Richard Nixon's "Last" Press Conference (1962)

Excerpt from the famous "last" press conference Richard Nixon gave after losing the 1962 California governor's race to Edmund G. "Pat" Brown. The November 7, 1962 press conference is notable for Nixon's unvarnished remarks about the press that included the famous line: "I leave you gentleman now and you will write it. You will interpret it. That's your right. But as I leave you I want you to know — just think how much you're going to be missing. You won't have Nixon to kick around any more, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference."

After Gov. Sarah Palin delivered her July 3, 2009 resignation speech in Fairbanks, Alaska many in the media and the blogosphere compared it to Nixon at the Beverly Hilton in 1962 because of the swipes she took at the media. In fact, this is an unfair comparison because Nixon's remarks, while certainly bitter, are cogent, logical and expressed well (the video presented here is the longest excerpt of the speech CONELRAD could find, but if you read transcripts of the speech, he said much more). The same cannot be said of Palin's rambling, nearly incoherent speech--a speech that is best remembered today for the phrase "only dead fish go with the flow."

• Category

  News & Politics

[Jack Lovett]

I believe this is from Nixon: American Experience which is available online on the PBS American Experience website and on DVD.

[achim rehm]

Nixon was a modern Faust

[Michael Warren]

What made the Nixon comeback was that stupid thing ABC did the political obituary of Richard Nixon when it came out people felt sorry for him enabling him to rebuild. Had that not happened this would have been the last you saw of Nixon

[loyaldude10]

but back then the press was very liberal, comapred to today.there are too many right wing nut cases in our population today, as well as assholes like Limbaugh, hannity, Coulter. Nixon was not a likeable person and press and much of public always had negative image of him since Hiss case. The Repubs today are the masters at manipulation and distortion. At least Nixon could make the argument that they were biased against him

[laikapupkino]

He was always my favorite Bond villain.

[UncleMikeNJ]

50 years ago today, Nixon invents the tactic used by every Republican who has since lost an election: Blame the liberal media and ignore his own failings.

[ElClancy]

What documentary is this from? Thanks

[ifthethunderdontgety]

I R not a crook!

~

[airdriver]

In his memoir, Bill Clinton advised that if anyone goes into politics, they should lose a small election(school board, city council, ect) while they're young. That way they know whether or not they have the stomach for it. Nixon never lost an election until 1960 against Kennedy and then he lost in 1962. It made him bitter and angry even after he became president in 1968. His aides fomented that anger which eventually cost him the White House.

[32bevula]

surly, belligerent and paranoid- thats the dark side of nixon. but the other side of him was a very deep, tough-minded politico. he was occassionally brilliant, but his ruthlessness alienated people who would otherwise have accepted his tactics. the detente with russia and opening a dialog with china were simply masterstrokes of global strategy.