Richard Nixon: Supporter of Veterans
P. Schultz
June 12, 2015
Here is
another Richard Nixon story that reveals the measure of the man. On October 24, 1972, just before the
presidential election, Nixon signed a bill increasing veterans’ educational
benefits, which were made retroactive. After announcing that each veteran
present would get a souvenir pen, a veteran, Larry Kirk, approached the
president and shook his hand. Kirk was Army and had lost both legs below his
knees in Vietnam, and part of one arm. Ken Hughes, in Fatal Politics, describes what happened then and later.
“[Kirk]
hoped the president meant what he said about giving veterans ‘the first crack’
at jobs, since he’d applied for one as a White House Fellow. . . .’You want to
be a White House Fellow?’ the president asked. ‘Seriously?’
“Kirk said
he wanted to ‘continue to serve my country.’
“’It’s
arranged,’ said the president. A press photographer captured the moment: Kirk
looks relaxed and friendly, but modest; Nixon . . . angry. This spontaneous,
heartwarming anecdote made the New York
Times, Washington Post, and a lot of other papers, thanks to an Associated
Press dispatch. Seven months later, the White House announced the selection of
eighteen Fellows for the coming year; Kirk’s name wasn’t on the list.” [p. 126]
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