Wednesday
Up in the morning here at the
Watergate for a long e-mail exchange with my smart friend, Cathy
Rasenberger, on the subject of Al Jazeera’s planned purchase of Al
Gore’s “Current” unsuccessful cable system. Cathy, a friend for
close to four decades, literally since she was a student at
Madeira, is now an extremely able and accomplished guru in the
world of TV, and cable in particular.
Without dwelling on Al Gore and his personality, we talked about
the economics of the deal. She explained that the relevant number
was not how many people were watching “Current” now but how many
households could potentially watch it. By that measure, said Cathy,
the price paid by Al Jazeera is not excessive. It would be
difficult and extremely time consuming for Al Jazeera to build up
to as many households as Current potentially reaches right now, she
explained, and perhaps impossible.
By shelling out $500 mill right now, Al Jazeera gets those
households in one fell swoop.
Plus, Cathy said, Al Jazeera was a far fairer and more balanced
news entity than I gave it credit for.
As I said, I have known her for a long time, know her to be
extremely fair minded and competent, so let us wait and watch about
the subject for a time. I am happy to learn new facts, and I guess
I have now.
Then, off to CNN to do a short interview. The highlight was
running into Wolf Blitzer. He has a major, pivotal role in
Skyfall and I told him I had seen it nine times and always
got a thrill out of seeing him on the screen. He was obviously
extremely happy to have been in the movie, as well he might have
been.
He pointed out that his scene in the movie is key — I won’t
tell you how — and was pleased to have been so helpful to James
Bond.
Then, a lightning trip to the National Gallery of Art. Then,
back home for a haircut. I have been going to the Watergate Barber
Shop for about forty years now and I feel comfortable there. The
barbers all cut my father’s hair before me, and they can recall
exactly their conversations with him about the Redskins, the poor
doomed Redskins.
Then a nap, and then Alex and I raced off to The Mayflower Hotel
on Connecticut Avenue, NW, to attend the Centenary of Richard
Nixon’s birth, a celebration of Nixon hands from long ago honoring
the greatest peacemaker America has ever known.
I was exploding with emotion as Alex and I walked into the
hallway of the Mayflower. I remembered walking in there with my Pop
to see a Cadillac with gold trim from the movie, The Solid Gold
Cadillac, and also seeing preparations being made for Ike’s
inauguration in 1953. (My father held me on his shoulders to watch
Ike go by in a Lincoln convertible, if I recall correctly.) Long
time passing. How I wish my father were alive. I wish I wish I
wish.
There were cocktails in a large reception room. I saw my mentor
and kind guardian, former Commerce Secretary and kind heart, Fred
Dent; old pal and war hero, and helper in life, Peter Flanigan and
his lovely wife; my great friend Ken Khachigian and his Meredith
and two lovely daughters; Aram Bakshian, world’s smartest human;
and many others whom I remembered more or less well from Nixon
White House days.
The men and women in the room were uniformly intelligent
looking, alert, friendly, but much more than that — they looked
sane.
More and more I notice that at airports and shopping centers,
the other people look insane and frantic. I guess I do, too. But
these men and women looked relaxed, happy, content. Different by
far from what I usually see in L.A., very different from what I see
in Malibu, but oddly similar to what I see in Sandpoint, Idaho.
Off at the corner of my eye was Henry A. Kissinger, getting a
lot of attention from the press and autograph seekers. He looked
cheerful.
Then the lights flashed and some men rang a chime, and we all
went across the hall to dinner. It was in a room where I have
spoken in the past. We found our table, and then out of the blue
appeared my dear pal, Phil DeMuth. Now, talk about an astoundingly
great friend: Phil had a head cold, but even so, had flown all the
way from LAX just for this event, arriving just in time to get to
it before we even did, but out of sight at the cocktail hour. With
him was his wonderful brother, Chris, and his charming sister in
law, Susan. Chris was head of the AEI for dogs’ years and has been
a fantastically good friend to the Steins. (He and AEI threw an
80th birthday party for my father that Pop called “the happiest day
of his life.”) Also at our table were wonderful Wlady and his
lovely wife, Joanna.
Tricia Nixon began the evening with a superb short speech about
her father and mother. Then there was fine appearance by Rev.
Franklin Graham, and then dinner. Then we all sang “Happy Birthday”
to RN as a kinescope of him playing “Happy Birthday” on the piano
ran on screens for accompaniment.
After the meal, Fred Malek gave an upbeat, irreverent
fund-raising appeal. Then Pat Buchanan made a spectacularly good
speech, one of the best speeches I have ever heard. It recited
accomplishments and anecdotes about RN, some extremely funny about
RN’s witty wish to not be burdened by excess paperwork. It ended
with what Pat wished he could say right now to Mr. Nixon about the
“jackal pack” that brought him down. Quoting from F. Scott
Fitzgerald’s immortal comments about the inherited rich who clung
to Gatsby then dumped him abruptly, a line addressed to Jay Gatsby,
Pat said he would tell RN, “They’re a rotten bunch. You’re better
than the whole lot of them put together.”
This got a huge cheer and made me very happy because I had
actually said that to Mr. Nixon in San Clemente after he resigned.
It is one of my favorite analogies to RN in literature. Of course
Fitzgerald had no idea of Nixon or his enemies when he wrote the
book, but he knew types.
(I should add for completeness that before Fred Malek spoke, I
gave the briefest speech imaginable about how I would never turn my
back on Richard Nixon, the peacemaker.)
Pat’s speech was just terrific but I suspect that Aram, smartest
of the smart, could have done even better.
Then Dr. Kissinger spoke. In a thick accent, he talked about the
state of the world when RN took office. No major Arab state had
full diplomatic relations with the U.S., China was our bitter
enemy, the Soviet Union was implacably hostile, and we were bogged
down in a quagmire in Vietnam where we had 500,000 troops and many
thousands getting killed every year.
With a Democrat Congress, by the time he was forced from office,
all had changed. The war in Vietnam was over and we had gotten back
our POWs. We had opened relations with China. We had a major arms
reduction agreement with the Soviet Union. We had full diplomatic
relations with every major Arab state and Soviet influence in the
Mideast was nil.
Dr. Kissinger spoke with magnificent generosity, never
mentioning his immense part in these astounding coups. It was a
breathtakingly powerful litany about what a powerful, thoughtfully
and resolutely led America can do. (President Obama, kindly take
notes. Firmness plus strength and you win nothing by weakness.) I
am not sure I have ever heard a better speech than Dr. Kissinger’s
tonight.
Then, the piece de resistance: a very short speech by
Julie about how grateful her father and mother would have been and
what wonderful parents they had been.
“He was the best father in the world,” she said simply and there
was not a dry eye in the house. I am bound to say that Tricia’s
speech at the beginning was also magnificent. She said we were all
part of her family and that moved me very much.
Then, the event was over. I kissed Julie goodbye and talked
briefly to David Eisenhower. Then I looked for Peter Flanigan but
he was gone. I wonder if I will ever see these people again. I will
never work with such kind people as Fred Dent, who grasped my
shoulder and reassured me that things would be all right as I was
sobbing the day RN resigned. We all tried so hard to keep the
peacemaker in office and the Pharisees laid him low. But what times
we had.… We were so young and so full of idealism. (Hey, now I
remember I had Cathy Rasenberger over to lunch at the White House.)
We are old now but still believe in America, the state founded on
idealism about human worth. That’s something. And how fortunate to
have worked with such sane people.
And Nixon’s bad days lasted only for a time. We still live in
the world Richard Nixon built and every day we are at peace, we
have him to thank — along with our hero fighting men and women and
their families — for it.
What splendid men and women I got to work with. I am reminded of
a line from The Last Picture Show or a paraphrase, “If it
hadn’t of been for him, I wouldn’t have known what it was all
about, whatever it is” (again, a paraphrase). And, of course, it
was my Pop and my Mom who put me where it all could happen. I have
been blessed so far beyond what I deserve it is incalculable.
Now, to sleep. Thank you, Ron Walker and Sandy Quinn and
everyone else from the RN Foundation who made such a great evening
of it. Thank you.
