Nixon Now Podcast

On this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast, we’re talking the Hungarian Revolution and Refugee crisis of 1956, then Vice President Nixon’s visit to the Austro-Hungarian border that December, and his work on the Federal response to the crisis. Our guest again is Irwin Gellman. He’s a historian, and the author of two major Nixon biographies, “The Contender: Richard Nixon, The Congress Years, 1946-1952,” and the President and the Apprentice: Nixon and Eisenhower, 1952-1961.” Interview by Jonathan Movroydis. Photo: Portrait of Frederic Daday's "Nixon at Andau" depicting then Vice President Nixon's visit to the Austro-Hungarian border in December 1957. (Richard Nixon Foundation)

This week marks the 50th anniversary of President Nixon’s special message to the Congress on Control of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. President Nixon said: A national awareness of the gravity of the situation is needed; a new urgency and concerted national policy are needed at the Federal level to begin to cope with this growing menace to the general welfare of the United States. On this edition of the Nixon Now podcast we're joined by Dr. Robert DuPont. Dr. DuPont is a psychiatrist who served as a director of the White House Special Action Office on Drug Abuse Prevention. Popularly known today as the Nation’s Drug Czar. Interview by Jonathan Movroydis. Photo: President Nixon hosts a meeting in the Cabinet Room with bipartisan Congressional leadership to discuss narcotics control and treatment issues, October 23, 1969 (Richard Nixon Presidential Library)

This summer marks the 50th Anniversary of the Nixon Doctrine. One day after the Apollo 11 splashdown in the South Pacific, President Nixon articulated a foreign policy doctrine in an informal press conference on the island of Guam. On this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast, we’ve assembled a panel of experts to talk the doctrine — its evolution, the context of the Vietnam War as well as its global application. Participants: Roham Alvandi, Associate Professor of International History, London School of Economics and visiting Associate Professor at Columbia University Michael Cotten, Assistant Professor of History at Temple College (Texas) Gregory Daddis, Associate Professor of History/Director of the Chapman University’s War and Society Program Luke Nichter, Professor of History, Texas A&M Central Texas Jonathan Movroydis, Moderator Read the transcript here: https://bit.ly/2ZZp7WZ Photo: President Nixon taking notes and studying briefing materials aboard Air Force One en route to his historic trip to Chin

On this edition of the Nixon Now podcast, we explore the lives of the the three Apollo XI Astronauts. To answer these and other questions about the historic mission to the moon is Francis French. French is a writer specializing in space flight history. He is the author of several serious books about man’s rendezvous with outer space. He has worked in the non-profit and education words, and is a sought out expert for commentary about space travel on numerous media outlets. Interview by Jonathan Movroydis. Photo: President Nixon with the three Apollo 11 astronauts (Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin) aboard the USS Hornet. (NASA)

On this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast, we’re talking the Nixon Tapes with specific focus on President Nixon’s taped conversations about the Watergate controversy of June 1972. Our guest again is Luke Nichter, Professor of History at Texas A&M University, Central Texas. He’s the nation’s foremost expert on the Nixon White House Tapes, and founder of NixonTapes.org. Read the transcript here: https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2019/06/podcast-luke-nichter-nixon-tapes-watergate/ Interview by Jonathan Movroydis. Photo: Watergate Hotel (Getty Images)

This summer marks the 60th anniversary of the famous Kitchen Debate between then Vice President Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev. On this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast, Nixon biographer Irv Gellman talks the behind the scenes story of this historic event. Dr. Gellman is author of The Contender: Richard Nixon, the Congress Years, 1946-1952 and the President and the Apprentice: Eisenhower and Nixon, 1952-1961. Read the Transcript: https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2019/06/irv-gellman-behind-scenes-story-kitchen-debate/ Photo: Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev debate in a model of an American kitchen at the American exhibition in Moscow's Sokolniki Park on July 24, 1959. (AP Photo) Interview by Jonathan Movroydis.

What was President Nixon's Space Policy Doctrine? Here to answer this and other questions Dr. John Logsdon, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Affairs, at the Elliot School of International Affairs at The George Washington University. He founded the school's Space Policy Institute, and author of "John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon" and "After Apollo? Richard Nixon and the American Space Program." Read the transcript here: https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2019/06/podcast-john-logsdon-president-nixon-apollo-program-space-policy/ Interview by Jonathan Movroydis. Photo: President Nixon with NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher discussing a proposed space shuttle vehicle on January 5, 1972 in San Clemente, CA. (NASA)

On this edition of the Nixon Now podcast, we’re talking the Nixon Tapes again, with specific focus on President Nixon’s taped conversations about the end of the Vietnam War in 1972 and 1973. Our guest again is Luke Nichter, Professor of History at Texas A&M University, Central Texas. He’s the nation’s foremost expert on the Nixon White House Tapes, and founder of NixonTapes.org. Read Transcript Here: https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2019/06/podcast-luke-nichter-nixon-tapes-end-vietnam-war/ Interview by Jonathan Movroydis Photo: President Nixon with South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu in June 1969. (Richard Nixon Presidential Library)

On this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast, we’re talking President Nixon’s health care strategy with John Price. In addition to presenting two comprehensive health care proposals to Congress, Nixon signed the National Cancer Act (1971) and the Health Maintenance Organization Act (1973). Mr. Price served as Executive Director of the Urban Affairs Council and Special Assistant to the President in the Nixon White House. He is currently at work on a book about the Nixon White House domestic policy, and has lectured extensively on this subject at Oxford’s Rothermere Institute. Read the Transcript: https://bit.ly/2YHPdgA Interview by Jonathan Movroydis. Photo: President Nixon signs the National Cancer Act on December 23, 1971.(Richard Nixon Presidential Library)

On this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast, we discuss diplomacy, grand strategy, and leadership, from the perspective of President Nixon and his Assistant for National Security Affairs, Henry Kissinger. Our guest today is Winston Lord, who worked by Dr. Kissinger’s side on every major foreign policy issue: Vietnam, China, the Soviet Union, and the Middle East. Lord went on to become President of the Council on Foreign Relations, U.S. Ambassador to China, and Assistant Secretary of State. He’s the author of a book to be released this week, "Kissinger on Kissinger: Reflections on Diplomacy, Grand Strategy, and Leadership," and was interviewer of Kissinger's first Oral History -- produced by the Nixon Foundation -- from which the book is based. Read the Transcript: https://bit.ly/2JentfS Interview by Jonathan Movroydis. Photo: President Nixon and Dr. Kissinger in the Oval Office (Richard Nixon Presidential Library).

This July will mark the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. To commemorate the anniversary, the Nixon Library has a new interactive special exhibit that includes artifacts from the actual moon landing. It opened this week, and it runs through the year. It's called "Apollo 11: One Giant Leap for Mankind." On this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast, we talked to the exhibit creators, William Maple, its chief designer, and Shelly DeSimone, its researcher and writer. Learn more about the exhibit: https://bit.ly/2H7pozk Transcript: https://bit.ly/2vFHIuf Interview by Jonathan Movroydis. Photo: The Nixon Presidential Library's new special exhibit, Apollo 11: One Giant Leap for Mankind. (William Vasta/Richard Nixon Foundation)

On this edition of the Nixon Now podcast, we discuss the origins of the Space Race, and the behind the scenes story of America meeting the challenge to go to the Moon. Our guest is James Donovan, author of the newly released, "Shoot for the Moon: The Space Race and the Extraordinary Voyage of Apollo 11." Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins says it’s the best Apollo book he’s ever read. Read the transcript: https://bit.ly/2PPYe3S Interview by Jonathan Movroydis. Photo (Charles M. Duke Jr/Associated Press)

Remembering a Statesman: President Nixon's State Funeral 25 Years Later by Richard Nixon Foundation

Last month an article appeared in Politico Magazine that commemorated the opening day of baseball 50 years ago at RFK stadium in Washington, D.C. It discussed President Nixon’s love for the game, and his relationship with then Washington Senators manager, and baseball great Ted Williams. The writer of the piece joins us on this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast. His name is Frederic Frommer. He’s the author of "You Gotta Have Heart," a history of Washington baseball, and is head of the sports business practice at the Dewey Square Group, a public affairs firm in Washington. Interview by Jonathan Movroydis. Read the entire piece in Politico here: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/03/28/richard-nixon-ted-williams-226240 Photo: President Nixon throws the ceremonial first pitch at RFK stadium on April 7, 1969 as Ted Williams, then manager of the Washington Senators (left), looks on. (Getty Images)

On this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast, we’re talking the relationship between America’s 37th and 40th Presidents, both Californians, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Our guest in studio, is David Byrne. He is an adjunct professor of history at California Baptist College and Santa Monica College. He’s the author of a new book called "Ronald Reagan: An Intellectual Biography." Read the Transcript: https://bit.ly/2ZtWodK Interview by Jonathan Movroydis Photo: Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan (Henry Burroughs/AP).

On this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast, we explore the Nixon Tapes, with specific focus on President Nixon’s conversations about how he attempted to avert an economic crisis in the early 1970s. On August 15, 1971, President Nixon’s shocked the world, again, a month after he revealed that he was going to China. He announced on national television that he would be ending America’s involvement in the Bretton Woods System, and ending the practice of backing the dollar with the precious metal, gold. Our guest again is Luke Nichter, Professor of History at Texas A&M Central Texas. He’s the nation’s foremost expert on the Nixon White House Tapes, and founder of NixonTapes.org. Read the Transcript: https://bit.ly/2L2QrkP Interview by Jonathan Movroydis. Photo: On August 15, 1971, President Nixon gave a televised address to the American people, explaining America's new economic policy. (Associated Press)

What was the situation of the Prisoners of War and Missing in Action during the Vietnam War? What was it like on the home front where many of the wives and families were left wondering where their husbands and fathers were, and when they would return home? On this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast, we explore this topic with Heath Hardage Lee, author of the forthcoming book, “League of Wives: The Untold Story of the Women Who Took on the US Government to Bring Their Husbands Home.” Interview by Jonathan Movroydis. Photo: President Nixon meets with POW wives (left to right) Carole Hansen, Louise Mulligan, Sybil Stockdale, Andrea Rander, and Mary Mearns in December 1969.

On this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast, we're in studio with special assistant to President Nixon, and business and civil rights leader Robert J. Brown. Mr. Brown conceptualized and developed the minority enterprise and black college programs signed into executive order by President Nixon. He's been a confidant to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela, and all America Presidents since Richard Nixon. His remarkable life is captured in his new memoir, "You Can't Go Wrong Doing Right: How a Child of Poverty Rose to the White House and Helped Change the World." Interview by Jonathan Movroydis. Photo: President Nixon with Robert J. Brown, and his late wife Salle Brown at the White House (Collection of Robert J. Brown).

On this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast, we’re talking the Nixon Tapes again, with specific focus on President Nixon’s conversations about Daniel Ellsberg and the case of the Pentagon Papers. Our guest again is Luke Nichter, Professor of History at Texas A&M Central Texas. He’s the nation’s foremost expert on the Nixon White House Tapes, and founder of NixonTapes.org. Read transcript here: https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2019/03/podcast-luke-nichter-white-house-tapes-pentagon-papers/ Photo: Richard Nixon on the phone in the Oval Office (Ollie Atkins/Richard Nixon Presidential Library) Interview by Jonathan Movroydis.

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Dwight D. Eisenhower, America’s World War II Hero General, the planner of Normandy, and the 34th President of the United States. Richard Nixon served as Vice President under Eisenhower. The two enjoyed a friendship and complex relationship that would last nearly two decades. On this edition of the Nixon Now podcast we speak with Irv Gellman. Dr. Gellman is a Nixon biographer. His first book about Nixon, "The Contender" covered the Congressional years. His most recent book is "The President and the Apprentice, Eisenhower and Nixon, 1952 to 1961." Photo: President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon. (Hank Walker/Time Life Pictures-Getty Images)