by Jo Haldeman
Nixon has been in office for three years, and another presidential race is starting to heat up. Eleven Democrats are already in the running, and it looks as if Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine will be the candidate. Nixon turns fifty-nine and declares his candidacy for a second term by entering the New Hampshire primary. Bob says that at one time the president was intrigued with the idea of having John Connally as his running mate. Not only would the former Democratic governor of Texas help bring in the Southern vote, but he would appeal to disgruntled Democrats. Nothing comes of it, however, and Agnew remains on the ticket. Attorney General John Mitchell announces that he will resign in order to take over as Nixon’s campaign director, heading up the newly formed Committee to Re-Elect the President (CRP). With the slogan “Four More Years,” Nixon’s campaign gets off to a well-organized, well-managed start.
Things look good for the president. There’s a lot of hype over his trip to China next month, and the news from Vietnam is positive. Nixon approves the withdrawal of an additional seventy thousand American troops and discloses his proposal of an eight-point peace plan, which includes provisions for the return of all prisoners of war. Henry Kissinger represents the United States in negotiations with the North Vietnamese. In recognition of Henry and the president’s joint effort to end the war and establish a lasting peace, Time magazine features the two of them on its cover as the “Men of the Year.” Bob tells me that neither one is too happy about having to share the honor.
Housewives and Treason
On Tuesday, January 18, Bob addresses the Upper School at National Cathedral School. His topic is, “The Role of Women in Today’s World.” As I take a seat in the back of the auditorium, I wish that Ann could be here with me, but the Lower School is not included in the program. I listen attentively as Bob emphasizes the importance of women in both the home and the workplace. After speaking for about twenty minutes, he calls for questions.
Responding to one of the students, Bob says, “Some women choose to have careers, but those who do not have just as important a role as housewives.”
When he mentions the word “housewives,” the girls bristle. A sea of hands goes up, but Bob maintains his cool and integrity. He denies the charge that he is suggesting that a wife should be subservient to her husband.
“In a marriage, it takes both the husband and the wife to complement and complete the union,” he explains. “Marriage is a partnership, and one person should never be subservient to the other.”
I know that Bob believes what he says, but his words bring to mind the conversation we had in Key Biscayne nine months ago. At the time, our marriage was far from being a partnership, and I had felt compelled to speak up.
The bell rings, and the students quickly disperse. As Bob and I step outside, a blast of icy wind hits us. We walk briskly across the bleak campus. At the street, a White House driver stands beside the open rear car door. As soon as Bob climbs in, he is whisked away. I retrace my steps to the Thunderbird and head off in the opposite direction.
◆
The mood is festive on January 20, the anniversary of Nixon’s inauguration. Along with their spouses, the cabinet and White House staff celebrate the occasion in the State Dining Room. There are many toasts, and the president is the last to stand. He talks about his foreign accomplishments and the restoration of decency to public life.
“Because we were here these past years,” he concludes, “America is a better place in which to live. The world is a safer place in which to live, and whatever happens in the election really doesn’t matter. We can all be very proud. And I am very proud of everybody in this room.”
Across the table from me, Martha Mitchell’s fixed, dimpled smile is replaced with an expression of veneration. Watching a single tear run slowly down her cheek, I regret judging her so harshly in the past. The president compares the upcoming election to a football game and tells us that this is the fourth quarter. As a player on the Nixon team, I’m inspired to be more supportive of Bob. Realizing how self-consumed I’ve become, I resolve to change.
February 1972
Bob agrees to be interviewed by Barbara Walters on the Today show. Remembering the reaction to his speech at the UCLA Alumni Dinner and his talk at Ann’s school, I’m uneasy. His tongue-in-cheek remarks did not endear him to the press, and his reference to housewives upset the students. This time, Bob assures me I have nothing to worry about. He plans to use his national exposure on TV to emphasize the president’s many accomplishments.
The interview is on February 7, and I watch it while eating breakfast on a tray in the den. As soon as I see Bob and Barbara, comfortably seated by the fire in his office, I feel less anxious. The scene is homey and reassuring. She begins by asking him about domestic issues, covering his management style, the president’s schedule, and plans for the campaign. Bob exudes confidence, and his answers are direct and concise.
Changing subjects, Barbara talks about the Vietnam War. When she asks about Nixon’s reaction to critics of his war policy, Bob shifts positions and straightens up. “Before [the president’s] talk on television, you could say that his critics…were unconsciously echoing the line that the enemy wanted echoed.”
I put down my mug of coffee and lean forward. Bob’s words and change of posture send out a signal, and I sense something big is coming.
“Now that the peace plan is out there, the only conclusion you can draw is that critics are consciously aiding and abetting the enemy of the United States.”
I’m astonished. “Consciously aiding and abetting the enemy” is the definition of treason. For Bob to use these words in the context of people critical of the war means he is effectively saying many congressmen, educators, and businessmen are committing treason.
The media immediately reacts to Bob’s interview. This evening, “The Haldeman Affair” is the lead story on all three network news channels. The next morning, it is featured in Evans and Novak’s “Political Report” in The Washington Post.
With rare unanimity, Mr. Nixon’s politicians agreed…it was folly for Haldeman…to agree to be interviewed on NBC’s “Today” show: [and] it was folly compounded for him to charge Vietnam critics with “consciously aiding and abetting the enemy.”
…But it was also conceded that Haldeman’s power is such that only the president himself could scold him, much less impose any discipline. And nobody in his wildest imagination expects Nixon to dress down his most trusted aide.
Pat Oliphant, a widely syndicated political cartoonist, has a cartoon of Nixon patting the head of a vicious watchdog. The drooling dog looks like Bob. A framed picture of Joe McCarthy is on the wall behind them. The infamous senator is grinning in approval. The Los Angeles Times wastes no time in printing an editorial that bitterly attacks Bob. Titled “Dissent Is Not the Nation’s Enemy,” it is brutal. This is our hometown newspaper. Bob went to school with its publisher, Otis Chandler, whose mother and father are close friends of Bob’s parents.
The latest and most indecent [attack] was H. R. Haldeman’s outrageous assertion that the critics are now aiding and abetting the enemy of the United States. Which is crying “treason,” as destructively, as poisonously, as the word was ever thrown about even in the worst days of the early 1950s.
When the columnist Nicholas Timmesch quotes Bob as saying, “I guess the term ‘son of a bitch’ fits me,” Bob shrugs it off. His indifference bothers me, but I figure he has the president’s approval. Nixon must have wanted Bob to say what he did. As Patrick Anderson wrote, “An aide must be willing to be used as a political lightning rod to draw criticism away from the president.”
China
Fortunately, the “Haldeman Affair” is short-lived. The negative publicity about Bob is overridden by news reports of the president’s upcoming trip to China.
Ten days after the Barbara Walters interview, Bob’s mother and I huddle on the steps of the South Portico of the Whi
te House. It’s freezing cold, but we wouldn’t think of missing this moment. In front of us, Marine One sits on the South Lawn, waiting for the presidential party to board. The twenty-minute helicopter ride to Andrews Air Force Base is the first leg of the trip to China.
Spotting his mother and me, Bob bounds over to give each of us a last-minute hug. There are only thirteen people in the official party, and he is one of them. The president is coatless, as he often is, as he delivers his farewell remarks to a small gathering of cabinet officers and congressmen. Waving from the top step of the helicopter, President and Mrs. Nixon turn and step inside. As soon as the door closes, the giant blades start to rotate.
Bob’s gone. My husband is on his way to China. What an incredible opportunity for him to be a part of history. I continue to wave, even after the helicopter takes off. Non clutches a handkerchief and wipes her eyes.
After brief layovers in Hawaii and Guam, the Nixons will fly to China, where they will spend five days in Peking. From there, a Chinese plane will take them to Hangchow for a day of sightseeing before they depart for Alaska. Much of the trip will be televised live via satellite to a worldwide audience of an estimated six hundred million people. The occasion is historic, and the press coverage is a monumental undertaking.
On February 19, Bob calls from Oahu to wish me a happy twenty-third anniversary. Later, one of his aides braves a snowstorm to deliver a dozen yellow roses. Gordon Strachan plods through the wet, slushy flakes to get to our front door. Buried inside the bouquet is a card in Bob’s handwriting. As soon as I read it, I burst into tears, embarrassing poor Gordon. I am deeply touched by Bob’s caring. Responsible for the all of the logistics of this trip, he has taken the time to remember the two of us.
The next night, Non, Peter, Ann, and I are glued to the TV, mesmerized by the sight of Air Force One approaching the airport in Peking. The commentator explains that only a handful of foreign journalists has been allowed in the country since it was taken over by the Communists twenty years ago.
“Now,” he proclaims, “the greatest anticommunist leader in the world is about to land in the People’s Republic of China!”
“And Bob is with him!” Non exclaims.
A ramp is wheeled into position, and the front door on Air Force One opens. We catch our breath. President and Mrs. Nixon wave as they look out on this strange, unknown country. No one moves as we watch them proceed to the bottom of the stairs. It’s a historic moment as Premier Chou En-lai steps forward to shake hands with the president of the United States. Non claps her hands in anticipation.
Suddenly, the TV channel changes. Everyone looks puzzled, and Peter quickly jumps up to switch it back. We catch the tail end of the handshake.
Over the next five nights, we are enthralled by the live coverage of the president and first lady attending a banquet in the Great Hall, visiting the Ming tombs, and walking along the Great Wall. When they visit the Forbidden City, it’s another historic moment. As the presidential party enters the centuries-old home of the emperor and his household, we look for Bob. Ann spots him wearing a furry, black trapper hat. Non jumps up and points to her son.
For the second time, the TV channel suddenly changes, and we can’t figure out why this happens at such crucial moments. Ann discovers the culprit. It’s Non. Her charm bracelet works like a remote control. Whenever she excitedly waves her hands, the motion changes the channel.
Once Non removes her bracelet, there are no more interruptions. Each event is so foreign and wondrous. When it’s over, the trip to China is universally acclaimed as a “remarkable diplomatic breakthrough.” The president’s surprise visit with a seriously ill Chairman Mao Tse-tung at his residence is considered a coup, and the highlight for Bob is meeting the charismatic Chou En-lai. When he arrives home, Bob has sixty-five rolls of movies and many gifts for the family, each wrapped in musty Chinese newspaper.
Nixon proclaims, “This was the week that changed the world.” The event is acknowledged as being “beautifully choreographed to show the president as a great leader.” The news coverage is extraordinary, and, as one commentator candidly puts it, “If you’re a candidate in the presidential campaign, how do you top this?”
Although I never hear Bob take any credit, a White House staff member is quoted as saying, “The China trip was Bob Haldeman’s masterpiece, his Sistine Chapel.”
A White House Docent Program
March 1972
I enjoy the wives of the senior White House staff, and I’d like to find a worthwhile project for all of us. As a former docent at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, I realize that a similar program could be set up in the White House. As docents, the women would take an extensive training course to prepare them to give VIP tours. Not only would this be good PR for the Nixon administration, but it would give the wives a chance to participate in a meaningful White House activity.
Bob likes the idea and encourages me to discuss it with Lucy Winchester. The White House social secretary’s approval is essential. He explains that the staffs of the first lady and the president can be territorial, and I should be aware that certain jealousies exist between them. Although the docents would come from the West Wing, their training and scheduling would be managed by the East Wing.
When I explain the docent program to Lucy, she is interested and agrees to present it to the wives at a meeting in May. However, she makes it clear that the credit for the program would go to the first lady.
◆
For John Ehrlichman’s forty-seventh birthday on March 19, Jeanne hosts a family party for him at George and Kathleen Bell’s farm in Middleburg, Virginia. Nineteen of us gather for an afternoon of football and Frisbee, followed by a buffet supper on the terrace.
Seated on the low wall surrounding the Bells’ eighteenth century stone terrace, I find myself comparing John and Bob. They are so similar the press gets them mixed up. One journalist recently referred to them as “Hans” and “Fritz,” the Katzenjammer Kids in the comics. Both men were raised in Christian Science and graduated from UCLA. Bob went into advertising, and John got a law degree from Stanford. Their paths overlapped again as advance men before moving up in the hierarchy of the Nixon campaign.
They are smart, competitive, and demanding. They tease a lot, and each has a hearty, spontaneous laugh. John’s wit and sarcasm have a greater cutting edge. Bob’s sense of humor tends more toward slapstick. On the other hand, he seems more intense than John, whose big, teddy bear frame and easygoing personality make him appear more approachable.
Approachable. I turn the word over in my mind. I feel comfortable with John. Might he be someone with whom I could discuss my relationship with Bob? John knows him well, both professionally and personally. The idea is reassuring.
◆
At the end of the month, everyone’s attention is focused on Vietnam, where North Vietnamese troops have launched an all-out attempt to conquer South Vietnam. In a massive attack, the Communists rely on the poor performance of the South Vietnamese army, as well as the underlying support of the antiwar movement in the United States. President Nixon doesn’t yield and authorizes the Seventh Fleet to fire on enemy troops amassed around the Demilitarized Zone.
The war won’t go away. Hank is closer than ever to being drafted. His lottery number is nine, which means if there is a draft next year, he will most likely be inducted. This is a terrifying thought for me. I know Hank thinks about it, too. On his desk I find a well-worn paperback edition of Mastering the Draft. The cover is black, and the title is written in ominous red letters.
April 1972
On April 15, the North Vietnamese offensive threatens to cut South Vietnam in half. When the president orders an extensive bombing attack on Hanoi and Haiphong Harbor, protests erupt across the United States. On April 27, the Paris Peace Talks resume, after being halted last month.
In other news, the United States and Russia, along w
ith seventy other countries, agree to ban biological weapons. Two giant pandas arrive in the US from China. And Bob’s mother is the first woman to receive the Salvation Army’s prestigious Sally Award.
A storm rages outside our home on Saturday, April 22. Thunder rumbles in the distance, and rain drips from the eaves onto already saturated flowerbeds. I sit by a warm fire in the den, pasting photos, menus, and invitations into a large black leather scrapbook.
Late in the afternoon, Bob calls from Camp David, where he and John Ehrlichman are spending the weekend with the president. He laughs when he tells me that my “Easter gumdrop tree” is still standing in front of Laurel. Easter was three weeks ago. However, the staff won’t touch it unless he gives the word.
Picturing the scene, I laugh, too, but our conversation is cut short by Bertha. Awkwardly standing in the doorway, she informs me that she is having her baby. It’s not easy to get her into the low, sleek Thunderbird, but we manage. Flying along rain-slicked streets, the two of us arrive at the hospital without a moment to spare.
Two days later, Little Oscar and his mother come home to the Haldeman household. With a wild shock of black hair like his father’s, he has his mother’s lusty voice. In no time, he settles in. Bertha finds a way to work him into her daily routine, and Bob manages to ignore an occasional misplaced diaper or baby bottle. The boys take Little Oscar in stride, and Ann loves to mother him.
May 1972
The month of May arrives in all its glory. The days are warmer, and soft pinks and fresh spring greens fill the garden. Bertha gives Little Oscar sunbaths, and Ann does her homework outside. Setting up a card table under the flowering cherry trees, she has her parakeet and dog with her.
On Tuesday morning, May 2, J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI for forty-eight years, dies in his sleep. Bob is the one to inform the president, who in turn names L. Patrick Gray as acting director.
