Nixon Now Podcast

Dean Kotlowski joins the Nixon Foundation on this special Black History Month edition of the Nixon Now Podcast to talk about President Nixon's history with the African American community and his record on civil rights. Dr. Kotlowski is a professor of history at Salisbury University and is the author of an influential book on the subject called "Nixon's Civil Rights: Politics, Principle, and Policy." Interview by Jonathan Movroydis.

A writer, intellect and polymath, William F. Buckley Jr. was founder and editor of National Review for decades and a contemporary of Richard Nixon. Joining the Nixon Now Podcast to discuss the relationship between Buckley and Nixon is James Rosen, Chief Washington, D.C. correspondent for FOX News. Rosen is the editor and curator of a new book of Buckley's writing called "A Torch Kept Lit: Great Lives of the 20th Century." Interview by Jonathan Movroydis.

The subject of the most recent addition to the Nixon Now podcast is a timely one. Since the fall of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1979, Iran and the United States have not had diplomatic relations. Despite recent agreements made in the realm of nuclear proliferation, the diplomatic climate between the United States and Iran has remained murky and has only moved slowly in the positive direction of rapprochement. Joining the Nixon Now podcast to discuss the history of the U.S. relationship with Iran is historian and U.S.-Iranian expert Andrew Scott Cooper. Professor Cooper is a contributing columnist to Foreign Policy and the Guardian newspaper’s Tehran Bureau website. He is affiliated with Columbia’s Center for Global Energy Policy and is a member of the UK Energy Institute. He is also the author author of “The Fall of Heaven: The Pahlavis and the Final Days of Imperial Iran.” Cooper spoke at the Nixon Library on September 19, 2016, to share his insight on the final days of one of the world’s most legen

In 1972, President Nixon was elected by a 49-state landslide and nearly 50 million votes. He built a grand coalition, welcoming in traditional Democrats including ethnic and working-class voters. Joining us on this week's Nixon Now Podcast is Michael Balzano. Balzano was a White House Staff Assistant from February 1972 through March 1973 where he worked under Charles Colson at the Office of Public Liaison. Balzano acted as a liaison between the Nixon administration and various segments of the population, including labor, Catholics, Poles, Slovaks, Italians, Greeks, Ukranians, Lithuanians, Estonians, and other Eastern European groups. Balzano is also the author of "Building a New Majority," which provides candidates and the public the tools to better understand the complexities of the American workforce. Interview by Jonathan Movroydis.

Last week, the Nixon Foundation spoke with historian Jussi Hanhimaki on the subject of Detente with the Soviet Union during the presidency of Richard Nixon. We continue this discussion in Part II of this podcast episode. The subject of this podcast is very relevant to today’s politics as the U.S and Russia are constantly at odds on the direction of world affairs. The discussion is about Great Power Detente — that is the policy of relaxation of tensions — in the 1970s between the Soviet Union and the United States. Joining the discussion In this two part series is Jussi Hanhimaki, professor of history at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. He is one of the founding editors of the journal “Cold War History, and in 2006 he was named Finland Distinguished Professor by the Academy of Finland. He’s also the author of several books and publications, including “The Rise and Fall of Detente: American Foreign Policy and the Transformation of the Cold War.” Intervie

The subject of this week's podcast is very relevant to today’s politics as the U.S and Russia are constantly at odds on the direction of world affairs. The discussion is about Great Power Detente — that is the policy of relaxation of tensions — in the 1970s between the Soviet Union and the United States. Joining the discussion In this two part series is Jussi Hanhimaki, professor of history at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. He is one of the founding editors of the journal “Cold War History, and in 2006 he was named Finland Distinguished Professor by the Academy of Finland. He’s also the author of several books and publications, including “The Rise and Fall of Detente: American Foreign Policy and the Transformation of the Cold War.” Interview by Jonathan Movroydis.

68 years ago, first-term Congressman Richard Nixon presided over the prosecution of Alger Hiss, a Harvard trained and high-ranking member of the Federal Government accused of Soviet espionage. Joining the Nixon Now Podcast to discuss the case that brought Richard Nixon to the national political stage is biographer and historian Irv Gellman. Gellman, who has been featured on our podcast in the past, is a writer of several books, including two about Richard Nixon, “The Contender” which chronicles the future president’s years in Congress, and his latest book “The President and the Apprentice,” about RN’s years as vice president. Interview by Jonathan Movroydis.

President Nixon came into office during rampant drug use in the United States, especially plaguing American cities. For example in 1960, there were over 200 narcotics related deaths in New York City. In 1970, that figure had risen to over a thousand. To talk about Nixon's drug control policy is Michael Massing. Massing is the former executive editor of the Columbia Journalism Review and is a frequent editor there and in other publications including the New York Review of books, The New York Times, The New Yorker and The Atlantic Monthly. He is the author of a definitive book on Nixon's drug policy called "The Fix: Under the Nixon Administration, America Had an Effective Drug Policy. WE SHOULD RESTORE IT. (Nixon Was Right)." Interview by Jonathan Movroydis.

This month marks the 67th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The future of NATO has been the subject of media buzz lately, especially as GOP front runner Donald Trump has called the American-European defense alliance obsolete. To discuss how President Nixon saw the future of NATO, America’s relationship with Europe, and what American leaders can learn from him is Texas A&M History Professor Luke Nichter. Nichter is the co-author with Douglas Brinkley of the recent volume of bestsellers on the Nixon Tapes, and the recently released "Richard Nixon and Europe: The Reshaping of the Postwar Atlantic World." Interview by Jonathan Movroydis. Luke Nichter's books are available for purchase from the Richard Nixon Museum Store: https://store.nixonfoundation.org/search?q=luke+nichter

This week's podcast is about the Central Intelligence Agency in the Nixon administration. In August of this year, the CIA will be releasing all the daily briefings the agency disseminated during the Nixon and Ford administrations at a special event at the Nixon Presidential Library. Here with us to discuss the presidential daily briefing during the Nixon years is David Priess, author of the newly released book "The President's Book of Secrets: The Untold Story of Intelligence Briefings from Kennedy to Obama." Priess served in the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations as an award-winning intelligence officer, manager and daily briefer at the CIA, as well as a desk officer at the State Department. He has his PhD from Duke University and is currently a director at Analytic Inc., offering specialized training, mentoring and consulting services to the intelligence community, other government offices and the private sector. Interview by Jonathan Movroydis.

This week marks the 104th birthday of First Lady Pat Nixon. To discuss her life and legacy is Bob Bostock. Bostock served as special assistant to former President Nixon, leading the writing and curating of most of the exhibits at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library. In 2012, he wrote and curated the special Centennial Exhibit about First Lady Pat Nixon, also at the Nixon Library. Bostock has 15 years of experience in senior federal, state and local governments including work as a senior advisor to New Jersey Governor and later EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman. The two co-wrote the best-selling book "Its My Part Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America." Bostock also has 15 years of senior federal, state and local governments including work as a senior advisor to New Jersey Governor and later EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman. The two cowrote the best-selling book "Its My Part Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America." Interview by Jonathan Movroydis

Nixon's week that changed the world was a Cold War game-changer, establishing rapprochement between the U.S. and China after nearly a quarter century of non-communication. Discussing the impact of the trip is Ambassador Richard Solomon. A specialist in Chinese politics, Ambassador Solomon joined the national security council staff under Dr. Henry Kissinger in 1971. In the Reagan administration, he became director of policy planning at the Department of State and was appointed assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and Ambassador of the Philippines by President George H.W. Bush. From 1993 until his retirement in 2012, he served as President of the United States Institute of Peace. He is now a senior fellow at the RAND Corporation. Interview by Jonathan Movroydis.

With the recent passing of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia and the hotly contested debate over the future of the Supreme Court, we look at President Nixon's judicial philosophy and his actions to shape the nation's highest court. Nixon appointed four justices including the influential William Rehnquist, who served for more than 30 years on the bench. To discuss this topic with the Nixon Foundation is Kevin McMahon, the John R. Reitemeyer Professor of Political Science at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. His books include "Reconsidering Roosevelt on Race" and his most recent "Nixon's Court: His Challenge to Judicial Liberalism and Its Political Consequences." For this book he was awarded the Erwin N. Griswold Book Prize, and was given the opportunity to deliver a lecture at the Supreme Court of the United States. Interview by Jonathan Movroydis.

This week marks the 43rd anniversary of the beginning of Operation Homecoming, when American POWs held captive in Vietnam finally returned to U.S. soil. Joining us on the Nixon Now Podcast to discuss his captivity is retired Air Force Colonel Lee Ellis. Colonel Ellis was a prisoner for six years in the infamous Hanoi Hilton and for his service was awarded two Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with Valor device, the Purple Heart, and POW Medal. He lectures on leadership, works as a consultant to Fortune 500 companies, and is the author of "Leading with Honor: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton" and a forthcoming book "Engage with Honor." Interview by Jonathan Movroydis.

This week the Nixon Now podcast hosted one of America’s principal experts on the Middle East, Ambassador Dennis Ross, for a discussion on President Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's efforts to bring about peace in this volatile region of the world. Ambassador Ross served as the lead envoy on Middle East Peace negotiations for the administrations of George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. He is a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and the author of several books including his latest, “Doomed to Succeed: The U.S.-Israel Relationship from Truman to Obama.” Interview by Jonathan Movroydis.

Today marks the 43rd anniversary of the signing of the Paris Peace Accords, which ended U.S. combat operations in Indochina. Joining us to discuss this topic is Bruce Herschensohn, former director of Motion Picture and Television at the U.S. Information Agency and staff assistant to President Nixon. He's the author of "An American Amnesia: How U.S. Congress Forces the Surrenders of Vietnam and Cambodia" and is currently a senior fellow at the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy. Interview by Jonathan Movroydis.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights legacy left by President Dwight Eisenhower and then Vice President Richard Nixon was the subject of a special Nixon Now podcast with biographer and historian Irv Gellman. Dr. Gellman is a prodigious researcher and prolific writer of several books, including two about Richard Nixon, “The Contender” which chronicles the Nixon's years in Congress, and his latest book “The President and the Apprentice,” about RN’s years as vice president. Interview by Jonathan Movroydis

In the inaugural Nixon Now Podcast Interview, Nixon speech writer and advisor Pat Buchanan discusses the similarities between Donald Trump and Richard Nixon, and compares the 2016 and 1968 elections. Buchanan thinks that like Nixon, Trump has cross party appeal, and could not only maintain the conservative base but eclipse the GOP establishment. Interview by Jonathan Movroydis. Learn more about Pat Buchanan's time in Nixon's White House in his book, "Nixon's White House Wars," available from the Richard Nixon Museum Store: https://store.nixonfoundation.org/products/nixons-white-house-wars-the-battles-that-made-and-broke-a-president-and-divided-america-forever