Nixon Page #9

REPORTER 4 (V.O.) (CONT'D)

... Years later the Freedom of

Information Act revealed that the film

showed a report on business conditions

in Manchuria, and fire extinguishers

on a U.S. destroyer. None of these

documents were classified. Were they

planted by Chambers, who seemed to

have a strange, almost psychotic

fixation with Alger Hiss?

NIXON points to a headline -- "HISS CONVICTED."

REPORTER 1 (V.O.)

After two confusing trials, Hiss went

to jail for perjury. To the right

wing, Nixon was a hero and a patriot.

To the liberals, he was a shameless

self-promoter who had vengefully

destroyed a fine man. Eleanor

Roosevelt angrily condemned him.

It was to become a pattern: you either

loved Richard Nixon or hated him.

A brief IMAGE here that will recur through-out the film.

An image of evil -- call it "The Beast."

REPORTER 2 (V.O.)

Driven by demons that seemed more

personal than political, his rise was

meteoric. Congressman at 33, senator

at 35, Eisenhower's vice-presidential

candidate at 39. Then came the

Checkers Crisis ... Nixon was accused

of hiding a secret slush fund. About

to be kicked off the ticket by Ike, he

went on national television with an

unprecedented appearance ...

INTERCUT Checkers speech - NIXON, looking and sounding like

Uriah Heep, pleads with the American people on TV, as PAT

sits uncomfortably in an armchair nearby.

NIXON (ON TV)

... so now what I am going to do is

give this audience a complete

financial history. Everything I've

earned, everything I've spent,

everything I owe ...

Nixon forces a smile. Pat is clearly in pain, mortified.

REPORTER 2 (V.O.)

The list included their house, their

Oldsmobile, Pat's Republican cloth

coat, and lastly, in what was to

become history -- a sentimental gift

from a Texas businessman ...

NIXON (ON TV)

You know what it was? It was a little

cocker spaniel dog. Black and white

spotted. And ... our little girl,

Tricia, the six-year-old, named it

"Checkers." And you know, the kids

love that dog and we're going to keep

it ...

REPORTER 4 (V.O.)

Fifty-eight million people saw it. It

was shameless. It was manipulative.

(then)

It was a huge success!

DOCUMENTARY REPLACEMENT - Nixon with Ike in triumph. A

clip of Eisenhower praising Nixon. Nixon and Pat standing

up to rock-throwing STUDENTS in Venezuela. Pointing his

finger at KHRUSHCHEV in the Kitchen Debate.

REPORTER 3 (V.O.)

Eisenhower put Nixon back on the

ticket ... Responding to attacks on

Truman, Acheson and the entire

Democratic Party for betraying the

American principles in China, Korea

and elsewhere -- it was two-time

Democratic presidential candidate,

Adlai Stevenson, who perhaps best

summed up the national unease with

Richard Nixon...

DOCUMENTARY - SHOTS of ADLAI STEVENSON campaigning in '52

and '56 against IKE. Images of JOE MCCARTHY precede. The

HERBLOCK CARTOON of Nixon crawling out of the sewer system.

Others of his cartoons follow.

STEVENSON (RADIO V.O.)

... This is a man of many masks. Who

can say they have seen his real face?

He is on an ill-will tour,

representing McCarthyism in a white

collar. Nixonland has no standard of

truth but convenience, and no standard

of morality except sly innuendo, the

poison pen, the anonymous phone call;

the land of smash and grab and

anything to win ... "What, ultimately,

shall it profit a man if he shall gain

the whole world and lose his own

soul?"

Ending with more recent SHOTS of Nixon campaigning in '60

and '62. As the IMAGES spot out in newsreel style:

REPORTER 4

It was a great story of its time and,

in California where it started, it has

come crashing to an end. It is too

bad in a way, because the truth is, we

never knew who Richard Nixon really

was. And now that he is gone, we

never will ...

"March of Time"-type music as we

SLOWLY FADE INTO:

NIXON (V.O.)

"Your father stinks" ... They actually

said this to Tricia. Two girls

wearing Kennedy pins. At Chapin!

INT. FIFTH AVE APARTMENT - NEW YORK CITY - NIGHT (1963)

A New York cocktail party. Society DAMES. Rich,

conservative BUSINESSMEN, platters of martinis and hors

d'oeuvres carried by white-gloved BLACK BUTLERS. The

fashions are Balenciaga and Courreges, tipping to the

shorter hemlines; the mood is smoky and upbeat, the folks

pressed into airtight packs of loud conversation.

NIXON is talking to JOHN MITCHELL (54), his wife MARTHA

(40's), and TWO OTHER ASSOCIATES of the law firm he has

joined.

NIXON:

(anguished)

She was crying when she came home.

(shakes his head)

She was devastated.

MARTHA:

Poor little Tricia. Well, that's New

York -- makes for a tougher animal

later in life.

NIXON:

(to the other lawyers)

I told her, her daddy couldn't even

get a goddamned job in this city when

I got out of Duke. Every white-shoe

lawyer firm turned me down. Didn't

have the right "look." Hell, I

couldn't even get into the FBI.

MITCHELL:

(indicating)

Dick, we should catch Rocky 'fore he

leaves.

NELSON ROCKEFELLER, Governor of New York, dominates the

room. Big smile, horn-rimmed glasses. Next to him is

HAPPY, his new wife, much younger.

NIXON:

(glancing)

Well, he can walk in this direction,

too.

MARTHA:

Did you catch that picture of you in

Newsweek last week, Dick? You were

standing in a crowd on Fifth Avenue,

and you were looking straight ahead,

and everyone else was looking the

other way like you'd just farted or

something.

(laughs)

It said:
"Who Remembers Dick Nixon?"

I was screaming. It was so funny!

NIXON:

Yeah, that was hilarious, Martha.

(for the others)

They were all looking the other way

'cause they were waiting for the light

to change. I called AP on that --

typical of the press in this country,

they wouldn't correct it. That or

they print the retraction right next

to the girdle ads.

LAWYER:

Oh, I've read some very nice things

about you.

MARTHA:

(puts her hand on Nixon's

arm)

Maybe where you come from. But where

I come from, Dick Nixon is as

misunderstood as a fox in a henhouse.

And you know why?

(they all wait)

Because, honey, they all think your

smile and your face are never in the

same place at the same time.

Nervous laughter.

MARTHA (CONT'D)

You and me -- we gotta work on that,

sweetie...

MITCHELL:

(guiding Dick away)

Someone freshen Martha's drink. I

think she's down a quart.

MARTHA:

Well, zippety-f***ing-doo-dah!

Mitchell moves Nixon away towards the Rockefeller GROUP.

MITCHELL:

Sorry, Dick. She's a little tipsy.

NIXON:

You mean smashed! She called up at

midnight last week. Talking a bunch

of crap. Pat can't stand her.

MITCHELL:

It's a thing she does. She talks at

night.

NIXON:

Talks all day, too! How the hell can

you put up with her, John?

MITCHELL:

(sheepishly)

What the hell -- I love her. And

she's great in bed.

Rockefeller holds court, not immediately noticing Nixon.

ROCKEFELLER:

... There are no guarantees in

politics. I'm going to roll the dice

with everyone else.

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