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Nixon Library Comes Under Control of National ArchivesThe Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, California, became part of the National Archives and Records Administration July 11, following decades of conflicts between Nixon’s family and the government over the papers of the 37th president. Since it opened in 1990, the privately operated library only housed materials from before and after the Nixon presidency; after Nixon left office, his papers and tapes were kept by NARA under a 1974 law enacted to prevent him from destroying the materials. Now 42 million pages of papers and nearly 4,000 hours of tapes will be moved to the California facility, once a planned 15,000-square-foot addition—still awaiting funding from Congress—is constructed. As part of the transfer, NARA released 78,000 documents and 11�� hours of taped conversations, many of which illustrate Nixon’s efforts to smear Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern, the Associated Press reported July 12. A revision of the Nixon Library’s displays, which had whitewashed the seedier aspects of his presidency, was a precondition for the transfer of the materials. “This is a great day for history. The hallmark of this new institution will be true acceptance and love for history—the good, the bad and the ugly,” said Timothy Naftali, the library’s new federal director, who recently oversaw the demolition of the Watergate gallery, which claimed the scandal was a Democrat-plotted coup. The transfer was announced in 2005 after Congress removed a 1974 requirement that the records remain in the Washington, D.C., area. Posted July 13, 2007. |
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