Richard Nixon

=== Author and elder statesman ===
[[File:Four Presidents pose for a portrait.jpg|thumb|President [[Ronald Reagan]] meets with his three immediate predecessors, [[Gerald Ford]], [[Jimmy Carter]] and Nixon, at the White House, October 1981; the three former presidents would represent the United States at the funeral of Egyptian President [[Anwar Sadat]].]]
In 1978, Nixon published his memoirs, ''RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon'', the first of ten books he was to author in his retirement.{{sfn|Nixon Library, Post Presidency}} [[John A. Farrell]] deemed it one of the better presidential memoirs, candid and capturing its author's voice; he deemed its rise up the bestseller lists justified.{{sfn|Farrell|p=2852}} Nixon visited the White House in 1979, invited by Carter for the state dinner for Chinese Vice Premier [[Deng Xiaoping]]. Carter had not wanted to invite Nixon, but Deng had said he would visit Nixon in California if the former president was not invited. Nixon had a private meeting with Deng and visited Beijing again in mid-1979.{{sfn|Ambrose|1991|pp=524–525}}

On August 10, 1979, the Nixons purchased a 12‐room condominium occupying the seventh floor of 817 [[Fifth Avenue]] New York City<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Bp9RAAAAIBAJ&pg=4685%2C1596331|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=August 11, 1979|title=Nixons Buy Fifth Avenue Condo in N.Y.|access-date=June 17, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910174454/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Bp9RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0W0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4685%2C1596331|archive-date=September 10, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> after being rejected by two Manhattan [[housing cooperative|co-ops]].{{sfn|Ambrose|1991|p=528}} When the deposed [[Mohammed Reza Pahlavi|Shah of Iran]] died in Egypt in July 1980, Nixon defied the State Department, which intended to send no U.S. representative, by attending the funeral. Though Nixon had no official credentials, as a former president he was seen as the American presence at its former ally's funeral.{{sfn|Ambrose|1991|p=533}} Nixon supported Ronald Reagan for president in [[1980 U.S. presidential election|1980]], making television appearances portraying himself as, in biographer Stephen Ambrose's words, "the senior statesman above the fray".{{sfn|Ambrose|1991|p=534}} He wrote guest articles for many publications both during the campaign and after Reagan's victory.{{sfn|Ambrose|1991|p=540}} After eighteen months in the New York City townhouse, Nixon and his wife moved in 1981 to [[Saddle River, New Jersey|Saddle River]], New Jersey.{{sfn|Nixon Library, Post Presidency}}

Throughout the 1980s, Nixon maintained an ambitious schedule of speaking engagements and writing,{{sfn|Nixon Library, Post Presidency}} traveled, and met with many foreign leaders, especially those of Third World countries. He joined former Presidents Ford and Carter as representatives of the United States at the funeral of Egyptian President [[Anwar Sadat]].{{sfn|Nixon Library, Post Presidency}} On a trip to the Middle East, Nixon made his views known regarding Saudi Arabia and Libya, which attracted significant U.S. media attention; ''The Washington Post'' ran stories on Nixon's "rehabilitation".{{sfn|Ambrose|1991|p=545}} Nixon visited the Soviet Union in 1986 and on his return sent President Reagan a lengthy memorandum containing foreign policy suggestions and his personal impressions of Soviet General Secretary [[Mikhail Gorbachev]].{{sfn|Nixon Library, Post Presidency}} Following this trip, Nixon was ranked in [[Gallup's most admired man and woman poll|a Gallup poll]] as one of the ten most admired men in the world.{{sfn|Drew|p=142}}

[[File:President Bill Clinton meets with former President Richard Nixon at the White House.jpg|thumb|right|Nixon with President [[Bill Clinton]] in the residence of the White House, March 1993]]

In 1986, Nixon addressed a convention of newspaper publishers, impressing his audience with his ''tour d'horizon'' of the world.{{sfn|Drew|p=144}} At the time, [[Pundit|political pundit]] [[Elizabeth Drew]] wrote, "Even when he was wrong, Nixon still showed that he knew a great deal and had a capacious memory, as well as the capacity to speak with apparent authority, enough to impress people who had little regard for him in earlier times."{{sfn|Drew|p=144}} ''Newsweek'' ran a story on "Nixon's comeback" with the headline "He's back".{{sfn|Aitken|pp=561–562}}

On July 19, 1990, the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in [[Yorba Linda, California]] opened as a private institution with the Nixons in attendance. They were joined by a large crowd of people, including Presidents Ford, Reagan, and [[George H. W. Bush]], as well as their wives, [[Betty Ford|Betty]], [[Nancy Reagan|Nancy]], and [[Barbara Bush|Barbara]].{{sfn|Aitken|pp=565–568}} In January 1994, the former president founded the Nixon Center (today the [[Center for the National Interest]]), a Washington policy [[think tank]] and conference center.{{sfn|Black|pp=1045–1046}}<ref>{{cite press release|date= March 9, 2011|title= Nixon Center Becomes Center for the National Interest|url= https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nixon-center-becomes-center-for-the-national-interest-117654558.html|location= Washington, D.C.|publisher= Center for the National Interest|agency= PR Newswire|access-date= September 9, 2018|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180909073801/https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nixon-center-becomes-center-for-the-national-interest-117654558.html|archive-date= September 9, 2018|url-status= live}}</ref>

Pat Nixon died on June 22, 1993, of [[emphysema]] and lung cancer. Her funeral services were held on the grounds of the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace. Former President Nixon was distraught throughout the interment and delivered a tribute to her inside the library building.{{sfn|Black|pp=1049–1050}}