Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nixon Library

The Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace ( Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum ) is the presidential library of Richard Milhous Nixon , the 37th President of the USA , at no. 18001 Yorba Linda Boulevard in Yorba Linda , California . The 36,000-square-foot campus is located on the grounds around the house where Nixon was born and grew up, now in a suburb of Anaheim , California, near California State Highway 57 and California State Highway 90 (so-called Imperial Highway ).

From its dedication to July 11, 2007, the Nixon Library was not part of the NARA presidential library system , but was owned by the Richard Nixon Foundation , a private foundation. In July 2007 it was transferred to the administration of NARA and thus became the 12th Presidential Library of the USA. Approximately 46 million pages of official Nixon White House records at the NARA Center in College Park, Maryland , held here under the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974 (PRMPA), have since been transferred to Yorba Linda. The Nixon Presidential Materials Staff, also known as the Nixon Project, has no connection with the Nixon Library, but has lent it materials in the past. (See also Controversies Over Nixon's Records )

Facilities

The Nixon Library Museum , housed in a 1,800-square-foot building, opened on July 19, 1990 and tells the story of Nixon's life and career. Behind the museum is the birthplace, a house built by Nixon's father that has been restored to the state it was in 1910. The graves of Nixon and his wife Pat Nixon are on the site of the birthplace.

The library collections

The archive opened in March 1994 and contains approximately 6.2 million pages of recordings as well as extensive photographs, reels of film and sound recordings.

Central collection

The essential holdings of the Nixon Library are documents and items from Nixon's private and public life.

  • private papers prior to his tenure as president, containing campaign documents from 1946–1968
  • Records of Richard Nixon's early political career including his time in the House and Senate from 1947–1952.
  • special documents from his time as Vice President under Dwight D. Eisenhower
  • Foreign correspondence 1947–1968
  • special correspondence with e.g. B. John F. Kennedy , Lyndon B. Johnson , Martin Luther King Jr., and J. Edgar Hoover
  • Files on correspondence, work, travel and appearances from the period 1963 to 1968
  • two larger series on research topics: 1960 and 1968
  • Post-presidency documents from August 1974 to April 1994

Gifts

  • Acker, Marje and Phil: Material on the Republican Party, Mrs. Acker's position as a member of Richard Nixon's staff, and the work of the Ackers on Nixon's campaign.
  • Baures, Ruth Porter: Collection of anti-communist publications including government hearings and investigations into communist activities. Also included is a full series of committee hearings on un-American activities.
  • Daily, Peter H.: Materials on the November 1972 Presidential Campaign Group.
  • Day, Roy O.: Files from Richard Nixon's chief campaign manager in 1946, who was a longtime political supporter.
  • Dorn, Evlyn: Papers from Richard Nixon's first attorney general !? (First legal secretary), who assisted Mrs. Frank Nixon with correspondence.
  • Doss, Martha M .: Materials on social and representative functions during Richard Nixon's presidency.
  • Drown, Helene and Jack: Collection and chronicle for the period from 1942 to 1994, which documents the close friendship of the Drowns and the Nixons.
  • Ferman, Irving: Materials Relating to Mr. Ferman's Service on President Eisenhower's Government Contracts Committee.
  • Finch, Robert H.: The Papers of Robert Finch, 1940s - 1990s.
  • Flemming, Harry S.: Files relating to Flemming's work in Richard Nixon's transition team and government.
  • Friedersdorf, Max I. : Papers relating to Mr. Friedersdorf's service as special assistant to President Nixon.
  • Haldeman, Harry Robbins: Material on Mr. Haldeman's work with Richard Nixon (1956–1973) and the court cases against him as assistant to the President.
  • Hyk, John M.: Photographs, Letters, and Collectibles from Individuals Involved in the Watergate Inquiry.
  • Hyland, William G.: Books and Papers on US Defense and Foreign Policy.
  • Laub, C. Herbert: Collection of autographs of the presidents and other important US personalities.
  • McCall, Harrison: Papers from Richard Nixon's early campaign manager and longtime supporter.
  • Morehead, Carlos S.: Collection of books on the impeachment investigation in the Watergate case. Also includes The Papers of the Continental Congress , and volumes from the Foreign Relations of the United States , United States Treaties, and Other International Agreements .
  • Robinson, Julie Marr: A Collection of Press Packs for First Lady Pat Nixon.
  • Simon, William E.: Microfiche / Microfilm Copies from the Simon Papers, at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.
  • Thomas, J. Parnell: Notes (clipping scrapbooks) on the work of the Committee on Un-American Activities until 1952.
  • Walker, Anne and Ron: Materials on Ron Walker's preparatory work for Richard Nixon's historic 1972 trip to the People's Republic of China. Also contains about Mr. Walker's posts in Nixon's election campaigns and Nixon's government.
  • Young, Earl J.: Material on Richard Nixon's visit to Long An, Vietnam (1964) and Da Nang, Vietnam (1967).

Controversies over Nixon's records

Traditionally, a U.S. president's materials and records were considered his personal property once he left office. However, the Watergate scandal and Richard Nixon's resignation complicated matters.

On September 8, 1974, Richard Nixon reached an agreement with the Chief of General Services Administration , Arthur F. Sampson. Nixon would turn most of the material over to his presidency, including the tapes he'd made in the White House. However, on Nixon's direction, the tape recordings were to be destroyed after September 1, 1979, or by September 1, 1984, or upon his death.

Alerted that tapes documenting Nixon's years in the White House could be lost, Congress revoked the so-called Nixon-Sampson Agreement by Act p. 4016, signed by President Gerald Ford on December 19, 1974, making it legally presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act . It specifically applies to the Nixon Presidency materials and directs the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to take possession of the materials and process the materials as quickly as possible. Private material should be returned to Nixon's possession, while those records "relevant to an understanding of abuse of power by the Government and Watergate" and material relating to the normal constitutional and legal duties of the President and White House staff are made available to the public should.

NARA completed the viewing of the tapes in 1987, but only 63 hours of the White House recordings were released between 1974 and 1992. In March of that year, presidential historian Stanley I. Kutler , a professor of history and law at the University of Wisconsin , and the Public Citizen legal group , sued to hasten the release of the Nixon materials. Nixon intervened, arguing that NARA should prioritize the return of private conversations, and in August 1993 received a court order instructing NARA to suspend further tapes release until any private or personal material was returned to Nixon.

Due to the legal situation, the Nixon library was built and operated as a private foundation instead of being managed by NARA. The clashes continued after Richard Nixon's death in April 1994.

On April 12, 1996, the three warring parties reached an agreement under which the court order was overturned and a plan for the clearances was drawn up. The first materials published under this agreement - 205 hours of excerpts from conversations regarding abuse of power by the government - were made available on November 18, 1996. The second release on October 16, 1997 consisted of 154 hours of full conversations held in the Cabinet Room from February 1971 through late July 1973. The first chronological release was on October 5, 1999 and consisted of 443 hours of full conversations from February to July 1971. The second chronological release was on October 26, 2000 and consisted of 420 hours of full conversations from August to the end of December 1971. This includes conversations kept in the Oval Office, the President's old office in the Executive Office Building, and on his phones.

The Nixon Foundation believes, in accordance with Kutler / Public Citizen, that NARA is not authorized to withhold copies or originals of any personal or private material in accordance with the Presidential Records Act 1978, which excludes such things from those who own property of the United States when a president leaves office.

Similar controversy over the release of presidential records has arisen over the documents of the administrations of John F. Kennedy and George Herbert Walker Bush .

Web links

Commons : Richard Nixon Presidential Library  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 33 ° 53 ′ 21.9 ″  N , 117 ° 49 ′ 8.5 ″  W.