H. R. Haldeman

Harry Robbins "Bob" Haldeman (better known as H. R. Haldeman; October 27, 1926 – November 12, 1993) was an American political aide and businessman, best known for his service as White House Chief of Staff to President Richard Nixon and his consequent involvement in the Watergate scandal. His intimate role in the Watergate cover-up precipitated his resignation from government; subsequent to which he was tried on counts of perjury, conspiracy and obstruction of justice; found guilty and imprisoned for 18 months. Upon his release he returned to private life and was a successful businessman until his death from cancer in 1993.

Early life and career

Haldeman was born in Los Angeles on October 27, 1926, one of three children of socially prominent parents. His father, Harry Francis Haldeman, founded and ran a successful heating and air conditioning supply company, and gave time and financial support to local Republican causes. His mother, Katherine (née Robbins), was a longtime volunteer with the Salvation Army and other philanthropic organizations. His paternal grandfather, Harry Marston Haldeman, co-founded the Better American Federation of California, The Oz Film Manufacturing Company, and the gentleman's club, The Uplifters. Young Haldeman and his siblings were raised as Christian Scientists. Known to his peers as a "straight arrow," he sported his trademark flat-top haircut from his high school years, enjoyed discussions of ethics, and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. He attended Harvard School, during which time he met Jo (Joanne) Horton, who was a student at Marlborough School. They married in 1949.

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974 when he became the only U.S. president to resign the office. Nixon had previously served as a U.S. Representative and Senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961.

Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. After completing his undergraduate studies at Whittier College, he graduated from Duke University School of Law in 1937 and returned to California to practice law. He and his wife, Pat Nixon, moved to Washington in 1942 to work for the federal government. He subsequently served on active duty in the U.S. Navy Reserve during World War II. Nixon was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946 and to the Senate in 1950. His pursuit of the Hiss Case established his reputation as a leading anti-communist, and elevated him to national prominence. He was the running mate of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republican Party presidential nominee in the 1952 election. Nixon served for eight years as vice president. He waged an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1960, narrowly losing to John F. Kennedy, and lost a race for Governor of California to Pat Brown in 1962. In 1968 he ran again for the presidency and was elected when he defeated Hubert Humphrey.

White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States, located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. It has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800.

The house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia Creek sandstone in the Neoclassical style. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he (with architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe) expanded the building outward, creating two colonnades that were meant to conceal stables and storage. However, in 1814, during the War of 1812, the mansion was set ablaze by the British Army in the Burning of Washington, destroying the interior and charring much of the exterior. Reconstruction began almost immediately, and President James Monroe moved into the partially reconstructed Executive Residence in October 1817. Construction continued with the addition of the South Portico in 1824 and the North in 1829.

John Ehrlichman

John Daniel Ehrlichman (March 20, 1925 – February 14, 1999) was counsel and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs under President Richard Nixon. He was a key figure in events leading to the Watergate first break-in and the ensuing Watergate scandal, for which he was convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury and served a year and a half in prison.

Early life

Ehrlichman was born in Tacoma, Washington, the son of Lillian Catherine (née Danielson) and Rudolph Irwin Ehrlichman. His family practiced Christian Science (his father was a convert from Judaism). He was an Eagle Scout and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.

In World War II, Ehrlichman won the Distinguished Flying Cross as a lead B-17 navigator in the Eighth Air Force. In the same war, his father served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, and was killed in a crash in Torbay, Newfoundland (later Canada), on May 6, 1942.

Taking advantage of the G.I. Bill, Ehrlichman attended the University of California, Los Angeles, graduating in 1948 with a B.A. degree in history. After graduating from Stanford Law School in 1951, he joined a Seattle law firm, becoming a partner, practicing as a land-use lawyer, noted for his expertise in urban land use and zoning. He was active in the Municipal League, supporting its efforts to clean up Lake Washington and improve the civic infrastructure of Seattle and King County. He remained a practicing lawyer until 1969, when he entered politics full-time.

Our Nixon

Our Nixon is an all-archival documentary providing a view of the Nixon presidency through the use of home movies filmed by top Nixon aides combined with other historical material.

Background

Throughout the Richard Nixon presidency (1969–1974) three of his top White House aides—chief of staff H.R. Haldeman, domestic affairs adviser John Ehrlichman and special assistant Dwight Chapin—extensively documented their experiences with Super 8 home movie cameras, creating a visual record of over 500 reels. These films were seized by the FBI during the Watergate investigation, then filed away for almost 40 years. Our Nixon is an all-archival documentary presenting these home movies together with other material, including excerpts from the secretly recorded Nixon White House tapes, contemporary news reports, and later interviews with the three staffers.

Release

Our Nixon made its North American debut at 2013 South by Southwest and its international debut at the 42nd International Film Festival Rotterdam. The film has subsequently screened at notable film festivals, including, among others, AFI DOCS in Washington, DC, the Los Angeles Film Festival, the 39th Annual Seattle International Film Festival, where Our Nixon won the 2013 Grand Jury award for Best Documentary Film, the 51st Ann Arbor Film Festival, where it won the Ken Burns Award for Best of the Festival, the 11th Annual Independent Film Festival of Boston, where it won the Karen Schmeer Award for Excellence in Documentary Editing, the 19th Annual Nantucket Film Festival, where it won the Adrienne Shelly Award for Excellence in Filmmaking, and the 9th Annual Traverse City Film Festival, where it won the Founders Prize for Best Documentary.