The Kennedy Half-Century (123 page)

11
. Richard Nixon to John Ehrlichman, February 5, 1969, President’s Personal Files, Box 1, Folder, “Memos—February 1969,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

12
. Richard Nixon to John Ehrlichman, March 11, 1969, President’s Personal Files, Box 1, Folder, “Memos—March 1969,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

13
. Richard Nixon to H. R. Haldeman, March 2, 1970, President’s Personal Files, Box 2, Folder, “Memos—March 1970,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California. See also Nixon to Haldeman, October 1, 1969, President’s Personal Files, Box 1, Folder, “Memos—October 1969” and Nixon to Haldeman, January 14, 1971, President’s Personal Files, Box 3, Folder, “Memos—January 1971,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

14
. “News Summary—January 19, 1971,” President’s Office Files, Box 32, Folder, “News Summaries—January 1971,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

15
. Clipping of “Nixon v. JFK,”
Richmond News Leader
, January 8, 1970, and the president’s handwritten notes, President’s Office Files, Box 34, Folder, “News Summaries—January 1970,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

16
. “News Summaries—October 13–20, 1971,” President’s Office Files, Box 34, Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

17
. Mike Royko, “Suppose a President Named Kennedy Did This,”
Chicago Daily News
, October 18, 1971.

18
. “Weekend News Review—June 12, 1972,” President’s Office Files, Box 40, Folder, “March 27–31, 1972,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

19
. “News Summary—February 14, 1973,” President’s Office Files, Box 47, Folder, “February 8–17, 1973,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

20
. News Summary—July 26, 1972,” President’s Office Files, Box 41, Folder, “July 25–31, 1972,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

21
. Harry S. Dent to Richard Nixon, July 8, 1969, President’s Office Files, Box 2, Folder, “President’s Handwriting, July 1969,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

22
. Patrick Buchanan to Richard Nixon, September 17, 1971, Patrick J. Buchanan Papers, Box 4, Folder, “Presidential memos—1971,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

23
. Charles Colson to H. R. Haldeman, May 21, 1971, Charles W. Colson Papers, Box 4, Folder, “HRH Memos [1 of 3] [5-10-72-12-16-72],” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

24
. Ibid.

25
. Conversation between Richard Nixon and John Ehrlichman, Executive Office Building, Wednesday, September 8, 1971, 3:26 P.M.-5:10 P.M., Tape 274–044, Presidential Recording Program, Miller Center, University of Virginia,
http://whitehousetapes.net/transcript/nixon/274-044
 [accessed January 10, 2012].

26
. See Jack Olsen,
The Bridge at Chappaquiddick
(New York: Ace Books, 1970), and Leo Damore,
Senatorial Privilege: The Chappaquiddick Cover-Up
(Washington: Regnery Gateway, 1988).

27
. Matthews,
Kennedy and Nixon
, 280.

28
. Richard Nixon to John Ehrlichman, August 7, 1969, John D. Ehrlichman Papers, Box 20, Folder, “Edward Kennedy, 308-A, Stanley,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California. Jon Roscoe, an archivist at the Nixon Library, told me that “Aside from President Nixon’s initial memorandum regarding information from Kissinger, I was unable to find any materials in John Ehrlichman’s papers about an investigation of Kissinger’s remarks.” E-mail from Jonathan Roscoe, December 22, 2011. Of course, the follow-up could have been accomplished by telephone or in person.

29
. “Kennedy could have been charged with manslaughter … for leaving the scene of an accident. ‘No man stands above the law,’ Kennedy would tell Richard Nixon in a few years during the Watergate hearings, but during Chappaquiddick, it appeared to many people that
one man did.” Vincent Bzdek,
The Kennedy Legacy: Jack, Bobby and Ted and a Family Dream Fulfilled
(New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), 159.

30
. “October 3, 1969 News Summary from Mort Allin to H. R. Haldeman ‘For the President,’ ” President’s Office Files, Box 47, Folder, “News Summaries—October 1969,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

31
. Jack Caulfield to John Ehrlichman, February 6, 1970, John D. Ehrlichman Papers, Box 16, Folder, “Chappaquiddick,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

32
. “News Summary—February 5, 1970,” President’s Office Files, Box 31, Folder, “News Summaries—February 1970,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

33
. “November 1970 News Summary,” President’s Office Files, Box 32, Folder, “News Summaries—November 1970,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

34
. See Gallup poll numbers, July–Aug. 1971, iPOLL Databank, Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut,
http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/data_access/ipoll/ipoll.html
 [accessed January 27, 2012].

35
. “Weekend News Review—November 29, 1971,” President’s Office Files, Box 36, Folder, “News Summaries—November 24–30, 1971,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

36
. “News Summary—April 6, 1972” and “Weekend News Review—April 10, 1972,” President’s Office Files, Box 40, Folder, “April 1–11, 1972,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

37
. Bill Safire to H. R. Haldeman, November 16, 1971, H. R. Haldeman Papers, Box 87, Folder, “William Safire—November 1971,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

38
. Pat Buchanan to Richard Nixon, June 9, 1971, Patrick J. Buchanan Papers, Box 4, Folder, “Presidential memos—1971,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

39
. Pat Buchanan/Ken Khachigian to John Mitchell and H. R. Haldeman, April 12, 1972, Patrick J. Buchanan Papers, Box 6, Folder, “Haldeman—1972,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

40
. Interview with John Dean, June 2, 2013; Conversation between Richard Nixon, Bob Haldeman and Alexander Butterfield, Oval Office, Thursday, September 7, 1972, 4:47 p.M.-6:15 P.M., Tape 772–015, Presidential Recording Program, Miller Center, University of Virginia,
http://whitehousetapes.net/transcript/nixon/772-015-0
 [accessed January 30, 2012].

41
. “ ‘Memorandum for the President’s file,’ September 21, 1972, from Ken W. Clawson,” President’s Office Files, Box 89, Folder, “Beginning September 17, 1972,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California. Nixon’s discussion was with the author and journalist Frank van der Linden, who wrote a book entitled
Nixon’s Quest for Peace
(Washington, DC: Robert B. Luce, 1972).

42
. Jackie was invited to the White House to view the unveiling of the Kennedys’ official portraits. She was reluctant to take part in a public ceremony, however, so the Nixons invited her to a private evening and unveiling. Nixon sent a small presidential jet to New York to pick up Mrs. Kennedy and her children. Helen Thomas was the only reporter to find out about the event, but she agreed to delay her story in return for additional details from the White House. Matthews,
Kennedy and Nixon
, 292–94.

43
. Sarah Booth Conroy and Sally Quinn, “Jackie Returns,”
Washington Post and Times Herald
, February 4, 1971. Nixon handwrote notes to Caroline and John Jr. about the visit, noting they would “always be welcome in this House.” Jackie responded that she was
“touched” and the children were “thrilled.” “One is most vulnerable where one’s children are concerned,” she noted. Richard Nixon to JFK Jr., February 28, 1971; Nixon to Caroline Kennedy, February 28, 1971; and Jacqueline Kennedy to Richard Nixon, March 16, 1971, President’s Personal Files, Box 10, Folder, “Kennedy, Caroline & John & Jackie,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

44
. Mort Allin to H. R. Haldeman, February 4, 1971, Patrick J. Buchanan Papers, Box 4, “Folder, “Magruder—1971,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

45
. Robert C. Odle, Jr., to H. R. Haldeman, February 4, 1971, Patrick J. Buchanan Papers, Box 4, “Folder, “Magruder—1971,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

46
. “Nixon to Work on Energy During 4 Days at Camp David,”
Washington Post and Times Herald
, November 22, 1973.

47
. H. R. Haldeman with Joseph DiMona,
The Ends of Power
(New York: New York Times Books, 1978), 39.

48
. Tim Weiner,
Enemies: A History of the FBI
(New York: Random House, 2012), 308.

49
. Clipping of Gary Wills, “Kennedy Center Shenanigans,” in H. R. Haldeman Papers, Box 187, Folder, “JFK Center—Miscellaneous File,” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California.

50
. The Kennedy Center’s gala opening included the world premiere of Bernstein’s requiem mass honoring President Kennedy. Bernstein and his wife had raised money for the Black Panthers and war protesters such as the Reverend Philip Berrigan—groups and causes certainly not favored by the Nixon White House.

51
. E-mail from Jonathan M. Roscoe, Archivist, Richard Nixon Library, October 18, 2011.

52
. For example, the editors at the
New York Times
opined, “[B]y accident of the calendar, President Nixon is now the nation’s chief executive as the moment approaches for realization of the dream for which his two predecessors worked so effectively with support of the Congress. Against this background, Mr. Nixon’s attempt to share the stage with the three brave men on Apollo 11 when they attain the moon appears to us rather unseemly.” See “Nixoning the Moon,”
New York Times
, July 19, 1969.

53
. Richard Nixon, “Statement About the Space Program,” December 19, 1972, Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley,
The American Presidency Project
,
http://www.presidency,ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=3718
 [accessed December 14, 2011].

54
. Richard Reeves,
President Nixon: Alone in the White House
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001), 176; Jonathan Movroydis, “How RN Saved the Peace Corps,” October 6, 2009, The New Nixon,
http://thenewnixon.org/2009/10/06/howrnsavedthepeacecorps/
 [accessed October 19, 2011].

55
. See Joan Hoff,
Nixon Reconsidered
(New York: Basic Books, 1994), 58–60.

56
. Richard Nixon, “Address to the Nation on the War in Vietnam, November 3, 1969,” Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley,
The American Presidency Project
,
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=2303
 [accessed September 16, 2011].

57
. Reeves,
Alone in the White House
, 371; Nixon Tapes Transcripts, Watergate Collection, Thursday, July 1, 1971, 8:45 A.M.–9:52 A.M., Miller Center website, University of Virginia,
http://whitehousetapes.net/transcript/nixon/conspiracy
 [accessed October 25, 2011].

58
. Melvin Small,
The Presidency of Richard Nixon
(Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1999), 236–37.

59
. Charles Colson to H. R. Haldeman, June 25, 1971, Charles W. Colson Papers, Box 14,
Folder, “Misc. Staff Memos 1970–71 [11-5-70–4-5-71],” Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California. Whether it was true or not, LBJ and Secretary of State Dean Rusk suspected that Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara had commissioned the Pentagon Papers in order to arm RFK with a powerful political weapon. See John T. Correll, “The Pentagon Papers,” February 2007, airforce-magazine.com,
http://www.airforce-magazine.com/Magazine-Archive/Pages/2007/February%202007/0207pentagon.aspx
 [accessed January 30, 2012]; see also David Rudenstine, “The Day the Presses Stopped: A History of the Pentagon Papers Case,” specifically the paragraph that starts, “Neither President Johnson nor Secretary of State Rusk accepted McNamara’s claims that he commissioned the study merely to preserve the historical record,”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/daythepr.htm
 [accessed January 30, 2012].

60
. Jeffrey Kimball,
Nixon’s Vietnam War
(Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998), 28–29 and 255–56.

61
. “DCI Richard M. Helms and President Richard Nixon,” October 8, 1971, OVAL 587–007a, nixontapes.org,
http://nixontapes.org/rmh.html
 [accessed May 7, 2012].

62
. Hunt, a retired CIA officer who worked as a “security consultant” for the Nixon White House, organized the botched break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel. Police found an address book on one of the burglars containing Hunt’s name and a White House phone number. It was the first of many clues that led to the unraveling of the Nixon presidency.

63
. Matthews,
Kennedy and Nixon
, 306–7; Richard Reeves,
President Kennedy: Profile of Power
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993), 577.