Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977– )

The story of a power-hungry U.S. President, and the men he surrounds himself with in order to keep his hold on power. Based on John Ehrlichman's book about the Nixon administration.

Writer:

David W. Rintels (creator)

Stars:

Cliff Robertson, Jason Robards, Stefanie Powers

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 8 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Cliff Robertson	...	William Martin (6 episodes, 1977)
Jason Robards	...	President Richard Monckton (6 episodes, 1977)
Stefanie Powers	...	Sally Whalen (6 episodes, 1977)
Robert Vaughn	...	Frank Flaherty (6 episodes, 1977)
Lois Nettleton	...	Linda Martin (6 episodes, 1977)
Barry Nelson	...	Bob Bailey (6 episodes, 1977)
Harold Gould	...	Carl Tessler (6 episodes, 1977)
Tony Bill	...	Adam Gardiner (6 episodes, 1977)
Andy Griffith	...	Esker Scott Anderson (6 episodes, 1977)
John Houseman	...	Myron Dunn (6 episodes, 1977)
David Selby	...	Roger Castle (6 episodes, 1977)
Frances Lee McCain	...	Paula Stoner Gardiner (6 episodes, 1977)
Lara Parker	...	Wanda Elliott (6 episodes, 1977)
John Lehne	...	Tucker Tallford (6 episodes, 1977)
Nicholas Pryor	...	Hank Ferris (6 episodes, 1977)
Alan Oppenheimer	...	Simon Cappell (5 episodes, 1977)
Frank Marth	...	Lawrence Allison (5 episodes, 1977)
Meg Foster	...	Jennie Jamison (5 episodes, 1977)
Peter Coffield	...	Eli McGinn (5 episodes, 1977)
Diana Ewing	...	Kathy Ferris (5 episodes, 1977)
George Gaynes	...	Brewster Perry (4 episodes, 1977)
Phillip R. Allen	...	Walter Tulloch (4 episodes, 1977)
Barry Primus	...	Joe Wisnovsky (4 episodes, 1977)
Linden Chiles	...	Jack Atherton (3 episodes, 1977)
Thayer David	...	Elmer Morse (3 episodes, 1977)
Skip Homeier	...	Lars Haglund (3 episodes, 1977)
Borah Silver	...	Burt Saraceni (3 episodes, 1977)
Regis Cordic	...	TV Anchorman (3 episodes, 1977)
John Randolph	...	Bennett Lowman (2 episodes, 1977)
Madison Arnold	...	Harvey Bass (2 episodes, 1977)
Bonnie Bartlett	...	Mrs. Bailey (2 episodes, 1977)
Joseph Sirola	...	Ozymandias (2 episodes, 1977)

Storyline

The story of a power-hungry U.S. President, and the men he surrounds himself with in order to keep his hold on power. Based on John Ehrlichman's book about the Nixon administration.

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Plot Keywords:

u.s. president | president | washington d.c. | white house | government | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 September 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Washington a puertas cerradas

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

750 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Robert Vaughn won an Emmy for playing Frank Flaherty. In his acceptance speech, he thanked director Gary Nelson for directing twelve and a half hours of television "by himself."

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Connections

Featured in The 30th Annual Emmy Awards (1978)

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Soundtracks

"White House Lawn Party"
Composed by Dominic Frontiere

User Reviews

A True Portrait of Nixon

I enjoyed "Washington: Behind Closed Doors." This mini-series aired in 1977, not long after Watergate and Vietnam made this country distrustful of its Federal Government.

The thinly-veiled plot line follows the Nixon Administration's rise and fall with uncanny accuracy. The writers must have known someone on the inside. Jason Robards stood out as always playing President "Richard M. Monckton" and he did not rely on caricature like David Frye, Rich Little, and other comedians of them time. He had just the right mix of pragmatism, enthusiasm, and two-faced deceit. Robert Vaughn made a perfect Haldeman / Ehrichman type, openly manipulative and arrogant. William Daniels also brought the "Plumber" character to life, with traces of Chuck Colson and G. Gordon Liddy.

I don't believe this series has ever been repeated. I think enough time has passed to give the American people some perspective on Nixon, who spent his last years trying to repair his legacy. A lot of new evidence has come out since then, confirming the worst about Nixon and his whole administration, as well as the Johnson White House.

This show should be required viewing for every new U.S. President. I think that the lesson learned is that the president will not get away with lying to the American people for very long. Because we have a free press and a two-party government, somebody eventually will spill the beans. "The Pentagon Papers," "All The President's Men," "The Final Days," and "Dereliction of Duty" come to mind as exposes of lies from the White House. And...I won't mention any names, but... there was a recent president who found out that the cover-up was worse than the fun and games in the Oval Office.