The Greatest Comeback: How Richard Nixon Rose from Defeat to Create the New Majority by Patrick J. Buchanan

Author:Patrick J. Buchanan [Buchanan, Patrick J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Non-Fiction, Politics, History
ISBN: 9780553418644
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2014-07-07T14:00:00+00:00

TRAVELING WITH NIXON

After I got back to the office, Rose Woods pulled me aside. “How did it go?” In her voice one caught the sense that the Boss could be a difficult traveling companion, given to exasperation or anger at staff when things went awry. She had a point, though the only tense moment came early. We had taken off from New York in the morning and, given the time difference, arrived in Paris at bedtime. But with the jet lag I had never experienced before, I did not fall asleep until sunrise. Hence, I was feeling miserable on the morning flight to Rabat. As we were about to land in Barcelona, the first stop, I looked over. Nixon had the cap of his fountain pen in his mouth, and was about to close the pen after making notes. When the plane hit the runway and bounced, the cap fell out and disappeared.

“Find it!” Nixon commanded. “We’re not getting off this plane until you find it.” Waiting until the plane emptied, I got down on the floor, felt under the seats, then concluded the cap must be wedged in the seat. I tried to pull the cushion out. Grunting and sweating, I attracted the attention of a Moroccan steward looking on in horror at this berserk American who by now seemed to be tearing his first-class cabin apart. French-speaking, he could not understand what I was yelling about the pen top. After we got someone to translate, the steward joined me in the search, which proved successful. But by now I was seething, and, as we deplaned, remained stone silent. But Nixon’s mood brightened instantly. He began to discourse on the beauty of the Barcelona morning and the scenery, like a friendly tour guide.

The incident, however, was a rarity during the nine years I worked for Richard Nixon. And on the trip we became closer. With the war, and the leaders we met who were riveted by it, we were aware a historic event with consequences far-reaching for the Middle East and the East-West struggle was happening. And we had been witnesses to it.

Moreover, Nixon made every effort to include me in meetings with national and world leaders and U.S. diplomats in every capital we visited. The closer one got to Nixon, the more he revealed himself. Here was the statesman on tour, studying, listening, learning, the diplomat who made the case for his country and cause abroad, and the companion with whom one drank and talked at day’s end. When Nixon trusted you he would let down his guard, and I got to know him better than any other boss I ever knew.

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