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Nixon Hits the Sauce

The nation remains haunted by the spectre of Richard Nixon, seeing him in the hills, in the trees, in the very eggplants.

And now in a dab of soy sauce.

No Walk-ons!

Steve Clemons provides a Richard Nixon footnote to the nation’s tearful remembrance of the gun-bearer’s Moses, Charlton Heston.

Clemons was handling some of the Nixon funeral logistics, and called Heston to inquire if the great man would visit the sacred ground in Yorba Linda.

“When I asked Mr. Heston if he would like to attend President Nixon’s funeral, his response was: “In what capacity?”

I wasn’t sure what he meant, so I repeated the question of whether he’d like to attend and whether he would need a limo/town car pass — and told him that I’d make arrangements for him in the family section.

He said, “I thank you for all that — but will I have a role?”

I said I couldn’t really arrange that. After all, we already had a program that featured Billy Graham, Bill Clinton, Bob Dole, Henry Kissinger, California Governor Pete Wilson, and others*.

And then he said, “No, I can’t attend. Thank you for the offer.”

”

My Way

*Here Clemons carries on a Nixon Library tradition. Bill Clinton also spoke at the funeral, but a mid-90s Library photo exhibit on the service managed to exclude any image showing Clinton.

Birth of the Legend

A retired Ghanaian Army man is making an outsider run for President, and one of the barriers he must overcome is his name: Richard Nixon Tetteh.

Nixon had a history in West Africa.

Ghana’s independence celebration attracted political personalities from throughout Africa and the world as the first country freed from colonial rule. Eisenhower dispatched the Vice President to carry the flag amidst the Marxists and Pan-Africanists. At the celebratory ball Nixon legendarily slapped a man on the back, asking “How does it feel to be free?” The man replied “I wouldn’t know, I’m from Alabama.”

In one version, Nixon’s encounter was with Martin Luther King, who was in Ghana for the celebration.

Ahoy, Sailor!

An action painting depicting the near sinking of future President Gerald Ford’s World War II ship has been unveiled near his final home in Rancho Mirage California.

A Pacific Ocean typhoon caused fires aboard Ford’s ship the USS Monterey. Ford led efforts to douse the flames below decks, presumibly with his “lantern jaw of a young Johnny Weissmuller.”

The Ford painting is on display in a Palm Desert California gallery which also features thoughtful alternatives to

lawn jockeys.

Artist Stan Stokes doesn’t only look to Ford’s past. He’s already donated a painting of the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier to the Ford Library, all the more impressive since the troubled ship has yet to launch.

That 70s Show

The Rockford Register Star takes a loving look back at Gerald Ford’s 1976 visit to town for some reason, and what a time it was!

What stands out is the Ron Burgundy look of the Secret Service at the time, combined with the retro auto running board.

A touching remnant of the Republican Side-burn Era