The legendary broadcaster and interviewer David Frost, who passed away last week, will always be remembered for how he turned his famous interview with former American president Richard Nixon (three years after he resigned because of the Watergate scandal) into a battle of wits — so much that the interview became fodder for a highly successful play and movie. During the interview, David not only persuaded Nixon to end a self-imposed silence, he also extracted an apology from the former president to the American people. It was watched by record 45 million viewers.
Routinely, when a journalist asks for an interview with an incumbent prime minister or president, there are two ways the leaders can avert tough questions. The leader’s office might ask for the questions in advance from the interviewers, or give them a list of questions that they cannot ask. But sometimes tough journalists might agree on not raising a certain issue, but during the live interview put the leader on the spot by asking the forbidden question.
In such cases, sometimes, the leader might just walk away from the interview, rather than answer that question, as Chief Minister Narendra Modi once did, when asked about his role in Gujarat riots.
But some, like US President George HW Bush, stay on and get entangled in a heated exchange with the interviewer. In the 1988 interview with Bush, Dan Rather kept trying to implicate him, and get him to say that he was involved in the Iran-contra scandal. Over and over again, Dan asked Bush a question about his knowledge about the scandal. When Bush didn’t concede that he had prior knowledge, Dan interrupted him and asked him another question about whether he knew. This went on until Dan interrupted Bush for the last time, which suddenly ended the interview at that point. Some journalists criticized Dan, saying he went too far.
Dan justified by saying, “Journalists of integrity do ask questions. We don’t come to conclusions before getting what can be considered reasonably honest answers.” But in case of David Frost’s interview with former president Nixon, both men realized beforehand the possibility of such a tango. Both knew that the interview could easily become a battle of wits, because David was going to try his level best to extract an apology from the former president for his role in the Watergate scandal and Nixon was known to be a tough cookie to crack, as far as the scandal was concerned. The sessions, described as the most watched political interviews in history, were recalled 30 years later in a play and a film, both named Frost/Nixon. The film showcased them almost as two ‘boxers’ being prepared very carefully in their corners by their teams before the bout.
The interview was taped over four weeks for about two hours at a time and eventually totaled nearly 29 hours. At one point David asked about Nixon’s abuses of presidential power, prompting this answer: “Well, when the president does it that means that it is not illegal.” Later David wrote about it in his book. “Upon hearing that sentence, I could scarcely believe my ears… and my task then was to keep him talking on this theme for as long as possible.”
On the last day, David pressed Nixon to acknowledge the mistakes of the Watergate scandal. “Unless you say it, you’re going to be haunted for the rest of your life,” said David. “That was totally ad-lib,” David recalled. “In fact, I threw my clipboard down just to indicate that it was not prepared in any way.” He added, “I just knew at that moment that Richard Nixon was more vulnerable than he’d ever be in his life. And I knew I had to get it right.”
Minutes later, Nixon apologized for putting “the American people through two years of needless agony,” adding, “I let the American people down and I have to carry that burden with me for the rest of my life.” In fact, Nixon had surprised everyone to begin with in selecting David Frost as his televised confessor, apparently thinking that he could easily outfox the breezy British showman and secure a place in the hearts and minds of Americans. Likewise, David’s team harbored doubts about his ability to hold his own.
Even before it was broadcast, the interview had become a hot topic in the American newsrooms. Would Nixon evade questions of his role in one of the nation’s greatest disgraces? Or would David bravely demand accountability from the man who’d built a career out of stonewalling? But this was certain that during their encounter, each man would reveal his own insecurities, ego and reserves of dignity.
It was a kick to watch Nixon throw Frost off his game with a strange remark. Nixon suggests David’s Italian shoes are effeminate, and asks if he’s been “fornicating” over the weekend? But David was unmoved and coped with it confidently, seizing the day in the end, and going in for the kill on Watergate. He proved that he was the maestro, when it came to “making the leaders make news”.
(Author/news analyst Ravi M Khanna is currently freelancing after a 24-year stint with Voice Of America in Washington DC, as South Asia bureau chief)
Feedback: ravimohankhanna@gmail.com
