Pat Nixon

=== 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"/>