himself accomplished during
his long last years, during which he success-
fully set about rehabilitating his image. The
dignified elder statesman eulogized so ful-

somely at his funeral in
Yorba Linda, Calif., does not
figure in Stone's picture. Re-
opening old wounds, we're
forced to confront the man
who did more than anyone to
undermine the nation's re-
spect for the presidential of-
fice. What's going to startle
audiences is the intimacy of
the gaze: the vivid theatrical-
ity of the scenes puts us liter-
ally cheek by jowl with the
man, eavesdropping on his
bedroom conversations with
Pat, watching him crumble in
the face of her threat of di-
vorce. It's a strange sensa-
tion getting this up-close and
personal with our most deep-

66 NEWSWEEK DECEMBER 11, 1995

THE ARTS

ly impersonal president. It is one kind of shock to read about Nixon's desperate behavior in "The Final Days"; it's another to actually see him burst into sobs next to Henry Kissinger when he resigned, praying on the Lincoln Sitting Room floor. History and voyeurism collide in a powerfully unsettling way. That, more than anything else, is what's going to prove controversial about this movie, not the red herring of whether Stone has monkeyed with the facts.

"Nixon" begins with the Watergate plumbers and ends with the president's resignation. But it swings with brilliant audacity back and forth in time, searching in Nixon's Whittier, Calif., childhood and the broad sweep of his political career for clues to the paradoxical nature of his tenacious ambition and self-destructive flaws.

A key building block in Stone's psychological profile is Nixon's well-documented obsession with Jack and Bobby Kennedy, whose charisma and silver-spoon success stirred up his most dangerous insecurities, his outsider's paranoia about the Eastern establishment. Then, with savage irony, their deaths pave the way for his successful 1968 campaign. Near the end of the movie, his presidency in ruins, a haggard, beaten Nixon stands before a looming oil portrait of John F. Kennedy. It's the JFK of Camelot: at ease, upper-class handsome. Looking up at his old foe, Stone's defeated Nixon has his epiphany about the American people who seem so eager to cast him aside: "When they look at you, they see what they want to be. When they look at me, they see what they are."

Stone's screenplay, written with Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson, draws a link between Nixon's Kennedy fixation and his own tragic family dynamic. It was the early deaths of two brothers, 7-year-old Arthur and the Kennedyesque Harold, who died of TB at 23, that allowed Richard's parents to invest their meager savings, and their hopes, in the education of the future president.

The Nixon of the final days is haunted by the fact that death has purchased his rise to power. Remembering the sight of Bobby's fallen body on the floor of the Ambassador Hotel, he tells Haldeman (James Woods) that at that moment "I knew I'd be president. Death paved the way, didn't it? Vietnam. The Kennedys. It cleared a path

through the wilderness for me. Over the bodies. Four bodies ..."

These scenes are obviously a dramatist's invention, but like most of "Nixon," they emerge from well-documented research. Perhaps stung by the criticisms of "JFK," Stone seldom wanders into pure fabrication. There's an encounter on a Washington bridge between John Dean (David Hyde Pierce) and the plumber E. Howard Hunt (Ed Harris), who's blackmailing the White House, that never took place. (Stone

justifies it by saying it's a scene Nixon would have imagined happening.) There is a gaggle of rich, sinister, right-wing zealots gathered on a ranch in Texas, who seem to have wandered in off the set of "JFK," hinting darkly of Stone's signature conspiracies. ("Old habits die hard," laments "Nixon" production designer Victor Kempster, a veteran of four Stone films.) Most controversial will be Stone's theory of Nixon's involvement in the plot to assassinate Castro (page 68).

But none of these speculations is crucial to the film's power. Stone is smart enough to know that with this story the facts are

melodramatic enough without a Hollywood assist. What writer could have imagined Nixon's bizarre impromptu encounter session with young antiwar protesters at the Lincoln Memorial? Who could have invented his persecution of suspected spy Alger Hiss? The Checkers speech. His infamous "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore" concession speech when he lost the California governor's race in 1962. The cloak-and-dagger fiascoes of the Watergate cover-up. It's all here,

with cameo appearances by everyone from Martha Mitchell (Madeline Kahn) to J. Edgar Hoover (Bob Hoskins).

STONE SEEMS INTENT ON COLONIZING OUR MEMORIES OF THE '60S AND '70S IN AMERICA. FOR BETTER OR WORSE, HIS VISION OF VIETNAM IN "Platoon" AND "Born on the Fourth of July" — AS A MILITARY WHERE AMERICAN INNOCENCE WAS LED TO THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE — RE-SHAPED OUR VISION OF THE WAR AND OUR ATTITUDE ABOUT ITS VETS. IF Stone were a less powerful filmmaker, he'd be less hated: THE VISUAL IMPACT OF "JFK" SO EFFORTLESSLY overrides doubt that his myths lodge like stones of TRUTH IN THE POPULAR IMAGINATION, resetting the terms of the debate. Stone looms so large on the pop-cultural landscape in part because he's filling a vacuum: WHEN HOLLYWOOD pretends to be POLITICAL, IT'S MORE LIKELY TO OFFER THE FLUFFY LIBERAL PIPE DREAMS OF "THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT" OR THE cheerleader's notion of history served up in "Apollo 13." NEXT TO THE POLITE DO-GOODISM OF MOST SOCIAL-ISSUE FILMMAKERS, Stone's nearly messianic passion is singularly compelling.

But the Stone who made "Nixon" is no demagogue. The propagandist has been replaced by a bold portraitist. And ultimately the ambitious edifice of "Nixon" rests on the shoulders of the model who sits in for Nixon—the actor. IT IS THE EMOTIONAL COLORATION OF ANTHONY HOPKINS, NOT RICHARD NIXON, THAT WE CARRY AWAY. THE WELSH actor would hardly seem the choice to play the jowly, ski-sloped, Quaker from Whittier. HE DOESN'T LOOK LIKE HIM, HE ISN'T BUILT LIKE HIM, HE DOESN'T SOUND LIKE HIM. BUT ONCE THE INITIAL PERIOD OF ADJUSTMENT IS OVERCOME, Hopkins is Nixon. IT'S NOT IMITATION, IT'S ALCHEMY. HOPKINS grants us access to Nixon's wounded soul, in a way that probably the

H. R. Haldeman

He had honorable intentions, but he was one tough s.o.b. Tough from his job and an s.o.b. from being tough too long. —James Woods

Pat Nixon

She once said: 'If I were dying, I wouldn't tell anybody.' She had no self-pity. So I approached every scene with strength—always fighting. —Joan Allen

John Dean

What scares me most about John is that I can see myself making the same mistakes he did had I been in his position. —David Hyde Pierce

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DECEMBER 11, 1995 NEWSWEEK 67

THE ARTS

real man never could. He captures the physical awkwardness, the staccato rages, the chilling emotional repression and bad-salesman's bluster. It's a daredevil performance that at times teeters on the edge of buffoonery without ever falling over. As the real John Dean observes: "Nixon is a colder personality, much colder. And Hopkins humanizes him by being Tony Hopkins, who is not a cold person." It's Hopkins who sets the movie's emotional body temperature.

And it's Joan Allen's taut and uncanny Pat Nixon who partners him in some of the movie's finest scenes. The object of much scorn during her lifetime—she was Plastic Pat, the definition of uptight—the long-suffering wife gets her due in Allen's movingly brittle performance, which even seems to capture the exact tension of her neck muscles as she sits, with strained composure, listening to her husband's shameless Checkers speech.

THE BENCH OF ACTING TALENT here is broad and deep. Paul Sorvino's Machiavellian, publicity-hungry Kissinger will be the subject of much amusement in Washington power circles. He's the one actor to attempt an impersonation, and he gets the sepulchral Germanic rumble of the man to a T. The ferocity of Woods's rabidly loyal Haldeman plays off J. T. Walsh's softer, more subdued Ehrlichman, who surprisingly comes across as the moral conscience of the president's inner circle—a choice Stone says he made more for dramatic balance than out of historical research. (Or was it because Ehrlichman threatened to sue?) Hyde Pierce, from television's "Frasier," is dead-on as the natty John Dean, wriggling out of his role as the Watergate scapegoat-of-choice; and Mary Steenburgen is Nixon's sainted mother, who even appears—confirming the tragedy's Shakespearean ambitions—as an aparition to Nixon at the height of his impeachment-induced derangement.

Though Stone grew up a young Republican who early on supported Nixon, he turned violently against him after he served in Vietnam, never forgiving Nixon for prolonging and expanding the fighting. "Nixon" represents his emotional détente, a hard-won effort to discover compassion for the enemy. It's not a movie that's going to change anyone's politics, right or left, but it comes at an interesting moment in our national temper. In the Washington of Clinton and Gingrich, Dole and Buchanan, gearing up for a campaign mud bath, the demonization of one's political foes has reached an epic frenzy. The tragic intimacy of "Nixon" suggests a deeper, more humane way of regarding our leaders. Who would have thought Oliver Stone's "Nix-

# Whose Obsession Is It, Anyway?

Oliver Stone can't resist linking Nixon to JFK's assassination. But he's wrong. By Evan Thomas

OCU-DRAMAS BY AND LARGE MAKE a hash of history. Ambiguity and nuance are routinely sacrificed for dramatic pacing. But like it or not, movies and TV are the only way many Americans learn about the past. So, though purists may squirm, traditional notions of historical accuracy may have to be replaced by a cruder standard: does the film get the basic truth right, even if some (or most) of the facts are wrong?

Oliver Stone's 1991 movie, "JFK," flunked even this test. Stone's apparent thesis, that LBJ, the Pentagon and the CIA somehow conspired to kill President Kennedy, would be laughable if so many people didn't believe it (polls show that half of the country believes that the CIA played a role in killing Kennedy). "Nixon," on the other hand, is a much more credible effort. Richard Nixon was a Shakespearean tragedy. Stone had no need to embellish the drama. For the most part, he sticks to the known record, making good use of the White House tapes of Watergate fame for the dialogue. Made defensive by historians and journalists who derided the inaccuracy of "JFK," Stone has published an annotated script of his historical sources, most of them mainstream biographies and histories of the period, even before the movie arrives on the screen.

Still, Stone can't escape his favorite conspiracy theory. His Nixon is haunted by his supposed role in plots against Fidel Castro in the early 1960s—plots that somehow got out of control and killed John F. Kennedy. This ghost is not the only one spooking Nixon; he suffers in the movie, as he did in real life, from hubris, inner rage and profound insecurity. But his involvement in the assassination plots is made out to be Nixon's darkest secret. It is what Alfred Hitchcock called a "macguffin," a central plot-moving device. "It might as well have been 'Rosebud,'" Stone told NEWSWEEK, referring to the psychological clue that drove Orson Welles's "Citizen Kane."

In one of the opening scenes of "Nixon," the president is talking to his aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, trying to

figure out how to cover up White House involvement in the Watergate break-in. Nixon is visibly shaken to learn that one of the White House "plumbers" arrested at the Watergate is E. Howard Hunt. "On the list of horribles, I know what he is," Nixon mutters. In a later scene he explains that Hunt is a former CIA man who worked on the plot to assassinate Fidel Castro. The plot, Nixon says, originated in the Eisenhower White House when Nixon was vice president. The CIA hired the Mafia to kill

What did he know as vice president?
With Ike

D

68 NEWSWEEK DECEMBER 11, 1995

Castro, but as Haldeman later explains to Ehrlichman, "in some crazy way it got turned on Kennedy." Nixon doesn't know exactly why or how Kennedy was killed, but he is obsessed with his own role in creating the original assassination machinery to get Castro—"Track 2," he calls it ("Track 1" was the CIA's failed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs). Nixon refers to Track 2 as a "beast" that got out of control. (It is also the name of Stone's production company.) In an early version of Stone's script, Nixon hallucinates about "The Beast," "an image of evil that will recur

gest that Nixon had anything at all—even indirectly—to do with Kennedy's death.

Legitimate historians have wondered about Nixon's role in the assassination plots against Castro, but no one has offered evidence directly linking Nixon. Stone cites two sources. One is H. R. Haldeman, who wrote in his 1978 memoir, "The Ends of Power," that during Watergate he suspected that Nixon was obsessed with a CIA plot that somehow led to the assassination of JFK. But Haldeman later disavowed this version, telling journalist Chris Matthews that his ghostwriter, Jo-

not, although he probably knew about their existence.

The man who conceived of and actually ran the CIA's assassination plots, Richard Bissell, told NEWSWEEK that Nixon played no role. During the course of several interviews before his death in 1994, Bissell recalled briefing Nixon in 1960 about some of the agency's psychological-warfare plans against Castro, but the CIA's former chief of covert action says he never discussed the assassination plots with anyone at the White House. It was Bissell, a supremely self-assured operator who routinely acted with only the gauziest authority from the White House, who had the idea of hiring the Mafia. Bissell wanted the mob to stage a gangland-style execution of the Cuban leader. Bissell said he is "certain" that his boss, CIA Director Allen Dulles, did not tell anyone in the White House about the Mafia plot. In that earlier era, policymakers did not want to know too much about what the CIA was up to.

**'Psywar' campaign:** The CIA's own still-classified secret history of the Bay of Pigs, which I was permitted to examine for my book on the early days of the CIA, "The Very Best Men," also examines Nixon's role. The CIA history records that Bissell briefed Nixon on a "psywar" campaign to embarrass Castro in March 1960 (by such actions as trying to make his beard fall out). But it concludes that Nixon was not involved in the assassination plots. Bissell did not even come up with the idea of hiring the Mafia to kill Castro until September 1960, by which time Nixon was preoccupied with his election campaign against JFK.

It is impossible, of course, to absolutely dispose of Stone's elaborate theory linking Nixon, the CIA, the mob and the Kennedy assassination. Nixon did eventually learn of the assassination plots, possibly after he became president, and it's true that the White House tapes recorded him saying that an investigation of the CIA's role in the Bay of Pigs could produce a larger scandal. "You open up that scab and you uncover a lot of pus," said Nixon. But in the movie, Stone conveniently cuts out what else Nixon said: that the CIA plots "have nothing to do with ourselves."

In an interview with NEWSWEEK last week, Stone conceded that he is "speculating" about Track 2. He even said that the actual facts surrounding the Kennedy assassination didn't matter—that the larger truth is that Nixon was concealing something that made him gradually self-destruct. Maybe so. But it seems more likely that Stone is projecting his own demons onto Nixon. There is no particular reason to believe that Nixon was obsessed with JFK's assassination. But Oliver Stone certainly is.

**Martha Mitchell**

She was a dare-devil—defiant, wild and outspoken. But her husband, her children—everyone—turned against her. —Madeline Kahn

**Henry Kissinger**

He said the script made him look like 'a major slimeball,' but he liked it—he thought it accurately represented Nixon. —Paul Sorvino

**J. Edgar Hoover**

The whole basis of my portrayal was self-loathing. He hated himself so much that he thought the world must be as bad as he. —Bob Hoskins

throughout the film,” according to the staging instructions. Mercifully, this operatic touch was dropped from the final film.

The theory that Nixon was obsessed with Track 2 is a provocative one, but there is no strong evidence to support his early knowledge of the CIA's assassination plots. It is possible, as historian Fawn Brodie suggests, that Nixon suffered from some kind of "survivor's guilt" over the deaths of the two Kennedys, whom he envied and resented. But Stone is really reaching to sug-

seph DiMona, had simply invented it. (The book was drafted by DiMona while Haldeman was in prison for his Watergate crimes.) Stone's other source is E. Howard Hunt, who wrote in his memoirs that Nixon played some kind of supervisory role in CIA operations aimed at overthrowing Castro. But even Hunt, a fabulist who has written some 50 spy novels, does not suggest that Nixon played any role in the assassination plots. Stone makes Hunt out to be involved in the plots: in fact he was

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on" would end up a healing gesture?

A year ago, over the Thanksgiving holidays, the legendary director Billy Wilder encountered Stone at a dinner and asked him what his next project was going to be. When told, the owlish veteran frowned. "Oliver, please," he teased. "Nixon. Nixon. Nobody likes Nixon. Why would you do Nixon?" It was a skepticism shared by many in Hollywood. Indeed, "Nixon" almost didn't get made.

Stone had been developing two other projects that ultimately collapsed—the musical "Evita" and a movie about Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega. On the back burner he was developing a Nixon project with the writing team of Rivele and Wilkinson. The turning point came with Nixon's death in April 1994: suddenly he knew this would be his top priority. At his Telluride, Colo., home, Stone immersed himself in research, with the help of Eric Hamburg, a former Washington congressional aide. Hamburg's office overflowed with Nixoniana, from wacko tracts like Len Colodny and Robert Gettlin's "Silent Coup: The Removal of a President" (which postulates that the search for a call-girl ring brought

down the Nixon presidency) to a slew of reputable histories.

And Stone sought out the real characters who would people his movie. Last March he flew to Washington with Hamburg, Hopkins and Woods to talk to power brokers who knew Nixon—from lawyer Leonard Garment to Elliot Richardson and Robert McNamara. (Richardson, who resigned as Nixon's attorney general in the infamous "Saturday Night Massacre," told Stone that Nixon "had greatness within his grasp, but he had the defects of his qualities"—a lovely line given to Kissinger in the film.) Alexander Butterfield and John Dean were hired by Stone to fact-check Nixon's manerisms and White House arcana. (Both make cameo appearances in the film.) But some public figures were worried about how they would appear. Former CIA director Richard Helms had a lawyer write Stone. Though scenes with Helms, as played by Sam Waterston, were filmed, none made the final cut. Stone insists it's because the film was too long.

Getting it financed, however, proved daunting. Warner Bros., which released Stone's last three movies, "saw it," said

Stone, "as a bunch of unattractive older white men sitting around in suits, with a lot of dialogue and not enough action." Nor were they ecstatic about a Welshman playing an American president. For obvious reasons, they would have preferred the other two names on Stone's original list—Tom Hanks and Jack Nicholson. (Try running those versions through your mind.)

It was seeing Hopkins in "The Remains of the Day" and "Shadowlands" that intrigued Stone. "The isolation of Tony is what struck me. The loneliness. I felt that was the quality that always marked Nixon. He played repression perfectly in 'Remains of the Day,' and there was a lot of Nixon in that, too."

Stone was still looking for money a week before shooting was to begin, when he cut a deal with Andrew Vajna's Cinergi and Disney's Hollywood Pictures to supply the $43 million budget (about the average cost of a big studio film these days). One way Stone saved money was to lease the sets of the White House from "The American President," though they were modified to bring them down to real scale.

Several of the actors spoke with the men they were playing. Alexander Haig was

# Tough Guys Do Talk

## Stone on his father and Nixon. And those still-secret tapes.

**W**HILE WORKING ON "Nixon," Oliver Stone talked several times to NEWSWEEK about the movie. Excerpts:

**On Stone's late father, Louis, to whom "Nixon" is dedicated:**

I've deepened my awareness of why [Nixon] lied, why he had to be the way he was. [I know] because of my father and that generation of men who hid these things, who repressed many of these feelings that we, a newer generation, let out. In a secret way, ["Nixon"] is a study of my father, too. Nixon was tough. Because he had been deprived in his youth of something fundamental, like—call it love. He felt this inadequacy, this terror... of having to always be the good boy... the truth teller... the achiever. It was second nature to him; that he had to be tough. I miss those old

MICHAEL GRECO—STOCK

**This time he's not in your face: The director is only being refined for the sake of communicating the message**

guys, those tough guys. I do.

**On Stone's 1994 "Natural Born Killers":**

"NBK" was over the top, but, I hope, in a positive sense. Opera. Put it in your face: this

is society now. Exaggerated but definitely on purpose. In "Nixon," I'm not trying to be refined for the sake of being refined; it's just for the sake of communicating the message.

"NBK" was part of the cul-

ture then: stupid ice skaters fighting; the woman cutting off the guy's penis and being declared innocent. "NBK" was about a slice of that time. Hyperbolic. Almost clumsily done. It was overkill.

**On the film "All The President's Men":**

At first, I thought, Right on! Only later did I find out it was all bull— and that The Washington Post is completely glamorized. In our film, what brings [Nixon] down is the inexorable machinery set in progress... Dean, Butterfield, Ervin, Sirica, Cox, Richardson. He was inevitably going to come down. [Woodward and Bernstein] were part of the machinery. They kept the fires smoldering, but the fires would have continued on.

**At the end of "Nixon," a voice (Stone's own) comes on: "Nixon fought successfully to protect his tapes... Out of 4,000 hours, only 60 hours have been made public." The tapes remain very much on Stone's mind:**

A picture's a picture. But what about the f—ing tapes? We [taxpayers] paid for them.

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"charming, with a great sense of humor," says Powers Boothe. "Of the eight presidents he had served, he said Nixon was by far the brightest." Hyde Pierce was in the awkward position of playing a man, John Dean, who was often on the set. "Oliver very thoughtfully didn't have John around when I was shooting the major scenes. That would have been tremendously intimidating. Dean never gave me a review. He did tell me once that the knot in my tie was a bit too large. When they'd asked Dean who he wanted to play him, he said Kevin Costner."

Sorvino tried out his accent on Kissinger. "I did the voice for him and he said, 'You're good.'" J. T. Walsh decided not to contact Ehrlichman. "He was a little testy, and he was threatening to sue." Ehrlichman had seen an early version of the script, and wasn't happy. "Twenty-five pages were bootlegged to me," he explains. "I thought it was awful. It put my character into plot situations that never occurred—and very much to my disadvantage." When told that in the film he emerges as the conscience of the White House, Ehrlichman was surprised—that wasn't in the script he'd read.

HALDEMAN'S no longer alive, but Woods did some historical eavesdropping. "We had access to the real tapes that weren't even available to the public, I won't tell you how, and when you hear Haldeman commiserating in the demise of trusted friends, the coldbloodedness reminds you of those gangster movies where the Mafia kingpins sit around and discuss the impending demise of the arch enemy."

Hopkins endured a tumultuous drama of his own during the making of "Nixon." The part was huge—"This is more lines than 'King Lear'," he wailed to Stone—and the burden of playing an American president whose mannerisms were known to all weighed heavily on him. From day one he harbored a fear that he couldn't pull it off. Stone recalls an elevator ride on the way to lunch with Hopkins and Sorvino, a wicked vocal mimic. "How am I doing?" Hopkins asks Sorvino. "Not well." "What do you mean?" "Uh, it's your accent," Sorvino says. "You're doing it all wrong. This is the

way you should be doing Nixon." And Sorvino launches into an operatic Nixon routine. "By the end of the lunch," Stone says, "Tony's practically sweating bullets. He's thinking about the first plane back to London. Comes back up here. 'Oliver, I can't go on. I'm sorry, I have to leave'." Now Stone is sweating bullets, envisioning his $43 million production going up in smoke. Stone sits his demoralized star down for a pep talk. "This is like the infantry. You don't look at the whole picture.

Stone's approach to his incendiary material. The scene was a macho dinner for Nixon's inner circle on the presidential yacht; the menu was New York strip steak and red wine. Nixon and his men—Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Ron Ziegler, Kissinger and Mitchell—are discussing the rioting at Kent State that followed the invasion of Cambodia. "Dead kids! How the hell did we ever give the Democrats a weapon like this?"

But Nixon hangs tough. "I mean, if Cambodia doesn't work, we'll bomb Hanoi if we

have to." Nixon looks down at his steak. It is oozing blood. "Goddamn it! Who the hell cooked this steak?" Then, to his valet: "Manolo, there's blood all over my plate." He throws down his knife and fork and backs away, tossing his napkin into a growing pool of blood.

Stone shot the ending to the scene a half-dozen times on that cool night in July. The director of "Natural Born Killers" had to decide how hard to hit the emblematic blood. He tried a broad spectrum of sanitary possibilities: from a dainty dribble to over-the-top, with blood splattering from plate to tablecloth in symbolic condemnation of Nixon's Vietnam excesses. "Pour it on!" the director exclaimed. But when he made his final cut, four months later, he went for restraint: blood oozes noticeably but not egregiously onto the presidential china.

Has our most outrageous cinematic provocateur really calmed down? Robert Richardson, his gifted cinematographer, thinks so: "Oliver is moving toward something that is more at peace." Perhaps. Or maybe it just depends on his mood. Another day on the set he was his old feisty self, railing about the popular "Apollo 13." "An homage to bull--- patriotism," he muttered. "The f---ing critics, they all loved it. I can't make movies anymore, I guess."

Beleaguered, defensive, put-upon, here was one of the most successful and acclaimed directors in Hollywood casting himself in the role of endangered outsider. And sounding perilously like the man he was making a movie about. You won't have Stone to kick around anymore. And maybe, finally, that's why "Nixon" is as strong and surprising and empathetic as it is, because Stone has made the imaginative leap any true artist must: he's seen himself in Nixon.

With YAHLIN CHANG

It looks like too much. Get through that line. You slog it out, and then you get confidence."

Hopkins stayed, ultimately settling inside Nixon's skin. His method is fanatical. "I brainwash myself with a scene," Hopkins explains, going through each one 200 times. By the last day of shooting—on a boat off Long Beach, Calif.—Hopkins was in a jesting mood. As some of his colleagues took a water taxi back to shore, he rushed to the railing and cried in mock agony, "Help me! Get me off this f---ing movie!"

But he had one more scene to perform for Stone, one that would tell a lot about

John Mitchell

Mitchell was a baaad guy. He was an ass-kisser and an ass-.... He was a dangerous man who did the country wrong.
—E.G. Marshall

Alexander Haig

He dressed in suits of the latest style. His hair was perfect, he was tan. He's a very vain guy and he's proud of himself. — Powers Boothe

John Ehrlichman

He was a foil to the slavish adoration of Nixon, with this meek moral voice that would ask the questions no one else asked.
—J. T. Walsh

72 NEWSWEEK DECEMBER 11, 1995

SIDNEY BALDWIN (3), J. P. LAFFONT — SYGMA, NO CREDIT, NEWSWEEK