50 years after his election: How Richard Nixon is reflected in popular culture

Let’s start with something different: Nixon himself actually making an appearance in pop culture. “Laugh-In” was a popular sketch show that featured future stars like Lily Tomlin and Goldie Hawn, among others. Hippies and psychedelia were frequently part of the show’s landscape, and yet it’s most notable moment featured the straight-laced, conservative Nixon. In 1968, when Nixon was running for president, he made an appearance on the show to deliver the catchphrase, “Sock it to me!” It’s an indelible TV moment and a thoroughly weird one.

This is the best of all the depictions of Nixon in pop culture, and he doesn’t even have his full body. In the future, at least as explained on the world of “Futurama,” many famous people live on as heads in jars. That includes Nixon, who, after buying Bender’s body in a pawn shop, decides to run for president again. He wins, and for the rest of "Futurama’s" run, Nixon’s head, and the headless body of Spiro Agnew, run Earth with an iron fist.

After his resignation, Nixon agreed to a series of interviews with David Frost, a British TV personality who had spent more time hosting variety shows and working in comedy. This event was the inspiration for a play and then a film directed by Ron Howard. Michael Sheen is quite good as Frost, but it’s Frank Langella as Nixon who dominates the movie, and it got himself an Oscar nomination.

Watergate was a strange event, but it also makes great fodder for films. As “Dick” showed, that includes comedy. Michelle Williams and Kirsten Dunst play two daffy teenagers who accidentally become “Deep Throat,” the White House informant who blew the whistle on Nixon. The president is portrayed by Dan Hedaya, a pretty spot-on bit of casting.

Oliver Stone loves to make overly long films about former U.S. presidents. This includes, of course, “JFK” and “W,” but in between those he made “Nixon.” The 192-minute movie, that’s over three hours if you don’t want to do the math, features Anthony Hopkins as Nixon. It didn’t quite make the impact that “JFK” did, but Hopkins did get an Oscar nomination, an impressive feat for a Welsh actor playing an American president.

If you haven’t seen “Black Dynamite,” check it out sometime. The film is a loving, highly detailed parody of blacksploitation flicks. We don’t want to spoil too much, but let’s just say that the movie includes a Kung Fu fight between the titular hero and Nixon. Do we have your attention now?

Nixon plays a prominent role in Alan Moore’s graphic novel “Watchmen” as well as the not-so-beloved movie adaptation by Zack Snyder. Thanks to some help from the likes of The Comedian, Nixon is able to become president for five terms, and he also is revealed to play a role in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He appears briefly in the film, and don’t be surprised if he shows up in the upcoming TV series.

Given that “Timeless” is a TV show about time travel, perhaps it’s not surprising that Nixon made an appearance. In an episode fittingly called “The Watergate Tape,” the heroes from the show head back to 1972 to try and prevent the time-traveling villain of the series from finding the missing 18-and-a-half minutes of Nixon’s secret White House recordings. The show wasn’t a big hit but it had a cult following, and they all surely remember this appearance from Nixon.

Obviously, Nixon appears in “Forrest Gump,” because basically every notable cultural figure from the ‘50s through the ‘80s show up in the meandering, self-satisfied film (that a lot of people love, to be fair). After taking on the Chinese table tennis team, Forrest meets the then-president. He also indirectly leads to the Watergate break-in being discovered, because of course he did.

This is more of a broad thing than a specific appearance in a TV show or movie. Richard Nixon masks have been quite popular for decades. You would occasionally see them out and about in the real world, but Nixon masks have appeared in movies in TV shows like “Point Break” and “That ‘70s Show” as well. His infamous caricature just works well in mask form.