OC Business Journal

Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum sees revenue boost under CEO Jim Bryon

Richard Nixon Foundation Counts Heavyweight Backers; Sees 21% Boost in Revenue

■ By PETER J. BRENNAN

Jim Byron was only about 10 months old when Richard Nixon died in 1994, at age 81.

Now he’s in charge of the Yorba Linda library that celebrates the only president in American history who resigned.

“Nixon always was and always will be controversial,” Byron said while giving the Business Journal a tour of the 9acre site.

“At that time, passions ran high. I think now he’s beginning to be seen in a far different light.”

The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum has managed not

only to survive, but thrive, attracting tourists from countries as far away as China and Poland.

In recent months, it has hosted speeches featuring prominent national politicians like Mike Pompeo, Nikki Haley and Henry Kissinger. Its current chairman is Robert O’Brien, the former national security adviser for President Donald Trump. The children and grandchildren of two presidents are on its board of directors, including Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Melanie Eisenhower and Tricia Nixon Cox.

The Richard Nixon Foundation ranks No. 57 on this week’s Business Journal list of nonprofits, reporting revenue climbed 21% to $9.7 million for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2021 (see list, page 16).

Chapman Honors

Leading the nonprofit is Byron, a 29-year-old who was inspired by his grandfather’s love of history to become an intern at the library when he was 14.

Chapman University recently honored Byron with its 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award. Chapman University President Daniele Struppa, who is on the Nixon Foundation’s board of directors, says he’s “proud” that he nominated Byron as CEO a year ago.

“Jim understands young people probably better than anybody else on the board,” Struppa told the Business Journal. “Connecting the library to our youth is important, especially because young people only read about President Nixon in history books, and it is very important that they get a nuanced understanding of the years in which President Nixon lived. Jim’s age will be very helpful in designing programs that resonate with this younger audience.”

Beginnings

When the library was being planned in the 1980s, among those expressing interest in it were cities like San Clemente, where Nixon’s Western White House was located, and universities like his alma mater Duke, whose faculty rejected the plan by a one-vote margin.

“The city of Yorba Linda came knocking and said ‘we’ll donate the land,’” Byron said.

“It’s a fair amount of real estate.”

It officially opened in 1990, then a wing was added in 2004. About five years ago, a $25 million renovation of the library was completed.

The property includes the house where Nixon was born in 1913 as the second of five boys. His father, who was a streetcar driver, built the house from a kit.

Nixon won a congressional seat for Congress in 1946, followed by becoming a senator in 1950 and then vice president under Dwight Eisenhower in 1952.

“He goes from holding no elected office to vice president in six years. He was 39. It was an amazing meteoric rise.”

History Tour

A tour of the library is like walking through the history of Orange County and America, from the Vietnam War to San Clemente circa 1970 to the infamous Watergate scandal.

Nixon took office in 1969, a time when the Vietnam War raged, and racial and political tensions were high because of the 1968 assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy. That period was the third most difficult time in American history, echoing the challenges facing Abraham Lincoln in the Civil War and Franklin D. Roosevelt in the Great Depression and World War II, Byron said. “We want to show visitors what a difficult time this was for the country.

We want to set the stage for what Nixon was walking into as president.”

The library has numerous reminders of the Cold War, such as secret cameras, a one-time nuclear bomb and Joseph Stalin’s writings.

Among the library’s highlights are White House replicas of the Oval Office where school children learn the inner workings of the highest office in the land and the East Room, where corporate events are often held.

The library has a model and pictures of Nixon’s famous Western White House, the Casa Pacifica in San Clemente; the house is now owned by Gavin Herbert Sr., the founder of Allergan who was a big supporter of Nixon. The largest gallery dedicated to a single subject is Watergate.

“The 1968 election was a squeaker. 1972 was a landslide now and his victory margin of 18 million votes remain the largest in history.

“Then comes the fall.”

47M Documents

The library has 47 million papers related to the Nixon presidency. It has another 10 million documents in pre- and post-presidential periods.

A recent find in the archives was a speechwriter’s draft of a speech Nixon would have given had the Apollo 11 astronauts not made it back alive from their lunar mission. “It’s heart wrenching,” Byron said.

Chinese Visitors

The library, which employs 55, has 200 volunteer docents who help guide visitors, for which about 150,000 came annually preCOVID.

About 25% of those visitors are from China.

“What’s really interesting is he is extraordinarily popular within the Chinese community. There is this very special connection that many Chinese people feel.”

Other foreign tourists who feel a close connection include Iranians, Israelis and eastern Europeans like the Polish, Byron said.

Events are constantly on tap to attract more visitors. Next year, the library plans a 50th anniversary of the release of 591 American prisoners of war from Vietnam.

‘More Than Watergate’

How does a library promote one of the most controversial presidents in American history?

“We do it very carefully,” Byron laughed. “The reputation is changing. The passion that surrounded him in life has faded. There’s no doubt that his rehabilitation is under way.

“The strategy is to show people he was more than Watergate.” ■

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