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This file contains:
Note to Ehrlichman (author unk.) RE: "information only; no action necessary." 1pg. [Memo], n.d.
Letter from Earl Adams to Don Nixon RE: estate of Hannah Nixon. 1pg. [Letter], 2/25/1969
Memo from Edward Morgan to Ehrlichman RE: Hannah Nixon Estate. 1pg. [Memo], 1/14/1969
Memo from Edward Morgan to Ehrlichman RE: Anna Nixon Esate. 1pg. [Memo], 1/8/1969
Memo rom Hullin to Cole requesting the President's signature. 1pg. [Memo], 6/27/1969
Memo from Morgan to Ehrlichman RE: Estate of Hannah Nixon. 1pg. [Memo], 6/26/1969
Letter from Ehrlichman to C.G. Rebozo RE: appraisal matters for the President's tax return. 1pg. [Letter], 10/27/1969
Letter from C.G. Rebozo to Erlichman RE: the policing of the President's personal financial situation. 1pg. [Letter], 10/22/1969
NARA document removal sheet. 1pg. [Other Document], n.d.
Memo from Moynihan to RN extending comments on some longer range issues. 10pgs. [Memo], 1/3/1969
Memo (with attached cc note to Hughs) from RN to Ehrlichman RE: reception protocal. 2pgs. [Memo], 1/8/1969
Handwritten notes (author/recipient unk.) RE: inaugural ball. 2pgs. [Other Document], n.d.
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26126497
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WHSF: Returned, 21-6
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doc
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document
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1
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26126497
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document
title
WHSF: Returned, 21-6
description
This file contains:
Note to Ehrlichman (author unk.) RE: "information only; no action necessary." 1pg. [Memo], n.d.
Letter from Earl Adams to Don Nixon RE: estate of Hannah Nixon. 1pg. [Letter], 2/25/1969
Memo from Edward Morgan to Ehrlichman RE: Hannah Nixon Estate. 1pg. [Memo], 1/14/1969
Memo from Edward Morgan to Ehrlichman RE: Anna Nixon Esate. 1pg. [Memo], 1/8/1969
Memo rom Hullin to Cole requesting the President's signature. 1pg. [Memo], 6/27/1969
Memo from Morgan to Ehrlichman RE: Estate of Hannah Nixon. 1pg. [Memo], 6/26/1969
Letter from Ehrlichman to C.G. Rebozo RE: appraisal matters for the President's tax return. 1pg. [Letter], 10/27/1969
Letter from C.G. Rebozo to Erlichman RE: the policing of the President's personal financial situation. 1pg. [Letter], 10/22/1969
NARA document removal sheet. 1pg. [Other Document], n.d.
Memo from Moynihan to RN extending comments on some longer range issues. 10pgs. [Memo], 1/3/1969
Memo (with attached cc note to Hughs) from RN to Ehrlichman RE: reception protocal. 2pgs. [Memo], 1/8/1969
Handwritten notes (author/recipient unk.) RE: inaugural ball. 2pgs. [Other Document], n.d.
citationUrl
collections
Richard M. Nixon's Returned Materials Collection
Returned White House Special Files
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1
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26126497
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Richard Nixon Presidential Library
White House Special Files Collection
Folder List
Box Number Folder Number Document Date
Document Type
Document Description
21
6
n.d.
Memo
Note to Ehrlichman (author unk.) RE:
"information only; no action necessary." 1pg.
21
6
02/25/1969
Letter
Letter from Earl Adams to Don Nixon RE:
estate of Hannah Nixon. 1pg.
21
6
01/14/1969
Memo
Memo from Edward Morgan to Ehrlichman
RE: Hannah Nixon Estate. 1pg.
21
6
01/08/1969
Memo
Memo from Edward Morgan to Ehrlichman
RE: Anna Nixon Esate. 1pg.
21
6
06/27/1969
Memo
Memo rom Hullin to Cole requesting the
President's signature. 1pg.
21
6
06/26/1969
Memo
Memo from Morgan to Ehrlichman RE:
Estate of Hannah Nixon. 1pg.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Page 1 of 2
Box Number
Folder Number
Document Date
Document Type
Document Description
21
6
10/27/1969
Letter
Letter from Ehrlichman to C.G. Rebozo RE:
appraisal matters for the President's tax
return. 1pg.
21
6
10/22/1969
Letter
Letter from C.G. Rebozo to Erlichman RE:
the policing of the President's personal
financial situation. 1pg.
21
6
n.d.
Other Document
NARA document removal sheet. 1pg.
21
6
01/03/1969
Memo
Memo from Moynihan to RN extending
comments on some longer range issues.
10pgs.
21
6
01/08/1969
Memo
Memo (with attached cc note to Hughs) from
RN to Ehrlichman RE: reception protocal.
2pgs.
21
6
n.d.
Other Document
Handwritten notes (author/recipient unk.)
RE: inaugural ball. 2pgs.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Page 2 of 2
MR. EHRLICHMAN
FOR INFORMATION ONLY
NO ACTION NECESSARY
204-
LAW OFFICES OF
ADAMS, DUQUE & HAZELTINE
523 WEST SIXTH STREET
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90014
TELEPHONE 620-1240
February 25, 1969
Mr. Francis Donald Nixon
1915 Glenwood Lane
Newport Beach, California
Re: Estate of Hannah M. Nixon
Dear Don:
The State Controller's office has completed
its audit, as has this office, with respect to the
California State Inheritance Tax, and on February 21,
1969 the receipt of the Inheritance Tax Appraiser was
filed. An order fixing the Inheritance Tax will probably
be signed by the Court on March 4, 1969. The amount
of the tax is $2,960.64, which I, as Executor, will pay
on or about March 4, 1969.
Nothing remains now to be done prior to filing
the Petition for Final Distribution and winding up the
Estate, other than for Vincent Andrews, Inc. to prepare
the Fiduciary Returns--meaning the Federal, as well as
the California State Income Tax Returns. When this is
done and the same are found to be correct, both such
taxes can be paid and the Estate closed, and distribution
made to the three sons.
In the meantime, please let me know when we
can meet so that an inventory or list can be made of the
household furnishings and the location thereof.
I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Cordially,
ECA:jlh
EARL C. ADAMS
bcc: Edward L. Morgan, Esq.
W
3
20.1 MIXIN
January 14, 1969
To: John D. Ehrlichman
From: Edward L. Morgan
sen
Subject: Hannah Nixon Estate
The winding up of this estate has been held up temporarily due to the
death of the State Inheritance Tax appraiser. A new appraiser has been appointed
and Mr. Adams expects the new appraisal report to be filed at the end of January.
Thereafter there is a 10-day waiting period before the court fixes the taxes after
which the estate may be wound up and distributed.
There has already been a partial distribution to each son in the amount
of $20,000.
The Federal Estate Tax has been paid in the amount of $5,873.12 and
Mr. Adams estimates the State Inheritance tax to be in the $3,200 area.
All of the stock has been liquidated with the exception of a couple of
shares that carry no value. All expenses and claims against the estate have been
paid. Mr. Adams' law firm will take the ststutory attorney's fees and Mr. Adams
has personally waived the Executor's fees.
Mr. Adams reports cash balances as follows:
The United California Bank
$28,656.53
Sixth and Grand Street Office
U. S. National Bank
(Savings Account)
$3,185.22
Orange Empire Office
interest
$162.82
United California Bank
$14,058.32 plus interest
Certificate of Deposit - Maturity date January 13
All of the above is per conference with Mr. Adams in New York January 10, 1969.
ELM:ab
2-1
To:
John D. Ehrlichman
Date: January 8, 1969
From:
Edward L. Morgan
Subject: Anna Nixon Estate
Earl Adams advises that the estate is now liquid and there
remains only to accomplish the California state inheritance tax ap-
praisal followed by a distribution. Distribution will be in the $35,000
to $40,000 area. I encouraged him to expedite the appraisal and pro-
ceed with distribution immediately.
Mr. Adams inquired about the property which is in storage
and its disposition, and I advised him that since he could distribute
it in kind, the three sons could take as tenants in common with a 1/3
interest each, and he should not hold up distribution for that reason.
I trust that was in order.
Mr. Adams will be in New York the end of this week and
plans to call me to advise me of his progress.
Ed
Edward L. Morgan
ELM:sw
/ /
59
Hannater
JUNE 27, 1969
TO:
KEN COLE
FROM:
TOD HULLIN
Would you submit the attached to the President for his
signature?
John Ehrlichman is out of town.
Attachment
4-1
MEMORANDUM
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
June 26, 1969
TO:
JOHN D. EHRLICHMAN
FRO M:
EDWARD L. MORGAN
SUBJECT:
Estate of Hannah Nixon
1.
Recommend that the President sign the attached Receipt
of Distributee.
Approve
Disapprove
2. Recommend that Don and Ed Nixon simply quit claim their one-
third interest in the two shares of water company stock to the
President. Although the stock is not appurtenant to the land, it
is inconceivable that a one-third interest in these two shares is
marketable. Attached are letters to this effect for your approval,
and I would recommend that Earl Adams prepare the deeds, have
them executed and file them with the water company.
Approve
Disapprove
3. Recommend that Don and Ed Nixon quitclaim their interest in the
furniture in storage, since it will no doubt wend its way into the
Nixon Museum eventually. I can arrange to have it stored by the
National Archives in their Los Angeles warehouse.
Approve
Disapprove
to P for mg
6/27
4-2
Reboyo
147
October 27, 1969
PERSONAL
Dear Bebe:
Thanks for your letter of October 22 and all of your observa-
tions, which are well taken and particularly timely since Ed
Morgan is going to New York on Monday, November 3, to
close out matters with Vinnie Andrews. He and Frank DeMarco
of Herb Kalmbach's firm will spend the day there and come back
to Washington on Tuesday to work on appraisal matters for the
President's tax return.
I know that they are changing the signatures on the checking ac-
counts and transferring the balance of the house proceeds to the
Key Biscayne bank, which Ed directed Vinnie Andrews to do
some time ago.
There's no question that we should be investing in either govern-
ment bonds or tax free municipal bonds and I've asked Herb Kalm-
bach to go into this directly with you.
Beginning the first of November, Herb Kalmbach and his partner,
Frank DeMarco, should be the most knowledgeable regarding the
President's day-to-day operations.
Kindest personal regards.
Sincerely,
John D. Ehrlichman
Counsel to the President
Mr. C. G. Rebozo
Key Biscayne Bank Building
Key Biscayne, Florida 33149
8-1
OCT 24 1969
PERSONAL E CONFIDENTIAL
G. Rebozo
KEY BISCAYNE BANK BUILDING
KEY BISCAYNE, FLORIDA 33149
October 22, 1969
Mr. John Erlichman
The White House
Washington, D. C.
Dear John:
It is my hope that certain aspects of the President's personal
financial situation is being properly policed. I know how busy
you are with the many day-to-day crises which arise and I am
concerned that some of these matters may escape your attention.
In any event, I am hoping that my apprehension is not ill-
founded.
On several occassions, the President had suggested to me that
the proceeds on the sale of his New York apartment be trans ferred
to the Key Biscayne Bank. To date, this has not been done.
what concerns me is the possibility that these funds are reposing
in an account, drawing little or no interest. There are certain
suggestions I could make if I knew who to make them to without
bothering the President.
As you know, I took it upon myself to purchase a certificate of
Deposit with a good portion of his deposits here in order that
he might earn maximum interest. He is paying out quite a
substantial sum of interest on the various mortgages, and it is
my feeling that we should try to recoup as much as possible.
There are excellent investments available in high-interest
Government bonds as well as tax-free municipal bonds available
today. There is no insurance that the returns on bonds at this
time will always be available.
The President's checking account at our bank still calls for the
signature of Claudia Val or Rose Mary Woods. The address plates
for statements have been changed so that all mail will be forwarded
to Herbert Kalmbach. If Claudia Val is no longer designated to sign
checks, we should be notified. I would also presume that if she is
replaced, someone else should be designated besides Rose. Please
let me have your thoughts on these matters.
Bate C. G.
Sincerely,
CGR:slb
8 2
Re-typed and slightly ed. d
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT-ELECT
RICHARD M. NIXON
WASHINGTON, D. C.
3 January 1969
MEMORANDUM
TO:
The President Elect
FROM:
Daniel P. Moynihan
Assistant for Urban Affairs
Before the storm breaks, as it were, on the 20th, I would like
to send in a few extended comments on some of the longer range
issues that face you, but will tend, I should imagine, to get lost
in the daily succession of crises.
I would like to speak first of the theme "Forward Together. "
This appeal was much in evidence in your very fine acceptance
speech at Miami, and during the campaign the logic of events,
and your own sure sense of them, brought it forward ever more
insistently. In the end it was the theme of the campaign and, in
the aftermath of victory, it stands as the most explicit mandate
you have from the American people. I would hope it might be
the theme of your administration as well.
It has fallen to you to assume the governance of a deeply divided
country. And to do so with a divided government. Other
Presidents -- Franklin Roosevelt, for example -- have taken
office in moments of crisis, but the crises were so widely per-
ceived as in a sense to unite the country and to create a great
outpouring of support for the President as the man who would
have to deal with the common danger. Neither Lincoln nor Wilson,
the two predecessors whose situations most resembled yours, in
terms of the popular vote and the state of then current political
questions, had any such fortune. No one would now doubt that
they proved to be two of our greatest leaders, nor yet that their
administrations achieved great things. But, alas, at what cost
to themselves.
1-1
2
A divided nation makes terrible demands on the President.
Itwould seem important to try to anticipate some of them, at
least, and to ponder whether there is not some common
element in each that might give a measure of coherence and
unity to the President's own responses and, by a process of
diffusion, to provide a guide for the administration as a whole.
I believe there is such a common element. In one form or
another all of the major domestic problems facing you derive
from the erosion of the authority of the institutions of American
society. This is a mysterious process of which the most that
can be said is that once it starts it tends not to stop.
It can be stopped: the English, for example, managed to halt
and even reverse the process in the period, roughly, 1820-40.
But more commonly, those in power neglect the problem at
first and misunderstand it later; concessions come too late
and are too little; the failure of concessions leads to equally
unavailing attempts at repression; and so events spiral down-
ward toward instability. The process is little understood.
(Neither is the opposite and almost completely ignored
phenomenon: some societies -- Mexico in the 1920's -- seem
almost suddenly to become stabilized after periods of prolonged
and seemingly hopeless chaos.) All we know is that the sense of
institutions being legitimate especially the institutions of
government is the glue that holds societies together. When
it weakens, things come unstuck.
The North Vietnamese see this clearly enough. Hence the
effort through the subtleties of seating arrangements to establish
the NLF as an independent regime, and the Saigon government
as a puppet one. In contrast, Americans, until presently at
least, have not been nearly so concerned with such matters.
American society has been so stable for 80 long that the prospect
of instability has had no very great meaning for us. (As I count,
there are but nine members of the United Nations that both
existed as independent nations in 1914 and have not had their
form of government changed by invasion or revolution since.)
Moreover we retain a tradition of revolutionary rhetoric that
gives an advantage to those who challenge authority rather than
those who uphold it. Too little heed is given the experience of
the 20th Century in which it has been the authority of democratic
institutions that has been challenged by totalitarians of the left
and the right.
#4
1-2
3
Even the term "authority" has acquired for many a sinister
cast, largely one suspects from its association with the term
"authoritarian. If Yet it remains the case that relationships
based on authority are consensual ones: that is to say they
are based on common agreement to behave in certain ways.
It is said that freedom lives in the interstices of authority:
when the structure collapses, freedom disappears, and
society is governed by relationships based on power.
Increasing numbers of Americans seem of late to have sensed
this, and to have become actively concerned about the drift of
events. Your election was in a sense the first major consequence
of that mounting concern. Your administration represents the
first significant opportunity to change the direction in which
events move.
Your task, then, is clear: to restore the authority of American
institutions. Not, certainly, under that name, but with a clear
sense that what is at issue is the continued acceptance by the
great mass of the people of the legitimacy and efficacy of the
present arrangements of American society, and of our processes
for changing those arrangements.
For that purpose the theme "Forward Together" responds not
only to the deepest need of the moment, but also, increasingly,
to a clearly perceived need, as the facts of disunity more and
more impress themselves on the nation's consciousness.
What has been pulling us apart? One wishes one knew. Yet there
are a number of near and long term developments that can be
discerned and surely contribute significantly to what is going on.
Of the near term events, the two most conspicuous are the Negro
revolution and the war in Vietnam. Although seemingly unrelated,
they have much in common as to origins, and even more as to the
process by which they have brought on mounting levels of disunity.
# 4
/ -3
4
The French philosopher Georges Bernanos once wrote: "There
are no more corrupting lies than problems poorly stated. If I,
at least, feel that this goes to the heart of much of the present
turmoil of race relations and foreign policy. In a word, those
in power have allowed domestic dislocations that accompany
successful social change to be interpreted as irrefutable
evidence that the society refuses to change; they have permitted
foreign policy failures arising from mistaken judgements to be
taken as incontrovertible proof that the society has gone mad
as well.
The fact is that with respect to Negro Americans we have seen
incredible progress since, roughly, the Brown VS. Board of
Education decision of 1956 and President Eisenhower's sub-
sequent decision to send Federal troops to Little Rock, thus
commencing the Second Reconstruction, Nowhere in history
is there to be encountered an effort to bring a suppressed people
into the mainstream of society comparable to the public and
private initiatives on behalf of Negro Americans in recent years.
As I would like to discuss in a later memorandum, the results
have been dramatic. Yet it was only after that effort had begun,
and had been underway for some time, that it became possible to
see the true horror of the situation white America had forced on
black America and the deep disabilities that came about in
consequence. The first to see this, of course, were the blacks
themselves. The result on the part of many was a revulsion
against white society that has only just begun to run its course.
Large numbers of middle class, educated blacks, especially
young ones, have come to see American society as hateful and
illegitimate, lacking any true claim on their allegiance. Well
they might. The problem is not that one group in the population
is beginning to react to centuries of barbarism by another group.
The problem is that this cultural reaction among black militants
is accompanied by the existence of a large, disorganized urban
lower class which, like such groups everywhere, is unstable and
essentially violent. This fact of lower class violence has nothing
to do with race. It is purely a matter of social class. But since
Watts, the media of public opinion -- the press, television, the
Presidency itself have combined to insist that race is the issue.
As a result, middle class blacks caught up in a cultural revolution
have been able, in effect, to back up their demands. This has led
1-34
5
to a predictable white counter-reaction. And so on. In the
process, we have almost deliberately obscured the extraordinary
progress, and commitment to progress, which the nation as a
whole has made, which white America has not abandoned, and
which increasingly black America is learning to make use of.
To the contrary, it has been the failures of policy that have
seemed ever more prominent. The essence of the Negro problem
in America at this time is that despite great national commitments,
and great progress, a large mass of the black population remains
poor, disorganized, and discriminated against. These facts are
increasingly interpreted as proof that the national commitment
is flawed, if not indeed fraudulent, that the society is irredeemably
"racist, 11 etc. This interpretation is made by middle class blacks
and whites for whom, outwardly at least, society would seem to
have treated very well, but the continued existence of black
poverty makes their argument hard to assail. Moreover,
increasingly that argument is directed not to particulars, but
to fundamental questions as to the legitimacy of American
society.
Vietnam has been a domestic disaster of the same proportion,
and for much the same reason. As best I can discern, the war
was begun with the very highest of motives at the behest of men
such as McNamara, Bundy, and Rusk in a fairly consistent pursuit
of the post war American policy of opposing Communist expansion
and simultaneously encouraging political democracy and economic
development in the nations on the Communist perimeter, and else-
where. At the risk of seeming cynical, I would argue that the
war in Vietnam has become a disastrous mistake because we have
lost it. I quite accept Henry Kissinger's splendid formulation that
a conventional army loses if it does not win, the opposite being the
case for a guerilla force. We have not been able to win. Had the
large scale fighting by American forces been over by mid-1967
(which is my impression of what Bundy anticipated in mid-1965),
had the children of the middle class accordingly continued to
enjoy draft exemption, had there been no inflation, no surtax,
no Tet offensive, then I very much fear there would be abroad
at this point at most a modicum of moral outrage.
But this is not what happened. The war has not gone well, and
increasingly in an almost primitive reaction to which modern
societies are as much exposed as any Stone Age clan -- it has
1-75
6
been judged that this is because the Gods are against it. In
modern parlance this means that the evil military industrial
complex has embarked on a racist colonialist adventure. (I
have heard the head of S. N.C.C. state that we were in Vietnam
"for the rice supplies. ") But the essential point is that we
have been losing a war, and this more than any single thing
erodes the authority of a government, however stable, just,
well intentioned, or whatever. I would imagine that the desire
not to be the first President to "lose" a war has been much in
President Johnson's mind over the past years, and explains
some of his conduct. But the fact is that he could not win,
and the all important accompanying fact is that the semi-violent
domestic protest that arose in consequence forced him to resign.
In a sense he was the first American President to be toppled by
a mob. No matter that it was a mob of college professors,
millionaires, flower children, and Radcliffe girls. It was a
mob that by early 1968 had effectively physically separated the
Presidency from the people. (You may recall that seeking to
attend the funeral of Cardinal Spellman, Johnson slipped in the
back door of St. Patrick's Cathedral like a medieval felon seeking
sanctuary.) As with the case of the most militant blacks, success
for the anti-war protestors has seemed only to confirm their
detestation of society as it now exists. Increasingly they declare
the society to be illegitimate, while men such as William Sloan
Coffin, Jr., the chaplain at Yale, openly espouse violence as
the necessary route of moral regeneration.
The successful extremism of the black militants and the anti-war
protestors by and large they have had their way has now clearly
begun to arouse fears and thoughts of extreme actions by other
groups. George Wallace, a fourth rate regional demagogue, won
13 percent of the national vote and at one point in the campaign
probably had the sympathy of a quarter of the electorate, largely
in the working class. Among Jews I draw your attention to this
there is a rising concern, in some quarters approaching alarm,
over black anti-semitism. They foresee Negro political power
driving them from civil service jobs, as in the New York City
school system. They see anti-semitism becoming an "accepted"
political posture. With special dread, they see a not distant
future when the political leaders of the country might have to
weigh the competing claims of ten million black voters who had
become passionately pro-Arab as against one or two million
1-86
7
pro-Israel Jewish voters. In the meantime we must await the
reaction of the Armed Forces, and the veterans of Vietnam to
whatever settlement you get there. No officer corps ever lost
a war, and this one surely would have no difficulty finding
symbols of those at home who betrayed it. All in all there
are good reasons to expect a busy eight years in the White House.
There is a longer term development contributing to the present
chaos which bears mentioning. Since about 1840 the cultural
elite in America have pretty generally rejected the values and
activities of the larger society. It has been said of America that
the culture will not approve that which the polity strives to provide.
For a brief period, associated with the Depression, World War II,
and the Cold War there was something of a truce in this protracted
struggle. That, I fear, is now over. The leading cultural figures
are going -- have gone into opposition once again. This time
they take with them a vastly more numerous following of educated,
middle class persons, especially young ones, who share their
feelings and who do not need the "straight" world. It is their pleasure
to cause trouble, to be against. And they are hell bent for a good time.
President Johnson took all this personally, but I have the impression
that you will make no such mistake!
It is, of course, easier to describe these situations than to suggest
what is to be done about them. However, a certain number of
general postures do seem to follow from the theme "Bring Us
Together. " I would list five.
First, the single most important task is to maintain the rate of
economic expansion. If a serious economic recession were to
come along to compound the controversies of race, Vietnam, and
cultural alienation, the nation could indeed approach instability.
It would be my judgement that the great prosperity of the 1960's
is the primary reason we have been able to weather this much
internal dissension. The lot of Negroes has steadily improved,
and so has that of most everyone else. Black demands for a
1-57
8
greater share have thus been less threatening. The war has been
costly, but largely has been paid for through annual fiscal incre-
ments and recent deficits. Consumption has been effected not at
all. If this situation were to reverse itself, your ability to meet
Black needs, the tolerance of the rest of the society for your
efforts, the general willingness to see military efforts proceed,
would all be grievously diminished.
Second, it would seem most important to de-escalate the rhetoric
of crisis about the internal state of the society in general, and in
particular about those problems e.g., crime, de facto segregation,
low educational achievement which government has relatively little
power to influence in the present state of knowledge and available
resources. This does not mean reducing efforts. Not at all. But
it does mean trying to create some equivalence between what
government can do about certain problems and how much attention
it draws to them. For this purpose the theme you struck in
presenting your cabinet on television seems perfect: yours is an
administration of men with wide ranging interests and competence
whose first concern is the effective delivery of government
services. There is a risk here of being accused of caring less
than your predecessors, but even that will do no great harm if
you can simultaneously demonstrate that you do more. It is out
of such perceptions that the authority of government is enhanced.
It would seem likely that a powerful approach to this issue will
be to stress the needs and aspirations of groups such as Mexican-
Americans, Puerto Ricans, American Indians and others which
have also been excluded and exploited by the larger society.
This, of course, is something you would want to do in any event.
Third, the Negro lower class must be dissolved. This is the work
of a generation, but it is time it began to be understood as a clear
national goal. By lower class I mean the low income, marginally
employed, poorly educated, disorganized slum dwellers who have
piled up in our central cities over the past quarter century. I would
estimate they make up almost one half the total Negro population.
They are not going to become capitalists, nor even middle class
functionaries. But it is fully reasonable to conceive of them being
transformed into a stable working class population: Truck drivers,
mail carriers, assembly line workers: people with dignity, purpose,
#4
1-78
9
and in the United States a very good standard of living indeed.
Common justice, and common sense, demands that this be done.
It is the existence of this lower class, with its high rates of
crime, dependency, and general disorderliness that causes
nearby whites (that is to say working class whites, the liberals
are all in the suburbs) to fear Negroes and to seek by various
ways to avoid and constrain them. It is this group that black
extremists use to threaten white society with the prospect of
mass arson and pillage. It is also this group that terrorizes
and plunders the stable elements of the Negro community
trapped by white prejudice in the slums, and forced to live
cheek by jowl with a murderous slum population. Take the
urban lower class out of the picture and the Negro cultural
revolution becomes an exciting and constructive development.
Fourth, it would seem devoutly to be wished that you not become
personally identified with the war in Vietnam. You have available
to you far more competent advice than mine in this area, and I
am sure you will wish to proceed in terms of the foreign policy
interests of the nation in broader terms, but I do urge that every
effort be made to avoid the ugly physical harrassment and savage
personal attacks that brought President Johnson's administration
to an end. The dignity of the Presidency as the symbolic head of
state as well as of functioning leader of the government must be
restored. Alas, it is in the power of the middle class mob to
prevent this. I would far rather see it concentrate, as faute de mieux
it now seems to be doing, on attacking liberal college presidents as
"racist pigs. 11
I fear the blunt truth is that ending the draft would be the single
most important step you could take in this direction. The children
of the upper middle class will not be conscripted. In any event,
the present system does cast a pall of anxiety and uncertainty
over the lives of that quarter of the young male population which
does in fact require four to eight to ten years of college work to
prepare for careers which almost all agree are socially desirable,
even necessary.
Fifth, it would seem important to stress those things Americans
share in common, rather than those things that distinguish them
one from the other. Thus the war on poverty defined a large portion
of the population as somehow living apart from the rest. I would
seek programs that stress problems and circumstances that all
1-89
10
share, and especially problems which working people share with
the poor. Too frequently of late the liberal upper middle class
has proposed to solve problems of those at the bottom at the
expense, or seeming expense, of those in between.
Obviously the theme "Forward Together" is essential here, and
there are other symbols at hand of which I would think the
approaching 200th anniversary of the founding of the Republic
is perhaps the most powerful. In the final months of your
second term you will preside over the anniversary ceremonies
of July 4, 1976. It would seem an incomparable opportunity to
begin now to define the goals you would hope to see achieved by
that time, trying to make them truly national goals to which all
may subscribe, and from which as many as possible will benefit.
Hopefully our 200th anniversary will see the nation somewhat
more united than were those thirteen colonies!
#4
/ - %10
CC: - wrichener Hughes {sent
- to Take to wash
January 8, 1969
MEMORANDUM
TO:
EHRLICHMAN
FROM:
RN
Rm
For the receptions for the family, the campaign staff
and old friends, I want the procedure to be different from
what we have previously discussed. I think it will mean a
great deal more to all present if an entry is made just as it
is at White House social functions for the diplomatic corps,
for Congress and other guests. Have the guests all arrive at
a certain time. Approximately fifteen minutes later, the Marine
Band will strike up some kind of music. Check with them to
see if it is traditional to play "Hail to the Chief" at this time.
We then come to the door and the aides announce, "The President
of the United States and Mrs. Nixon."
In the case of the old friends reception, we will then
stand in line while all of them come through the line to shake
hands. In the case of the family, we will then simply start
walking around and shaking hands with them, and in the case of
the staff, we will walk to the head of the room where I will
make a few remarks.
# # #
RN doesn't was to hear of I-
all over $IM
$
over 10M
4
Hers -
No wiiting
5
Harlow - Cabriers papers
Have ?
6 Cooks
Wines - not NY Wines
Freuch = Chare Romschild
Never. clean pague
german white wines
Addranses berg
Chanpagne must be Freuch
Liquor
Never Beafeaser
always Gorden / Hse of Lords
Noilly Pratt Vermouth
Mild Marsuring
Pearch - only bear eg grants 12
12 yr old
Bells 12
Bourbon- - Jack Daniels Black
Never off brand
Sherry - - Extra Dry only
Brandy - Courvoisier