A Visit With the First Lady - Pat Nixon Interview

I like to walk along the beach we both adore it so much and after all it brings back memories of the days when we were courting and we went along the San Clemente Beach well I've often said to young candidates for the house in the Senate they always ask my advice as to how to win I can tell them either way you've gotta win or lose because I've been through both but I say that first pick the right wife because the the wife as a partner in a campaign is an enormous asset doesn't make as much news and she must recognize that that the husband is going to make the news generally speaking but the wife has an enormous impact in bringing the the man the candidacy to people that the candidate is unable to get to reach I'd like to ask you if you really like being first lady do you feel that there are things you can do that compensate for giving up the privacy that you love so much I think you just put it right at my words because everything you said is true I in the first place feel that Vic is doing a magnificent job and I'm happy about that apart from his work I also have more opportunity to do the things in which I'm interested to help people to visit with them to travel to report to my husband and to make recommendations ABC news presents a visit with the first lady mrs. Richard Nixon talks with ABC News correspondent Virginia Sherwood at the Nixon home in San Clemente California and in Washington at the White House I think that we have dinner more often here unofficially than ever before and we've even gone up on the Truman balcony and enjoyed that I must say that a little fresh breeze and the evening is mighty nice I think our favorite room upstairs is a Lincoln sitting room it is the smallest room in the house but it's so cozy with the fireplace and music that we often go down there sit by the fire and chat at the end of a long day relaxing with the president by that fireplace he loves winter and summer it's an important part of Pat Nixon's life but so is the time she spends at her desk just off the first lady's bedroom there she plans trips and personally signs all of her own correspondence and reviews the hundreds of details of running and caring for the White House for our initial visit with her mrs. Nixon chose one of the public rooms on the ground floor the verm a room where she's also added her decorator touch we began by talking of the ways in which she helps the president well we've always been a team and I've helped him in many ways for example when he was a senator I and also had member of Congress I would go down on certain days when the mail was particularly have a heavy and hail help handle it and then in New York I helped with the extracurricular activities as we called it he was in law then but having been vice president he still received a great deal of mail and many requests to speak so I took great delight in that and I was a biggest volunteer in this huge office building in fact I was seated in a small office with rosemary woods secretary and so I sort of hid behind the door when some important client came in because I didn't dare let them know I was slaving away in your political life was there any experience that you feel was the most unpleasant there were some losses but is there a particular time that you felt the most sorrow or the most hurt or whatever comes in a political campaign when your husband of course is the man who's running well I think that campaigns are always hard to lose for anybody but in every campaign there's a winner and there's a loser and before you ever get into political life you have to understand this also I have a practice which I've had all my life of picking up the pieces fast and just getting busy in something else and I think this can help a great deal too I remember seeing on television in 1960 and I know that it that it was a very it must have been a shattering experience for you because you were very brave but there were tears as there would be I think with any wife who loved her husband any woman who had worked that hard campaigning did you at that time feel that mr. Nixon perhaps should get out of politics or were you ready to get back in I thought the decision had to be his but knowing him I was positive he would be back in and during the years he when he wasn't running he always helped other people campaign so he really has never been out of politics you shear this house we talked about with a million and a half visitors there were certain areas of the White House that got some wear and tear as I suppose with families living here with children and their friends and and dogs and so on and you started doing some rooms over what are some of the ones that you've done we've done five rooms on this floor they hadn't been painted or refurbished in any way for over ten years we thought it was about time however I must make a point of saying that our dogs don't get in the White House we're protecting it for people of these rooms that you've redone one of my favorites I wonder if it's yours is the verm a room could you tell me a little bit about that one yes it's one of my favorites too it was painted originally in the very dark blue and the room seems small we now have it what I call spring green you can't buy this color because we mixed it but anyway it brings the outdoors in in here and it's a happy color at any season of the year it also complements the beautiful berm a collection given by mrs. little mrs. Biddle was a dear friend at mrs. Eisenhower and vice versa and that's why at the White House was chosen to receive this it's a landfill through them with the gold laid over it and then did you choose for instance fabrics that would go into the drapes and choose the chandeliers and really you were the decorator for this room I certainly approved of everything I didn't find all the beautiful pictures that we have here and additions for example mr. Klem Conger who was a curator of the White House found this lovely chandelier it was hand-cut in England in 1795 then we were able to find the sconces which match there is I think a very lovely Monet which hangs over the fireplace and sometimes people choose one thing and decorate around it or they find that that one thing goes beautifully in that room which happened first in this case we thought the Monet would go beautifully here after the room was painted are you a Monet lover do you like this particular kind of art or and the impressionist sixth time yes I do Renoir as well is there a first lady that you remember and kind of smile at her antics or whatever she did in in the White House a Dolly Madison always intrigued me she was Feitosa and I have written read many biographies on her and apparently she was quite a character with her turbines and her high sense of style the one that I love the most is mrs. Eisenhower because during the presidential years I knew her very well and I admired her courage in helping her husband have become one of the Giants of our time do you remember the first time you ever came to the White House before you were a vice president's wife before you were the first lady yes I remember I was working in New York as an x-ray technician this was before I finished college because I did not have the money to go on and I had to earn my expenses so I had the great pleasure of coming to Washington and visiting the White House it was a highlight for me did you ever think at that time that someday you would be the lady of the house no I certainly never did and I don't know any mother who holds up a young daughter and says she may be first lady Sunday they hold up the young men but who may be present but not the daughters and you are the official hostess do you ever find these duties difficult do you find that they're easy for you I don't find them difficult because I enjoy people so very much and it's always a pleasure to plan for them enjoy them while they're here and I've had so much experience in this field that it wasn't a big chore for me when I came here when you're getting ready for a special occasion what are the things that the first lady has to do does she oversee for instance what will be at the state dinner that evening this choose the floral design that will be in the room yes that is true with most first ladies I'm sure because women have an eye for beauty and they like to choose a color scheme for an evening perhaps or the floral arrangements and certainly a state dinner is more than just saying on such-and-such a night a leader from this country is coming because you have to study the whole background and history of these people so that you know what they enjoy what type of music what type of food what state gift that they would enjoy having and also about the countries so that you don't speak on subjects and what you are not an expert do you remember any special particularly exciting one for you or pleasurable they're all very exciting I must say and I couldn't name just one you know I have to be very political to do you keep a journal of everything that happens I don't keep a journal but I have always made that practice of making shorthand notes on my schedule which means that at anytime I can reconstruct a conversation or in an event my husband who is quite a historian had always asked if I would do that because he said that it wasn't easy to recall later the exact wording of a conversation consequently the girls and I both do that and I'd like to talk for a moment about a recent history making event and a very happy one I think for you because millions across the country saw a very happy radiant mrs. Nixon her daughter Tricia was being married in the Rose Garden were you happy about her choice of place I don't think Trisha chose that place for history she just happened to like it and it was beautiful I think the few drops of rain made it even more dewy and romantic [Applause] those television history made that night we saw the president of United States dancing and I remember he told it that he wasn't sure how he'd be there he wasn't let's go dancer you know dick is a wonderful dancer in fact he's my favorite partner through many years we did a great deal of dancing but now he's just too busy to stay downstairs late and feels that he must come up and get the latest papers on affairs of state consequently I have to dance by myself in the hall because we still can hear the music you can hear the music and we can hear the music and calling the cars until the last one has picked up the ghast does that kind of spoil your concentration is you sit there at your desk no I often peek out to see who's getting in what car and who's going away with another one how does it seem in the White House you had two girls here for a while then of course you gained one son first David as David a member of the family as he part of indeed he is in fact lasted a night before last dick folding he wasn't home but anyway dick did try and he was gonna discuss baseball with him because Killebrew a great favorite at Dixon done real well that day I didn't follow it but anyway Dixon I've got a call David are you ever a football Widow as many women complain like on in certain times of the year Saturday Sunday and Monday night and nothing professional football I usually watch one game during the weekend and then that's it for me however at one time I followed teams and then of course I wouldn't miss a game but when I don't follow them any longer I don't know all the players and I'm not that much interested I'd rather read have there been moments of being first lady in the White House where they've been difficult for you because you felt that that privacy was people were looking into that privacy or it was being imposed upon I think the most difficult task of all is to be so guarded and to be surrounded all the time you don't have enough what I call blessed aloneness a visit with the first lady will continue after this message not the White House but the Peruvian embassy in Washington held mrs. Nixon's proudest moment his first lady in June of this year she received the Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun in recognition of the effort she spurred to aid Peru's 1970 earthquake victims with a kiss Peru's first lady mrs. Consuelo Velasco bestowed her nation's highest award on mrs. Nixon it is a signal honor for me to receive this decoration from the government of Peru I accepted for the people of the United States who were glad to lend a helping hand to their neighbors in distress the victims of a terrible earthquake when this is the Lascaux and I visited one badly hurt area I was impressed with her deep concern and compassion for her people we brought supplies at that time and also brought hope to them and I'm proud of our people here in this country who love the people of Peru and all the Americas because we truly are one family as we talked in the White House 14 months later I asked the first lady why she undertook that mission of mercy I felt that national and international attention should be focused on the problem of helping these people rebuild their homes after the earthquake as you know about 80,000 people died in that quake but 800,000 were left homeless and after the first little emergency was over we didn't read anything more in the papers about it and yet in my mind I couldn't get out the tragedy that was there I'm so glad that I did go because it meant that more people realized the situation there and were willing to hell first of all we flew into the capital which was not hurt by the quake but the following day we took a cargo plane because a large plane could not land in the soccer field which had been cleared for landing this plane had no windows such as most cargo planes do not so I sat up in front with the pilot and the engineers and the crew members but there wasn't a chair for me so they put a little kitchen one in there and it's the first time I rode without a seat belt and with a chair skidding all over the floor when we went over this mountain I had another second thought I thought maybe I shouldn't be that wild have you ever been afraid of flying I haven't been afraid of flying but I must say that I could give you some very interesting accounts of what some of our problems have been in flying for example one time we lost an engine over the Sahara Desert and we didn't know whether to try to go ahead for an hour and a half or go back for the same amount of time anyway we turn back and all as well but it was a long hour and a half do you find that traveling on your own is more difficult do you find that you wish sometimes you've worked as a team so much how do you feel when you're out there alone on one of these trips I always go with something in mind either seen a project complimenting the volunteers or inspecting something in which dick is interested and so it doesn't bother me to be alone to see what mrs. Nixon has to face while traveling alone we followed her on a mid-august cross-country tour from the first lady's point of view it's a matter of routine covering five states in just three days attending ceremonies to mark the return of federal land for use as local parks this stop in Michigan [Music] a Monday afternoon Airport crowd is a mixture of party faithful and those just plain curious to see the first lady in person the trip is billed as non-political and the Welcome that Fort Custer's new recreation area is warmly nonpartisan I see all these young children here today and I think of what fun they're going to have here bolding enjoying the beauties of this River camping hiking playing baseball as I saw the group right back here whistle when I got out [Applause] are you okay you laugh at bed [Applause] [Applause] the administration calls this emphasis on recreation its legacy of parks program and the first lady responds by remembering old skills [Applause] before departing Washington on this first day of our tour of parklands the first lady stopped in suburban McLean Virginia the newly created walking trails were packed not with hikers but with autograph seekers eager to get a Pat Nixon signature on a program an envelope or even on a lunch bag all to be proudly borne to a place of safekeeping [Applause] by Monday evening on this first day Pat Nixon was having a good time meeting the people I learned a lot because very often they tell me about a local situation apart from that they'll say such nice thing says tell your husband he's doing a great job or Howard Julian David and give our love to Tricia we saw her on TV her wedding was beautiful and so it makes me relive all the things that have been happening and I have a lot of news to bring home one spectator complimented mrs. Nixon for inspiring modesty with her style of dress I asked her if travel affected her wardrobe selection no I decided I had a trip and then only packed the things I'm going to need it isn't that I couldn't take more but I just don't want the burden of it and I don't have a personal maid who travels with me yet because I'm a do-it-yourself person as you know at one point on the trip a do-it-yourself news conference began when the first lady left her cabin to drop in on the reporters sharing her Air Force jet mrs. Nixon remarking that women could do a lot for politics that she'd gladly campaigned for qualified women asked about the militant National Women's Political caucus mrs. Nixon replied I haven't read too much about that it sounds pretty wild to me at the third stop on her tour she ran into militants of a different sort with Tuesday morning Fort Snelling Minnesota and the first lady but unruffled shouting in I am enjoying these historic buildings so much to the development of the Northwest [Applause] the crowds warm applause silence the hecklers and the first lady minimized the incident apparently they were Indians who were protesting the giving back of the property to the state which means of course to the state they can enjoy it as well as any other citizen but apparently the history tells us that at the time that this property was acquired by the military two tribes were fighting over it and this was the losing tribe so I don't think they had very much to stand on and I do hope those people will be able to enjoy that part mrs. Nixon enjoyed the park herself even to the point of rolling in a few putts all under the critical eye of the local caddies Fort Snelling is an old cavalry post whose parade grounds still rings with the shouts and clicks of polo matches [Music] the Twin City color Cup oh my goodness how marvelous and we wish you good luck thank you it really was the thrill to see you happy you know I'm gonna be able to I mean I can never get my husband away from work to have a partner it's not fun to play alone and now since Julie's gone I don't have a partner she I used to play with David sometimes have you horseback rhythm use Newton oh I grew up on the farm I can ride any can do the volleyball yesterday now they'd be hard to only among the little leaguers Pat Nixon discovers an idol of her husband's baseball Slugger Harmon Killebrew [Music] my husband that we called up David you know David such a man and he was down in Florida and he was talking about that was just last week really been hitting them you know he's and quiet [Music] [Applause] Tuesday afternoon only the second day but the fourth stop on the cross-country tour near Medford Oregon the camp White National Guard installation is to lose 400 acres for a local park climbing aboard a covered wagon is easy emerging next to the driver is not so easy but the 59 year old first lady displays youthful agility agility that is the envy of many onlookers the qualities of America's early pioneers are highly prized by Pat Nixon one of her major interests is the promotion of citizens programs for giving volunteer service to the community in her view people helping people can accomplish miracles [Music] [Applause] I think of our pioneer days here in this country when people banded together to help each other for example they built the houses cured the roads built the schools churches fire departments museums and I think that they accomplished so much in those days that if we had a revival of that type of work we could erase all the ills from our country this is Nixon they're gonna have a sky day I mean they're about ready to go [Music] the skydiver is proved to be more accurate than the secret service finds comfortable Wednesday the troops final stop border field where Mexico and California meet the Pacific Ocean a fence separates the good neighbors south and north of the border and the first lady is disturbed by it [Music] even as she concludes the ceremonies Pat Nixon has plans for that fence it must come down [Applause] I'm gonna come around we don't want to get it I asked mrs. Nixon how her unscheduled excursion into Mexico came about I came about in an interesting way the mayor of Tijuana was seated next to me and said someday I'd like you to visit nice and warm how about today so he said oh I think we can arrange that then when I got into the crowd I couldn't find him so I said this if I wanna buy on AIDS please go get the mayor so he came running and pull down the fence so that I could greet the people on both sides as I said then I do hope that this will be a common Beach because we're such good friends with Mexico we I don't think we need a border the border ends at water's edge where the distinctly American surfers beginning hi there how are you having fun is this a good search me no it's stupid down come [Music] [Music] [Music] her legacy of parks trip completed it was home to San Clemente I wondered if the first lady would report to the President on the mood of the people she did encountered on her trip I often say on his eyes and ears but anyway he's very interested to have any report and he's always very proud of the things that I do which makes a visit with the first lady continues at the Western White House would we resumed following station identification top-flight reporting in commentary the ABC Evening News with Howard K Smith and Harry Reasoner our visit with the first lady continued at the Nixon home in San Clemente a pool and a three hole golf course bordered the rambling Spanish house the president's office is at the nearby Coast Guard Station and mrs. Nixon and the staff sometimes find unexpected guests for luncheon one always welcome guest is the Nixon's daughter Julie Eisenhower who was cautious and comparing her mother with previous first ladies you can't really compare first ladies I think that the time dictate what a first lady would be like and also the job how she interprets a job and I think my mother's interpreting the way that that's good for her she's not trying to change herself in other words she's always preferred to stay more in the background and yet her presence is felt and she is just doing the most she can for people and working with people in a quiet way I respect her for not you know trying to be made into a certain image or become an Eleanor Roosevelt or someone else she's just being herself to Pat Nixon just being herself includes relaxing in the patio of her Hacienda style home where she's comfortable in a casual pantsuit we chatted about her problems in choosing a wardrobe I tried to go to the stores whenever possible because I think it's fun to go in and have a chance to see what's available however I find that I don't have too much time to shop so I shop each season clothes are brought to me at a hotel in New York by a buyer who then acts like a retailer and takes a markup so I do choose designers American designers because I think they're the best in the world do you ever go for any of the Parisian designers or the Italian designers no I stick to our Americans I think that they deserve a great deal of credit their clothes are always so well constructed they're not too expensive they do last and they are now using so many materials which are great for traveling because they're non crushable what about the number of things that you have do you have to pack a lot when you go on a trip you've been on trips across the country and what about your longest trip how long was it the longest trip was in 1953 it was 72 days and we dressed for dinner every night except one that was a chore because during the day I would be out seeing the people in all walks of life at the school's the hospitals the orphanages the homes for the aged and all and then we would return and hastily dressed to meet kings and queens and this was quite a transition how many dresses or how many outfits did you take along for 72 days you won't believe it six evening dresses that's all evening yes I took daytime dresses as well but I felt that each country was different and I could read wear things and I think it's a burden to pack too heavily because you have to take care of these and unpacking and repacking is a job I'd like to talk to you for a moment about this house it's just a lovely place and you found it about how long ago about two and a half years ago however the house has stood for 40 years and has a lot of history behind it this place was what's called Cypress Point because of the cypress trees you see here and all of the trees are date back at least to the time that the house was built and many far beyond that time when did you decide that you'd like this house er how did you actually find it we wanted a place on the ocean which both of us enjoy so much and a mutual friend found this house so dick without telling me what he was thinking about had me come for a weekend just to look at it and he had Tricia come too so she could help sell me how did you feel did you fall in love of that I did right the moment I saw it it needed a lot of work inside because it hadn't been unused and I think maybe dick felt that I would just look at the inside but I really didn't I looked at the trees and garden and I knew that you a little paint would fix everything inside and of course that fabulous view that you have from so many places of the ocean out there it's beautiful at all times of the day for example early in the morning we had see the surfers out having a good time and that's very interesting because they started 6 o'clock in the morning when their Titus had my passion is gardening you love flowers what is your very favorite flower do you have one I like the little Marguerite which is a form of Daisy either in the white comes in yellow and pink so any color is fine just so it's a Marguerite this place where we're sitting is a very special place to you I understand this inside secluded patio why do you feel it so special at the present time it's the only place in the world where we can sit unguarded there may be a few people outside but we don't see them so when we come in here it's just heaven without anybody around what about the life here compared to the life in Washington where of course you were you were still the official first lady and the president is here but it's more of a relaxed life can you also go out supposing you and the president decide to go to a Mexican restaurant and have dinner is an easier route here I think it is easier because people aren't expecting to see us so they don't gather at the restaurant at at a time however before we leave the Reston they have gathered do you do that very often gigawatt center here we do about Oh two or three times while we're here because it's a nice change okay why are some of the favorite things that you do around this western white house you read much out here in fact this is the only place I have a chance to read because in Washington I just read reports but not fiction and I do like historical novels and other books the girls always bring me a favor but they've recently read so already Julie brought before and Grisha says when she comes in a week or so she's gonna bring me some others I'd like to talk about your youth when you were growing up out here in California didn't you have a happy home a happy childhood yes we did all of us had to contribute to the family by helping but we have got many good times together for example I can remember evenings when we would play like run sheep run and all the games familiar to you too but we certainly didn't feel that we were put upon to do some work in fact it was a challenge all of our friends did the same type of thing so I just feel that even today if the young people had more worked they would not get into as much trouble you had more than your share of it shortly in your life I think you were in high school your mother died rather early and then you had to take care of your father and you were on your own did you kind of take care of the family I did it was a pleasure because we all worked together and like my brothers I would help with the dishes of course they'd pull the curtain so no one could see this happening naturally because they were great big athletes but anyway they were very protective of me and kind to me so it was fun and when they went to college we always had their friends come home and I'd cook for the friends and do some of the shirts for the young men who couldn't afford to have them done why we got to college while you were in high school did you decide what you wanted to do when you went to college what you wanted to become I hadn't decided exactly except that I knew I wanted an education I didn't want to marry early or try to go up without the education which I felt was necessary I stayed out of college three years but finally finished during the three years I stayed out of college I was making expenses to return didn't you once have a job in the movies yes I did to a college girl didn't it seemed glamorous being a movie extra some would call it glamorous I thought it was great because I earned extra money but I I would often go to find myself and I would have to hunt very hard what was the movie Becky sharp I think you played a small part in that do you remember who was in that movie Miriam Hopkins a long time ago but I also was in small-town girl and been her and various other ones however it isn't as glamorous as it sounds because you sit for one take and it goes on and on and on and maybe all day long you've only accomplished three so-called scenes did you ever think of becoming a movie actress no I didn't because I keep saying that I wanted an education and I was offered a small part but I decided not to drop out of school and when you graduated you were a teacher right what here in high school right and you also did some extracurricular activity and didn't you direct plays and then start working in the theater too we did have a lot of fun I was in charge of what was called the pep committee which put on the plays stops between halves of the games marching units and I'd get up there and work with the yell leaders and song leaders it was loads of fun then you were cast in the show opposite a young man a young lawyer what was his name Wow with his last name Nixon by any chance yes and that's when you first met Richard Nixon when you were that's true I was a young teacher in Whittier his home town at that time the teachers were expected to take part in community activities and one of them was the theater there so I had taken apart and dick heard that there was a new schoolteacher in town so he thought he'd come down and take a look and then he also took apart so that's how we met then you started going together did you ever think at that time when you first met him and we started going out with him that you would marry him and perhaps he would become a very famous man sometime I knew he'd be famous because already he was quite famous in his town even because he was the youngest member of the Board of Trustees at the college he was also as Attorney General and interested in various service clubs where he held a officership how long did you know the President or Richard Nixon seat was been before you decided yes this was the man for you that you wanted to marry he's two and a half years before we were married that dad we both knew we were in love before that you've answered questions for me at the White House and here at San Clemente would you like an opportunity now to bury any myths that you see written about you that make you smile or frown that you consider really untrue yes I do from time to time have a good laugh over the fact that I'm supposed to be shy after all I've been traveling all over the world for 20 years and I haven't had any problem making friends which are still friends today I hear from many people that I've met in different parts of the world and also having met so many of the leaders who now come to visit our country or we go to visit bears is a very important aspect of the life I've had because we immediately get off on a easy basis and remark about the last time we met and have a lot of fun talking and I understand their country and they understand our country and so it is anything but being shy President Nixon chats with Virginia Sherwood when a visit with the first lady continues the man who lives here is interested in history where civilization is going the great things men have done in the past but his interest is not just scholarly when it comes to 20th century history he's been in the middle of it he was there with the leaders at historic moments of World War two he was there in 1960 as a moderator of the Kennedy Nixon debates his profession and his stature in that profession have kept him at the side of the great men of the world in 30 years as a working newsman he's won every major award in a broadcast journalism the man who lives here knows a lot about what's going on in the world and he knows how to share what he knows with you he's Howard K Smith newsman : ban on the ABC Evening News [Music] I don't see him the kids table just as real as the real fruit flavor of hostess fruit pies most hostess free pies Twinkies and cupcakes with hostess tasting is believing talking about his wife is a topic the president obviously enjoys he started by trying to define mrs. Nixon's finest quality as first lady it's hard to pick one thing out of all the others I guess I think perhaps the fact that she always maintains her poise it's very difficult for anybody in public life to be in the public eye all the time and to maintain poise character to be an example so to speak I know there is a theory that that's it's a good idea not to try to be quite shall we say so correct and some say stiff but on the other hand I think particularly where the presidency is involved and the first lady is involved there is a responsibility whenever an appearance is made either informally or formally to act as people particularly the parents of young children think a president ought to act or a first lady ought to act and I must say that in the time that mrs. Nixon has been first lady and when she was also the wife of the vice president when I was vice president but I don't think there was ever a moment when she was not the first lady in her public appearances I think this is very important it's not only the quality of poise but she's very impressive in another respect enormous stamina I always said oh I've often often said you know and then they they say which is the stronger of the two sections there's no question about it physically and I run a pretty fast pace but physically the woman is stronger than the man she can take mentor more she can for example when we do every seeding lines I have a tendency after a thousand to get a little busy she never gets dizzy that just shows you mrs. Nixon was a teacher how would you grade her as a campaigner is she an a campaigner first-rate well if I didn't think so I wouldn't say anything else now I give her an a and I'm a pretty stiff grader to as a campaigner now she's a very effective campaigner and particularly effective in terms of making each individual she meets feel for that one precious moment but that person is the only person in the world in other their different ways that you can shake hands with people you can go down the fence of an airport you just do it automatically and all bang Bing Bing and say well I shook hands with five hundred it's more important to make one individual feel that he or she for that moment has met the President or the first lady than it is just to do it in the mass and mrs. Nixon is extremely effective that way she's warm-hearted and she's very thoughtful I've seen it and on our first trip around the world when we traveled 73 days as vice president to so many countries while I was in meetings she worked 12 14 hours a day going to hospitals she even went to a leper colony she was the first individual who would ever visited this leper colony celebrity so-called and shook hands with those worth of leper colony that sort of thing had a dramatic impact a dramatic impact in creating understanding and good after the presidency sir what do you wish perhaps for the first lady and even for yourself what kind of life what she wants I'm rather sure is of course the exact opposite of what we've been discussing I don't mean that she doesn't like what she does and that she doesn't do it very well of course I'm a little prejudiced on both counts but I think that that what she wants and I think this is true of almost any woman is is privacy in other their time some a woman doesn't want to have to have her hair fixed have to think well now I can't go out wearing slacks today because that wouldn't be first ladylike or something like that but we're in effect you can let her hair down walk along the beach not worry about a camera being off or some reporter being up there taking a look and saying I looked at him and that's the didn't look very ladylike to me or something like that maybe kick up her heels I think that I think above everything else the the sense of privacy is what any individual in public life misses it's particularly true women see the man is different the man is out there in the arena he's fighting he's battling and consequently he isn't worried so much isn't so concerned about the fact that he is denied the chance just to be himself he expects it but for the woman is something else again she realizes that public life interferes with her ability to live her life you know as a wife as a mother so I would say that of all the things that she would like to do perhaps it would be to walk the beach walk up without any cameras without anybody looking on figuring she could do just what she wanted Oh Thank You mr. president is the first lady waiting for that walk now do you think I understand out of the corner of my eye that she might be get ready perhaps bird over and if the camera wants to look in I won't mind a bit no I'll tell her that that this is one time she can just assume that she can wear what she wants in terms of a first lady or the wife of any man in public life one of her major responsibilities is to provide some relief from the rather heavy responsibilities that the man has if you can change the pace and talk about things that are very important family matters for example and but somebody said who happened to come through the White House who which was maybe funny or maybe moving something of that sort that really helps the the president whoever he is get through the next day a little better [Applause] [Applause] a visit with the first lady with correspondent Virginia Sherwood is a presentation of ABC News

Channel: Richard Nixon Foundation

Views: 44,517

Rating: 4.8676124 out of 5

Keywords: Pat Nixon, Nixon, FLOTUS, First Lady of the United States, reporter, interview, documentary, First Lady, Virginia Sherwood, ABC, ABC News, archival

Id: ABfQjJGNQ78

Length: 53min 19sec (3199 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 27 2018