Nixon

Capsules by Michael Sragow unless noted. Full reviews are at baltimoresun.com/movies. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: **** It starts in 1918, when Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) is born with an old face, dilapidated plumbing and wrinkled skin over an infant body, and ends in 2005, when his true love, Daisy (Cate Blanchett), completes the telling of his story. The movie's emotional completeness leaves you poised between sobbing and applauding - it comes from a full comprehension not just of one man's life, but of the intersection of many lives over the course of the 20th century.

The nation's 38th president didn't live quite long enough to bask in the glow of the latest assessment of his presidency, Gerald R. Ford, by the historian Douglas Brinkley. Ford, who died Dec. 26, would have seen that his pardon of Richard M. Nixon has not only faded as a negative in the eyes of most Americans, but also is now judged a distinct positive. Moreover, Brinkley gives Ford high marks for restoring Americans' faith in their government as well as for several foreign and domestic successes.

WASHINGTON -- Twenty five years after the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon on Aug. 9, 1974, the saga of the man and his downfall continue to hang over the political life of the country.Yet another movie, a comedy entitled "Dick," in which his misadventures involving the Watergate break-in and cover-up are examined once again, is about to be released.At the same time, topping the best-seller lists in the New York Times and the Washington Post is the new book by Watergate sleuth Bob Woodward entitled "Shadow."

COLLEGE PARK -- You've read the book. You've seen the movie. Now own the tapes.For the first time, the National Archives is selling copies of the audiotapes that helped make Richard M. Nixon a former president.Twelve hours of Watergate recordings labeled "abuses of governmental power" will be released on Jan. 21. Only orders postmarked by Nov. 22 are ensured first-day delivery."Wow! I'm going to get online right now and order some," Christopher Beam, director of the Edmund S. Muskie Archives at Bates College in Maine, said when told of the sale.

Ret. Army Lt. Gen. Francis Greenlief,78, chief of the National Guard from 1970 to 1974, died at home Saturday in Oakton, Va. The decorated combat veteran was appointed to the National Guard post by President Richard M. Nixon.Pub Date: 12/24/99

I couldn't remember my Nixon history too well.But I sure could feel it.It was hard not to, standing in the lobby of the Howard Johnson's Hotel on Virginia Avenue, looking out the glass door to the gigantic, odd-shaped complex across the street.I didn't remember exactly where the scouts were posted that night nearly 25 years ago; it was somewhere a few floors above me. (I looked it up later: Room 723.) Still, I figured, their view would have been similar to mine. And I wondered how frantic G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt became when they looked across the avenue -- just as I was doing now -- and saw a security guard approaching their five cohorts in the office of the Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate building.

WASHINGTON -- Two or three times a day, someone takes a seat at the National Archives in College Park, puts on a headset and eavesdrops on history.Those who do hear private White House conversations between President Richard M. Nixon and his aides in the Watergate crisis, which culminated in his resignation 25 years ago today.Relatively few people -- mostly historians and researchers -- have listened to the Watergate crisis unfold in conversations the president recorded. That will change Jan. 1, when for the first time, 264 hours of White House tapes will be available for public duplication and sale.

Braves: Brian Jordan's grand slam was Atlanta's first of the season and the third of Jordan's career, his last one coming on July 13, 1996, when he was with St. Louis. Otis Nixon, hitting only .181, did not start for the fourth consecutive game, replaced by Gerald Williams. Nixon drew a walk as a pinch hitter in the seventh, stole second and third, and scored on Chipper Jones' single.Diamondbacks: Luis Gonzalez, who had the longest hitting streak in the NL since Jerome Walton of the Chicago Cubs also hit in 30 games in 1989, became the 12th player to have a hitting streak end at 30 games.

Quote: "There's nothing in the world you can do with a game like today. You just file it and move on."-- Mike Hargrove, Indians manager, on the Yankees' 21-1 rout of Cleveland yesterday. It's a fact: Yesterday's three-home run performance by the Red Sox's Trot Nixon marked the first multi-homer game of his career.Who's hot: The Rangers are 9-1 since the All-Star break.Who's not: Tigers pitchers, who gave up seven home runs to the Red Sox yesterday.On deck: The Indians attempt to turn their sinking ship around as staff ace Bartolo Colon (12-7)

WASHINGTON -- Dominating the discussions among Senate leaders about the shape and scope of the Senate impeachment trial of President Clinton is concern that it will be an ordeal so damaging to the conduct of other public business that the nation's best interests will be served if it is short and sweet.Whatever the length, it will certainly not be sweet, and whether making it short will satisfy the legitimate demands of justice and history is debatable. The failure of the House in arriving at its two articles of impeachment without calling a single witness other than the de facto prosecutor in the case, independent counsel Kenneth Starr, has already generated much criticism.

On October 17, 2009, GEORGE ARTHUR NIXON, JR. On Tuesday, friends may call at the VAUGHN C. GREENE FUNERAL SERVICES, 5151 Baltimore National Pike from 4 to 8 P.M. On Wednesday, Mr. Nixon will lie in state at Olivet Baptist Church, 3500 Edmondson Avenue, where the family will receive friends from 10 to 10:30 A.M with services to follow. Inquiries to (410) 233-2400.

Carolyn C. Benson, a former longtime Cockeysville resident who was credited with being the inspiration behind President Richard M. Nixon's use of the term "silent majority" in a televised national speech, died July 24 of cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care. Mrs. Benson, who had moved to a daughter's Parkton home in 2006, was 78. A former Democrat who worked locally on the 1960 presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy, Mrs. Benson switched party affiliation by the decade's end and became a Republican.

HERBERT G. KLEIN, 91 Nixon communication director Herbert G. Klein, President Richard M. Nixon's White House director of communications and a former editor for Copley Newspapers, died Thursday after suffering a cardiac arrest at his home in the San Diego suburb of La Jolla. Mr. Klein became a special correspondent for Copley after serving with the Navy in World War II. He covered Mr. Nixon's 1946 congressional campaign for Copley, starting an association that would eventually lead him to the White House.

A last-minute bankruptcy filing has saved Nixon's Farm, a Howard County landmark known for social and political gatherings, from a foreclosure auction originally scheduled for today. The Chapter 11 filing in U.S. District Court on Tuesday will allow Randall Nixon to continue operating the 128-acre West Friendship farm his family has owned since 1956, said James A. Vidmar, the Annapolis lawyer representing Nixon and his mother, Mildred. "This just gives us breathing room to get some plan in place to protect this valuable property," Vidmar said.

BERNARD L. BARKER, 92 Watergate burglar Bernard Leon Barker, one of the five Watergate burglars whose break-in led to America's biggest political scandal, died Friday in suburban Miami. The Cuban-born former CIA operative, who also participated in the Bay of Pigs invasion, died at his home after being taken to the Veterans Administration Medical Center the night before, said his stepdaughter, Kelly Andrad. He appeared to have died of complications of lung cancer, and he had also suffered from heart problems.

On April 26, 2009, MARGARET ANN NIXON. On today, a public viewing will be held at Edmondson Heights Seven Day Adventist, 810 Walnut Avenue at 3 P.M. On Wednesday, Mrs. Nixon will lie in state at the church, where the family will receive friends from 11 A.M to 12 P.M with services to follow. Inquiries to (410) 233-2400.

With the postponement of a foreclosure auction, the family that owns Nixon's Farm, a longtime Howard County landmark known for weddings, reunions and political events, is struggling to stave off creditors while restructuring development plans stymied by the recession. Court files show three foreclosure cases brought against the Nixon family for loans obtained since 2002. But operator Randy Nixon said Friday that he expects to prevent a foreclosure sale and that the residential development project will proceed.

THEATER 'Souvenir': Center Stage takes on the tale of a wealthy, but tone deaf, socialite who's desperate to be a singing sensation. No, we'll still have to wait for Paris Hilton: The Musical, but in the meantime we get the strange-but-true tale of Florence Foster Jenkins, who, despite being a horrible vocalist, sold out Carnegie Hall. Previews start at 8 p.m. Friday. More: centerstage.org FILM 'The Soloist' : Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx roll out a cinematic Christmas in April - an "important" film (i.e.

Willie Nixon Turner There will be a public viewing Saturday, April 18, 2009 3 P.M. to 5 P.M. at Reese & Sons Mortuary, 821 West Street, Annapolis, MD. Final Services will be Monday, April 20, 2009 10:30 A.M. at New Bethlehem Free Will Baptist Church, 1400 North Eden Street, Baltimore, Maryland.

CLAUDE BRINEGAR, 82 Transportation secretary under Nixon Claude Brinegar, who led an overhaul of the railroad industry and saw the nation through the oil crisis of 1973 as the third U.S. transportation secretary, died Friday of natural causes in Palo Alto, Calif. President Richard M. Nixon nominated Mr. Brinegar to head the Department of Transportation in late 1972. At the time, Mr. Brinegar was a senior vice president at Union Oil Co., where he had worked since 1953. During his tenure as secretary, Mr. Brinegar led efforts to overhaul the collapsed Northeastern railroad industry, ultimately resulting in the creation of Conrail Inc. He served as a founding director of Conrail from 1974 to 1975 and joined the board again from 1990 to 1998.