ESPN Films: Nixon's National Champs (2014)

• 69%
• 2014
• Documentary
• Stephen C. Mitchell
• Patrick Buchanan
• Chris Fowler
• Richard Nixon

Selecting a national champion in college football has always been an arbitrary and often controversial process. In 1969, college football's centennial year, the mythical championship picture became even more contentious when President Richard Nixon tried his hand as "Pollster-in-Chief". NIXON'S NATIONAL CHAMPS is the story of how the 1969 college football national champion was crowned and the drama that surrounded it. Using rare footage of Nixon and his unexpected antagonist, Joe Paterno of Penn State, this film captures the folly of the President as he waded through the hornet's nest of polls and regional rivalries. Texas, Arkansas, Ohio State and Michigan all play supporting characters in this peculiar footnote in college football history.