Nixon’s Cabinet
"I am not a crook."
- Richard M. Nixon
Contents
Topics of Discussion………………………………..………….
The Viet Nam War in Politics……..………..………………………..…
The Economy………..………..………..…………..…..………..………….
A Plague of Drugs..………..………..………..………..…..…………..….
Latin America…….………..………..………..……..………..………..…..
Sino-American Relations..………..………..……………………………
1
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3
4
5
6
Committee Procedures.….…….…….…….…….…………. 8
Delegate Positions…………………………..…….…………… 9
Bibliography…….…….…….…….…….…….………….…….. 14
Image Credit: PBS
The Viet Nam
War in Politics
Topics of Discussion
When Richard Nixon served as the 37th President of the United States
from 1969-1974, he led the nation through a tumultuous international climate
and increasing challenges at home.
Upon Nixon’s inauguration in 1969, the United States’ involvement in the
Viet Nam War, which started in 1965, was ongoing. Previously, President Lyndon
B. Johnson had expressed his intention to reduce the number of American troops
in Viet Nam, and President Nixon hoped to adhere to that plan. In the first month
of Nixon’s administration, Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird revealed a plan of
“Vietnamization” to transfer the military responsibility in the region to the
Republic of Viet Nam (informally known as South Viet Nam), while still
providing it with weapons, aid, and military advisors. Following the approval of
the President, 60,000 troops were recalled from the front. By this time, the
administration was dealing with domestic public pressure to remove all of the
troops from Viet Nam at once. The lack of popular support for the war effort
made it cumbersome for the administration to commit monetary resources to the
conflict. Little did they know, however, that by the end of the war, the total cost of
the conflict would amount to $738 billion (adjusted for inflation).1
External to the conflict in Indochina, there also existed international
pressure to stifle the influence that the Soviet Union had over Communist proxy
states and move towards a peace process guaranteeing the long-term stability of
free market systems. The Cold War divided the world into two opposing sides: the
Western Bloc, led by the United States and NATO forces; and the Eastern Bloc
(or Soviet Bloc) consisting of the Soviet Union and its communist allies within the
Warsaw Pact. There was no direct military conflict between the two blocs;
instead, both sides aligned themselves with other nations in defense of their
particular ideology, be it one-party communism or liberal democracy. Thus, the
Cold War was fought largely through proxy wars, smaller regional conflicts with
military and monetary support of the Western and Soviet blocs. For example, in
the Korean War (1950-1953), the Western powers allied themselves with the
South Korean forces to repulse and eventually invade the territory of North
Korea, which was backed by China and the USSR.2 The military contributions of
the Western Bloc secured South Korea’s status as an ally to the West in the
region.
1 Stephen Daggett, Costs of Major U.S. Wars. Congressional Research Service
2 Michael Hickey, The Korean War: An Overview. BBC History, 2011.
1
Vietnam War
Protesters
Image Credit:
New York Times
In the case of Viet Nam, Ho Chi Min, the leader of the Viet Minh Party in
the north of Viet Nam, had aligned with the Viet Cong, a Communist group in the
south of Viet Nam to gain control of the whole region. As a result of the Cold War
efforts, Ho Chi Minh was allied with the USSR and South Vietnam had the United
States as its prime ally.3 These military efforts, however, were not isolated to Viet
Nam itself. The Viet Cong and the People’s Army of Viet Nam (PAVN) moved
their forces towards the borders of Cambodia, a nation whose military weakness
and neutrality made it vulnerable. President Nixon saw it as his duty to secure the
borders of Cambodia and contain the conflict. With that intention, he developed a
strategy he called Madman Theory. President Nixon was quoted speaking to his
Chief of Staff as follows:
I call it the Madman Theory, Bob. I want the North Viet Namese to believe
I've reached the point where I might do anything to stop the war. We'll
just slip the word to them that, ‘for God's sake, you know Nixon is
obsessed about Communism. We can't restrain him when he's angry—and
he has his hand on the nuclear button’ and Ho Chi Minh himself will be in
Paris in two days begging for peace.4
The cabinet now needs to decide how to use its own powers to chart the
course of action.
Questions to consider:
3 Topics in the Vietnam War from History.
4 Haldeman, H. R. (1978). The Ends of Power. Times Books. p. 122.
2

A Plague of
Drugs
The Economy



What are the economic and political risks of continuing to support South Viet
Nam?
What are the benefits of securing the region from the communist forces?
How will President Nixon’s “Madman Theory” be proposed to and accepted
by the general public?
How can the Cabinet resolve the issue of communist forces invading
Cambodia?
At the start of President Nixon’s administration the United States
economy was far from prosperous, with both inflation and unemployment on the
rise. During the early 1960s, the unemployment rate for all workers had been at
3.5%.5 However, as the decade progressed, unemployment continued to increase,
reaching up to 6.6% by the end of 1970. In fact, at the time, there were as many
employed people in manufacturing as there were unemployed people looking for
manufacturing jobs.6 Balancing the fragile economy and brutal war effort would
prove difficult for the Nixon Administration.
During this time, the United States adhered to the gold standard. The
value of gold had been maintained at $35 per ounce since the Roosevelt
administration. However, the United States was spending more money
domestically and internationally than it received in taxes, resulting in a
consistent deficit. As this spending continued, the value of the dollar decreased
because the government did not have adequate gold reserves to guarantee all the
cash in circulation. According to some economists, he drop in confidence this
could cause may lead to a market crash. Some observers have noted the
similarities between the current economic situation and the market conditions
just before the stock market crash of 1929.
It is of utmost importance to President Nixon’s administration to lower
inflation in order to stabilize the domestic economy. If the economic problems
affecting the United States are not solved, President Nixon could suffer a loss of
popular support that could potentially cost him reelection.
Questions to consider:
 What are the implications of changes in the domestic economic policies on
the international market?
 What are the benefits and the potential downside of maintaining the gold
standard?
 What sorts of reforms could take place domestically to improve the financial
standing of the United States?
5 Robert E. Hall, The Unemployment Explosion of 1970, found in Stanford Library, 3.
6 Ibid.
3
Along with hoping to improve the economy, President Nixon sought to
rebuild moral order and reduce drug-related crime in the United States. The
meteoric rise in drug use and increasingly permissive views on sexuality after the
protest movements of the 1960s had had a negative effect on the president’s
popularity within the conservative electorate. The Hippie movement of the 1960s
had successfully galvanized the masses to protest against the war, but it was also
responsible for propagating drug use and encouraging promiscuous behavior and
values.
San Francisco
State Strikers
Image Credit:
foundsf.org
The usage of drugs such as marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and LSD were not
only popular domestically, but in the military as well. The legacy of the Opium
Wars between China and the United Kingdom had had long-lasting effects on the
Viet Nam, since many Chinese addicted to opium had helped to popularize drug
consumption in that country.7 In Viet Nam, drugs were not as restricted as in the
United States, and consequently, the onset of the Viet Nam War saw a rise in
drug consumption among American military personnel. The rate of drug use
amongst soldiers serving in Viet Nam rose to the point that the market for drugs
in the military alone was worth $88 million.8 This phenomenon continued to
decrease popular support for the war effort when the rampant abuse of drug
usage was brought to public attention through media coverage that depicted the
United States as lacking morals and rife with corruption. Drug enforcement
became more rigorous within the military, but little was done to rehabilitate
addicted soldiers. The combination of stricter enforcement and little assistance
for addicts returning from war, this brought forth a wave of discharged soldiers
that returned to the United States as addicts without a system in place to assist
them in their rehabilitation.
7 Peter Brush Higher and Higher: American Drug Use in Viet Nam. Viet Nam magazine, Vol.15, No. 4, December 2002, found in
Vanderbilt Library.
8 Ibid.
4
The plague of drugs that had befallen the United States, however, was not
a locally contained problem. The United States’ drug markets were part of larger
international systems, including most famously the “French Connection.” The
French Connection was a system in which opium grown in Turkey would be
shipped to the port of Marseilles in France to be processed into heroin under the
supervision of a Corsican gang. The drugs were then shipped to New York City,
where local families involved in the mafia system would distribute the product to
the rest of the East Coast.9
President Nixon has made it publically clear that drug control is to
become an issue of top priority in his domestic agenda.
Questions to consider:
 How can the Nixon Administration form a comprehensive legal and public
health campaign to deter the use of drugs?
 How can President Nixon appease the qualms of voters that believe the
United States is becoming morally bankrupt?
 Who are stakeholders in domestic and international drug markets? What
measures can be taken to control the flow of drugs into the United States as
well as their consumption once inside our country?
 How can the cabinet resolve the issue of drug abuse in the military?
Latin America
In 1950, Socialist presidential candidate Jacobo Árbenz was elected in
Guatemala. The United States responded with PBFORTUNE, a CIA operation
carried out under President Truman.10 PBFORTUNE was a contingency plan to
oust the Guatemalan president, and it was composed of media attacks that
stigmatized and threatened people who associated themselves with the socialist
parties in Guatemala. This was mainly due to the fear of a potential Communist
alliance between the Soviet Union and Guatemala.11 The efforts of the CIA came
to a climax with Operation PBSUCCESS under President Eisenhower, in which
the CIA supported a successful coup in Guatemala and instated a ruler who
favored building strong relations with the United States.12 As a result of the coup,
civil war and unrest broke out in Guatemala.
In 1970, Chilean President Salvador Allende became the first socialist
leader in Latin America elected in an open and fair manner. Given the ongoing
struggle against communism, President Nixon saw Allende’s rise to power as
detrimental to the United States’ stability and feared that Allende’s election
would become a model for other Latin American nations.
The United States had already broken ties with the only other Sovietaligned regime in the Western Hemisphere, Cuba. Nixon was suspicious of what
he viewed as an increase in military ties between Cuba and the Soviet Union.
Covert operations (in tandem with the ongoing negotiations between the Russian
government, the Cuban government, and the American government) formed the
modus operandi of the Nixon Administration.
9 Drug Enforcement Administration Museum & Visitor Center, The French Connection and the Rise of the American Mafia.
10 Prof. Gordon L. Bowen “Targeted Killings:” U.S. policy toward use of covert operations involving assassination in Understanding
American Foreign Policy, 2013.
11 Guatemala Apologizes to Arbenz Family for 1954 coup in BBC, 2011.
12 Bowen, 2013.
5
President
Salvador Allende
Image Credit:
nytimes.com
As a sign of US interest in Latin America, the United States’ Army School
of the Americas had been established to aid with diplomacy in the region. The
role of the school is to teach Latin American students about anti-communist
counterinsurgency techniques and the virtues of democratic civilian control.13
The school was established by President Kennedy and was a nascent effort in the
Cold War to ensure that military relations with the United States were strong in
the region. Interrogation and psychological warfare were a few of the learning
tools popularized amongst the students of the school in the 1960s.14
Questions to consider:
 What is the United States’ responsibility in terms of maintaining stability in
Latin America?
 How can the United States effectively counter to the rise of socialism in the
region?
 How will actions taken in Latin America impact domestic approval ratings?
 Is the School of the Americas a sustainable solution to problems in Latin
America or must other options be considered in order to maintain a favorable
view of the United States?
Sino-American
Relations
Prior to his election, President Nixon wrote a piece for Foreign Affairs in
which he stated that "there is no place on this small planet for a billion of its
potentially most able people to live in angry isolation." Thus, President Nixon’s
interest in the potential of China as a diplomatic and economic partner was clear.
It was in 1949 that Chairman Mao Tse Tung proclaimed himself the
chairman of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and instituted Maoist
Communism within China’s government. During these revolutionary struggles,
the Nationalist Party in China, under the leadership of General Chiang Kai-Shek,
fled Mainland China for the island of Taiwan. From then on, the United States
took a stance geared towards isolating Mao’s China economically and
diplomatically. As a result, the United States recognized the government of
Taiwan as the legitimate government of all of China.
13 School of Dictators, from New York Times, 1996.
14 Ibid.
6
Little more than a year after the creation of the PRC, the prospects of
economic and international cooperation between Chairman Mao’s China and the
United States diminished after China intervened in the Korean War in favor of
communist North Korea. The United States responded to Mao’s political move by
placing an embargo on China that limited its trade with nearly all Western
nations.
As the 1970s neared, relations between the Soviet Union and the People’s
Republic of China were taking a turn for the worse. Chairman Mao retooled
traditional Marxist-Leninist communism to better fit Chinese political and social
realities, an ideology he called Maoism; this modification L caused a rift between
the Soviets and the Chinese. Furthermore, there was an underlying historical
tension between the two communist powers, rooted in territorial disputes dating
back to the Qing dynasty. The Russian tsars acquired parts of China in the 17th
Century. After World War II, the Soviet Union gained control of Mongolia, the
Chinese northern province of Sinkaing, and gained access to Manchuria from
Japan.15
During the 32 years of Maoist rule in China, the PRC was bedeviled by
famine, genocide, political hostility, and economic instability. Chairman Mao’s
Great Leap Forward program, aimed at industrializing the agricultural sector of
China in the late 1950s, was uninformed and unsuccessful. China’s move towards
collectivization of agriculture was ill-suited to the population’s needs because
people lost control of resources, labor schedules, crop selection, and other
matters of discretion essential to successful agricultural production. The
enormous loss in farm yields brought about by the program led to the deaths of
approximately 30 million Chinese. It was in the midst of this sociopolitical
turbulence that Chairman Mao decided to break ties with the Soviet Union
because he felt that it was interfering with Chinese affairs.
After failing to collectivize agriculture, Chairman Mao’s popularity in the
PRC fell. In his final reach for power he implemented the Cultural Revolution, a
fanatical campaign that deemphasized traditional culture, persecuted those who
were not considered politically correct, and popularized Chairman Mao’s
teachings. The Cultural Revolution was a physical and cultural massacre that led
to the destruction of many of China’s historical artifacts, and also secured the
decay of Chairman Mao Tse Tung’s hold over China.
In 1965 during a conversation with Edgar Snow, Chairman Mao was quoted
as saying:
Prior to being elected into office, President Nixon had already expressed
desire to rekindle relationships with the Chinese government for he saw
isolation as an economic and political disadvantage in the long run for the
nation. –On China, Henry Kissinger
Given the rising tensions between the USSR and China, as well as the
chaos caused by China’s internal turmoil, President Nixon thought that the time
had come for the United States to reach out to China to check the spread of Soviet
influence.
15 Harold P. Ford, Calling the Sino Soviet Split: The CIA Double Demonology in Central Intelligence Agency.
7
Questions to consider:
 Can the United States open relations with China, an openly Communist
nation, without damaging its anti-Communist agenda elsewhere?
 Should the administration capitalize on the weakness of the Maoist regime to
set the terms for restoring diplomatic relations?
 How would initiating negotiations with the Chinese affect the diplomatic
agreements with the nation of Taiwan?
Committee Procedures
Directives will require a simple majority to pass. Cabinet members will
also have a set of personal powers that will be specific to the purview of each
cabinet member, which they can use by submitting personal directives. Unilateral
action by members of the body is a possibility, but should be thorough and
precise so as to avoid confusion in implementation. Combining the personal
powers of several delegates in order to marshal appropriate resources and enact
appropriate actions will yield the highest chances of success. Similarly thorough
and precise directives should be used in these instances as well. Cabinet members
have known one another for years, and are therefore encouraged to address one
another by their first names. In respect for the Office of the President, President
Nixon will only be responded to Mr. President.
Each committee session will be chaired by H.R. Haldeman as the White
House Chief of Staff, and he will be assisted by John Ehrlichman as Counsel to
the President. By the request of President Nixon, there will be an agent from the
United States Secret Service posted in the room at all times to ensure the security
of all members. The agent can be removed from the room by the request of the
Cabinet with majority support.
As a matter of decorum and respect, all members of the body will rise
when the President enters the room. The President also reserves the right to
interrupt any speaker and call on others to speak. The President does not need
his cabinet to govern. The actions of the Cabinet may be refused by the President
on his own personal veto, and there is no process for overriding this veto as the
Cabinet is not a legislative body.
8
Delegate Positions
David M.
Kennedy
Secretary of the Treasury
President Nixon appointed David Kennedy as his Secretary of the Treasury after
praising his “good streak of native Midwestern Conservatism.” During his time in
the Department of the Treasury, Kennedy battled high taxes, a rising cost of
living, and exorbitant spending on the war effort. Kennedy personally sought to
reduce the US trade deficit and envisioned an international trade system
designed to prevent countries from erecting barriers to trade.16 Kennedy faced
serious questions over the efficacy of various deflationary policies such as high
interest rates and a slowing of monetary growth during a time of increased
popular protest.
George P.
Shultz
Secretary of Labor
After graduating from Princeton University and serving in the US Marine Corps,
Shultz earned a PhD in economics and taught at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. Prior to serving on President Nixon’s Cabinet, he served as senior
staff economist in Eisenhower’s Council of Economic Advisors. 17 As the Secretary
of Labor, Shultz was keen on the larger implication of economic decisions abroad,
particularly in light of the looming Soviet threat. Shultz was often considered to
be Nixon’s unofficial ambassador to the AFL-CIO, America’s largest union
organization and often considered to be crucial to combatting communism at
home.
George W.
Romney
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
George Romney was the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination
in 1968 before his campaign stalled and Nixon was able to seize the lead. To
Romney’s surprise, Nixon extended an offer to Romney to be his Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Romney used this position to
reorganize the administration’s policy towards impoverished Americans in need
of housing and other government assistance. Due in part to his Mormon faith,
Romney placed a premium on charity- and volunteer-based organizations in
assisting underprivileged populations. During his tenure as Governor of
Michigan, Romney had been an outspoken civil rights activist. This carried over
into his work at HUD.
Gerald R.
Ford
House Minority Leader
Gerald R Ford served as the Republican House Minority Leader while
representing Michigan’s 5th congressional district. Ford described himself as a
"moderate in domestic affairs, a conservative in fiscal affairs, and a dyed-in-thewool internationalist in foreign affairs."18 He concerned himself deeply with US
efforts in Viet Nam, trying to champion a prestigious image of the United States
worldwide. As the House Minority Leader, Ford led the movement against
http://www.treasury.gov/about/history/pages/dmkennedy.aspx
17 George P. Shultz in Hoover Institutions Stanford University, 2012.
18 Michael Bescholoss and Hugh Sidey, Gerald R. Ford from “The Presidents of the United States of America,” 2009 in WhiteHouse.gov
16
9
President Johnson’s plans to expand social welfare, and criticized the Johnson
Administration’s handling of the Viet Nam War. Due to his long career in
Congress, Ford maintained strong ties with a number of legislators on both sides
of the aisle.
Henry A.
Kissinger
National Security Advisor
As a faculty member at Harvard University’s political science department,
Kissinger served as a special advisor to President Kennedy and President
Johnson on foreign policy.19 Upon becoming a member of President Nixon’s
cabinet, he attempted to expand the United States’ influence around the world.
While serving as Nixon’s National Security Advisor, Kissinger was a strong
advocate of realpolitik, a diplomatic practice that strives to make decisions based
on pragmatic goals by use of power, rather than making decisions on idealistic or
moral grounds. Kissinger maintained one of the closest relationships with
President Nixon out of any of his advisors.
Hugh D.
Scott
Senate Majority Leader
Hugh Scott was the Republican Senate Majority Leader as the Senior Senator
from Pennsylvania. Scott maintained a long history of electoral service in the
House and the Senate. Scott ascended to leadership in the Senate in 1969 after
the sudden death of his mentor, Everett Dirksen, and was seen by many as trying
to prove himself. Scott’s relationship with the Nixon Administration was tenuous
at best. Often jaded in his encounters with the White House, Scott felt that Nixon
and his advisors were aloof, unapproachable, and contemptuous of Scott
personally.20 Although Nixon and Scott differed substantially in persona, their
opinions on domestic policies were often more similar than they acknowledged.
J. Edgar
Hoover
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
J. Edgar Hoover was the founder and longest serving Director of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and personally oversaw its transformation into a
highly organized, modern law enforcement agency. Hoover was a steadfast antiCommunist and used a variety of extra-legal means to target subversive
Communist elements within the United States. The purview of the FBI is
specifically domestic in focus, but that did not keep Hoover from staying keenly
in tune with international events. While his legacy has become tarnished by
accusations of civil rights violations and eccentric behavior, J. Edgar Hoover’s
personal commitment to protecting the United States cannot be called into
question. Nixon later characterized Hoover as “one of the giants.”
John A.
Volpe
Secretary of Transportation
John A. Volpe left the governorship of Massachusetts in order to serve as
Secretary of Transportation. In this new position, Volpe was instrumental in the
creation of Amtrak and served more generally to further the development of
national infrastructure projects. Although his department was primarily domestic
in focus, it was often caught up in international issues when organizations such as
OPEC became prominent political players on the global stage. Other projects
19 Henry Kissinger from Biography.com, pg 2.
20
Woodward and Bernstein, The Final Days at 186 (New York: Avon Books 1976)
10
spearheaded by Volpe include the National Highway Transportation Safety
Administration, the Federal Interstate Highway System, and the Alcohol Safety
Action Project.
John N.
Mitchell
Attorney General
John Mitchell’s relationship with President Nixon began when they were
colleagues at Mitchell’s law firm. On the eve of the 1968 presidential election,
Mitchell was responsible for creating a strong image of law enforcement that
drew support for President Nixon. As Attorney General, Mitchell was a strong
opponent of the anti-war movement, quoted describing protestors as "active
militants who want to destroy some of the processes and some of the institutions
of our government."21 His primary concern was always maintaining a tough line
on law enforcement, drawing the public’s eye as one of the most prominent
figures on Nixon’s Cabinet. 22
Maurice
H. Stans
Secretary of Commerce
Stans was a life-long public servant, serving in the Eisenhower administration as
Deputy Postmaster General and Deputy Director and then Director of the Bureau
of Commerce. He was a strong advocate for the increased presence of minority
business owners through the Office of Minority Business Enterprise. By the end
of his term there was a 19% increase in the share of businesses owned by minority
workers. 23 As Secretary of Commerce, Stans was influential in the economic
discussions within Nixon’s Cabinet, especially as they pertained to the gold
standard. Stans was also a prolific fundraiser within the Republican Party.
Melvin R.
Laird
Secretary of Defense
In the years after his time as Nixon’s Secretary of Defense, Laird claimed that
“Richard Nixon was elected in 1968 on the assumption that he had a plan to end
the Viet Nam War. He didn't have any such plan, and my job as his first Secretary
of Defense was to remedy that -- quickly. The only stated plan was wording I had
suggested for the 1968 Republican platform, saying it was time to de-Americanize
the war.”24 Laird saw that it was time to end the involvement in the Viet Nam
War and for the United States military be less intrusive in the region.
Richard M.
Helms
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
Richard M. Helms was a career operative of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
who was personally involved in several of the agency’s most infamous operations,
including the Bay of Pigs invasion and the coup to overthrow Vietnamese
President Ngo Dinh Diem. Though Helms held positions central to the major
crises of the Cold War, he did not always agree with policymakers. Throughout
his tenure as the Director of the CIA, Helms often clashed with Nixon and often
excluded him from National Security Council meetings.25 Ultimately, Helms
21 Lawrence Meyer, John N. Mitchell, Principal in Watergate, Dies at 75. Washington Post, 1988.
22 Ibid.
23 Maurice H. Stans Biography from Stans Museum.
24 Melvin R. Laird Iraq: Learning the Lessons from the Viet Nam War. Foreign Affairs, 2005.
25 Helms, Richard with William Hood, A Look over My Shoulder: A Life in the Central Intelliegence Agency, (New York: Random House),
2003, 250-251.
11
viewed himself as a “good soldier” and implemented Presidential directives, yet
valued both his and the CIA’s integrity above all else.26
Robert H.
Finch
Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
Prior to his nomination as President Nixon’s Secretary of Health, Education, and
Welfare, Robert Finch served as Lieutenant Governor of California under
Governor Ronald Reagan, a man whom Nixon viewed with distrust due to their
sparring throughout the Republican Presidential Primaries. Finch also served as
Nixon’s campaign manager in his unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 1960. It
has been reported that Finch was actually Nixon’s first choice as a running mate
in 1968, but Finch declined, leading to the selection of Agnew to fill the ticket.
Although the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare is a generally
apolitical body, Finch was able to leverage his long relationship with Nixon and
his contacts with Republicans throughout the country to assist in issuing policy.
Ron L.
Ziegler
White House Press Secretary
Ron Ziegler was a staunchly loyal representative of the Nixon Administration as
its Press Secretary, and in spite of his youth and relative inexperience managed to
intimately involve himself with the affairs of the cabinet. As Ziegler once said,
“The Press Secretary has to go through his life, every waking hour, being
informed. I think I know as well as anyone what is happening in the White
House.”27 Ziegler repeatedly demonstrated his rhetorical acumen throughout
Nixon’s presidency and frustrated reporters with his frequent pivoting, skillful
spin, and evasive answers. In fact, it was Ziegler who is credited with inventing
the public “non-denial denial.”28
Spiro T.
Agnew
Vice President of the United States
Spiro Agnew served as Governor of Maryland prior to being selected as Nixon’s
running mate in a back room decision at the 1968 Republican National
Convention. Agnew had appeal to Nixon and the American public as a moderate
politician from an immigrant background with a proven track record of success in
deep-blue Maryland. During his tenure as Vice President, Agnew was known to
be Nixon’s “hatchet man” when it came to defending the administration. 29
Agnew was one of the most outspoken advocates in favor of the Viet Nam War
and characterized opponents of the war as un-American. Agnew’s career in public
service was often mired by accusations of bribery and other financial misgivings.
Thomas H.
Moorer
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the primary and highest-ranking
military advisor to the President. However, the Chairman does not have actual
command over the armed forces.30 Moorer served in this role during one of the
most contentious phases of the Viet Nam War. Moorer viewed the military as an
indispensable and unassailable institution. He valued raw power and tactical
26 Thomas Powers, The Man Who Kept the Secrets: Richard Helms and the C.I.A. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf), 1979. 270-271.
27 Tin Kelley, “Ron Zieger, Press Secreatry to Nixon, is Dead at 63,” New York Times.
28 Purdum, Todd S. “The Nation; The Nondenial Denier,” New York Times.
29
Francis X. Clines, (September 19, 1996). "Spiro T. Agnew, Point Man for Nixon Who Resigned Vice Presidency, Dies at 77". The New
York Times.
30 U.S. Code 10 USC § 152, “Chairman: appointment; grade and rank,” Legal Information Institute,
12
superiority. During the closing stages of the Viet Nam War, Moorer counseled
Nixon to maintain aggression in the face of negotiation as evidenced by his
support of the 1972 Christmas bombing, which all other advisors opposed.31
Walter “Wally”
J. Hickel
Secretary of the Interior
Wally Hickel reluctantly left the Alaska governor’s mansion to serve as Secretary
of the Interior in the Nixon Administration. Hickel reportedly turned down
Nixon’s initial offer and was later informed that he did not have a choice and
would be serving in Nixon’s Cabinet. Never quite comfortable around the White
House or in Washington, Hickel felt that the position opened him up to a “smear
campaign” accusing him of being anti-environmentalist and corrupt as Governor
of Alaska.32 Hickel was generally seen as a centrist-liberal in his politics which led
him to clash openly with the Nixon Administration especially as it related to the
Viet Nam War that Hickel opposed. Many of the student protestors against the
war saw Hickel as the closest thing they had to an ally in Nixon’s White House.
William P.
Rogers
Secretary of State
William Rogers and Richard Nixon first met when Nixon was Vice President and
Rogers was Attorney General in the Eisenhower Administration. As Secretary of
State, Rogers was keenly interested in mediating Arab-Israeli conflict throughout
the Middle East through his eponymous Rogers Plan. Throughout his tenure at
State, Rogers often came into conflict with Henry Kissinger, who maintained a
closer relationship with the President, causing Nixon to run most foreign policy
decisions through the White House directly rather than the State Department.
Rogers was more willing than Kissinger to consider the Soviet Union as an honest
broker in international affairs, leading to further discord.
31 RADM Clarence A. Hill Jr. “Thomas Hinman Moorer”
32
Walter J. Hickel, Who Owns America?, New York: Paperback Library, 1971, p.25, 31.
13
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