Nixon Believes Public Will Give Him Kinder Judgment

Historians and the media may never shake their image of the Watergate President, Richard M. Nixon says, but he believes the public will eventually render a kinder judgment based on his entire political career.

As he prepares to open his presidential library in Orange County this week, Nixon told The Times that he thinks the media is still obsessed with finding a sinister purpose in his activities and that most historians are critical of his career because they are on the political left.

But, said the only U.S. President ever to resign from office: “Over time, as their interest fades, and if the public continues to visit the (Nixon) museum, I would think that all the events covered will be seen in a more objective perspective.”

At the same time, Nixon said in response to written questions posed by The Times, he does not “waste time worrying” about how he will be remembered.

“My so-called political rehabilitation is not a subject to which I have given any thought,” he said.

On Thursday, the Richard M. Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda will be dedicated in a public celebration scheduled to include the historic gathering of all four living Republican Presidents--Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George Bush.

Nixon’s wife, Pat, is expected to make one of her first public appearances since leaving Washington. It will also be the biggest reunion of former Nixon Administration officials since the former President’s second inauguration in 1972.

Still, some of the most famous names in the Nixon Administration are not expected. Nixon’s former chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, apparently will be the only official at the event who served time in jail in connection with the break-in of Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate and subsequent White House cover-up. And library officials will not say whether former Vice President Spiro Agnew, who resigned amid another scandal, was even invited to the dedication.

The $21-million museum will track Nixon’s life beginning with the tiny wooden house where he was born in 1913. In a tour that includes high-tech electronics, life-size statues of world leaders and a miniature replica of Moscow’s Red Square, the library will also follow Nixon’s political career starting with his election to Congress in 1946.

There is also a Watergate exhibit, which includes an audio presentation of the most famous White House tapes and ends with a photograph of the former President waving farewell to Washington from the steps of a helicopter immediately after his resignation in 1974.

Nixon, however, declined to comment on how Watergate is handled in the library. “I am not a design expert, so I will leave to others to judge how it looks,” he said.

In the written comments, Nixon also applauded the residents of Yorba Linda for their help in building the library; he offered some advice on the current national uproar over a possible tax increase, and he addressed the criticism of scholars who questioned the library’s credibility.

Unlike other presidential facilities, Nixon’s is privately operated and funded. But Nixon said that neither researchers nor materials will be screened by library officials, except for security purposes.

“Scholars are inherently skeptical, especially where I am concerned,” he said. “There is nothing I can do to change that, so I don’t intend to try.”

Following is the text of the questions submitted by The Times and answered in writing by Nixon:

Question: How would you describe your political “rehabilitation” and does the library represent a landmark in that process?

Answer: The Library and Birthplace is a reflection of the loyalty of hundreds of friends who have continued to support Mrs. Nixon and me throughout all the victories and defeats of our public lives. My so-called political rehabilitation is not a subject to which I have given any thought. My practice is to speak out in speeches and in writing only when I believe I have something useful to say on a given issue, and I must say that the media have a tendency to rather obsessively read some sinister purpose into these activities. My view is that if people are not interested in what I have to say, they don’t have to listen.

Q: In the library, the largest room devoted to a single issue is for Watergate; yet it appears to be a stark exhibit compared to the creativity reflected in other displays. It is also the last topical exhibit coming after a tour of your most lauded achievements--almost like an unhappy ending to a great movie. How do you think Watergate should be remembered in the context of your political career and how is that perspective told in the design of the library?

A: It is up to others to weigh and compare the different aspects of my career. The museum is arranged chronologically, and so Watergate is handled near the end, although there are some exhibits that follow it that have to do with my activities since leaving office. I am not a design expert, so I will leave to others to judge how it looks.

Q: You said in a recent interview that you will always be remembered as the “Watergate man” and “there’s nothing that’s going to change that,” but is there an intent or hope that the library will influence that attitude?

A: If anything the opening of the Library and Birthplace will draw more attention to Watergate because that is what most of those who are covering the event for the media are most interested in. Over time, as their interest fades, and if the public continues to visit the museum, I would think that all the events covered will be seen in more objective perspective.

Q: Overall, how do you think history should recall your political career? And how do you think it will?

A: As I have said before, historians will tend to view my career negatively because most historians are on the left. How history in the broader sense will view it is something I do not waste time worrying about.

Q: Could you describe what it means to you personally to have this library built at your birthplace and comment on the search that was conducted to find a location for the library?

A: Yorba Linda was a possibility that had occurred to me many years ago, but it didn’t seem possible because there was not enough land available. The generosity and support of the people of Yorba Linda changed that, and I couldn’t be more pleased. The Birthplace is the jewel of the project, its most unique feature. Now that the institution has taken shape as it has, I couldn’t imagine it anywhere else.

Q: How much did you contribute financially to the construction of the library? How much is expected from the sale of your home and the proceeds of your book?

A: Mrs. Nixon and I are contributing $2 million, made possible by the income from “In the Arena” and the anticipated income from the sale of our home in Saddle River.

Q: What are your thoughts about the opening of the library--on the time and effort it has taken to complete as well as the celebration that will include hundreds of colleagues, supporters and your fellow Republican Presidents?

A: I am especially pleased for the people and the officials of the city of Yorba Linda. They have supported the project every step of the way, putting up with dust and noise for a year during construction, and now they’ll have the Secret Service descending on them as well! What I want most of all is for Yorba Linda to get the kind of celebration it deserves next Thursday.

Q: Some scholars say the privatization of the library will reduce its credibility because its policies--such as the possibility of screening researchers and contents--will be decided by your partisans. Some are also skeptical about the library’s academic value because there will not be a complete set of presidential papers. Could you address this concern? Is credibility in the academic community important to you?

A: As I have already indicated, as far as I am concerned neither researchers nor materials will be screened except insofar as is necessary to ensure the security of the documents. That being said, scholars are inherently skeptical, especially where I am concerned, and there is nothing anyone could do to change that, so I don’t intend to try. Far more people come to libraries to view the exhibits than to see the papers. In the future, it would make far more sense for a President’s friends to establish a museum and perhaps a small family archive in his home state and for the government to keep all the White House documents in warehouses in Washington. The government has a vested interest in establishing library after library all over the country with bigger and bigger collections of papers every time, but when you think about it the system is extraordinarily inefficient.

Q: Take us through an average day in your life. Do you work on your memoirs, do you putter in the garden, do you read, do you work on the details for the library? Are you working on another book? Who are you in contact with from your Administration and do you stay in touch with anyone from the Bush Administration? Who do you see socially?

A: My life is probably not much different from that of other authors. I would have difficulty describing an average day in a way that would be of much interest to your readers. I have a good relationship with President Bush and others in the Administration and make it a practice not to impose upon it by discussing our conversations and correspondence in public. Mrs. Nixon and I do not go to social events, preferring to spend what free time we have with our family.

Q: On foreign affairs, you called Gorbachev the “man of the century,” but do you think he will survive politically to see his reforms implemented? And what should the U.S. posture be toward the Soviet Union? Should the U.S. be using trade relations as a tool to influence the secession of the Baltic states?

A: I am preparing a major foreign policy article for publication in the fall and will not be commenting on these issues until it is published.

Q: On an important domestic issue, do you think there needs to be an increase in taxes?

A: That is up to President Bush and Congress. At the moment he seems to be on the defensive because of the conventional wisdom that he will be hurt politically for breaking his no-new-taxes pledge. But since we are talking about history this week, I would remind his critics of an historical analogy. When FDR first ran for President in 1932, he promised to slash the federal budget by 25%. When he was elected, he became the biggest spender in history, and four years later when he ran for reelection he received the biggest landslide in history. People don’t care about broken promises as much as they care whether a policy works. They don’t like high taxes but they would dislike even more the recession which would come if the deficit is not reduced.