In a piece for TIME Magazine, President and Mrs. Nixon’s granddaughter, Jennie Eisenhower, shares memories of her grandmother Pat Nixon on Mother’s Day.
Remembering Pat Nixon, My Grandmother, This Mother’s Day
She represented the U.S. with dignity, warmth, spirit and strength
A first lady could make history in November by becoming the country’s first female president. For me, there is another first lady—a very special first lady—worth remembering and paying tribute to this Mother’s Day.
My grandmother Pat Nixon’s tenure as first lady is still highly regarded on both sides of the aisle, more than 40 years after she left the White House and more than two decades after her death, at a time when bipartisanship in politics has all but vanished.
My grandmother’s role as first lady included traveling around the world extensively as what President Richard Nixon called our nation’s ambassador of goodwill.
Indeed, long before Hillary Clinton logged the most miles ever traveled for a first lady, Mrs. Nixon traveled across the U.S. and to more than 80 countries as the wife of a congressman, senator, vice president and president. She preferred going to hospitals, schools, orphanages and village markets rather than attending official teas and receptions. She even visited a leper colony in Panama. Wherever she went, she represented the U.S. with dignity and warmth, spirit and strength, and—when required—courage.
Read more at TIME.com