August 9 was the 40th anniversary of Richard Nixon’s resignation from the presidency. I saw Nixon once in person, in June 1973, when I was age 8. The Watergate story was a year old then, and Nixon was receiving Soviet chief Leonid Brezhnev at the White House. My grandmother took me to the welcoming ceremony on the south lawn. Brezhnev was late. During the wait one or two of the military personnel standing at long attention collapsed. Finally, the arriving helicopter could be heard. “What took you so long?” I exclaimed, trying to be cute, drawing laughter from the crowd immediately around us.
When Nixon and Brezhnev reviewed the troops, Brezhnev led Nixon toward the crowd where we stood. For a few moments they stood immediately before us. Looking up at them, they each seemed to have giant red faces, both smiling. My grandmother was virtually squealing, as were many others, as many excited arms reached out towards Nixon and Brezhnev.
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