Family Affair : 1,600 Friends and Supporters Give Richard Nixon a Glittering Homecoming

It was a “Stars and Stripes Forever” night for former President Richard Nixon and former First Lady Pat Nixon. The Nixon family had wanted “a family affair”--just friends and loyalists--for the party at the Century Plaza Ballroom after the dedication of the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda on Thursday.

That’s what was delivered by dinner co-chairmen William Simon, former Secretary of the Treasury and chairman of the Nixon Library Foundation; Gerald Parsky, former assistant Treasury secretary, and Jerry Weintraub. More than 1,600 Nixon friends--162 tables of 10--turned up with sunburned faces acquired at the dedication. They had changed from cotton and straw hats to black tie and glitter to applaud the Nixons as they arrived on the dais to “California, Here I Come.”

What the crowd had not anticipated, after a day in the blazing heat, was that the air conditioning at the hotel would go bonkers. It may have been the first time that tuxedoed gents shed their black jackets at a presidential dinner.

In effect, the event became the Nixons’ real homecoming. The audience, Republican to the core, loved them. The W word wasn’t uttered.

Said Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s former Secretary of State: “I always knew Nixon would be recognized in history; it was gratifying to see him recognized by his contemporaries.” Said H. R. Haldeman, Nixon’s former chief of staff, who came down from Santa Barbara with his wife Jo, for the occasion: “It was wonderful to see so many step forward and honor the Nixons.”

The names in the audience were synonymous with the Nixon presidency: Robert H. Finch, former HEW secretary; Herb Klein, Nixon’s director of communications and now the executive editor in chief of the Copley Newspapers; Rose Mary Woods, his former secretary, Ron Ziegler, who was press secretary.

Four former Secretaries of State--Alexander Haig, William Rogers, Kissinger and George P. Shultz--had attended the library dedication. All but Shultz were at the dinner. Former U.S. Atty. Gen. William French Smith and his wife Jean flew in from France for the party, sitting at the same table with Reagan Kitchen Cabinet leaders Marion and Earle Jorgensen and former Ambassador to the Vatican William and Betty Wilson.

Ambassadors were in abundance. Nixon’s opening of diplomatic relations with China was recalled by the attendance of the Peoples Republic of China Ambassador to the U.S. Zhu Quizhen. Ambassador to Ireland Richard Moore, a longtime Nixon supporter, flew in for the affair. Former Ambassador to Mexico John Gavin and his wife Connie and former Ambassador to Ireland Peter Daily sat at the same table with Kissinger. At the next table Secretary of Commerce Bob Mosbacher (Georgette was on her way to Japan) was in the spotlight.

None of the other U.S. Presidents at the dedication--George Bush, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford attended the dinner. Explained a spokesman, “I think the reasoning was that this was Nixon’s night to shine alone.”

On the dais, the former President seemed appreciative of the admiration emanating from the audience, and he relaxed in smiles with his dinner partners, Dolores Hope and Lee Annenberg, former Secretary of Protocol.

Those at the head table (it included Carol Simon, Robin Parsky and Jane Weintraub) did not miss the opportunity to get Nixon’s autograph on the program, next to the color photograph of the Nixon family--Julie and David Eisenhower and Tricia and Edward Cox, all of whom attended the gala, and the Nixons’ five grandchildren.

Parsky and Weintraub designed the night to celebrate the roots, life and legacy of “an architect of peace” and to acknowledge Nixon’s 43 years of public service as congressman, senator, vice president and President.

Bruce Herschensohn presided as master of ceremonies. The presentation of colors and the national anthem sung by John Raitt followed. Billy Graham gave the invocation. Music went on all evening from Les Brown, whom Nixon said may have been his oldest friend there. Brown’s band played on the Duke University campus when Nixon was a student.

The 92-year-old Norman Vincent Peale (“Power of Positive Thinking”) was on the dais, and his wife was on one side of Pat Nixon, Bob Hope on the other. Peale recalled that Nixon had sent him to Vietnam to visit soldiers and that he had married Julie and David Eisenhower.

The 87-year-old Bob Hope then issued a barrage of quips. A sample: having seen four Presidents together that day “was like looking at Mount Rushmore alive.”

In the formal toasts, Maurice Stans, former director of the Bureau of the Budget and former Nixon national finance chairman, toasted Pat Nixon. Former Ambassador to England Walter Annenberg toasted Nixon.

When Simon introduced Nixon, he quoted Dolores Hope, whom he said had whispered to him at the table, “I hope the Nixons know how much they are loved.”

When Nixon responded, he brought his wife, wearing a long lace gown over cerise silk with red pumps, to the microphone. “Some say, that because Pat’s family home was torched, that she has no memorial. Pat has a memorial--our children and grandchildren.”

Speaking extemporaneously, he paraphrased a comment he had made earlier in the day at the dedication--that those who have not known the depths of defeat and the heights of success have not experienced the full meaning of life.

Close friends were there, such as Helene Drown (who taught school with Pat Nixon before she was married and also campaigned with the Nixons) and her husband Jack of Rolling Hills. Jack Drown is among the coterie, including Stans and former HEW Secretary Robert Finch, on the Nixon library foundation. Drown indicated that the next step is to raise $10 million for an endowment for the library.

Before the dinner, the Sixty Survivors--the staff and supporters of Nixon in 1960 when he lost to John F. Kennedy--including Finch and Klein and their wives, Carol and Marje, took over the Sherman Oaks room for cocktails, a reunion and reminiscences between 5 and 7 p.m.

The evening before, members of the February Group (some 300 Ron Walker organized to maintain friendships the February after Nixon resigned the presidency) had gathered at the Nixon Library before a buffet dinner for 250 Nixon intimates.

Now Nixon and some friends head north. Nixon was among those who accepted Simon’s invitation to fly in his private jet to camaraderie and high jinks at the Bohemian Grove men’s summer camp outside Santa Rosa. Others with coveted bids for that included Kissinger, Leo Daly, Peter Flanigan, Don Kendall (chairman of the executive committee of Pepsi Cola) and John Hotchkis.