Julie Nixon Eisenhower
Julie Nixon Eisenhower | |
|---|---|
 Julie Nixon Eisenhower in 1973 | |
| Born | Julie Nixon July 5, 1948 |
| Occupation | Author |
| Spouse | David Eisenhower (1968-present) |
| Children | Jennie Elizabeth Alexander Richard Melanie Catherine |
| Parent(s) | Richard and Pat Nixon |
Julie Nixon Eisenhower (born July 5, 1948) is the younger daughter of 37th U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon, and sister to Patricia Nixon Cox.
While her father served as President of the United States, she wrote several books and worked as Assistant Managing Editor of the Saturday Evening Post. Since her father left the White House in 1974, she has written a few more books and works to support her parents' legacy.
In 1968, she married David Eisenhower, grandson of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower. She is the mother of two daughters, Jennie Elizabeth and Melanie Catherine, and a son, Alexander Richard.
Early life
Julie Nixon was born while her father, Richard Nixon, was a Congressman. Much of her childhood coincided with her father's service as Dwight Eisenhower's Vice-President (1953–61). As a teenager, she attended the private Sidwell Friends School in Washington along with her sister, Tricia. Julie left school in 1961, after her father lost his presidential bid in 1960, and the family returned to California where her father ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1962. The Nixons moved to New York after the gubernatorial race, and Julie attended Smith College after her graduation from high school and received a master's degree from Catholic University in 1972. As a child, one of her favorite pets was a small dog named Checkers, who figured prominently in her father's most famous vice-presidential speech.
Marriage
On December 22, 1968, after her father was elected president but before he took office, Julie married David Eisenhower, grandson of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The couple had known each other since meeting at the 1956 Republican National Convention. The Reverend Norman Vincent Peale officiated in the non-denominational rite at the Marble Collegiate Church in New York City.
The Eisenhowers have three children:
- Jennie Elizabeth (b. San Clemente, Orange County, California, August 15, 1978), an actress[1]
- Alexander Richard (b. 1980)
- Melanie Catherine (b. 1984)
First daughter
While her father served as President (1969-1974), Julie became active at the White House as a spokesperson for children's issues, the environment, and the elderly. She gave tours to disabled children, filled in for her mother at events, and took an active interest in foreign policy. From 1973-75, she served as Assistant Managing Editor of the Saturday Evening Post and helped establish a book division for Curtis Publishing Co., its parent corporation. It was during this time that Julie wrote the book Eye On Nixon. It was a book full of photographs of her father.
Once she appeared on The Mike Douglas Show in 1970, and Mike asked her what she thought about the new fad called "streaking," where someone runs naked in public. She responded, "I don't know how they can come off like that!" which was a double entendre that had left the whole studio laughing.[citation needed]
After the news of the Watergate break-in and suspicions that it might reach as high as the oval office began to mount, Julie took on the press at home and abroad. Her defense of her father caused people to wonder why her mother wasn't saying anything about the scandal. Journalist Nora Ephron wrote, "In the months since the Watergate hearings began, she [Julie] has become her father's ... First Lady in practice if not in fact."[2]
Julie's public defense of her father began at Walt Disney World on May 2, 1973. She gave a total of 138 interviews across the country. In the summer of 1973, she and David went to London where Julie appeared on the BBC.[2] Journalist George Will once reflected: "Anyone thinking that Nixon deserved a better fate from Watergate should remember his silence as his brave daughter Julie crisscrossed the country defending him against charges he knew to be true."[3] On July 4, 1973, she told two reporters that her father had considered resigning over Watergate, but that the family had talked him out of it.[2] On May 7, 1974, Julie and David met with the press in the East Garden of the White House. She announced that the President planned "...to take this constitutionally down to the wire."[2] Just before noon on August 9, 1974, Julie stood behind her father while he gave his goodbye speech to the White House staff. She would later say it was the hardest moment for him.[2]
Life after the White House
Julie and David settled in Devon, Pennsylvania, where she completed several books, including Pat Nixon: The Untold Story, a biography of her mother. She has an extensive record of community service in the Philadelphia area and is active with the Richard Nixon Foundation, sitting on its board, as well as that of the Center for the National Interest (formerly known as the Nixon Center).
Despite her and her husband's and father's Republican background and relationships to Presidents Nixon and Dwight D. Eisenhower.[4]
In 2010, she and her husband David co-authored Going Home to Glory: A Memoir of Life With Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961-1969, a biography of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's final years after he left the White House.
References
- ^ Julie Nixon Eisenhower at IMDb
- ^ a b c d e David, Lester and Thomas Y. Crowell. The Lonely Lady of San Clemente. New York, 1978. p. 172-174.
- ^ Anthony Summers: The Arrogance of Power. The Secret World of Richard Nixon. Penguin, New York 2002 ISBN 0-14-026078-1 p. 463
- ^ AP. "Nixon's daughter gives to Obama", ABC News, April 22, 2008. Accessed April 22, 2008.
External links
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| National | |
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