Hi! I'm Dick Nixon. Hi. Where you from? Syracuse. Oh yeah, the Orangemen. Now there's a...
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[Nixon is making an impromptu nighttime visit to the Lincoln Memorial, where a group of young protestors have camped out]
Richard M. Nixon:
Hi! I'm Dick Nixon.
[He starts shaking hands with the incredulous protesters]
Richard M. Nixon:
[to one young protester]
Hi. Where you from?
Student #1:
Syracuse.
Richard M. Nixon:
Oh yeah, the Orangemen. Now there's a football program. Jim Brown. And that other tailback... the one with the blood disease.
Student #1:
Ernie Davis.
Richard M. Nixon:
Yeah, right, right. I used to play a little ball myself at Whittier. 'Course, they used to use me as a tackling dummy.
Young Student:
[Stepping forward]
We didn't come here to talk about football.
Richard M. Nixon:
Yeah, I understand that. How old are you, young lady?
Young Student:
19.
Richard M. Nixon:
Yeah. Well, probably most of you think I'm a real SOB. I know that. I understand how you feel, but you know, I want peace too. But peace with honor.
Student #2:
What does that mean?
Richard M. Nixon:
Well, you can't have peace without a price. Sometimes you have to be willing to fight for peace, and sometimes to die.
Student #2:
Yeah? Tell that to the GI's who are gonna die tomorrow in Vietnam.
Student #1:
What you have to understand, Mr. Nixon, is we're willing to die for what we believe in.
[the other protesters say "Yeah!"]
Richard M. Nixon:
[Turns and points to the statue of Lincoln]
Look, that man up there, he lived in similar times. He had chaos and civil war and hatred between the races. Sometimes I go to the Lincoln room at the White House and just pray. But you know, liberals act like idealism belongs to them. That's not true. My family went Republican because Lincoln freed the slaves. My grandmother was an abolitionist, those Quakers who founded Whittier, my hometown... to abolish slavery. They were, y'know, conservative Bible folk, but they had a powerful sense of right and wrong. And 40 years ago, I was like you, looking for answers.
[the protesters scoff, unconvinced. Just then a gang of Nixon's aides, led by Haldeman, arrive and push through the crowd to come to his side]
Richard M. Nixon:
It's OK, Bob, we're just rapping, my friends and I. In fact we agree on a lot of things, don't we?
Young Student:
No, we don't! You say you want to end the war, so why don't you?
Richard M. Nixon:
Change always comes slowly. I pulled out more than half the troops. I'm trying to cut the military budget for the first time in 30 years. I want a volunteer army. But it's also a question of American credibility, our position in the world.
Student #1:
Come on, Mr. Nixon. It's a civil war between Vietnamese.
Young Student:
You don't want the war, we don't want the war, the Vietnamese don't want the war, so why does it go on?
[Nixon hesitates. Haldeman whispers "We should be going" to him]
Young Student:
You can't stop it, can you? Even if you wanted to. Because it's not you, it's the system. The system won't let you stop it.
Richard M. Nixon:
There's... there's more at stake here than what you want, or what I want.
Young Student:
Then what's the point? What's the point of being President? You're powerless!
Richard M. Nixon:
[Firmly]
No. No, I'm not powerless. Because, because I understand the system, I believe I can, uh, I can control it. Maybe not control it totally, but tame it enough to make it do some good.
Young Student:
Sounds like you're talking about a wild animal.
Richard M. Nixon:
Yeah, maybe I am.
Transcript
Whittaker Chambers
telling me back in '48.
He was a man who suffered greatly.
And he said, "On the road of the
informer, it is always night."
Now, it's beyond you, or even me, John.
It's the country. It's the presidency.
- I understand that, sir.
- You know how I feel about loyalty.
I'm not gonna let any of my people
go to jail, that I promise you.
The important thing is to keep this
away from Haldeman and Ehrlichman.
I'm trusting you to do this, John, and
I have complete confidence in you. OK?
- I'll work on it.
- OK.
Say hi to that wife of yours,
will you? Good.
- Shit.
- It happens.
The place is a shambles.
Hey!
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.
Today, in one of the most difficult
decisions of my presidency
I accepted the resignations of two of my
closest associates in the White House,
Bob Haldeman and John Ehrlichman,
two of the finest public servants
it has been my privilege to know.
More light, Chief?
No, Bob.
Six bodies.
The counsel to the president,
John Dean, has also resigned.
I will not place the
blame on subordinates,
on people whose zeal
exceeded their judgment,
and who may have done wrong in a cause
they deeply believed to be right.
In any organization, the man at the top
must bear the responsibility.
That responsibility, therefore, belongs
here in this office and I accept that.
There can be no whitewash
at the White House.
Two wrongs do not make a right.
Now, I love America.
God bless America, and God bless each
and every one of you.
And we're clear.
Out.
Thank you.
Are you going to Key Biscayne?
- Yeah.
- Excuse me, sir.
When?
Tomorrow.
Ron told me that, um...
Bob Haldeman has been calling,
but you won't talk to him.
If he's convicted,
will you pardon him?
No.
Why are you cutting yourself off
from the rest of us?
Can't we discuss this?
- What exactly do you want to discuss?
- You. What you're doing.
- What am I doing?
- I wish I knew. You're hiding.
- Hiding what?
- Whatever it is you've been hiding.
You're letting it destroy you, Dick.
You won't even ask for help...
Manolo, uh...
Mrs. Nixon's finished.
I am the only one left, Dick.
If you don't even talk to me...
Brezhnev's coming in three days.
I don't wanna deal with them
and him and you.
How much more?
How much more is it going to cost?
When do the rest of us
stop paying off your debts?
I'd like to finish my dinner in peace
if it's not too much to ask.
No, it isn't.
I won't interfere with you anymore.
I'm finished trying.
Thank you.
"Thank you"?
Dick, sometimes I understand
why they hate you.
The committee will come to order.
Counsel will call the first witness.
Mr. John W. Dean, III.
After I departed the president's office
I went to a meeting with Haldeman
and Ehrlichman to discuss the matter.
The sum and substance
of that discussion was,
the way to handle this now
was for Mitchell to step forward.
It was a disappointment to me because
it was quite clear that the cover-up,
as far as the White House was...
was concerned, was going to continue.
Why is he doing this?
He's our goddamn lawyer.
If he had a problem,
why didn't he come talk with us?
Remember, the weasel's got no proof.
It's still an informer's word
against the president's.
Were all indictable
for obstruction of justice.
That was the reason I was disagreeing
with all that was being discussed.
Give 'em hell, general.
Mao taught me in 1963...
if I have nuclear weapons...
let 400 million Chinese die...
300 million will be left.
- Mao!
- Yeah.
I can tell you what happened.
You want names? I can give you names.
Haldeman.
I'm talking about the president.
Clip duration: 413 seconds
Views: 357
Timestamp in movie: 00h 00m 00s
Uploaded: 21 January, 2021
Genres: biography, drama, history
Summary: A biographical story of former U.S. President Richard Nixon, from his days as a young boy, to his eventual Presidency, which ended in shame.
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Actors
04:38 It's been a long time
00:41 Can I ask you a question
00:12 Presidents don't threaten
00:12 The president can bomb anybody he likes
00:14 I think I'm going to throw up
00:22 Those Wall Street bastards
00:13 I want to see him
00:13 But Nixon can't
00:24 Did you cover it up
00:05 I'm in charge here
00:19 You got people dying because he didn't make the varsity...
00:08 When do the rest of us stop PAYING OFF YOUR DEBTS
00:08 I hope I haven't let you down
00:28 Sooner or later
00:08 Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac
00:48 I'm afraid we have another problem
00:43 I want you to get away from this madhouse
00:18 It turns out one of the people implicated is still on the...
00:54 When I saw Bobby lying there on the floor
00:11 They stole it fair and square