Charles ‘Bebe’ Rebozo; Nixon Confidant

Charles “Bebe” Rebozo, a Florida banker and confidant of Richard Nixon who steadfastly stood by the president in the darkest days of Watergate, died Friday. He was 85.

Hospital officials said Rebozo died before 11 p.m. at Baptist Hospital. They would not disclose the cause of death or any other details.

The Miami Herald reported Saturday that doctors said Rebozo died of a brain aneurysm and that he had suffered complications from a stroke.

Rebozo, the son of a Cuban cigar maker, made a fortune in banking and met presidents from Herbert Hoover to Gerald Ford.

But he will forever be linked with Nixon, his longtime friend for whom he served as advisor and loyal supporter.

A gas station owner who became the president and chairman of Key Biscayne Bank, Rebozo first met Nixon in 1950 after an introduction by Rep. George Smathers of Florida.

“Bebe was a very relaxed guy,” Smathers said. “Women loved him. He had all kinds of girlfriends. He was very sociable and very popular with everybody. He didn’t have any enemies.”

Rebozo and Nixon were golfing buddies and neighbors on Key Biscayne, where the president maintained his winter White House, which he visited often while in office.

It was during one such visit in June 1972 that Nixon learned that five men hired by the White House had been arrested at Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate Office Building.

“We were swimming at Key Biscayne in front of my house,” Rebozo told the Miami Herald in a 1990 interview. “They came out and told him. He said, ‘What in God’s name were they doing there?’ ”

Then, Rebozo said, “We laughed and forgot about it.”

The two remained close after Nixon left office, with the former president continuing his visits to Florida. Nixon died in 1994.

Rebozo shunned the spotlight after the turbulent Watergate years. Once asked whether he would discuss the success of the Key Biscayne Bank, Rebozo replied: “No, thank you. I’ve had all of the publicity I ever want.”

Survivors include his wife, Jane Lucke Rebozo, and his sister.

No funeral plans were announced.