Nixon's Election Day Trip Footnote

WHITTIER - Between waking up, voting and hoping to hear the news that would move him to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Orange County's favorite son took an unexpected and unplanned Southern California road-trip that is an interesting footnote in both politics and Southern California history.

It all began on Election Day 1960 after outgoing Vice President and Republican Presidential hopeful Richard M. Nixon cast his vote at a polling place in Whittier shortly after 8 a.m.


Though it eerily looks a bit like Mitt Romney this is a 1968 cello pin button of Mr. Nixon's being saluted by his alma mater, Whittier College. Artist of this button is unknown.

On the ballot that year as you may know was John F. Kennedy on the Democrat ticket, and Richard M. Nixon on the Republican Ticket.

After voting in Whittier Mr. Nixon and company went over to the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles (where years before Richard and Pat Nixon used to go on dates in the hotel's famed Coconut Grove nightclub) to watch the elections results, and where he hoped to give a victory speech, but something funny happened. No, it was not the awkward semi-concession speech Nixon would give that night confusing many reporters and some of the public, because what happened that Election Day 1960 happened before any of the polls closed. Between voting in Whittier and going to the Ambassador Hotel Mr. Nixon decided almost on a whim to ditch the press following him and go on a little quiet road-trip.

Even then, much like today, the press was on every breath and step of the top presidential candidates and if the Republican candidate wanted a random quiet road-trip without the World knowing the first thing Mr. Nixon had to do was lose the press. 

So this journey began many blocks from the Whittier polling place when Mr. Nixon and his entourage, which was a military aide and a Secret Service agent, covertly and ever oh-so discreetly away from the press jumped out of the Vice Presidential limo and into a white convertible follow-up car driven by an officer from the Los Angeles Police Department, and off they went, and most importantly, they managed to successfully ditch the press. By the way, Nixon did not just jump into the backseat and say, "let's go," but rather the presidential hopeful told the LAPD officer to scoot over and he, Nixon, drove the car himself.


Then President Nixon standing at a podium at the Anaheim Convention Center in 1970. Photograph courtesy of the Anaheim Public Library archives.

After leaving Whittier and the hounding press behind Mr. Nixon made a visit to his mother in La Habra, and then got on old U.S. 101 and headed south passing Disneyland, Santa Ana, San Clemente (which would later be home to The Western White House) and before long he was soon out of Orange County. In fact, the truth was, Nixon and company had no real idea where they wanted to go.

As the fuel gauge was low Nixon stopped for gas in Oceanside, which, according to Nixon aides, was the only source of relaxation that stressful Tuesday in November. The story goes that Nixon told a gas station attendant, who was, to say the least, a bit surprised to see the Vice President of the United States (and possible new President) out and about on a very important day. Reportedly Nixon told the gas station attendant that, “I’m just out for a little ride.” It was that small exchange at an Oceanside gas station that brought Nixon the only joy that nerve-racking day, according to former Nixon aides.

After leaving Oceanside Mr. Nixon and company continued south on the 101 into San Diego. Well, now in San Diego and not too sure what to do or where to go Nixon mentioned he had not been to Tijuana in over 20 years. Shortly there after the man who might be elected President of the United States by the end of that day was now out of the country and in Tijuana.   

Mr. Nixon and company, on advice from a Border Patrol Agent, went to have something to eat at the Old Heidelberg restaurant, which the border agent claimed was the best Mexican food in Tijuana. 


The Old Heidelberg restaurant in Tijuana. Date and author of this photograph unknown.

Word got around Tijuana that a possible future U.S. president was in town and soon joining the presidential candidate was Tijuana Mayor Xicotencati Leyva Aleman. It was later reported that Mr. Nixon and everybody in the group ate enchiladas.

After eating enchiladas Mr. Nixon and company headed back for the states, and at the border crossing checkpoint a border agent was shocked to see who was in the car, but still had to ask, "Are you all residents of the United States?" according to Nixon aides.


Painted postcard of the U.S.-Mexican Border in San Diego. Date and artist unknown.

Headed back to L.A. up north on the 101 Mr. Nixon stopped at Mission San Juan Capistrano, which Nixon called “one of my favorite Catholic places.” Surely it was not lost on the Republican presidential hopeful that his Democratic rival was the first Catholic candidate for the President. Years later Nixon said of this visit to the Mission, “For a few minutes, we sat in the empty pews for an interlude of complete escape.”

After that stop in south Orange County it was finally on to the Ambassador Hotel. 

As the press and other guests went on over to the Ambassador Hotel and settled in many began to wonder just where is Mr. Nixon? Well, Herb Klein, Nixon’s press secretary, was asked more than a few times about the missing Nixon. Doing what press secretaries do best he smiled at the reporters and told them that Nixon is just taking a private moment with his family as he often does on hectic days. Back in reality Klein had no idea where Nixon was nor that he was out of the country on this very important day.

Mr. Nixon soon showed up at the Ambassador Hotel, and at that moment the press and public were none the wiser that the man who may be elected president in a few hours was earlier in the day a couple hours away in another country.

After a day of randomly driving across Southern California and unexpectedly going to Tijuana, time, as the sun was setting and polls across the country were closing, would soon prove everything.

Mr. Nixon's vote in Whittier that morning was one of many that gave the presidential hopeful California's 32 electoral votes, which however was not enough to win the election as the final electoral college vote was Mr. Kennedy, 303, and out going Vice President Nixon, 219.

Unlike the case and fate of many former vice presidents and presidential candidates Mr. Nixon would not go on to be a historical footnote in history. Rather, time would show that it would not be the last time Mr. Nixon would win California's electoral votes, because in 1968 he won The Golden State's 40 electoral votes, which, at the end of that election night in that highly contentious, turbulent year, he would pickup a total 301 electoral votes to be elected President of the United States.

Of course a few years later in 1974 the Nixon Presidency ended up making another kind of history, which Mr. Nixon probably wished was no more than a footnote in history. Nearly 20 years after resigning from office Nixon died in New York City after suffering a serve stroke. Mr. Nixon is buried, along with his wife Pat, at the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in his hometown of Yorba Linda.

These days in our modern hyper-media World it would be hard to imagine a presidential candidate quietly escaping anywhere, much less south of the border, or even north of the border to Canada, on Election Day. Should the presidential candidate be caught just outside the country on Election Day it would probably quickly devolve into a "cable news channel scandal," and add in a few members of the U.S. Congress loudly protesting for good measure. 

In the end this little random road-trip Mr. Nixon took on election day 1960 was really less political history and more Southern California history.

The Promise of A New Tijuana

This piece was originally written for another publication on October 25, 2010. This piece was meant to be a jumping off point for a larger series of a new era in Tijuana amid the drug war. What happened to the series? Well, there were some threats made on me, and advice I was given at the time by some officials on both sides of the border was to lay low. Sadly, many journalists covering the drug war in Mexico have been killed simply for doing their job.

October 25, 2010

TIJUANA - The violence that has plagued Tijuana as part of Mexico's larger drug war fell into a lull recently, so much to the point where Mexican President Felipe Calderón praised Tijuana’s improved condition. Two weeks ago the president helped inaugurate Tijuana Innovadora, a $5 million, two-week series of conferences aimed at improving the city’s image and drawing investment, which featured several high-profile speakers including the founders of Twitter and Wikipedia, and former Vice President Al Gore.

Tijuana Innovadora closed the event last Thursday with thousands of residents converging into Rio Zone to dance for three minutes in celebrating their love for their city. For those in town who could not make it to the main dance floor several dance spots were held throughout Tijuana.

Over the years the town along la frontera has been trying to wash away its image of a seedy town for Americans looking for a cheap thrill, and the effort has shown results with many areas of Tijuana looking like a modern, dynamic city. Some of the changes have involved drastic moves, such as firing the entire Tijuana Police force as the city makes attempts to do away with the police force's infamous corruption. Of course in recent times many Americans looking for those cheap thrills along with those looking to explore the real Tijuana have avoided crossing the border due to the violence, though truth be told most of the drug cartels who are behind most of the violence do not want anything do to with some random American tourist.

Probably the most dangerous place for American tourists making day trips into Mexico would be Ciudad Juarez, just across from El Paso, Texas. In Mexico's drug war, which has claimed 28,228 lives (up to that date in 2010), several deadly, brazen battles have taken place there, including 14 people being gunned down at a family birthday party earlier this month. Prior to the drug war for many years several women went missing in Ciudad Juarez and those cases still remains unsolved. With all due respect, the idea of a wild border town out of control has always been better suited for Ciudad Juarez than Tijuana.

Back in Tijuana, within the last two years stories of decapitations and mass murders have became commonplace, which surely did not help the city erase its seedy image of easy vice and corruption. Quite frankly the image of vice and corruption for many Americans was rapidly replace with that of a town full of sadistic murderers.

Tijuana resident Juan Gomez tells me as we walk across Universidad Autónoma de Baja California - Campus Tijuana, "A bunch of drunken American people avoiding our city gives us more room to better improve our image for Americans looking for a real international experience," but on the same token Mr. Gomez says, "a lot of our medical stores and other shops catering to border crossers closed, which means the families that run them are out of work."

Tijuana officials say prior to the drug war insurgency various medical shops catering to tourists looking for cheaper prescriptions, with or without a doctor's note, brought in on average over $100 million a year to the local economy. One Tijuana city official, one of many who asked to be anonymous, told me, "The medical tourism industry now brings about $20-25 million a year and this is one reason our city has been going after the drug cartel causing this problem, one of our main sources of revenue has been killed and hundreds of people have been put out of work."

Asked if such medical tourism added to the seedy image the city is trying to rid itself of the official says, "No, in fact once this war ends our medical tourism will improve and we'll be able to provide better facilities to address medical needs." When told how some residents still see such medical places as apart of the seedy image the city official said quite sternly, "Look, several places across the world have medical tourism, even Canada, and part of our new image is providing first-class medical facilities that will attract people from all over the world."

While there have been some improvements in reducing the crime rate the reality is law enforcement still has a long way to go.

The new and retrained Tijuana Police Department along with the help of Mexican troops throughout the city have helped reduce murders in the city. According to Tijuana officials the death toll this year (2010) is 638, while the death toll last year (2009) was 664, which was a significant decrease from 2008 where there were 844 homicides. Nonetheless the murder rate is still disturbingly high for a city its size.

Despite all their best efforts amid celebrations of a revived Tijuana, and all its potential, sadly within the last two weeks there have been sudden outbreaks of violence.

Late Sunday night in the Buenos Aires Sur area in east Tijuana masked gunmen forced residents onto the floor at El Camino a la Recuperacion, a drug rehabilitation center, and then sprayed them with bullets killing 13 people.

Then nearly a little over a week ago two days of sudden violence left 13 people dead, which included the discovery of a decapitated head in a black plastic bag with a note attached to the forehead left alongside a busy street.

Unfortunately Mexico's drug war has no immediate end in site.

Currently there are no powerful drug-trafficking organization currently maintaining control over Tijuana since the once-dominant Arellano Félix cartel had been broken-up. In fact the Baja California’s Attorney General’s Office believes this latest outbreak of violence is led by Fernando Sánchez Arellano, who commands the remnants of the Arellano Félix cartel.

While the remnants stir-up some trouble and perhaps look to take over their boss's old drug-pushing haunt the Baja California's Attorney General's Office believe another group is also leading this latest outbreak of violence, the followers of the detained drug leader Teodoro García Simental, who law enforcement authorities say have been receiving support from a Sinaloa-based group led by Chapo Guzmán.

A Tijuana law enforcement official, who asks to remain anonymous for his/her safety, tells me the latest violence, "is probably the two groups fighting for dominance and until the troops and police can get a hold of the masterminds of both cartels I have a feeling we're going to see renewed bloodbaths."

That sentiment is shared by Baja California officials along with U.S. officials who believe outside groups and members of the Félix cartel have begun fighting over control of the region.

So what is so special about Tijuana that cartels are willing to slaughter people over it? Well, the region is a major transitory point in supplying U.S. drug dealers and users with cocaine, meth and other hideous drugs.

The outgoing portal of drugs from Tijuana to America is Interstate 5, which supplies Mexican drug cartels an easy, if not perfect link to the West Coast suppliers and buyers, in which hundreds of thousands of dollars change hands. Upon changing hands the money quickly goes back south and ends up in the hands and pockets of the cartels and their people.

It is a vicious circle that is going to require drastic measures on both sides of the border.

Until there is action with both the U.S. and Mexican governments with their drug policy the people of Tijuana are going to be under the gun, and even so, there is no quick solution that will immediately free Tijuana of its problems.

Hopefully with changes within Tijuana and action by the Mexican government, and help by the U.S. government, Tijuana will become a dynamic world city that it is destined to be.