Plot
The film is non-linear, framed by scenes of Nixon listening to his secret recordings towards the end of his presidency as the Watergate crisis intensifies. As such, it covers all aspects of Nixon's life as a composite of actual events, usually in the form of memories triggered by the recordings or newsreel-style summaries. It depicts his childhood in Whittier, California, as well as his growth as a young man, football fan and player, and suitor to his eventual wife, Pat Ryan. It explores most of the important events of his presidency, including his downfall due to abuse of executive power in the White House.
The film implies that Nixon and his wife abused alcohol and prescription medication. Nixon's health problems, including his bout of phlebitis and pneumonia during the Watergate crisis, are also shown in the film, and his various medicants are sometimes attributed to these health issues. The movie also hints at some kind of responsibility, real or imagined, that Nixon felt towards the John F. Kennedy assassination through references to "the Bay of Pigs", the implication being that the mechanisms set into place for the invasion by Nixon during his term as Dwight D. Eisenhower's vice-president spiraled out of control to culminate in the assassination and, eventually, Watergate.
The film ends with Nixon's resignation and famous departure from the lawn of the White House on the helicopter, Army One. Real life footage of Nixon's state funeral in Yorba Linda, California, plays out over the extended end credits, and all living ex-presidents at the time, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and then-president Bill Clinton, are shown in attendance.
Read more about this topic: Nixon (film)
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