Richard Nixon says that a most unfortunate disclosure during Watergate was that he used foul language in the Oval Office. Other presidents also swore, he says, "but none of them had the bad judgment to have it on tape."
Most people swear at one time or another, he says, "but since neither I nor most other presidents had ever used profanity in public, millions were shocked. I have heard other presidents use very earthy language in the Oval Office."Nixon says this in "In the Arena," a book summing up his life. The seventh book he has published since resigning the presidency in 1974 is the most personal statement of how he has come to feel at peace with himself. "Only when you have been in the depths can you truly appreciate the heights," he says.
"In the end what matters is that you have always lived life to the hilt," he writes. "I have won some great victories and suffered some devastating defeats. But win or lose, I feel fortunate to have come to that time in life when I can finally enjoy what my Quaker grandmother would have called `peace at the center.' "
At the height of the Watergate scandal, in April 1974, Nixon released a 1,300-page volume of transcripts of secretly taped conversation. They were heavily edited to put private comments in the most favorable light and are especially remembered for hundreds of designations, "expletive deleted."
Later when the blanks were filled in, Nixon's heavy use of barnyard language was laid bare.
Nixon observes how television has changed politics, saying there's little correlation between what makes a good leader and what is a good TV performance.
"In the age of soundbites, the three-minute Gettysburg Address would have been 2 1/2 minutes too long,' he writes. "One of today's ambitious young correspondents would probably have summed it up this way: `The president himself admitted to this subdued Pennsylvania crowd what his men have been saying privately: that no one will long remember what he said here.' "
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Some reporters' favorite `cons'
Richard Nixon thinks some reporters are "con artists" who don't always tell the truth when they're interviewing public figures. Here, from "In the Arena," is what he thinks reporters mean:
-"I really want to write a positive story."
Nixon: "This is usually a signal that subject should watch his back, because someone is about to stick a knife into it."
-"If you don't talk, your side won't be represented."
Nixon: "When you get this line from a reporter, trust your instincts. Does he want your views or just the legitimacy that your participation in the story will give him? In a way, this con is a form of blackmail: Talk to me, or else."
-"You should hear what this other guy said about you."
Nixon: "This is journalistic entrapment, a favorite tactic of reporters who want to provoke you into saying something critical about the other guy. Don't be surprised if your angry jibe appears in print and his doesn't."
-"I'm going to write the story, whether you talk to me or not."
Nixon: When you hear this, you should consider whether the reporter might be worried he doesn't have a story at all unless you talk to him."
-"Oh, and just one more question."
Nixon: Forget the other 10 he asked; this is what he really came for."