Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 19, 1990 TAG: 9007190243
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: YORBA LINDA, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
Nixon and his wife, Pat, arrived at the $21 million library at mid-afternoon for his first look at the exhibits and at the restored home where he was born in 1913.
He was applauded by a handful of tourists. Pat Nixon, who seldom appears in public, was handed a bouquet of flowers by Girl Scouts who had planted a rose garden on the library grounds.
Nixon met with some former members of his administration.
"I've never been concerned about his place in history," said Bruce Whelihan, who had worked in the Nixon White House press office.
Ken Khathigian, who wrote speeches both for Nixon and Ronald Reagan as president, was asked whether he ever expected such an edifice to be built honoring Nixon.
"I always knew it would happen, that it was just a matter of time," Khathigian said.
Nixon began his memoirs by saying, "I was born in the house my father built."
The formal opening today, to be attended by the three Republicans who followed him into the presidency, is another step back toward public life for Nixon, who resigned in 1974 when his Watergate burdens engulfed him.
"If anything, the opening of the library and the birthplace will draw more attention to Watergate because that is what most of those who are covering the event for the media are most interested in," Nixon told the Los Angeles Times.
"Over time, as their interest fades, and if the public continues to visit the museum, I would think that all the events covered will be seen in a more objective perspective," Nixon said in a written response to the newspaper's questions.
The exhibits span a public career of nearly a half century, beginning in 1946 when Nixon ran successfully for Congress from this Orange County district, through two years in the Senate, eight years as vice president and 5 1/2 years as president.
They touch on Watergate, the scandal that began in 1972 with the burglary by White House agents of Democratic Party headquarters in Washington's Watergate office building and led to a cover-up of White House involvement.
Nixon, who was named an unindicted co-conspirator, resigned Aug. 9, 1974.
President Bush was flying in to attend today's ceremony. Former Presidents Reagan and Ford also planned to make speeches. The only other living president, Democrat Jimmy Carter, said he couldn't make it.
H.R. Haldeman, who was fired as chief of staff when Watergate heated up, is expected to be a guest. Library officials did not release a list, but it was made clear John Dean, the former Nixon counsel who revealed the Watergate scandal to prosecutors, was not on it.
Nixon contributed $2 million to the library and has pledged the proceeds from the sale of his eighth and latest book, "In the Arena."
For the foreseeable future, the library will have no presidential documents, and when it does acquire them, they will only be copies. Congress seized the 42 million pages generated by the Nixon presidency, looking for Watergate evidence, and they remain in a nondescript National Archives warehouse in Alexandria, Va.
by CNB