New Ventura Title: Nixon Library Champ

Forget Henry and Arianna and Pat. The Body beats them all.

Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, former professional wrestler and current political phenomenon who took office in January, is pummeling attendance records for a speech and book-signing event at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda.

The library quickly sold out its 300 auditorium seats for the 11:30 a.m. speech Thursday, and fans snapped up another 300 tickets to watch Ventura via large-screen, closed-circuit viewing in the lobby.

“A year ago in politics, if you mentioned Ventura, people thought it was a city north of Oxnard,” said Evie Lazzarino, the library’s director of communications. “We’re very happy we got such a good reaction.”

Ventura stunned the country in November when he was elected Minnesota’s 38th governor, and the first U.S. governor chosen from Ross Perot’s Reform Party.

The one-time Navy Seal, who later displayed a preference for pink feather boas in the ring, had been considered a hopeless longshot against his major party rivals, the Democratic state attorney general and the Republican mayor of St. Paul. His election came amid a 60% voter turnout--the largest of any state.

Library officials added extra seating to Thursday’s event, part of its Distinguished Speakers series, because of unprecedented demand for the $15 tickets. Past speeches by dignitaries such as former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, author and columnist Arianna Huffington and conservative commentator Patrick J. Buchanan drew large crowds, but only for auditorium seats.

Ventura’s speech will be followed by a private signing for ticketholders who also bought his new book, “I Ain’t Got Time to Bleed: Reworking the Body Politic from the Bottom Up.”

A public book-signing will follow at 2 p.m. There are no reservations necessary but books must be purchased at the Nixon Library bookshop. The cost is $19.95 each.

Autographed copies of the book also can be ordered for $24.50 each, including tax and shipping, through the library at (714) 993-5075 or through the library’s Internet site at www.nixonfoundation.org.