Regardless of one’s feelings about Richard Nixon the politician, it’s difficult not to feel some degree of appre- ciation for the measure of the man: his vision, his wide-ranging achievements, and his far-ranging ambition.
navy later helped finance his first congressional campaign.
u Part of the World Leaders exhibit includes life-size statues of the heads of state who Nixon believed made a difference in the world. His choices were (seated, from left) Zhou Enlai and Mao Tse-Tung, of China, and (standing, from left) Leonid Brezhnev and Nikita Khrushchev, of the USSR; Anwar el-Sadat, of Egypt; Golda Meir, of Israel; Sir Winston Churchill, of Great Britain; Charles de Gaulle, of France; Konrad Adenauer, of West Germany; and Shigeru Yoshida, of Japan.
the measure of the man: his vision, his wide-ranging achievements, and his far-ranging ambition—qualities which become all the more apparent as the various displays are viewed. Just outside the theater, extending the length of an entire side of the reception area, is a display case of photographs, artifacts, and biographi- cal blurbs covering the first thirty years of Nixon’s life, from his birth in California to his return home after a fourteen-month naval tour of duty in the Pacific. There are photographs from Nixon’s childhood in the house up the hill, a report card of Nixon’s from elementary school, and a hand- written eighth-grade autobiography in faded ink in which Nixon wrote, “I
T H E E L K S M A G A Z I N E
would like to study law and enter Politics . . . so that I might be of some good to the people.” Photographs and mementos document Nixon’s years at nearby Whittier College and at Duke University Law School. Also on display is the original application Nixon submitted, fresh out of law school, for employment with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Memorabilia from his service in the US Navy include a recollection from fellow officer Lt. James Udall, who wrote: “Nixon was as good a poker player as . . . anyone we had ever seen. He played a quiet game, but wasn’t afraid of . . . running a bluff.” The few thousand dollars that Nixon saved from his poker winnings while in the
Illness and Death Directly to the right of the theater is the museum itself, the heart of the library complex. First is a group of displays detailing Nixon’s stroke, death, and funeral in April 1994. Arranged amid photographs and other memorabilia is a collection of framed get-well letters from prominent Americans, including President Ronald Reagan, Nixon cabinet member George Schultz, Iran-Contra figure Oliver North, and former first daughter Luci Baines Johnson. In a letter dated April 19, 1994, Reagan writes to Nixon, his old political ally, “I hope to see you soon for lunch in New York. It’s been too long since I had a four dessert meal.” Schultz’s letter speaks of Nixon’s “brilliance in foreign policy.”
But perhaps most poignant of all the letters is the one Nixon wrote to stroke victim Edward Schlesinger, the husband of a Nixon family employee. Penned just a few hours before he suffered his own devastating stroke, Nixon wrote, “I am confident you will have a complete recovery.”
Congressman Nixon The next series of exhibits in the
museum explores Nixon’s congres- sional career, encompassing his two terms in the US House of Representa- tives and one year in the US Senate. Found here is one of the museum’s most significant documents—a letter dated September 29, 1945, to “Lt. R. M. Nixon, USNR,” from prominent southern Californian H. L. Perry. In
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PHOTO: THE RICHARD NIXON FOUNDATION
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