I have a terrible memory, as I am reminded every time my 87 year old mother prefaces a bit of family history with “You don’t remember???” I can’t remember much about any of my “formative years.” But what memories I do have are vivid. For example, I still remember exactly where I was on August 8, 1974.
I remember sitting cross-legged on the nubby gold couch in the dorm “living area,” watching the only TV in the entire dorm. I was in summer school making up the Organic Chemistry class I had flunked the semester prior. The dorm was fairly empty during the summer months, so only a few of us gathered round that TV to watch history unfold, as Richard Nixon announced, “Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour in this office.”
Those years of my youth are forever engraved in my mind after having grown up watching the Vietnam War unfold on the one and only television screen, whether in the dorm or my family home. I think when one only has one source of information, as opposed to the “shotgun fire” of the multimedia of today; cell phones, tablets, laptops, TVs, it leaves a deeper imprint.
I enjoy visiting the Presidential Libraries and Museums. They are nostalgic of the “movie settings” for the scenes from my movie. I particularly love the period costumes, the props, and exhibits that talk about the issues of the day. Hindsight provides such a great perspective of the actual events versus media propaganda at the time. It’s also interesting to gauge how my own perspective has changed, thirty years later.
As I meander around the Los Angeles area, I am reminded that there is not one, but two Presidential Libraries along my northerly route up the coast. Even though it’s Saturday when I leave Casper’s Wilderness Campground, I figure an early start might be my best opportunity to avoid LA traffic. I needn’t have worried about waking my neighbors, as they resumed their partying at 7:00am.
Unfortunately, my timing is not good for the Richard Nixon Library & Museum, as it is in the middle of major renovation. The museum itself is closed until November. However, there are a few exhibits still open; the Birthplace, the helicopter Marine One, the replica of the East Room, and the burial site. Since I don’t plan on passing through LA again anytime soon, I figure it’s worthy of a stop.
Due to the renovation, the admission is half off an already low admission price. With my senior discount, it costs me $4.25 to get in. I manage to kill two hours on the grounds, so I got my money’s worth. 😉
This is my fourth Presidential Library visit (Carter, Johnson, and Clinton.) Even before I step foot into the building, it’s immediately evident that this library is the most spartan I have visited thus far. This could be in part due to the fact that his library and museum was not originally part of the presidential library system, i.e. “federally funded.” It was deeded over from the Nixon Foundation to the National Archives and Records Administration in 2007. But I think it also accurately reflects the minimalism of his Quaker upbringing. And it certainly echoes the legacy, as there is still much controversy over how those darker days are addressed, particularly now that the “tapes” are declassified…
It’s disappointing to have missed the museum, particularly since Nixon Administration had such an impact on my “formative years,” from footprints on the moon to the last ravages of the Vietnam War. Still, it was an interesting tour…
The Library is located in Yorma Linda, slightly northeast of LA.
The Nixon Foundation was opened in 1990, but didn’t become part of the National Archives and Records Administration (federally funded) until 2007.
Inside the Museum Store…how can any federal building be taken seriously with a book by Sarah Palin on the shelf???
The King earns a corner of the giftshop. Other kitsch includes shot glasses with the quote “Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.” Odd quote for a container for alcohol, no?
Replica of the White House East Room.[/caption]
Docent tells me the mirrors were the most difficult to replicate. Chandeliers are cleaned every two months by gloved hand.
Looking back toward the library and museum from the birthplace.
The original Nixon family home was constructed in 1913.
The bungalow was constructed by Nixon’s father Frank from a catalogue’s mail order home building kit
The Former President was born here.
Richard Nixon’s highchair.
I had forgotten he played the piano, but also played four other instruments as well.
Marine One, in Presidential service from 1969 to 1976, serving Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford
The helicopter few many important missions as far away as the pyramids of Egypt, but none more famous than the “final flight” when the Nixon family left the White House after resignation, bound for Andrews AFB.
This gazebo was used for Tricia Nixon’s wedding in the first ever White House Rose Garden.
Pat Nixon’s rose garden, only no roses, only bushes and other flowers.
The grounds and East Room are available for weddings and other events.
Final resting place
I remember that night, too, but only because I was doing something unusual. I was on vacation in Los Angeles at a Hawai’in restaurant experiencing my first ever pu-pu platter and watching fire dancers!
Virtual hugs,
Judie
If you ever get to Grand Rapids, Michigan, you can see Nixon’s resignation letter in Gerald Ford’s museum, Suzanne. Jerry and Betty are buried immediately to the north of the building.
I also enjoy visiting the Presidential Libraries. I’ve been to the Libraries / Museums for Kennedy, Roosevelt, Hoover, Eisenhower, Johnson, and Truman. I like the way they show a slice of our modern history. Eisenhower’s was the most impressive one focusing much on his WWII involvement. But, the one positive thing I thank Nixon for ending is the draft. With a draft # of 67, yours truly was ready to go to Vietnam in 1973, if Nixon hadn’t ended it that year.
Despite my lack of interest in history when I was in school, I find it fascinating now that we’re on the Mother of All Field Trips. We just missed Johnson’s Presidential Library in Austin (ran out of time) but were enthralled when we visited his boyhood home in Johnson City and ranch near Fredericksburg a couple of years ago. Thanks for the tour of the Nixon memorabilia — I always enjoy the personal touches, like seeing his high chair, and his piano. Didn’t know he played four instruments!
i remember the event, and the joy that I felt, but have no idea of where I was much less what I was doing. Now when Johnson said that he would not run again I can tell you exactly where I was and what my parents said when my screams of joy awoke them from a sound sleep. As a veteran of a year (2/67 to 2/68) in South Vietnam I was happy that Johnson was calling it quits. Nixon earned my eternal disdain by his not stopping the war until it allowed him to get re-elected . The loss of all those lives is my cross eyed bear so I cannot visit that man’s memorials as my body would not generate enough saliva for the event. After he left office I was taking a rest break in Lake Placid, NY with my wife and three children who were fairly young at the time when I heard people talking about the president. I looked across the street and saw some older security men walking ahead and behind a man who looked as though he was wearing a Nixon caricature mask.. I realized it was the retired ex-president Nixon in the flesh. I moved my family to a point where our path would not cross that of his party who were crossing the street and told the children who he was and that I did not want to meet him.
I love your blog and the prose and pictures in it. Sorry for my only negative comment.
Allen
I understand, Allen. It was such a difficult time. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to have served in Vietnam during that time. Although I was vehemently opposed to the war, I am appreciative to those of you who served. Thank you.
Oh heck Suzanne, no need for thanks. Uncle Sam paid me, provided food, shelter and loaned me a M-14 all the ammo I could carry and a dozen or so grenades. I asked to go there and since I escaped whole I am happy for that decision. It is just that so many paid a much heavier price than I did and now finally through the tapes there is evidence that what I have believed about Nixon keeping the war going until ending it would get him reelected is true. Sitting alone in the wilderness enjoying the scenery and wild life had always helped me to sanity. That is why I love your blog so much.
peace,
Allen