Richard Milhous Nixon Frontpage
American President Frontpage
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President Ford’s pardoning of Richard Nixon guaranteed that the truth of Nixon’s involvement in the myriad scandals grouped under the heading of Watergate would not come out in court. A free man, liable neither for imprisonment nor even prosecution, Nixon embarked on his longest, loneliest, and least successful campaign to remake himself.
Some efforts backfired. The televised David Frost interviews in 1978 did little to rehabilitate his image. More successful were Nixon’s many books, most of them on foreign policy, a field where he still retained the respect of influential opinion leaders and could command the attention of the news media. But Nixon proved better at making the headlines than making an impact. “Reporters noted few instances in which Nixon’s writings actually affected policy makers,” wrote historian David Greenberg. “Academic scholars rarely cited his works.” The high-water mark in his campaign for rehabilitation was probably a 1986 Newsweek cover story, entitled, “He’s Back: The Rehabilitation of Richard Nixon.” Nixon wrote foreign policy memos to Presidents Reagan and Bush 41, then leaked these pieces to reporters to garner a new round of headlines.
Nixon’s death in 1994 inspired respectful obituaries. Presidents past and present mourned him as the television networks carried the funeral orations of the famous in attendance.
This brief state of grace ended in matter of weeks with the posthumous publication of the White House diaries of his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman. The diaries were a font of information, much of it damaging to Nixon, including his December 1970 decision to prolong the Vietnam War long enough to ensure that the South Vietnamese government survived until after his reelection. His estate settled a lawsuit with the government that paved the way for the declassification of hundreds of hours of tapes he recorded as President on a host of governmental affairs. These tapes will continue to provide scholars and interested observers with a unique window into the policies and persona of, arguably, the most notorious occupant of the nation’s highest office.
Some efforts backfired. The televised David Frost interviews in 1978 did little to rehabilitate his image. More successful were Nixon’s many books, most of them on foreign policy, a field where he still retained the respect of influential opinion leaders and could command the attention of the news media. But Nixon proved better at making the headlines than making an impact. “Reporters noted few instances in which Nixon’s writings actually affected policy makers,” wrote historian David Greenberg. “Academic scholars rarely cited his works.” The high-water mark in his campaign for rehabilitation was probably a 1986 Newsweek cover story, entitled, “He’s Back: The Rehabilitation of Richard Nixon.” Nixon wrote foreign policy memos to Presidents Reagan and Bush 41, then leaked these pieces to reporters to garner a new round of headlines.
Nixon’s death in 1994 inspired respectful obituaries. Presidents past and present mourned him as the television networks carried the funeral orations of the famous in attendance.
This brief state of grace ended in matter of weeks with the posthumous publication of the White House diaries of his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman. The diaries were a font of information, much of it damaging to Nixon, including his December 1970 decision to prolong the Vietnam War long enough to ensure that the South Vietnamese government survived until after his reelection. His estate settled a lawsuit with the government that paved the way for the declassification of hundreds of hours of tapes he recorded as President on a host of governmental affairs. These tapes will continue to provide scholars and interested observers with a unique window into the policies and persona of, arguably, the most notorious occupant of the nation’s highest office.