Nixon by Nixon: In His Own Words

Fascinating and deeply troubling.

Though not as artfully constructed as Penny Lane’s excellent documentary “Our Nixon,” which aired last year on CNN, Nixon by Nixon is similarly judicious in its use of visuals and old footage.

The strange little documentary Nixon by Nixon: In His Own Words is engrossing despite itself.

You may have read the transcripts over the years, but to hear the dialog, now on the eve of the 40th anniversary of his Aug. 9, 1974 resignation, is newly eye-opening.

Despite the overload of information we’ve acquired about Nixon in the years since, the tapes still have the power to jar.

While the picture it provides is certainly strange and paradoxical, it is also limited.

A larger shortcoming of the documentary is that it shows Nixon in an almost unrelievedly unflattering light. His presidency had substantial achievements to go with the failures and fiascoes, and he was a far more complex man than the relentlessly grim bozo seen and heard here.