I Gave Them a Sword: Behind the Scenes of the Nixon Interviews

by David Frost

Book Overview

Following the resounding success of the eponymous West End and Broadway hit play, Frost/Nixon tells the extraordinary story of how Sir David Frost pursued and landed the biggest fish of his... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688032796
• ISBN13: 9780688032791
• Release Date: January 1978
• Publisher: Not Avail
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.

Customer Reviews

"Frost/Nixon: Behind the Scenes of the of the Nixon Interview"

Having watched the interview many years ago, it was interesting to get an idea of what the two were thinking. It was a sad event in history, but interesting to have a full view from both sides. John A. Jago, Jr.

Great companion book to the movie

I recently saw the "Frost/Nixon" movie (more on that later), which caused me to seek out this book. This book is quite a curiosity in a way, in the sense that David Frost wrote this in 2007, after the "Frost/Nixon" play had become a hit on stage in London's West End and on Broadway, and that the play was being made into a high-profile movie. "Frost/Nixon: Behind the Scenes of the Nixon Interviews" (384 pages) is really two books into one. The first half of the book is a memoir and reflection of Frost on how he was able to get the interviews with Nixon (money helped, a lot), how the interviews went, and the aftermath of the interviews. As Frost notes: "The week our first program aired, Newsweek, TV Guide and Time all featured the sessions on their covers. ... I never did ask Nixon if he had watched the show. My guess is that he did, although I'm quite sure he would've denied it". How true! The second half of the book contains a transcript of all of the interviews. I read the one covering Watergate from start to finish, and it simply remains an amazing thing to revisit now more than 30 years later. In all, this book reads easily, and even though I already knew how things would play out, I was still interested in getting David Frost's further insights and personal comments on the entire thing. As to the movie, I was absolutely charmed and mesmerized from start to finish, and would greatly recommend this to anyone. I'm not even that much of a Ron Howard fan, but this time he did more than good. As an aside note, my college-attending daughter also went to see the movie and she told me that as a political science major, this really gave her new perspective on the events of that era.

Mysterious Man

What are the words that describe this man? Mysterious. Illusive. Battling demons beyond scope. Criminal? No, we're not talking about forty three here, but a predecessor from the same political party that managed nearly to destroy the Presidency by creating one of the greatest Constitutional crises in our current history. Richard M. Nixon, much vilified, rarely understood, now almost a caricature of himself; a president that won convincing victories, that almost no one knew. Much has been written about him to attempt to penetrate the personality of this enigma, without much success. Along comes veteran reporter David Frost, offering to interview the president after his disgraceful resignation from office, giving him a chance to air his opinions on the scandal that brought him ruin. The aired interviews created a sensation, with the former president making rash statements that the president is above the law with any action, and showing some (albeit somewhat feigned remorse) for Watergate. This book is a behind the scenes peek at the process that went on to get Nixon to speak; the rationale for the interviews, the negotiating and bargaining that went on to ensure Frost would have access to ask the hard questions, and Frost's own assessment of the Nixon presidency. Having read it before seeing the movie is probably a good thing. Frost is an engaging writer, who doesn't dwell in small, irrelevant details, but paints broadly his impression of Nixon, with sometimes surprising conclusions. His accounting of the interviews was very insightful -- his decision to open the interview with the question, "Why didn't you burn the tapes?", to his consistent pressing of Watergate points, as if he were a prosecuting attorney. In fact, Frost and America viewed this interview as the now pardoned Nixon's trial, to see what the man would have said should he come under judicial review. That is purely fascinating. Frost's closing assessment of the Nixon presidency offers points to argue, but it's a fresh assessment, separated from Watergate, which is usually all anyone remembers of Nixon anymore. Nixon wasn't a domestic president, but his record on civil rights and the environment was very forward thinking (Frost thinks Nixon would appease anyone to get support for his Vietnam strategy). In fact, Nixon seriously considered universal health care at one point (HMO's eventually won). This book was a quick, insightful easy read. The end of the book contains over a hundred pages of transcripts from the interview. In fact, you can now purchase a DVD of some of the interview, out today -- Frost/Nixon: The Original Watergate Interviews. Personally, Nixon fascinates me in a way that you can't help but looking at a car wreck. I was but four or five when the man resigned office, and I thought for awhile that Watergate was a scandal because someone left the sprinklers on at the White House and things got flooded. I don't think we are done with our inspection of the man, hi

Excellent coverage of Nixon

An excellent transcript and narrative of David Frost's interviews with President Richard Nixon. The author keeps an interesting flow while detailing all the behind the scenes activity of the production teams and Nixon's frame of mind during the process.

The Origin of our Current Political Culture

Frost never quite comes out and says it, but it is clear reading the book that Nixon ultimately won. Nixon didn't "win" in the interview with Frost, but Nixon's paranoid views and his belief in unlimited presidential authority have prevailed. Things that Nixon said in the interviews that were considered outrageous in 1977 are now the mainstream position of the Republican party. Definitely a must-read to find out how we got into the mess we are in. Thank you David Frost.

Frost gets first crack at the new Nixon

In 1977 British television journalist David Frost reached a $1 million agreement with Richard Nixon to appear in a number of television interview sessions. The contract called for Nixon to submit to twenty-four hours of taped interviews from which four two-hour programs would be aired. The signing was a bit of a coup. Watergate left Nixon emotionally frayed and physically depleted; shortly after resigning the presidency in disgrace in 1974 Nixon suffered a life-threatening bout of phlebitis. Actually, the life-threatening quality of his condition remains a matter of dispute. Cynics claim the illness conveniently left Nixon unavailable to testify at the numerous Watergate trails following his resignation, leaving his once-loyal lieutenants to twist slowly in the wind without benefit of whatever aid Nixon's testimony could supply. The point went moot when Gerald Ford granted Nixon a full presidential pardon in September 1974, an act that would to Ford's lose of the 1976 presidential election. In 1977 Nixon was beginning work on his memoirs, hunkered and secluded, if not exonerated at least free, shunning the press, the sullen hermit of San Clemente. For those of us who weren't completely burned out by Watergate the interviews were eagerly anticipated. Nixon had disappeared from view following his resignation, and there was a great deal of curiosity about how he would handle himself if and when he reemerged. Prior to the Ford pardon there had been media gossip of a suicide watch, unconfirmed but credible enough. So, the curiosity was there, less a curiosity about what he would say than whether he could communicate at all without curling up into a fetal ball and morosely telling the world to go away. Ultimately four programs were aired. The first dealt with the domestic policies and achievements of the Nixon Administration, a topic that interested nobody - least of all Nixon - then or now. The second reviewed Nixon's foreign policy achievements, a sterling list that included the SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) with the Soviet Union and his visit to China in 1973. The Vietnam War, still a hot topic in 1977, was the subject of the third interview. The Watergate interview was the fourth and final episode. Nixon did show up, sanity apparently intact, not appearing all the worst for wear. Frost begins this behind-the-scenes account of the Nixon interviews with the negotiation of the contract with Nixon and his agent. Following that Frost recalls assembling his research team, and canvassing for sponsors and backers for his independently produced series. Normally I'm impatient with such excursions and digressions. I bought this book initially - many years ago - because I wanted to read how Nixon reacted to pointed questions about Watergate. I was anxious to see how the blood splattered when the intelligent and aggressive Frost tore into the (then) raw wound of Watergate. Before we reach that point in time, though, we have to go