Nixon (film)

"Buddy, before you join the jubilation at my being beaten again, you should remember: people vote not out of love, but fear. They don't teach that at Sunday School or the Whittier Community Playhouse!"

"[to a portrait of John F. Kennedy] When they look at you, they see who they want to be. They look at me and they see what they are."

"This is about me. Why can't you understand that, you of all people? It's not the war—it's Nixon! They want to destroy Nixon! And if I expose myself even the slightest bit they'll tear my insides out. Do you want that? Do you want to see that, Buddy? It's not pretty."

"Always remember: others may hate you. But those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself."

"I believe Governor Brown has a heart, even though he believes I do not. I believe he's a good American, even though he feels I am not. I'm proud of the fact that I defended my opponent's patriotism. You gentlemen didn't report it, but I'm proud that I did that. And I would appreciate it for once, gentlemen, if you would just print what I say. For sixteen years, ever since the Hiss case, you've had a lot of fun - a lot of fun. But recognize you have a responsibility, if you're against the candidate, to give him the shaft, but if you do that, at least put one lonely reporter on the campaign who will report what the candidate says now and then. I think, all-in-all, I've given as good as I've taken. But as I leave you I-I want you to know—just think what you're gonna be missing. You won't have Nixon to kick around any more [echoes] - uh, uh, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference. Thank you and good day."

"[saying farewell to his staff] There are many fine careers. This country needs good farmers, good businessmen, good plumbers, good carpenters. I remember my old man. I think that they would have called him sort of a, sort of a little man, common man. Well, he didn't consider himself that way. You know what he was? He was a streetcar motorman first. Then he was a farmer, and then he had a lemon ranch. It was the poorest lemon ranch in California, I can assure you. He sold it before they found oil on it. And then he was a grocer. But he was a great man because he did his job, and every job counts, up to the hilt, regardless of what happened. Nobody will ever write a book, probably, about my mother. Well, I guess all of you would say this about your mother. But my mother was a saint. When I think of her two boys dying of tuberculosis, and seeing each of them die, and when they died. Yes, she will have no books written about her. But, she was a saint. Now, however, we look to the future. I remember something, uh, Theodore Roosevelt wrote when his first wife died in his twenties. He thought the light had gone from his life forever. But he went on and he not only became President, but as an ex-President he served his country, always in the arena, tempestuous, strong, sometimes right, sometimes wrong, but he was a man."

"It took me a long time to fall in love with you, Dick. But it doesn't make you happy. You want them to love you. But they never will, Dick. No matter how many elections you win."

"Why do you think Kissinger is taping your calls? For history. His word against yours — and right now he's got the records."

"Can you imagine what this man would be like had anyone ever loved him?"

"[to John Dean] John, sooner or later, sooner, I think, you're gonna learn a lesson that's been learned by everyone who's ever gotten close to Richard Nixon. That he's the darkness reaching out for the darkness. And eventually, it's either you or him. Your grave's already been dug, John."

"He changed the world, but lost a nation."

"He had greatness within his grasp."

"Triumphant in Victory, Bitter in Defeat. He Changed the World, But Lost a Nation."

"Shattered by a dangerous web of conspiracy, betrayal and intrigue!"

"Anthony Hopkins - Richard Nixon"

"Joan Allen - Pat Nixon"

"James Woods - H. R. Haldeman"

"J. T. Walsh - John Ehrlichman"

"John Diehl - G. Gordon Liddy"

"Paul Sorvino - Henry Kissinger"

"Powers Boothe - Alexander Haig"

"Ed Harris - E. Howard Hunt"

"Bob Hoskins - J. Edgar Hoover"

"Brian Bedford - Clyde Tolson"

"Mary Steenburgen - Hannah Milhous Nixon"

"E. G. Marshall - John N. Mitchell"

"Madeline Kahn - Martha Beall Mitchell"

"David Paymer - Ron Ziegler"

"David Hyde Pierce - John Dean"

"Kevin Dunn - Charles Colson"

"Tony Goldwyn - Harold Nixon"

"Saul Rubinek - Herbert G. Klein"

"Edward Herrmann - Nelson Rockefeller"