RICHARD NIXON: 1913-1994 : ORANGE COUNTY REMEMBERS

“In 1972, when I was barely 7 years old, I shook Richard Nixon’s hand after he exited his helicopter and was being taken by a golf cart to his residence at Casa Pacifica. I will never forget the energized crowd chanting ‘Four More Years,’ the signs, pomp and pageantry. . . . When they tore down the building that housed Nixon’s first law office in La Habra (my hometown) I stopped and took one of the bricks that was part of the building. I keep it knowing it will bring inspiration to be, as enlightened a thinker as was Richard M. Nixon.”--Peter J. Sterling, Costa Mesa

“I was 5 years old, and Nixon and daddy would get together in the living room. We had this big green stuffed rocking chair and as a little girl I’d sit in his lap and hear his deep voice and I just idolized him. . . . You know how it is when somebody walks into a room and you feel their power? Well, you knew when he was in a room.”--Linda Day Baker, Newport Beach, daughter of Nixon’s first campaign manager

“My fondest memory of Richard Nixon is the $50 bet I collected from former Rep. James B. Utt in 1962. Utt disputed my prediction that Pat Brown would easily defeat Nixon and asked me o put my money where my mouth was. Watergate and Nixon’s criminal role in it came as no surprise to me, because of his history of viciously smearing political opponents, starting with Jerry Voorhis and Helen Gahagan Douglas. In addition, dirty tricks were a hallmark of every campaign he ran.”--Carroll C. Gewin, Fullerton

“In 1960, immediately following the convention, he returned to Whittier to begin a long summer and fall campaign. I was 13 years old, and we were recruited to help clean up the Whittier College football stadium where he was to deliver a speech following a downtown parade. As our reward for helping clean the stadium and help construct the podium area . . . the Secret Service gave us a ride around the stadium track aboard the Secret Service car. At 13 years old, we were delighted and thrilled.”--Todd Nicholson, Tustin

“The Watergate fiasco and its consequent damage to the presidency overshadow any of Richard Nixon’s accomplishments, not because the debacle occurred under his watch, but because he lied to the American people.”--Michael C. Westlund, Garden Grove

“Nixon was a great President, the best and greatest statesman in the century. He was a wonderful man.”--Michael J. Chu, Irvine

“One of my earliest childhood memories goes back to 1962 when Richard Nixon ran for governor of California. We lived a few blocks from one of his campaign stops, Stonewood Mall in Downey, and my parents took us kids to see the spectacle. That day I became a Nixon supporter at the age of 5, much to my father’s consternation. I would have joined the campaign, but I wasn’t allowed to cross the street.”--Thomas D. Smith, Downey

“I worked for him in the ’72 campaign, got to shake his hand for the first time at Casa Pacifica, met many celebrities and actually had a good time working for him. . . . I was one of his chief campus apologists at Fullerton High School, his alma mater, back in the 1970s. We were six-year residents of Yorba Linda and finally got a chance to meet him and have my picture taken with him in 1992 at the Nixon Library. My most vivid memory is a sign in the window of a bus carrying U.S. POWs to the airport to take them back to the United States at the end of the Vietnam War, which simply read, “God Bless Nixon.” I’ll never forget that image and hopefully nobody else will either.”--Jeff Weber, Irvine

“Before we eulogize Nixon, let’s not forget his vice president and all his lieutenants had to resign in disgrace. In fact, Spiro Agnew should have done jail time for bribery while in high office. Nixon’s accomplishments should be tempered with that fact. Corruption was the rule of the day.”--William M. Wilson, Westminster

“Although he was a political and economic conservative, he never tried to court the religious right and activate their agenda as the law of the land. . . . In a way, that’s as good a memory of Nixon as the foreign accomplishments he achieved.”--Alan Rosenstein, Laguna Beach

“I was about 10 years old (and living) in Beijing, China, when I first saw President Nixon on television. I had no idea then that this man would change my life. Because he normalized U.S.-China relations during that trip, my family and I were able to come to the United States in 1975. Today I have a wonderful and happy family. I feel very grateful to him.... I will miss him very much.”--Lydia Yu, Irvine

“I felt misled by Richard Nixon and tried for years to understand his reasons. I never did. But I tried to focus on the good he accomplished. . . . Only a fool would say Nixon’s many successes were not diminished by Watergate. I will remember the Nixon who was admired by his classmates in college, who served his country with honor in World War II, and especially for his love and devotion to family. I hope Richard Nixon the man will be remembered by history, and not Nixon the politician--but for some this may be very difficult.”--George Grupe, Newport Beach

“I met him at his niece Maureen’s wedding in the late 1960s. I was struck by his willingness to visit the wedding guests in the receiving line, and then allow the wedding to take place without any grandstanding or politicking. . . . To see him marching down the aisle before the wedding party, hearing the song Hail to the Chief, will always be in my memory and his graciousness at the party always will too.”--Carolyn Williams, Yorba Linda

“July 7, 1969, I received a call from a staff member at the White House saying, ‘President Nixon would like to have you preach at the White House next Sunday.’ I went to Washington on the Saturday before the 13th day of July . . . and visited with the family. But before being escorted to the East Room, (which was) filled with invitees from Supreme Court justices to senators and representatives, I had the privilege of a private conversation with the President for about a half-hour. It was a very great experience in my life, one which I will never forget, and I am forever thankful for the opportunity that I had.”--Paul Noren, Fullerton

“In 1969, as editor of the Anti-Defamation League’s national publication, I reported on President Nixon’s warm reception of then-Prime Minister Golda Meir on the White House lawn before some 300 guests, including American Jewish leaders. . . . In an exchange of toasts at dinner, President Nixon said: ‘The people of Israel deserve peace--not the fragile peace that comes with the kinds of documents that neither party has an interest in keeping--but the kind of peace that will last.’ In her concluding remarks, Golda Meir thanked Nixon for ‘enabling me to go home and tell my people that we have a great and dear friend.”’--Lynne Ianniello, Laguna Hills

“My memory is from September of 1979, when my family was vacationing in the Fiji Islands. We were dying to know how the Angels were doing in the playoffs. One morning, the local Fiji newspaper had a front page photograph of Bobby Grich pouring Champagne over Nixon’s head. The Angels had won the division, and Nixon was in the clubhouse celebrating with the players. It was a terrific thing to see.”--Betty Betts, Anaheim

“I was the naval aide present at a small reception in the White House in January, 1969, between the Inaugural Parade and the Inaugural Ball when we installed President Nixon. I met his family, and a few select friends such as Sen. Everett Dirksen, who played a duet on the piano with his boyhood piano teacher. It was quite a time.”--Charles McKenna, Irvine

“I’ll remember Richard Nixon as being our greatest modern President in the arena of international relations--his recognition of China, and also detente with the Soviet Union. The thing I’ll remember in particular is the story of him . . . in the White House, early in the morning, shaving his face in the bathroom and thinking about superpower relations while doing so. I don’t think we’ve had a President since then that has those capabilities.”--Ken March, Orange

“Growing up in Modesto, Calif., my father was a teacher. He took me as a 16-year-old high schooler to hear Nixon campaign for President. We went to the Modesto courthouse. My father was a Democrat, but he wanted me to be aware politically of what was going on. Years later, I was lucky enough to attend the dedication of the Nixon Library in 1990.”--Judith Davis, Fullerton

“I think he lifted conservative intellectuals, then and now, out of the morass of isolationism in a most visionary manner. His successors, Democrat and Republican, sought him out regularly for his insightful analyses, especially relating to the international arena. As a human being, he was one of those rare people who developed a symbiotic relationship with his lifelong spouse. When she passed away, it was only a matter of time before he would join her.... I think the country and the world have lost someone very special.”--Victor Poltrock, La Habra

“I was in my 20s when I remember seeing the President on TV, dodging, sneaking and disgracing the greatest office in our land. . . . It broke my faith in politicians, and I think a lot of Americans lost faith in the greatness of our leaders.”--Emma Emerson, Silverado Canyon

“Nixon came to my high school when I was 14 years old. It was San Marino High, a very Republican town. He sat with us to have lunch, he and his wife, and he impressed me so much. I felt very close to him. After that, I wrote him a personal letter and he wrote me a letter back. I still have it and cherish it. I was there when he came back (to California), the day he resigned. I took my children to see him because I felt he was a phenomenal President.”--Peggie McDonald, Dana Point

“In 1972, I was a sophomore at Georgetown University. I was active in the Young Democrats; opposites attract, however, and I was dating a young Republican. He took me to the Inaugural Ball. We were standing near where Nixon entered and he came over. And of all the people there, he chose to dance with me. He was very pleasant, very polite, and even complimented me on my dress, which happened to be a bridesmaid’s gown which I had made over for the occasion. He signed my Inaugural Ball program and was soon off. I felt like Cinderella, and I guess it did have some impact. I married a Republican, though not the one that took me to the ball!”--Jane DellaGrotta, Newport Beach

“My father was in Vietnam when President Eisenhower died, and we were living in Salina, Kan., when President Nixon landed in Salina en route to Abilene for the funeral. Then I went to Vietnam--and my citation was signed under his direction.”--Bob Baker, Anaheim

“I’ll never forget that final wave and salute as he left office that August day--walking away from something he had worked for all of his life.... I never fully agreed with a lot of his political ideologies. But he certainly stood by them, and anyone who has that sort of belief in his own convictions is a man who merits respect.”--Carol Neal, Orange

‘We raised our family in Yorba Linda and lived there 28 years. In 1968, when I had two small children, Richard Nixon was campaigning for the presidency and he came to what was then an elementary school on the site of his birthplace and talked to the crowd. I had my two children with me in a stroller and it was mostly women and children because it was during the workday. He got out of his limo (there were no Secret Service I could see), climbed up on the car and spoke to the crowd. One of the things I remember him saying was that his father had raised lemons on that property, and it looked like people today raised children.”--Mary Pat Anderson, Tustin

“President Richard M. Nixon’s 1969 Inaugural Ball was to me indeed an affair to remember.... Although the delay in appearance of the official party was anticipated, the stuffiness of the crowd, together with repeated waltz renditions by Meyer Davis’ Society Orchestra, little by little permitted boredom to cause growing restlessness.... I requested the ‘12th Street Rag’ in order to dance to a more suitable tempo, and I was doing a solo buck and wing, cane and all, across the uncrowded floor, when suddenly ‘Hail to the Chief’ supplanted the ‘12th Street Rag’ and the Nixon and Eisenhower families made their grand entrance.... Much chagrined, I continued to the far end of the ballroom where a wall became my saving grace. Years later, I had occasion to discuss this with Nixon. His comment: ‘So you’re the SOB who screwed up my entrance!’ I found he was comfortable, considerate ... with a finely tuned sense of humor.”--Robert A. Foster, Balboa

“I grew up in Whittier. Richard Nixon was a constant symbolic backdrop that I simply accepted as part of the package, with little thought about the man or his work. As I grew up in the ‘60s, his symbolism changed, and I began resisting the war, politicians and all the endless rhetoric that went with it. Nixon represented a kind of passion about government and my peers dying that thankfully I have not felt since.... It wasn’t until the years after Watergate that I began to admire Nixon as a person who not only could go on, but go on with dignity and determination.”--Mary Singleton, Orange

“My dad was the election commissioner at our neighborhood polling place in Beverly Hills, and that is where Mr. Nixon voted. Mr. Nixon was running for governor at the time, and my dad was a strong supporter of his.... Nixon came to the polling place to cast his ballot, and he came without fanfare and at a very quiet time. There were no other people casting their ballots. He walked in and shook all of the workers’ hands, and as he started to leave, my dad started to talk to him. He spent some time playing the piano for the workers at the poll.... I was fortunate later to be able to vote for him.”--J. Michael Lanni, Newport Beach

“It was 1977, the last day of taping of the Nixon-Frost interviews. Our 19-year-old son had a snow-skiing accident a year before, leaving him a paraplegic. He had a friend who lived across the street from where they were doing the interviewing. We decided to go there to try to catch a glimpse of President Nixon after the taping session.... As he exited the house and was standing in the doorway speaking to someone, he spotted our son in his wheelchair. He immediately came out to the street to shake hands with him and gave him a five-minute pep talk. ‘What happened? Football accident? Remember FDR? You know he was in a wheelchair.’ He then called David Frost over--’Listen to this young man--he has a great voice--you should get him on television.’ And he left shaking his finger at him, encouraging him to keep up his spirits.... What we didn’t know, until we watched the series on television, was that was the day David Frost had come down so very hard on Nixon. Just another example of President Nixon’s courage and resiliency. He will be greatly missed.”--Bill and Larrie Parks, Dana Point

“As I followed his 1960 campaign, I began to feel as if I personally knew him and his family. The feeling has stayed with me throughout my career as a teacher.... It is our response to failure that matters, not the failure.... We can teach our children that you can’t experience true success until you have faced great obstacles and challenges, often the greatest obstacle being ourselves. You made a great difference in my life, Richard, and I, in turn, have made a difference in the lives of others as I followed your journey and applied it to my life.”--Gloria Alkire, Newport Beach

“It was 1966 or 1967 when I took my young daughters, Pamela and Leslie, to see Mr. Nixon when he made an appearance at his birthplace in Yorba Linda. We arrived early and stood just behind the red velvet rope that was stretched across the grounds.... As he stepped from his car and walked toward us, the excitement mounted and the crowd surged forward. Leslie, who was 2 or 3 at the time, was pushed ahead of me and knocked down, her glasses fell off and I was pushed backward--unable to get ahold of her. Mr. Nixon reached her first and scooped her up, saving her from being stepped on.... Mr. Nixon tried to hand me Leslie as the crowd tried to keep us apart. I will never forget the look on his face, no words were necessary.”--Shirley L. Hurt, Anaheim Hills