Nixon the Underdog

Last night, I watched Frost/Nixon, which is about journalist David Frost's historically significant interviews of Richard Nixon, not long after Nixon had resigned from the Presidency due to the Watergate scandal.

A poignant scene in the movie is when Nixon calls Frost on the telephone one night. Nixon is drunk, and he rants to Frost about elitists who have turned up their noses at both Nixon and Frost. Nixon was not a part of the Ivy League, and he resented John F. Kennedy because Kennedy was born into a life of privilege. Nixon, however, had to work for every ounce of prestige that he got, and even when he got it, the elitists whose praise he coveted did not respect him.

Prior to and during the Nixon interviews, David Frost was considered a mere entertainer. People expected him to throw softball questions at Nixon, rather than the tough questions that so many wanted answered in order for the United States to arrive at a state of closure. And so, in a sense, Nixon was rooting for David Frost to succeed. In Nixon's mind, both he and David Frost were underdogs, attempting to rise above the scorn of the establishment. And yet, Nixon realized that either he or Frost would succeed: if Frost succeeded in conducting a hard-hitting interview, then that would mean Nixon's disgrace. If Frost failed and Nixon succeeded in rehabilitating his image, then Nixon could re-enter public life in some capacity. Nixon could identify with Frost, but only one of them could win, and Nixon promised to give Frost the fight of his life.

At the end of the movie, after Frost had conducted a successful interview and was throwing parties, Nixon asked Frost if he actually enjoyed all those parties. Nixon then lamented that he himself was not born with the gift of charm---the ability to get people to like him---and that he was never good at small talk. Consequently, he envied David Frost.

I've often identified with Nixon, as well as admired him. Here was a man with a great sense of insecurity and introversion. He never felt comfortable in his own skin. He differed from John F. Kennedy in that things didn't come easily to him. Women flocked to Kennedy, but Nixon for a long time drove Pat on her dates with other men before she finally fell in love with him and agreed to marry him. Nixon got outside of his comfort zone and put himself in leadership positions when he was in high school and college. When he ran for the U.S. Senate against an incumbent, he put a lot of research into his debate preparation, and that really showed in the debate.

Unlike Kennedy, Nixon didn't have charisma, but he was a reliable hard worker who knew what he was talking about when it came to governance and policy. He could succinctly articulate various points of view when he was arriving at a decision. As different experts have remarked, Nixon could have easily held his own as a chair at a prestigious academic institution. In the real David Frost interviews, Nixon held his own as the lawyer that he was, even though Frost got Nixon to apologize to the American people.

Although Nixon was stiff and socially-awkward, he tried to reach out to people, and he somehow managed to succeed in a profession that demands extroversion: politics. Nixon could also be humble and warm. One scene in the Frost/Nixon movie was when Nixon remarked that he doesn't say "son of a b***h" anymore out of deference for his butler, who liked dogs. This butler also worked for Nixon in the White House. I admire Nixon for not being a social snob---for getting to know the people who worked for him.

In the movie Nixon, Nixon says to a portrait of John F. Kennedy, "When people look at you, they see what they want to be; when they look at me, they see what they are." I can understand why Nixon would envy Kennedy, with all of Kennedy's glamor and charisma. As Nixon's butler said in that movie, Kennedy made him "see the stars." But I admire Nixon more because Nixon had to struggle, and he accomplished a lot, in terms of his career and his accomplishments for the American people. Nixon is an inspiration.