Review of Secret Honor (1984) by Karen S — 29 Oct 2009

SECRET HONOR is sort of a stream of consciousness representaion of the contents of Richard Nixon's tortured psyche as his drunken mind tries to come to terms with his betrayal of his Quaker upbringing.

The fictional Nixon that writer Donald Freed gives is fully aware of all the compromises he has made during his career in his quest for political power, painfully so in fact. These compromises supposedly led Nixon to actually PLAN an intentionally botched Watergate affair as a means to leave the presidency before the excrement really hit the fan and the true depth of what Attorney General John Mitchell called "The White House Horrors" came to light.

Why? Because the real crimes being committed were hanging offences; the CIA was engaged in smuggling dope, CREEP (the Committee to Re-Elect the President) was collecting money AFTER his election because they were planning a 3rd term for Nixon to be funded by that drug money, and worst of all they wanted him office for the purpose of continuing the Vietnam war for at least 8 more years for their own financial gain.

Even Nixon couldn't live with that. So what Freed and director Altman give us in SECRET HONOR is a look inside the troubled mind of the deposed President as he rants and raves and finally comes to the only conclusion Richard Nixon could ever reach, "Screw 'em all!".