NIXON LIBRARY WATCH : Growing Center

Several months before his death last year, former President Richard Nixon told a group of his friends that he was “not much of a fan of think tanks.” Still, he gave the go-ahead for a Center for Peace and Freedom on the grounds of his birthplace in Yorba Linda, which also houses his presidential library.

The Annenberg Foundation announced a $5-million grant as the first funding for the $25-million center. Agribusiness magnate Dwayne O. Andreas chipped in $1 million. Other donors boosted the center ever closer to its goal. And this week the Bobst Foundation announced it will provide however much more is needed, an amount to be announced later. The building will be named for Elmer and Mamdouha Bobst. The late Elmer Bobst was chairman of the pharmaceutical giant Warner-Lambert Corp. and was a close friend of Nixon.

Nixon was the only President to resign, and his name will forever be linked to Watergate, but his achievements in foreign policy are widely acknowledged. President George Bush spoke at the first conference that the library sponsored, in Washington three years ago. President Clinton spoke at this week’s conference, the first at the Nixon Center in Washington. Both addressed America’s international role.

The building to be erected on the library grounds will house offices for scholars on foreign and domestic affairs, a conference center and archives. Institute officials would do well to open it as widely as possible and promote debate over a variety of issues. That would make it a valuable resource for the region.