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Donald Nixon | |
|---|---|
 Nixon (second from right) in 1969 | |
| Born | Francis Donald Nixon (1914-11-23)November 23, 1914 Yorba Linda, California, U.S. |
| Died | June 27, 1987(1987-06-27) (aged 72) Whittier, California, U.S. |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingDonald |
| Parent(s) | Hannah Milhous Nixon Francis A. Nixon |
| Relatives | Richard Nixon(brother) Edward Nixon(brother) Pat Nixon(sister-in-law) Edward F. Cox(nephew-in-law) Tricia Nixon Cox(niece) Julie Nixon Eisenhower(niece) Christopher N. Cox(great-nephew) Jennie Eisenhower(great-niece) |
Francis Donald Nixon (November 23, 1914 – June 27, 1987) was a younger brother ofU.S. PresidentRichard Nixon.
He was the third of five sons:[1]
Nixon married Clara Jane Lemke (1920–2013[2]) in 1942 and had two sons, Richard C. Nixon andDonald A. Nixon, and a daughter, Lawrene Mae Nixon Anfinson.
In January 1957Howard Hughes lent Nixon $205,000 to bail out his "Nixon's"drive-in restaurant inWhittier, California.[3] The restaurant wentbankrupt less than a year later. Questions about whether this was a political favor dogged Richard Nixon duringhis campaign for president and later when he sought the governorship of California.[4]
Nixon never lived it down, and one of the many speculated motives for the 1972Watergate burglary that ultimately led to Richard Nixon's resignation was a desire to find proof that the then-Democratic National Committee chairmanLarry O'Brien was also secretly working for Hughes.[5]John H. Meier, one of Hughes' former business advisors, in collaboration with former vice presidentHubert Humphrey and others, was using Donald Nixon to feed misinformation to his brother, the President. Meier told Donald that he was sure the Democrats would win the election, since they had a lot of information on Richard Nixon's illicit dealings with Howard Hughes which had never been released, and that Larry O'Brien had the information.[6]
After becoming the U.S. President, Richard Nixon sent a White House investigator,Anthony Ulasewicz, to "rescue" Donald Nixon's son, Donald Nixon Jr., from ahippie commune in the California mountains. Political columnistJack Anderson revealed the incident in his column of June 21, 1973, and wrote of Ulasewicz, "The burly former private eye persuaded Donald to trim his hair and to return home," and reported that White House aideJohn Ehrlichman admonished Donald Jr. in a two-hour lecture "to behave himself and do nothing to embarrass the President", his uncle Richard.[7]
In 1974 the staff of theSenate Watergate committee disclosed additional information to support the charge thatCharles Rebozo gave or lent part of a $100,000 campaign contribution to President Nixon's personal secretary,Rose Mary Woods, and to Nixon's brothers, Donald andEdward Nixon.[8]
Donald Nixon was portrayed bySean Stone in the 1995Oliver Stone filmNixon.
On June 27, 1987, Donald Nixon died while undergoing hospital treatment forPneumonia. He was 72 years old.[9]
