History Film / Nixon

** And the other question that Nixon ask himself (and never could answer):

* InuniverseNickname: Richard Nixon's infamous moniker; "Tricky Dick".

* MenDontCry: Nixon believes in this and says it word for word, adding that "you don't cry, you fight.". Averted during his final moments at the helm.

* AlasPoorVillain: As controversial as he was, the last hour of the film will make you feel sorry for Nixon. He suffers a physical and mental breakdown, alienates himself from his family and loses most of his close allies. By the time he resigns, he's a broken, sobbing man who can barely keep a hold on himself as he leaves the White House.
* AluminiumChristmasTrees: Some of the movie's weirdest, least plausible moments actually happened in RealLife.
** While it might seem too incredible to be true, Richard Nixon genuinely did happen to be in Dallas, Texas the day before President Kennedy arrived, and left the city mere hours before Kennedy arrived and was assassinated. While he probably ''didn't'' meet with a cabal of wealthy oilmen and Cuban exiles who were involved with the assassination, this little fact has nevertheless grabbed the attention of numerous conspiracy theorists.
** Nixon's nighttime visit to the Lincoln Memorial, where he chats awkwardly with a group of unimpressed antiwar protesters, really did happen in May 1970, soon after the Kent State shootings. If anything the real event was even stranger; Nixon went afterwards to the Capitol Building where he gave Manolo an impromptu tour, and then to a Washington restaurant for breakfast, where he was finally corralled by his staff and convinced to return to the White House.
** According to Woodward and Bernstein's ''The Final Days'', the climactic scenes of Nixon talking to portraits of past presidents and asking Henry Kissinger to pray with him in the Oval Office occurred during his last few days in office.

* AmbiguousDisorder: This portrayal of Nixon is a virtual catalogue of neuroses. He's paranoid and [[NeverMyFault unwilling to take blame]], [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex constantly tries to boost his own scarce self-esteem]], [[TheResenter holds grudges towards almost everyone]], has worrying mood swings and no matter how much power he gains, it's never enough. In RealLife Nixon is known to have suffered from depression and occasionally saw a psychiatrist, [[http://articles.latimes.com/2001/jan/15/local/me-12618 Arnold Hutschnecker]], before becoming president.

* NiceToTheWaiter: Nixon has a friendly and humanizing relationship with Manolo, his valet.

-->'''John Ehrlichman:''' Well, sir, it turns out one of the people implicated is still on the White House payroll.
-->'''Richard M. Nixon:''' Who? Not another damn Cuban?
-->'''H. R. Haldeman:''' No sir. A guy named Hunt. Howard Hunt, sir.
-->'''Richard M. Nixon:''' [Fear creeping on his face] Hunt? Howard Hunt?

* TenMinuteRetirement: Nixon promises his wife he's quitting politics after his defeat in 60, but then he runs again in 62. Afterwards he retires to a civilian life when Pat asks for a divorce. Nixon does a comeback in 68.
-->'''Jack Jones:''' Dick... your country needs you.
-->'''Nixon:''' Unfortunately, the country's not available right now.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The hints towards various groups involvement in the assassination of the Kennedys is this for those who agree with the Warren Commission report. Stone (through Howard Hunt) also claims that Nixon personally ordered the Watergate break-in, an argument few historians would endorse.[[note]]While Nixon was loosely aware of, and generally encouraged the Plumbers' illegal activities, there's no evidence showing he had foreknowledge of their specific actions. The Watergate break-in was probably ordered by either John Mitchell or Jeb Magruder at CREEP, with Nixon and his staff accessories after the fact.[[/note]]

** John Ehrlichman is often treated as the OnlySaneMan trying to check Nixon's more extreme actions. While Ehrlichman was considered one of the more liberal members of Nixon's inner circle (being a major proponent of environmental reforms, for one) and was one of the few of those involved and convicted regarding the scandal to publicly express remorse, he had more direct involvement in the White House's dirty tricks operation than Haldeman, who is portrayed ''much'' less sympathetically, and shared Haldeman's propensity for ruthlessness towards the Administration's enemies.

** Nixons closed-door meeting with [[UsefulNotes/MaoZedong Mao]] has shades of this. Mao is clearly depressed about his legacy and flat out bored with political life. He's more interested in asking why [[KavorkaMan Kissinger is such a ladies man.]]

--> '''Richard M. Nixon:''' She got it, Bob. 19-year-old college kid.\\
'''H. R. Haldeman:''' What? Who?\\
'''Richard M. Nixon:''' She understood something it's taken me 25 years in politics to understand. The CIA, the Mafia, those Wall Street bastards...\\
'''H. R. Haldeman:''' Sir?\\
'''Richard M. Nixon:''' [[InherentInTheSystem The Beast. 19-year-old kid. She called it a wild animal]].

'''Haldeman:''' ''(whispers to Nixon)'' We should be going.

'''Haldeman: ''(whispers to Nixon)'' We should be going.

''(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.\\

'''Richard M. Nixon:''' '''No.''' No, [[AuthorityInNameOnly 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.\\

'''Richard M. Nixon:''' [[DumbassHasAPoint Yeah, maybe I am.]]

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: The conspiracy is so intricate that almost every minor character has some relevancy.

* HistoricalVillainDowngrade: A few examples, partly due to RuleOfDrama and the need to refine a narrative that already has LotsAndLotsOfCharacters. Creator/OliverStone admitted that he depicted some characters as more moral than they probably were in RealLife because he needed ''someone'' with a conscience to act as Nixon's foil.

* DemotedToExtra: Some major Watergate figures like Chuck Colson and Gordon Liddy make only brief appearances in the story, while others (Jeb Magruder, Donald Segretti, Maurice Stans, to name a few) don't appear at all. Which is understandable since the story's already [[LotsAndLotsOfCharacters top-loaded with characters]].

'''Richard M. Nixon:''' She understood something it's taken me 25 years in politics to understand. [[TheMan The CIA, the Mafia, those Wall Street bastards...]]\\

* AmbiguousDisorder: This portrayal of Nixon is a virtual catalogue of neuroses. He's paranoid and [[NeverMyFault unwilling to take blame]], [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex constantly tries to boost his own scarce self-esteem]], [[TheResenter holds grudges towards almost everyone]], has worrying mood swings and no matter how much power he gains, it's never enough. In RealLife Nixon is known to have suffered from depression and occasionally saw a psychiatrist, [[http://articles.latimes.com/2001/jan/15/local/me-12618 Arnold Hutschnecker]], before becoming president. Anything else he may have suffered from, however, remains speculative.

** Nixon scoffs when one of his aides suggests Congress might invoke his invasion of Cambodia as grounds for impeachment:

* ChummyCommies: Brezhnev is sympathetic towards Nixon and both aim at reducing nuclear weapons on both sides. Mao as well is friendly with Nixon, although in a [[NotSoDifferent much]] [[LonelyAtTheTop darker]] way.

* OrwellianEditor: Nixon becomes one of these in a scene where his aides are transcribing his secret recordings, in which he rants about the amount of swearing and less-than-politically correct statements he's made. As well as the obvious reasons of trying to present himself in the best possible light ("The world will see what I show them! From page one!"), it's also used to display how increasingly delusional he's becoming -- he frantically (and apparently sincerely) insists that he never said these things despite the fact that ''his own taping system'' has recorded him saying them.

** John Ehrlichman is often treated as the OnlySaneMan trying to check Nixon's more extreme actions. While Ehrlichman was considered one of the more liberal members of Nixon's inner circle (being a major proponent of environmental reforms, for one), he had more direct involvement in the White House's dirty tricks operation than Haldeman, who is portrayed ''much'' less sympathetically, and shared Haldeman's propensity for ruthlessness towards the Administration's enemies.

1995[[note]]One year after its subject died[[/note]] biopic of the thirty-seventh President of the United States, directed by Creator/OliverStone and starring Creator/AnthonyHopkins as UsefulNotes/RichardNixon. The film explores Nixon and his triumphs and his failings, culminating in his resignation of the office of the presidency in disgrace following the revelation of his abuse of office and executive privilege following the Watergate scandal.