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Around midnight, when I was at home, Nixon called from the
Lincoln Sitting Room, where he was brooding alone. He was
wondering whether the press would appreciate what had been
done; probably not. But that was not what he really had on his
mind. He knew that every success brings a terrific letdown, he
said. I should not let it get to me. I should not be
discouraged. There were many battles yet to fight; I should
not weaken. In fact, I was neither discouraged nor did I feel
let down. Listening to him, I could picture the scene: Nixon
would be sitting, solitary and withdrawn, deep in his brown
stuffed chair with his legs on a settee in front of him, a
small reading light breaking the darkness and a wood fire
throwing shadows on the wall of the room. The loudspeakers
would be playing romantic classical music, probably
Tchaikovsky. He was talking to me, but he was really
addressing himself.

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What extraordinary vehicles destiny selects to accomplish
its design. This man, so lonely in his hour of triumph, so
ungenerous in some of his motivations, had navigated our
nation through one of the most anguishing periods in its
history. Not by nature courageous, he had steeled himself to
conspicuous acts of rare courage. Not normally outgoing, he
had forced himself to rally his people to its challenge. He
had striven for a revolution in American foreign policy so
that it would overcome the disastrous oscillations between
overcommitment and isolation. Despised by the Establishment,
ambiguous in his human perceptions, he had yet held fast to a
sense of national honor and responsibility, determined to
prove that the strongest free country had no right to
abdicate. What would have happened had the Establishment about
which he was so ambivalent shown him some love? Would he have
withdrawn deeper into the wilderness of his resentments, or

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would an act of grace have liberated him? By now it no longer
mattered. Enveloped in an intractable solitude, at the end of
a period of bitter division, he nevertheless saw before him a
vista of promise to which few statesmen have been blessed to
aspire. He could envisage a new international order that would
reduce lingering enmities, strengthen friendships, and give
new hope to emerging nations. It was a worthy goal for America
and mankind. He was alone in his moment of triumph on a
pinnacle that was soon to turn into a precipice. And yet with
all his insecurities and flaws, he had brought us by a
tremendous act of will to an extraordinary moment when dreams
and possibilities conjoined.

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1532 WORDS 4/24/94

# EULOGY FOR RICHARD M. NIXON

Richard Nixon was one of the seminal foreign policy Presidents of the United States. He entered the Presidency when 550,000 Americans were engaged in combat as far distant from the United States as it is possible to be in the world; when America had no contact with China, the world's most populous nation; no negotiations with the Soviet Union, the other nuclear superpower; with most Arab countries having broken diplomatic relations with the United States; and the Middle East stalemated - all this in the midst of the worst domestic crisis since the Civil War.

When he left office, not only had dialogue with Communist China been resumed but the erstwhile enemies had begun to correct their policies on a global scale; tensions with the

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Soviet Union had been eased; a peace process had been begun in
the Middle East, producing the first two agreements between
Arab states and Israel since the creation of the Jewish state,
a process which is continuing to this day. The war in Vietnam
had been ended and all American troops had been withdrawn. A
European Security Conference was in train which, in the Ford
Administration, was to lead to the enhancement of human rights
in the so-called Helsinki Accords as used by such great
leaders as Vaclav Havel and Lech Walesa, and is generally
recognized as contributing to the collapse of the Soviet
Empire.

Yet these vast achievements are not the essence of Richard
Nixon's contribution to international affairs. What he most
wanted to do - and what he importantly accomplished - was to
begin the process of bringing his society into a new world so
different from its historical experience. America is unique

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among the nations of the world. No other great power resulted
from an act of conscious creation. No other country has been
explicitly formed to vindicate the idea of liberty. No nation
has been so free of threatening neighbors or protected from
powerful countries by two vast oceans. Coupled with
extraordinary resources, this created the special American
brand of foreign policy: oscillating between isolationism and
crusading; at the same time, idealistic and pragmatic;
distrustful of power and committed to law - all this the
hallmarks of a society that did not believe in the possibility
of irretrievable catastrophe. When Nixon entered office,
distances had shrunk; weapons of mass destruction had been
invented; and America's margin of superiority was eroding - all
this while facing an inconclusive war half a world away. Talk
of overextension was becoming conventional wisdom. Nixon's
ultimate task was to keep America's traditional righteousness

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from turning into self-doubt and the criticism of
overextension becoming an excuse for abdication.

America was fortunate that destiny entrusted Richard Nixon
with the responsibility of guiding it from dominance to
leadership. No American President ever understood
international affairs more clearly. None except Theodore
Roosevelt travelled as much or attempted to understand foreign
leaders with such genuine interest. In domestic politics,
Nixon could be awkward and resentful when feeling threatened
or rejected. With foreign leaders, he felt strangely secure
and at peace. Since differences resulted from perspectives of
national interest or clashing ideology, he did not consider
them personal assaults. In the conduct of foreign policy,
Nixon was therefore infinitely patient and analytical.

At once idealistic and pragmatic, visionary and hard-headed,
the President whom Nixon most admired was Woodrow Wilson - who

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affirmed that peace was a natural condition and harmony among
nations inherent. Nixon shared Wilson's passionate
internationalism and belief in America's indispensability. But
he felt obliged to relate America's missions to his
conclusions about how the world actually worked. Obligated to
lead the thankless assignment of conducting America's retreat
from a crusade which had sent America's armies around the
world, he worked with all his might to define a sustainable
role for American idealism by relating it to the way the world
actually worked. He succeeded because he related analysis to
vision and never abandoned his conviction that the world's
freest country had no right to resign from its
responsibilities.

Much has been said and written of Richard Nixon's political
motivations. I leave it to others to analyze that aspect of a
complex man, which undoubtedly has some merit. But in foreign

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policy, he was driven above all by a passionate patriotism. He
was motivated by his perception of American values and
American interests. He risked confrontation in the Middle East
weeks before a Congressional election and blockaded North
Vietnam two weeks before a scheduled summit in Moscow and five
months before a national election. And he was prepared to face
the disapproval of his long-time supporters over his policies
toward China and the Soviet Union. And history has vindicated
all these decisions.

Richard Nixon understood that the ultimate task of a
President is to move his people from where it is to where it
has never been, to bridge the gap between its experience and
his vision. For this, a true leader must be prepared to walk
alone, seeking his fulfillment not in the applause of the
moment but in the vindication of history.

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All these roles Richard Nixon performed with credit to his country. There was, of course, another side to his nature too, an insecurity so afraid of rejection that he sometimes seemed to court it, a difficulty in reaching out much more the result of shyness as of innate hostility.

These tendencies were nearly totally absent in his conduct of foreign policy. He was hoping for the approbation of his people even as he did not always know how to ask for it. And after twenty years of exemplary retirement and unselfish service to his successors, he at last reached that apogee.

During the last week of his life, I often wondered how he would have reacted to the flood of concern and respect and, yes, even love, that surrounded his name. Had we who knew him been able to talk to him, he would never have asked about it but would have invited some volunteered comment by some pauses in conversation. He would have pretended indifference but his

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friends would have known that he was glowing inside and as
much at peace as it was possible for him to be.

And he would have found some way to hint - though so
indirectly that the uninitiated might well have missed it -
that it would be very welcome if one shared this information
with Julie and Tricia, with David and Ed.

He would be so proud that all former Presidents of the
United States are here and especially honored by the presence
of President Clinton, who had been in the trenches of the
opposite side and whose eulogy he would construe as the
ultimate reconciliation.

I wish I could have told him about Brian McDonnell who,
during the Cambodian crisis was fasting on a bench in
Lafayette Park until American forces withdrew from that
country. I called on him to tell him that the troops would

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leave in two months and that he should trust Richard Nixon's
promise.

Twenty-four years ago, Brian could not be convinced. But
after not having heard from him for many years, he called me
when Richard Nixon fell ill and left a message: "When you talk
to President Nixon, tell him I am praying for him."

At this moment of sadness and reflection, I feel I can do no
better than to quote from my memoirs a passage relating to the
night that the peace was signed in Vietnam. What extraordinary
vehicles, [it seemed to me], destiny selects to accomplish its
design. This man, so lonely in his hour of triumph, had
navigated our nation through one of the most anguishing
periods of its history. Not courageous by nature, Nixon had
steeled himself to conspicuous acts of rare courage. Not
normally outgoing, he had forced himself to rally his people
to its challenge. He had striven for a revolution in American

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foreign policy so that it might overcome the disastrous
oscillations between overcommitment and isolation. Despised by
the Establishment, ever ambiguous in his human perceptions, he
had nevertheless held fast to a sense of national honor and
responsibility, determined to prove that the strongest free
country had no right to abdicate. What would have happened had
the Establishment about which he was so ambivalent shown him
some love? Would an act of grace have liberated him from the
wilderness of his resentments? By now it no longer mattered.

Enveloped in his solitude, he could envisage a new
international order that would reduce lingering enmities,
strengthen historic friendships, and give new hope to emerging
nations. It was a worthy goal for America and mankind. In his
moment of triumph, he stood alone on a pinnacle that was soon
to turn into a precipice. And yet, with all his insecurities
and flaws, he had brought us by a tremendous act of will to

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the extraordinary moment when dreams and possibilities
conjoined.

So we say goodbye to Richard Nixon, who ended the wars he
inherited and advanced the peace where he could. He walked in
solitude and he served mankind well. It was an honor to be
associated with him.

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