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MSS 180 - Ambrose / Nixon Collection: Inventory

AMBROSE/NIXON COLLECTION

(Mss 180)

INVENTORY

Earl K. Long Library

University of New Orleans

January 2008

 

Summary

 

Size:

Approximately 3 linear feet (7 boxes).

Geographic Locations:

Typescript text: New Orleans, Louisiana and Wisconsin; source materials: various locales.

Inclusive Dates:

Typescript text: 1985; source materials: ca. 1930 – 1978.

Bulk Dates:

1945 to 1960.

Summary:

Typescript text with autograph emendations by Dr. Stephen E. Ambrose for volume one of a three-volume biography of former president Richard Nixon (Nixon; New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987-1991); source materials used in preparation of same, including photocopies of government documents, correspondence, clippings, and similar miscellany.

Related Collections:

Ambrose/Nixon Collection, Addendum 1 (Mss 205).

Source:

Gift, November-December 1985.

Access:

No Restrictions.

Copyright:

Physical rights are retained by the Earl K. Long Library, University of New Orleans.

Citation:

Ambrose/Nixon Collection (Mss 180), Louisiana and Special Collections Department, Earl K. Long Library, University of New Orleans

 

Biographical Note

 

Source:  Quoted verbatim from "Richard Milhous Nixon." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History.  Gale Group, 1999.  Reproduced in Biography Resource Center.  Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale, 2006.  http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC

 

Richard M. Nixon (1913-1994) took office as the thirty-seventh President of the United States on January 20, 1969.  He campaigned on promises to end the Vietnam War (1959-1975), reduce racial divisions in the United States, and decrease the nation's high inflation rate.  Despite his ambitious plans, Nixon's accomplishments are often overshadowed by the scandal for which his presidency is best known.  Nixon's personal anger and suspicions manifested themselves in the Watergate criminal and political scandal, first revealed to the public through the news of an interrupted burglary at the offices of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C.  As evidence of his wrongdoings mounted, Nixon resigned rather than face impeachment by Congress.

 

Nixon was born in 1913 on a modest farm in California and was raised in the Quaker faith.  He was an aggressive and successful student from an early age, graduating in 1934 from Duke University Law School on a full scholarship.  After graduation he worked for the federal government and later as a military attorney during World War II (1939-1945).  Nixon's humble but aggressive style caught the attention of others, who encouraged him to enter political life.

 

His active political career resembled a roller coaster ride.  He served as President Dwight Eisenhower's (1953-1961) vice president, and was unusually active in the role.  But Nixon lost his campaign to succeed Eisenhower in 1961 when he was defeated by John F. Kennedy (1961-1963).  In 1962, Nixon again lost a bid for public office, failing to gain the governor's seat of his native state, California.  This series of defeats ended his political career for a time and Nixon returned to practicing law.  But when the political climate in the United States shifted in the late 1960s, Nixon saw new opportunities and prepared a presidential campaign.

 

During his campaign, Nixon promised a quick end to the Vietnam War, which was the source of much social unrest at home, but once in office he actually expanded the war before decreasing American involvement in the region.  Though Nixon did not follow through on his Vietnam promises, he did achieve an arms treaty with the Soviet Union in 1972.  Relations with that country were quite strained at the time, and the arms treaty, limiting strategic nuclear weapons, was a timely foreign policy success.

 

War was not the only item on Nixon's foreign policy agenda.  It also included economics.  Nixon re-opened trade and economic relations with China, which were severed in the early 1950s due to China's involvement with North Korea during the Korean War (1950-1953).  Renewed relations between the two countries opened up a wealth of new business opportunities.  The vast Chinese market appealed to many businesses and trade was quickly established.  He also proposed a steep tax on imported goods and a freeze on all wage and price increases for ninety days.  Nixon's efforts to stabilize the inflation-ridden U.S. economy helped reduce the national debt and the rate of inflation.  It also asserted the primacy of business vitality over the artificial economic ties to the value of gold.

 

Tying the U.S. dollar to the value of gold was seen by Nixon as an economic restriction.  By ending the U.S. dollar's attachment to the gold standard, Nixon asserted he had done something long overdue, claiming "The strength of a nation's currency is based on the strength of that nation's economy." With his action the Gold Standard Act of 1900 ended.  The nation's currency became subject to the floating exchange rates of the marketplace and endured well.

 

Nixon's accomplishments as president are often overshadowed by the events that consumed his second term in office, beginning in 1972.  Known collectively as the Watergate scandal, these events include criminal acts against Nixon's perceived enemies.  Watergate first came to national attention when a break-in of the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate building was interrupted.  The culprits eventually revealed ties to the White House and Congress ordered an investigation.  Nixon was very uncooperative and denied personal involvement in the affair.  However, Congress's determination to get to the bottom of the scandal revealed that Nixon was indeed involved.  Rather than face almost certain impeachment and removal from office, Nixon resigned on August 4, 1974, leaving the presidency in disgrace.

 

Nixon went into seclusion for a time and later regained a kind of elder statesman status.  He wrote several books on foreign policy and politics, including a personal memoir of his life.  Nixon died of a stroke in 1994, at the age of eighty-one.

List of Series and Subseries

 

Series I:

Source Materials (6 boxes).

Series II:

Manuscript (1 box).

Series III:

Miscellaneous correspondence (1 folder).

 

 

Series Descriptions

 

I.

Source Materials

This series consists of numerous photocopies of magazine and newspaper articles, correspondence, and government documents used as research in volume one of Ambrose’s three-volume biography of former President Nixon.

II.

Manuscript

This series consists of a draft manuscript of volume one of Ambrose’s three-volume biography of former President Nixon, complete with handwritten notes and corrections.  Mistakes or alterations in the naming or numbering of chapters have been retained from this draft of the manuscript, even upon instances where it deviates from the final published volume.

III.

Miscellaneous Correspondence

This series consists of various correspondence addressed to Stephen E. Ambrose over the course of his researching volume one of his three-volume biography of former President Nixon.

Container List

 

Series I: Source Materials

            This series consists of numerous photocopies of magazine and newspaper articles, correspondence, and government documents used as research in volume one of Ambrose’s three-volume biography of former President Nixon.

 

Box 1:

 

180-1              1958.

180-2              1959.

180-3              Misc. 1950-1966.

 

Box 2:

 

180-4              July-October, 1960.

180-5              March 1958-December 1960.

 

Box 3:

 

180-6              September 1948-October 1959.

180-7              November 1945-February 1948.  Misc. from 1973, February 1975, and 1978.

180-8              March 1946-March 1950.  Misc. from March 1958, July 1970, and April 1975.

 

Box 4:

 

180-9              December 1953-October 1956.

180-10            1953-1954.

180-11            1954.

180-12            1950-1952.  Misc. from December 1957 and April 1967.

180-13            1952-June 1954.

 

Box 5:

 

180-14            October 1930-June 1934.

180-15            Research for chapters 1-7 (see itemized list, following):

180-16            Research for chapters 1-7, continued (see itemized list, following):

180-17            Research for chapters 1-7, continued (see itemized list, following):

180-18            Research for chapters 1-7, continued (see itemized list, following):

 

Itemized List

 

Folder 15

 

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Cato/Funk interview, O.H. 829.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Transcript of Parsons interview, “Richard Nixon’s Family Life”, O.H. 928.

 

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Beeson interview, O.H. 808.

“Hide and Seek” by Jessamyn West.

Photocopies of pages 238-241, 254.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Transcript of Barton interview, “Early Years of Richard Nixon in Yorba Linda: 1913-1922”, O.H. 807.

“Richard Nixon” by Gardner.

Photocopies of pages 4-10, 12-21.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Skidmore interview, “Richard Nixon’s School Days”, O.H. 952.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Cochran interview, “Richard Nixon as a Schoolchild”, O.H. 835.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Pickering interview, “Richard Nixon: Yorba Linda Childhood”, O.H. 933.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Burum interview, “Richard Nixon in Elementary School”, O.H. 828.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Transcript of Furnas/McClure interview, “Birth and Family of Richard Nixon”, O.H. 856.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Otterman interview, O.H. 925.

“The Real Nixon” by Kornitzer.

Photocopies of chapter 5, “Father Frank”.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Grieves interview, “Going to Fullerton High School with Dick Nixon”, O.H. 868.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Otis Craig interview, “Richard Nixon’s Family and Church Associations”, O.H. 839.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Dixon interview, O.H. 845.

 

 

Folder 16

 

1932 Acropolis Yearbook.

Photocopies of pages 25, 97, 63, and 117.

Washington Post, July 13, 1970.

Photocopy of article “Whittier College ‘34” by Myra MacPherson.

“The Real Nixon” by Kornitzer.

Photocopy of page 9, “Why I looked at Nixon”.

 

“Richard Nixon” by Gardner.

Photocopies of pages 49-76.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Soeberg interview, O.H. 953.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Wildermuth interview, “Richard Nixon as a cousin in Whittier”, O.H. 983.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Smith interview, “The life and times of Richard Milhous Nixon”, O.H. 814.

“The Real Nixon” by Kornitzer.

Photocopies of pages 96-113, “Whittier College”.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Rupard interview, O.H. 996.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Winget interview, “Richard Nixon in High School, Politics, and at Family Reunions”, O.H. 985.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Critchfield interview, O.H. 840.

“Nixon & Rockefeller” by Stewart Alsop.

Photocopies of pages 218-227, “Nixon: Whittier College”.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Burbank interview, “Elementary and High School—Quaker Missionary Group”, O.H. 822.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Palmer interview, O.H. 927.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of West interview, O.H. 981.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Rez interview, O.H. 936.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Timberlake interview, O.H. 969.

“The Real Nixon” by Kornitzer.

Photocopies of pages 24-43, “Ancestry of Nixon and Milhous.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Burdg interview, “Richard Nixon in Yorba Linda”, O.H. 825.

San Clemente Daily Sun Post, March 21, 1969.

Photocopy of article “Nixon Talk Won Orator Contest”.

Hobbies Magazine, November 1970.

Photocopy of article “Mark Twain and Richard M. Nixon”.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Letts interview, “Nixon Family and Relatives”, O.H. 896.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Corbit interview, O.H. 838.

“Richard Nixon” by Gardner.

Photocopies of pages 22-48.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Stanley interview, O.H. 957.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Transcript of Heffern interview, “Richard Nixon at Fullerton High School”, O.H. 875.

“The Real Nixon” by Kornitzer.

Photocopies of pages 44-69, “The Formative Years”.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Chapman interview, O.H. 832.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Williams interview, “Richard Nixon As Seen By His Sixth and Seventh Grade Teacher”, O.H. 984.

 

 

Folder 17

 

“Richard Nixon” by Gardner

Photocopies of pages 87-99.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of McCabe interview, O.H. 962.

“Richard Nixon” by Gardner.

Photocopies of pages 126-131, “Bewley & Nixon, Attorneys”.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Dr. and Mrs. Stone interview, “Richard Nixon as Lawyer and Beginning Politician”, O.H. 959.

“Nixon & Rockefeller” by Stewart Alsop.

Photocopies of pages 228-239, “Nixon: Duke University Law School”.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Transcript of Burnight interview, “Pat Ryan Nixon as Student as Excelsior High School”, O.H. 827.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Transcript of Behrens interview, “Richard and Pat Nixon in Community Theater”, O.H. 811.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Knighton interview, O.H. 894.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Jenkins interview, O.H. 886.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Transcript of Holmes interview, “Pat Nixon: High School and Bank Work and the Artesia Area”, O.H. 879.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Gwinn interview, O.H. 870.

“The Real Nixon” by Kornitzer.

Photocopies of pages 10-23, 84-95.

“The Real Nixon” by Kornitzer.

Photocopies of pages 114-125, “Duke University”.

“Richard Nixon” by Gardner.

Photocopies of pages 77-86.

“Nixon & Rockefeller” by Stewart Alsop.

Photocopies of pages 132-137.

“Richard Nixon” by Gardner.

Photocopy of pages 11, letter from Richard Nixon to his grandmother, Christmas of 1936.

Los Angeles Times, May 10, 1970.

Photocopy of article “Whittier ’34 Most Likely to Succeed” by Lael Morgan.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Hornaday interview, “Whittier College with Richard Nixon”, O.H. 882.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Perry interview, “Richard M. Nixon”, O.H. 929.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Ball interview, “Richard M. Nixon at Whittier College”, O.H. 804.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Transcript of Fink interview, “Football and Whittier College”, O.H. 854.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Duncan interview, “Richard Nixon at Whittier College: Orthogonian and Athlete”, O.H. 846.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Transcript of Wunder interview, “Richard Nixon at Whittier College as told by a former classmate”, O.H. 990.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Sowers interview, O.H. 954.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Saxton interview, O.H. 943.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Mr. and Mrs. Ingrum interview, “Richard Nixon as Athlete and as Scholar”, O.H. 883.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Veady interview, O.H. 973.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Spaulding interview, O.H. 956.

 

 

Folder 18

 

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Transcript of Kendle interview, “Richard Nixon as College Athlete”, O.H. 893.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Harris interview, O.H. 874.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Holmes interview, O.H. 880.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Jones interview, “Richard M. Nixon as Student, as Member of the Friends Church, and as President”, O.H. 889.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Mashburn interview, O.H. 905.

Letter from March 20, 1959.

Copy of correspondence between Richard H. Spaulding and Bela Kornitzer, regarding Kornitzer’s biography of Richard Nixon.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Brannon interview, O.H. 819.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Chisler interview, O.H. 833.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Gaudio interview, O.H. 860.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Transcript of Glover interview, “Richard Nixon at Whittier College”, O.H. 863.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of George interview, O.H. 862.

Life Magazine, November 6, 1970.

Copy of article “Portrait of the Young Nixon” by Donald Jackson.

Letter from January 23, 1953.

Correspondence between Richard Gardner and Theodore M. Purdy regarding Gardner’s book, “Fighting Quaker”.

“Richard Nixon” by Gardner.

Photocopies of pages 102-104.

“Richard Nixon” by Gardner.

Photocopies of pages 105-106.

Life Magazine, November 6, 1970.

Additional copy of the article “Portrait of the Young Nixon”, by Donald Jackson.

“Richard Nixon” by Gardner.

Photocopies of pages 107-108.

Employment Record from January 30, 1970.

Photocopy of employment record for Patricia R. Nixon in a letter from M.D. Davis to Harry Jeffrey.

Acropolis Yearbook, 1934.

Photocopies of pages of various pages from the 1934 Acropolis Yearbook.

New York Times, October 3, 1971.

Photocopy of article “Nixon Of the O.P.A.” by Milton Viorst.

“Richard Nixon” by Gardner.

Photocopies of pages 100-101.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Mendenhall interview, “Memories of the Nixon Family in Whittier”, O.H. 909.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Garman interview, O.H. 859.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Baron interview, O.H. 805.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Cloes interview, O.H. 834.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Hilberg interview, O.H. 876.

Good Housekeeping Magazine, February 1971.

Photocopy of article “The Real Pat Nixon” by Jessamyn West.

California State College, Fullerton Oral History Program: Richard Nixon Project.

Partial transcript of Loubet interview, O.H. 900.

Ladies Home Journal, September 1975.

Photocopy of article, “Richard the Actor” by Scott Meredith.

 

Box 6:

 

180-19            November 1953, 1957-1958.

180-20            January 1949, March-December 1950, September 1956-1957.

 

Series II: Manuscript

            This manuscript consists of the complete text of volume one of Ambrose’s three-part biography of former President Nixon.  It is typewritten almost exclusively on lined yellow legal paper, and includes handwritten notes and corrections throughout.  Mistakes or alterations in the naming and numbering of chapters have been preserved as they appear in the manuscript.

 

Box 7:

 

180-21            Chapter One.  “Yorba Linda; 1913-1922.”  Includes footnotes.

180-22            Chapter Two.  “Whittier; 1922-1930.”  Includes footnotes.

180-23            Chapter Three.  “Whittier College; 1930-1934.”

180-24            Footnotes to Chapter Four.

180-25            Chapter Four.  “Duke Law School; 1934-1937.”

180-26            Chapter Six.  “Whittier: Law and Marriage; 1937-1941.”

180-27            Chapter Six.  “U.S. Navy; 1942-1945.”

180-28            Chapter Eight.  “The First Campaign; 1946.”  Includes footnotes.

180-29            Chapter Nine.  “Freshman Congressman; 1947-1948.”

180-30            Chapter Ten.  “The Hiss Case; August 3-Dec. 15, 1948.”

180-31            Chapter Eleven.  “The Second Campaign; 1949-1950.”

180-32            Chapter Twelve.  “U.S. Senator; 1951.”

180-33            Chapter Thirteen.  “The Drive to the Vice Presidential Nomination; January-August, 1952.”

180-34            Chapter Fourteen.  “The Third Campaign; August-November, 1952.”

180-35            Chapter Fifteen.  “Vice President; 1953.”

180-36            Chapter Sixteen.  “The Fourth Campaign; 1954.”

180-37            Chapter Seventeen.  “The President Has Had a Coronary; 1955.”

180-38            Chapter Eighteen.  “Holding Onto the Vice Presidency; January-August, 1956.”

180-39            Chapter Nineteen.  “The Fifth Campaign; September-December, 1956.”

180-40            Chapter Twenty.  “Searching For a Role; 1957.”

180-41            Chapter Twentyone.  “A Continent for a Theater; South America, 1958.”

180-42            Chapter Twentytwo.  “The Sixth Campaign; 1958.”

180-43            Chapter Twentythree.  “The Man Who Stood Up to Khrushchev; 1959.”

180-44            Chapter Twentyfour.  “Politics; 1959-1960.”

180-45            Chapter Twentyfive.  “The Seventh Campaign; 1960, Part One.”

180-46            Chapter Twentysix.  “The Seventh Campaign; 1960, Part Two.”

180-47            Chapter Twentyseven.  “Nixon as Vice President: An Assessment; 1953-1961.”

180-48            Chapter Twentyeight.  “It Was Not an Easy Time; 1961.”

180-49            Chapter Twentynine.  “The Eighth Campaign; 1962.”

 

Series III: Miscellaneous Correspondence

            This series consists of various correspondence addressed to Stephen E. Ambrose over the course of his researching volume one of his three-volume biography of former President Nixon.

 

Box 7:

 

180-50            Correspondence (see itemized list, following):

 

Itemized List

 

Folder 50

 

Correspondence between Ambrose and David Craig.  Dated June 18, year unknown.

Letter from Craig to Ambrose, thanking Ambrose for agreeing to read Craig’s novel. 

Correspondence between Ambrose and Bill Rooney.  Dated September 26, 1984.

Brief note, attached to a photocopy of page 29 from Nixon’s memoirs.  Rooney points out an inaccuracy in Nixon’s memoirs regarding Wake Island.

Correspondence between Ambrose and Dean C. Allard.  Dated November 9, 1984.

Letter from Allard, Head of the Operational Archives Branch of the Department of the Naval Historical Center.  Letter mentions a mutual acquaintance, Ronald Lewin.  A handwritten note at the bottom of the letter indicates that written permission from Nixon is required to access his service records.  Article photocopies accompany letter.

Correspondence between Ambrose and Dean C. Allard.  Dated December 4, 1984.

Letter from Allard, Head of the Operational Archives Branch of the Department of the Naval Historical Center.  Letter discusses Nixon’s return to the United States in 1944, and mentions that to Allard’s knowledge, such an event was not unusual. 

Index Terms 

Ambrose, Stephen E.

Nixon, Richard M.

United States—Politics and government—1930-1978