Richard Nixon died Friday, four days after suffering a stroke that had left him in a deep coma. He was 81.
The former president died at 9:08 p.m. at New York Hospital, said spokeswoman Myrna Manners. "His family was with him," she said.Reporters who had gathered outside the Manhattan hospital learned the news about 1 1/2 hours after his death in a two-sentence news release. Soon after the news was announced, the flag was lowered to half-staff over the White House.
The body had been removed from the hospital by the time the death was announced.
All three networks interrupted regular programming to announce the death and present highlights of his career. The news drew expressions of sorrow from political friends and foes.
President Clinton called a news conference in the Rose Garden to make the formal announcement.
"I was deeply grateful to President Nixon for his wise counsel on many occasions," Clinton said. "Our relationship continued to be warm and constructive. . . . He went out of his way to give me his best advice."
"To Nancy and me he was a cherished friend and brilliant counselor," former President Ronald Reagan said from Los Angeles. "Richard Nixon understood the world. He understood politics, power and the fragile yet undeniable force of history. There is no question that the legacy of this complicated and fascinating man will continue to guide the forces of democracy forever."
Connecticut Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr., once a fierce critic of the Watergate scandal, said: "Past differences are now history. I wish him God's care and peace."
Services were scheduled for Wednesday at the Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, Calif. A private interment will follow at the library near the grave of his wife, Pat, who died last year.
Nixon was brought to the hospital after suffering the stroke Monday night at his Park Ridge, N.J., home.
His daughters, Julie Eisenhower and Tricia Cox, were at his side as his condition deteriorated.
He was partly paralyzed on the right side and unable to speak even before he slipped into the coma Thursday.
In the hours after the stroke, doctors said Nixon was out of grave danger, alert and in good spirits. He was moved out of intensive care briefly Tuesday but returned two hours later when doctors discovered a swelling of the brain.
Doctors sometimes try to reduce brain swelling after a stroke by using a respirator to speed up breathing. Nixon was not put on a respirator. He had left a living will, and several news organizations reported that it included instructions that he not be resuscitated.
Nixon's stroke apparently was the result of a blood clot that formed in his heart and moved to the brain's middle cerebral artery. The blockage deprived this crucial cranial region of oxygen, damaging some brain tissue and causing the swelling.
Nixon had been working on his latest book when he was stricken.
During his hospitalization the Rev. Billy Graham, an old friend, stopped by to visit his daughters.
Foreign leaders sent letters of encouragement, including Russian President Boris Yeltsin, whose telegram said, "I hope you recover and return to the rough and tumble of political life."
People lined up during the week at the Nixon Library in California to write down their wishes for his recovery.
Nixon was defeated by John F. Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election after serving as a Republican congressman, senator and vice president. He was elected the 37th president in 1968.
In 1974, under the cloud of the Watergate scandal, he became the first president to resign.