The Conviction of Richard Nixon: The Untold Story of the Frost/Nixon Interviews

by James Reston Jr.

The Watergate scandal began with a break-in at the office of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Hotel on June 17, 1971, and ended when President Gerald Ford granted Richard M. Nixon a pardon on September 8, 1974, one month after Nixon resigned from office in disgrace. Effectively removed from the reach of prosecutors, Nixon returned to California, uncontrite and unconvicted, convinced that time would exonerate him of any wrongdoing and certain that history would remember his great accomplishments—the opening of China and the winding down of the Vietnam War—and forget his “mistake,” the “pipsqueak thing” called Watergate.

In 1977, three years after his resignation, Nixon agreed to a series of interviews with television personality David Frost. Conducted over twelve days, they resulted in twenty-eight hours of taped material, which were aired on prime-time television and watched by more than 50 million people worldwide. Nixon, a skilled lawyer by training, was paid $1 million for the interviews, confident that this exposure would launch him back into public life. Instead, they sealed his fate as a political pariah.

James Reston, Jr., was David Frost’s Watergate advisor for the interiews, and The Conviction of Richard Nixon is his intimate, behind-the-scenes account of his involvement. Originally written in 1977 and published now for the first time, this book helped inspire Peter Morgan’s hit play Frost/Nixon. Reston doggedly researched the voluminous Watergate record and worked closely with Frost to develop the interrogation strategy. Even at the time, Reston recognized the historical importance of the Frost/Nixon interviews; they would result either in Nixon’s de facto conviction and vindication for the American people, or in his exoneration and public rehabilitation in the hands of a lightweight. Focused, driven, and committed to exposing the truth, Reston worked tirelessly to arm Frost with the information he needed to force Nixon to admit his culpability.

In The Conviction of Richard Nixon , Reston provides a fascinating, fly-on-the-wall account of his involvement in the Nixon interviews as David Frost’s Watergate adviser. Written in 1977 immediately following these celebrated television interviews and published now for the first time, The Conviction of Richard Nixon explains how a British journalist of waning consequence drove the famously wily and formidable Richard Nixon to say, in an apparent personal epiphany, “I have impeached myself.”

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Journalism, Presidents, Audiobook, American History

207 pages, Hardcover

First published June 19, 2007

About the author

James Reston Jr. was an American journalist, documentarian and author of political and historical fiction and non-fiction. He wrote about the Vietnam war, the Jonestown Massacre, civil rights, the impeachment of Richard Nixon, and the September 11 attacks.

Reviews

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're looking for objectivity, you won't find it here. If you saw Frost/Nixon (the play or the movie), then you might enjoy this book about how the interviews were conducted. Reston was a character in the play, and in these pages he shows how close the character was to the man. Reston despised Nixon, and wanted the Frost interviews to be a hit piece.

There is little new information here. One gets the feeling that with the release of the play, Reston decided to dig out some old notes and capitalize on the play's success.

[Jason Koivu · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about an interview about something much more exciting than an interview does not make for a terribly good read.

In The Conviction of Richard Nixon James Reston Jr. details his involvement in English television personality/journalistic David Frost's attempts to wrench truths and admissions out of former President Nixon in a grueling 20 hour interview.

The lead up to what everyone wants to hear about, Watergate, is long and less than enthralling. However, Reston's admirable writing does save what could've been a total snore fest. He sets up the combatants well and brings the action to a climax nicely. Certainly it's interesting to see the behind the scenes struggles, the off-camera banter between the Frost and Nixon, a few insights into the president's character, but overall I think this might have been a case where I would've been just as well served by watching the actual televised interview or even, and more to the point of this book, the movie version. Reston's trials and tribulations in regards to the interview are not intriguing enough to have bothered with, in my opinion. That he was party to a once great man's final demise is what makes the reading worthwhile.


Rating note: 4 terribly unexcited stars.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was written 30 years ago but only recently published, and the fervor and emotion of the time is still very apparent. It wasn't as good as I'd hoped, but it was an interesting peek into Nixon post-resignation and into the mindset of the people who were still very personally angered by Watergate.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story behind the remarkable Frost/Nixon interviews. It is INSANE what went down, I can't even believe half of the injustices caused by this craptastic administration. However, this book is an excellent read on Nixon's character - a smart and strange man who was no fool, but definitely was a crook. He was shady, crafty... and a complicated weirdo.

"...Nixon appeared in the kitchen doorway. David was friendly as ever, and asked him if he had a nice weekend. Nixon nodded, noncommittal.

'And how about you?' The president returned. 'Did you drink much?' David's love for Pouilly Fuisse had become a matter of increasing curiosity for Nixon. David chuckled.

'And,' said Nixon, 'Did you fornicate?'"

WTF NIXON. Wtf!!!!

I see a ton of parallels between now and then considering abuse of power and illegal activity, the tax questions, the above the law mentality, corrupt and crappy politicians using our tax dollars to pay for their lifestyle. And I can't believe Ford pardoned Nixon! And Diane Sawyer started as Nixon's press aide!

To quote Lisa Simpson, "the whole damn SYSTEM IS WRONG!"

[Scott Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty decent read - it's really short and punchy so you could definitely finish it in a few days. I don't think I'd recommend it to anyone as it's just an overview of the interview preparation and then a play-by-play of what actually happened during the sessions.

I found all of the background leading up to the event really interesting, and their plan of how to unravel Nixon's defenses of the Watergate scandal, with the goal of him admitting fault (which he kind of did) was smart and intriguing. You can tell the author genuinely despised Nixon so I wouldn't say it's an unbiased account of the interviews, but the books always sold as his side of it so fair enough. You leave with major questions about Nixon's character and no doubt at all that he was responsible.

It's interesting, but also really sad how far the office of the president has fallen, likely due in part to this scandal. This was probably one of the first dominoes to fall and result in the moment we are in (July 2024)

[Bob · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't get into this book. Over a 10 year span, I tried reading it twice and could only get 50-100 pages in until I put it down. I tried watching a movie that I think was based off of this book, and couldn't get into it either. It reminded me of typical greedy journalist looking to make money off of an evil person. Nixon became worse of a person for accepting a large sum of money to be objected to further public shaming.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed in this book. I picked it up after reading Nixon: A Life. It has a very biased view, which was not expected. It however did five good insight into the Frost/Nixon interviews. This is a good primer for the movie. It is a short book that can easily be completed in a couple of days.

[Debbie Poland MacAvoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative book of the Frost interview of Nixon in 1976 written by one of Frost's researchers with an emphasis on the Watergate scandal and Nixon's part in it.
On the whole, it was easy to understand and held my attention. I learned a lot about Watergate even though I lived through it, I was young and didn't pay much attention.

[susan moore Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pretty fast read, but then, I remember much of what happened. At first, I thought it would be mostly revenge seeking pointed fingers, but it was more thoughtful and more deliberate. I really enjoyed reading about the task these reporters/writers faced and its final outcome.

[Jarred Goodall · Rating 4 out of 5]

A candid, solid insiders view into the proceedings of the closest criminal trial put on against President Nixon, just for his role in the Watergate cover-up...a good read for comparison/contrast of current events with President Trump's indictment, and the activities of Hunter Biden...

[Doris Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

very enlightening.

[Eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biased, but good.

[John Hood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bound: Miami SunPost 12.25.08

http://miamisunpost.com/archives/2008...

Christmas with Nixon

This Year, Celebrate With a Ghost

By John Hood

Face it. Not everybody’s peachy keen on all this Christmas stuff — the wining and the dining, the giving and the receiving, the Merry Ol’ this-and-that which insists that no matter how you live it, It’s a Wonderful Life. Add the long list of folks who don’t even have someone to celebrate with in the first place, and you come up with quite a crowd.

But rather than suggest that the Humbugs and the Lonelies get together and make their own kinda Merry, I’ve come up with the perfect way to spend the holiday:

Have Christmas with Nixon.

Yeah, I know, the disgraced statesman shuffled off this mortal coil back in ‘94, but that doesn’t mean for a minute that you can’t get intimate with the man, especially if your line on intimacy includes the sordid details of his checkered yet monumental life.

The facts are all well known: Cali born Quaker, congressman, senator, VP under Ike, lost to JFK (for prez), lost to Pat Brown (for gov), then president — twice. Nixon was there behind the scenes before Vietnam became a quagmire; he was at the head of the table for its humiliating end. He also oversaw détente with the Soviet Union, rapprochement with China, as well as the creation of the EPA, DEA and OSHA (really).

Then, of course, there was Watergate, perhaps the single most colorful scandal in modern U.S. political history, and just the place to begin your holiday immersion.

First, you’ll wanna get with James Reston Jr.’s The Conviction of Richard Nixon: The Untold Story of the Frost/Nixon Interviews (Three Rivers Press, $13.95). As the subtitle suggests, this book is a behind-the-scenes account of what went down before Sir David faced off against Tricky Dick for an audience of some 50 million, a spectacle that was at once an act of hubris (on both parts) as well as history.

Reston, whose byline has appeared everywhere from Vanity Fair to The New Yorker, and who’s currently a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, also happens to be the son of the late, great New York Times-man James “Scotty” Reston and a one-time assistant to Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall. In other words, this scribbler knows his way around a story as well as the corridors of power. Good thing too, because as point man for Frost before the face-off, his capacity to tell one and navigate the other became the basis for the “interrogation strategy” that left Nixon knocked beyond redemption.

As the subtitle also suggests, Reston’s work served as inspiration for Peter Morgan’s play Frost/Nixon (Faber and Faber, $14), round two of your day with the dead ex-prez. Reston actually wrote The Conviction back in ‘77, right after the interviews aired, and didn’t dust it off till Peter Morgan came calling, which makes the two integral to each other. Since the play’s long closed and you’ll be by yourself for the reading, I suggest you do your best to summon your inner Proteus (Reston’s nickname for Nixon) and shape-shift both parts aloud. And while there’s no way you’ll nail it like Frank Langella (Nixon) or Michael Sheen (Frost), if you bounce back-and-forth between seats while you’re re-enacting the scenes, you might come close to achieving the play’s inner grace and utter turmoil.

When you’ve concluded your little play-acting, it’s time to hit the cinema for Ron Howard’s adaptation and see how close you came to the staging — and how close the flick comes to the play. Already nominated for five Golden Globes, including best script (for Morgan) and best lead (for Langella), it’s a cinch you’ll dig what’s up on the screen, though whether you dig it as much as Roger Ebert (four stars) or The Herald’s Rene Rodriquez (only two) will be up to you. But since it’s a vital component of your holiday equation — not to mention one of the most talked-about movies of the season — skipping it is not an option.

Now it’s time for the fourth and final round of your Christmas with Nixon. Yes, you guessed it, that means Oliver Stone’s 1995 epic ode to the man who made peace — and who would be pilloried.

Conceived under the rubric “The Beast” (a metaphor for the dark forces that conspire beneath us) and starring Anthony Hopkins as the president and Joan Allen as his wife Pat, Stone’s magnum opus may not have been granted the box office it deserved, but it remains one of the best bio-pics ever lensed. Ebert dug this film too, and lauded the way it took “on the resonance of classic tragedy,” while the aforementioned Rodriquez claims this as his choice of Nixon flicks. The “Director’s Cut” adds 28 minutes to the original proceedings, which means three hours and 33 minutes of total Tricky, and a wild-eyed way to end your holiday.

[Sam Motes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final stages of Nixon’s downfall on prime TV. Frost setup a dream team and offered Nixon the financial incentive to take part in the interviews. Nixon saw it as a chance to redeem himself in the eyes of the public and probably thought he was bigger than life but he was dismantled over the days of the interviews. Reston’s memoir of the event is a very interesting read on politics, negotiations, ethics, and hubris just to name a few.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The breaking of Richard Nixon was indeed a pleasure to me..." This quote best summarizes Reston's attitude throughout the book as he chronicles the behind-the-scenes story of the Frost/Nixon interviews. It's clear that Reston is more concerned with his own personal vendetta, calling it a quest for justice. But instead of justice, it's clear Reston only wanted to see Nixon burn throughout the interviews that he bills as "the conviction" Nixon never got. By the end, Reston claims to feel pity for Nixon, but continues to add personal jabs and even goes so far as to try to cast doubt on the famous apology. Worst of all, the book is overtly self-serving: Reston has no problem in crediting himself fully for finding the most crucial pieces of information used against Nixon in the interviews and then laments that Frost simply didn't go far enough and if more of his ideas would have been used by Frost in the final sessions the interviews would have been even more powerful and effective in condemning Nixon. The most interesting piece in the book is Reston's use of an extended metaphor comparing Nixon to the ever-changing, ever-beguiling god of the sea, Proteus. This is perhaps one of the most apt and clever descriptions of the embattled former President and complicated man. Overall, see the film inspired by Reston's work, FROST/NIXON, and save yourself some time.

[Hugo Torres · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jon Stewart has made the argument in the past that he shares a legacy of satirist who over the years have had the unique position to ask the question that others can't.

This is the thought that continued to creep up time and time again while I read this marvelous tale of an event that I knew hardly about but that meant so much to the American people in a time when answers were scarce from their former Commander and Chief.

James Reston Jr.'s recollection of the months prior to this interview of disgraced former President Richard Nixon is ripe with intrigue, drama and a retelling of the perils of underestimating an opponent.

Time and again I wished that today's best satirist (like Stewart)would take on the challenge that current members of the journalistic community seem unable to take. To ask the hard hitting questions, to draw out truths with wit and seek candor from political figures who make a career from obscuring it.

I marvel at the height from with President Nixon fell but understand that he is not alone in sharing disgrace. The better story is how Frost and his team helped the President realize truths that perhaps he had never seen before.

A terrific read for our time.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting companion to the play. As other reviewers have noted this creates the impression that the play attempts to stay pretty close to the story.

The book is interesting as it recounts the amount of work that went into building the Frost Team's strategy. Research (especially the discovered Colson transcripts) plays a critical role and the book makes a strong arguement that without this information, the "apology" moment would not have occured.

Reston also reveals how essential the strategy was to the success of the interviews ie attempting to draw Nixon out, allowing him to make legalistic defense, challenge with factual information--parts of the story read like a perfectly executed chess match. Obviously this would not translate well to screen or stage, but interesting as a book.

One note is that Reston often seems to let his bias show. Some examples include describing Colson's secretary as "looking gulible", such moments are rather striking, compared to the rest of the book which comes across much more neutral.

[Edy Gies · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book was interesting from the point of view of the researcher. I think Reston makes personal judgments about Nixon and this clouds his research and judgment. I realize Nixon and Watergate are polarizing issues, but he claims to be objective and accuses others of having a lack of objectivity. He makes multiple analogies to the Bush White House and the negative effect of the Whitewater scandal and the presidential abuses. I find it interesting that there is no mention of the Clinton White House and Whitewater or any other the other Clinton scandals. He lost my respect and my willingness to accept his objectivity when he made these comparisons. He laments that there will be no David Frost to confront Bush and bring him to public justice. He also brags about his bold defiance toward the ex-president and dislike of the man, but seems put off that he wasn't welcomed as a guest at the president's living area at San Clemente. I believe Reston is too close to the situation to make a fair judgment.

[Lina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Given how sensational the whole Watergate era was, I found this retelling rather... dull. Reston assumes that the reader is familiar with all the details of Watergate, and while simply avoiding the original scandal allows Reston to speed right along to the Frost / Nixon interviews, it robs the book of a lot of the drama. Even as someone who's relatively conversant with the scandal, when he refers to the various players, the time it takes for me to place what his or her relevance was detracts from the shock or drama of the interviews. I wonder if my reading of this would have been different has I actually lived through Nixon's last term, but as it stands, I wish I'd read a general book on Watergate before delving into this one.

[R. Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite its title this is not a book about the conviction of Richard Nixon, or about Watergate. It's about the Frost/Nixon interviews, and like the subtitle implies, it's a behind-the-scenes look at these interviews. Reston was an active and important player in these interviews - and while it's great to hear from a primary source, his biases and opinions aren't hidden in the slightest. You get a good idea of how intelligent, cunning, and calculating Tricky Dick was from this book, and you'll learn a lot about the titular interviews. But this book doesn't make it its job to teach you much about Watergate itself, or any important context for that matter. This isn't a full book. This is a supplement.

[Polly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Richard Nixon and Watergate are fascinating stories because of the whole tragic flaw theory of the classic Greek dramas. This is the story behind the scenes of Frost interviewing Nixon and extracting the famous apology. The author is a novelist and professor, besides a political researcher, and makes a terrific comparison to The Odyssey and the capture of Proteus. The book is the basis for the recent play and movie, and I'm planning to watch the original interview tapes next.

[Brooke Evans · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is basically the book version of the movie/play "Frost/Nixon." Well, except it's told from the perspective of one person who completely loathes Richard Nixon. The bias comes out in full force and made the book much less enjoyable to me. Unnecessary name-calling and vitriolic description depletes the validity of the book, in my opinion. Otherwise, I liked the story because I already liked the Frost/Nixon story.

[Apple · Rating 4 out of 5]

For anybody who shares my fixation with the Watergate scandal, this book will drive all the issues home. It provides insight into the intricate web of lies that former President Nixon and his covert team created, effectively shattering the dream-like illusion that surrounds the American presidency.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a movie coming out about the Frost/Nixon interviews. I'm not so good at history, and for some reason had the urge to learn more about Richard Nixon. Thus, this book, which I picked up because I had just seen a preview for the movie- which I will not likely go to see.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

After seeing the movie and the play, I was very interested in reading something by Reston. I listened to the audio book and it was neat to hear how much of the real story was in the play/movie -- a lot, but there were some changes for dramatic effect. What a sleeze Nixon was!

[jillbertini · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a behind-the-scenes narrative. If you know nothing or very little about Nixon and Watergate, etc., I wouldn't recommend it. The author expects you to know a great deal of general material. Having said that, I'm finding it a fascinating read.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

The behind the scenes story of the Frost/Nixon interview. Having lived through this time in history, it was interesting to hear what went on behind the cameras --the motives and the decisions that were made

It makes me want to see the play!!

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't the actual play but it is a quick and interesting read, especially for those like me for whom this is all pre-cambrian history.

[Robb Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting behind-the-scenes look at the Frost/Nixon interviews. Very quick and easy read.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, a little heavy on the comparisons to Homer and Prometheus but a great follow-up to the movie to separate the fact from the drama.