Nixon Policy Center Board Holds First Meeting

Business leaders, politicians and diplomats gathered in Washington Wednesday for the inaugural board meeting of the Center for Peace and Freedom, a national policy center founded by the late President Richard M. Nixon.

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) and former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger are among the directors.

George Argyros, chairman and chief executive officer of Arnel & Affiliates in Costa Mesa and former owner of the Seattle Mariners, was elected to serve as the founding chairman of the board.

Nixon announced the formation of the bipartisan public policy center at a January ceremony at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda. The $25-million center will have offices in Washington and Yorba Linda.

Officials said the center will be more “activist” than other Washington think tanks, using its array of well-known directors to address questions of national interest.

“We really don’t want to do that run-of-the-mill Beltway stuff,” said Steven Clemons, executive director of the center. “We are designing this to have impact, not be a monument.”

The center will endow chairs and focus on both domestic and foreign policy.

On Wednesday, the board approved a first-year program that includes a conference in December dealing with post-Cold War policy and a bipartisan congressional luncheon group on foreign affairs.

Attorney Edward Cox, the late president’s son-in-law, represented the Nixon family at Wednesday’s meeting.