Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace
Encyclopedia
The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library
Presidential library
In the United States, the Presidential library system is a nationwide network of 13 libraries administered by the Office of Presidential Libraries, which is part of the National Archives and Records Administration...
and final resting place of Richard Milhous Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, the 37th President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. Located in Yorba Linda, California
Yorba Linda, California
Yorba Linda is a suburban city in northeastern Orange County, California, approximately northeast of Downtown Santa Ana, and southeast of Downtown Los Angeles....
, the library is one of twelve administered by the National Archives and Records Administration
National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
. From its original dedication in 1990 until becoming a federal facility on July 11, 2007, the library and museum was operated by the private Richard Nixon Foundation
Richard Nixon Foundation
The Richard Nixon Foundation is a not-for-profit organization based at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California. It was founded in the late 1980s by Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States, and served as the governing body for nearly twenty years...
and was known as the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace. The 9 acres (3.6 ha) campus is located at 18001 Yorba Linda Boulevard in Yorba Linda, California
Yorba Linda, California
Yorba Linda is a suburban city in northeastern Orange County, California, approximately northeast of Downtown Santa Ana, and southeast of Downtown Los Angeles....
and incorporates the National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
ed Richard Nixon Birthplace
Richard Nixon Birthplace
The Richard Nixon Birthplace is where Richard Nixon was born and lived from 1913 to 1922. It was built in 1913 in the California style with "Bungaloid elements" by his father, Francis A...
where Nixon was born in 1913 and spent his childhood. The facility is now jointly operated between NARA and the Richard Nixon Foundation.
Background prior to dedication
Traditionally, materials and records of a U.S. president were considered to be his personal property upon leaving office. The Watergate scandal and Richard Nixon's subsequent resignation from office complicated the issue, however.In September 1974, Richard Nixon made an agreement with the head of the General Services Administration
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S...
, Arthur F. Sampson, to turn over most materials from his presidency, including tape recordings of conversations he had made in the White House; however, the recordings were to be destroyed after September 1, 1979 if directed by Nixon or by September 1, 1984 or his death otherwise. Alarmed that Nixon's tapes may be lost, Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
abrogated the Nixon-Sampson Agreement by passing S.4016, signed into law by President Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
on in December 1974 as the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act
Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act
The Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974 is an act of Congress enacted in the wake of the August 1974 resignation of President Richard M. Nixon. It placed Nixon's presidential records into federal custody to prevent their destruction...
. It applied specifically to materials from the Nixon presidency, directing NARA to take ownership of the materials and process them as quickly as possible. Private materials were to be returned to Nixon.
As a result of the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act, President Nixon's White House papers and tapes were held by the National Archives, thus they could not be transferred to a facility in Yorba Linda. Funding to build the Nixon Library came from private sources. The estimated cost to build the institution was $25 million. Ground was broken by Julie Nixon Eisenhower
Julie Nixon Eisenhower
Julie Nixon Eisenhower is the younger daughter of 37th U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon, and sister to Patricia Nixon Cox....
, daughter of President and Mrs. Nixon, in December 1988.
Dedication
The original Library & Birthplace was officially dedicated on July 19, 1990. Former President Nixon and First Lady Pat NixonPat Nixon
Thelma Catherine "Pat" Ryan Nixon was the wife of Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States, and was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974. She was commonly known as Patricia or Pat Nixon.Born in Nevada, Pat Ryan grew up in Los Angeles, California...
were present, as were President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
, then the President of the United States, former President Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
, former President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, and first ladies Barbara Bush
Barbara Bush
Barbara Pierce Bush is the wife of the 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush, and served as First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993. She is the mother of the 43rd President George W. Bush and of the 43rd Governor of Florida Jeb Bush...
, Betty Ford
Betty Ford
Elizabeth Ann Bloomer Warren Ford , better known as Betty Ford, was First Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977 during the presidency of her husband Gerald Ford...
, and Nancy Reagan
Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989....
. A crowd of 50,000 gathered for the ceremony. At the dedication, Nixon said, "Nothing we have ever seen matches this moment - to be welcomed home again."
Facilities
Richard Nixon Birthplace
The Richard Nixon Birthplace is where Richard Nixon was born and lived from 1913 to 1922. It was built in 1913 in the California style with "Bungaloid elements" by his father, Francis A...
, which was constructed by Nixon's father using a homebuilding kit, and restored to appear as it was in 1910. President and Mrs. Nixon are buried on the grounds, just a few feet from the birthplace. Since California prohibits burial of remains on private property, the intended burial plot at the Library had to be deeded to a local church who classified the plot as a cemetery.
The Nixon Library compound also contains the Loker Center and Annenberg Court, a 38000 square feet (3,530.3 m²) wing with a Special Exhibit room and an exact replica of the East Room of the White House
East Room
The East Room is the largest room in the White House, the home of the president of the United States. It is used for entertaining, press conferences, ceremonies, and occasionally for a large dinner...
that is used as an event space; the East Room can be rented for events such as weddings and business meetings. This wing is under the control of the Nixon Foundation.
Permanent museum collection
There is an extensive collection of memorabilia, formal clothing, and photographs of Nixon, his wife Pat, and their children. This collection includes an assortment of bronze figures of world leaders who had important relations with Nixon as President or as Vice President under President Eisenhower (1953-1961). The leaders' bodies have been accurately recreated in lightweight bronze over a papier-mâchéPapier-mâché
Papier-mâché , alternatively, paper-mache, is a composite material consisting of paper pieces or pulp, sometimes reinforced with textiles, bound with an adhesive, such as glue, starch, or wallpaper paste....
frame, and they are dressed in their actual clothing. The U.S. government limousine used by President Nixon throughout his presidency, a customized 1969 Lincoln Continental, is on display in the Domestic affairs gallery.
Lieutenant Colonel Gene Boyer
Gene Boyer
Retired United States Army Lieutenant Colonel Gene T. Boyer was the chief pilot of Army One, the helicopter transporting the President of the United States, between 1964 and 1975. Boyer was the pilot during President Richard Nixon's last day in office on August 9, 1974, when Nixon famously...
, President Nixon's Chief Helicopter Pilot, secured the President's VH-3A "Sea King" helicopter, tail number 150617, to be on permanent display on the library grounds. The helicopter was in the presidential fleet from 1961 to 1976, transporting Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford, and many foreign heads of state and government. Boyer flew President Nixon on his final flight from the White House to Andrews Air Force Base
Andrews Air Force Base
Joint Base Andrews is a United States military facility located in Prince George's County, Maryland. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force 11th Wing, Air Force District of Washington ....
on August 9, 1974 in this aircraft.
Transition to National Archives
In January 2004, the United States CongressUnited States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
passed legislation that provided for the establishment of a federally operated Nixon Presidential Library. Specifically, the legislation amended the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974, which mandated that Nixon's Presidential Materials were to remain in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Under this new legislation, the materials are being moved from NARA's Archives II facility in College Park, Maryland
College Park, Maryland
College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, USA. The population was 30,413 at the 2010 census. It is best known as the home of the University of Maryland, College Park, and since 1994 the city has also been home to the "Archives II" facility of the U.S...
to the federally operated facility in Yorba Linda.
In March 2005, the then-Archivist of the United States, Allen Weinstein
Allen Weinstein
Allen Weinstein is an American historian, educator, and federal official who has served in several different offices. He served as the Archivist of the United States from February 16, 2005 until his resignation on December 19, 2008...
, and the Reverend John H. Taylor
John H. Taylor (pastor)
The Reverend John H. Taylor is the former post-Chief of Staff to Richard Nixon, former President of the United States, and served as the Executive Director of the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Foundation...
, then-Executive Director of the privately run Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Foundation (now Richard Nixon Foundation), exchanged letters on the requirements that allowed the Nixon Library & Birthplace to become the twelfth federally funded presidential library, operated and staffed by NARA in conjunction with the Nixon Foundation. In April, 2006, Weinstein appointed Timothy Naftali director of the Library. On July 11, 2007 the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum was officially welcomed into the federal presidential library system.
In the winter of 2006, NARA began transferring 30,000 presidential gifts from the Nixon Presidential Materials Staff in College Park, Maryland
College Park, Maryland
College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, USA. The population was 30,413 at the 2010 census. It is best known as the home of the University of Maryland, College Park, and since 1994 the city has also been home to the "Archives II" facility of the U.S...
to Yorba Linda. Later that year, the institution began the transition from a private library to a federal presidential library, which included adding retrofits to the facility to house Nixon's presidential and pre-presidential materials according to NARA standards. NARA assisted the Library & Birthplace staff and the Nixon Foundation in planning for appropriate space to house these materials.
Library collections
The Archives, which opened in March 1994, house approximately 6.2 million pages of records as well as extensive photographs, film reels, and recordings. Approximately 46 million pages of official White HouseWhite House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
records from the Nixon Administration are stored at NARA's Archives II facility in College Park, Maryland in accordance with the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974, and will be transferred to the newly-federal Yorba Linda facility from 2007-2009. The Nixon Presidential Materials Staff (nicknamed the "Nixon Project") had no previous affiliation with the Nixon Library, but lent materials to the Library & Birthplace in the past. Upon completion of the transfer of Nixon papers, gifts of state and memorabilia, the Nixon Materials Project will be discontinued. Once the transfer from the Nixon Presidential Materials project is complete, it will hold all of Nixon's presidential as well as his pre- and post-presidential papers. In spring 2010, under legislation passed in January 2004, the Nixon Presidential Materials were moved from the National Archives facilities in College Park, Maryland to the Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California.
As of July 1, 2010, all processed Nixon Presidential Materials are available for research use at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California. The National Archives in College Park maintains a small number of reference copies of Nixon White House Tapes and White House Communications Agency (WHCA) videotapes. These are duplicative of material available for research in Yorba Linda.
Watergate exhibit dispute
A new Archives-curatedNational Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
exhibit on the Watergate scandal
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
, due to have opened July 1, 2010, was postponed when the Nixon Foundation filed a written objection to the new exhibit. NARA stated a committee would review the objection but gave no timeline for when that process would be concluded. The exhibit opened on March 31, 2011.
Further reading
- Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
- Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Foundation
- FindLaw.com: Nixon v. Administrator of General Services, 433 U.S. 425 (1977)
- National Park Service site on the Nixon Birthplace