The Nation: NIXON TALKS

He is back among us. And, as always, in a memorable manner, both painful and poignant, sometimes illuminating, usually self-serving. The once too-familiar face of Richard Nixon re-enters the homes of America this week for 90 minutes of dramatic television.

The only U.S. President to be forced from office makes his first extensive accounting of his tumultuous presidency. He does so not in a court of law, as did his highest aides. Nor at a Senate impeachment trial—he resigned to avoid that. Instead, nearly three years after a...