Haldeman Homecoming

It was billed as a welcome-home luncheon for former White House Chief of Staff H.R. ("Bob") Haldeman. But when reporters approached some of the 70 guests invited to the all-male Los Angeles gathering, they blanched as if they had been caught attending a Mafia testimonial. Snapped Los Angeles Times Mirror Co. Board Chairman Franklin Murphy when asked to identify himself: "That's really irrelevant."

The host, Los Angeles Investor Z. Wayne Griffin, was not quite so diffident. "I've known Bob since he was four years old," said Griffin, "and as an old Haldeman aficionado, I simply wanted to welcome home a favorite son. The public doesn't realize how much Bob sacrificed in government service." The guests at the private party in Perino's restaurant (menu: roast beef and apple cake `a la mode) represented a well-heeled selection of the Southern California Establishment, including onetime Haldeman associates former Communications Director Herbert G. Klein and former HEW Secretary Robert H. Finch, Nixon Contributors Justin Dart and Holmes Tuttle, U.C.L.A. Chancellor Charles E. Young and Los Angeles Herald-Examiner publisher George Hearst Jr. Explained Klein: "Finch and I had our differences with Bob. But this isn't a time to ignore a man who is down."

Haldeman's mood was decidedly up. He quipped about his new long hairstyle ("I gave up the crew cut because it's getting pretty thin on top") and the number of flights he has been forced to make to Washington on Watergate matters: "It seems I'm involved in a new Government recreational program to keep the unemployed occupied."

But Haldeman, who drew warm applause during his half-hour talk to the group, remained serious most of the time. He confessed that he is involved in no fewer than five private lawsuits arising out of Watergate and related activities. Yet he persisted in his firm defense of his old boss: "I have supported the President's position on disclosure of privileged material. But I have no doubt that when and if the tapes are made public, President Nixon and I will be fully exonerated." As for himself, Haldeman pledged that, "I'm very anxious to tell all I know, at the right time, to the proper authorities." Did he have any doubts about Nixon's remaining in office? "The President had a great first term," said Haldeman. "I think his second term will finish successfully."

Haldeman and his wife Jo moved this summer into a $140,000 four-bedroom house in the exclusive Hancock Park section of Los Angeles. Being unemployed works no great hardship, since he has inherited wealth. "Money," says an old family friend, "is not among Bob's worries these days." From all outward appearances, neither is Watergate. Said one guest: "What was missing was any indication from Bob that he might have made a few mistakes in all of this. Instead, it was just a reiteration of his story--with a little reference to having put too much trust in other people."

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