About as comprehensive as any bio of Nixon gets
M. Keller | 06/07/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I only wish the biography was longer, more comprehensive of his entire life's work, rather than going on mostly about the Watergate affair. But overall, a must-see, even if you're not at all a Nixon fan. It's pretty fairly balanced, for those who love him and hate him."
Nixon
Heath Compton | 09/09/2009
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I think the video did a good job of explaining the presidency of Richard Nixon. However, I think the video should have focused more on Nixon's good qualities. The video could have dealt more on his early family history. The video could have mentioned something about his stance on Civil Rights early in his career. No one doubts that Nixon did wrong during the Watergate episode. In spite of this, Richard Nixon had a profound influence on American foreign policy. One question I ask is "What would have happened if Nixon had won in 1960?" We probably would not have had the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam debacle. I also think Nixon would have advanced Civil Rights in a more forward manner than Kennedy. The question will never be answered, but it is fun to think about."
Good DVD, but after about 5 viewings you memorize all of the
Handsome Johnny | 11/01/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Good DVD. Material is easily recalled, though, after a few viewings and it is no longer intriguing, nor new. I wouldn't actually recommend it, because it doesn't feature enough detail about Nixon or his life to warrant repeated viewings throughout the course of a 365 day year. A more thorough DVD is necessary to do this. The extras here are the same; awesome to watch a few times, boring and rote thereafter. Works well as a PBS special that airs once a year, where the viewer cannot memorize every single line being uttered by every participant. One thing: no interviews with either the late John Mitchell, the late Pat Nixon, the late Gerald Ford, or even the late Richard Nixon himself. DVD needed that actually encompasses the man's life."
The dark side of Nixon
CGScammell | Southern Arizona | 12/11/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Initially I was disappointed that this production focused mostly on Nixon's dark, "paranoid" (as some who knew him described him) side. But the longer I watched this I came away with a better understanding not so much of the man, but of his administration and how wrapped up in Vietnam and later with Watergate he got. The audio tapes are quite revealing of Nixon's abuse of power.
The downside to this production is that it doesn't go into his pre-political life. For that I suggest one watches the PBS Presidential version of Nixon, a good production that balances this one out. This work starts with Nixon's term under Eisenhower and how he rose to power in the 1950s.
Nixon's daughter is interviewed for this, Alex Butterfield, Sen Bob Dole, Henry Kissinger and a few others, but not VP Ford or others closely working with Nixon. That is fine, though as the tapes we get to listen to in part say enough of Nixon the man.
Sen Dole said it best that Nixon the persona overshadowed some of the laws that Nixon passed early in his administration: environmental laws and other seemingly-progressive laws that were later overlooked when Watergare came around. He would be considered a moderate-progressive to today's standard Republican and, according to Dole, never be nominated to the GOP. It makes one think of what could have happened had Nixon won the election in 1960 instead of Kennedy.
This is a nice addition to a presidential buff's personal library."