Nixon News & Notes
The Rise of Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon’s adversaries perennially commemorate observances of August 9, 1974 as a pinnacle achievement – the vanquishing of the man who sat atop their enemies list. When he returned to his California home 52 years ago, they confidently assured themselves of his final defeat. It mattered not to them that distorted systems of institutional power smashed legal and political boundaries to take down the most popularly elected U.S. President. Even today, it is mere ritual for the established elite in media, academia, and the political Left to feel smug in their ongoing demonizing of the President.
But the angry haters were not aware then, and are not aware now, that the end was only a beginning. Far from shattering the mettle of the grocer’s son from Whittier, the final curtain didn’t come down on August 9th. Instead, it only set the stage for RN’s renaissance and comeback. In his darkest moments just days after his resignation, I sat with him at San Clemente’s former Western White House to resolve overwhelming legal and financial issues. His advice reflected the opposite of defeat and despair: “Ken, we can’t get down. We can’t look back. We must look forward.”
With uncommon human strength and resilience, the 37th President was already on the road to return.
La Casa Pacifica, President Nixon's Western White House, Turns 100
Orange County business, political and community leaders gathered at La Casa Pacifica, once known as The Western White House, in San Clemente to celebrate 100 years of the seaside home as a stage on which countless decisions, events and moments of consequence have unfolded.
How The Kids Learned To Love Richard Nixon
In 1972, Richard Nixon was re-elected with over 60% of the popular vote. Just a few years later, he left office as the most disgraced president in history.
His resignation cemented his legacy as one of scandal, and for half a century Nixon has been associated with Watergate: “I am not a crook.”
But something’s happening online that may once and for all disprove Fitzgerald’s dictum that there are no second acts in American lives. Across social media, Tricky Dick is blowing up — with memes, edits, and merchandise marketed at Gen Z. Thirty-two years after his death, America’s 37th president is popular again. And for the first time ever, he’s cool.