In-Class Write

1) I think the first thing a person can learn from watching my film is about the concerns of the American people regarding Nixon's presidency and the Watergate scandal. Though the actual scandal isn't the primary focus of the movie, the reaction to it and the questions of the American people are directly addressed. This is primarily done through Frost's interview questions. Frost's team started their interview research by dividing it into 3 sections: Vietnam, foreign and domestic policy, and Watergate and abuses of power. These 3 topics encompassed most of the American peoples questions about Nixon's presidency as a whole. By the director choosing to focus on these things, he is showing the concerns of the American people at that time, while also still addressing Nixon's involvement with Watergate. This is a good way to do this, because the people on Frost's team are for the most part somewhat average guys who share the same questions and concerns as the people who had been affected by Nixon's actions.

The second thing a person can learn from watching this film is about the power of the press. All throughout history the press has been possibly one of the biggest influencer of the public's opinion. Frost completely understands this. By choosing to slightly abandon his tv show host career and focus on these interviews to give the American people the closure they deserve, he is taking advantage of the opportunity he has to use this power for good. Frost addresses Nixon by saying that there are 3 things he thinks the American people should know. Firstly, that there was more than mistakes, there was wrong-doing. Secondly, Nixon should admit that he abused the power he had as president. Thirdly, Nixon should admit that he put the American people through 2 years of needless agony and that he apologizes for that. Frost finally gets a confession out of Nixon for his wrong-doings and this finally gives the people the closure they've been looking for. This interview was such a huge success because for once, someone had been able to get into Nixon's head and show why he did what he did and his true feelings behind it. By understanding the power of the press, people can understand how it has in so many instances been used to shape our history and our opinions.

2) I think one thing that a person will not learn about through my movie is the actual details involved with Watergate. While it is a large "focus" of the movie, the details regarding it are slightly brushed over. In the movie they are more so addressing Nixon's involvement, but not actually addressing the scandal as a whole. I don't think this movie is the correct movie to watch to gain more information about the scandal directly, but more so Nixon's presidency and uncovering his wrong-doings.

Another thing that a person might not learn about through my movie is the true character of both David Frost, and Richard Nixon. In the movie David Frost is very played up to be a typical, somewhat shallow tv star. They really up his "playboy" character, while neglecting his true success and impressive education. Frost graduated from Cambridge and had an extremely impressive resume as a tv sensation. They often portray him as somewhat lacking until the last minute when him doing a good job really matters. I also think this is similar with Richard Nixon's character. He is played up to be very unsettling and seemingly malicious at all times. While this may be the case during certain aspects of his presidency, they also gloss over the fact that really had to work his way up in the world and make a name for himself. He grew up poor, suffered many tragedies during his early childhood, received a full scholarship to Duke University Law School, ran for congress, he served in the navy, and he was a family man. So despite the fact that he did commit wrongdoings during his presidency, it isn't fair to classify him as solely those mistakes. I think the movie does a nice job of creating likeable characters, but they might not be entirely true/correct.

3) I think if the director had an extra 20 minutes, it would be beneficial to include more about Richard Nixon's life before the presidency. This would be beneficial because I think it is important for the director to show why people liked Nixon in the first place, and why some people still continued to appreciate him after his resignation. Though this may seem slightly counter-intuitive to the movie's primary plot line, exposing Nixon's wrongdoings, I still think it is important because there is more than one side to every story. It isn't fair for people to form an opinion on Nixon based solely off the bad things that are exemplified through the movie. While Nixon's involvement with Watergate, and other affairs is completely wrong, it is still important to remember that he too is a normal human. Another reason this is important is because in the movie when good things about Nixon are mentioned, they are included in a way that makes Nixon seem as if he's either braggings, or attempting to save his reputation, which isn't necessarily fair.  Similarly this could be said for Frost as well because he is very much played up to be somewhat ditzy and uneducated, until the very last day of interviews. This lack of complexity in the characters almost takes away the truly human aspect of it. Portraying Nixon as a monster who has never had good intentions, and portraying Frost as a ditzy uneducated interviewer, takes away part of what makes the actual story so interesting, the fact that they are both normal humans who have their strengths and their weaknesses.

Annotated Works Cited

Frost/Nixon : Movie

America's History, 9th Edition, Chapter 28, "The Search for Order in an Era of Limits, 1973-1980, " Pages 890-892 : Watergate facts and historical context

Youtube.com, "Watergate Interview: President Nixon/Frost- '"When the president does it, it's not illegal!'" (1977)"  : The original Frost Nixon interviews that were released

History.com "Watergate Scandal" : Overview of the Watergate Scandal, and historical context

Encyclopedia Britannica: Britannica.com "Sir David Frost" : Article about David Frost and his work as a journalist and talk show host

Biography.com "Richard Nixon" : A biography of Richard Nixon's life from early ages to death

Dinner Menu

Dinner Menu

Dessert: For my dessert I will have a multi layered golden Oreo dream salad. This dessert is fitting for my movie and Watergate because it has many layers, and there is always more to uncover. It is fitting that the pudding part is white because just when you think everything is fixed and "clean", there was always more dirt being added to the situation (the oreos).

Golden Oreo Dream Salad

Drink: As my drink I will serve water because of the name Watergate.

Water

Side: As the side I will have a grilled chicken watercress salad. I choose a watercress salad mainly because the name somewhat resembles Watergate. The char marks on the grilled chicken represents that of a jail cell because the burglars that were caught were sent to jail, but Nixon received no punishment. These salads are usually topped with a vinegary dressing that can sometimes leave a bitter taste in your mouth, much like the Watergate scandal made people feel bitter towards the government.

Grilled Chicken Watercress Salad

Main Course: As the main course I will have turkey sandwiches. Firstly this came to mind because throughout the course of the movie whenever working on research for the interviews they always eat sandwiches from the deli downstairs in the hotel. Secondly, sandwiches have many layers and there is always more to "uncover" much like the Watergate scandal. 

Turkey Sandwiches

Appetizer: As an appetizer I would serve mini sliders. In the movie Nixon calls Frost late at night and they begin their conversation by discussing cheeseburgers. Although this conversation seems relatively insignificant it should still be appreciated because it is them getting to know eachother better through a seemingly unimportant conversation. So because of both of their appreciation of cheeseburgers, mini sliders should be the appetizer. 

"All American Sliders"

Exhibit

Watergate Exhibit

Watergate Gavel
This is the gavel used by Senator Irvin during the Watergate hearings.

David Frost and Richard Nixon
Image taken during the original Frost/Nixon Interviews.

Frost's shoe
The shoe David Frost wears in the Frost/Nixon movie because Nixon commented about Frost's shoes not having laces in real life before the interview.

Newspaper: "The Man who Questioned Nixon on Watergate"
This is a newspaper published by the New York Times at the time of the Frost/Nixon interviews. It discusses David Frost and the way he performed the interviews with Nixon.

Watergate bug
This is a picture of the device planted in the Democratic National Headquarters by the burglars ordered by the Nixon administration. When the device stopped working that is when the burglars returned to try and fix it and got caught.

Newspaper Announcing Nixon's Resignation from the Presidency
This is a newspaper from August 9th 1974, announcing Nixon's resignation from the presidency. This was the first time a president had ever resigned from office. 

Richard Nixon
This is a picture of Richard Nixon at his desk in the Oval Office during his presidency.

Watergate Complex
This is a picture of the Watergate complex where the break in happened. 

Invitation

The theme of my party is night on the red carpet. I choose this theme firstly because the airing of the original Frost/Nixon interviews had somewhat of a movie debut like feel. Although people were originally skeptical of David Frost's ability to be successful in questioning Nixon, the interviews proved to be a huge success. Another reason I choose this theme was because of David Frost's career in television, the red carpet was surely a normal place for him as an amicable, well liked tv host. I choose the date May 19th because that was the day the Frost/Nixon interviews debuted. The attire is black tie, cocktail because it is more formal and dressy which you typically associate with the red carpet. The party is being held at the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C because that is where the burglars were first caught. I choose this invitation design because I thought it looked classy but still fun with the pops of gold, which reflects the red carpet theme.  Although the theme itself doesn't directly reflect the Watergate scandal, it more so reflects the people involved with the interviews. I would also have "interviewers" on the red carpet to not only resemble that of an actual red carpet event but to also mimic the actual Frost/Nixon interviews. 

Invite List:

1) Richard Nixon: I would invite Richard Nixon because he was the primary focus of my movie. Because he is so largely associated with the Watergate scandal it is imperative that he be at the party.

2) David Frost: I would invite David Frost because he is the person who created the Frost/Nixon interviews so it is only fair to have him at the party. Because he was a large tv personality he would be right in his element at a red carpet themed party.

3) John Birt: I would invite John Birt because he was a big contributor to the interviews ability to happen. I also think it would be interesting to give him the ability to really interact with Nixon because Frost was the primary communicator during the time of the interviews. 

4) Bob Zelnick: I would invite Bob Zelnick because similarly to John Birt he also would be interesting to watch interact with Nixon. However, Bob's interactions would be different with Nixon because he has studied Nixon for a long time and even published books on him. 

5) Pat Nixon: I would invite Pat Nixon (Richard Nixon's wife) primarily because I think it is important that Richard Nixon have someone who has always been there to support him there so he doesn't feel completely surrounded by people who have tried to interrogate him.

6) Abraham Lincoln: I would invite Abraham Lincoln because he has always been known for his honesty and I think it would be interesting to see how he would interact with Richard Nixon who has been known for lying and being secretive about his affairs. I also think it would be interesting for Lincoln to see the evolution of America as a whole but also to discuss the modern political events and movements of today.

7) Ron Howard: I would invite Ron Howard because he is the director of Frost/Nixon. It is important to have him at the party because he should get to socialize with the people he had to learn so much about in order to create a relatively historically accurate film.

8) Michael Sheen: I would invite Michael Sheen because he played David Frost in Frost/Nixon. He should be invited because I think it would be interesting to see how he interacts the people that he "knows" because of his role in the fim, but doesn't actually know. 

Thinking Like a Historian

Making Modern Presidents

My article talked about the development of presidencies and the different techniques used when campaigning and the way they evolved.  It started by talking about President Grover Cleveland's presidency (the 1800s) and how sometimes his wife was used to produce more popularity in advertising. It then tells about President Theodore Roosevelt's campaign (1904) and the way he went on "tours" throughout his campaign to help gain support, but the other article also talks about the extreme cost of campaigning that is necessary to ensure a successful campaign. Primarily this article serves to show the evolution of campaigning in a run for the presidency. 

Theodore Roosevelt on his campaign tour

Criminal Justice System In Class Writing

Criminal Justice System

I chose to research the criminal justice system, primarily because I found this topic very interesting when in the legacy museum. This sparked my interest when listening to the “phone calls” from the inmates and hearing about the unjust way they were being treated in prisons. For my research, I focused primarily on the discrepancy in sentencing according to race, but more specifically discrepancy in sentencing in juveniles due to race.

When I began my research I immediately found data that showed that there were numerous discrepancies in either how a black man or a white man was sentenced, how long they were sentenced, and even down to what percentage of jails were occupied by men of different races. This data showed that black and Latinos are at a much higher risk of being incarcerated for the same crime that a white man commits. Data also showed that this discrepancy increased as the severity of the sentencing increased. In 2009, black men made up around 13% of the United States, they also accounted for 28.3% of people serving life in prison, and 56.4% of people serving life without parole. Of those serving life without parole, 56.1% of them received this sentencing as a juvenile, which sparked my interest in juvenile incarceration rates.

The first bit of information that I found was that black youth with a white victim is significantly more likely to be sentenced to life without parole than white youth with a black victim. This was interesting to me because as a system, the criminal justice system is supposed to be a system of truth and honor and integrity and by either consciously or unconsciously being unfair to not only adults of color, but youth of color, then the system’s values mean absolutely nothing. And this type of bias whether it is unintentional or not has a significant effect on the outcome of many trials. In North Carolina there are 159 men of color on death row, of those, 31 were sentenced by all-white juries, not a single person of color on the jury to determine whether a man would lose his life or simply be sentenced to life in prison. 38 of the other inmates on death row were sentenced by a jury containing 1 person of color. As a country that has a deep history of racial bias, it is very important that the system is aware and takes account for the discrepancies in the way people are being sentenced to ensure that we don’t continue to allow these ways to continue.

When furthering my research I found that between 2001 and 2015, juvenile placement has decreased by 54%, this is most likely because we are beginning to see that being held in placement, primarily as a minor can causes serious psychological effects, that should not be imposed if the offender doesn’t necessarily pose as a threat to anyone else in society. However, white incarceration rates are falling faster than that of black youth, causing a worsening in the discrepancy. So while overall juvenile incarceration rates have decreased, racial disparity has increased by 22%. The data also shows that this isn’t because blacks are committing more crimes, but simply because they are “burdened by a presumption of guilt and dangerousness”(EJI)

Through all of my research I realized that there are most certainly injustices involved with our criminal justice system. While these aren’t problems we can fix overnight, because they truly do stem from our country’s extensive history of racial bias, they are problems that we should be more conscious of. In an interview with Joshua Rovner, a man who studies the criminal justice system he says: “The disparity exists because of difference in how young people of color are treated at every point of contact with the justice system, but the growth of the incarceration disparity is likely due to growing disparities is arrests which feeds the rest of the system”. As a country we need to be willing to step back and realize that as much as we would like to believe that racism has become completely nonexistent in our society, it is still extremely prevalent. It isn’t a problem that is going to go away if it is not addressed and it really is something that has to begin with a change in the system itself. A change that restores the morals of truth and justice and integrity to ensure that our country is being protected in the right ways.  

Race of prisoners serving life without parole for nonviolent offense by jurisdiction 

Change in black/white racial disparity in youth incarceration 2001 vs 2015

2015 incarceration rates for black and white

Darker areas = a higher discrepancy 

Sources:
ACLU PDF
The difference in sentencing in murder trials according to race
Black disparities in youth incarceration
Youth confinement: the whole pie
EJI: Racial disparities in youth incarceration
Racial Injustice: Racial disparities in incarceration starts early