Monday, March 10, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Pat Nixon getting recognition in Nevada birthplace

But some remain opposed to honoring former first lady

Ely resident Karen Poulson hands flowers to Pat Nixon during a campaign rally in Ely in this September 1952 file photo. At left is then-Sen. Richard Nixon, who was Dwight Eisenhower's running mate in the 1952 presidential campaign. In the background are state and local officials. Former first lady Pat Nixon was born in Ely, and a group of local residents is pursuing ambitious plans to recognize her, including a Pat Nixon Museum. Pat Nixon died in 1993. AP Photo

ELY -- Ninety-one years ago, Pat Nixon was born in a miner's shack high in the mountains of eastern Nevada. Now, locals are finally getting around to honoring her.

After putting the former first lady's face up on a library mural last year, a group of residents is considering more ambitious plans to recognize her, including a Pat Nixon museum.

They think the tribute is long overdue, noting the loyal wife of President Richard Nixon has been largely ignored in this historic mining town about 320 miles east of Reno.

Where and when she was born has been a source of continuing controversy, and Richard Nixon even fanned the flames in his famous "Checkers" speech 50 years ago.

Some locals blame the snub of Pat Nixon on her husband -- the nation's only president to resign -- and on the town's Democrats, who outnumber Republicans there.

But Caroline McIntosh, chairwoman of the White Pine County Republican Central Committee, maintains there's growing support to recognize Pat Nixon as the 10th anniversary of her death approaches.

The former first lady won the nation's respect with her dignity and quiet courage, and deserves to have her own museum and a street or park named for her in her birthplace, McIntosh said.

Pat Nixon died on June 22, 1993, at the age of 81. Her husband, who resigned in 1974 amid the Watergate scandal, died 10 months later.

"Pat Nixon has an absolutely sterling reputation. What's there to find fault with?" McIntosh asked. "I feel sorry for people who judge someone by someone else's doings."

But Joseph Anderson of nearby McGill said not all residents are Nixon fans. Last year, the 69-year-old Democrat spearheaded a petition drive against the Pat Nixon library mural that netted about 350 signatures.

"What did she ever contribute to this county?" Anderson asked. "You can't put her in prison for what he did, but she's part of the Nixon infamy. Without a doubt, he was one of the nastiest people in politics ever."

The particulars of Pat Nixon's birth, and even her name, also have been without consensus and marked by some controversy.

Even she was unsure about her origins, incorrectly listing her birth date as March 17, 1913, on a Social Security application form.

Some old-timers identify different locations in Ely as her birthplace. Others claim it was the nearby towns of Reipetown, Ruth, Lane City, East Ely, Kimberly or Cherry Creek.

"We've heard a hundred things. We don't know," County Clerk Donna Bath said.

State Archivist Guy Rocha said a birth certificate he found last year confirms that Pat Nixon was born Thelma Catharine Ryan on March 16, 1912, on Ely's Campton Street.

Rocha thinks there's confusion over her birthplace because her father, William Ryan, rented a number of dwellings during the four years the family lived in the Ely area.

During the 1952 presidential campaign, the Nixons were greeted by 1,500 people at a parade and rally in Ely, Pat Nixon's only known visit to her birthplace.

A week later, vice presidential candidate Richard Nixon gave his nationally televised "Checkers" speech and unwittingly made his wife's birth an issue in the campaign.

In a plea to stay on as Dwight Eisenhower's running mate, he denied that he had personally benefited from a special fund established by supporters.

"Let me say this: I don't believe that I ought to quit (the race) because I'm not a quitter. And, incidentally, Pat's not a quitter. After all, her name was Patricia Ryan and she was born on St. Patrick's Day, and you know the Irish never quit," Nixon said.

The Democratic National Committee vice chair accused Nixon of telling "two unimportant lies but lies nonetheless" when he said his wife was born Patricia Ryan on St. Patrick's Day.

A Nixon spokesman responded that "Mrs. Nixon had used the name Patricia since infancy and to the best of her knowledge was born on St. Patrick's Day." Richard Nixon added: "How silly can the opposition get?"

Rocha supports efforts to recognize her in Ely. "Partisanship has no place here, and Pat Nixon was not responsible for the dark side of her husband's legacy," he said.

After leaving Ely with her family in 1913 when she was a year old, Pat Nixon grew up in a modest home in Artesia, Calif., until enrolling in college in 1930. The home was located at the corner of South Street and Ely Avenue.