Pat Nixon

== First Lady of the United States, 1969–1974 ==

=== Major initiatives ===
Pat Nixon felt that the First Lady should always set a public example of high virtue as a symbol of dignity, but she refused to revel in the trappings of the position.<ref name="csa165">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=165}}</ref> When considering ideas for a project as First Lady, Pat refused to do (or be) something simply to emulate her predecessor, [[Lady Bird Johnson]].{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=168}} She decided to continue what she called "personal diplomacy", which meant traveling and visiting people in other states or other nations.{{sfnp|Eisenhower|1986|p=254}}

[[Image:Pat Nixon greets White House visitors 1969.jpg|left|thumb|Pat Nixon greets young White House visitors, 1969]]

One of her major initiatives as First Lady was the promotion of volunteerism, in which she encouraged Americans to address social problems at the local level through volunteering at hospitals, civic organizations, and rehabilitation centers.<ref name="PN Biography: Richard Nixon Library">{{cite web|url= http://www.nixonfoundation.org/index.php?src=gendocs&link=PNbio|title= Biography of First Lady Pat Nixon|access-date= October 8, 2007|year= 2005|publisher= Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Foundation|archive-date= June 8, 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150608135258/http://www.nixonfoundation.org/index.php?src=gendocs&link=PNbio|url-status= live}}</ref> She stated, "Our success as a nation depends on our willingness to give generously of ourselves for the welfare and enrichment of the lives of others."<ref name="csa177">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=177}}</ref> She undertook a "Vest Pockets for Volunteerism" trip, where she visited ten different volunteer programs.<ref name="csa177"/> Susan Porter, in charge of the First Lady's scheduling, noted that Pat "saw volunteers as unsung heroes who hadn't been encouraged or given credit for their sacrifices and who needed to be".<ref name="csa177"/> Her second volunteerism tour—she traveled {{convert|4130|mi|km|0}} within the United States—helped to boost the notion that not all students were protesting the [[Vietnam War]].{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=181}} She herself belonged to several volunteer groups, including Women in Community Services and Urban Services League,<ref name="csa177"/> and was an advocate of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973,<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> a bill that encouraged volunteerism by providing benefits to a number of volunteer organizations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=3984|title=Richard Nixon: Statement on Signing the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973|date=October 1, 1973|access-date=August 19, 2008|publisher=The American Presidency Project|archive-date=June 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624094538/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=3984|url-status=live}}</ref> Some reporters viewed her choice of volunteerism as safe and dull compared to the initiatives undertaken by Lady Bird Johnson and [[Jacqueline Kennedy]].<ref name="burns-125">{{harvp|Burns|2008|p=125}}</ref>

Pat Nixon became involved in the development of recreation areas and parkland, was a member of the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped, and lent her support to organizations dedicated to improving the lives of handicapped children.<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> For her first [[Thanksgiving]] in the White House, Pat organized a meal for 225 senior citizens who did not have families.<ref name="csa178">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=178}}</ref> The following year, she invited wounded servicemen to a second annual Thanksgiving meal in the White House.<ref name="csa178"/> Though presidents since [[George Washington]] had been issuing Thanksgiving proclamations, Pat became the only First Lady to issue one.<ref name="csa178"/>

=== Life in the White House ===
[[File:President and Mrs. Nixon meet with Her Majesty the Queen and Prime Minister Heath in England - NARA - 194333.tif|thumb|left|The First Lady with [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]], 1970]]
[[File:Margaret Sinclair, Pat Nixon, Justin Trudeau 1972-04-14.jpg|thumb|Nixon with Canadian First Lady [[Margaret Trudeau]] holding a baby [[Justin Trudeau]], April 1972]]
After her husband was elected president in 1968, Pat Nixon met with the outgoing First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson. Together, they toured the private quarters of the White House on December 12.{{sfnp|Eisenhower|1986|pp=260, 264}}  She eventually asked Sarah Jackson Doyle, an interior decorator who had worked for the Nixons since 1965 and who decorated the family's 10-room apartment on [[Fifth Avenue]] in [[New York City|New York]] with French and English antiques, to serve as a design consultant.<ref>{{cite news|author=Reif, Rita|title=A Decorator for Nixons Gives Julie A Bit of Help|work=The New York Times|date=November 30, 1968}}</ref> She hired [[Clement Conger]] from the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] to be the Executive Mansion's new curator, replacing James Ketchum, who had been hired by Jacqueline Kennedy.{{sfnp|Eisenhower|1986|pp=261, 263}}

[[File:Mrs. Nixon greeting well-wishers in Hawaii - NARA - 194446.tif|thumb|Pat Nixon greets well-wishers on a trip to Hawaii, 1972]]

Pat Nixon developed and led a coordinated effort to improve the authenticity of the White House as an historic residence and museum. She added more than 600 paintings, antiques and furnishings to the Executive Mansion and its collections, the largest number of acquisitions by any administration;<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> this greatly, and dramatically, expanded upon [[Jacqueline Kennedy]]'s more publicized efforts. She created the [[Map Room (White House)|Map Room]] and renovated the China room, and refurbished nine other rooms, including the [[Red Room (White House)|Red Room]], [[Blue Room (White House)|Blue Room]] and [[Green Room (White House)|Green Room]].<ref name="csa188"/> She worked with engineers to develop an exterior lighting system for the entire White House, making it glow a soft white.<ref name="csa188"/> She ordered the American flag atop the White House flown day and night, even when the president was not in residence.<ref name="csa188"/>

She ordered pamphlets describing the rooms of the house for tourists so they could understand everything, and had them translated into Spanish, French, Italian and Russian for foreigners.<ref name="csa188"/> She had ramps installed for the handicapped and physically disabled. She instructed the police who served as tour guides to attend sessions at the [[Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library]] (to learn how tours were guided "in a real museum"),<ref name="csa188"/> and arranged for them to wear less menacing uniforms, with their guns hidden underneath.<ref name="csa188"/> The tour guides were to speak slowly to deaf groups, to help those who lip-read, and Pat ordered that the blind be able to touch the antiques.<ref name="csa188"/>

[[File:Pat Nixon speaking at Republican National Convention.jpg|thumb|left|Pat addresses the [[1972 Republican National Convention]]. She was the first First Lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to address a party convention, and the first Republican First Lady to do so.]]

The First Lady had long been irritated by the perception that the White House and access to the President and First Lady were exclusively for the wealthy and famous;<ref name="csa188">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=188}}</ref> she routinely came down from the family quarters to greet tourists, shake hands, sign autographs, and pose for photos.<ref name="csa187"/> Her daughter Julie Eisenhower reflected, "she invited so many groups to the White House to give them recognition, not famous ones, but little-known organizations..."{{sfnp|David|1978|p=128}}

She invited former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and her children [[Caroline Kennedy|Caroline]] and [[John F. Kennedy, Jr.|John Jr.]] to dine with her family and view the White House's official portraits of her and her husband, the late President Kennedy.<ref name=Nixon502 /> It was the first time that the three Kennedys had returned to the White House since the president's assassination eight years earlier.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/22/us/clinton-mistily-recalls-kennedy-s-white-house-visit.html|title=Clinton Mistily Recalls Kennedy's White House Visit|first=Katherine Q.|last=Seelye|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 22, 1999|access-date=February 11, 2017|archive-date=September 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913081031/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/22/us/clinton-mistily-recalls-kennedy-s-white-house-visit.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1999-07-24/news/9907240139_1_john-kennedy-white-house-jacqueline-kennedy-onassis|title=JFK Jr. visited White House at invitation of Nixon, Reagan|first=Jonathan|last=Weisman|date=July 24, 1999|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|access-date=December 21, 2015|archive-date=September 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918092618/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1999-07-24/news/9907240139_1_john-kennedy-white-house-jacqueline-kennedy-onassis|url-status=live}}</ref> Pat had ordered the visit to be kept secret from the media until after the trip's conclusion in an attempt to maintain privacy for the Kennedys. She also invited President Kennedy's mother [[Rose Kennedy]] to see her son's official portrait.<ref name=Nixon502>{{cite book|title=RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon|first=Richard|last=Nixon|pages=502–503|year=2013|publisher=Simon & Schuster}}</ref>

[[File:Pat Nixon Red Room C5596-16.jpg|thumb|Pat Nixon with White House curator [[Clement Conger]], whom she hired, in the Red Room after her redecorations, 1971]]

She opened the White House for evening tours so that the public could see the interior design work that had been implemented. The tours that were conducted in December displayed the White House's Christmas decor. In addition, she instituted a series of performances by artists at the White House in varied American traditions, from opera to [[bluegrass music|bluegrass]]; among the guests were [[The Carpenters]] in 1972. These events were described as ranging from "creative to indifferent, to downright embarrassing".<ref name="PN is the Ultimate Good Sport"/> When they entered the White House in 1969, the Nixons began inviting families to non-denominational Sunday church services in the [[East Room]] of the White House.<ref name="csa188"/> She also oversaw the White House wedding of her daughter, Tricia, to [[Edward F. Cox|Edward Ridley Finch Cox]] in 1971.<ref>{{cite news|author=Krebs, Alvin|title=More on the Wedding|work=The New York Times|date=May 11, 1972}}</ref>

In October 1969, she announced her appointment of Constance Stuart as her staff director and press secretary.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1969/10/24/page/1/article/pat-nixon-hires-new-press-aid|title=Pat Nixon Hires New Press Aid|date=October 24, 1969|publisher=Chicago Tribune|access-date=August 27, 2017|archive-date=August 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828062046/http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1969/10/24/page/1/article/pat-nixon-hires-new-press-aid/|url-status=live}}</ref> To the White House residence staff, the Nixons were perceived as more stiff and formal than other first families, but nonetheless kind.{{sfnp|Brower|2015|pp=155–156}}

She spoke out in favor of women running for political office and encouraged her husband to nominate a woman to the [[United States Supreme Court|Supreme Court]], saying "woman power is unbeatable; I've seen it all across this country".<ref name="cc-nyt">{{cite news|author=Curtis, Charlotte|title=Pat Nixon: 'Creature Comforts Don't Matter'|work=The New York Times|date=July 3, 1968}}</ref> She was the first of the American First Ladies to publicly support the [[Equal Rights Amendment]],{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=194}} though her views on abortion were mixed. Following the Court's 1973 ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' decision, Pat stated she was [[pro-choice]].<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> However, in 1972, she said, "I'm really not for abortion. I think it's a personal thing. I mean abortion on demand—wholesale."<ref>{{cite news|title=Mrs. Nixon Asserts Jane Fonda Should Bid Hanoi End War|work=The New York Times|date=August 9, 1972}}</ref>

In 1972, she became the first Republican First Lady to address a [[1972 Republican National Convention|national convention]].<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> Her efforts in the 1972 reelection campaign—traveling across the country and speaking on behalf of her husband—were copied by future candidates' spouses.<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/>

=== Travels ===
[[Image:Pat Nixon in combat zone.jpg|thumb|left|Escorted by armed guards, Pat Nixon (far right) arrives via helicopter on the ground in [[South Vietnam]], July 31, 1969. It was the first time a first lady had entered a combat zone.]]

Pat Nixon held the record as the most-traveled First Lady until her mark was surpassed by [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]].<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> In President Nixon's first term, Pat traveled to 39 of 50 states, and in the first year alone, shook hands with a quarter of a million people.{{sfnp|O'Brien|Suteski|2005|p=239}} She undertook many missions of goodwill to foreign nations as well. Her first foreign trip took in Guam, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan, Romania, and England.<ref name="csa171">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=171}}</ref> On such trips, Pat refused to be serviced by an entourage, feeling that they were an unnecessary barrier and a burden for taxpayers.<ref name="csa171"/> Soon after, during a trip to [[South Vietnam]], Pat became the first First Lady to enter a combat zone.<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> She had tea with the wife of President [[Nguyễn Văn Thiệu]] in a palace, visited an orphanage, and lifted off in an open-door helicopter—armed by military guards with machine guns—to witness U.S. troops fighting in a jungle below.<ref name="csa171"/> She later admitted to experiencing a "moment of fear going into a battle zone", because, as author and historian Carl Sferrazza Anthony noted, "Pat Nixon was literally in a line of fire."<ref name="csa171"/> She later visited an army hospital, where, for two hours, she walked through the wards and spoke with each wounded patient.<ref name="csa172">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=172}}</ref> The First Lady of South Vietnam, Madame Thieu, said Pat Nixon's trip "intensified our morale".<ref name="csa172"/>

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After hearing about the [[1970 Ancash earthquake|Great Peruvian earthquake of 1970]], which caused an avalanche and additional destruction, Pat initiated a "volunteer American relief drive" and flew to the country, where she aided in taking relief supplies to earthquake victims.{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=185}} She toured damaged regions and embraced homeless townspeople; they trailed her as she climbed up hills of rubble and under fallen beams.{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=186}} Her trip was heralded in newspapers around the world for her acts of compassion and disregard for her personal safety or comfort,<ref name="PN is the Ultimate Good Sport"/> and her presence was a direct boost to political relations. One Peruvian official commented: "Her coming here meant more than anything else President Nixon could have done,"<ref name="csa187"/> and an editorial in Peru's ''Lima Prensa'' said that Peruvians could never forget Pat Nixon.<ref name="csa187">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=187}}</ref> [[Fran Lewine]] of the [[Associated Press]] wrote that no First Lady had ever undertaken a "mercy mission" resulting in such "diplomatic side effects".<ref name="csa187"/> On the trip, the Peruvian government presented her with the [[Order of the Sun (Peru)|Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun]], the highest Peruvian distinction and the oldest such honor in the Americas.<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/>

She became the first First Lady to visit Africa in 1972, on a {{convert|10000|mi|km|0|adj=on}}, eight-day journey to [[Ghana]], [[Liberia]], and the [[Ivory Coast]].<ref name="csa196">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=196}}</ref> Upon arrival in Liberia, Pat was honored with a 19-gun salute, a tribute reserved only for heads of government, and she reviewed troops.<ref name="csa196"/> She later donned a traditional native costume and danced with locals. She was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Most Venerable Order of Knighthood, Liberia's highest honor.<ref name="csa196"/> In Ghana, she again danced with local residents, and addressed the nation's [[Parliament of Ghana|Parliament]].<ref name="csa196"/> In the Ivory Coast, she was met by a quarter of a million people shouting "''Vive Madame Nixon!''"<ref name="csa196"/> She conferred with leaders of all three African nations.<ref name="csa196"/> Upon her return home, White House staffer [[Charles Colson]] sent a memo to the President reading in part, "Mrs. Nixon has now broken through where we have failed&nbsp;... People—men and women—identify with her, and in return with you."<ref name="csa197">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=197}}</ref>

[[File:President Richard and Pat Nixon on Great Wall.png|thumb|The Nixons walked on the [[Great Wall of China]] during their historic trip in February 1972]]
Another notable journey was the [[1972 visit by Richard Nixon to China|Nixons' historic visit]] to the [[People's Republic of China]] in 1972. While President Nixon was in meetings, Pat toured through [[Beijing]] in her red coat. According to Carl Sferrazza Anthony, China was Pat Nixon's "moment", her turning point as an acclaimed First Lady in the United States.<ref name="csa199200">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|pp=199–200}}</ref> She accompanied her husband to the Nixon–[[Leonid Brezhnev|Brezhnev]] summit meetings in the [[Soviet Union]] later in the year. Though security constraints left her unable to walk freely through the streets as she did in China, Pat was still able to visit with children and walk arm-in-arm with [[Soviet First Lady]] [[Viktoria Brezhneva]].<ref name="csa199200"/> Later, she visited [[Brazil]] and [[Venezuela]] in 1974 with the unique diplomatic standing of personal representative of the president. The Nixons' last major trip was in June 1974, to Austria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Israel, and Jordan.<ref name="csa215">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=215}}</ref>

=== Fashion and style ===
[[Image:Pat Nixon poses 1970.jpg|thumb|left|Pat Nixon posing in the White House, 1970]]
The traditional role of a First Lady as the nation's hostess puts her personal appearance and style under scrutiny, and the attention to Pat was lively. ''[[Women's Wear Daily]]'' stated that Pat had a "good figure and good posture", as well as "the best-looking legs of any woman in public life today".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900581,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114112758/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900581,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 14, 2007|title=Redoing Pat|access-date=July 25, 2008|magazine=Time|date=January 24, 1969}}</ref> Some fashion writers tended to have a lackluster opinion of her well tailored, but nondescript, American-made clothes. "I consider it my duty to use American designers", she said,<ref>{{cite news|author=Weinman, Martha|title=First Ladies—In Fashion, Too?|work=The New York Times|date=September 11, 1960}}</ref> and favored them because, "they are now using so many materials which are great for traveling because they're non crushable".{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=192}} She preferred to buy readymade garments rather than made-to-order outfits. "I'm a size 10," she told ''[[The New York Times]]''. "I can just walk in and buy. I've bought things in various stores in various cities. Only some of my clothes are by designers."<ref name="cc-nyt"/> She did, however, wear the custom work of some well-known talents, notably [[Geoffrey Beene]], at the suggestion of Clara Treyz, her personal shopper.<ref name="cc-nyt"/> Many fashion observers concluded that Pat Nixon did not greatly advance the cause of American fashion. Nixon's yellow-satin inaugural gown by Harvey Berin was criticized as "a schoolteacher on her night out", but Treyz defended her wardrobe selections by saying, "Mrs. Nixon must be ladylike."<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Pat's Wardrobe Mistress|magazine=Time|date=January 12, 1970|access-date=November 9, 2007|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,942153-2,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114112809/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,942153-2,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 14, 2007}}</ref><ref>Nixon also frequently wore wigs that replicated her short blonde hairstyle, especially on political trips when access to a hairdresser was difficult. {{cite news|author=Curtis, Charlotte|title=Pat Nixon: 'Creature Comforts Don't Matter'|work=The New York Times|date=July 3, 1968}}</ref>

Nixon did not sport the outrageous fashions of the 1970s, because she was concerned about appearing conservatively dressed, especially as her husband's political star rose. "Always before, it was sort of fun to get some&nbsp;... thing that was completely different, high-style", she told a reporter. "But this is not appropriate now. I avoid the spectacular."{{sfnp|Eisenhower|1986|p=187}}

=== Watergate ===
{{further|Watergate scandal}}
At the time the Watergate scandal broke to the media, Nixon "barely noticed" the reports of a break-in at the [[Democratic National Committee]] headquarters.<ref name="csa201">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=201}}</ref> Later, when asked by the press about Watergate, she replied curtly, "I know only what I read in the newspapers."<ref name="csa203">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=203}}</ref> In 1974, when a reporter asked "Is the press the cause of the president's problems?", she shot back, "What problems?"<ref>Anthony, C. S. (1991), p. 210</ref> Privately, she felt that the power of her husband's staff was increasing, and President Nixon was becoming more removed from what was occurring in the administration.<ref name="csa203"/>''

[[Image:NIXONSandFORDS.jpg|thumb|left|The Fords escort the Nixons as they depart the White House on Nixon's final day as president, August 9, 1974.]]
Pat Nixon did not know of the secret tape recordings her husband had made. [[Julie Nixon Eisenhower]] stated that the First Lady would have ordered the tapes destroyed immediately, had she known of their existence.{{sfnp|Eisenhower|1986|pp=409–410}} Once she did learn of the tapes, she vigorously opposed making them public, and compared them to "private love letters—for one person alone".{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=214}} Believing in her husband's innocence, she also encouraged him not to resign and instead fight all the impeachment charges that were eventually leveled against him. She said to her friend Helene Drown, "Dick has done so much for the country. Why is this happening?"<ref name="csa215"/>

After President Nixon told his family he would resign the office of the presidency, she replied "But why?"{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=216}} She contacted White House curator Clement Conger to cancel any further development of a new [[White House china|official china pattern]] from the Lenox China Company, and began supervising the packing of the family's personal belongings.{{sfnp|Eisenhower|1986|pp=417–419}} On August 7, 1974, the family met in the [[Sunroom|solarium]] of the White House for their last dinner. Pat sat on the edge of a couch and held her chin high, a sign of tension to her husband.<ref name="csa217">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=217}}</ref> When the president walked in, she threw her arms around him, kissed him, and said, "We're all very proud of you, Daddy."<ref name="csa217"/> Later Pat Nixon said of the photographs taken that evening, "Our hearts were breaking and there we are smiling."{{sfnp|Eisenhower|1986|p=424}}

On the morning of August 9 in the East Room, Nixon gave a televised 20-minute farewell speech to the White House staff, during which time he read from [[Theodore Roosevelt]]'s biography and praised his own parents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/nixon-farewell.htm|title=Richard M. Nixon: White House Farewell|access-date=September 23, 2007|publisher=The History Place|archive-date=October 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004084041/http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/nixon-farewell.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The First Lady could hardly contain her tears; she was most upset about the cameras, because they recorded her anguish, as they had during the 1960 election defeat. The Nixons walked onto the Executive Mansion's South Lawn with Vice President [[Gerald Ford]] and Betty Ford. The outgoing president departed from the White House on [[Marine One]]. As the family walked towards the helicopter, Pat, with one arm around her husband's waist and one around Betty's, said to Betty "You'll see many of these red carpets, and you'll get so you hate 'em."{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=218}} The helicopter transported them to [[Andrews Air Force Base]]; from there they flew to California.<ref>{{cite news|work=CNN|url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/08/06/nixon.resigns/|title=Nixon's resignation changed American politics forever|date=August 9, 1999|access-date=August 18, 2008|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070829175425/http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/08/06/nixon.resigns/ |archive-date = August 29, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Pat Nixon later told her daughter Julie, "Watergate is the only crisis that ever got me down&nbsp;... And I know I will never live to see the vindication."{{sfnp|Eisenhower|1986|p=453}}

=== Public perception ===
[[File:PN views panda.jpg|thumb|256x256px|Pat Nixon viewing pandas in a Chinese zoo in 1972.]]

Historian Carl Sferrazza Anthony noted that ordinary citizens responded to, and identified with, Pat Nixon.<ref name="csa187"/> When a group of people from a rural community visited the White House to present a quilt to the First Lady, many were overcome with nervousness; upon hearing their weeping, Pat hugged each individual tightly, and the tension dissipated.<ref name="csa187"/> When a young boy doubted that the Executive Mansion was her house because he could not see her washing machine, Pat led him through the halls and up an elevator, into the family quarters and the laundry room.<ref name="csa187"/> She mixed well with people of different races, and made no distinctions on that basis.<ref name="csa197"/> During the Nixons' trip to [[1972 visit by Richard Nixon to China|China in 1972]], Chinese Premier [[Zhou Enlai]] was sufficiently smitten with her so as to give two rare [[giant panda]]s to the United States as a gift from China.<ref name="csa199200"/>

Pat Nixon was listed on the [[Gallup Organization]]'s [[Gallup's most admired man and woman poll|top-ten list of the most admired women]] fourteen times, from 1959 to 1962 and 1968 to 1979.<ref name="gallup 10">{{cite web|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/3415/Most-Admired-Men-Women-19481998.aspx|title=Most Admired Men and Women: 1948–1998|date=December 13, 1999|access-date=October 12, 2008|publisher=Gallup Organization|author1=Newport, Frank|author2=David W. Moore|author3=Lydia Saad|name-list-style=amp|archive-date=November 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116185350/https://news.gallup.com/poll/3415/most-admired-men-women-19481998.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> She was ranked third in 1969, second in 1970 and 1971, and first in 1972. She remained on the top-ten list until 1979, five years after her husband left office.<ref name="gallup 10"/> To many, she was seen as an example of the "[[American Dream]]", having risen from a poor background, with her greatest popularity among the "great silent majority" of voters.<ref name="csa201"/> [[Mary Brooks]], the director of the [[United States Mint]] and a long-time friend of Pat's, illustrated some of the cultural divides present at the time when she described the First Lady as "a good example to the women of this country–if they're not part of those Women's Liberation groups".<ref name="PN is the Ultimate Good Sport"/> Additionally, it was the view of veteran UPI correspondent [[Helen Thomas]] that Pat "was the warmest First Lady I covered and the one who loved people the most. I think newspeople who covered her saw a woman who was sharp, responsive, sensitive."{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=167}}

[[File:Pat Nixon award C6712-07A.jpg|thumb|left|Pat Nixon was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun in 1971 by the government of Peru, becoming the first Western woman to earn the distinction.]]

Press accounts [[Framing (social sciences)|framed]] Pat Nixon as an embodiment of [[Cold War]] domesticity, in stark contrast to the [[second-wave feminism]] of the time.{{sfnp|Burns|2008|pp=107–108}} Journalists often portrayed her as dutiful and selfless<ref name="burns-110">{{harvp|Burns|2008|pp=110–111}}</ref> and seeing herself as a wife first and individual second.<ref name="burns-125" /> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine described her as "the perfect wife and mother–pressing [her husband's] pants, making dresses for daughters Tricia and Julie, doing her own housework even as the Vice President's wife".<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The Woman in the Cloth Coat|author=Angelo, Bonnie|access-date=August 22, 2008|date=July 5, 1993|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,978822,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211083252/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,978822,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 11, 2008|magazine=Time}}</ref> In the early years of her tenure as First Lady she was tagged "Plastic Pat", a derogatory nickname applied because, according to critics, she was always smiling while her face rarely expressed emotion<ref>{{cite web|url=http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/nixon/essays/firstlady|title=Thelma Nixon|access-date=July 25, 2008|publisher=Miller Center of Public Affairs|year=2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212202653/http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/nixon/essays/firstlady|archive-date=February 12, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://media.www.theracquet.net/media/storage/paper978/news/2008/03/12/Spotlight/Secrets.Will.Be.Shared.In.OneWoman.Show.Lady.Bird.Pat.Betty.Tea.For.Three.At.To-3263920.shtml|title=Secrets will be shared in one-woman show, Lady Bird, Pat & Betty: Tea for Three at Toland theatre|author=Schmitz, Justin|publisher=University of Wisconsin|access-date=July 25, 2008|date=March 12, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803184616/http://media.www.theracquet.net/media/storage/paper978/news/2008/03/12/Spotlight/Secrets.Will.Be.Shared.In.OneWoman.Show.Lady.Bird.Pat.Betty.Tea.For.Three.At.To-3263920.shtml|archive-date=August 3, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> and her body language made her seem reserved, and at times, artificial.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wnyc.org/books/56606|title=Between You and Me|author=Wallace, Mike|access-date=August 22, 2008|publisher=WNYC Radio|year=2005 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080618213837/http://www.wnyc.org/books/56606 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = June 18, 2008}}</ref> Some observers described Pat Nixon as "a paper doll, a [[Barbie doll]]–plastic, antiseptic, unalive" and that she "put every bit of the energy and drive of her youth into playing a role, and she may no longer recognize it as such".<ref name="PN is the Ultimate Good Sport"/>

As for the criticisms, she said, "I am who I am and I will continue to be."<ref name="PN is the Ultimate Good Sport"/> She unguardedly revealed some of her opinions of her own life in a 1968 interview aboard a campaign plane with [[Gloria Steinem]]: "Now, I have friends in all the countries of the world. I haven't just sat back and thought of myself or my ideas or what I wanted to do. Oh no, I've stayed interested in people. I've kept working. Right here in the plane I keep this case with me, and the minute I sit down, I write my thank you notes. Nobody gets by without a personal note. I don't have time to worry about who I admire or who I identify with. I've never had it easy. I'm not like all you ... all those people who had it easy."<ref name="steinem"/>

Despite her largely demure public persona as a traditional wife and homemaker, she was not as self-effacing and timid as her critics often claimed. When a news photographer wanted her to strike yet another pose while wearing an apron, she firmly responded, "I think we've had enough of this kitchen thing, don't you?"<ref>{{cite news|author=Toner, Robin|title=Running Mates|work=The New York Times|date=February 2, 1997}}</ref> Some journalists, such as columnist and White House Correspondent [[Robert E. Thompson (journalist)|Robert E. Thompson]], felt that Pat was an ideal balance for the 1970s; Thompson wrote that she proved that "women can play a vital role in world affairs" while still retaining a "feminine manner".<ref name="csa201"/> Other journalists felt that Pat represented the failings of the [[feminine mystique]], and portrayed her as being out of step with her times.<ref name="burns-110"/> Those who opposed the Vietnam War identified her with the Nixon administration's policies, and, as a result, occasionally picketed her speaking events. After she had spoken to some of them in one instance in 1970, however, one of the students told the press that "she wanted to listen. I felt like this is a woman who really cares about what we are doing. I was surprised."{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=182}} Veteran CBS correspondent [[Mike Wallace]] expressed regret that the one major interview he was never able to conduct was that of Pat Nixon.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-03-22-wallace-press-club_x.htm|title=The one big interview Mike Wallace never landed|agency=Associated Press|access-date=November 12, 2009|date=March 22, 2006|work=USA Today|archive-date=July 12, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110712081527/http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-03-22-wallace-press-club_x.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>