The Nixon Interviews

The Nixon Interviews were a series of interviews of former U.S. President Richard Nixon conducted by British journalist David Frost, and produced by John Birt. They were recorded and broadcast on television in four programs in 1977. The interviews became the central subject of Peter Morgan's play Frost/Nixon in 2006.

After his resignation in 1974, Nixon spent more than two years away from public life. In 1977, he granted Frost an exclusive series of interviews. Nixon was already publishing his memoirs at the time; however, his publicist Irving "Swifty" Lazar believed that by using television Nixon could reach a mass audience. In addition, Nixon was going broke. Frost's New York-based talk show had been recently cancelled, leaving him consigned to a career based around the stories covered by the proto-reality show Great Escapes. As Frost had agreed to pay Nixon for the interviews, the American news networks were not interested, regarding them as checkbook journalism. They refused to distribute the program and Frost was forced to fund the project himself while seeking other investors, who eventually bought air time and syndicated the four programs.

Frost recruited James Reston, Jr. and ABC News producer Bob Zelnick to evaluate the Watergate minutiae prior to the interview. Their research allowed Frost to take control of the interview at a key moment, when he revealed details of a previously unknown conversation between Nixon and Charles Colson. Nixon's resulting admissions would support the widespread conclusion that he had obstructed justice. Nixon continued to deny the allegations until his death in 1994, and it was never tested in a court of law because his successor, Gerald Ford, issued a pardon to Nixon one month after his resignation. Nixon's negotiated fee was $600,000 and a 20% share of any profits.

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