Nixon interviews
The Nixon interviews were a series of conversations between former American president Richard Nixon and British journalist David Frost, produced by John Birt. They were recorded and broadcast on television and radio in four programs in 1977.[1] The interviews later became the central subject of Peter Morgan's play Frost/Nixon in 2006.
Background
Nixon's chief of staff
Interviews
The 12 interviews began on March 23, 1977, with three interviews per week over four weeks. They were taped for more than two hours a day on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, for a total of 28 hours and 45 minutes.
Broadcasts
The interviews were broadcast in the US and some other countries in 1977.[2] They were directed by Jorn Winther[19] and edited into four programs, each 90 minutes long. In addition to being televised, the interviews were heard over radio via the Mutual Broadcasting System.
On Sunday evening May 1, 1977, CBS's 60 Minutes broadcast[20] an interview of David Frost by Mike Wallace. This was the same network that Frost had "scooped" (CBS had negotiated to interview Nixon, but unlike the news organization, Frost was willing to pay for the sessions). Frost talked about looking forward to Nixon's "cascade of candour."
The interviews were broadcast in four parts, with a fifth part containing material edited from the earlier parts broadcast months later:[1][21]
Part | Broadcast | Content |
---|---|---|
Part 1 | May 4, 1977 | Watergate[22] |
Part 2 | May 12, 1977 | Nixon and the world |
Part 3 | May 19, 1977 | War at home and abroad |
Part 4 | May 26, 1977 | Nixon, the man |
Part 5 | September 10, 1977 | additional material from parts 1–4 |
The premiere episode drew 45 million viewers, the largest television audience for a political interview in history — a record that still stands today.[23]
In part 3, Frost asked Nixon whether the president could do something illegal in certain situations such as against antiwar groups and others if he decides "it's in the best interests of the nation or something". Nixon replied: "Well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal", by definition.[24][25]
Part 5 opened with Frost's blunt question, "Why didn't you burn the tapes?"[26]
Aftermath
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DVD releases
There have been several releases on DVD featuring different edited presentations of the Interviews, the first of which is generally focused on clips from the first segment on Watergate with additional commentary, whereas the extended release features the "complete" interviews in the original four (and the later fifth) segments just as they were broadcast in 1977. In particular, footage from the Frost/Nixon interviews were included on the 2009 DVD release of Frost/Nixon, which presented a dramatized re-creation of the interviews and the events surrounding them; the reverse of the keep case explains that the footage was included primarily for the sake of comparing it to the film's depiction. However, it is still unclear whether or not the (more than 20 hours of) tape cut from all the publicly released editions will ever be made available to the public.[citation needed]
- 1 disc edition, 85 minutes ("Frost/Nixon: The Watergate Interviews")
- 2 disc edition, 377 minutes ("Frost/Nixon: The Complete Interviews")
References
- ^ a b c d e "Nixon Talks". Time Magazine. May 9, 1977. Archived from the original on May 12, 2007. Retrieved January 5, 2009.
- ^ a b c d "Transcript of CNN's Larry King Live: Frost, Schieffer, Bradlee Discuss Extensive Nixon Interview". CNN. February 7, 2001. Retrieved January 4, 2009.
- ^ "James Reston Jr. On The 'Frost/Nixon' Interviews". npr.org. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- ^ Janusonis, Michael (January 23, 2009). "Is Frost/Nixon true? Let's ask PC grad Jack Brennan — he was there". The Providence Journal. Archived from the original on February 1, 2009. Retrieved January 25, 2009.
- ^ "David Can Be a Goliath". Time. May 9, 1977. Archived from the original on February 7, 2007. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
- ^ "Frost/Nixon interview". Radio National. May 19, 2008. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- ^ "Wednesday 21 May 2008". Radio National. May 21, 2008. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- ^ "Frost, Nixon and Me". smithsonianmag.com. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- ^ "Trial by Television". July 15, 2007. Retrieved May 15, 2017 – via washingtonpost.com.
- ^ "The ArtsPaper Interview: James Reston Jr. on 'Frost/Nixon'". palmbeachartspaper.com. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- ^ "The History Behind the Film and Play 'FrostNixon': – FindLaw". Findlaw. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- ISBN 978-0307394200.
- ^ Multiple sources:[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]
- ^ bu.edu. "Robert Zelnick : Chairman, Department of Journalism; Professor of Journalism". Archived from the original on October 23, 2003. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ISBN 978-0-06-144586-6.
- ^ a b Barnes, Mike (November 13, 2009). "'Nixon Interviews' producer Marvin Minoff dies". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved December 2, 2009.
- ^ "Producer Marvin Minoff dies at 78 – Worked on Frost-Nixon TV interview specials". Variety. November 13, 2009. Retrieved December 2, 2009.
- ^ Interview with David Frost included with the 2008 DVD re-release of the original 1977 Nixon interviews
- ^ "Tricky Dick and the Dane: The 40th Anniversary of the Frost-Nixon Interviews". kcet.org. May 5, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- ^ 1977 60 Minutes Mike Wallace interview of David Frost on YouTube.
- ^ "Behind The Scenes Of The Frost/Nixon Interviews". npr.org. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- ^ "The Smoking Gun Tape". www.watergate.info. Archived from the original on May 1, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- ^ "Profile:Sir David Frost". UK News. BBC. May 28, 2005. Retrieved December 13, 2008.
- ^ "Nixon's Views on Presidential Power: Excerpts from an Interview with David Frost". landmarkcases.org. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
- ^ "Transcript of David Frost's Interview with Richard Nixon". Teaching American History. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
- ^ Hughes, Ken. "Why Didn't Nixon Burn the Tapes?". Presidential Recordings Program. University of Virginia. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved December 13, 2008.
External links
- David Frost Interviews Richard Nixon at IMDb
- "British presenter David Frost taking on Nixon". Summer Breakfast. Radio National. January 5, 2009. Archived from the originalon January 31, 2009.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the story is how a team of journalists prepped Frost to take on Nixon in the interview. One of those journalists was Bob Zelnick, played by Oliver Platt in the [Frost/Nixon] film. The real Bob Zelnick speaks to us on Summer Breakfast.