Fond Memories Served for Lunch : Reunion: 250 friends and admirers gather to swap stories and offer toasts to Nixon, who toasts them back.

Some old friends got together for lunch Thursday. They included two former Presidents, Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford, former First Lady Betty Ford and past Secretaries of State George P. Schultz, Henry A. Kissinger and William P. Rogers.

About 250 guests gathered for a luncheon that turned into a one-of-a-kind White House reunion at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace, following a ceremony commemorating the 25th anniversary of Nixon’s inauguration.

The guest list read like a who’s who in late 20th-Century American politics: James Schlesinger, Patrick Buchanan, Bebe Rebozo, William Simon, Donald Rumsfeld, Terrel Bell and George Romney, to name just a few.

The White House alums assembled in the lobby of the library, sitting at tables covered in red and blue cloths and decorated with purple irises and red tulips.

The Hyatt Regency Irvine prepared some of Nixon’s favorite food for the lunch: California mixed greens with balsamic vinaigrette and wild mushroom ragout in a filo pastry basket; salmon with a couscous crust and tomato leek sauce, and for dessert, poached pear with hazelnut mousse and raspberry coulis .

Throughout the luncheon, guests stood to offer toasts that recalled their historic past.

Nixon, sporting a dark gray suit and burgundy tie, started things off by saluting Ford, his second vice president and successor to the presidency.

“I’m such a sports fanatic--probably because I’ve never been good at it,” Nixon said. “It’s nice to have another chance to be near a real star.” In a speech that morning, Nixon had made reference to Ford’s football days at the University of Michigan.

Kissinger arose to share “one or two lessons I learned from professor Nixon.” He recalled how, when he first joined Nixon’s staff, he tried to impress people with the “Harvard words I learned.”

“Whenever I got beyond one syllable, (Nixon) said, ‘Remember, Henry, the American people will think this is a soft drink.’ ”

Kissinger also recalled his historic trip to China. “Everyone thought it was a great adventure--terrific fun. But the fact is, when (Nixon) sent me off, we didn’t really know if they’d put me in a cage and drive me through the streets.”

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Rebozo, Nixon’s longtime friend, had a simple toast: “To history,” he said.

After the toasts, Nixon stood to thank his former staff, likening a President to a quarterback dependent on his teammates.

“I consider all of those in my Administration the best offensive linemen a President ever had,” he said. “I, as quarterback, pay tribute to those who made it all possible.”

He also lauded his late wife, Pat, and the contributions she made to his campaigns.

“I think of Pat listening to the same speech over and over, as if hearing it for the first time,” he said. “I think of her suffering in silence while her man was attacked.”

Among the former Cabinet members, ambassadors and other guests attending were: John Taylor, director of the library; George Argyros, Robert Abplanalp, Walter Annenberg, John Argue, Roy Ash, Arnold Beckman, Paul Bender and Virginia Knott Bender, Winton Blount, Peter Brennan, Claude Brinegar, Jack Drown, Robert Finch, Leonard Firestone, Barbara Franklin, Walter Hickel, James Hodgson, Earle Jorgensen, Carl Karcher, Katherine Loker, Paul McCracken, Ann Dore McLaughlin, Richard Moore, Peter and Mary Muth, Robert Nesen, John and Maureen Nunn, Peter Peterson, Samuel Pierce, Frank Shakespeare and Maurice Stans.