Transcripts For CSPAN2 The 20240704

So. Well. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Nixon Library. My name is jim byron and i am the president , ceo of the Richard Nixon foundation. And id like to acknowledge a few special guests with this evening, beginning with tamara martin, director of the Richard Nixon president ial library and museum with the national archives. Tamara, thank you for being here. Id also like to welcome the mayor of the great of whittier, joe venturi. Thank you for being here, mr. Mayor. And i want to thank all of the president s Council Members and Associates Club members of the Richard Nixon foundation, who are in the this evening. Because it is your support allows us to put on Educational Programs like the one that you are seeing tonight. So thank you for your support of the nixon foundation. This evening, going to hear from paul carter, who has written a terrific new book, Richard Nixon, californias native son. This is one of the most important books on Richard Nixon to have been written in a very long, maybe ever. Like paul carter is a native Southern California, a veteran, the United States navy and, a trial lawyer. The similarity is stirred in mr. Carter, an and a desire to dive into nixon history. He joined the all volunteer Nixon Library docent guild. It was a member in Good Standing for many years. Actually met the former president on for. He also produced a foldout map of Southern California noting dozens of places associated with the president and mrs. Nixon like their favorite restaurants. Their home in san clemente and each of them went to school. This map, i might add is sale in the Nixon Librarys gift shop. I would encourage you all to pick up a copy. He recently also organized a bus tour of notable nixon sites in whittier which will soon be offered for sale through the Richard Nixon foundation. Ultimately, mr. Carter decided, that the nixons connections with Southern California air, which is where each of them spent their formative years, were worthy of a book. During the research phase, mr. Carter spoke to many of Richard Nixons closest and most guarded officers associates like logan and marj acker, both of whom rarely gave interviews he was able to build on prior works by jonathan aiken, conrad black and evan thomas. He read and references in the book literally tens of thousands of pages of oral housed at the nearby Cal State Fullerton Center for oral history and a number of materials right here at the Nixon Library library pulling his research together, he identified some themes such as Richard Nixons dutiful, hard work and interactions at a young age with members of very communities in Southern California. Nixons work ethic is legendary, and carter highlights examples of nixons time at Duke Law School, including the nixon second in his class from duke, which i did not know. There is perhaps no better account, nor any stronger endorsement of the authors findings than the fact that tricia nixon cox, president and mrs. Nixons eldest daughter, elected to write the foreword to this book, and she wrote in part, quote, much has been written about Richard Nixons life and career. Yet despite hundreds of volumes and profiles that have been penned, no author has taken such a richly detailed and deeply researched look into fathers formative years. As paul carter has, i was pleasantly surprised that although i knew my father very well, even learned things about those early years that i had not known before. This new work adds a sense to a compendium of works researched and written in the last 20 years that tell the story of Richard Nixons life. These include dr. Irv gilmans, the and the president. The apprentice. As well as dr. Luke nikas the year the pro politics. This collection is still very much in progress. There are authors that work now on material about Richard Nixons legal career. A retrospective book on the nixon legacy today and the first full scale biography of Lady Pat Nixon in nearly 40 years since. Julie nixon. Eisenhower is pat nixon the untold story. All three of these works are set to be released next year, paul carter writes in his preface, quote, i am a trial attorney. I am quite aware that speak louder than words and. I know the thoroughness required to assemble evidence presenting it layer by layer until the full story emerges. Thats what ive done with Richard Nixon. Californias native son. And now its time for you to be the judge. Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, please join in welcoming paul carter. Thank you. Thank you, jim. Thank you to all of the incredible staff here for putting this evening together. I really appreciate it. And, you know, lets just get started. Richard nixon as californias native son, he was born hearing linda in a house. His father built a few steps where im standing. He was raised in whittier and graduated Whittier College. And then went off to Duke Law School. Were all pretty much familiar with that aspect of his life and that story. But now im going to tell you the allamerican story, Richard Nixon, that youve never heard before. In 1937, 24 year old Richard Nixon graduated from Duke Law School, and he returned home to whittier. And the first order of business was to take the california exam. He passed on the first try. He then took a job at weingart and bewley, where mr. Ventura works and he became a winger and was the premier law firm in whittier. And its clients were mainly corporate and Estate Planning clients. And Richard Nixon, he was such a go getter, he didnt stop there. In addition to being an attorney, had himself appointed as what your city attorney. And soon he became his first chief trial attorney. But he didnt stop there either. He started acting in community theater. He played he appeared in first lady, dark tower in the night of january 16th, where coincidentally he played an attorney. He was president of whittier bar association. Joined the 2030 service club and soon became, as and under his leadership, that group had its largest expansion in membership ever. Even though he was in that service club, he would go to other Service Clubs like, the rotary, and he would he would talks there and he would play their club songs and lead singalongs on the piano. He would give preelection talks on ballot before the general elections. All of these activities not enough to contain his energies. He was president of the Duke Alumni Association. He was Program Chairman for the Junior Chamber of commerce. He a practical course. Practical law. Whittier college. He was the first elected president of the newly formed Orange County association of cities in 1938 at the Whittier College homecoming. He was elected president of the Whittier College alumni association. The following year, he was invited to join the prestigious Board Trustees for Whittier College. And this was a serious group. Aubrey wardman the wealthiest man in whittier was a member of the board as, was former first lady of the United States louis henry hoover. And by the way, richard was the youngest member ever. He went into business, pioneering in the frozen orange juice development. Now, this business failed, but he bold and taking a chance and at the same time he was active in his eastwood. With your Friends Church, where he sang bass in choir. He taught a quaker young peoples class. Hed lead religious discussions, teach the students how to had a public speak or speak publicly like im doing and articulately. But he hed even take the kids on field down to Huntington Beach for four trips to the sandy shore on easter sunday. The eastwood your Friends Church would their piano up into the hills of East Whittier that he could play for the sunrise service. And through all of he was very active with his family. And more important, he was in love with Patricia Ryan. Now, Patricia Ryan was a remarkable, remarkable woman in her own right. She was independent, strong willed. The perfect complement to. A man of Richard Nixons energy. Pat herself through the university of Southern California. Her father died when she was 18. Her mother had died when. She was 12. And yet pat was able to earn her bachelors degree on, her own. And then she took a job teaching at Whittier High School in whittier. And she used to say the only reason why she took the job was she was destined to meet marry Richard Nixon in his own hometown. They met the night that they were auditioning for the play in the community theater, the dark tower. Now, Richard Nixon was born that first night. They met. Richard nixon told pat theyd be married. And they were in june of 1940. He was bored . Yes, but he was also a romantic. Want to tell you two stories about patrick dating. The first is that pat loved ice skating. And when Richard Nixon was in college, he had a good friend named kenny ball. And kenny ball loved ice skating, too. And kenny ball was surprised a couple of years after the graduated from Whittier College, when nixon shows up at the ice skating rink. And kenny recalled after about three afternoons of practice, he wasnt getting any better. In fact, he was getting worse. I can remember him flying of control and hitting his face on the ice so hard he was all covered in blood. And i went over and i helped to pick up and i asked him, why do you keep doing this . And he looked up at me and said ive got a great date to go. Ice skating with on saturday night. And i must be to keep up. The second story is that Richard Nixon believed a man buys a ring once in his life and a ring that his wife should always be proud to wear. So he went down to the Jewelry Exchange in los angeles and he bought an Engagement Ring for 324. He it to marlons flower shop in whittier, and he had it wrapped in flowers. Then he went and got his cousin tom sulky to bring the flowers to pat in a classroom at your high school. The only problem was neither tom nor pat knew that there was an Engagement Ring in the flower wrapping, which pat promptly away. Would you put the flowers in the base . So that night, Richard Nixon had to race to the school and he arrived after the janitor dumped out all the trash. So he headed through all this rubbish to find that ring. But he found it. And pat was proud to wear that ring the rest of her life. You know, my long story that im telling you and all of the things that im discussing, its actually quite its a short story because everything ive told you about happened between when nixon graduate from Duke Law School in mid 1937 and the japanese attack on pearl harbor on december seven, 1941, as tensions or as the war developed in europe between germany, france and england, and tensions grew between the United States and japan, Richard Nixon turned his talents to serving the United States of america. He took a one third pay cut to join the office of price administrator. And once the japanese attacked on pearl harbor, he decided, join the navy. Now, nixon was originally stationed in ottumwa, iowa, in the United States. I, too, was in the navy, and i happened to go to law school, iowa. And i can tell you, in my reasoned opinion, i dont think you can get farther away the ocean than to be in a tunnel. Iowa. And Richard Nixon must have agreed because he insisted on seeking a transfer to sea duty somewhere or at a base closer to the action. So he received orders to the heart of the south pacific, where the United States troops, the armed forces of the Imperial Japanese from island to bloody island. And once he was there, he didnt stay the rear. He asked to be sent into combat. He explained reasoning. He said, well battle areas are very dangerous and potentially. The boredom of serving in the rear. When your friends, former colleagues are in battle areas is worse. Let me tell you. No u. S. President has been a member of the United States marine corps. Yet Richard Nixon is the only United States president who served with the marine corps combat unit, and he did it in the heart of world war two. After a year of service in the south pacific, much of it in combat, he was awarded the letter of commendation. So the question is, who knew Richard Nixon had this much . I will tell everybody that knew when he was graduating from one year college. He was voted very best man on campus. His classmates, the athletic jocks on campus, they him a letter and they told him out of every graduating class, there is at least one person who becomes an outstanding person. And we all believe that your destined to be that person. They felt that way for good reason. He was freshman class president. He was sophomore class representative. He was student body Vice President in his junior year and in his senior, he was student body president. But he didnt stop there. He played the freshman basketball team. He played football for Whittier College. All four years. And back those days, Whittier College didnt allow for or sororities, but they did have societies. One for the men, which was called the franklins and three for the women. The franklin was the they were the type of guys they like to sponsor afternoon teas and take their annual pictures in tuxedos, which, by the way, they borrowed from members the glee club. So nixon and his fellow took stock of the snobbish franklins and decided that they they would form their own organization, which they called north egoyans. Now, two distinguish themselves from the franklins authors. Ionians took a far more informal approach. They like to call the franklins fliers the way. Now that the authors ionians were viewing themselves as rugged individualist, even, you know, cowboys of western region, they saw as men with outsized personality muscles bulging from short sleeved shirts. They took their annual pictures in white shirts with open collars. By design, they became known on campus as a no neck and merry crew. They were seen as revolutionaries by fellow students before. Nixon and the authors. Unions came along. The franklins dominated school politics. But once Richard Nixon and his no and mary crew came to campus, they won six of the next eight student body elections. And nixon didnt stop there. He acted in student theater. He sang in the glee club. He owned two tuxedos. And he was champion on the School Debate team. There is no question but that Richard Nixon was wildly successful in college. He was confident, bold in high school, too, though for high school, though, he lived a little closer to whittier high. He started at florida in high school because they had bus service. He played on the freshman football team. And they were known as the ironman because they only they could only have 11 players. So they couldnt have substituted fans. That team went on to win championship. He was also a champion in the constitution oratorical contest put on by the los angeles. Now, nixon was modest about his talent and he had fun with his debate skills. Hed also demonstrate his wit as he challenged his classmates to argue whether a giraffe with a sore throat suffered more than a centipede with corns. After his sophomore year, he transferred to Whittier High School because whittier now offered bus service. Now, Winter High School is just like any other school and they had klicks. Nixon lived the East Whittier area, which was until and it was considered in the country compared to the the uptown with your classmates. He had from whittier proper yet one of the first things Richard Nixon did was he ran for student body president and he almost won. He had a girlfriend and she was the daughter of the chief of police. You that took guts. He im telling you this. This man this young man was bold and confident. I dont have a single friend from when i was growing up that would have dared to date the daughter of the chief of police. And it didnt start in high school. He was eighth grade class president. He spoke at his graduation where he gave the history of the class. His grandmother, elmira millhouse, had copied down this verse from the Henry Wadsworth longfellow poem some of life, and she gave to him as a gift. And it read lives of great men remind us we can make our lives sublime and departing leave behind footprints on the sands time. So nixon intertwined the names of all of his classmates. And he rewrote the poem and concluded now the lives of great men all remind us. We can make our lives that sought and departing leave behind us. Footprints on a tennis court. Im telling you, this man, Richard Nixon, he was bold. He was successful, he was wellliked, and he was accomplished. And everyone that knew him say the same. A moment ago, i mentioned his service in the navy when he was seeking his navy commission, he received letters of recommendation. What are your answer, ernest sherwood, a client of nixons, along with the president , quaker city federal savings and loan association, and the dean of Duke University law school. And the president of Whittier College. They all championed Richard Nixon for his character, intellect, leadership, abilities, and patriotism. The director of the department of education for the state, california concluded. His recommendation with his devotion to the ideals and principles American Government inspires in those with whom he has associated. Ralph newman of Saint Johns University school, who had only known nixon a couple of months at the office of press administration in wrote effusively about nixon during the past five years. In the course of my as associate professor of law in the in the law school at Saint Johns University, i have come in fairly close contact with some thousands of ambitious and intelligent young men. Among i can think of none who possess qualities of character, sound and true as Richard Nixon. George buescher, who was nixons supervisor at, the office of press administration. He he concisely stated what the other recommenders knew about Richard Nixon. He stated, i have i have been greatly impressed by his clear, careful and analytical. Letters of recommendation. Ordinarily, air the side of being overly overly generous to the person being recommended. But i would, i believe this would be impossible. In mr. Nixons case. Im telling you, Richard Nixon, he was a man of accomplishment, a man of accomplishment. And he wasnt seeking. Nixon believed there was separating the men from the boys. Was the boys on office to be somebody and the men sought office to do something . Im going to give you two examples. The first is when Richard Nixon was president and the student body at Whittier College, he persuaded the board of trustees to allow dancing. Now, those quakers they were serious about not allowing dancing. They really opposed to it. A couple of years before nixon came along. There was a local bank teller and he tried to persuade the school to allow dancing and the Whittier College president was so with him he had him fired from his job and then they ran him out of the church. Yet along came Richard Nixon and he persuaded the board of trustees to allow dancing. The second example is when Richard Nixon was Richard Nixon disagreed hated southern schools, bought brown versus board of education, decided by the United States Supreme Court in the mid 1950s, when eisenhower was president. I can actually send troops to open up southern schools to minorities. But after the eisenhower administration, president kennedy nor johnson really did anything to further desegregation, when Richard Nixon became. Less than 10 of southern schools were desegregated, the southerners were clearly opposed. Desegregation. So nixon told his staff, we dont put our fingers in their eyes. We dont rub their noses in it. We dont get our name in the newspapers, but we do it. And they did. When Richard Nixon left office, the vast of southern schools were desegregated. Now, getting back to richard in his navy service when he returned from the south pacific, the navy finally took advantage of his navy or his lawyer skills. Im sorry. He was assigned to negotiate the termination of large war contracts, big business and the government. He was stationed in lawman hatton in new york city, and he was so successful that he was soon terminating contracts within 500 miles in new york. And he was basically his own boss. After negotiating the termination of these war contracts for just a couple of months. He was recognized with the second letter accommodation to go, the one he received in the south pacific. Now, many of our friends in the media and different historians have propagated this idea that wanted to be part of the northeast city scene or the new york scene in the northeast and. That the story basically that you know, Richard Nixon wanted to be educated in the northeast, but his parents couldnt afford to send him to school. Then when he graduated duke, he wanted to get an offer from the new York City Law Firm, but he couldnt get an offer. So he had to return home to lowly whittier. Bitter and insecure. Well, im here to tell you all nonsense. Richard nixon attended Whittier College because his older brother harold was dying of. The fact of the matter is that harold died. Richard nixon was a junior in college. Heres what Richard Nixon said. These historians. You know, these psycho historians are psychos. Thats all i could say about them them. We were all rooting for harold, and we would have done anything, any of us, for him, just as he would have done for us. Furthermore, when Richard Nixon graduated from Duke Law School, he turned down in new York City Law Firm so that he can return home and establish himself in his hometown and eventually run for office. And this was the exact advice that was given to him by the dean of duke school. And Richard Nixon followed it to achieve when he completed his service in world war two. He was so successful at terminating those war contracts in new york. He could have written his own ticket. He could have stayed there in practice law. He returned to whittier to execute his plan and, run for office. Richard nixon had hustle. He chose to take Jerry Voorhees. Nixon first met Jerry Voorhees in the summer of 1936, when voorhees was running for congress the first time, Richard Nixon was so impressed with him, he said, i would have for him if id voted that year. But i was away in law school. By 1946, Jerry Voorhees was a five term incumbent democrat. He was rated as holding the third safest seat in the house of representatives. He was voted as being the best congressman west of the mississippi. But Richard Nixon bold and Richard Nixon was confident. And Richard Nixon took them on. And Richard Nixon beat them. And Richard Nixon beat them. And Jerry Voorhees own hometown, a diamond bar. Richard nixon was then in 1948. He was elected in 1950 to the United States senate in the largest landslide of any any Senate Candidate in the country. And two years later, he was elected Vice President , United States. All this in just six years. Thats a meteoric rise in american politics. I call it mr. Hustle. Now, i realize that many detractors about richard, that would listen to what i have to say. Would say, well, you know, he must have changed. But the reality is they have to Say Something like that. Because if you really look his life is incredibly successful and truly allamerican. But as to the question as to whether or not nixon changed, i say the best judge of a man is a. So lets look at what the women had to say about Richard Nixon, the woman that knew him best. The women that worked with him evelyn dorn was Richard Nixons first legal secretary back in 1937. She was so with Richard Nixon that she volunteered for each one of his political campaigns. 1946, 48, 5052, 56, 60, 62 and 68. In 1971, evelyn dawns husband, larry, died. President nixon stopped what he was doing in the white house, and he wrote to evelyn in longhand. He told her, dear evelyn, i want to express my deepest sympathy to you and to your family during this sad period. Larry was one of my favorite people. He was he was always upbeat. Never failing to give those around him a lift, regardless of how tough going might be. I honor how close he was to you and how much you will miss him. You can take great comfort in the fact that no man ever had a more loyal and devoted wife. Sincerely. Less than two months after Richard Nixon resigned the presidency, evelyn wrote to Richard Nixon and told him, i have chosen this time to thank you for the many, many fine things you have done for the american people. And after reflecting on their closeness as ever and concluded, im sure you know that, there are millions of us who love and, admire you and evelyn young. Our evelyn dawn was dedicated to Richard Nixon the entire rest of her life. And it wasnt just evelyn when nixon was elected president in 1952. One of his first acts was standing for womens equality. Laurie grant was a staffer in Richard Nixons office in the senate years, and she stayed in the Vice President ial years. And one of the duties of the Vice President s office is to take the proclamations and resolutions are voted on by the various states and deliver them to the United States senate. And lo, he was assigned this. And the first time she went to carry it out, the Senate Sergeant in arms told her that the job had to be done by a man. So she returned to the office and she dutifully informed the bosses they affectionately called Richard Nixon. And he was sitting at his and he looked up and he said, what . What is this . And incredulous he got up he marched over to the Senate Chamber and told the sergeant at arms that lowey gone. The woman in his office that was assigned this task, that she was capable of it out and that she was going to perform that task from that day forward. And she did. Lowey gone spent her entire adult life working for Richard Nixon. Years after lowey. Years after the nixons passed. I interviewed lori and. She confessed to me it was a wonderful relationship. It meant everything to me. I thought he was the person that could do more for our country than anyone else. And i knew. And he needed help. I wanted to be a part of that. I did very ordinary things with people, an atmosphere that was very thrilling to be part of. As a family, i admired them both. They were wonderful people and i still feel close them. Likewise, marj acker was a young staffer in nixons senate office. She stayed on with the nixons rest of the nixons lives, reflecting on her entire adult life dedicated to the nixons. Marge told me this about her feelings. I wouldnt trade my life for anything, even if i knew how his term was going to end. These are powerful words. Richard nixon had, a cousin named jesmond, west, she once described herself Richard Nixon. She said, i am a democrat and i have been. When i was young, i was a socialist. There are some people who write of richard, as if he were a kind of color grim, selfcontained person. I find him enormously quite different from that, quite funny, quite open. Far from the cold or prim or restrained fellow that people have. Nixon as being. I find to be a man full of passion. A man full of feeling. And of course, theres patricia and julie. So lets take a look at the nixon family. Frank and hannah nixon met on valentines day, 1908. They dated for 131 days and then were married. Their courtship of four months produced a marriage of 48 years until. Frank died on september four, 1956. That marriage. Resulted in five boys, two of whom died at young ages tuberculosis. But the remaining richard donen had grown to adulthood and each married the love of his life patent. Richard nixon. Were married 53 years until patched death in 1993. Don and clergyman nixon were married in 1942 and were together for 45 years until don died 1987. Ed and jane nixon were together 57 years. They were married in 1957 until gays death in 2014. Now, pat and richard had two children. Patricia julie, both of whom were married at young ages, had children and are still married to the loves of their lives. And tricia and julie had only been married and short periods when watergate ravaged our nation. Talk about pressure on those young marriages but they stood by their father and they never wavered. Despite all that public turmoil, the fact that the nixon family has never suffered all of issues of divorce or, alcohol or drug abuse that has afflicted so many of the prominent families is testament to the fact that there are good stock, good in all american stock. So the question is, was Richard Nixon the villain who got his just desserts or . Was he an allamerican man that made an incredible misjudgment for which his legacy stained . The basic narrative about Richard Nixon that most people believe is true, that he grew up poor, had a mean father was insecure, and in had a chip on his shoulder. Now, ive shown you that thats all nonsense. But consider how much biographers have described nixon. Evan thomas tags nixon tragically flawed. Not to be outdone, Michael Dobbs finds him enormously flawed. And then john ferrell finds nixon to be our darkest president. The problem with all of these biographers is they their works on nixon between on other subjects and do this all within a couple of years. And they dont really take the time thats necessary to devote to learn the true essence of the person that theyre writing on. If you dont look at Richard Nixons in full, as i describe my biography, then you fall the trap that his cousin jasmine west described, which is we want the facts to fit preconceived ambitions. When they dont, its easier to ignore the facts than to change the preconceptions. This is important because if Richard Nixon was actually a good guy and made a tremendous mistake, he paid the price for that transgression the entire rest of his life. And as children still do all over politics, our continued villainizing of a good man over one transgression for which apologized, resigned the presidency and served a selfimposed exile, says more about us as americans than it does about Richard Nixon. So if were going to be truly allamerican, then we should celebrate for the man and celebrate the man for the life he actually led as president nixon said at Richard Nixons funeral. May the day of judging nixon on anything last as and then his entire life and career come to a close from my research i have found he is not a flawed man, no more so than anyone elses flawed. Nor was he our darkest president. He was just a man in all american man. And he was Richard Nixon. Californias native son. Thank you. And im happy to answering. You have. Well, thank you, mr. Carter. That was quite the tree. Thank you. We are going to take some questions. Raise your hands. How we get around to as many as i possibly can. Ill ask the first one. You had opportunity to meet president nixon four times here at the Nixon Library. Obviously, youve done quite a bit of Research Since then and have formed your own opinion of the man. But if you could take yourself back in time and reexamine since those four interactions, what were your biggest takeaways from meeting the man, president Richard Nixon. Im the product of Public Education and and my earliest memory was of Richard Nixon was when my father home early from work one day and he said come inside and watch the president resign and i dont even i was nine years old i dont even think i knew what a president and i definitely didnt know what resigning was. And after that, you know, all of my teachers and everything learned about him was not favorable. And so the the idea that i was probably very similar to the perception that everyone has. And then when i met him, you know, i had these these these these these about him because was so incredibly nice and friendly and engaging. And so this dichotomy between, his public image and what the actual mantle was like really, stuck with me. And it just was something that i always considered because. It was so fascinating to me that he wasnt what everyone wanted him to appear to be. Thank you. Our first question from the audience. In your research, you happen well, earlier you mentioned kidney ball in your research. Did you interview his grandson, jeff, whos now the president of the Orange County business . And if you did, what did you from jeff . Ive tried stories with jeff and and actually last time i saw jeff was here in the east room for the ed royce symposium through cal state fullerton. And. And and its interesting to listen to jeff talk to talk about his grandfathers interaction with Richard Nixon and you know, i think it was it was kenny ball had heard open heart surgery and Richard Nixon had called him when he heard he was recovering at home and kenny balls wife said that she almost dropped the phone when, you know, Richard Nixon said, hi, im calling to check on kenny. You know, she thought herself, my my gosh you know hes got much going on and hes hes hes calling to check on an old friend from Whittier College. But it really reflects the type of man. Richard nixon was in the middle, sir good evening. Thank you very much. This is very enlightening and welcome to yorba linda. Thank you. As an eight year old summer of 74, i remember sitting on my grandfathers floor watching. President nixon resigned and my mother sitting on my grandfathers bed crying as we were watching this on television. And i asked my mother, why are you crying . And she said that president nixon was thinking of his mother in this most you know, historic time. So my question really is what was his mother more influence in his upbringing or his father and who had more impact on upbringing . Would you say . They were both incredible, impactful on his upbringing. His father was stern, but his father was the type of guy that also. You know, when his little brother harold had tuberculosis and they had scare that don might have tuberculosis. And he had richard lungs xrayed. And they that they thought he might have tuberculosis in an earlier time period. And so he didnt want him to play football. You know, he was very, very concerned about things like that and when Richard Nixon did play for Whittier College, you know, his father went to every practice and cheered him on and made sure that the family went to every game. But his father was, you know, probably typical of most fathers and his mother was much more of, you know, his father would raise voice. But but but but hannah wouldnt. And i think the what Richard Nixon got from that would be a blend between the determination of his father. But, you know, nixon was the type of person that would argue with you through debate, never raise his voice, which would be an aspect of him that i would attribute to his mother in the way she raised him. And so it was a blend between two influences and. They were both very impactful on him in his youth and growing up through. Paul. I think its very important, you are have given us something here that we have not known. Thats Richard Nixon, the young boy growing up through high school, college, which theres its been bereft in terms background and knowledge of who this president is. I would appreciate if you would maybe tell everybody i know you know the story of. Herman perry and the others who got him to run against for his. And i think itd be appropriate if you told everyone what you what were trying to do in terms of doing a Richard Nixon tour in whittier. Sure happy to you. You know as a trial attorney, sometimes, you know, we will bring the jury out to to to see whatever is the issue thats in trial in the case. So i would invite all of you if you want to come out to whittier, i will show where Richard Nixon lived, worked and played and had a family. And we have developed an incredible tour working through the library and with the Mayors Office in whittier and different people in whittier. We bring these places to life and you can see this truly all american life, the Richard Nixon had in whittier and its its really an amazing allamerican tale when you see his life and the way he lived it. And it was it humble and, it was enriching and. The thing thats really about whittier is uptown. Whittier is the same now as was then and so, so much. It is preserved and really. What stuck with Richard Nixon throughout his entire life. He had these lasting and relationships and bonds with people where they all stayed together and they all supported him throughout, all of the years. And it really goes back to the quaker roots in whittier and and, and here in yorba linda as, a matter of fact, to where his family helped build the quaker church. But its its really a fascinating experience. So im happy to anyone that wants to come out, ill show you around whittier, and were happy to do it. Our next question, dr. Luke. Nick, were also a nixon historian who will be with us on thursday for another talk on president Richard Nixon. So if you dont get enough tonight, which im sure will, but come back and be with us on thursday to to hear more about president Richard Nixon, dr. Victor . No, and im coming on thursday, so i might be. I didnt do this for any selfpromotion. So the nixon you describe is someone who obviously had an incredible spark a drive, you know, almost that understood it like an internal gyroscope or. What do you think gave him that. I think he had competitiveness to him that drove him and, you know, if you look at what Richard Nixon said when he was in the eighth grade, he said that he wanted to graduate from one year college and go to law school. So that he could be of some good to the people. And thats what he did. He graduated from of your college, went to law school, and he served his country in world war two. And then he entered politics so that he could be of good to the people and when he was growing up, he he developed his compete of feeling through debate in school and then in high school and college and in that process, he fell in love with the constitution and he believed that the constitution was the finest struck by the hand of man. And he really believed the democratic process. If you look at him, you know, in 1960, when he to john kennedy, hes specifically chose not to challenge that election even though john president eisenhower wanted him to challenge the election and eisenhowers cabinet wanted to fund an election challenge to it. But richard believed that the democracy was too important and theres too many countries look to the United States as as a symbol and a beacon of democracy, and that we couldnt have a in disarray, that no one man or one person is bigger than the needs of the country. And it that competitive feeling the youth here really carried through life and and him and it was that love service to other people if you look at his entire life it really was all about service to other people and he really made no money from Government Service none of no one from his family profited from government. He almost had no money from his Government Service. It was really him trying to do things, the community. And its exactly i was describing earlier all of those active gis, whether it be the Duke Alumni Association or the 2030 club or the, you know, the quaker young people class, that was all doing things for the community, trying to make things better for. His community and and i think it was born out of that drive and that competitiveness that he developed through football. Would your college and also through his his competitive debate and he really became a champion through a gentleman in the second row. Sir, your question . Hi there. My name is michael. I appreciate you being here today. Um, im a recent product of the California State University system as a economics major. And unfortunately, i had a lot of professors, a lot of students, classmates, employers who are just vehemently against nixon. And ive always done my best, you know as a fan, just to defend. But unfortunately they just are stuck in their their mindset. Could you speak to some of the like possibly the best peaceful way or best nixon way that you would approach that and encourage some of those converse asians you know thats theyre all great press questions and im always struck someone says thats a great question because theyre all great and what i have kind of come to the opinion of is lets lets look at Richard Nixons presidency and lets compare it to any president you want to compare it to. Since Richard Nixon, it matter to me which one you pick, republican, democrat. I was in the navy under ronald reagan. He probably, you know, one of my favorites. But lets look at Richard Nixon and lets just through the list of what he did. You know, he did title nine, which fundamentally changed sports, he he a Cabinet Committee and bringing women into government because of his work. He brought women into the government. And women became things fbi agents secret agents, forest rangers, tugboat captains all these different careers for women he quadrupled the amount of women in government. He did the First Nuclear arms reduction treaty. He opened china. He ended the vietnam war. He brought home our p. O. W. S honor. He created the Environmental Protection agency. He did clean water act. The clean the clean air act. He opened up more parks so that we can enjoy our great country. He he realigned the government through, the office of management and budget with royal, who was a long time supporters of his. He created the all volunteer military the stands to this day which im product of and. Its the greatest military the country. So so of the things he did and im just rattling the ones off the top of my head that i can think of. Im standing in front of you. Try my best think is as many as possible, but now think of whatever your favorite president is. And lets say i just name ten. You tell me ten that one of those president s did. Its probably in a room like this. We can add all those president s together. Nixon and come up with ten signature things. But Richard Nixon did that much and so if you want to have a debate on what he did, im happy to have the debate. But villainize the man for what he didnt do and what he wasnt and thats really what the other side of the argument never stops doing they constantly villainize us and he wasnt a villain he was an all american man. Well, i would also encourage those folks to come and visit the nixon, make their decision, make their choice. After going through our exhibits. And im serious about that. Our next question, the front row, sir. Im just wondering, paul, is he did he live in the nixon in the end on the same time he held on until he died . Was he there in san clemente . I mean, i know he you dont know me. When he died, he was in he was in new jersey. But lets talk about a man empathy. You know, pat had a stroke in the 1970s and he saw how hard. It was for her to work back from that. And then pat died the day after their 50th wedding anniversary in june of 1993. And richard was alone. His townhome in new jersey and in the following april of 1994, his housekeeper, she was married and her husband had a stroke and Richard Nixon learned that her husband a stroke and so he sat down at his desk and. He handwrote out a letter to him telling him about how he knew how important it is to work back from having a stroke and that he believe that this man could work back from having a stroke because his wife had suffered stroke and she was able to work back from it. And then Richard Nixons suffered a stroke and died. And so it was really his last act was expressing empathy to a fellow human being. We have time for one last question from yusor in the front row. Thank you. Mike shinseki retired navy, also. So Richard Nixon like many of the greatest generations, who and saved made the world safer democracy is just such a humble man about his service. And you look at the span of president s in that era, kennedy, nixon ford, bush, carter, even although carter wasnt world war. But anyway, they were they just didnt dwell on their navy Naval Service did did he ever take time think about his navy service and how it influenced his life . And could you see that affecting what he did in the future . Absolutely. Yeah. He stayed in the navy reserve until the mid 1960s and retired as a full commander and he knew what it was like to serve in in combat on a faraway island in world war two. And when he became president. He didnt he wouldnt end vietnam until he could bring home the p. O. W. S. There was over 500 p. O. W. S being held. Vietnam, there were mainly naval aviators that were shot down and he wouldnt end vietnam until he could bring them home. And that appears from my research to directly related to his his experience with the navy and commitment to the government. And coincidentally, just point this out very quickly. One of the p. O. W. S that he brought home was a named ronnie knudsen and Rodney Knutson was one of the longest held p. O. W. S and most extensively tortured. He was held from october 17, 1965, until february of 1973, and he could have easily been medically retired and he didnt. He stayed in navy. And then i came rolling along the navy in. 1985 and running on condition was incredible. He was very inspirational and he taught to the navy that same dedication that Richard Nixon had. And and i served with your brother on the uss mobile under ron alan knudsen. And then i went to college and started being a docent here. And met president nixon and figured out this whole dichotomy of him. And that really interested me. And then in 2009, i reconnected your brother and and you guys arranged to send me out to the navy on a guided missile cruiser, which led to me meeting the prior mayor of whittier. And he had told me that kind lost all track of everything to do with Richard Nixon and whittier and what made me do the math, because was really surprised because, you know, reconnecting with your brother and everything and putting putting all the pieces of the navy together and and doing map led to the book because i couldnt believe all of the information that i started discovering when i started into the oral histories. But it was the one thing thats always fascinated me about all of this research is Common Thread of the navy flying through of us and its been really gratifying and very interesting. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in thanking paul carter. Thank you