The Private World of Richard Nixon

More than any other modern occupant of the White House, Richard Nixon has guarded his privacy. He does not see the presidency as a platform to provide his constituency with psychic gratification, nor does he feel that trivia like what he has for breakfast are worthy of being trumpeted to the four corners of the earth. He revealed his introspective side in this rare and illuminating tour of the Executive Mansion with TIME's White House Correspondent Jerrold Schecter:

WE begin in the Oval Office, a room, the President observes, that "has a mystical effect on people. When visitors come in I have to remind myself that I have to draw them out. I've seen important men, the biggest men in the country, walk into this room and become tongue-tied. It has to do with the majesty and power of the presidency. I don't use this office to make decisions. When I get here, the decision has been made."

Nixon points out that "the way a man uses the room says something about him. When I came to the White House there were three television sets in the Oval Office. I could not work with TV sets in the office. I have no TV sets in my bedroom in the White House or in the bedrooms of any of the places where I live."

How is he kept informed? "I organize my day in a way in which I probably get a more balanced view of the news than anybody who has been in this office. I don't get bogged down in any part of the news. My much maligned and praised news summary covers all aspects of it: the newspapers, TV news, radio, the newsmagazines and the monthly magazines. I can scan the report in as little as ten minutes and know more than if I had read the New York Times all the way through. I tell the staff to leave out the puff pieces and the personal criticism. I am an issue man.

"I don't worry about the press. For a Congressman or even the Vice President, it is different. My political critics don't get under my skin at all. I care about the substance, but criticism doesn't bother me personally. Somebody may say 'that s.o.b. wrote this and that,' but the President must remain somewhat distant and not personally involved; if he did not, it would erode his ability to make a decision.

"So I never start the morning by reading through the Washington Post or the New York Times. I wouldn't start by looking at Herblock. I know that when I have to make a decision I must be disciplined. I have learned a lot from experience, from great victories and great defeats. They teach discipline. I have my moments when I'm not as disciplined as I might be, but I try to overcome them.

"Great decisions, if they are to be good decisions, must be made coolly; and if you respond in hot blood, you cannot make good decisions. And I like a clean room. This desk is always clean. Of course, if I'm writing a speech, I'm surrounded by a pile of papers as I sit stiffly thinking and concentrating. But whoever is in this office cannot afford to be undisciplined. He must live like a Spartan. You have to save yourself, be at your best, be physically and mentally disciplined to make decisions in a balanced way. I would not think of making a decision by going around the table and then deciding on the basis of how everyone felt. Of course, I like to hear everyone, but then I go off alone and decide. The decisions that are important must be made alone.

"I have an absolute rule: I refuse to make decisions that somebody else can make. The first rule of leadership is to save yourself for the big decisions. Don't let your mind become cluttered with trivia. Don't let yourself become the issue."

Those views on delegating authority extend to the management of the White House. "Mrs. Nixon is in charge of the White House. I leave it to the experts. I try to stay out of it unless I have to. Sometimes, for an important state dinner, I'll pick a wine. I do know something about wines. At first I checked the guest lists for all the dinners, but now only sometimes. Rose Woods [Rose Mary Woods, the President's personal secretary] takes care of that. One thing, though: I back my staff totally. If Rose Woods invites somebody and someone else says he's a jerk, I say, 'Maybe he's a jerk, but he was invited.' If anybody does anything for me that I've asked him to do, I back him totally. Nobody is ever dressed down for making a mistake.

"I couldn't get excited about going to a good restaurant night after night. Sometimes I pick a good wine. I don't have wines unless they are the best. During the week my relaxation may be a glass of wine or a drink, but I couldn't have a couple of belts and work well. I relax on a weekend when there is nothing to do the next day, but never at a public event. As President, an individual is expected to maintain a quality of dignity. A quality of aloofness. Yes, of course, to be friendly too, but people don't want the President of the United States to be a little sloppy or lewd or vulgar. They want to think he is one of them but not too much so. If they see the President kicking up his heels, eating too much or drinking too much, the confidence factor is weakened. People want to think that if there is a crisis, he will be cool and sober. They also want to think that he's a human guy who likes his wife and kids and a good time."

From the Oval Office the President moves through the West Wing past his staff offices, then down the back stairs and into the basement. Secret Service men and White House policemen stir. Nixon stops to say a few words to Henry Kissinger's staff in the corner basement office. "How's everyone in the sweatshop? Is he still working you hard?"

"Yes," replies a secretary, "but don't tell him we said so."

"I won't," says the President. "Does he come down and say hello?"

Then it is a brisk walk in the evening coolness over to the Executive Office Building, where the President sprints up the long steps. "I usually work here from 3 to 6 in the afternoon," he explains. "When important decisions are to be made, I have to withdraw sometimes."

Inside, his E.O.B. office is both practical and elegant. There is a large anteroom with a conference table. One wall is decorated with campaign cartoons. His inner sanctuary has a comfortable warmth. On the President's desk is a copy of Herman Wouk's new novel The Winds of War, a gift from the author. "Pat Moynihan and Bill Safire pick books for me. In the reading field I am basically a history buff--history and biography. If I pick out anything to reread, such as Sandburg's Lincoln, I mark pages I like. It's poetry, of course."

The President slips into a comfortable, yellow silk armchair, his feet up on an ottoman, to make phone calls. "I make a great number of phone calls. The White House operators are fantastic at reaching people."

He is obviously pleased with the E.O.B. hideaway and how it enables him to vary the mood and pace that he must maintain in the Oval Office. Walking back to the East Wing and the family living quarters, the President talks about his bowling (there are two automatic lanes in the E.O.B. basement). "I usually bowl for an hour about 8:30 or 9. I bowl 155 to 160. I have bowled a few games over 200. I could be a good bowler if I had the time."

The President strides past the press office and enters the White House through the door leading to the Rose Garden. We go to the Lincoln Sitting Room in the southeast corner of the White House. There, where he relaxes and reads, the President has a favorite gray velvet armchair "that we brought from California." This is the room where he met with Henry Kissinger to plan the China trip. Occasionally he smokes a pipe or a cigar here. There is a fireplace he likes to have kept burning and high-fidelity speakers on either side of the grate. His tapes, cartridges and phonograph are in a large walk-in closet near the door to the sitting room. He prefers melodious classics: Van Cliburn playing Grieg, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff; the theme music from Doctor Zhivago and Victory at Sea.

"I usually bring a briefcase over here and read in the evening. I often read offbeat things selected for me that range from the National Review to the New Republic, the Observer or the so-called little magazines. But if I have to concentrate on composition, I work in the E.O.B.," Nixon explains. "I don't see any movies during the week, but on Monday nights, I watch the second half of the football game. I never watch myself on television. I strongly advise young political people, 'Don't watch yourself on television. You may become self-conscious.' I did watch Tricia's wedding, though."

From the Lincoln Sitting Room the President leads the way back to his bedroom. In it the President's pajamas are laid out on a small single bed. Next to the bed is a large night table on which is a pile of books: Sandburg's Abraham Lincoln, H.G. Wells' The Outline of History, Blake's Disraeli. On the bookshelf opposite his bed are the complete works of Winston Churchill bound in red and green leather. "Prime Minister Heath gave them to me when he was here last."

Does he keep a diary? "I should keep one. It would be priceless. Not in terms of money, but the impressions that will be lost. Now and then I do put something on the Dictaphone and give it to Rose Woods and tell her not to type it up but save it. At night, I usually wake up between 12 and 2 when my mind is clear and make some notes. I never get out of bed, though, because then I would wake up fully. The next morning I look at the notes in the light of day." Near the bed is a white phone marked with a red tab that reads "secure." Says Nixon: "I usually don't use it, though; it's too complicated."

It is time to go. Does he feel at the top of his form? He laughs. "I know the press is saying that. But nobody can judge himself."

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