Nixon’s Condition Remains ‘Guarded’; Prayers Offered : Presidency: Clinton, Yeltsin send hopes for recovery as hundreds sign book at Yorba Linda library. Ex-President is in ‘critical hours’ after stroke.

As world leaders and ordinary citizens sent prayers and good wishes, former President Richard Nixon remained in critical condition Wednesday, partially paralyzed and unable to speak, in an intensive care unit at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center.

His physicians continued to describe his condition as “guarded” as they sought to contain the complications of the stroke he suffered Monday evening at his New Jersey home. “His condition has not changed,” said a Nixon press aide.

The 81-year-old Nixon was in the midst of what specialists termed the “critical hours” after suffering from swelling of the brain--a dangerous stroke sequel. His daughters, Julie Eisenhower and Tricia Cox, were at his side. His wife, Pat, died last year.

President Clinton said he and Hillary Rodham Clinton were praying for Nixon.

“I want to join all the American people as Hillary and I pray for the health and the recovery of President Nixon,” Clinton said. “I want to again say how much I have appreciated the wise counsel he has given me on the question of Russia and many other issues since I have been President.”

Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin sent a telegram to Nixon wishing him a quick recovery. “I hope you recover and return to the rough and tumble of political life,” Yeltsin said, praising Nixon for working to normalize Russian-American relations.

Nixon, who had campaigned actively for a quick, massive infusion of Western aid to newly independent Russia, visited Moscow in March. But a furious Yeltsin canceled a meeting with the former President after Nixon met with opposition figures, including one of Yeltsin’s chief rivals, ousted Vice President Alexander V. Rutskoi.

Later, however, Yeltsin extended an olive branch and allowed Nixon to meet with other members of Russia’s Parliament, even though he did not see him.

At Nixon’s office near his home in New Jersey, staff members were busy fielding telephone calls from well-wishers Wednesday. “We’ve gotten too many telephone calls to count,” said Liz Johnson, a press aide in Nixon’s office.

The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, Calif., reported hundreds of calls. In the library’s lobby, visitors filled pages of a “get well book.”

Dozens more have inquired about--in many cases, purchased--autographs of the former President that are sold in the gift shop for $100 to $300.

Victor Johnson of Yreka said Wednesday he “made a special effort to come here today.” Alluding to Watergate, he described himself as “a very strong but disappointed supporter of the former President.”

Another library visitor, Christine McDonnell, 30, a nurse from Fullerton, said she believed the death of Pat Nixon last year took a heavy toll on Nixon’s health. “I read some of his letters to Pat. He said how much she meant to him,” McDonnell said.

Reginald Burroughs, 80, of North Carolina signed the get-well book: “You’re the greatest, but your unsung virtues are greater yet.”

“I’m very sorry he’s ill, but he’s tough. We are keeping our fingers crossed and saying our prayers,” said Vivian Brown, a volunteer.

Kevin Cartwright, the library’s assistant director, said: “There’s been a great outpouring of affection. The phones have been maxed out.”

Nixon was taken by ambulance to New York Hospital Monday evening after suffering a stroke as he prepared for dinner at his home in Park Ridge, N.J. He had been undergoing treatment for an irregular heartbeat and had been taking Coumadin, an anti-coagulant, in an effort to prevent blood clots, which can result from cardiac rhythm disturbances.

Physicians at the hospital at first believed Nixon’s stroke had been contained after he received injections of a second anti-coagulant. A CT scan revealed the stroke was caused by a blood clot and not by bleeding in the brain.

But late Tuesday, neurologists suspected brain swelling, and their diagnosis was confirmed by a second CT scan.

Dr. Fred Plum, chief neurologist at the hospital, said Tuesday that Nixon would continue to receive anti-coagulants in addition to the drugs designed to reduce the brain swelling. “The next 72 hours are a critical period,” Plum said.

Times staff writer Sonni Efron in Moscow and special correspondent Martin Miller in Yorba Linda, Calif., contributed to this story.

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