History Film / Nixon

* AluminiumChristmasTrees: 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.

* AluminiumChristmasTrees: 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 refugees who were involved with the assassination, this little fact has nevertheless grabbed the attention of numerous conspiracy theorists.

* BadassGay: Hoover is characterized as gay in his private life and his main trait is his dominance over powerful elected officials.

--> '''Richard M. Nixon:''' ''Always remember: others may hate you. But those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself.''\\
'''Richard M. Nixon:''' Ellsberg's not the issue. It's the ''lie.''\\
'''Richard M. Nixon:''' The key thing we proved was that Hiss was a liar. Then people bought that he was a spy.\\
'''Richard M. Nixon:''' It's the coverup that looks really bad here John, not the deed.

--> '''Richard M. Nixon:''' [[WideEyedIdealist All those kids...]] Why do they hate [[SleazyPolitician me]] so much?
** "Can you imagine what this man could have been if he had ever been loved?"

-->'''E. Howard Hunt:''' ''John, sooner or later, sooner, I think, you're gonna learn a lesson that's been learned by everyone who's ever gotten close to Richard Nixon. [[TragicVillain That he's the darkness reaching out for the darkness]]''. '''And eventually, it's either you or him.''' ''[[YourDaysAreNumbered Your grave's already been dug, John.]]''

--->'''Murray Chotiner:''' They stole it fair and square.

--> "They can't impeach me over Cambodia. The President can bomb anyone he likes!"

--> '''Richard Nixon:''' [To a portrait of Kennedy] ''"[[NostalgiaAintLikeItUsedToBe When they look at you, they see what they want to be]]. [[TakeThatAudience When they look at me, they see what they are]]."''

* 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 (though the issue of who precisely did is still contentious, to say the least).

* HistoricalVillainDowngrade: A few examples, partly due to RuleOfDrama and the need to refine a narrative that already has LotsAndLotsOfCharacters.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Mostly averted, though Nixon's friend Trini Lopez is a thinly-disguised Bebe Rebozo, and "Jack Jones" is a composite of businessmen like H.L. Hunt and Howard Hughes, whom Nixon had murky dealings with before and during his presidency.

* PetTheDog: Invoked literally by Nixon in his defense during a speech about the [[StealingFromTheTill Checkers scandal]]; he brings up a dog adopted by his children, named Checkers. It's infamously successful.

* OnlySaneMan / SanityBall: Inverted in that almost everyone realizes Nixon is increasingly unstable following Watergate, but can't do a thing about it. Ehrlichman and Haig play the role most often though.

* FreudianExcuse / ICouldaBeenAContender: Exaggerated by Nixon. He is the leader of the most powerful country in the world. Even so, that is little compared to his younghood's dreams. He is full of bitterness:

* 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.

* CorruptPolitician: The real life Richard Nixon is really the TropeCodifier. In the movie Nixon claims to be honest at least about his [[SleazyPolitician financial assests]].

* HistoricalVillainDowngrade: John Ehrlichman, who's 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 was no more compromising than Haldeman, Chuck Colson or other Nixon aides in both his protectiveness towards Nixon and general ruthlessness towards those who crossed the President.

* CastingGag: Larry Hagman turns up as a [[Series/{{Dallas}} Texas oil billionaire]].

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Broadly, Nixon is angry about how this process works and desperate that it happens to him. The film focuses on the various presidential portraits in the background of the White House, with UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington and UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln, obviously the tradition that Nixon aspires to. At the end, he sees Kennedy's unfinished presidential portrait and realizes that this process has happened to Kennedy and there's not anything he can do about it.

* NWordPrivileges: Nixon is against when he hears himself calling African-Americans "niggers", stating ThisCannotBe in ThirdPersonPerson.

* ThisLoserIsYou / TakeThatAudience:

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: John Ehrlichman, who's 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 was no more compromising than Haldeman, Chuck Colson or other Nixon aides in both his protectiveness towards Nixon and general ruthlessness towards those who crossed the President.
** More broadly Nixon is angry about how this process works and desperate that it happens to him. The film focuses on the various presidential portraits in the background of the White House, with UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington and UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln, obviously the tradition that Nixon aspires to. At the end, he sees Kennedy's unfinished presidential portrait and realizes that this process has happened to Kennedy and there's not anything he can do about it.

** Nixon also mentions liking Creator/ElvisPresley at one point, referencing Nixon's [[http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/nixon-met-elvis/index.html famous meeting with Elvis]].

* OnlySaneMan / SanityBall: Inverted in that almost everyone realizes Nixon is increasingly unstable following Watergate, but can't do a thing about it. Ehrlichman plays the role most often though.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The hints towards various groups involvement in the assassination of the Kennedys is this for those who agree with the Warren Commission report.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: John Ehrlichman, who's treated as the OnlySaneMan trying to check Nixon's more extreme actions. In reality, he wasn't much different from Haldeman in either his protectiveness of Nixon and propensity for rough tactics against opponents.

[[quoteright:334:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/NixonOS_7988.jpg]]

* TheVietnamWar: All over the place, of course.

* [[ItsAllAboutMe It's all about Nixon!]]: Nixon, who says it word by word, thinks the media and public turning against him are all because they don't like ''him'', and nothing at all to do with the horrible things he did as president.