I GAVE THEM A SWORD: Behind the Scenes of the Nixon Interviews by David Frost

Hardcover
First edition
ISBN 0-688-03279-6
Good Condition

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 through the project-creation section, as well as the behind the scenes stuff for the first three episodes. Domestic policy gets scant coverage - a president freezing wages and prices, as Nixon did in '72, or '69, or whenever, may cause economists to stir, but it doesn't make riveting television. Frost concedes the stature of SALT/China and recounts that episode with brief respect. Vietnam creates a few sparks.

But the centerpiece of the book, and the series of interviews it is based on, is the Watergate interview, an interview Frost prepared for like a prizefighter or a prosecuting attorney. In great detail Frost lays out the case against Nixon, probes the probable strategies he'll take in the interview, convinces the reader of Nixon's culpability and criminal guilt, and rather aggressively pursues Nixon throughout. Frankly, Frost presents the case against Nixon, the criminal case Ford's pardon freed him from ever having to face, as well as I've seen anywhere. If Frost falls short of his ultimate goal - getting an admission of criminal guilt and an apology to the American people - from Nixon, he at least extracts a great book title from the ex-president. Although dated now - there simply aren't that many people interested in Nixon's first post-resignation interview - `I Gave Them a Sword' was well-written and fascinating, especially recommended for the Watergate wonks out there.