Posted on 09/04/2011 7:00:48 PM PDT by Rufii
Library Throws Book at Nixon
by Brian Calle
Some controversy over the recently revised Watergate exhibit at the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum in Yorba Linda has provoked some questions over presidential libraries, their value, purpose for public consumption and their role in the remembrance of past presidents.One docent at the Nixon library, my Register colleague Will Alexander, opted to resign in protest of the new exhibit after 10 years of volunteer service. And friends and former colleagues of Richard Nixon have been critical of the museum's new director, Timothy Naftali. Some critics have even suggested that the Nixon library is becoming an anti-Nixon monument.
On March 31, the library opened a new exhibit on the Watergate scandal that forced Nixon to resign the presidency in 1974. It replaced the original Watergate exhibit, which dated back 15 years and in which Nixon was involved in curating. The new exhibit offers a much harsher depiction of Watergate.
The visual imagery and titles reflect a strongly critical vibe, if not a completely anti-Nixon tone to the presentation. The start of the gallery features big, bold, red and black letters spelling out “Road to Resignation.” Other parts of the exhibit are labeled “Dirty Tricks and Political Espionage” and “The Cover-Up, Break-In and Evidence,” just to give a few examples. After walking through the gallery, one would be hard pressed to feel warm and fuzzy about the former president, who died in 1994 and is buried on the library grounds.
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
Thanks Rufii.
It seems to be a weakness of our system that we cannot easily create organizations that are not stealthily taken over by leftists for their own purposes. Perhaps this is because leftists are inherently decietful. I am not sure, but we clearly need a way to prevent this kind of stealth takeover.
same ol’, same ol’,
the family couldn’t get along with each other,
later they turned it over to the government, and the
government is socialist.
The Presidential Libraries are monuments to the egos of these guys.
I’m guessing that the book “Silent Coup” (implicates John Dean behind most of the nastiness) isn’t on display?
Related question: Will the next presidential Liebrary be built in Kenya or in Sunny Indonesia?
Nixon was probably one of the lesser egos among modern presidents.
Levenworth or gitmo
“Related question: Will the next presidential Liebrary be built in Kenya or in Sunny Indonesia?”
It should be on the site of his ancestral hut.
With all due respect (and there are some things to admire about RMN) I don't believe I will ever feel "warm and fuzzy" about the guy. He was not, overall, a credit to the office of the presidency.
I think I guessed right. Here’s from an article from 2009:
+++++++++++++++
Shortly after becoming director of the Nixon Library in 2007, Dr. Timothy Naftali invited the nation’s press in to witness the removal of the Nixon Library’s Watergate exhibit. Declaring, “I can’t run a shrine,” he gleefully presided over the destruction of the exhibit, which resulted in numerous articles reporting that the “whitewash of Watergate” was over at the Nixon Library.
Dr. Naftali went on to assert, “The challenge is to present a controversial, traumatic and important story in a fair and historically accurate way.” By any measure, he has failed his own definition of success. Two years later, there’s still no Watergate exhibit. And nothing points to that failure more persuasively than his hosting of John Dean at the Nixon Library.
Allowing John Dean to appear, without any counterbalance on the program, is not fair. Neither does it serve historical accuracy. It is, to put it charitably, nothing more than a cheap publicity stunt, unworthy of any presidential library operated by the National Archives.
From my perspective Nixon was considerably more honest than the past few democrat presidents. In fact. had Obama been a republican, he would have been impeached and convicted by now.
That and inherently obsessed with power and control. They are drawn to positions where they can throw their weight around like flies to sh*t.
It will not change the fact that the two worst recent Presidents were Democrats, and one of them when not golfing, or on vacation is the next President to lose in a giant land slide, the other one lost in a giant land slide, drools on Himself and still to this day embarrasses the Nation with His antics. There is no need for signs or protests, These two bozos speak for them selves, and accurately reflect the values and positions of their socialist party.
Note that leftists target institutions such as colleges and the federal judiciary for takeover. Once they're in charge of these institutions, they cannot be dislodged by simply voting them out, as is the case with legislative bodies.
This is the case with the Nixon Library. Although it is subject to congressional oversight as part of the National Archives and Records Administration, it will be all but impossible to dislodge the leftists who now run it--unless a new Republican administration appoints as National Archivist an activist determined to clean up the National Archives.
It most certainly is not.
LOL!
Well, they turned control of the library from the private foundation to the government... So...
LOL Like that one?
Nixon = Wage and Price Controls + Environmental Protection Agency + Federal Affirmative Action Plan (Philadelphia Plan) + Recognition of Red China + Support of the “Equal Rights Amendment” + Lowering Voting Age to 18 + elimination of the draft.
Nixon was a poor President and HARDLY a conservative.
National Archives ? Isn’t that the crew that lets Democrats stuff their shorts with classified documents? Naftali’s just living up to the image.
To be regarded as a "real" presidential library, they figured that they needed to have the presidential papers, which by law are held by the National Archives. So they became a National Archives facility--and in so doing, made a Faustian bargain.
I suspect the reason for the break-in is buried deep in all the memorabilia.
Origin of the name "Naftali" is Hebrew and it means "to wrestle".
Leni
I’m sorry to state this, and I hope I’m wrong, but twenty years from now, you’ll see the same thing happen to the Reagan Library. Rather than focus on what Reagan did to win the Cold War, you’ll see big features about Iran-Contra, homelessness during the Reagan era, etc.
Likewise, we have a sitting president who may be the worst since James Buchanan. But his library (and legacy) will be celebrated - his many failures will be glossed over.
By the way, JFK’s team wiretapped MLK. I won’t hold my breath to see that exhibit at the JFK Library.
It is true that President Nixon gave conservatives little to cheer about. However, perhaps his greatest foreign policy accomplishment was saving Israel.
A few days after the Yom Kippur War broke out in 1973, Israel turned to the US as its only hope for replacing the heavy losses in tanks, planes and munitions that it had suffered. Nixon, over the objections of senior members of his administration, pledged that "anything that flies" would be used to resupply Israel--and it was done. Later, he alerted US nuclear and conventional forces around the world as he faced down Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, who had threatened to intervene in the conflict. Brezhnev backed off, and a ceasefire soon came about.
Bout as likely as the stained dress exhibit at the Clinton Presidential highrise mobile home.
Beautiful library and grounds. It made me sick to see that they were devoting a section to Watergate. I wonder if there is a section devoted to Lewinsky in the Clinton library?
I believe that Nixon was our most intelligent and insightful president. The left hated him for this and were out to get him at every turn. They skewered him, and loved every minute while they were doing it.
History will be kinder to him in the future once the current batch of libs and commies in the press die off.
Even a broken clock......
If the truth were known, the stuff that went on in the Kennedy and Johnson years would make Watergate pale in comparison. This is my opinion.
Ever been to the Lincoln Library and Lincoln Museum? They are truly impressive in scope of scholarship far beyond just President Lincoln.
There is a means of recourse. The House committee that oversees the National Archives is headed by Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), a Tea Party Republican. I hope he gets wind of some of these shenanigans.
History will be kinder to him in the future once the current batch of libs and commies in the press die off.
The Left never forgave Richard Nixon for nailing their fair-haired boy Alger Hiss. That's why they hound him to this very day.
He stunk. Disgusting human being. And now that I think about it, why the heck does he have a library. I never in my life could understand how failures can be honored. Well at least he hasn’t gotten a ship named after him.......he better not!!!!
Compared with what we’ve got today, Nixon was a saint.
“The Left never forgave Richard Nixon for nailing their fair-haired boy Alger Hiss. That’s why they hound him to this very day.”
Indeed. Considering how liberal President Nixon actually was for a Republican, it’s amazing how much the left hates him for that.
I’m sad to read about this happening. Nixon has no lack of criticism and derision(much of it warranted, I concede) from left and right elsewhere. Having one counterbalance wasn’t hurting anything. It’s a shame his family turned it over to the government to run and to ruin. I wonder if Julie and Tricia are happy with their decision now.
I’m so happy I went back in 1991 when Mr. Nixon was still alive.
and one of the more ethical.
Is that an imperative or declaratory statement?
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