Editor of the Washington Post during the Watergate scandal, Ben Bradlee is apparently angered with the film version, “Frost/Nixon” for portraying events that actually never happened.
Mr. Bradlee, who appeared grim-faced during the film, was having none of it. “They [the filmmakers] never should have let him apologize in the film,” he said tersely after the screening. “Nixon never was sorry for what he did.” Mr. Bradlee, of course, was executive editor of The Washington Post in the 1970s and managed Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s reporting of the Watergate break-in and cover-up, the scandal that culminated when Mr. Nixon resigned from office in August 1974 rather than face almost certain impeachment and conviction in Congress.
Meanwhile, Fox News journalist Chris Wallace defended President Bush against criticism by “Frost/Nixon” director Ron Howard, who has said that the president has abused his office in a way similar to President Nixon. Howard comment about the film’s connection to Mr. Bush on a Monday evening screening of the film, saying that he had told friends in 1977 that an abuse of power similar to Mr. Nixon’s would “never happen again.” “So that led to some frustrations that I’ve experienced over the last few years,” Howard told the crowd.