HomeNixon FoundationNixon Center

Ben Stein: Safire Stood Up For Nixon

September 28, 2009 by Jonathan Movroydis | Filed Under In Memoriam, Nixon Administration figures, Richard Nixon 

Ben Stein — a fellow Nixon speechwriter — writes at the American Spectator:

This has not been a good time for losing friends. Genius pal John Hughes. Patriot, superstar political and moral philosopher, Irving Kristol. One of the kindest, gentlest, finest men on the planet, a twinkle of intelligence and love always in his eyes, beautiful soul Irving Kristol.

Now, just yesterday, irreplaceable Bill Safire, who was more family than friend.

When I think of Safire and losing him to cruel, vicious cancer, I think of losing the walking talking embodiment of that highest of virtues, loyalty. (Kristol, too.) Yes, a brilliant writer and phrase-maker — the words, “an effete corps of impudent snobs,” will live forever. His advice to those of us who came to his Yom Kippur “breaking of the fasts” was perfect Safire, “I am not telling you to fast — but food tastes better when you’re hungry.”

Yes, fearless fighter for what he thought was right, against Carter and in telling the truth about Hillary Clinton, but more than that, in sticking up for Richard Nixon through thick and thin. He thought, he knew, Nixon was being wrongly persecuted and even after Nixon’s wayward goons wiretapped him, he stood up for Nixon.

Resolute lover of America. Resolute defender of Israel against the new anti-Semites who call themselves anti-Israel, Bill Safire was genuinely without fear or favor.

He was a pallbearer at both of my parents’ burials, and did it magnificently. More important, in life, he was a friend, confidant, and supporter of the Steins from his lofty perch.

The New York Times was lucky to have him for thirty years. The Nixon family was lucky to have him. The Steins were blessed beyond measure to have him and his beautiful Helene and sweet Mark and Annabel, for whose comforting I pray. But most of all, the cause of decency in this great country and in Israel, that most righteous of causes was given him as a gift by the Lord God Almighty, Lord of Hosts of battle, and Bill was a host unto himself.

We say in the Jewish faith that those who pass into eternity on or just before the High Holy Days are specially selected of the Lord. Irving Kristol passed the day before Rosh Hashanah. Bill Safire died yesterday, Erev, Evening of Yom Kippur. He is blessed and so are we to have known him. God bless you, Helene and Mark and Annabel, we mourn with you.




Comments

One Response to “Ben Stein: Safire Stood Up For Nixon”

  1. MK on September 28th, 2009 3:56 pm

    Mr. Stein, who seems to have known Mr. Safire very well, writes, “Yes, fearless fighter for what he thought was right, against Carter and in telling the truth about Hillary Clinton, but more than that, in sticking up for Richard Nixon through thick and thin. He thought, he knew, Nixon was being wrongly persecuted and even after Nixon’s wayward goons wiretapped him, he stood up for Nixon.”

    One can define standing up for someone in different ways. It doesn’t have to include blaming their woes on persecution, does it? Sometimes the bravest thing to do is to examine what went wrong and point to one’s own role, to the principal’s responsibilities, and to lessons learned. Bob Haldeman did that to some extent in the NARA oral history interviews during the late 1980s.

    If Mr. Safire was certain (as implied by “knew”) that Nixon was “wrongly persecuted,” might that have affected the way he wrote about Hillary Clinton? She had worked on the impeachment committee’s staff. I wish I would have known about the fact that Mr. Safire attributed RN’s fall to persecution while I was reading his column during the Clinton years. I would have taken it into account in assessing his writing about the Clintons and Mrs. Clinton in particular.

    Yes, I voted for for Nixon. But I’m interested primarily in insights into how Washington and the Presidency work and in lessons learned and historical accountability more so than anything else. It’s dispiriting to realize that I may have erred in making Mr. Safire’s columns a must read for so many years. Perhaps I should have set a lower bar than I did. Perhaps lessons learned mostly are for the military (where lives are at stake) and for family life.

Got something to say?