The Final Days of a President

Imagine Putin test-driving a Tesla gifted by the American people, with Trump riding shotgun!  

What does an American President do when he knows his days are numbered?  

One President indeed stepped down due to overwhelming pressure, the infamous Richard Milhouse Nixon, after some ridiculous stunts and justifications. One of the best made movies on Nixon is ‘The Final Days’ (1989) which premiered on ABC, with over 2.5 hours of live action mixed with archival footage, it captures all the details of Woodward and Bernstein’s best-selling book on the Watergate scandal.  

Featuring a riveting performance from Lane Smith as Nixon, alongside legendary actors Richard Kiley, David Ogden Stiers, and Gary Sinise, we see the how Nixon and his staff navigate the intense scrutiny of his administration and the risky moves they made to extend his Presidency.  

Under Nixon’s direction to ‘preserve the integrity of the Presidency’ and to ‘ensure national security,’ they inevitably allowed him to overrun his ethical duties and to forego necessary investigations which would have exposed his criminal behavior. 

Sound familiar? 

'The Final Days' was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards including Writing, Directing and Outstanding Drama Special, and a Golden Globe nomination for Lane Smith. 

Director Richard Pierce who helmed successful movies like Leap of Faith (1992) and No Mercy (1986), brought in a terrific crew, including Cinematographer Fred Murphy, and there are also great performances from Theodore Bikel as Henry Kissinger, and Boris Sichkin who played the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev (Sichkin also portrayed him in Oliver Stone’s Nixon) in a hilarious scene between the leaders at Camp David known as ‘Town Car Diplomacy’ wherein Nixon gave Brezhnev a bullet-proof Lincoln Continental. They then proceed to go into the car to check it out, and Brezhnev takes off with Nixon struggling to put on his seatbelt, putting them both in extreme danger with the Secret Service scrambling! 

Seems history repeats itself.

Watch 'The Final Days' now to see for yourself.

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