10. The Film "Nixon" Portrays The President Going To Meet Protestors At The Lincoln Memorial At The Crack Of Dawn... And This Actually Happened
Oliver Stone's 1995 biographical film "Nixon" may have had many inaccuracies - but one thing he got spot on was the President's decision to make an impromptu visit to the Lincoln Memorial at the crack of dawn in order to meet with anti-war demonstrators. On May 9, 1970, Nixon left the White House at 5am and then met the protestors right next to the Lincoln Memorial, exchanging views on the invasion of Cambodia and the Vietnam War in general. So unusual, un-presidential and erratic was Nixon's behaviour that his Chief of Staff HR Haldeman wrote: "I am concerned about his condition. (This is) the weirdest day so far." In his White House tapes, though, Nixon claimed he met with the students as an attempt "to lift them a bit out of the miserable intellectual wasteland in which they now wander". When it comes to Nixon, nothing surprises...
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
Oliver Stone's 1995 biographical film "Nixon" may have had many inaccuracies - but one thing he got spot on was the President's decision to make an impromptu visit to the Lincoln Memorial at the crack of dawn in order to meet with anti-war demonstrators. On May 9, 1970, Nixon left the White House at 5am and then met the protestors right next to the Lincoln Memorial, exchanging views on the invasion of Cambodia and the Vietnam War in general. So unusual, un-presidential and erratic was Nixon's behaviour that his Chief of Staff HR Haldeman wrote: "I am concerned about his condition. (This is) the weirdest day so far." In his White House tapes, though, Nixon claimed he met with the students as an attempt "to lift them a bit out of the miserable intellectual wasteland in which they now wander". When it comes to Nixon, nothing surprises...