In America’s collective consciousness, Pat Nixon has long been perceived as enigmatic. She was voted Most Admired Woman in the World in 1972 and made the Gallup Poll’s top 10 list of most admired women 14 times. She survived the turmoil of the Watergate scandal with her popularity and dignity intact. And yet, the media often portrayed her as elusive and mysterious. Drawing on new interviews with Nixon family, friends and staff and archival sources for her new book, The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon: The Life and Times of Washington’s Most Private First Lady, Heath Hardage Lee examines a figure who bore little resemblance to the woman so often described in the press.
Pat Nixon was a highly traveled first lady, visiting 83 countries during her tenure. After a devastating earthquake in Peru in 1970, she flew in medical supplies and food to hard-hit areas and met with victims of the tragedy. Her 1972 trips with her husband to China and to Russia were critical to the détente that resulted. President Nixon frequently sent her to represent him at significant events in South America and Africa.
Mrs. Nixon greatly expanded preservation efforts in the White House, obtaining more art and antiques than any other first lady. She was progressive on women’s issues, favored the Equal Rights Amendment, backed a targeted effort to get more women into high-level government jobs, and strongly encouraged nominating a woman for the Supreme Court. She was pro-choice, supporting reproductive rights publicly even before the landmark Roe v. Wade case in 1973.
Lee discusses the essential nature of this first lady, an empathetic, adventurous, self-made woman who wanted no power or influence but who connected warmly with both ordinary Americans and people from different cultures she encountered worldwide.
Copies of The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon (St. Martin's Press) are available for purchase.
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