Nixon Still Comatose in Fight for Life

Former President Richard Nixon remained in a coma Friday, fighting for life with his family at his bedside. Ordinary citizens, past political foes and world leaders offered prayers for his recovery.

“Nothing has changed. He is still in critical condition,” said a weary press aide in Nixon’s office. The former President suffered a massive stroke Monday at his home in Park Ridge, N.J.

But the same determination with which the 81-year-old Nixon has struggled back from Watergate and other crises seemed evident in the intensive care unit at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, where he battled to pass through what typically is the period of maximum brain swelling after a stroke.

The fear was that the swelling would compress Nixon’s brain stem, where key functions such as breathing and heart rhythm are controlled. Such compression often is a major cause of stroke fatalities. Physicians sought to contain the swelling through the use of medication.

Typically, swelling can progress from the start of a stroke up to 96 hours after its onset. Nixon was rushed to the hospital Monday night, and a CT scan detected swelling on Tuesday. His level of consciousness declined as the damage increased.

But neurologists agree that when massive swelling has subsided, previously unanticipated degrees of recuperation have occurred. Both President Dwight D. Eisenhower--who selected Nixon as his vice president--and Nixon’s wife, Pat, made excellent recoveries from strokes that for a time left them speech-impaired.

Nixon’s stroke has left him partially blind, unable to speak and paralyzed on his right side.

Some time ago, Nixon made out a living will stating that he did not want heroic measures to be taken in the face of a devastating illness. Respecting his wishes, his breathing was not being assisted by a respirator. In an effort to reduce brain swelling, physicians sometimes use a respirator to speed up breathing. The effect is to temporarily change blood chemistry, which can shrink swelling.

Two Marine sergeants have visited the hospital and were ready to provide an honor guard should the former President not survive. “In the event of his death, the funeral would be held in the Richard Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, Calif. There are no plans for him to go to Washington,” said Kim Taylor, a Nixon spokeswoman.

Former First Lady Barbara Bush visited the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda on Friday.

“He is in our thoughts, and what better place to be,” Bush told about 1,000 guests gathered to hear her talk about her years in the White House. “And he is in our prayers. He has been a good friend to the Bushes over the years, and we have enormous respect for him.

“I am honored to be here also because of that gentle, strong, courageous woman filled with love, Pat Nixon,” she added.

Bush recalled that Richard Nixon offered her advice and support, especially when she and President George Bush were criticized by the media. She said that Nixon was particularly comforting during the controversy over her plans to make the commencement address at Wellesley College in 1990, when some students questioned whether a homemaker who dropped out of college should be chosen to speak to the graduating class.

“The best letter I received was from Dick Nixon,” she recalled. “He said he was outraged and that I should go out there and give them hell.”

George S. McGovern, Nixon’s 1972 presidential opponent, told an audience in Overland Park, Kan., that he and Nixon had become friendly in recent years. He said they exchanged letters, and last year he attended the funeral of Nixon’s wife, who died of lung cancer.

“It’s ancient history as far as I’m concerned,” McGovern said of Watergate, the scandal that drove Nixon from office. “You can’t carry a grudge forever.”

On Friday, Hillary Rodham Clinton was asked at a White House news conference how history will judge Nixon.

“Well, I don’t know that it’s time to start talking like that yet,” she said. “I think that what we ought to be doing is praying for President Nixon.

“From my perspective, you know, it was a year ago April that my father died at the age of 81. And so you know, I’m just mostly thinking about his daughters (Tricia Cox and Julie Eisenhower) right now,” the First Lady added.

Clinton’s father died from complications from a stroke.

In recent years, a revolution in stroke care has begun. A number of medications designed to limit brain damage are undergoing clinical trials, and some look promising.

“Stroke therapy is entering a new era, and that has to be reflected in new viewing of the problem,” said Dr. Fred Plum, the chief neurologist at New York Hospital who is treating Nixon. “Almost all major centers are involved in trials of one new agent or another.”

“We think it is important to do stroke education. It takes a number of hours before brain damage is fully established,” said Dr. J.P. Mohr, director of the neurovascular unit at the New York Neurological Institute. “The earlier we can intervene, the better.”

Times staff writer Lynn Franey in Yorba Linda contributed to this story.