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Stone makes clear that Nixon was guilty of some immoral tactics regarding the Vietnam War. By 1969 it was clear that American was in a military quagmire in South East Asia and that the US could no longer achieve its strategic goals. The Stone movie shows that Nixon refused to do the right thing and seek to end the war. The movie makes clear that Nixon wanted to carry on the war for purely selfish politic reasons and to placate the ring-wing of the Republican Party who were his main backers <ref> Safire, p. 211</ref>. Nixon was committed to continuing the Vietnam War to stay in power. This led him to order the massive bombing of North Vietnam and to conduct covert wars in Laos and Cambodia. There are those who argued against Stone’s view, including Kissinger. They argue that Nixon inherited a war that had once been popular and that had not gone as planned. He could not disengage from Vietnam because it would give World Communism a boost during the Cold War<ref> Gaddis, John Lewis (1982). Strategies of Containment: A Critical Appraisal of Post-war American National Security Policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press), p. 178</ref>. Many have backed Stone’s version and that Nixon was reluctant to disengage from Vietnam for political reasons. They point to the fact that Nixon contacted North Vietnam when it seemed that Lyndon B Johnson was going to enter peace negotiations<ref> Drew, p. 119</ref>. He told the communists that he would persecute the war with the utmost zeal and with the full-force of American power. This helped to undermine a peace process that could have ended the war much earlier and would have saved countless of lives. Stone’s movie showing Nixon putting his own political ambitions before peace in Vietnam are largely accurate.
==Nixon and his wife==
Pat Nixon the wife of the 37th President is shown as a tortured woman in the motionpicture. She is played with real sympathy by Joan Allen, whose performance is in stark contrast to the over the top portrayal of Nixon by Hopkins. Pat Nixon was indeed a tortured woman and she had much to put up with. Nixon was a very difficult man to live with he was consumed by politics and this was his first love. Furthermore, he was a depressive and a heavy drinker and this meant that he could be difficult to be around. It seems that by the time that Pat Nixon was First Lady, she and the President had separate lives. In real life, Pat Nixon was a very nice person and well-respected by those who met her and she was described by all as ‘warm and caring’<ref> Frick, Daniel (2008). Reinventing Richard Nixon. Lawrence, Kans.: University of Kansas Press), p. 145</ref>. There are even reports of anti-Vietnam war protestors remarking how nice she was. The film depicts her as a heavy drinker and an alcoholic. This was not the case and, she and the President did not spend much time together and she disapproved of his drinking <ref>Drew, p. 345</ref>. The portrayal of Pat Nixon was in this regard not really accurate.
==How accurate is Nixon?==
Oliver Stone’s movies have all been accused of being obsessed with conspiracy theories or even anti-American. The director does have unashamed left-wing sympathies and this influenced his movie. Nixon is shown as totally unfit for the role of President, someone who was unstable and even alcoholic. There is some basis for this, in fact, <ref> Frick, 217</ref>. However, Nixon was a very contradictory man and Stone only shows one side of his character the one that suited his own political viewpoint. The film maker does accurately show how Nixon’s unhappy youth deeply influenced his character and later some of his policies. It also shows how he hated the Kennedy’s and their policies. The motion picture also shows how Nixon prolonged a war in Vietnam for his own selfish political reasons. Stone does not do justice to the success of Nixon on the world stage and slyly accuses him of being somehow implicated in JFK’s death. These are all distortions of the truth and do not represent the facts. Oliver Stone’s ‘Nixon’ does represent accurately some aspects of the 37th President’s life but in other ways, he misrepresents the facts and the truth. This is something that Stone never set out to do- he is a very political director and uses his movie to make a statement or to attack those he believes are undermining American democracy and freedoms. This means that Oliver Stone’s ‘Nixon’ is only somewhat historically accurate.
==References==
