Library offers history seen through Nixon’s point of view

Tuesday, July 16, 2002 | 9:36 a.m.

YORBA LINDA, Calif. AP) - Richard Nixon gets the last word. He's on a TV screen just steps from the exit, responding to the voice of an interviewer.

At one point, he openly laughs about petty nuisances such as wiretaps of political enemies, his secret office tape recordings and the infamous White House "plumbers."

Your last impression could be: his library, his prerogative.

Even if the Nixon Library reflects the perspective of one man who was the center of a sordid chapter in American presidential history, it's worth a visit if only for "a fascinating journey through history," according to the library's visitor guide.

Nixon, the only American president to resign, stepped down in 1974 just days after the House Judiciary Committee recommended articles of impeachment against him for alleged conspiracy to obstruct justice, abuse of power and refusal to comply with its subpoenas. He died in 1994 at age 81.

One of the most heartening elements of the nine-acre complex is the simple home in Yorba Linda where Nixon was born and spent the first nine years of his life. It still occupies its original site, where Nixon's father, Frank, tended a lemon grove. The family, which included four sons, later moved to Whittier.

Exhibit areas in the library trace the genesis of Nixon's political career: his victory in a local Congressional race (1946), his zeal as a member of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, his mud-slinging victory over Helen Gahagan Douglas for one of California's U.S. Senate seats (1950), and his selection as vice presidential running mate to Dwight D. Eisenhower (1952).

A vintage TV set plays a grainy, black-and-white tape of Nixon's famous "Checkers" speech, when he defended himself against claims that powerful backers had created a slush fund for his use.

One contribution, he says in the speech, was a cocker spaniel, "and Tricia, the 6-year-old, named it 'Checkers.' " As Nixon details his lifestyle, he declares that wife Pat "doesn't have a mink coat, but she does have a respectable, Republican cloth coat."

TV again figures prominently in Nixon's career at a subsequent exhibit devoted to his unsuccessful bid for the presidency against John F. Kennedy in 1960. The first of the televised debates of that campaign is aired, and Nixon, who declined to have television makeup applied, exhibits a 5 o'clock shadow and repeatedly mops sweat from his face with a handkerchief. As Nixon fidgets and stammers, Kennedy appears suave and self-assured.

The commentary hastens to add, however, that Nixon excelled in a subsequent televised debate and, besides, it's doubtful voters' minds were swayed by the first one anyway.

There's a lot more gloss as the library continues to document Nixon's political career up to his actions as the President of the United States.

The extension of the Vietnam War into Cambodia in 1970 is referred to as "unannounced bombing runs." The killing of four Kent State University students by National Guardsmen during a subsequent protest includes this vague preface: "Tragically, in the ensuing panic, shots rang out."

In the Watergate room, a reference to Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein includes the words "in their zeal to create a Watergate story ..."

Create?

Also in the Watergate room, after you hear the "smoking gun" tape - in which Nixon encourages an aide to have the CIA tell the FBI to back off its investigation for national security reasons - a commentary quickly notes that Nixon called off the dogs two weeks later as if that absolves him.

Exhibits at the library also deal with significant achievements during his presidency, including Nixon being the first president to visit China, his pursuit of detente with the Soviet Union and his withdrawal of troops from Vietnam, though it took more than four years. There is a poignant look at prisoners of war who returned from Vietnam on Nixon's watch in 1973.

The tour concludes with a dimly lit hall devoted to the abject darkness of Watergate.

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If You Go ...

GETTING THERE: 18001 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda. Take the 57 Freeway and exit at Yorba Linda Boulevard and proceed east for 3.7 miles.

GENERAL INFORMATION: Hours, costs: The library is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5.95 for adults, $2 for children (ages 8 (11)-, $3.95 for seniors (62 and up). For more informaion, call (714) 993-3393.

ON THE NET: www.nixonfoundation.org