Nixon Now Podcast

Marking the 50th anniversary of the dramatic year of 1968 (which also saw the election of President Nixon), on this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast we interviewed Richard Vinen for his newly released book "1968: Radical Protest and Its Enemies,” which explores how the events of 1968 — from anti-war marches, worker strikes to violence on the streets of the world's greatest cities — shaped much of today’s culture. Richard Vinen is Professor of History at Kings College, London and the author of a number of major books on 20th Century Europe. He won the Wolfson Prize for history for his previous book, "National Service." Photo: Students flash peace signs during protests at Columbia University.(Patrick A. Burns/The New York Times). Introduction Music: "Revolution" by the Beatles (1968). Interview by Jonathan Movroydis

Last week hearings in the U.S. Senate began for Supreme Court nominee Judge Bret Kavanaugh. In this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast, we look back at the justices President Nixon appointed to the highest court, and the challenges they faced in their respective confirmation processes. Our guest today successfully shepherded through arguably one of the most consequential nominees in the past half century, Justice William Rehnquist. He did this not once, but twice: when Justice Rehnquist became associate justice in 1971, and again when he became chief justice in 1986. Wally Johnson began his career as a special attorney in the organized crime section of the criminal division at the Department of Justice, ultimately leading the organized crime task force in Miami. He was minority counsel of the Senate judiciary subcommittee on criminal laws and procedures under ranking minority member, Senator Roman Hruska. In 1970, he was appointed by Attorney General John Mitchell as associate attorney general responsible for

In July 1970, President Nixon delivered his special message to Congress on Indian Affairs, breaking with two centuries of unjust practices and policies against Native Americans. Nixon said: “From the time of their first contact with European settlers, the American Indians have been oppressed and brutalized, deprived of their ancestral lands and denied the opportunity to control their own destiny. Even the Federal programs which are intended to meet their needs have frequently proven to be ineffective and demeaning.” On this edition of the Nixon Now podcast we discuss the dramatic reshaping of American Indian policy with one of the foremost experts and pioneers in Indian Law. A Harvard Law graduate, Reid Peyton Chambers served as associate solicitor for Indian affairs in the Department of Interior from August 1973 to September 1976. Since 1976, for over forty years, he’s been partner of Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Endreson, and Perry, a law firm dedicated to representing Indian tribes and Alaskan native organ

This edition of the Nixon Now Podcast features one of the nation's foremost experts on America’s First Ladies, Carl Sferreza Anthony. He can be followed on Twitter @canthonyonline and at carlanthonyonline.com. He is the guest curator of an exciting new exhibit at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, entitled, “Why the Wore it: The Politics and Pop Culture of First Ladies’ Fashion." The colorful exhibit features actual and exact replica dresses designed to appear as if they are walking down a runway, including a dress from Melania Trump, which is presented for the first time outside Washington, D.C. However, the focus of the exhibit is not what they wore, but why they wore it. What political and pop cultural messages, overt or very subliminal, were America's First Ladies trying to convey? Mr. Anthony is also author of an 140 page companion book of the same title as the exhibit, featuring more than 100 photographs of every First Lady from Martha Washington to Melania Trump, many never-before-seen. Photo: F

On this edition of the Nixon Now podcast, we take a look at Hollywood's influence on the Civil Rights movement and the White House's work in race relations. To discuss this is Dr. Emilie Raymond, Associate Professor of History at Virginia Commonwealth University. An accomplished author, she has written two books about celebrity influence in U.S. politics, “From My Cold, Dead Hands: Charlton Heston and American Politics” and her latest, “Stars for Freedom: Hollywood, Black Celebrities, and the Civil Rights Movement." Interview by Jonathan Movroydis.

On this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast, we explore how President Nixon’s national security advisor, and later secretary of state Dr. Henry Kissinger crafted and executed negotiating strategies with leaders of foreign countries. This three part interview was conducted with James Sebenius, the Gordon Donaldson Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. You can follow the school’s work on Twitter @harvardhbs. Professor Sebenius specializes in analyzing and advising on complex negotiations. In 1982, he co-founded, and still directs the Negotiation Roundtable at Harvard Law school. In 1994, he spearheaded the Business School’s decision to make negotiation a required course in the MBA program, and create a negotiation unit which he headed for several years. He is the founder and principal of Lax Sebenius: The Negotiation Group LLC. He and his Harvard colleagues, R. Nicholas Burns, former diplomat and professor at the Kennedy School of Government, and Robert Mnookin, attorney and profes

On this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast, we explore how President Nixon’s national security advisor, and later secretary of state Dr. Henry Kissinger crafted and executed negotiating strategies with leaders of foreign countries. This three part interview was conducted with James Sebenius, the Gordon Donaldson Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. You can follow the school’s work on Twitter @harvardhbs. Professor Sebenius specializes in analyzing and advising on complex negotiations. In 1982, he co-founded, and still directs the Negotiation Roundtable at Harvard Law school. In 1994, he spearheaded the Business School’s decision to make negotiation a required course in the MBA program, and create a negotiation unit which he headed for several years. He is the founder and principal of Lax Sebenius: The Negotiation Group LLC. He and his Harvard colleagues, R. Nicholas Burns, former diplomat and professor at the Kennedy School of Government, and Robert Mnookin, attorney and profes

On this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast, we explore how President Nixon’s national security advisor, and later secretary of state Dr. Henry Kissinger crafted and executed negotiating strategies with leaders of foreign countries. This three part interview was conducted with James Sebenius, the Gordon Donaldson Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. You can follow the school’s work on Twitter @harvardhbs. Professor Sebenius specializes in analyzing and advising on complex negotiations. In 1982, he co-founded, and still directs the Negotiation Roundtable at Harvard Law school. In 1994, he spearheaded the Business School’s decision to make negotiation a required course in the MBA program, and create a negotiation unit which he headed for several years. He is the founder and principal of Lax Sebenius: The Negotiation Group LLC. He and his Harvard colleagues, R. Nicholas Burns, former diplomat and professor at the Kennedy School of Government, and Robert Mnookin, attorney and profes

On this edition of the Nixon Now podcast the discussion is about the millions of Mexicans who emigrated to the United States fleeing persecution from Marxist and revolutionary forces, and how they became part of the social fabric of America. When Richard Nixon was a young man he sympathized with their beliefs and aspirations to attain the American dream. When Richard Nixon became president he took up their cause. Of their fathers, Nixon is recorded saying: “They are hard-working, honest, law-abiding family men and deeply Catholic.” Our guest to discuss this subject is Dr. Henry Ramirez. Dr. Ramirez was the Chairman of President Nixon’s Cabinet Committee on Opportunities for Spanish-Speaking People. He went on to serve in the same post under President Reagan. He is a speaker, scholar, educator, and author of two books: “A Chicano in the White House: The Nixon No One Knew” and “Nixon and the Mexicans: How a Young Man Encountered the Diaspora of 1913-1930 and Made a Difference.” Interview by Jonathan Movroydi

What were U.S.-China relations immediately after World War II? In December 1945, Five-Star General George Marshall came out of retirement to help usher in a new era of political stability in China. China had finished a long war with Japan, and had its own internal struggles between nationalists and communists. On this edition of the podcast, we explore this subject with Daniel Kurtz-Phelan, author of the newly released, “The China Mission: George Marshall’s Unfinished War, 1945-1947." Daniel Kurtz-Phelan is the executive editor of Foreign Affairs. He previously served in the U.S. State Department as a member of the secretary of state’s policy planning Staff. His reportage and analysis have appeared in publications including the New York Times and The New Yorker. Interview by Jonathan Movroydis.

On August 8, 1969, President Nixon laid out his domestic policy vision for America. He in particular took aim at the Welfare State, saying that "it brought cities to financial disaster" and had enormous social costs, breaking up homes, penalizing work, and robbing recipients of dignity. On this edition of the podcast, we discuss this subject with John R. Price. Price is a graduate of Grinnell College and Harvard Law School. He is also the recipient of Oxford University's prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. He was the president and CEO of Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh from 2006 to 2010 and earlier, a managing director of Chase Manhattan Bank in New York. He is currently at work on a book about President Nixon's stance on political and public policy issues. Interview by Jonathan Movroydis. Photo: President Nixon with Urban Affairs Advisor Daniel Patrick Moynihan in 1970 (AP)

On July 30, 1947, then Congressman Nixon was selected by Speaker of the House Joe Martin to to be one of the nineteen members of a select committee headed by Congressman Christian Herter to make a trip to Europe and prepare a report in connection with the post -war foreign aid plan that Secretary of State George Marshall unveiled at Harvard University in June of that year. “I learned a great deal from the Herter Committee trip,” Nixon later recalled. “I had taken a poll and found that 75 percent of my constituents in the 12th district [of California] were resolutely opposed to any foreign aid. This was the first time I had experienced the classical dilemma, so eloquently described by Edmund Burke, that is faced at one time or another by almost any elected official in a democracy: how much should his voters register his constituents’ opinions, and how much should they represent his own views and convictions? After what I had seen in and learned in Europe, I believed so strongly in the necessity of extending e

Where did President Nixon’s historic trip to China in 1972 and official normalization between the two countries in 1979 leave Taiwan, the small and thriving Asian democracy that had been a staunch ally of the United States in the Cold War era. On this edition of the podcast we speak with Martin B. Gold. Mr. Gold is author of "A Legislative History of the Taiwan Relations Act: Bridging the Straight." His book examines the passage of the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, which defined U.S.-Taiwan relations after the United States diplomatic recognition of China. It analyzes how the legislation was shaped after extensive hearings, lengthy debates, and shared disagreement in Congress eventually achieved broad consensus. Gold is an an attorney in Washington and on the faculty of at the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University. He knows the subject well because he worked as a senior staffer for a decade when this all took place. First for Senator Mark Hatfield (R-OR) and then Senate Min

How did the Republican Party evolve ideologically in America over the half past half century? This edition of the Nixon Now Podcast explores this question through the lives of four of its leaders: Richard Nixon, Nelson Rockefeller, Barry Goldwater, and Ronald Reagan. Our guest is Dr. Donald Critchlow, Professor of History and Director of the Center for Political Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University, and the founding president of the Institute for Political History. He is the author of many books including “Phyllis Schlafly and Grassroots Conservatism: A Woman’s Crusade,” “The Conservative Ascendancy: How the GOP Right Made Political History,” and “Future Right: Forging a New Republican Majority.” The book he discussed on this edition of the podcast is “Republican Character: From Nixon to Reagan,” which Nixon biographer and former Newsweek editor Evan Thomas calls “engagingly wrought, persuasive, and highly relevant to today’s political scene.” Interview by Jonathan Movroydis. Top Photo and Ca

On April 10, 1962 Walter O'Malley's vision for the Los Angeles Dodgers triumphed when he opened his new privately constructed stadium. It was five years in the making, and wasn't without controversy, as various civic visions and social forces clashed. One thing was certain about Dodger Stadium: it had a profound effect on the city's identity in the 20th Century. In this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast, Jerald Podair, author of "City of Dreams: Dodger Stadium and the Birth of Modern Los Angeles" tell this gripping story. Jerald Podair is professor of history and the Robert S. French Professor of American Studies at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. He is a recipient of the Allan Nevins Prize, awarded by the Society of American Historians for "literary distinction in the writing of history." Interview by Jonathan Movroydis.

Why was the 1970s such a pivotal decade for US-Arab relations? Salim Yaqub professor of history at the University of California Santa Barbara argues that Arabs and Americans came to know each other as never before whether in the highest levels of diplomacy, in street-level interactions, and in the imagination. In this edition of the Nixon Now podcast we explore this subject with Dr. Yaqub, author of "Imperfect Strangers: Americans, Arabs, and U.S.-Middle East Relations in the 1970s." Interview by Jonathan Movroydis

Why was 1956 such a pivotal year in in the Soviet Union? How did it help set the course of the past half century of Russian history. Joining us on this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast to answer these questions is Kathleen Smith. Dr. Smith is Professor of Teaching at the Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service. Her area of expertise is issues of memory and historical politics of Russia. She is author of “Moscow 1956: The Silenced Spring.” Interview by Jonathan Movroydis.

How did Ronald Reagan emerge as a national figure, and come to challenge Richard Nixon for the GOP nomination for President in 1968? This edition of the Nixon Now Podcast features Gene Kopelson. Gene Kopelson is president of the New England chapter, and on the Board of Trustees, of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, an active Churchillian, and a holocaust educator. As a historian, he has published works on Theodore Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet, Ronald Reagan’s 1966 campaign and Mexican American voters, the 1968 Nebraska and Oregon Republican primaries, and Washington State Republican politics in the 1960s. The Robert F. Kennedy Memorial featured his research on Robert F. Kennedy as an inspiration to Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal. His research on Reagan and Eisenhower was featured in 2015 at the 125th Commemoration of the Birth of Dwight Eisenhower at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library. He’s a medical doctor — an oncologist by training — and the author of a new book called “Reagan's 1968 Dress Reh

What is the role of the White House Chief of Staff, and what effect have they had in the governance of a presidential administration? This edition of the Nixon Now podcast features Chris Whipple, author of “The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency.” Chris Whipple is an acclaimed documentary filmmaker, a writer, journalist, and speaker. A Peabody and Emmy Award Winning Producer of CBS 60 minutes and ABC’s Primetime, he’s the chief executive officer of CCWHIP Productions. Most recently he was the writer and executive producer of Showtime’s "The Spymasters: CIA in the Cross Hairs." Of the “Gatekeepers,” Jonathan Alter says “Through Whipple’s discerning lens, we learn scores of new things about how government really works at the highest level.” Interview by Jonathan Movroydis.

This edition of the Nixon Now podcast features author Peter Conradi on the dramatic aftermath of the fall of the Soviet Union, and the rise of Putin’s Russia. The conversation includes story behind Nixon’s critique of the George H.W. Bush administration’s handling of U.S.-Russia relations. Conradi is the foreign editor of The Sunday Times. During his seven years as a foreign correspondent in Moscow, Conradi witnessed the USSR’s collapse first-hand. His previous books include include "Hitler’s Piano Player" and the international bestseller “The King’s Speech” co-authored with Mark Logue, which told the real-life story behind the Oscar-Winning film. He’s also the author of a newly released book, “Who Lost Russia: How the World Entered A New Cold War,” which the New York Times is calling "A smart, balanced analysis of the internal developments that have shaped Russia’s course since the break-up of the Soviet Union.” Interview by Jonathan Movroydis.