Blind Ambition (miniseries)

Blind Ambition
Based on	Blind Ambition
Written by	John Dean Maureen Dean Taylor Branch
Screenplay by	Stanley R. Greenberg
Directed by	George Schaefer
Starring	Martin Sheen William Daniels Ed Flanders
Theme music composer	Walter Scharf
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of episodes	4
Production
Producer	Renee Valente
Cinematography	Edward R. Brown
Editors	Arthur Hilton Peter Parasheles John Wright
Running time	480 minutes
Production company	Talent Associates
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	May 20 (1979-05-20) – May 23, 1979 (1979-05-23)

Blind Ambition is a four-part American miniseries that aired on CBS from May 20, 1979 to May 23, 1979 focusing on the 1972–74 Watergate scandal and based on the memoirs of former White House counsel John Dean and his wife Maureen.^[1]

Producer Renee Valente earned an Emmy nomination for the series.^[2]

Part I ranked as the 15th most-watched show for the week of May 14–20, 1979,^[3] and Parts IV, II, and III, respectively, ranked as the 11th-13th most watched primetime shows of the following week.^[4]

Cast

Watergate scandal
The Watergate complex in 2006
Events
List Presidency of Richard Nixon Timeline Nixon White House tapes Operation Sandwedge Operation Gemstone 1972 presidential election "Saturday Night Massacre" Impeachment process against Richard Nixon United States v. Nixon Resignation speech Inauguration of Gerald Ford
People
Watergate burglars Bernard Barker Virgilio Gonzalez Eugenio Martínez James W. McCord Jr. Frank Sturgis
Groups Master list of Nixon's political opponents Nixon's Enemies List Watergate Babies Watergate Seven White House Plumbers
CRP Committee for the Re-Election of the President Fred LaRue Jeb Stuart Magruder Robert Mardian John N. Mitchell Kenneth Parkinson Hugh W. Sloan Jr. Maurice Stans
White House Richard Nixon Alexander Butterfield Charles Colson John Dean John Ehrlichman Gerald Ford H. R. Haldeman E. Howard Hunt Egil Krogh G. Gordon Liddy Gordon C. Strachan Rose Mary Woods
Judiciary Archibald Cox Leon Jaworski John Sirica
Journalists Carl Bernstein Bob Woodward Barry Sussman Harry M. Rosenfeld Howard Simons Ben Bradlee Katharine Graham Lesley Stahl The Washington Post
Intelligence community Mark Felt ("Deep Throat") L. Patrick Gray Richard Helms James R. Schlesinger
Congress Howard Baker Sam Ervin Peter W. Rodino U.S. Senate Watergate Committee Impeachment process
Related Frank Wills (security guard) James F. Neal (prosecutor) All the President's Men (book, film) The Final Days (book, film) Blind Ambition (miniseries) Dick (1999 film) Mark Felt: The Man who Brought Down the White House (2017 film) Watergate (2019 board game) Slow Burn (2020 series) Gaslit (2022 series) White House Plumbers (2023 miniseries)
v t e

Martin Sheen as John Dean, Nixon White House counsel and coordinator of the Watergate cover-up turned star witness
Rip Torn as President Richard Nixon
Theresa Russell as Maureen Dean
William Daniels as G. Gordon Liddy, former FBI agent, one of the head White House Plumbers and one of the Watergate Seven
Graham Jarvis as John Ehrlichman, Nixon chief domestic advisor
John Randolph as John Mitchell, former Attorney General
Lawrence Pressman as H.R. "Bob" Haldeman, Nixon White House Chief of Staff
Ed Flanders as Charlie Shaffer, Dean's lawyer
Peter Mark Richman as Robert Mardian, political CRP coordinator
James Sloyan as Ronald Ziegler, Nixon White House press secretary
William Windom as Richard Kleindienst, Attorney General succeeding Mitchell
Lonny Chapman as L. Patrick Gray, acting FBI director
Christopher Guest as Jeb Stuart Magruder, CRP coordinator turned witness
James Karen as Earl Silbert, federal prosecutor
Kip Niven as Egil "Bud" Krogh, Nixon executive assistant who worked with the White House Plumbers
Michael Callan as Charles Colson, Nixon White House counsel preceding Dean
David Sheiner as Samuel Dash, Georgetown law professor and chief counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee

References

^ TV Guide Guide to TV. New York: Barnes & Noble Books. 2004. p. 75. ISBN 0-7607-5634-1.
^ Barnes, Mike (2016-02-22). "Renee Valente, Casting Executive and Pioneering Producer, Dies at 88". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
^ "TV Ratings". The New York Times. 23 May 1979. p. C-28.
^ "TV Ratings". The New York Times. 31 May 1979. p. C-18.

External links

Blind Ambition at IMDb

Richard Nixon

37th President of the United States (1969–1974)
36th Vice President of the United States (1953–1961)
U.S. Senator from California (1950–1953)
U.S. Representative for CA–12 (1947–1950)

Pre-presidency

Presidency
(timeline)

Foreign policy	International trips Nixon Doctrine Vietnam War Cambodian bombing Paris Peace Accords "Peace with Honor" Vietnamization Cold War period Linkage policy Tar Baby Option 1972 visit to China Shanghai Communiqué 1973 Chilean coup d'état Détente 1972 Moscow Summit Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty SALT I Treaty Prevention of Nuclear War Agreement Threshold Test Ban Treaty Operation CHAOS Space exploration
Domestic policy	Family Assistance Plan Revised Philadelphia Plan Minority Business Development Agency Native American policy Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Education Amendments of 1972 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants Title IX Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 National Cancer Act of 1971 End Stage Renal Disease Program Supplemental Security Income Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act Shafer Commission War on Drugs Drug Enforcement Administration Cannabis policy Federal Contested Elections Act Federal Election Campaign Act 1970 VRA Amendments District of Columbia Home Rule Act
Economic policy	Bank Secrecy Act Fair Credit Reporting Act National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1970 Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973 Nixon shock Economic Stabilization Act of 1970 Smithsonian Agreement Occupational Safety and Health Act National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Occupational Safety and Health Administration Permissible exposure limit U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Consumer Product Safety Act Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act Securities Investor Protection Act Securities Investor Protection Corporation Tax Reform Act of 1969 Alternative minimum tax Revenue Act of 1971 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 Agricultural Act of 1970 Farm Credit Act of 1971 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act of 1972 Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 Federal Energy Administration Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act
Environmental policy	Council on Environmental Quality Environmental Quality Improvement Act National Environmental Policy Act Environmental Protection Agency Clean Air Amendments of 1970 Clean Water Act Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act National Ambient Air Quality Standards National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants New Source Performance Standards Noise Control Act Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Zone Management Act Coastal Zone Management Program Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Marine Mammal Protection Act Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 Endangered Species Act of 1969 Endangered Species Act of 1973 Oil Pollution Act of 1973 Water Resources Development Act of 1974
Watergate	Timeline Operation Sandwedge Operation Gemstone Saturday Night Massacre CRP White House Plumbers Watergate Seven Enemies List list of opponents White House tapes United States v. Nixon (1974) Senate Watergate Committee impeachment process "I am not a crook" Resignation Pardon