General Don Hughes, longtime friend of the Nixon Family, and Military Assistant to President -and Vice President – Nixon gave the annual Nixon Legacy lecture at the Nixon Library where over one thousand visitors came to celebrate Richard Nixon’s 98th Birthday on Sunday.
General Hughes experienced first hand and recounted key events which contributed to RN’s development as a skillful diplomat and statesman. He was with Vice President Nixon during the Caracas crisis in 1958 and on scene at the American Exhibition in Moscow when RN faced off with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in what became famously known as the “Kitchen Debate.”
From 1969 to 1972, General Hughes served as Military Assistant to President Nixon, oversaw 2,000 people directly, and was in charge of Air Force One, special missions, helicopters, ceremonies, protocol, the White House Communications Agency and Camp David.
Sunday’s events also included a formal ceremony of the laying of the White House Wreath from President Barack Obama by Admiral Mike Shatynski accompanied by President Nixon’s younger brother Ed Nixon and grandson Christopher Nixon Cox.
Click here to watch the wreath-laying ceremony with remarks by Admiral Mike Shatynski.
Click here to view the photo slideshow.
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Photo: (left to right): Christopher Nixon Cox, Admiral Mike Shatynski, General Don Hughes and Ed Nixon during a formal wreath-laying ceremony at the memorials of President and Mrs. Nixon.