More than 50 Nixon alumni will tour the new museum for the first time

WHEN:
Friday, February 10, 2017

WHERE:
Richard Nixon Presidential LIbrary and Museum
18001 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda, CA 92886

Former Nixon administration officials will gather in Yorba Linda for a reunion and to formally dedicate the Nixon Library’s new museum. Former aides will also participate in panels on Richard Nixon’s post-presidency and how Nixon envisioned America’s role as world leader.

9:30 AM – Media check-in open

10:00 AM – Dedication Ceremony
Plaque unveiled by President Nixon’s brother, Ed Nixon; Nixon Foundation Chairman Ron Walker; Nixon Foundation President William Baribault and Nixon Library Director Michael Ellzey.

Immediately after the ceremony, alumni will tour the recently renovated museum.

 

Panel discussions:

 

Panel: The Nixon Post-Presidency

Friday, February 10, Noon

Confidants and aides will discuss the active and far reaching legacy of Richard Nixon’s post-presidency. Topics will include RN’s comeback to the public spotlight, his work as a trusted counselor and strategic advisor to five of his presidential successors, the historic 1977 Frost/Nixon interviews, and the writing of his best selling memoirs.

Participants:

Jack Brennan
Marine Corps Military Aide to the President (1969-1973), and Richard Nixon’s post-presidential chief of staff (1974-1979). During the presidency, Col. Brennan accompanied RN on the historic trips to China and Russia. After President Nixon resigned, Brennan managed the staff in San Clemente, and served as a trusted counselor and confidant.

Frank Gannon
White House Fellow in the Nixon administration, special assistant to the president, and chief editor of President Nixon’s memoirs, “RN.” In 1983, Gannon conducted nearly 37 hours of video interviews with President Nixon which are available in the Nixon Presidential Library’s archives.

Ken Khachigian
Nixon campaign aide in the 1968 and 1972 elections, presidential speechwriter in the Nixon administration, and researcher on President Nixon’s memoirs, “RN.” He was the chief researcher for the 1977 Frost/Nixon Interviews, and went on to become chief speechwriter to President Reagan, and an influential advisor in state and national politics.

Hugh Hewitt, Moderator
Author, media personality, law professor, and attorney. Hewitt assisted in the research of two of President Nixon’s books, “Real War” and “Leaders.” He went on the become the founding executive director of the Nixon Foundation, and led the opening of the Nixon Library & Birthplace.

 

Panel: Nixon’s Grand Strategy – Open to the public

Friday, February 10 at 2:00pm

White House National Security aides and Cold War scholars will discuss President Nixon’s statesmanship, and how he envisioned America’s role as world leader, and its relations with other great powers. Topics will include the evolution of RN’s thinking on foreign policy and governing philosophy, and how he ultimately dealt with the global challenges of time — from the opening of China, and arms control and detente with the Soviet Union, to the end of the Vietnam War and the roadmap for Middle East peace.

Richard V. Allen
Head of the foreign affairs issues team during the 1968 Nixon campaign, and senior member of the National Security Council in the Nixon administration. In 1971, he became deputy of the newly created Council on International Economic Policy. He went on to serve as national security advisor to President Ronald Reagan.

Niall Ferguson
Senior fellow of the Hoover Institution, Stanford, and a senior fellow of the Center for European Studies, Harvard. He is also a visiting professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing, and the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation Distinguished Scholar at the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. He is the author of fourteen books including “Kissinger, 1923-1968: The Idealist.” He is currently at work on his second volume of the acclaimed Kissinger biography.

Winston Lord
Special Assistant on the White House National Security Council, and accompanied President Nixon and Dr. Kissinger on the historic trips to China and Russia. He went on to serve as State Department director of policy planning under President Nixon, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, ambassador to the People’s Republic of China under President Ronald Reagan and assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

Luke Nichter
Associate professor of history at Texas A&M University – Central Texas, and a noted expert on President Nixon’s 3,451 hours of White House tapes. He is a New York Times bestselling author/editor of six books, including Richard Nixon and Europe: The Reshaping of the Postwar Atlantic World and, with historian Douglas Brinkley, of the two volume The Nixon Tapes.

Gregory Daddis, Moderator
Associate professor of history, director of Chapman University’s MA Program in War and Society, and author. He joined the Chapman University History Department in the summer of 2015 after having served as the Chief of the American History Division in the Department of History at the United States Military Academy at West Point. A retired US Army colonel, he has served in both Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. He specializes in the history of the Vietnam Wars and the Cold War era.

Public can RSVP for this panel here.

 

For coverage opportunities, contact:
Joe Lopez, [email protected], 714-364-1147