The Presidential Library That Almost Was : Whittier: Many residents think of their city as Nixon’s hometown. But city leaders failed in a 22-year quest to provide a home for his archives.

Nestled in the Whittier Hills sits a ridge-top plateau of pristine, prime real estate with a view of the Pacific on a clear day. The city of Whittier first sought to make this the home of the Nixon Library more than two decades ago.

And again seven years ago.

And again four years ago.

But today, the champagne toasting the dedication of the $21-million library is flowing instead in Yorba Linda, Nixon’s birthplace and now the chosen resting place for the former President’s archives.

“We were terribly shocked,” former Whittier mayor Victor Lopez said recently of Nixon’s decision not to locate the library in the city where Nixon got his political start. “It would have been a boost to Whittier, Whittier College and the whole thing. We were terribly disappointed.”

Added Gene Chandler, another of the city’s former mayors: “We always figured that Whittier was his home.”

It is easy to understand Whittier’s claim to the 37th President. Although Richard M. Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, it was in Whittier that he spent his high school and college years. He met his wife in Whittier and practiced law here. And Whittier Republicans helped him launch his political career with a successful bid to unseat Democratic incumbent Jerry Voorhis in a congressional district that encompassed the city and nearby communities.

Nixon entered Whittier as a child; he left it as a figure in national politics.

“We felt we had a complete inside track historically,” Chandler said, “with Whittier representing most of his life. It wasn’t to be.”

Whittier’s first effort to claim the library began shortly after Nixon’s 1968 presidential triumph over Hubert H. Humphrey. Whittier College helped spearhead that effort, which enjoyed strong community support.

“His presidency was important at the time to the college,” said Joseph Dmohowski, special collections librarian at Whittier College. “It attracted a lot of students to the college.”

The city presented the then-President with an oversized leather-bound and cloth-lined tome titled “The Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library, Whittier, California.” It contained pictorial highlights of Whittier and of Nixon’s career, intimately connecting the two on thick cardboard pages.

“It would be a great honor to see your Presidential Library standing on that Whittier hilltop, purchased with hopes just as high,” wrote then-Mayor Keith Miller and Frederick Binder, who was Whittier College’s president.

Local Nixon friends and supporters also commissioned “The Nixon Trail: A site feasibility study for the Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library.”

Prepared by a prestigious architectural firm, the study contained a picture of a three-dimensional rendering of the library, which was envisioned sitting on a ridge amid 120 acres of Whittier hillside, above where the city’s landfill is now situated.

The proposed complex consisted of two sets of concentric circles terraced down the hillside. There were also artists’ conceptions of the library interior. The central gallery was to feature NASA rockets and space capsules, which at the time is what the artists guessed would be remembered about Nixon’s Administration. Indeed, the library study was submitted in December, 1969, shortly after the first moon landing.

In addition, the study’s authors proposed a historical trail winding through Whittier that included stops at the site of the favorite son’s old law firm (Wingert, Bewley & Nixon), at three schools he attended, at four former Nixon residences, at the site of his father’s store, at the Quaker Church and at the location of his wedding reception.

Clearly, everything was on course.

Then came Watergate.

Even though most Whittier residents remained sympathetic to Nixon, the impetus for the library literally dissolved as the scandal forced Nixon’s resignation in August, 1974. Choosing a location for his archives became a low priority.

“There was no discussion of the library for a long time after he left office,” said Bruce Martin, executive manager of the Whittier Chamber of Commerce. “The (Watergate) trials were still going on. I think everything went on hold.”

“Had it not been for Watergate, (the library) would have been here,” said Clint Harris, a lifelong Nixon friend and Whittier resident who used to scrimmage head-to-head with the future President on the Whittier College football team.

By 1983, with Watergate nearly a decade in the past, interest in the library had resurfaced and several cities and universities were active competitors for it. Duke University (where Nixon attended law school) and the University of California at Irvine were eliminated from consideration in part because of faculty and student opposition.

Whittier, however, was a finalist for the site, along with Yorba Linda and San Clemente, which was the location of Nixon’s California home during his presidency. This time, Whittier’s offer had shrunk to 20 acres, but it included the same spectacular ridge.

Former Mayor Lopez remembers attending a dinner party at the home of local Nixon boosters Ed and Ruth Shannon. Nixon’s representatives were there, along with most of the City Council.

“It was a gorgeous evening,” Lopez said. The hills we were overlooking, that was the Nixon site. We talked financing and so forth. We were willing to put in the road, sewage, water, and to give them the land. It was all positive. They liked the site, the view and the town. When they left that evening, they said, ‘It looks pretty good to us.’ ”

In the very next day’s paper, Lopez said, he learned that San Clemente had been selected. In her personal files, Ruth Shannon said, she has a letter from Nixon describing his vacillation and agonizing. “He said, ‘If I followed my heart, it would go to Whittier.’ He felt it should be at San Clemente because of his years at the White House,” Shannon said.

By 1986, however, a dispute with a developer had thwarted the San Clemente construction plans, and the search for a library site was on again. Whittier officials launched their third and final bid.

At one point, the city wooed Nixon representatives by erecting a tent and a display at the proposed site, former Mayor Chandler said. But for the most part, the lobbying went on behind-the-scenes. City officials “were trying to keep this low-key because we’d been disappointed twice before,” Chamber of Commerce official Martin said.

And once again, it was not to be. In fact, Yorba Linda’s city manager recently confessed that his city had an inside track after the San Clemente deal fell through. “They came to us and asked if we were interested,” Art Simonian said.

It helped that the city already had preserved Nixon’s birthplace as a historic site and could offer an adjacent land parcel for the library.

So Yorba Linda, a sleepy Orange County suburb, now is looking forward to an estimated 350,000 library visitors a year and the tourist dollars they will leave behind. Whittier, a city still trying to rebuild from the October, 1987, earthquake, will sorely miss the income, as well as the prestige.

Most of Nixon’s close friends and supporters from Whittier were treated to sneak previews of the shrine to the former President. Almost to a person, they love everything save for its home address.

“But we’re happy for Yorba Linda. They did a great job,” Martin said diplomatically.

Meanwhile, the Whittier Chamber of Commerce is already at work on “Plan B,” a revival of the Nixon trail idea. Martin figures that some library visitors would venture a side trip to Whittier. Perhaps they’ll even stay at the local Hilton. He’s sure that the chamber could arrange for shuttle service from Whittier to the library.

Said Martin: “We’re trying to take a positive approach to the whole thing.”